Sermon Transcript — May 22, 2004
I would like to take this afternoon to explore an area that you may not be mindful of and need to be focusing in on in light of some of the scriptural admonitions that we find in the word of God. In Isaiah 58 and verse 1, we're reminded that the job of the ordained ministry is to cry aloud and spare not and to show my people their sin and transgression. Now, what that has reference to is that the job of the minister - it say it in such a way, to make it crystal clear what the people need to do to make transformation in their life. It does not say, cry aloud and beat the people down. That's not what it said. It says, Cry aloud and show them. In other words, these are things that the people need to see and people don't necessarily recognize that they could be in error or in some way disobeying and causing transgression and, therefore, the job of the ministry is to focus in and to help the people so that they can repent and the goodness of God would lead them to repentance in whatever needs that need to be done.
Well, when we study the scriptures, we find in John chapter 4 and verse 23 if you will turn there please we'll begin this afternoon here. In John chapter 4 verse 23 Jesus has an encounter with a Samaritan woman, this is the woman at the well. And she begins to perceive that there's something about Him that is unique and different and that possibly He is the prophet that the scripture talks about. She had heard about these things. She had been informed basically from a Samaritan, but there was a mix of understanding. And Jesus comes to her and asks this question in verse 21. He says to her,
John. 4:21 - "Woman, believe Me, the hour comes when you shall neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father.
Verse 22 - "You worship you know not what; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.
Now that's a very powerful statement from Jesus Christ because what it is saying loud and clear is that the salvation not only of the Jewish people, but the salvation as the scriptures clearly show of ultimately all mankind depends on the One who became the Messiah, Jesus the Christ. He was a Jew, of the tribe of Judah, so He is a Jewish Messiah and that's who we are worshipping. We are not worshipping a Christian messiah. Christian messiah ideas are something that have stemmed out of the West of the gentile type of Christianity that came after the early New Testament church began. The church started out basically being Jewish in constituency. Later, gentiles were added to it which merely meant God brought in others from other nations such as we have the account of Cornelius in his conversion and this was something of a revelation to Peter when he had his vision. Some people think that has to do with eating unclean food, but Peter makes it very clear, "God has shown me I should call no person common or unclean, that God now accepts all people through Jesus Christ." This is how it is now done. In the Old Testament it wasn't done that way. It was a separation from the world and so the world was viewed as unclean and the Israelites and then ultimately the Jewish nation became the custodians of the word of God. And the prophet who was to come like Moses, came from Judah, who was Christ Jesus. Now He began to explain His mission, His purpose. And He came to show that He was the One who gave that Old Testament explanation of the Torah. He is the one that was the great 'I AM that I AM' and they took very great exception when He said He was that very individual and they did not want to buy into that fact that He was the Messiah because the leadership of that day had a different agenda. They were not promoting the truth of God. They had their own ideas. They were working in harmony and in cohorts with the Roman leadership of that time. But Jesus became the focus and here He said that when it comes to the subject of worship, you and I need to understand something. He says,
Verse 22 last part - ...for salvation is of the Jews.
Verse 23 - But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers... the true worshippers ...shall worship the Father... He came to reveal the Father. We are told that in Matthew 11 and verse 27 that He came to reveal the Father to whomsoever He was going to do that to. Originally He did it with His disciples. Later, others came on line.
Not everyone at this time has been able to grasp and comprehend what actually is being said in this scripture simply because of a very important thing that has been forgotten. The Bible was written from a cultural point of view of that day and age and when we try to read in our day and age of the 21st century the things that we find written here in scripture, many times the wrong result comes forth in our thinking and the result of that is that it causes confusion in the minds of people today. They are not sure just what it is that the Bible is saying. But the scripture is very clear. Jesus said, it cannot be broken and those ...that do worship God must worship Him in spirit and truth.
John 17:17 - ...thy word is truth.
