Calvary Baptist Church

Worshipping God

Psalm 134

Introduction: A couple of years ago the movie The Golden Compass made a big splash.  According to reviews and columns, the movie was very well made, with intriguing characters, an interesting plot, and over the top special effects.   Many Christians, however, were repulsed by the movie because author, Phillip Pullman, an avowed atheist, openly stated that he wrote his books for the express purpose of opposing the Bible’s message about God, sin, and salvation.  He wanted to write a counter narrative to the narrative of Scripture.

 

Indeed, Pullman, expressed his disappointment that people weren’t more outraged about his books.  He wondered aloud why the Harry Potter books and movies received more antagonism that his own, when, in fact, the goal of his books was far more sinister that that of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series.  “My books are about killing God” Pullman stated quite frankly.[1]

 

The Golden Compass is part of a trilogy in which the main characters slay whatever, which Pullman intends to the portray the murder of the Christian God.

 

While relatively few people would express their disdain for the God of the Bible quite so overtly, the truth is that we live in a world that is ever seeking to displace God, to reinvent God, to ignore God, to dethrone God from His rightful place as sovereign Lord of all.  Though you may shudder to think of trying to “kill” God, what place does God have in your life?  What place does God hold in your heart, in your daily routine, in your goals and dreams, in your relationships, in your interests?

 

 

Psalm 134, though brief, is a Psalm that helps us to see the rightful place God should and must have in our souls.  This Psalm is the last of the songs of ascents.  The songs of ascent were songs that the Israelites sung as they traveled up to Jerusalem to worship God during their annual feasts.

 

The final song of ascent reminds the worshippers of God’s rightful place in their souls, in their lives. The Psalm is a reminder to us this morning also; a reminder that God’s rightful place is to be worshipped as we come to church and as we leave the church.  As we come and as we go, God should ever and always be at the center of our lives as the ultimate reason for our existence.

 

God should be life’s highest value and our ultimate priority, for God Himself has made us.  God made you, and your life finds its meaning, purpose, and sanity when you become a worshipper of God.

 

 

 

 

I. Worship God when you come to church (1).

Explanation: Notice the first phrase of this Psalm in verse 1.  “Come,” or “Lo,” “Behold,” can literally mean “stand” and is meant to call our attention to what follows, which is “bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord.”   The word bless means to  “kneel down.”  So the idea may be a picture of humbling ourselves before the Lord God Almighty, recognizing that we are but dust and He is the Most High, and worshipping Him with humility, and devotion is the only proper response to Who He is.

 

In the Old Testament, it was the Levites who were chiefly to be “servants of the Lord, who stand by night in the house of the Lord.”  The house of the Lord referred to the temple or to the place designated specifically to the worship of God and some would remain overnight, kindling the lamps or attending to the sacrifices.

 

Further, we read in the gospel of Luke of a lady named Anna.  Anna was an 84 year-old widow who “did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day” (Luke 2:37).  Now let’s suppose we planned an all night worship service here at Calvary Baptist, and we put a sign up sheet in the back; what kind of attendance could we expect do you think?

 

Illustration: This might sound absurd, but all night celebrations are actually quite common.  Some voters celebrated all night long when Barak Obama won on election almost one year ago.  Some fans celebrated through the night when the Yankees won the World Series a couple of weeks ago.  Some partygoers celebrate through the night on New Year’s Eve.  Some students will celebrate all night long when, and if, they graduate from high school.

 

Why is it that political victories, sports victories, holidays, or major accomplishments can be reasonably celebrated with an all night bash, but the suggestion of worshipping God in such a way sounds ludicrous?

 

 

 

Application: Baseball, politics, educational achievements, just rank partying, are these things more important, more exciting, more worthy of our passionate celebration than God Himself?   Could it be that our lack of zeal for God, when compared to our celebration of these kinds of things with such passion, reveals something about our hearts?  Could it be that while our hearts are alive to politics, sports, and achievements, our hearts are actually dead to God Himself?

 

Brothers and Sisters, something is wrong when the thought of gathering to worship the living God brings about as much excitement to us as gathering to watch paint dry on the walls.  Something is wrong when we conceive of God as boring, stale, dead, or dry.  And I suggest that the problem is with our hearts rather than with God.

