What Is True Worship?

Q: What does the Bible say about true worship?

True worship involves sincere reverence, fear, and delight in God, focusing on preaching, prayer, and praise. True worship, as outlined in the Bible, is characterized by sincere reverence, fear, and delight in God. It is not confined to a specific time or place but can occur anywhere. In public worship, there are three vital parts: sermon (instruction), prayer (supplication), and praise (adoration). Each element serves to direct our hearts and minds toward God, making the worship experience meaningful and reverent. It is crucial for believers to gather with the primary intention of worshiping God above all else, as Paul exemplified in Ephesians 3, where he communicated essential truths even from imprisonment.

Q: How do we know that the mystery of Christ is true?

The mystery of Christ is revealed through divine revelation, not human understanding, as emphasized in Scripture. The mystery of Christ pertains to the divine truth of God’s redemptive plan, which includes the incarnation, imputed righteousness, and the effects of Christ's work. This mystery is disclosed to us not through human intellect or teaching, but rather through divine revelation. The Apostle Paul states that he learned the gospel through a direct revelation of Jesus Christ, highlighting that the understanding of the mysteries of faith cannot be earned; it is a gift of grace from God. In 1 Corinthians 2, it is made clear that these truths can only be known through the Holy Spirit, affirming that true comprehension comes from divine insight.

Q: Why is public worship important for Christians?

Public worship is essential as it fosters community, facilitates spiritual growth, and glorifies God. Public worship plays a vital role in the life of a Christian community. It is an opportunity for believers to gather collectively to worship God, strengthen their faith, and encourage one another in their walk with Christ. Worship serves as a means of instruction, where the congregation learns about God’s truths through sermons, engages in prayer, and participates in praising God together. Such collective worship not only glorifies God but also emphasizes the unity of believers in Christ, as they are reminded of their shared faith and mutual encouragement within the body of Christ. Ephesians 3 highlights the communal aspects of worship and the profound effects it has on spiritual growth and fellowship.

Q: How does God reveal His grace in worship?

God reveals His grace in worship through the preaching of the Word, prayer, and the act of praise. Worship is a crucial avenue through which God reveals His grace to His people. As Scripture is preached, the truth of God’s grace unfolds, offering insights into His character, love, and mercy. Through prayer, believers communicate with God, acknowledging their dependence on His grace for strength and understanding. Praise, whether through hymns or congregational singing, serves to express gratitude and adoration for God’s unmerited favor. Both the act of worship and the elements within it actively demonstrate God’s grace, allowing believers to experience His presence intimately and understand the depths of His love.