So the word of God is plainly used as the basis for understanding about God and He reveals Himself in that very important scripture where it shows right here in verse 24 that
Jn. 4:24 - God is Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
So you and I are here today to worship God in spirit and in truth. The focus is on the Father. We know that our goal is to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things would be added as Christ said they would. Now the world is going to discover this in the process of time, but there are too many prophecies that indicate that the nations - the gentiles as a whole - do not know God at this time. This is why He even told this Samaritan woman, He said, 'You don't know who you worship (verse 22). You think you do.' And today there are many sincere, well meaning people who go to their church of their choice and they think they know who they worship. And Jesus is still saying in this 21st century, 'You still don't know who you are worshipping,' because they have mixed too many false and corrupted ideas into their sincere, genuine desire to want to know what the word of God says. And that is where the danger is and this is why the scripture says that the Devil has been so successful because he has deceived the whole world. He has mixed things in such a way that he gives them a portion of what the scripture says, mixes it with other things and when you get this together, you come up with a false concept.
The apostle Peter brought this out very clearly when he addressed the apostle, Paul, who was Saul of Tarsus prior to his conversion. Now Paul, as he later became one of the great apostles born out of due season, wrote thirteen books accredited to him as one of the greatest of the servants of God. And what was he? He was a rabbinical teacher. He was a Rabbi. He was a Pharisee of Pharisees, a student of the law, he was a protégé of Gamaliel. He was one who was bilingual, multilingual. He knew the scriptures from the biblical point of view probably better than most individuals. He was not like Peter. Peter was a fisherman. But that wasn't what Paul was. He was much more adroit in the learning of scripture. He knew what it said - or he thought he did. And then he went after the church of God in its beginning stages, hammer and tong. His focus was wrong until God brought his focus into bearing on the road to Damascus. Once he discovers who he was involved with, then he begins to start explaining things from a rabbinical point of view, as a rabbi, but now with the spirit of God - the way it was intended to be. This is why Peter now comes in his epistle and he says, Brother Paul has written many things hard to be understood (2 Pet. 3:15-16). Why? Because he was up here in his learning capacity. You and I are down here. We just don't have a clue as to how he writes. If you try to diagram a sentence in the book of Romans of the Apostle Paul, you go crazy. He fills it in with so much detail, he is so full of the subject he overwhelms you. And that's why Peter said it is hard to be understood, but they that wrest and twist the scripture, who are unlearned in the scripture - they take what he says and they yank it out of context. And once you do that, bingo! You're in trouble. You come up with all kinds of crazy, weird ideas. This is what has happened to the world we live in and many well-meaning people have been deceived into thinking they have the genuine article when in the scripture it says they have been led down a primrose path to deception.
Now, this becomes very important to us because Jesus came, as I said, to reveal the Father. And the job of the ministry, then, is to expose what has happened down through time. And what we are going to touch on today is the undermining of Godly worship. That's the title of the message. The Undermining of Godly Worship because godly worship is what God expects from His creation, from His sons and daughters. But today, people are not giving God godly worship. Even in Jesus' day He made the statement, why call you Me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? (Luke 6:46) Because they were doing what? They were putting the commandments of God aside and they were upholding the commandments of men. That same thing goes on today in many churches and denominations. And so what it has done, it has created a serious problem for people and as time has gone on, and as this has continued to move down through the course of the years, something has happened to modern-day worship and we are experiencing a great transformation in the area of "modern worship". And I want to share some of that with you because of a recent book by Dan Chambers entitled Showtime - Worship in the Age of Show Business. And boy, does he hit the nail on the head because what he points out, he shows that there is a great concern now. It's a pressing concern among the so-called "Christian community" because church attendance varies in the lives of many of these people. They are not committed - 100% committed to anything anymore. As a result, what these churches are striving to do: What do we do? How do we "get the people back in church"? 911 brought them in by droves, but that only lasted for a little while. Now it's business back to usual again and so the pews are empty and the ministers are wondering, "What do we do? How do we bring them back? How do we come up with ideas to 'stir people back into the realm of religion'?"
Well, this question then brings forth something else. What is the culture doing to modern-day worship? Because what is happening is that public worship is being influenced by the culture of our day. And the culture of our day is in serious straits. There are serious problems in the culture of our day and it's bleeding into the churches of common Christianity and we have to be on guard that it doesn't bleed into the Church of God. We have to be on guard so that we keep that element out of our lives so that it doesn't impact us to where we want to be like the world around us. Remember, Israel went into serious trouble because they did what? They wanted to be like the nations round about them. But when you take that in terms of the Church of God, the Church of God is the one that is to hold the sacred banner of the word of God high and wave that banner high to the people of God and to anyone who will hear. But if we end up just going through form and ceremony of religion just like the world around us, then we have gone just like ancient Israel - we've forgotten the lesson of the Old Testament that all these things that happened to them happened for our admonition. We cannot afford to get caught in a spiritual dilemma of this magnitude. We have to be mindful of what God has placed before us and move accordingly.
