Lip Service Only
Notes
Transcript
What is honor? It can be defined as or associated with respect, dignity, and esteem. The Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible states it refers to a psychological state - a person’s internal moral character or the actions that reflect that character. However, in biblical times, social values determined a person’s identity and social status. So, honor was also related to a person’s public reputation and impacted their identity to others.
Early in scripture, we are give instructions t o specifically honor our parents.
12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
We are also told to honor the “grayheaded and the aged”.
32 “You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the Lord.
Placing the definition of honor to these text, we are to respect, dignify, and hold to a high esteem our parents and elders.
So, what does scripture say about how we are to honor God?
37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
38 This is the great and first commandment.
To show honor and esteem to Him means to place ourselves in a position of loving Him with all that we are and who we are - and we are told this is the great and first commandment! By this definition, everything should be done with the honor, praise, and glory given to God first.
So, is this where we find ourselves? Do we place everything on the scale of God and holiness before we make any decisions? How about in our worship? What is our attitude towards worship, and praise to our Lord and Savior? Do we approach it with the same honor?
In Isaiah, God has charged the Israelites with failing to honor God and warns them of upcoming judgment. But, the people were shocked that God would judge them. They “thought” they were doing everything right. They went to the temple, the gave their sacrifices, their tithes, and even their offering, what else did God want?
Isaiah challenged them to pause and wonder why God would pass judgment on them. He gives them the Lord’s assessment of their worship in Isaiah 29:13. In this assessment, God tells them their words mean nothing, their hearts are far from God, and they truly do not honor Him.
Words Mean Nothing
Words Mean Nothing
Isaiah 29:13 (ESV)
13 And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips
Have you ever known anyone who you just could not trust anything they said, bless their hearts? You know, would rather lie to you as breathe? Couldn’t tell the truth if their own life depends on it? Unfortunately, we are only as good as our word. Do we act on what we say? Do we DO what we say we are going to do? You see, we show honor through the follow up on our word. So, what do we promise God when we become a Christian? Lord, I will do whatever you ask me to do, go wherever you send me, read my bible daily, pray incessantly, Lord I just want to honor you by placing you first in my life. Any of that sound familiar? So the next question is, have we always lived up to our word? We may have tried, but we have not done everything we have promised, I’m sure. But there was a bigger problem with the Israelites.
God points out their words are worthless. The closest their relationship with God gets, is with words. God points out in verses 9-12 that they were attending worship services just to be seen, out of obligation, or to fulfill something on their checklist for the week.
Now, did they have others fooled? They looked the part, they acted the part, they said the right things, did the right things, I mean, they had to have it all together, correct?
But notice how God describes them - they were only going through the motions, and were NOT focusing on God. The POSB makes this comment “They were in a spiritual stupor, allowing their minds to wander all about, here and there. They were focused on their own personal interests not on the LORD.”
So while they were playing the part, they were not focusing on worship to God, and He wasn’t fooled.
So, how does our honor to God each Sunday affect our relationship with Him? Does He look at us and say “I see your lips moving, so I know you’re lying”? You see, coming to church week after week, doing all the “church things” and saying the “churcy things” doesn’t make us a Christian any more than installing headlights on our forehead makes us a Peterbilt.
21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
If we do not come looking for God, searching for His Will, intent on giving Him honor, then in essence, we close our minds and turn our heart away from God. But, preacher, I have done A, B, and C and God hasn’t done anything the way I wanted it done. Folks, if our heart and our mind is turned away from Him…WHAT makes us think He is going to turn TO us and do what WE want? If we want God to get closer to us, then we must get closer to God.
27 For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed; lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’
You see, we have to turn our hearts back to God, instead of being far away from Him.
Hearts Far From God
Hearts Far From God
Isaiah 29:13 (ESV)
while their hearts are far from me
The Israelites were stuck in a rut. Worship had become formal, routine, and even hypocritical. With their mouth, they spoke of God, with their actions they acknowledged God, but their hearts were a thousand miles away from Him. They were more concerned on the man-made rituals, ceremonies, and rules that they had forgotten what God commanded them to do.
Matthew 22:37 (ESV)
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
If we show honor, then we have to do more than just say we honor the Lord. By being hypocritical…they had brought judgment on themselves. They were attending services, but were not truly walking with the Lord! They did all the “things”, but were only honoring God with their lips, not with their lives.
Pre-pandemic…look at church service attendance. Billy Graham, on national television, once stated that he believed 85% of church attendees were on their way to hell. A.W. Tozer once estimated the percentage of lost people in evangelical churches at 90%. Other preachers such as Dr. Rod Bell, Dr. Monroe Parker, Dr. B. R. Lakin, and Dr. Bob Gray have put the figure at 50 percent, 75 percent, and 90 percent.
