Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20100207.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Exodus: God's Forming The Nation Israel For His Abrahamic Covenant
Part II: God's Forming Israel To Heed Him, Exodus 15:22-40:38
H. God's Clarifications Of The Ten Commandments In His Exodus 20:22-23:33 "Book Of The Covenant"
1. Prologue: The Worship Focus God Richly Blesses
(Exodus 20:22-26)
    Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

    A big issue exists regarding the kind of worship focus to have:

    (1) An ad to air on today's Super Bowl show features University of Florida's quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner, Tim Tebow and his mother, Pam. They will promote the Pro-Life view, telling how she declined to abort Tim against her doctors' recommendations.

    Predictably, negative reaction to the ad has been intense: aside from Pro-Choice groups who feel threatened since the ad is "pure poison to the abortion industry" (2/1/10 Rep.-Am., "Pro-Abortion Panic", p. 6A), Tom Krattenmaker claims Tim Tebow is being exalted as a god ("Tim Tebow: Cultural warrior?" 2/1/10 USA TODAY, p. 7A). He wrote: "Gator teammate Brandon Spikes has likened him to 'God'", adding the story of his birth is hailed by the Christian right as "a miraculous birth narrative to complete the deification of Tim Tebow."

    Krattemaker's claim of course errs -- we Christians hold no mortal like Tim Tebow is God! Yet, as this CLAIM APPEARED in a NATIONAL paper, one can wonder if the WAY Tim Tebow has been ELEVATED before the WORLD has WRONGLY come to DIVERT the WORLD'S FOCUS from GOD to TIM TEBOW!

    (2) Greg Doyal of CBSSports.com objects to the ad, writing: "If you're a sports fan, and I am, that's the holiest day of the year. It's not a day to discuss abortion." (David Crary, "Tim Tebow Super Bowl Ad: Womens' Groups Pressure CBS," 1/25/10, huffingtonpost.com)

    Christians have historically complained about how "Super Bowl Sunday" encroaches on the worship of God by impeding Sunday Church attendance, and now Doyal's complaint reverses the matter, lamenting how beliefs encroach on the Super Bowl!

    (3) But the subject runs far deeper than just a discussion about Super Bowl Sunday! The May 23, 2005 issue of Business Week, p. 78-88 ("Earthly Empires," by William C. Symonds) noted a church in Oklahoma has "lively, multimedia-filled services in a setting that's something between a rock concert and a coffee shop" (Ibid., p. 87).

    The article observed: " . . . it can be difficult to distinguish their religious aims and the secular style they mimic." (Ibid., p. 88)

    If a SECULAR magazine wonders about the aims of such ministries, does their focus DISTRACT the WORLD'S FOCUS away from GOD, feeding a subtle form of IDOLATRY?

    We thus ask, "What kind of worship focus must we have?"

    Need: "In view of the issues on the subject we face today, what kind of worship FOCUS does GOD want us to have, and WHY?!"

