1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:01,760 Lord, we thank you for this night. 2 00:00:02,120 --> 00:00:06,920 Lord, thank you that by grace, by your perfect plan, by your 3 00:00:06,920 --> 00:00:11,360 mercy and your wisdom and your great power, you draw 4 00:00:11,360 --> 00:00:15,560 worshippers to yourself. Thank you that you bring us 5 00:00:15,560 --> 00:00:17,280 near. Lord, by the blood of Christ, 6 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:21,480 that you make us acceptable, that we can even offer worship 7 00:00:21,480 --> 00:00:23,960 before you. God, we thank you that we can be 8 00:00:23,960 --> 00:00:27,760 here, that we have the truth of your Word that is complete, that 9 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:31,520 is sufficient, that it guides us in all of life. 10 00:00:32,320 --> 00:00:34,880 And we pray, Lord, that you would give us humble hearts to 11 00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:37,280 submit to your word. We pray that you give us 12 00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:39,440 discernment to understand what it says. 13 00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:43,360 And we pray that you would give us eagerness to obey us and that 14 00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:46,520 you give us conviction so that we'd be able to explain it to 15 00:00:46,520 --> 00:00:49,360 others and share with others. We pray that you'd be glorified 16 00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:52,520 this night, Lord, that everything we say would be true 17 00:00:52,520 --> 00:00:55,160 and honoring to you. We pray that you challenge us 18 00:00:55,440 --> 00:00:58,520 and refresh us, Lord, as we rejoice that we are your 19 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:01,880 worshippers in these things. We commit to you, and we pray in 20 00:01:01,880 --> 00:01:02,640 your name. Amen. 21 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:08,480 No, I'm thankful for this church. 22 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:12,680 I'm thankful that it's a good church, and I'm thankful that I 23 00:01:12,680 --> 00:01:15,800 don't have to explain from Ground Zero what worship is. 24 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:19,320 You guys know that, you know, worship is not limited to music, 25 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:24,560 but it's important for us to remember that in Christianity, 26 00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:28,680 if we call it that at large, there's so much that is untrue 27 00:01:28,680 --> 00:01:31,720 that's said about worship. So many people say, so many 28 00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:35,560 bizarre and confusing and false things. 29 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:38,560 You know, some people would say, what is worship? 30 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:43,280 Worship is a group of songs. Worship was great today, or I 31 00:01:43,280 --> 00:01:44,600 didn't really connect with worship. 32 00:01:44,600 --> 00:01:49,440 Today people might say that worship is an experience. 33 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:54,280 I was looking through the top songs that are most popular in 34 00:01:54,280 --> 00:01:57,200 the United States, worship songs sung in churches. 35 00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:01,440 And one of the song says this, I'm caught up in your presence. 36 00:02:01,640 --> 00:02:03,280 I just want to sit here at your feet. 37 00:02:03,680 --> 00:02:05,080 I'm caught up in this holy moment. 38 00:02:05,080 --> 00:02:09,039 I never want to leave. Some people see worship. 39 00:02:09,039 --> 00:02:11,840 Is that as some sort of experience that they're longing 40 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:14,080 for? It's something emotional. 41 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:16,280 It's something that you have to achieve. 42 00:02:17,560 --> 00:02:19,920 There's some people in some songs who claim that worship is 43 00:02:19,920 --> 00:02:21,840 a weapon. Another song says, I'll praise 44 00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:24,120 when I feel it and I'll praise when I don't. 45 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:26,400 I'll praise because I know you're still in control. 46 00:02:27,960 --> 00:02:31,920 Not so bad so far, right? Because my praise is a weapon. 47 00:02:31,920 --> 00:02:34,840 It's more than a sound. My praise is the shout that 48 00:02:34,840 --> 00:02:38,960 brings Jericho down. You think, oh, that's not what 49 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:42,120 that means at all. That is not, that's not what the 50 00:02:42,120 --> 00:02:45,760 scripture says. So we need to be able to 51 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:51,080 articulate it because mixed in with all these false sayings, 52 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:54,800 these false beliefs, there's little bits and Nuggets of 53 00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:58,280 truth, OK. When you Google worship or 54 00:02:58,280 --> 00:03:01,360 quotes about worship, there's a lot that's said that's good out 55 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:05,680 there and a lot of bad churches that teach heresy, throwing a 56 00:03:05,680 --> 00:03:08,960 lot of good little things. Worship is a lifestyle. 57 00:03:09,560 --> 00:03:16,440 Worship is about exalting God. Worship is coming closer to God. 58 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:19,640 And there's many things that they'll throw in there that are 59 00:03:19,640 --> 00:03:23,960 true, but most of the time they're diluted. 60 00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:27,400 They're connected with things that are blatantly false, and 61 00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:31,080 the whole picture that they paint of worship is absolutely 62 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:35,520 untrue. So we need to be clear from what 63 00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:37,920 Scripture says. We need to set aside everything 64 00:03:37,920 --> 00:03:40,320 that we've heard in songs, everything that we've heard 65 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:44,440 other people say, and just go to Scripture and ask, what does God 66 00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:46,360 say about worship? Is it something that we 67 00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:48,000 experience or something we attain? 68 00:03:48,320 --> 00:03:50,800 Is this something that we cultivate with an environment or 69 00:03:50,800 --> 00:03:53,320 an atmosphere? Does it only happen here in this 70 00:03:53,320 --> 00:03:55,720 building or does it only happen during music? 71 00:03:56,240 --> 00:04:00,240 Is worship about my emotions and how I feel or is it only 72 00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:02,320 intellectuals? It just about me understanding 73 00:04:02,320 --> 00:04:07,600 something? Does worship music? 74 00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:13,680 Does music have spiritual power? Does it matter if I don't really 75 00:04:13,680 --> 00:04:15,960 feel like a musician and I never sing on a Sunday? 76 00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:20,560 So I trust that you guys can answer a lot of those questions. 77 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:24,920 They're not a surprise. You're taught God's word and 78 00:04:24,920 --> 00:04:26,720 you're grounded in God's word and you're there. 79 00:04:27,280 --> 00:04:29,080 But we need to think more deeply. 80 00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:32,200 We need to be prepared to discern and divide. 81 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:36,760 There's so much good that helps us in worshipping truly today, 82 00:04:36,960 --> 00:04:40,880 but it's vastly outweighed by the bad Christian culture. 83 00:04:40,880 --> 00:04:44,680 Books, music, radio is is mostly unusable. 84 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:48,680 OK, you, you might want to say don't throw out the baby with 85 00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:51,240 the bathwater, but at this point there's, there's no baby left. 86 00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:52,960 It's just dirty bathwater leftover. 87 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:58,000 And so we're looking at tonight from Scripture as our authority. 88 00:04:58,440 --> 00:05:00,480 What is worship? So we're going to start from 89 00:05:00,480 --> 00:05:03,320 scratch. If you have an outline, there's 90 00:05:03,320 --> 00:05:05,200 some in the back that are printed just to help you. 91 00:05:05,560 --> 00:05:09,680 And I hope to clarify my thoughts and to lead you through 92 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:12,240 an outline that is easily understandable. 93 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:15,760 But the thing that I hope that you take away from this at the 94 00:05:15,760 --> 00:05:18,600 end of the day is a simple definition of worship. 95 00:05:18,640 --> 00:05:23,600 There are many wise men, godly men, who have given better 96 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:25,760 definitions from me than than me. 97 00:05:26,280 --> 00:05:29,240 But I would encourage you to think about worship, boiling it 98 00:05:29,240 --> 00:05:33,240 down to 1 simple definition. OK, and we can expand beyond 99 00:05:33,240 --> 00:05:35,080 that. But what is worship? 100 00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:38,760 OK, if we want to define worship as simply as we can without 101 00:05:38,760 --> 00:05:40,800 missing any pieces, we'll define it this way. 102 00:05:40,840 --> 00:05:45,200 Worship is a right response to Revelation. 103 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:47,560 OK, it's all alliterated. It's even easier. 104 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:51,360 OK, worship is a right response to revelation. 105 00:05:51,880 --> 00:05:54,240 And every one of those things are vital. 106 00:05:54,480 --> 00:05:57,640 We have to remember every one of those elements in order to 107 00:05:57,640 --> 00:06:01,600 please God with true worship. When we define worship, we 108 00:06:01,600 --> 00:06:04,520 understand that the word itself means ascribing worth. 109 00:06:04,760 --> 00:06:07,040 It means saying something is valuable, that it has 110 00:06:07,040 --> 00:06:10,160 weightiness, a gravity and importance. 111 00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:15,120 Someone defined as worship this as this. 112 00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:17,760 It's recognizing God is unconditionally superior to 113 00:06:17,760 --> 00:06:22,600 ourselves in every respect. As one whose true greatness is 114 00:06:22,600 --> 00:06:24,680 beyond our poor power of expression. 115 00:06:25,120 --> 00:06:27,080 He is the ultimate object of praise. 