Our message today is God appointed
worship. God appointed worship. The first
occurrence of the word worship in the scriptures is here in
verse five. Abraham said unto his young men,
abide ye here with the ass and I and the lad will go yonder
and worship and come again to you. Now this does not mean Abraham
and Isaac were the first people to worship. Abel worshipped God,
Enoch worshipped God, Noah worshipped God, and only God himself knows
how many others worshipped before this time. But this is the first
occurrence of the word worship in the scriptures. So we'll consider
this passage for a little while this morning under this title,
God Appointed Worship. And oh yes, it's important. God
Appointed Worship. There are a great many things
people do in the name of God and call it worship. And I don't
guess that will change until the Lord returns. But it'll change
then, buddy. I am very weary of showmanship, of jealousy, of promoting me and my four and
no more. Let everybody else go out the
door. I'm tired of that. See, this is God's business we're
dealing with. And it's far more serious than
most people ever dream. The apostle Paul warned the Colossian
believers in the new Testament, Colossians chapter two. And he
said that some men worship after the doctrines of men. What an
awful thought after the doctrines of men. In other words, what
somebody has just dreamed up and said, well, I think this
would be a good idea. The doctrines of men which things
indeed have a show of wisdom in will worship and humility.
It looks good. It sounds good. It seems sincere. But if it's not God appointed
worship, in God's order, with God being the centrality of it,
Christ and him being praised, it's nothing more than glorying
in flesh and exalting self. Paul went on to say there in
Colossians 2 that it's to the neglecting of the body. neglecting the body of Christ
and promoting self. Just so I look good, I don't
care about anybody else. That was written by the Apostle
Paul about 2000 years ago now, but it describes the religious
world today to a T and not just the religious world in general.
but the average little congregation like this. One great writer said, the hallmark
of biblical worship is not noise and flippant familiarity. All this business, God told me
this, God told me that, people like their own speak in terms with God every
five minutes, and they hear from Him every two minutes. No. The hallmark of biblical worship
is not noise and flippant familiarity, but rather awe, wonder, reverence,
and deep joy. Being in the presence of God
does not make men loud, it makes them quiet. Emotional, feel-good, flesh-exalting
religion makes men open up, but truly being in the presence of
a holy God makes men shut up. God's presence does not bring
one to be seen and heard. It brings us to the end of ourselves,
not worthy to be seen or heard. To see God in His infinite holiness
brings us to hide ourselves and deny ourselves, as did Isaiah. Woe is me, for I am undone. I am a man. of unclean lips. That's what happens when a person
has been in the presence of God. And that's what happened to Isaiah
in Isaiah six. But no, if all the religion we
got is to sit around and brag on one another and promote one
another, everybody's going to leave saying, boy, I must be
something. Being in the presence of God
brought the old patriarch Job to say, I abhor myself. Behold,
I am vile. Being in the presence of God
brought Paul the apostle to say, oh, wretched man that I am. Oh, the religious world of his
day, the believing world even, God's people saying, that Paul,
he beats anything I've ever seen. He's the greatest man ever lived.
And we're still saying that, saying what he said. In the presence of a holy God,
he said, Oh, wretched man that I am, what a mess I am. This man, Abraham, being in the
presence of God, It brought him to say, back in the 18th chapter,
I am but dust and ashes. What's that worth? I am but dust
and ashes. William Cowper, writer of the
beloved hymn, There is a Fountain Filled with the Blood, he wrote
this poetic line about worship. He said, the dearest idol I have
known whatever that idol be, help me to tear it from Thy throne
and worship only Thee. He's talking to the Lord, very
godly man, great preacher, great hymn writer. He starts with this
line, the dearest idol I have known. You say, oh, I'd be ashamed
to confess that I even had any idols. Well, you'd be a liar
if you didn't. He realized, he saw the corruption
of his own nature and his own heart. And he said, the dearest
idol I have known, whate'er that idol be. He said, I've got some
idol on God's throne, the throne of my heart, where he's supposed
to rule. And if I've got some idol on
God's throne, if something else or someone else occupies God's
throne in my heart, Calper said, help me, Lord, to tear it from
my heart and worship only Thee. Can I say if our worship is not
pleasing to the Lord, nothing else is of any importance whatsoever. Shut the doors and go to the
house. I want us to see that what Abraham
does in this passage is not his idea. It's not something he dreamed
up to do. It was God appointed worship. So many things in our day that
are associated with so-called worship. things of human origin,
not only do not complement the worship of God, but rather hinder
and take away and give praise to the worshipers rather than
to the God we claim to worship. One great man said there is a
simplicity in true worship that is often lost in programs implemented,
positions competed for, and performances admired. I say amen. Our goal should not
be to impress men, to impress each other, either by
large numbers of people present or by impressive programs or
by stunning performances. That's not why we're here. But
rather, our goal should be seeking and finding the simplicity of
God-appointed worship without all the frills, not competing But staying with
the basics, staying with the essentials of biblical worship. I'll mention three things in
this text, this passage that will suffice to make our point
this morning concerning God appointed worship. Follow with me, if you
will, here in Genesis 22. Number one is the place, the
place. In verse two, the Lord had commanded
Abraham to take Isaac the Son of His love, the Son of His heart. God says, Thine only Son, Isaac. God does not even acknowledge
the existence of Ishmael here. But He said, Thine only Son,
Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah,
and offer him there for a burnt offering. We're talking about
the place of God-appointed worship. Mariah is the place. Mariah. I was listening to a message
online from a dear preacher in Arkansas named Darwin Pruitt
and he said something about this word Mariah that opens up this
whole passage. You see that word there in verse
2. The old spelling is with a Y instead of an I. M-O-R-Y-A-H. And anytime you
see that suffix Y-A-H, the reference is to Yahweh. Jehovah, the Lord,
God. The prefix, M-O-R, means to see. So this place, Moriah, means
to see Yahweh, to see God. Not with physical eyes, but with
the eyes of faith. That's what this passage is about.
