Episode Transcript
Jesus said in Matthew 28:19, go therefore, and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Welcome to go teach all nations, bringing you Christ's teachings through australian and international speakers. And here is today's presenter, Tim Matsis.
This evening's message is titled give us a revival. And the subtitle, is it an imagination or is it inspiration? What is our revival based on? Imagination or inspiration? Today we follow the story of the Hebrews and their experience at Mount Sinai. But before we get to that, some people have asked me in times past, Tim, why did you study law? What is it about the law that attracted your attention? Well, there's a lot of reasons for it, I guess, but one of the main reasons why it appealed to me, and I know it appealed to many other young law students, was that the law seems to have something transcendent about it.
You know, we deal in the humdrum of everyday life, but the law seems to sit above everything and control almost every aspect of our lives. In fact, more and more as the days progress, isn't it? And so the law is something that is aspirational, if you like. We think that there's perhaps some hidden wisdom in ithemenous, maybe something that's come from on high.
Of course, as you know, that's perhaps getting less and less in our secular western culture. But certainly up until recent times, the Ten Commandments or God's law has had a great influence on the laws in our country. And going to court can sometimes be a very intimidating process.
I don't know if you've ever sat in court, hopefully not as the accused or the defendant, but it's interesting to sit in the gallery sometimes and watch the people who come in. You'd be surprised to hear some of the stories that come out. It's amazing to see people come into court who may have been drunken and violent and abusive the night before and then to observe their change in demeanour on Saturday night.
Maybe they'd been out and gotten drunk and became abusive, got into a fight with somebody, maybe even got into a fight with the police, somebody maybe that you wouldn't want to meet out on the street in the dark. But then when they turn up in court, they stand there in a clean suit, clean shaven, their heads somewhat bowed and speaking very respectfully to the judge, almost like it's a different person, as if they're somewhat overawed by the experience. You know, when we come to church, we ought to feel a similar sense of awe, the idea that maybe we're coming into the presence of something more powerful, more holy, something greater than us.
And right throughout the scriptures, you know, as we read experiences of people who came into the presence of God, we actually see this played out. I was looking in the Bible and I came. I found some examples when people came into God's presence and they received a direct revelation from God.
And it's interesting to see their responses here in Luke chapter five and verse eight. You remember when Jesus was on the shore and he worked a miracle and he filled their nets, the disciples nets with fish. When Peter realised what power Jesus had just displayed on his behalf, this is what he said.
It says, he fell down at Jesus knee, saying, depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. He suddenly had a sense, a realisation, that the man he was dealing with was not an ordinary Mandev, that there was a divine aspect to his character that had just been revealed in front of him. And when he saw himself in the presence of this divine being, he humbled himself and got down at Jesus knees, it says, and said to God, depart from me, Jesus.
I'm a sinful man. Of course, in contrast to the man who stood in front of him, Jesus. Remember when Thomas doubted the resurrection of Jesus? And then all of a sudden, he's confronted by a risen Christ.
And something draws something, that the power of God draws something out of his spirit and out of his mouth. And he says almost involuntarily in John, chapter 2028, my Lord and my God, this was not just a man, this was God. You remember Saul, on the way to Damascus to persecute christians, Jesus appeared in front of him.
Let's read the story here in acts chapter nine, in verse three, it says, as he journeyed, he came near Damascus and suddenly there shined round him a light from heaven. What's his response? It says, he fell to the earth and he heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? Verse five. And he said, who art thou, Lord? I the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest.
It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he, trembling and astonished, said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? Remember this was a man who went from city to city, dragging christians out of their houses, taking them to court, putting them to death. He was there to persecute Jesus and his followers.
But when he came face to face with Jesus, when he had a divine revelation, the reaction was to get down on his knees and cry out and say, Lord, what will you have me to do? You can almost hear the submission in his voice. When Daniel saw a vision of Christ. Let's read it in Daniel chapter ten.