116 00:06:28,200 --> 00:06:29,760 MacArthur defined worship this way. 117 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:33,400 It is our innermost being responding with praise for all 118 00:06:33,400 --> 00:06:37,200 that God is through our attitudes, actions, thoughts, 119 00:06:37,200 --> 00:06:41,840 and words based on the truth of God as He has revealed Himself. 120 00:06:43,680 --> 00:06:46,600 That's a great definition. It's better than mine, but at 121 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:49,680 the end of the day, it's great to remember something simple. 122 00:06:50,240 --> 00:06:53,520 And so I want to encourage you to remember worship is a right 123 00:06:53,520 --> 00:06:55,800 response to revelation. When we look at Scripture, Psalm 124 00:06:55,800 --> 00:07:00,280 29, two says, ascribe to the Lord the glory due to His name 125 00:07:00,640 --> 00:07:03,840 or the glory that His name already has. 126 00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:08,160 Recognize the glory in the majesty of His person. 127 00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:12,600 Psalm 86, verses 8 through 10 say there is no one like you 128 00:07:12,600 --> 00:07:17,320 among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours. 129 00:07:18,400 --> 00:07:21,240 All nations whom you have made shall come and worship before 130 00:07:21,240 --> 00:07:25,120 You, O Lord, and they shall glorify Your name, for You are 131 00:07:25,120 --> 00:07:29,040 great and do wondrous deeds. You alone are God. 132 00:07:31,640 --> 00:07:35,200 So those three elements in worship, it's a right response 133 00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:38,000 to revelation. It has to begin with His 134 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:40,320 revelation, OK? It has to be about God. 135 00:07:40,840 --> 00:07:43,560 You don't have truth about God. There's no worship happening. 136 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:48,760 It has to be a response. OK, worship is something that 137 00:07:48,760 --> 00:07:53,480 comes from me in response to God, but that response has to be 138 00:07:53,480 --> 00:07:56,440 right. It has to be dictated and guided 139 00:07:56,880 --> 00:07:58,640 by the revelation that we've received. 140 00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:02,320 Because God has not made his worship vague. 141 00:08:02,760 --> 00:08:06,240 He has not left us in the dark about what He desires, what He 142 00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:09,000 commands. God is very clear, He is 143 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:12,400 gracious to us, He knows our nature, He understands that we 144 00:08:12,400 --> 00:08:16,480 need things clearly and simply. And so in His word He's made it 145 00:08:16,480 --> 00:08:19,120 very clear what He wants, what He desires. 146 00:08:20,480 --> 00:08:25,400 Now, when you compare to worship from other religions, even some 147 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:29,560 of these cults and other religions have themselves said 148 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:34,159 that their worship is trying to sweetens God's face towards 149 00:08:34,159 --> 00:08:36,760 them. They're saying everything that 150 00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:41,080 we do to worship our God, false God, is to gain his favor. 151 00:08:41,280 --> 00:08:44,720 It's turn his face toward me to basically make him smile upon me 152 00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:47,680 so that he'll give me favor, so that he won't destroy me, so 153 00:08:47,680 --> 00:08:49,120 that I can get something good from him. 154 00:08:50,280 --> 00:08:53,800 But when we come to worship, we Christians know we can't do 155 00:08:53,800 --> 00:08:56,000 that. We cannot gain God's favor. 156 00:08:56,240 --> 00:09:00,400 We can't earn it. Romans 323 I trust you know, for 157 00:09:00,400 --> 00:09:03,440 all have fallen short, for all have sinned and fallen short of 158 00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:06,320 the glory of God. OK, that separates us from God. 159 00:09:06,840 --> 00:09:08,920 We have no ability to earn His favor. 160 00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:12,200 Isaiah 64, six says For all of us have become like one who is 161 00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:15,640 unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment. 162 00:09:16,560 --> 00:09:20,280 Isaiah 59 two says, But your iniquities have made a 163 00:09:20,280 --> 00:09:24,200 separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden 164 00:09:24,200 --> 00:09:26,640 his face from you so that he does not hear. 165 00:09:28,040 --> 00:09:30,760 So worship is not a matter of me just trying to do some things to 166 00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:32,560 get God's approval and gain His attention. 167 00:09:33,160 --> 00:09:35,680 We're automatically disqualified as worshippers. 168 00:09:36,080 --> 00:09:40,560 No one can worship, OK? No one can give God worship that 169 00:09:40,560 --> 00:09:43,520 is worthy of Him, that is good enough, that is pleasing and 170 00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:46,160 acceptable to him. There's just no way you can do 171 00:09:46,160 --> 00:09:51,200 it except because of Christ. And that's the glory of the 172 00:09:51,200 --> 00:09:53,960 gospel is that God has reconciled us. 173 00:09:53,960 --> 00:09:59,200 He has brought us to Himself so that we can fulfill our original 174 00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:01,920 created role of being His worshippers. 175 00:10:02,920 --> 00:10:05,200 So when we look at the requirements for worship, we 176 00:10:05,200 --> 00:10:07,120 talked about what is worship? It's a right response to 177 00:10:07,120 --> 00:10:09,760 revelation if it's just as simple as we can make it. 178 00:10:10,520 --> 00:10:14,240 We understand that there are three basic requirements for 179 00:10:14,240 --> 00:10:15,600 worship that are given in Scripture. 180 00:10:15,880 --> 00:10:18,440 Would you turn with me to John chapter 4? 181 00:10:20,200 --> 00:10:23,320 John chapter 4? This is a familiar passage. 182 00:10:23,760 --> 00:10:25,160 I am sure you've heard this before. 183 00:10:25,160 --> 00:10:27,160 I'm sure you've heard people preach on it before. 184 00:10:28,920 --> 00:10:31,760 So there are three requirements for worship. 185 00:10:32,480 --> 00:10:36,800 If I desire to be a true worshipper that pleases God, 186 00:10:37,640 --> 00:10:41,040 that does what he commands, there are three things, three 187 00:10:41,040 --> 00:10:44,960 things required, and the first of those is regeneration. 188 00:10:46,480 --> 00:10:49,160 Because we're sinners, we're automatically separated. 189 00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:53,040 Nothing we can do, nothing about us is in any way acceptable to 190 00:10:53,040 --> 00:10:56,480 God. We, he, literally, we, we are 191 00:10:56,480 --> 00:10:58,680 loathsome to Him because of our sin. 192 00:10:59,720 --> 00:11:05,040 But in Christ we are reconciled. Christ died in our place, 193 00:11:05,320 --> 00:11:08,160 bearing the punishment that we deserve for our sins. 194 00:11:08,520 --> 00:11:12,400 And so God credits us with Christ's righteousness, making 195 00:11:12,400 --> 00:11:16,160 that trade so that our sins are washed away. 196 00:11:16,160 --> 00:11:19,120 They're atoned for, they're paid for in Christ. 197 00:11:19,520 --> 00:11:23,640 And now God sees us as being credited with the righteousness, 198 00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:27,840 with the perfection, with all of the good deeds that Christ has. 199 00:11:28,400 --> 00:11:33,080 So now we may approach Him. Now we may be worshippers if we 200 00:11:33,080 --> 00:11:35,560 have faith in Him, if we confess Him as Lord. 201 00:11:38,480 --> 00:11:41,040 In John 3, right before the passage, we're going to look at 202 00:11:41,200 --> 00:11:43,200 you're turning to John 4, verse 23. 203 00:11:43,680 --> 00:11:46,160 In John 3, Jesus is talking to Nicodemus about this. 204 00:11:46,480 --> 00:11:50,360 You must be born again. That's the starting place in 205 00:11:50,360 --> 00:11:52,760 Hebrews 10. It tells us in verse 19. 206 00:11:52,760 --> 00:11:55,520 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to 207 00:11:55,520 --> 00:12:00,720 enter the most holy place by the blood of Jesus, so now you can 208 00:12:00,720 --> 00:12:03,160 enter to worship. You can come before God's 209 00:12:03,160 --> 00:12:05,360 presence. And the author of Hebrews is, of 210 00:12:05,360 --> 00:12:08,080 course, using imagery from the Old Testament. 211 00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:11,120 Here there was a separation in the Old Testament worship in the 212 00:12:11,120 --> 00:12:13,240 temple. OK, Worshippers could not 213 00:12:13,240 --> 00:12:15,320 approach the most holy place in the center. 214 00:12:15,840 --> 00:12:19,120 Only the high priest could once a year when he offered atonement 215 00:12:19,320 --> 00:12:22,240 for the nation and for himself. But everybody else was blocked. 216 00:12:22,240 --> 00:12:24,520 They were kept away because they were sinners. 217 00:12:25,240 --> 00:12:28,720 But the author of Hebrews is saying, now you have access to 218 00:12:28,720 --> 00:12:31,400 the presence of God. It says in verse 20, by a new 219 00:12:31,400 --> 00:12:33,840 and living way opened for us through the curtain that is his 220 00:12:33,840 --> 00:12:36,280 body. And since we have a great priest 221 00:12:36,280 --> 00:12:39,680 over the House of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere 222 00:12:39,680 --> 00:12:41,880 heart and with the full assurance that faith brings. 223 00:12:42,320 --> 00:12:44,520 Having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty 224 00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:47,480 conscience, and having our bodies washed with pure water. 225 00:12:47,920 --> 00:12:51,320 So now we have a right standing. Now we have been cleansed. 226 00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:54,880 Now we are brought near by Jesus so that we can be worshippers. 227 00:12:55,480 --> 00:12:58,120 Hebrews 11/6 says without faith is impossible. 228 00:12:58,120 --> 00:13:00,600 To please God, we have to have faith. 229 00:13:01,280 --> 00:13:04,680 We have to have salvation. We have to have new life and new 230 00:13:04,680 --> 00:13:08,840 heart given by God. Remember, we cannot earn God's 231 00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:12,480 favor. He freely bestows us it on us in 232 00:13:12,480 --> 00:13:14,960 Christ. As Ephesians 289 says, it's a 233 00:13:14,960 --> 00:13:18,000 grace, it's a gift that we would have no merit or boast. 234 00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:21,160 So the first requirement for worship is regeneration. 235 00:13:21,560 --> 00:13:24,160 It's important for us to understand because we don't want 236 00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:26,080 to give people the false impression that anybody can 237 00:13:26,080 --> 00:13:27,680 worship God and that He'll accept it. 238 00:13:27,880 --> 00:13:31,760 That's just not true. You have to be a believer. 