 

The Psalmist is more than excited to call his friends to the Lord’s house for worship.  “Come” he say’s, “let’s go worship the Lord.” Worshiping the Lord cannot be dull because it is the Lord we are worshiping.   Notice His name; “Yahweh,” the Existing One, the One Who Is.

 

Yahweh is the name by which God referred to Himself when He met Moses at the burning bush.  I dare say that if we had a tree on our church grounds that was set on fire, but rather than being burned up it simply continued to burn indefinitely; I dare say, we could attract some interest to that.

 

People might even stop by and take pictures to be passed around on Facebook.  Someone might write a story and put it in the Madison Courier.  A video of it might go viral on YouTube.   We might have more traffic backed up than Taco Bell on opening night.

 

God merely used a burning bush as an elementary example of Who He really is; the One who exists forever and is never consumed; the One Who really is, has always been, and always will be.  God- the flaming center of the cosmos brighter and more powerful than a billion suns combined.  Worship God when you come to church!

II. Worship God when you leave the church (2-3).

Explanation: God deserves, yea, He demands to be worshiped in the church, that’s what we’ve gathered to do, but worshiping God should be our full time occupation no matter where we go or what we do.  The final verse of this Psalm, verse 3, is actually a part of the priestly benediction.  “May the Lord bless you from Zion” might have been the final words expressed to worshippers.  So, the idea is…may the God whom you have come to worship in the sanctuary go with you and bless you wherever you go.

 

God was not confined, then, in the Old Testament to the tabernacle or Temple, no building could contain Him.   And neither can a church building contain God today.  When you leave this place and go to your home or to your place of work, God will be just as present and just as worthy and deserving of your worship.

 

He is after all, the One “who made heaven and earth!”  And He is present in all of it; so that no matter where you go, you can never escape God.  And neither can you escape the fact that your soul was made for worshipping God and can never be satisfied in anything other than worship God.

 

Human beings are worshippers, and we will worship something.  The sad reality is that we are duped worshipping something, anything, other than God.  O we don’t usually think of what we’re doing as worship, but that’s what it is.  Whatever we give our attention to, our devotion to, our emotional energy to; whatever we long for in our hearts and dwell on in our minds.  That is what we worship.

 

We get excited or passionate about all kinds of things in life, some of which I’ve already mentioned, all kinds of things matter to us, but does God matter?  While you might never imagine saying something like “I would like to kill God,” does God Himself have any real bearing on your life?  Does God’s existence matter to you?  When you leave this church, will God’s presence in the cosmos have any impact on your day to day existence?

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Illustration: It is possible that while you are not consciously opposed to God, neither are you consciously aware of Him?  One of the great tragedies of life is not to desire the murder of God, but to be indifferent to Him.  Let’s look at the color of the walls in this room.  Did you notice that they are white?  Had you been sitting there prior to the worship service hating these white walls and scheming a grand coup to paint them pink in the night?

 

Probably not, but your indifference to the color of these walls simply highlights the fact that it doesn’t matter.  As a matter of fact, we probably want a neutral color because we don’t want your attention on the walls, we want your attention on what is being said, sung, and prayed in this place.

 

But, just as it is of little significance to you that these walls are white, you wouldn’t give it a second thought, so the fact that you do not meditate on God reveals that He is simply inconsequential to you.  You wouldn’t say that you hate Him and wish Him dead, but neither would you spend more than a fleeting moment even thinking about Him.  God is completely off your radar screen; He simply doesn’t matter.

 

God simply doesn’t compare to your social life, your career goals, your retirement fund, or your hobbies.  This is more frightening than an atheistic author with an agenda to make money.  Our souls may very well be indifferent to God this morning…indifferent to the only source of joy, purpose, and meaning in the universe.  The One who fashioned us and gave us life; it’s a scandal to be indifferent to Him.

 

Application: Are you indifferent to God?  Would you beg to differ with me?  Will you worship God privately as you leave this place today?  Will you make everyday activities an act of worship to God?  God is not far off; He will be there in your home, in your car, in front of your computer screen.  Will you worship Him?  I hope so, because if you do become a worshipper you will be blessed.

