Revelation chapter four Now, begin reading back in verse eight for context. This is taking place in heaven. The four and twenty, 24 elders that are mentioned here, I believe represent the redeemed of Christ in heaven as they bow before the throne and worship the Lord. This is our third week on a series from from this text. We talked about the importance of worship and what worship is as we see it demonstrated here in heaven as they humble themselves before the Lord and praise him.

Also, we get down here to verse 11 in just a moment and that launches us into the remainder of our message today. So, verse eight and the four beasts had each of them six wings about him and they were full of eyes within and they rest not day and night saying, holy, holy, holy, Lord God almighty which was and is and is to come and when those beasts give glory and honor and thanks to him that sat on the throne who liveth forever and ever, The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne and worship him that liveth forever and ever and cast their crowns before the throne saying, thou art worthy, oh Lord, to receive glory and honor and power. For thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure, they are and were created. Let's go to the Lord in prayer once more. Lord, thank you for this day.

Thank you for the opportunity to hear about the Espinel's ministry. We pray that you would bless their ministry there, that you bless them here as they prepare to head back and that you would give them a safe trip back to the place you have called them. Lord, we pray that you bless our service today and that you would be exalted in it and Lord, we pray that if there be one here that's never trusted in the Lord Jesus as their Lord and savior that today would be their day of salvation. In Jesus precious name, we do pray, amen. So, verse 11 again, thou art worthy, oh Lord, to receive glory, honor, and power, for thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure, they are and were created.

Again, this morning, so why did God create you? He greeted you for what? His pleasure. For his pleasure. He did so simply because it suited his good pleasure to do so.

It was his desire, what he wanted, and so he did so by his will and by his power and he made this world and he made us. It suited his good pleasure and since he is able, he did. He did so because it gave him pleasure to do so. Some of you as I mentioned last week, enjoy putting puzzles together. It gives you pleasure to put puzzles together.

Not me. Not my thing. But for some of you and and then when you get done, you you sit back, take back, and you look at the puzzle you put together and say, boy, that's beautiful. And and I stand back and look at the picture you send me of the puzzle you put together and I go, oh, that's beautiful. Some of you like painting or drawing or building model rockets or cars or or writing songs or building cabinets or whatever it is that you enjoy building, making, or doing whatever hobby it is that gives you pleasure.

It gave God pleasure to create this universe, this world, and us. And he did so in order that you and might, you and I might give him pleasure by doing his will and those things which he made you for. Did God make you with a purpose? Yes, he did. He made mankind with a purpose to bring glory to him.

He made man with a purpose to love him as we're going to talk about this morning a bit. He made you with a purpose to serve him and as you do those things in your life as we bring glory to him, we serve him, and we love him. It will not only bring joy to our heavenly father but also brings joy to who? It also brings joy to us when we fulfill the purpose for which he made us. What does God want and deserve from Missouri Avenue Baptist Church in 2021 and from you personally, who claimed to be his child?

He deserves to be glorified in you, in us, in our church. He desires to take pleasure in our lives, our actions, our attitudes, our words, and worship. In doing those things which reflect the nature of our God, the God we serve and have claimed as our own. So, what did he create you to do? How can you give him pleasure?

How can you glorify him? We're going to look at three ways. First, we looked at last week and that is this, you can give God pleasure by declaring and demonstrating your faith. We're getting to love today. Last week, we looked at faith.

By declaring and demonstrating your faith in him. Showing that you believe and trust in God that he is able and trustworthy to keep all of his promises to you. You know, it also works that way in friendships and partnerships and marriages too. We find great satisfaction in being believed and trusted by the ones we love. And so does God He is finds pleasure, takes pleasure in being believed and trusted by those who he created.

The way of salvation is based solely on what? On faith and not only are we saved by faith in Jesus Christ who came and died on the cross from our sins and rose again but we live each day by what? By faith. In him. By showing him that we believe him, that we trust him, and therefore, we obey him.

