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So thank you for that. Thank you to Mighty Muscadine for sponsoring this episode. Let's jump in. What if I told you that God has already given you blessings that are more valuable than anything you could ever own? Blessings that cannot be bought, can't be earned, can't be taken away from you.
And here's the incredible part: you may already have them. And not even realizing it, you know. In Ephesians chapter one, the apostle Paul tells us that God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Jesus Christ. But what exactly are those blessings? What do they mean for you in your life today, right now?
And what do they have to do with the reason that we gathered together every single Sunday morning to worship? You know, I think those are important questions, and we're going to answer them on the show today. But I want to hear from you. Give me a call eight six six three four truth. That's eight six six three four Four eight seven eight eight four.
My name is John Galantis. I am one of the hosts of the Clearview Today Show alongside Doctor Abbadon Shah, and we're going through Ephesians chapter one alongside Doctor Shah's sermon series that is through the book of Ephesians. If you've never listened to him before, you can look up sermons by Doctor Abbadon Shah on Apple Podcasts. And I actually have a clip that from that sermon that we're going to be talking about today. I want to play that for us really quickly.
It is about the spiritual blessings that God gives us in Christ.
So we're going to listen to it and then we're going to talk about it. God blesses everyone with many, many physical and earthly blessings: the blessing of food, the blessing of clothes, the blessing of shelter, family, healing, comfort, fulfillment. God is the source of blessing. Are you listening to all people, whether you're saved or not? I've heard people say that it's like, "Oh, God only hears the prayer of saved people." That's not true.
I would like to be that way. That if you're saved, that's right, bring your petition. You're not saved, I can't do that because the Bible says that God hears all prayers. Here's a scripture right here. By the way, scripture is our guide.
If the bug doesn't stop here, then then throw this away. Make your own religion. Do what you want to do. But once this book has said it, this is the word of God. I have to then stop and do what the Bible tells me to do.
So Psalm sixty-five verse two: All you who hear prayer, to you all flesh will come. All flesh is not just saved, folks. All flesh, all flesh, which means this: a person living two thousand years ago, a person living in the deepest, darkest jungles of Africa or India or somewhere in a remote part of the world, when they cry out and say, "God, would you heal my child? God, would you would you provide for us? We're hungry." When that child is healed, or when that food is provided, who did it?
Satan. Finally, y'all are y'all are getting this. Who's doing it? God is doing it.
So, God is the source of all blessings. Do you think for a moment that Satan is the one who gives you a house and home and all these things? You say, well, sometimes doesn't he? Listen to what it says here in Matthew. Five forty-five.
It says that you may be sons of your father in heaven, for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. If I were God, I wouldn't do that. Oh, you are unjust. No rain for you. Guess what God does?
Whether you're corrupt or whether you're clean. Whether you're a criminal or you're a law-abiding citizen, the sun is still going to shine on you. That's God. Amen. God is the source of every blessing, and I think Dr.
Shaw brings up something here that we really never stop and consider often enough. God is good to people who don't even acknowledge that He exists. Think about that for a second. There are people right now who woke up this morning. Got out of a comfortable, warm bed, walked into a kitchen full of food, got in their car, drove to work, had a great day.
Never once gave a thought to God. Maybe never will. And yet, who is it that gave them the ability to even get out of their bed? Who turned on their brainwaves? Who provided the food they ate?
Who gave him another day of life? God did all that, and that's what Dr. Shaw's getting at here. God's goodness is not just limited to people who recognize it. People like me, people like you, and I think that's an important distinction because sometimes Christians can start thinking of God's blessings like a reward system.
If I worship Him correctly, if I do everything right, if I turn in my attendance at church, if I'm reading my Bible, if I check the checklist, if I'm going to church and I'm praying, oh, then God's going to bless me. But what does Jesus say? Matthew five forty five. What's he say? He says God makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends the rain on the just and unjust.
Just like Doctor Shah read for us. In other words, God does not wait for someone to acknowledge Him before He shows them His goodness. And here's something else that I want you to think about as well. How many blessings have you received today, an hour ago, in the last hour that you haven't even noticed? You know we recognize God's blessing when something extraordinary happens, something miraculous, right?
You know somebody gets healed, we get a job that we've been praying for, we get some financial need that's met at just the right moment, and we say praise God, look what God did. But what about these ordinary things? What about the fact that you woke up this morning? What about the fact that you have food to eat? What about all the people that God has placed in your life and the breath that you're taking right now?