In verse seven to nine, it says there that I, Daniel alone, saw the vision. For the men that were with me saw not the vision, but a great quaking fell upon them so that they fled to hide themselves. Therefore I was left alone and saw this great vision.
And there remained no strength in me for my comeliness was turned into corruption and I retained no strength. In other words, what he's saying is I might have thought I was all right. But when I came into the presence of the divine, suddenly I saw myself as not okay.
Verse nine. Yet I heard the voice of his words. And when I heard the voice of his words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face and my face towards the ground.
You see what happens when we come into the presence of God. We suddenly have a realisation that God is greater, more holy, more powerful than us. And we see ourselves in our true light and we're made to humble ourselves and submit ourselves to the will of God.
Remember when Jesus revealed himself to Moses on the mountain and he spoke his character? The Bible says that Moses got down and worshipped. When Jacob saw angels ascending and descending on that ladder which we know represented Jesus, he set up an altar and he worshipped. And we could talk about example after example.
If you go right back through the Bible and you find where they worship, it was always in response to a divine revelation. Abraham set up altars, Jacob set up altars. Jeremiah, Isaiah, whenever they came into contact with the divine, they were humbled and they worshipped.
Of course, those that weren't humbled, as you see in the experience here of Daniel, it says they hid themselves. They either humbled themselves in submission or they hid themselves in fear. You know, it wasn't only direct revelations from God, though there are many other times in the Bible where people worshipped, perhaps not based on Jesus appearing in front of them or an angel appearing in front of them.
Maybe not a direct experience of God working a miracle, but many times in the Bible when they worshipped, it was because they remembered something that God had done in the past, perhaps because it came to their mind when they saw something, or perhaps because they'd been reading the scriptures and the scriptures inspired their thoughts as to God's character. And then they humbled themselves in worship before God. Some of you may remember when Israel was in apostasy and King Josiah was brought a scroll of the law that had been found in the temple.
And his response? Well, let's read it in two chronicles, chapter 34 27. His response when the scroll of the law was read to him, this is what God says happened. He says, because thine heart was tender, thou didst humble thyself before thy God when thou heardest his words against this place and against the inhabitants thereof, and humblest thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes and weep before me.
I have even heard thee also, says the Lord. So in other words, when Josiah heard the scroll of the law, he saw himself in God's eyes, and he saw his countrymen and his city the way that God saw them. He saw the contrast between the divine and the way that the humans around him and himself had acted.
And the Bible says, he humbled himself and he wept and he bowed down. You remember when Jonah, that disobedient prophet, ran away from God and he was cast into the sea and he was in the belly of a great fish? Jonah, chapter two seven. It says that his soul fainted within him.
He says, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came in unto thee, unto thine holy temple. Here Jonah is worshipping God based on a recollection of God's character. Now, when Peter recalled the words of Jesus, he humbled himself before God.
Look at this. In Matthew, chapter 26 and verse 75, remember, Jesus was taken captive before he was crucified. And Peter had said, Lord, I will never deny you.
But then, of course, he did the unthinkable, and he denied Jesus. Matthew 26 75 says that Peter remembered the words of Jesus, which said to him, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. You see, Peter remembered a past revelation that Jesus had given him.
And when it came to pass, Peter saw that here he was a sinner, and God, through Jesus, of course, had spoken the divine. The key thing to keep in mind here is that whenever we see true worship in the scripture, it is based either on a past or a present revelation of God's character. That is the hallmark of true worship.
And this is why Paul tells Timothy, that young disciple of his, so emphatically, that when he was to run his church, that he was to preach the word, because he was to ever keep before the people the divine revelation, because only the divine revelation would inspire true worship in the church. Friends, when we hear the revelation from God's word, it reminds us of what he's done in the past. It tells us what he will do in the future, but also it tells us what he is doing now for us and in us in our world today, it reminds us of who we are and who God is.
