God Approved Worship
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· 4 viewsTrue worship is not the mechanical repetition of rituals, but should be wholehearted and reverent. It should be based upon trustful and obedient lives, in that obedience is itself to be seen as an act of worship.
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Introduction
Introduction
Many of us have been going through some tough trials lately. Some may have even wondered how in the world they are going to make it through to the other side in one piece.
Then we hear of revivals on campuses around the country and wonder “Why not here?”
Have we not been praying?
Has God overlooked us here in Warrenton?
Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth!
Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day.
Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!
For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the peoples are worthless 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 due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts!
Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth!
Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns! Yes, the world is established; it shall never 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 that fills it;
let the field exult, and everything in it! Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
before the Lord, for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in his faithfulness.
God Tells Us How
God Tells Us How
The Word of God is absolutely filled with examples after example of how we are to worship our God.
One thing we need to understand is that there is no cookie cutter way to worship the Lord.
He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth!
Are You Going Through The Motions?
Are You Going Through The Motions?
Most Christians fall into the same ruts in their relationship with the Lord as they do in every other relationship with people.
Think about how easy it is for us to take for granted those people that are with us every single day and begin to treat them with anywhere from a mild form of neglect to absolute ignorance.
How much easier is it then for your mind to shut down in relation to God whom you have never seen at any time?
No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.
It takes discipline to continue to worship God properly!
Spiritually lazy people have a difficult time with their walk with God because they want God to do it for them in the same way they want to be spoon fed in every other area of their lives.
Some of those same spiritually lazy people will turn right around and have the audacity to correct others or commentate on how things ought to be with others.
But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.
God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
See also Heb 10:1
For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near.
The Jewish people had perfected the art of being religious, but their hearts were far from God.
And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,
You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said:
“ ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;
in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”
We cannot offer God empty praise
He will not accept anything other than all of you giving Him proper worship!
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him! Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness;
Bad Worship
Bad Worship
Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them.
For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—
These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
Worship Starts With Right Living
Worship Starts With Right Living
“With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill?
He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart;
who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend;
in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but who honors those who fear the Lord; who swears to his own hurt and does not change;
who does not put out his money at interest and does not take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved.
Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.
An Attitude of Worship
An Attitude of Worship
Preparation for worship
Preparation for worship
Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
Then David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes. And he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. He then went to his own house. And when he asked, they set food before him, and he ate.
As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.
Wholeheartedness
Wholeheartedness
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.
One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.
Confidence in approaching God
Confidence in approaching God
let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
(for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.
When we allow the Holy Spirit to lead us into worship we can never go wrong.
If we start thinking about how we think things ought to go, we are already possibly resisting the God that thinks on a whole different level than we ever could.
So let’s all stand this morning and offer up to our Heavenly Father up some true worship because He and He alone is worthy.