LivePrayerSermon 1639. Acceptable Service
(No. 1639)
DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, JANUARY 15, 1882,
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have Grace, by which we may serve God acceptablywith reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire." Hebrews 12:28,29.
As a congregation you have of late been diligently engaged in the service of God by endeavoring to provide a home for fatherlesschildren. I have been astonished and delighted at the liberality which has been shown by all sorts of persons in this goodand gracious work. I felt, sometimes, like the king of old, who said, "Who am I, and what is my people, that we should beable to offer so willingly after this sort?" I am sure you have well earned all the commendation that your fellow Christianscan give to you, for the work has been so well and so heartily done that we all rejoice together! But, now that it is allover, careful thoughts arise in my mind. It is but a small thing that you and I should be accepted of one another-the greatmatter is that we should be accepted of the Lord. I, who am but as the doorkeeper of my Master's house, not only approve,but abundantly commend my fellow servants, but what of that? The great point is that the King, Himself, should say, "Welldone, good and faithful servant."
We do but see the fair externals of things, but the great Father of Spirits searches the hearts and tries the reins of thechildren of men-and judges after a higher standard. Therefore, with holy anxiety have I looked at this text and turned itover, hoping that the Holy Spirit may cause each one who has engaged in our benevolent work to examine himself and to judgehis part in this labor of love, that he may amend any fault which may hinder his work from being a sacrifice of sweet savorunto the Most High. What if we should bring our sacrifice and the Lord should have no respect to it? That would be a repetitionof the sad story of Cain, of whom it is written, "Unto Cain and to his offering the Lord had not respect." Then, indeed, wouldour countenances be fallen-but I trust it would be with repentance rather than rebellion!
If unaccepted of the Lord, we would weep bitterly and ask Him that the sin-offering which lies at the door might be availablefor us. The chief thing is that our labor should be acceptable unto God and upon that subject I shall speak this morning,as the Spirit of God shall enable me. Many things are absolutely necessary for the acceptance of any service rendered untoGod-of these, some are not stated in the text, but they are so important that I commence with mentioning them. The first isthat the person who attempts to serve God should, himself, be accepted. The offerer must, himself, be accepted in the Belovedor his offering will be tainted by his condition and be inevitably unacceptable. The uncleanness of the person pollutes hissacrifice! He that has an impenitent heart, an unrenewed will, a disobedient mind, an unholy life, may perform outward actsof devotion, but the Lord says, to such-"Who has required this at your hand, to tread My courts? Bring no more vain oblationsunto Me."
The heart, itself, must be given to God, for the offering which comes from a heartless worshipper is a mere pretense of homageto the Most High. See well to that, my dear Hearers. God says "My son, give Me your heart." Give whatever you please afterwards,but the heart must lead the way-that is essential. Let a traitor in actual rebellion bring tribute to a king-it will be buta mockery! He must first submit himself unto his prince and then he may come with his token of loyalty. The next essentialis that the act being performed by a person accepted, should be distinctly done as unto God. Our text speaks of serving God.Alas, much is done which is, in itself, externally commendable, but it is not acceptable to God because it is not renderedunto Him and with a view to His Glory.
Some, like the Pharisees of old, give alms out of ostentation-they sound a trumpet before them that they may have praise ofmen. Verily, I say unto you, they have their reward and a poor reward it is! Some are energetic in holy work out of emulation-thatthey may surpass others and may have credit for superior ability and goodness. Like Jehu they cry, "Come, see my zeal forthe Lord of Hosts!" Now, inasmuch as in this they seek their own honor and not the Glory of
God, they cannot be accepted of Him. Better, far, the two mites dropped into the treasury unobserved of all but the greatMaster, Himself, than all the wealth that we could possibly bring if we made the offering with divided intent!