Isn't that what James says? Every good and perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights. Every good gift, not just the ones that make for a great testimony on Sunday morning, every single one is from God, and it approaches the way that we or it changes the way that we approach worship. But remember, we're asking the question today: Why do we worship? There's another answer.
We worship because God is the source of every blessing that we've ever received, and if that's true, then worship should not be something that we reserve for Sunday morning. Just moments when life is going our way, we should have to wait till God does something miraculous and extraordinary before we. Recognize his goodness, but Paul also—and this is a big, big shift here. Paul is talking about something different. He's not just talking about the average, ordinary blessings in my life.
He's talking about spiritual blessings. Spiritual blessings that specifically belong to those who are in Jesus Christ, and I think what's fascinating about that is that as you read through Ephesians chapter one, you start to realize that the entire Trinity is involved in giving us these blessings. Right, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. In Ephesians chapter one, verse four and five, Paul says, "Just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestined us to a Adoption as sons by Jesus Christ Himself. There is some big, big theological words in there.
A lot of run-on sentences. Election, predestination, adoption. We could spend an entire series unpacking those words, and we have, by the way. But I don't want us to miss the point that Paul is making. God's plan for us did not begin the moment we got saved.
The moment we decided to follow Him, Paul takes us all the way back before the foundation of the world, and he tells us that God chose us in Christ. That's very, very important in Christ. And if you want to learn more about that, you need to listen to Dr. Shaw's sermon series through Ephesians. But He chose us in Christ that we should be holy and without blame before Him.
And think about that for a second. What does that mean? Means we're not just simply people who have been forgiven and then sent on our way. Right? God has adopted us.
He's actually brought us into His family. And that is a reason to worship, but Paul doesn't stop there. Right? He moves from the blessings of God to the Father, the blessings of God the Father to the blessings that we receive through God the Son. Right?
In verse seven, he says that in Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace. And then again in verse nine, Paul tells us that God has made known to us the mystery of His will. Verse eleven, he says that in Christ we have obtained an inheritance.
So all of these blessings. That we have through Jesus Christ, we have redemption, right? We have forgiveness, we have adoption, knowledge of God's purpose. He's making His purpose known to us. We have an inheritance in Him, and so through all this, I want you to notice something.
Paul does not say, you know, we're hoping to have redemption one day. He says, in Him, we have redemption. We have redemption right now. Present tense means if you belong to Jesus Christ, you don't have to wonder whether the price for your sin has been paid. Jesus has already accomplished that through His blood, and because of Him.
We have an inheritance that is greater than anything this world can ever offer. That is amazing, and I want to shift over to our phones really quickly. We've got Mike from Dayton, Ohio. Mike, we're going to take a break in about four minutes.
So, in the next three, four minutes, tell me what do you think about this? All these spiritual blessings that God has given to us—how is it manifesting in your life right now? I like to say worship is about trust in God. Amen. Because what God has done for us, Nishak Abendigo, you know, they didn't want to bow down to the king; they wanted to bow down to God, and because they knew that God was going to fulfill all their needs and God was going to take care of them.
That's right, and that's what worship is. Yeah, we're we're we're worshiping God because what He can do for us and and what He did for us. And he died on the cross for us, and and redeemed us. That's right. We when we go to worship him, we we we we're acknowledging the trust that we have and the belief that we have in God.
And and then when we when when we manifest that worship, and when we manifest that that that. That love for Him, because man, thank you, God, that I'm going to have eternal life with you, Amen, Amen. Sit there and you worship Him, and and and you say, "Thank you, God, for for redeeming me and for and choosing me and and choosing." I don't know why you chose me, but you chose me, and and and I'm worshiping you, and I'm thanking you for all the things you do and all the things you are. That's right, and that's what I I like to say.
Well, well, Mike, I'm glad you said it, man, and I think you you hit the nail on the head. You know, we we get tied up, especially worship leaders. Right, everybody wants to redefine what worship is.
Well, worship isn't about the music; it's a lifestyle.
Well, it's not really a lifestyle. It's it's Just it's the way that I live authentically in this and that. At the end of the day, worship is a response. It's us talking to God, like the way that we look at it at our church is that, you know, when we are hearing the pastor preach, this is God's word given to us. Our worship is a response back, and so the entire service is communication, and it's communication that is built on an eternal plan, right?
And I said that at the top of the show, worship is something that is designed for eternity. What we are Doing here on this side, just like you said, Mike, we are giving thanks, we are responding to God, we are showing Him that we're acknowledging His goodness, we're acknowledging who He is, His presence in our lives. But that's it's a it's a temporary shadow, maybe not a shadow is not the best word, but it's a temporary reflection might be a better word of what we're going to be doing around that throne for all of eternity. And so, Mike, I want to say thank you so much for for calling into the show. We've got one more caller, but I'm going to wait until after the break.
