| October 7, 2001 | Worship | 1 Cor. 11:26 |
Is it worship when we all sit and listen to a good Holy Ghost
inspired sermon that revives us, and helps us get
our priorities straight? No. Sermons are not to
God, or for God, sermons are for us.
Sermons are not worship.
Is it worship when we have an anointed time of prayer, and we really get serious with God, we get a sense of what God wants, and we pray according to His will, and marvelous things happen? Not usually. Prayer is usually asking God for something. Normally, prayer is not worship.
Is it worship when we get all excited about what God has done
in our lives, and we testify about how good God
is to us? How about when we praise God, both in
word and in song? Sometimes. If we are praising Him because He
has blessed us and made us happy and content and comfortable:
no. Because once again, we are not focused on God, we are focused
on what God has done for us.
If we are praising Him for who He is, what
He is like, and just because He is worthy to be
praised, then the answer is yes, that is worship.
Sometimes prayer and praise and testimony can be
a part of worship, but it depends on where the focus is.
"Lord, save me" is prayer.
"Lord, thank you for saving me" is praise.
"Thank you Lord, for being a loving Savior God" is worship.
God makes our worship personal and intimate through salvation
when He brings us into an family relationship with Himself. He
enables us to say: "Thank you Lord, for what you are, and
thank you for letting me know you and appreciate you through the
salvation of your Son."
Today we are going to have a worship service. As part of that
service, we are going to have the Lord's Supper. Since we have
several children in our congregation who have accepted the Lord
Jesus Christ as their Savior, we will have the Lord's Supper shortly,
so that they may also participate, and then we will dismiss the
children to children's church.
Right now some one is probably sitting there thinking: "We
never did it that way before." That's right.
Remember last month we had a sermon on traditions?
There are scriptural traditions; traditions that
the Bible tells us to keep. There are unscriptural
traditions; traditions that the Bible forbids. And then there
are non scriptural traditions, traditions that the
Bible is silent on. I realize that we have always
had Communion after the end of the sermon, however
that is a non scriptural tradition, so it's OK to
change it, the floor will not open and swallow any of us up. It's
cool, don't worry.
The early church believed that Communion was the central point
of worship, the focal point of the church's worship of God, and
I want us to think about why they did that.
If you have your Bibles with you today, and I hope you do, turn
to 1 Corinthians 11:26 " For as often as ye eat this bread,
and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death
till he come."
This word "show"; to show the Lord's death until He
come, is wonderfully important to us. It means to make known,
to preach, to announce, to publicly proclaim the
death of the Lord Jesus Christ. When we eat the bread and drink
the cup, it tells the world that we are not saved
by our good works, we are saved through the death
of the Lord. When we eat the bread and drink the cup,
it proclaims to everybody that we are not saved
by learning Bible doctrines or by going to the right church, we
are saved by the death of our Lord on a cross, and He
is our salvation. We are proclaiming His
death.
When we eat the bread and drink the cup, we proclaim that Jesus
Christ is Lord. Crucified, resurrected, and glorified. He is not
just some prophet, not some glorified angelic being, He
is Lord. He is God in the flesh, the God-man, the Son
of God; God the Son. The One Who is from everlasting to everlasting,
the Ancient of Days, the Alpha and Omega, the Aleph and the Tau.
The world needs to know that we are not saved by how much we
love God, how obedient we are to Him, or how willing
we are to follow His teachings, the world needs
to know that He loved us enough to go to a cross
for us and shed His blood and die to save us, and
when we break the bread and drink the cup, that is
what we are proclaiming.
In the Old Testament economy, the worshiper would lay his hand
on the head of the lamb as the priest would slaughter it and offer
it up as a sacrifice for him. The worshiper identified himself
with that lamb.
In the same manner, partaking of Communion is for those who have
personally identified themselves with Jesus Christ. Those who
have received the Lord Jesus Christ as their own personal Savior,
those who belong to Him by faith, who have personally committed
their lives to Him, and trusted Him to take away their sins.
