Our word worship derives from the Old English “weordhscipe,” which means to give God the recognition He deserves. In the New Testament, the word worship means to bow down to God or to kings, and in Christianity, worship is to attribute respect, reverence, and personal righteousness to God and give Him praise and thanksgiving for what He has done for us through Jesus Christ.

In Matthew’s documentary of the visit of the Magi to find the newborn king, it is interesting to note that he stressed the sacrifices they made to worship Him. Even though Jesus was a child at the time of their arrival, they respected Him, reverenced Him, and gave Him gifts that reflected His royalty.

Beloved, our worship of God does not begin when we enter the sanctuary on Sunday morning. The actual evidence of our worship starts with the sacrifices we make during the week to reserve the Lord’s Day to worship Him. We will explain this further in our next sermon in this series – “Behold the King: The King is Worshipped.”

The virgin birth is one of the essential doctrines of the Christian Faith. Yet, some who are considered to be in the mainstream of evangelical Christianity are certainly not in the mainstream of evangelical orthodoxy regarding this and other fundamental doctrines.

For example, William Lane Craig is the director of a ministry called Reasonable Faith. He is also visiting professor at Talbot School of Theology at Biola University and a professor of Philosophy at Houston Baptist University. However, in answer to the question, “Are you confident that Jesus was born of a virgin, Craig said, “I’m reasonably confident.”

To reach that level of theological modernity, one must deny:

The promise God made to Satan in Genesis 3:15, that the “Seed” of the woman would bruise his head, which Jesus Christ did at the cross.
The prophecy of Isaiah 7:14, “The Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”
The fulfillment of those two promises according to Matthew 1:22-23. “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: ‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel.’”

Now, to put Craig’s uncertainty of the virgin birth in the Apostle Paul’s definition of one’s confession of faith, if we are “reasonably confident” Jesus is Lord, and “reasonably confident” God raised Him from the dead, we can be saved. I’m absolutely certain that is NOT what Paul wrote in Romans 10:9-10.

Beloved, the gospel of Matthew was written to prove to the Jews that Jesus was who He said He was, that He did what He said He did, for the reason He said He did it, and that He did it for all who would “believe” in Him – not reasonably confident.

According to a report released this week by Lifeway Research, most Americans and many Christians do not believe the Son of God existed before the manger.

Three out of four Americans believe Jesus was born in Bethlehem 2000 years ago, but less than half of them believe Jesus existed prior to that first Christmas morning.
Ninety-five percent of those who said they were Christians believe Jesus was born in Bethlehem 2000 years ago, but only 63% of them believe the Son of God existed before Jesus was born, which means they do not understand the triune nature of the Godhead, nor God’s plan for our redemption.

Beloved, if Jesus was not the Son of God sent to be our Savior, He died as a martyr, and not our Savior, and we are still lost in our sins. The gospel of Matthew was written to prove that Jesus was the Messiah: The God-sent Savior for all those who will receive Him.

Like the children of Israel in Amos’ day, most of God’s people are not walking in God’s ways today. They are religious, and often participate in a worship service, but their hearts are far from Him.

Just as God was grieved by the evil he saw in the people of Israel in Amos’ day; He must be even more grieved at the wickedness He sees in His people today.

We have a more-sure knowledge of God.
We have witnessed the full and final revelation of God in the Person and work of Jesus Christ.  
We have received the eternal blessings of God’s plan of redemption through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

 Just as Amos pleaded with God’s people in His day, I’m pleading with God’s people today.  Turn your eyes away from the things of the world, even the religious things, and look upon Him who gave His life for our sins and who is soon going to call us home to live with Him forever. In 1 Corinthians 10:11 the Apostle Paul wrote, “These things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.”

In his book, “A Christian Manifesto,” (1981) Dr. Francis Schaeffer wrote, “Our culture, society, government, and law are in the condition they’re in, not because of a conspiracy, but because the church has forsaken its duty to be the salt of the culture.” The title of this sermon is Return to Me: The Fall of a Nation. Amos is writing about the fall of Israel, but the Holy Spirit is speaking to us about the fall of America, not because of crooked politicians, but because of the spiritual weakness of today’s church.

I realize we are entering the Christmas season, but I’m convinced that we face such a crucial time in our history that I must continue the sermon series from the Book of Amos.

As we have learned so far, when God was about to judge Israel in the Old Testament, it was the spiritual leaders who never got the message, and they killed the prophets that tried to warn them. When God sent His Son to be our Savior through the womb of Mary, it was the spiritual leaders who never got the message, and they crucified the very Son of God.

How could God’s people have been so blind? Primarily, it was because they had forsaken their personal relationship with God and had become satisfied with the practice of their religion.

God is speaking to His people through the events of our day, but most of today’s spiritual leaders are so busy they cannot hear what the Spirit is saying to the Churches. The Bible is clear; such a blatant disregard for God’s Word by God’s people will not go unpunished.

Tenth Anniversary Sermon Heritage Baptist Church

Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” The sin of pride is an excessive preoccupation with self and one’s own importance, achievements, status, or possessions. This sin is considered rebellion against God because it attributes to one’s self the honor and glory that only God is due. The sin of pride says, “I don’t need God!”

According to the 2nd London Baptist Confession of 1689: “The acceptable way of worshiping the true God is instituted by Himself, and so limited by His own revealed will, that He may not be worshiped according to the imagination and devices of men, nor in any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scriptures!”

Sadly, that requirement of fidelity to the Scriptures and faithfulness to God regarding our times of corporate worship was not communicated to the majority of today’s ministers. Hence, the worship wars of the last 20-years that ended with the entertainment-based worship services of our day. Quite frankly, since they are not worshipful to God, they are worthless to man, and while they may attract lost people to “attend,” they are a “distraction” to their stated purpose for attending.

The Bible defines wisdom as the ability to see and respond to life’s situations from God’s perspective. Knowledge and wisdom are not the same. Knowledge is the comprehension of accumulated knowledge, but wisdom is the discernment in knowing how to use that information correctly.

The writer of Proverbs declared, “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore, get wisdom, and with all thy getting get understanding.” (Prov.4:7). So as Christians, it is imperative that we not only acquire knowledge but also that we seek wisdom so that we might be able to see the events of our day from God’s viewpoint. And remember, as James said, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” (James 1:5-6)