Worship-Begins with A Proper View Of God & a Realistic Assessment of Ourselves.

As we begin this morning, please turn in your copies of God’s Word to Isaiah 6:1-4. We will read these verses a little later, so go ahead and have this passage marked.

I think it was just a few days after Christmas in 1984 when this event took place. At the time I was in Bible College and one of the more interesting jobs I had going through Bible College was working for a garbage company. The small city we did our residential service in, was one of the wealthiest in the entire country. Many of the homes I picked up garbage at were huge estates. Some, I had to go through gates where I had to punch in a special combination to enter, and this wasn’t for a housing development, this was for one home! One home had a series of heating cables that were positioned under the driveway to melt the snow and ice in the winter months. Some of our customers included, Connie Francis, a popular singer songwriter from to 60’s - 90’s, NFL legends, NBA stars, famous attorneys (like the lead attorney that represented the NFL during the strike in 1982) and other rich and famous people.

Those that are very wealthy do not like to haul their garbage to the curb, so I drove a 3 wheel Cushman cart (kinda like what meter maids use in large cities) that had a dumpster in the back, like a small dump-truck. There were times I literally went into the back door of homes to pick up their trash! Well on this particular day right after Christmas, I had just arrived at the driveway of a home and was tossing the garbage in the dumpster when a lady comes running out from her home in a panic. She was missing a diamond ring! Evidently it had come off while unwrapping presents. For the next half an hour I searched through every bag on my hands and knees until I found her ring, and let me tell you, it was a huge diamond ring, easily several carrots. She had a missing jewel of significant value, and she was going to move heaven and earth, if that is what it took to find it.

As you can see from the title of the slide, our topic this morning, and for the next few weeks, is Worship. In speaking of worship, A. W. Tozer noted that : Next Slide

“Worship is the missing jewel in the evangelical church”. A. W. Tozer

If what Tozer wrote is true, then we should imitate the woman in the illustration I used earlier, having a desire to move heaven and earth to find this, one of the most precious of jewels in the life of the believer. This search begins with:

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A Proper View of God. Isaiah 6:1-4; Ezekiel 1:26-28; Ecclesiastes 5:1-2

Worship has its roots in both the Old and New Testament. But it was birthed in the Old Testament. We will look at its first use in Scripture another week. This morning I want to spend some time looking at some Old Testament passages that will give us a picture of the perspective that Old Testament saints had of our God. We will then close out our time this morning looking at a New Testament passage that should help us get a more realistic assessment of ourselves. With that as an introduction, would you stand in honor of the reading of God’s Holy Word? We will be reading the first 4 verses of Isaiah 6. Next Slide

Isaiah 6:1–4 ESV

1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” 4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.

The first thing I want us to look at is the very first phrase; (Go back to verse 1 and move through the slides).

“In the year that King Uzziah died”

Isaiah understood well the history of the Nation of Judah. He knew that up to that point in time they had both good and bad kings. When the king was good, the Nation thrived and experienced the blessing of the Hand of God, but when the king was bad....well they experienced the opposite. Historians believe that Isaiah was probably around 22 when King Uzziah died, meaning the only ruler he knew was King Uzziah. King Uzziah was a marvelous King, who reigned for 52 years. During his reign the Nation of Judah prospered greatly. The Nation mourned deeply at his death, and this included the prophet Isaiah. We get the impression in reading this first phrase that Isaiah was in, sort of, a panic mode. Knowing the history of the Nation, he knew that a bad ruler could undo all the progress they had experienced during Uzziah’s reign. With that in mind, God decides to give Isaiah a glimpse....just a glimpse at Who it was that was truly in charge.

This is a good lesson for us to consider. I do not know the political persuasion of everyone here this morning, or of those watching online, but I am pretty sure that there are a number of you that enter into this New Year in a similar fashion as that of Isaiah at the death of King Uzziah. You fear for this Nation because the man you voted for did not secure enough of the electoral college to be declared the victor of the most recent election. I confess to you that I do not know what the future holds for this Nation, but I am confident of what Isaiah became confident of in this passage; Our God still reigns! and the train of His robe still fills the temple!

