Worship Is Our Greatest Priority

Introduction:

In 1977, Maria Rubio of Lake Arthur, New Mexico was assembling a burrito when she noticed that the skillet marks on one of her tortillas resembled the face of Jesus. She was so excited she showed it to her husband and neighbors, and they all agreed that there was a face etched on the tortilla and that it truly bore a resemblance to the familiar Catholic images of Jesus.

So she asked her priest to bless the tortilla and testified that the tortilla had changed her life, and her husband agreed she was more peaceful, happy and submissive since the arrival of said tortilla. The priest was not accustomed to blessing tortillas but agreed to do it.

She took the tortilla home, put it in a shadow box-frame and Mr. Rubio built a special altar for it to rest on. They put the whole thing in a wooden utility shack in the backyard and opened a little shrine to visitors. Within a few months more than 8000 people came to the Shrine of the Jesus of the Tortilla, (do a google search and you will find this is a true story) and all agreed that the faced burned into the tortilla was that of Jesus.

Within 2 years more than 35,000 people visited the shrine. For 28 years people would travel to see this Holy Tortilla. Over time the burn marks faded and the image was hard to make out, but people still wanted to worship at this shrine.

In 2005, Mrs. Rubio’s granddaughter took the tortilla to school for show and tell and someone accidentally dropped it and it shattered. Mrs. Rubio kept the shadow-box now filled with only fragments of the shattered tortilla. No one seemed interested anymore and the Rubio family finally closed the deteriorating shrine.

People have claimed to see images of Jesus from pizza toppings, burnt toast, oil spots on the garage floor, a misshapen Cheeto and far other outrageous places.

Invariably, when that happens people flock to see and worship those objects.

I don’t know about you, but it seems incredible to me that so many people would treat objects like burnt tortillas, misshapen Cheetos and oil stains as objects of worship.

The sad truth is this distorted concept of worship is actually easier to find than authentic worship.

Although the Bible is clear about how and whom and when we are to worship, there is little genuine worship taking place throughout most of the world today.

With today being the 1st day of 2024, we want to begin our new year with a series that we hope will help us set the course for our entire year…Worship…Living A Life of Praise.

Why study this topic?

To help all of us continue to grow in our pursuit of God.

It is easy to become dull and lifeless in our relationship with God…and if our individual worship of God is lacking then our corporate worship will suffer also.

To provide a biblical framework for maintaining balance in our worship.

Over the last 30 to 40 years there has been an explosion of music done in the name of Christ that quite frankly is outside the framework of Scripture and lacks sound theology.

There have also been movements to add more pomp and circumstance to Sunday morning worship that relegates what is holy and reverent into a mere circus side show.

To better equip us to reach our culture without setting up needless barriers and compromising of truth.

Here is a fact that we have to deal with…the most popular questions I get asked when people discover I am pastor are in the realm of style and instrumentation of our worship.

They want to know how we worship…are we rocky or stoic or somewhere in between?

That ought to cause us to pause and consider just exactly what we are doing in this whole area of worship…

We ought to want to help people in this culture connect with the living and saving God of the Bible.

We want to make God’s truth as accessible as possible to others without turning people off or giving them the wrong ideas.

So it ought to be imperative to us to make sure we are getting it right…but we also need to make sure we are speaking in a language they can understand

Main Point: Genuine Worship Is Our Highest Priority!

It’s important for us to have a working definition of genuine worship...

Worship = ascribing to God His worth, or stating and affirming His supreme value.

Genuine worship seems to be one of the most misunderstood doctrines in all the Scriptures.

Worship is the center of everything Scripture commands of us.

If you are not a true worshipper, everything else in your life will be spiritually out of balance.

On the other side of the coin, nothing accelerates your spiritual growth and sanctification than having a right understanding of true worship.

3 truths to consider to help us make worship our highest priority.

1. Worship dominates the Bible.

From Genesis to Revelation, worship is woven into every fabric of biblical text.

The fall of Adam came as a result of his failure to worship God by being obedient to the one command God gave.

In Revelation, we discover that all of history culminates in the eternal worship of our loving God.

Jesus tells us that our universal, first priority is to worship God…Mark 12:29-30

Mark 12:29–30 “Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’”

The 10 commandments in Exodus 20 begins with a call and regulation for worship…

Exodus 20:1–5 “Then God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before Me. “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. “You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,”

All of life for the OT saint was centered in worship

it was supposed to be a continual preoccupation for them.

The tabernacle was designed only for worship.

There are more verses detailing the description of the tabernacle than verses devoted to creation.

It was the place where God met His people.

Why were there no seats in the tabernacle?

They were there to worship and serve God not to be worshipped and served by each other.

Meetings for any other purpose were conducted elsewhere…the tabernacle was for worship alone.

It was the center fixture to the Israelite camp because worship was central to all of their life.

The ceremonial offerings were acts of worship and were central to the Law.

All the political, social, and religious activity in Israel revolved around the Law.