It reminds us that God is in control, that God is divine, that God is holy, and that we are human, that we are sinners, and that we are dependent on his power. Probably the most striking revelation of God to his people is found in the book of Exodus, chapter 19. You remember, the Israelites had been delivered from the slavery of Egypt, and now they were making their way to the promised land through the desert.
Exodus, chapter 19 tells us in verse ten that the Lord said to Moses, go unto the people and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes. Be ready against the third day, for the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai. And so after they had prepared themselves to meet God, in verse 16 of chapter 19, it says, and it came to pass, that on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud upon the mount.
And the voice of the trumpet exceedingly loud, so that all the people in the camp trembled. Does this fit with our understanding of what happens when people come into contact with the divine? They saw God reveal himself on the mountain and they trembled. Verse 17 says, and Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with Goddesse.
And they stood at the nether part of the mount. And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace. And the whole mount quaked greatly.
I know in invercargill we get earthquakes sometimes, don't we? I've been in earthquakes. I know. I was in a few earthquakes up in Christchurch.
And those of you remember the devastation that earthquakes wreaked in Christchurch. Whenever there's a slight tremor up there, people tremble. It reminds us of our mortality.
If you like, you can imagine these Israelites, former slaves, standing at the foot of a mountain. And the mountain itself is on fire, worse than a volcano. It's like it's burning up because of the presence of God and the whole place is shaking.
No wonder they trembled. They realised that they are in the presence of the divine. God came down first of all, didn't he? And he spoke to them from the mount.
The Ten Commandments. I'm not going to go through all the Ten Commandments. You know what they are, right? Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Almost can hear the thunderclaps between each commandment. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, and then thunder and the earth shaking again. Every time God spoke, it would have shaken the ground, and so on and so on, as God revealed his character to them, as he spoke these commandments.
As I said, this revelation from God, God speaking to them, it made them fear so much that this is what they said to Moses. Exodus 2018 and 19 says, all the people saw the thunderings and the lightnings, the noise of the trumpet and the mountain smoking. And when the people saw it, they removed.
In other words, they said, we've got to get out of the way. And they stood afar off. And they said to Moses, speak thou with us, and we will listen, but don't let God speak with us lest we die.
Isn't that a frightening thought, that even the sound of God's voice to them was so overwhelming that they felt they were going to die if they had to listen to it any longer? So Moses received the rest of the words from God and relayed them to the people. When you hear how these people were so afraid at the sound of God's voice, how they trembled in God's presence, it makes you think, doesn't it, about our response when we come into the presence of God. They certainly weren't there to express themselves, were they? When they came into the presence of God, God was there to express his character to them, his revelation of his will.
And the people humbled themselves and trembled in submission, knowing their own weakness, their own sinfulness. You know, what's interesting about this revelation from God is that even though the people trembled, I couldn't find in the passage where they got down and they worshipped. And this really puzzled me for a while.
I kept looking, and I thought, but where did they worship God in response to this revelation of God's will? And then I found it. I'll share it with you. It's in Exodus chapter 24 and verse three.
There's no record of them offering sacrifices. There's no record of them breaking out in song or getting down and praying. But in Exodus 24 three, we find them worshipping.
Let me share this with you. It says there that Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the judgments, and all the people answered with one voice. This is what they said.
They said all the words which the Lord hath said, we will do. They didn't come to church to do what they wanted anymore. They weren't there to enjoy themselves and, you know, greet their friends and shake hands and entertain themselves as a response to God's voice speaking to them, their response was to humble themselves and say, Lord, all that you have said, we will do.
You see, friends, our greatest act of worship is not singing. It's not even praying. Jesus himself said that the greatest test of our loyalty to him is not singing or praying.
Our greatest test of loyalty is obedience. Listen to this. John 1415.
Jesus says, if you love me, join the band. No, if you love me, set out church lunch. Well, all these things might be part of our service to God.
But Jesus says the greatest test if we love him is to keep his commandments. In fact, the whole system of worship Jesus says is pointless unless the revelation of God to us results in our obedience. Listen to this.
