1 Sam 6:5, So you shall make likenesses of your tumors and likenesses of your mice that ravage the land, and you shall give glory to the God of Israel; perhaps He will ease His hand from you, your gods, and your land. 
	We are in consideration of how we are to acknowledge the fact that God, the Lord God Almighty, Jehovah, Yahweh, is the only true and living Lord God, Creator of all that exists! He is Eternal! He is Omniscient! He is Omnipresent! He is Omnipotent! He is so so so far beyond the comprehensive abilities of humanity. However, in His loving creation of mankind, He has instilled a need to know Him. 
	Sadly, as a result of the Fall in the Garden, we have tried to fill that need for divine fellowship and adoration with everything other than the true God. We have made idols out of substances found in the dirt, the muck, and the mire of our minds. We have put ourselves on the throne of our hearts in seeking after fame, wealth, power, and earthly adoration. Mankind will try to camouflage our vicious and insidious perversion after all that is Holy. 
We maliciously and blasphemously lump God into the category of fable, fiction, and countless religious and spiritualistic deities of imagination. He is considered simply as co-equal with any of the other gods that have been and are worshipped around the globe throughout the centuries. We may not deny that there could be a Supreme Being in the Heavens, but we prefer the various deities and idols that we can grasp with our hands and with our so-called enlightened minds. 
	The Psalmist, in Ps 115:1-8, highlights the exact folly of this whole setting aside of the truth of the One True God in exchange for the mere construction of humanities’ fruitless creations. Any thought of turning to a rock, or a carved piece of wood, or molded gold, wealth, fame, power, or anything other than the Lord God Jehovah will result in utter destruction and hopeless damnation.
	Ps 115:1-8, Not to us, O Lord, not to us, But to Thy name give glory Because of Thy lovingkindness, because of Thy truth. Why should the nations say, "Where, now, is their God?" But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases. Their idols are silver and gold, The work of man's hands. They have mouths, but they cannot speak; They have eyes, but they cannot see; They have ears, but they cannot hear; They have noses, but they cannot smell; They have hands, but they cannot feel; They have feet, but they cannot walk; They cannot make a sound with their throat. Those who make them will become like them, Everyone who trusts in them. 
	There will come that time when all mankind will have to deal with the truth of how each one, who turned away from the recognition and adoration and worship of The Lord God Almighty, will be facing the eternal and awful consequence of their folly. They will see that the trust they placed in the works and imaginations of their own hands and thoughts will be nothing but ash at their feet. They will be mute. They will blind. They will be deaf. They will be utterly appalled at how deceived they allowed themselves to be in the futility of their senseless seeking after earthly idols rather than delighting in the One Lord God Almighty.
	The Prophet Jeremiah, in Jer 3:11-14, gives voice to the very Words of God to the peoples of this earth. The Lord calls to us to turn from our faithlessness and our treacherous behavior and seek Him. We need to humble ourselves before Him and admit that we are endued with iniquity and sin and have transgressed against everything that God has put forth as Holy and Right and Pure and True. 
If we will turn from those wicked and deceptive ways and seek Him and call upon Him and believe upon Him and the free gift of His salvation given in Jesus Christ, He will be merciful and gracious and just to forgive our sins. He will lovingly bring us into His very family.
	Jer 3:11-14, And the Lord said to me, "Faithless Israel has proved herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. "Go, and proclaim these words toward the north and say, 'Return, faithless Israel,' declares the Lord; 'I will not look upon you in anger. For I am gracious,' declares the Lord; 'I will not be angry forever. 'Only acknowledge your iniquity, That you have transgressed against the Lord your God And have scattered your favors to the strangers under every green tree, And you have not obeyed My voice,' declares the Lord. 'Return, O faithless sons,' declares the Lord;' For I am a master to you, And I will take you one from a city and two from a family, And I will bring you to Zion.' 
	In the furtherance of this appeal, in beseeching all the people to humbly seek after the Only True Lord God Almighty, the prophet, in Jer 13:15-17, cried out to Israel, to us, to listen to God and to turn from wickedness. We can not hide away from God in our fortresses of pride or in our caves of self-pity, thinking that we can withstand the onslaught of the judgment of God. 
There is no salvation in any arena of human endeavor or effort. It is only found in the course of our obedient and reverent worship of God through Jesus, The Only Begotten of The Father. Anything else is a false and deceptive and futile choice of devastation and utter annihilation. Jehovah, through this prophet was pleading with the people to come to their senses and not be ensnared and captivated by all the nonsense and lies of this world order.
	Jer 13:15-17, Listen and give heed, do not be haughty, For the Lord has spoken. Give glory to the Lord your God, Before He brings darkness And before your feet stumble On the dusky mountains, And while you are hoping for light He makes it into deep darkness, And turns it into gloom. But if you will not listen to it, My soul will sob in secret for such pride; And my eyes will bitterly weep And flow down with tears, Because the flock of the Lord has been taken captive.  
	The Prophet Joel, in Joel 2:12-14, next gives voice to the Word of God which is imploring His people, and in truth, all humanity, to turn to Him and to seek Him and to pay homage to Him. The Lord presents the truth of Who He is and how He will respond to those whom He created when we return to Him with all our hearts and minds and beings.  
Joel 2:12-14, "Yet even now," declares the Lord, "Return to Me with all your heart, And with fasting, weeping, and mourning; And rend your heart and not your garments. "Now return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness, And relenting of evil. Who knows whether He will not turn and relent, And leave a blessing behind Him, Even a grain offering and a libation For the Lord your God? 
