Joyful Worship: The Response of a Thankful People

Be seated.

As many of you know, I am Drew Arrington.

I am not a PCA minister.

! I am a minister of an associated denomination,

! the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church,

and I am a chaplain here at Fort Carson.

And it's my pleasure today to preach

to you.

And I want to start off by saying

that as Christians,

sometimes we get asked many questions.

And one of those questions that you might be asked

is, why do you worship God?

John Oatman Jr.,

a hymnist from the late 1800s

to the early 1900s,

wrote this in one of his famous hymns

that kind of tries to answer that question

or is perhaps a common answer that you might hear.

And he says this,

count your blessings,

name them one by one,

count your many blessings,

see what God has done.

In many ways, Oatman was right.

We worship God because of the manifold blessings

that he pours out upon us.

But if God's smiling providence

gave way to his frowning providence,

would the Christian,

would you,

have reason

to joyfully worship God?

If cancer robs you of your youth,

if your home is no more than a dirt floor

and a thatched roof,

if your parents are absent

or worse yet, abusive,

if your death or,

if through death or divorce,

your wife is stolen from you,

if a vindictive investigation

threatens your livelihood,

do you know

that even in all of those circumstances,

you as a Christian

have sufficient reason

to not only worship God,

but to do so joyfully?

Here at CNPC,

you have a wonderful statement

about joyful worship,

and it's included

on the backside of your bulletin.

Simply stated,

this helps us

to answer the question,

why do Christians worship God?

And I want you to grasp

the depths of the words

here in that statement.

Because beyond

the temporal blessings we enjoy,

the Christian joyfully worships God

because of God's wonderful works.

And in today's reading,

we will look at

three of those wonderful works.

works that elicit joy

from the heart of the Christian.

Well, as we pray

and then read Galatians 3

through 4, 7,

I ask that you would ponder

this question,

why do I joyfully worship God?

Gracious Heavenly Father,

we come before you this morning

reading your word.

And God,

I ask that your Holy Spirit

might do

what your Holy Spirit does,

which is to apply that word

to our very hearts.

God,

that we might know you

and love you

more deeply

and as a result,

worship you

with joyful hearts.

this we ask

in your Son's name,

Jesus Christ.

Amen.

So if you would,

join me

in reading

Galatians 3,

Galatians 3:21

verse 21

through chapter 4,

verse 7.

Is the law then

contrary to the promise of God?

Certainly not.

For if a law

had been given

that could give life,

then righteousness

would indeed

be by the law.

But the Scripture

imprisoned everything

under sin

so that the promise

by faith

in Jesus Christ

might be given

to those who believe.

Now,

before faith came,

we were held captive

under the law,

imprisoned

until the coming faith

would be revealed.

So then,

the law was our guardian

until Christ came

in order that we might

be justified by faith.

But now that faith has come,

we are no longer

under a guardian.

For in Christ Jesus,

you are all sons of God

through faith.

For as many of you

were baptized into Christ

have put on Christ.

There is neither Jew

nor Greek.

There is neither slave

nor free.

There is no male

and female

for you are all one

in Christ Jesus.

And if you are Christ's,

then you are Abraham's

offspring,

heirs

according to the promise.

I mean that an heir,

as long as he is a child,

is no different

from a slave,

though he is the owner

of everything.

But he is under guardians

and managers

until the date

set by his father.

in the same way,

also,

when we were children,

we're enslaved

to the elementary principles

of this world.

But when the fullness

of time had come,

God sent forth his son,

born of a woman,

born under the law,

to redeem those

who were under the law,

so that we might receive

adoption as sons.

And because you are sons,

God has sent his spirit,

the spirit of his son,

into our hearts,

crying,

Abba,

Father.

So you are no longer

a slave,

but a son.

And if a son,

then an heir

through God.

may God add

the blessing

to the reading

of his word

and the preaching

thereof.

In his commentary

on Exodus,

in this passage

that we read earlier

in Exodus,

Matthew Henry observes,

old mercies

to ourselves

or to our fathers

must not be forgotten,

that God may be praised

and our faith encouraged.

And today,

we're going to look

at three of those

old mercies

in Exodus

in light

of our New Testament

reading

so that our faith

can be encouraged

and that our worship

may truly be joyful.

And so with that,

let's look

at the precarious situation

that the Hebrews

found themselves in,

in slavery in Egypt.

See,

they had come

to Egypt

and we see here

that God

for nine plagues

had gone

toe-to-toe

with Pharaoh,

but yet

little progress

had been made.

The Egyptians,

the Hebrews

were still enslaved

to the Egyptians.

And in this reading

just previously,

God had announced

to Moses,

I'm sending

a tenth plague

and I'm taking

the gloves off.

