Restoring The Altar 2
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Worship
Worship
21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.
23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
What It Is & What Is Not - Worship
What It Is & What Is Not - Worship
Worship is often wrongly defined. Worship services include various styles or forms of expression, including songs, praise, and adoration.
People who stand and sing, believe that is true worship. Those who raise their hands think they are worshiping. People performing a holy dance before the Lord feel that is worship.
Biblically speaking, none of these is worship; these are expressions of worship.
Sincere worship is encountering our holy God. In that encounter, we come to understand His holiness, purity, majesty, and character.
We recognize that He alone is worthy to receive our praise, adoration, and worship.
The form or style of worship is not important; standing, dancing, raising our hands, or singing does not define “true” worship, but only worship’s expression.
What is important is the reason for worship.
The issue is not HOW we sing or dance, but WHY we sing or dance.
In fact, if worship is based on our encounters with the Lord, this means that sometimes we have nothing to say.
What is true worship and what is it to offer worship that is acceptable to God?
Jesus made it clear in John 4:21-24: true worship is worshipping God in spirit and in truth. The Word of God says the Father is looking for true worshippers, for those that will worship Him in spirit and in truth. I find this really interesting because there are people who are keeping vigils and fasting, looking for God.
The word 'looking' in the passage above is an active word. The more we learn about true worship and apply what we learn, the more we become like magnets to His presence, and the more we carry God's presence effortlessly.
In other words, the more we comprehend true worship, the more easily we carry God's presence everywhere we go.
Jesus points out to this woman that one of the barriers to true worship is not knowing the One you worship.
You cannot be a true worshipper if you do not know who you are worshipping, and if you do not have a thriving relationship with who you are worshipping.
It is not enough to worship; you must KNOW who you worship and how to worship. By the grace of God, this message is going to show us the 'how' and we trust God to reveal the 'who' to us.
David is a classic example of a true worshipper, and we will be learning the 'how' of true worship from the story in 2 Samuel 6 of David‘s journey to bring the Ark of God back to the city of David [to Jerusalem].
We see from 2 Sam 6:1 that David, in the process of moving the Ark to Jerusalem, chose the elite soldiers of Israel, the finest warriors, and the best horses and carriages.
This was the same model the Philistines had used to carry and transport the Ark of God.
Along the way, the Ark shook; Uzzah attempted to steady the Ark and God killed him.
David ordered that the Ark be taken to the house of Obed-Edom. Let’s pause here for a minute and consider what was going on here.
Imagine you were Obed-Edom in this story: God just killed someone who touched the ark and the king ordered that it be put in your house. How would you feel; how did Obed-Edom feel?
Regardless of how he may have felt, he accepted and God greatly blessed him.
When David heard that Obed-Edom had been greatly blessed, he realized the issue was not with God or the Ark of God.
Application
The truth is, when we struggle in our relationship with God and we stumble, we get upset because we cannot understand why God would allow it to happen.
However, the issue is usually not with God. If we step back and allow God, He will show us where the problem is.
When David stepped back, he realized the problem was in his transportation of the Ark of God, not in the Ark itself.
So David went back to God’s instructions for carrying the Ark of God. God did not need the finest warriors to carry the Ark, that job had been reserved for the priests.
As scriptures state, by strength alone shall no man prevail. Carrying the Ark was a job for the priests, the people called and consecrated for the work.
By looking at how David carried the Ark into Jerusalem, we see what true worship really is.
Take Extreme Measures To Do It Right.
Take Extreme Measures To Do It Right.
2 Samuel 6:13: “After the men who were carrying the Ark of the Lord had gone six steps, David sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf.”
2 Samuel 6:13 (NIV)
13 When those who were carrying the ark of the Lord had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf.
I want you to give this some thought or better still, get up and take six steps. Now, visualize this, as the men walked – step one, two, three, four, five, six, David would stop them, then he would build an altar, sacrifice a bull and a fattened calf.
Then they walk another six steps and again David would stop them, build an altar, kill a bull and a fattened calf and sacrifice it.
Imagine that happened every six steps and picture the size of the total sacrifice - it was extravagant! In that journey to Jerusalem, David spent more time sacrificing than walking.
Why is this important?
Why is this important?
When you engage in true worship, a lot of people might think you are crazy. Worship is like love; in fact you cannot worship God if you do not love God because worship [like love] is extravagant.
When you love someone, you are extravagant; you do crazy things for people you love. If you say loving Jesus and showing Him affection must always be at your convenience, then you are not in love yet.
Worship, like love, is extravagant, it just doesn't make sense.
The show of love in Luke 7:36-39 was extravagant; it just didn’t make sense to those watching. It was excessive, some might even call it fanatical.
36 When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table.
37 A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume.
38 As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.
39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”
But that is how love is; when love is in place, extravagance is in place.
Money spent [or resources given] out of love is never wasted. It is an expression of your heart.
David shows us clearly that true worship is extravagant [2 Samuel 24:24].
David says, "I will not offer to the Lord my God sacrifices that have cost me nothing".
Interestingly, some Christians think that they won't need to make sacrifices in their walk with God.
The sacrifices you make in worship may not even make sense to your spouse or those closest to you.
Think about Abraham's wife Sarah; how do you think she might have reacted if Abraham told her about God's command to sacrifice Isaac? The Bible does not answer this, but personally I think the story might have looked very different.
If your worship doesn't cost you anything, your love for God won't grow.
True worship happens when I take extreme measures to do things right.
#2. Get Physically Involved.
#2. Get Physically Involved.
2 Sam. 6:14 reads, “David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the Lord with all his might…” (NIV, paraphrased).
14 Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might,
David danced, he got physically involved.
He could have sat in the king’s carriage, dishing out instructions for worship and sacrifice. But not David, he danced before the Lord his God with all his might.
Mark 12:30 says, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.”
God wants you to be physically involved in worship. Aside from dancing, the Bible shows us several ways we can get physically involved in worship:
sitting [1 Chronicles 17:16],
16 Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and he said: “Who am I, Lord God, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?
walking [Psalm 48:12],
Psalm 48:12 (NIV)
12 Walk about Zion, go around her, count her towers,
jumping [Acts 3:8],
8 He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.
kneeling [Psalm 95:6],
6 Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;
clapping [Psalm 47:1],
1 Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy.
standing [Psalm 33:8],
8 Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere him.
among others.
Getting physically involved with worship is important to God.
Get physical; true worship is when I get physical in worship.
Conclusion
Conclusion