God's Gift of Worship (Romans 9:4-5)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.960 --> 00:00:07.000 Let's hear God's word from Romans Chapter Nine, versus four and five, and 2 00:00:07.150 --> 00:00:13.830 we've been reading these verses now for a few weeks. Not sure if I've 3 00:00:13.830 --> 00:00:18.789 ever spent so long on two versus. You'll have to remind me. Some 4 00:00:18.870 --> 00:00:23.059 of you have been here longer, but I hope you're starting to memorize these 5 00:00:23.339 --> 00:00:28.260 and that perhaps by the end you will indeed have them memorized. But let's 6 00:00:28.460 --> 00:00:32.859 give our attention, I'm newly and freshly, to God's word in Romans nine 7 00:00:33.420 --> 00:00:37.929 of versus four and five. Today our focuses on worship in this list. 8 00:00:39.570 --> 00:00:45.049 They are Israelites and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, 9 00:00:45.729 --> 00:00:50.520 the giving of the law, the worship and the promises. To Them 10 00:00:50.640 --> 00:00:55.520 Belong the Patriarchs and from their race, according to the Flesh, is the 11 00:00:55.560 --> 00:01:02.320 Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen, please be 12 00:01:02.439 --> 00:01:11.430 seated. Well, as I mentioned last week, in this list Paul takes 13 00:01:11.469 --> 00:01:19.099 us on kind of a tour of these monuments in Israel. Obviously not physical 14 00:01:19.340 --> 00:01:25.900 things, the covenants, the adoption, the glory. Sometimes these things are 15 00:01:25.980 --> 00:01:33.250 manifested in physical, tangible ways, like the glory cloud descending upon Mount Sinai, 16 00:01:33.409 --> 00:01:38.930 or the fire and smoke leading Israel in the wilderness, or the riding 17 00:01:40.049 --> 00:01:44.010 of the law on the two tablets which were then placed in the Ark. 18 00:01:44.730 --> 00:01:52.079 These various ways are expressions, monuments, physical things to these big picture things, 19 00:01:52.280 --> 00:01:56.760 these things that God has given to his people. He gave them to 20 00:01:56.920 --> 00:02:00.670 Israel and now they belong to them. And as we've been focusing on these 21 00:02:00.750 --> 00:02:06.790 things, we've becoming to a better, hopefully a better and better understanding and 22 00:02:06.989 --> 00:02:12.590 more concrete understanding of who Israel is. That's Paul's point. He lists all 23 00:02:12.669 --> 00:02:15.819 of these things so that we would know when we think Israel in the Old 24 00:02:15.939 --> 00:02:22.500 Testament, we have a particular conception of what he means, and that's going 25 00:02:22.580 --> 00:02:27.659 to be important in the upcoming parts of this chapter because he's going to build 26 00:02:27.659 --> 00:02:31.210 on that to to say a various things. But it's important for a lot 27 00:02:31.250 --> 00:02:36.129 of other reasons. One of them, which he will bring up later, 28 00:02:36.289 --> 00:02:40.610 is that as we are joined to Israel, as gentiles are joined to Israel, 29 00:02:42.409 --> 00:02:46.319 we need to understand something of our family tree. If we're like a 30 00:02:46.879 --> 00:02:51.400 branch that is being grafted on to this tree that God has been cultivating and 31 00:02:51.520 --> 00:02:55.639 procuring for generations. It's right for us to understand what is this that God 32 00:02:55.800 --> 00:03:00.830 has put us into? If these things belong to them, well, in 33 00:03:00.949 --> 00:03:04.909 what sense do they belong to us? And you notice how he gets to 34 00:03:05.030 --> 00:03:07.590 that point. At the end of verse five, he's building this list, 35 00:03:07.710 --> 00:03:13.460 he lists all these things and then he says to them belong the Patriarchs and 36 00:03:13.580 --> 00:03:16.020 from their race, according to the Flesh, is the Christ, who is 37 00:03:16.180 --> 00:03:22.620 God over all. That's the place he's getting he's talking about in Israel in 38 00:03:22.740 --> 00:03:25.819 this unique way, so that he can talk about how now Christ rules over 39 00:03:25.900 --> 00:03:31.810 us all and these gifts belong to us. Well, today our focus is 40 00:03:32.210 --> 00:03:43.080 on worship. Worship is sometimes controversial, sometimes ignored, sometimes it's merely a 41 00:03:43.199 --> 00:03:49.280 ritual, sometimes it's an auxiliary part of what we do. Sometimes we find 42 00:03:49.319 --> 00:03:55.189 ourselves wholeheartedly in the process and other times we find it ourselves is very distracted. 43 00:03:57.229 --> 00:03:59.990 But in all these ways, both positive and negative, that we might 44 00:04:00.150 --> 00:04:04.669 think about worship, we are often thinking about it mostly as our act towards 45 00:04:04.750 --> 00:04:10.659 God, and certainly that's true. The words that are used to describe worship 46 00:04:10.780 --> 00:04:15.980 are words that are on our part. Praise, thank, serve, bow, 47 00:04:16.540 --> 00:04:23.019 those kinds of things. These are things that we do. But rarely, 48 00:04:23.139 --> 00:04:27.889 I think, do we forget about the other rarely we remember, I 49 00:04:27.970 --> 00:04:31.089 should say, the other part of worship, which is it's God's work toward 50 00:04:31.209 --> 00:04:36.250 us. Sure we might think of certain parts of worship as belonging to God. 51 00:04:36.490 --> 00:04:41.199 Maybe in the sermon we hear God's Word, God speaks to us, 52 00:04:41.199 --> 00:04:46.680 or in a blessing he blesses us. But what about the whole of worship? 