The consensus seems to be around 70 to 75%.
Post-pandemic - how many people have returned to church? In many churches more than 50% of the congregation quit attending church during the pandemic and attended online only (if anything).
An interesting article was written by a Gen-X (my generation) Catholic priest who stated “I think a lot of people in this age bracket are overwhelmed by caring for children or parents or both. Some of these responsibilities cover essential things and others include signing kids up for extracurriculars, etc. When Covid hit, everyone necessarily had to cut back on the latter. And I think, for a lot of people, church or parish life became another “extracurricular” of sorts. When it was time to go out into the world again, as people re-evaluated how they wanted to live, I think many people looked at what they were gaining from being a part of a parish community, or looked at whether or not that community supported them through the pandemic, and decided their investment of time was not worth the return.”
Was not worth the return. Think of that statement closely - and let me rephrase it a little; salvation and eternal life guaranteed through Jesus Christ are not worth the return. You see, they worshipped God with their lips, but their hearts were FAR from Him.
Do we really think God would punish the Israelites for this type attitude and action, and NOT punish us in the same way?
Far too much worship is routine, ritualistic, formal, and hypocritical. How many worshippers are truly following the LORD, obeying His commandments, and living righteously? How many are daily seeking the LORD, studying His Word, and trusting Him to guide their steps as they walk throughout the day?
Many people sit in worship services with their minds elsewhere, not listening to the Word of God being preached. They simply go through the motions of worship, participating in the rituals and ceremonies while their thoughts are elsewhere. To them, worship is no more than a custom, a practice or tradition they must observe. When they walk out of worship services, they do what they please instead of obeying God. Listen to what God’s Holy Word says about hypocrites who profess to follow the LORD but only go through the motions of worship:
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’
23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
Is it worth doing all the “churchy” things, without having a heart for God? I am telling you, we MUST return to God and seek our His will with all our heart, and DO what He commands us to do! I often wonder how many times God looks at us and says:
46 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?
You see, we have let CHURCH get too political, too social, and too critical instead of viewing it as a time of worship, praise, and honor to our Savior. Because when we allow all the “other things” to come before God, then we show Him no true honor.
No True Honor
No True Honor
Isaiah 29:13 (ESV)
and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,
Fear of God - here the word fear is not shuddering, shaking, worried about what God will do next. Instead it is about awe, reverence, and honor. Again, look closely at how God describes the relationship of the Israelites with Him: the only reverence and awe they have for me is forces through the teaching of man. To me, this indicates they had no personal relationship with God and relied on others teachings and opinions so they could formulated their own opinions! Spiritual blindness and ignorance overwhelmed Israel!
We cannot allow other people to tell us how we should worship God. But I will tell you, He expects worship. How should you worship Him? Get into His Word, gather together with like minded believers, and grow in your relationship with God. It’s not just good enough to SAY you’re a Christian God expects you to ACT like a Christian! Why? So you won’t be spiritually blind and accept any old lie being told about spirituality and your relationship with God.
Conclusion
Conclusion
This is not just an issue today, as it has been going on throughout history. Unless reminded, we forget that God desires a TRUE relationship with EVERY believer.
Just as God issued a warning to the Israelites through Isaiah, He continues to warn us today. I will close with an exerpt from a sermon by Dr. R. L. Hymers, Jr.
“This sermon is meant as a warning to you if you think you are saved. I have become convinced that many people who believe they are converted are actually lost. I believe that they will be left behind when the rapture occurs. The "rapture" refers to the time when Jesus comes in the sky and true Christians are suddenly caught away to meet Him in the air.
It will be wonderful to be caught up with Jesus into another dimension - into Heaven! But many who expect to be raptured will be left behind to face the horrors that the Bible tells us will then come to the earth. The Bible says that judgment and agony will come to those who are left behind:
12 Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”
Thousands who think they are saved will not be prepared. They will not be raptured. They will be left behind on the earth to be tormented by the Devil in a series of hideous persecutions.
He goes on to say that Dr. James Binney, the director of Moorehead Manor and editor of Issues of the Heart Journal, in an article titled, "Can Church Members Go to Hell?", said this:
When I first became a Christian, I assumed that all church going people were automatically qualified for the fast track into heaven. It was a given. After becoming a church member, then a pastor, I had to rethink the issue.”
This is a warning to you!
40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
When the rapture occurs, it will be too late. We won’t be judged by what we have spoken about our faith, but instead what relationship we have with God in our heart. The Israelites didn’t fool God, and neither will we. Are you willing to turn lip service into a heart centered relationship today?