Worship God
Our Text today is Matthew 4:8-10:
“8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”
Our theme today that is tucked away in Matthew 4:10 says: “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God.”
Like the vast majority of the world, I watched the horrifying scenes of the chaotic events of Wednesday unfold at the US Capitol. These disturbing scenes are reminiscent of the heart-breaking words of the prophet Isaiah “Justice is turned back, And righteousness stands afar off; … truth is fallen in the street, …” (Isaiah 59:14). These scenes remind me of the sad commentary of Judges 21:25 KJV - In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
However, this issue is neither unique nor novel. It is sad but not unexpected. It is traumatic but not unprecedented. It would be hypocritical to not see that there are events of history that have positioned this nation for this depth of international humiliation and global ridicule. Is this the city on the hill? Is this the light on the candlestick? Is this the beacon of modern democracy? Is this the law and constitution driven societal mecca, to be emulated by all who live within its shadow? Is this the house built for righteousness that pledges allegiance as one nation under God? Is this the nation that has sent its military might to every part of the globe to enforce democracy? Is this that country? Is this the United States of America? And I must answer yes. So, let me speak the truth and speak it loud and clear. Truth is fallen in the street! Yes, America was established for freedom of ideas, freedom of religion, freedom of worship, freedom to pursue life, liberty and happiness. But let us not forget that the freedom claimed by some, was at the expense of the armed robbery and enslavement of others, namely the Native Americans, the African Americans, Asians, Latinos and many poor White Americans, whose blood drench this soil. Let us not forget that the American War of Independence, was primarily beneficial to a ruling Plantocracy, and remember that without the help of France, England would have prevailed, and the Planter class would have failed. Had the Planter Class, now called the founding fathers, failed, historians would not call them patriarchs, but they would go down in history as terrorists. Nevertheless, God in His infinite mercy allowed the rise of the United States of America and America has prodded along. America has lived through the war of 1812, the bloody Civil War, the assassination of Lincoln, the founding of the Ku Klux Klan, legal or de jure segregation, two World Wars, a War in Korea, the assassination of Kennedy, the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War, the Nixon impeachment, two Gulf Wars, 911, the rise of ultra-liberalism, the election of the first non-white president, Barack Obama, the emergence of ultra-conservatism, the election of Donald Trump, white nationalism, black lives matter, proud boys, neo-Nazis, skin heads, Aryan nation and Covid 19, yet through thick and thin, we have soldiered on. But, on Wednesday January 06, 2021, the line was crossed when “truth fell in the street.” It seemed like everything that was held near and dear to the hearts of Americans was dissolving before our very eyes. Even the church in America was stunned by the dissolving of what was once the bedrock of civility and stability of the entire world. Therefore, like the apostle Peter we now question, saying: “Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be…? 2 Peter 3:11 (KJV). In other words, what kind of man or woman should we be for the future to prepare for our Lord’s return. Accordingly, I wish to submit to you that to be the people God wants us to be for the future in this nation, the believer must do two things,
(1) Take our eyes off man and
(2) Put our eyes on the Lord.
It is time to say to the devil, like Jesus said to him, “Get away from here, Satan: for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.” I say to the United States of America in General and to the American Church in particular, “come home, come back to the arms of our heavenly Father, come back to the holiness of our holy fathers and mothers. You have wondered around in the world of materialism, secularism, hypocrisy, exploitation and oppression of the weak for far too long. Come home, America….” In the words of Will L. Thompson, I urge you America: “Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling, calling for you and for me, see at the portals He’s watching and waiting, calling O sinner, Come home.” Come home to God. I’m not just saying to come back to church, I am saying Come back to God! Come back to God, …. Like Jesus said to satan, “It is written, you must Worship the Lord thy God.”
According to Webster’s Dictionary, the word God is defined as “Creator and Ruler of the universe; eternal, infinite Spirit; the Supreme Being, Almighty and Omniscient.”
Numerous Hebrew words, portraying attributes or character, are translated God. Let us translate some of them.
Elohim God Almighty.
El Shaddai God of eternity
Adonai Lord and Master
Yaweh Lord
Jehovah-Jireh God the provider (Genesis 22:8-14)
Jehovah-Rapha The Lord that heals us (Exodus 15:23-26).
The healer of physical and spiritual sicknesses, or the Restorer of health.
Jehovah-Nissi The Lord our banner (exodus 17:8-15)
Jehovah-M’Kadesh The Lord Who sanctifies (Leviticus 20:7-8)
Jehovah-Shalom The Lord our peace (Judges 6:24)
Jehovah-Sabaoth The Lord of Hosts, the Lord Who commands
a mighty army (1Samuel 1:3, 11).
Jehovah-Elyon The Lord Most High, Possessor of heaven
and earth (Psalm 7:17).
Jehovah-Rohi The Lord my Shepherd (Psalm 23:1).