I told someone recently and repeated
it again today, the easiest place in the world to preach is from
this pulpit right here. And I'll tell you why, because
there's so much response from you who sit there and listen
and rejoice in what you hear. You've entered into these blessed truths and this glorious
gospel, and it's good every Lord's Day to see each of you and to
fellowship with you and enjoy such love and affection. And I mean that so sincerely. We have something here that you
churches in the world have. And it's the gift of God. It's
the gift of His grace. Where there's no contention and division and strife and vainglory,
it's a great blessing, isn't it? I rejoice in this day. I
rejoice in this fellowship of believers. And I'm especially
grateful for this place that God has given us where we might
come together as his family for whatever activities that we have. He's given us a home. The church
family has a home. We can come here to marry our
young people. We come here to worship. We come here to eat together
and fellowship together, and I'm grateful for this place,
aren't you? Grateful. But you know, the day, the day
as much as we enjoy it, and the people as much as we love them,
and the place that God has given us are all
secondary. That's not it. That's secondary. Our primary desire and cause
for gathering together here this morning and again tonight must
be, ought to be, to worship the Lord. To worship our Lord. O come,
let us worship the Lord. Let us bow down, let us kneel
before the Lord our God. I want to worship Him, don't
you? I want to gather together. I
want to fellowship with His people. I want to enjoy your presence
and your love and affection and your friendship. But chiefly
and foremost, I want very much to worship God when I come here. And I try, I pray about it and
I try to conduct a worship service. And the old writers give us some
help. They used to say, some of the
men whom I have read, they used to say there are three vital
parts to worship. That is public worship. Worship
is not confined to any place or any time or any people. Worship is a sincere reverence
and fear and delight in the Lord our God. And a man can worship
God anywhere. But what I'm talking about tonight
is public worship. And these old writers used to
say there are three vital parts to a public worship service. And in their words, instruction supplication and adoration. Now that's the way they talked.
In our words, in the words of everyday American language, there
are three parts, vital parts of public worship. There's sermon,
prayer, and praise, saying the same thing. prayer and praise. And this is my desire that we
might preach, that I might preach, and those who occupy this place,
this awesome fearful place, that we might preach and pray and
praise God in such a way that it might truly be called worship. That it might truly be, that
we might preach and pray, and praise God in such a way, whether
it's a special number, the reading of, didn't you delight in the
reading of God's word when this dear man read, I just worshiped
God while he read, while he prayed, and these special numbers and
the singing of the hymns, I was able to sit there and worship
the Lord, were you? And that's what I want, is to
preach in such a way and pray in such a way and praise God
in such a way that it might truly be called worship. Now turn with
me to the third chapter of Ephesians. And this third chapter of Ephesians
has all three parts. And this third chapter of Ephesians
is like a worship service. It's like a worship service.
And like I said, as I said a moment ago, the Apostle Paul wrote this from
a prison cell. So it's not the day, it's not
the crowd, it's not the place, which is of great importance,
it's the state of heart. Paul wrote this chapter and it
has all the parts of worship we're going to see as we go along.
But he wrote this from a prison cell. And as I preach tonight
from this third chapter of Ephesians, you keep in mind these three
things. First of all, we have Paul begins with a sermon. A
sermon. In chapter 3, verse 1, he says
this, For this cause I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ
for you Gentiles. Paul calls himself the prisoner
of Jesus Christ. He doesn't say, I'm the prisoner
of Rome. That's where this book was written
from, was Rome, where Paul was in shackles and chains, awaiting
death. But he doesn't say, I'm the prisoner
of Rome. He doesn't say, I'm the prisoner
of the emperor, or even the prisoner of the Pharisees. He said, I'm
the prisoner of Jesus Christ. He's saying two things. I'm here
by the will of God. Oh, that we might learn that.
That'll give us some comfort and some joy if we can remember
that where we are, we're there by the will of God. I'm here
by the will of God. And he was there for preaching
the gospel. I'm not only what I am by the
grace of God, I'm where I am by the grace of God. Can we believe
that? I'm not only what I am by the grace of God, I'm where
I am by the grace of God. And Paul said this in another
passage. He said, I've learned in whatsoever
state I am therewith to be content. I think one of our great faults
is what we're going to do down the road. We're busy planning
