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Introduction: Satan
does not want us to assemble to worship God today. In fact, he
does not want us to worship God anytime. Even though he might fail
today, he will attack us every opportunity he has. Satan has three
lines of attack—three questions he wants us to ask. If he can
get us to ask them, he already has us halfway devoured. Get ready
to find out the questions so you can resist the devil and be
established, strengthened and settled by God’s grace (I
Peter 5:8-10). Discussion: I.
How can I get out of the
worship assembly? A.
Satan wants us to ask this question before we even get up
Sunday morning. He wants us to ask this question on Sunday
afternoon, when we are resting from a week of work, or perhaps
while we are spending a few extra hours at work. He wants us to
ask this question all day long on Wednesday or the days of a
Gospel Meeting. B.
Worse than getting us to ask this question, Satan will help
us answer it. Satan will help us play a little game. We begin
with, “Man, I just don’t feel like going.” When thinking
about our reason for not going, it becomes, “I don’t feel good
enough to go.” When brethren call to check up on us, it becomes,
“I was sick.” It is amazing the number of people who can go to
work with pounding headaches or upset stomachs. But come worship
time, “Surely God understands.” Of course, “The kids are
cranky and tired.” “Junior has a lot of homework.” “I had
to work late and I am just beat.” “Brother ______ ignored me
last time I was there.” “The sermons are boring.” “There
is not a single Bible verse that specifically says I have to
assemble on Sunday night.” C.
But we need to remember God’s answer to this question. Hebrews 10:25 is clear, saying, “Forsake not the assembling of
yourselves together, as is the habit of some.” The main thrust
of this statement is that churches must assemble together to
worship. However, God did not say when or how often the churches
must assemble. He left that up to the individual congregations
themselves. The necessary implication of the statement is that
when the church is to assemble the members of the church must be
there. D.
Even in Bible times, people undoubtedly missed assembling
with the saints sometimes. Illness might strike. Perhaps working
to provide for the family (not just for extras) would cause a
saint to miss. Being thrown in prison for preaching the word
hindered saints from assembling. While there might be some reasons
for missing that are not forsaking the assembly, we need to be
very careful what we allow to keep us from meeting with the saints
to worship God. E.
Tonight, Satan is going to try everything in his power to
keep you from meeting with us. He will get you to ask this
question and will give you an answer. Of course, Satan has already
pushed some past the point of even asking the question; forsaking
is already a habit for them. We must recognize Satan’s hand in
trying to keep us from assembling. We must resist him. We must not
let him ask the question or let him give us an answer. We must
resolve right now to assemble with the saints tonight. We must
resolve right now to be here on Wednesday night for our assembly
and Bible class. We must not let Satan keep us out of worship. II.
What will I get out of the worship assembly? A.
If Satan’s first attack does not conquer us, he will pull
out his second question, “What will I get out of worship?”
This question may sound proper, but, in reality, is not. It is
almost cliché to hear people leave one church for another saying,
“I didn’t get anything out of that church,” or to hear
people who forsake claim, “I only come when I know I can get
something out of it.” The problem with this question is not the
answer that Satan might give us. The problem is the question
itself. B.
Merely asking this question demonstrates a misunderstanding
of our assemblies. This question has the focus of our assemblies
on us. That is not where the focus should be. There are three
objectives in worship and not one of them has to do with what we
get out of it. 1.
We are to honor God, humbling ourselves before Him (Malachi 1:6). 2.
We are to edify the saints around us (I
Corinthians 14:26). 3.
We are to convict the unbeliever (I
Corinthians 14:23-25). C.
Far too many people come to the assemblies wondering what
they will get out of them. They want the sermons to be on their
favorite topics. They want the songs to be their favorite songs.
They want to be entertained. They want to be emotionally touched
by the message. They want to be moved. They want to get social
relationships out of the members. D.
These same people will go home complaining. “The sermon
was too long.” Or “It was too short.“ “I don’t like it
when they have people give talks during the singings.” Or “I
don’t like it when we just sing for an hour straight; I wish
they would have some people give talks.” “I don’t know why
they keep letting brother ______ lead singing? I don’t like the
way he leads.” “I wish they would quit using slides.” Or,
“I hate it when they don’t use slides.” “Nobody talked to
me today.” Or, “I got cornered by sister ________ and she just
wouldn’t leave me alone.” On and on and on the complaining
goes. Did you notice the common thread between all those
complaints? “I, I, I, me, me, me, I don’t like …, I don’t
want … I wish …” These complaints all focus on self, as if
this assembly was called for my personal benefit and convenience.
Satan has already latched on to these people and is trying to
drain the spiritual life out of them. After a while, he will be
able to beat them with the first question. That is, once they
believe they do not get anything out of the assemblies, they will
have a ready made excuse for getting out of the assemblies. E.
We have to get away from this selfish mindset. Worship is
not about me. It is not about what I like. It is about serving
God, His way. The worship service does not take place to entertain
me. It does not take place to lift my emotions. It does not take
place in order to move me. It takes place so I can serve God. It
takes place so I can cast down my own selfish pride before the
Ruler of all creation and demonstrate my obeisance toward Him. F.
Instead of asking ourselves the question, “What can I get
out of worship?” We need to ask, “What can I put into
worship?” We must focus on singing to praise God and edify
others, on the words of the prayer and offer them up to God
ourselves, on the death of the Savior and why we need that
sacrifice and on listening and understanding the scriptures and
the message. We must focus on these things despite who is leading
the worship or what songs they are singing or what the sermon is.
Only when we are focused on what we can put into worship will we
get anything out of it. If we are focused on self, we will always
be bored and disappointed. We must focus on serving God instead. III.
When will I get out of the worship assembly? A.
Satan has yet a third attack. This one goes along with the
second and is sometimes used simultaneously with it. “When will
I get out of worship?” Satan likes to use this question to get
our minds to wander from what we are actually supposed to be doing
here in the assembly. B.
This question, like the second, is dangerously subtle. We
can ask and answer these questions while still attending the
assemblies. Because we are attending the assemblies, we believe
everything is alright. But that is not true. Jesus said, “God is
spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in
truth” (John 4:24).
When we are distracted, we may be doing what is true, but our
spirit is not involved. Then, even though we are here, it is in
vain. C.
We should not be like the Israelites of Amos
8:5-6. They could not wait for the worship time to be over.
Granted, they wanted it to be over so they could go back to
corruption. Hopefully, none here want worship to be over so they
can go back to wickedness. Be that as it may, we should not be
constantly looking at our watches wondering when we are going to
get to go to lunch or get back to that race, golf tournament or
football game. We need to be worshipping God. When the service is
over, it is over. If we have to stand behind people in a line at
the restaurant, so be it. After all, we are doing something more
important than eating. We are worshipping God. D.
Yes, I recognize the need to have specific service times
and timely services. I also recognize the physical limitations
some have sitting on these pews. When determining our general
length of worship time we keep all of these factors in mind.
However, once we are here, let’s not allow Satan to focus our
attention elsewhere. We must keep our focus attention on
glorifying God. Conclusion: Satan does not want us to worship God. We must not let him control our lives. Instead, we must resist him. Allow me to encourage you to join us in every assembly, focus on what you can give God, and do not worry about when it will be over. Serve God to the best of your ability and Satan will lose.
Glory
to God in the church by Christ Jesus
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