If we would serve God, we must forget self. There must be the distinct desire to obey and honor the Lord and we must not actas men-pleasers, or as laboring for our own exaltation, otherwise the Lord will abhor our offering. And we must take carethat all this is done with faith in Christ Jesus, for it is a law of universal observation in the Kingdom of Heaven that,"without faith it is impossible to please God." "Though I give my body to be burned and have not charity," says Paul, "itprofits me nothing." And the same may be said concerning faith! He who does not believe in God and yet pretends to be religious,is manifestly either a deceiver or deceived! As the unbeliever is condemned already, his service can only be that of a condemnedman-how can it give pleasure to the Lord? We must bring our offering to Jesus, our great High Priest, and He must presentit for us, for it can only be acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
These things being mentioned, I now confine myself to the text, itself, which has in it a world of solemn, heart-searchingthought with regard to the acceptable service of God.
I. And first, according to the Apostle, it we are to serve God acceptably it must be UNDER A SENSE OF OUR IMMEASURABLE OBLIGATIONTO HIM. Look-"Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have Grace, by which we may serveGod acceptably with reverence and godly fear." See, Brothers and Sisters, whatever service we may render to God w e must beginby being receivers. Our first dealing with the Most High must not lie in our bringing anything to Him, but our accepting everythingfrom Him! We receive-that is our first stage and I think it is our last, for if we are ever able to serve the Lord by ourgifts, we shall have to confess, "Of Your own have we given to You."
When we are privileged to cast our crowns before Emmanuel's Throne, they will be crowns which He, Himself, bestowed upon usof His own Sovereign Grace. Every hymn that comes up from saints made perfect is but an echo of almighty love! They love Himbecause He first loved them. They are first receivers and then, like pipes that are well-filled from the fountainhead, theypour out their contents. First we receive Grace and then we return service-holy service is a gift from beginning to end! Wemust, then, in approaching God, remember what we have received from Him. And is it not wonderful that it should be written,"We are receiving a kingdom"? What a gift to receive! This is a Divine gift we have received, not a pauper's pension, buta kingdom-"a kingdom which cannot be moved."
The old dispensation or kingdom has passed away. Its ceremonial laws are abrogated and its very spirit is superseded by ahigher spirit! We have entered upon another kingdom in which the ruling principle is not law, but love. We are not under theyoke of Moses, but we are the subjects of King Jesus whose yoke is easy and whose burden is light! The kingdom of Jesus willnever end while time shall last, for He is the King eternal and immortal-neither will His laws be changed, nor shall His subjectsdie. Till that day when He shall deliver up the kingdom unto God, even the Father, and God shall be All-in-All, Jesus mustreign! And even when the earthly mediatorial reign is consummated, the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven shall be continuedunto us and we shall still be members and citizens of it! We have received an eternal kingdom and for this we ought to beeternally grateful.
The shadows have vanished, but the substance abides-we have risen out of the types of Judaism into His Kingdom by whom Graceand truth have come unto us. This Gospel state abides. Above the wreck of all things it remains and the gates of Hell shallnot prevail against it. Ours is the kingdom of Jesus Christ in which the Gospel is the Law, Believers are the privileged subjectsand Grace and Glory are the revenue-a kingdom daily growing in brightness-a kingdom which shall consummate its glory in theeternal world when Christ shall have put all enemies under His feet and His people shall reign with Him forever and ever!
"But," you say, "we have not received this kingdom yet." I answer that we have received it in a certain sense. We have receivedit, first, in the promise. Our Lord said, "I appoint unto you a kingdom as My Father has appointed unto Me." "Fear not, littleflock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." Now, with a man's word, if he is a man of honor, weare content. We count his promissory note as the equivalent of the gold which he promises to pay. Let him set his hand toa promise and we pass it from hand to hand, regarding it as the thing, itself, which it promises. Shall we not think as muchof the Word of God? The promise of God is so firm, so sure, so true, that inasmuch as He has promised a kingdom unto all themthat wait for the appearing of His Son, that kingdom is ours-and by faith we
grasp it this morning. Bless the Lord, we have received a kingdom! Let us worship Him in that spirit of thankfulness whichsuch a gift should excite!
