The Hungry Heart Does Not Want to be Entertained

Well, a couple of weeks ago,
when Ron called me and said he needed some time off, he says,
would you consider sharing a message? And a sudden fear struck my heart.
It’s been probably over 10 years since I did something like this,
but you know, it’s not about me and what I can do, it’s about
what God can use a broken vessel for. So I pray that that will
be the case today. One of the things that I’ve discovered
is there’s nothing more important in a Christian life than worship.
Nothing. And the title of today’s message
is, The Hungry Heart Does Not Want To Be Entertained. Sherry
and I used to have a ministry of duplicating and sending out
tapes of Christian messages. They were free, no charge. And we named that ministry, Tapes
for Hungry Hearts, because we typically chose messages that
were of good teaching and uplifting to the Lord, and we wanted those
to be disseminated as much as possible. And so a part of the
title today comes from that ministry. The hungry heart does not want
to be entertained. So why do we come to church?
Is it to be entertained or to see the face of God? What do we expect from the Christian
life? Is it to be entertained by God
or to go closer to Him? Do we want our ears to be tickled
or do we wanna see the Holy God? It tells us in the latter days
that men will seek to have their ears tickled. And we see that
all over the world now. Some of these churches that are
growing to 6,000 to 9,000 people. And we see and listen to the
messages and it’s all about happiness and just comfort and self-esteem
and so forth. But that’s not what God is bringing
to us. In Exodus 28, 38, Charles Haddon Spurgeon was talking about
the iniquity of the holy things that’s brought out in Exodus
28, 38. And this is where Aaron was supposed
to take and consecrate the iniquity of the holy things that the people
had offered throughout the year. And this is what Charles Haddon
had to say about that. What a veil is lifted by these
words and what a disclosure is made. It will be humbling and
profitable for us to pause a while and see this sad sight. The iniquities
of our public worship, its hypocrisy, formality, lukewarmness, irreverence,
wondering of heart, and forgiveness of God. What a full measure we
have here. Our work for the Lord, its emulation,
selfishness, carelessness, slackness, unbelief, and a mass of defilement
is there. Our private devotions, their
laxity, their coldness, their neglect, sleepiness and vanity,
what a mountain of dread. is there. If we look more carefully,
we would find this iniquity to be far greater than it appears
at first sight. When I read this, I’m convicted
terribly myself. I know sometimes in the morning
I get up and I hurry through my devotions and I read quickly
instead of pausing and meditating on the words to see the living
God. The most important activity for
a believer or the body of believers is worship. Why? Because everything the Christian
does depends on his relationship to God. And that relationship
grows through worship. What is worship? A few definitions. It’s reverent devotion and allegiance
pledged to God. The English word worship comes
from the old English word Worship, a word that denotes the worthiness
of the one receiving a special honor or devotion. Writing more
than 100 years ago, Alexander Smith gave this definition of
worship. To worship God is to make him
the supreme object of our esteem and delight, both in public,
private, and secret. Archbishop William Temple, again,
over 100 years ago, said, to worship is to quicken the conscience
by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God,
to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart
to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God.
Worship is not stained glasses, stained glass windows, mighty
organs, empty phrases. In Exodus 20, verse four through
five, it says, you shall not make for yourself an idol or
any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath
or the water underneath the earth. You shall not worship them or
serve them for I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous God. We see from this that we’re not
to use pictures, images, status, statues of deity. They’re all forbidden in worship.
We’re not supposed to take our imaginations and try to form
imaginary images of God as we pray or we worship. Because what
would we imagine? He is the infinite God of the
universe and we don’t know what he looks like. There’s no images
to make of him, but we worship him in spirit. and truth. So
worship comes from within and john chapter 4 23 through 24. It says, yet is a time is coming
and now has come when the true words worshippers will worship
the father and spirit and truth for they are the kind of worshippers.
