The Marvelous Work of God – Part 1
Isaiah 29:1-24 (1, 13, 15-16)
October 22, 2023
Let’s start this morning
With what Isaiah says in the 14th verse of this chapter.
(14a) “Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous;”
This chapter introduces us to what we might call
“The Marvelous Work of God”
The previous chapter introduced us to His “extraordinary work”
Isaiah 28:21 “For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Perazim, He will be stirred up as in the valley of Gibeon, To do His task, His unusual task, And to work His work, His extraordinary work.”
• Isaiah was confronting a people who would not listen to God.
• They scoffed at Isaiah and mocked him when he spoke God’s word.
In response to their scoffing God promised to rise up and do
“His unusual task” and “His extraordinary work”
That work was judgment.
• God is by nature a Savior.
• He is long suffering.
• He is slow to anger.
• He does not delight in the death of the wicked.
And although He is just and willing to judge, judgment is referred to as His “unusual task” or “His extraordinary work”
But here in the next chapter
We are confronted with a different type of God’s work.
We see that God will “deal marvelously”
This is His marvelous work.
The word “marvelously” here is the Hebrew word (PAW-LAW)
And it speaks of something that is “extraordinarily hard or difficult”
Even something miraculous.
It is the word God used when He confronted Sarah for laughing at the announcement that she would have a son.
Genesis 18:14 “Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”
There it is the word “difficult”
It is the word God used of the mighty signs He would perform against the land of Egypt during the Exodus.
Exodus 3:20 “So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My miracles which I shall do in the midst of it; and after that he will let you go.”
There it is translated “miracles”
And it is the word David used to describe the unbelievable things which God has accomplished.
Psalms 40:5 “Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders which You have done, And Your thoughts toward us; There is none to compare with You. If I would declare and speak of them, They would be too numerous to count.”
There it is translated “wonders”
So you understand that when we are talking about
God doing something “wondrously marvelous”
We are talking about something that only He can do.
It is something that depends on His intervention.
It is something that depends on His work.
GOD MUST DO IT.
It is a thing that CANNOT be accomplished through the effort of man.
It is NOT natural, it is supernatural.
And in Isaiah 29 that marvelous work which God is about to do is:
REVIVAL.
• God is about to awaken dead souls.
• God is about to open deaf ears.
• God is about to open blind eyes.
• God is about to soften hardened hearts.
It is something that cannot be accomplished
Through the efforts or planning of man.
When I was a kid every fall and every spring our church would schedule what they called a “Revival”.
• It was typically a Sunday through Wednesday event in which a guest preacher would come in and we’d have church services every night.
• And typically when it was over the pastor would get up and say something like, “Revival has really occurred here this week”
But it was always peculiar to me as a child that everything always
Seemed to just go back to the way it was before this mighty event.
And the point of course is that revival
Is not something you can schedule or plan.
Revival is something which only God can orchestrate.
And when He does it is a marvelous work.
Well that is what Isaiah 29 is about.
• It is God’s promise to bring about revival
• It is God’s revelation regarding why it is needed.
• It is God’s explanation as to how He’s going to bring it about.
In short God is about to transform false worshipers into true worshipers.
God is about to take people who worship only in ritual
And turn them into people who worship in spirit and in truth.
This is nothing short of the marvelous work of God.
I WOULD ALSO POINT OUT THAT
To better explain exactly what God is going to do in the lives of the people of Jerusalem, God actually calls upon A HISTORICAL REFERENCE.
Look down at the end of the chapter to verse 22.
“Therefore, thus says the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob…”
If you want an example for what God is going to do in Jerusalem;
God says He’s about to do the same thing He did in the life of Abraham.
CERTAINLY YOU REMEMBER THAT.
• Abram, the moon worshiping pagan
• Who owned slaves, loved money,
• And would even trade off his own wife if there was a profit in it.
From a human perspective Abram was a lost cause.
But God chose Him.
And we read all about how God pruned Abram.