 

 

Worshipping God is the escape from meaninglessness that grips so many lives today.  May the Lord bless you as you leave this place today by making you a worshipper of Himself, wherever you go; whatever you do.

 

Conclusion: Philip Pullman makes his most direct attack upon the Christian God in the final book of his trilogy, The Amber Spyglass. In that last scene, Lyra and Will (the two main characters and teenagers by the way) eventually succeed and kill God, who turns out to be a decrepit and feeble old imposter who was hardly worth the killing in the first place.

 

Philip Pullman would have us believe that the God of the Bible is just an imposter, a feeble invention of our religious minds, a fictional thought hardly worth considering, but prevalent that we ought to destroy any thought of him.  And, we might very well be repulsed by the idea of a man writing children’s books to convert children away from believing in the Christian God, in an attempt to murder the very idea of God.  Nevertheless, we might actually be doing something even far worse.

 

Long ago, Jesus expressed His displeasure at those who were indifferent to Him.  “You are neither cold nor hot” He said.  “Would that you were either cold or hot!  So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth” (Rev 3:15-16).

 

Indifference, lukewarmness, is not a fitting response to God.  How can we be indifferent to a God so great?  How can we be indifferent to the One who shed His own blood on a cold cross in order that we might be forgiven of sin and granted eternal life?   Our God, revealed in Jesus Christ, filled with so much love, demands our life, our soul, our all.  Will you give it to Him?  Will you give the Lord Jesus Christ your worship when you come to church and when you leave?

 

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[1] http://www.albertmohler.com/2007/12/04/the-golden-compass-a-briefing-for-concerned-christians

Escaping the Horrors of Hell

Luke 16:19-31

I.  Beware, lest you walk the path to hell (19-22).

 

Explanation: The first section of this parable establishes a dynamic contrast between an unnamed rich man and the very poor Lazarus.  The two men contrast each other’s in every conceivable way.  The rich is clothed in “purple and fine linen” the finest of royal clothing; Lazarus is clothed in festering “sores”.  The rich man “feasted sumptuously every day”; Lazarus longed to eat simply the crumbs that “fell” from his table.  The rich man lived in a palace replete with “a gate”; Lazarus could only lay outside that gate homeless.

 

Even in death this contrast could be seen.  The rich man “died and was buried” no doubt with great pomp and circumstance; Lazarus “died” and there is no indication he was even given a proper burial.

But the greatest contrast between the two men is found in what happens after their deaths.  Lazarus “was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom” a picture of intimate fellowship with the father of Israel, a place of comfort and feasting, heaven.  The rich man, on the other hand “lifted up his eyes, in Hades, being in torment.”

 

We must deal with the torments of hell a little bit later; but at this point it’s this contrast that stands out in the parable.  Do you think this man realized that he was headed for a place of torment?  Do you think he was prepared to die and go to hell?  I tell you one of the awful realities today is that most people who are on the path to hell don’t even know it.  Life is good; nice home, nice clothes, plenty of food on the table.  What could possibly go wrong?

 

Illustration: This past week three college girls, softball players decided to go out stargazing in North Dakota.  Inexplicably they drove their Jeep head long into a pond.  Their frantic cell phone calls to friends only adds to the sense of horror attached to their deaths.  How sad for their family and friends.  Their life was so full and rich, their futures so bright; they never saw their deaths coming so tragically.

 

 

 

Application: But even more heart wrenching, even more tragic is the fact that countless millions are on the path hell itself for eternity and they don’t even know it.  And please notice that this man is not condemned simply because he is rich anymore than Lazarus saved simply because he is poor.

 

But the story reminds that Jesus did warn us about how difficult it is for the rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven.  It is easier, in fact, for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter heaven.” (Mark 10:25).  You see the poverty of Lazarus did not save him, but his poverty proved to be a good providence pointing him to his need God and causing him to hope in God during his life on earth.

 

The rich man’s riches did not condemn him to hell but they proved a hindrance to his own attention to his soul.  He came to build his life on riches rather than God and that was the problem.  If he had built his life on God rather than riches he would have been concerned enough to give of his riches in compassion for the destitute man lying at his gate.