John chapter 10 and verse 10. Jesus draws the comparison of Himself as the door. He is the way of entrance into the kingdom of God. He is the one that will allow us to find pasture. He comments how a thief would come, how one who did not have the right motive, how he would attack, how he would steal and kill and destroy. And then Jesus makes it very clear. He uses the following terminology. He says,
John 10:10 - ...I am come... All right, why did you come, Jesus? ... I am come... He tells us ...I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
The truth of God is supposed to ignite a fire within your mind, heart and spirit so that each and every time you assemble on the Sabbath before the living God, you have a burning desire to be at one with His spirit. And it is that unity of spirit that makes us, though we be many as a body, yet we are one as a church. And so the same way, as Jesus said, "I and the Father are one." We are unified in our being, in our effort, and we are to be like Christ, one with Him, unified in that same understanding. Well, Jesus said this was to produce something that would accent life abundantly and if we fail to recognize that, then we have to ask ourselves where are we falling short? Today, people are falling short in spades. They have tried to go through all kinds of hoops, to try to find some way to have a reassurance that everything is going to be all right in their spiritual lives, and the Bible tells us that the assurance we have is the word of God and our faith in the word of God is the bottom line. And that's why this Word is so important. Now we find in the scripture that there is coming a time in Revelation chapter 3 and verse 17 where a group of people who serve God are going to find themselves in a period of time referred to as a Laodicean age and we call it the Laodicean church which is focused on, a church that was actually a small congregation in the Anatolian peninsula of Turkey in past periods. But the lessons that are culled out from each church era that we see - and I say era dealing with time. These were literal congregations, but they spanned a period of time and bring you down into a timeframe where now in the last portion we see that Jesus says in verse 15,
Rev. 3:15 - I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot Something has happened to you, dear people, He's saying. He says, And ...I would that you were cold or hot.
Well, what do you mean 'I wish you were cold or I wish you were hot'? Well, if you were cold, we can draw the comparison that if you're cold that means you don't know and understand nor have you been called to the knowledge of the things of God. And if you have been called to them, you'd better be hot and use these things to serve the purpose for which they were given to you because what good is this knowledge if you've got it and you don't use it? So He says I wish you were either one way or the other because then we could make a definitive judgment. But in this particular case, you are kind of in this quasi, you're kind of - as we say - like that song Jerry Reed had years ago. You know, 'When you're hot, you're hot and when you're not, you're not.' And that's the problem. People kind of get in this quasi state in-between and they are lukewarm. He says that's not good. And notice what He says in verse 17.
Verse 17 - "Because you say... and this strikes my mind in a very powerful manner because it's saying that this is a group of people who have a comeback to God. The other church groups as you read their account, they don't talk back to God. But this group of people talks back to God and what, in essence, they are saying is that ...I am rich, and increased with goods... first of all I don't like the term 'I am' if you caught that because God is the great I AM. So therefore are people getting a distorted picture of their spiritual condition and think they are better than what they actually are. It would appear that was what was being focused on here. And He says, and you know not... He says, ...that you are... notice ...wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked.