239 00:13:31,920 --> 00:13:34,000 You have to be regenerated and have new life. 240 00:13:34,360 --> 00:13:37,680 That's the first requirement. Second requirement is in John 4, 241 00:13:38,040 --> 00:13:42,120 verse 23 and 24. We'll read that, but an hour is 242 00:13:42,120 --> 00:13:46,680 coming, and now is when the true worshippers will worship the 243 00:13:46,680 --> 00:13:49,880 Father in spirit and truth. For such people, the Father 244 00:13:49,880 --> 00:13:53,840 seeks to be His worshippers. Now if we back up, Jesus is 245 00:13:53,840 --> 00:13:57,080 talking to the Samaritan woman at the well, and she's asking 246 00:13:57,080 --> 00:14:00,360 him a the Jews say we have to worship this way at the temple. 247 00:14:00,520 --> 00:14:02,160 The Samaritans have their own place. 248 00:14:02,640 --> 00:14:05,160 What's the right way? What what, what is required for 249 00:14:05,160 --> 00:14:08,000 worship? And Jesus said it's not about a 250 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:11,920 location, it's about worshipping in spirit and truth. 251 00:14:12,120 --> 00:14:14,640 For such people, the Father seeks to be his worshippers. 252 00:14:14,640 --> 00:14:17,760 Verse 24, God is spirit and those who worship him must 253 00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:22,360 worship in spirit and truth. So the second requirement for 254 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:24,720 worship is that we worship in spirit. 255 00:14:25,440 --> 00:14:29,160 That means from the heart. That means we must have a right 256 00:14:29,280 --> 00:14:33,760 inner attitude. And Deuteronomy 6, it commands 257 00:14:33,760 --> 00:14:36,080 Israel and it's an example and a principle for us. 258 00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:40,080 It says teach your children and all of the generations to fear 259 00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:44,560 the Lord as long as you live in verse 4, it's familiar hero 260 00:14:44,560 --> 00:14:45,960 Israel. The Lord is our God. 261 00:14:45,960 --> 00:14:48,600 The Lord is 1. You shall love the Lord your God 262 00:14:48,600 --> 00:14:51,040 with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your 263 00:14:51,040 --> 00:14:54,320 might. Psalm 211 says worship the Lord 264 00:14:54,320 --> 00:14:56,960 with reverence and rejoice with trembling. 265 00:14:57,840 --> 00:15:01,040 Psalm 1031 says Bless the Lord, O my soul and all that is within 266 00:15:01,040 --> 00:15:05,480 me, bless his holy name. Revelation 15 says Great and 267 00:15:05,480 --> 00:15:08,920 marvelous are your work, so God the Almighty, righteous and true 268 00:15:08,920 --> 00:15:11,880 are your ways king of the nations, Who will not fear, O 269 00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:15,840 Lord, and glorify your name. For you alone are holy, for all 270 00:15:15,840 --> 00:15:17,840 the nations will come and worship before you, for your 271 00:15:17,840 --> 00:15:19,360 righteous acts have been revealed. 272 00:15:20,080 --> 00:15:23,440 So all throughout Scripture, it paints a picture of the proper 273 00:15:23,440 --> 00:15:27,280 spirit, the attitude of worship. It's a fear of God. 274 00:15:27,480 --> 00:15:31,600 It's a love for God. And we're going to expand that 275 00:15:31,600 --> 00:15:34,640 more soon. But what's required is a spirit 276 00:15:34,640 --> 00:15:38,640 of response, of humility, of fear, and of love. 277 00:15:40,480 --> 00:15:47,720 The other requirement is truth. This is the one that we have to 278 00:15:47,720 --> 00:15:51,400 bring people back to. When people say, I've had people 279 00:15:51,400 --> 00:15:55,120 say to me when I speak to them about songs, to say what about 280 00:15:55,120 --> 00:15:58,640 the songs you choose on Sunday mornings or or whenever you lead 281 00:15:59,120 --> 00:16:01,640 worship? Your songs don't have much 282 00:16:01,640 --> 00:16:04,600 substance. They don't say a lot and they 283 00:16:04,600 --> 00:16:07,800 say, but it doesn't really matter because we know the God 284 00:16:07,800 --> 00:16:11,120 that we're worshipping, OK? And it's about our expression, 285 00:16:11,600 --> 00:16:12,920 OK? It is about a spirit or 286 00:16:12,920 --> 00:16:17,560 response, but it's about truth. It's about God's truth. 287 00:16:18,560 --> 00:16:23,320 Whenever there's worship in the Bible, which is the whole Bible, 288 00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:27,600 it always starts with revelation about God. 289 00:16:27,760 --> 00:16:32,680 It starts with truth. Psalm 14518 says the Lord is 290 00:16:32,680 --> 00:16:37,160 near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in 291 00:16:37,160 --> 00:16:41,600 truth. John 1717 says Your word is 292 00:16:41,600 --> 00:16:46,280 truth, and so worship requires truth. 293 00:16:46,280 --> 00:16:50,840 It requires the word of God because that's how we know God. 294 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:53,520 That's not how we know what He has done. 295 00:16:53,800 --> 00:16:55,360 That's how we know what He has commanded. 296 00:16:55,840 --> 00:17:00,520 Second Timothy 316 says that all Scripture is inspired by God. 297 00:17:00,880 --> 00:17:04,200 It's breathed out by God. It is guided by God. 298 00:17:04,200 --> 00:17:07,520 So that is exactly what He wants to communicate. 299 00:17:08,640 --> 00:17:11,680 In Second Peter chapter 1, verses 19 through 21. 300 00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:15,599 This is a great passage. Peter's talking, he talks about 301 00:17:15,599 --> 00:17:20,520 his experience on the mountaintop when he saw Christ's 302 00:17:20,520 --> 00:17:25,680 glory, He saw his flesh unveiled on the transfiguration and Peter 303 00:17:25,680 --> 00:17:28,079 talks about that. All right, we were witnesses of 304 00:17:28,079 --> 00:17:30,200 this. We saw who Jesus was. 305 00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:35,960 But in verse 19 of second Peter chapter 1, he says so we have 306 00:17:35,960 --> 00:17:41,240 the prophetic word more sure. Now in your translation it might 307 00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:44,080 be confusing there might have the word made there, but it's 308 00:17:44,080 --> 00:17:49,160 going to be italicized because the proper translation is we 309 00:17:49,160 --> 00:17:55,160 have the prophetic word more sure if you had made it confuses 310 00:17:55,160 --> 00:17:58,480 it. The experience of seeing the 311 00:17:58,480 --> 00:18:02,000 transfiguration is not more sure than the word of God. 312 00:18:02,720 --> 00:18:06,920 The Word of God is more reliable, more sure than any 313 00:18:06,920 --> 00:18:11,480 experience that a man can have. So it says you have this word 314 00:18:11,480 --> 00:18:14,240 more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp 315 00:18:14,240 --> 00:18:17,440 shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning 316 00:18:17,440 --> 00:18:21,520 star rises in your hearts. But know this first of all, that 317 00:18:21,520 --> 00:18:26,920 no prophecy, no divine truth of Scripture is a matter of 1's own 318 00:18:27,400 --> 00:18:31,720 interpretation. It's not about in its source or 319 00:18:31,720 --> 00:18:34,080 in its end interpretation, what we think. 320 00:18:34,600 --> 00:18:39,080 It's not about that, but oh sorry I skipped a phrase. 321 00:18:39,280 --> 00:18:40,880 It's not of our own interpretation. 322 00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:46,000 For no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men 323 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:48,440 moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. 324 00:18:49,480 --> 00:18:53,560 So when we look at God's word, verse 21 says no prophecy was 325 00:18:53,560 --> 00:18:59,120 ever moved directed as if you were a person sailing on a ship, 326 00:18:59,440 --> 00:19:01,520 you are carried along by that ship. 327 00:19:01,680 --> 00:19:06,200 You are born along. So no prophecy was ever carried, 328 00:19:06,200 --> 00:19:10,320 born along by a human will, by human choice. 329 00:19:10,680 --> 00:19:15,080 OK, but it says but men moved. It's the exact same word. 330 00:19:15,320 --> 00:19:20,720 Moved along, born along, carried by the Holy Spirit, spoke from 331 00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:23,080 God. And remember, this brings us 332 00:19:23,080 --> 00:19:26,560 back to truth. Truth is the requirement for 333 00:19:26,560 --> 00:19:32,400 worship, and God's word is exactly what He wants us to 334 00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:34,800 cling to. So we need the truth of God's 335 00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:36,080 Word. It must be central. 336 00:19:36,680 --> 00:19:38,840 It must be in everything. It must dictate everything. 337 00:19:40,120 --> 00:19:42,160 Those are the three requirements for worship. 338 00:19:42,880 --> 00:19:45,720 We have to be clear on that. And again, we're not talking 339 00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:48,920 about music. We're expanding out our gaze to 340 00:19:48,920 --> 00:19:51,440 what the Scripture says. When you look at the Bible, it 341 00:19:51,440 --> 00:19:54,920 is a handbook for worship. It explains to us who God is. 342 00:19:55,200 --> 00:19:58,880 It explains us to us what he desires from us. 343 00:19:59,200 --> 00:20:02,280 It explains to us what he commands and how we should live. 344 00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:06,080 And so the requirements are that we're saved, we're regenerated. 345 00:20:06,680 --> 00:20:10,280 The requirement is that we have a proper spirit she'll talk 346 00:20:10,280 --> 00:20:15,800 about soon and we'll have the proper truth of God's Word at 347 00:20:15,800 --> 00:20:21,400 the center of everything. And it's interesting if you, you 348 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:25,160 can turn to Romans chapter 1 if you like, or if you're familiar, 349 00:20:25,160 --> 00:20:26,720 we'll just be there a minute or so. 350 00:20:27,360 --> 00:20:35,440 But in Romans chapter 1, Paul says that in all unbelievers, 351 00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:42,600 what's indicative, what is true of all them is that in verse 19, 352 00:20:43,040 --> 00:20:48,800 excuse me, 18 of Romans chapter one, men who suppress the truth 353 00:20:48,800 --> 00:20:52,600 in unrighteousness, they suppress the truth. 354 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:59,560 They push back on the truth that is true of all humanity, of 355 00:20:59,560 --> 00:21:03,600 unsaved humanity. And so as believers, as the 356 00:21:03,600 --> 00:21:07,240 Church of God, it is our job to exalt that truth. 357 00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:09,920 Unbelievers will always suppress it. 358 00:21:10,440 --> 00:21:12,800 And we have to be careful because there are many 359 00:21:12,800 --> 00:21:16,560 unbelievers involved in Christian culture, Christian 360 00:21:16,760 --> 00:21:21,000 worship, Christian music. There are many unbelievers 361 00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:24,640 involved in that and they desire to suppress the truth. 362 00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:28,240 They desire to limit what we talk about God. 363 00:21:32,440 --> 00:21:36,960 Unbelievers suppress the truth in unrighteousness, and they 364 00:21:36,960 --> 00:21:40,880 choose to worship something else that says they're futile. 