By the way, I think that most of us, when we see the phrase “train of His robe”, picture in our mind a train, like that of Princess Di when she married Prince Charles. Do you remember that magnificent train. But that’s not the word used here, this word means hem or fringe. In other words, our God is so magnificent that just the hem, just a fringe of His robe completely fills the temple. And the fact that Isaiah is seeing the Lord sitting on a throne, indicates that the temple His hem or fringe fills is not the earthly temple, but the temple of God in heaven.

Moving on, let’s look at the reverence given the Lord by the angles. In verse 2 we read “Above Him stood the seraphim” The KJV more properly translates this phrase; “Above it stood the seraphim”. The reason this is important is that it is not likely that the angels were above “the Lord”. More likely they hovered just slightly above the hem or fringe of His robe. The description of the angels is quite interesting. They each, and by each, we really have no idea how many there were. There are some theologians that believe there were 9 angels and that each of the 9 led a large choir of other angels, there to bring praise to God. But they each had 6 wings. 2 that covered their faces, because they, like us were not worthy to see the face of God. 2 covered their legs, which would have included everything from the waist down, which signified, even more so, their unworthiness. And with the last 2 wings they hovered above the ground.

In verse 3 we see their praise to God, where they call out to one another, which (if some theologians are correct) would include the 9 choirs of angles. They called out to one another “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!” In other words, while the hem or fringe of His robe filled the temple in heaven, His glory is so all encompassing that it literally fills the whole earth.

In verse 4 we see the magnitude of their voices, and by magnitude, I mean voices that would have registered on a Richter scale, had they been singing here on earth. Their voices shook the thresholds of the temple. Again, keep in mind this would be the threshold of the temple in heaven. Which also filled with smoke. At which point we see in verse 5:

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Isaiah 6:5 ESV

5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

We will look more at this later when we move to our Realistic Assessment of Ourselves, but you get a glimpse from Isaiah of where he saw himself in relation to the glory of God.

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Turn to Ezekiel 1:26-28

Moving from Isaiah we go to the Book of Ezekiel where we see another prophet who is permitted to get a glimpse of the glory of God.

In Ezekiel 1, starting in verse 4, we see a description of some other angles who are in the presence of the glory of God, and it is a magnificent description, but starting in verse 26 we see Ezekiel give a description, to the best of his limited ability, of the throne room of God and of the glory of God. We read:

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Ezekiel 1:26–28 ESV

26 And above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance. 27 And upward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were gleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around. And downward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him. 28 Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.

Notice the word “likeness”. Ezekiel here is seeing a vision, not the actual glory of God, just a vision. Keep that in mind as we get to his actions at the end of verse 28. Ezekiel, like the Apostle John in Revelation, is describing the indescribable to the best of his limited ability. Also, notice he writes “And above the expanse over their heads”. If this is the same throne room that Isaiah saw, then this adds to what was stated earlier about the angels being below the throne of God. The throne itself is described “in appearance like sapphire”. Having spent some time working in the jewelry industry, one of my favorite of the precious stones is the sapphire. A brilliant and crystal clear blue stone. And I imagine Ezekiels description pales in comparison to what it actually looked like.

Ezekiel goes on to describe his vision of the glory of God. Again, keep in mind, his description does not do justice to what he actually saw, he is using a finite description to describe something of infinite beauty. He goes on, Upwards from what, appeared to be His waist, he saw “as it were gleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around it”.

I was in high school in the 70’s. My high school, at the time, was Evergreen High School in Evergreen CO. We were only about 40 minutes from Golden CO and the Coors plant is in Golden. Way back in the 70’s, Coors was notorious for a very aggressive recycling program. I had the opportunity to do a field trip through the Coors plant, specifically to see all they were doing in regards to recycling. They collected thousands and thousands of glass bottles and aluminum cans every day. They cleaned and melted both and used what they had melted down for new glass bottles and aluminum cans. We got to watch as they poured the melted glass, literally liquid glass, into molds to make new bottles. The melted glass literally glowed beautiful red, yellow, white, and blue colors. I wonder if that isn’t a small representation of what Ezekiel was seeing that day? He goes on to write, but in the shape....well similar in form to a man. That was the upper half, His lower half was.....well like a …well like a burning flame, but again…somewhat in the appearance of a man....as best as Ezekiel could describe it. Ezekiel goes on to say that this Being was surrounded by “the appearance of brightness around Him”. Picture in your mind such a brilliant light that even with your darkest sunglasses, it still hurt your eyes, and you get an idea what Ezekiel was describing. Then, to add power to the description, he introduces the analogy of an ugly stormy day, broken by the sun shining through the clouds and a full and perfectly beautiful rainbow shining above.