The father seeks God is spirit and his worshippers must worship
him in spirit and truth. Worship should include time of
tranquility and silence. As it tells us in Psalms 46.10,
cease striving and know that I am God. I will be exalted among
the nations. I will be exalted in the earth.
I was reading a book by A.P. Gibbs on the subject of worship.
And I took an excerpt from that and I’d like to read it to you
because I can’t say it any better. So I’d like to share this excerpt
with you. It’s on John chapter 12, 1 through
8. So if you could turn to John
chapter 12, we’ll read this together. John chapter 12, verses 1 through
8. Jesus therefore six days before
the Passover came to Bethany where Lazarus was, whom Jesus
had raised from the dead. So they made him a supper there
and Martha was serving and Lazarus was one of those reclining at
the table with him. Mary then took a pound of very
costly perfume of pure nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and
wiped his feet with her hair. And the house became filled with
the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his
disciples who was intended to portray him said, why was this
perfume not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor? Now, he
said this not because he was concerned for the poor, but because
he was a thief. And as he had the money box,
he used to pilfer what was put into it. Therefore, Jesus said,
let her alone so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. For you always have the poor
with you, but you do not always have me. Now, A.P. Gibbs, he used a unique way of
looking at this passage. And first off, he looked at what
is this not worship? What is it that she did that
was not worship? Mary did not come to hear a sermon. Here she was before the greatest
teacher in all of the universe. She had said under his teaching
many times, but she didn’t come to be taught. Instead, her primary
purpose was her visit to spend time in his presence. That’s
what she wanted, just to spend time in his presence. Mary did
not come to make a request. She knew the earnest importance
of supplication before him. He was the omnipotent one who
could answer any prayer. But yet again, that was not her
motive behind her response. She came not to get, but to give. Mary did not come to meet fellow
believers. You think, whoa, what’s going
on there? As important as fellowship is,
important and we must have fellowship. I tend to be a loner personally,
and I always thought that wouldn’t it be nice to live up in the
woods away from people? But every time I get that thought,
the Lord reminds me you cannot be a Christian and be in fellowship
without being in fellowship with other believers. God uses other
believers in our lives, and we must be together. So I’m not
going to have that mountain home away from all people. So Mary
didn’t come to meet fellow believers. Instead, even though that’s great,
it’s not the greatest thing. Fellowship is primarily with
the father and with his son. And fellowship with each other
naturally flows from this. Mary did not come to be refreshed
by him. She came instead to be not refreshed,
but to refresh the Lord and fill his soul with joy. By this act,
Mary anticipated the cross and saw to it that her Lord was refreshed
on the eve of his redemption, his redemptive work, I should
say. Her deed surely teaches us that worship is not intended
to produce self-satisfaction in the believer, but to give
adoration to the Savior. He goes on to say, Mary did not
come to meet the host. We should refuse to allow any
person, no matter how pleasing their personality, no matter
how dynamic they may be, to rob us of his preeminence. He also says that she did not
come because it was a popular thing to do. Jesus was being
rejected. He was about to be betrayed.
And the world was about to have their hands stained with the
blood of Christ. The path of wholehearted discipleship
has never been crowded or popular. The Christian who seeks to carry
out these spiritual principles will find plenty of opposition,
even from those who claim to be fundamental in their doctrine. Mary did not come to withhold
her best, but she gave freely and joyfully the things that
were costly. We look at a few things about
this gift. It was very, very costly. Since the laborer of that time
received about a penny a day, her gift represented a year’s
salary. Love is measured by the sacrifice
it makes for its object. Our Lord loved the church and
gave himself for it, Ephesians 5.25. Her gift had been reserved
for the purpose. She had treasured in her heart
the words that fell from his lips. This is one of the things
that I’ve been praying about for years, is learn how to listen.
Mary had that nailed. She knew how to listen. It says
she treasured in her heart the words that fell from his lips.