I am going

to visit death

upon every

single house

in Egypt.

The firstborn

in every house

will die.

And this message,

this was a message

of mercy,

but also a message

of misery.

We heard

the misery

that God

in his wrath

was executing judgment

upon the population

there in Egypt.

But there was also

a message

of mercy

that God

in his

great love

for us

and for the Hebrews

was providing

a way

that they

could escape

his judgment,

escape his wrath.

in the previous

nine,

God had demonstrated

his mercy

in many ways

by allowing

certain plagues

to not affect

the land of Goshen

where the Hebrews

were,

but this one

is different.

Here God says,

you,

you must participate

in your redemption.

You must participate

in avoiding

the wrath

to come.

You must embrace

the mercy

that I am offering.

And what was that mercy?

That mercy

was the Passover lamb.

The lamb

that Moses

instructed the people,

the Hebrews,

to sacrifice

so that the

life of the

oldest

would be preserved.

But it wasn't

just the shedding

of blood

that was required.

No,

the Hebrews

had to take

a bunch of hyssop

and dip it

like a brush

into the shed

blood of the lamb

and then apply it

to the doorposts

and the cross

member of the door.

In effect,

they were sealing

the house

against God's

coming wrath.

but that

wasn't all.

For the promise

of deliverance

to be received,

they had to

abide

under that seal.

They had to

abide

within the

house

that was

marked

with the

blood.

You know

that we,

like our

spiritual

forefathers,

the Hebrews,

we also

are subject

to God's

wrath.

Not

because God

is going to

send an

angel of

death as

he did

in the

tenth

plague,

but that

we are

dealing

with his

eternal

wrath,

his

judgment

against

our

sin

and

against

our

lack

of

righteousness.

And

because of

that,

we are

barred

from entrance

into his

kingdom.

We are

non-participants

in his

great

promises

that we

find all

throughout

scripture.

But,

Paul writes

in Galatians

4,

when the

fullness of

time had

come,

God sent

forth his

son,

born of

a woman,

born under

the law,

to redeem

those who

were under

the law.

Christ is

that Passover

lamb.

Christ is

the one

whose blood

shed for

us allows

us to

escape

God's

wrath.

His

blood

applied to

our hearts

by the

Holy Spirit

saves us,

marks us

as his.

And when

we

abide under

the blood

of Christ,

Christ's

work

speaks

on our

behalf.

love.

Well,

reflecting on

the wonder

of that

deliverance,

Charles Simeon

declares and

has written

on your

bulletin,

that deliverance

will be

indeed

wonderful,

and eternity

will be too

short to

explore the

unsearchable

riches of

grace and

love contained

in it.

God

has

joyfully

worship

because God

has delivered

us from

his wrath.

And that

is great and

excellent news.

And we

could stop

there this

morning.

But like

the infomercial

guy, I want

to say, but

wait, there's

more.

There's more.

And if we

go back to

Exodus and

we see the

second of

God's old

mercies, we

see that in

addition to

being at

risk of

suffering God's

wrath, the

Hebrews were

subjects of

slavery at

the cruel

hand of

Egyptian

taskmasters.

They came

to Egypt

seeking

satisfaction

and security

during a

time of

famine.

And over

the years,

they found

themselves

enslaved,

brutalized,

devalued,

and in

that

precarious

position,

Exodus 3,

7 through

8 tells

us that

they cried

out for

a deliverer

and that

God heard

their cry.

And not

only did

he hear

their cry,

but he

provided for

their deliverance.

And

he

provided

for their

deliverance.

he

provided

for their

deliverance.

And

do you

know that

nearly

4,000

years since

then,

people today

find themselves

enslaved,

brutalized,

and devalued.

Such were

we.

We

were

brutalized,

enslaved,

and devalued

by sin

and by

the law.

And we

could spend

an entire

Sunday morning

talking about

how impactful

our sin

and our

enslavement

to the law

changes us

and enslaved

us.

But what is

essential to

understand

is that

just as the

Hebrews

needed a

deliverer

from the

Egyptians,

we

need a

deliverer.

We

are

incarcerated

by our

own

sin,

and the

law

cannot

deliver

us,

but only

condemn

us.

And that's

where Martin

Luther

found himself.

He

found himself

at the

point where

he realized

that he

could not

save himself.

And he

records this

as his

opening

argument

in the

Heidelberg

Disputation

when he

writes,

the law

of God,

which is

the most

beneficial

doctrine

of life,

is not

able to

advance man

towards

righteousness,

but rather

stands

against him.

What

then is

our hope?

How does

God

liberate us

from our

sin and

from the

law?

