The worship of God

God wants worshipers hearts

#1

God doesn’t want to just move peoples intellect but he want’s to move thier emotions.

Exodus 35:21 “And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the Lord’s offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for all his service, and for the holy garments.”

Our God is an emotional God. Jesus is a loving and passionate savior.

God demonstrated his passion for us in order to win our passion for him.

I looked up the word passion and found there in the dictionary; the passion of christ,and the giving of his life on the cross.

Marc Seigal said “ we think we are rational creatures but the truth is we are ruled by our passions our desires, and our emotions both positive and negitive.

Christ sacrifice was more than just physical.

He was Betrayed by a kiss and rejected by his own people

His heart was broken and pierced thru, to redeem our emotions and affections.

He came to win more than just our mental capacity.

He came to win our hearts back to him.

Jesus talked about the pearl of great price.

Jesus came to buy that pearl of great price.

It was the human heart that God loved so much that he was willing to sacrifice his only begotten son.

And Jesus was willing to go thru all the suffering to redeem that heart , he prayed in the garden,

“ if it be thy will let this cup pass from me never the less not my will but thy will be done!”

Gods primary aim is to recover his children and have a loving relationship with them.

The first and greatest commandment according to Jesus is to love the Lord your God with all your heart.

If God has your heart he has the whole person!

If worship isn’t from your heart , It isn’t worship!

When we build churches we are building opportunities for people to meet with him.

But it is Gods job to move thier hearts.

My part is to be in obedience to him!

His part is to bring the result.

#2

Tabernacles must be set up by people who are willing to do things Gods way!

Exodus 36:1 “Then wrought Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whom the Lord put wisdom and understanding to know how to work all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary, according to all that the Lord had commanded.”

So what is wisdom?

Psalm 111:10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: A good understanding have all they that do his commandments: His praise endureth for ever.”

The fear the Lord is to care more about his opinion and honour than anything else in this world.

It is to love what he loves and hate what he hates.

To fear the Lord is to give him the repect ,awe, and wonder due the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

Wisdom protect us from wickedness, folly and Pride.

Proverbs 2:11–16 “Discretion shall preserve thee, Understanding shall keep thee: To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, From the man that speaketh froward things; Who leave the paths of uprightness, To walk in the ways of darkness; Who rejoice to do evil, And delight in the frowardness of the wicked; Whose ways are crooked, And they froward in their paths: To deliver thee from the strange woman, Even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;”

Proverbs 11:2 “When pride cometh, then cometh shame: But with the lowly is wisdom.”

Wisdom develops Patience, and humility in us.

Proverbs 19:11 “The discretion of a man deferreth his anger; And it is his glory to pass over a transgression.”

Wisdom teaches us to seek Godly counsel.

Proverbs 24:6 “For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: And in multitude of counsellers there is safety.”

The reason these things are important is because peoples lives and souls are at stake.

Proverbs 14:12 “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, But the end thereof are the ways of death.”

Example;

David goes to bring the arc of the covenant up from

Abinadab’s house , in Gebeah, and to bring it back to jerusalem.

2 Samuel 6:1–7

“Again, David gathered together all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. And David arose, and went with all the people that were with him from Baale of Judah, to bring up from thence the ark of God, whose name is called by the name of the Lord of hosts that dwelleth between the cherubims. And they set the ark of God upon a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab that was in Gibeah: and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drave the new cart. And they brought it out of the house of Abinadab which was at Gibeah, accompanying the ark of God: and Ahio went before the ark. And David and all the house of Israel played before the Lord on all manner of instruments made of fir wood, even on harps, and on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals. And when they came to Nachon’s threshingfloor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; there he died by the ark of God.”

Davids good intension’s were not enough to save Uzzah from his fate that day.

And David got mad that day. I can hear him saying God what are you doing we are bring this back to where it belongs . And this great procession is for you God! and you just kiiled one of my worship leaders.

Why God! why!

But David must have relized he was being disrepectful because the very next vrs. says

David feared the Lord that day and he thought, How can the ark of the Lord come to me?

Even a man after God own heart must fear the Lord He had to use wisdom and do things Gods way.

Why did Uzza die that day vrs 7 say’s for irreverence.

Wise people do not try to handle Gods Glory. We do not lay hands on or try to manipulate the presence or the power Of God!

But thats not all the priest made a fundamental error when preparing to move the ark they sat it on a new cart .

according to 1 Chronicles 15:15 the priest were suppose to carrie it upon thier shoulders.

