Mat 4:1-11; Spontaneous, Joyous Worship Every Day.

Class Outline:

Sunday February 11, 2024

Introduction: 

Satan knows nothing of the plan of redemption and what will actually build the kingdom of God. The devil only sees eschatology much like the Jews - Messiah comes, conquers the world, judges the righteous from the wicked, and ushers in the new age. So then, offering the kingdoms, the devil may be imagining that he is saving Jesus the need to conquer, but like everyone else, he does not understand how Jesus is going to conquer (Isa 53).

 

Psa:95

95:1 O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord, Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.    95:2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.    95:3 For the Lord is a great God And a great King above all gods,    95:4 In whose hand are the depths of the earth, The peaks of the mountains are His also.    95:5 The sea is His, for it was He who made it, And His hands formed the dry land.    95:6 Come, let us worship and bow down, Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.    95:7 For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you would hear His voice,    95:8 Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, As in the day of Massah in the wilderness,    95:9 "When your fathers tested Me, They tried Me, though they had seen My work.    95:10 "For forty years I loathed that generation, And said they are a people who err in their heart, And they do not know My ways.    95:11 "Therefore I swore in My anger, Truly they shall not enter into My rest."   

 

MAT 4:8-10

Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; 9 and he said to Him, "All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me." 10 Then Jesus said to him, "Go, Satan! For it is written, 'YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.'"

Isa:53

53:1 Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?    53:2 For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.    53:3 He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.    53:4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.    53:5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.    53:6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.    53:7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth.    53:8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?    53:9 His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.    53:10 But the Lord was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.    53:11 As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities.    53:12 Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.

 

Man was made to worship God. Man was made in God’s image but not equal with God. 

 

The fall did not change the necessity of worship of God, in fact, it made it even more vital. 

 

God stated the need of worship to His nation Israel and Jesus quotes from that source when tempted by the devil (DEU 6:13). 

6:13 "You shall fear only the Lord your God; and you shall worship Him and swear by His name. 

 

Fallen man has perverted his worship. 

 

Man inherently knows there is a throne. Ex: Greeks had a statue to an unknown god (Act 17). 

When a person fails to see that God alone must occupy it, he is lost, darkness, blind, a ship lost at sea (JOH 9:35-41; JOH 12:35-36; MAT 6:22). 

 

You cannot afford to go about this in an apathetic, lukewarm, lethargic manner. There is a war on for the condition of your soul. Cannot serve two masters. Satan wants to devour you.  

 

MAT 16:24-27, what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? 

16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.    16:25 "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.    16:26 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?    16:27 "For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds.

Fallen man has the opportunity, thanks to the grace of God, to see that only God should be on the throne. 

 

Worship of the Lord is fear of the Lord, love for the Lord, and service of the Lord. 

 

 

Jesus alters the Scripture of DEU 6:13 - changing fear to worship and adding “only” (which was implied). 

 

Parallel passage of DEU 10:12 adds love and service. 

 

You are not worshiping God without the other three. 

 

What are you missing? What is lacking in your worship of God? 

 

Fear of the Lord, Jesus equates with worship of the Lord.

 

Paths to the fear of the Lord / worship. 

Reading and learning the Scripture? (DEU 4:10)

 

Keeping His commandments? (DEU 6:1-2)

 

Serving Him in His presence (DEU 14:22-23)

 

Know what He has done (recognize all creation as His work) and all that He has done for you? (1Sm 12:15; PSA 33:6-8). 

 

 

How do we get there? The first and foremost discipline is learning God’s Word, but learning it to a true understanding. 

 

Man was made to worship God. If you are not, you are without purpose, a ship lost at sea in the darkness. 

 

You will lack joy in everyday things. You will lack divine perspective, and things will more often than not seem mundane and burdensome. You will find a frequency of fear and anxiety in your soul.

 

Some of the results to those who fear the Lord. Gets you off the fence (Josh 24:14-15). Leave a legacy (Ps 61:5; 112:1-2). Instructed in good decisions (PSA 25:12). God’s compassion (PSA 103:11-14). God’s eye is on them (PSA 33:18-20)