Month: March 2023

            In the last part of October, I preached messages in a three-part series entitled, Possessed by Possessions. This series was about contentment and how to be satisfied amid troubling times. The theme was how we are not to let any earthly gains or losses rule us and determine our happiness. The apostle Paul encourages us in Colossians 3 to set our affections on things above and not the things of this world. In Philippians 4, he tells us the things we are to think about so that troubles do not bother us and cause us to lose hope and be depressed. He says if we think properly, the God of peace will be with us.

            One of the major issues discussed in the series is the way money causes us to lose our focus on God. I want to return to this thought for just a moment to show how money can be the cause of more focus on God rather than the cause of losing focus. Our money can be turned into usefulness in the Lord’s service which causes us to look to God for ways we can help promote His kingdom. In an uncertain economy, many will hold back resources and put them securely away where we think they cannot be lost. We restrict our giving until we see a surer path that promises a secure future. The Lord warns that this will not work. Safe investments fail, savings accounts can be obliterated by catastrophic illness or accident, and a mattress or a hole in the ground is neither safe. Holding back tithes and offerings is not a way to build wealth.

            A few weeks ago, I read these lines in TableTalk magazine: “In truth, sometimes we fail to give because we fear that in giving, we will suffer net loss. Yet if the Lord Himself gives abundantly, we need not fear we will suffer lack when we give to help others with generosity.” Seedtime and harvest principles are taught in 2 Corinthians 9 which declare that it is impossible to lose with God. TableTalk further commented, “Paul has the material needs of impoverished believers in mind most significantly in 2 Corinthians 8-9, but the principle certainly applies beyond that. Our giving to the work of the church and the care of its members will always result in a net gain for us.” This is biblical truth which I challenge you to compare to the guarantee of the stock market or any worldly investment. An investment with guaranteed positive returns is usually a Ponzi scheme. Surely, we can see hording money with a promise it will secure us is the devil’s Ponzi scheme.

            Returning to my earlier premise, our money can cause us to focus on the Lord when we are determined to use it to help others and the church which He commissioned to accomplish His work in the world. The Lord promises to secure us and add to our wealth in immeasurable ways. As we place our offering envelopes in the plate, are we not focusing on the Lord as we worship Him? Our motivation of obedience in giving is not wrong if it also includes testing the Lord as our financial advisor. It is not wrong to focus on securing our financial well-being through this method. However, we do not advocate for a prosperity gospel or that the Lord any more promises expensive automobiles than your honest financial advisor does. The difference is the unfailing promise of net gain. As the old saying goes, you cannot outgive the Lord.

            How do we increase our thanksgiving as well? One last quote: “…we will be blessed far more than we can imagine when we seek to imitate the generosity of the Lord. This in turn will increase thanksgiving to God…” In conclusion, underline this in your Bible:

2 Corinthians 9:7, 9-11  Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. (As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth forever. Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;) Being enriched in everything to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God.

Pastor V. Mark Smith

Our study of the church brings us to a core, critical issue which has been the purpose for God’s people from the beginning. He created us for His glory which is accomplished through our adoration and honor of Him. This is the concept of worship. God created us for worship.

                Earlier, we learned of the relationship between truth and worship. Worship is regulated by truth. Instead of our whimsical, emotional, personal feelings about worship dictating our practice, there is a divine prescription that must be followed for worship to be acceptable. Worship is not about us and how we feel. It is intended for us only as participants who put all emphasis on God within the parameters of the divine prescription.

                Today we look at another aspect of worship which strongly attracts my attention. You would imagine this is the case since we will discuss the preaching of the word. I believe preaching is our primary method of worship which makes the pastor the principal worship leader. Preaching the word is the church’s highest priority. Most think of singing when we mention worship and singing certainly has its usefulness and should be an important part of our services. Unfortunately, preaching is not often thought of as worship and thus is not often a priority. Think of how many churches have longer than an hour music programs with only a cursory twenty minutes devoted to a drama/devotion object lesson loosely based (maybe) on a scripture.