More than this, we have received it in the principles of it, for it is written, "The kingdom of God is within you." As thefairest flower lies packed away within the little shriveled seed and needs but time and sun to develop all its beauty, soperfection, glory, immortality and unspeakable bliss lie slumbering and hidden away within the Grace which God has given toall His people. " He that believes in Him has everlasting life." The life of Heaven is begun within the Believer; it is germinating;it is daily developing-it shall, in God's good time, come to its absolute perfection! We have the kingdom within us-it isnot meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit! The Spirit of God within a man is the earnestof Heaven and an earnest is of the same nature as that which it guarantees. We who are born unto God have the first fruitsof the Kingdom of God in possessing the indwelling Spirit-and in the first fruits we see the entire harvest. Rise to this,my Brothers and Sisters, and under a sense of your immeasurable indebtedness go forth and serve your God with joyful thankfulness!This is the spirit in which to worship the Lord who has given us the kingdom!
Moreover, in a measure we have received this kingdom in the power of it. Notice the text does not say we have received a littlelordship, a small estate, a scanty portion, but we have received a kingdom. No gift less than this could content the greatheart of our heavenly Father. He never stops half way in His march of mercy. He made us first His subjects, then His children,then His heirs and here He makes us kings, for every heir of God is heir-apparent to a throne! "He has made us kings and priestsunto God, and we shall reign with Him." Brethren, in the Grace which God has given you, you received a measure of kingly power-youwho have believed in Jesus have power over yourselves, power over your passions, power over the powers of evil-power, in measure,over your fellow men for their good!
You also have power in prayer and what a real power is that, when a man can ask what he wills and it shall be done unto him!God has endowed you with power from on high by giving you the indwelling of the Holy Spirit! Thus you have received a kingdomin promise, in principle and in power! Moreover, you have received much of the provision and protection of that kingdom. Youthat are children of God are not left in the power of the enemy, but being redeemed, the Lord is a wall of fire round aboutyou. You are garrisoned by angelic strength! You are led by unfailing wisdom! The all-sufficiency of God is your treasurehouse! The Lord has said, "No good thing will I withhold from them that walk uprightly." This is a royal charter of boundlessliberality. "For all things are yours. Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present,or things to come; all are yours and you are Christ's; and Christ is God's." What royal provision is thus set apart for you!"All things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are the called according to His purpose."
Everything is arranged for our benefit. There were two brothers, one of whom had been diligently attentive to his worldlybusiness, to the neglect of true religion. He succeeded in accumulating considerable wealth. The other brother was diligentin the service of the Master and had learned both to distribute to the poor and, for conscience's sake, to forego many anopportunity of gain. When he lay sick and dying, he was in straitened circumstances. His brother somewhat upbraided him, remarkingthat if it had not been for his religion, he would not have been dependent upon others. With great calmness the saintly manreplied, "Quiet! Quiet! O Tom, I have a kingdom not begun upon and an inheritance I have not yet seen."
Speak of laying up for a rainy day-we have infinite goodness laid up for them that fear the Lord and none can rob us of it!Every child of God is as David when Samuel anointed him to a throne-he has a kingdom in reserve, secured by a Covenant ofSalt! This kingdom which we have received has come to us by Grace alone. We could not have earned it, or merited it, or wonit by our own strength. The Lord has given it to us in Christ Jesus. He has taken the beggar from the dunghill and set himamong princes! He has lifted us up from the ruin of the Fall and redeemed us from the misery of our ungodly days! And He hasenriched us with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus! Shall we not serve Him out of gratitude for such inestimable benefits?No crack of the whip shall drive us to His service, for we have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear.
No fear of Hell, no hope of deserving Heaven shall urge us on to please our Lord. No, rather this shall be our song-
"Loved of my God, for Him again With love intense I burn!