Luke 646. Jesus says, why do you call me Lord, Lorde, and don't do the things which I say. It's as if he's saying the whole system is worthless.
You can be in the singing group, you can collect the offering, you can clean the church windows. But all of it is pointless if you don't do what Jesus says today. Many people think that as long as they come to church, sing the songs, listen to the preaching, maybe shake hands at the door with the pastor, they think that they call that worshipping God.
And truly these things are all a part of worship. But God says that true worship is based on a revelation of the divine, a revelation that touches the heart and changes the life and brings it into obedience to the law of God. This is true worship.
Jesus said in Matthew 721 23, not everyone that says to me, Lord, Lord, does that sound like worship to you shall enter the kingdom of heaven. But he that does the will of my father, which is in heaven. In fact, he says in verse 22, many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not preached or prophesied in your name? And in your name we've cast out devils that sound like working miracles in Jesus name and in thy name done many wonderful works.
Verse 23 and Jesus says, I will profess unto them, I never knew you depart from me, ye that work, iniquity and of course iniquity is the breaking of God's ten commandments, isn't it? In other words, we can do all these things to worship God, but if it doesn't result in obedience, then it's pointless. The greatest sign of our submission to the divine will when we hear God's word is our obedience to him. Even if we come and we express ourselves in church with a lot of joy or even with tears, it doesn't mean anything unless it results in our submission to God's revealed will.
The greatest act of worship is obedience. But now notice what happens. Let's go back to Mount Sinai.
You see, Moses is taken up into the mountain with God. God wants to talk to him. And while he's up there, the people forget the divine revelation.
They forget what they've seen and heard. They are not thankful for God bringing them out of Egypt and feeding them with manna and giving them water to drink in the wilderness. It's as if everything that God has done in the past becomes meaningless to them.
It's gone from their memory. But like all human beings, they want to worship. They want to worship God, but they want to forget what God has done for them in the past.
So instead of now bringing God's leadership and his mind and his care for them, look at what happens. Exodus 32, beginning in verse one. It says there that when the people saw Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron and said to him, make us gods which shall go before us.
As for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. And so Aaron said to them, break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons and your daughters, and bring them unto me. And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears and brought them unto Aaron.
And now note what they do to represent God. Chapter 32, verse four, it says, and he received them at their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool after he had made it into a molten calf. And they said, these be thy gods, o Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
Now, that's an interesting thing. You know, sometimes we. I've met an art, or I've met artists, one in particular I'm thinking of, who had to paint a picture of Jesus.
And this is a little bit problematic because we haven't got a photograph, have we? No. Now, when these Israelites, when Aaron went to make this golden calf, did they have a divine revelation that said that God looks like a cow? Did they have anything they could go off? Had they ever seen God to say, this is what God looks like? They hadn't. They had never seen God's person.
Sure, they had an understanding of his character because of the miracles that he has worked in the past, but they had no visible representation that they could copy off. So what do you do when you don't have something to copy off? Well, I know what most artists do. They find something around them and they get someone to play the part.
They get a model in, and they say, well, look, if you dress up this way, then I can paint the picture. And so the Israelites, instead of looking up to divine revelation, they now looked around them. What have we got around us from beneath, from the earth that we can use to represent God? And so instead of worshipping God based on revelation, they now worship God based on their imagination, based on, if you like, human traditions.
You see, because they'd come from Egypt, and in Egypt, there were lots of visible representations of what the Egyptians thought gods were like. Some of them thought God is cunning like a serpent. Some of them thought God is cute and cuddly like a cat.
Others thought that God was strong like an ox. And so having seen these representations from Egypt, from popular culture around them, they decided that they would copy this to represent the divine. You say, well, they were just worshipping the gods of Egypt.
No, they weren't. Look at this. In Exodus 32 five, it says, when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before this calf.