and drawing up blueprints. getting ready to do great things
down yonder, and where we are, and what we are, by the grace
of God, occupy right here, right here, right here, right this
moment, right this day, this week. Don't talk about what I'm
going to do. I'm what I am by the grace of
God, I'm where I am by the grace of God. And then the second thing he
says here in verse 2, he says, now if you have heard of the
dispensation of the grace of God which is given me for you,
or to you, or for you. What's the word dispensation
mean? The word dispensation means administration. The administration or the stewardship. He talks about a great household.
And here's a man who has a certain duty, a certain responsibility,
and a certain job to take care of. And Paul is saying this,
that God has assigned me, I am a steward of the grace of God,
and God has assigned me this particular task, this particular
ministry. He was a steward and ambassador
of God to the Gentiles. God gave him that ministry. This
is my administration. This is my dispensation. This is my stewardship. This
is my job. I like that story I told one
time years ago at a banquet. They were having a huge banquet.
All these famous sports figures were there. Most of you ladies
never heard of Gordie Howe, but he was a great hockey player.
And he was at this banquet. And there was a young man who
had been assigned one job, and that was to put butter by each
plate. He was to put a patty of butter
by each plate. I guess, Debbie, you put it on
the plate where the roll is, don't you? One patty of butter.
And he came around, that was his job. And he came around,
he was putting a patty of butter by everybody's plate. One patty
of butter. And he came to Gordie Howe, the
famous hockey player. And he put that one patty of
butter down. Gordie Howe looked up and said,
I'll take two. He said, they told me to put
one patty of butter by each plate. And Gordie Howe looked at him
and said, son, do you know who I am? He said, no, sir. He said, I'm Gordie Howe, the
hockey player. And the boy said, well, Mr. Howe,
do you know who I am? He said, no, I don't. He said,
I'm the fella that puts one patty of butter by everybody's plate. That's my job. Now that's simple. That's what Paul's saying here.
God gave me a job to do. That's my dispensation. That's
my administration. That's my stewardship. And that's
what I intend to do. And then in verse 3, he said
this, how that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery. I wish I had time to take you
through all the scriptures that refer to the gospel as a mystery. The work, the personal work of
our Lord Jesus Christ, a mystery. And this mystery is known by
revelation. How that God, how that by revelation,
God made known unto me the mysteries. He said, I wrote before in a
few words about this. Whereby when you read, you may
understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ. I didn't learn
this in the seminary. I didn't learn this in school.
I didn't even learn this from my parents. God taught me the
gospel. Has to come by revelation. Turn
back here, hold your hand right there in Ephesians 3, and turn
to Galatians 1. Galatians 1, verse 11. This is what he's referring
to when he wrote Galatia and also Ephesus about how he learned
the gospel. In Galatians 1, he says in verse
11, I certify you, brethren, that the gospel, Galatians 1,
11, which was preached to me is not after man. I didn't receive
it from man. I wasn't taught of it by man. I was taught of it by the revelation
of Jesus Christ. You heard of my conversation
in times past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted
the Church of God, wasted it, and profited in the Jews' religion
above many my equals in my own nation, exceeding, more exceedingly
zealous of the traditions of my Father. This man was a religious
man. This man was a seminary graduate. This man was a student of the
Old Testament Scripture. This man was a Pharisee. But
he didn't know the gospel, he didn't know God. He didn't know
how God saves sinners. But verse 15 says, But when it
pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called
me by his grace, this God has always loved me and known me
and chosen me. But he called me by his grace
when it pleased him. to reveal His Son in me, to reveal
His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the heathen. I tell
you, God reveals the gospel. 1 Corinthians chapter 2 says
this. Look at this just a moment. You
see, none of you in here understand this. I do. I understand what
it means to be deaf. I mean not to hear anything.
I can take these hearing aids out and I don't hear anything.
I may hear a noise. I don't even hear a telephone
ring. I don't hear a radio when someone speaks to me. I don't
even hear them. They may talk all day and I don't hear them.
They may say all kinds of things to me, but I don't hear them.
But when I put these in, it's a totally different world. I
hear them. And that's the way it is in this
gospel. A man may, you may talk all day
to a person about Christ, and the glories of Christ, and the
sacrifice of Christ, and the revelation of Christ, and the
mercy of Christ, and the resurrection of Christ, and the intercession,
