Just a few thoughts on worship
this afternoon. I dare say one of the main reasons
we all come to church every Sunday is to worship, and so it's good
to remind ourselves once in a while the components of worship and
what it's all about. In John, the fourth chapter,
We won't read it, but you know the story. The Lord Jesus met
with the Samaritan woman, and they had a very interesting discussion
about things, and he went through the revealing to her that he
knew all about her five husbands and the man she was living with
presently, and that showed her a lot about he was someone different. And then she all of a sudden
said, well, I can perceive that you're a prophet. And so she
wanted to launch into a discussion about worship. And she said,
you know, our forefathers worshiped at this mountain that we're here
at now, and your people think that Jerusalem is the place to
worship. So where is the right place to worship? So she was
all about, where do you worship? And he said, well, you know,
it's not all about where you worship, but it's about worshiping
in spirit and in truth. And then he said, you know, you're
worshiping, you're ignorant about who you're worshiping. And so
you need to know who you're worshiping. So it's not about where, it's
about worshiping in spirit and in truth. It's about knowing
who you're gonna worship. And then he ended up saying,
you know, the time is coming when when you need to worship
in spirit and in truth. So that was a very intense and
to the point lesson on worship. There are several, there are
about three main Hebrew words for worship. And in all three
cases, pretty much the core meaning of worship is to fall down. To
fall down in front of, to worship. It's kind of funny, isn't it,
that the Muslims seem to have the right posture for worship,
better than us, maybe, but they're worshiping a false god, so it
doesn't count. And some churches in the US had the kneeling bench,
and now you don't see much of that anymore. And just to confess
in my own life, I used to kneel a lot more and pray than I do
now. But I think we would all say, That falling down is mainly
of your heart before the Lord. It's humility, it's the whole
posture of worship that is really most important, not the physical
posture. Although it wouldn't hurt us
to kneel more when we pray, I'm sure. A few Old Testament scriptures
on worship to show this is these words were used in the following
verses. Proverbs 12, 25 is a verse about
anxiety weighing a person down. It's the same Hebrew word. So
it has still that meaning of to go down, to weigh down. Exodus 11, 8, Pharaoh's servants
bowed down to Moses. In Exodus 24-1, God commanded
Moses to come up to the mountain and worship him at a distance.
So there's the same idea of falling down. Exodus 33-10, the Israelites
would worship at their tent when the pillar of cloud appeared
over the tabernacle. And then in Deuteronomy 4.19,
we move into false worship, worship of sun, moon, and stars, and
other gods in Deuteronomy 8.19. And this makes God furious. In Joshua 23.16, it talks about
God being very angry with his people when they worship these
false gods. In Deuteronomy 26.10, it talks about worshiping with
the first of the crops. But back on the idea of the false
worship or the worship of the pagans worshiping false gods,
what is it about their worship that's different, that should
be different than ours? Pagans worship their false gods
to bribe them into doing things that they want. Isn't that the
main thing they're doing? And we, in our worship, are not
bribing God to do anything. We're acknowledging who he is,
what he's done for us, and just giving thanks. We're gonna end
up today giving some of these attributes of worship. So there's
a real difference in the Bible between pagan worship of false
gods, or false deities, and the worship of the true God. It says
in Philippians 2.10 that every knee shall bow, every knee shall
bow one of these days to the Lord Jesus Christ. So, sooner
or later, everyone who's ever lived on this earth is gonna
bow and worship the Lord Jesus Christ, either before their entrance
into heaven or before their entrance into the lake of fire. Now, Worship
in the Old Testament always, I believe always, was combined
with sacrifices. That's the whole sacrificial
system in the Old Testament is tied up with worship. And there
were two characteristics of that that made a worship or a sacrifice
acceptable. It had to be a perfect offering
and it had to be with the right attitude. If you remember, the
first worship or sacrifice in the Bible is Cain and Abel's
offerings in Genesis 4, 3 through 5. Let's just read that real
quick. Genesis 4, 3 and 5. Abel on his part also brought,
well, I guess we'll pick it up in three. So it came about in
the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord
of the fruit of the ground. Abel on his part also brought
of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat proportion.