Chosen of Him before time began, I choose Him in return."
Gratitude is the only fountain of acceptable service! Without it the streams are far too defiled to flow in the Paradise ofGod. A large measure of the splendor of our kingdom lies in this, that it is a "kingdom that cannot be moved." Other kingdomsgo to pieces sooner or later. You and I, who are in middle life, can remember kingdoms that have been blown down by the wind,or toppled over at the blow of one brave man's sword. Empires that have rivaled Caesar's in apparent strength have been sweptdown like cobwebs! As houses made of a pack of cards, so have dynasties fallen, never to rise again.
There was one year in which our great caricaturist pictured kings and princes out at sea in little rowboats, tossed up anddown by the wild waves of revolution, so frail was their tenure of power at that moment. Even today, I guarantee you, thelast office I would choose would be that of an emperor in any country! A man might wisely prefer to take the post of a commoncrossing-sweeper rather than be a king, or even a president! As for the Empire of Russia, who would court its deadly honors?If those who deserve the most severe imaginable punishment for horrible crimes were compelled to be autocrats, it would bea punishment too heavy! What must he the strain upon the mind, the constant fear, the awful unrest of a man who has the solecontrol of millions and has deadly foes upon his track?
Glory be to God, our kingdom cannot be moved! Not even dynamite can touch our dominion! No power in the world and no powerin Hell can shake the kingdom which the Lord has given to His saints. With Jesus as our Monarch, we fear no revolution andno anarchy, for the Lord has established this kingdom upon a rock and it cannot be moved or removed! When the sun and moonare blown out in darkness and when the stars fall like the withered leaves of autumn, the kingdom in which we rejoice shallenjoy perpetual prosperity, as it is written, "Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and your dominion endures throughoutall generations." Receiving such a kingdom, what are we bound to do? I would cast silver chains about you to hold you fastto your Lord! I would fasten anew these silken chains upon you to bind you to your God! You have received a kingdom! You cannever pay back the millionth part of what you owe!
Today, however, let the sweet love of Christ constrain you to judge that if He made you kings, it is for you to crown HimKing with all your hearts! And if He has given you a kingdom that cannot be moved by you, it is for you to be "steadfast,immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord." Is it not a splendid thought that when we do anything for God, thoughit is but the simple offering of a prayer, or the helping of a fatherless child, we may do it with all the holy dignity ofprincely priests? A certain set of men arrogate to themselves exclusively the title of priests and so deny the priesthoodof every Believer. In this they act like Korah, Dathan and Abiram, thrusting themselves into an office which does not belongto them, and intruding out the true priests of the living God. Has not the Lord said to all His people, "You are a royal priesthood"?
As for any who receive a supposed priesthood by laying on of hands of bishops, we know nothing of them except that they err,not knowing the true dignity of every Believer-they intrude into this priesthood so far as they pretend to possess priestlypower beyond the lowest child of God, for they that believe in Jesus are, this day, made priests unto Him! With what sacredorderliness and saintly carefulness ought we to serve God because we serve Him not as common persons, if we are, indeed inChrist, but we worship Him as priests and kings! One of our early Saxon kings was rowed down the river Dee by Kenneth, ofScotland, and seven other vassal kings who, each one, tugged an oar while their lord reclined in state. The King of kingsthis day is served by kings-each man, each woman among us is made royal by the very fact of holy service! Let us labor forGod not as slaves, but as kings!
Alas, I confess that sometimes I have not served the Lord as a king. I have put on the ragged robes of my unbelief and I havecome up here mourning and groaning when I ought to have arrayed myself in royal apparel and served my Lord with joy and gladness!Some of God's own saints forget what they are and where they are, and they go to His service as if it were a toil and a drudgery-laboringas if they were galley slaves-and not rejoicing as princes who wait upon a great King! Brethren, your high dignity shouldmake you joyful and you should perform the Lord's service with intense delight because of what He has done for you! It shouldbe Heaven upon earth to be allowed to do anything for Jesus! "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot bemoved, let us have Grace, by which we may serve God acceptably."
