Hello! I’m Mack Lyon. The program’s In Search of the Lord’s Way. Today with this program Phil Sanders is beginning a series of five lessons on the general theme of worship. Today’s message is about preparing for worship. He believes that God expects us not only to prepare our hearts but also our lives to enter His presence. How do we do that? Stay tuned.
Thank you, Mack. Hello, I’m Phil Sanders and we’re here to search God’s Word for the Lord’s Way. The Bible always teaches us the truth, and that’s why we go to it again and again. Thanks for spending this time with us. We love to hear that you’re watching or listening, and we want to be a part of your life each week.
Today we’re going to begin a series of five lessons on worship. The English word “worship’ comes from the old English word “worthship”! It’s by our words, our attitudes, and our actions that we tell God that He is worthy of our praise and adoration. He deserves our love and thanksgiving. Worship is not an experience that we have in the presence of God, but the act of offering God our best when we’re in his presence.
Worship is a mental or spiritual act, a sense of awe and reverence in the presence of the Divine. Worship comes from the Greek word proskuneo, which means “throwing oneself on the ground to show respect and awe.” When Moses saw the burning bush, he thought it a marvelous sight. And he wanted to know why the bush was not burned up. But God called him from the bush and told Moses “Take your shoes off your feet1, for the place where you stand is holy ground” (Exodus 3 and verse 5). When we come into the presence of God for worship, we are entering holy ground.
The Bible says in Hebrews 12, verses 28 to 29, “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.” Worship is by its very nature an act of reverence and awe. It focuses on honoring and pleasing God. Worship that pleases God requires some preparation. And today, in the first of this series, we want to explore the Scriptures to see how we can show God reverence and awe.
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Ken Helterbrand will lead the Edmond church in song, and then we’ll read from Revelation chapter 5, verses 11 to 14.
Our reading today from God’s sacred Word comes from the book of Revelation chapter 5, verses 11 to 14. “Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice: Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing! And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: Blessing and honor and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever! Then the four living creatures said, Amen! And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever.” That’s from Revelation 5. Let’s pray together. O Father, we know that You are worthy of glory and honor and blessing. And, Father, may our lips, our hearts, and our lives give You that honor and praise and reverence. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
What are we doing when we gather together for worship? What does it mean to worship and praise God? Now, if we are to prepare for worship, we must know what it is that we’re planning to do. Now, as we begin this lesson, and this series, I want us to explore what worship is all about. First, worship is internal; it comes from the heart. One can worship internally without doing anything externally, but one cannot worship externally without doing anything internally.
Zechariah 7, verses 5 and 6 says that the Jews of Zechariah’s day feasted and fasted for themselves and not for God. They went through the motions but they didn’t involve the heart. William Temple rightly said that, “To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, and to devote the will to the purpose of God.”
Our worship must be genuinely from our hearts. In a discussion with the woman at the well, Jesus said in John 4, verses 23 to 24, “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth.” God isn’t seeking worshipers who have their minds elsewhere or are simply going through the motions; He is seeking worshipers who will worship Him in spirit and in truth.
Second, worship is intentional. One can’t worship God accidentally; it must be an intended act. Perhaps you remember Naaman the leper, whom God healed through Elisha. Naaman said that he would only worship the Lord God. Well, in 2 Kings 5:17 to 19 Naaman was worried and told Elisha that he had to bow in the house of Rimmon, that’s another god, as part of his duties. Well, Naaman makes the point that he must bow, but that worshiping a false god is not his intention. Well, Elisha understood that unless you intend to worship, it’s not really worship. The unfortunate thing some Christians come to a church to socialize or to see a production, and they never intend to worship. I hope you are a true worshiper.
True praise is not merely “going through the motions.” Jesus spoke about the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, whose worship was only an outward show and not from the heart. The Lord said in Matthew 15, verse 8 that, “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.” This not only revealed itself in their worship, but also in their lives. They had forgotten God’s commandments but concentrated on their human traditions. The Lord said, “in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15, verse 9). Now, genuine praise to God comes from a sincere devotion and obedience to the Lord.
Third, worship is vertical. Yes, true worship will edify the church; but the primary purpose of worship is vertical. Worship takes place when our hearts and our spirits show our thanksgiving and praise to God our Father. We sing praises to God. We’re not worshiping to please ourselves but to adore and glorify God. While we may sing to edify or teach others, the primary focus is to praise God. The Bible says in Hebrews 13, verse 15, “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.”
Fourth, worship is momentary. Like eating, it has a beginning and an ending. While worship is something that we do throughout our lives, it’s an intermittent, heartfelt act wherein we put everything else aside and we focus our minds and our hearts for a time on God. Now, someone says, “Well, Phil, the Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 that we are to pray without ceasing.” Well, that’s true, but no one can pray 24 hours a day, seven days a week. What this passage is saying is that we ought never to quit praying to God. We should pray every day throughout our lives.
Our lives are spent in momentary acts; and since worship is intentional we must choose to spend our time in worship. We must make the moments that we worship our Father in heaven important. Jesus said in John 4, verses 23 and 24 as we mentioned that, “the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” God wants you to take the time to give Him your heart, and to glorify His name.
Have you considered how important God regards worship? The Lord said to the people of Israel through the prophet Malachi in Malachi 1, verses 6 to 9 that, “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. Then, (God says) if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My respect? says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests who despise My name. But you say, (that is the priests speaking) How have we despised Your name? (Well, God answers) You are presenting defiled food upon My altar. But you say, How have we defiled You? (And then He says) In that you say, The table of the Lord is to be despised. But when you present the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you present the lame and sick, is it not evil? Why not offer it to your governor? Would he be pleased with you? Or would he receive you kindly? says the Lord of hosts. But now will you not entreat God’s favor, that He may be gracious to us? With such an offering on your part, will He receive any of you kindly? says the Lord of hosts.”