So you got a fruit sacrifice and an animal sacrifice. And
the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering, but for
Cain and for his offering, he had no regard. So Cain became
very angry and his countenance fell and then you know what he
went and did. So here was the first sacrifice, or two sacrifices
in the Bible. One was accepted by the Lord,
and one was rejected. And probably a major component
of it is the meat versus the fruit, but that's maybe not the
whole thing. Maybe it was the attitude of
those two men also. So it had to be a perfect offering
of God's own choosing, and it had to be the right attitude. Now, In Leviticus 22, if you
turn there, there's a very interesting passage. Leviticus 22, verses
18 through 25. told the characteristics of the
offerings and the fact that they had to be perfect to be offered
to God. Let's just read it. Speak to Aaron and to his sons,
and to all the sons of Israel, and say to them, any man of the
house of Israel or of the aliens in Israel who presents his offering,
whether it is of any of their votive or any of their freewill
offerings, which they present to the Lord for a burnt offering,
for you to be accepted It must be a male without defect, from
the cattle, the sheep, or the goats. Whatever has a defect
you shall not offer, for it will not be accepted for you. When
a man offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord to fulfill
a special vow or for a freewill offering of the herd or of the
flock, it must be perfect to be accepted. There shall be no
defect in it. Those that are blind, or fractured,
or maimed, or having a running sore, or eczema, or scabs, you
shall not offer to the Lord, nor make of them an offering
by fire on the altar to the Lord. In respect to an ox or a lamb
which has an overgrown or stunted member, you may present it for
a freewill offering, but for a vow it will not be accepted.
Also, anything with its testicles bruised, or crushed, or torn,
or cut, you shall not offer to the Lord, or sacrifices in your
land. Nor shall you accept any such
from the hand of a foreigner for offering as the food of your
God. For their corruption is in them. They have a defect.
They shall not be accepted for you. Very interesting, huh? That
none of these sacrifices, they had to check these animals out
real well, and they could not offer them if they had a defect.
And this is all such a picture and such a foreshadowing of the
perfect offering of all time, the Lord Jesus Christ. No defect
in him, the perfect Son of God, and this is all just a picture
of that. Obviously, none of these, we
know from Hebrews, none of these offerings, back in the Old Testament,
did anybody any good, it is the offering of all time on the cross
that did us what God had intended for, to make us perfect, because
that was the perfect offering. So, the offerings and the worship,
therefore the worship, had to be perfect and the attitude right. In Matthew 9, 13, We have an
interesting New Testament commentary on all of this in Matthew 9,
13 of the sacrificial system. This is a very interesting story
because Jesus was with sinners and people that were much less
than perfect, and he was having dinner with them, as he often
did, and the Pharisees start griping about him sitting with
sinners And what did he say? When Jesus heard this, he said,
it is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those
who are sick. But go and learn what this means. I desire compassion and not sacrifice. for I did not come to call the
righteous but sinners." Seems to be a comment on the whole
fact that here these righteous Pharisees were, and they had
to have everything just by the book, and he was sitting there
with sinners. and they didn't get it. And so
he says, you need to go and understand an Old Testament passage. And
that is, I desire compassion more than sacrifice, more than
your sacrifices, more than your rituals you go through. I'm looking
at the heart. I'm looking at what you've got
inside toward the Lord. And this was a quote from Hosea
6, 6. about loyalty being greater than
sacrifice and knowledge of God greater than burnt offerings.
