TEMPERATURE RISING?

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.  Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.  (Rom.1:20-25)

As the physical temperature rises in summer, it often corresponds that our spiritual temperature cools.  The creation that emerges in full glory and splendor—as birds sing, flowers bloom, grass and leaves green and grow, waves roll onto white sand, rivers ramble across rocks, children run and play, and more—sometimes we move from focusing on the Creator this points to and become fixated on the creation itself—and that is idolatry.

Should you think I am some church curmudgeon trying to spoil your summer vacation, you are wrong.  Sabbaths are part of God’s design.  They should be observed on a regular basis for the good of our mind, body, and soul—don’t forget that last part.  How can we take a vacation from God?  I am thankful He doesn’t take a vacation from us!

The danger is that we neglect our Bible reading and prayer time because we are pursuing leisure.  Our gathering for worship with the saints lessens as a priority because we may be away from home.  I mean—who will know if I don’t show up for church?  It is a subtle temptation to take the dollars meant to fund the mission and ministries of the kingdom of God and spend them at the Magic Kingdom.  Fishing is a wonderful diversion, but fishing for souls must be an ongoing passion.  Taking a swim in the pool can be refreshing, but diving into God’s presence is the ultimate.

So, enjoy your trip and thank God for the blessing of being able to do so.  Take a hike into the woods or lounge in a beach chair at the ocean.  Look at the splendor of summer.  Smell the smoke and hear the crackle of a campfire.  Don’t feel guilty about it at all.  We need a break from the daily grind.  Just be cautious and don’t take a break from God.  Fall will come next—and it might mark a spiritual fall.

IS THERE HOPE FOR AMERICA?

You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD; He is their help and their shield.  (Psalm 115:11

Is there hope for America?  We are bleeding to death from self-inflicted wounds.  The patient is in critical condition.  If we do not turn from our wicked ways and seek the Lord urgently, then our condition will be terminal.  Psalm 115 points us to the cure.

WE MUST SEE OUR NEED (v.1-2).  Unless a person responds to his or her symptoms by seeking a physician, there is no hope for them.  The psalmist cries out in desperation and intercedes for his nation. 

Our ultimate concern must be for the glory of God—and that is the heartbeat of the writer.  God’s glorious name was being besmirched because of the evil ways of His children.  This is not a self-centered prayer at all.  The heathen mock that glorious name.  It must not be!  We do not want America to be great for her name, but for God’s glory!  America will only be great again, when she is good again. 

Based on a passion for God’s glory, Psalm 115 pleads with God for mercy and truth to be magnified.  The Lord is merciful and would spare us from judgment, but He is also truthful and had ordained this, “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.”  (Ps.9:17)  Our only hope is in an urgent expression of contrition that seeks God’s mercy and a return to living by the truth of Scripture.

WE MUST TURN FROM IDOLS (v.3-8).  The danger is that a nation in trouble will seek help in a god of our own making.  We worship that which we trust in.  Man foolishly looks to government rather than God to meet his needs.  People trust in science and technology to bring a cure.  Somehow we think that the elite in education have the answers.  All we need is more money, more programs, more studies, and such—we can work it out.  This is the false religion of utopianism—that began with Babel in Genesis and ends with it centered in Babylon again in the last days as described in Revelation.  In both cases, it brings down God’s judgment.  What fools we are, “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”  (2 Tim.3:7)

There is but one God—sovereign and omnipotent.  He will work out His will and nothing can thwart it (v.3).  The question is not whether God is on our side, but are we on His?  In contrast, the gods we fashion to save us will always fail.  They are powerless to do otherwise (v.4-7).  They are blind, deaf, lifeless—and those who worship such become like them—spiritually dead (v.8).

WE MUST TRUST IN GOD (v.9-15).  This is repeated three times in these closing verses.  Turning from idols, we trust in God—and there is the hope of our nation! 

God will shield us (v.9-11).  He is our Defender.  There will be none to terrorize us, from without or within, if we trust in God.

God will bless us (v.12-16).  He is our Provider.  The economy does not have to crash, if we will seek the Lord.  He will keep His promises, if we trust Him.

The day of decision is here.  Time is running out.  The choice is before us (v.17-18).  We can choose life or death.  Let us, as the people of God, fervently and faithfully seek the glory of God—pleading that mercy and truth will be restored!

PERVERSE PITY

But the LORD said, “You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night.  And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock?  (Jonah 4:10-11)

Pity is a wonderful trait—if directed toward others in need.  Self-pity, however, is a perversion that turns a virtue into a vice.  The book of Jonah begins with the prophet being unwilling to go preach to the Assyrians out of a sense of self-protection, to be sure, but also prejudice toward these pagans.  He wanted them to be judged for he deemed them worthy of it.  Sadly, the book ends with Jonah pouting that God did the very thing he feared—spared the repentant people.  

Jonah had just experienced the greatest revival in history.  We might turn to the fourth chapter expecting to see him rejoicing, but the opposite was true!  The heart of his problem was the problem of his heart.  Is it not true of us?  That is the human condition.  God had been working on him, for God is in the business of sanctifying His children.  The activity of God is woven throughout the book—God prepared a storm, a fish, a plant, a worm, and a wind—all because God was breaking down a stubborn soul.