Now, I've got news for you, brethren, people today when they go to church, they don't like to hear that they are blind, miserable, poor, naked and wretched. They want to hear how great they are and how 'everything is just hunky-dory and the Lord loves you and he wants you in heaven with Him, and Jesus gave Himself for you so you could be saved. And that's all there is to it.' Unnnn! Wrong! Doesn't come up that way. That's not what the Book says! If that's all it was, all you'd need is one page in the Book and that's all that would need to be said. God put all this in here to give us information that we could not understand of and by ourselves. He goes on to say,
Verse 18 - I counsel you... He says, look, if you find yourselves in this condition, let Me give you divine counsel. Let Me be your lawyer, so to speak, and speak on your behalf because you need somebody to represent you. And He says, ...I counsel you to buy of me gold tried in the fire... and then He goes on and He talks about how He is, verse 20:
Verse 20 - I stand at the door, and I knock... (Knock - knock - knock - knock) That's the door of our mind and He's trying to help us to understand. He says, ...if any man hear My voice... now how are you going to hear God's voice today? Well, He uses a surrogate, they are called ministers. You are listening to one right now. Just a surrogate, but it's a voice that translates what comes from this Word and this Word is what you now hear and, mixed with faith, gives you something that you need as a man and a woman of God so that you can better be prepared to deal with what you have to face in everyday life. And it says,
Verse 21 - To him that overcomes will I grant... and you know the rest of the story, the privilege to sit on His throne and be a part in the kingdom of God.
All right, moving along very quickly, we see that this is going to have a dangerous effect on the church of God in this end time. How is it affecting the church? I believe that what it is affecting in the church - it is working on our young people. The young people are the future generations of the church of God and Satan knows that if he can destroy the young generation coming on-line that what he can do, then he can effectively, he thinks, destroy the church of God. This is why he works on the young ones, the next generation coming on. The scripture shows that elders were supposed to always look for the next generation, train them, help them, guide them in the sacred truth of God because it is a sacred truth! And it is something that not everybody is privileged to have in their lifetime at this time and when you are gifted to have it, then you are told you'd better hang on tight - hold fast to what you have that no man take your crown. (Rev 3:11) Don't let anybody take this away from you because it's on a one-time basis and this is our time! We want to make the most of this time.
Now, if you would please, join me in 2 Timothy, chapter 3. In this we find the admonition to be alert to the dangers of our day. Here we're told:
2 Tim. 3:1 - Know that in the last days perilous times shall come.
Then it goes on and it lists the behavior pattern and how people are thinking today. Now in this process, notice if you will, it says in the latter part of verse 4 they would be,
Verse 4 - ...lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God
So pleasuring is what they want. Anything that brings pleasure is what they desire to be involved in. And it says they love that more than lovers of God.! And verse 5 tells what they are engaged in. The world we find ourselves living in today is,
Verse 5 - Having a form of godliness, and denying the power thereof:... it says and we are admonished – biblical students of the Bible are admonished ...from such turn away.
So they are talking God, they are praising God, but really their emphasis in all of this is they are lovers of pleasure, lovers of themselves more than lovers of God. When they sing, they don't sing to praise God, they sing to their own enjoyment. Or as one individual told me not too many years ago, I was talking with him and he said, What church do you belong to? And I explained to him and he said, Well I go to such and such a church. He says, I go there because I like the choir. Unnnnn! Wrong reason! You don't go to church because of the choir. Choirs have a wonderful part to play in the Church of God - music has a wonderful part to play in the Church of God, but everything must be in its proper place as outlined by God or otherwise it is unacceptable in the eyes of God. God must be the one who gives guidance and direction and in this case, He says the world we live in is masquerading a form of godliness, but they are denying the power. What has caused them to deny the power? The mix and the bleeding in of corrupting ideas. It has messed them up so that the flow of God's spirit cannot move in their lives the way they would like it to happen. It is what is spoken of in the prophecies where it says in the scriptures in Jeremiah, Surely our fathers have inherited lies. (Jer. 16:19) And we have inherited lies.
Some of us might remember things of this nature. If you grew up here in the Bible belt of the Southeast, you might have heard songs like "Give me that old time religion; Give me that old time religion." Now why would you want to give me that old time religion? Because "if it's good enough for Mom and Dad, it's good enough for me." In other words, I inherit what they had. What if they had given me something that is a mix and they didn't know? Then all I've done is pick up on what they, themselves, have in error assumed from past generations prior to them.
So you and I are told to do what? Be like the Bereans. Prove all things. Find out what's in the scriptures as Jesus said, Search the scriptures. For in them you think you have eternal life, but you don't know for sure until you check it out. You've got to be the one because it's your life on the line. It's not somebody else's, it's yours and Jesus said, I want you to have abundant life.