Consequently, she knew that he was going to be portrayed, crucified,
buried, and rose and rise again. The disciples never seemed to
grasp the significance of his words, even though he spoke in
plain language. Rather, Mary thus had the single
honor of being the only one who anointed the Lord for his burial. What an honor. Her gift was brought
to the feet of Jesus. Those feet which had walked the
rugged roads of Israel had carried blessings everywhere they went,
were indeed beautiful to her, Romans 10, 15. She knew these
feet would carry him to Calvary, there to be pierced for her transgressions. She knew also that he would one
day occupy the throne and reign until God made his enemies his
footstool. She gladly gave it all for him.
The scripture informs us that the woman’s glory is her hair.
Thus by this act of stooping down and wiping the feet of our
Lord Jesus with a perfume brought her glory in a lowly yet sublime
adoration. What a beautiful picture this
is of the necessary heart of humility that should characterize
the worship of God’s people. God has distinctly declared that
no flesh should glory in his presence. And then her gift was
filled the house with fragrance. Each member of that company would
also carry on his person, or her person, the many traces of
that sweet perfume. True, there were those who criticized
the act and referred to it as a waste, but the Lord’s commendation
more than compensated her for the adverse criticism. In Matthew 26, 12 through 13,
it adds, the Lord said, for when she poured this perfume on my
body, She did it to prepare me for my burial. Truly, I say to
you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world,
what this woman has done will always be spoken of in the memory
of her. Scripture views worship as both
individual and collective act. It is also, as each believer
in the body brings to the feet of his of their Lord, the perfume
of his appreciation, that the whole company of Christians will
be affected. This was the excerpt from A.P. Gibbs’ book on worship. Also
found that worship involves four experiences. The first experience,
seeking, then finding, and then enjoying and sharing. When we
look at seeking, it should be our normal desire. Psalms 27
8 it says when you said seek my face my heart said to you
Your face. Oh Lord. I will see Psalms 29
1 through 2 says ascribe to the Lord O sons of the mighty ascribe
to the Lord Glory and strength ascribe to the Lord the glory
do his name worship the Lord and and holy array. And if you read the rest of that
psalm, you see an excellent example of the psalmist doing just that.
Ascribing to the Lord the glory due his name. Psalms chapter
63 verses 1 through 7 says, Oh God, you are my God. I will seek
you earnestly. My soul thirsts for you. My flesh
yearns for you. and a dry and worthy weary land
where there is no water. Thus I have seen you in the sanctuary
to see your power and your glory because you’re loving kindness
is better than life. My lips will praise you. I will
bless you. You as long as I live, I will
lift up my hands in your name. My soul is satisfied as morrow
and fatness, and my mouth offers praises with joyful lips. When I remember you on my bed,
I meditate on you in the night, watches, for you have been my
help. And in the shadow of your wings,
I sing for joy. My soul clings to you. Your right
hand upholds me. Psalms 105, verse four, seek
the Lord and his strength. Seek his face continually. I ask the question, how strong
is our desire for God? Where, when, how, and how hard
do we seek for God? Do we look for the face of God
in happiness? There’s many times when things
come into our life that really makes us quite joyful or happy.
But are we distracted by that and that we don’t give praise
to the God who gave it to us? What are we drawn to give praise
to? What about in trials? One of
the main purposes of a trial is to help us understand and
learn something new about the character of God. Through that
trial, we will learn more about the character of God. So when
you come into a trial, do you stop and pause and pray that
the Lord would show you His glory, would show you His face, show
you something new about His character, that He would draw you closer
in that relationship? What about in pain and sorrow?