Jonah wanted his way rather than God’s will.  Like a petulant child, he sulks.  He became a spectator, hoping the Assyrians would backslide and judgment might yet descend on them.  He was bitter—no wonder the whale spit him out earlier—who wants to be around a bitter believer?  How many times I have seen church members who were active become bitter over some disappointment in life—really, disappointment with God or the church—and they wind up pouting on a pew.

God let Jonah stew in his own juices for a while—marinating in self-pity.  Then, in God’s perfect timing, He sends grace, causing a plant to grow up—the leaves providing a shade over the little shanty Jonah constructed.  Jonah was glad, but not grateful.  He rejoiced in the provision and not the Provider.  He enjoyed the blessing, but not the Blessed One.  The plant became the object of the prophet’s affection—and that is idolatry!

Church people can become idolaters the same way—taking that which is meant to be a sacred how to lead them to God and making it a sacred cow to substitute for God.  Preachers can become that.  God sends a man to lead the church to the Lord and we wind up idolizing the man.  Programs can become that—methods meant to bring people closer to Christ that become the object of our devotion.  Places can become idols—a church building where we gather to worship the Lord, and yet the building becomes the focus of our adoration.

God sent a worm to destroy Jonah’s idol.  He may send a pulpit committee to take away our preacher idol, or a financial difficulty to end the church program, or a fire to consume a building.  Then God sent a sirocco—a searing east wind to add an exclamation point.

God is more concerned about people than programs.  If the church is more devoted to preserving what they have within the four walls, than sacrificing to reach people beyond them, then we have missed the point of this story.

WORTHY WORSHIP

 

Give to the LORD the glory due His name;

Bring an offering, and come before Him.

Oh, worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness!  (1 Chronicles 16:29)

It is no accident that the first table of the Ten Commandments deals with worship: whom we worship—only God; how we worship—no idols; reverence for God’s name—don’t use it vainly; reverence for God’s day—keep the Sabbath; respect God’s representatives—honor father and mother.  Worship is primary—there is no greater command than to love God—and that is the essence of worship.  Not just any worship is acceptable.  We must offer worthy worship.  Jesus said that is worship which is in spirit and in truth. 

David was a shepherd, a soldier, a singer, and a sovereign, but none more significant than being a worthy worshipper.  The Ark of the Covenant had been brought into Jerusalem and David leads the nation in a stirring service of praise.  1 Chronicles 16:29 is a command to worship.

Let’s begin by noting A PROBLEM: The Substitution for Worship.  David’s worship was authentic and passionate.  We may call what we do at 11:00 on Sundays “worship” but it may be a sham.  Jesus spoke of those who draw near to God with their lips, but their heart is far from Him.  

We could be worshipping secular substitutes.  That is the warning of the first of the Ten Commandments, “I am the LORD your God. You shall have no other gods before Me” or “instead of Me.”  There is also the danger of spiritual substitutes.  We can substitute church activity for spiritual intimacy.  Religious ritual can replace real relationship with God.  Entertainment that focuses on our pleasure can substitute for experience that focuses on God’s praise.  

Next, we set forth A PREMISE: A Definition of Worship.  How would you define it?

Properly defined, the English word literally is “worth-ship” that is, declaring worth.  “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power.” (Rev.4:11)  What one worships is an indicator of what we value.  It involves our attitudes and actions.  Loving God is full commitment of our mind, will and emotions.  It springs from the devotion of our soul and stirs the diligence of our service.  This worthy worship properly defined is practically applied.  According to Jesus in John 4:23-24, spirit and truth are both required for worthy worship.  If we do not worship in spirit we will be dull, dry and dead.  We may be orthodox in doctrine yet empty of power—what the Bible calls, “having the form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.”  If we do not worship in truth there will be a desire for emotional excess and fanaticism.  Our hearts may be full, but our heads will be empty.  Paul said he would pray with the spirit and with understanding—that is the balance—spirit and truth.  

Worthy worship leads to A PRODUCTIVITY: Our Transformation from Worship.  Though worship is about blessing God, it also blesses us.  We are changed by it!

The nature of this transformation is that we take on the image of that which we worship.  That is why our understanding of God is so important to get right.  There is the need for this transformation.  The church today has money, influence, organization, and education, but our impact seems minimal.  Compare that to the first century saints—who had few funds, no influence, small organization, and little education—yet turned the world upside down!  They knew the real God and really loved Him!  Is that true of you?

THE FRUIT OF DECEPTION

You have plowed wickedness;

You have reaped iniquity.

You have eaten the fruit of lies….  (Hosea 10:13a)

We reap what we sow.  Paul put it this way in Galatians 6:7-8, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.  For he who sows to the flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.” 

