Sermon Tone Analysis

This evening, I want to pull one verse from the 29th Chapter of Isaiah to preach on.

It’s verse 13: “The Lord says: /“These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.”/ (Isaiah 29:13, NIV84).

It’s a companion message to this morning’s sermon.

This morning I preached primarily about the characteristics of false worship, but tonight I want to preach on the characteristics of true worship.

One of the reasons that judgment is coming upon Israel and Judah is their abandonment of true worship.

Isaiah puts his finger on the source of their problem.

They were going through the right religious motions, but their hearts were far from their God.

A lot of times when we talk about worship we focus on what we do and if we’re doing it the ‘right way’.

But when we look at the Bible, that was often the problem: the Israelites focused so much on the things they did, and how the did it that they didn’t think about what was on the inside their hearts.

ILLUS.

I don’t remember now how many years ago it has been, but I remember purposely switching the order of the Lord’s Supper just to see it anyone would notice.

Boy, did some people notice!

Let’s just say, that I’ll never do that again—at least in THIS church (or at least until a whole generation of folks have passed away—which ever comes first)!

This evening, I want to preach on the heart of the worshiper.

The first person mentioned in the Bible as worshiping God did it wrong (which, when you think about it, is not very encouraging).

Cain was the first to offer an offering to God, and it was unacceptable.

His brother Able offered an acceptable offering.

Cain became so upset that he ended up killing his brother.

Some commentators have claimed that Cain’s problem was that he didn’t offer the right thing that he was supposed to offer or that something was wrong with the ceremony that he did, but I think the Bible shows us that his problem was a problem of the heart.

He didn’t have the heart of a worshiper!

First off, the Bible emphasizes that Abel brought the best, while it merely says that Cain brought part of his harvest.

Then when you look at this reaction, you know that that cannot be the heart of someone truly seeking God.

Let’s look at the heart of the worshiper.

!

I. THE TRUE WORSHIPER WORSHIPS FROM THE INSIDE OUT

#. what he does he does because of what is in his heart

#. not the other way around

!! A. TRUE WORSHIPERS FOCUSES ON ATTITUDE, NOT ACTIONS

#.

God repeatedly tells us what He does not want in worship so that we can understand what he does want

* /“The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.”/ (Isaiah 29:13, NIV84)

* /“For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.”/

(Hosea 6:6, NIV84)

#.

Israel had fallen into the trap that their actions of worship were more important than their attitudes in worship

#. the people thought, /"I’m offering this sacrifice and keeping this feast and doing all these things, so I must be right with God."/

#. they weren’t

#. and I’m afraid that we can do the same thing

#.

many professing Christians tell themselves, /"Hey, I’m doing all the right things.

I must be right with God."/

#. not necessarily

#.

Isaiah tell us that worship involves the attitude of the heart

#.

God demands all of our affections, all of our focus, and all of our mental inquisitiveness

* /“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.

Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”/

(Deuteronomy 6:4–5, NIV84)

#.

God also demands that our affections for Him result in our affections for others in His name

#. Hosea reminds his fellow Hebrews that sacrifice to God that does not involve mercy toward others means their worship has been meaningless

#. now, let me give you a caveat here ... focusing on attitude and not action does not mean that /“anything goes”/ in worship

#. when it comes to worship, the Apostle Paul is very clear that things must be done decently and in order (1 Cor.

14:40)

!! B. TRUE WORSHIPERS WORSHIP CHEERFULLY, NOT GRUDGINGLY

* /““Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar!

I am not pleased with you,” says the LORD Almighty, “and I will accept no offering from your hands.

My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun.

In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to my name, because my name will be great among the nations,” says the LORD Almighty.

“But you profane it by saying of the Lord’s table, ‘It is defiled,’ and of its food, ‘It is contemptible.’

And you say, ‘What a burden!’ and you sniff at it contemptuously,” says the LORD Almighty.

“When you bring injured, crippled or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?” says the LORD.”/

(Malachi 1:10–13, NIV84)

#. worship had become a burden that the people grudgingly acquiesced to

#. they complied with God’s commands to worship Him, not because they wanted to but because they felt compelled to

#. God accuses the people of being contemptuous of Him

#. the true worshiper does not consider worship a burden

#. do you ever have the feeling "It’s Sunday morning again.

I’d like to sleep in, but if I do sleep in, I’ll feel guilty, so I guess I’ll go to church."?

#. worship of the Lord was never meant to be burdensome, but a blessing

#.

The True Worshiper Worships from the Inside out

! II.

THE TRUE WORSHIPER IS THE SAME OUTSIDE THE CHURCH AS HE IS INSIDE

#. the word /hypocrisy/ comes from the Greek (hypokrites), which means "/play-acting/"

#. it’s a theatrical term that referred to an actor who was skilled at impersonating characters

#. in time, it came to refer to a person who displayed a counterfeit persona

#. the hypocrite is the person who purposely decides to wear different personas in different situations

!! A. TRUE WORSHIPERS USE THEIR WHOLE LIFE TO WORSHIP GOD

#. the Prophet Jeremiah gives us an interesting perspective on this

* /“This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place.

Do not trust in deceptive words and say, “This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD!”

If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress the alien, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your forefathers for ever and ever.

But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless.”/

(Jeremiah 7:3–8, NIV84)

#. the Prophet is saying you can’t just come to the temple once a week and say /"I’m all right with God"/

#. the true worship of God affects how we relate to the people around us

#. we will deal with each other justly

#. we will refuse to deal unjustly with those who it is easy to take advantage of—the alien in our society, the fatherless and the widow

#. we will not shed innocent blood

#.

we will not bow to and offer sacrifice to idols

#. worshiping from the heart means serving God seven days a week and not just one

!! B. TRUE WORSHIPERS DON’T USE THE CHURCH AS A “HIDEOUT”

#. let’s continue to look at what the Prophet Jeremiah says ...

* /“ ‘Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, “We are safe”—safe to do all these detestable things?

Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you?

But I have been watching!

declares the LORD.”/

(Jeremiah 7:9–11, NIV84)

#.

Jeremiah is saying that if you’re living a debased life Monday through Saturday, you’re fooling yourself if you think /"Sure, I don’t live for Christ during the week, but I’m in church every Sunday.

God will remember that."/

#. that’s not how it works

#.

The True Worshiper Is the Same Outside the Church as He Is Inside

!

III.

THE TRUE WORSHIPER GIVES GOD HIS BEST

* /“A son honors his father, and a servant his master.