53 00:04:46.720 --> 00:04:50.040 Or is he puts it here the worship? Just as he gave them 54 00:04:50.120 --> 00:04:56.029 adoption, as the adoption and the glory and the covenants, the law, 55 00:04:56.430 --> 00:05:02.029 he's also given them the worship. God has done something and it is his. 56 00:05:03.790 --> 00:05:08.819 It's one of these things that's also in this list that marks his people. 57 00:05:09.259 --> 00:05:14.339 It's a way that he marks his people as his own. Circumcision is 58 00:05:14.459 --> 00:05:17.339 a sort of obvious example of this in the Old Testament. It's a part 59 00:05:17.379 --> 00:05:21.490 of worship, right, it's a part of the ceremonies, the the rituals, 60 00:05:21.610 --> 00:05:27.850 these ways in which God's people express their devotion to him. But who 61 00:05:27.970 --> 00:05:30.649 gave the sign? Well, was God? Right, God was the one 62 00:05:30.769 --> 00:05:33.889 who said to Abraham, this is my covenant that I'm making with you, 63 00:05:34.290 --> 00:05:39.959 and this is the sign of my covenant. It was God's mark upon his 64 00:05:40.199 --> 00:05:46.959 people. Before it was his people's expression of their devotion to God. So 65 00:05:46.079 --> 00:05:50.149 you might think of it like a bird. A bird flies, a bird 66 00:05:50.870 --> 00:05:55.189 soars, a bird does all these things and it does it by its will. 67 00:05:56.230 --> 00:06:00.310 But how is that will exercised? How? Where does the wind come 68 00:06:00.430 --> 00:06:03.230 from? How do the feathers grow? Well, it's all in God, 69 00:06:03.230 --> 00:06:09.980 and that's the perspective we have here. God has given something to Israel. 70 00:06:10.220 --> 00:06:16.620 He has given them worship. This is a marker upon his people. So 71 00:06:16.740 --> 00:06:21.689 what is the worship that God gave Israel? What Paul has in mind are 72 00:06:23.050 --> 00:06:28.610 the specific religious practices, similar to the giving of the law, which had 73 00:06:28.850 --> 00:06:34.560 a particular rules, statutes, provisions for that time when Israel lived in Canaan. 74 00:06:35.680 --> 00:06:41.920 He also gave them a worship and he gave it them in particular. 75 00:06:42.199 --> 00:06:46.800 You could think about it this way. God didn't give to the Canaanites Feasts 76 00:06:46.120 --> 00:06:53.750 to observe. He didn't give to the MOABITES the sign of circumcision. He 77 00:06:53.870 --> 00:06:58.389 gave the priesthood to the Levites, who were sons of Abraham. They belonged 78 00:06:58.470 --> 00:07:01.459 to Israel, not some other clan of some other tribe outside of Israel. 79 00:07:02.220 --> 00:07:10.259 The temple was built where in Jerusalem? Wasn't built outside of Canaan somewhere. 80 00:07:10.379 --> 00:07:14.860 It didn't hide here in Tucson or some other place in the world. It 81 00:07:15.019 --> 00:07:18.730 was there. This all was very much Israel's. The worship belonged to them. 82 00:07:19.730 --> 00:07:24.689 That's what it means by it belonged to them. God gave it to 83 00:07:24.810 --> 00:07:30.560 them. But what do we understand about that worship? It's obviously particular to 84 00:07:30.680 --> 00:07:33.120 them, but what was it like? What was it about? And for 85 00:07:33.199 --> 00:07:38.560 that we have to go deeper, and I hope you'll go deeper still too, 86 00:07:38.680 --> 00:07:44.079 when you read your bibles, when you think about the various sacrifices or 87 00:07:44.240 --> 00:07:48.790 offerings or feasts, be eager to understand those things, because in understanding the 88 00:07:48.870 --> 00:07:54.629 worship God gave to his people, then it helps us to understand the worship 89 00:07:55.149 --> 00:08:01.300 he has given us. Now, why is that the case? I'll mentioned 90 00:08:01.379 --> 00:08:05.939 just three quick reasons. One is that it's the same God, right, 91 00:08:05.339 --> 00:08:09.779 even though there are great differences. In the book of Hebrews spends a lot 92 00:08:09.860 --> 00:08:16.329 of time explaining these differences, why we don't do certain things anymore. Nevertheless, 93 00:08:16.329 --> 00:08:18.449 it's the same God in both the old and New Testament, and it 94 00:08:18.490 --> 00:08:22.649 would make sense that this God whom we worship in both the old and the 95 00:08:22.769 --> 00:08:28.959 news, there's going to be some continuity there. Indeed, Jesus is Jehovah. 96 00:08:28.399 --> 00:08:35.120 He is the one who revealed himself to this people and commanded these things. 97 00:08:35.559 --> 00:08:39.879 A second reason, not only is God the same in both old and 98 00:08:39.000 --> 00:08:43.470 new and we have we worship the same God, but we remember Jesus's role 99 00:08:43.549 --> 00:08:50.149 particular in the New Testament. He brought many aspects of Old Testament to an 100 00:08:50.230 --> 00:08:52.350 end, not because he said, well, this was garbage and why did 101 00:08:52.429 --> 00:08:56.460 we bother with that? We made a mistake. God made a mistake, 102 00:08:56.500 --> 00:08:58.580 I made a mistake. Now, that's not why they come to an end. 103 00:09:00.740 --> 00:09:05.460 They come to an end because they find fulfillment in him. It's like 104 00:09:05.580 --> 00:09:09.740 when you're working on a project. You know you've got directions and plans and 105 00:09:09.899 --> 00:09:13.009 helpers and maybe contractors, and you pull it all together and you move until 106 00:09:13.049 --> 00:09:18.730 you get to the completion of that plan. Right. You don't throw away 107 00:09:18.929 --> 00:09:22.210 the building material and all that because you hated it or it was terrible or 108 00:09:22.250 --> 00:09:26.840 it wouldn't do what it was supposed to do. Know you you move that 109 00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:31.240 off the side. If you're building a house, you send the contractors away 110 00:09:31.320 --> 00:09:35.919 it because it's done, not because they were worthless, not because they were 111 00:09:35.960 --> 00:09:39.110 bad, but because they serve their purpose. The House came to completion, 112 00:09:39.230 --> 00:09:43.509 it came to fulfillment, and that's what Jesus does. I can't do it 113 00:09:43.629 --> 00:09:48.070 this morning. I'd love to, but when we go through the Old Testament 114 00:09:48.110 --> 00:09:52.620 and we see the various sacrifices and the feasts and the offerings and the holy 115 00:09:52.700 --> 00:09:58.539 days and the geography of the land and the various aspects of the whole thing, 116 00:09:58.580 --> 00:10:03.980 it all, in all kinds of intricate ways, points to Jesus. 117 00:10:05.259 --> 00:10:09.009 And you know this as you've read the by pulls. You come to understand 118 00:10:09.090 --> 00:10:15.250 these connections if you've read Hebrews. Well so anyway, that's a second reason. 119 00:10:15.409 --> 00:10:18.450 We are right to understand the old testament because and the Old Testament worship 120 00:10:18.529 --> 00:10:22.759 that God gave to Israel, because it helps us understand the fulfillment to that 121 00:10:22.840 --> 00:10:28.360 piss helps us to understand Jesus. That leads me to my third reason, 122 00:10:28.679 --> 00:10:37.070 which is that new the New Testament explains worship in Old Testament terms. In 123 00:10:37.149 --> 00:10:39.950 other words, if the thing that I just said is true, about the 124 00:10:39.110 --> 00:10:45.950 Old Testament being fulfilled in the new particularly the Old Testament worship being fulfilled in 125 00:10:46.070 --> 00:10:50.620 Jesus, then it would make sense that the new testament would use old testament 126 00:10:50.779 --> 00:10:58.620 terms to describe new testament worship. Let me give you an example. Romans 127 00:10:58.700 --> 00:11:03.700 twelve one, and we'll come back to this later. Paul uses the same 128 00:11:03.899 --> 00:11:07.409 word here for worship that he uses in the passage I read, for in 129 00:11:07.450 --> 00:11:13.210 verses nine, four and five. Listen to what he says and listen to 130 00:11:13.250 --> 00:11:18.639 the Old Testament echoes. Okay. I appeal to you, therefore, brothers 131 00:11:18.759 --> 00:11:24.720 by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice and 132 00:11:24.960 --> 00:11:31.200 acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. We don't have sacrifices here 133 00:11:31.279 --> 00:11:35.269 on Sunday morning. We don't bring animal is in. There isn't an altar. 134 00:11:37.269 --> 00:11:41.470 The table that we serve communion on is a is a table, it's 135 00:11:41.549 --> 00:11:46.309 not an altar. We don't have these kinds of sacrifices anymore, and yet 136 00:11:46.789 --> 00:11:50.820 paul uses the language of sacrifice, doesn't he it's what it is. He 137 00:11:50.980 --> 00:12:00.700 tells us to present our bodies to God as a living sacrifice. These sacrifices 138 00:12:00.779 --> 00:12:05.409 cannot be unclean. They must be holy, they must be acceptable to God, 139 00:12:05.649 --> 00:12:13.129 and this is our spiritual worship or reasonable service. So you can see 140 00:12:13.169 --> 00:12:16.840 what I mean when I say how important it is for us to understand Israel, 141 00:12:16.519 --> 00:12:20.279 to understand the Old Testament, because it helps us to fill in the 142 00:12:20.480 --> 00:12:28.200 color, in the details of what New Testament worship is all about. So 143 00:12:28.440 --> 00:12:35.549 what is it about? What is Old Testament worship about? Well, there's 144 00:12:35.549 --> 00:12:37.350 a lot of different ways you can approach it. There's a lot of subjects 145 00:12:37.389 --> 00:12:41.629 you could talk about. One Way to approach it is through the various words 146 00:12:41.710 --> 00:12:48.139 that are described. I mentioned some of them earlier. Praising, thanking, 147 00:12:48.700 --> 00:12:56.340 sacrificing, giving thanks on or glory, submission, honor, praise. An 148 00:12:56.379 --> 00:13:00.570 Old Testament Professor Daniel Block, A, Professor Wheaton, takes all these terms 149 00:13:00.649 --> 00:13:03.570 and he puts him into just these three categories, which all I'll give to 150 00:13:03.610 --> 00:13:09.929 you now as a way to help us picture and understand what Old Testament worship 151 00:13:11.090 --> 00:13:18.320 was all about. He talks about three different categories. He talks about dispositional 152 00:13:18.519 --> 00:13:28.590 expressions, which is worship as attitude, physical expressions of worship or worship as 153 00:13:28.710 --> 00:13:35.710 gesture, and then also liturgical expressions or worship as ritual, all of these 154 00:13:35.789 --> 00:13:39.470 various terms and words that we have for worship and service and whatnot, putting 155 00:13:39.470 --> 00:13:46.940 into these categories. So the first one is worship as attitude. You might 156 00:13:46.019 --> 00:13:52.139 put it this way. Devotion to God begins with the fear of God. 157 00:13:52.500 --> 00:13:56.730 Devotion to God begins with the fear of God. Now, I'll tell you 158 00:13:56.970 --> 00:14:01.730 that for a long, long time this particular verbs at very uncomfortable with me 159 00:14:03.129 --> 00:14:07.210 and even, I think, when I first became a minister, I struggled 