How Does One Worship - Part 2

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This is the fourth sermon in a series of messages on the topic of worship. This message discusses the theme of worshiping God with our words of praise and adoration, as well as our actions in obedience to His Word.

Written Excerpts:

Rom. 12:1-2 ^(NKJV) I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Introduction:

We have been talking for a few weeks about the matter of worship. The Bible tells us that all of creation worships God and that is our primary purpose – to worship Him.

A.W. Tozer says that a piano may be used for lots of different things, but it was manufactured for only one purpose – to make music. Likewise we are designed for one primary purpose [worship].

Tozer – Sometimes evangelical Christians seem to be fuzzy and uncertain about the nature of God and His purposes in creation and redemption. In such instances, the preachers often are to blame. There are still preachers and teachers who say that Christ died so we would not drink and not smoke and not go to the theater.

No wonder people are confused! No wonder they fall into the habit of backsliding when such things are held up as the reason for salvation.

Jesus was born of a virgin, suffered under Pontius Pilate, died on the cross and rose from the grave to make worshipers out of rebels! (Whatever Happened to Worship?)

We have giving a series of messages on the topic of worship and most recently we were trying to answer the question, “How does one worship God?” or perhaps we could phrase it like this, “How should one worship God?”

Last week we talked about worshiping God “in spirit and in truth.”

Today I want to continue by proposing that we worship God with words and with obedience (conduct).

Last week’s emphasis was on inward qualities – spirituality and integrity.

This week’s emphasis is on outward actions – what we say and what we do.

The outward must be based upon the inward or it becomes a pretense and hypocrisy. But the outward must follow right along with the inward, or it’s nothing more than good intentions or wishful thinking.

III.           We worship with words

In the first sermon on worship that I gave a few weeks ago I attempted to define or describe the meaning of worship. After sharing some of the words that are used in scripture, I offered my own summary of what worship really is:

… it is a recognition of the worth/worthiness of the one being worshiped, and the unworthiness of the worshiper.

It is using culturally accepted means to express humility along with adoration, reverence and honor to the object of worship.

Probably one of the best ways to discover how we can use our words to worship the Lord is to search the Psalms in order to follow the example provided by King David and others.

Bless the Lord

Psalm 106:48 ^(NKJV) Blessed be the LORD God of Israel From everlasting to everlasting! And let all the people say, "Amen!" Praise the LORD!

When we consider the various meanings of the word “bless” we conclude that to bless the Lord means we acknowledge with humility, gratitude and adoration that God possesses every benefit for success such as power, prosperity, fruitfulness and long life. We are acknowledging that He has freely bestowed these benefits on human beings who are weak, limited and unworthy.

To bless Him is to praise Him and to worship Him.

Praise the Lord

Psalm 148:1-5 ^(NKJV) Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the heavens; Praise Him in the heights! Praise Him, all His angels; Praise Him, all His hosts! Praise Him, sun and moon; Praise Him, all you stars of light! Praise Him, you heavens of heavens, And you waters above the heavens! Let them praise the name of the LORD, For He commanded and they were created.

 (The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia) [Praise] may be defined generally as an ascription of value or worth. … true praise consists in a sincere acknowledgment of a real conviction of worth.

When we worship the Lord with our words, we ascribe value and worth to God for who He is. We acknowledge His attributes and qualities and praise Him for each one.

Adore the Lord

Psalm 8:10 — Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth, Who have set Your glory above the heavens!

(The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia) Adoration is intense admiration culminating in reverence and worship, together with the outward acts and attitudes which accompany such reverence…. Adoration is perhaps the highest type of worship, involving the reverent and rapt contemplation of the Divine perfections and prerogatives, the acknowledgment of them in words of praise, together with the visible symbols and postures that express the adoring attitude of the creature in the presence of his Creator.  

There actually are no Bible verses that use the word “adore.” The concept as defined here certainly is found in Scripture, but the word isn’t used.

