SERMON "ONLY WORSHIP THE LIVING GOD"

Shalom,

We must admit that we long for the love of God and long to know Him closer. The gentle touch of the Holy Spirit transforms a tender heart, but a hardened heart will not show a slightest reaction even beaten by the ‘hammer’ of the Word of God.

Note that man lives from every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God (Deut. 8:3). What is God’s first commandment? Exodus 20:3 writes, “There shall not be other God before me.”

The Israelites had been enslaved by the Egyptians for 430 years (Exodus 12:41) and had been used to living among idolatrous worshippers. That’s why when they went out of Egypt, God wanted them to purify their worship. They were released from Egypt to serve and worship the only living God.

Unfortunately, they misused their freedom of worship. Evidently, 3 months after their release (Exodus 19) and 40 days ater camping in the wilderness of Sinai, they made a golden calf and worshipped it because they were too impatient to wait for Moses who was on the mountain top to receive the two tablets of stone from God (Exodus 32).

Ironically, they ‘celebrated’ a feast for the Lord but worshipped the golden calf. In fact, God had reminded them that He was a jealous God and that He would respond to the transgressions of fathers by dealing with their children to the third and fourth generations. But He would show His love and faithfulness to a thousand generations of those who kept His commandments (Exodus 20:4-6).

In fact, the Israelites got impatient; they wanted to control God’s authority. Provoked by their statements, Aaron made a statue of a golden calf to be worshipped. In the same way, many Christians practice idolatry although they confess their faith in God.

Why is God so jealous? Because it is related to a marriage relationship. He positions His people as His cherished possession in order to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exodus 19:5-6) that will be His Bride someday.

Isn’t husband and wife intense love as strong as death and jealousy is as cruel as the grave (Songs of Solomon 8:6)? Will a husband/wife stay quiet if he/she is being disturbed? That is the expression of God’s real feeling toward man whom He created in His image (Genesis 1:27).

It just so happened that the Israelites fell into idolatry time and again for centuries. The Lord led them out of Egypt with His great power and mighty hand but (2 Kings 17:34-36) but when they moved from one region to another, they adopted the religious cultures of the locals. Honestly, some Christians are overwhelmed with worldly events. For example, they are so passioante about celebrating Halloween, Valentine’s Day, etc.

Application: Following our repentance, we (the gentiles who were once idolators) must hold on steadfastly to His statutes, rules, law and commands and must not easily get influenced by many gifts, visions or mystical events.

As followers of Christ, what should we do? And what does it have anything to do with the Tabernacle pattern?

We must not worship other gods and bow down to them. We must not serve them and offer sacrifice to them (2 Kings 17:35) → The Altar of Incense.

We must hold on to the statutes, rules, law and commands that He has written down for us (v.37) → The Table of Showbread.

We must not forget the covenant that He has made with us. We must not serve other gods but the Lord, our God. Then, He will release us from the hands of all enemies (will give us victory) → The Gold Canddlestick

The Israelites experienced victory when the cloud was lifted. They had to depart and God walked before them so that the enemies would scatter and those who hated Him would also flee from Him (Numbers 10:35). The Lord is consistent with His promises but we tend to choose to hold on to the promises of men (who can be seen) and then we forget His promises.

Actually Jesus was not a temperamental type, but He was once furious with the devil and casted him out saying, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only!’ ” (Matthew 4:10).

Why was Jesus so furious? Because someone appointed himself to occupy His Holy Temple (cf. Daniel 11:36). Therefore, we need to be wise enough while reading and meditating on the Word of God. Either in church or online via Google, YouTube, etc., do not fall for a sermon by a pastor hook, line and sinker; everything must be rechecked using the Bible, that is, the Word of God.

The Apostle Paul exhorts us not to easily give ourselves to be misled by various models of ‘Christian’ services including the false teaching on the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thessalonians 2:1-5). The truth of the Bible must be the standard of the preaching of the Word of God.

What is the right attitude of a messenger proclaiming the Gospel of salvation? Worship is only directed to the Lord Jesus. For example:

- The Lord told Peter (through a vision) to go to Caesarea to see Cornelius, a God-fearing Roman officer (Acts 10) → the Table of Showbread.

Eventhough he had worshipped the Lord, Cornelius was still committed to the wordly/human hierarchy, that is, worshipping his superior.

When seeing Peter (God’s annointed messenger) coming, Cornelius welcomed him by bowing to the ground to worship Peter (v. 25). Cornelius feared God, loved praying and his alms were accepted by Him (v. 31). However, he was not fully saved because he did not know Jesus Christ, the Lord of all men – Jesus from Nazareth ordained by God to be the Judge over the living and the dead and also the Forgiver of sins (vv. 36-43). Therefore, Peter was sent by the Lord to preach the Gospel of salvation; as a result, Cornelius and his whole family were filled with the Holy Spirit and baptized in the name of Jesus Christ (vv. 47-48).

What was Peter’s reaction when Cornelius felt at his feet to worship him? Peter soon told Cornelius to stand up and earnestly said that he was only human (v. 26). People who are filled with the Holy Spirit are sensitive to cult of personality at the moment when they are going to be flattered, adored or idolized. They will refuse itall at once because only the Lord deserves worship. Be careful not to steal God’s worship and the glory!