Now moving along, today in our day and age what has happened to undermine this Godly worship? And the desire is there - people have a sincere desire, but they have been deceived, many of them. Many of us were deceived years ago until God took off the blinders and gave us an understanding. First of all He began to show us about 'You must remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.' And then we began to realize, "Well, Lord, doesn't that mean any day can be holy?" "No! One day is holy. This is the day I have made." "Oh, now who are you," then people say "to judge and to say that this day is...." Not me! I'm not the one. It's God who said it! If you're upset, get upset with God! He's the One that said 'seven'. He didn't say 'one'. Where did we get the 'one'? Go back – check the history books. Find out where it came from It came from historical Christianity from the 4th and 5th centuries as time moved on away from the early New Testament church. That's why Jude says get back to the faith that was once delivered (Jude 1:3). Understand how the church was set up in the beginning stages. Look at how God was worshipped in spirit and truth then to understand how He is to be worshipped now. This is so important to us!
Now today what happens, young people have been exposed like no other generation to anything and everything. It started after the post-World War II years. It started to explode in the '60's, 70's, 80's, now the Internet and all the other things - movies, books. You've got so many things coming at people today, the minds are being inundated - inundated with all kinds of things and as a result, young people today are just - they're on edge all the time. They don't know how to, if I may use the expression, sit still and be quiet. That drives young people up a wall. Quiet. God says, Be still... in the Psalm ...and know that I am God. (Psalm 46;10) Silence is penetrating, isn't it? Its powerful, because what God is showing us is this: that today young people have been bombarded to such a degree that when, now, the traditional form of religion that has existed in the past - I'm not talking about Biblical, but traditional or historical Christianity as taught in the different churches - they are having a big problem today. And that problem is they are losing their young people. Now why do you lose the young people? Plain and simple, because the young people want fast, quick answers to everything. And what you find out in studying the Bible is that God doesn't give you fast, quick answers. God is slow. He is patient. He is methodical. He says, take your time. In your patience, possess you your soul. (Luke 21:19) "But I want it now, God." "Can't have it now. You've got to go slow. You've got to go steady. You have to build one step on top of another step and upon another step. Then you will understand."
So what has happening today is that you hear this cry in many of the so-called churches. Young people go and they say, "Well I'm bored at church. I'm bored." Well, why are they bored? If the word of God was placed to them in the exciting manner that Jesus said it should be, boy you'd be eating on that and it would be exciting. You would say, Oh, wow! They need to know about their future, about the kingdom of God, because it's not only for Mom and Dad, the promise is to you and your children. They need to know about it. What's their destiny? Their destiny is not to be Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker. Their destiny is something far greater than that. Their destiny is not to be a Superman. Their destiny is to be a son and daughter of God. They need to hear about these marvelous things and it's not being taught in the churches today and so young people are going to church congregations and they're bored. And what happens when a person becomes bored, their minds are drifting, running elsewhere and this is why God says when we come into His presence, take heed how you hear. You'd better not let your mind just go running all directions. Guard your foot when you come into the congregation of the Lord, because we are not just here among people, we're here to serve the living God and His Son, Jesus Christ. And because of that, there is a great importance that is stressed on worship toward God in the proper way.
Now what we are seeing today in the so-called churches is that traditional worship - when I say 'traditional worship' I mean that which is in the Christian community of today to be manifest in many different denominations - but they are having problems today simply because they are being crowded out be contemporary culture and contemporary culture does not want the old way of worship. They want something totally new.
Now in 2 Timothy chapter 4, verses 1 through 4 it tells us that there is an admonition upon the ministry to preach the word, to be in season, to be out of season, to make sure that people understand what sound doctrine Is - because the time is coming, it says, when they will not endure sound doctrine. I believe that time is coming now. I think people are, as we say, giving up the ship. Even from conventional Christianity or what we call communal Christianity of our modern day - and what is happening is that they are being turned to fables. Now how is it that you can have the Bible in one hand and an Easter basket with eggs that are dyed in the other? If that doesn't say that we've got a mix going on here, then I don't know what is. God says the two don't mix and it's imperative that we keep these things in mind because, again, the world that we live in says "It doesn't make any difference." It doesn't make any difference? "Aw, you're denying the kids an Easter egg hunt." You're not denying the kids anything. I just don't want them to have error. I want them to have truth and if people knew that the symbolism of the dyed eggs goes back to the blood sacrifices of the past when past pagan cultures did what? Sacrifice their children to the gods to get favor from the gods, maybe they'd think twice before they dye those eggs. But people don't know that today. You can see why they are deceived. And God says, Father, forgive them, they know not what they do. (Luke 23:34) They just have not a clue as to what's going down. Our job is not to cast stones at anybody, but to cry aloud and show the people these things. (Isa. 58:1) And that is what I am trying to do today, to show us as a reminder and for anyone else who sees this particular video sermon, to help them understand what actually is impacting on their life.
