The claims of God to the worship and homage of His creatures
I. God is entitled to and claims the homage of His creatures.
II. These claims are made upon us, his intelligent creatures.
III. The worship and homage required elevates the man who pays it. (J. Robinson.)
The glory which is due to Jehovah
The whole preceptive part of the Bible is contained in this one command. Every being has a right and may justly claim to be regarded and treated by all who know him in a manner suitable to the nature and character which he possesses to the relations and offices which he sustains, and to the works which he performs. Consider what is due to Jehovah.
I. An account of His nature. He is God alone. He deserves something which is due to no other being in the universe--religious worship and adoration.
II. On account of the character he possesses. It is absolutely perfect. There is something in His character suited to excite every proper affection of which the human soul is capable.
III. On account of the relations and offices which He sustains.
1. Creator.
2. Preserver.
These imply that God must necessarily be the universal Teacher, Master, Sovereign, and Judge.
IV. On account of the works which He has performed. Conclusion:
1. How reasonable are God’s requisitions! He merely requires the payment of a great debt.
2. How immeasurably great, then, is the debt which our world has contracted, and under the burden of which it now groans. (E. Payson,D. D.)
The claims of the Supreme Being to the worship and homage of His creatures
These claims are founded--
I. On our relation to God as His creatures.
II. On the manifestations of the Divine excellence visible in the universe around us.
III. In the constitution and susceptibilities of our minds. Worship is not only fit and proper as an act of the mind, but one to whichit is naturally prone.
IV. On a consideration of what is most conducive to the well-being of men. The very act itself elevates the mind; it reminds us of our true position as the creatures and the servants of God. Conclusion:
1. These acts of worship divide the world into two great classes--those that fear God and those that fear Him not.
2. That as the public worship of God is one most important means of proclaiming the great facts of His existence and government, it demands the special and constant attention of all that fear God.
3. That as worship and homage are the requirements and the just rights of the Supreme Being, and as they are intimately connected with our well-being in this life and that which is to come, it is a serious and important inquiry how we may be able to present it most acceptably. (J. Robinson.)
Bring an offering.--
Hearing and worshipping
I. What do we come to Church for? Not merely to get but to give. Not to take only but to offer. Not to hear simply, but to worship: “bring an offering,” “worship the Lord.”
II. What is the offering the bringing of which constitutes worship? It is the offering of ourselves. Spirit, soul, body, substance. Conclusion:
1. This true explanation of the object of our meeting in God’s house gives the clearest condemnation of those who absent themselves. “I can read my Bible at home” might be an answer if we be but “hearers”; none if we be “worshippers.”
2. How great is the honour of being allowed to honour God--as worshippers!
3. Our direct worship shall be the smoke of the incense; but our whole life shall be, as it were, a compound of sweet spices. (J. R. Vernon, M. A.)
The beauty of holiness
The religion of the gospel of Christ is the “beauty of holiness,” as it concerns--