That's what Abraham's worship is about, to see God. That's what our worship is supposed
to be about, to see God. And that's the significance of
the place, Moriah, to see God. So very many come to church in
this hour For whatever reason, God knows why, I don't, many
come to be seen rather than to see God. Many come to be heard
rather than to hear God. So nowhere in the Old Testament
do we find any clearer passage to see God. a projection of the
gospel so clearly. Now what Abraham did here in
offering his son Isaac speaks so clearly of what God did in
offering his son. See, that's the picture. So getting
to Moriah, the place of worship, the place to see God, For Abraham, it was a matter
of a three days journey. But for you and I, the journey
to the place of worship is not physical, but spiritual. It's not for us getting to any
place geographically, but rather getting to a condition of heart. The journey is not three days
physically, but it's a spiritual matter. When our hearts are truly communing
with God in worship, through his word and by his spirit, I
repeat, it does not excite and exalt flesh. It rather buries
flesh in the dust. I suppose I've been in as many
shouting and bench jumping services as any of you. Not lately. But the result is always the
same. It pumps folks up for a few hours,
at the most, and then drops you like a hot
potato. That's what build up emotional
flesh, exalting. religion does. I can think of so many times
I have left those kind of services and so have many of you with
my mind changed about certain individuals who got in on the
show but never left with my mind changed
about God. My heart was not affected. My
emotions were affected. I did not worship God. True worship of God is an exercise
in the soul wrought by the Spirit of God, bringing us in our meditation
of Him by the eye of faith to see Him. and see his salvation
in Christ. This place, Moriah, is in your heart. It's about God crushing your
heart to be a Moriah, a place to see God, a place to see God. Look at what happened to Abraham
in this passage. Follow along with me now. There's
a great change. There's a melting of his heart
in getting to this place, Moriah. Not just Moriah geographically,
but the Moriah of his heart, a place to see God. In verse 1, the Lord speaks to
Abraham. And Abraham answers, and he says
in the last words of the verse, behold, here I am. See those three words? Here I
am. As if to say, I'm in control. I've got a handle
on things. I am this. I am that. I run my
life. But now three days later, with
his son bound to an altar, the knife is raised, his heart is
beating fast, and the Lord speaks again down in verse 11. And the
angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven and said, Abraham,
Abraham! And he said, look at it now,
Not here I am, that's what he said before. But now it's here
am I. Here am I. There's a great difference
between here I am and here am I. And the difference is in the
heart of the man. Here I am is me running the show. Here am I. is me conquered with my son, my life, my heart
bound to an altar and the knife raised fixing the slain. So the place is Moriah to see
God. It involves being brought by
God to the end of ourselves flesh buried in the dust. And the real secret to seeing
God as anything is seeing self as nothing. Let me repeat that. The real secret to seeing God
as anything is seeing self as nothing. If you hold a mirror before your
face and tilt it to the side a little bit where you can't
see yourself, You might see somebody else. But as long as you've got your
nose in the mirror, admiring number one, you're not going to see anybody
else. And you certainly won't see God. Do you think all this modern
day self-help, self-esteem, self-image, Feel good about yourself. Religion
is of God. Absolutely not. Absolutely not. I just quoted to you a few moments
ago. Some of the greatest men that ever walked this earth in
the presence of God, confess their utter worthlessness and
helplessness and shame that I'm not worth, but dust and ashes. I'm vile, I'm corrupt, I'm unclean. So my prayer is, O Lord, get
us to the place, Moriah, the place to see God. Only God's children have any
such desire. May I say the rest of the religious
world, the rest of folks sitting in church this morning, are just
playing games, just playing games. The place. Number two, not only
the place, Moriah, but the pain, the pain involved in all this.
