Therefore as you have received C'llrist Jesus the 1/ird, so walk in Him, Inning licon firmly rooted and
now being built up in Hiiri and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude
Cleaning Out The House
A Holy Passion For Reverent Worship
By Noah Ressler
I hope that you are not tiring of the Gospel of John. In it we find Christ Jesus, the
Son of God who as the author of Hebrews 1:1-3 says, "God, after He spoke long
ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these
last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things,
through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and
the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His
power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of
the Majesty on high."
We worship the Father when we hear and learn of His Son, and the mighty works
He has done in order to secure our eternal salvation and give us hope, like that of
Abraham, of the city (New Jerusalem), which has foundations, whose designer
and constructor is God (Heb. 11:10).
All of us could think of someone whom we consider has a great reverence for
God. But whoever that might be, it does not match the reverence Jesus had for
worship in His Father's house. It was His love for God, the glory that His Father
possesses that drove Jesus to make a whip and drive out those who used the
place of God's worship as a market to make money for their own gain, not the
gain of God.
Or what great religious leader would have the audacity to proclaim His
resurrection from the dead after three days. Only fools would make that
proclamation - and there have been false prophets who have done so. Apollonius
of Tyanna (d. A.D. 98), is said to rival Christ's claim to be the Son of God, and his
biographer Philostratus is supposed to have reported post-death appearances.
The biography ends with the death of Appollonius. There is nothing about any
resurrection. The after death record comes from what Philostratus called
"stories." They are later legends that were appended to the biography after it was
written. J Sabbatai Sevi was a 17th century Jewish teacher who claimed to be the
Messiah. It was reported that many years later, after Sevi's death in 1676, his
brother found his tomb empty but full of light.2 Rabbi Judah was a major figure
in Judaism and was involved in the completion of the Misftna/z in about 200.
According to the Talmud, after Rabbi Judah died, "he used to come home at
twilight every Sabbath eve." Allegedly, when a neighbor approached the rabbi's
door to greet him, they were turned away by his maid. When the rabbi heard of
this, he stopped coming, so as not to upstage other good persons who returned to
their homes after their deaths.s Kabir was a 15* century religious leader who
combined facets of the Muslim and Hindu religions. After his death in 1518, his
followers were divided over whether to cremate his body, which Hindus favor
and Muslims oppose. Kabir is said himself to have stopped the controversy.
When he directed them to draw back the cloth placed over his body, they found
5
'" www.johnankerbergcom/Articles/-PDAArchives/theologicaIdictionary/TD2WO4O3.pdf
- Colossians. 2.6.7
only flowers underneath. His Hindu followers burned half the flowers, and the
Muslims buried the other half.*
There is no real comparison between these stories and Christ's resurrection. The
non - Christian resurrections set the quality of the Bible's truth in sharp relief. In
C/irist's resurrection there were: numerous credible witnesses, numerous
contemporary records, abundant physical evidence, claims to Deity, and other
confirming miracles. In non - Christian resurrection claims there were: no
credible witnesses, no contemporary records, no physical evidence, some claims
to deification only, and no corroborating miracles.s
And when it comes to understanding what is in man, no man understands the
depth of depravity that lies resident in every human being. Only God fully
understands. Only the Word of God can go to the inner resources of man and
reveal what is really going on. "For the word of God is living and active and
sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and
spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of
the heart" (Heb. 4:12).
These issues of right worship of God, resurrection claims, and knowing fully what
is in man are meant to bring us to our knees before holy God and confess our
helplessness and utter need for His involvement in our lives. Without Him, we
are empty hulks of sinful behavior that leads to despair and misery. Oh let us
draw near as we learn about Christ's work on earth, let us worship and adore
Christ, let us glory in His resurrection, and let us glory in His knowing our need
before we do. Praise Him for His great work!
While our subject is the character traits of the Deity of Christ, it is the belief that
these things are true of Him even though we do not visibly see Him or any of His
wondrous works that makes us born again. He knows you and your sin so well
that your obligation is to now repent of your sin and turn to Him for His mercy
and ask Him to save you. He will save you and furthermore, He will raise you
from the dead because you are Christ's and Christ belongs to God. Your life is
now to be one of reverent worship.
-tueSLCLLng Nothing is more important THEULTIMATF
than worship. And worship is more than a formal church activity; it is
personal before it is public. This is a survey of the Biblical teaching
PRIORITY
about worship and argues for the call to a radically different type of
living that seeks to worship God continually, according to a biblical
pattern. John MacArthur will challenge you to realign your priorities.
No matter how busy your schedule or how important other demands on
your time may be, your ultimate priority must always be to worship the
true and living God with your thoughts, your words, and your life-style.
r
miiibk
OfJM'U
ON WORSHIP