Number two, we spent a long time on that one last week so we won't go back there but number two this morning, by declaring and demonstrating our love for him. Responding to the love he has shown us and showing that same love for him and also for others. Deuteronomy chapter six verses four and five. Here, oh Israel, the Lord, our God is one Lord and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy might. But what does that mean?

What does that mean? God commanded Israel to love the Lord their God with a singular heart. Sincerely, genuinely. He asked that they not share that love with other gods or idols. They're to have no other gods before him.

No graven images. He is the only one and true God who is deserving of our singular one and sincere love. That God this means that God clearly finds pleasure in the love and allegiance of his people toward him and his is displeased when our love and allegiance is divided. When God and his will and purpose must take backseat to other things, we deem more important. Who is more important in your life than God?

I hope the answer to that is what? No. No one or nothing. God is deserving of having first place in my heart, in my life, and yours. That he is our greatest love of our life and it gives him pleasure when indeed that is the case.

Revelation chapter two, if you're Revelation four, just turn back page or two to Revelation chapter two and I want to read verses one through five. Revelation two verses one through five. This is the Lord speaking through the apostle John to a church in the city of Ephesus that's now in the Western section of Turkey. And he writes to the church and he says unto them, we'll begin reading here in verse one and the angel of the church of Ephesus write these things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks by the way that is Christ. Number two, verse two, I know thy works.

Christ says, and thy labor and thy patience and how thou canst not bear them which are evil and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles and are not and has found them liars and has born and has patience and for my name's sake has labored and has not fainted. Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore, from whence thou art fallen and repent and do the first works or else I will come to thee quickly or remove thy candlestick out of his place except thou repent. Well, what does this mean? What is this passage telling us?

That while God does recognize the things we do in his service and he does, he knows them. That even though he does recognize the things we do, he is not pleased merely by activity. If the activity is not being done out of the heart of what? Out of a heart of love for him. Does it matter to God why you do what you do?

Indeed, it does and the God who looks not only on the outward appearance but on the what? The heart knows exactly the motives behind the things that we do. It matters to him. Sometimes, we are doing the right things but out of selfishness, thinking only of our reward and not of his best interest. Not doing things because we love him.

We want to exalt Him, serve Him, and give Him pleasure, but for some other reason, maybe like the Pharisees, we want to impress somebody else. There's one person we need to impress, and that's God. And you can't truly impress Him, but you can do what? You can serve Him, and you can love him with all your heart and that brings him what? That brings him joy, that brings him pleasure.

When we serve him out of a heart of love. When he has first place in our life. We could have gone, I could have chosen to go through a whole long list. Do this thing and it gives God pleasure and do that thing and it gives God pleasure but decide divided up in this way because it's it's not only what we do. It's the attitude of our heart.

It is the condition of our fellowship with the Lord. Also, those things we do spring from the attitudes of our heart. And those matter to God. Again, first John chapter four, beloved, let us love one another for love is of God and everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God.

For God is love and this was manifested the love of God toward us because that God sent his only begotten son into the world that we might live through him. Here in his love, not that we love God but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation or the sacrifice, the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Romans five five says this, and hope make it not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the holy ghost which is given unto us. What do we learn from these passages concerning love? Sincere, selfless, agape which is the Greek word love comes from who?

God. Comes from God. He is the source. It is a manifestation of his true character and nature in his children. That kind of love, that selfless love, that sincere love, that sacrificial love, that is seen in Jesus Christ should be manifest, revealed, demonstrated in the lives of his children.

It is a reflection of his character and his nature which he desires to see in us. When we delight in his love for us and return that love to him, it also delights him. Think about it. When your child says, I love you. Or when your child does something sweet and kind and unexpected.

How does that make you feel as a parent? Does that make you feel good? Does it give you pleasure? It gives God pleasure too. When we, his children, return that love to him.