• We saw how God separated him from his family, even Lot.
• We saw how God forced him to trust solely in His promises.
• We saw how God granted him faith and then grew that faith.
• We saw how God corrected him and sanctified him in his mistakes.
• And we saw how eventually Abraham was called “the friend of God”
From pagan worshiping enemy to friend of God.
That was a marvelous work God accomplished in his life.
And the God who did that for Abraham is the God
Who is about to do the same thing for the people of Jerusalem.
That is what Isaiah 29 is about.
NOW, we’re going to cover it in a little different format that we usually do.
• We’re going to outline the first 8 verses
• And use the remainder of the chapter to reinforce that.
• The chapter communicates in circles and I think this is the clearest way to work through it.
So let’s look at the first 8 verses
And we’ll let the last 16 verses kind of be the supporting cast.
We’re going to break this message down into 3 points.
#1 THEIR UNACCEPTABLE WORSHIP
Isaiah 29:1
“Woe, O Ariel, Ariel the city where David once camped! Add year to year, observe your feasts on schedule.”
You know by now that Isaiah likes nicknames (or rather God does).
• Earlier he referred to Babylon as “the wilderness of the sea” (21:1)
• He referred to Jerusalem as “the valley of vision” (22:1)
Well now he calls Jerusalem “Ariel”
(We know it’s Jerusalem because of the reference to David)
The word “Ariel” is literally translated “Lion of God”
And that would explain the coming statements of how
God is going to surround her and set up battle against her and bring her down.
Other commentators have recognized that Ezekiel used the word HAR-EL as the word for “altar hearth”.
And they say that God here is calling Jerusalem His altar.
It seems more likely that the reference here is to a lion,
And perhaps even a rogue lion that must be captured and dealt with.
But aside from that the FIRST THING we notice about the chapter
Is again Isaiah’s usage of the word “Woe”
We saw it first when Isaiah entered the temple, saw the glory of God,
And was sure of his own destruction.
It is a big word to Isaiah.
He does not use it lightly.
And here he pronounces that response on Jerusalem.
The indicator of THE PROBLEM comes in the second line of verse 1.
“Add year to year, observe your feasts on schedule.”
It is a statement that references the monotony of their worship.
IT HAS BECOME ROUTINE.
• Year after year, month after month, week after week, it’s the same old same old.
It makes me think of the old Dunkin Donuts commercial
Where the man is walking out the door, “Time to make the donuts”
We just do it over and over and over and over.
• There is no enthusiasm.
• There is no excitement.
• There is no joy or anticipation.
It’s time to go to the temple and do it all again.
And what makes this apathetic mindset so regrettable is that
This is “the city where David once camped!”
Do you know anything about David?
Sure, David had his flaws.
• We know about Bathsheba.
• We know about Absalom.
• We know about him numbering Israel.
But in spite of his mistakes, ONE THING DAVID GOT RIGHT,
Is that he pursued the heart of God with everything he had.
David made some mistakes in some areas,
But he got worship right.
Let me just read to you some of the things David said.
Psalms 27:4 “One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD And to meditate in His temple.”
Psalms 29:1-2 “Ascribe to the LORD, O sons of the mighty, Ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. Ascribe to the LORD the glory due to His name; Worship the LORD in holy array.”
Psalms 31:23 “O love the LORD, all you His godly ones! The LORD preserves the faithful And fully recompenses the proud doer.”
Psalms 40:6-8 “Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired; My ears You have opened; Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required. Then I said, “Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart.”
Psalms 62:1-2 “My soul waits in silence for God only; From Him is my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation, My stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken.”
Psalms 63:1-5 “O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water. Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory. Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips will praise You. So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth offers praises with joyful lips.”
Psalms 66:16-20 “Come and hear, all who fear God, And I will tell of what He has done for my soul. I cried to Him with my mouth, And He was extolled with my tongue. If I regard wickedness in my heart, The Lord will not hear; But certainly God has heard; He has given heed to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, Who has not turned away my prayer Nor His lovingkindness from me.”
