The Wonder of Worship
Isaiah 6:1-8
Introduction
Worship has been described as “the
most urgent, the most glorious action that can take place in human life”
The Bible contains at least three
Hebrew words and at least seven Greek words that have been rendered “worship”
in English. And at least nine other words in both languages include the concept
of worship within them.
“Worship does not satisfy our
hunger for God—it whets our appetite. Our need for God is not taken care of by
engaging in worship—it deepens. It overflows the hour and permeates the week.”
-Eugene Peterson
Worship is the response of
grateful and humble people to the living God where submission, sacrificial
service, praise, profession, testimony and gratitude are freely expressed in
innumerable ways.
I.
The Elegance of Worship (Psalm
147:7-11)
A.
Worship is commanded (Exodus 34:14,
Psalm 95:6; Micah 6:6-8)
For you shall not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is
Jealous, is a jealous God (Exodus 34:14)
Come,
let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. (Psalm
95:6)
With
what shall I come to the Lord and bow myself before the God on high? Shall I
come to Him with burnt offerings, with yearling calves? Does the Lord take delight in thousands of
rams,
In
ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious
acts, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, O man, what
is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:6-8)
B.
Worship is cherished (Hosea 6:6)
For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, and in the knowledge of
God rather than burnt offerings. (Hosea 6:6)
*Illust. - A
missionary in Paraguay wrote, “While …serving in Paraguay, a Maka Indian named
Rafael came to sit on my porch. I was eating and went out to see what he
wanted. He responded, "Ham, henek met." Again I asked what I could do
for him, but the answer was the same. I understood what he was saying but not
its significance: "I don’t want anything; I have just come near." I
later shared the incident with a local veteran missionary. He explained that it
was Rafael’s way of honoring me. He really didn’t want anything; he just wanted
to sit on my porch. He found satisfaction and pleasure just being near me.
C.
Worship is compelling (I Corinthians 14:22-25)
So then tongues are for a sign,
not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophecy is for a sign, not to
unbelievers but to those who believe.
Therefore if the whole church assembles together and all speak in
tongues, and ungifted men or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are
mad? But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an ungifted man enters, he is
convicted by all, he is called to account by all; the secrets of his heart are
disclosed; and so he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God
is certainly among you. (I Corinthians 14:22-25)
When God’s people truly worship, the impact of their lives in the
workplace and communities where they live is powerful.
Author Philip Yancey said he was turned off by hypocrisy in the church
until a thought occurred to him: “What would my church look like if every
member were just like me?”
D.
Worship is crucial (Acts 2:42-47)
They were continually devoting themselves
to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to
prayer. Everyone kept feeling a sense of
awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all
those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they
began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as
anyone might have need. Day by day
continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house,
they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart,
praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to
their number day by day those who were being saved. (Acts 2:42-47)
II.
The Essence of Worship
A.
Submission to God (I Corinthians 10:31; Romans 12:1-2)
Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory
of God. (I Corinthians 10:31)
Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your
bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual
service of worship. And do not be
conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so
that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable
and perfect. (Romans 12:1,2)
A. W. Tozer in his book about
worship said, "We are called to an everlasting preoccupation with
God."
B.
Showing our Gratitude (Psalm 100:4;
Hebrews 12: 28)
Enter His gates with [d]thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. (Psalm
100:4)
Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us
[j]show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with
reverence and awe;
C.
Sharing the Grace (Hebrews 13:15-16)
Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to
God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. And do not
neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. –
(Hebrews 13:15-16)
D.
Serving with Gladness (Psalm 100:2; Galatians
5:13,25)
Serve the Lord with gladness;
come before Him with joyful singing. (Psalm 100:2)
For you were called to freedom,
brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but
through love serve one another. (Galatians 5:13)
If we live by the Spirit, let us
also walk by the Spirit. (Galatians 5:25)
A life of worship is a life that lives
the fruits of the Spirit. (Galatians 5:22, 23)
Author Douglas J. Moo:
"Worship is not merely, or even mainly, what we do on Sunday morning. Worship
is a 24/7 matter. We worship God when we give ourselves to him in service. We
worship God when we show love to others, when we do our jobs faithfully and
with integrity, when we play with our kids and nurture our families. God wants
us always to be bringing glory to him by the way we live."
III.
The Effectiveness of Worship (Isaiah 6:1-8)
A.
Relinquishes self-control (v1-3)
We are to worship in "spirit." The word
"spirit," here, stands opposed to the rites and ceremonies of the
Jews, which were often spectacles to be admired. It refers to the
"soul" or the "heart." We are called to worship God with a
sincere "heart;" with the simple offering of gratitude and prayer;
with a desire to glorify him, and without putting on a show.
God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in
spirit and truth.” (John 4:24)
Illust. - On
February 6, 1870, George Mueller’s wife passed away of rheumatic fever They had
been married 39 years and 4 months. Shortly after the funeral he was strong
enough to preach a ’funeral sermon’ as he called it. What text would he choose
when God had taken his beloved? He chose Psalm 119:68, "You are good and
do good." His three points were: (1) The Lord was good and did good in
giving her to me; (2) The Lord was good and did good in so long leaving her to
me; and (3) The Lord was good and did good in taking her from me. Under his
last point he recounts how he prayed for her during her illness: "Yes, my
Father, the times of my darling wife are in your hands. Thou will do the very
best thing for her and for me, whether life or death. If it may be, raise up
yet again my precious wife. Thou art able to do it, though she is ill; but
howsoever Thou dealest with me, only help me to continue to be perfectly
satisfied with Thy holy will."
B.
Realizes self-condemnation (v5)
C.
Rejects self-centeredness (v8)
“If worship does not change us, it has not
been worship.” Richard Foster.
ILLUST - A parable is told of a community of ducks
waddling off to duck church one Sunday to hear their duck preacher. After they
waddled into the duck sanctuary, the service began and the duck preacher spoke
eloquently of how God had given the ducks wings with which to fly.
He pounded the pulpit with his beak and
said, “With these wings, there is nowhere we ducks can not go!
”There is no God-given task we ducks cannot
accomplish!
”With these wings we no longer need walk
through life. We can soar high in the sky!”
Shouts of “Amen!¨ were quacked throughout
the duck congregation.
The duck preacher concluded his message by
exclaiming, “With our wings we can fly through life! WE CAN FLY!!!!¨
More ducks quacked out loud “AMEN!” in
response.
Every duck loved the service.
In fact all the ducks that were present
commented on what a wonderfully convicting message they had heard from their
duck preacher....and then they left the church and waddled all the way home.
Too often we waddle away from worship the same
way we waddled in....unchanged.
Conclusion
Summing up the
Wonder of Worship
I.
Worship
is exaltation.
At its heart,
worship involves the exaltation of all that God is and does.
II.
Worship
is Expression
The Bible makes it clear that
worship involves more than acknowledging facts about who God is. We must
respond to what he has shown us.
In other words,
to truly enjoy God, to truly worship him, we must express what is in our hearts
towards him.
III.
Worship
is an encounter
IV.
Worship
is everyday life
If our worship does not change us,
then we are not worshipping. Tony Evans says, “If you limit worship to where
you are, the minute you leave that place of worship you will leave your
attitude of worship behind like a crumpled-up church bulletin.
But how about this definition of
sound worship by William Temple: "To worship is to quicken the conscience
by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the
imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, to devote
the will to the purpose of God."
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