II. There is much to dwell upon in the first clause, but I must now turn to my second point. Acceptable service must
be rendered to God IN THE POWER OF DIVINE GRACE. What says the Apostle? "Let us have Grace, by which we
may serve God acceptably." Note, then, that acceptable service to God is not offered in the power of nature-not even of natureat its best when we call it good nature and philanthropy-but in the service of God everything must be the fruit of Grace!You are to serve the Lord, not in the strength of your own wit or experience, or talent, but in the energy of the new lifewhich God has given you and in the power of the Grace which is continually bestowed upon you, moment by moment, as you seekit of the Lord. "Let us have Grace," says the Apostle.
I know sometimes you say, and say truly, "What a poor creature I am. How can I serve God? I have not this and that gift."Just so, do not attempt to serve Him in the power of gifts. Ask for Grace and then worship Him in the power of Grace! It iswonderful how Grace can make use of very slender gifts and turn them to abundant account! It is great Grace that greatly honorsGod-and great Grace is always to be had by the least among us. You may never be an orator but you may have great Grace! Youmay never be an organizer and take the lead among your fellow Christians-but you may have much Grace. You may never attainto ample wealth so as to be able to distribute largely of your substance to the poor-but you may have great Grace. Therefore,let us have Grace that we may serve God acceptably!
I should like to take these words out of their context and hang them up for our slogan as a Church-"LET US HAVE GRACE." Bethis our prayer! Whatever else we do not have, Lord, let us have Grace! If this or that means of usefulness shall be deniedus, yet let us have Grace. Grace in our hearts, Grace in our speech, Grace in our lives, Grace in our every breath! A trueChristian should be like Aaron who had the holy oil not only on his head, but upon the skirts of his garments. Even in ourlittle things, in our kitchen life, in our parlor life-something of the holy oil should be upon us! Abundance of Grace isour need.
Now, dear Friends, have you been trying to serve God in the power of Grace, or in the power of nature? Look well to it. OnlyGrace can God accept-can He accept your labor? In the margin of our Testaments-I mean those of the authorized version whichwill never be parted with for the so-called revised version-in the margin of the authorized version we read, "Let us holdfast to Grace." That is another slogan I would like to give to this Church-"LET US HOLD FAST TO GRACE." To find Grace is anact. To have Grace is a state. To hold it fast is to make the act perpetual and the state continual! "Let us hold fast toGrace." There is such a thing as serving God and losing Grace while you are so doing. You may become like Martha, worriedabout your serving, and you may be cross with Mary because she does not work as you do, but preserves her heavenly communion.
It is easy to have so much to do for Jesus that you lose Him amid your cares. It is possible to be busy, here and there, andto miss the essence of service by not holding fast to Grace. O to dip our feet in oil so that every step shall have unctionwith it and in every movement we shall hold fast to Grace! Now you may look at the new version if you like and in the marginyou will find another reading which is allowable, though it has no great certainty about it. There we read-"Let us have thankfulness."That grand word, Charis or "Grace," may be rendered, "thankfulness," and it is in a thankful spirit that we should serve God.You have received a kingdom, therefore serve God in the spirit of gratitude. Do everything because you feel you must do itsince such an infinite amount of love has been lavished upon you.
No one suggested to the holy woman in the Gospels to break her alabaster box over Jesus' head. It was her own thought andher own deed. Nobody even encouraged her to do it. Some rather looked askance upon her as she poured out the precious perfume,but she did it all for Jesus! She loved much, for much had been forgiven her. This is the true spirit of service! God keepus always filled with it! Let us have Grace! Let us hold fast to Grace! And in the power of these three sentences we shallbe helped to "serve God acceptably, with reverence, and godly fear."