all these things. He doesn't hear you. But if God's pleased to put hearing
aids in his ears, he'll hear you. He'll hear you. It would be just like when I
put these in, now I hear you. I've been talking to you for
a long time, but I didn't hear you. Don't get mad at me because
I didn't hear you. I couldn't hear you. Jim knows
about it. I couldn't hear you. And that's
the way to listen to 1 Corinthians 2, verse 9. As it is written,
eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard. Neither have entered into
the heart of man the things God has prepared for them that love
him. What are these things? These good, glorious, spiritual
things in Christ. That's what we're talking about.
Redemption, justification, sanctification, forgiveness of sin, pardon of
iniquity, acceptance in the beloved. They haven't even entered their
hearts or minds. But, God hath what? Revealed them unto us. by his
Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of God. Now, verse 11, what man
knoweth the things of a man save the Spirit of man which is in
him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man. But the Spirit
of God knows them. And we have received not the
Spirit of this world, but the Spirit which is of God, that
we may know the things which are given us of God. And that's
what Paul is saying here in verse 3. by Ephesians 3.3, by revelation,
he made known unto me the mystery. What mystery? Great is the mystery
of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the spirit, seen of the angels, preached to the
Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in the glory.
This is a mystery. And here's something else in
verse 5. This mystery of his incarnation, of his imputed righteousness,
of his effectual sacrifice, of his resurrection, of his exaltation,
of his intercession. Verse 5, in other ages was not
made known unto the sons of men, as it's now revealed unto his
holy apostles and prophets by the Holy Spirit, that the Gentiles
should be fellow heirs of the same body, the body of Christ,
and partakers of his promise in Christ for the gospel? I tell you, these things were
not only not understood by the natural man, but even the prophets
like Moses and Abraham and David and Isaiah and these men of God
in the Old Testament were not taught these things like you
are. Did you know that? No, not like you are. 1 Peter, let me show you
that in 1 Peter. The Apostle Peter tells us that,
1 Peter chapter 1, 1 Peter 1, look at verse 10. What I'm saying is this, the
natural man, this is what Paul's saying. does not hear or see
or understand the mysteries of God's grace in Christ Jesus. The mystery of his love, the
mystery of his grace, the mystery of his mercy, and his sacrifice
and his blood. But he's revealed it to us. He's
been pleased to give us eyes to see the glories of Christ
and ears to hear his word, the mysteries of grace, and hearts
to understand it. Now back in the Old Testament,
If you had lived then, they had some understanding, but not what
you have, not what I have. They looked to the coming of
Christ. Christ has come. They looked to the sacrifice
of God's Lamb. We look back. They didn't have
the completed Word. We do. And it says here in 1
Peter 1, verse 10, of which salvation? The prophets have inquired and
searched diligently. These prophets are Jeremiah,
Isaiah, Elijah, and Elisha, who prophesied of the grace of God
that should come to you. These prophets searching what
or what matter of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did
signify when he testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and
the glory that should follow. unto whom it was revealed that
not to themselves, but unto us they did minister these things,
which are now reported unto you by them that preach the gospel
unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven." Which
things do angels desire to look into? Oh, I tell you, It's so awesome,
it's so vast, so magnificent, the mystery of God's wisdom and
power and grace in Christ Jesus, even these old prophets. They searched into these things,
these things which are so open and clear to us. And this last line of verse 6
is the good news. Listen, that us, that we Gentiles,
verse 6, Gentiles, pagans, heathen, which have not the law, which
have not a tabernacle, which have not a mercy seat, that we
should be in Christ fellow heirs, heirs of God and join heirs with
Christ. That we should be of the same
body. Christ is the head and we're the body, the church. And
that we should be partakers of his promise which he made to
Abraham in Christ by the gospel. In verse 7, listen, he talks
about the ministry here now. He says in verse 7, whereof I
made a minister. I made a minister. God makes
men ministers. God puts men in the ministry.
Now, I'm not, I've stressed this over and over again, we're all
in the ministry. God's given us a ministry here,
a worldwide ministry, through missionaries and tapes and books
and television and other things. We're all in this ministry. But
what we're talking about here is a pulpit ministry. We're talking
about pastor-teacher. And Paul said, I was made a minister. God put me in the ministry. Now
