"DRIVEN TO WORSHIP."
Intro. When God created man, He created him with certain drives. These were necessary to sustain man's existence. Alexander Maslov sought to identify the biological drives in man in their order of prominence. Air, thirst, hunger, bowel and bladder, sex, etc. The sociologist sought to identify the sociological drives, love, security, need to be needed, etc. Neither discipline considered what is perhaps the greatest drive, surely the most important drive of all, and that is the drive to worship. Man was created to worship, it is innate within his very being. David said, "As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul after Thee O God, my soul thirsts for the living God. In the law, the Lord said to the children of Israel: "When you look up at the sky and you see the sun, moon, stars, and the host of heaven, and you are driven to worship them."
Deu. 4:6 If you do not worship God you will worship something. Everybody has a god that
he worships. Worship is as essential for your existence as breathing.
I. IN
ROMANS 1, PAUL SPEAKS OF THOSE WHO WORSHIPPED AND SERVED THE CREATURE RATHER THAN THE CREATOR.
A. There are many today who are guilty of this sin of worshipping the creation rather than the Creator.
B. In our text, Nehemiah said: "You, are LORD alone; You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all of the things that [are] in it, the seas, and all that are in them, and You preserve them all; and the host of heaven worships You."
1. We stand in awe of our magnificent universe.
a. We observe the planets in their orbits around the sun.
b. We enjoy the phases of the moon.
c. We probe the skies and marvel at the myriad of galaxies.
d. Many people stop at this point and begin to worship the sun, moon, planets and stars.
e. Look at how prominent the worship of these celestial objects were among ancient man.
f. There are many today who worship mother earth.
C. I would like to suggest that there is a rational and an irrational way at looking at nature.
1. The irrational way is to look at a beautiful red rose, note the symmetrical design of the petals, smell the heavenly fragrance, and declare, "That's God."
2. The rational way to look at the rose is to admire its symmetry beauty of color, delightful fragrance, and declare "That is the creation of an omniscient, caring God." You look past the creation to the Creator, and you worship Him.
II. I BELIEVE THAT WORSHIP OF GOD IS NOT ONLY THE HIGHEST NEED OF MAN, BUT IT IS THE ULTIMATE PURPOSE FOR MAN.
A. In
Rev. 4 as John is lifted into the heavenly scene, he beholds the throne of God and the living creatures about the throne as they cease not day nor night saying, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, which is, and which is to come." The twenty-four elders in response to this worship fall on their faces and cast their golden crowns on the glassy sea that is before the throne of God and declare, "Thou art worthy O Lord to receive glory, honor and power, for You have created all things and for thy own good pleasure they are and were created."
1. That is basic, you were created for God's good pleasure.
2. You say, "I don't appreciate that." Tough.
3. You can fight that. You can live for your own pleasure. Live to please yourself. You will end your life as Solomon a bitter, empty, frustrated cynic.
B. If I was created for His good pleasure, and He is pleased when I worship Him, then I find fulfillment as I worship Him for I am responding to the very purpose of my existence.
III. THE TRUTH IS:
A. I must and will worship something.
B. My object of worship is my God.
1. God is not a name, but a title of the master passion of your life.
2. Whatever that may be, a person, an object, an ambition, whatever it is that is the controlling passion of your life, that is your god.
3. That is what you will worship.
1. Every man has a god. Where is now your god, their gods?
2. Those who have rejected the true and living God who has made them, make their own gods. The work of men's hands.
3. When a man makes a god, he makes his god like himself. It is a projection of himself. If I were God this is what I would do, this is how I would live. Greek Mythology.
a. Eyes have they.
b. Feet have they.
c. Why do they carve eyes on their little gods?
4. When a man makes a god, he makes it like himself, yet he makes it less than himself.
a. Though I carved eyes on my little god, the eyes can't see.
b. Though I carved feet, they cannot walk.
5. "They that have made them, have become like unto the gods they have made." A man becomes like his god.
a. If your god is false, you are becoming false.
b. If your god is a phony, you are becoming phony.
c. "Beloved, now are we the sons of God."
6. The basic false gods of the Old Testament.
a. Baal:
G. Campbell Morgan suggests the deifying of the intellect.
b. Mammon: The deifying of power.
c. Molech: The deifying of pleasure.
d. Ashteroth: The deifying of sex.
7. Look at the world around you today. Who are the false gods that people are worshipping today? We call them by different names and we no longer carve images to represent them. We have become too sophisticated for that. But they are the gods that are worshipped by the world today, the master passions of people's lives. You see them on TV every weekend as they sit in their peculiar garb with painted faces rooting for their teams.
8. As I watch them, I admire their devotion for their god. They are willing to look like a fool that they might be identified with their god. I often wonder why it is that we, at times, are so unwilling to be identified with our God.
VI. WORSHIP IS THE FIRST FORM AND A VITAL PART OF PRAYER.
A. I believe that prayer begins with worship, moves into petition, then into intercession, and ends again with worship.
B. Note the prayer in
Acts 4, when the church is facing persecution from the authorities.
Verse-Reference
Square — [Jhn 1:1 KJV]
Abbreviate Books
Use SBL Abbrev.
