Object of Worship

 “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.” - Psalm 119:18.
Date: Sunday, September 06, 2014
Today's Chapters: Ezekiel 27-28
Message Title: Object of Worship
Hello My Friend,
The very first commandment that God ever made to His People is, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” - Exodus 20:3. Now, we who are saved, born again believers, understand that there is only one God and that He is the Almighty, All Powerful Jehovah Himself, but even they can worship other gods. Anytime a person, object, job, or lifestyle takes place over God, it is, in fact, a god, and God will not have any god before Him. “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” - Matthew 15:8,9.
The word worship has two different meanings, one is, the act of paying divine honors to the Supreme Being (God); and two, extravagant respect or admiration for or devotion to an object of esteem. Often the biggest object of worship is money, God is not against any of His people having money, but He is against His people forgetting that He is the source of that money. The nation of Tyrus was very prosperous, they were well known for their ships and merchandise, even though Ezekiel was well beyond it in Babylon, God warned him of the destruction that was about to take place in Tyrus. God tells Ezekiel to take up a lamentation for Tyrus.
“Now, thou son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyrus; And say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea, which art a merchant of the people for many isles, Thus saith the Lord GOD; O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty. Thy borders are in the midst of the seas, thy builders have perfected thy beauty. Thy riches, and thy fairs, thy merchandise, thy mariners, and thy pilots, thy calkers, and the occupiers of thy merchandise, and all thy men of war, that are in thee, and in all thy company which is in the midst of thee, shall fall into the midst of the seas in the day of thy ruin. In the time when thou shalt be broken by the seas in the depths of the waters thy merchandise and all thy company in the midst of thee shall fall.” - Ezekiel 27:2-4,27,34.
The gods of Tyrus was their wealthy and power, they thought that they were invincible, especially since they were still standing while Jerusalem fell. You can be sure that if we start boasting about all that we have made ourselves, that God will take it all away, faster than you can blink your eyes. “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.” - Colossians 3:23-25.
God did not want to see Tyrus destroyed, just like He didn't want to see Israel destroyed, and all His people scattered everywhere, but as a nation they refused to eliminate the heathens, gods, and idols that were an abomination to everything He stood for, so, He had no other choice. Sometimes it's not by death that people are destroyed, but simply by taking their possessions or wealth away from them. This time, God singled out the prince of Tyrus. Why? Because he thought himself to be a god. “Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God: With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures: By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches: Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God; Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness.” - Ezekiel 28:2,4-7.
Of all the sins one can commit, the one that gets God's blood boiling is a person making themselves a god. The devil, Lucifer, himself, was one of God's angels, he thought himself to be a god, he exalted himself above God, and was cast out of heaven. Just like the prince of Tyrus was killed, so will the devil, he will be cast into the lake of fire, along with anyone else who thought themselves to be a god. There are many religions that deceive people into believing they will be a god if they do certain things, all they are doing is getting a one way ticket to hell. “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” - Revelation 20:10,13-15.
It's not money, fame, or fortune that destroys us, it's how we handle what God has given us that destroys us. Through Ezekiel, God tells Tyrus why He will completely destroy their nation. “Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.” - Ezekiel 28:15-17,19.
God did not want to see Tyrus destroyed, just like He didn't want to see Israel destroyed, and all His people scattered everywhere. They had a choice, but refused to eliminate the gods and idols that were their object of worship. We cannot expect God let us continue to prosper, if we put other gods before us, but He will as long as we keep Him our only God. “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” - Psalm 1:1-3.
Today's Prayer: God, You love us so much, You want to see us prosper and give us everything we want and need, all You ask in return is that we worship only You. Lord, with all the temptations of the world, it can be difficult to keep You above all that, but we can do all things by Your power. Lead us and guide us, give us Your power to keep Your first, and to first and far most, acknowledge You in all that You bless us with so we no do forget that it it You who gives us everything we have. In Jesus' name. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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