The burnt offering is the most significant offering and is always listed first because it is the most significant illustration of worship.

Every part of the offering was consumed, not to be shared as in the other offerings.

It was offered totally to God.

When anyone comes to God, he is to come first of all in an act of worship where everything is given totally to God.

Moses spent a significant amount of time describing how the implements used in worship services were to be made.

Exodus 30:34–38“Then the Lord said to Moses, “Take for yourself spices, stacte and onycha and galbanum, spices with pure frankincense; there shall be an equal part of each. “With it you shall make incense, a perfume, the work of a perfumer, salted, pure, and holy. “You shall beat some of it very fine, and put part of it before the testimony in the tent of meeting where I will meet with you; it shall be most holy to you. “The incense which you shall make, you shall not make in the same proportions for yourselves; it shall be holy to you for the Lord. “Whoever shall make any like it, to use as perfume, shall be cut off from his people.””

God told them specifically how to make the incense (holy perfume that was to be unique) and if the incense was used for personal benefit God will kill them.

There is something so unique, so holy about worship that it is set completely apart from anything else in our dimension.

No one can take from God what He has devised for His own glory!

Here is something to think about: Our lives are to be like that perfume…holy, acceptable and a sweet fragrance to God. The person who uses his/her life for any purpose other than worship, regardless of how noble or honorable that purpose may be, is guilty of the same sin as misuse of the holy incense…under the law that was punishable by death.

The NT premise of the Great Commission is to make more worshippers.

Disciple = learner, imitator of the teacher = of God, of Christ

Why do we learn about God, why do we seek to imitate Him? – because we have a love and awe for him beyond comparison.

Our job is to reproduce that in others – making disciples who are worshippers.

2. God judges wrong worship.

Israel was judged because of idol worship…Ex. 32:7-35

Read Ex 32:8-10, 24-28, 35

God’s grace held back his wrath and so only 3000 of them were killed.

He could have wiped out the whole nation.

Nadab & Abihu were judged for failure to lead worship properly…Leviticus 10

Leviticus 10:1 “Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them.”

They trained their whole life to be priests and in their first real function as priests they offered “strange fire”

We are not sure exactly what this infraction was.

The Hebrew expression speaks of “unauthorized fire”.

Whatever it was, it was not prescribed to be done by priests leading the people in worship.

They acted independently of the revelation of God for proper worship.

God instantly killed both of them.

They were well meaning, filled with zeal, but they disobeyed.

King Saul was judged for usurping the role of priest…1 Samuel 13:8-14

1 Samuel 13:8–14 “Now he waited seven days, according to the appointed time set by Samuel, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattering from him. So Saul said, “Bring to me the burnt offering and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering. As soon as he finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him and to greet him. But Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “Because I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the appointed days, and that the Philistines were assembling at Michmash, therefore I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not asked the favor of the Lord.’ So I forced myself and offered the burnt offering.” Samuel said to Saul, “You have acted foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you, for now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. “But now your kingdom shall not…”

He decided to depart from God’s prescribed way and it cost him dearly.

Uzzah was judged for well-intentioned, but self-styled worship…2 Samuel 6:3, 6,7

2 Samuel 6:3–7 “They placed the ark of God on a new cart that they might bring it from the house of Abinadab which was on the hill; and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were leading the new cart. So they brought it with the ark of God from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill; and Ahio was walking ahead of the ark. Meanwhile, David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the Lord with all kinds of instruments made of fir wood, and with lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets and cymbals. But when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out toward the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen nearly upset it. And the anger of the Lord burned against Uzzah, and God struck him down there for his irreverence; and he died there by the ark of God.”

Uzzah was apparently a Kohathite and they had one task…transport the Ark of the Covenant.

One of the principles they learned early on was to never touch the Ark.

They also knew that God’s prescribed method of transport was poles inserted into rings and carried on the shoulders of the Kohathites that was specifically spelled out in Numbers 4:15 ““When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy objects and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, when the camp is to set out, after that the sons of Kohath shall come to carry them, so that they will not touch the holy objects and die. These are the things in the tent of meeting which the sons of Kohath are to carry.”

Verse 15 states specifically that it was to be covered so that they would not touch the holy objects and die…God’s method.

Uzzah’s method was direct disobedience to God’s method.

It seemed as though the thought process of a new cart suggested the men transporting the ark had some sense of the holiness of their task…instead of using just an old hay wagon.

But they still didn’t do it the way God wanted it done.

As the cart travelled along the road it almost overturned.

Uzzah trained all his life to protect the Ark, reaches out to stop it from falling and God slew him on the spot.

Uzzah was well-intentioned and it seemed as though he was doing his job.

The problem was he was attempting to carry out a responsibility before God in a way not prescribed by God.

It may have been an act of worship thinking he was preserving the holiness of God, but he defiled the ark by touching it.

Implications

God will not accept deviant worship.

You can be sincere in your worship, but you can also be sincerely wrong.

