Living a Life of Worship (Isaiah 6:l-8)
What is worship? If you were to search that phrase in the internet you would find literally thousands upon thousands of definitions.
I will not try to add a definition to that list but I would like to look at what the Bible says about worship.
John McArthur said two telling things about worship:
o First he said we are often guilty of “giving God the symbol but not the reality.”
o Second he said, ‘Worship should engage the intellect as well as the emotions.”
Why is it so important to teach about worship?
o Because I believe we are often guilty of doing it wrong and God has some strong feelings about improper worship
o READ Malachi 1:6-10
o READ Leviticus 10:l-2
McArthur also provided a good outline for measuring the accuracy and effectiveness of our worship. He said it should:
o Be true to the Word
o Edify the flock
o Honor God
o Put no confidence in the flesh
So, if we’re going to talk about what worship is, first let’s think about what
worship isn’t
o Worship isn’t music, or at least not exclusively so.
Hopefully as we go on in this sermon you’ll see that music is actually one of the least effective mediums for worship
o Worship isn’t just for Sunday morning
It’s not something we do here. It’s something we live everywhere!
Which brings us to the last point
o Worship isn’t something we start and stop
It isn’t an act, it’s a lifestyle. It’s what we do and what we are.
This passage divides us into a nice outline on the life of worship. What we’ll do today is:
Seeing God as He is (vv. 1-4)
Seeing us as we are (v. 5)
Seeing what God has done for us (vv. 6-7)
Seeing what we can do for God (v. 8)
Seeing God as He Is (vv.1-4)
Isaiah paints a beautiful picture of God in all His glory, and isn’t He glorious?
So if we’re going to see God as He is, let’s look at His names. In the scriptures names define character.
o We see a whole series of “Jehovah” names:
Jehovah Nissi (The Lord My Banner)
Jehovah-Raah (The Lord My Shepherd)
Jehovah Rapha (The Lord That Heals)
Jehovah Shammah (The Lord Is There)
Jehovah Tsidkenu (The Lord Our Righteousness)
Jehovah Mekoddishkem (The Lord Who Sanctifies You)
Jehovah Jireh (The Lord Will Provide)
Jehovah Shalom (The Lord Is Peace)
Jehovah Sabaoth (The Lord of Hosts)
o But I want to look at three specific names that give insight into who God is: Elohim, Yahweh and Abba
Elohim means “creator and judge”
God created everything that was, is or is to come
Implied in “creator” is power and authority over all things created.
We can make things out of other things but God is the only true Creator
So God created everything and then He set it in place, and now He is judging His creation
Implied in “judge” is the moral authority to pass judgment.
o God has that moral authority because He is perfect and holy.
So in “Elohim” we see that God has all power and authority, and that He is perfect and holy.
Yahweh means “I AM”
This is God’s covenant or promise name
It is the name God gave when Moses asked, ‘Who shall I say sent me?”
Tradition holds that the name was spelled only using consonants – YHWH – and never pronounced out loud by the Jews out of reverence
This is God’s name of promise
o Yahweh tells us both that God has made a promise (or covenant) and that God will keep His promise
o And if there is a promise there must be an object of that promise and the opportunity to gain that promise
o And by the active state, “I AM”, we see that God – and His promises – are eternal
So in ‘Yahweh” we see that God has made a promise, that He is powerful and eternal in His promise, and that we have the opportunity to gain that promise
Abba means “Father”
There is a school of thought that translates Abba as “daddy-God”, reminiscent of a small child hopping up on daddy’s lap.
We find “Abba in Mark, Romans and Galatians but is there support for this casual parental relationship? If so, can we reconcile that with Yahweh and Elohim?
God is our Father, but He is also the omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent Creator.
What I see in “Abba” is not the informality of the parental relationship but the protection of the parental relationship.
o This means knowing that God will always do what is best for us, whether we like it or not.
So in “Abba” we see that God is our Father and that He will protect us from everything, including ourselves.
o So, who is God?
He is Elohim, creator and judge, with all power and authority, perfect and holy
He is Yahweh, I AM, giver and keeper of eternal promise
He is Abba, loving and protecting Father
Seeing Us as We Are (v. 5)
The key to seeing us as we really are comes down to one word: perspective
o In Ephesians Paul says it very delicately: “As for you, you were dead”
o Every second of every minute of every hour of every day you walk this earth you should remember that we need a Savior
o Isaiah says, ‘Woe to me! I am a man of unclean lips.”
This is not perspective but rather realization based on perspective.
We are unclean.
Our righteousness is as filthy rags.
All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
There is none righteous, no not one.