Psalms 86:11-13 “Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name. I will give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, And will glorify Your name forever. For Your lovingkindness toward me is great, And You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.”
Psalms 103:1-2 “Bless the LORD, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits;”
Psalms 103:19-22 “The LORD has established His throne in the heavens, And His sovereignty rules over all. Bless the LORD, you His angels, Mighty in strength, who perform His word, Obeying the voice of His word! Bless the LORD, all you His hosts, You who serve Him, doing His will. Bless the LORD, all you works of His, In all places of His dominion; Bless the LORD, O my soul!”
Psalms 113:1-4 “Praise the LORD! Praise, O servants of the LORD, Praise the name of the LORD. Blessed be the name of the LORD From this time forth and forever. From the rising of the sun to its setting The name of the LORD is to be praised. The LORD is high above all nations; His glory is above the heavens.”
And that’s just the tip of the ice burg.
David made mistakes in life, but one thing he continually got right was worship.
• It was never mundane to him.
• It was never routine to him.
• It was never some mindless obligation.
And when David camped in Jerusalem
That city was a beacon of worship and the glory of God.
BUT MY HOW FAR THAT CITY HAS FALLEN.
It would be like someone 280 years from now standing in the pulpit of Grace Community Church (where MacArthur preaches) and denying the inerrancy of Scripture.
You’d say, “Wow! Denying the Bible in the pulpit where MacArthur once preached.”
That is the kind of downfall that has occurred in this once bright city.
It USED TO BE a city where God was worshiped and honored and adored
NOW it is a city where worship has become routine and heartless.
“Add year to year, observe your feasts on schedule.”
WHAT USE IS THAT?
Isaiah already addressed it.
Isaiah 1:11-15 “What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?” Says the LORD. “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams And the fat of fed cattle; And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats. “When you come to appear before Me, Who requires of you this trampling of My courts? “Bring your worthless offerings no longer, Incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies— I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. “I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them. “So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.”
It means very little to God that someone just keep a schedule.
We remember it from Malachi’s day.
Malach 1:6-11 “‘A son honors his father, and a servant his master. Then if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My respect?’ says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests who despise My name. But you say, ‘How have we despised Your name?’ “You are presenting defiled food upon My altar. But you say, ‘How have we defiled You?’ In that you say, ‘The table of the LORD is to be despised.’ “But when you present the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you present the lame and sick, is it not evil? Why not offer it to your governor? Would he be pleased with you? Or would he receive you kindly?” says the LORD of hosts. “But now will you not entreat God’s favor, that He may be gracious to us? With such an offering on your part, will He receive any of you kindly?” says the LORD of hosts. “Oh that there were one among you who would shut the gates, that you might not uselessly kindle fire on My altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the LORD of hosts, “nor will I accept an offering from you. “For from the rising of the sun even to its setting, My name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense is going to be offered to My name, and a grain offering that is pure; for My name will be great among the nations,” says the LORD of hosts.”
There God actually wished that someone would lock the doors.
• If there is not going to be genuine honor…
• If there is not going to be genuine worship…
• If there is only some commitment to some routine…
• Just lock the doors.
Psalms 50:7-15 “Hear, O My people, and I will speak; O Israel, I will testify against you; I am God, your God. “I do not reprove you for your sacrifices, And your burnt offerings are continually before Me. “I shall take no young bull out of your house Nor male goats out of your folds. “For every beast of the forest is Mine, The cattle on a thousand hills. “I know every bird of the mountains, And everything that moves in the field is Mine. “If I were hungry I would not tell you, For the world is Mine, and all it contains. “Shall I eat the flesh of bulls Or drink the blood of male goats? “Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving And pay your vows to the Most High; Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.”
With God it has never been about the routine or the ordinance.
Have we not read about the Corinthian church that was taking the Lord’s Supper but was getting drunk while doing so?