The Bible is clear…John MacArthur… “Those who offer self-styled worship are unacceptable to God, regardless of their good intentions.”

We cannot worship God on OUR terms. God will not bless us if we fail to worship Him as He commands.

3. Scripture identifies specific kinds of unacceptable worship.

Worship of false gods

Isaiah 42:8 “I am the Lord, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, nor My praise to graven images.”; Isaiah 48:11 “My glory I will not give to another”; Exodus 34:14“You shall not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.”

Yet all the world is guilty of worshipping false gods. – Turn to Romans 1

Romans 1:21“For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”

God placed within every man the knowledge of Himself, but entire human race is fallen and lost and does not want to acknowledge that fact.

The very essence of man’s depravity is bound up in false worship.

The end result of that kind of worship is God giving the idolaters over to their sin and its consequences.

V. 24 (gave them up to impurity), 26 (gave them up to degrading passions), 28 (gave them up to a depraved mind)

When God gives them up, their sin increasingly becomes the dominating factor in their lives…they face judgment without any excuses

Everyone worships.

Every man, woman and child is built with a drive to worship…it is one of the basic needs God designed into our hearts.

If God is not the object of our worship, something or someone else will be…even the atheist worships…he worships himself.

False gods can be worshipped even without the conscious thought of them being gods.

1. Job 31:24-28 – Job refused to worship his wealth…if you center your life on your possessions, or even your needs, you have in effect made them your god…you have denied God is rightful place.

2. Habakkuk 1:15-16 – describes the Chaldeans as those who worship their might.

3. Acts 17:29 – Paul tells us not to think that the divine nature is composed of gold or silver or stone…an image.

Worship of the true God in a wrong form.

i. Exodus 32:7–9“Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. “They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it and have sacrificed to it and said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!’ ” The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people.”

worship of the golden calf...They payed homage to God with their lips and intended to worship Him, but reduced Him to an image.

God never revealed Himself to Israel embodied in any distinct form.

1. The pillars of fire and smoke, the miracles, the glory in Moses’ face were all manifestations of God’s glory and power.

2. There was no tangible or visible representation of God…why?

Because God does not want to be reduced to an image.

Worship of the true God on our terms.

Just ask Nadab, Abihu, Saul and Uzzah what God thinks about seeking to worship him on your own terms.

Worshipping God on our terms means we make our preferences, our desires, our opinions the deciding factor of when and how we worship.

We conveniently set God’s Word aside, intentionally or unintentionally, for what makes us feel better about ourselves or what best fits our priority at that moment…reflect on what Jesus says in Matt. 15:7-9...

Matt 15:7-9

Matthew 15:7–9 NASB95

“You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me. ‘But in vain do they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’ ”

Worship of the true God in the right way, with a wrong attitude.

Malachi 1:7–10 ““You are presenting defiled food upon My altar. But you say, ‘How have we defiled You?’ 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. “Oh that there were one among you who would shut the gates, that you might not uselessly kindle fire on My altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord of hosts, “nor will I accept an offering from you.”

1. V. 7 – treating matter of worship with disdain, flippancy.

2. V. 8 – demonstrating contempt for the seriousness of worship by offering blind, lame and sick animals instead of the best.

3. V.10 – God does not accept their worship because their attitude was not right.

Amos 5:21–24 ““I hate, I reject your festivals, Nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. “Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings. “Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. “But let justice roll down like waters And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”

Hosea 6:4–6 “What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning cloud And like the dew which goes away early. Therefore I have hewn them in pieces by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of My mouth; And the judgments on you are like the light that goes forth. For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”

Isaiah 1:11–15 ““What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?” Says the Lord. “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams And the fat of fed cattle; And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats. “When you come to appear before Me, Who requires of you this trampling of My courts? “Bring your worthless offerings no longer, Incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies— I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. “I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them. “So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.”

All these passages speak to God’s disdain for empty worship.

a. Their offerings were empty.

b. They were guilty of giving God the symbol, but not the reality.

This is more subtle than the others...Even if we eliminate all false gods, all images of the true God, and all self-styled modes of worship, our worship will still be unacceptable to God if our heart attitude is not right.

1. Is your whole heart in worship?

2. When you give, do you give the best of all you have?

3. Is your inner being filled with awe and reverence?

4. If we are honest, none of us can answer those questions without hesitation and qualification.

Lesson for Life – Living a life of praise is a passionate pursuit of God that requires whole hearted worship.

Psalm 119:10 – With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! – ESV

Ps 119:10 – With all my heart I have sought Thee; Do not let me wander from Thy commandments. NASB

Will you make pursuing God with passion your priority this year?

As a church let us commit to God and one another that 2024 will be a year that we all take steps of growth in a more faithful and passionate pursuit of God.

Our individual and corporate worship cannot be satisfied with thinking God will accept our worship if our worship is on our terms.

Every aspect of our life is to be focused on worship knowing God will not accept our worship if our attitudes are wrong or half-hearted.