160 00:14:07.289 --> 00:14:13.000 to know how to describe it. How is it that we're supposed to fear 161 00:14:13.200 --> 00:14:20.440 God, because obviously there's ways were not supposed to fear God. He's we're 162 00:14:20.519 --> 00:14:24.309 not afraid of him in ways that we are about other things perhaps, and 163 00:14:24.509 --> 00:14:28.909 he talks to us as a father, as a friend, and yet there 164 00:14:28.950 --> 00:14:33.629 are these very clear commands in scripture to fear him. What does that mean? 165 00:14:39.019 --> 00:14:45.019 Deuteronomy ten twelve, as a ten verses twelve through thirteen, has this 166 00:14:45.100 --> 00:14:50.379 kind of catechism question about devotion to the Lord. The question has been verse 167 00:14:50.500 --> 00:14:54.809 twelve. And now Israel. What does Yahway, your God, require of 168 00:14:54.889 --> 00:15:01.769 you? But and then here's the answer to fear Yah Way, your God, 169 00:15:01.450 --> 00:15:05.809 to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve Yah 170 00:15:05.850 --> 00:15:09.639 Way, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul and 171 00:15:09.799 --> 00:15:15.840 with all your soul, and to keep his commandments and statutes, all of 172 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:20.639 those things, walking in the Lord, walking in a consistent way, walking 173 00:15:20.679 --> 00:15:26.629 in his ways. It all begins with fear. You must fear him. 174 00:15:26.909 --> 00:15:33.110 Now, this word is a word that we use to describe powerful, scary 175 00:15:33.269 --> 00:15:39.379 things. Right. We fear getting hit by a car? Why? Because 176 00:15:39.419 --> 00:15:41.820 it's faster and more powerful than us. It can hurt us, it can 177 00:15:43.100 --> 00:15:50.850 take our lives. We fear being bit by something poisonous. We fear someone, 178 00:15:50.289 --> 00:15:56.929 a murderous person, a taking our life. Is that an appropriate word 179 00:15:58.409 --> 00:16:03.600 to use for God? Well, of course, God is not a poison 180 00:16:04.279 --> 00:16:08.840 he's not a murderous person, but he is similar to these things and that 181 00:16:08.960 --> 00:16:15.360 he is powerful. Right, Jesus says, do not fear Him who can 182 00:16:15.399 --> 00:16:19.750 take your life, but him who can take your soul. He takes our 183 00:16:21.029 --> 00:16:23.669 fear and understanding of God and relation to other things and even sort of steps 184 00:16:23.750 --> 00:16:27.149 it up a level. He says, if you are scared of these things, 185 00:16:29.029 --> 00:16:33.659 be scared of God himself. He can take your life. He is 186 00:16:33.779 --> 00:16:41.980 powerful. There is this kind of real fear without any kind of qualifications. 187 00:16:41.139 --> 00:16:45.980 I think that we have to say about that. Can we really go before 188 00:16:47.019 --> 00:16:52.970 the God of the universe in any kind of cavalier, nonfearing way? Is 189 00:16:52.049 --> 00:16:57.809 that even possible for someone who has a right conception of God? Sure, 190 00:16:57.850 --> 00:17:00.919 as Christians we might add to that. We might say, well, of 191 00:17:02.039 --> 00:17:07.599 course he's not going to kill us because the curse is already been taken away 192 00:17:07.599 --> 00:17:11.720 in Christ. We know that he loves us, so will be okay. 193 00:17:11.799 --> 00:17:18.230 And yet, nevertheless he is still capable of those kinds of things. It's 194 00:17:18.269 --> 00:17:21.950 kind of maybe it would be similar to sort of standing on the edge of 195 00:17:21.990 --> 00:17:27.069 the Canyon and you look down you go, this is scary. I'm okay, 196 00:17:27.349 --> 00:17:30.500 maybe there's a rail there, maybe everything's okay. You see, you 197 00:17:30.619 --> 00:17:34.700 know, hundreds of other people standing there. Everything's fine, and yet it's 198 00:17:34.740 --> 00:17:41.180 scary. It's there's a kind of fear and awe, a reverence that comes 199 00:17:41.220 --> 00:17:45.289 from standing at the edge of the Grand Canyon. Isn't there because you sense 200 00:17:45.369 --> 00:17:49.930 its power, you sense how, in some ways this thing is bigger and 201 00:17:51.170 --> 00:17:56.529 greater than me. Maybe you've felt that with other kind of natural things, 202 00:17:56.650 --> 00:18:00.519 whether it's a mountain or a wind, or you've been on a ship that's 203 00:18:00.559 --> 00:18:04.559 being rocked by the sea, or maybe you've seen it in social events and 204 00:18:04.720 --> 00:18:11.160 political things and and economies. You get this sense from time to time that 205 00:18:12.109 --> 00:18:18.710 I'm kind of small. Well, if we sense that with things in the 206 00:18:18.910 --> 00:18:22.869 world, what of the one who made the world? You see why the 207 00:18:22.950 --> 00:18:30.140 scripture doesn't really equivocate on this and says fear God, because he's powerful, 208 00:18:32.099 --> 00:18:34.380 because he's mighty, because he's cabable, because he rules perfectly. And, 209 00:18:34.700 --> 00:18:38.940 if we're to be honest, we are sinners. We're not just weak, 210 00:18:40.740 --> 00:18:47.569 but we do things that are against this God, against His Holiness. So, 211 00:18:47.769 --> 00:18:52.369 going back to Deuteronoma, when it comes to thinking about worship and devotion 212 00:18:52.529 --> 00:18:55.569 to God, what is it that the king, the ruler of the universe, 213 00:18:55.690 --> 00:19:00.000 requires of us? To treat him in is an equal and love him 214 00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:06.319 