Worship in Spirit and Truth (8)
Worship In Spirit and Truth • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 38:47
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· 6 viewsMorning 4 May 25
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A Kingdom that Cannot Be Shaken 1
A Kingdom that Cannot Be Shaken 1
9 We do not see our signs; there is no longer any prophet, and there is none among us who knows how long. 10 How long, O God, is the foe to scoff? Is the enemy to revile your name forever? 11 Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand? Take it from the fold of your garment and destroy them!
18 For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest 19 and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. 20 For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” 21 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. 25 See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. 26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27 This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for our God is a consuming fire.
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18 For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest 19 and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. 20 For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” 21 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.”
Introduction
In our last two sessions we saw something of the glory of heaven that every true believer is going to enjoy when the Lord calls them to be with him. In the verses I read from Hebrews 12 we are told of what our experience of heaven is now. Three things 1. What it is not v18-21; 2. What it is v22-24 and 3. What our response must be v25-29. It is the first of these that we will concentrate upon today.
Firstly we need to see the purpose and meaning of the Book of Hebrews.
1. In These Last Days God has Spoken to us by His Son Hebrews 1:1-2
1. In These Last Days God has Spoken to us by His Son Hebrews 1:1-2
We are not told who wrote the Book of Hebrews, nor precisely to whom it was written. However it is reasonable to say that it was written to Jews who had become Christians. Dates ranging from 50 to 90 AD are suggested for it‘s writing. Considering that it’s main theme is the superiority of Jesus Christ over the Worship, Priesthood and Rule of the Old Testament it may well have been written just before or after the destruction of the Temple in AD 70.
The writer of Hebrews has portrayed the Son as:-
1. the Prophet through whom God has spoken
2. the Creator who made the universe
3. the Heir of all things
4. the Representation of God’s being
5. the Upholder of all things
6. the Priest who provided purification for sins
7. the King who sat down at his place of honour
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1 Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, 2 who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house. 3 For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honour than the house itself. 4 (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) 5 Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, 6 but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.
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19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
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2. Do Not Look to the Visual or the Material v18-21
2. Do Not Look to the Visual or the Material v18-21
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18 For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest 19 and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. 20 For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” 21 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.”
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a. Terrifyingly Awesome v18
a. Terrifyingly Awesome v18
18 For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest
11 And you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while the mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, wrapped in darkness, cloud, and gloom.
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b. The Voice of God v19
b. The Voice of God v19
19 and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them.
12 Then the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but saw no form; there was only a voice.
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18 Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off 19 and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.”
Even Moses was afraid
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21 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.”
11 Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.
The stress, then, is on God’s holiness. God wanted the people to be aware of his sacred majesty. The Israelites were filled with fear and terror. Even Moses, to whom God would speak as to a friend, was afraid (Exod. 33:11) Kistemaker, S. J.
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3. The Basis for True Worship John 4:24
3. The Basis for True Worship John 4:24
24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
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a. Not Visual
a. Not Visual
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21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.
For a thousand years or so prior to the Reformation so much of so called worship was purely visual. The vestments, the rituals, even the language, Latin which the vast majority could not understand.
It is rightly said that the Reformation was not just the truth of Justification by Faith alone, it was also the rediscovery of true corporate worship.
In 1559 John Knox returned from Geneva to Scotland. It was safe to do so as Queen Elizabeth 1 was on the throne. He brought The Geneva Bible, in English and a copy of Genevan Form of Prayer which led to the Scottish Psalter, 1 million copies were printed by 1640.
b. God Given Visuals
b. God Given Visuals
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i. Baptism
i. Baptism
37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
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II. The Lord’s Supper
II. The Lord’s Supper
42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
Conclusion
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2 So Aaron said to them, “Take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4 And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”
