A Worship Lesson Direct from God

    A Worship Lesson Direct from the Throne Room of God

Isaiah 6:1-8

Introduction- Question to be asked is not what did we get, but did we worship…

Every Sunday millions of followers of Jesus Christ gather together for the purpose of worshiping God. They meet in many different kinds of circumstances: big churches, little churches, city churches, country churches. Some meet in multi-million dollar sanctuaries. Others meet in rented facilities. Some even meet in homes or out in the wide-open spaces. Some have loud, boisterous worship services. Others prefer a more quiet, contemplative, formal atmosphere. Some churches sing only traditional hymns. Others sing contemporary worship choruses or a mix of both.

No matter what kind of worship service, I believe that most people want the same thing: they really want to worship God.

While much attention today is being given to such things as style and quality of music, order of services, atmosphere, lighting, sound systems, and the like, we must remember that the most important element of worship is the heart of the worshiper. Jesus said, "Those who worship the Father must worship Him in spirit and in truth."

Please turn with me to Isaiah 6:1-8.

One thing a worshiper seeks to do is to consciously come into the presence of God. That is indeed what Isaiah had done in the event he describes here. His experience suggests four aspects of true worship that I want to point out to you.

1. Worship is Looking Up In Awe and Reverence.

Read vv. 1-4: "I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another arid said, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.’ And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke."

Awareness and Adoration= Reverence

God is high and holy, yet today preachers and teachers have emphasized how He is our friend, our "personal" Savior. We sing songs like "He walks with me and talks with me and tells me I am His own."

These things are absolutely true and vitally important to us. Yet sometimes we forget the other end of the spectrum of God's nature. Maybe we don't speak as often as we should of His holiness, His awesome power, His majesty.

That is what Isaiah recognized when He saw the Lord as described in our text. He saw:

Worship begins with an awareness (consciousness) of and reverence for God- seeing God for Who and What He is, recognizing His lofty position, particularly when compared to man. He is not just "the man upstairs" or a "sugar daddy." He is the Absolute God - absolute Holiness, absolute Love, absolute Power, absolute Judgement, absolute Mercy. He is worthy of all our praise and adoration!

At some point then in our worship, we need to contemplate His exalted nature so that we have a proper attitude of reverence in our worship. It can happen when we pray. It can happen when we sing. It can happen during the Lord’s supper. It can happen when we listen to His word. But it needs to happen. We need a proper attitude of reverence in our worship.

Notice what happens next to Isaiah. After he is overcome with a sense of reverence for a holy God, he suddenly remembers his own unworthiness. His words to that effect lead us to a second aspect of worship.

2. Worship is Owning Up To What We Are and Aren't

(Read v. 5)  “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”

Confession

Seeing the high and holy nature of God, Isaiah became aware of the difference between God's perfection and his own sinfulness.

Off white color illustration. When we ignore God's perfection, we can sometimes convince ourselves that we look pretty good, especially if the only thing we compare our selves with is ourselves or perhaps other imperfect humans.

In Luke 5 Jesus told Peter to put his net into the deep water. You know what happened next. Luke 5:6 says, "they caught so many fish their nets were beginning to break." When they tried to bring them on board, there were so many that the boat began to sink! Suddenly, it dawned on Peter what was happening. He was in the presence of not just a man, but the living Christ! At that point he got down in the bottom of the boat at Jesus feet saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful Man, O Lord!" He got a glimpse of what he really was (and wasn't) in God's sight.

Something that happens when we realize we are in the presence of God is that suddenly we become aware of our own unworthiness. And like Isaiah and Peter we will cry out, "Woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips."

We call what Isaiah and Peter did in these two examples "owning up." It is confession.

We're sinners in need of mercy and grace. Without God's intervention to save us, we are lost and will continue to be lost because of our sinful nature. We will never be capable of living apart from dependence upon Him.

Now this would be very discouraging had it not been for the third element of worship seen in Isaiah.

3. Worship is Reflecting on God’s Grace.

(Read vv. 6-7) Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar.  7 With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

Assurance of Forgiveness

Worship is not something we can do on our own. We cannot worship without His help and participation. We cannot worship without His grace. Grace is undeserved mercy. It is seen here. When Isaiah admitted his own sinfulness the angel touched his lips with the coal. This suggests the thing Christ has done and continues to do for us if we are His people.

I John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Toward the end of Jesus' ministry He did an amazing thing for His disciples. As an expression of love He washed each of the disciples’ feet. He did this in the fashion of a slave serving his master. When He came to Peter, Peter drew back saying, "You will never wash my feet!" Peter was taken aback that his soon-to-be-king Master would stoop to such a level. Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me." At that, Peter said, "Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!"

Peter learned a lesson about grace here: "Unless I wash you, you have no part with Me." The lesson was (and is) that our worship can only be made worthy by an act of God's grace. There is nothing we can do to earn or deserve His mercy. We can only receive it. Granted, there are things we must do to become recipients of His grace, but none of these is an act of merit. We must receive His grace if we want to have a relationship with Him.

The things we have been talking about so far - looking up, owning up, and looking back, should all be part of our worship.

Yet it doesn't stop there. There is one more aspect in Isaiah's account that is also vitally important for us.

4. Worship is Going Forth In Service.

(Read v. 8) Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

Challenge to Commitment and Obedience to that Challenge

When you worship you are challenged to commitment. It involves opening up ourselves to be challenged by God to do some work. God has been speaking to some of us for a long time now and yes you have sensed it. This is the challenge to commitment. God deos not save us so that we can just sit around and bask in the fact that we are saved. No. Worship is more than just sensing the call of God on your life. It is a lifestyle that goes forth from this place in a new commitment to serve God in gratitude. It is living in obedience to that challenge.

We call what we do here as our "worship service." But our "worship service" really begins when we leave this building to return to the world and serve God. Whom shall I…

I'm told that the wife of a well-known evangelist keeps a sign hanging above her kitchen sink that says, "Worship services held here three times a day." You see, each time we do service to others, even something as simple as cooking a meal, and do it well because of our love for God, that’s an act of worship. Worship, therefore, is a lifestyle. Seen in what Isaiah said, "Here am I, send me!"

This calls for vigilance and willingness. Satan is like a roaring lion. There is no time for boredom, no time for inactivity with so much going on. Lion and Gazelle illustration. Keep running/serving.

Today will you be obedient to the call of God on your life.