Opinion Worship

Opinion Worship

“For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry.”

1 Samuel 15:23a

All rebellion against God in every type, degree, and facet, no matter how one may look at it, is sin. God often lumps sins of differing degrees together to show that sin is seen by God as wrongdoing and in opposition to His perfection.

In this verse, Samuel, Israel’s faithful high priest brings a word of judgment against Israel’s first king, Saul. Saul did not wait 7 days, as instructed, for Samuel’s return and presumptuously sacrificed sheep and oxen to the LORD. This we know is reserved only for a Levite who is of the priestly order. Saul had rebelled by not devoting the entire community of the Amalekites and all they possessed to destruction, as God commanded, and he presumptuously tried to honor God by his own method. He kept (15:21) “the spoil, the sheep and oxen, the best…to sacrifice to the Lord…” Saul presumed that this would be pleasing to God. Saul’s presumption (guess) cost him the kingship and earthly blessing and it is described in this verse above as equal to iniquity and idolatry! Why?

Mankind is so inclined to worship a god of their own liking and imagination. The worship of a false understanding of God, if not true, is as idolatry. In an age of universalism (all faiths lead to the same God), privatization (God is only for private life), and relativism (what works must be of God), we have multitudes of people attempting to worship and please God as they please by their own private, relative, and uninformed methods. God is to be known, worshipped, and pleased by His prescribed methods and that is according to truth found in God’s Word! Anything less, is the same as Saul’s sin of presumption!

In a men’s study this year, a gentleman said, “For the longest time I had been worshipping my own opinion of God.” What a profound realization! At a worldwide level, presumption of God is at an epidemic level, which clearly displays a rampant zeal without knowledge. So many are following the erroneous piping’s of a self-proclaimed “apostolic” piper who leads them into gross presumption of, unwritten, un-prescribed, euphoric and imaginative error! This is idolatry.

Foundational truths, God’s attributes and character, the Promises of God, and solid skills in Bible interpretation, all wrapped in a life of prayer, is the consistent need of God’s people. The truth of God’s Word, which lays out before all believers God’s prescribed standards as to what please Him, must be followed precisely, carefully, and rigorously. Otherwise, we are no different than anyone else who worships a false god of tradition or of mans fallen imagination. The Father is seeking worshippers to worship Him according to spirit and truth (John 4:23-24). Saul worshipped God his own way and great was the sin. Do you worship your own opinion of God or is it according to the Truth?

"...the LORD our God broke out against us because we did not seek him according to the rule."

1 Chronicles 14:13b

Faith in its Power

Faith in its Power

“Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”

Hebrews 11:1

What is a good definition of faith? Many of us instinctively turn to Hebrews 11:1. But if we examine this verse, we will notice that it is not a definition. Faith, in very simple terms, means to trust or to have reliance. However, this verse does not define Faith itself but it describes Faith in its power. “ It is a description of Faith in one of its great affects. Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses—they all treated the hoped-for and the unseen as solid and certain. Faith is reliance, reposed on a trustworthy object and exercised more or less in the dark. The virtue of Faith lies in the virtue of its object.” But here in Hebrews 11:1, we find faith in action. Faith gives surety and certainty in someone or something even when we cannot grasp or attain it. This is a supernatural work by the Spirit, because the object of our Faith is in God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ who are supernatural. Faith produces a firm, concrete, and solid hope in the unseen. Though the world places their faith in “stuff” every day without noticing it, Christians have been given a prevailing confidence in God, an unseen reality. If people want to know what faith is, we can surely tell them. If people want to know what faith does…one great example is found in Hebrews 11:1.

Resources: Bishop H.C.G. Moule of England, The Fundamentals: 1909