Recover His Glory | Recover All | Week 3
Recover His Glory
Exodus 20:18-23
‘All the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the
sound of the trumpet, and the mountain surrounded by
smoke. When the people saw it they trembled and stood at
a distance. “You speak to us, and we will listen,” they said to
Moses, “but don’t let God speak to us, or we will die.”
Moses responded to the people, “Don’t be afraid, for God
has come to test you, so that you will fear Him and will not
sin.” And the people remained standing at a distance as
Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.
Then the Lord told Moses, “This is what you are to say to the
Israelites: You have seen that I have spoken to you from
heaven. You must not make gods of silver to rival Me; you
must not make gods of gold for yourselves.’
Exodus 32:1-4,7,15,19
‘When the people saw that Moses delayed in coming
down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and
said to him, “Come, make us a god who will go before us
because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the
land of Egypt — we don’t know what has happened to him! ”
Then Aaron replied to them, “Take off the gold rings that are
on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters and
bring them to me.” So all the people took off the gold rings
that were on their ears and brought them to Aaron. He took
the gold from their hands, fashioned it with an engraving
tool, and made it into an image of a calf. Then they said,
“Israel, this is your God, who brought you up from the
land of Egypt!”
(I like how God is now saying, these are YOUR people, get them straight)
The Lord spoke to Moses: “Go down at once! For your
people
you brought up from the land of
Egypt have acted corruptly. Then Moses turned and went
down the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony
in his hands.
They were inscribed on both sides
sided printing, He had a lot to say) ‘
(God did that double-
back. As he approached the camp and saw the calf and the
dancing, Moses became enraged and threw the tablets out
— inscribed front and
of his hands, smashing them at the base of the mountain.
Our nature is to WORSHIP.
Either God, or something else.
Recover His Glory
1. Worship God Alone
Romans 12:1-2 HCSB
“Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to
present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and
pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship. Do not be
conformed to this age, but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the
good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.”
Science
III. Sing All. See that you join with the congregation as frequently as
you can. Let not a slight degree of weakness or weariness hinder
you. If it is a cross to you, take it up and you will find a blessing.
IV. Sing lustily and with good courage. Beware of singing as if you
were half dead, or half asleep; but lift up your voice with strength.
Be no more afraid of your voice now, nor more ashamed of its being
heard, than when you sung the songs of Satan.
VII. Above all sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you
sing. Aim at pleasing him more than yourself, or any other creature.
In order to this attend strictly to the sense of what you sing, and see
that your Heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to
God continually; so shall your singing be such as the Lord will
approve of here, and reward when he cometh in the clouds of
heaven.
2. Worship Always
Hebrews 13:15 HCSB
“Therefore, through Him let us continually offer up to God a
sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of our lips that confess His
name.”
Philippians 4:4-5 HCSB
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let
your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near.”
And if you need a jumping off point, you’re not sure what to say, start with Psalm 100:
Psalms 100:1-5 HCSB
“Shout triumphantly to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord
with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs.
Acknowledge that Yahweh is God. He made us, and we are
His — His people, the sheep of His pasture.
Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with
praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His name. For Yahweh
is good, and His love is eternal; His faithfulness endures
through all generations.”
2 Samuel 12:20a HCSB
“Then David got up from the ground. He washed, anointed
himself, changed his clothes, went to the Lord’s house,
and worshiped.”
3. Worship In Awe and Reverence
Going back to that verse in Exodus 20:18
‘All the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the
sound of the trumpet, and the mountain surrounded by
smoke. When the people saw it they trembled and stood
at a distance...
1 Samuel 2:2 HCSB
“There is no one holy like the Lord. There is no one besides
You! And there is no rock like our God.”
Isaiah 6:3 HCSB
“And one called to another: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of
Hosts; His glory fills the whole earth.”
Psalms 96:9 HCSB
“Worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness; tremble
before Him, all the earth.”
Romans 1:20 HCSB
For His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and
divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of
the world, being understood through what He has made. As
a result, people are without excuse.
God will invade. But I wonder whether people who ask God to interfere openly and directly in our world quite realise what it will be like when He does. When that happens, it is the end of the world. When the author walks on to the stage the play is over.
God is going to invade, all right: but what is the good of saying you are on His side then, when you see the whole natural universe melting away like a dream and something else - something it never entered your head to conceive - comes crashing in; something so beautiful to some of us and so terrible to others that none of us will have any choice left?
For this time it will be God without disguise; something so overwhelming that it will strike either irresistible love or irresistible horror into every creature. It will be too late then to choose your side. There is no use saying you choose to lie down when it has become impossible to stand
up. That will not be the time for choosing; it will be the time when we discover which side we really have chosen, whether we realised it before or not. Now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side. God is holding back to give us that chance. It will not last forever.
C.S. Lewis