III. But now, thirdly, we must advance another step. To "serve God acceptably" WE MUST DO IT WITH REVERENCE. These two wordsin the text are much mixed up in the various readings and it is almost impossible to divide the sense between them with accuracy.But yet I think I shall give the whole sense even if I do not allot a due proportion of meaning to each separate word. Acceptableserving or worshipping of God must be done with "reverence." The word, according to Bishop Hopkins, signifies a holy shamefacedness.The angels veil their faces with their wings when they worship the Most High and we must veil ours with humility! The angelsfeel their own littleness when they stand before the Presence of the dread Supreme.
You and I who are much less than angels and have sinned-we, I say, should, when we come before God, be covered with blushes.Our heart should be filled with wonder that we are called to this high privilege though we are so unworthy of it. Let eachone feel, "the Lord has made me a king; but what a marvel that this deed should be worked on me! Oh that I should be calledto such a noble estate as this!" If some poor girl were suddenly called away from the milk pail and lifted from poverty andhard servitude to be the bride of a prince, the very thought of it would bring crimson to her cheeks! "Can it be?" she wouldask. And I can imagine that when she was brought to court, there would be a noticeable bashful-ness and shamefacedness abouther.
Such holy shame ought to be upon us whenever we stand before the Lord to minister unto Him. Is it not said, "You shall beashamed and confounded and never open your mouth any more"? Not because of a servile dread of God, but out of an overwhelmingsense of His unutterable love we blush to be so highly favored! This reverence, this shamefacedness, should come upon us whenwe remember what we were. When you stand up in a Prayer Meeting and pray, dear Friends, some of you cannot help rememberingthe time when you could swear or sing a questionable song. You are accepted among your Brethren and honored by them, but thetime was when you kept very different company-do you not blush as you think of it? You may not only think of what you were,but of what you are, because even now, though God favors you by allowing you to do Him service, yet you know what evil lurkswithin you! A very Hell of corruption lies within the best saint and if the Grace of God did not restrain it, he would soonbe found among the chief of sinners!
Moreover, bashfulness should be created not only by the thought of what you might be, but by a sight of your service, itself.Perhaps your fellow creatures are saying, "That is well done," but you will go home and lament to yourself, saying, "Ah, theydo not know my faults. They little know what mean motives cropped up even when I was trying to glorify my God." "That wasa fine sermon," said one to Mr. Bunyan. The good man answered, "You are too late, the devil told me that before I left thepulpit." Satan soon suggests to God's servants some lofty notion and they are tempted to appropriate to themselves the honorwhich belongs only to God! Ah, what a fool I am that even when I seek to be lowest at the feet of my Lord, I find myself satisfiedwith my humility!
Do we not too often rather mimic humility than actually attain to it? Besides, it should always make us blush to think ofthe dignity of the service to which we are called, for who are we and what is our father's house that the Lord should havebrought us to this? Servants of God! You Knights of the Garter! You princes of the blood royal! What are all your earthlyhonors when compared with the holy dignity of servants of the Most High? Oh, that in the spirit of lowly gratitude we mayalways serve the thrice-holy One!
IV. The other word is, "and godly fear." And this suggests that we should serve God IN THE SPIRIT OF HOLY CHEERFULNESS. Whatsort of fear is this? For, "perfect love casts out fear, because fear has torment." Observe that it is the fear that has tormentwhich perfect love casts out-but not this godly fear which is quite consistent with our joy in receiving a kingdom! The morewe have of this godly fear, the better for us. We ought to fear lest we should offend the Lord even while we are serving Him-fearlest the sacrifice should be a blemished one and so be rejected at the altar- fear lest there should be something about ourspirit and temper which would grieve the Lord. He is a jealous God and must be served with holy carefulness. O for more ofit!