  1. After giving Israel His Ten Commandments, God CLARIFIED the DETAILS involved in these commands in His "Book of the Covenant" in Exodus 20:22-23:33, Bible Knowledge Com., O. T. , p. 140; www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org, "Book of the Covenant."
  2. The FIRST SECTION, the PROLOGUE in Exodus 20:22-26, expands on the FIRST TWO COMMANDS on WORSHIPING the ONE TRUE GOD, and reveals the WORSHIP FOCUS GOD EXPECTS from us, one that He RICHLY REWARDS:
    1. Exodus 20:22-23 explains how God is far superior to all the pagan idols around Israel so that He desired the nation Israel to worship Him as opposed to making and worshiping any other false god:
      1. God's reference to having spoken to Israel from heaven (Ex. 20:22) stressed His contrast with pagan idols: He was the living, communicating, personal God Israel met at Mount Sinai in vast superiority to non-living, silent, impersonal idols, Deut. 4:33-39.
      2. Thus, God DELIGHTED in Israel's FORSAKING false, non-living, silent, impersonal idols to WORSHIP Her LIVING, COMMUNICATING, PERSONAL God! (Exodus 20:23)
    2. Exodus 20:24-26 describes how God jealously wanted NO DISTRACTIONS of ANY KIND from man's FOCUS on the TRUE, LIVING, COMMUNICATING, PERSONAL GOD:
      1. Exodus 20:24a, 25 teaches God wanted no distractions of any kind from HIMSELF in the WORSHIP FORMAT:
        1. God explained that He wanted the people of Israel to make an altar of dirt, to push it up to form a mound, Exodus 20:24a.
        2. The people could build an altar out of stones instead of dirt, but if they did so, they were not to use any tool to shape or beautify the stones beyond their natural state, Exodus 20:25.
        3. Though this practice can theologically represent God's will that man approach Him based on His grace versus man's merit and works, the context implies that, in contrast to pagan worship where elaborate craftsmanship of the altar captured the attention of worshipers, God did not want such craftsmanship to distract His people's focus from Himself! (Ibid., B. K. C., O. T., p. 141)
      2. Exodus 20:24b explained God chose the PLACE OF WORSHIP, for He did not want the PLACE to DISTRACT from HIMSELF:
        1. Ancient Near Eastern pagans chose to worship their pagan gods at a wide variety of locations, cf. Deuteronomy 12:1-5; Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978 ed., ftn. to Deuteronomy 12:5.
        2. However, GOD declared HE would be the ONE to assign His NAME to the place(s) Israel was to worship Him, that she not mix her worship of Him with that of false idols, Exodus 20:24b!
      3. Exodus 20:26 explains that God wanted no distractions of any kind by way of the HUMAN WORSHIP LEADER from Himself:
        1. Israel's priests in their wide robes were not to ascend stairs to an elevated altar as did pagans where the priest's nakedness was exposed to onlookers standing below and gazing upward. (Ibid.)
        2. Thus, God's altar was to be at ground level with no stairs so the onlookers might properly focus only on the Lord, Exodus 20:26.
    3. Exodus 20:24c explains that WERE God's people to focus properly on Himself as described in this passage, He would come to them and bless them there, a promise applied to us by Jesus in John 14:21-23:
      1. Jesus claimed in John 14:21-23 that if His disciples obeyed His commandments, they would be loved by Him and God the Father, and both Persons of the Godhead would enter into their everyday experiences of life, manifesting their supportive presence to them!
      2. This truth corresponds precisely with Exodus 20:24c, that God promised He would come to the worshiper and bless him at the place where he worshiped the Lord in accord with His will!
Application: May we (1) believe on Christ as God and Messiah to receive eternal life, John 3:16; 20:30-31. Then, (2) may we focus on heeding His Word, ESPECIALLY in our FOCUS on HIM ALONE in worship versus distractions in the worship format, the place of worship and the worship leaders, that we might enjoy His fulfilling, edifying fellowship in our daily lives!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the message . . . )

 As you know, at Nepaug Church, we try to avoid distractions from God in our worship: we try not to exalt our music, building, leaders, etc. as influences that can distract our attention from the Lord!

God has signaled His approval, "entering" our lives as this sermon teaches, and I share some of these with you to encourage you:

(1) After last Sunday's worship service, a Sunday School teacher told me that the lesson he had taught in his class just before the service precisely matched the sermon thrust I had given!

This report recalls numerous similar "coincidences" reported by other Sunday School teachers, one of many testimonials of our Lord's encouraging signals that He is supportively involved in our ministries!

(2) Before the Adult Sunday School Class began last Sunday, one of our members told me she had learned of a remark by Charles Haddon Spurgeon, a great preacher of several generations ago, that he had claimed a pastor should not make evangelism as his main ministry focus, but minister to edify the congregation instead.

This member said she had realized, "That's just what our Pastor does!" so she had shared this news with me as an encouragement!

It certainly does encourage! Revelation 3:21 in its related context of Psalm 110 implies that as a pastor ministers in God's will, one reward will be His revealing to the congregation the spiritual credibility of his efforts, motivating the people to support his efforts!

(3) I struggled all last week over whether to include the closing illustration I had put in last Sunday's sermon, the one on my hay hauling experience as a teen. I had wondered if I should replace it with something else since it was a personal illustration. Nevertheless, not having any peace about making the change, I had left it in the sermon!

Well, after the service, one of our young adults told me that this very illustration had impacted him on a very important issue in his life!

I was amazed at how God in His great grace had intercepted my misgivings about my own efforts to keep me in line with His interests!

(4) After our Annual Meeting, a member told me she had seen the congregation over the years come to deal with visceral issues with restraint, a signal of real growth! This, too, signaled God's work in us!

May we obey the Lord, and FOCUS on HIM as opposed to ANY OTHER DISTRACTING ENTITY in our worship, and so enjoy His marvelous, continuing ATTENTION and BLESSING!