Paul and Barnabas preached the Gospel in Listra (Acts 14) → The Gold Candlestick

When witnessing Paul heal the paralyzed man, many believed that Paul and Barnabas were gods from heaven who incarnated themselves in men. Then they called Barnabas Zeus and named Paul Hermes. How did Paul and Barnabas respond to that? They tore their clothes and convinced the multitudes that they were only human. They both asked them to break free of idolatry and turn to the living God, the Creator of the universe (Acts 14:8-15).

Implication: do not get entrapped by the beliefs in the legendary gods, like Zeus, Hermes, Kwan Im, Nyi Roro Kidul and so on; and do not give priority to outer appearance (uniforms) over the ministry itself.

The Apostle John wrote the revelation of Jesus Christ (Revelation 1:1-3) on Patmos island.

He was empowered by the Holy Spirit and saw a vision to be written. He saw the 24 elders bow down before Him who was seated on the throne worshipping Him who lives forever and is worthy to receive praises, honor and power for He created all things (Revelation 4:9-11).

Application: We have read the Apostle John’s writing but have we worshipped God, the Creator of heaven and earth? Be watchful since man’s act of worship can be wrong. Instead of worshipping the Creator, he worships His creations (Romans 1:21-23).

Moreover, the Apostle John saw 4 creatures and 24 elders throw themselves to the ground before the Lamb, each was holding a harp and a golden cup full of incense. That was the prayer of the saints (Revelation 5:7-8). Their worship grew more and more intense. They worshipped the Lamb who had shed His atoning blood for sins.

Then Apostle John saw all the angels, the 4 creatures and the 24 elders throw themselves down with their faces to the ground before the throne and worship God (Revelation 7: 11-12). Note that the worshippers grew in number and their worship got even more intense than ever.

Implication: If our worship is not appropriate, we will find it difficult to invite our families and friends to worship the Lord while worship strongly determines whether we will truly enter the new Jerusalem with a heart full of joy. Therefore, do not neglect worship and prayer in this world for these two are related to our activities in the new Jerusalem.

To top it all, the Apostle John saw the smoke from the fire that punished the prostitute, Babylon (Revelation 18) and the 24 elders as well as the 4 creatures fell down worshipping God seated on the throne (Revelation 19:3-5). → the Altar of Incense.

He also heard the voice of a great multitude rejoicing because the wedding of the Lamb had come and His Bride had made herself ready (vv. 6-7).

The Apostle John was filled with the Holy Spirit but still he could make mistakes. He bowed down to worship an angel but the angel told him not to because they occupied the same position as servants (v. 10).

Learning point: Do not quickly judge that one who is filled with the Holy Spirit can never make mistakes. In fact, when King Saul disobeyed God’s command, the Holy Spirit left him (1 Samuel 15); King David was reluctant to join the battle and this resulted in his fall into the sin of adultery (2 Samuel 11).

In this case, David turned off the voice of the Holy Spirit and followed his lust. Do not turn off the work of God, the Father, the Son (the Word) and the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, it would have a fatal consequence.

And at last, the Apostle John saw Jesus coming to meet His Bride (Revelation 22) like the meeting of the Ark and the Mercy Seat → The Ark of the Covenant.

On this occasion Apostle John made another mistake by bowing down to worship at the feet of an angel that directly told him not tod do so (Revelation 22:8-9). This reminds us that we should not seek for honor only. When listening to a sermon by an amazingly-anointed and wonder-working servant of God, we must not miss the point by adoring him for it means discrediting him. Jesus is the perfect example. He did not come to seek for men’s tributes.

Who is worthy of worship? God in Jesus. What justifies it?

Jesus (about 2 years) received the worship from the wise men who came from the East (Matthew 2:1, 11) Strangely enough, the people of Bethlehem did not know Jesus while the outsiders knew and worshipped Him. God forbid that the church of God knows nothing about Jesus while outsiders worship Him.
Jesus did not refuse a leper who came to worship Him and believed Jesus was able to cleanse him (Matthew 8:2-3). On another occasion, Jesus healed a man born blind. Before his healing, the blind man ‘defended’ Jesus whom he had not known because he was sure that Jesus came from God (John 9:1, 9, 25-34). For that reason, he was thrown out of the synagoue. When meeting Jesus, he believed and worshipped Him (vv. 35-38).
The disciples, the eye witnesses of the suffering and resurrection of the Messiah for the sake of the atonement of sins, worshipped Jesus when He was taken up into Heaven (Luke 24:46-52).

Implication:

We do not worship the Lord Jesus unless we testify of the great things He has done.

Having been equipped with the Holy Spirit and having received a lot of God’s Word, we are to live out the Word and testify of the great deeds Jesus has done. We are to joyfully worship Him until He comes again as the Heavenly Bridegroom to greet and take us, His Bride, to live with Him forever in the new Jerusalem. Amen.

By Rev. Paulus Budiono

Lemah Putro, Sunday, October 8, 2017