Right Posture Before God

In this part of the sermon: Martin states the principle that the Holy Spirit recorded physical postures in worship to reveal the underlying spiritual posture, not to prescribe imitation of forms. He then…

A woman in the congregation comes to Martin upset that their prayer meeting does not kneel; Martin challenges her with the Pentecost narrative where the Spirit fell on people who were sitting, demonstrating that physical posture is not what determines God's acceptance of worship.

And she came to me trying to be very, keep her place, it was a woman and she was trying not to lose her place as a woman. And yet at the same time she was quite agitated and her whole agitation was this. She said, don't you think the only proper posture when we pray is on our knees? I said, well, if I could show you that God obviously put his seal of approval on people praying in another posture, would you accept that?

5:34 - 6:02 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not seek to imitate biblical physical postures of worship; instead, cultivate the inner spiritual posture -- humility and submission -- that those postures reflect and express.

Acts 2 records that the Spirit came and filled the room where they were sitting, showing God's approval is not tied to any single physical posture and setting up the distinction between external form and inward soul-posture.

It says they continued steadfastly in prayer. Now, I said, when the Holy Spirit came in power on the day of Pentecost, what posture were the people in?

6:24 - 6:32 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin states the principle that the Holy Spirit recorded physical postures in worship to reveal the underlying spiritual posture, not to prescribe imitation of forms. He then…

Martin explains how the Israelites could simultaneously lift their hands and have their faces to the ground by pointing to how Muslims pray -- raising hands then bowing to the ground -- demonstrating there is no contradiction in Nehemiah 8:6.

He fell upon his face and did worship. Once he knew who this person was, none other than our Lord Jesus Christ himself, he wanted to ascribe to him honor and praise. But before he did, he prostrated himself upon the earth. The posture of worship, the bowed head, the prostrate body, as we saw with the servant of Abraham and now with Joshua.

13:38 - 14:05 Read in full sermon

Driving home: we can no more truly worship than a man can swim with his hands and feet tied, than a man can sing with his mouth closed or with his tongue ripped out.

Without the inner posture of humility and submission, attempting to worship is as impossible as a man trying to swim with his hands and feet tied, or to sing with his mouth closed or tongue ripped out -- a vivid double impossibility.

It said essentially the same of Job in Job chapter 1. It said again in Psalm 95, 6 and 7, O come, let us kneel down. Let us bow before the Lord our maker. Let us worship him.

15:08 - 15:23 Read in full sermon

Driving home: we can no more truly worship than a man can swim with his hands and feet tied, than a man can sing with his mouth closed or with his tongue ripped out.

The common expression 'carry your head high' shows how the lifted head universally symbolizes pride, setting up the contrast with the bowed head that denotes humility; Martin notes wryly that he literally cannot lift his head high tonight having popped a vertebra combing his hair.

In the temptation in Matthew 4, Satan says to our Lord in verse 9, I'll give thee all the kingdoms of the earth if thou wilt what? Bow down and worship me. The posture. That precedes and attends the worship.

15:45 - 16:02 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Humility is simply the creature consciously taking his place before the Creator. That's all humility is. Humility is moral sanity. Humility is looking yourself in the mirror and really seeing what's there.

The Pharisee who lifted his eyes to heaven in proud self-congratulation is contrasted with the publican who would not so much as look up -- the biblical paradigm of proud worship rejected versus humble worship accepted.

And he says, if the whole church would speak the words of God, then unbelievers coming in would be struck with something, namely, the reality of the omniscience of God. The secrets of his heart would be made manifest. 1 Corinthians 14, 25. And the secrets of his heart are made manifest.

16:21 - 16:41 Read in full sermon

Driving home: We see a man, big man, smart man, controlling his own destiny, determining his own fate, governing his own affairs, getting on quite well without his God.

Sin distorts the mirror so that instead of seeing a helpless creature of dust dependent on God, we see a big, smart, self-sufficient man 'getting on quite well without his God.' Humility is simply restored moral sanity -- seeing what is actually there.

If you and I would worship, there must be this posture of true worship. Now, what is the meaning of this external posture? May I suggest that two things as a bare essential, there may be more, but I'm convinced these two things are taught in these portions of scripture. Number one, the matter of true humility.

18:07 - 18:32 Read in full sermon

Driving home: We see a man, big man, smart man, controlling his own destiny, determining his own fate, governing his own affairs, getting on quite well without his God.