365 00:21:40,880 --> 00:21:43,240 In their thoughts, in their hearts are darkened. 366 00:21:43,800 --> 00:21:46,800 Professing to be wise, they became fools and they exchanged 367 00:21:46,800 --> 00:21:49,720 the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of 368 00:21:49,720 --> 00:21:53,480 corruptible man and of birds and four footed animals and crawling 369 00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:57,400 creatures. And this highlights what is 370 00:21:57,400 --> 00:22:03,040 really happening. What's really happening in those 371 00:22:03,040 --> 00:22:06,880 who write bad music, untrue music, who, those who are in 372 00:22:06,880 --> 00:22:09,840 false churches and who lead it, What's happening is that they're 373 00:22:09,840 --> 00:22:14,440 actually committing idolatry. They are suppressing the truth 374 00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:18,320 that is known about God and they're committing idolatry and 375 00:22:18,320 --> 00:22:23,560 they are twisting everything in Christianity in their churches 376 00:22:25,080 --> 00:22:28,800 to be idolatrous, to worship themselves or to worship 377 00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:31,080 something else. Here's the reality. 378 00:22:31,680 --> 00:22:34,920 Those who do not worship according to God's truth, His 379 00:22:34,920 --> 00:22:39,560 character and commands as revealed in His Word, are 380 00:22:39,560 --> 00:22:42,960 committing idolatry. They are actually worshipping 381 00:22:43,400 --> 00:22:46,920 another God. And this can be true in the 382 00:22:46,920 --> 00:22:50,000 meetings of churches. This can be true in the music of 383 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:52,840 churches is that they're not worshipping God at all. 384 00:22:53,640 --> 00:22:57,560 When you read what they sing and you listen to what they say, 385 00:22:58,040 --> 00:23:02,760 what is it that distinguishes them as being Christian? 386 00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:08,360 So much of what they do and what they say could pass as worship 387 00:23:08,360 --> 00:23:12,000 for any God. It could probably be directed to 388 00:23:12,040 --> 00:23:15,520 Allah or whoever else, because there's no truth in it. 389 00:23:16,280 --> 00:23:20,080 And we as believers have to have discernment and we have to look 390 00:23:20,080 --> 00:23:24,200 deeper because sometimes things can look OK, sometimes the song 391 00:23:24,200 --> 00:23:27,840 can look OK. But you don't only ask what is 392 00:23:27,840 --> 00:23:30,600 it saying? You need to ask what is it not 393 00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:32,760 saying? What is the truth that's being 394 00:23:32,760 --> 00:23:36,000 suppressed? What is being left out in 395 00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:42,920 worship, in songs, in preaching? Of course we know Exodus 20, the 396 00:23:42,920 --> 00:23:47,280 10 commandments, the primaries shall have no other God before 397 00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:51,320 me. God created us to be 398 00:23:51,320 --> 00:23:54,240 worshippers. There's no way around that. 399 00:23:54,640 --> 00:23:56,760 There's nothing that we can do to change that. 400 00:23:57,440 --> 00:24:02,600 Every person is a worshipper because we were created by God 401 00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:05,760 to be that. The problem is that in our 402 00:24:05,760 --> 00:24:10,760 sinfulness now, we suppress the truth and we worship anything 403 00:24:10,760 --> 00:24:19,880 except the true God. And when I do something other 404 00:24:19,880 --> 00:24:24,360 than what God has commanded and prescribed, I am setting myself 405 00:24:24,360 --> 00:24:27,440 up as God. I'm setting myself up as the 406 00:24:27,440 --> 00:24:30,320 authority on what true worship is. 407 00:24:30,960 --> 00:24:36,640 And I am worshipping something else, often ultimately myself. 408 00:24:37,520 --> 00:24:41,320 Worship my desires, my thoughts, what I think is best. 409 00:24:42,960 --> 00:24:47,960 The world has such a strong emphasis on autonomy, and you 410 00:24:47,960 --> 00:24:50,640 hear this everywhere. People should be free to make 411 00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:54,040 their own decisions about their own body, make their own 412 00:24:54,040 --> 00:24:56,320 decisions about the day of their death. 413 00:24:57,160 --> 00:25:00,240 There's so many issues that are connected to worship when we 414 00:25:00,240 --> 00:25:06,000 understand what's behind it all. OK, the issue behind abortion is 415 00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:09,840 that God gives life and that we don't have the right to 416 00:25:09,840 --> 00:25:12,600 determine the life that God has given. 417 00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:14,280 We don't have the right to take that away. 418 00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:20,320 The the issue beside behind euthanasia, which is more and 419 00:25:20,320 --> 00:25:22,720 more common, especially in European countries and other 420 00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:25,920 parts of the world, is that people are saying I want to feel 421 00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:29,960 like I'm in control, I want to have autonomy, I want to take 422 00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:33,760 the place of God. I want to determine how I die in 423 00:25:33,760 --> 00:25:38,160 the circumstances of my life and everything in between, birth and 424 00:25:38,160 --> 00:25:40,960 death. People suppress the truth about 425 00:25:40,960 --> 00:25:44,120 God and they want to reject any limits. 426 00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:47,840 They want to reject any accountability, any truth, any 427 00:25:47,840 --> 00:25:50,840 of God's commands, and they want to determine themselves in every 428 00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:54,440 way. So the challenge is great for 429 00:25:54,440 --> 00:25:58,840 us, as it has always been. It's no different now from the 430 00:25:58,840 --> 00:26:00,880 beginning when Adam and Eve first sinned. 431 00:26:02,560 --> 00:26:06,920 We must be true worshippers who worship regenerated, saved by 432 00:26:06,920 --> 00:26:09,720 God and worshipping in spirit and in truth. 433 00:26:10,960 --> 00:26:15,280 And we have to exalt our God in a hold to true worship in the 434 00:26:15,280 --> 00:26:20,640 face of a world that rejects God and will mock us. 435 00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:26,760 And we'll do everything it can to distract us, to confuse us, 436 00:26:27,120 --> 00:26:30,120 to take us away from the truth that God has given us. 437 00:26:32,640 --> 00:26:36,440 These requirements for worship are not just limited to John for 438 00:26:36,440 --> 00:26:41,360 these other Scriptures. All of Scripture echoes in 439 00:26:41,360 --> 00:26:44,920 harmony, right? Has one author ultimately the 440 00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:48,920 living God? And so all of Scripture says the 441 00:26:48,920 --> 00:26:51,920 same thing. These two requirements, spirit 442 00:26:51,920 --> 00:26:56,800 and truth for believers, are echoed and intertwined in 443 00:26:56,800 --> 00:26:59,560 Scripture. If I have a right spirit and 444 00:26:59,560 --> 00:27:02,600 attitude of worship, then I willingly and gladly submit to 445 00:27:02,600 --> 00:27:05,520 all that God's Word contains. And that word leads me. 446 00:27:05,720 --> 00:27:09,480 It shapes my mind, my attitude, and my actions to be more 447 00:27:09,480 --> 00:27:13,240 pleasing to God. OK, if I reject the truth, His 448 00:27:13,240 --> 00:27:16,000 commands, or I try to add to them because it seems good to 449 00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:20,600 me, I reveal a wrong heart. I'm not fearing, I'm not loving, 450 00:27:20,600 --> 00:27:26,800 I'm not submitting. So that defines worship and 451 00:27:27,920 --> 00:27:32,280 simply sums up what God requires of us in worship. 452 00:27:33,960 --> 00:27:37,480 What does worship look like? OK, those are simple principles, 453 00:27:37,760 --> 00:27:39,640 but we want to flesh Him out a little bit. 454 00:27:40,040 --> 00:27:44,040 What is a right response? Because remember, God's word is 455 00:27:44,040 --> 00:27:47,440 not lacking in detail. What does worship look like? 456 00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:51,440 Turn with me to Deuteronomy chapter 10. 457 00:27:53,360 --> 00:27:59,040 Deuteronomy chapter 10. There are 5 principles here in 2 458 00:27:59,040 --> 00:28:06,000 verses that help concisely illuminate what worship looks 459 00:28:06,000 --> 00:28:09,640 like. And for myself, I was a lot more 460 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:12,680 familiar with Deuteronomy chapter 6, the great Shema hero. 461 00:28:12,680 --> 00:28:15,240 Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is 1 You shall love the 462 00:28:15,240 --> 00:28:17,200 Lord with all your heart and your soul and strength. 463 00:28:17,480 --> 00:28:19,760 I was more familiar with that passage than with this one. 464 00:28:21,120 --> 00:28:25,880 In Deuteronomy chapter 10 verses 12 and 13 it says this. 465 00:28:26,560 --> 00:28:29,480 Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you? 466 00:28:29,960 --> 00:28:36,640 But 5 things, to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His 467 00:28:36,640 --> 00:28:41,760 ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your 468 00:28:41,760 --> 00:28:46,440 heart and with all your soul, and to keep the Lord's commands 469 00:28:46,440 --> 00:28:50,240 and His statutes, which I am commanding you today for your 470 00:28:50,240 --> 00:28:53,840 good. OK, we flesh out the 471 00:28:53,840 --> 00:28:57,800 requirements of worship. God was very clear to Israel. 472 00:28:58,040 --> 00:29:01,920 He was so clear and He repeated it to them over and over. 473 00:29:02,320 --> 00:29:05,480 There are five things, OK, And if we want to alliterate them, 474 00:29:05,480 --> 00:29:09,040 we can put them this way. In Deuteronomy 10, a response is 475 00:29:09,040 --> 00:29:12,800 summed up in five ways. First is awe of God. 476 00:29:12,960 --> 00:29:14,680 OK, It says fear the Lord your God. 477 00:29:15,680 --> 00:29:17,960 A right response is awe. It's a fear. 478 00:29:18,240 --> 00:29:24,400 It's a reverence. It's understanding his holy 479 00:29:24,400 --> 00:29:28,280 character, the fact that he has all knowledge, nothing is hidden 480 00:29:28,280 --> 00:29:31,120 from his sight, the fact that he has all authority and power, 481 00:29:31,320 --> 00:29:33,720 there's nothing outside his control, and that he is 482 00:29:33,720 --> 00:29:37,680 perfectly holy and cannot tolerate any sin. 483 00:29:40,280 --> 00:29:44,240 We look at his character in every believer, in every true 484 00:29:44,240 --> 00:29:47,520 worshipper. It will produce a response of 485 00:29:47,520 --> 00:29:50,160 awe, of fear, of reverence for God's characters. 