Ex.25:14 said they were to carry it with poles not touch it with thier hands.

You see there were two ways to bring the ark to jerusalem Gods way and the worlds way (philistine)

Gods presence( the ark) had been taken by the philistine’s because of unrepented sin within the priesthood.

Principal #1

The priest have no excuse for not knowing thier responsibilities, thier jobs , or the word of God!

Principal #2

Just because something works for the world doesn’t mean it will work for the church!

We should remember that the ways of the world are not the ways of God. He is Holy, He is set apart from all other gods. He is different from our culture.

Princlple #3

Either we emphasize the truth of the word fo God or we don’t.

Either we value the presence and power of god or we don’t.

Either we Honour Jesus as the son of the living God who died for our sin’s or we don’t.

these thing are not matter of style but they are Absolutes!

We cannot neglect them and hope to prosper. If we would see the kingdom of God grow we must do it His way!

God told moses when he commaded him to build the tabernacle, to build it according to the pattern he saw in the mountain. God gave moses detailed instrution on what he required for the tabernacle.

Wisdom follows Gods ways

folly follows the way that seemeth right.

We can worship and lead worship according to Gods word and bring life to relationships and to the circumstances of our lives.

Or we can pursue the wisdom of men which leads to death and decay.

One last thing the tabernacle must be built by skillful people.

Would you hire a day laborer to build your home?

Or a novice to rebuild your car engine?

Would you want your appendix removed by Someone who saw it done once on Utube and said I can do that? The answer is of course no!

Then why is it so concerning that the God of the universe would want skilled laborers in his field to build his house or kingdom?

Mediocrity holds no virute in the kingdom of God.

2 Timothy 2:15 “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

Approved for what? Approved to work in the service of the King of kings.

In whatever field we work with what ever gifts we are given, we should study, practice, and strive to be the best we are able to be.

When God told moses to build the tabernacle he told moses which artisans to commission to do the work . Notice what God say’s !

Exodus 36:1 “Then wrought Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whom the Lord put wisdom and understanding to know how to work all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary, according to all that the Lord had commanded.”

These were no run of the mill artist’s, they were the best of the whole nation the best weavers, best black smiths, the best jewelers, wood workers. why?

Because God is the King of kings and the Lord of lords and he is worthy of more and better than we can bring him.He is worthy of no less than our very best.

Whenever we lift an offering to the Lord , it should be the best we have!

How does this apply to worship today?

We profane the holy gifts when we bring God less than the best we have to offer!

Each of us have been given gifts with which to minister for him to lift an offering to Him.

Whatever your gift is you should develop it to the best of our ability. Wheather singing , playing an instrument or preaching the word of god we are told to study to develop that gift to the best of our ability.And isn’t that what God deserve’s Our best!

Bringing God less than our best is an insult to the God of the universe. It profanes his holy gift and calling in us.

Deuteronomy 15:21 “And if there be any blemish therein, as if it be lame, or blind, or have any ill blemish, thou shalt not sacrifice it unto the Lord thy God.”

When the unskilled and unlearned do this it hinders the work of the lord and can even drive away those who are seeking the lord.

I have heard a few who were anointed by god though thier talent was not up to par, but those are few and far between.

The Anointing comes from God and talent comes from skill and practise.

Not everyone who is talented is anointed.

Just because you are loud dosen’t mean your anointed.

Malachi 1:8 “And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? Offer it now unto thy governor; Will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the Lord of hosts.”

Malachi 1:13–14 “Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness is it! And ye have snuffed at it, saith the Lord of hosts; And ye brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; Thus ye brought an offering: Should I accept this of your hand? saith the Lord. But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, And voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing: For I am a great King, saith the Lord of hosts, And my name is dreadful among the heathen.”

God will not except the lame sacrifices you give to him.

Infact God conciders it evil for us to bring him less than our best.

He goes so far as to curse those who have it in thier power to present an offering fit for the King but bring him less than thier best!

The church should be making the best music because music does not belong to lucifersbut belongs to God!

We should be making the best movies.writing the best books.We should be the best artist , governors, doctors,and the best wives or husbands, . If the church led the way in every field of human endeavor, the world would know that our God is a powerful king to be feared thru out the all the nations.

Yes ! Every voice should sing to God but only the best should be leading.

Desire is important but you can have a desire without the talent or skill.

And Talent and skill are important but you can have talent and skill and not be anointed.

What we need is skilled talented and anointed minsters and leaders performing at thier very best for the lord. If we offer him our best he will build his church and we will see the results.