Here's what I want. I want to say to you guys, these spiritual blessings that are manifesting in our life, they might feel disconnected, and it's not because we're not worshiping properly. It's because they are "quote unquote" spiritual. And so I don't get them right now, but those spiritual blessings are more permanent than anything that you own in this world. Your money is going to disappear one day.
Your health is going to fail you. Your house it could be destroyed. Everything we possess in this life, including our musical ability and our ability to hear these songs and respond to them, that's all temporary. But the redemption that you have in Jesus Christ, the eternal worship that's going to be happening on the other side. That is truly forever, and so the forgiveness of your sins, the adoption into God's family, these are not symbolic certificates that hang on a wall.
That's your identity in Jesus Christ. We're going to talk about that a little bit more when we come back from the break. Eight six six three four truth. We want to hear from you. When the greatest curse becomes the richest blessing, this is Truth Commentary with Stu Emerson, author and host of Truth Talk Live.
When you hear the word curse, what comes to mind? Curse words, ancestral curses, a cursed haunted house, generational curses. What about the curse of sin in the fall, and what about the blessing that Jesus Christ offers? You see, without the curse being dealt with, our sin. Our fallenness, our bondage.
There could be no blessing in Jesus Christ. It says in Galatians three, redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. Jesus Christ was cursed so we could be blessed. Have you trusted Him? Have you realized that if you don't have Jesus, you'll be eternally cursed in hell forever?
But He brings life, hope, forgiveness, healing by simply putting your faith in what He has done. Call on Him today. Receive the blessing because He took the curse. Trust Him for salvation. Join Stu on radio.
Social media and his daily Truth Talk Live podcast. Learn more at TruthNetwork dot com. This is Franklin Graham. Missionary medicine is still one of the great tools for evangelism. This is why I do medical missions: is to be able to treat people and help people who otherwise wouldn't get help.
We have to be willing to enter into the suffering of others, and that's never easy. But our God is faithful. When you are part of Missionary Medicine, it's going to change the lives of people for centuries. For more information, go to SamaritansPurse. dot org.
That's SamaritansPurse. dot org. Did you know more women under forty are getting breast cancer, especially black and Jewish women whose cancers are often more deadly? If you're a woman, talk to your doctor by age twenty-five about your breast cancer risk. The American College of Radiology recommends you ask your doctor if you should get a mammogram before age forty.
Need other tests like an MRI with your yearly mammogram, or should be checked more than once a year? For more information, visit mammography. Saves lives. Teacher on leading the way, Dr. Michael Yusuf.
As true Christian believers surrendered the battlefield in the schools and on the universities, the unbelievers took over. And as Christians surrendered the battlefield in denominations and Christian institutions, the unbelievers took over. And as Christians deserted the difficult areas in our society, non-believers. Took over, and that is why Paul said, "As good soldiers, endure hardship. As good soldiers, we must not fall in the trap of pleasing people.
Instead, only seek to please our commander-in-chief, the Lord Jesus Christ." Want to live a victorious life? You can listen to Dr. Michael Youssef on Leading the Way, or visit ltw dot org. Hey, welcome back to the show. I'm John Galantis.
We're filling in for Dr. Abadon Shaw on Truth Talk Live. We got Jessica from North Carolina. We're going to be talking a little bit about worship. Jessica, what does worship mean to you?
Let's take a quick break. Hey guys, John here with the Clearview Today show, and I want to just take a second and talk to you about today's sponsor, WatchSafe. If you're a parent, you know that your child going on YouTube unsupervised is a no-go. Even a few minutes of unchecked viewing can expose them to content that is inappropriate, confusing, harmful, downright evil. This is a very real danger in a digital world that moves too fast for us to control.
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Thanks for listening.
Now let's get into the show. Yeah, so I just wanted to call and just follow up on on some of the things I feel like y'all have already said so well, you know, about worship being genuinely, you know, a blessing that's giving to us as in a way to communicate, you know, with God. But I feel like for me, and just something I just wanted to share along with that, like worship is is also, you know, as our response. To God itself, it's also a way for us to just go to Him, you know, spiritually at times when we're hurt, when we're anxious. I feel like for me personally, worship itself has.
