WORSHIP Series 1
Notes
Transcript
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WORSHIP
WORSHIP
Colossians 3:2 “2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”
We are made for worship.
We are made for worship.
1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
And the firmament shows His handiwork.
Romans 1:20 “20 For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made. As a result, people are without excuse.”
What is worship?
English vernacular: worship is from an Old English word “weorþscipe”; the front portion referring to ‘worthiness’ and the second portion classifying a state of quality or condition.
So, in English, we use the word worship as a way of declaring the condition of being worthy.
Worthy of what?
Worthy of me - specifically, the best of me; really - worthy of me and my mind, my heart/passions, my soul (all that I am and do), and my strength - all that I can do.
And the mindset is that all I have that is of value is submitted before what or who we worship.
We submit to the point of exalting the who or what we worship to an elevated state above where we are personally.
It is recognizing power superior to yourself.
It is recognizing value superior to yourself.
It is recognizing knowledge superior to yourself.
It is recognizing beauty superior to yourself.
We put this into words like being all in.
And we use words like:
all of me
Loves all of you
Love your curves and all your edges
All your perfect imperfections
Give your all to me
I'll give my all to you
You're my end and my beginning
Even when I lose, I'm winning
'Cause I give you all of me
And you give me all of you, oh-oh
This is a song of worship. Now most of us know this is a love song written by John Legend in 2013.
But this how worship flows.
Where we place ourselves in a position of dependency on who or what is being worshipped.
And we are willing to give of ourselves in ways we would not do on a normal, regular every day kind of flow.
The next few weeks we will talk about Worship in a few different perspectives: including how we worship and the warfare of our worship.
So I challenge you to dig in this next weeks and start putting a lot of self-evaluation on this topic of worship.
It is a basic spiritual discipline that as you explore and develop your worship it continuously leads to a spiritually victorious life with Christ Jesus.
LAW OF FIRST MENTION
LAW OF FIRST MENTION
The first use of the word ‘worship’ in Scripture. This concept of worship isn’t used in an English vernacular yet, so let’s pay attention to what’s happening here:
Genesis 18 and Genesis 22 are the first two instances of this word in Scripture and we find Abraham reacting to the Lord’s presence.
1 The Lord appeared to Abraham at the oaks of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent during the heat of the day. 2 He looked up, and he saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them, bowed to the ground, 3 and said, “My lord, if I have found favor with you, please do not go on past your servant. 4 Let a little water be brought, that you may wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree. 5 I will bring a bit of bread so that you may strengthen yourselves. This is why you have passed your servant’s way. Later, you can continue on.”
“Yes,” they replied, “do as you have said.”
Three actionable things happened when Abraham entered into the presence of the Lord:
Effort
“When Abraham saw them, he ran”
Here we see intentional effort by Abraham to go the place before Jesus.
He moved quickly and assuredly. There was no second guessing. There was no “let me think about this”; just straight intent to get to the presence of the Almighty.
Our worship requires effort. Our worship should expend energy - focused on God and being in His presence.
2. Submission
The second aspect of this worship is the pinnacle of worship.
Abraham bowed down before the Lord in submission to WHO Jesus is, and WHAT Jesus is.
This word for bowing down in the original text is a Hebrew act that will translate into a new word in Genesis 22 that we’ll read in just a minute.
So double underline the words “bowed himself to the ground”.
This act of making yourself low in the presence of almighty God establishes the position of worship before Almighty God.
Bowing yourself in submission - getting on your face, laying prostrate before the Lord - is positioning your mind, body, and will in a place of submission before GOD.
Why is this important?
The position of submission before God is the place where you truly define God as greater than you are.
The position of laying yourself down is surrender. It is vulnerability. It is humility. It is the physical manifestation of dependency on God.
And I declare to you this morning, you have not done enough of getting on your face before God and worshipping Him.
In your private space where you have time alone with the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY, you need to lay yourself down in the position of humility before God.
MEN - if you truly want to have a strong and intimate relationship with God - you need to get on your face before Him.
If you truly want to see the LORD do something mighty in your life. You need to get down before Him and recognize He is GOD FIRST!
He is Jehovah Jireh, The Lord Who Provides - but He is the LORD first!
And HE deserves to be worshipped FIRST - before we can ask anything of HIM.
Abraham begged the LORD “MY LORD, if I have now found favor in Your sight, do not pass on by Your servant.”
We all need to get into this position of calling on God as “MY LORD” - this word, LORD, is identifying someone as have POWER, AUTHORITY, OR INFLUENCE over your life - it is master or ruler!
You need to call Jesus your LORD, and live according to Him mastering over your life.
IN power
IN authority
IN influence
AND beg of Him, please do not pass by your servant.
The beautiful thing about WORSHIP is that He wants to meet you there! God wants to meet you at the point of WORSHIP.