• Paul alluded that God was killing some of the Corinthians for that.
Going through the motions is not enough for God.
Being faithful to a routine is not enough for Him.
AND THIS IS ISRAEL’S PROBLEM.
• They know when to arrive and when to leave.
• They knew when to sit and when to stand.
• They know when to sing and when to be silent.
• But it is all empty.
Raymond Ortlund wrote:
“They were saying all the right things, doing all the right things. They feared God. But their fear of him – even this interior dimension of worship – was only a doctrine taught by human instruction. It was just an idea, a concept in their minds, a catechetical answer, not a Spirit-imparted awareness transforming their hearts. Beneath the beautiful observance, they were using the worship of God as a mechanism for avoiding God, for controlling God, for setting limits on God.”
(Ortlund Jr., Raymond C. [Isaiah: God saves sinners; Preaching The Word Commentary Series; Crossway Publishers, Wheaton, IL; 2005] Pg. 163)
In other words, if you asked them if they feared God?
They would say, “Yes, God is to be feared.”
But they said that, not because they really feared Him,
But because they had been taught to answer in such a way.
That is the danger of phony and routine religion.
Ortlund would also say:
“What is the problem? Jerusalem does not see her privilege and her peril. The God she worships is a fiery personality – not erratic but holy (Hebrews 12:28, 29). For us sinners, God is both high-voltage danger and overflowing salvation. And the only refuge from his holy wrath is his holy love in Christ, our substitute on the altar of the cross. In other words, the only escape from God is in God. But the worship of these people is impervious both to the heat of his anger and to the warmth of his love. They neither tremble nor rejoice in God’s presence. They just go through the motions. So, in his sight they’re wasting their time.”
(ibid. Pg. 161)
What a truth to ponder!
When you enter church to worship,
• You enter either as a sinner in need of salvation
• Or you enter as a sinner who has received salvation.
The first should tremble in holy fear
• That you would dare draw near to a holy God in such a sinful condition.
• You should be filled with “Woe” as Isaiah was when he entered God’s presence.
The second (the forgiven sinner) should be filled with tremendous gratitude
• You should be here to lay all on His altar.
• Your heart should be filled with the “Here am I, send me” of the redeemed Isaiah.
• You should be rejoicing that He has not treated you as your sins deserve.
This morning as you come to worship
You should either be trembling or rejoicing,
And if you are doing neither, then you are wasting your time.
That’s a pretty bold analysis, but he is absolutely correct.
And you hear that in the almost sarcastic tone of verse 1.
“Add year to year, observe your feasts on schedule.”
But it won’t do you any good.
But this is NOT ALL God has to say on the subject.
His frustration is explained more fully in verse 13.
(13) “Then the Lord said, “Because this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote,”
What a statement!
What a tragedy!
They are a people of “words” and a people of “lip service”
NOW everything they say; all the songs they sing;
Are all filled with the right doctrine.
They quote the Scriptures, they sing the orthodox hymns.
They may even sing them on tune and with great volume and power.
Their worship services are a sight to behold and a joy to the ears.
They are pleasant to those around them.
BUT THEY ARE SUPERFICIAL
“But they remove their hearts far from Me”
David prayed:
Psalms 19:14 “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.”
David was not only concerned about the words he spoke,
But also the heart in which he spoke them.
BUT NOW, this “city where David once camped”
Has dropped the second concern.
They no longer concern themselves with the meditation of the heart.
With their lips they sing the words,
But with their heart they are focused on something else.
• How do I sound?
• What do other people think of me?
• I wonder how many songs we’re singing?
• I sure hope this is over in time for the football game?
While they are physically present and put on a tremendous display
They are absent in heart and God is not pleased.
God says, “their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote,”
The word “rote” is defined as,
“mechanical or habitual repetition of something to be learned.”
What a dry and heartless time of worship!
A service filled with mechanical people who habitually do what they were told to do without any heart or feeling or genuine love.