But left to our own devices and standards would we see that? No
Instead we realize it, as Isaiah did, when our eyes have “seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”
That is perspective
We look pretty good until we see perfection
Then reality overwhelms our delusion and we see ourselves for what we truly are: lost
That’s a pretty bleak picture, isn’t it?
o Do you remember when that was you?
o I certainly do, and that memory is what motivates my thankfulness and faithfulness today
We’ve seen God as He is and we’ve seen us as we are but the good news is: God made a way. That brings us to the next section:
Seeing What God Has Done for Us (vv.6-7)
The most marvelous words we could ever hope to hear are right here: Your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”
o If that isn’t worth a “hallelujah” than nothing is…
o That hot coal is a type, a foreshadowing of the shed blood of Jesus Christ, taking away the sin of the world.
For God so loved the world … (finish it)
o Do you know what that blood does?
It gives life to those who share it (John 6:53).
It causes us to dwell in Christ and He in us (John 6:56).
It is the means by which Jesus purchased the church (Acts 20:28).
It is the means by which Jesus becomes our atonement through faith (Rom. 3:25).
It justifies us and saves us from wrath (Rom. 5:9).
It redeems us (Eph. 1:7; 1 Pet. 1:18-19; Rev. 5:9). (useless to valuable)
It brings those who were far away from God near to Him (Eph. 2:13).
It grants us the forgiveness of sins (Col. 1:14).
It brings peace and reconciliation to God (Col. 1:20).
It has obtained eternal redemption for us (Heb. 9:12).
It cleanses our conscience from dead works to serve the living God (Heb. 9:14).
It is the means by which we enter the most holy place with boldness (Heb. 10:19).
It sanctifies us (Heb. 13:12).
It makes us complete for every good work (Heb. 13:20-21, NKJV).
It cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7).
It is the means by which Jesus washes us (Rev. 1:5; 7:14).
It is the means by which we overcome the accuser of the brethren (Rev. 12:11) .
What has God done for us? Read Psalm 30 with me
What has God done for us? Read Psalm 32 with me
I could go on and on and on and on but instead I think we should celebrate the blood of Jesus with communion
COMMUNION
But every time I look at what God has done for us I am faced with the question: What have I done for God?
And that is what brings us to the last portion, the worship portion:
Seeing What We Can Do For God
I’ve told you that we need to live a life of worship, and that life needs to be seasoned with a sense of who God is, a sense of who we are and a sense of what God has done for us.
o If we can grasp those concepts we will live a life pleasing to God.
This is where we get down to the real nitty-gritty of a life of worship.
So, what would God see as acceptable worship?
I suggest to you that a worship lifestyle has three dimensions: outward, inward and upward
We’re going to look at those three dimensions and have ourselves a “worship service” as well.
The first dimension of acceptable worship is outward
This outward dimension can he summed up in one word: giving
o Look at Romans 14:17-18
For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too.
There are two words for worship in the New Testament: proskuneo and latreuo.
Proskuneo literally means “to blow kisses toward” and I would think the application is obvious.
Latreuo means “to serve” and it is the word we see as “serve” in v. 18.
So we worship by serving. And what’s the context here? It’s Paul’s discussion of the “weaker brother.” We worship by denying and humbling ourselves and serving others
o Now turn to Romans 15:16
I am a special messenger from Christ Jesus to you Gentiles. I bring you the Good News so that I might present you as an acceptable offering to God, made holy by the Holy Spirit.
Paul says here that the fruit of his evangelism is “an acceptable offering” to God. The fruit of his evangelism is worship, as is the fruit of ours.
o And finally Philippians 4:18
At the moment I have all I need-and more! I am generously supplied with the gifts you sent me with Epaphroditus. They are a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is acceptable and pleasing to God.
Paul says the Philippians’ giving is a “sweet-smelling sacrifice” to God. So we see monetary giving as worship
o Then to summarize the outward dimension of acceptable worship it should involve humility, deference to others, evangelism and monetary giving.
o That’s a good start.
The next dimension is inward and can be summed up with the concept of personal holiness
o Ephesians 5:8-10 says, “For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true. Carefully determine what pleases the Lord.”
o 1 Timothy 2: 1-3 says, ”I urge you first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf; and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior”
o Our prayer, our right living, our desire to seek God with all our hearts, this is worship. God wants us to do good and to be good.
o That goodness, not of our own works but of Him working in us, is the inward dimension of acceptable worship
The last dimension is upward.
o This is what most us of define as worship: the active and passionate praise of God
o Hebrews 13: 15-16 says, ” … let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name. 16And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God.”
o God inhabits our praise. Psalm 22:3 says God is enthroned on our praises.
What does the throne in your heart look like?
o And notice that v. 16 ties it all together: Along with praise we are to “do good” (personal holiness – inward), and “share with those in need” (giving – outward)
o There it is, all in one verse.
So, acceptable worship is all about living a life that pleases God in your outward, inward and upward dimensions.
I want to have a “worship service” now but it’s not going to involve music or singing.
Instead I want us to worship God with commitments.
o The ushers are going to hand out three sets of cards.
o Walk through filling them out and how they will be collected
o WHEN WE DO THIS PART HAVE ADULTS “TEACH AND “MODEL” THIS TO KIDS EXPLAINING WHAT THEY SHOULD DO IN FILLING OUT CARDS