                Preaching is to herald or tell forth the word of God. The word is God’s self-revelation and is the way we know Him. It is the objective and only dependable revelation of the one true living God. Recently, I read a book in which the author claimed to reveal who God is and what He is like. His explanation was inconsistent with the statements God made about Himself. It was not the same as what Jesus, the Son of God and one with the Father, said. It was not the same God as preached by Paul and the apostles. God is made known through His word as faithful preachers read and expound the truth of the word in our worship services. God cannot be worshipped if we do not know Him.

                Gospel preaching does not only properly identify God, it also properly identifies us. Many want the Bible to confirm them as they are. Through misapplication of texts, through misinterpretation of Bible doctrine, and through misrepresentation of the teachings of Jesus, they believe the Bible will confirm their lifestyles. The love of God is the blanket they throw over their immorality to substantiate that God accepts everyone just as they are. The word of God is essential in our worship not to confirm us as we are but to convict us of what we are and conform us to what we should be. The word aligns us with God. It identifies us as sinners who are not accepted as we are but condemned because of who we are. The word changes us to reflect the righteous character of God. We cannot expect that a lifestyle disobedience will allow us to be welcomed into the same space as God. God does not love our character. He hates it and gave His Son to obliterate it through His sacrificial death. There is not a person on earth worthy to worship God. We must reject who we are and conform to His righteous standard. This is possible only by God’s grace which grants faith in Christ. Through the instrumentality of the word, the power of the Holy Spirit changes us from the perversion of our sin to the perfect righteousness of Christ.

                The third purpose of the word in worship is for our sanctification. As the word is preached, we see the differences between us and Christ. Worship is perfected and the worshipper is more conformed each time we hear it. You should be concerned how much you know about the word because without it you will not be like Christ. Consider this when you miss worship. You miss preaching that will make you more like Jesus.

                And then lastly and briefly, the word prepares you for Christ. Preaching is preparation for heaven. Paul said the word will build you up and give an inheritance among those who are sanctified (Acts 20:32). We must preach the word in our worship services, or we remain unprepared for Christ and with deficient knowledge of Him and the power of God.

Pastor V. Mark Smith

            One of the critical purposes of the church is to glorify God through worship. The gathering of the Lord’s people into a central location gives us opportunity for corporate worship in which our fellowship witnesses a greater expression of the duty of all to praise the Almighty God.

            The church and worship are so closely aligned that we often speak of these in synonymous terms. We have a familiar Sunday morning expression, “I am going to worship.” Who does not understand this to mean, “I am going to church?” Christians are instinctively geared to worship and thus we regularly attend church. Those who are absent are absent from corporate worship, an exercise ordained by God in recognition of His right to be glorified.

            Worship in the church is built upon the same principles as Old Testament worship. By this I mean there is a divine prescription that cannot be changed or ignored. Perhaps the earliest example is the improper sacrifice made by Cain. It fell outside God’s revealed parameters which were known by both Cain and Abel. God did not respect Cain’s sacrifice though he was sure by his own standard he gave his best. When God established Israel with His law at Sinai, He gave them a prescription for worship. God told Moses to make a sanctuary after the pattern he was given. The pattern which included the structure, the instruments for worship, the sacrifices, and the priesthood were shadows or types of worship in heaven. All were representative of the true sanctuary made by God. Moses could not change anything because the pattern represented unalterable truths of Jesus Christ.

            In like manner, we cannot expect that we are free to change worship from the divine prescription. The New Testament explains that certain acts of worship were ceremonial and temporary. These were fulfilled in the sacrifice of Christ so that we are not commanded to follow those patterns any longer. However, we are not left without direction. We are not free to substitute crucifixes, to make images of Mary, or of saints, or do any works that are prohibited by the commandments. The New Testament keeps these prohibitions in place.