486 00:29:50,160 --> 00:29:53,320 That's the first one, awe. Second is allegiance to God's 487 00:29:53,320 --> 00:29:56,080 ways. This is a life of submission and 488 00:29:56,080 --> 00:29:59,120 commitment. It says to walk in all his ways. 489 00:29:59,600 --> 00:30:01,920 We have an awe of God and an allegiance to God. 490 00:30:01,920 --> 00:30:07,040 These are the right responses. It's a life that is committed to 491 00:30:07,040 --> 00:30:10,560 saying I am his, I will walk in his way. 492 00:30:10,960 --> 00:30:13,640 It is a commitment. You could say it's a, it's a, 493 00:30:13,720 --> 00:30:16,080 it's broader than obedience, which is one of the other ones, 494 00:30:16,080 --> 00:30:18,360 but we'll get to that. It's a life of overall 495 00:30:18,360 --> 00:30:23,920 submission, all allegiance, third affection for God. 496 00:30:24,320 --> 00:30:28,760 It says love him. We love because he's graciously 497 00:30:28,760 --> 00:30:31,800 bestowed his favor. We love because He first loved 498 00:30:31,800 --> 00:30:35,120 us. We love because He has not cast 499 00:30:35,120 --> 00:30:38,160 us away in our sin, but instead has drawn us near. 500 00:30:38,280 --> 00:30:41,840 He has reconciled us by the blood of Christ and made us new, 501 00:30:42,120 --> 00:30:46,760 new people that are able to worship and able to find the 502 00:30:46,760 --> 00:30:49,880 greatest satisfaction possible in His worship. 503 00:30:50,480 --> 00:30:56,400 All allegiance, affection #4 activity for God's worship. 504 00:30:57,080 --> 00:31:01,400 It says to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with 505 00:31:01,400 --> 00:31:05,720 all your soul. This activity, this service is 506 00:31:05,720 --> 00:31:07,400 through the duties that God decrees. 507 00:31:07,400 --> 00:31:10,280 OK, not only do I have a reverence for him, I'm committed 508 00:31:10,280 --> 00:31:13,120 to his ways. I have a love for him, but a 509 00:31:13,120 --> 00:31:16,800 right response of worship means that I have a, a visible 510 00:31:16,800 --> 00:31:19,040 activity. You can see the way that I'm 511 00:31:19,040 --> 00:31:22,720 serving God because he's told me to do certain things with his 512 00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:28,800 people in his gathered worship. And the fifth one is adherence 513 00:31:28,800 --> 00:31:32,120 to God's will and it says verse 13 to keep the Lord's 514 00:31:32,120 --> 00:31:35,080 commandments in his statutes, which I am commanding you today 515 00:31:35,080 --> 00:31:38,200 for your good. So it's obedience to a specific 516 00:31:38,200 --> 00:31:39,960 commands. Remember we have an allegiance 517 00:31:40,120 --> 00:31:44,320 that overall he's our king, He's our authority, but also there is 518 00:31:44,320 --> 00:31:47,840 an adherence to specifically everything that he commands, the 519 00:31:47,840 --> 00:31:51,640 details and all the things that he has told us and we know it's 520 00:31:51,640 --> 00:31:55,160 for our good. So Deuteronomy 10, verses 12 521 00:31:55,160 --> 00:32:00,040 through 13 gives us 5 aspects of a right response of worship. 522 00:32:00,560 --> 00:32:04,440 What God tells us. This is what I require of you. 523 00:32:05,720 --> 00:32:08,880 When we look at worship throughout the Scriptures, it's 524 00:32:08,880 --> 00:32:10,800 helpful to define some of the language. 525 00:32:11,480 --> 00:32:15,040 And as we think about those five principles, we see that there 526 00:32:15,040 --> 00:32:18,960 are three groups of words all throughout Scripture that are 527 00:32:18,960 --> 00:32:22,240 connected to worship or that are translated worship or that 528 00:32:22,240 --> 00:32:26,480 describe worship. OK, the first group of words is 529 00:32:26,520 --> 00:32:28,720 used. One of some of them is used 530 00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:32,920 right here in Deuteronomy 10. It's also used in Psalm 2223. 531 00:32:32,920 --> 00:32:35,800 It says you who fear the Lord, praise Him. 532 00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:41,680 OK, so that attitude of fear of reverence is a word translated 533 00:32:41,680 --> 00:32:45,720 and connected with worship. So the first group of words in 534 00:32:45,720 --> 00:32:48,880 Scripture is attitude. Worship involves an attitude 535 00:32:49,480 --> 00:32:51,640 saying the same thing. We already know that spirit, 536 00:32:51,640 --> 00:32:55,160 spirit and truth, right? An awe of God, an affection for 537 00:32:55,160 --> 00:32:57,200 God. And so we see in Scripture 538 00:32:57,360 --> 00:32:59,960 worship is connected to an attitude. 539 00:32:59,960 --> 00:33:02,560 There's a lot of words that talk about our inner heart attitude. 540 00:33:03,280 --> 00:33:08,040 Second, in the Bible there a specific language used connected 541 00:33:08,040 --> 00:33:11,520 with worship that talks about gesture. 542 00:33:11,960 --> 00:33:15,280 It talks about our posture. It talks about the way we 543 00:33:15,280 --> 00:33:23,720 express and hold ourselves In Psalm 95, verse 7, it has three 544 00:33:23,720 --> 00:33:29,680 of them, all in a row. Oh, it was verse 6, sorry. 545 00:33:30,160 --> 00:33:35,880 Psalm 95, verse 6. Come, let us worship and bow 546 00:33:35,880 --> 00:33:40,000 down. Let us kneel before the Lord our 547 00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:43,360 Maker. OK, so those 3 verbs for worship 548 00:33:43,360 --> 00:33:47,960 there, OK, there is worship. OK, there's that attitude of 549 00:33:47,960 --> 00:33:52,320 reverence, OK, there's bow down, which is the physical gesture of 550 00:33:52,320 --> 00:33:55,080 worshipping. And then it has kneeling. 551 00:33:55,560 --> 00:33:58,680 And so these are some of the words that are used, connected 552 00:33:58,680 --> 00:34:00,760 to and translated as worship in the Scripture. 553 00:34:01,600 --> 00:34:05,320 So when Scripture, the very words talk about worship, it 554 00:34:05,320 --> 00:34:10,239 speaks of attitude of gesture and it speaks of activity all 555 00:34:10,239 --> 00:34:13,719 throughout the Bible. It talks about service. 556 00:34:13,960 --> 00:34:17,560 It talks about ministering, OK. In both the Old and New 557 00:34:17,560 --> 00:34:23,560 Testament, it uses words that were used in ceremonial worship, 558 00:34:23,639 --> 00:34:27,480 OK. In religious tasks, in sacred 559 00:34:27,480 --> 00:34:32,040 services, a priest would serve and minister, OK. 560 00:34:32,880 --> 00:34:35,120 A spiritual leader would do this. 561 00:34:35,440 --> 00:34:39,400 The same word is used throughout the Scripture for us that we 562 00:34:39,400 --> 00:34:43,719 serve and that we minister and that we carry out duties in the 563 00:34:43,719 --> 00:34:47,520 worship of God ourselves, OK. And again, all of these are 564 00:34:47,520 --> 00:34:49,440 inseparably linked. They're intertwined. 565 00:34:49,440 --> 00:34:50,719 They're used together in Scripture. 566 00:34:51,320 --> 00:34:55,320 You can't have outward worship without a right inner 567 00:34:55,400 --> 00:34:58,560 disposition, and an inner attitude of worship will 568 00:34:58,560 --> 00:35:00,640 manifest itself in outward actions. 569 00:35:01,360 --> 00:35:04,520 So I hope that's not confusing, but basically I'm trying to 570 00:35:04,520 --> 00:35:07,520 explain in the different way the the Scripture speaks. 571 00:35:07,720 --> 00:35:11,800 It's saying the same thing. It requires spirit and truth, 572 00:35:12,040 --> 00:35:14,480 OK? It requires a right response, 573 00:35:15,200 --> 00:35:19,120 awe, allegiance, affection, activity and obedience. 574 00:35:19,840 --> 00:35:23,760 OK, in the very words it uses, it speaks of fearing and 575 00:35:23,760 --> 00:35:26,440 attitude. It speaks of bowing down and 576 00:35:26,440 --> 00:35:29,920 kneeling, the gesture. It speaks of religious service, 577 00:35:29,920 --> 00:35:32,840 of duties. All these things are part of 578 00:35:32,840 --> 00:35:35,560 worship. Which leads us to the 579 00:35:35,560 --> 00:35:38,920 conclusion, when we say, what does worship look like? 580 00:35:38,920 --> 00:35:41,640 What is the right response? How do we, how do we sum it up? 581 00:35:41,640 --> 00:35:46,320 We have some principles. We looked at Deuteronomy 10, but 582 00:35:46,320 --> 00:35:51,480 we can sum it up as this My right response is my entire life 583 00:35:51,480 --> 00:35:56,360 given to the love, fear, obedience, and service of God. 584 00:35:57,520 --> 00:36:02,160 My right response of worship is my entire life given to the 585 00:36:02,160 --> 00:36:07,400 love, fear, obedience, and service of God. 586 00:36:09,880 --> 00:36:14,360 Turn to Romans chapter 12. I'm sure you knew we were going 587 00:36:14,360 --> 00:36:16,280 to end up there. We're talking about worship. 588 00:36:16,880 --> 00:36:19,160 We're going to end up in Romans chapter 12. 589 00:36:24,610 --> 00:36:29,050 Wonderful verse. And remember, in Romans, what 590 00:36:29,050 --> 00:36:32,210 has Paul been talking about? He's been explaining the gospel. 591 00:36:32,810 --> 00:36:37,330 He's been taking us through God's holiness, man's sinfulness 592 00:36:37,330 --> 00:36:40,570 and unworthiness. OK, the sacrifice, the 593 00:36:40,570 --> 00:36:45,280 substitution of Christ, the atonements, OK, the work of God 594 00:36:45,280 --> 00:36:48,000 in all things, the great plan of God. 595 00:36:49,880 --> 00:36:54,240 And so he says in light of all this, God's plan, God's 596 00:36:54,240 --> 00:36:57,920 salvation, in light of all that we've been talking about for 11 597 00:36:57,920 --> 00:37:02,000 chapters in Romans, he says in Romans 12, verse one. 598 00:37:02,000 --> 00:37:07,480 Therefore, I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to 599 00:37:07,480 --> 00:37:12,480 present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to 600 00:37:12,480 --> 00:37:20,240 God, which is your spiritual service of worship, your 601 00:37:20,240 --> 00:37:25,560 spiritual service of worship. That word spiritual means 602 00:37:25,600 --> 00:37:30,400 rational, it means informed, it means having an understanding. 603 00:37:31,280 --> 00:37:38,560 So what Romans 12/1 is saying is that your response when you 604 00:37:38,560 --> 00:37:42,480 understand the mercies of God, when you understand all that He 605 00:37:42,480 --> 00:37:47,120 has done and who he is in his worthiness and greatness, the 606 00:37:47,120 --> 00:37:52,640 only rational, the only thing that you can do is to give 607 00:37:52,640 --> 00:37:58,520 yourself everything that you are as a living sacrifice, something 608 00:37:58,520 --> 00:38:01,680 that is continually given, never consumed. 609 00:38:01,680 --> 00:38:05,440 OK, that's the significance of living, but continually offered 610 00:38:05,840 --> 00:38:09,080 to God in the Old Testament, sacrifices were consumed, right? 611 00:38:09,120 --> 00:38:10,600 They were burned up. They're done. 612 00:38:11,520 --> 00:38:18,000 But you give yourself continually as a sacrifice in 613 00:38:18,000 --> 00:38:23,800 the service of God. OK, right response, is my entire 614 00:38:23,800 --> 00:38:28,000 life given to the love, fear, obedience and service of God? 615 00:38:30,160 --> 00:38:33,400 And it says in the next verse, it says do not be conformed to 616 00:38:33,400 --> 00:38:36,640 this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so 617 00:38:36,640 --> 00:38:39,280 that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good 618 00:38:39,280 --> 00:38:44,040 and acceptable and perfect. So he just said, this is your 619 00:38:44,040 --> 00:38:47,040 attitude. I give myself to God, 620 00:38:47,480 --> 00:38:50,400 everything, all of me. That's my service. 