in chapter 7. I've entitled the message this evening, Formalism or Fervency, and we'll see the reason for that as we get into the message this evening. December 7th is a significant day in U.S. history. We just yesterday remembered the time that Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, December 7th, 1941, which led us to enter World War II. But December 7th was a significant day in the life of Zechariah. According to Zechariah 7 and verse 1, something happened in the fourth year of King Darius and in the fourth day of the ninth month. That would have been the fourth day of the ninth month would have corresponded to our December 7th. It was 518 BC and the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on that day because two men who were among the remnant who had returned from Babylon The fact of their name, Sherezer and Regimelik, or Melik, their name suggests that they were, those are Gentile names, Babylonian names would suggest that they were part of the captivity that had returned. They come to, it says, with their men, that is with others that were with them, and they come to the temple to worship the Lord and to seek clarification about a matter related to their worship. come to pray before the Lord, it tells us, and to speak unto the priests, which were in the house of the Lord of hosts, and to the prophets, the prophets probably referring to Haggai and Zechariah there. They had a question about their worship, and they came to those who were supposed to be the teachers of the law, and the ones who could clarify questions about what the law said. But the question that they ask is, should we weep in the fifth month, separating myself as I have done these so many years, for 70 years during that captivity, they had been fasting and weeping on the fifth month. Now, you might ask the question, why were they weeping and fasting on the fifth month? Well, it's a good question. The fifth month was when the Babylonians destroyed the temple. Now what's going on in the days of Zechariah? What's the backdrop for the book of Zechariah and Haggai? They're rebuilding the temple. Matter of fact, this is about, it took them four years to rebuild the temple. This occurs kind of in between, right about the two year point. So the temple is not complete, but there's a lot of it is there. And they're rebuilding it, but they're still fasting and weeping. from the time that the temple was destroyed. In Jeremiah 52, we read in the fifth month, in the 10th day of the month, the 19th year of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, that Nebuchadnezzar, who is captain of his guard, came into Jerusalem and burned the house of the Lord, the temple, and the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and all the houses of the great men he burned with fire, and they broke down the walls of Jerusalem round about. they're fasting in remembrance of the day that the temple was destroyed. There were actually four days that they fasted. If you'll look over in chapter 8 and look at verse 19, it says there, the Lord says, the fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth month, and the fast of the seventh month, and the fast of the tenth month. These four fasts all related to something that had happened when the Babylonians had come and captured them. So in the fourth month, Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians. That was like the final thing. And then in the fifth month, the temple was destroyed. In the seventh month, Gedaliah was slain by Ishmael. Now Gedaliah was when the people were carried away captive. Nebuchadnezzar, somebody's got to be in charge over Israel, over the land and the people. There was a remnant that were left. Nebuchadnezzar left the poorest of the people to continue to dwell there. Jeremiah stayed, a few others stayed, and there were some that had escaped. and fled into the hills around Judea. And so there's a remnant that's there. Somebody's got to govern them. And so Nebuchadnezzar put this man, Gedaliah, made him governor over Jerusalem and Judah, over the people. But Ishmael, who was a descendant of the king, he was not the one who had been in line for the throne, but he was one of the king's sons. So he's from the line of David. He's not happy. that the kingdom is no longer in the hands of the family of David, that this man Gedaliah has been appointed by Nebuchadnezzar, doesn't really, Ishmael feels like he's a usurper, and so he comes and he assassinates Gedaliah. That happened in the seventh month. So they fasted in the fourth month, to remember the fall of the city of Jerusalem, they fasted in the fifth month, to remember the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. They fasted on the seventh month to remember the slaying of Gedoliah, the assassination of Gedoliah. And they fasted in the 10th month because that's when the Babylonians began their siege of Jerusalem. Took two years for the city to fall once the Babylonians surrounded the city of Jerusalem until finally the famine became so great that people tried to run away. the Babylonians were able to break down the walls and invade the city and took the people captive. So all of this, all these fasts pertain to the Babylonian armies coming and destroying the city and carrying away the people and even the slaying of Gedoliah. So they're coming and they're asking, do we need to continue this fast? Now, we're back in the land. the temple is being rebuilt, do we need to continue doing this? But we also need to understand the spirit in which they are saying this. When they come and they ask, do we, should I weep, going back to chapter 7 verse 3, should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, I have done these so many years, The question could be asked like this, do I have to keep doing this? We're tired of this. We've been fast for 70 years. We've been doing this and we're frankly tired of it. We don't enjoy it. Can we just stop? Do