Now young people today have a difficult time because the former way of teaching and preaching the gospel was based on verbal discourse. Preach the word. (2 Tim. 4:2) That meant you had to listen to the word to understand it. But today with so much going on, it's hard for people to keep their point of focus and attention. In fact, you struggle with this right now. You can't help it. You've been impacted by this day and age as well as I have. You have to really force your mind to pay attention or your mind will wander. It's there. We all fight against it. It's why it says, the days are evil, hurtful in their effect upon us. We're all being affected by these things. Now in this particular understanding of verbal discourse, what has happened is that the modern churches of today are getting away from 'verbal preaching' and what they want is more drama, what they want is more singing, they want more fun things to do because what is happening , many of the churches have become cold and lifeless. There's no excitement. There's nothing there to fire them up because the spirit of God isn't fired up. You can't just throw words at people. You've got to give them something as it said, Feed my sheep. (John 21:15-17) Give them something they can take and go with. They can't just take words. Words don't do anything. If words did it - as they say, talk is cheap, isn't it? And there's a lot of talk going on in this world today and it's very cheap. But when God speaks, the words ring with fire and clarity and they strike right to the heart and core of our whole psyche as a man and a woman.
And now what people today are wanting in religion is they want to experience God. They want to experience God. They use terms like 'I want to feel close to God'. Books are written along this line. Well, if you want to get close to God, if you want to experience God, you have to get your nose in the Bible and study the scriptures and drink in of the mind of God as contained there because it's not found anywhere else. And this becomes very important today because, as this gentleman goes on to say, "modern worshippers want to be emotionally stimulated." Maybe that's why I see sometimes these ministers get up there and they are shoutin' and they are yellin' and they are screamin', "Woh, Woh, Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!" They get carried away like that! Is that what Jesus Christ did? Is that what was done by the Apostles? But today they want to have more action. You can turn television on sometimes and you'll get something like this: it's called Agape Rock. Now, agape is the Greek word for love, the love of God. But put a beat to it and now you've got: 'Bop, ba-ba Bop, ba-ba Bop Agape Rock. Bop, ba-ba Bop, ba-ba Bop.' You see? This is how today people are being influenced and they think that is great stuff. Now, singing and musical instruments, all these things have their place, but I hope you understand what I'm trying to say. This is what is driving the mega-church element today - community churches where people can be laid back: "Take off your jacket, you know just relax, be yourself, take off your shoes, just - you know. You're in the presence of God, but who's God? After all, you don't have to sit up and take notice of God. We're here to worship ourselves in the name of God. We're here to feel good. We're not here to walk and tremble in the fear of the living God." And I submit that's what we're here for, because if we don't walk in fear and tremble before our God, we're in trouble, big time, folks. We really are. And may God have mercy on us all!
So why is entertainment so important to modern worshippers? Well it's the wave of the culture of our day. MTV, VH1 target young, youthful individuals. The latest now: Madonna has already put forth her little publication where she is going to come out with one of the most bold and risquŽ presentations in the next flaunting of herself before the TV cameras and movies and so forth. So, here we go.