It is common these days for Christians to come to worship late, sometimes dressed as if they didn’t know they were coming into the presence of God. Many Christians habitually come in late to worship. How does this show respect and awe for God? Some people have the attitude: “Well, God ought to be glad that I came. Chill out, Phil! God ought to be satisfied that he got anything from me at all.” Well, is this the attitude of true worship? Where is the love? Where is the humility? How is God honored in all of this?
I fear that some have little sense of holiness about coming into the presence of God. God deserves our best; and we should not give what’s common or profane. God deserves to be respected in our hearts and in our appearance. I’m not here trying to make laws or tell you what you must wear to worship but to encourage you (now, listen to me) to consider whether you have honored God in your worship.
In the tabernacle and the temple, how one appeared before God mattered. The Bible says in Exodus 28 and verse 2, “And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty.” You see how the high priest dressed mattered to God. The Bible says in Psalm 29, verses 1 and 2, “Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.” Now, the New American Standard says that the angels are to worship “in holy array.” Why would angels need to put on holy garments?
Consider Paul’s instructions to Timothy in 1 Timothy 2, verses 9 and 10, “that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works.” When we assemble to worship, we are coming into the presence of God. And what we do there, gathered in His name to worship, is holy and reflects our attitude toward Him.
When the Israelites gathered for worship at the temple, they didn’t simply show up. They lived in a world of ceremonially clean and unclean. And what we have today is little sense of that concept. Israelite pilgrims who traveled to a feast in Jerusalem in ancient times first went to a ritual bath to become ceremonially pure before they ever entered into the temple area according to John 11 and verse 55. Now, archaeologists count as many as eighteen ritual baths surrounding the temple mount today. The purification rituals of Judaism stressed cleanliness and worthiness to serve and worship the Lord. In fact, Jehoiada the priest stationed gatekeepers at the gates of the house of the Lord so that no one should enter who was in any way unclean according to 2 Chronicles 29, 23 rather, verse 19.
Now, Isaiah tells us of his experience in the presence of God in the year that King Uzziah died in the book of Isaiah chapter 6, verses 1 to 8. Seraphim proclaimed of the Lord God, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” The Lord was sitting on his throne, lofty and exalted. And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at his voice, while the temple was filling with smoke.
Well, Isaiah responded, “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” Isaiah was humbled by his own sense of uncleanness before God. He expected to die because he was unclean, but God forgave him as the Seraphim touched his lips with the burning coal.
When the apostle John came into the presence of the Lord Jesus on the island of Patmos, he fell at his feet as though he were dead. He understood the awesome and special nature of the occasion. Many worship assemblies have become so worldly and so common that there is little sense of being in the presence of God or of the reverence of the occasion. The Hebrew writer urged his readers, “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.” I fear we’ve lost a sense of the awesome nature of God.
In many worship occasions I find things that reflect an environment of little respect for God. Things like putting a Bible on the floor, people putting their feet up in the pew or song racks, people who are repeatedly and needlessly late, constant going in and out to get a drink or to go to the bathroom, constant talking in the foyer, constant talking in the pews, texting on the phone, passing notes in worship or clipping fingernails during the sermon. Yes, I do care about everyone, and I want everyone to come for worship. But I wonder if God feels honored when our hearts and lives are so far away from Him.
We must think of our lives as we approach God in worship and how we worship. The Bible says in Psalm 66, verses 16 to 20, “Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell you what he has done for my soul. I cried to him with my mouth, and high praise was on my tongue. And if I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me!” When people cherish sin more than they do God, it should not surprise them that God closes His ears to their prayers.
The New Testament says in James 1, verses 26 to 27 that, “If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” If we wish to worship God in private or in public, we need to serve God by living holy lives every day. A man’s songs and prayers are worthless on Sunday, the Lord’s Day, if his mouth is vulgar the rest of the week. My friends, prepare for worship. Let’s pray. O Father, my our hearts and lives show forth our love and our respect for You. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
The apostle Paul was concerned about the unruly assemblies at Corinth that kept people from worshiping properly and from taking the Lord’s Supper in a way that pleased God. He said in 1 Corinthians 11:27 to 30, “Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.”
We ought to please God in our worship for two reasons. First, it honors God to worship the way He desires. Second, true worship calls us to live a purer and nobler life. And so let’s prepare to praise and glorify God before we come into His presence. Let’s get our hearts and our minds focused on God. Israel worshiped in vain by living immoral and ungodly lives according to Isaiah 1, verses 12 to 20. They needed to repent of their sins before they came to worship God. What will please God most is a heart that’s right with Him! Is your heart right with God?
To get right with God one must believe in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God. He must regard Jesus as Lord and turn away from sin in repentance. And anyone who loves the Lord will not remain in willful sin. He wants to change his life and to confess Jesus as the Christ. He’ll also be baptized as quickly as possible for the forgiveness of sins as the Bible teaches in Acts 2 and verse 38. If a person loves the Lord, he won’t want to spend a single moment outside the love and grace of God.
Well, we hope you’ve been blessed by today’s study of God’s Word. And if you want a free printed copy, a CD, or tape of this message, mail your request to In Search of the Lord's Way, P.O. Box 371, Edmond, OK 73083 or send us an e-mail to searchtv@searchtv.org. Or, call toll-free, 1-800-321-8633. Also you can go to our website, www.searchtv.org.
We’re so glad that you’ve joined us today in our study of worship. And we hope that you will visit one of the churches of Christ in the area served by this station or network. Oh, they love guests, and you’ll be glad you visited with them and worshiped with them. Mack and I will be back next week, Lord willing. So God bless you and we love you from all of us at In Search of the Lord’s Way.
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