I do not know how my Brethren feel who say they are perfect, but I am obliged to confess that when I would do good, evil ispresent with me, and that though I would serve God like a seraph, without one stray thought, or one selfish desire, yet Ihave by no means reached this attainment! I press forward towards the mark and hope to reach it, but it is, at present, farbeyond me! Oh, Brothers and Sisters, much of holy fear should be upon us because we may so easily offend the Lord when wethink we are pleasing Him! Beware of presumptuous boldness before God! Let us not be rash with our speech, much less rudeand coarse. I know that modes of worship which offend my taste may, nevertheless, be accepted with God, because He sees throughthe rough shell and judges according to the sweet kernel. Yet I fear that thoughtless, bragging, noisy services must offendthe Lord, for it is so unlike that which was offered by His gentle, tender, well-beloved Son.
If Christ is the Model which He sets before us, some are far away from the mark! At any rate, let us never wantonly go intoa wild, boisterous mannerism, for though we are the Lord's children and very near to Him, yet He is in Heaven and we are uponthe earth. He is the thrice holy and we are sinners. The Psalmist says, "Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling."There is another form of godly fear which comes over every genuine Christian at times-the fear
lest, after all, he should not be serving God at all. What if I have preached to others and should be, after all, merely preachingbecause it is my vocation? What if you should be teaching in the Sunday school and should be doing it only because it is customaryfor professing people of your station to have some good work to do? My dear Brothers and Sisters, it is not for me to doubtyou and I do not doubt you half as much as I doubt myself, but it is necessary that we question ourselves as to whether weare, indeed, the servants of God, or are living for ourselves.
Knowing that God is to be served in His own way and in that, alone, there ought to be a godly fear as to whether we are walkingin His ordinances or are following the traditions of men. God does not care for worship which He has never required at ourhands. If a man invents a ceremony, he may think it helpful and instructive, but he has no right to practice it if God hasnot appointed it. If any of you are practicing rites and ceremonies which are not according to God's Word, I charge you ceasefrom such will-worship, for the spirit which leads you to practice these things is the spirit of Rome and of antichrist! IfGod has not commanded it, God cannot accept it!
Not only are we to worship the true God, only, which is the Law of the First Commandment, but we must worship the true Godin His own way, which is the spirit of the Second Commandment. The Second Commandment, as it forbids all worshipping of Godthrough images, does, in the spirit of it, forbid all worshipping of God in any other way than He has prescribed. Thereforewhen you stand before the Lord, ask yourself, "Did He require this service of me? Is this the way in which He would be worshipped?"For if not, it is no better than idolatry and cannot he accepted by the living God! Oh, what fear and trembling, what solemnawe, what sacred carefulness should fall upon the man who draws near to serve and worship the Lord our God!
V. Now, lastly, there is another thing to be remembered in acceptable services. We must cultivate A PROFOUND SENSE OF THEDIVINE HOLINESS and of the wrath of God against sin, "For our God is a consuming fire." Observe, then, from this most solemnsentence, that the God of the Old Testament is the God of the New Testament! Read Deuteronomy 4:24 and you will find these words, "For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God." The same words describe theGod of the New Testament! I know the boasted wisdom of the age tells us that we have made a great advance upon Old TestamentRevelation. It is not so. We may understand the Book somewhat better, but the Revelation is the same. God wears the same Characteras in the days of Moses, David and the Prophets.
The Lord God who is to be served by us, even as our Covenant God, is a "consuming fire." In love He is severely holy, sternlyjust. We hear people say-"God out of Christ is a consuming fire." That is an unwarrantable alteration of the text. The textis, "Our God," that is God in Christ is a consuming fire! "Our God" means God in Covenant with us. It means our Father God,our God to whom we are reconciled-even our God is still a "consuming fire." A large proportion of nominal Christians do notbelieve in this God. They profess reverence to a merciful God. But the moment you preach His justice, they are indignant!The God who is a consuming fire is not accepted by this proud "19th Century." I do this day most solemnly declare my faithin the God of the Hebrews who will, by no means, spare the guilty! The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the one and onlyGod and I declare Him, this day, to be my God!