621 00:38:50,400 --> 00:38:53,360 That's my worship. That word service is the word 622 00:38:53,360 --> 00:38:56,600 minister. OK, so this is your priestly 623 00:38:56,720 --> 00:39:00,800 ministry before God. Just like the priest each day 624 00:39:00,800 --> 00:39:04,040 would offer sacrifices to God. That was their job. 625 00:39:04,800 --> 00:39:07,320 You have a similar rule, except it's not something else. 626 00:39:07,320 --> 00:39:12,360 You're giving, you're giving you you're offering yourself, all of 627 00:39:12,360 --> 00:39:16,040 you completely given over for God's glory and floor is 628 00:39:16,040 --> 00:39:17,840 pleasure. And the next verse, verse 2, it 629 00:39:17,840 --> 00:39:21,720 says be transformed by the renewing of your mind so you can 630 00:39:21,720 --> 00:39:26,160 know so that you can discern what the will of God is. 631 00:39:26,160 --> 00:39:29,200 Again, verse one talking about spirit, my right attitude, 632 00:39:29,400 --> 00:39:33,840 offering myself. Verse 2, it says don't be 633 00:39:33,840 --> 00:39:35,560 conformed to this world. Don't think like the world 634 00:39:35,560 --> 00:39:40,120 thinks, but instead have your your mind changed by the God's 635 00:39:40,120 --> 00:39:42,640 Word so you can know exactly what he wants. 636 00:39:42,800 --> 00:39:45,040 Truth, right? It's the same thing. 637 00:39:45,280 --> 00:39:47,960 It's the same refrain. How many different ways can God 638 00:39:47,960 --> 00:39:51,640 say it? Thankfully, he says it so many 639 00:39:51,640 --> 00:39:54,760 different ways for us to understand, but he says the same 640 00:39:54,760 --> 00:39:58,520 thing over and over. Offer yourself, have the right 641 00:39:58,520 --> 00:40:01,520 spirit of worship, and do it in truth. 642 00:40:01,840 --> 00:40:04,560 Don't do it the way you think. Do it the way that God has 643 00:40:04,560 --> 00:40:06,200 already commanded and made clear. 644 00:40:07,000 --> 00:40:11,480 In first Samuel 1224 it says only fear the Lord and serve him 645 00:40:11,480 --> 00:40:14,280 in truth with all your heart, for consider what great things 646 00:40:14,280 --> 00:40:18,760 he has done for you. Colossians 317 says whatever you 647 00:40:18,760 --> 00:40:22,000 do in Word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. 648 00:40:22,200 --> 00:40:28,560 They do all for him under His authority because of him giving 649 00:40:28,560 --> 00:40:32,920 thanks to through Him to God the Father. 1st Corinthians 1031. 650 00:40:32,920 --> 00:40:36,400 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for 651 00:40:36,400 --> 00:40:45,200 the glory of God. Sorry if I was, I don't know if 652 00:40:45,200 --> 00:40:46,800 that came across as fast or anything. 653 00:40:47,320 --> 00:40:50,880 I've been studying it a long time trying to put put together 654 00:40:50,880 --> 00:40:53,720 how to articulate it. So I hope that's concise and 655 00:40:53,720 --> 00:40:56,560 clear. But God is so clear in His word 656 00:40:56,560 --> 00:40:58,720 as we look, it says the same thing. 657 00:40:59,200 --> 00:41:02,480 Worship is a right response. Worship is the right response of 658 00:41:02,480 --> 00:41:05,000 my heart from my spirit. Inwardly. 659 00:41:05,160 --> 00:41:08,160 It's saying, yes, Lord. It's saying I understand what 660 00:41:08,160 --> 00:41:11,160 you've done, Lord. It's saying I fear you and I 661 00:41:11,160 --> 00:41:14,160 love you, Lord. It's saying I give myself to 662 00:41:14,160 --> 00:41:17,120 you, Lord. And the right response is always 663 00:41:17,760 --> 00:41:21,920 shaped and guided and controlled by truth. 664 00:41:22,520 --> 00:41:27,120 It always has God's word as it as its authority and it knows 665 00:41:27,680 --> 00:41:30,800 that it cannot do anything outside of what God has 666 00:41:30,800 --> 00:41:36,680 commanded and decreed. It just reiterates the fact that 667 00:41:36,680 --> 00:41:41,200 God cares about proper worship. God has made it clear He's the 668 00:41:41,200 --> 00:41:43,880 one who allowed us to be worshippers in the 1st place. 669 00:41:44,760 --> 00:41:49,800 But God is very clear about what He wants and so scripture also 670 00:41:49,800 --> 00:41:54,600 gives us warnings. God cares about proper worship, 671 00:41:55,360 --> 00:42:00,080 and He illustrates for us in Scripture how important proper 672 00:42:00,080 --> 00:42:04,680 worship is to him. Turn to Leviticus chapter 10. 673 00:42:05,360 --> 00:42:11,120 Leviticus chapter 10. I don't know how often you read 674 00:42:11,120 --> 00:42:13,200 Leviticus. It's probably not the most 675 00:42:13,200 --> 00:42:17,000 popular book of the Bible if we were to take a survey, but it's 676 00:42:17,000 --> 00:42:18,320 great. It's a wonderful book. 677 00:42:18,880 --> 00:42:22,560 This is a tragic passage in Leviticus 10. 678 00:42:23,160 --> 00:42:27,160 It's so sad. If we look at the context in 679 00:42:27,160 --> 00:42:31,360 chapters 8:00 and 9:00, what's happening is that God is giving 680 00:42:31,360 --> 00:42:35,160 the law through Moses and the Old Testament sacrificial 681 00:42:35,160 --> 00:42:37,800 system. The system of worship is being 682 00:42:37,800 --> 00:42:39,760 set up. It's being initiated. 683 00:42:39,760 --> 00:42:42,840 This is the beginning. This is where the priests are 684 00:42:42,840 --> 00:42:45,320 beginning their service. They're starting to put into 685 00:42:45,320 --> 00:42:47,320 practice what God has commanded them. 686 00:42:47,480 --> 00:42:49,400 They've been brought out of Egypt. 687 00:42:49,720 --> 00:42:52,000 They've been protected by the hand of God. 688 00:42:52,240 --> 00:42:56,040 They've been guided by God himself, shown in a pillar fire 689 00:42:56,040 --> 00:43:00,960 at night, pillar cloud by day. He was doing wondrous things and 690 00:43:00,960 --> 00:43:05,120 he says, OK Israel, these are your regulations for worship. 691 00:43:05,440 --> 00:43:07,240 And the priests began their service. 692 00:43:07,760 --> 00:43:09,720 They're set apart, they're consecrated. 693 00:43:10,040 --> 00:43:14,480 They begin from Moses direction, from the commands that God has 694 00:43:14,480 --> 00:43:19,560 given, practicing for the first day, the sacrifices, the 695 00:43:19,560 --> 00:43:22,240 offerings that God says, this is what I desire. 696 00:43:22,640 --> 00:43:24,880 So they do it. They do everything that God has 697 00:43:24,880 --> 00:43:27,800 commanded. You look at the end of Chapter 9 698 00:43:27,800 --> 00:43:32,120 of Leviticus and it says then fire came out from before the 699 00:43:32,120 --> 00:43:33,520 Lord. It consumed the burnt offering 700 00:43:33,520 --> 00:43:35,080 and the portions of fat on the altar. 701 00:43:35,360 --> 00:43:38,360 And when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their 702 00:43:38,360 --> 00:43:40,760 faces. OK, if you're looking for a 703 00:43:40,760 --> 00:43:45,480 worship experience, this is it. OK, The priests are all in their 704 00:43:45,480 --> 00:43:48,120 priestly garb. Everything's brand new and 705 00:43:48,120 --> 00:43:50,120 fresh. Everybody's watching. 706 00:43:50,360 --> 00:43:52,600 There's an altar. They're starting the sacrifices. 707 00:43:52,760 --> 00:43:55,160 They do everything OK. Everybody's learning. 708 00:43:55,240 --> 00:43:57,280 Oh, this is this is neat. This is what God desires. 709 00:43:57,520 --> 00:43:59,840 And at the end, what happens? The sacrifices are there. 710 00:43:59,840 --> 00:44:02,200 Fire comes down from heaven and incinerates everything. 711 00:44:02,200 --> 00:44:06,840 And what does everybody go, whoa, this is incredible. 712 00:44:07,440 --> 00:44:13,920 God accepted the worship, but wait for the tragedy immediately 713 00:44:13,920 --> 00:44:17,720 after. Immediately after Leviticus 10, 714 00:44:18,440 --> 00:44:22,000 verse one. Now Nadav and Abai, who the sons 715 00:44:22,000 --> 00:44:25,160 of Aaron took their respective fire pans, and after putting 716 00:44:25,160 --> 00:44:29,160 fire in them, placed incense on it, and offered strange fire 717 00:44:29,160 --> 00:44:32,160 before the Lord, which he had not commanded them. 718 00:44:33,200 --> 00:44:35,440 And fire came out from the presence of the Lord, and 719 00:44:35,440 --> 00:44:38,640 consumed them, and they died before the Lord. 720 00:44:39,680 --> 00:44:42,440 Then Moses said to Aaron, It is what the Lord spoke, saying, By 721 00:44:42,440 --> 00:44:47,160 those who come near me, I will be treated as holy, and before 722 00:44:47,160 --> 00:44:48,480 all the people I will be honored. 723 00:44:49,200 --> 00:44:53,840 So Aaron therefore kept silent. So immediately after this great 724 00:44:53,840 --> 00:44:58,320 mountaintop experience, this momentous occasion, on the very 725 00:44:58,320 --> 00:45:05,800 same day, after fulfilling what God had expressly commanded, 2 726 00:45:06,120 --> 00:45:12,200 of Aaron's four sons go rogue. It says they offered strange 727 00:45:12,200 --> 00:45:16,040 fire, which he had not commanded them, so they offered some sort 728 00:45:16,040 --> 00:45:18,640 of worship that was alien. It was different. 729 00:45:18,640 --> 00:45:20,240 It was not what God had commanded. 730 00:45:20,560 --> 00:45:23,240 OK, I don't know what was going on their heads. 731 00:45:23,280 --> 00:45:25,280 Maybe they thought, wow, this is really great. 732 00:45:25,280 --> 00:45:28,240 We get to be priests. We call down fire from heaven. 733 00:45:28,280 --> 00:45:30,640 This is really impressive. Let's do this again. 734 00:45:32,840 --> 00:45:36,480 The implication a little bit later is that they were probably 735 00:45:36,480 --> 00:45:42,400 drunk when they did this. But the result of them offering 736 00:45:42,400 --> 00:45:44,920 their own worship, not according to what God has had prescribed, 737 00:45:45,440 --> 00:45:51,280 is that they were consumed with fire just as moments, minutes, 738 00:45:51,560 --> 00:45:54,320 an hour before the sacrifices had been. 739 00:45:55,720 --> 00:45:59,760 And the result was their death. And the true tragedy in all this 740 00:46:00,160 --> 00:46:05,840 is the disregard of God's commands and the offense to God. 741 00:46:06,840 --> 00:46:09,200 The fact that he said this is exactly how I want you to 742 00:46:09,200 --> 00:46:11,720 worship me. I've made it clear, OK, I've 743 00:46:11,720 --> 00:46:14,120 made it memorable. I will respond. 744 00:46:14,120 --> 00:46:15,840 I will bless. And yet, what do they do? 745 00:46:16,840 --> 00:46:19,160 They offer strange fire. They do what they want. 746 00:46:20,200 --> 00:46:26,480 I can only imagine being Moses. I'm trying to think I'll know if 747 00:46:26,480 --> 00:46:28,640 there would be anybody who with the more potential to be 748 00:46:28,640 --> 00:46:30,360 frustrated in Scripture than Moses. 749 00:46:30,520 --> 00:46:35,320 Except for maybe Jesus, right. But Moses is saying I received 750 00:46:35,320 --> 00:46:37,240 these from God. Do this exactly. 751 00:46:37,240 --> 00:46:39,720 OK, I'm supervising. Do it exactly. 