Worship God Only

Sermon delivered on July 21st, 2019
Sunday Morning Service

By: Pastor Greg Hocson

Scripture Texts: Luke 4:1-14; Matthew 4:9-10

 

Luke 4:1 And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2: Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered. 3:  And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. 4: And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. 5:  And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6: And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. 7: If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. 8: And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 9: And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: 10: For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: 11: And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 12: And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 13: And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season. 14: And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.

 

Matthew 4:9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 10: Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

 

Introduction

Did you know that everyday there's a battle for your worship? There is a war raging for our worship. It has been that way long before you and I arrived on this earth. Even before the first man was created, one of God's chief angels, Lucifer now known as Satan, revolted and refused to worship God and glorify Him above all. This is what Lucifer got in deep trouble to start with. 

Isaiah 14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13:  For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. 

 

Satan not only refused to worship God, he wanted to be exalted above all. He wanted to be worshiped. That's what he desperately sought to do which led to his down fall.

Isaiah 14:15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. 

 

Because of this rebellion, Satan was cast out of heaven to a place called hell. A place prepared for him and all those who refuse to worship and serve God alone. 

Matthew 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

 

In the very beginning of human history, we see Satan whispering in the ears of Eve, shaking her belief about what God is like and what God had said

Genesis 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 

Satan here suggests, that God is withholding from mankind something which would be benefit them. He tempts them to think of God as too strict and oppressive. He makes people think that He is holding out on them. Satan always tempts men to think that God is robbing them of good things. He casts doubt on the character of God. He dares to cast reflection upon God's goodness, and to call in question His perfections. ThereforeGod is not worthy of worship and not worthy of their trust because He is not good in withholding things for them. Why is Satan doing this? Because he wanted Adam and Eve's worship.

 

Thousands of years have passed, and Satan has not changed at all. He still wants to be worshiped. He wants everyone to worship him, including the Son of God. This is what we read in our text this morning where Satan calls Jesus Christ to worship him. 

Matthew 4:9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 

 

Here we read the devil tempting the Lord Jesus Christ and I want us to look at this particular temptation of our Lord and see what we can learn from it. Three headings: the Adversary; the Assault; and the Answer.

 

I — The Adversary

The name Satan means adversary. Satan is not our friend, he is our enemy. He is called the devil, which means accuser or slanderer. He is also called the tempter — he solicits men and women, boys and girls to do evil and he delights to see them fall into sin.

 

Satan always wanted to be worshiped. He wanted to be like God, so he would get all the worship that only God deserves. And how does the devil try to get worship? By lies and deception and he is good at it. He is not called the father of lies for nothing.

John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

 

Luke 4:5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 

Somehow Satan was able to show Jesus all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. After showing the glory of the kingdoms of the world Satan followed it up with an offer.

 

Luke 4:6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. 7: If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.

 

Satan claims that all the kingdoms of this world are his and has been delivered unto him. But that is a lie for we read in ...

Psalm 24:1 The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

The LORD owns the earth and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;

 

Psalm 2:7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. 8: Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.

The Father has promised to give all the kingdoms of the world to His Son. 

 

Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

Here is the fulfillment of that promised.

 

Satan our adversary seeks your worship, and he does it by lies and deceptions.

 

II — The Assault

Luke 4:6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. 7: If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.

In this second temptation Satan is offering Jesus shortcut to the crown. What Satan is essentially saying is, "If you are the Son of God, why do you have to suffer in order to be King? Why do you have to suffer on the cross in order to be crowned King? There is an easier way to the crown.  I can give it to you without humiliation, without suffering, without the cross, without shedding your blood, and without dying."

 

Jesus Christ came to seek and to save the lost. This would only be accomplished through the shedding of His blood. And yet Satan attempts to show the Lord Jesus a way that He might have power and authority without going to the cross. He is going to do everything in his might to divert the Lord Jesus from the cross. 

 

Furthermore, in this temptation, Satan is offering Jesus shortcut to glory by tempting Him to break the first commandment.

Exodus 20:1 And God spake all these words, saying, 2:  I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3: Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 4: Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 

Only God is to be worshipped and yet Satan is calling our Lord to worship him. Satan is obsessed with worship. He wanted to be like the Most High, so he would be lifted up above all others.  He wants everyone to worship him, including the Son of God. For Satan that would be the ultimate fulfillment of his evil desire if he could get the Son of God to worship him.

 

III — The Answer

Luke 4:8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

Jesus did not argue with Satan about who owned the world and who has the power and authority to grant it, but our Lord replied, "It is written" quoting the Old Testament Scriptures, namely, Deuteronomy 6:13 and 10:20.

 

Jesus rejected Satan's offer of shortcut to glory and responded with these words, "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.God alone must be worshiped for He alone deserves to be worshiped. 

 

As we have read in Exodus 20:3-6, God forbids us to bow down to idols, yet today there are people who bow down to gods made of gold, silver and wood. Some bow to the gods of money, material possessions, pleasure, sports celebrities, movie stars, their beauty, knowledge, education, science, and in so doing forgets the true God. But no created thing can ever fill the place in our heart God intends for Himself.

 

A child was asked, "How many gods are there?" "Only one," he replied. "How do you know?" "Because, God fills heaven and earth, so there's room for only one."

 

Isaiah 45:5 I am the LORD, and there is none elsethere is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: 6: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.

 

Isaian 45:18 For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.

 

Isaiah 45:22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.

There is only one true and living God and He alone is worthy to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing forever and ever! Amen! 

 

Closing Thoughts

So, there is a battle for your worship and the battle is not over yet. It is true that Satan is a defeated enemy and one day, he and his fallen angels will be cast into the lake of fire, and they will never  cause trouble again. But meanwhile, he is very active. Satan goes about "as a roaring liontempting and deceiving people into worshiping him. Don't be deceived! 

 

This morning, you may be saying, "Why am I in this battle? I did not start this war of worship and I did not sign for this."

 

That may be true, but there are things in life that we didn't start but we are in it. Whether you like it or not you are in it and you have no choice but to make a choice. 

 

You have to choose whom you will worship. Choose wisely! Choose the One who is worthy of your affection and devotion. Don't waste your worship! Choose to make your worship count for today and for eternity. Don't squander your worship on some lifeless and helpless idol made only with human imagination and human hands. 

 

Jesus was asked, "Master, which is the great commandment in the law?" Jesus responded, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment." (Matthew 22:37-38)

 

Here is a direct commandment to worship God and Him alone. God has given us many good things in our lives, but Satan comes along and tempts us to use and misuse and abuse these good things. He tempts us to focus on the gift, rather than the God the giver of these gifts. There is a sense where Satan doesn't really care what or who you worship as long as you don't worship God exclusively.

 

There's one more thing I want you to notice, Satan left out something. He said, "If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine." Satan had said nothing about service, but Jesus said, "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve."

 

Jesus knew that whatever we worship, we will serve. You and I cannot worship without serving. The one you worship, you will serve.  And we are to worship God only, and Him only are we to serve. 

Joshua 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

 

AMEN!