If there is someone here today who has never trusted Jesus Christ
as your personal Savior, you have never really gotten before God
and asked Jesus to take away your sins and save you, then when
the bread and cup are passed around, you should just let it go
on by. Not taking Communion is nothing to be ashamed of, all of
us have been in that situation at one time. But taking Communion
when you are not yet a Christian, or taking Communion when you
have some issue in your life that has come between you and God,
is an offense to God. Not a good idea. We have not come here today
to offend God, we have come to worship Him.
Worship begins by recognizing that something or
someone is worthy, excellent, superior, better than
anything else, the very best. That is what God is. He is wonderful,
there is no one and nothing that compares to Jesus. Not only that,
He is pure and good and perfectly clean. He is totally separate,
completely different from anything evil or unclean. As we read
Wednesday night at Bible study; "God is light, and in Him
is no darkness at all." That is what is called holiness.
God is holy.
Turn in your hymn books to #1: "Holy, Holy, Holy." Vs.
1,3,4
Worship does not originate from the pulpit or the preacher, worship
is from the Holy Spirit speaking through God's people. Is there
someone who would like to share a word of worship that the Lord
has given to them? A song of praise? Now is the proper time.
The apostle Paul tells us "That the Lord Jesus the same night
in which he was betrayed took bread:
1Co 11:24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said,
Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in
remembrance of me.
1Co 11:25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he
had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood:
this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
1Co 11:26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup,
ye do shew the Lord's death till he come."
What wondrous love! What an amazing sacrifice! What a marvelous
salvation! What an incredible outpouring of grace
from God to man!
Let's sing about that grace. #165, "Amazing Grace."
Vs. 1, 2, 3
(DP give thanks for the bread.)
Is there someone else who has a word of worship, or a song of
praise before we give thanks for the cup?
(MK give thanks for the cup.)
(Dismiss children)
The first mention of the word worship in the Bible
occurs when Abraham is called upon to sacrifice his son Isaac
upon Mount Moriah. As we have said before, the first mention of
any particular important topic in the Bible sets the pattern for
that topic from then on, so if we want to learn about worship,
we start with the worship of Abraham and Isaac. Turn in your Bibles
to Genesis chapter 22. I realize that we looked at this portion
of Scripture just last month, but that's OK. God's Word is such
that we will not get all the good out of any one piece of it any
time soon.
Gen 22:1 "And it came to pass after these things, that God
did tempt -or test- Abraham, and said unto him,
Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am."
God said. Abraham responded to something that
God said. Abraham did not worship God according to his
own ideas, it was not something that Abraham thought up, the idea
and format of worship came as a revelation from God. Any time
we attempt to worship God other than as His Word reveals, we will
be like the Samaritan woman who spoke to Jesus. Remember what
He told her? "Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we
worship:... God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must
worship him in spirit and in truth." (John 4:22-24)
The only way that you can worship God in Spirit and in truth is
according to what God's Word reveals. "Faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the Word of God." (Rom 10:17) God revealed
His Word and His will to Abraham, and Abraham responded in faith.
And that is the second part of worship: faith. Verse 3: "And
Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled
his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his
son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose
up, and went unto the place of which God had told him."
Abraham responded in faith. He did not delay, he did not argue,
he did not "accidently/on purpose" forget the wood,
or the fire, or to bring Isaac along, he obeyed, in faith, at
once. Worship involves a responsive faith.
Abraham did something. He did not have couch potato
faith. He did not sit on his sanctification and bless God and
wait for heaven to come and poke cream puffs into his mouth, he
acted in faith. When God reveals something to you in His
Word, and you fail to act on it, then you are not a worshiper,
you are an unbeliever, because you don't believe God. You don't
believe Him enough to do what He tells you. It is wonderful to
know what God's Word says: but if you don't act in response to
what it says, what kind of faith is that? Is it any different
from unbelief? The book of James says no. Worship
involves action.
The next thing that we see concerning worship is that it
costs the worshiper something. Look at verse 2: "Take
now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee
into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering
upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of." Worship
is not a cheap thing, it is not a casual thing, and it is not
to be done carelessly, or casually, without considering what is
involved.