            Examples of acceptable worship and prohibited worship are also found in New Testament scriptures. Paul regulated tongues in the church for the time they were still operable. He regulated the conduct of worship by restricting the officers of the church to males. He encouraged the reading of scripture, the frequent practice of prayer, and the singing of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. We do not look for innovative ways to worship but follow the prescriptions given. The Second London Baptist Confession of 1689 remarks: “The acceptable way of worshipping the true God, is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshipped according to the imagination and desires of men, nor the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representation, or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scriptures.” (Chapter 22.1)

            These comments convey the idea of the need for caution in the way we worship. It must have a biblical pattern, or simply put, it is regulated by scripture. We are not free to introduce our own ideas. If this principle were always invoked, it would prevent us from many stupid acts that pretend worship when they are nothing but embarrassment to the very angels of God.

            We have much to discuss including the command to worship. Many Christians cannot be accused of wrong worship because they do not worship at all. To habitually absent oneself from church is not Christian. Christians instinctively worship. We are chosen, called, justified, and sanctified for the glory of God. He has His divinely prescribed an acceptable method for us to show our gratitude for His marvelous works. This is called worship.

Pastor V. Mark Smith

            With today’s message, we conclude our short series on the proper relationship between Christians and material possessions. In Matthew 6:24, Jesus said you cannot serve two masters. While I use the terminology “possessed by possessions” as the subject of my messages, the meaning is the same as what Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount. There is a master-slave comparison in which we are either ruled by Christ or by our personal desires. We cannot be “possessed” by both.

            When Jesus preached His sermon, He confronted people who were convinced material possessions were a sign of favor with God. This was not only a Jewish belief but is a natural assumption dictated by the depraved human heart. It is as if our relationship with God is quid pro quo. We achieve favor through works of righteousness and God rewards accordingly. Thus, the wealthiest people must have achieved their favor because they are more righteous than the poor. In Paul’s letter to Timothy, he warned against this by saying it is the corrupt mind destitute of truth that thinks this way. They suppose that gain is godliness while the truth is that material possessions too often cause us to fall into temptation and lead to destruction (1 Timothy 6:5-11).

            If material goods are a sign of righteousness, then most of church history is filled with unspiritual failures. Not many Christians are worldly wealthy and I have spent most of my Christian life fellowshipping with people who struggle with finances without achieving the bank account that many believe will rid them of the anxiety of being without financial security. Neither do many of these Christians care. Living one day at a time is enough security. They do not worry about tomorrow because they understand what Jesus said. The rat race to keep ahead of the neighbors is unnecessary. They have learned to be content with Christ and believe daily sustenance is sufficient. It is all they were promised and all they expect.

            As we look back through the centuries, we do not find that many Christians escaped the same economic, social, and political calamities that fell on others who never knew Christ. The same plagues of sickness in the Middle Ages killed believers and unbelievers alike. They were victims of the same world wars that brought destruction across the globe. They lived through the Great Depression with its stock market crash, the climate change of the dust bowl, the lack of food and skyrocketing unemployment. Christianity never promised we would escape these because it never needed to. Our faith in Christ is not about what we gain in a world that is sure to pass away. James said our lives are but a vapor that appear for a little time but soon are gone. If we invest ourselves in this world, we have a failed investment before we even think of speculating. This promise that the world’s system will end in a great conflagration is as sure as any promise God made.

            The scriptures continually warn about trusting in riches because of their enormous potential of diminishing faith in God. The more we have the less time we are apt to spend praying for what we need and being thankful for what we are given. Many Christians fail to understand that pain, suffering, economic hardships, and other disappointments are designed to be steppingstones of faith. We learn to trust God when we must trust God. Dr. R.C. Sproul was well-known for saying that believing in God is different from believing God. This is true for our justification and our sanctification.

            Trusting God rather than wealth yields at least four precious promises from our Lord. (1) All our needs are supplied – Matt. 6:33. (2) Freedom from anxiety – Matt. 6:25-34. (3) Contentment – Heb. 13:5 (4) Eternal life – John 5:24; 10:10. While history proves that Christians suffer many of the common ailments the worldly incur, there is nothing we take from the world that sustains the life that no one wants to surrender. “For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we carry nothing out. (1 Tim. 6:7).

Pastor V. Mark Smith