we have to keep doing this? What does the Lord say? Must we keep on doing this? That's the heart of the people as they ask that question. It's not just, well, should we do this? But, you know, we're tired of this. We don't want to keep doing this. Do we have to do this? well understand that first of all they had chosen to do this God did not tell them to fast and weep in the fourth month, or the fifth month, or the seventh month. None of these. God only required one day of fasting for the nation of Israel. That was the Day of Atonement. He did not ask them to do any of this. They chose to do this. Now they're saying, do we have to keep doing this? But it's something that they had decided to do, they had chosen to do. It wasn't something that God had asked them to do. He didn't require this of them. And then God answers them by asking them a question. In verse four, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah and said, Zechariah, here's what you need to say to the people and to the priests, note that. It wasn't just the people. You know, these men, Sherezer and Regem Melech, they're speaking for the people. We're all tired of this. And unfortunately, not only were they tired of it, but the priests were as well. And so the Lord through Zacharias says not only to the people, but also to the priests, well, let me ask you a question. When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and the seventh month during those 70 years, were you fasting to me, even to me? I mean, you did this, but was it really something that you were doing for me, or were you doing it for yourself? And when you ate and drank, did you not eat and drink for yourselves? Was this all about, Worshipping me or was this about you? What was your motivation for doing this? And then he turns around and says, but wait a minute, let me remind you of something else. Should you not, verse seven, hear the words which the Lord hath cried by the former prophets when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity and the cities thereof round about her when men inhabited the south and the plain. He said, you know, this whole thing with Babylon, why did it happen? the prophets had come and they had preached to the people, repent, because the people were not being obedient to God. They were worshiping idols. They were oppressing one another. They were, all kinds of sin and wickedness going on. The prophets, the preachers were preaching against it and the people were not listening. And as a result of that, because they would not obey God, they would not repent of their sin under the preaching of the former prophets. then God had to bring the Babylonians as his instrument of punishment for them. And he said, you know, what would be better than all this fasting and mourning? Would have been if you'd just been obedient in the first place. And even now, the reason that God is saying, reminding them of that is because they're in the danger of the same thing. Now, after the Babylonian captivity, they didn't have to, they didn't deal with idolatry anymore. They didn't worship idols anymore. But they were not always obedient to the law. They didn't always do what they should have done. And so the message for them is, first of all, I didn't ask you to do this, and when you did it, why were you doing it? And let's remember that the most important thing is obedience. And then he reminds them, beginning in verse 8, the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah and says, and this is what he was saying through the former prophets and he reminds them again, execute true judgment, show mercy and compassion every man to his brother, oppress not the widow nor the fatherless, the stranger nor the poor, and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart. And they, that is your forefathers, refused to listen. They pulled away their shoulder, they stopped their ears, they wouldn't hear. And so God says, when they called to me, I didn't hear them. They wouldn't hear me, so I didn't hear them. And instead I scattered them with a whirlwind among the nations. And they were carried away into captivity. And so God is saying, why are you doing this? And it would be better if you obeyed. Now, with that background, that understanding, let's think tonight about how this might relate to us. I wanna just make some application tonight with that understanding of what's being said in chapter seven. What about us today? How does this relate to us today? What can we take away from this? What do we need to think about in regards to this, in response to this? And I think that what I would like to stress tonight is we need to evaluate our worship of God. We might come like these men and the priests and say, do we have to keep doing, and you fill in the blank. But here's the danger, let me give you three dangers that we face in our worship and service of God. The first would be what I'm gonna call humanistic worship. And that was a part of their problem is the first, really the first issue is humanistic worship. They were struggling in their heart with things that God had not commanded, okay? They're tired of doing this. But God didn't ask them to do it. They chose to do it. And now they're tired of it. But it was humanistic worship. It was something they came up with. And it reminds us tonight that we have to be careful ourselves of humanistic worship. On the one hand, judging or being critical of other believers when they don't do things that we do or think we ought to do, but they weren't actually commanded by God. You're here tonight, we have a Sunday night service. A lot of churches don't have Sunday night services anymore. They're liberal, they're worldly, right? Because they don't have a Sunday night service. Well, maybe, but where in the Bible does it say thou shalt have Sunday school at 9.30 and so a morning service at 10.30 and the evening service at six and a Wednesday night service at, where is