Tozer – There's an awesomeness about God which is missing in our day altogether; there's little sense of admiring awe in the Church of Christ these days. (Worship: The Missing Jewel)

Tozer – Then there is admiration, that is, appreciation of the Excellency of God.... This admiration for God grows and grows until it fills the heart with wonder and delight. "In our astonished reverence we confess Thine uncreated loveliness," said the hymn writer. "In our astonished reverence." The God of the modern [Christian] rarely astonishes anybody. He manages to stay pretty much within the constitution. Never breaks over our bylaws. He's a very well-behaved God and … very much one of us, and we ask Him to help us when we're in trouble and look to Him to watch over us when we're asleep. The God of the modern [Christian] isn't a God I could have much respect for. But when the Holy Ghost shows us God as He is we admire Him to the point of wonder and delight. (Worship: The Missing Jewel of the Evangelical Church)

Shout Joyfully

Psalm 95:1-2 ^(NKJV) Oh come, let us sing to the LORD! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.  Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with Psalms. (KJV, “joyful noise”)

Extol/Exalt the Lord

Psalm 30:1 ^(NKJV) I will extol You, O LORD, for You have lifted me up, And have not let my foes rejoice over me.

Psalm 99:5 ^(NKJV) Exalt the LORD our God, And worship at His footstool-- He is holy.

(The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia) The Hebrew word most often translated "exalt," "exalted," is rum; "to lift up," "to be or become high."

It seems to express the idea of lifting up for prominent recognition the qualities that are worthy of being noticed and admired.

I’ve read a number of different passages in Psalms that say, “Bless the Lord,” “Praise the Lord,” “Shout joyfully to the Lord,” and “Exalt the Lord.” But what are to bless, praise, shout and exalt Him for? The same kind of things that the Psalmist did and the prophets did: His creative acts; His holiness; His loving kindness; His judgments…

So whether we are speaking in songs, in prayer, in testimonies or some other context we worship Him by using words to magnify and lift up His infinite perfections.

However, Sometimes we worship by not saying anything.

Habakkuk 2:20 ^(NKJV) But the LORD is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him."

IV.           We worship with conduct, namely obedience

Psalm 40:6 ^(NKJV) Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; My ears You have opened. Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require.

Proverbs 21:3 ^(NKJV) To do righteousness and justice Is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.

Jeremiah 7:22-23 ^(NKJV) For I did not speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices. But this is what I commanded them, saying, 'Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you.'

1 John 5:2-3 ^(NKJV) By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.

Richard J. Foster – If worship does not change us, it has not been worship. To stand before the Holy One of eternity is to change. Worship begins in holy expectancy; it ends in holy obedience. (Draper's Book of Quotations)

Conclusion:

Since this is Father’s Day, I want to finish up the message by challenging all of us fathers to set the example for our families in worshiping God.

We need to make every effort to teach them and model for them what it means to worship God in spirit and in truth.

We need to model what it means to worship God with our words and our conduct.

As fathers, we need to teach them the importance of worshiping God by demonstrating its importance in our own lives.

How Does One Worship? - Part 1

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This is the third sermon in a series of messages on the topic of worship. This message begins to discuss some of the key descriptions of authentic worship.

Written Excerpts:

Psalm 29:1-2 ^(NKJV) Give unto the LORD, O you mighty ones, Give unto the LORD glory and strength. Give unto the LORD the glory due to His name; Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.

John 4:23-24 ^(NKJV) But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."

Introduction:

A few weeks ago I started a mini series of sermons on the topic of worship. I want to continue that theme today as we consider the important elements for how we should worship God.

I think I mentioned previously that I have subscribed to a daily email devotional which consists of the writings of A.W. Tozer (a former pastor and theologian in the Christian Missionary Alliance denomination). The quotations that were printed in today’s bulletin were taken from some of those emails. Here is another one that I received:

(A.W.Tozer) – … worship of the loving God is man's whole reason for existence. That is why we are born and that is why we are born again from above. That is why we were created and that is why we have been recreated. That is why there was a genesis at the beginning, and that is why there is a re-genesis, called regeneration.

That is also why there is a church. The Christian church exists to worship God first of all. Everything else must come second or third or fourth or fifth....

Some of you might be familiar with a very popular book that came out about 15 years ago written by Pastor Rick Warren. It was titled, The Purpose-Driven Life. In that book he states that our #1 purpose in life is to give God pleasure. (Rev. 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.) This is another way of saying that our #1 purpose is to worship God.

With the Lord’s help let us consider for a little while the question, “How should anyone worship God?” I think that there are numerous specific ways that we can worship God but there are a few general descriptions that I would like to focus on today.

There are at least four descriptions we must consider to worship God properly. We’re only going to discuss two of them today because of time constraints.