And Aaron made a proclamation and said, tomorrow is a feast to the egyptian God. Tomorrow is the feast to cows. Tomorrow, Aaron said, is a feast to whom? To the Lord.
Do you see what's happened here? They have not copied off the divine in their worship. They have copied off human tradition, off human imaginations, to come up with something that they can worship that comes from themselves. Now, I said before that true worship results in obedience.
And if our worship of God is not divinely inspired, not based on the revelations of God contained in his word, then our worship will not be divine. But as we've seen here, our worship will be called idolatry. When we hear the word of God, when our music and our prayers are in harmony with that word, in harmony with that divine revelation, then we can know that we are worshipping the true God, and it will always result in us being in harmony, in obedience with what God has revealed to us.
Listen to this from one john two three. He says, there, hereby we do know that we know him talking of God. This is how we know that we know God if we keep his commandments.
You see, once we get to know God, once we have a revelation of God and we bow ourselves in submission to God, this results in our obedience to God. In fact, God says that worship that is not inspired by him and not in harmony with the divine revelation of God as set out in the scriptures, is abhorrent to him. Listen to what he says in Amos, chapter five and verse 21.
He says, I hate I despise your feast days. I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. Though you offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them.
Neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs, for I will not hear the melody of thy vials, but let judgement run down as waters and righteousness as a mighty stream. I can almost imagine God turning up to many churches today where they've got everything going.
Lots of services running, lots of spectacular shows, lots of music, lots of people up the front and entertainment for people to listen to, lots of elaborate services, lots of ceremony. But can you imagine God appearing all of a sudden and saying, get this out of here. I don't want to listen to it.
I'm not interested in you coming to worship me. Why? Because you're not living in obedience to the divine will. Your worship is not inspired by divine revelation.
And this is why John can write with such confidence in the book of revelation, chapter 20 214. Blessed are they that do his commandments that they might have the right to the tree of life and may enter in through the gates of the city. You see, John was sure that only those who worship God truly will enter heaven.
And true worship is obedience. Worship that's not inspired by divine revelation will not bring us into harmony with the divine will. It will not bring us into harmony with God's character.
Instead, it will bring us into harmony with whatever we are worshipping. Let's have a look at this in two corinthians, chapter three and verse 18. This is what Paul writes to the corinthians.
He says, but we all with open face beholding as in a glass or a mirror, the glory of the lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the spirit of the Lord. In other words, what Paul is saying is, as we behold the divine, over time, we are changed to become like it. You ever wonder why young people dress like the people that they see in the music videos or in the tv movies? Because by beholding, we become changed.
We assimilate ourselves to what we're used to beholding. It's interesting. You sometimes talk to people who visit another country for a long period of time and they come back with a bit of an accent.
They've been beholding people that talk that way, and over time their accent changes. It's the same with God. I wonder how their worship would have been different if these Israelites had spent time contemplating the divine revelation that God had given them instead of imagining and basing their worship on the popular culture around them.
Instead of admiring a dumb ox, something from Egypt, from egyptian culture, instead of taking something from the earth, the gold, and carving it with their own hands, if instead they looked up to the God of heaven, the creator, the God that loved them enough to rescue them from their slavery, the God that loved them enough to feed them in the wilderness, our ideas become degraded and sinful. Instead of becoming like God, we become like the sinful and fallen things around us. Listen to what David says in psalm 115, verse eight.
Talking of idols. He says, they that make them are like unto them, and so are those that trust in them. Paul understood this as well in Romans chapter one and verse 21.
Listen to what he says. He says because that when they knew God, instead of glorifying him as God, neither were they thankful. They became Vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
And professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. In other words, they put God out of their memory, and as a result, their heart was darkened and they became foolish. It says in verse 23, they changed the glory of the uncorruptible God to an image made like unto corruptible man, to birds, four footed beasts and creeping things.
And what is the result of this? According to Paul, when instead of looking to the divine, they look to the earth? Verse 24 says that God gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves, who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshipped and served the creature more than the creator, who was blessed forever. Amen. It's a constant theme, isn't it? When we look up to goddess, we are elevated and ennobled.