752 00:46:39,800 --> 00:46:42,640 He turns away for a minute. They do what God has not 753 00:46:42,640 --> 00:46:46,680 commanded and they're burned up. Like you got to be Moses saying, 754 00:46:46,960 --> 00:46:50,440 what are you guys doing? It's the first day you just 755 00:46:50,440 --> 00:46:55,320 started this thing. But God is has this in Scripture 756 00:46:55,320 --> 00:46:59,720 to warn us. He has it to warn US against two 757 00:46:59,720 --> 00:47:04,240 things. And if you have an outline, 758 00:47:04,240 --> 00:47:05,360 there's two blanks you can fill in. 759 00:47:06,560 --> 00:47:10,680 God is warning us about unauthorized worship, which is 760 00:47:10,680 --> 00:47:16,400 neglecting His truth, and about unclean worship, which is 761 00:47:16,400 --> 00:47:20,960 neglecting the proper attitude, the proper reverence, OK. 762 00:47:21,320 --> 00:47:23,040 And the two, of course, go hand in hand. 763 00:47:24,120 --> 00:47:27,720 In verse one it says that they offered strange fire before the 764 00:47:27,720 --> 00:47:30,400 Lord which He had not commanded them, so they're neglecting the 765 00:47:30,400 --> 00:47:35,560 truth that they would be given. In verse 3 it says I will be 766 00:47:35,560 --> 00:47:37,280 treated as holy before all the people. 767 00:47:37,280 --> 00:47:41,160 I will be honored. Worship happens on God's terms. 768 00:47:41,680 --> 00:47:43,320 It is. He's weighty. 769 00:47:43,760 --> 00:47:48,000 It has great importance. And the priests, in disregarding 770 00:47:48,000 --> 00:47:51,040 His commands, showed a disregard for His authority. 771 00:47:51,040 --> 00:47:55,200 They showed a carelessness and irreverence in worship and in 772 00:47:55,200 --> 00:47:57,520 their example of worship to the nation of Israel. 773 00:47:58,400 --> 00:48:02,600 So they offered unauthorized worship, and that's a warning 774 00:48:02,600 --> 00:48:05,120 for us. Second, they offered unclean 775 00:48:05,120 --> 00:48:07,440 worship. OK, they were neglecting the 776 00:48:07,440 --> 00:48:10,240 spirit, the proper attitude of fear and reverence. 777 00:48:10,720 --> 00:48:15,080 In verse 9, God tells Aaron, don't drink wine or strong 778 00:48:15,080 --> 00:48:17,880 drink, neither you nor your sons with you when you come into the 779 00:48:17,880 --> 00:48:20,200 tent of meeting so that you will not die. 780 00:48:20,920 --> 00:48:23,320 It is a perpetual statute throughout your generations. 781 00:48:23,720 --> 00:48:27,240 And so as to make a distinction between the holy and the profane 782 00:48:27,600 --> 00:48:30,120 and between the unclean and the clean. 783 00:48:31,240 --> 00:48:34,680 So in their attitude, in their carelessness, in their 784 00:48:34,680 --> 00:48:39,160 drunkenness, the sons of Aaron were offering unclean worship. 785 00:48:39,920 --> 00:48:43,800 They didn't treat God as holy. They didn't realize that there's 786 00:48:43,800 --> 00:48:46,040 a distinction between what is holy and not. 787 00:48:46,560 --> 00:48:48,680 They didn't realize there's a distinction between what is 788 00:48:48,680 --> 00:48:51,200 clean and acceptable and what is not. 789 00:48:51,720 --> 00:48:54,840 They didn't honor that. A disregard of holiness for any 790 00:48:54,840 --> 00:48:57,680 of us is at its root a heart issue. 791 00:48:58,680 --> 00:49:01,760 God is set apart from us. He is not like us. 792 00:49:02,200 --> 00:49:06,840 And if we, in any part of our worship, treat him as trivial or 793 00:49:06,840 --> 00:49:10,800 like a person, or as something that we can choose or that we 794 00:49:10,800 --> 00:49:17,240 can be in control of, we are participating in unclean 795 00:49:17,240 --> 00:49:21,560 worship. And if we have a life that is 796 00:49:21,560 --> 00:49:25,640 not set apart, that is not clean, that is not confessed, 797 00:49:25,640 --> 00:49:28,760 that is not walking in obedience, then we are offering 798 00:49:28,840 --> 00:49:34,200 unclean worship. Scripture has many other 799 00:49:34,200 --> 00:49:38,920 examples, warnings for US against unauthorized worship, 800 00:49:38,920 --> 00:49:42,040 which is neglecting truth and unclean worship, neglecting 801 00:49:42,040 --> 00:49:44,680 spirit and reverence for the holiness of God. 802 00:49:44,920 --> 00:49:48,240 In Genesis 4, Cain and Abel gave offerings. 803 00:49:49,040 --> 00:49:52,600 You know, God accepted Abel's and rejected Cain's. 804 00:49:53,600 --> 00:49:55,800 OK. It's not about what they were 805 00:49:55,800 --> 00:49:58,760 offering. One offered animals, one offered 806 00:49:59,480 --> 00:50:04,000 fruit and grain. The point was that Cain had a 807 00:50:04,000 --> 00:50:06,160 wrong attitude. He had a wrong heart. 808 00:50:06,440 --> 00:50:10,800 It also says that Abel gave his first lings the best part of his 809 00:50:10,800 --> 00:50:12,640 flock. It doesn't say that about Cain. 810 00:50:12,960 --> 00:50:14,520 But again, that comes back to a heart issue. 811 00:50:15,400 --> 00:50:19,080 And God did not accept Cain's offering because he did not have 812 00:50:19,080 --> 00:50:22,520 a heart that fear the Lord. And he just proved that point 813 00:50:22,520 --> 00:50:25,320 afterwards when he became angry at God and jealous of his 814 00:50:25,320 --> 00:50:27,280 brother and he murdered him, murdered him. 815 00:50:28,680 --> 00:50:31,960 It's a warning to us. In First Samuel, chapters 2 816 00:50:31,960 --> 00:50:37,120 through 4, it says that the sons of the priest Eli despise the 817 00:50:37,120 --> 00:50:41,520 offering of the Lord. They took the best parts of the 818 00:50:41,520 --> 00:50:44,200 offerings that people brought, the best parts that were 819 00:50:44,200 --> 00:50:48,600 intended for the Lord, and they committed immorality openly. 820 00:50:48,800 --> 00:50:52,720 They showed no reverence for God's glory or his directions 821 00:50:52,840 --> 00:50:55,760 for sacrifices. They both did things that were 822 00:50:55,760 --> 00:50:58,960 unauthorized and they lived unclean. 823 00:50:59,760 --> 00:51:03,160 And so they died for it. And Eli died for it because he 824 00:51:03,160 --> 00:51:06,240 did not deal with their sin and remove them from service. 825 00:51:06,960 --> 00:51:10,440 In Acts chapter 5, Ananias and Sapphira died because they lied 826 00:51:10,440 --> 00:51:12,720 about their offering, their worship through giving. 827 00:51:13,080 --> 00:51:15,440 They wanted to appear generous, all right? 828 00:51:15,440 --> 00:51:20,320 They wanted to appear impressive rather than giving to please God 829 00:51:20,320 --> 00:51:25,840 and to to help believers. So they offered unclean worship 830 00:51:26,760 --> 00:51:30,880 and God killed them. And in Psalm 50, God condemns 831 00:51:30,880 --> 00:51:33,400 His people, Israel, for the same thing. 832 00:51:35,120 --> 00:51:38,040 They could offer all the right sacrifices, they could do all 833 00:51:38,040 --> 00:51:43,360 the right things, but internally they were unclean, they were 834 00:51:43,360 --> 00:51:46,480 rebellious, they were steeped in sin. 835 00:51:47,120 --> 00:51:51,240 And at the end of Psalm 50, verses 23 to 23, he gives this 836 00:51:51,240 --> 00:51:53,040 warning. Now consider this, you who 837 00:51:53,040 --> 00:51:56,760 forget God or I will tear you in pieces, and there will be none 838 00:51:56,760 --> 00:51:59,800 to deliver. He who offers a sacrifice of 839 00:51:59,800 --> 00:52:02,800 Thanksgiving honors me. And to him who orders his way a 840 00:52:02,800 --> 00:52:06,720 right, I shall show the salvation of God. 841 00:52:08,120 --> 00:52:10,840 So the people who are truly saved, the people who are truly 842 00:52:10,840 --> 00:52:13,160 worshippers, are going to do both things. 843 00:52:13,440 --> 00:52:16,080 They're going to honor, they're going to give a sacrifice of 844 00:52:16,080 --> 00:52:18,600 Thanksgiving. They're going to do what God has 845 00:52:18,600 --> 00:52:20,680 commanded in His truth. They're going to do those 846 00:52:20,680 --> 00:52:24,880 outward things and they're also going to order their way a 847 00:52:24,880 --> 00:52:26,880 Right. They're going to choose 848 00:52:26,880 --> 00:52:28,800 obedience. They're going to live in the 849 00:52:28,800 --> 00:52:30,560 fear of the Lord, and that's going to affect the way they 850 00:52:30,560 --> 00:52:33,680 live. Again, Scripture says the same 851 00:52:33,680 --> 00:52:37,200 thing over and over. It's clear for us. 852 00:52:41,440 --> 00:52:43,160 We're almost done with our time tonight. 853 00:52:43,600 --> 00:52:48,400 Again, summing up, worship is a right response to revelation, 854 00:52:49,080 --> 00:52:51,760 and we want to remember the revelation determines the 855 00:52:51,760 --> 00:52:54,880 response. The revelation shows us what is 856 00:52:54,880 --> 00:52:57,400 right. When we look at these warnings 857 00:52:57,400 --> 00:52:58,880 from Scripture, how do we heed them? 858 00:52:59,560 --> 00:53:04,040 What is the way of worship? And there are two principles to 859 00:53:04,040 --> 00:53:08,120 lead us in the way of worship. If we want to not offer 860 00:53:08,120 --> 00:53:11,600 unauthorized worship, if we don't want to offer unclean 861 00:53:11,600 --> 00:53:15,480 worship, then there are two things, two principles. 862 00:53:15,800 --> 00:53:18,640 The first is we must have regulated worship. 863 00:53:19,320 --> 00:53:22,360 We have to cling to the authority in the Word of God. 864 00:53:22,800 --> 00:53:26,360 We do what he decrees. We don't have self designated, 865 00:53:26,600 --> 00:53:31,000 self invented worship, do we? Follow carefully all that he has 866 00:53:31,000 --> 00:53:34,840 commanded. John Calvin was the first one 867 00:53:34,840 --> 00:53:38,240 who articulated something called the regulative principle. 868 00:53:38,800 --> 00:53:41,720 OK. And he said this God disapproves 869 00:53:41,720 --> 00:53:45,160 of all modes of worship not expressly sanctioned by his 870 00:53:45,160 --> 00:53:48,280 word. So basically God doesn't accept 871 00:53:48,280 --> 00:53:51,400 anything he doesn't command. That's called the regulative 872 00:53:51,400 --> 00:53:54,960 principle and it's a, it's a godly, it's a biblical 873 00:53:54,960 --> 00:53:59,160 principle. Scripture says, behold, to obey 874 00:53:59,160 --> 00:54:02,440 is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of a ram. 875 00:54:03,280 --> 00:54:08,800 OK, God doesn't say don't sacrifice, don't serve, don't do 876 00:54:08,800 --> 00:54:12,320 those outward obedience. But he says to obey, to have a 877 00:54:12,320 --> 00:54:16,600 right heart is better. Matthew 59 says, But in vain do 878 00:54:16,600 --> 00:54:20,280 they worship me, teaching his doctrines, the precepts of men. 879 00:54:21,080 --> 00:54:25,280 It's true then, it's true now. So much called worship is vain, 880 00:54:25,520 --> 00:54:28,680 empty, and false because it's not according to what God's Word 881 00:54:28,680 --> 00:54:31,200 says. It's according to traditions or 882 00:54:31,200 --> 00:54:34,440 teachings of men. It's according to some sort of 883 00:54:34,440 --> 00:54:37,680 invention that we have come up with because we enjoy it, 884 00:54:37,880 --> 00:54:40,760 because we're entertained by it, because it makes us feel 885 00:54:40,760 --> 00:54:43,480 something. But we must have regulated 886 00:54:43,960 --> 00:54:46,400 worship. It must be an exact compliance 887 00:54:46,400 --> 00:54:50,440 with what God has already said. The second thing, the second 888 00:54:50,440 --> 00:54:52,800 principle, is that we must have reverent worship. 