I.      In spirit (Jn. 4:24)

Three ways we can understand the use of the word, “spirit.”

My spirit

Rom. 1:9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers;

That part of me that is capable of communicating with spiritual beings or the “spirit world.”

In contrast to the mountain, the temple, or any other object that this Samaritan woman might be fixated upon, worshiping in spirit emphasizes spiritual worship rather than material.

Worship in the OT did involve objects (sacrifices, tabernacle, incense, etc.) but the most important part of worship has always been communicating spiritually with God. 

The Holy Spirit

Rom. 8:13-16 ^(NKJV) For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. ¹⁴ For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. ¹⁵ For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father." ¹⁶ The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,

God’s spirit provides divine assistance for all we do, so He would especially motivate us and assist us to worship.

Jesus said that when the Holy Spirit came He would guide us into all truth. He would be our helper, our comforter, etc. We cannot do anything without the strength and direction the Spirit gives us, let alone worship the Lord!

Spirit (life)

Jn. 6:63 ^(NKJV) It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.

In this verse there is a close connection made between spirit and life. The word “spirit” literally means “breath” and it is the spirit of a person that gives life to the person.

If we want to describe a lively animal we sometimes say it is a “spirited horse,” or a “spirited dog”… So, I think that there is a sense in which worship in spirit means we worship with real life; not ritualistic, half-hearted, or merely formal.

We need to put our whole heart and soul into worshiping the sovereign Creator. He is worthy of our best.

II.    In truth (Jn. 4:24)

The second description we have concerning the way in which we need to worship God is provided by the word, “truth.”

One writer (Colin Kruse, Tyndale Commentary), indicates that this is speaking about the truth of God as made known by through the person and teachings of Jesus Christ. Jesus said God’s Word was truth. (Jn. 17:17) To worship God in spirit and in truth means our worship must be aligned with the Word of God in a manner that is worthy of God as He is revealed in Scripture.

(Lenski New Testament Commentary) Omit the spirit, and though you have the truth, the worship becomes formalism, mere ritual observance. Omit the truth, and though the whole soul is thrown into the worship, it becomes an abomination. Thus "spirit and truth" form a unit, two halves that belong together in every act of worship.

Finally, I can’t help but believe that the word truth here also includes the idea of authenticity and integrity. In other words, my motives, my life and conduct must match my words, otherwise I’m not only living a lie, but my whole pretense of worship is a lie since I offer empty and meaningless words and phrases that do not reflect who I really am.

Quite a long time ago I read a list of hymn titles that had been altered to reflect the true way many people feel and the way they live.

I could not find a copy of it, but I made up some that are very similar.

I Surrender Some (some to Jesus I surrender, I surrender some)

We’re Limping to Zion (typical, typical Zion)

My Jesus, I Like Thee (I think thou art mine)

Our God Is an Average God (He frets from heaven above)

Fit In, Fit In for Jesus (ye admirers of the cross)

Jesus, I My Chair Have Taken (all to stay and cheer for thee)

Living for Me with a life that is smooth

These sound very silly to us, but they might more accurately reflect the true heart sentiments of some worshipers.

To worship in truth includes bringing our conduct and attitudes into agreement with our words.

How should we worship God?

By lively and spiritual communication aided by God’s Holy Spirit in agreement with God’s revelation of Himself and with integrity of our own conduct.

Let’s stand together and sing our closing song: Fairest Lord Jesus

Communion with Christ

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This sermon was given for the celebration of the Lord's Supper. It emphasizes the importance of Christians living in such a way to communicate to others that we are in communion with Christ rather than communion with devils.

Written Excerpts:

1 Cor. 10:16 ^(NKJV) The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?

Introduction:

Today we are planning to share the sacrament of communion at the close of this message, so I wanted to speak about a topic that relates to this theme.

I have spoken in the past on this passage in 1 Cor. 10. I think we emphasized the word “communion” itself and tried to explain the meaning of the word. In today’s message I’d like to pick up on that same theme but go on to explore some of the implications that we find in the context of these verses.

As I was trying to decide on a title for the message, I actually had thought about using a more catchy title, “Communing with Christ or Dancing with Devils?”