when we have the opportunity, to bring him alongside of us when we need 215 00:19:06.480 --> 00:19:12.029 some help, or serve him when we get a chance. No, fear 216 00:19:12.150 --> 00:19:21.269 him. You owe him something, you owe him your life. We must 217 00:19:21.309 --> 00:19:23.900 fear him. We cannot serve him, we cannot love him, we can't 218 00:19:23.940 --> 00:19:27.220 walk in his ways unless we fear him, because if we don't fear him, 219 00:19:27.220 --> 00:19:30.660 we walk in his ways until it's not convenient. We say well, 220 00:19:30.660 --> 00:19:33.859 I'm going to do something else, doesn't matter, it's not going to hurt. 221 00:19:33.420 --> 00:19:37.930 What problem could there possibly be? But if you have in your mind 222 00:19:38.009 --> 00:19:41.690 a conception of God as God, if you have in your heart a conception 223 00:19:41.769 --> 00:19:47.730 of God as God, it's not so easy to just turn aside and say 224 00:19:47.730 --> 00:19:53.759 well, of course I want to do something else. One of the ways 225 00:19:53.799 --> 00:20:00.799 that we see this interacting with worship is in Malachi. I'm not good. 226 00:20:00.880 --> 00:20:03.000 I would. I was going to read you chapter one, but I'm not 227 00:20:03.039 --> 00:20:07.670 going to do that. Read Chapter One this afternoon and see the ways in 228 00:20:07.750 --> 00:20:11.430 which the fear of the Lord, or lack of the fear of the Lord, 229 00:20:11.589 --> 00:20:17.789 impacts worship. Going back to Daniel Walk, he lists these various things 230 00:20:18.309 --> 00:20:22.220 that molock. He's just listing what Malachi says there. He talks about how 231 00:20:22.700 --> 00:20:26.500 a lack of fear from the Lord brought about in Israel, in God's people, 232 00:20:26.980 --> 00:20:36.930 contempt for sacrifices, boredom in worship, a calloused disposition toward vows, 233 00:20:37.890 --> 00:20:47.769 ministerial irresponsibility and infidelity, ingratitude and stinginess in tithing, arrogance toward Yahwey. 234 00:20:48.809 --> 00:20:52.839 Of course we see these things in ourselves. This is not just post to 235 00:20:52.880 --> 00:20:57.720 exile Israel when we don't fear the Lord. That is what happens. You 236 00:20:57.799 --> 00:21:00.640 come into worship and you say, well, I can be here, I 237 00:21:00.759 --> 00:21:03.549 cannot. You know, I'm if I can, if I can't, or, 238 00:21:03.630 --> 00:21:07.990 even worse, content having contempt for the things of God. I hate 239 00:21:07.069 --> 00:21:11.470 the things of God, I don't want to be with the things of God 240 00:21:11.190 --> 00:21:18.940 or near them. Now, of course, when we think about worship is 241 00:21:19.019 --> 00:21:25.700 attitude. Worship involves this concern of the heart, this disposition of fear. 242 00:21:26.660 --> 00:21:30.579 But I must say, as I've hinted at already, for the Christian it 243 00:21:30.700 --> 00:21:37.130 isn't terror. For the unbeliever at very well might be. If you stand 244 00:21:37.250 --> 00:21:41.089 to God only under his law and as one who's disobedient, then you should 245 00:21:41.089 --> 00:21:47.920 be very afraid because your life is only being preserved by the mercy of God 246 00:21:48.160 --> 00:21:52.480 for the moment. There's no reason which he has to keep you alive for 247 00:21:52.599 --> 00:21:59.680 a moment longer and not put you under his wrath and curse forever. For 248 00:21:59.799 --> 00:22:06.309 the Christian it's different, not because the Christian person has obeyed all of God's 249 00:22:06.309 --> 00:22:11.869 law, but because God has given his righteousness to them. A Christian is 250 00:22:11.990 --> 00:22:15.660 one who isn't a perfect in their own righteousness. There one who has been 251 00:22:15.819 --> 00:22:23.339 perfected in his they've been forgiven. The Christian goes before God not saying, 252 00:22:23.859 --> 00:22:27.460 Lord, I can ascend your holy sale he'll because I have a pure heart, 253 00:22:27.500 --> 00:22:33.569 much more than all these other Yogol yogols. I go before the Lord 254 00:22:33.609 --> 00:22:37.690 with a pure heart because you've given this to me, you've cleansed it, 255 00:22:37.930 --> 00:22:44.680 you've washed you've purified me. I'm not holier than them, I'm not holier 256 00:22:44.839 --> 00:22:49.359 than you. I'm holy because you've made me holy, and so I come 257 00:22:49.519 --> 00:22:56.680 in fear, but in confidence too. We go before the Lord and worship, 258 00:22:57.200 --> 00:23:03.470 fearing him, yes, but also bold, knowing that he is our 259 00:23:03.509 --> 00:23:07.029 king and that he loves us. Well, we need to move on. 260 00:23:08.390 --> 00:23:14.740 I'm to worship as gesture. One thing that is included in Israel's worship is 261 00:23:14.819 --> 00:23:18.700 this worship of the heart, this fearing the Lord. A second thing is 262 00:23:18.099 --> 00:23:25.019 gesture, or bodily physical things. One of the most predominant ways worship is 263 00:23:25.099 --> 00:23:33.410 described in Israel is bowing, kneeling, prostrating one's self, let me read 264 00:23:33.450 --> 00:23:41.319 to you just a little bit from Isaiah Forty two. Isaiah Forty two, 265 00:23:41.519 --> 00:23:52.720 verse twenty three. No, this is not right, or I'm looking in 266 00:23:52.799 --> 00:23:55.950 the wrong thing and don't realize it. Let me read to you a different 267 00:23:55.990 --> 00:24:06.829 verse. First Corinthians fourteen twenty five says the secrets of his heart are disclosed 268 00:24:06.869 --> 00:24:10.740 