that in the Bible? It's not there. Now, I'm not suggesting and I'm not planning to cancel our Sunday night service or our Wednesday night service, I'm not saying that. All I'm saying is, you know, we can look at others who don't do what we do and say, well, they're not very spiritual, they're very worldly because they don't do what we do. And all that we're doing is not something that God specifically commanded us to do. Now, he commanded us to not forsake the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching, yes. But how we do that really is left somewhat up to us. And so if a church chooses not to do it the same way we do, does that make them wrong? Not necessarily. The question would always be why? A church that used to have a Sunday night service that doesn't have one anymore, why don't they have it? But that goes back to what really is spirituality. because we tend even to measure our own spirituality or the spirituality of others on the basis of sometimes lists that we have made up or things that we do, that we have decided this is the way we wanna fulfill the commands of God, but we wanna do it in this way, and we think, you know, because if I come Sunday school, Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday, I'm here every time the doors are open. I'm spiritual, because I'm here. Well, you can be here every time the doors are open and come, even when they're not, then not be spiritual. You can read your Bible every day and not be spiritual. Because spirituality is not measured by what we do. It's measured by our walk with the Lord. And really, you know, when he's talking about what God expects of them, executing true judgment, showing mercy and compassion, not oppressing others, and not imagining evil against others, Spirituality is being like Jesus Christ. The fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. That's a better way to measure our spirituality than whether we go to church four times a week. Are we like Christ? And not just when we come to church, because it's easy to put on our church demeanor and come in and be all spiritual and then go out of here Monday through Saturday we're like little devils or whatever, but we're not godly, we're not Christ-like in the way that we relate to other people. But we tend to be humanistic in our thinking about our worship and service. The Lord said in Matthew 15 about the the people of Israel in his day, and particularly the Pharisees, but he called them hypocrites. And he said, Well, did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, This people draw nigh unto me with their mouth, and honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. And so in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. And we can be guilty of honoring God with our lips, but having a heart that's far from him, but teaching as doctrine, as if it's gospel truth, what really is just what we have decided to do. you know, suits, wearing suits to church. Now, I think that we ought to dress appropriately for church, but wearing a coat and tie, is that required? Is that in the Bible that you have to wear a coat and tie to church? Well, no. Again, there is something, there is what's appropriate. I don't Many of you, like me, are trouble. We see all these people run around in their pajamas everywhere. I don't think that's what God would like for us to do. It's not appropriate, and certainly not coming to church in your pajamas is not appropriate. But if somebody comes, we're not gonna turn them away. We want them to hear the word. But even wearing coat and tie, that's cultural. You realize that, right? I mean, there was a day when a guy, if he's a painter, he wore a tie to work. If he worked in a factory, he wore a tie to work. It's just what we did. But we have carried it over now, today, where it's like, you know, if you don't wear a coat and tie to church, you're not very spiritual, you're worldly. Well, and then we take that and even missionaries go into the mission field and they're trying to make people in other countries conform to a cultural standard that we have developed as if this was gospel and if you don't do this, you're not honoring God. And I hope I'm not offending you tonight, it's not my purpose. And again, I'm not changing anything, although I might get rid of this if I could, but we do on Wednesday nights. But anyway, I'm not trying to change or suggesting we're going to change anything. And you need to do what your conscience says before God is right, but I just would caution us, let's be careful that, number one, we don't evaluate our own spirituality by outward things, the things that we do, and we, especially when we're talking about things that God hasn't specifically commanded, just the way that we do things We're trying to honor God, but we have come up with this list of do's and don'ts, and we measure ourselves or others based upon that list that is not God's list, it's our list. So, we have to be careful about that. I like what one writer said, he said, men are always looking for rules. We like our lists. Just tell me what I should do and what I shouldn't do, and I'll just live my life that way as a Christian. I'll do all the things I'm supposed to do and don't do all the things I'm not supposed to, and that's great, and that's the Christian life. Men are always looking for rules, but God gives them principles whereby they can conduct their lives under the Spirit's direction. It is the child who needs everything spelled out for them. Tell me what to do. Give me the list and I'll live by it. That's childishness. That's spiritual immaturity. The mature believer is walking under the leadership of the Spirit of God. He has an ability from the Spirit of God and using the Word of God to evaluate choices and things and make his own decisions. That's the goal for all of us as believers is not that somebody just tell me what to do and I'll do it, but that I learn how to walk with God