God set this same choice before the nation of Israel in the tenth chapter of Hosea.  They could sow the seeds of repentance and reap a harvest of righteousness (v.12), but instead they had chosen to sow the seeds of wickedness and reap a harvest of wrath (v.13).  It is the same folly which every nation pursues when it turns from God—the source of all blessing—and embraces evil.  The prophet Hosea may as well have been describing America today.

The deception is a rejection of revealed truth concerning God and the worship of a god of our own making.  Most people in our country would be no different than these Israelis—claiming to be “spiritual.”  Yet, it is a demonic spirituality, and not that given by the Spirit of Truth.  Real faith rests in a God who has revealed Himself in His Word.  Idolatry is when we fashion a god of our own imagination.  Sadly, there are many in our churches today who have done the same.  These false gods are promoted not only by the cults, but often preached from pulpits.  That is a replication of the evil seen in Hosea’s time—and the results will be no different.

They were in a time of material prosperity that masked their spiritual poverty (v.1-2).  It is easy to forget about God when things are going well, and to assume those conditions will continue.  They will not.  The law of the harvest means that you not only reap what you sow, but later than you sow.  You don’t plant seed one day and get fruit the next.  The harvest eventually comes.  Let us not deceive ourselves by thinking that because we have heard warnings about God’s wrath for years, and that storm has yet to break, that it is a false alarm being raised.  We place such messages on the level of “Chicken Little saying, ‘The sky is falling!’”  Brush it off—it’s your choice.  On the authority of God’s Word, I assure you that a harvest of judgment is ripening and near reaping.

The rapture of the church can happen any day.  Are you looking for Jesus and longing for home?  Christ will claim His bride—a pure and chaste virgin, without spot or wrinkle, robed in white—the righteousness of the saints.  Those left behind will reap a harvest of horror and will echo the bitter cry of Hosea 10:8,  

They shall say to the mountains, “Cover us!”

And to the hills, “Fall on us!”

It will be too late then to find refuge.  They might have had their sins covered by the blood of the Lamb, but instead they will know the wrath of the Lamb.  They could have fallen upon the Rock of Ages in repentance, but there will be no help found in calling out to the rocks to fall on them.

Here is the choice that alone brings hope: 

Sow for yourselves righteousness;

Reap in mercy;

Break up your fallow ground,

For it is time to seek the LORD,

Till He comes and rains righteousness on you.  (v.12)

SPIRITUAL ADULTERY

“But you trusted in your own beauty, played the harlot because of your fame, and poured out your harlotry on everyone passing by who would have it.”  (Ezekiel 16:15) 

God is love—and He is a jealous God.  He will share us with no other lover.  God demands that we who are loved absolutely, return that love to Him exclusively.  To fail to love the Lord with all our being is tantamount to spiritual adultery.  With graphic words that are enough to make a sailor blush, Ezekiel 16 describes the unfaithfulness of Israel.  These lessons are still applicable to the church today as the bride of Christ. 

The chapter begins with a description of Israel’s pitiful condition (v.1-5).  God tells how He came to love them.  They were a tiny people without promise of life.  Like a baby abandoned at birth—cast away and without hope—that is a picture of their spiritual condition.  There was nothing they could do to save themselves.  That is our state without Christ.  We are hopeless and helpless, dying in our sins. 

The saga continues with a picture of God’s precious compassion (v.6-14).  In their death throes, God reached out to them in sovereign grace and imparted life to them.  Not only did He rescue them, He cared for them as they grew, and brought them into His heart as His bride—clothing them and entering a covenant with them.  They were exalted as the bride of the King.  The church is the Bride of Christ through His grace as He has redeemed us, and promised us His fidelity.  He has clothed us in righteousness.  How could we be unfaithful to such a Lover? 

Israel did, and we may.  Next we witness Israel’s pornographic corruption (v.15-34).  Pornographic is the best description for the vile manner in which they gave themselves to idols.  Corruption defines the moral filth that marked their depravity.  God is serious about this sin.  The first two of the Ten Commandments—those fundamental moral standards—demand that we worship God exclusively and properly.  They were insatiable in their idolatry—even offering their children as sacrifices!  When we look lustfully at the things of this world, surrender our hearts to them, and give that which God has bestowed on us to another, it is a foul and filthy thing!  So quickly we forget the goodness of God and wander from the Lover of our Soul! 

This brought God’s painful correction (v.35-59).  God would begin by exposing them to shame by the heathen nations with whom they had cavorted.  As death was the penalty for those who committed physical adultery, the death of multitudes in Israel would be the tragic consequence of their lewd behavior.  God loves us too much to let us go.  It is not only for His glory, but for our good as well, that He uses the chastening rod to break us of our rebellion.  God may have straying children, who become suffering children, but He will not have spoiled children! 

The chastening will do its job as the chapter closes with God’s promised covenant (v.60-63).  The covenant God makes is an everlasting one.  Their unfaithfulness would not void God’s everlasting love.  There is coming a day when Israel will return with tears of repentance to the Lord.  They will find Him waiting with open arms!  Someone has said, “It is impossible for you to do anything that would make God love you more and impossible for you to do anything that would make Him love you less!”  Let us love Him with all we are!