Television has created something that is very, very good in one way and very dangerous in another. What it has done, it has exposed us to the age of show business. It is designed for entertainment. And you can also turn on 'religion' and you can see entertainment. You can see entertainment. You can see pastors up there dancing around, you can see pastors up there acting strange and this is not how the Bible addresses the ministry to teach. One man gets out there and he - he goes through all kinds of gyrations, and he's telling people that "If you... If you make a vow to God for $1,000, God will bless you if you send that thousand dollars to this ministry." And he gets all worked up about it. That's not what the Bible says. He takes one little thing of the Bible - make a vow - and blows it way out of proportion. Well, the scripture warns about these things. You see, we have left the age of exposition, bringing forth the teaching of the word of God and it's been replaced by entertainment. So sometimes we use the expression 'The Comedy Hour' because you can turn on some of these programs and you'll wonder, 'what in the world?' How can people fill those auditoriums watching this kind of stuff? And the answer is they don't know any better. They are hungering for something. They are hoping that this guy, whoever this guy might be, has the answer. They just don't know what the answers are! And that's what's so sad. To whom much is given, much is required (Luke 23:48) and you and I have been given something very precious, dear brethren. We have been given the sacred word of God, but these subtle forces have been at work undermining Godly worship and what we need to understand is that Jesus talked about that in Isaiah 29 and verse 13. Isa. 29:13 reminds us of a scripture that Jesus quoted in the New Testament.
Isa. 29:13 - He says, Wherefore the Lord says, Forasmuch as this people draws near me with their mouth... and there are many people that draw near to God - we're drawing near to Him today on His Sabbath day. But there are others that draw near to Him at different times. And, notice what He says, ...with their mouth and their lips they do honor me, but they removed their hearts far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men. Rather than to really see the powerful hand of God at work - and Christ referred to that in Mark chapter 7 and verses 6 to 9.
There's a lot that could be said, but how do we combat, how do we fight this growing, undermining influence of Godly worship, because it's going on. The world has a form and ceremony, but the power thereof will be denied. The saints of God are going to be the critical component in the final days of man's rule, man's days on this earth before the Son of Man comes. They are going to be the custodians of that precious faith that will be in such short supply that when Jesus said that when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith upon the earth? (Luke 18:8) Is it going to be there? Yes, it will. But it will be in short supply and every individual must make his or her choice in this area to make sure nothing takes that faith from them.
We are seeing a major recasting of worship before our very eyes and it's going to set the stage for the greatest deception the world has ever seen and when a certain religious leader comes on the scene and a political leader, and a sudden religious explosion takes place in the minds of people who are hungering and thirsting for they know not what, and suddenly an individual is going to be able to call fire down from heaven and people are going to believe! You and I are told that's not what we should believe. We should believe in the Son of God who will come to rescue mankind from this terrible day of reckoning.
2 Timothy chapter 3, if you would, please. In 2 Tim. chapter 3, beginning in verse 14, after all these things are escalating and getting worse and verse 13 says: Evil men and seducers wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. Notice, people just want you in deception, it just gets worse and worse. And so Jesus goes on through the Apostle Paul telling Timothy this. He says, but notice, here's what you and I are commanded to do. What is our part to play in this point? He says,
2 Tim. 3:14 - Continue in the things which you have learned.
What have we learned? We have learned that the word of God is the standard. We have learned that the word of God is the source of truth. We are told here that we are assured of these things - that God has been responsible for preserving this book contrary to what people say. They can call it hate literature, they can call it whatever they want, but God says it will survive the test of time. Heaven and earth will pass away. My word will never pass away. (Mat 24:35) His word is eternal and enduring. And it says,
Verse 15 - From a child... Timothy, he is saying, ...from a child you have known the holy scriptures... notice, not figments of some Hebrews walking in the desert somewhere - the figment of their imagination - it is referred to as 'holy scriptures' and only God can make them holy. It says, ...which are able to make you... what? ...wise unto salvation... How is that brought to pass? ...through faith which is in Christ Jesus. That's how.
Verse 16 - And all scripture... every bit of it that God has preserved for our learning ...is given by the inspiration of God... God had a hand in that whether people want to acknowledge it or not in this world. But He says it is valid and it ...is profitable for doctrine... for teaching to understand the communication of God to mankind; ...for reproof... to go back and reprove yourself, to make sure you've got it; ...for correction... when you need course corrections, when you're kind of off base somewhere, get back on track; ...and for instruction in righteousness... That is Psalm 119:172 which means commandment keeping. You learn how to keep the commandments because in the Old Testament they were given in the letter, in the New Testament they are given in the spirit and they are written in our inward parts, not on stone. They become a part of us, internalized for all eternity. And the reason why is...