so that the Spirit of God is teaching me how to live my life and what I can do and I can't do and what's acceptable to God and what's not and what God wants me to do And I don't have to feel guilty if I'm following the Spirit of God, even if in following the Spirit of God, it goes against what people who claim to be spiritual say I must do. And I don't follow their list, but I'm following the Spirit of God. and I need the freedom to be able to do that and the ability to be able to do that. I mean, that's what the writer of Hebrews is saying in Hebrews, what is it, I'm pulling this off the top of my head, but in Hebrews chapter, is it chapter five? Let's see if I can run this right quick. Yeah, so the writer Hebrews is talking about the fact he says I have many things to say that are hard to be uttered because you're dull of hearing Hebrews 5 and verse 11 to verse 12 when the time you ought to be teachers you have one that you have need that one teach you again. The first principles of the oracles of God, you have become such as need of milk and not of strong meat. For everyone that uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness he's obeyed. But strong meat belongs to those who are full age, who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. They don't need somebody spoon feeding them. They have the spirit of God, they have grown and they know how to discern what's right and what's wrong without somebody trying to tell them everything. Do I need to keep doing this fasting thing that we've been doing? Well, what does God say? And he asks the question, why are you doing it? And that's more to the point, really, to move on to the second question is, or the concern is, not only are we in danger of being humanistic in our worship, but we can also practice heartless worship. Again, they're doing what they, you know, they made the list, fast on the 4th and the 5th and the 7th and the 10th, and they're doing it, but their heart's not in it. They're not doing it out of love for God. They're not doing it from a genuine heart of mourning over the sin that caused the Babylonians to come and do all that damage and lead all those people astray. They're not doing it out of a heart for God. They're just going through the motions. They just keep doing these things that they think they ought to be doing. And that's why I entitled the message, Formalism, or fervency, their worship was formal. There was no fervency. There was no heart for God in it. They were just doing it. And that's why the Lord asks them, you know, when you ate and drank, did you do it for yourselves? And when you fasted, did you do it for me or did you do it for yourself? And we have to ask ourselves the question, what is our motivation for worshiping and serving the Lord? Well, it's my duty. I must do this. Now, I will say this, you know, the Bible says that Jesus said, if you love me, keep my commandments. And there are times when we do what we know God wants us to do. I may not feel like it, So when you talk about feelings or fervency, it's not necessarily that I just have all this warm, fuzzy feeling about what I'm doing, but I do it because I know it's what God wants me to do and I want to honor him, so I do it. And even though I may not feel like it, but I do it anyway because I believe it's what God wants me to do, I'm doing it with a heart for God. But if my attitude is, I must do this, What happens is my worship and my service becomes drudgery. I hate it. I mean, that's that's them. They're coming. Do we have to continue doing this? We hate this. We don't want to do this anymore. Why do we have to do this? Well, it becomes drudgery. when you're doing it just because you feel like I gotta do it, and a lot of times, again, going back to the humanistic words, I do it because I think this is what everybody else expects me to do, and if I don't do it, what are they gonna say about me, so I need to do this, or what are they gonna think about me, and then all of a sudden, I'm doing it, but I hate it. I don't wanna do this, but I gotta do it. And by the way, that leads to bitterness. And the Bible talks about that the heart of bitterness can infect not only us, but others. Nor is it pleasing to God. God is not, doesn't delight in what we do out of a sense of duty. In 2 Corinthians 9 and verse 7, in the matter of giving, Paul writes, every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly or of necessity. God loves a cheerful giver. God loves what we give out of love for him, not what we give because we feel like I have to, not a necessity, or I don't want to do this, particularly when it comes to giving. You know, I'd rather spend this money on you fill in the blank that I could have for myself, but I feel like I got to give it to God. So I'm going to give it to the church. I'm going to give it to God, but I don't really want to do this. I just feel like I have to do this. God says you'd be better off not doing it. Because you're not getting any benefit out of it. You're not getting any pleasure out of it. You're not pleasing God. God doesn't delight in that kind of service either. So, God doesn't want our heartless worship. And I would just note here, if you're doing what you ought to do, but you don't have a heart for it, there's something wrong with your heart. And we've all been there. You know, you may be there tonight, you know, in your heart, there's things you're doing, because you think this, this is what you ought to do for God, but you don't want to do it. Maybe you're doing it, because what are people going to think? You don't want to do it. But if it's something that you ought to do, not talking here about the man made list, but what God says you ought to do, but you just don't have the heart for it. then there's something wrong with your heart. Again, what do men think of me? Jesus said, don't do your alms to be seen of men or otherwise you have your reward. There's no reward from