Jehovah-Tsidkenu The Lord our Righteousness (Jeremiah 23:5-
6).
Jehovah-Shamma The Lord is present, the Lord Who never
leaves us alone (Ezekiel 48:35).
He alone is God
In Christian thought the idea of God gives notions of exclusivity. That is to say, there is no one or nothing like God. In her song Miriam, Moses’ sister, sang: “Who among the gods is like you, O LORD?
Who is like you— majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders? Exodus 15:11.
With heartfelt cries king David declared: Every bone in my body will shout: “No one is like the Lord!” You protect the helpless from those in power; you save the poor and needy, from those who hurt them. Psalm 35:10. Your deeds of kindness are known in the heavens.
No one is like you! Psalm 71:19. In Psalm 89:8, Maschil, the Psalmist sang: O Lord God Almighty!
Where is there anyone as mighty as you, Lord?
Faithfulness is your very character.
Who would not fear you, O King of nations? Jeremiah 10:7,
That title belongs to You alone! Among all the wise people of the earth
and in all the kingdoms of the world, there is no one like you.
The prophet Micah declared in chapter 7 and verse 18,
There is no God like you. You forgive those who are guilty of sin;
you don’t look at the sins of your people who are left alive.
You will not stay angry forever, because you enjoy being kind.
(NCV)
God is God because there is none like Him.
To even conjecture that any being is in any way comparable to Him, is to demean Him and to attempt to detract from His divinity.
Aiden Wilson Tozer, the great 20th century American Systematic Theologian, described God as being “Incomprehensible.” Tozer’s simple but profound answer to the question of, “What God is like?” reveals what God is not like. Tozer notes, “this…question… cannot be answered except to say that God is not like anything, He is not exactly like anything or anybody”
According to Tozer, there is an infinitely high wall that separates “that-which-is-God, from that which-is-not-God.” To think of the creature or creation and the Creator alike is to rob God of most of His attributes and to reduce Him to the status of that which He created. Thinking of the Creator and the creature as being alike robs God of His infinitude as there cannot be more than one infinite substance in the universe. This also attempts to take away from God’s sovereignty as there cannot be two absolutely free beings in the universe. One will have to be subordinate. Our discourse as to what God is in Tozer’s mind must, therefore, proceed along the lines as to what-God-is-not. Therefore, whatever we visualize God to be HE IS NOT!
Our minds cannot comprehend Him. If we could do so, then He becomes capable of being captured by human thought, and, therefore, creatable in human thinking. Consequently, He ceases to be God. Any such mental concoction is not God. God cannot be contained, limited, fettered or restricted by anything. God cannot be reduced to any form of human manageability. What is God cannot be built, bought or borrowed. What is God cannot be created, conceived, conceptualized or concocted. What is God cannot be conjectured, constituted, constructed, construed, contrived, copied or correlated. What is God cannot be compared, converted, conveyed, condensed, congealed, consigned, consolidated or corresponded. What is God cannot be contradicted, contaminated, convicted, convinced, counteracted, convulsed, crumpled, crushed, or curtailed.
What is God cannot be deposed, dethroned, detained, defaced, defamed, defaulted, defeated, deleted, denigrated or desecrated. What is God cannot be decreased, deceased, defiled or demised. What is God cannot be deterred, devalued, disabled, disarmed disgraced or disarrayed. What is God cannot be disassembled, dismantled, discarded or disintegrated. What is God cannot be discommoded, displaced, disposed, dispossessed, disrupted, distorted, distressed or disturbed. What is God, is God and there is an infinitely high wall between that-which-is-God and that-which-is-not-God.
So, Worship God, America. Give up your idols and Worship God. I say to the American church, end the worship of politicians and celebrities, money and even the worship of church and the worship of worship. Worship God. End the idolatry, and in the words of Joshua, say “… but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. (Joshua 24:15)
1 Chronicles 16: 31 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; … Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness. … ” Worship God.
Exodus 20:2-5 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, … Worship God.
John 4:24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” Worship God.
Psalm 99:9 Exalt the LORD our God and worship at his holy mountain, for the LORD our God is holy. Worship God.
Hebrews 12:28-29 … worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29 for our “God is a consuming fire.” Worship God.
Revelation 14:7 …. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.” Worship God.
Because when you worship Worship God, you will be able to sing, “He brought me out of the miry clay.”
You will be able to sing, “Oh it is Jesus, yes it is Jesus, it is Jesus in my soul, for I have touched the hem of His garment and His blood has made me whole.”
When you worship God you will be able to sing “Way-maker, Miracle Worker, Promise Keep, Light in the darkness, that is who You are…. That is who you are….” Worship the Lord.
In closing let me repeat the words of our text, found in Matthew 4:10, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”
Dr. Wayne C. Solomon