So just perfectly aligned with what the pastor's been teaching
us about the knowledge of God. That's what's important. More
than sacrifices or burnt offerings is loyalty and the knowledge
of God. So it's attitude and attention
versus the motions, going through the motions. In Noah's day, in
Genesis 8, 20 and 21, when Noah offered the sacrifice, God smelled
a soothing aroma. Now, we know that God doesn't
smell. This is a picture of something pleased him. And in 2 Corinthians,
if you turn there, there's a application of this to us also. So what do you smell like? We were talking about this yesterday.
We were talking about physical smell, but here's spiritual smell. What kind of spiritual scent
do you give off? In 2 Corinthians 2, 14 through
16, But thanks be to God who always
leads us in triumph in Christ and manifests through us the
sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ
to God among those who are being saved and among those who are
perishing. to the one an aroma from death
to death, to the other an aroma from life to life, and who is
adequate for these things? You notice the interesting thing
in verse 15 is that the fragrance of Christ is ultimately to God,
not to the people we're in. And this fragrance we give off
is either leading to the death of those around us, if they're
not Christians, or to the life of those if they are Christians.
spiritual scent do you give off? The tabernacle and Solomon's
temple were places of worship in 1 Kings 8, and then Solomon's
prayer in 1 Kings 8, 54 and 55. You know
how many sacrifices they made on the day that they dedicated
Solomon's temple? Actually, it was a week. No,
it was two weeks, 14 days. 14 days of worship to the Lord,
and what they sacrificed was, get this, 22,000 oxen and 120,000
sheep. went up on the sacrifice altar
for the Lord in those two weeks. That's in verse 63. Wow. So lots of animals were sacrificed
to dedicate Solomon's temple. And it was a joyful time. They
were glad for all the goodness the Lord had shown them. And
so what I'd like to do is take you to 1 Chronicles 16, to read
this passage of... This is before Solomon dedicated
that temple. This is David. This is when David
had brought the ark into the tent of meeting, and he prayed
and worshiped. And I wanted to go through it
to show the characteristics of worship. First Chronicles 16,
verses seven through 36. As I read this, be a good grammarian
and pick out all the verbs as I read. I'll help you. And these
verbs are the attributes of worship, I think, because that's what
they were doing here. David had brought the ark into
the tent of meeting, and this was his prayer. In 1 Chronicles
16, verse 7, then on that day, David first assigned Asaph and
his relatives to give thanks to the Lord. There's your first
one. Oh, give thanks to the Lord,
call upon his name. So a huge component of worship
is thanksgiving. Make known his deeds among the
people. So there's another one, make
known his deeds. Sing to him. We do that, don't we? Sing to
him. Sing praises to him. Speak of all his wonders. Glory
in his holy name. Let the heart of those who seek
the Lord be glad. You know, you can't worship if
you're all down in the mouth. You have to be glad to worship
properly. Seek the Lord and his strength. So we are to seek the
Lord and his strength. Seek his face continually. Remember
his wonderful deeds which he has done. That's a reason to
read the Old Testament, is to remember his deeds. His marvels
and his judgments from his mouth. O seed of Israel, his servants,
sons of Jacob, his chosen ones. He is the Lord our God. His judgments
are in all the earth. Remember, there it is again,
his covenant forever. The word which he commanded to
a thousand generations. The covenant which he made with
Abraham and his oath to Isaac. He also confirmed it to Jacob
for a statue, to Israel as an everlasting covenant, saying,
to you I will give the land of Canaan and the portion of your
inheritance. When they were only a few in number, very few and
strangers in it, and they wandered about from nation to nation,
from one kingdom to another people, he permitted no man to oppress
them, and he reproved kings for their sakes, saying, do not touch
my anointed ones, and do my prophets no harm. Sing to the Lord all
the earth. There's another reference to
singing. Proclaim good tidings of his salvation from day to
day. Tell of his glory among the nations, his wonderful deeds
among all the peoples. For great is the Lord and greatly
to be praised. He also is to be feared above
all gods, for all the gods of the peoples are idols. But the
Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before
Him. Strength and joy are in His place. Ascribe to the Lord,
O families of the people. So ascribing to the Lord is another
attribute of worship. Ascribe to the Lord glory and
strength. You're saying to Him, what are
His attributes? You're ascribing to Him. Ascribe
to the Lord the glory due His name. Bring an offering, and
come before him. Worship the Lord in holy array.
