Word of Salvation – Vol. 18 No.25 – June 1972
How Great Is Your God
Sermon by Rev. N. Hart, Th.Grad. on Psalm 95:3
Scripture Reading: Psalm 95; 1Cor.1:17-31
Psalter Hymnal: 183: 1,2,3; 129 (after grace); 281:1,3,8,10; 226:1,2,3; 226:4,5
One of the most fundamental truths of the Christian Faith, is the confession that we are what we are because God dwells within us.
Is 57:15 says:-
“Thus says the high and lofty One, who inhabits eternity
whose name is Holy:
I dwell in the high and holy place,
with Him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit…!”
But God does not only dwell within us, He works in us. We are the instruments through which God performs His purposes. This is so in the work of mercy, as is so especially in the task of preaching the Gospel as we see in the statement of Mat.16:20:-
“And they went forth, and preached everywhere,
the Lord working with them,
and confirming the word with signs following.”
This divine activity within us, and through us is the most enthusing experiences of life. In fact the word “enthusiasm” is a word which means just that. It comes from the Greek word, “enthusia” – possessed by God.
One of the alarming factors of the Christian Church is that so many lack enthusiasm. It seems to me that people are believers, if they are possessed by God. So if God does dwell in them, then surely God is very small. A person who lacks Christian “enthusiasm” lacks God dwelling within. A person who has but little enthusiasm, has but a small god dwelling within.
Those who read Ps 95 with a believing heart will share in the enthusiasm of the Psalmist. Anyone who does not share this excitement receives a warning from the Psalmist, as he reminds his readers of the consequence of indifference to the greatness of God.
As we consider this confession of the Psalmist,
“The Lord is a great God, and a great King above all other Gods”,
I would like to see that this confession would evoke some personal response to the question, “How great is OUR God?” That, you see, is a very personal question.
Because I would like each one of us to face this question for ourselves, thoughtfully and honestly, I would like to use the following method. I want to show you some pictures from the Bible – candid camera shots, if you like – pictures from real life, action pictures, pictures of flesh-and- blood folk like us. Each of the people presented from the pages of sacred history had to face the value of God in their life: where do we stand in relation to them?
1. THE GOD WITH TERRITORIAL LIMITATIONS.
The first picture is that of Naaman, captain of the army of the King of Syria. He has been healed from leprosy, that terrifying disease, by washing himself seven times in the river Jordan. He has returned to the prophet Elisha. He stands before the prophet with all his soldiers around him and he declares:-
“Behold, now I know that there is no God in all earth, except in Israel”. (vs.15)
And he continues:-
“Shall there not be given to your servant two mules’ burden of earth?
For your servant will not offer any sacrifice to any other gods,
except to the Lord.”
Thus we see Naaman on his way home, two mules carry between them on a double yoke a load of soil from Elijah’s garden. On this soil Naaman is going to build an altar. On this soil he will stand as he worships. The God of Naaman is limited to his own soil.
Before we laugh about Naaman, let us consider how many others there are who in some way follow into the footsteps of Naaman. In Australia there are three denominations, one from Scotland, one from Northern Ireland, one from Holland. All are equally reformed, so much so that the students study at the same college. The Reformed Churches, the Free Presbyterian Church and the Reformed Presbyterian Church, each hang on to their own traditions. Each in a way has brought a piece of “holy land”, so to say, to build a new denomination.
In New Zealand too there are at least two denominations, the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and the Reformed Churches which go their separate ways, on the basis of traditions. I wonder sometimes how wise we were as a denomination in having taken the “sacred soil of our continental confessions” with us. Can we praise and glorify God only in traditional Dutch liturgies? Would we be unable to worship the living God in terms of the native soil of the local Reformed tradition i.e., that of the Presbyterian Church? Would we not be able to sing from its hymn book?
I do not say that we had not the duty of independent establishment. But was our duty to establish a new tradition? Would it not have been better to have adopted the local Presbyterian tradition, but then in its original orthodox form? Maybe you would like to discuss this among yourselves. Or are we no longer interested in these matters of the church?
But this matter reaches further into our personal lives. I wonder how many attend other churches during their vacations? Are there no local churches? It is the same idea as that of leaving off our personal devotion, when, owing to relationships with God determined by locality, by tradition?