This is the type of person God is LOOKING FOR: “those worshippers who worship in spirit and in truth”
GOD ALMIGHTY is looking for you in your worship, in how you worship
3. Sacrifice
Abraham immediately continued in the place of submission and humility with sacrifice.
And there, Abraham ministered to the LORD.
He saw a need the Lord had, and in what was customary, accommodated the LORD and his angelic hosts.
He washed the LORD’s feet - and provided shaded rest
He brought fresh-baked bread, and grilled up a tender steak for their stomach, and wanted to refresh their spirits - to be a joy and a comfort.
Abraham ministered to the LORD and asked nothing of Him.
Let’s look at Genesis 22:
1 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he answered.
2 “Take your son,” he said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love, go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”
3 So Abraham got up early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took with him two of his young men and his son Isaac. He split wood for a burnt offering and set out to go to the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there to worship; then we’ll come back to you.”
Here again we see the three aspects of WORSHIP:
Effort
Abraham responded to the LORD’s request
He got up EARLY in the morning and prepared Himself and His family to go worship
He prepared for his offering to the LORD
Submission
He positioned himself in humility before GOD - GOD asked of Abraham what he loved, and Abraham was willing to lay it down at the Lord’s request
He submitted to the LORD’s leading -
He had faith that GOD knew BEST for him and his family
Sacrifice
He positioned himself before GOD to give freely - even what God asked for
He prepared with intentionality for the moment of sacrifice
He brought his sacrifice in FULL - trusting that GOD would provide!
Abraham is going to go WORSHIP - that word in the Hebrew text is the same word in Genesis 18 verse 3: šāḥâ
It means to bow down and prostrate oneself.
Abraham essentially said WE - Isaac and I - are going to go over to a place on the mountain where we are going to bow and lay ourselves down before God.
We translate it in English as worship - but this is the visual and physical act that Abraham saw in his mind in an act of reverence and humility before God.
WORSHIP UNLOCKS GOD’S PROMISES
WORSHIP UNLOCKS GOD’S PROMISES
WORSHIP unlocks what GOD truly wants to do you in your life!
In both of these occasions in Genesis, with this first conceptual use of WORSHIP, we see GOD do something miraculous after.
God’s promises were unlocked for Abraham.
In Genesis 18, we see that after Abraham’s humble worship before God, and ministering to the Lord’s needs, God flips the script towards a miraculous intervention in Abraham and Sarah’s inability to conceive a child.
God said He would bless Abraham as a father of many nations, and WORSHIP preceded God initiating His promise.
In Genesis 22, we see that after Abraham trusts the Lord and takes his beloved Isaac to sacrifice him as the LORD requested, God sees the worshipful heart of Abraham and his genuine faith - it was a test of Abraham’s faith.
Abraham didn’t know what to expect from God - he just believed God would work it out and submitted himself to God.
Hebrews 11:19 “19 He considered God to be able even to raise someone from the dead; therefore, he received him back…”
But through Abraham’s worship, God unlocked the promise of a sacrifice and a new name for Abraham to call upon the LORD: “Jehovah Jireh” - The LORD will PROVIDE
And God speaks to Abraham and says:
Genesis 22:15–18 “15 Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven 16 and said, “By myself I have sworn,” this is the Lord’s declaration: “Because you have done this thing and have not withheld your only son, 17 I will indeed bless you and make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the city gates of their enemies. 18 And all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring because you have obeyed my command.””
God is faithful to His WORD.
HE is seeking those who worship Him, because HE IS WORTHY
AND, at the same time, His promises for you are unlocked through your worship!
CLOSING
CLOSING
30 He must increase, but I must decrease.”
31 The one who comes from above is above all. The one who is from the earth is earthly and speaks in earthly terms. The one who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He testifies to what he has seen and heard, and yet no one accepts his testimony. 33 The one who has accepted his testimony has affirmed that God is true. 34 For the one whom God sent speaks God’s words, since he gives the Spirit without measure. 35 The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hands. 36 The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who rejects the Son will not see life; instead, the wrath of God remains on him.
WORSHIP is something we do for eternity, so you better get used to it now - just like when we sing
“We fall down, we lay our crowns, at the feet of Jesus”
Revelation 4:10–11 “10 the twenty-four elders fall down before the one seated on the throne and worship the one who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne and say, 11 Our Lord and God, you are worthy to receive glory and honor and power, because you have created all things, and by your will they exist and were created.”
Matthew 11:28–29 “28 “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
Our WORSHIP is bringing ourselves and all that matters to us - the celebrating, and the sorrows - to the feet the LORD…and finding our peace there.
WORSHIP is learned behavior - we are made for it, but we are not given to it. It’s a heart issue, and a matter of the will.
So WORSHIP is learned - through seeing others worship, but also through actively worshipping.