When we say to him, I love you. Sincerely from our heart. When our actions demonstrate that we love him. It also brings God pleasure. When we display that same love for others, it testifies to our relationship with him.

It shows that we share his love for his creation and it gives him great pleasure. Does it make you happy when your children share the same loves and passions that you do also? Isn't that exciting when you see the the the good things? The your loves and passions particularly for the Lord. When you see those things in your children, it's exciting and it gives you pleasure.

Guess what? God also takes pleasure in our love particularly for the people and also the things he has made and cares for as well. You know, I enjoy singing and I enjoy music and it brings me great pleasure when David and Joshua up here playing their their instruments to the glory of the Lord. It it it gives me pleasure when they show interest particularly in ministry and in God and his word. I also like history and I like football and I like playing golf though my wife won't let me since I herniated a disc in my back.

But it it it it it's exciting to me when I see the same interests in my children and them sharing in those things and it does so to God as well. When when we show love for others, for whom he died and we share with them the gospel and we take time to care for them and encourage them and pray for them. Do you think that brings God pleasure? Yes, it does. Yes, it does.

And it brings glory to his name. And how did he demonstrate his love for you? How does he demonstrate his love for mankind? He does so in his dealings with mankind since creation. He does so in his did so in his ministry on Earth and most of all, he demonstrated his love for us by his death on the cross for your sins and mine.

In closing, I just want to take a few minutes to remind us of the love and mercy and grace and compassion of almighty God as we see it revealed. In the story of redemption. In the scriptures. You know, the Lord could have started over when Adam and Eve sinned but instead, he gave them a promise. He gave them a promise to send them a redeemer, the seed of the woman.

He clothed them with skins before he sent them out of the garden. He showed them a way that through the shedding of blood, they might atone for their sins until the day the seed of the woman, the redeemer came. And died on the cross for the sins of all mankind. He was totally within his right to destroy fallen humanity altogether in Noah's day but he didn't. Instead, he demonstrated compassion for Noah and his family and he gave them the opportunity to be saved from his judgment and he kept them safe and dry.

He showed mercy and love toward Abraham. Abraham, the great man of faith. Take time to read the story of Abraham in Genesis. You will say the great man of faith had some major failures in his life along the way. One time, he jumped ahead of God and said, well, you know, obviously, I'm not having a son by Sarah and Sarah seems to be okay with it.

So, I'll have a son by Hagar, her handmaid. Wise choice? No. Great faith? No.

Did God say, okay, Abraham, that's it. It's over. I'm done with you. No. No.

He did. He was a god of love and compassion and mercy. And one day, Sarah did have a what? Have a son. He should have destroyed Israel in the wilderness in Sinai for their griping and complaining.

He should have destroyed them for their idolatry with the golden calf. And again, when they flat refused to go into the land that he promised them. But he didn't destroy them. No, as they wandered in the wilderness for forty years, he went with them. As they wandered in the wilderness for forty years, he fed them with manna from heaven and water from the rock.

Until the day he brought the next generation into the land that he had promised. Amen. He showed mercy on David and many others who deserved death but repented and found grace and mercy at the feet of the Lord. As we have found mercy and grace at his feet also. He so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.

That whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. That is he cared so much. He loved so much. He's so highly valued and esteemed. Humanity that he parted with.

Yey, sent his most precious treasure into the fray, to this Earth, that we might be saved through faith in him. Jesus left the glories of heaven and he came to Earth and he didn't came come with his all his glory. He didn't come with all his his power. He came as a babe in a manger. And he grew as we grow.

And he lived as we lived. And he went through all of that for you Not only did Jesus come willingly to reveal the father to us and to minister us but most importantly, he came to die for us but God commended his love toward us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ what? Died for us. He died for us. He gave his life.

He knew when he came, that's what he was going to do. He knew in the Garden Of Gethsemane when he when he called out to the left if if it be so, let this cup pass from me yet, not my will but what? Thine will be done. He knew the agonies that were coming. You know, we suffer sometimes great agony in this life.