If it is good enough to pray for our food at home, is it not good enough to do it at work at school or on holidays. If we can sing hymns at home, we can sing them outside our homes. The Psalmist confesses, and rightly so,
“In His hand are the deep places of the earth,
the strength of the hills is his also.
The sea is his, and he made it:
his hands formed the dry land.”
It is simply ridiculous to cart a bit of soil from one part of God’s world to another. It is equally ridiculous to think that our relationship to God changes when we move from one place to another. God is the same wherever we are. Let us not hold one place more sacred than another, not one tradition purer than another. “God is the spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth”. How great is our God?
2. THE BURDENSOME GODS OF BABEL.
The second picture comes from the empire of Babylon. It is described in the prophecy of Isaiah, Chap.46. These gods are the gods of the Babylonians. But they were carried away as burdens on animals. They were unable to save: This is what we read in verses 1 and 2:-
“Bel bows down, Nebo stoops,
their idol are on beasts and cattle;
these things you carry are loaded as
burdens on weary beasts.
They stoop, they bow down together,
they cannot save the burden,
but themselves go into captivity.” (RSV)
There are many people today who look to their god in great frustrations. They see the misery in this world, they experience miseries in their life, but they find no comfort. It is not as though such people do not participate in religious rituals, they probably are most faithful in their religious activity. But, when it comes to deriving benefit out of their religion, there is none. When the catastrophes of life come, they and their gods are swept away.
How great is our God? Are you discouraged about God’s ability or willingness to do anything in regard to your needs? Do you pray to God to help you? Or, to put it straight, are you embarrassed to ask God to supply you in your needs? This is how God speaks to the prophet in the verses that follow.
“I have made you and I will carry you:
I will carry you and will save you.”
How different from those idol worshippers!, who carried their idols into captivity. But God would carry His people to freedom.
This is also how the Psalmist knows his God.
“O come, let us worship and bow down:
let us kneel before the Lord our maker:
He is our God; and we are the people of his pasture,
the sheep of his hand”. (vss.6,7.)
3. THE GOD WHO CARES.
This is the picture of the God who cares, the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. On the night before his death, Jesus said to his disciples who had been close companions during the years of ministry.
“Behold the hour comes, yes, is now come,
that you shall be scattered, every man to his own place,
and you shall leave me alone; and yet, I am not alone,
because the Father is with me.” John 16:32.
See this same Jesus less then twelve hours later as he hangs between two thieves upon a cross, tortured to death. His disciples are scattered. The bravest of them stand at a distance. Anyway, He had not counted on them. He had counted only upon His Father.
When the suffering becomes greatest, he reaches out to take hold of His Father, but for a time cannot find Him. In agony he cries out:
“My God, My God, why has thou forsaken me?”
But then finding the Hand for which He seeks, he rests back upon the goodness and the power and the love of His Father and whispers joyfully:-
“Father into thy hands I commend my spirit.”
How great is our God? Is he great enough to wrap his love around us, to stand beside us in our darkest hour? Can He see through our crisis – even though all men forsake us? Is He sufficient for us when even those who are nearest and dearest fall away? Is our God great enough to stoop to our weakness, to bind up our wounds, to wipe away our tears, to put our hand in His Hand, His shoulder to our shoulder and walk with us through anything and everything that life requires of us?
Oh, let us not be afraid of trials. “Count it all joy when you are faced with various trials,” for it gives you an opportunity to lean on our God with all our weight. It means that we experience the joy of being carried by none less than the living God who created us. Then shall we find peace. Let us be sure that our life is not made or determined by the great men or great women we have known in life it does not matter if we are able to say, “this great man or woman was my friend”.
It matters if we can say: “The Lord is a great God.”
How great is our God? Is he like the God of Naaman, who was bound to the garden plot of Palestine soil? Do we leave our God in Church or at home? How great is our God? Is he like the Gods of Bel and Nebo? These require burdensome worship and were carried about from place to place. But they could not bring deliverance. How great is our God? Is He the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ?
Paul Writes:
“The foolishness of God is wiser than men,
and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise
God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the mighty,
and the base things of the world,
and the things which are despised, has God chosen,
yes, the things which had no existence,
to bring to nothing the things that are…
that as it is written,
“He who glories let him glory in the Lord!”