Verse 17 - That the man... as well as the woman ...of God may be... mature, ...perfect, thoroughly furnished... not something that is an incomplete work, but ...thoroughly furnished unto all good works... everything that God has planned on the agenda for our part and our involvement in the kingdom of God - we're going to be thoroughly qualified for it by the power of God.
So, what we are told is Proverbs 3:5 - Trust in the LORD with all your heart; lean not to your own understanding.
And we are told in Romans 10:17 - that faith comes by the hearing of the word of God... and right now we've had an opportunity to hear the word of God once again to remind us that the world we live in is a world that does not have a synchronization with the spirit of God. The world does not have the spirit of God as a whole. Only those to whom God has given the spirit of God. It says in the book of John, the world cannot receive the holy spirit. Why? Because they've got all this mix going on, they've got all this corruption, all this other stuff that has confused generations. And so it's important for us, as the Bible says, to come out of her, my people. Back away. Get an objective viewpoint as you study the scripture. Don't read the scriptures with all these corrupted filters before your eyes. Take them, put them aside - read the Bible for what it says, and behold - behold what you see: the light of the word of God. And suddenly, your darkened mind becomes illuminated you see and understand a plan and a purpose so beautiful and so wonderfully wrought by the hand of God and only He can be glorified in this.
One final scripture or actual psalm we want to go to, Psalm 95. In Psalm 95, notice if you will the admonition of the psalmist:
Psalm 95:1 - O come... come where? ...let us sing... sing to who? ... sing unto the LORD:
You see, when we have our song service it's not something out of form and ceremony, you have an active part to play in singing your heart out before God. And it says, ...let us make a joyful noise unto the rock of our salvation.
Verse 2 - Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving... because we can't thank Him enough for all that He has done for us ...and make a joyful noise to Him with psalms
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Verse 3 For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
Verse 4 In his hand are the deep places of the earth: and the strength of the hills are His also.
Verse 5 The sea is His, He made it: His hands formed the dry land.
Using poetic, figurative language to show you the powerful, creative hand of God and if you've ever been out in nature and you've seen some of these forces at work - to see a powerful volcano erupt, see the mighty elements in their power and glory. You know that there's a driving force that is there that keeps it all in control. Why does the ocean go so far and stop? Why doesn't it just keep coming? Who stops it? Who makes it go back and forth? Something is there driving those laws that we use and say 'the laws of nature'. But it is the great God who gave those laws. And it says,
Verse 6 - O come, let us worship... that is what we are here for. The Sabbath is not playtime. The Sabbath is not a time when we just sit here and we just kind of kill time and we just waste the time - it's a time to get to know our God and it's time to get to know our brothers and sisters in Christ because if we don't get to know each other now, we never will. It's plain and simple. We have a serious responsibility before us ...so let us kneel before the LORD our maker.
Verse 7 - For He is our God... doesn't matter who you are, what racial background you are, whether you are a male, whether you are a female, ...He is our God and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Notice the capitol letter: To day... that is referencing the Sabbath day ...To day if you will hear his voice... one very important thing never to do: never to let your heart be hardened. It says,
Verse 8 - Harden not your heart, as... it was in the Old Testament ...provocation... it says, ...in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
Verse 9 - When your fathers... preceding generations did what? They ...tempted Me, they proved Me, and saw My work.
Verse 10 - Forty years long was I grieved with that generation, and He said, It is a people that do err in their hearts... It's important for us to keep our heart biblically oriented and not to let it become hardened. It says ...they have not known My ways. You and I are called to know God's ways. That's why today is so important in our everyday observance of God's ways, His Sabbath, His holy days.
Verse 11 - Unto whom I swore in My wrath... He says ...that they should not enter into My rest.
In the physical type of moving into the holy land they were denied. And God said, better take note of that because He says, I'm not letting anyone into the kingdom of God who has a hardened heart like those people did. The ones that go into the kingdom of God are the ones who hunger and thirst for My righteousness, who acknowledge their sinful condition, who ask God for the merciful love and grace and forgiveness that only He can impart and we walk humbly with our God and say, "Thank you, God. Thank you for healing me. Thank you for saving me by Your gracious hand. And in the name of Jesus Christ we acknowledge yours is the kingdom, yours is the power, and yours is the glory both now and for evermore."