Every Action, An Act of Worship
By Pastor Matt Black
10
January 2006
Mid-Week Prayer Service
Matthew
6:21
Open your Bibles to Matthew 6:21. The title of this evening’s message is “Every Action, An Act of Worship”.
Introduction: The English word “worship” means worth-ship or the quality of having worth or of being worthy. When we worship something or someone, we are saying that the object of our worship has worth, that he is worthy. Worship means to declare worth, to attribute worth.
Everything we do is an act of worship. At every moment we are showing what our heart treasures. Every choice we make declares what we value, what we treasure. That is what our text says! “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21). What Christ is saying is that your treasure reveals your heart. Are you a worshipper of idols or of the true and living God? As you think on this verse, ask yourself the question that jumps out of this text:
What do you treasure? Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21). Colossians 3:5 tells us that “covetousness” is “idolatry”. Covetousness is loving the creation above the Creator. It is to treasure earthly things to the exclusion of Christ. What do you treasure?
I. By nature, we all treasure ourselves. All sin is at its very core, selfishness. You could put the question this way: do I want to please God or self?
Pleasure in God is different.
Now, do not hear me wrongly. You do not have to wait for heaven to have pleasure. Many people think that by pleasing God we cannot please ourselves. In fact, God has made us in such a way, that we can only truly be satisfied by Him! And our pleasure in God begins on this earth the moment we are saved! You see our second principle is this:
II. God made us beings of pleasure. God commands us over and over again to have pleasure in… in Him! Yes, the object of pleasure should be: God. Psalm 37:4, “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”
Ø Look back at Psalm 63, verses 1-2. David is in the backside of a wilderness, and what does he want? Listen to his prayer: “O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;” Verse 5, David says, “My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips: 6 When I remember thee…” Verse 8 he says, “My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.”
Ø We read the greatest commandment in Deuteronomy 6:5, “And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”
So God made us to be beings of pleasure. He made us to have pleasure in Him. We come to a third principle. Remember our text again: “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21). Remember I said, by nature we treasure ourselves, and that God put this longing for pleasure in us. All around you there is treasure. You were made to pick up treasure. God made you as a being to worship Him. But, as one of the Reformers said, “The human heart is an idol factory” (John Calvin). So our third point is this:
III. You must choose what you worship every moment of every day. I think we find this principle throughout the Bible.
Deuteronomy 4:29, “But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.”
What does Psalm 1:2 tell us about the blessed man?
Psalm 1:2, “But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.” We are called to do the Father’s will “on earth as it is in heaven”. We are to esteem Him as if we were in heaven, because Ephesians says, we are even now “seated in the heavenlies”.
Conclusion: What do you treasure? Think about what you’ve put in front of your eyes. Have you hated sin? Have you watched movies that took God’s name in vain this year? What did you do to those movies when they took God’s name in vain? Do you love your movies more than you love God?
Has a family member or a friend or a co-worker tempted you to sin? Have they told you “it’s no big deal”? All sin is selfishness. It is idolatry. Have you treasured God above all else? Have you shown with everything you do that you treasure Jesus Christ?
What does your “My Documents” file on your computer say that you worship? What if I did a history on the web pages you have visited? What will they say that you treasure.
What do you treasure? It will be known one day? What do you treasure deep down in your heart?
Luke 12:3, “Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.”
Everything you worship will be made known one day. So this is my advice. Worship God in secret, at the dinner table, at the workplace, in the marriage relationship, with friends, family, co-workers. Worship God with your television, your radio, your internet. Worship Him with every ounce of energy you have! Love the Lord your God! May God be the treasure of your heart, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21).
Closing Hymn: 392 Who is on the Lord’s Side?