Jehovah is the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole earth shall He be called! He that smote Pharaoh at the Red Sea. Hethat smote kings and slew mighty kings is my God and I believe in Him as the God and Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.I know no God but Abraham's God, Jehovah, the I AM! Under the New Testament, God is not an atom less severe than under theOld. And under the Covenant of Grace the Lord is not a particle less righteous than under the Law. We are so saved by mercythat no sin goes unpunished-the Law is as much honored under the Gospel as under the Law! The substitution of Jesus as muchdisplays the wrath of God against sin as even the flames of Hell would
do!
While the Lord is merciful, infinitely so, and His name is Love, yet still our God is a consuming fire and sin shall not livein His sight. If your offering and mine is evil, it will be an abomination unto Him. He is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity!If our worship and service are mingled with hypocrisy and pride, He will not endure them. You will be rather surprised whenI say that this dreadful sentence is my hope-it is a joy to me that our God is a consuming fire! Behold two altars upon Carmel.The Baalites have laid their victim upon one of them. Do you see them as they prance about the altar and even leap upon it?Do you hear them as they cry and cut themselves with knives and lancets? "O Baal, hear us! O Baal, hear us!" There lies thesacrifice-there is no trace of Baal's hearing them, for their god is not a consuming fire!
Now comes Elijah. "Pour water," he says, "on the bullock. Do it a second time! Do it a third time." And they fetch up, fromthe sea, huge buckets and pour the water over everything until the trenches are filled with it. And now the Prophet liftsup his prayer to Heaven! Down comes the fire! It is God's sacrifice and God accepts it! He is a consuming fire and the tokenof His Presence is so manifest that the people cry, "Jehovah, He is the God, He is the God!" Turn your eyes, again, to Solomon'sTemple gorgeous with gold and precious stones. The king pleads with the Lord of the whole earth to accept the shrine.
Lo, the priests are present in their robes of office and the sacrifice is waiting on the altar. If no fire descends, thereis no acceptance. But we read, "The fire came down from Heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and theGlory of the Lord filled the house." If I am a true and sincere man. If I am believing in Jesus and I have brought my humblesacrifice with fear and reverence before God, then it will be accepted-for He is a consuming fire-and my sacrifice will beconsumed and go up to Him! It may be some of you who have been working this week will think to yourselves, "We did very well,we hope to be honored for it." So you shall be-but if you take credit to yourselves, you will he robbing the altar of God!If God accepts your sacrifice, it will all be consumed by His fire. Look, the accepted sacrifice is all gone, it is utterlyconsumed!
When God enables us to serve Him and takes away from us all self-congratulation, we ought to be very thankful. This provesthat it is all burned with fire. If God had not accepted it, then we might have reserved portions of it for ourselves, tofeed our vanity-and that would be to feed ourselves without fear. But if the Lord has taken every morsel from the mouth ofself, we have great cause for rejoicing! If the Lord accepts us, His fire will consume us! The zeal of His House will eatus up! When we go home to the Lord above, we dread not His Presence, though He is a consuming fire. Those whom He has purifiedand made white are not afraid of the flames of His holiness!
Remember that blessed text, "Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burning?He that walks righteously and speaks uprightly. He that despises the gain of oppressions, that shakes his hands from the holdingof bribes, that stops his ears from the hearing of blood and shuts his eyes from seeing evil; he shall dwell on high." Itshall be the glory of the gracious and the true that God is their element! It shall be their bliss to live in the full splendorof His perfect holiness! They shall be like their Lord, for they shall see Him as He is. Everything that is holy will endureYour fire and as for all within us that is impure, let it be consumed speedily!
So let us serve the Lord with fear, but not with terror. And let this service be continued all our days. Let us bring thesacrifices of the last week to Him, with repentance for every fault, humbly pleading that by His Grace He will accept it,and earnestly desiring that all we have done may redound to His Glory through Jesus Christ, His Son, to whom be honor, worldwithout end! Amen.