Martin asks why God made us human beings rather than cockroaches or mice caught in traps, grounding the uniqueness of human dignity entirely in God's sovereign good pleasure as confessed in Revelation 4:11 ('by thy pleasure they are and were created').

The lifted head speaks of pride. In Proverbs 6, God says, These six things doth the Lord hate, yea, seven are an abomination unto him, a high look and a proud heart. You have the example in the gospels of that Pharisee who lifted up his eyes to heaven, proud of what he was, whereas the publican would not so much as even look up, but he cast his eyes downward. So that that which is spoken of in this posture of the bowed head, that which is spoken of in this posture of prostration before God, bent before him, is that inner posture of humility.

19:08 - 19:49 Read in full sermon

The point: When tempted by pride, ask 'Where should I be right now?' and honestly answer that God's justice could have left you in hell -- this is one of the quickest paths to genuine humility.

In his early twenties, preaching to 1,500-2,000 people at a Canadian conference, Martin felt the 'billows' of pride fanned in his breast. He looked down at his hands and meditated on where those hands deserved to be -- cast into hell -- until every last conscious vestige of pride shriveled, teaching him the lesson he passes on in this sermon.

There's only one thing that's not a thing, and that's God. And so these elders are prostrate before the throne of God. Acknowledging. That everything that is created has come by the good pleasure of God, for by thy pleasure they are and were created.

22:02 - 22:21 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin introduces the second element: utter submission. Drawing from Revelation 4:10 and 7:11 he explains the throne as the seat of absolute power with no court of appeal. He then…

Martin explains the oriental concept of a throne -- absolute power with no court of appeal, 'government of the throne, by the throne, and for the throne' -- to help Western democrats feel the weight of what it means to prostrate oneself before God's throne.

Because they are created things who owe their very existence to God. So when they worship, they don't stand equal to God and say, thank you. They fall down and prostrate themselves, acknowledging they are creatures. He is their creator.

24:08 - 24:23 Read in full sermon

The point: Come to the preaching of the word in the posture of Joshua -- prostrate before the throne, asking 'What saith my Lord unto his servant?' -- and you will be worshiping even as you listen.

Joshua's immediate question after prostrating himself in worship -- 'What saith my Lord unto his servant?' -- illustrates that submission to God's person naturally and necessarily opens itself to receive direction from God's revealed word, making the hearing of preaching an act of the highest worship.

And so I acknowledge this by that posture of the soul that is best expressed at times by a physical posture so that when these people thought of who God was, and what they were, they instinctively bowed the head. The outward act, a reflection of the inward disposition of the soul. And I wondered as I was meditating upon this, if at least there isn't some analogy here, when it speaks so many times of people worshipping prostrate upon the ground with their bodies close to the dust, if this isn't the most fitting way for a man to acknowledge, that's all I am. He took dust.

25:50 - 26:31 Read in full sermon

The point: Submit to God's afflicting providences with the posture of David and Job -- not demanding explanations but bowing and saying 'Thou art God, free to do as thou wilt'; this is where God teaches most of his children to wors…

David's servants feared he would go out of his mind at his son's death; instead, David rose, washed, and went into the house of the Lord and worshiped -- saying in effect 'O God, all that thou doest is good' -- the paradigm of submission to God's chastening.

If you're not conscious of your earthiness, just sit before a church service sometime. Someone wants to strike up conversation, say, excuse me, I've got business to do. I've got things to do to prepare myself to worship. And just start thinking. Who am I?

27:26 - 27:40 Read in full sermon

The point: Submit to God's afflicting providences with the posture of David and Job -- not demanding explanations but bowing and saying 'Thou art God, free to do as thou wilt'; this is where God teaches most of his children to wors…

A child beats the ground in rebellion -- that is a posture of rebellion, not submission. Job fell upon the ground and worshiped. The same physical proximity to the earth expresses two radically different soul-postures: tantrum or surrender.

That would be a more accurate analogy. Well, here you are. You're in your early twenties. Here are men who've preached for 30, 40 years, before they get asked to a conference.

29:12 - 29:24 Read in full sermon

A couple of weeks before the sermon, Martin and his wife exchanged sharp words on a Sunday morning; he told her he could not lead the congregation in worship with the controversy unresolved -- 'It would be mockery to God' -- and only after receiving assurance of peace between them did he feel he could lead worship, illustrating the absolute incompatibility of controversy and worship.

The throne is the seat of absolute power and unquestioned authority. There's no higher court of appeal. It's not government of the people, by the people, and for the people. It's government of the throne, by the throne, and for the throne.

32:07 - 32:22 Read in full sermon