I can't begin to imagine what Abraham must have felt those
three days. His son Isaac was not just in
his heart, Isaac was his heart. To slay his son would rip his
heart out of his chest. All the promises of God to him
were wrapped up in this boy Isaac. All the pain in Abraham's heart
He's obeying God, but the pain of it is so great. Whoever said it don't hurt to
obey God lied. It does. It does. In verse seven, Isaac asked his
father a question. Where is the lamb for a burnt
offering? Well, Isaac knew the order. They
had the wood, they had the fire, they had the knife, but they needed a sacrifice.
Where is the lamb? And Abraham did not answer Isaac
by saying, that would be you son. No, he didn't. This is where
Abraham. is seeing the gospel that God
would slay his son for our sin. This is where Abraham is feeling
in a measure the pain God felt. And so Abraham answers Isaac's
question by saying, my son, God will provide himself. a sacrifice. Not provide for himself, but
provide himself. God himself will be the Lamb. That's in verse 8. This is the worship Christ referred
to when he said in John chapter 8, Abraham rejoiced to see my
day and he saw it and was glad Abraham saw God. He saw God's
Son. He saw God at work, making atonement
for our sin. Abraham is at Moriah. He's at
the place, not only geographically, but he's at Moriah in his heart,
the place to see God. And he sees Him. We're talking
about God-appointed worship. There's the place and the pain,
and then thirdly, there's the peace. There's the peace to be
found in God-appointed worship. And you know the story. We didn't
read on down, but as Abraham is about to slay his son, the
Lord says to him in verse number 12, And he said, Lay not thine hand
upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him. For now I
know that thou fearest God, seeing that thou hast not withheld thy
son, thine only son, from me. It's here the peace of God floods
Abraham's heart as he sees, not just that he don't have to slay
his son, But he sees that God will slay his son. He sees that the true offering
for our sin will not be an offering of our providing, but of God's
providing. Verse 13 says, Abraham offered
the ram in the stead of his son. Abraham lifted up his eyes and
looked and behold, behind him a ram caught in a thicket by
his horns. He wasn't caught by his legs
and feet and all scratched up and bloody and bleeding. Wouldn't
have been a fit sacrifice. But he's caught in a thicket
by his horns. Don't hurt an animal at all to
be caught by the horns. So it was an appropriate sacrifice.
And Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a
burnt offering in the stead of his son. In the stead of his son. I hesitate
to use the word substitute because of the modern application of
that word. And I'm not being critical. I know a lot of good men who
use the term. But the word substitute, substitution,
and substitutionary are not Bible terms. It's not in the Bible
anywhere. The Bible term is stead, in the stead of. And there's
a difference. Three things. First, a substitute,
as we use the term, is hopefully never needed. It's plan B if plan A fails. God has no plan B. Secondly,
a substitute is not first choice, but second choice. Christ our
Lord is not second choice. And third, a substitute is temporary,
not permanent. We understand that when a Substitute
steps in. It's with the understanding that
at some point the substitute will step out and number one
will step back in. And that's the whole point here. The ram is not offered as a substitute,
a temporary replacement. No, Abraham will not be commanded
ever again to slay Isaac. This is a one-time deal. So the
ram is not slain as a substitute, a temporary fix, but rather the
Bible term is in the stead of his son. Once and forever, the
Lamb of God has taken our place in all the peace that affords
to believing hearts this morning. that Christ has taken my place,
not temporarily, not for a little while, but once and for all,
forever. We find that word stead used
often in the Old Testament of kings. The scripture will say,
so-and-so king died and then so-and-so reign in his stead. The new king is not just a substitute
till the old king gets back. The old king's not coming back.
So he reigned in his stead and Christ died in our stead. He bore the judgment of God in
our stead once and forever. And because he did, we never
will. We learn also in this passage
Abraham's faith and worship included the resurrection, though he's
on his way to slay his son in obedience to God. Yet because of God's promise
concerning his son, he knows God will have to raise him up.
Look at verse five. Abraham said unto his young men,
abide ye here with the ass, and I and the lad will go yonder
and worship and come again to you. It's not I and the lad will
go yonder and worship and I'll come again to you after I slay
him. No. But read it carefully. It's,
I and the lad will go yonder and worship, both of us, and
will come again to you, both of us. The resurrection. In Hebrews
chapter 11 and verse 19, we have the mind of Abraham concerning
this matter of slaying his son. The Bible says, accounting that
God was able to raise him up even from the dead from whence
also he received him in a figure. This is what Abraham's faith
did. He had Isaac resurrected before
he ever slew him. That's what faith did. Abraham worshipped. God brought
him to the place Brought him through the pain, brought him
into the peace, the peace which passeth. Understanding. The peace that says it's all
right. The peace that says God's on top of it. The peace that
says he'll work it out. While all the time your rotten
flesh is screaming to the top of its lungs, it's not all right.
