Sermon Tone Analysis

!!! “Worship” Marks The Spot

Genesis 12:1-9

 

 

There was a time, when someone who had something of great value would often bury their treasure so that *no* one could find it and take it away.

Of course, there was always the risk that one might forget where their treasure was buried, so to make sure that they would remember where it was, they would often make a map.

Usually they would mark the spot where the treasure was with an “X”.

*That is where we get the expression, “X marks the spot.”*

*By way of comparison, I want to talk to you about how “worship” marks the spot!*

 

/(Notice with me please, Genesis 12:1-9.)/

Genesis 13:18 (NASB), “18 Then Abram moved his tent and came and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and *there he built an altar to the **Lord*” (/bold type added/).

Genesis 22:9 (NASB), “9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and *Abraham built the altar there* and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood” (/bold type added/).

Genesis 26:24-25 (NASB), “24 The Lord appeared to him the same night and said, ‘I am the God of your father Abraham; Do not fear, for I am with you.

I will bless you, and multiply your descendants, For the sake of My servant Abraham.

25 So *he built an altar there* and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well’” (/bold type added/).

After God encountered Abraham in Genesis 12, Abraham built an altar to the Lord, who appeared to Him.

In the next verse, Abraham journeyed about 20 miles further and pitched his tent, or set up camp.

At this point, Abraham built another altar, and this time he called upon the name of the Lord.

*When we consider the other verses that I read; we can see a pattern of altar building, in the life of Abraham.*

\\ /(Now, why did Abraham build altars?

Well, Abraham built altars to the Yahweh:)/

 

1.

As a *memorial* to the presence or appearance of Jehovah God.

*Altars were built as a sign of the presence or appearance of God.*

       “Here in Shechem, Jehovah assured Abraham of the future possession of the land of Canaan for his descendants.

*The assurance was made by means of the appearance of Jehovah.*

Abraham understood this and ‘built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him” (/Keil & Delitszch/).

*On his journey to the Promised Land and on his journey through life, Abraham would need some reminders of the times and places where God had miraculously appeared to him.*

As Abraham memorialized the time and place of the appearance of Jehovah God by building an altar and worshipping the Lord, every time God appears to us, through the direction of His Word and Spirit, we need to build an altar to the Lord.

*We need to memorialize the times and places in our lives where God has appeared to us.*

There are times when God appears to us in a very dynamic way through His Word and the power of the Holy Spirit.

His internal voice is very strong, or the Words of Scripture jump off of the page, or the Words of a sermon strike us very deeply.

When God manifests Himself to us in a significant way, we need to build a memorial to Him in our lives, in our souls.

*We need to set up a worship marker that will remind us of the appearance of God.

How you choose to do this is idiosyncratic or individual, but it needs to be done.*

On this journey through life, to the spiritual Promised Land, we all need memorials, i.e. reminders of the times and places where God appeared to us.

*One of those memorials, for this church, should be the construction of this building.

I praise God that you have set up a worship marker, a time of celebration.

Return to this marker every year to celebrate God’s appearance to you as a church through this event.*

\\ /(Abraham also built this first altar for another reason:)/

 

2.

To *worship* Jehovah God for His appearance.

Abraham “built an altar in Shechem, to the Lord who had appeared to him, to make the soil which was sanctified by the appearance of God a place for the worship of the God who appeared to him” (Keil & Delitszch).

In the passage before us, Abraham worshipped God for His appearance.

*But,* *he not only memorialized the appearance of God, He worshipped God for that appearance.

This spot of His appearance became holy ground!*  *Worship marked the spot that God appeared, and Abraham and his would act differently when they approached holy ground.

*This should be natural for every worshiper, but God also stipulates it.

Jehovah God told Moses, “Take off your shoes; you are standing on holy ground!”

*We need to establish some holy ground in our lives!*

The fact that there is a church here means that God has appeared to the organizer of this church.

That means that this is holy ground.

*Every geographical, historical, and chronological place that God appears becomes holy ground.*

We ought to do as God commanded Moses and take off our shoes.

Why?

The songwriter captured the reasons well:

 

We are standing on holy ground,

And I know that there are angels all around.

Let us praise Jesus now.

We are standing in his presence on holy ground.

Therefore, we should approach these places with an attitude of holy celebration!

Now, we don’t celebrate by just marking the spot or the day of God’s appearance.

*We must sacrifice something!*

The Hebrew word mizbeah, ‘altar,’ means a place of sacrifice.

(Roland de Vaux, /Ancient Israel:  Its Life and Institutions/ [London:  Darton, Longman & Todd, 1961], p. 408).

*Sacrifice is one of the major ways of worshipping and thanking God for who He is, and for what He has done.*

You are thinking, “What should I sacrifice?”

New Testament sacrifices are summarized in

 

Hebrews 13:15-16, “Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.

And do not neglect doing good and sharing; for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”

\\        There are three categories of sacrifices here:

 

1.

The sacrifices of our lips.

The sacrifices of our lips are praise to God and thanksgiving to His name.

This is the sacrifice of praise.

With our *mouths we magnify* the God who appeared to us.

We say things like:

 

·        We praise You God for your appearance.

·        We praise You God for your promises.

·        We thank You God for your Name and all that it entails.

·        We thank You God for this church.

·        We thank You God for your vision for this church.

/(The second category of New Testament sacrifices is:)/

 

2.

The sacrifice of our lives.

The second sacrifice is doing good, through the sacrifice our lives and lifestyles to God by doing good to everyone, everywhere we go.

With our *manner of life we magnify* the God who appeared to us.

*We don’t just holler and shout; we have got to live a life of praise and worship.*

The sacrifice of our lives, which amounts to praise and worship, is an ongoing, every day thing.

Our lives are to be lived in worship to Jehovah God.

 

/(The third category of New Testament sacrifices is:)/

 

3.

The sacrifices of our living.

*The third category of sacrifice is sharing of our material living.*

This is the praise of sacrifice.

Out of our means and beyond our means, through faith, we share our *material to magnify* the God who appeared to us.

I know some of you are asking, “Share with who?”

 

·        Share with the poor of the world; glorifying God with evangelism in mind.

·        Share double honor with your pastor; the one who labors among you and should be honored with respect and remuneration.

·        Share with your church; the memorial place, people, and reason that God appeared in the first place.

Let us dedicate the financial offerings that we give every Sunday, but particularly on the occasion of the construction of this house of worship, as tokens of worship to God who has appeared to us and given us promises.

This is the time to worship God, with praises, right living, and giving, because of His miraculous appearance to you in the construction of this house.

/(Abraham also built this first altar for another reason:)/

 

3.

To worship Jehovah God for His promise.

*The altar was, no doubt, also to worship God for His promise concerning this land.*

The first three promises that were given to Abraham, when he lived with his family in Ur of the Chaldeans, did *not* specifically promise the land as an inheritance to his posterity.

God said that he would show him a land to travel to and God said to Abraham,

 

“I will make you a great nation; I will bless you; and I will make your name great.”