Worthy of Worship

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This is a sermon that was given on May 1, 2016 at Wayside Community Church by Pastor Les.

Worthy of Worship

Philippians 2:9-11 (KJV) ⁹ Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: ¹⁰ That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; ¹¹ And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Introduction:

In the process of meditating and seeking God’s direction for the message today, I felt a leading toward the subject of worshiping God, with a special focus on the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.

If we have read through the Bible and understood the overall theme of redemption that runs through it, we know that the culmination of all history is the ultimate and final victory of the Lamb of God and the celebration of worship centered on Him for the fulfillment of the plan of salvation. The passage of Scripture that was read earlier (Rev. 5) gives us a glimpse into the worship activity in heaven as the Son of God, aka the Lamb of God, is praised and worshiped for His victorious accomplishment of redemption.

I want to just go through a number of Scriptures to review what the Bible has to say about the One who is worthy of all our worship and adoration.

I.    A review of what worship is.

Just about a year ago I gave a message on this same theme. I offered these quotes…

(Sperry, quoted in Wiley, Vol III p 45) “Worship is the adoration of God, the aspiration of supreme worth to God, and the manifestation of reverence in the presence of God.”

(Prudden, Ibid) “He who has not learned to worship inclines to the belief that there is no being more worthy of reverence than himself…. The essence of worship is, that in itself it is dethroned and God enthroned. By it we recognize Him as somewhat other than a very powerful person whom we may use for our convenience and benefit.”

The worship of God reminds us that God is completely and supremely different from us in His being, His nature, His abilities and His purposes. His ways are above our ways and His thoughts are above our thoughts.

Psalm 73:3, 17 (KJV) ³ For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.  ¹⁷ Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end.

Going to the place of worship helps us gain a fresh perspective on eternal realities and recognize that things are not really as they seem.

The most prominent terms used in Hebrew and in Greek carry the idea of prostrating one’s self; bowing the head; bowing down to the ground; or kiss the hand or ground towards something or someone.

For example, Exodus 4:31 (KJV) And the people believed: and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.

The word implies that the one worshiping acknowledges the superiority of the one being worshiped. It assumes the value, worth and honor of the object of worship. It also assumes the inferiority/humility of the one worshiping as well as the worshiper’s dependence upon the object of his worship.

Some people presume that worship consists in the singing of songs, the reading of Scripture and the offering of prayers. But it is all worthless if the heart attitude has not been properly adjusted to consider the worth and supreme honor due to the object of our worship.

True worship, Jesus said, must be done in spirit and in truth. That is, done genuinely and authentically with our spirit, not simply as a ritual or formality. Position of our heart/attitude is more important that the position of our bodies. However, many references in the Bible to standing and kneeling/prostrating.

II.  God demands to be worshiped alone.

Exodus 20:2-6 (NKJV) ² "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. ³ You shall have no other gods before Me. ⁴ "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; ⁵ you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, ⁶ but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

Isaiah 42:8 (KJV) ⁸ I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.

Matthew 4:10 (KJV) ¹⁰ Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

1 Peter 2:5 (NKJV) ⁵ you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

The God of the Bible; the God who created Adam; the God of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob is the highest, most supreme being in all of the universe. There is none like Him, so He deserves the worship of all creation. He deserves the adoration and worship of every person created in His image.

III. The Son/Lamb deserves our worship too.

We’ve already stated that God alone is to be worshiped, and He is a jealous God who will not give His glory to any other. Yet, throughout Scripture we have record of Jesus, the Son of God receiving worship from both human beings and heavenly beings.

Heb. 1:5-6 (NKJV) ⁵ For to which of the angels did He ever say: "You are My Son, Today I have begotten You"? And again: "I will be to Him a Father, And He shall be to Me a Son"? ⁶ But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: "Let all the angels of God worship Him."

In a sermon I gave once before I explained that this last phrase does not appear in the verse that is cross referenced (Deut. 32:43), but it does appear in the Gk trans. of the passage, which was familiar to the Jews of the NT era and the writer of Hebrews includes the thought by inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Then we have the words of Jesus Himself:

John 5:22-23 (NKJV) ²² For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, ²³ that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.

This is one of many passages where Jesus clearly claims equality with the Father, for which the Jews despised Him and accused Him of blasphemy and worthy of death.

Others freely and openly worshiped the Son…

Matthew 2:1-2, 11 (NKJV) ¹ Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, ² saying, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him." ¹¹ And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

There are at least 10 different occasions recorded in the gospels when people “worshiped” Jesus. Then we have the account in Rev. 5 with the angels and elders worshiping the Lamb.

We are told early on in Scripture that God alone is to be worshiped, and Jesus told the Devil that God alone is to be worshiped. But when people and angels worship the Son, they are never rebuked or denied. (This is one of the strong proofs that Jesus truly was deity. His nature was one with the divine nature of the Father.)

In addition to these accounts of people and angels worshiping Jesus, we have repeated references to the fact that God has exalted Him.

For example:

Matthew 26:63-64 (NKJV) ⁶³ But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest answered and said to Him, "I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!" ⁶⁴ Jesus said to him, "It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven."

Mark 16:19 (NKJV) ¹⁹ So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.

Acts 2:32-35 (NKJV) ³² This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. ³³ Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear. ³⁴ For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: 'The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, ³⁵ Till I make Your enemies Your footstool." '

Acts 5:30-31 (NKJV) ³⁰ The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. ³¹ Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

There are at least 7 additional passages that make reference to Jesus being exalted to the position of “right hand of God.”

One of those is the passage in Philippians.

Philippians 2:9-11 (KJV) ⁹ Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: ¹⁰ That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; ¹¹ And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Conclusion:

The burden of my heart today is that every one of us would learn to properly worship the Lord God in heaven. Worship Him with genuine passion. Adore Him and give Him reverence.

When you pray, spend time praising Him for who He is and all His wonderful attributes and qualities before you ever get to your “wish list” of needs that you want Him to provide and problems you want Him to solve.

When we come to church and engage in corporate worship, let your mind soar to the heights of heaven and imagine our great God with infinite knowledge, power and authority. Allow your mind to stretch to fathom His righteousness, goodness and love.

When you go about your daily responsibilities, no matter what they are and how mundane they seem, do all that you do for the glory of God as a service of worship and sacrifice to Him.

All of life is to be an act of worship to the Lord.

He is worthy. He is our Redeemer. He is King of kings and Lord of lords!

I want to close the service today by singing a chorus:

Thou Art Worthy