While we notice that the Apostle is stressing the participation or communion we have with Christ as we partake of the bread and the wine/juice, yet it is clear to see that the issue of idolatry is on his mind. This whole discussion on idolatry actually began at the beginning of chapter 8, where Paul talks about Christian liberty and freedom, but the importance to personally restrict one’s liberty to avoid causing a weaker believer to sin. The specific problem concerns the eating of meat that was offered to an idol.

Paul is instructing the Christians to do everything in their power to avoid the wrong influences upon younger / weaker Christians by eating food that was offered to idols. At the beginning of the paragraph we are specifically considering today (v. 14), Paul emphatically warns, “Flee idolatry.”

Tyndale New Testament Commentaries – He had [earlier] urged them to ‘flee fornication’ (6:18), and he now says flee from idolatry. Here, as there, the present imperative signifies the habitual practice. There is to be no leisurely contemplation of the sin, thinking that one can go so far, and be safe from going further. The only wise course is to have nothing to do with it. ‘They must not try how near they can go, but how far they can [flee].’

What is idolatry?

(Camden Cobern, The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia) – Idolatry originally meant the worship of idols, or the worship of false gods by means of idols, but came to mean among the Old Testament Hebrews any worship of false gods, whether by images or otherwise, and finally the worship of [the LORD] through visible symbols. In the New Testament idolatry came to mean, not only the giving to any creature or human creation the honor or devotion which belonged to God alone, but the giving to any human desire a precedence over God's will.

Cobern and others (e.g. Oswalt, The Bible Among the Myths) emphasize the use of idols to manipulate the forces of nature, because the deities (gods) were considered to be part of the creation, rather than separate from it. Originally this was how the Hebrews were distinct from the pagans – they understood that the Sovereign Creator was completely separate and apart from the creation/ creature. But the differences became blurred as the Hebrews repeatedly fell into the shameful practices of idolatry along with their pagan neighbors. In many cases, even their prayers were offered as an attempt to manipulate God rather than worship God and work in cooperation with God.

The Jews and some Gentiles had at times determined that the idols were nothing, and there was no other god except Jehovah, but as indicated in verse 20, Paul indicates that demon spirits connect themselves to idols. So, the conclusion is – anyone who “sacrifices to an idol” is really “sacrificing to a demon.” Furthermore, one who eats food that has been sacrificed to an idol is also communing or participating with demons.

Verse 22 implies that there is a real issue of allegiance that is being addressed here.

We either are completely loyal to Christ and avoiding any connection, communion or participation with demons, or we are compromising our loyalty and joining in with demonic influences, which arouses the holy jealousy of God. If we look at v. 16 we see Paul describing the close connection we have with Christ through the emblems of communion. When we drink the cup and eat the bread we are communing / participating / fellowshipping with Christ.

(Leon Morris, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries) – Holy Communion there is a participation in the blood of Christ …. Those who receive the cup rightly receive Christ. They are bound together in fellowship with Christ….  Such reception is, of course, a spiritual process, and therefore takes place by faith.

The sacrament of Communion is a reminder that we are participating in the broken body and the shed blood of Jesus Christ. We are sharing in the benefits of His sacrifice as we are washed and cleansed from our sins. So, Paul is reminding us that the last thing we want to do is compromise our faith and loyalty to Christ by doing the things that would communicate that we are “tied” to an idol.

He seems to be alerting His readers and us that it is entirely possible to distort our witness and testimony by doing things that identify us with the Devil’s work and activity in our world. We distort our witness and compromise our devotion to Christ by getting involved in activities and affections that connect us with worldly and demonic forces.

Jesus had said in His teaching ministry that it is impossible for us to serve God and mammon (riches and things associated with it). We cannot have a divided loyalty or conflicting affections. In a similar way, Paul is saying we cannot truly commune with Christ and devils at the same time. We must make serious choices to separate ourselves from the things that would indicate we are communing / devoted to / participating with the god(s) of this world.

As we prepare to share the emblems of communion this morning, I ask each of us to look within our hearts and determine if our allegiance is 100% with Christ. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to search us and reveal anything that is turning us away from Christ or dividing our affection and causing us to become idolatrous in our hearts toward anything other than Him.

Let’s sing the song indicated in the bulletin: O the Blood of Jesus

Why Worship?

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This sermon is the second one in a series of messages on worship. This message focuses on the motivations and reasons for worshiping God.