Like Isaiah’s reaction, we will look at Ezekiels physical reaction in a little bit, when we get to our Realistic Assessment of ourselves.

Now that we looked at the Proper View of God, let’s look briefly at: Next Slide

The Proper Preparation For Worship. Ecc. 5:1-2

You know, much of Ecclesiastes is kind of a downer! Solomon wrote this towards the end of his life. He started off so well in his relationship to God. But somehow, as he became more powerful, more wealthy.......he lost sight of the majesty of God and his unworthiness. That is a dangerous place to be. In the first few verse of Eccl. 5, Solomon kinda shines a light on where he went wrong. As you look through this largely depressing book, you get the impression that he was a man that didn’t want others to make the same mistakes he had made. In the first 2 verses of chapter 5, he is giving us a powerful lesson on how we are to approach the House of God, the place we go for our corporate worship.

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Ecclesiastes 5:1–2 ESV

1 Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. 2 Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few.

Look at what he writes. Again, keep in mind he writes from the perspective of a man who had blown it in a huge way, a man who didn’t finish well.

He starts by writing “Guard your steps when you go to the house of God.” Simply put, Solomon is saying that we are not to approach our corporate worship lightly. We are to prepare in advance, to go to worship with consideration, to be circumspect, with a reverent feeling.

“To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools”. Amos wrote of this same sort of thing a couple decades later. The Nation of Judah at the time, were fastidious about the Old Testament sacrifices, but they were just as particular about the worship of false gods. Starting in Amos 5 God has Amos write, I hate your feasts, I hate your sacrifices. God was not, and is not interested in sacrifices, which is a significant part of worship, if it didn’t come from a heart of devotion to Him.

Moving into verse 2, I wonder if, perhaps the biggest way we violate this is in our worship songs? Not as they are written, but as we sing them. To be honest with you, there are times that I really don’t give a lot of thought to what I am singing. Much of the time our worship songs are like a declaration to God, and if I sing them rotely, not circumspectly, am I not being rash with my mouth? Am I not being hasty in uttering words before God? If I can’t sing these things from the depths of my heart, with a mind that is focused on God and His magnificence, then I need to stop my singing and bow on my face before God in confession. My worship is to be a sacrifice of praise, and God forbid that sacrifice of praise be something He hates because my heart is not right before Him.

We must properly prepare our hearts and minds as we approach our time of worship. Next Slide

A Realistic Assessment Of Ourselves. Luke 7:36-50

Lastly, I want us to look at one of the most beautiful examples of worship in all of Scripture. We find this example in Luke 7:36-50. Where we read:

“One of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him, and He went into the Pharisee's house and reclined at table. 37 And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that He was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, 38 and standing behind Him at His Feet, weeping, she began to wet His Feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed His Feet and anointed them with the ointment. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, ‘If this Man were a prophet, He would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner.’ 40 And Jesus answering said to him, ‘Simon, I have something to say to you.’ And he answered, ‘Say it, Teacher.’

41 ‘A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?’ 43 Simon answered, ‘The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.’ And He said to him, ‘You have judged rightly.’ 44 Then turning toward the woman He said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My Feet, but she has wet My Feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You gave Me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss My Feet. 46 You did not anoint My head with oil, but she has anointed My Feet with ointment. 47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.’ 48 And He said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ 49 Then those who were at table with Him began to say among themselves, ‘Who is this, Who even forgives sins?’ 50 And He said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’”

The woman in this passage knew how to worship. She, like Isaiah and Ezekiel, had a realistic assessment of herself, and a proper view of Who Jesus Is, and as a result, her worship was completely without pretence. It was as if, there was not a single other person in that room outside of her and Jesus. She didn’t care what anyone else thought, she was going to worship Jesus completely, putting every fiber of her being into that worship. And what was the result? We see it in verse 50:

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Luke 7:50 ESV

50 And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

She was transformed!

Do you want 2021 to be the most spiritually transformative year of your life, no matter what may happen around you? Start your worship with a proper view of Who God is, and a Realistic Assessment of yourself. Worship Him this year as if there was not a single other person in this room outside of you and Jesus.