King David understood this concept of worship very well, he said;
"Neither will I offer burnt sacrifices unto the Lord my God
of that which doth cost me nothing." (2 Sam 24:24)
When we worship God, it involves the greatest sacrifice that we
can imagine. That is why it is appropriate to celebrate the Lord's
Supper as part of our worship service. Is there anything of more
value than Jesus Christ in all of heaven and earth? Was there
ever a greater sacrifice than His sacrifice? The price that He
paid for our redemption: was there ever a greater price paid for
anything? We need to count the cost: our salvation is free to
us for simply believing and receiving, but it cost God His Son,
and it cost the Son His life. That is surely something worth meditating
upon.
What can we offer the Father that is more excellent than his Son?
What can we present to Him as a praise offering
that is more wonderful than His beloved Son, in whom He is well
pleased? Nothing. There is nothing else that even comes close.
There is a song that we sing based on Jeremiah 33:11, and also
on Hebrews 13:15, and it goes "We bring the sacrifice
of praise, into the house of the Lord." A sacrifice
of praise. A sacrifice always costs something.
True worship, true praise is not free, and it is not cheap. It
costs something. Let me ask you a question: did you come to church
today and expect to praise God and it would be free? Did you come
to church expecting to let someone else do your worshiping for
you? Do you want to sit in your chair and expect to let the preacher
do your worshiping for you? To let someone else sing the songs
of praise to God for you? To let someone else carry that sweet
incense to the throne of God while you sit like a bump on a log?
During the last two years, Moslems in Indonesia have killed ten
thousand Indonesian Christians because of their faith. Those are
our brothers and sisters in the Lord. Their worship cost them
something, their very lives. What is your worship costing you
today? Are you riding on the worship of someone else? Is some
one else singing for you, praising for you, worshiping for you?
Did you spend time this week reading the Word? Meditating on what
Jesus did for you? Did you give an offering today that was sacrificial?
Or was it just the extra, the leftovers, and it didn't really
cost you anything? True worship is not free and it's not cheap.
God gave His best that we might be brought to the place of worship.
Abraham went up that mountain prepared to give his best to God
as an act of worship. As worshipers, we have not been doing all
that well. We can do better.
The next thing that we learn from Abraham's worship, is that worship
involves separation unto God. Verse 5 tells us:
"Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the
ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship,
and come again to you."
You have to separate yourself from the things that would keep
you back. How many of you have had thoughts already today about
where you will go and what you will do this afternoon when the
service is over? We have come here to worship, but I suspect that
inside somebody's head, there has already been a meal planned,
and cooked, and served out since we have been here. Or a sporting
event watched.
Jesus is our focus, and worshiping God is our object, but I suspect
that sometimes when we act like we are worshiping, some of us
are off mentally doing something that involves either work or
pleasure, some hobby or TV show, or whatever.
Where would your thoughts be if you were invited in to an audience
with the President? Would you be thinking about raking the leaves
out of your yard? Would you be thinking about the laundry? We
have an audience today with someone a whole lot greater than the
President, we have the attention of the King of Kings and the
Lord of Lords, and I bet some of you are thinking about going
to the flea market. Worship involves a certain mental discipline.
We are pretty much an undisciplined society, an undisciplined
people, and I suspect that we are not demanding enough of ourselves
when it comes to the things of God.
Abraham told his companions: "You stay here; Isaac and I
will go off and worship by ourselves." When we come to worship,
we need to start leaving some things behind, because all they
do is distract us.
The next thing that we need to do when we worship God is to turn
loose of our selves. Turn loose of the flesh. Give it up. Think
about what Abraham was giving up as he climbed that mountain.
God had told him that Isaac was to be the son of promise, it was
through Isaac that Abraham would become the father of a multitude.
How did that promise seem then? Not too good. But Abraham couldn't
worry about that.
Abraham loved his son, his son was precious to him. He couldn't
worry about that either. Denial of himself.