 

Be careful, my friend, on what you build your life on.  Be warned. You need not be a corrupt CEO, or a sex offender, or a terrorist, to wind up in hell.  You need only build your life on something, anything, other than God himself.  That will do it.  And, many, many Americans will be shocked to discover that building their life on the ease and pleasure of a middle class lifestyle was their path to the gates of hell.

 

Nothing is more important than forsaking anything that you might be building your life on instead of God himself.  Whether its possessions, or pleasures, or a particular cause, or friends, or a career; stop now and build your life on God.  Do this now, is infinitely important.  The path to hell becomes increasingly more difficult to get off of as you get older.

 

Beware lest you walk the path to hell.

 

 

II. Beware, lest you know the horrors of hell (23-26).

 

Explanation: But now we turn to the description of hell Jesus provides in this parable.  This parable indicates that as soon as you die you will have a conscious awareness of your eternal state, whether it’s heaven or hell.  In heaven their will be a reuniting with the saints of old; Lazarus is “at the side” of Abraham (verse 23) and there will be “comfort” from the pains of life on earth (verse 25).  But the contrast between heaven and hell could not be greater.

 

Verse 23 says that in hell the rich man was in “torment.”  Verse 24 says that he was in “anguish in this flame.”  Again, verse 25 says that hell is a place of “anguish.” And further, verse 26 speaks of a “great chasm.”  The great chasm is not some literally gulf but a  way of expressing the eternality of hell.  The soul in hell will not be annihilated, and cease to exist, as some have thought, but will be place of eternal torment.  Once you are there, you are there for the rest of eternity.

 

Hell is thus a place of eternal conscious torment and it is one of the most difficult doctrines for us.  Would a loving God actually punish people in a place of torment for eternity because of their sin?  It is difficult.  But notice one important reality of hell.  Notice what the rich man does not ask for.  Nowhere in this parable does the rich man ask to get out.

 

Oh he asks for some “mercy” from Abraham, but he doesn’t ask to get out, rather he asks for some water, just a little more of that feasting he had done while on earth.  And he fully expects Lazarus to be his water boy, just as he might have commanded someone to do in his former life.

 

I think Tim Keller’s explanation of this parable and the reality of hell in The Reason for God is helpful.  Keller notes that the rich man is never given a name, like Lazarus indicated that his identity was wrapped up in being rich.  Thus hell, Keller says, is “one’s freely chosen identity apart from God one a trajectory into infinity.”

 

He suggest that addictions to drugs, alcohol, gambling, and pornography gives us glimpse of the soul’s experience in hell.  First, there is disintegration, because as time goes on you need more and more of the addictive substance to get an equal kick which leads to less and less satisfaction. Second, there is isolation as increasingly you blame others and circumstances to justify your behavior.

 

Building your life on anything other God becomes an enslaving passion or addiction, something that you have to have in order to be happy and ultimately it will cost you your soul.  Hell will be an experience of eternally increasing disintegration, isolation, denial, delusion, and self-absorption.  That’s why souls in hell don’t want out.

 

Illustration: In C.S. Lewis’ fantasy The Great Divorce, Lewis describes a busload of people from hell who come to the outskirts of heaven.  There they are urged to leave behind the sins that have trapped them in hell – but they refuse.  They don’t want to give up their sins.  And he describes the grip of sin on the soul in hell “going on forever like a machine.  It is not a question of God “sending” us to hell.  Lewis says, “In each of us there is something growing, which will BE HELL unless it is nipped in the bud.”[1]

 

Brothers and sisters, I do not mean to diminish the descriptions of hell found in the Bible.  Hell is called a place of “unquenchable fire”, “torment”, and “anguish.”  Those fires may be absolutely literal.  But as I observe the souls of those around me who have no interest in anything other than their own sin, I have no doubt that to continue in such enslavement to sins and lusts forever will nothing short of the most awful torments.

Application: I say to you today, whatever your age or season in life.  Do not walk the path to hell.  Do not follow the sinful pleasures of your own flesh.  Avoid it for it will end in horrors you can’t imagine.  Your soul will be miserable forever if you build your life on anything but God.