• FILLED WITH habit and repetition and taught traditions,
• NOT FILLED WITH gratitude nor captivated by the greatness of God.
What a cold and heartless worship service that must be.
• People stand because they are told to stand.
• People sit because they are told to sit.
• People sing because they are told to sing.
• People pray because they are told to pray.
I’ve shared with you before about the Jewish man I met on the airplane who did not believe in Jesus.
I asked him what he did with Isaiah 53?
• He said, we only read the first 5 books of the Old Testament.
I asked him what he did with the veil that separates man from God?
• He said, we read those first 5 but we don’t believe them.
I asked him why he attended synagogue then if he didn’t even believe the book they study?
• He said, “I find comfort in the routine and the liturgy.”
WHAT NONSENSE!
Where does your heart stand before God?
• Do you love Him?
• Do you fear Him?
• Are you bursting at the seams to belt out His praises?
• Are you captivated and full of anticipation to hear His word?
• Are you blown away by His perfection?
• Are you humbled by His grace?
• Are you here simply to worship Him out of love and adoration?
Or are you just here because it’s what you do?
• Is there any love for Christ at all?
• Is there any desire to tell Him thank you?
• Is there any esteem for the holiness of God?
You may be worshiping in truth, but are you worshiping in Spirit?
John 4:19-24 “The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. “Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. “You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
10 times the word “worship” is used in that passage.
That’s a pretty good indicator that we can learn something of it there.
Jesus defines worship as that which must be “in spirit and in truth”
Certainly it must be accurate and orthodox.
Certainly true doctrine must be at the center.
But where is the spirit?
Where is the emotion?
Where is the love, the fear, the gratitude, the awe?
God is clearly not interested in worship without those things.
They aren’t here singing because they love Me,
They sing because someone made them and trained them to do it.
A few years ago I had the privilege of performing the wedding ceremony for Norman and Brenda Hill.
• About 20 minutes before the wedding Brenda handed me a love letter that she
had written to Norman for the wedding.
• Brenda wanted me to read it before she came down the aisle.
• It was one of the most awkward things I’ve ever had to do in my life.
• Read a love letter to Norman that was written by Brenda in front of the entire
audience.
The words were true, and they were sincere from the one who wrote them, Yet I doubt Norman was too incredibly touched by the way I read it.
And that is what the worship of Jerusalem was like.
They showed up ever week and read a love letter to God
That someone else had written.
Psalms that David had written.
Hymns that some saint of old had poured his heart into.
The words were the same but the heart was missing.
And it was not pleasing to God.
It was “tradition learned by rote”
Matthew 15:1-9 “Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? “For God said, ‘HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER,’ and, ‘HE WHO SPEAKS EVIL OF FATHER OR MOTHER IS TO BE PUT TO DEATH.’ “But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you has been given to God,” he is not to honor his father or his mother.’ And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition. “You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: ‘THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME. ‘BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.’”
Men more concerned with going through the proper procedures of hand washing
Than they were with honoring God by obeying His words.
Their worship must have felt so cheap and so plastic to God.
It was so phony.
Like some sort of arranged marriage or blind date
WHERE NEITHER PARTY WANTED TO BE THERE.
And if you look at verse 14,
God says that their phony worship is the direct reason why He is about to do this marvelous work in their lives.
(14) “Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous; And the wisdom of their wise men will perish, And the discernment of their discerning men will be concealed.”
Their phony worship is the catalyst to doing what He is about to do.
BUT STILL ISAIAH WAS NOT FINISHED.
God’s frustration with their worship is explained still further.
(15-16) “Woe to those who deeply hide their plans from the LORD, And whose deeds are done in a dark place, And they say, “Who sees us?” or “Who knows us?” You turn things around! Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay, That what is made would say to its maker, “He did not make me”; Or what is formed say to him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?”
This is the SECOND great problem with their worship.
• The FIRST PROBLEM was “Empty Religion” and it was bad.
