Sermon Tone Analysis

Definition of Worship

Honor, reverence, homage, in thought, feeling, or act, paid to men, angels, or other “spiritual” beings, and figuratively to other entities, ideas, powers or qualities, but specifically and supremely to Deity.

Philip Wendell Crannell, “Worship,” ed.

James Orr et al., The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (Chicago: The Howard-Severance Company, 1915), 3110.

Worship is the reverential response of creation to the all-encompassing magnificence of God (Isa 6:1–6; Exod 15:11; Psa 148:1–14).

In the OT, worship encompassed a variety of activities.

Bringing forward an offering to God was an act of worship (קָרַב, qārab).

Bowing down in the presence of God was an outward display of an inner attitude of reverence before the Creator (חָוָה, ḥāwâ).

The verb רוּם (rûm) could indicate that a person was “lifting up” or “exalting” God with praise.

Together, these last two terms provide a rich image of worship: People both bow before God and lift him up in praise and wonder.

The verb הָלַל (hālal) could be used to designate the act of celebrating God.

The word “hallelujah” is derived from the Hebrew phrase הַלְלוּ־יָהּ (halĕlû-yāh), meaning “praise Yahweh.”

This praise could involve זָמַר (zāmar, “singing”).

Worship could also be described as “serving” (עָבַד, ʿābad) God.

The ritual life of devotion was emblematic of a whole life given over to God.

The NT carries over many of the actions described as worship in the OT.

The verb προσκυνέω (proskyneō) means to bow down as an act of worship, while κάμπτω (kamptō) signifies bending the knee or bowing in reverence to God.

Other words for praising God include δοξάζω (doxazō), for the act of giving God glory, and εὐλογέω (eulogeō), for praising or blessing God.

What is worship?

What makes worship something essential for human experience?

Is it egotistical of God to demand worship?

Is worship restricted to private practice and individual emotions?

Before humanity worked, they worshipped

The truth is we become imprinted to whomever or whatever we worship

Within this particular passage, we come to learn that God’s vision often collides with human ambition

Daniel 2:27-

Daniel 2:36-

Look at the difference of what God prophesies and what the king presents.

God’s vision has a way of cutting across human ambition.

God shows a world in turmoil, rapidly degenerating into more inferior and more vicious elements; Nebuchadnezzar in rebellion to God’s revelation, sets up his own version, his own vision of a glorious, unbroken chain of dominance.

To cover their insignificance, leaders of industry and ingenuity, have all the wealth but often times they seek the immortality that comes from being worshipped by the masses.

What gift do you give to someone who has everything?

From scripture, it appears that so many bright and brilliant individuals, geniuses in their own right, crave the worship that properly belongs only to God.

Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him.

That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up:

:7 Therefore at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of musick, all the people, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, shall fall down and worship the golden image:

There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?

Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up? 15) Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?

Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?

But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.

First come the enticements; next comes the threats

Temptations come in subtle forms - first to provide for you; then to promote you; but the result is always the same - Satan comes to prostrate you.

The music is a mask for something much more sinister operating in the background.

We need the discernment not to fall for the bait and forget the hidden hooks.

When deception proves ineffective, tyranny reveals that force is foundational to its nature.

Don’t want you to miss this: Nebuchadnezzar is not the only one into image making.

And though it can be confusing to be invited in only to be intimidated, we like the three Hebrew boys cannot simply look at what we will lose over worship.

-14

What must be our response in the face of tyranny?

Is worship that important to defy the orders of a king?

The question is, if I am not free to worship then am I really free to live?

The Bible is replete with warnings against kingship -

We are to receive this word as supreme authority.

We are to recognize human government as an ordinance of divine appointment, and teach obedience to it as a sacred duty, within its legitimate sphere.

But when its claims conflict with the claims of God, we must obey God rather than men.

God's word must be recognized as above all human legislation.

A "Thus saith the Lord" is not to be set aside for a "Thus saith the church" or a "Thus saith the state."

Acts of the Apostles, pg 69

What must be our response in the face of tyranny?

Is worship that important to defy the orders of a king?

The question is, if I am not free to worship then am I really free to live?

The Bible is replete with warnings against kingship -

These are the warnings about kings even with the context of what is blatantly theocratic.

If this is how kings operated in the golden era of kingship, what can we expect living in the iron and clay era of political schemes and schisms?

Kings are takers - they can take your property, but are your principles the domain of the government?

We are to receive this word as supreme authority.

We are to recognize human government as an ordinance of divine appointment, and teach obedience to it as a sacred duty, within its legitimate sphere.

But when its claims conflict with the claims of God, we must obey God rather than men.

God's word must be recognized as above all human legislation.

A "Thus saith the Lord" is not to be set aside for a "Thus saith the church" or a "Thus saith the state."

Acts of the Apostles, pg 69

We are to receive this word as supreme authority.

We are to recognize human government as an ordinance of divine appointment, and teach obedience to it as a sacred duty, within its legitimate sphere.

But when its claims conflict with the claims of God, we must obey God rather than men.

God's word must be recognized as above all human legislation.

A "Thus saith the Lord" is not to be set aside for a "Thus saith the church" or a "Thus saith the state."

Acts of the Apostles, pg 69

In the face of tyranny never surrender your confession, your testimony, your witness, your integrity, your conscience, your liberty, your worship.

Thus these youth, imbued with the Holy Spirit, declared to the whole nation their faith, that He whom they worshiped was the only true and living God.

This demonstration of their own faith was the most eloquent presentation of their principles.

In order to impress idolaters with the power and greatness of the living God, His servants must reveal their own reverence for God.

They must make it manifest that He is the only object of their honor and worship, and that no consideration, not even the preservation of life itself, can induce them to make the least concession to idolatry.

These lessons have a direct and vital bearing upon our experience in these last days.

- Ellen Gould White, In Heavenly Places (Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1967), 149.

If you get to live another day by sacrificing your principles, are you really alive?

Daniel 3:16-

We know what God is able to do.

Our struggle often times is with God’s choice when we are faced with impossible situations.

When death seems certain; danger is imminent and there are no good options.

There is a tension to our faith - What God is able to do and what God does.

We struggle with an all powerful God with evil present in the world.

We are told about God, but we witness daily what is happening in the world.

The tension is for us to hold together our belief in his ability with our trust in his perspective.

And this is worship in its trust sense - it is recognizing God’s worth and confessing his value even as you face the fires of life.

Who will you worship?

Who will you serve?

But if not - these are not the words of people calling attention to themselves.

These words represent those who have resolved to deal with the reality of whatever situation they are faced with, knowing that they may not be able to change the statue, nor quench the fires, but they can always choose whom they will serve.