Written Excerpts:

Psalm 86:9 ^(NKJV) All nations whom You have made Shall come and worship before You, O Lord, And shall glorify Your name.

Job 1:9 ^(NKJV) So Satan answered the LORD and said, "Does Job fear God for nothing?

Introduction:

I want to continue today to explore the subject of worship from a slightly different perspective or angle. We’re going to talk about worship today by attempting to answer the question, “Why worship?”

Even though there may be many reasons to worship God, today I will attempt to explain that worship is offered for at least three reasons. We worship God to reveal the motives for our faith. We worship to reveal and exalt the true character of God. And we worship in order to refocus on eternal realities rather than temporal ones.

I.                    We worship to reveal our true motives.

I’ve been recently reading from a book titled, Where Real Worship Begins: Lessons from the Life of Job, written by James Draper, Jr. I want to share some of the observations that I picked up in his book.

James T. Draper, Jr. – And so Satan asks, "Does Job fear God for nothing?" (Job 1:9) That is the real question of the book of Job. We are accustomed to think that the question the book of Job answers is, Why do righteous people suffer? But the reasons for pain, suffering, injustice, and tragedy are dealt with only indirectly. The real question is the one posed in Job 1:9.

Draper is explaining that Satan’s question to God is a question that every one of us must also answer for ourselves. Why does Job worship God? Why do I worship God?

Draper continues: Why does man worship God? Why do prayers of faith come from both the shacks of the poor and the mansions of the rich? Why do songs of praise rise from every segment of the population? Do we worship God because we think we can get from Him what we cannot get from someone else? Do we worship Him because we think He will do for us what no one else will do for us? Do we love God because of what He gives us, or do we love God because He is God? These are questions we must consider. (Where Real Worship Begins: Lessons from the Life of Job.)

Is worship really about us? Is it about what we think we will gain if we honor God? Is it about what we think God will do for us because we acknowledge Him?

Douglas J. Brouwer – [Public] Worship is not, and never has been, something people attend in order to be entertained or fed. Worship can be entertaining. Worship can be richly nourishing. I have pleasant memories of worship being both of those things to me. But those are not the reasons God calls us to worship. (Christianity Today, Vol. 36, no. 10. Quoted in Today's Best Illustrations)

Essentially Brouwer is reminding us that worship isn’t about us. It is not intended to make us feel better, it is all about God and giving adoration to Him because He deserves it and it is right to do so.

So, it appears that God’s willingness to allow Job to be tested the way he is tested lies in the fact that God has full confidence in Job. God knows that Job loves God and worships God just because it is right and because God deserves it; not because of what Job stands to benefit from it.

Why do we worship Him? Why do we come to church? Why do we give our tithes and offerings? Why do we obey any of the commands of God? Is it only so that God will be nice to us and bless us and grant us a long, healthy, and comfortable life? No.

We worship Him because we know in the very depths of our soul that God is perfect and full of love and mercy. God is righteous and just, and God is absolutely worthy to be adored and worshiped by every creature in the entire universe. We worship because we understand that God has provided the perfect plan of salvation for fallen human beings to be rescued, ransomed and transformed into His children who imitate His nature. And, it doesn’t matter how life is going for us, we still know that God deserves all honor, glory, praise and adoration, and we intend to see that He receives it from our hearts, from our lips and from our lives!

II.              We worship to showcase God’s true character.

James T. Draper, Jr. – Satan's accusation was not only directed toward mankind. The arrow the adversary fired did not stop until it struck God Himself. Satan was insinuating that God could no longer inspire anything but mercenary love [i.e. greedy, covetous love]. If Satan's premise were correct, no one would serve God because He is God and no one would adore and worship Him simply for who He is. If Satan were correct, God would be robbed of His high and noble attributes and Heaven would be robbed of its glory. Satan's accusation was against God. (Where Real Worship Begins: Lessons from the Life of Job.)

The author is explaining that Job’s worship to God for who He is rather than for what He gives, proves to a skeptical devil that, at least in Job’s heart, God is still worshiped just like He was before the creation of man and the entrance of sin in the Garden of Eden.

Job 38:4-7 ^(NKJV) "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy?

Psalm 19:1 ^(NKJV) The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.

Here is an indication of the worship God continually gets apart from the creation of man, and most certainly apart from the entrance of sin into the world. God was being praised for His very being; because of who He was. God was worshiped by angels simply because He deserved it, not because He was blessing them with riches, health and prosperity.