watch this. According to the gift of the
grace of God given to me. God put me in the ministry according
to the gift of the grace of God which he gave to me by the effectual
working of his power. Now, God will use natural capacity. In other words, a young man may
come up in the church and you say, boy, he reads well, he speaks
well, he's got a good education, he's a college graduate, he studies
well, he's got charisma, he's a polished young man, he meets
people well, He'd make a good minister. Well, God will use
natural capacity and natural gifts and education and skill
and acquired learning, because he's the author of that too. But this thing of interpreting
the scriptures, this thing of preaching wisely the gospel of
God, this thing of leading men in worship and study, This thing
of taking the oversight of the church and the ability to do
so is not from natural ability. Not at all. It's not from natural
gifts. It's done only, he said here,
according to the gift of the grace of God which was given
to me. I was made a minister and God
equipped me supernaturally to interpret the word, to preach
the word, and to lead the people of God according to the effectual
working of his power. Now, watch verse 8. Who do you
think you are, Paul? Less than the least of all the
saints. God is pleased to use the most
unlikely vessel the most unlikely vessel for
his glory. I remember there's a young man
pastoring right now who came here ten years or more, ten years
ago or more than that. And the first time he took the
pulpit here, I had no less than five or six people come to me
and say, he won't make it. Brother Henry, he just won't
make it. He didn't, but God did through
him. God made him a preacher. God
made him a preacher. And this is what Paul is saying,
unto me who am less than the least of all the saints. You
see your calling brethren, how that not many mighty, not many
noble, not many great are called. God has chosen the foolish things,
the things that are not. the things that are despised,
that God chosen, that he might get all the glory. So unto me,
Paul said, who am less than the least of all the saints, is this
grace given. What grace? The knowledge of
the mystery of God and the ability to preach it. That I should preach among the
Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. That's the true minister's
message, the unsearchable riches of Christ. Abraham saw them.
Abraham left his father's house and went into a land that he
knew nothing about because he looked for the riches of Christ.
Moses, Moses left the treasures of Egypt, esteeming the riches
of Christ to be greater than all the treasures of Egypt. the
unsearchable, unspeakable riches of Christ. Now here is the verse
9. Here is the true objective of
God's minister, to make all men see, not the minister, but to
make them see what is the fellowship of that mystery, which from the
beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things
by Jesus Christ. Oh, that we as we preach might
by the power of God's Spirit make men to see what is that
fellowship in Christ. Oh, that fellowship in Christ.
And look at verse 10. You know, I told you a while
ago I read something about the angels desiring to look into
this. Verse 10, watch it. To the intent that now unto the
principalities and powers in heaven and places." You know
what principalities are? That's rulers over a district. Principalities. That's certain
people who've been given great power and rule in heavenly places. The principalities and powers.
We're talking about the angels and the cherubims and the seraphims.
And to the intent that the angels and cherubims and seraphims in
heavenly places might be known by the church of God the manifold
wisdom of God. You know something? The angels
attend worship services. That's what scripture says. How in the world are the angels
going to see the grace of God? They've never fallen. They've
never partaken of the cleansing blood of Christ or the mercy
of God in Christ or the grace of God in Christ. They desire
to look into these things, God's chief glory, God's greatest glory,
which he revealed to Moses. I'll be merciful, I'll be gracious.
How are the angels going to experience or see or understand this manifold
wisdom of God? By looking at us. Did you know
that? That's what he says right there, by looking at us. He's
going to see God, the angels are going to see God take the
chief of sinners, the most rebellious. Paul said, I persecuted the church,
I was injurious, I was a blasphemer. And the angels watched God take
that chief of sinners off the dunghill and wash him and cover
him in the robe of righteousness and lift him from sin and make
him a new creature and wash him in the blood and exalt him to
glory. And the angels see manifold wisdom
and power of God. Now watch in the church, that's
what it says there. God made me a minister, he gave me the
ability to minister, I'm the least of all the saints, not
worthy to be called an apostle, but he sent me to preach the
unsearchable riches of Christ and to make known to all men
what is, about this glorious fellowship in Christ Jesus to
the intent that now The principalities and powers in heaven and places