The same thing applies. Do we look to Him? Are in need? Do we actually assent and tell
the Lord that we realize that even our next breath comes from
Him? We have nothing apart from the
Lord. Everything, everything that we have is from Him. All of it. Do we acknowledge
that? When we’re in Bible study or
devotions, Are we looking for the face of God? Are we looking
for something new about Him? Do we look at those things and
meditate on them to get to know our God more? What about your
quiet times? Do you rush through them like
I do sometimes? I got to read a chapter at least
today. You rush through that chapter so you can jump in the
car and go to work? Or do you take your time? And
you read, as George Mueller used to say, he read until the Lord
spoke to him. And he offered those things up
in prayer as the Lord spoke to him. Is that the way our devotions
go? Listening, listening to what
the Lord has to tell us? So in Jeremiah 29, 13, it says,
you will seek me and find me when you search for me with all
of your heart. Sounds pretty stiff, doesn’t
it? With all of your heart. Well, why is it that the demand
is so, so high with all of your heart? R.C. Sproul, which I really
respect, was talking about an occasion where the Swiss theologian
Karl Barth was asked by a student during a seminar in the United
States. The student said, Dr. Barth,
What is the most profound thing you have ever learned in your
study of theology? Well, Dr. Barth took a moment,
thought about it, and then replied, Jesus loves me. This I know, for the Bible tells
me so. I’m telling you, that’s profound. The students giggled at a simplistic
answer, but their laughter was of a nervous sort as they slowly
realized Barth was serious. Barth gave a simple answer to
a question of profundity. The trouble with getting teary
eyes is the type starts getting blurry. So in doing so, he was calling
attention to two vitally important notions. At the simplest Christian truth,
there resides a profundity that can occupy the minds of the most
brilliant people for a lifetime. The second thing, that even in
learned theological sophistication, we never really rise above a
child’s level of understanding the mysterious depths and riches
of the character of God. So how do we seek then, given
what Barth says and what Sproul shared about that? I would say
that we seek God as children. Matthew 11, 25 through 26 says,
at that time Jesus said, I will praise you, Father, Lord of heaven
and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and
the intelligent. and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this was well-pleasing
in your sight. Another way that we should be
seeking is with a hungry and thirsty heart. In Psalms 42, one through two,
it says, as the deer pants for the water brooks, So all my soul
pans for you, oh God. My soul thirsts for God, for
the living God. Where shall I come? When shall
I come and appear before God? And Luke 6, 21 says, blessed
are you who hunger now, for you should be satisfied. We should
seek in turning knowledge about God into knowledge of God. When I was a young Christian,
I wanted to learn as many facts as I could so I could answer
as many questions as I could answer. But you know, that doesn’t
lead to godliness. It leads to being a know-it-all.
And know-it-alls usually irritate people. And I found that I did
that quite often, always wanting to have the answer. But that’s
not what he’s talking about. He wants us to take the knowledge
about God. We search and we learn, who is
God? What is God like? And then we
want to turn that into an experiential knowledge of Him so that we can
commune and we can worship Him. In 2 Peter 1, 2-7 it says, grace
and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of
Jesus our Lord, saying that his divine power has granted us everything
pertaining to life and godliness. How? Through the true knowledge of
him who called us by his own glory and excellence. How? by the true knowledge of Him. You can’t know Jesus Christ and
God without learning who He is. You must learn who Jesus is so
that you can worship Him, not only in spirit, but in truth. We can’t really say that we know
a person unless we learn about them, we’re with them, and we
experience them, and then we know them, and we have fellowship
with them. It’s the same about God. We must
learn who he is in truth so that we can turn that truth into fellowship. The word used in this passage
is epigenosis. Now just read a definition of
this word. It says that it’s more intense
than just the word genosis for general knowledge. because it
expresses a more thorough participation in the acquiring knowledge on
the part of the learner. In the New Testament, it often
refers to the knowledge which is very powerfully, let me start
over on that one. It often refers to knowledge
which very powerfully influences the form of the Christian life,
a knowledge leaving claim to personal involvement. When used
as an object, It shows the relationship of the learner to the object
of his knowledge. It increases spiritual blessings
upon the believer and determines the manifestations of the Christian
life. So knowledge of the Lord as we
meditate and we pray about that is transformed into our knowing
him and having fellowship with him and worshiping him in truth
and spirit and truth. J.I. Packer has this to say.
