Supernatural Providence: God Leads (2)
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What is your responsibility when you come to worship? Are you an active or passive participant? What does God expect of us in worship? How do you view worship?
Intro
Intro
Well, we just missed the snow didn’t we?
Would you go to church if it were snowing? How many inches or feet of snow would keep you away?
Do you know their names?
Illus: Picture of the church in The Arn Valley
The legend is three and their names are:
set back in the valley in deep snow, no sign of worshippers
was set next to a rock that had fallen from the mountain beside it
Melchior, Gaspar, and Balthazar.
It was cold and lifeless, I wondered if anyone worshipped there
We had walked for miles to get there and I wonder if anyone else would do that, just to worship God
Do you know what nationality they were?
The chief end of man is to glorify God (worship him) forever!
Proposal: The Christians chief end is to worship God through Jesus Christ
Drama
Drama
This passage is about an exchange between theses Magi (wise men) and Herod the king
We see both had very different understandings of Jesus and his role in history
Both, set out to interact with Jesus in different ways
Magi
What we don’t know
What we don’t know
Debated who they are and how many
Names, how many, their nationality, etc . . .
Some give them names and explain they represent certain countries
Some discus the depth of the meaning of the gifts
None of which Matthew gives us
What we do know
Matthew does not give us detail
Magi
The Lexham Bible Dictionary Origin and Symbolism of the Magi
“Magi” originally referred to priests in Persia (fifth century BC), who were traditionally associated with secret wisdom, magic, and astrology. In time, people of any ethnicity or location were called magi if they were involved in similar practices.
“Magi” originally referred to priests in Persia (fifth century bc), who were traditionally associated with secret wisdom, magic, and astrology. In time, people of any ethnicity or location were called magi if they were involved in similar practices.
They simply represent all nations coming to worship the King of kings - Jesus
The Lexham Bible Dictionary Origin and Symbolism of the Magi
They represent humans of all ages, from all continents, giving gifts appropriate to royalty, divinity, and death.
Morrison, M. D. (2016). Melchior. In J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair Wolcott, … W. Widder (Eds.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
God used a false religion, to lead men to find Jesus and worship him
Herod
Herod was seeking Jesus out of fear
Caesar was the only god to be worshipped
These wise men, Magi, came to worship someone else
We know Herod does not seek to worship, he is plotting
Doctrine
Doctrine
God leads us to worship of him
God’s chief end for the Christian, no matter what nation you have been called out of, is to Worship God
The Westminster Confession of Faith: Edinburgh Edition The Shorter Catechism
Quest. 1. What is the chief end of man?
Answ. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever.b
The Westminster Confession of Faith: Edinburgh Edition The Larger Catechism
Quest. 1. What is the chief and highest end of man?
Ans. Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him for ever.b
WCF
What does it mean to worship God?
Illus: Scrooge at the end of the story
After being visited by three spirits who help scrooge see his heart and where it will lead, he wakes with a transformed heart and mind
His immediate response is to rejoice!
Dickens writes: “Yes! and the bedpost was his own. The bed was his own, the room was his own. Best and happiest of all, the Time before him was his own, to make amends in!”
“I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future!” Scrooge repeated, as he scrambled out of bed. “The Spirits of all three shall strive within me. Oh Jacob Marley! Heaven, and the Christmas Time be praised for this! I say it on my knees, old Jacob, on my knees!”
The point of this is that Scrooge came to a realization that a second chance brought a new beginning. And out of this change of heart flowed praise and worship.
It is no different for the Christian. When the HS comes and saves and places within us a new heart, our response should be to praise God.
God leads us to worship of him through Jesus Christ
Our worship should be focused on Jesus
He is our High Priest
God leads us to worship of him through ordinary means that have supernatural effects
God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
The Word of God goes out and is effectual
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
Is
The music we sing is edifying
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
The sins we confess are forgiven
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
The Lord’s Supper strengthens our faith
Baptism washes and saves
Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
2. God leads his people to salvation
There are wicked people in the world
- seed of the woman and seed of the serpent
righteous and unrighteous
God’s story is a preserving of a people to bring Christ
Then a sustaining of a people for salvation through Christ
Doxology
Doxology
Principles for living:
God has called you and saved you for the purpose of worshipping Him
How will you worship God today and every day
The end state for the Christian is a life of worship
Start practicing today: Spiritual discipline of worship
Worship him for giving you a desire to worship him
When you get up on Sunday morning and have that nagging in your spirit to get to church, that is God
God has set the parameters for worship
There is no guessing and there is no wondering
There is no wondering
App: We should seek to worship Jesus individually, as a family, and corporately
Illus: No one would go out and run a marathon without training and practice
God keeps his people saved to the end to fulfill the goal of worship
He protects us from the wicked
They do not win in the end
Revelation tells us that wicked will curse God all the way to hell
the Spiritual battle between Jesus and the Woman Babylon
Seven Bowls of God’s Wrath
Poured out on mankind
The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in anguish
Yet, the chosen are preserved and saved to the end
As the angel tells John what he is seeing, he says
And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast. These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast. They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”
Rev 17
The end result of this war is one thing:
Worship of God -
After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out,
“Hallelujah!
Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,
for his judgments are true and just;
for he has judged the great prostitute
who corrupted the earth with her immorality,
and has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”
Once more they cried out,
“Hallelujah!
The smoke from her goes up forever and ever.”
Rev 19:
This all ends with the marriage super of the Lamb
Herod, a part of the kingdom against God, who is seeking to plot against the rebel Jesus, cannot win this victory
God’s plan of salvation prevails
God saves his people
This is why we worship - God has called you out of spiritual death and brought you to life, and he will preserve you until the end.
Nothing, not even Hell itself can take you from God’s salvation through Jesus Christ