That is so contrary to the way we usually are, isn't it? We want
our self esteem, self expression,
self will, and all our usual self centeredness.
The flesh likes to have first place. Our fleshly nature doesn't
like to take a back seat and be quiet. The fleshly self wants
to have it's own way. Abraham didn't have very much self anything
as he went up that mountain. True worship will be like that. Worship
is God oriented, and self has no place in it.
Next, Abraham went to worship with his son. Abraham
and his son were in it together. When it comes to the matter of
worship, God and his Son are also in it together. God is not interested
in our worship if His Son is not part of it. People who think
to worship God and fail to include Jesus Christ are wasting their
time. If you want to get to God, you have to go through Christ.
John tells us: "No man hath seen God at any time, the only
begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared
him." (Jn 1:18) He also tells us: "Whosoever denieth
the Son, the same hath not the Father: he that acknowledgeth the
Son hath the Father also." (1 Jn 2:23) As worshipers, we
go to God in Christ, through Christ,
and also with Christ. God the Father publicly announced:
"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
When we go to worship God, and our minds and hearts are full of
thoughts and meditations of Jesus, that is when
we are ready to worship. That is the kind of worship
that pleases God.
Worship has a purpose, worship glorifies God. God is worthy to
be glorified, and even if sometimes we are too dull to understand
what is happening, and sometimes I know I am, God is still glorified
anyway.
And when God gets glorified, we get blessed. Look at verse 15:
"And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven
the second time,
Gen 22:16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for
because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son,
thine only son:
Gen 22:17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying
I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the
sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the
gate of his enemies;
Gen 22:18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be
blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice."
Genuine worship has far reaching results, things that we don't
always see right away. Glory to God, blessings to us, and blessings
through us to others.
Some of us are frustrated because we have been trying to lead
others to Christ, and so far it hasn't happened. Maybe if we got
closer to Christ in worship, maybe if we got a better look at
who He is and what He is like, it would be easier to tell others
about Him. Maybe if we got overwhelmed with the wonder of being
close to the one that set the stars in place, the one that died
and rose again, the one that sits at the right hand of God, who
has seated us next to Him in heavenly places, maybe it would be
easier to tell others about Him. Worship is getting our eyes and
our heads and our hearts full of Jesus, and appreciating Him for
who He is. Once we do that, then we are ready to go and tell others
about Him.
Maybe there is someone here today that can't do that, because
you don't know Jesus, you have never met Him. Someone here who
has never asked Him to take away their sins, someone who has never
received Him as Savior. Or maybe you aren't sure. Maybe you walked
an aisle one time, and someone told you you were saved, but nothing
really changed. You thought you were going to be a new creature
in Christ, but you are still the same old you. You read the Bible
and you have trouble with it, it doesn't speak to you, you feel
like an outsider looking in. Maybe you are.
You can do something about it. If you have never trusted Jesus
Christ as your Savior, if you have never asked Him to take away
your sins, and then believed in faith that He did, you have an
enormous problem, with eternal consequences, but there is a simple
solution. What will you do with Jesus? What will you do about
a personal relationship with Him? Turn and walk away, just the
same as you were, no change? Or will you receive Him as Savior,
and be born again as a new creature in Christ, someone with a
personal relationship with God?
You can do it right now. You can receive Jesus Christ as your
Savior today, you can trust Him right now. Abraham trusted God
enough to walk up that mountain with his son, can you trust Jesus
enough to get up out of your seat and walk down here to the front,
put your faith in action and ask Jesus Christ to save you from
your sins? Once you know Him as Savior, then you can worship Him
as Lord, your Lord, a personal relationship between you and God.
There is nothing else in the world that you can do, to get your
relationship with God on a proper foundation.
I'm going to ask Steve to come up and lead us in a closing Hymn,
number 111, and as we sing, if the Holy Spirit is dealing with
you today, don't put Him off. If God is speaking to you today,
listen. Do what He wants. If He is calling you, come. It's as
simple as that. Stand with me as we sing together number 111,
When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.