Our worship is holy. It results in us being obedient. When instead we worship the things around us.
We follow popular culture, we follow tradition, we follow the desires of our own hearts, and we admire those things. Instead, we start of heading up, we start to head down the book patriarchs and prophets describes it in this way. Listen to this comment from page 91 of this marvellous book.
She says, it's a law of the human mind that by beholding, we become changed. Man will rise no higher than his conceptions of truth, purity and holiness. If the mind is never exalted above the level of humanity, if it's not uplifted by faith to contemplate infinite wisdom and love, the man will constantly sink lower and lower.
The worshippers of false gods clothed their deities with human attributes and passions, and thus their standard of character. Was degraded to the likeness of sinful humanity. They were defiled.
In consequence. God had given men his commandments as a rule of life, but his law was transgressed, and every conceivable sin was the result. The wickedness of men was open and daring.
Justice was trampled in the dust, and the cries of the oppressed reached unto heaven. What happens to society as they behold God and follow him? We get better righteousness, the Bible says, exalts a nation. But what happens when we follow our own hearts? We start to value the things around us.
We head downwards. The cries of the oppressed begin to reach heaven. And so they've made this calf and they've come to worship it.
Previously, this RevElAtioN from God had called OUt a pledge of obedience to God. BUt now notice what the removal of the divine revelation does to them. Exodus 32 six.
It says, they rose up early in the morning on the morrow, and they offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and to drink. And then it says, they rose up to play.
Do you notice here again the progression? The rising up to play, as it's called, is preceded by eating and drinking. Remember, we spoke about this, that the way that we live our lives in terms of eating and drinking can determine the decisions that we make. It affects our minds.
Well, rising up to play quite what that involves, the Bible leaves mostly to our imagination, thankfully. But we can get a few clues, because Joshua was waiting up on the mountain with Moses, and this is what Joshua said when he heard this noise in the camp. Exodus 30 217, it says that when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, that must have been part of their rising up to play.
He said to Moses, there is the noise of war in the camp. Moses responds and says, in verse 18 and 19, he said, it's not the voice of them that shout for the mastery, neither is the voice of them that cry for being overcome, but the noise of them that sing, I do hear. And it came to pass as soon as he came nigh to the camp, that Moses saw the calf.
He saw dancing, and Moses anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hand and break them beneath the mount. Now, just in case you thought that this was godly singing and dancing, like on the other side of the Red Sea, notice what it tells us in verse 25 about the kind of singing and dancing that was going on at Mount Sinai. Chapter 32, verse 25, it says that Moses saw that the people were naked, for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies.
This was some kind of party. Sounded like a war. Singing, dancing, and nakedness as they danced around this God that they had created from their own imagination.
You know what Jesus said in Matthew 720? He said, by their fruits, you will know them. Now, that's a very good test, isn't it? We can know what is inspiring worship by its fruits. Whenever worship is seen as being disordered, irreverent, and carnal, like it was at the foot of Mount Sinai, whenever we find worshippers who lead lives which are in contradiction to the character of God, in violation of the law of God, or even if they live their lives in a way which is casual about obedience to the law of God, then we know that the influence of their worship has not come from the divine, but instead it has come from human imaginations and human traditions.
James says in chapter three and verse 15 that this wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, and devilish. You see, folks, the problem is not getting a different drummer for the band or a different dress code for the singers. The problem is not putting in another Bible reading before we engage in some idolatry.
The problem is that the worship is not inspired by divine revelation, but by human imagination, by our culture, by our traditions. If this is the inspiration for our worship, then our worship can never please God. Egyptian ideas of worship of enjoyment, egyptian ideas of entertainment.
If this is what is inspiring our worship, then we know it is not divine. We have lost the divine, and instead we are following the earthly. You know, as christians, especially those living at the end of time, we need to be very careful to follow the divine revelation.