and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that 269 00:24:10.900 --> 00:24:15.019 God is really among you. Who is Paul talking about? To the Corinthians 270 00:24:15.059 --> 00:24:22.180 he's talking about a stranger, a stranger who comes into worship, a stranger 271 00:24:22.220 --> 00:24:27.410 who walks into the people of God. What does he see? How is 272 00:24:27.569 --> 00:24:32.490 a stranger who comes into the people of God to react? How is that 273 00:24:32.609 --> 00:24:37.049 person to feel, given what is said, given the attitude of the people, 274 00:24:37.529 --> 00:24:41.440 given the response of that peep, the the people of God are having 275 00:24:41.480 --> 00:24:45.960 to his word? Is he too? Well, I'll read it to you. 276 00:24:47.759 --> 00:24:51.359 He will find that he is called to account. The secrets of his 277 00:24:51.480 --> 00:24:56.430 heart are disclosed and so, falling on his face, he will worship God 278 00:24:56.670 --> 00:25:03.549 and declare that God is really among you. This falling on one's face, 279 00:25:03.589 --> 00:25:07.180 this sort of New Testament description of worship is, of course, very similar 280 00:25:07.220 --> 00:25:11.859 to many pictures we have in the Old Testament. When I say pictures, 281 00:25:11.859 --> 00:25:14.259 I don't just mean words. If you go back and you look in the 282 00:25:14.299 --> 00:25:19.180 ancient Near East, at at at pictures on pots and statues and things like 283 00:25:19.259 --> 00:25:25.289 that, what do you see people doing? Bowing, bowing. We don't 284 00:25:25.329 --> 00:25:30.490 bow very much in America, but Christians do sometimes. When we bow our 285 00:25:30.569 --> 00:25:36.119 heads in worship, that's not just so that we can keep the kids from 286 00:25:36.119 --> 00:25:41.319 being distracted. It's an act of prostration. It's a humbling of ourselves before 287 00:25:41.319 --> 00:25:48.240 the Lord and saying you are worthy, you are holy, you, to 288 00:25:48.359 --> 00:25:52.069 you do belongs praise and glory and not to me. It's an act of 289 00:25:52.430 --> 00:25:57.349 submission and we see this in various kinds of examples throughout the Old Testament. 290 00:25:59.549 --> 00:26:06.420 Bowing, worship is gesture and finally, worship as ritual. This is probably 291 00:26:06.460 --> 00:26:08.740 the first thing that you think of when you think about worship in the Old 292 00:26:08.819 --> 00:26:15.619 Testament, the sacrifices, the free feasts, the holy days. It's helpful 293 00:26:15.619 --> 00:26:19.569 to note that this word, this this this worship that is offered is often 294 00:26:19.769 --> 00:26:26.049 parallel to service. And you'll see why that's helpful if you remember that act, 295 00:26:26.130 --> 00:26:32.609 that gesture of bowing when we bow, we are saying, I I 296 00:26:34.119 --> 00:26:38.839 give deference to you. It's a it's kind of an act of service. 297 00:26:38.880 --> 00:26:44.319 It's a it's a gesture of service. Well, sometimes worship is talked about 298 00:26:44.359 --> 00:26:48.069 this way. So, for example, when Moses goes to Pharaoh and says, 299 00:26:48.109 --> 00:26:51.990 will you let the people go for a few days, do you remember 300 00:26:51.990 --> 00:26:56.029 what he asks for that they might go out into the desert and serve God? 301 00:26:57.230 --> 00:27:00.190 What does Moses have in mind? Will we know from the other pors, 302 00:27:00.309 --> 00:27:06.460 other portions of scripture, that it was a feast and sacrifices and various 303 00:27:06.460 --> 00:27:10.779 of these kinds of rituals? Service to the Lord, worship to the Lord, 304 00:27:10.980 --> 00:27:18.210 involve these external things, these rituals and ceremonies. This word, these 305 00:27:18.289 --> 00:27:22.769 words are also used in the Old Testament to describe servants in the temple, 306 00:27:22.529 --> 00:27:26.890 those who serve the Lord from the tribe of Lee by those who serve the 307 00:27:27.009 --> 00:27:32.720 Lord as priests, are those who are involved in all the ritual elements of 308 00:27:32.920 --> 00:27:38.480 Israelite worship. And so that's one reason. Some bibles translate that Romans twelve 309 00:27:38.640 --> 00:27:45.869 verse as. This is this act of spiritual sacrifice, is your reasonable service. 310 00:27:45.750 --> 00:27:53.269 The SEV translates that as a spiritual a spiritual worship. Well, what 311 00:27:53.349 --> 00:27:56.789 do we when we take all these things together? I'm attitude, gesture, 312 00:27:56.789 --> 00:28:03.779 ritual. What can we conclude? One thing we can conclude about the worship 313 00:28:03.859 --> 00:28:07.299 God gave to Israel is that it's not, as some people think of worship, 314 00:28:07.579 --> 00:28:12.210 purely external. Some people think of worship this way. Right, it's 315 00:28:12.289 --> 00:28:15.569 purely external. It doesn't matter what I do in my heart. As long 316 00:28:15.609 --> 00:28:18.250 as I say the right things as I are, long as I talk to 317 00:28:18.329 --> 00:28:22.250 the right people, is show up at the right church, do these external 318 00:28:22.410 --> 00:28:27.240 things, God will be pleased. But, as we know from our thinking 319 00:28:27.279 --> 00:28:33.359 about the fear of the Lord, the devotion God requires, it's not purely 320 00:28:33.400 --> 00:28:38.039 external. It's very much an internal thing. Worship is a thing of the 321 00:28:38.279 --> 00:28:44.670 heart. Well, some people think what worship is purely external. Other people 322 00:28:44.750 --> 00:28:49.630 think it's purely internal. The Bible