III. Beware, lest you miss the remedy for hell (27-31).

 

Explanation: But how can you escape this place called hell?  Read verse 27-30. Notice again, the delusion of the rich man as he requests that Lazarus be sent back from the dead to warn his brothers not to come to hell.  Notwithstanding this sinful audacity, Abraham simply says they have their Bible’s let them read and follow them.  But the rich man exclaims that if only someone could “go to them from the dead, they will repent.”

 

Notice verse 31.  Like their dead brother, these men will  not go to hell for being rich, but they will go to hell for their neglect of Holy Scripture.  The Bible has the answer for how to deliver your soul from sin, and death, and hell.  In the Bible you will find the only remedy for your soul both now and for eternity.

 

You do not need horoscopes, or visions, or self-realization techniques, or to see someone rise from the dead.  All you need, for your eternal soul, is the word of God.  One writer describes these brothers by saying, “If a man cannot be humane with the Old Testament in his hand and Lazarus on his doorstep, nothing – neither a visitor from the other world nor a revelation of the horrors of hell – will teach him otherwise.”[2]

Illustration: Like many of you we had to make a decision about giving our children the H1N1 flu vaccination.  There were questions about even the availability of the vaccine.  And even when it came would it actually work?  But most of all would there negative side affects later in life for the children?  The remedy for the H1N1 virus came with uncertainties and unknowns.

 

Application: Friend I want to tell you today, that there are no uncertainties about the remedy for hell found in the Bible.  In the pages of the Bible we learn about a Savior; the very Son of God who came in flesh like our own.  Jesus Christ whose righteous life and sacrificial death on the cross became the remedy for souls bound in sin, bound for death, bound for hell.

Friends, it is only through the cross of the Redeemer that we can avoid the horrors of hell.  And God has made provision through the cross precisely for our deliverance from hell, from his wrath.  God himself is patient “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” 2 Peter 3:9.  The death of Christ is the means of escape from the torments of hell and you may certainly draw upon it today.

 

But if you wait too long, if you wake up to find yourself in hell, it will be too late.  So I simply plead with you not to wait.  I plead with you not go to this awful place, this place of torment, this eternal place, this place called hell.

 

Do not wait for a visitor from the realm of the dead to come and warn you.  Do not wait for a miraculous sign.  Do not wait for an overwhelming feeling.  Do not wait for a better season life, when things settle down.  Do not wait until you’re older; death might sneak up on you sooner than you think.  Do not wait on anything for any reason whatsoever, but listen and take heed today to the remedy for hell that the Bible holds out to you; the cross of Jesus Christ.

 

Conclusion: It’s almost ironic that the rich man requested that someone rise from the dead to warn his brothers not to come to hell.  For if they would simply have read the Bible, Old Testament and New, they would have discovered that their salvation lay in the one who would rise from the dead.

 

Friends, the truth is today that someone has already risen from the dead to deliver you from this awful place called hell.  There has already been a resurrection; even the resurrection of the Son of God, Jesus Christ.  He has returned from the dead.  Hundreds of people saw him with their own eyes, touched him with their hands, and heard him with their own ears.  And they passionately gave their testimony to thousands of others, many of them willing to lay down their lives to testify to the truth that Jesus Christ the Son of God died for sin and rose for eternal life.

 

And so for 2,000 years, from generation to generation, the gospel message has come to you and me today.  And this gospel, this good news, rests on the foundational truth that after the Son of God had given his life as a sacrifice for sin, he rose up again from the dead in order to save all who will believer in him.

 

You know the name of the poor man in our parable is Lazarus and

the name Lazarus literally means “One whom God has helped.” Jesus presumable could have given this man any name, but he gave him this name; Lazarus, “one whom God has helped.”  Friends, we can not escape our sin, our death, our hell, on our own.  We all need the help of God and God has given us that help in the person of his own Son, through his death and resurrection.

 

Will you receive this help from God today?  Will you believe on Jesus Christ as your own Savior, your own Redeemer, your own Lord?

 

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[1] Tim Keller, The Reason for God, page 81.

[2] Leon Morris, Tyndale NT Commentary, page 278.

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