The divine revelation that God has given to us to follow at the end time is that which has been revealed in his word. I wonder if, as christians, we return to preaching the word in our churches. I wonder what differences we would see in the pews.
Because based on our reading of the scriptures tonight, we can see that when God's divine revelation is exalted, when people are caused to look to goddess and what he has said, where they've humbled themselves in submission to that, people become holy. Why? Peter says, it is written, be ye holy, for I am holy. As we behold the divine, we become more and more like God.
Our lives become holier, purer, kinder, more reverent, more sober minded, because that's what God is. Moses stood at the gate of the camp amidst this idolatry and corruption, and he made a call. Find it in Exodus 32 26.
What would you have done? I know what Aaron did. Aaron gave in he allowed them to follow their carnal hearts, have the kind of worship they liked. But Moses had spent time with the divine.
He had just come down from spending time with God in the mountain, beholding God's character. Can you imagine the contrast as he came down this mountain and beheld all this idolatry in front of him? And so he makes a call. He calls out and says, who is on the Lord's side? Let him come unto me.
And I'm sure he was heartened as all the Levites stood up. And they came and stood beside Moses and said, we are on the Lord's side. Exodus 32 28 tells us that in the divine judgments which followed, 3000 men died.
Paul writes his account of this experience in one corinthians, chapter ten, five, seven. It says that with many of them God was not well pleased. These are the ones that he brought out of Egypt.
He says they were overthrown in the wilderness. And now this is where we need to listen up, folks, because he says now these things were our examples to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. Neither should we be idolaters as some of them were.
As it is written, the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play friends. Today that call from Moses is still going out. It's going out to you and me, but it's also going out, the Bible says, to the whole world, who is on the Lord's side.
Listen to how John puts it in the book of revelation 14 six. John says, I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to them that dwell on the earth, to every nation, kindred tongue and people. Does that sound like everyone? Does that include you and me saying with a loud voice, fear God and give glory to him for the hour of his judgement has come and worship him.
Who made the heaven, the earth, the sea and the fountains of water. Who was on the Lord's side? Who will follow the divine revelation and humble themselves in obedience to the revealed will of God? The highest form of worship is obedience. And I don't know about you, but if you go to a church where the divine will of God as revealed in his word is not teaching obedience, then you need to find a new church.
But more than going to the right church, folks, we need to behold the divine in our homes. How can we come to church and worship God in spirit and truth? How can we have clear perceptions of the divine will when we come into the presence of God? There's no smoking mountain in front of us today. But if in the morning when we wake and in the evening before we sleep, we get a divine revelation and our hearts are led to behold the love and the character, the goodness of God, then our ideas will be elevated and our worship will, will be holy and our lives will be obedient.
Listen to this comment. In the book great controversy, page 582, she says the last great conflict between truth and error is but the final struggle of a longstanding controversy concerning the law of God. Upon this battle, we are now entering a battle between the laws of Mendez and the precepts of Jehovah, between the religion of the Bible and the religion of fable and tradition.
One comes from on high. It's divine. It will save us.
One comes from beneath. It's in conflict in contrast to the law of God, and it will drag us down and destroy us. Jesus said in Matthew, chapter 15 nine, but in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
Friends, unfortunately, this describes the experience of many christians. They have a religious experience where they are worshipping something that is made up. They're worshipping in their traditions.
They're human ideas of God's will. But Jesus says, it's all in vain. I like the way the book great controversy puts it on page 464.
Listen to this. She's describing here the end times, the times that we are living in now. She says, in many of the revivals which have occurred during the last half century.
I should tell you, she wrote this about 130 years ago. You can see it's come true. In many of the revivals which have occurred during the last half century, the same influences have been at work to a greater or less degree that will be manifest in the more extensive movements of the future.
That's now. There is an emotional excitement, a mingling of the true with the false that is well adapted to mislead. Yet none need be deceived in the light of God's word.