Tremble before him, all the earth. Indeed, the world is firmly established. It will not be moved. Let the
heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice, and let them say
among the nations, the Lord reigns. Let the sea roar in all it contains.
Let the field exult in all that is in it. Then the trees of the
forest will sing for joy before the Lord, for he is coming to
judge the earth. Oh, give thanks. to the Lord,
for he is good, for his loving kindness is everlasting. Then
say, save us, O God, of our salvation, and gather us and deliver us
from the nations, to give thanks to your holy name and glory in
your praise. Blessed be the Lord, the God
of Israel, from everlasting even to everlasting." So that's David's
prayer. And in it, we have the components
of worship. Things like remembering, proclaiming,
telling, praising, ascribing, giving thanks, making known his
deeds, singing to him, speaking of his wonders, glorying in his
name, being glad, seeking him and his power, giving thanks,
trembling, and bringing an offering. Just a few final scriptures to
remind us about worship, if you wanna turn with me, Romans 12,
one and two. These are New Testament scriptures
on worship. Romans 12, one and two says,
therefore, I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present
your bodies a living and holy sacrifice. acceptable to God,
which is your spiritual service of worship. Do not be conformed
to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,
so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is
good and acceptable and perfect." Then Philippians 418, we won't
turn to that one. That's an interesting one because
Paul is saying thanks for the gift that they had sent him through
Epaphroditus, and he's saying that the gift they sent him is
a sacrifice to God. By helping our brothers out and
sisters in Christ, we're sacrificing to God. Then, Hebrews 13, 15,
and 16 says, through him then let us continually
offer up a sacrifice of praise to God. That is the fruit of
lips that give thanks to his name. Do not neglect doing good
and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. First Peter 2.5, says, you also as living stones
are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to
offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus
Christ. So we are a holy priesthood.
There's no such thing as high priests anymore, but we're all
a holy priesthood. And we're offering up spiritual
sacrifices continually to God. You know, in Job, the first chapter,
just a comment about the fact that we are to give thanks always,
worship always, no matter what happens to us. You know what
happened to Job, and yet he did not sin, and he gave thanks to
God somehow when it all happened to him, and that's in Job 1.20.
In Matthew 4.10, The Lord Jesus put it very succinctly
when he was tempted of Satan, to worship Satan. And he said,
no way. He said, you shall worship only
God. That's the only person, deity
we are to worship, is the Lord God, Jehovah. So let me end by
reading us together Psalm 119. You know the Psalms are full
of praise and worship. And here's a good one in Psalms
96. So let's just all read this and say this to the Lord in closing. Sing to the Lord a new psalm.
Sing to the Lord all the earth. Sing to the Lord, bless his name. Proclaim good tidings of his
salvation from day to day. Tell of his glory among the nations,
his wonderful deeds among all the peoples. For great is the
Lord, greatly to be praised. He is to be feared above all
gods. For all the gods of the peoples
are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty
are before him. Strength and beauty are in his
sanctuary. Ascribe to the Lord, O families
of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe
to the Lord the glory of His name. Bring an offering and come
into His courts. Worship the Lord in holy attire.
Tremble before Him, all the earth. Say among the nations, the Lord
reigns. Indeed, the world is firmly established. It will not be moved. He will
judge the peoples with equity. Let the heavens be glad and let
the earth rejoice. Let the sea roar and all it contains. Let the field exult and all that
is in it. Then all the trees in the forest
will sing for joy before the Lord, for he is coming. He is
coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness
and the peoples in his faithfulness. So let's all praise the Lord
together.