889 00:54:53,400 --> 00:54:55,520 Do we regard the holiness of God? 890 00:54:56,120 --> 00:54:59,600 Do we daily love and fear Him? Does that produce in us an 891 00:54:59,600 --> 00:55:05,280 attitude that wants to please Him, that wants to do exactly 892 00:55:05,280 --> 00:55:09,720 what He says? Scripture over and over says, be 893 00:55:09,720 --> 00:55:12,640 holy yourselves because it is written, You shall be holy, for 894 00:55:12,640 --> 00:55:14,200 I am holy. First. 895 00:55:14,200 --> 00:55:16,520 Peter 2 says You are a holy priesthood. 896 00:55:16,920 --> 00:55:20,640 You offer sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 897 00:55:21,520 --> 00:55:24,120 That's the first thing that we should be concerned with because 898 00:55:24,120 --> 00:55:26,600 that's what God is is first concerned with. 899 00:55:27,600 --> 00:55:30,160 Lance has written a great booklet called The Fear of God. 900 00:55:30,720 --> 00:55:33,960 The fear of God is missing from the lives of too many people who 901 00:55:33,960 --> 00:55:37,320 call themselves Christians, and many people don't understand it, 902 00:55:37,320 --> 00:55:40,360 even true Christians. There's so much emphasis today 903 00:55:40,360 --> 00:55:43,160 on the love of God, and we don't lose that. 904 00:55:43,720 --> 00:55:47,520 God is love, but you must hold both. 905 00:55:48,120 --> 00:55:54,000 You must have these intertwined. Is love for God and reverence 906 00:55:54,000 --> 00:55:57,400 for God a fear of him, Right? Not a fear of judgement if 907 00:55:57,400 --> 00:56:01,200 you're a Christian because your sin has been judged already, but 908 00:56:01,200 --> 00:56:04,760 you have a reverence for his power, his authority and 909 00:56:04,760 --> 00:56:08,400 understanding of his greatness and a respect for his 910 00:56:08,400 --> 00:56:12,440 discipline. So we heed the warnings in 911 00:56:12,440 --> 00:56:15,760 Scripture by having regulated worship and reverent worship, 912 00:56:16,200 --> 00:56:18,200 and that leads us in the right way. 913 00:56:19,720 --> 00:56:25,320 As we close briefly, I just want to sum up, everything in 914 00:56:25,320 --> 00:56:29,720 Scripture about worship is in a chord. 915 00:56:29,720 --> 00:56:33,840 It is in harmony. Old Testament worship does look 916 00:56:33,840 --> 00:56:37,320 very different from New Testament worship and there are 917 00:56:37,320 --> 00:56:40,960 many reasons for that. The primary of which is that 918 00:56:40,960 --> 00:56:45,000 Christ supersedes and replaces everything that happened in the 919 00:56:45,000 --> 00:56:47,520 Old Testament. Everything in the laws and the 920 00:56:47,520 --> 00:56:51,600 ceremonies and the sacrifices of the Old Testament pointed to 921 00:56:51,600 --> 00:56:54,480 Christ. They set up for Christ. 922 00:56:55,000 --> 00:56:57,200 They pointed to the need for Messiah. 923 00:56:57,680 --> 00:57:02,400 They primed and prepared God's people to know there was a great 924 00:57:02,400 --> 00:57:05,720 sacrifice coming. There was 1 great atonement. 925 00:57:06,160 --> 00:57:09,680 There was one person who would bring them close to God, and 926 00:57:09,680 --> 00:57:14,240 that was God himself. But when we look at Old 927 00:57:14,240 --> 00:57:20,120 Testament worship, even though it is superseded now, it is done 928 00:57:20,120 --> 00:57:24,320 with, as Hebrews 9 and 10 talks about, it says, we don't have to 929 00:57:24,320 --> 00:57:26,760 obey all those laws anymore because we have something 930 00:57:26,760 --> 00:57:28,640 better. We have Christ. 931 00:57:29,640 --> 00:57:32,400 Even though we don't practice all those things, they're still 932 00:57:32,400 --> 00:57:35,680 valuable for us to understand because everything about 933 00:57:35,680 --> 00:57:40,560 Israel's worship taught true principles that ring true today 934 00:57:41,400 --> 00:57:46,400 about God and about our worship in our response to Him, right? 935 00:57:46,960 --> 00:57:50,120 And so as we close just a few of those things, Old Testament 936 00:57:50,120 --> 00:57:55,840 worship showed us principles like we should be motivated. 937 00:57:55,840 --> 00:57:58,640 Our worship is motivated by knowing God's character and 938 00:57:58,640 --> 00:58:01,960 experiencing his grace. Old Testament worship taught 939 00:58:01,960 --> 00:58:05,880 that holiness is not a burdensome, burdensome legal 940 00:58:05,880 --> 00:58:10,000 imposition, but a privilege involving a grateful response to 941 00:58:10,000 --> 00:58:14,040 a gracious God. It teaches us that commitment to 942 00:58:14,040 --> 00:58:16,560 holiness effects every area of life. 943 00:58:17,360 --> 00:58:20,200 There's a great book called For the Glory of God talks about 944 00:58:20,200 --> 00:58:22,880 worship by Daniel Block. And a lot of these things he 945 00:58:23,040 --> 00:58:25,520 helped me draw out because there's so much in Old Testament 946 00:58:25,520 --> 00:58:28,400 worship to understand, but he really helped me draw out some 947 00:58:28,400 --> 00:58:31,440 of these principles. Old times of worship show the 948 00:58:31,440 --> 00:58:34,640 character and work of God, even in visual reminders, in the way 949 00:58:34,640 --> 00:58:36,800 was built, in the images that were used. 950 00:58:37,560 --> 00:58:40,120 It emphasized the transcendence and holiness of God. 951 00:58:40,400 --> 00:58:42,280 You can't just approach God's presence. 952 00:58:42,480 --> 00:58:45,360 There was a place you physically were not allowed to go in the 953 00:58:45,360 --> 00:58:49,240 holy of Holies. It also taught the gracious 954 00:58:49,240 --> 00:58:51,760 presence of God, the fact that He was there. 955 00:58:52,040 --> 00:58:55,400 He inhabited the Tabernacle, He inhabited the temple, He was 956 00:58:55,400 --> 00:58:59,800 with his people. The sacrifices taught the 957 00:58:59,800 --> 00:59:03,280 sinfulness of man that we are separated from God and that we 958 00:59:03,280 --> 00:59:07,680 need atonement. The rituals and commands and the 959 00:59:07,680 --> 00:59:11,040 rules about all the eating and the way they dressed showed 960 00:59:11,040 --> 00:59:13,800 God's absolute authority over every detail of life. 961 00:59:14,200 --> 00:59:17,040 It showed His intention and His care for his people in every 962 00:59:17,040 --> 00:59:19,440 command. And it showed that he wanted his 963 00:59:19,440 --> 00:59:22,960 people to be separate. Separate in culture, separate in 964 00:59:22,960 --> 00:59:26,400 conduct, separate even in the way they ate and the things they 965 00:59:26,400 --> 00:59:31,200 wore in order to represent Him and to be clean and kept away 966 00:59:31,200 --> 00:59:33,800 from sin. The Old Testament ceremonial 967 00:59:33,800 --> 00:59:37,440 worship showed us the need for reminders of truth, and we have 968 00:59:37,440 --> 00:59:40,960 that same need today. That's why we have communion. 969 00:59:41,640 --> 00:59:44,680 That's why we celebrate Christmas, Great Friday, 970 00:59:44,680 --> 00:59:48,080 Resurrection Sunday. Ceremonial worship in the Old 971 00:59:48,080 --> 00:59:51,600 Testament taught that there is a continual focus on and study of 972 00:59:51,600 --> 00:59:53,760 God's Word. It taught that there's a 973 00:59:53,760 --> 00:59:56,640 responsibility of individuals and there was a responsibility 974 00:59:56,640 --> 01:00:01,240 corporately. Above all, it taught that 975 01:00:01,240 --> 01:00:03,560 worship and access to God is only on His terms. 976 01:00:04,720 --> 01:00:07,720 His followers must acknowledge his kingship, they must be 977 01:00:07,720 --> 01:00:10,800 distinct from other people and religions, and they must show a 978 01:00:10,800 --> 01:00:14,160 spirit of worship through the observance of truth in every 979 01:00:14,160 --> 01:00:17,320 area of life. And all those things are true 980 01:00:17,320 --> 01:00:23,040 today for us in worship. And so we need to be instructed 981 01:00:23,040 --> 01:00:26,960 by the full breadth of scripture and understand that both are 982 01:00:26,960 --> 01:00:29,320 consistent. And I've used scripture from 983 01:00:29,320 --> 01:00:31,360 both to hopefully illustrate that. 984 01:00:32,040 --> 01:00:34,440 When we come back next week, we'll talk about individual 985 01:00:34,440 --> 01:00:36,880 corporate worship and then we'll talk about music. 986 01:00:36,960 --> 01:00:40,200 We'll spend some time talking about why is singing part of 987 01:00:40,200 --> 01:00:41,440 music. We didn't even talk about 988 01:00:41,440 --> 01:00:44,360 singing tonight. We just talked about worship is 989 01:00:44,360 --> 01:00:46,560 life. It's a life given in the right 990 01:00:46,560 --> 01:00:49,840 response to God. But singing is important. 991 01:00:49,840 --> 01:00:51,840 Music is important. And so we'll talk about that 992 01:00:51,840 --> 01:00:54,520 next week and we'll dive into some of the issues, some of the 993 01:00:54,520 --> 01:00:57,200 things we have to discern, some of the things we have to be wary 994 01:00:57,200 --> 01:00:59,040 of. But again, at the end of the 995 01:00:59,040 --> 01:01:02,200 day, if you remember anything, I encourage you to remember that 996 01:01:02,200 --> 01:01:04,720 worship is a right response to revelation. 997 01:01:06,360 --> 01:01:09,160 That's what Scripture says. And if we remember that, that 998 01:01:09,160 --> 01:01:12,240 will help us when we deal with other people from other 999 01:01:12,240 --> 01:01:13,680 churches. So we deal with people who are 1000 01:01:13,680 --> 01:01:17,360 confused or we see various teachings and read books and 1001 01:01:17,360 --> 01:01:20,200 hear songs about worship. It will guide us and will bring 1002 01:01:20,200 --> 01:01:23,200 us back to Scripture, to its authority, and to its truth. 1003 01:01:25,080 --> 01:01:27,160 And so I encourage you if you have any questions about any of 1004 01:01:27,160 --> 01:01:30,240 that or if you have anything specific next week as we brought 1005 01:01:30,240 --> 01:01:32,720 into music and to corporate meeting, if you have any 1006 01:01:32,720 --> 01:01:35,960 specific things that you'd like me to talk about and to address, 1007 01:01:36,040 --> 01:01:40,440 I would love to hear those. But I'm thankful for this time 1008 01:01:40,440 --> 01:01:42,480 tonight and I will close in prayer. 1009 01:01:44,440 --> 01:01:46,880 Lord, thank you that you make us worshippers. 1010 01:01:47,320 --> 01:01:50,640 Help us to be people who are concerned first of all, in life 1011 01:01:51,520 --> 01:01:56,080 with worshipping truly, with worshipping from the Spirit in 1012 01:01:56,080 --> 01:01:59,200 the truth that you have given according to your word. 1013 01:01:59,720 --> 01:02:04,360 Lord, help us to be reverent. Help us to live in awe and love 1014 01:02:04,360 --> 01:02:06,360 towards you. Help us to fear you. 1015 01:02:07,040 --> 01:02:11,400 Help us to have an attitude that does not change, but sees you as 1016 01:02:11,400 --> 01:02:14,960 the authority, but sees you as the whole goal of our lives, the 1017 01:02:14,960 --> 01:02:19,920 focus of our lives, the theme and the King of our lives. 1018 01:02:20,480 --> 01:02:23,240 We pray that you'd instruct us. We pray that you'd encourage us 1019 01:02:23,240 --> 01:02:24,960 this week. Thank you that we can be 1020 01:02:24,960 --> 01:02:26,360 together and talk about these things. 1021 01:02:26,680 --> 01:02:30,160 Thank you for your perfect word. We love you and we praise you. 1022 01:02:30,360 --> 01:02:31,480 In your name we pray. Amen.