might be known by the Church, through the Church, in observing
the Church, the great wisdom and glory of God. The angels
look at us and praise God. They don't look at us and praise
us, they look at us and praise God. What a wonderful Savior. Oh,
what love. And verse 11 here, this is our
distinct belief here, according to the eternal purpose which
he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Brethren, turn with me
to 2 Timothy 1. You know, this salvation, this redemption, this glorious
redemption, is not an uncertain thing. All that God is doing, and all
whom God is calling, and all whom God is saving, He purposed
to save. He elected to save. He chose
to save. Christ cannot fail. He said, I come to do thy will,
O my God. In the volume of the book, it's
written of me. By which will? By which will? By the which will? We're sanctified
by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. God's will, not my will,
his will. And look at 2 Timothy 1.9. He hath saved us and called
us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
his own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus
before this world began, but is now made manifest God is manifesting
now all that he purposed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus
Christ, who by his life and death abolished death and has brought
life and immortality to life through the gospel. And whereunto
I am appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher. Everything
I've been talking about, Paul said, God purposed it in Christ
Jesus our Lord with an eternal purpose. Now look at verse 12.
In Christ, We have boldness and access with confidence by the
faithfulness of Christ. In Christ we have boldness to
come before the throne of grace, and we have access to God's presence
with confidence by the faithfulness of Christ. Wherefore, I desire
that you faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory."
Don't be upset by the things that I go through and the things
I endure, Paul said, because it's for your sake, for your
glory. You're sitting down there in
prison. He said, I'm bound, I'm in fetters, I'm in chains, and
I suffer as an evildoer. But what I do, I do for the elect's
sake. that they might come to the knowledge
of Christ. So he said in verse 13, I desire that you don't be
upset or troubled by my trials for you. This is for your good.
Now, let me move quickly on here. Here we have the prayer. And
I'm not going to dwell on this a long time. But verse 14, that's
the message, that's the sermon, now the prayer. For this cause
I bow my knees. There's Paul's humility. I bow
my knees. unto the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ. There is his hope of being heard,
the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And verse 15, he says,
here is his estimation of Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven
and earth is named. Now, here is his request. I wish
I could pray like this. His prayer deals with great things.
Look at verse 16. that God would grant you, according
to the riches of his glory, all of it is based on that, to be
strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man. I pray
that God will strengthen your inner man by his Spirit so that
you will not faint under trial and you might be given fresh
supplies of his sufficient grace. I pray, verse 17, that Christ
may dwell in your hearts by faith. In another place he said, I travail
to Christ be formed in you. That Christ may dwell in your
hearts, that Christ may be formed in you. Listen, that you may
be rooted and grounded in love. We were talking today about folks
who walk with us for a little while and then they quit. They
draw back. John said, it's evident they
didn't know Christ, or they wouldn't have left. Paul said, we're not
of them that depart unto perdition. We continue. Paul said, I pray,
I bow my knee to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
I pray that you might be strengthened in your innermost being. I pray
that Christ may dwell in your heart, and I pray that you might
be rooted and grounded like that tree planted by the rivers of
living water that bring forth its fruit in due season. And
verse 18, that you may be able to comprehend, to experience,
to enter into with all the saints what is the breadth, the width,
the length, the depth, the height, the love of Christ. That you may be able, isn't this
some prayer? Sometimes I feel like when I
read these inspired prayers, just quit trying. Don't you? Just quit trying. I can't do
that. But I pray that you might be
able to comprehend. You know, There's not all this
playing about the broken arms and the ingrown toenails and
all these things. These are great themes, aren't
they? Great themes. But you may be able to comprehend
the width and length and breadth and depth and height to know
the love of Christ which passes knowledge. To know the love of
Christ, which passeth knowledge, that you might be filled, listen
to this, that you might be filled with all the fullness of God. Boy, I looked that up. I looked
it up in Mr. Gill, Mr. Henry, and Mr. Poole. And one of them said this, and
I thought it was the best thing I read. He said this, that you might