It is not difficult to determine the nature of these movements. Now here's the test. Whenever men neglect the testimony of the Bible, that's the divine revelation.
Yes. Whenever men neglect the testimony of the Bible, turning away from those plain, soul testing truths which require self denial and renunciation of the world, there we may be sure that God's blessing is not bestowed, and by the rule which Christ himself has given, ye shall know them by their fruits. It is evident that these movements are not the work of the spirit of God.
Friends, who today is prepared to turn aside from the traditions of their culture, the traditions of their church and take their stand as worshippers of the true God. Who's prepared today to say, I am on the Lord's side? I'm going to turn away from the popular culture around me. You may think it's easy, but it's insidious.
Every day when we expose ourselves to tv and movies and popular music and video games and people who don't want to follow God. Every day, when we seek our enjoyment and our entertainment and things that don't lead us to honour God, we are lowering our conceptions of truth and holiness. Today, God is calling people to take their stand and say, I am on the Lord's side.
The music might be well planned, the kids church might be fun, the lunches might be good, and all your friends might be at the church. But when Jesus comes friends, he's looking for those who will worship him in spirit and in truth. Those who have clear perceptions of the will of God and have humbled themselves and bowed before the God who loves them and said, Lord, I will follow you.
I will submit myself to your will. When that final call is gone out and all those who have taken their stand, either on the side of popular culture and tradition, of popular churches and popular religion, or on the side of truth and obedience, God will finally say, in revelation 1412, we read here are they that keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus. And today I want to ask you, do you want to take your stand on the Lord's side? Do you want to be one of those that says, I want to follow the divine revelation? I'm going to spend time reading my Bible to know the will of God.
And when I read it, I'm going to humble my heart and submit to what God says. I'm not going to come to church just for the entertainment. In fact, I'm going to reject the worship services that are based on entertainment.
I want to worship services where the word is preached. I want a divine service that is divine and not human, that exalts God and not man. I shouldn't say that doesn't exalt man, that lifts man up from his sinfulness because it exalts God.
Instead of exalting human pride and human ideas. God is looking for those who are willing to stand. Will you stand with me tonight? Who is willing to stand and say, I want to be on the Lord's side? I want to worship God and spirit and truth.
If that's your prayer, will you stand with me tonight? Let us pray. Our loving Father in heaven, today we beg you Lord, for a clearer revelation of your will. But Lord, before we get that, we ask that you humble our hearts.
Help us to expose ourselves to the revelation of your will that you have already given us. Help us to humble our hearts in submission. And Lord, as we follow in obedience to your will, may you reveal yourself more and more to us so that we may become like you.
And Lord, as we gather together as a church, as a group of christians. Lord, we pray that our conceptions of your character may be such that our worship of you will truly be divine, that we will not seek our own glory, but instead we will humble ourselves in submission to what you say and exalt your character before the world. Lord, this is the prayer of each heart here today.
May your holy spirit cement it in our hearts. May you help us to live it out. For we ask it in Jesus name.
Amen. This message was made available by the Masterton 7th day Adventist Church. For more resources like this, visit Mastertonsda dot NZ.
The poem I have to share with you today, folks, is entitled I saw God. My name is William Acland and this short poem features each part of the day. I saw God I saw God in the morning at the first faint hint of dawn while the stars were bright in the heavens before the day's new dress was worn, I saw his sign in the dew drops, nature's diamonds sparkling clean, reflecting the mighty and minute and infinite microcosm it seemed.
I saw God in the noonday when the sun was strong in its power, bathing the earth with its glory between the morning and evening hour I saw his sign in the life renewed to man and beast and flower. Yes, I saw God in the noonday between the morning and evening hour I saw God in the evening when the day was tired and quiet as the orange and pinks and yellows announced our gods good night. I saw his sign in the rest to come when the world would be free from pain.
Yes, I saw his love in the promise of dawn when we all might live again.
This programme has been brought to you by 3ABN Australia radio.
