Pure Worship or Else

DEVOTION

ISAIAH

PURE WORSHIP OR ELSE

Isa 5:26-30

26 He lifts up a banner for the distant nations, he whistles for those at the ends of the earth. Here they come, swiftly and speedily! 27 Not one of them grows tired or stumbles, not one slumbers or sleeps; not a belt is loosened at the waist, not a sandal thong is broken. 28 Their arrows are sharp, all their bows are strung; their horses' hoofs seem like flint, their chariot wheels like a whirlwind. 29 Their roar is like that of the lion, they roar like young lions; they growl as they seize their prey and carry it off with no one to rescue. 30 In that day they will roar over it like the roaring of the sea. And if one looks at the land, he will see darkness and distress; even the light will be darkened by the clouds.

NIV

Surely this is talking about how Israel was taken hostage, captive by foreign kings. How they came in and swiftly conquered the land, carrying off many captives to serve in their kingdoms. When Israel was holding fast to the ways of the Lord, he protected them, but when they embraced the gods of others, God not only allowed but instructed, commanded, lifted his hand to help the kings of nations to rise up against Israel and take the people away. How does that relate to us today? Certainly Israel is not a nation of God worshippers. Just because they are Israeli does not mean they are people who worship God, and especially accept Jesus Christ as the Messiah. Yet they are a mighty nation who has already been engaged in many wars and has come out on top. Their military strength and determination has made them a formidable force to be reckoned with in the Middle East. So how can we see anything that applies to us today? What we could see is the nation of Israel as a symbol of the nation of God, the church. God calls us a holy nation.

 1 Peter 2:9-10

9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

NIV

We have been grafted into the nation of Israel, in fact God says through the Apostle Paul that one is not Israel because of the outward sign of circumcision, but one is Israel because of the inward circumcision of the heart.

Rom 2:28-29

28 A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. 29 No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God.

NIV

So then how does this all relate? There are foreign gods would come and take captive the people of God, and they are present today. In fact, all we have to do is turn on the television so see thousands of people sitting captive listening to those silver tongued purveyors of falsehood. So many good hearted believers have been carried off by these foreign gods. Even some of these so called non-churches billed as the church for the unchurched have taken true believers captive into the numbers game, the bigger the church the better it is. The Showtime crowd has gathered around to be captivated by the ringmaster and his band of performers. It appears to be worship, but who is being worshipped? Many of those words are not about the Almighty God and his worthiness to be praised. We have to be careful in our worship, not to get trapped by the crowd, by the foreign methods of the world. When we gather together it needs to be for one singular purpose, one focus, and that is to worship our Lord God Almighty. It is not a matter of building a place for the unsaved, the unchurched, to come to, it is a matter of building a place to worship God. We are to go out into the world and spread the gospel, but in church of God, we are to worship him. Let us not get distracted by all the grand schemes to draw us away from pure worship of God. We must worship him in Spirit and in truth. We either are engaged in pure worship, or else.