"He shall be the end of our desires who shall be seen without end, loved without cloy, praised without weariness." Augustine
What is Cloy?
CD Cloy - Have you ever bought a CD that is so awesome, uplifting and full of God's truth that you play it over and over again to the point were: "If I hear that song one more time..."?
Family Cloy - Have you ever spent so much time with your extended or immediate family that you get into each other's hair and can't wait to get away?
Brownie Cloy - Have you ever heard of someone (or done it yourself) eating a whole pan of yummy brownies by themselves and then throwing up or becoming sick of brownies?
Toy Cloy - Growing up, did you ever look forward to Christmas for that one toy that would end the need of toys? But then a week later it was in the toy box and you were desiring the next big thing.
CLOY - "to surfeit (overdo) with an excess usually of something orig. pleasing"
Have you ever had God cloy?
You know what I mean. How do you defeat it? How do we destroy cloy?
"Faith chooses the ultimate over the immediate, permanent joy over passing pleasure and thereby minimizes the magnetic pull toward cloy!"
Hebrews 11:23-28 - Moses
- Refused to please men
- Refused position/prominence
- Refused pleasure (temporary)
- Refused posessions
...for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.
"You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."
Psalm 16:11
Imagine spending eternity in perpetual worship. Never tiring of singing and praising Him. It's almost impossible to understand that because we are wired to get tired or sick of good things (even pleasurable things) that we do in excess.
Peter Hubbard - Notes: 28th AM service.
Every morning that breaks
There are mercies anew
Every breath that I take
Is your faithfulness proved
And at the end of each day
When my labors are through
I will sing of Your mercies anew
When I’ve fallen and strayed
There were mercies anew
For you sought me in love
And my heart you pursued
In the face of my sin
Lord, You never withdrew
So I sing of Your mercies anew
And Your mercies, they will never end
For ten thousand years they’ll remain
And when this world’s beauty has passed away
Your mercies will be unchanged
And when the storms swirl and rage
There are mercies anew
In affliction and pain
You will carry me through
And at the end of my days
When Your throne fills my view
I will sing of Your mercies anew
I will sing of Your mercies anew
“Mercies Anew” by Mark Altrogge and Bob Kauflin.
Do you ever wonder how God can put up with our feeble worship and fickle hearts?
Annie Dillard raises this question with her description of the humanness of our worship services.
“A high school stage play is more polished than this service we have been rehearsing since the year 1. In 2000 years, we have not worked out the kinks. We positively glorify them. Week after week we witness the same miracle: that God is so mighty He can stifle His own laughter. Week after week, we witness the same miracle: that God, for reasons unfathomable, refrains from blowing our dancing bear act to smithereens. Week after week, Christ washes the disciples’ dirty feet, handles their very toes, and repeats, ‘It is alright—believe it or not—to be people.’”
Yes, to be people, His people. People who are washed in the blood of Christ and focused on the promises of God! Man-centered worship will never impress God. Man-centered living will never keep us to the end. This message comes through not so loud, but quite clear in Hebrews 11:20-22. Three generations of patriarchs are described in these three short verses. Fallible, weak men who lived and died “by faith.” They are a real encouragement to keep at it!
I'm halfway to nothing
Walking this road, making my way
So tired of the running,
Why is every day as long as today?
Should I long for all I long for out loud?
Today I'm praying today's the day
You come split open the clouds
Chorus:
I'm ready to walk, I'm ready to run
I'm ready to find my way to the Son
To walk beside that glassy sea
Hands lifted up for eternity
I'm ready.
It's not that I'm unhappy
But nothing could ever compare to you
Forever stands waiting
A life stands beyond the one we dance through
Call me crazy, say my thoughts are strange
But I am crying, I am dying for something to change
Chorus
Bridge:
All eternity spent in worship alone
I can only imagine my eternal home
Chris Sligh - Ready Half Past Forever
"It's going to gleep so build a blurp to save your family"
By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
Hebrews 11:7
Imagine what it would have been like for God to come to Noah and ask him to build an ark because there was going to be a world wide flood. What in the world was an ark? What is rain and what is a flood? And he had to do this to save his family?
What would you do? - "It's going to gleep so build a blurp!" umm... sure...
This is where Faith steps in; it fills the gap between God's promise and His provision. The gap can be any amount of time and in Noah's case it was 120 years. For 120 years he built this blurp in his backyard and preached to friends and family about this gleep that was coming. Despite certain ridicule and incredulity, Noah was moved with godly fear.
What does godly fear look like today? It's actually easiest to look at the opposites first to better understand godly fear:
- skepticism - "we've never seen that before"
- hedonism - "we're having too much fun"
- optimism - "things will be different tomorrow"
What were the results of Noah's actions?
He and his family were saved from the gleep and "he condemned the world." How does that work? John 3:16-19 - Make sure that you read that passage and notice this important fact: Judgment and Salvation occur simultaneously! If there is a group of people playing in the sewers with all the lights off they don't know they are filthy, when someone turn on a flashlight they are condemned and their first reaction is to turn the flashlight off. Noah showed everyone that they were sinful and were going to die. He showed them that they were condemned.
So when God's Word has been spoken...
- Will I take it seriously?
- Will I work persistenly?
- Will I live different?
Summary of Peter Hubbard's - 7/31 Sunday AM sermon.