|
 |
O Come Let Us
Adore Him
Luke 24:1-3
This is one of my favorite Christmas songs, and this one is a little
unique because it is taken from a larger song.
Listen again to what you just sang: O Come Let Us Adore Him, We’ll
Praise His Name Forever, We’ll Give Him All The Glory, For He Alone Is
Worthy, So Come Let Us Adore Him.
With that in mind let’s turn to our Scripture reading for tonight. Read
Luke 24:1-3
After the death of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and
Salome, went to His tomb to anoint His body. This would begin their
embalming process, to keep the body from smelling. When they arrived,
they found the stone rolled away and the tomb empty.
Now, these ladies had the right intentions. But, how many of you know
that good intentions often times lead you to and empty tomb? Good
intentions are usually a dead-end road.
You see, these ladies had come to anoint a dead body. They had come to
anoint a dead Jesus that had already promised that He would be raised on
the third day!
Our message tonight is that we gather to worship a living God. And Our
Hymn is a calling of all faithful believers to offer a sweet smelling
sacrifice of adoration or praise.
These women had come to pour spices and fragrances on the body of
Christ, this was their last chance to offer their praise to Him.
There was only one problem…He wasn’t there! And church we have to learn
as well that we can’t praise a dead God! No matter how hard we try!
I. We Must Offer Sweet Smelling Worship
Do you understand that God desires your worship – and that, worship is a
sweet smelling fragrance – and incense – in the nostrils of God!?
And there are various Scripture references for this.
In Genesis 8 when Noah built an altar of thanksgiving and worship to God
for leading him through the flood. It was a sacrifice of praise to God –
the Word tells us it was a sweet smelling aroma to God!
All throughout Exodus and Leviticus, and Numbers it speaks of the sweet
smelling incense offered up to God through a burnt offering.
Worship is a sweet aroma in the nostrils of God!
True worship and adoration will be worship that is offered to the Living
God! From a heart that is alive. We tend to thing that the Sacrificial
laws of the Old Testament are done away with since Jesus is our
sacrifice. Now while it may be true that we don’t have to stain the
carpet in here by bringing a lamb to the alter and offering it up as a
blood sacrifice for our sins, but The New Testament is full of
references to sacrifices, sacrifices that we perform in life instead of
going to a temple.
Paul tells us in Romans 12:1 that we are to present your bodies a living
and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service
of worship.
The Hebrew writer says in 13:15 -16 Through Jesus, therefore, let us
continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise--the fruit of lips that
confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others,
for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
Temple sacrifices have not ended, they have just changed. As we have
become the temples of God we have become required to present sacrifices
worship and thanksgiving.
But don’t try and offer the perfumes of praise to God if you are
spiritually dead. It doesn’t work. The law of the sacrifice is that it
must be whole and complete with out blemish. Dead praise will be
accepted as quickly under the law of Grace as a dead lamb would have
been accepted under the Mosaic Law.
You see a God that is alive deserves worship that is alive.
God said, in Malachi 1:11 – “"For from the rising of the sun, even to
its setting, My name will be great among the nations.”
You see, the women came to the tomb with a broken heart – a grieving
heart – to anoint a dead king. But, He wasn’t there, because He wasn’t
dead any longer!
II. How Does Your Worship Smell?
So this evening how does your worship smell? I think that depends on how
you came to Him to worship Him!
These women came to anoint Him thinking He was dead.
There was another time when Mary came to anoint Him as she poured the
oil over Him.
Let’s read Mark 14:3-6
And while He was in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper, and
reclining at the table, there came a woman with an alabaster vial of
very costly perfume of pure nard; and she broke the vial and poured it
over His head. But some were indignantly remarking to one another, "Why
has this perfume been wasted? "For this perfume might have been sold for
over three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor." And they
were scolding her. But Jesus said, "Let her alone; why do you bother
her? She has done a good deed to Me.
She poured her praise on Him!
Folks, we’ve got to pour our praise on Him like from Mary’s alabaster
box! We must be extravagant in our worship of God, giving Him all of my
heart, all of my adoration, and all of my praise.