But we usually don't know what's coming. And we don't choose it. But he did. And he chose it for you and for me because he loved us. Amen.

And he gave his life for us. Isaiah fifty three five and six. I think I put that up here too but he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes, we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray but the Lord hath laid on him. Jesus, the iniquity of us all. He shouldered the burden of our sin upon himself, the suffering, the payment, the punishment so that we might not have to do so. Why? Because of his great love for us.

He demonstrated that love also in the lives of his slow to understand and believe disciples even training and ministering to them even to the one he knew one day would what? Betray him. He knew what Judas was from the beginning. But he ministered to him just the same. As he did the others.

Who were pretty hard headed. Just like us. He cried out upon the cross. Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. As he hung there.

He demonstrated that love when as he needed rest and tried to escape the multitude, he turned instead in exhaustion and looked upon them with what? With pity and compassion and love. Declaring that they were a sheep without a shepherd. And he taught them. And he fed them.

He spoke with love toward a woman at the well in Samaria who needed a savior and knew it. He forgave the adulterous woman brought before him saying, go and sin no more. He demonstrated that love towards a man we call Paul but we first meet by the name Saul of Tarsus. A man sought who sought to destroy and imprison Christ followers. Yet, rather than sending Saul to his just destruction in hell, he spoke to him from heaven, redeemed his wretched soul, and enlisted him.

In his service. If God so loved them, don't you know? God sent his son for you. Don't you know? God loves you.

And he died for you If you will receive him as your Lord, accept him as your savior, his forgiveness, and his gift of everlasting life, his love for you. This is love. This is God's love. A selfless love which seeks only good, only the good, well-being, and happiness of its object or objects. Let me say that again.

This love, God's love, is a selfless love which seeks only the good, well-being, and happiness of its objects. In this case, creation, particularly men and women who he created. It is a love which does esteem or value others more highly than self. As demonstrated by Christ, who humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross. Which is described verse by verse in first Corinthians 13.

We won't take time to go there this week. We might do so next week. It is the love of God. A love which refuses to give up. A love which refuses to quit because the object is so highly valued that nothing is more valuable.

He loves you but this morning, nothing would give him more pleasure today than for you to receive his love and trust in his son as your Lord and savior. If you're here today and you've never done that, you haven't made that decision from your heart to call on the name of the Lord Jesus to receive him as Lord and savior for your sins. You can do that today. You can be saved. It would give him great pleasure to save your soul.

If you would come. And Christian, how are you doing? How are you doing at returning that love to him? How are you doing with showing that love, that same love to others? For that brings him pleasure also.

He is deserving of it. Next Sunday, we'll look at some more specific ways in which we can do that and what it looks like. Let's pray. Dear heavenly father, thank you Lord for your word, for the opportunity to praise your name here together, to worship at your feet, to be reminded of your love for us and the love that we should be returning to you. The love that you've shed abroad in our heights, hearts by your spirit that should be revealing itself in our love others.

Lord, help us I pray. Forgive us for our selfishness. Help us to take our eyes off of ourselves and truly have a heart of love for others around us, for our neighbors, our friends, our so to speak, loved ones, and relatives, and most importantly, for our God. Lord, we like the church in Ephesus. Sometimes, our soul distracted by the busyness of life, by other things that draw our attention, and sometimes our affection.

Lord, I pray that truly today, we would realize that you deserve first place and that our love for you should be above all else and that we would let go of those things Lord that maybe have come between us and our God and our love for you today. That as we pray here in this moment and during the invitation time, Lord. That we might ask your forgiveness and that we might recommit and dedicate ourselves to demonstrating the love of Christ in our lives. We pray Lord if there's one here that's never received you as Lord and savior of their life. We pray today, Lord, that today would be their day of salvation, that they would come as we sing this hymn of invitation.

In Jesus name, we do pray. Amen.