be filled with all the fullness of God. Knowledge, faith, love,
grace, joy, peace, patience, wisdom. Or he said, whatever
it is with which God fills believers. I thought that was about it.
Whatever it is with which God fills believers, partially here
and perfectly there, I hope He'll fill you, whatever it is. But I'll tell you, I ran into
another verse that talks about this fullness of God. What is
it? Do you remember? In Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, that you might be like Christ
filled with the fullness of God. Now, that's not possible here,
but it will be someday. Isn't that a prayer? Oh, I tell
you, that's really all I need. Circle that prayer and use it
another time. God will let you use it. He'll
let me use it. I just say, Lord, what Paul said,
here's what I want. That's all right, isn't it? I
just say amen, so be it, to what he says here. And here's the
praise. Now we'll keep preaching, although
it sure is faulty, and we'll keep praying, and we'll keep singing, and we'll
pray for the ability to preach better, and pray better, and
sing better. But here's the benediction and
here's the praise. Now unto him that is able to
do exceeding abundantly above all that you ask or even think. God said, is anything too hard
for the Lord? You can't even think, you can't
even imagine anything that God's not able to do. He's able to
do above, abundantly above, anything you can ask, or anything that
you can think, according to the power of God's Spirit that worketh
in us. Unto him be glory in the church
by Jesus Christ throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. That's worship. Now let me give
you an illustration real quick. I read this some time ago, there
was a church, I don't even remember where it was, somewhere over
in England, somewhere in the British Isles. But there was
a church where this man pastored, and he was a friend of the great
and famous preacher, Ebenezer Erskine. And he scheduled a service
one night, and told the people they were going to come together
and worship the Lord and observe the Lord's table. They were going to have the Lord's
table and told them to come prepared to meet God at the table. And I'll tell you, we've experienced
that around here. What a blessed time that is to
meet the Lord, worship Him around the table. Well, unknown to him,
that afternoon, Ebenezer Erskine came by, his friend, the great,
famous, notable preacher. Everybody knew him. Ebenezer
Erskine. He stopped by the house. And
the pastor said, can you stay over tonight and bring us a word? The people would be delighted.
They've never heard you and they'd be delighted. He said, I'll be
glad to stay over. So that night, they came together.
And Erskine was sitting on the front row, and they observed
the table of the Lord. And then the pastor got up and
said, we have a wonderful, wonderful treat tonight. None other than
Ebenezer Erskine going to preach for us. So he came up and preached.
And it was some message. And when he got through, the
pastor stood by the door, and a dear parishioner came out. And this person said to the pastor,
Oh, how my heart was blessed. Oh, how my heart was blessed.
Would you have that man back again sometime to preach? I've
just never been blessed like that ever in my life. Would you
have him back? The pastor said, I will if I
can. So he told Mr. Erskine that night
what a blessing he was to the church. He said, would you come
back through after you finish your meeting, come back through
and stop, and I'll have a meeting any night you say." So he told
him when he'd be back and he scheduled a meeting. They came
together. Mr. Erskine preached. After the
service, the same individual came out and looked at the pastor and
said, I'm disappointed. I'm so disappointed. I wasn't
blessed like I was last week. Same man. And I'm sure he did
fine, but I didn't get a blessing like I did last week. Pastor
was a wise man. He said, why did you come to the service
last week? She said to meet the Lord at
his table. That's why I came. You didn't
know Mr. Erskine was going to be here.
No, I didn't know. I came to meet God. He said, why did you
come tonight? She said, to hear Ebenezer Erskine. The pastor said, well, you heard
him. You heard him. There's no way a man can bless
you, me, anybody else. Mike, you can't bless me singing,
but God can bless me through you. That's right. I can't bless you.
Bless your heart. God, if you come to worship Him
and to meet Him, you'll meet Him. And He'll use unto me who
am less than the least of the same. He'll use me. He'll use
you. He'll use whom He pleases.

What Is True Worship?

What does the Bible say about true worship?

How do we know that the mystery of Christ is true?

Why is public worship important for Christians?

How does God reveal His grace in worship?

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What Is True Worship?

What does the Bible say about true worship?

How do we know that the mystery of Christ is true?

Why is public worship important for Christians?

How does God reveal His grace in worship?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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