When the devil accuses Job for worshiping only because of what he’s getting out of it, he’s slamming God as not being worthy of honor and adoration unless He “bribes” people into giving it. Thankfully, Job proves the devil wrong.

I was thinking how I wish the end of Job’s story would have not only included God’s reprimand of Job’s comforters, but also included a stinging rebuke to Satan, reminding the devil that Job proved him wrong.

How about you? How about me? Do our words and our lives prove to a watching world that we believe God deserves honor and glory in spite of what’s happening to us?

III.        We worship to refocus on eternal realities.

Psalm 73:3-17 ^{(NKJV) 3} For I was envious of the boastful, When I saw the prosperity of the wicked…. ¹⁷ Until I went into the sanctuary of God; Then I understood their end.

The Psalmist admits being envious/jealous of the wicked, and then the next several verses describe why – all the benefits they enjoy even though they show no regard for God.

The thing that changed his perspective and attitude was going into the sanctuary. The passage seems to be specifically talking about the place of public worship, but any place can become a sanctuary if our heart is right. If our life only consists of what we see and understand of the world around us; and if our mind is filled only with the knowledge of earthly wisdom; then we have a one-sided and warped view of reality.

Worship of the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity gives us a vision and an understanding of eternal realities that this world knows nothing about. When we worship God, our own thinking is elevated and changed, as well as our behavior. We become enlightened to a whole new spiritual reality that enables us to re-interpret the earthly reality we’re so accustomed to.

We must worship in order to gain a perspective that raises our thoughts above mere human and earthly wisdom that is so limited, and in many cases, perverted.

Conclusion:

Brothers and sisters, we have a wonderful privilege each and every day – to bow our hearts and even our knees to humbly ascribe glory, honor and majesty to the Sovereign Authority and glorious Ruler of the universe.

We have the wonderful privilege of proclaiming His worth and His awesome character so those around us are reminded that He deserves their worship, reverence and adoration as well.

We have the privilege of rehearsing for the main activity of heaven – glorifying the King of kings and Lord of lords!

A.W. Tozer ― “I can safely say, on the authority of all that is revealed in the Word of God, that any man or woman on this earth who is bored and turned off by worship is not ready for heaven.”

Let us close by singing Ask Ye What Great Thing I Know

What Is Worship?

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This is a sermon that attempts to define what worship is and how it applies to us and our relationship with God.


Psalm 99:5 Exalt ye the LORD our God, and worship at his footstool; for he is holy.

Introduction:

What is worship?

I suppose that if we would ask this question to a number of different people we might receive a variety of answers. We all probably think that we have a pretty good understanding of worship, we might change our opinion once we start really studying into the subject.

Today I’d like to speak to you about the subject of divine worship with the understanding that we won’t have time to thoroughly examine the topic in just one sermon, so we may return to it again in order to gain a more thorough grasp of it.

With the Lord’s help I would like to start off by reviewing some of the words that are used for “worship” in Scripture and then talk about the kinds of things that constitute worship.

I.  Some Terms Used for Worship

(ISBE) The principal Old Testament word is ‏שָׁחָה‎, ṣhāḥāh, "depress," "bow down," "prostrate" (Hithpael), as in 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 context determines more or less clearly whether the physical act or the volitional and emotional idea is intended.

[Some other terms in OT are translated “fall down,” “serve,” etc.]

The Old Testament idea is therefore the reverential attitude of mind or body or both, combined with the more generic notions of religions adoration, obedience, and service. Whatever its origin, worship as developed in the Old Testament is the expression of the religious instinct in penitence, prostration, adoration, and the uplift of holy joy before the Creator.

The principal New Testament word (59 times) is προσκυνέω, proskunéō, "kiss (the hand or the ground) toward," hence, often in the oriental fashion bowing prostrate upon the ground; accordingly, Septuagint uses it [as] "prostrate oneself." It is to render homage to men, angels, demons, the Devil, the "beast," idols, or to God.... The root idea of bodily prostration is much less prominent than in the Old Testament. It is always translated "worship."

[Other words commonly used in the NT carry the idea of reverence/fear/awe; and service.] [See Rom. 12:1 – “… reasonable service;” or “reasonable act of worship.”]