Notice how the Lord opens Himself to those who will listen and respond in obedience to the truth which this age tries to besmirch and taint. Now return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness, And relenting of evil. There is hope and salvation and grace and compassion and forgiveness and lovingkindness for those who will recognize and respond to the Word of the Lord and all the promises contained therein. 
However, the Prophet Malachi, in Mal 2:1+2, shares the consequences of what will absolutely be in place in the eternal hell that awaits those who willing allow themselves to be part of the deception of this age. Those who put forth and promote the lies will reap the results of that falsehood in measures beyond all comprehension. 
Mal 2:1+2, "And now, this commandment is for you, O priests. "If you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to give honor to My name," says the Lord of hosts, "then I will send the curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings; and indeed, I have cursed them already, because you are not taking it to heart. 
	There was a long period of time in which the Word of the Lord was not heard by man. Several centuries passed from the words spoken by Malachi until the eve of the manifest salvation of God on this earth that was heralded by the angelic hosts as recounted in Luke 2:10-14. The glory that was to be given to God by the whole of His creation was proclaimed to those shepherds by the angels on that tremendous eve of the birth of Jesus, the Only Begotten Son of God.
	Luke 2:10-14, And the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which shall be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. "And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths, and lying in a manger." And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased." 
	… Glory to God in the highest…. That was supposed to be the manifested chorus of mankind, joining in with the rest of the created universal praise and adoration of the Lord God Almighty! Such was even espoused by the Philistines in their ignorant handling of the Ark of the Covenant. They were aware that the God of Israel was a powerful God Who deserved some token praise and worship. Here, at the birth of the Lord Jesus, we have the angelic hosts broadcasting throughout the heavens the glory that is due to the Only True and Living Lord of all.
	Later, as Jesus was coming into Jerusalem, on the day we call Palm Sunday, as detailed in Luke 19:36-40, the week before He would be crucified, His disciples were giving glory to God. Sadly they were giving the glory on the basis of what they hoped Jesus would do for their earthly plight. They were crying out praises, but those praises were not like the praises of the angels who know the honor that God deserves. These crowds of humanity were yelling for the hope that Jesus would rescue them from their Roman bondage. Little did they understand that, in Jesus, there was an even greater eternal salvation at hand! 
Luke 19:36-40, And as He was going, they were spreading their garments in the road. And as He was now approaching, near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen, saying, "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord; Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" And some of the Pharisees in the multitude said to Him, "Teacher, rebuke Your disciples." And He answered and said, "I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!" 
	In declaring this triumphant reality of the work of Jesus, the Apostle Paul, in Rom 14:10-12, highlighted what is cemented into place for all of eternity in the crucifixion, the resurrection, and the glorification of The Only Begotten Son of God. Every single man, woman, and child will be brought face to face with Jesus. There will that day in which each one of us will be witness to the grandeur of God personified in His glorious presence. On that day everyone will be giving praise to God for the great love with which He has so loved us. 
	Rom 14:10-12, But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written, "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall give praise to God." So then each one of us shall give account of himself to God. 
	That day of the revealed essence of God’s freely offered gift of salvation is longed for, with all joy by those who willingly offered up our lives unto God, accepting that salvation and being indwelled by the Holy Spirit. It will be a glorious day of the fulfillment of His so tremendous redemption and the evidenced subsequent adoption of all the saints into His very family. There will be a swelling of eternal adoration unto God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit which will never cease for all the ages upon ages upon ages of eternity! 
However, for those, who refused to acknowledge the Son of God and the salvation that He is, that day will be one of the acknowledgement that they were wrong and deceived! They will be utterly devastated! They will offer their praise to the truth of Christ and His Lordship. They will praise the fact that He had opened the way of salvation for all who would accept Him. 
But, they will also be so aghast at the futility of the gods that they chose rather to worship. Their praise will be tinged with the defeated resignation of a vanquished and conquered people with no more hope. They will be faced with the reality of an eternity in hell. While praising God for what could have been their eternal rejoicing, they will be staggered and horror-struck at the unfolding shock of their endless and terrible damnation.
As the Apostle further details, in Phil 2:5-11, Jesus will be universally recognized and glorified as the only way of the salvation of humanity. He will be praised and lauded by every person for how He gave up everything for the sake of becoming the Incarnate Love of God for all those who would set their faith and their hope and their belief in Him. 
As we do so, we learn to live by Him. Our manner of dealing with one another reflects His heart and His love more and more perfectly in our complete surrender to His will in our lives.
Phil 2:5-11, Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 
	The culmination of this brief study is detailed for us in Rev 14:6+7. Here we have the end of time at hand as everything comes into fruition. The eternal plan and purpose of God will be opened as the angelic hosts once again make the proclamation that all are to give God the glory for the great work that He has done. Just as those angels brought the declaration of the glory of God to man at the birth of Christ, so too will they herald the fact that the end of time, as we know it, will show how fully and completely God has made His creation to reveal and to declare His glory and His praise through the expressed majesty and magnitude of His so great Love. 
	Rev 14:6+7, And I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people; and he said with a loud voice, "Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters." So be it and Amen!
This morning’s benediction is Ps 9:9+10. The Lord also will be a stronghold for the oppressed, A stronghold in times of trouble, And those who know Thy name will put their trust in Thee; For Thou, O Lord, hast not forsaken those who seek Thee. Amen.