God for that. When you pray, don't pray like the hypocrites who stand in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets to be seen of men. They have their reward. And let me suggest this tonight. If the concern of what others think ever enters into your decisions, about worshiping and serving the Lord, if that's ever the question is what will people say, then that's a red flag that my thinking is all wrong and my heart is all wrong. It's not about what other people are gonna say, it's about what God wants me to do. And if I'm ever just doing it because what will people think if I don't, that's not right, that's wrong. Unless, I will say, perhaps, a weaker brother who doesn't understand, and I'm doing it, but I'm still doing it for God, because he has taught me not to offend a weaker brother, and I may do something that I don't have to do. I have liberty in Christ not to do it, but if I don't do it, that weaker brother might stumble and fall, and so I'm gonna do something I don't have to do, for the sake of others because I know that's what God wants me to do. Does that make sense to you? You understand what I'm saying? But otherwise I have to be careful. If I'm worried about what are people gonna say about me, what are they gonna think about me if I do or if I don't, that's the wrong question to ask. The only question I have to ask is what does God say? What will God think? What does God want? That's all that should matter to us. And I ought to serve God with a heart for God. Again, Jesus said, if you love me, keep my commandments. Then it also enters into, as we come to worship God, particularly as we come to church, where is your heart when you worship the Lord? We often offer vain words to God, empty words to God. It's a danger for us as pastors and anybody who leads in prayer. You know, our prayers should be genuine prayers to God, but it is easy. We've all fallen into this. It's time to pray. Let's pray. And you're not really even thinking about God. And we have to direct our thoughts toward God. We sing the words of hymns that we don't really mean. We're singing lies. You know, as I said, Christians only lie, they don't lie except at church. And we sing hymns that have words that we don't, we sing them but we don't mean them. That's why, you know, from time to time we try to emphasize the words of hymns that we sing. and why we have to continue to direct our heart to the things that we're doing. Whether it's praying, I need to remind myself, at least in my heart, that this is supposed to be genuinely talking to God. When I'm singing, I need to think about what I'm singing. I need to pay attention to the words that I'm singing and not just sing them. I've sung these all my life and I can sing them without thinking. But that's not what we're supposed to do. We're not supposed to sing without engaging our mind in what we're singing. Or we get distracted. We live in a video age. It's hard to stay focused. I was reading, I'm reading, I read a lot of things, but I'm reading right now a little biography about Augustine. And he was influenced by a man named Ambrose in Milan, Italy. but Ambrose preached three hour sermons. Can you imagine sitting for three hours and listening to somebody preach? We have a hard time sitting and listening and staying engaged for 30 minutes or 40 minutes. But what happens, I mean, and it happens. Our minds get distracted. And if it's the Spirit of God that distracts you, praise the Lord. If I'm up here preaching and I say something and the Spirit of God takes that in your mind and runs with it and you're not focused on the message anymore because God's Spirit is speaking to you and teaching you something else, the path that He takes you down from the Word, great, go to it, praise the Lord. But sometimes that's not what it is, it's, well, who's playing football tonight? I got a meeting in the morning and I need to, I got to do a little more preparation for it or, you know, we're going out to eat afterwards. Where are we going to eat? We get distracted. And so we have to keep reigning in our minds. I have to bring my mind back. It happens. Okay, but I need to redirect my thinking. Get back in, think about what's being said. Think about the message. Think about the words of the hymn. I have to keep bringing my heart back. Bringing every thought into obedience to the captivity of Christ. Bringing every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. 2 Corinthians 10 and verse five. I would suggest to you, particularly when you're coming to church, prepare your heart for worship. Try to, I know it can be difficult on Sunday mornings, you're trying to get ready to get out the door and get to church on time, but try to get up early enough to get a little bit of time at least in the word and prayer before you come to church. Limit the input of things of the world when you're coming to church. Maybe don't, you can wait on the news till later. You don't have to read the paper or watch the news in the morning when you're getting ready. Instead, if you wanted something on, turn on some preaching or some Christian music that will prepare your heart for worship instead of distracting you from worship. And again, just keep engaging your mind as you're worshiping God. But God doesn't want our heartless worship. And we have to be aware of that humanistic worship. And then there's the last one. And that would be hypocritical worship. Because again, they're fasting on these four months, different months. They only ask the question about the one, but they were fasting in all these different months. But God says, but there's a problem. Let's get to the root of the matter. It's not your worship, it's not your, It's not your fasting coming to the temple. But the problem is, there's no obedience to go with it. What I would rather have more than your worship is your obedience. And so they're warned like their fathers before them about trying to