The New Testament idea of worship is a combination of the reverential attitude of mind and body, the general ceremonial and religious service of God, the feeling of awe, veneration, [and] adoration….

With all of the things worship includes we might summarize it all by saying that it is a recognition of the worth/worthiness of the one being worshiped, and the acknowledgment of the worshiper’s unworthiness. It is using culturally accepted means to express subordination of self along with reverence and honor to the object of worship.

Tim Keller — Worship is seeing what God is worth and giving him what he's worth. (Today's Best Illustrations)

(Ed Young) When we see God as He truly is, we see ourselves as we truly are. That is where real worship begins. (Forward in book, Where Real Worship Begins, by James Draper)

II.                    What Worship Is

A. Worship is an attitude.

There are probably a number of attitudes that we could associate with the whole idea of worship. The list would obviously include these:

1. Attitude of humility

All of the references we made earlier to the concepts of bowing down, prostrating one’s self, etc. indicate the outward display of an inward attitude of humility and unworthiness to approach the King of kings, the Lord of lords, and the sovereign power figure / authority figure of the whole universe.

Romans 14:11 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.

Philippians 2:10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;

When any person comes into the presence of the Holy One it will be immediate recognition of our unworthiness to be in His presence. Every thought of self-importance and every idea of self-assertion will absolutely melt away in the presence of Divine Majesty.

Paul Stromberg Rees – If you can leave your church on Sunday morning with no feeling of discomfort, of conviction, of brokenness, of challenge, then for you the hour of worship has not been as dangerous as it should have been. The ease with which we go on being Christian sentimentalists is one of our worst faults. (Draper's Book of Quotations)

Richard J. Foster – If worship does not change us, it has not been worship. To stand before the Holy One of eternity is to change. Worship begins in holy expectancy; it ends in holy obedience. (Draper's Book of Quotations)

This thought leads us to mention two other attitudes that always accompany worship.

2. Attitude of surrender

3. Attitude of service

Any acknowledgement of God that does not lead one to surrender and service is a mere pretense. It cannot be a true understanding.

B. Worship is a lifestyle.

Some people have reduced the idea of worship to the designated time for singing songs that usually occurs at the beginning of a church meeting. This concept is such a narrow view of true worship.

1 Corinthians 10:31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

When we come together for corporate worship, we sing to worship and ascribe worth and glory to God. We pray to acknowledge His supremacy and our dependency. We pray for His will to be accomplished in our lives and in our world so He will be exalted. We don’t pray just so we can have an easier life. We do it as a way of engaging in spiritual warfare so that God’s will is done and God’s name is honored and exalted among the righteous and among the heathen. We give our tithes and offerings generously and cheerfully, not out of obligation or to be noticed, but out of a sincere desire to honor Him; a sincere desire to promote what God is doing locally and globally. We hear the Word because it’s His Word. We need and want to hear what God has to say to us. It’s a way of worshiping Him and acknowledging the worth and value of His message.

Whatever we do – we should be doing it all to exalt and glorify and honor the Lord!

Abraham J. Heschel – Worship is a way of living, a way of seeing the world in the light of God... to rise to a higher level of existence, to see the world from the point of view of God. (Draper's Book of Quotations)

(Illustrations Unlimited) A budget is a theological document. It indicates who or what we worship.

We can say the same thing about our work, our recreation, our relationships, etc. etc. Do we conduct all of these areas of our lives as if we are doing it for God? Do we conduct all of these tasks in a way that causes people around us to honor and exalt God?

Conclusion:

John Henry Jowett — We leave our places of worship, and no deep and inexpressible wonder sits upon our faces. We can sing these lilting melodies, and when we go out into the streets our faces are one with the faces of those who have left the theaters and the music halls. There is nothing about us to suggest that we have been looking at anything stupendous and overwhelming... And what is the explanation of the loss? Preeminently our impoverished conception of God. (Today's Best Illustrations)

What Jowett is saying is this: it’s not a necessary part of my job as your pastor to make you feel comfortable and jubilant when you leave here every Sunday. There are times, when we’ve truly acquired a glimpse of God’s majesty and glory, that we will feel uneasy about the status quo of our devotion and service to Him.

This assessment not only applies to our meetings for corporate worship, but it also applies to our personal, private worship. Far too often we start off our day and end our day without a genuine encounter with the Holy One of eternity.