Ephesians 5:1-2 says, “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved
children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave
himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
Our disobedience is a bad aroma in the nostrils of God. Folks,
disobedient children ‘stink’ to God! Because disobedience speaks of sin
and sin speaks of death and death is a bad odor to God!
So tonight how do you come to God in your worship?
How do you live your daily walk?
How does your life honor God?
Are you content with merely having three scheduled services and calling
it worship? Is the only time you think about worshiping God on Sunday
from 10-12 then again at 5 and then again on Wednesday night at 7:00?
Guys I have longed believe that these are not the times of worship.
These are the times of celebration.
I need to worship God with my life, my love, my will, and I need to
sacrifice my desire to be first or have my way, every day. That is the
worship I have every day, but three times a week I get the opportunity
to bring my life of worship here with your life of worship and we get to
celebrate how wonderful God has been to us. We get to gather and Adore
Him because He is worthy. I want true worship and worship that will
change souls eternally.
Can you say, “I’m passionate about wanting more and more of Him
everyday?” Is your life a sweet smelling fragrance in His nostrils?
III. Is Your Worship Deceptive?
One perfume or cologne designer’s enemy would have to be the imitator.
You see you can’t patent a smell. Therefore, imitators abound. I mean
all you have to do is go into a convenience store or Flee Market and see
bottles marked.
If you like the smell of Obsession then you’ll love the smell of
Fascination!
If You Love the smell of White Diamonds then you’ll love the smell of
Faux Pearls.
We can try to imitate a fragrance that God enjoys, but we cannot! He
knows the real thing! It’s like giving your wife a fake diamond to show
her how much you love her.
The creators of different perfumes and colognes have learned that they
can generate a tremendous amount of money by selling a sweet smelling
aroma! If you don’t believe me go spend some time at the perfume counter
…they’re not cheap!
My dad used to wear a t-shirt that said "Old fishermen never die; they
just smell that way!" I thought of that shirt as I was writing this
sermon. Worldly or Fake Worship always has the smell of death about it.
It stinks. It has a repulsive odor.
So I worked hard on this listen up. We need to put away the “Old Spice”
and get “Passion” for Jesus…get an “Obsession” for the presence of God
and we will have an “Eternity” that is better than a bucket of White
Diamonds.
When we truly learn to Adore Him and are passionate for His presence, we
begin to smell like Him!
God is passionate about you – He must be since He sent His only Son to
die for you!
So I end by asking you this question…
“What’s that I smell?”
In the book of Ester we read about Esther spending a year bathing in
perfumes and oils just to spend 5 minutes with the King! Think about it!
Joe and Mike were two friends who had not seen each other in many years.
After meeting, they had a long talk trying to fill in the gap of those
years by telling about their lives. Finally, Joe invited Mike to visit
him in his home.
"I've got a wife and three kids and I'd love to have you visit us." Mike
said
"Great. I’d love to bring my family to meet yours,” Joe replied. “Where
do you live?"
"Here's the address. And there's plenty of parking behind the apartment.
Park and come around to the front door, kick it open with your foot, go
to the elevator and press the button with your left elbow, then enter!
When you reach the sixth floor, go down the hall until you see my name
on the door. Then press the doorbell with your right elbow and I'll let
you in."
"Good. But tell me... what is all this business of kicking the front
door open, then pressing buttons with my right, then my left elbow?"
"Surely, you're not coming empty-handed!"
As we approach God, surely we do not attempt to come to Him
empty-handed. Listen to this Old Testament Principal given in the Law of
Moses:
"Three times a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God
in the place which He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the
Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Tabernacles; and they shall not
appear before the LORD empty-handed. Every man shall give as he is able,
according to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has given you."
(Deut. 16:16-17)
God has blessed us richly in so many ways. He expects us -- to bring a
gift when we come to Him. We should not appear before the Lord
empty-handed.
What is it that stinks in your life? What is it that keeps you from
offering that sweet smell of adoration?
Today let’s put off the old stinky life and let Christ wash you anew.
|