You know, made a way for me to just kind of like block out the rest of the world when I can like just hop in my car and and turn on a worship song and focus on nothing but the lyrics and nothing but praising God in that moment. It absolutely can. You know, turn all the worries that I had in my own head away at that time, and I just—I don't know—I just wanted to come on and just add that to you know, like it's not just a way for us to communicate, but a way for us to really just feel the Holy Spirit in that moment, whatever we're going through, whether that's in. Corporate worship, or you know, on our own, just driving in the car. Absolutely, absolutely.
That is absolutely a a spiritual blessing that, at least for me, has has been like my go to to clear my mind and just. Get my head back in the right space to be seeking Him.
Well, I think you're really wise to say that. I think you're really, really wise to say that because a lot of times we listen, the music that we listen to, it is so much noise. It is just, I mean, I really like it. Genuinely, just sounds like noise. But it's also just adding noise to our life.
And I love the way that you say that because I envision. I'm a very visual guy. I envision you just kind of driving down the car, and you've got all these voices in your head, and you've got all of this this pressure on your shoulders, and Putting down on your body. And there is just a tightening in, like a tunnel vision, and at the end of that tunnel, you just you can see God. And ultimately, that is what the point of our worship is: is to help us to, yes, to respond to God, but I also want to see God.
We want to make Christ visible in our worship. And so, for people like me, and you know, people like the worship leaders out there, that's what we want to do: is we want to help make Christ visible. Just guy, I appreciate you calling in.
Something that I want us to to understand as we also talk about, and another thing that she said. Is that there is a forward thing? There is a goal to our worship, right? There is a forward goal, which is an eternal goal. I think a lot of times we don't think about this, but heaven is not heaven just because of the streets of gold, right?
Heaven is heaven because God's presence is there, and so worship, as we know it now, is not something that we just do in our car, although we can. It's not just something we do in our living room, although we can. It's not something that we just do. In church, although we should, you know, worship is central to what our eternity is going to be about. It's the main thing, and so when we think about that, I think it really gives us a trajectory for our worship, something to be working towards.
We don't often talk about our worship as like, "Hey, I need to work towards this." This is just something for me to enjoy. But I think it also has a forward-thinking trajectory. I want to jump over to Ginny over in Virginia. Ginny, we are talking about worship, the worship of God, specifically the blessing. That we have in Jesus Christ through our worship.
Hey, thanks for having having us on the call. You know, I was thinking about this as you're talking, and for me, I think a lot of worship is surrender because that sanctification process that goes on. You know, the more we surrender, the more we become like Christ. That's right. And worship is just a great way for us to express.
Our willingness to surrender, even if we're having a hard time doing it. Oh yeah, there's definitely a vulnerability to worship. There's absolutely a vulnerability. I mean, if you, you know, if you if you go into a worship setting and you've got your hands raised and your eyes are closed, there's a vulnerability that comes in there, and I think that's that's an interesting thing about it. I think that's one of the things that.
You know, as we are thinking about this, it's a way to, just like you said, to surrender to God. A lot of us think surrendering to God means I'm just going to change my plans. I'm gonna. I was going one way, now I'm going another way, and all right, God, I'm going to listen to you. We don't think about surrender in the sense of worship because worship is so inward focused.
It's all about me. It's about what I'm going to get from this. But it's also a sacrifice. It's a surrender. I mean, truly, that's what worship was in the Old Testament.
It was a sacrifice. It was an offering to God.
So also in the New Testament. Jenny, I appreciate you calling in. We've got a couple of more minutes on the show, but as we are wrapping up, I do want to just kind of build on that. That was something that Doctor Shaw has often said as well, is that in the in the Old Testament we tend to think about worship in one way, and then in the New Testament we think about it another way, right? Old Testament, we got the tabernacle, the temple, we got the priests, we got the sacrifices, the Psalms, and then in the New Testament, you know, we see something else, and that's not the case.
God's plan for worship has always been the same. It is the same in the Old Testament. It's the same in the New Testament. If I've ever learned one thing from Doctor Shaw's preaching, that's what it is. God has not changed, and I think it's interesting because when people think about New Testament worship, they're going to go straight to Revelation, and then you go to the Antichrist, the Mark of the Beast, the Tribulation, all that stuff into the world.
But worship is the center. Right worship is the key. Everything that we do, everything that we are driving towards, is forward thinking. And I think a lot of times we are so busy trying to figure out the timeline of what's going to happen in my life, where am I going with this? Where is all this headed towards?
We forget to worship in the here and now. Right? Warren Weirsbey said this. I heard this. Doctor Shaw said this one time, and he told me about this great book.