For some professing Christians, it has been weeks or months, perhaps even years since they have had an encounter with God that profoundly changed their perception of God as well as their perception of time and eternity.

May God help us to recapture the true concept and act of worship in our lives and in our churches!

Our closing song today is: I Give All to You 

What Is a Mom?

(To download an mp3 file of this message, click on the title above. To listen online, click on the play button of the audio player shown.)

This is a sermon that was given on Mother's Day and it attempts to describe some of the roles or tasks that moms perform as illustrated in various passages of Scripture.

Written Excerpts:

Introduction:

What is a Mom? Boy, we could probably spend the rest of the service just going around the room and getting answers to that question.

A pastor from OK wrote this question with the following answer: What are mothers? Well, mothers are teachers. Mothers are disciplinarians. Mothers are cleaning ladies. Some mothers are gardeners & mowers of lawns. Mothers are nurses & doctors & psychologists & counselors & chauffeurs & coaches. Mothers are developers of personalities, molders of vocabularies, & shapers of attitudes. Mothers are soft voices saying, "I love you." And mothers are a link to God, a child's first impression of God's love. Mothers are all these things & much, much more.

His list pretty well covers it all, especially when he ended it by saying, “and much, much more!”

A teacher gave her class of second graders a lesson on the magnet and what it does. The next day in a written test, she included this question: “My full name has six letters. The first one is M. I pick up things. What am I?" When the test papers were turned in, the teacher was astonished to find that almost 50 percent of the students answered the question with the word Mother. (sermonillustrations.com)

That is actually one of the things a mother does, but that probably isn’t the best answer to the question, “What is a mom?”

I want to take a little while today to use various Scripture texts to describe what a mother really is.

I.      A mom is the giver of life.

Genesis 3:20   And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.

We know from plenty of texts in Scripture that God is the ultimate source of life.

A mom is the person God uses to carry that unborn baby and let her body provide the safety and nourishment he needs until he is developed enough to survive on his own.

Moms provide life.

II.    A mom is a teacher

Proverbs 1:7-9 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction. My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother: For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.

This text in Prov. 1 is one of many references in the Bible that indicate the gift of teaching that moms possess. Word “instruction” appears in verses 7 & 8.

True that the word is associated with the role of the father as well, but the indication is that this is what a mother does as well – teach her children things they need to know in life.

Teach: (reading, manners, responsibility, Scriptures, etc.)

Proverbs 31:1 The words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him.

Mom is a person that teaches.

III.   A mom is the provider of unconditional love and comfort.

Isaiah 49:15 ^(NKJV) "Can a woman forget her nursing child, And not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, Yet I will not forget you.”

The implication of this verse is this: It MAY happen that a mother could forget her child and refuse to show love or compassion, but the wording of the text makes it very clear that it is not normal, nor is it something we would expect.

Isaiah 66:13 As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem.

1 Thessalonians 2:7 ^(NKJV) But we were gentle among you, just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children.

These are just a few of the passages that emphasize the kind of love that a mother has for her children. Even mothers of convicted and condemned murderers will speak of their love for their sons/daughters.

A mom is a person that carries a love for her children that no one else can quite understand.

IV.   A mom is a molder of faith.

2 Timothy 1:5 ^(NKJV) when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.

Paul had just mentioned his constant prayers for Timothy and his great desire to see him and he adds that he remembers the genuine/sincere faith Timothy has. He then explains how that rock-solid faith was developed in him – it came from his grandmother and his mother. Both of these women had successfully transmitted a sincere faith in God to this son who had proven his faith by serving the Lord in a tremendous ministry.

A Mom is a person that transfers faith in the Lord to the next generation.

Conclusion:

As I indicated at the beginning of the message, there are many more things we could include in the “definition” of a mom.

Let me just finish by saying a mom is a person worthy of respect and honor. She may have many faults and may have made many mistakes (who among us hasn’t?). But, with all of the love, tenderness, nurture and work she puts into the lives of her children, mom deserves recognition, respect and our heart-felt gratitude.

Sam Ewing (author) ―  “When you feel neglected, think of the female salmon, who lays 3,000,000 eggs but no one remembers her on Mother's Day” (http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/mother?)

For our closing song today I chose a chorus that probably could be the testimony of every Christian mother everywhere.

Learning to Lean