What has happened to our worship?
Text: John 4:21-24
John 4:21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Worship isn’t listening to a sermon, appreciating the harmony of the choir, and joining in singing hymns! It isn’t even prayer, for prayer can be the selfish expression of an unbroken spirit. Worship goes deeper. Since God is spirit, we fellowship with him with our spirit; that is, the immortal and invisible part of us meets with God, who is immortal and invisible.
Erwin W. Lutzer (1941- )
What is worship?
1. Homage rendered to God which it is sinful (idolatry) to render to any created being.
2. Show devotion to (a deity)
3. Love unquestioningly and uncritically or to excess; venerate as an idol
4. Attend religious services
5. A feeling of profound love and admiration
Or is it more . . .
I. We can’t worship God until we realize who we are.
We cannot worship God and live after our own nature. It is when God’s nature and our nature begin to harmonize that the power of the name of God begins to operate within us.
Let us suppose we are back in the old days of the high priest, who took incense into the sanctum and went behind the veil and offered it there. And let us suppose that rubber—the worst-smelling thing I can think of when it burns—had been available in those days. Let us suppose that chips of rubber had been mixed with the incense, so that instead of the pure smoke of the spices filling the temple with sweet perfume, there had been the black, angry, rancid smell of rubber mixed with it. How could a priest worship God by mixing with the sweet-smelling ingredients some foul ingredient that would be a stench in the nostrils of priest and people?
So how can we worship God acceptably when there is within our nature something that, when it catches on fire, gives off not a fragrance but a smell? How can we hope to worship God acceptably when there is something in our nature which is undisciplined, uncorrected, unpurged, unpurified?
- A. W. Tozer on Worship and Entertainment
Before we are able to enter into worship we need to be prepared for worship.
There were a number of elements required for the priest to worship.
1. Sacrifice at the brazen altar – The priest atoned for their sins
Hebrews 9:13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:
14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
2. Wash at the Laver – The priest cleansed themselves so they would be pure and not die before a Holy God
Hebrews 10:22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
3. Keep the Lampstand burning – The light shown upon the table of showbread and the altar of incense which allowed the priest to see.
Just as the lampstand gave light to the priests, Jesus (the true light) enables us to see God.
John 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
4. Eat from the Table of Shewbread – The table and the bread were a picture of God’s willingness to share fellowship and communion with man
God so desires our fellowship that Jesus came to earth as the “Bread of Life” to give eternal life to all who would partake.
Matthew 26:26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.
5. Burn incense at the golden altar – The incense was a symbol of prayer and intercession going up to God as a sweet fragrance.
This picture is captured in David’s psalm 141:2 Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
6. Sprinkle blood upon the horns of the golden altar – sprinkled with the blood of the sacrifice to cleanse and purify it from the sins of the people.
Just as the horns on the brazen altar represent the power of Christ’s blood to forgive sins, the horns on the golden altar signify the power of His blood in prayer as we confess our sins and ask for His forgiveness.
James 5:15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
- http://www.the-tabernacle-place.com
II. We can’t worship God until we realize who He is.
1. God’s Infinitude –
God knows no limits, no bounds and no end. What God is, He is without boundaries. All that God is, He is without bounds or limits.
We talk about unlimited wealth – there is no such thing – it can be counted
We talk about boundless energy – there is no such thing – it can be measured
We say an artist takes infinite care – he just does the best he can.
These words describe God, they can’t describe anything but God!
“How big is God how big and wide is his domain
To try to tell these lips can only start
He’s big enough to rule the mighty universe
yet small enough to live within my heart”
2. God’s Omnipresence –
Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. (Psalm 139:7-10)
When Adam sinned he ran and hid himself from the presence of God. I heard a Jewish rabbi talking the other night on the radio, and he said that once a very godly Jewish rabbi was in jail. The jailer was interested in the old man. He went to the rabbi and said, “Rabbi, I’ve got a theological question I’d like to ask you, out of your own Bible. Do you believe God knows everything?”
“Oh, certainly,” said the rabbi.
“Well, how is it then that God said, `Adam, where art thou?’ If God knew where he was, why did He ask?”
“Well, son,” the rabbi said, “that’s not hard. God said, `Adam, where art thou?’ not because He didn’t know where Adam was, but because Adam didn’t know where he was. The question was asked of Adam. Adam was lost, not God.”
God knew where Adam was, but Adam didn’t know where he was. Adam was alienated from God, and I think the old rabbi had the explanation right.
- A. W. Tozer, “The Attributes of God”
Our “distance” from God is on our part, not on His. God is not just a “presence” out there somewhere, he is everywhere. We can reach him on our knees, in our thoughts, in our heart . . . Just realize that He is here.
3. God’s Omnipotence – Job 38
- Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
- How are the foundations fastened?
- Who laid the corner stone?
- Who shut up the sea with doors?
- How is the light parted?
- Do you know the ordinances of heaven?
- Can you send lightnings?
- Who can number the clouds?
- Who provideth the raven his food?
That the divine power is infinite, is clearly seen in the first chapter of Genesis, where the stupendous work of creation is presented. To create something out of nothing, is a work which none but Omnipotence can perform.
- Thomas N. Ralston, D.D. “Elements of Divinity”
Jeremiah 10:12 He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion.
13 When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.
III. There are ingredients that make up worship.
1. Love – becomes adoration when it lets itself go.
We can love without worshipping, but we cannot worship without loving.
2. Admire – worship carried to infinitude
We can admire without worshipping, but we cannot worship without admiring.
3. Honor – another essential ingredient
We can honor what we do not worship, but we cannot worship the one we do not honor.
4. Fascination – If you can explain it, you cannot worship it.
We can only worship that which fascinates us.
- (A. W. Tozer on Worship and Entertainment)
We can’t worship God until we realize who we are.
Atonement
Purity
The Light
The Bread
The Incense
The Blood
We can’t worship God until we realize who He is.
Infinitude
Omnipresence
Omnipotence
What worship is made of.
Love
Admiration
Honor
Fascination