worship God while living disobediently. God wants our obedience more than he wants our worship or our service. Saul had disobeyed the Lord and not slaughtering all the Amalekites and all their livestock. And the Lord sent Samuel to rebuke him. And you know, when Samuel hears the bleeding of the sheep and Saul says, we have obeyed the Lord. And Samuel says, but what did I hear the bleeding of the sheep? What's that about? And he said, well, the people have saved the best to sacrifice to God. They wanted to worship God. So they saved the best to do that. And Samuel said to Saul, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. You see, God is more concerned and would rather that you be Christ-like out there Monday through Saturday than that you would come in here and sing and give and pray and listen to preaching. It does no good, it is of no value to him or you if you come in here to try and worship God with others when you are being disobedient and unlike Christ during the week. And I'm not talking about the fact that we all, we don't do it perfectly. But when I just, I know that I'm not doing right. And that's why he says to them, you know, execute true judgment and show mercy and compassion to your brothers, and don't oppress the widows, or the fatherless, or the strangers, or the poor. Don't imagine evil in your heart toward one another. Live like Christ during the week. And then when you come in to worship Him, He's pleased. But if you're not trying to live like Him during the week, you can come in and worship God, and sing, and act holy, and act spiritual all you want to. If you're not fooling God, you're a hypocrite. How we live impacts our worship. If we view or listen to immorality during the week or dwell on sinful thoughts like lust and greed and covetousness. If we're rude toward others at work or in the store or on the road, maybe abusive towards your family members or refusing to help others that you see who have a need and you can help them but you refuse to do that. Those are the kinds of things that God wants, the fruit of the Spirit, the likeness to Jesus Christ in our relationships. God is more pleased with living Christ-like Monday through Saturday than He is with our worship on Sunday. Now He wants our worship on Sunday, but what He really wants is for us to go out and live in the world like Him. I thought about this as an illustration of this hypocrisy. I had a family member who liked country music. And on Saturday evenings, there was a country music show. It wasn't hee-haw. It was kind of like that. I was staying at their house one Saturday night. They watched this country western show. And what is most country western music about? It's about carousing. and drunkenness, I mean, it is. I know there are some that's not that, but so much of it, that's what it's all about. Or worldliness. But you, you know, listen to the, the whole program is, you know, all this other country western music, and then at the very end, they sing a hymn. As if somehow, I mean, it's Saturday night, we're going to church. Because that's what we do on Sundays, we go to church. And if you don't think so, let me take you back to Mississippi. where every Friday night during the fall, everybody goes to the high school football game. On Saturday, they go to the college football game, and on Sunday, they go to church. It's all part of the culture. But, you know, so we're talking about all the simple stuff, and then all of a sudden, we turn. Now, let's get ready for church, and let's sing a hymn so we can go to church tomorrow with that hymn on our minds and in our hearts, and no, it doesn't work. You can't fill your heart and mind with all the stuff of the world and all the wickedness and then come in and worship God as if everything is OK. That was the danger for them, and that's why God reminds them. Hey. This is what I really want. I want your obedience. I want you to be Christ like in your relationships and then come and worship me and I'll be pleased with your worship. So we have to evaluate our worship. We have to watch out for that humanistic worship, whether it's evaluating our own worship or others based upon externals, things that even by way of application we have decided to do to fulfill a command of God, but we have to be careful that we don't think because we do these things we're spiritual or think others are not because they don't do our list. We have to be careful about just going through the motions with no real heart for God. We have to be careful. about trying to worship God when we're not trying to be like Christ every day. And as God reveals to us problems with our worship, what is the answer? Well, he said to them about their fathers, they refused to listen. They stopped their ears, pulled away their shoulder that they wouldn't hear. They made their hearts as an adamant stone. They wouldn't repent. So when God shows us a problem with our personal worship, what do we do? We need to repent. In Joel 2, 12, and 13, the Lord said to his people, turn you even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and weeping, and mourning, and rend your heart, and not your garments. Turn unto the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentant to him of the evil. God says, do it right. turn to him and seek to worship God with a true heart and serve God with a true heart. Let's stand together for prayer. Father, we thank you for the challenges that we find in your word, such as we have seen tonight in this text. We're all guilty at times of these things. Help us to see it, to recognize it, and to turn from it, Lord, not to be settled in it and just to continue to try and worship you in a way that is not pleasing to you, doesn't honor you, but to worship you with a true heart. A heart that is right with you, a heart that loves you and wants to please you and only you in the things that we do. And we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.