14th August 2005 WORSHIP - WALKING HUMBLY WITH GOD - a.m. version Pastor Linton Smith

Last week we asked the question, What on earth am I here for? We looked at what the Bible teaches.. and saw that God created us.. to love us.. to last for ever.. to know Him.

When we know God we love Him!

As I thought about this.. a song started going around and around in my head.. looked it up on the Net.. written by Phil Spector.. not about God.. but a man.. To know know know him Is to love love love him Just to see him smile Makes my life worthwhile To know know know him Is to love love love him And I do.

To know God is to love Him. When we know Him.. we worship Him.

But how do we worship Him?

In the Psalms we read..

Psalm 96:9.. Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness; tremble before him, all the earth.

Psalm 95:6,7.. Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.

In Micah we read..

Micah 6:6-8.. With what shall I come before the LORD and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

The people of that time flocked to the Temple .. offered numerous sacrifices.. professing to be God’s people.. but then they would go about their daily lives.. with lies.. greed.. injustice.. cruelty.. immorality.

God was saying.. What I want is not a string of sacrifices.. I want you! I want you to worship me with your lives.. in everything.. I want you to walk humbly with Me.. and to act justly.. and to love mercy!

When we turn to the New Testament.. we find much the same.. we read in..

Romans 12:1.. Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.

This is the worship God wants – the worship that pleases Him. He wants us! Wants us to offer our bodies.. our lives.. as living sacrifices..

Combine this with the words of Micah.. and we get a picture of the worship that pleases God.. He wants us to offer ourselves to Him.. and then walk humbly with Him.. acting justly.. and loving mercy!

I thought about that.. and then asked, But how?

It is easy to come to church on Sunday.. meet people.. catch up.. sing a few songs.. pray a few prayers.. listen to a sermon.. but what will move me to give my life totally over to God.. to live for Him 24 hours a day.. 7 days a week.. 52 weeks a year.. and year after year after year..

I asked this question.. and found the answer in Isaiah 6..

The first thing to do is to..

§ CONTEMPLATE THE HOLINESS OF GOD.

One day Isaiah went into the Temple .. probably thought it would be like any other day.. but it wasn’t.. he had a vision that changed his life.. He writes..

Isaiah 6:1-5.. In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

He saw the LORD.. high.. and exalted.. high.. and exalted..

What can I do.. to get just a glimpse of what he saw.. to feel what he felt?

I began to think about the Universe He created.. Come with me on a journey into space.. we are traveling at the speed of light. How long to reach the Moon - just over a second. How long to reach the Sun - 8 minutes. Then we head for the nearest star.. Alpha Centauri.. the brightest of the two pointers to the Southern Cross. How long does it take - 4.3 years! Or suppose we head straight for the star at the foot of the Southern Cross. When will we get there? Nearly 400 years later! And still the Universe will stretch out before us.. endlessly.. our journey has only just begun. Does that give you a feel for the size of the Universe? Then say to yourself.. God created all this.. How BIG is He.. how awesome.. how high and exalted!

Let it fill you with awe and wonder!

Isaiah heard the seraphim calling out.. Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty..

These words hit him hard.. because he knew what holy meant.. God is not only mighty and powerful.. but He is perfect. He is perfectly honest.. perfectly just.. perfectly merciful.. absolutely free from sin..

Take that in.. High.. exalted.. far beyond our imagination.. and perfect in every way. How do you feel?

In the last book of the Bible we get a glimpse of heaven.

Revelation 4:8-11.. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

Contemplate the holiness of God.. let it sink in.. be filled with awe and wonder.. and this is how we will worship Him! Do that.. and then..

§ CONTEMPLATE THE GRACE OF GOD.

His vision of God.. left Isaiah feeling totally undone.. but then he discovered the grace of God..

Isaiah 6:6,7.. “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.” Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

Faced with the holy God.. he knew he was a man of unclean lips..

Why does he focus on his lips?

Perhaps because he was called to speak God’s word.. perhaps because he knew how much God hates lying lips.. flattering lips.. boasting lips.. perhaps because he knew that what we say is an indication of what is in our hearts.

Then one of the seraphim flew to him.. touched his lips with a live coal from the altar.. and said.. Your guilt is taken away.. your sin atoned for..

Now his heart was filled with awe.. wonder.. and gratitude..

Let’s turn to the last book in the Bible again.. turn over to the next chapter.. another glimpse of heaven..

Before the throne of God stood a Lamb.. Jesus.. book was given to Him.. then we read..

Revelation 5:8-10.. And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”

You were slain.. you died on a cross.. as the Lamb of God.. as the Perfect sacrifice for sin.. you purchased people for God.. from every tribe, language, people, nation..

Contemplate what this means. Jesus.. God the Son.. shared in the creation of this vast Universe.. came to this earth.. lived.. died.. in your place.. my place!

Contemplate the holiness of God.. and we feel like Isaiah.. totally undone.. but then.. contemplate the grace of God in Jesus.. and we are blown away.. with awe.. wonder.. gratitude..

Then we respond the way God wants us to respond. We..

§ CONSECRATE OUR LIVES TO GOD.

That is what Isaiah did..

Isaiah 6:8.. Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

He put his life in God’s hands.. offered himself as a living sacrifice.. to do whatever God wanted..

That is the way Mary responded. She was unmarried.. you will have a child.. Jesus. What would people think? What would it mean? What about all the dreams she had? But she was overwhelmed. God had chosen her. She had just been told she was going to be the mother of Jesus.. the means by which God the Son became a human being.. and this is how she responded..

Luke 1:38.. “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.”

She gave up all her dreams for her life.. and offered herself as a living sacrifice..

That is the way Paul responded. He had his plans.. to wipe out the followers of Jesus.. be done with this new religion.. but one day.. Jesus stepped in..

Acts 22:6-10.. About noon as I came near Damascus , suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?’ ‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked. ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth , whom you are persecuting,’ he replied. My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him who was speaking to me. ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ I asked. ‘Get up,’ the Lord said, ‘and go into Damascus . There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.’

What shall I do, Lord? That was a genuine question. He was asking, What do You want me to do? He gave his life to Jesus.. totally.. a living sacrifice..

That is the way C.T.Studd responded.

Famous English cricketer, wealthy.. left it all.. to go to Africa for Jesus..

If Christ be God and died for me, no sacrifice is too great for me to make for Him.

Isaiah.. Mary.. Paul.. C.T.Studd.. consecrated their lives to God. They offered themselves to Him as living sacrifices.

Have we?

We will.. if we contemplate the holiness of God.. until we are filled with awe and wonder..

and then contemplate the grace of God in Jesus until we are filled with gratitude..

then.. we will willingly, lovingly, adoringly, consecrate our lives to Him..

then we will walk humbly with God.. and act justly and love mercy..

Warren says the problem with living sacrifices is that they can crawl off the altar.. maybe we have done that.. the sense of God’s holiness has dimmed.. the sense of God’s grace has dimmed.. and our love for God has grown cold..

Today.. again.. this week.. and in days to come.. take the time.. to sit with Isaiah.. Contemplate the holiness of God.. the grace of God.

Feel what he felt.. and consecrate your life to Him – again and again!

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