He says, how can we turn the knowledge about God into knowledge
of God? The rule for doing this is demanding
but simple. It’s that we turn each truth
that we learn about God into a matter of meditation before
God, leading to prayer and praise about our God. Stephen Charnock,
I don’t know if any of you have ever attempted to read his book
on the attributes of God. It’s about this thick. And it’s all super small type. I can’t read it without, you
know, really good reader glasses. And I still haven’t made it through
it. I was just talking not too long
ago to a friend who used to be the chief of police in Loveland.
His name’s Tom Wagner. And he was an elder of the church
I was going to, and I bought that book for each of the elders.
And he looked at it, put it aside, because it was just kind of overwhelming.
But I talked to him just a month or two ago, and he said that
he, after he retired, made it a goal to read through that book.
He said nothing’s touched his life like it. And studying the
attributes of God. And then he started a Bible study
in the church. where he’s taking people through
the attributes of God. That was pretty encouraging.
Stephen Sharnock says this, the right exercise of worship is
founded upon the rise, was founded upon, he uses old King James,
so I gotta shift to that a little bit. Says, how can we turn our,
let’s see, the right exercise of worship is founded upon and
rises from the spirituality of God. The first ground of worship
we render to God is the infinite excellency of his nature, which
is not only one attribute, but results from all. For God is
God, is the object of worship, and the notion of God consists
not of thinking of him as just wise, good, just, but of all
of those infinitely beyond any conception. And hence to follow that God
is the object infinitely to be loved and honored. And in thinking
of that, I listed just a few of his attributes that make up
that nature, that essence of who he is. He’s triune. a triune God, transcendent, holy,
eternal, immutable, omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, sovereign,
independent. He’s a spirit. He’s faithful,
good, just, full of grace. He’s the love, self sufficient,
self existent, full of glory, wise, A God that just demonstrates
wrath against evil. He’s gentle. He’s jealous. He’s patient. He’s generous. And we could go on and on about
who this God truly is. And as you study those, you’re
struck with the majesty of the living God. And that’s who we should worship.
And that’s how we should worship. He truly is too great to be fully
understood. But praise God, he’s given us,
in the word of God, truth about himself. And we must learn the
truth that he wants us to know. He’s given it because he wants
an intimate relationship with us. True worship begins with
hunger. Seeking heart that’s dissatisfied
with religious substitutes many Christians are living on today. The next experience is that of
finding. Our adoration and knowledge of
God should lead us to the confession of sin and the presence of his
holiness. His primary place, the primary
place to search for him is his word, secondarily in nature and
experience. In Isaiah 6, 5 it says, then
I said, woe is me for I am ruined. Because I am a man of unclean
lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips. For my eyes
have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. One of the things that’s
impressed me about some of the older Bible teachers that I’ve
read is that the older they get, the more aware they are of their
sinfulness, their humility. and that they’re not pompous,
that they’re humble because they’ve seen the face of God. And Isaiah,
or in 2 Peter 3.18 it says, but grow in the grace and knowledge
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both
now and to the day of eternity. Amen. Philippians 3.10 says,
that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship
of his sufferings being conformed to his death. Matthew 11, 28
through 30. Come unto me, all you that are
weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon
you and learn from me. For I am gentle and humble in
heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is
easy, and my burden is light.” The next experience is that of
enjoying. In our seeking heart, when it’s
found God, we will enjoy Him. Because God, one of the highest
goals that He has for us is that we enjoy Him. As D.L. Moody put it, he says,
we ought to see the face of God every morning before We see the
face of man. I’ll tell you, it puts a whole
different perspective on life. It puts things in its proper
perspective. As we do this, love will flow
through us. As in John 15, 9 through 14 says,
just as the Father has loved me, I have also loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep
my commandments, you will abide in my love. just as I have kept
my father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things
I have spoken to you so that my joy may be in you and your