There's plenty wrong. Oh, but this peace of God in
the heart, worship, worship. Now, as in this passage and all
the rest of the Bible, God's appointed worship is centered
around his son, who Christ is and what he's done. You say,
is that all you want to promote at East Hendersonville? That's
all. Is Christ and what He's done
your only message? That's my only message. Well, you seem very dogmatic
about it. I'm very dogmatic about it. Christ our Lord is in a class
all by Himself. No one else is on His level. Not you. Not me. not the apostles, not the prophets,
not the angels. Christ is in a class all by himself. You remember Simon Peter, a good
man, full of zeal. On one occasion, in his flesh,
he jumped right into the middle of the religious circus we've
got going on nowadays, Ringling Brothers. Barnum and Bailey religious
circus. Even good man, godly man, Simon
Peter jumped right in the middle of it. You remember this? He
said, let us build three tabernacles. One for Moses, one for Elijah,
and one for the Lord. Well, that sounded good. Felt good. Seemed good to people. Some shouted, hallelujah, let's
do it. Let's build three tabernacles.
But I won't tell you it never set well with heaven. It never
set well with God. And a cloud came over the scene
and a voice spake. Bad idea, Peter. Moses and Elijah were great men.
but they're not on this level and here's what he said this
is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased hear ye him can we make too much of him not
in a million lifetimes should we not sing about the
little cabin on the hill Talk about what great Christians
grandma and grandpa were. No, you've lied enough about
that. Just let them rest. Worship Christ. Shouldn't we get out our lawn
chairs and sit down in the open with mosquitoes and everything
and call in three or four groups to compete and entertain and
get us all worked up? When it's all over, we leave
and say, boy, wasn't that good? I really enjoyed it. Where was
God at? Did anybody think of Him? Did
anybody worship God? I'm telling you folks, we are
in one more deceived, messed up religious condition in this
part of the country. I'm telling you. God-appointed worship is the
worship of God in Christ. Ephesians 3.20, Now unto Him
that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we
ask or think. Jude 24, Now unto Him that is
able to keep you from falling and to present you flawless before
the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. Revelation 1-5, unto Him that
loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, our worship
is unto Him. Revelation 5-6, in the midst
of the throne, a lamb as it had been slain. Revelation 5, 12,
worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and
wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. Behold
the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world. And
I want to say this morning, and you can tell them I said so,
you can take all this other mess and ride it plumb to hell if
you want to, but God's children worship the
Lamb. both in this life and forever. Closing, I'll give you one other
thing. John the Apostle is on the Isle of Patmos. Revelation 1, he's a prisoner
in exile, not for robbing a bank or shooting anybody, but for
preaching Christ. And he said in chapter 1 of the
Revelation, verse 10, I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day. He was at Moriah, not geographically,
but in his spirit, little s. And he was in the Spirit, capital
S. He's at Moriah in his heart, the place to see God. And he heard a great voice as
of a trumpet. And he said, I turned to see.
And what did John see? A mansion over the hilltop with
a little gold sign out in the front yard that said John's Place?
No, that's not what he saw. Maybe he saw all those robes
and crowns and wondered, boy, which one's mine? No, that's
not what he saw. Maybe he saw that poor crippled
fellow that couldn't hardly walk in this life and he sees him
walking on the street of gold with no walking stick. No, that's
not what he saw. Maybe he saw that old man that
couldn't carry a tune and they wouldn't let him sing in the
choir and he sees him up there in heaven's choir just singing
beautifully. No, that's not what he saw. John
never saw any of that. None of that materialistic, humanistic
ideas of heaven and eternity. He never saw any of that. What he saw was this. Revelation 1.13, he's at Moriah
now, he's the place to see God. And in the midst of the candlesticks,
one like unto the Son of Man, coiled with a garment down to
the foot, and gird about the paps with a golden girdle. His
head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow. And his eyes were as a flame
of fire, and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned
in a furnace. And they had. He had walked through
the hot furnace of God's wrath for sin. And his voice as the
sound of many waters. John saw Christ. God-appointed worship brings
us to Moriah. the place to see God and we see
God in His Son. And Abraham says here, I am the
lad will go yonder. Have you ever been yonder? You can't defend your place here
and ever go yonder. I am the lad will go yonder and
worship. We'll see God sacrificing his
son, and we'll worship him and come again to you. Oh, worship the King, all glorious
above, and gratefully sing his wonderful love, our shield and
defender the ancient of days, pavilioned in splendor and girded
with praise. The songwriter said, oh, worship
the king. And so that's our message this
morning. God appointed worship. Stand with me.