doesn't say that either. The internal realities, 323 00:28:49.710 --> 00:28:55.390 the fear that's in one's heart, extends out into our lives. The 324 00:28:55.589 --> 00:29:02.819 internal realities have external expressions, from the ways than which we position our bodies 325 00:29:03.500 --> 00:29:08.700 to the paths on which we choose to walk, and that includes the ceremonies 326 00:29:08.779 --> 00:29:14.529 of the church, the ceremonies and rituals of worship. Some people think of 327 00:29:14.650 --> 00:29:19.250 worship is purely informal and individual. As long as I have my heart in 328 00:29:19.289 --> 00:29:23.960 the right place and I have a relationship with God, then that's all God 329 00:29:25.119 --> 00:29:30.039 cares about. But that certainly wasn't true in the Old Testament. If you 330 00:29:30.160 --> 00:29:33.799 had a sacrifice that was old, you'd better pay it. If you had 331 00:29:33.839 --> 00:29:37.480 an offering that was owed or a vow that you promised, if there was 332 00:29:37.640 --> 00:29:40.990 something that was part of the system, or if there was a holy day 333 00:29:41.069 --> 00:29:42.990 coming up or a feast that was offered, you couldn't say to God, 334 00:29:44.910 --> 00:29:48.069 why, of my relationship with you, I'm not really going to do these 335 00:29:48.109 --> 00:29:53.700 things that you've commanded. God has certain requirements on his people and those requirements, 336 00:29:53.779 --> 00:29:57.940 those liturgies, those expressions of worship that we see in the Old Testament 337 00:29:59.019 --> 00:30:04.579 are not inhibitions to worship or road blocks to worship. They are the worship. 338 00:30:06.660 --> 00:30:11.289 That is what worship is. It is doing those things, even those 339 00:30:11.009 --> 00:30:15.650 external things, with a heart that's in the right place, a heart that 340 00:30:15.890 --> 00:30:23.079 fears the Lord and then moves forward into external realities and serves him. And 341 00:30:23.559 --> 00:30:29.920 the same is true in the New Testament. This worship that God gave Israel, 342 00:30:29.960 --> 00:30:33.559 though it is changed in some ways, in the particular external forms, 343 00:30:36.069 --> 00:30:40.349 there is very much the same kind of heart here. Our heart must be 344 00:30:40.430 --> 00:30:45.430 in the right place. There are external expressions of it and there are corporate 345 00:30:45.509 --> 00:30:52.619 gatherings of preaching and sacraments and singing that we must attend, we must belong 346 00:30:52.660 --> 00:30:56.619 to. It is what God calls us to. It's how he marks us. 347 00:31:00.420 --> 00:31:03.490 Now you know already that Israel did not keep worship as it ought. 348 00:31:06.130 --> 00:31:10.329 Israel took the worship that God gave to them and it bowed down to other 349 00:31:10.490 --> 00:31:15.569 gods. It didn't keep the temple holy, it didn't keep the feasts and 350 00:31:15.769 --> 00:31:22.319 sacrifices and fasting as it ought. They profaned the sabbaths and over and over 351 00:31:22.440 --> 00:31:26.480 throughout all the profits you hear are this kind of common condemnation. And it's 352 00:31:26.480 --> 00:31:32.950 a condemnation I think, at least I hope. Maybe condemnations right, not 353 00:31:33.069 --> 00:31:37.029 the right word, but up pricking of the heart. When I read those 354 00:31:37.390 --> 00:31:41.309 sections from Malachi, these descriptions of things that will happen when we don't fear 355 00:31:41.349 --> 00:31:48.859 the Lord, distraction, boredom, not caring, these things are true of 356 00:31:48.940 --> 00:31:53.380 us as well. When our heart arts aren't in the right place. Israel 357 00:31:53.380 --> 00:31:56.460 didn't keep the worship they that they ought, and we know from scripture and 358 00:31:56.619 --> 00:32:00.220 from our own hearts, are own lives, that we don't worship God as 359 00:32:00.380 --> 00:32:07.049 we ought. If we give deference to our bosses at work or our fathers 360 00:32:07.130 --> 00:32:10.170 and our homes, how are we not going to give deference to God, 361 00:32:12.289 --> 00:32:16.240 to worship him with reverence and awe, to humble ourselves before him? This 362 00:32:17.920 --> 00:32:28.400 we don't do. But I'm here to tell you that the king we have, 363 00:32:30.509 --> 00:32:35.069 the king that we are called to worship and love and serve, is 364 00:32:35.109 --> 00:32:38.869 a king who commands, is a king who requires, but he's also a 365 00:32:39.150 --> 00:32:46.220 king who forgives. If it weren't for that fact, then we should be 366 00:32:47.019 --> 00:32:54.299 terrified of coming before him, even those holy prophets of his who are caught 367 00:32:54.299 --> 00:32:59.250 up in a great vision to enter into the Throne Room of God and somehow 368 00:32:59.289 --> 00:33:01.970 see and expression of who he is on his throne. You know what they 369 00:33:02.089 --> 00:33:08.049 did, like Isaiah, they fall down before him, they shake, they 370 00:33:08.250 --> 00:33:17.599 tremble, they cry out, they're feeling impending doom until the Lord says stand 371 00:33:17.640 --> 00:33:24.640 up, I'm going to speak to you. Not that moment when you hear 372 00:33:24.839 --> 00:33:30.829 that promise. When you hear the offer of grace and forgiveness, you don't 373 00:33:30.829 --> 00:33:32.950 lay there on the ground say no, no, I'm not worthy and I 374 00:33:32.990 --> 00:33:36.750 don't want to listen to you still and know, you stand up and you 375 00:33:36.910 --> 00:33:43.140 receive the gift. If the king is offering