If the study of prophecy. Makes me want to argue instead of worship. There's something wrong with my studies. I think you can also say that for the study of theology, right? My business, my my life, my family.
If all that stuff makes me want to argue or makes me want to accomplish, makes me want to achieve instead of worshiping God, then there's something wrong with that. And so when we read about worship, when we think about worship. I think, especially in Revelation, it's almost like God is allowing us to peek behind the curtain. We're getting a glimpse of what's to come, and here's why that matters. When we start to begin what worship looks like in heaven, what God's ultimate fulfillment of worship is going to look like, it should change something about us.
It should transform the way that we worship here on earth. Right, John describes seeing this throne standing in heaven, and and on the throne is one who is seated. Right, and surrounding that throne is twenty four elders and and four living creatures. And what they're saying is, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is to come." Now we think there is going to be some when you hear a a scene like that that is almost fantastic. We want some hidden wisdom, some secret.
What's about to be? What's about to happen? What's going to come? This is more than my mind can fathom. They're saying something very simple that they've been saying for all of eternity, even back in the Old Testament: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come." One thing that we've been talking about on the Clearview Today Show is God's holiness, right?
How everything that we do ultimately that is. Driving towards that holiness. Our worship is no different. When we worship, what we're saying is, God, you're worthy. You're worthy to receive glory.
You're worthy to receive honor and power because you created all things, and by your will they exist. Not because I'm maintaining this creation, not because I'm doing a good job saving the earth and all this stuff. By your will they exist. By your will I can get out of bed in the morning. By your will I can get in my car and drive to church.
By your will. I'm here worshiping you, and I want you to notice this. Nobody in that scene is asking whether or not they like the music. Nobody in that throne room of heaven is saying, "Hey, is this too loud? Is anybody?
Are we gonna are we gonna run too long over service?" Hey, did somebody load the slides in ProPresenter? Nobody's saying all that. All the attention is directed toward God, who's seated on the throne. Why? Because He's worthy, and I really think that's where our worship on earth.
Need some examination. A lot of times, if we're truthful, we do not approach worship that way. We walk into church and our minds are a million miles away. It's on the fight that I just had with my wife in the car. It's on lunch, right?
The line beating the line to Cracker Barrel. It is about what happened at work on Friday that I haven't gotten over. It's about this argument that I just had in the car again. We are evaluating everything that's happening around us. You know, I don't like this song.
I wish they would do more hymns. I wish, golly, I wish they would sing something new. Or why is the music so loud? Has anybody gone back there and told them that music's too loud?
Well, I can't even hear the music over in this corner. And before we know it, we've spent the entire service thinking about ourselves.
Now, don't misunderstand me. I lead worship at my church every week, and we should work hard to make our services excellent, and understandable, and accessible to the congregation. That's how we at Clearview make Christ visible. That's very key for us. But excellence is not the same thing as worship.
It's a part of it, but it's not the same thing. You can have an incredibly talented team. You can have a beautiful auditorium. You can have a great sound system. You can have great theology.
And you can still miss the point, because worship is not about what happens on the platform. It's not about what happens in my car. It's not about what happens in my prayer closet. It's about God. It's about the God to whom we are directing our praise, and there are several things I think our worship needs.
First and foremost, we need a confrontation with the holiness of God. That's one. We need to remember who it is that we're approaching, and we're not just singing about a religious figure or or celebrating some historical person. We are worshiping a holy, eternal God who created the heavens and the earth. And when we truly understand that, we're like really, really lay aside all our preconceptions and understand that His holiness.
Right, that's who he is.
Something else starts to happen. We start to recognize our own sinfulness. Psalm twenty-four says that. It says, "Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place?" And the answer comes in verse four.
It says, "He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully." Now, I think a lot of times that's the reason we struggle with our worship because something else has taken God's place in our heart. And I'm not necessarily talking about someone bowing down before a golden statue, but our priorities, our careers, our possessions, our reputation, our ambition, our relationships, even our preferences. There are preferences in the church, the things of God, good things. They can become idols when we give them to a place that belongs to God alone. And I think a lot of times the reason our worship feels empty is not because the music is wrong; it's because our hearts are wrong.
Our hearts are not where they need to be, and that's not a comfortable thing to hear. But I think it's something we all need to consider. Listen, thank you for stopping into Truth Talk. I really, really appreciate all the people who called in eight six six three four Truth. We're going to see you next time.
Thank you again to Dr. Shaw and to Truth Network and to Stu Epperson for allowing us this opportunity. We love you.