joy may be made full. If worship does not change us,
it has not been worship. It’s not been truly worship. To stand before the Holy One
of Eternity Eternity is to change. Worship begins in holy expectancy. It ends in holy obedience. Richard
Foster in the early 1900s. Luke 24, 32 says, they said to
one another, were not our hearts burning within us while he was
speaking to us on the road? While he was explaining the scriptures
to us, this is the verse that we got, the name for the tape
ministry, tapes for hungry hearts. These men had hungry hearts and
their hearts burned within them as they listened and heard the
Lord Jesus speaking and explaining scriptures to them. Stephen Charnock
goes on to say, God is a spirit infinitely happy. We should smile
when we sing. He’s infinitely happy. Therefore,
we must approach him with cheerfulness. He is a spirit of infinite majesty. Therefore, we must come before
him with reverence. He is a spirit infinitely high. Therefore, we must offer up our
sacrifices to the deep with deepest humility. He is a spirit infinitely
holy. Therefore, we must address with
purity. He is a spirit of infinite glorious. We must therefore acknowledge
his excellency in all that we do and in our major contribute
to his glory and having the highest aims in his worship. He is a
spirit infinitely provoked by us. Therefore we must offer up
our worship in the name of a pacifying mediator and intercessor. We
must realize that even in our worship, we’re sinful. And what he’s saying is, is that
we need a mediator. We need an advocate. And who
is that? So we worship through our Lord
Jesus Christ, who is our mediator. And then the experience of sharing.
We will be compelled to give back to God that which he gives
to us. Worship is giving to God the
best he has given to us. Oswald Chambers. Psalms 138,
1 through 5 says, I will give you thanks with all of my heart.
I will sing praises to you before the gods. I will bow down toward
your holy temple. and give thanks to your name
for your loving kindness and your truth. For you have magnified
your word according to all your name. On the day that I called
you, you answered me. You made me hold with strength
in my soul. All the kings of the earth will
give you your thanks to you, O Lord, when they have heard
the words of your mouth and they will sing the ways of the Lord.
For great is the glory of the Lord. In Hebrews 13, 15 through
16, it says, through him then, we 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 such sacrifice as God is pleased. One of the
verses that I was actually meditating on before Ron called me was Romans
12, one through two. And it says, therefore, I urge
you, brethren, by the mercies of God to present your bodies
a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your
reasonable or which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not
be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing
of your mind. so that you may prove what the
will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. And if you look at the context
that this is written in, he goes on to talk about the exercise
of your spiritual gifts. The exercise of your spiritual
gift is an act of worship. God, the Holy Spirit, has equipped
every believer, everyone that’s accepted Christ as their Lord
and Savior, he’s given you a gift, at least one gift. And our act
of worship is returning the service of those gifts in the body of
Christ. That brings him glory, the act
of worship. Worship that stimulates the mind
and stirs the emotions but fails to move the will is not true
spiritual worship. Application. We pray, we pay God honor and
reverence, not for his sake, because he is of himself full
of glory to which no creature can add anything. This is Thomas
Aquinas. Do we want to experience deeper
worship here at Providence? Then remember that individual
worship precedes corporate worship because corporate worship is
only as good as individual worship. In 1886, the Swedish pastor Karl
Boberg And this man, I think, really understood the art of
worship when he saw this just in the experience of one day,
what he accomplished. It says, this pastor was caught
in a sudden thunderstorm while visiting a beauty country estate. As the storm passed, giving way
to sweet songs of the birds, a green countryside glistening
in the sunlight, Boberg composed the nine original stanzas of
this hymn, How Great Thou Art. I can’t read it. We’re going
to have to sing it. And as we sing it, look at the
words. Don’t just sing them. Look at
them. make them yours. Father, I thank
you for this opportunity, and I praise you for being the living
God, a God of the highest majesty, the eternal ruler and sustainer
of the universe. I thank you that you, beyond
any expectation that I can have, wants fellowship with us, You
want us to know you, and you want us to worship you. What
a privilege. So thank you, and I praise you. In Jesus Christ’s name, amen.