• This SECOND PROBLEM is “Concealed Iniquity”.
First they show up to church and offer God this phony display of love and adoration that is superficial at best.
But then when they leave church and assume that they are out of God’s presence they go about their sinful and immoral lives as though God doesn’t know it.
They act like God is only watching them when they are in church.
• They “deeply hide their plans from the LORD”
• Their “deeds are done in a dark place”
• They say, “Who sees us?” or “Who knows us?”
It’s the person who acts and talks one way on Sunday
And different every other day of the week.
On Sunday you’d think, “Man this guy really loves God”
But on Monday you’d question if they ever met Him at all.
And the really stupid part about what they do is
They assume God isn’t watching the whole thing.
Do you really think God doesn’t know what you are doing?
(16) “You turn things around! Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay, That what is made would say to its maker, ‘He did not make me’; Or what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘He has no understanding’?”
In other words, “Do you think I’m as dumb as you?”
• Do you really think us on the same level?
• Do you think that just because you can fool men that you can fool Me too?
It is nonsense!
Do you remember the day when God grabbed Ezekiel by the hair of the head and transported him back to Jerusalem to see the sins they were committing in supposed secrecy?
God showed him many great transgressions, but look at the last God showed him.
Ezekiel 8:16-18 “Then He brought me into the inner court of the LORD’S house. And behold, at the entrance to the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east; and they were prostrating themselves eastward toward the sun. He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Is it too light a thing for the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they have committed here, that they have filled the land with violence and provoked Me repeatedly? For behold, they are putting the twig to their nose. “Therefore, I indeed will deal in wrath. My eye will have no pity nor will I spare; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, yet I will not listen to them.”
Do you really think God doesn’t see?
We talked about this last Sunday morning with the youth at Disciple Now.
Luke 8:17 “For nothing is hidden that will not become evident, nor anything secret that will not be known and come to light.”
Psalms 90:8 “You have placed our iniquities before You, Our secret sins in the light of Your presence.”
Hebrews 4:13 “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.”
Do you understand then how foolish it is
• To come to church and sing some song you’ve been taught to sing and pretend this great love for God
• Then go home and entertain some secret sin?
Take a man who spent all week living in sin and entertaining perversion.
• He gets up on Sunday morning and comes to church because it’s the thing to
do to keep up appearances.
• He sings the songs, he prays the prayers, but he has NO GENUINE LOVE for
God or gratitude to Him.
• And as soon as the service is over he goes right back to the sin that really
captivates his heart.
Is God supposed to be pleased with his worship?
Would you accept the love of your spouse under such circumstances?
You follow your spouse to the hotel where you see them enter with their lover, and day after day you see them continually engage in an affair.
But one night a week your spouse comes home and promises you that
“I love you” and “You’re the only one for me”.
Is that going to just warm your heart?
Are you going to feel extremely valued and treasured and loved?
So why would God be impressed with people who “add year to year” and “observe your feasts on schedule”?
This is what is referred to as unacceptable worship.
It may be worship in truth but it is not worship in spirit.
There is no love or fear or adoration for God.
The heart of David is noticeably missing.
And this is why God is motivated to do
This marvelous and miraculous work in their midst.
We’ll stop here today and finish this chapter tonight,
But this morning can you at least be honest with God about your worship of Him?
• Can you at least look inwardly and determine if your worship for Him is
genuine?
• Can you at least be honest with Him on that front?
And if your worship is phony can you be honest with Him this morning?
• Can you confess that to Him?
• Can you own it and repent?
• Can you ask Him to do a marvelous work in your heart?
• Can you ask Him to forgive you and bring revival to your soul?
HE WILL.
• He is merciful and forgiving and gracious.
• He is kind to ungrateful men.
• If you will repent, and confess your sin He is faithful to forgive you of your sin and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness.
Jesus asked for worship
From one of the most immoral women in the New Testament,
He will accept yours as well
If you will worship Him in spirit and in truth.
