God Exalting Worship
John 4:20-24
One characteristic of most of the churches that are experiencing dynamic growth is that of God exalting worship. Irwin Lutzer believes in the importance of worship and put it this way, “If we haven’t learned to be worshipers, it doesn’t really matter how well we do anything else”. The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever – or simply put to worship God! In Revelation 4:11 we read, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” However, what is involved in God exalting worship? If we are to please God, we need to consider its elements.
I. Preparation
A. Rufus Jones in an article entitled The Double Search wrote, “God ... can be received only through appreciation and conscious appropriation. He comes only through doors that are "purposely" opened for him.”
B. (2 Chronicles 12:13-14) "So king Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem, and reigned: for Rehoboam was one and forty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. And his mother’s name was Naamah an Ammonitess. {14} And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the LORD."
C. (2 Chronicles 19:2-3) "And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to King Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD? Therefore is wrath upon thee from before the LORD. {3} Nevertheless there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast taken away the groves out of the land, and hast prepared thine heart to seek God."
D. (2 Chronicles 27:6) "So Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the LORD his God."
E. (Ezra 7:10) "For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments."
II. Examination
A. (Isaiah 6:5) "Then said I, Woe is me! For I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts."
B. (Psalms 24:3-5) "Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place? {4} He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. {5} He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation."
C. Scientists have discovered that every snowflake has a tiny piece of dust at its core. Yes, every snowflake has a "dirty heart". No matter how pure and white new fallen snow may look its heart is unclean. Likewise, no matter how good we may look to those around us and ourselves, God looks at the heart.
D. When the blood of Christ is applied to the heart, it cleanses from all sin. Not a speck of defilement remains, for God removes every stain and washes him even whiter than snow. (Psalm 51:7).
III. Expectation
A. Jim Smith went to church on Sunday morning. He heard the organist miss a note during the prelude, and he winced. He saw a teenager talking when everybody was supposed to be bowed in silent prayer. He felt like the usher was watching to see what he put in the offering plate and it made him boil. He caught the preacher making a slip of the tongue five times in the sermon by actual count. As he slipped out through the side door during the closing hymn, he muttered to himself, "Never again, what a bunch of clods and hypocrites!" …Ron Jones went to church one Sunday morning. He heard the organist play an arrangement of "A Mighty Fortress" and he thrilled at the majesty of it. He heard a young girl take a moment in the service to speak her simple moving message of the difference her faith makes in her life. He was glad to see that this church was sharing in a special offering for the hungry children of Nigeria. He especially appreciated the sermon that Sunday--it answered a question that had bothered him for a long time. He thought as he walked out the doors of the church, "How can a man come here and not feel the presence of God?" …Both men went to the same church, on the same Sunday morning. Each found what he was looking for. What do we look for on Sunday morning?
B. (Psalms 62:5) "My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him."
C. (Psalms 42:1-2) "To the chief Musician, Maschil, for the sons of Korah. As the hart pants after the water brooks, so pants my soul after thee, O God. {2} My soul thirsts for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?"
D. (Psalms 63:1) "A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsts for thee, my flesh longs for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;"
E. We ought to be excited and thankful for what God is going to do… Like the story of a little lad,…He was just a little fellow. His mother died when he was just a child. His father, in trying to be both mom and dad, had planned a picnic. The little boy had never been on a picnic, so they made their plans, fixed the lunch, and packed the car. Then it was time to go to bed, for the picnic was the next day. He just could not sleep. He tossed and he turned, but the excitement got to him. Finally, he got out of bed, ran into the room where his father had already fallen asleep, and shook him. His father woke up and saw his son. He said to him, "What are you doing up? What’s the matter?" …The boy said, "I can’t sleep." …The father asked, "Why can’t you sleep?" …In answering, the boy said, "Daddy, I’m excited about tomorrow." …His father replied, "Well, Son, I’m sure you are, and it’s going to be a great day, but it won’t be great if we don’t get some sleep. So why don’t you just run down the hall, get back in bed, and get a good night’s rest." …So the boy trudged off down the hall to his room and got in bed. Before long, sleep came--to the father, that is. It was not long thereafter that back was the little boy. He was pushing and shoving his father, and his father opened his eyes. Harsh words almost blurted out until he saw the expression on the boy’s face. The father asked, "What’s the matter now?" …The boy said, "Daddy, I just want to thank you for tomorrow”.
F. William Carey, “Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God.”
IV. Adoration
A. (Psalms 70:4) "Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: and let such as love thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified."
B. We are to glorify God by responding to the Lord Jesus Christ through EXALTING him as Creator, Savior, and Lord, EXEMPLIFYING him and the values of his kingdom, EDIFYING his church, EVANGELIZING his world, ENCOMPASSING the past, ENRICHING the culture. - mission statement of Chapel Hill Bible Church, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
C. (Psalms 95:6) "O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker."
D. (1 Chronicles 16:29) "Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness."
E. Jonathan Edwards “Resolved: that all men should live for the glory of God. Resolved second: That whether others do or not, I will.”
F. It is fitting and right to sing of you, to praise you, to thank you, to adore you in all places of your dominion. For you are the ineffable God, inconceivable, invisible, incomprehensible, existing forever and yet ever the same, you and your only-begotten Son and your Holy Spirit. You brought us into being out of nothingness, and when we had fallen, you raised us up again. You have not ceased doing everything to lead us to heaven and to bestow upon us your future kingdom. For all this do we thank you and your only-begotten Son and your Holy Spirit - for all the benefits of which we know and those of which we are ignorant, for those that are manifest to us and those that lie concealed. …Holy, holy, holy, Lord of Hosts! Heaven and earth are filled with your glory. Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest! -- John Chrysostom
V. Appropriation (Involvement)
A. Worship is not a spectator event
B. (1 Chronicles 16:29) "Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness."
C. Worship is not, and never has been, something people attend in order to be entertained or fed. Worship can be entertaining. Worship can be richly nourishing. I have pleasant memories of worship being both of those things to me. But those are not the reasons God calls us to worship.
D. (Psalms 95:1-2) "O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. {2} Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms."
E. Somehow, about forty percent of churchgoers seem to have picked up the idea that "singing in church is for singers”. The truth is that "singing is for believers.” The relevant question is not, "Do you have a voice?" but "Do you have a song?"
F. Interestingly, of all the songs in the Book of Revelation, not one is a solo. The twenty-four elders sing and cast their crowns before His feet, the united voices of countless angels resound, every living creature in heaven and earth and under the earth and all that is in them are joined in one song. Those who are victorious over the beast are given harps and a song to sing. In every case multitudes of people or angels unite in the same song with absolute unity
G. Merely learning a truth about God is education, not worship.
VII. Meditation (Exerting mental effort)
A. (Acts 16:14) "And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul."
B. A study was made at Harvard University of the effect of meditation on older people. They discovered that meditation lowered blood pressure, improved mental function, and extended the life span. While we may not all agree on transcendental meditation, Christians have long believed that meditation in worship made life deeper if not longer, and richer, and fuller.
C. (Joshua 1:8) "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success."
VIII. Dedication – The reverence of God demands a response in one’s life
A. Our emotions become worship when, in response to a truth about God, we give something back to God.
B. Latreuo = service
C. (Romans 12:1) "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."
D. Worship is giving to God the best he has given us. - Oswald Chambers
E. Enter to worship – Depart to Serve.
IX. Transformation
A. Exodus 34:35 “Moses face shone”
B. You cannot come into the presence of God and not be changed