Martin

Luther near

the end

of that

same

work says,

he is not

justified

who does

many works,

but he

who,

without

work,

believes

much in

Christ.

The law

says,

do this,

and it

is never

done.

Grace

says,

believe in

this,

and all

things are

already

done.

God

will

do this.

And what

great news

to those

of us

who are

enslaved

to sin

and

brutalized

by the

law.

I hope

you heard

it.

Believe

that God

through

Christ

paid the

penalty

for our

sin,

and that

Jesus'

perfect

obedience

satisfies

the demands

of the

law,

and it's

all done.

You

don't have

to struggle

or worry

about being

enslaved to

sin and

about being

brutalized by

the law

because it's

all been

taken care

of by

grace.

through faith

in Jesus

Christ.

And if

that doesn't

elicit joyful

worship from

you,

question what

will.

Well,

we look one

more time

back to

Exodus,

and we see

again the

last of

God's old

mercies that

elicit joyful

worship from

his people.

As we see

that not only

were the

Hebrews

rescued from

God's wrath,

not only

were they

liberated from

slavery,

but the

Hebrews

found

themselves

after all

of this

wandering.

They were

without a

home.

They were

without a

future.

They were

without an

identity.

identity.

And it's

here that

the confession

that we

read this

morning about

the preamble

to the

Ten Commandments

proves

instructive.

God says,

I am the

Lord,

your God,

which have

brought you

out of the

land of

Egypt,

out of the

house of

bondage.

And through

this,

God is

saying,

look,

I am your

identity.

I am giving

you a new

identity.

You are

no longer

a people

who are

enslaved in

Egypt because

I delivered

you from

that bondage.

You are

not wandering

vagabonds.

You are

my people

and I

am your

God.

We,

too,

need a new

identity.

We,

too,

having

suffered

an

enslavement

and having

been

liberated

need a

new

identity.

And Paul

points to

that in

chapter 4

of Galatians

when he

writes this

and painting

such a

beautiful

picture of

that new

identity.

But when

the fullness

of time

came,

God sent

forth his

son,

born of

a woman,

born under

the law,

to redeem

those who

were under

the law

so that

we might

receive

adoption

as

sons.

And

because

you

are

sons,

God

has sent

the spirit

of his

son into

our hearts,

crying,

Abba,

Father,

so you

are no

longer a

slave,

but a

son.

And if a

son,

then an

heir

through God.

You see,

we were

slaves to

sin and

the law

without

hope,

but we

were freed

by faith

and now

we have

a hope

that is

certain and

sure through

Christ Jesus.

We were

sons of

wrath,

separated

from God

for all

eternity.

But now

we are

separated

from the

world,

having been

adopted

as

God's

sons.

We were

heirs to

death and

destruction,

and now

we are

heirs of

God's

kingdom

through

Jesus

Christ.

And we

see that

in all of

that,

it is the

Holy Spirit

who is

sealing us

just like

the Father

in the

Old Testament

in Hebrews

were

enslaved,

dipped

that

hyssop

into the

blood

and applied

it to

the doorposts.

The Holy

Spirit

takes the

finished work

of Christ

and applies

it to our

very hearts,

marking

out once

and for

all that

we are

gods,

sealed

for eternity.

And not

only that,

we are

adopted

into the

very

family

of God.

Not at

a distance,

but intimately

brought in

to the

very presence

of God

through the

Holy Spirit

in such

that we

can cry,

Abba,

Father,

Daddy.

Daddy.

Not God

of the

universe,

but Daddy.

What a

wonderful

state

the Holy

Spirit has

transferred us

into.

We are no

longer slaves.

We are no

longer subject

to God's

wrath,

but we

are the

very children

of God,

able to

cry out to

him

in all

of life

and call

him

Dad.

Oh,

Christian,

God has

infused you

with a

new identity

as his

dearly

beloved

child.

Would you

joyfully

worship him

for that?

Well,

as we

conclude

today's

sermon,

I do

so with

a simple,

but what I

would say

a profound

encouragement.

when you

count your

blessings and

you name

them one

by one,

start with

these three

old mercies.

Start with

the fact

that God

the Father

has delivered

us from

his wrath.

Start,

secondly,

knowing that

through Jesus

he has

liberated us

from slavery

to sin

and oppression

to the law.

third,

that by the

working of

the Holy

Spirit,

he has

adopted

us

as his

beloved

children.

In doing

so,

we will

remind

ourselves

of,

instruct

our children

in,

and bear

witness to

the great

works of

our gracious

God,

to whom

belongs

all joyful

worship,

glory,

and honor,

both now

and forever

more.

Amen.

Let us

pray.

Oh God,

thank you

that you

have done

a remarkable

work,

of which we

have seen

three today.

voy voy

Amen.