you pardon, you go. 376 00:33:44.779 --> 00:33:49.460 You go before the King and you say I'm here, Lord, I'm not 377 00:33:49.660 --> 00:33:53.099 worthy, Lord, but save me, Lord, and that is what he 378 00:33:53.380 --> 00:33:59.170 offers. How do we know? How do we know? How can we 379 00:33:59.369 --> 00:34:04.930 enter with boldness and confidence before the throne of God and worship him? It's 380 00:34:05.009 --> 00:34:08.929 because of the Christ that Paul Mentions in these verses, in Romans Nine, 381 00:34:09.039 --> 00:34:15.519 four and five. It's because Jesus hung on a cross, even while the 382 00:34:15.599 --> 00:34:23.349 Roman soldiers took to the knee to mock him, King Jesus, as he 383 00:34:23.389 --> 00:34:29.949 hung on across, there were people around him, laughing, ridiculing him. 384 00:34:30.909 --> 00:34:34.750 Oh, King of the Jews, let's put a robe on him, let's 385 00:34:34.750 --> 00:34:42.099 put a placard above his cross. He took on that kind of indignity and 386 00:34:42.460 --> 00:34:47.219 shame and dishonor when he was oh to everything, out of love for us. 387 00:34:49.780 --> 00:34:53.130 He did it so that we can know that we have forgiveness so that 388 00:34:53.250 --> 00:34:59.409 the grath of God and the condemnation for our false worship and our bad worship, 389 00:34:59.409 --> 00:35:05.570 are in pure worship, would be all washed away. Paul said, 390 00:35:05.570 --> 00:35:08.320 you remember at the beginning of Romans that people do not worship God as they 391 00:35:08.360 --> 00:35:15.840 ought. Instead of worshiping and serving the immortal, glorious God, they make 392 00:35:15.039 --> 00:35:20.920 images of creeping things and worship their money and themselves and all the rest. 393 00:35:24.030 --> 00:35:30.269 That's what God saves us from. Those are the sins that he forgives. 394 00:35:30.309 --> 00:35:35.269 He didn't have to do that, he wasn't required to do that, but 395 00:35:35.429 --> 00:35:37.980 he did it nevertheless. And so though we have sinned, though we are 396 00:35:38.059 --> 00:35:43.139 unworthy, through Christ, God opens up away for us to come back to 397 00:35:43.179 --> 00:35:46.940 him and serve him. He cleanses us, he sanctifies us, he gives 398 00:35:47.019 --> 00:35:53.449 us his spirit and because Jesus came not just for the Jews, it means 399 00:35:53.530 --> 00:35:59.010 that all of us can find our place again and in service to him. 400 00:36:01.650 --> 00:36:08.199 Does that, when you hear that news, does that make you feel like 401 00:36:10.519 --> 00:36:15.280 treating God in an irreverent way? Does that make you think that, oh, 402 00:36:15.360 --> 00:36:19.710 worship can be no big deal? What was kind of laugh and joke 403 00:36:19.789 --> 00:36:23.869 our way through it, throw out t shirts, whatever, have a good 404 00:36:23.909 --> 00:36:29.150 time. That's what it's about, having fun. Or when you hear about 405 00:36:29.190 --> 00:36:32.699 the grace of God in Christ, does it make you want to bow the 406 00:36:32.739 --> 00:36:39.659 knee, to humble yourself before him, to give yourself fully over to him 407 00:36:39.739 --> 00:36:51.690 in fear and reverence, in awe? I hope it's the latter. We 408 00:36:51.849 --> 00:36:59.849 read in Hebrews twelve that things have changed. In the grace of Jesus Christ, 409 00:36:59.929 --> 00:37:04.800 we don't come dismount Sinai anymore blazing with fire, threatening the law. 410 00:37:06.079 --> 00:37:09.119 He says. You have not come to what maybe touched a blazing fire or 411 00:37:09.159 --> 00:37:13.599 a darkness, a gloom, a tempest, the sound of a trumpet at 412 00:37:13.639 --> 00:37:20.070 whose voice words made the heroes bag that no further messages bespoken to them. 413 00:37:21.670 --> 00:37:27.070 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight of Moses on Mount Sinai that Moses said, 414 00:37:27.150 --> 00:37:31.619 I tremble with fear. But you Christians have not come to Mount Sinai. 415 00:37:31.980 --> 00:37:36.099 You have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the Living God, 416 00:37:36.340 --> 00:37:42.579 the heavenly Jerusalem, to be innumerable angels and festal gathering. You've come 417 00:37:42.659 --> 00:37:45.730 to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled to heaven and to God. 418 00:37:46.889 --> 00:37:52.489 The judge of all into the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to 419 00:37:52.690 --> 00:37:57.889 Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that 420 00:37:58.010 --> 00:38:05.280 speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. He concludes the section by 421 00:38:05.360 --> 00:38:10.000 saying, therefore, let us be grateful, let us be grateful for receiving 422 00:38:10.039 --> 00:38:15.630 a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and let us offer to God acceptable worship, 423 00:38:16.030 --> 00:38:25.869 with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. Do 424 00:38:27.030 --> 00:38:32.619 not leave today without bowing your head and your heart before God, in repentance, 425 00:38:34.619 --> 00:38:43.010 ingratitude, in boldness, in confidence, but also in fear. As 426 00:38:43.050 --> 00:38:45.929 you go before the King of the world, who was also the king on 427 00:38:46.010 --> 00:38:52.570 the cross so that we could be saved from our sins. Let's bow our 428 00:38:52.610 --> 00:39:00.239 heads in our hearts and praise him and love him and serve Him who forgives 429 00:39:00.280 --> 00:39:02.639 us. Let us pray even now,