The Question for Today's Church, Part 2

We thank you for a chance to come before you and to pray and to realize, Lord, that you hear all that we say. We pray, Lord, that as we embark on the study of your word today, that you'd open our eyes to be able to behold wonderful things out of your law. We pray in Jesus' name, amen. We've embarked on a journey, a journey truly, because I'm not sure how long it's going to take us, but it is a journey as a result of our study of Revelation 1, 2, and 3, the seven churches in Asia Minor, and God's ministry and message to his church, asking the question, if the Lord concludes every letter with, he who has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches, are we listening and did we listen?

And are we the kind of church that God wants us to be? And so we've begun this journey answering the question, are we the kind of church that God would commend or God would condemn? Are we the kind of church that God would affirm or God would accuse? What kind of church are we? It's a question that we ask ourselves individually because the church is made up of individual people who are part of the kingdom of God. And so as the Lord told the church, five of the seven churches, to repent because they had begun to move away from the principles of scripture and not follow the will of the Lord, we want to be the kind of church that God commends and does not condemn.

Well, to do that, we're embarking on what that means for us. And it begins last week where we are a church where the word of God is supremely paramount in our lives, in our church, that God's word reigns supreme because first Timothy three fifteen says that the church is the pillar and foundation of the truth.

We as a church are to uphold the truth of God as the ultimate standard because it is a priority. God's word is paramount because Psalm one thirty eight verse number two says thy word O Lord is magnified even as thy very name.

And there are a lot of people who think that they hold God's word in high esteem. But a reality when push comes to shove, when they have to make their daily decisions or be directed by it, they put it aside and they lean on their own understanding and they walk away from the truth of God's word. And yet if God's word is supremely paramount, you will be directed daily by the word of God. You will depend continually upon the word of God. You will desire it so intensely because that's what you want to see happen in your life.

You're the kind of person that will defend it and declare it because God's word stands supreme in your life. We talked about that last week. And so if the word of God is paramount, that's number one.

Number two, the worship of God must be that which is absolutely passionate. The worship of God must be passionate. And A.W. Tozer described it best when he said these words, true worship is to be so personally and hopelessly in love with God that the idea of a transfer of affection never ever remotely exists. In other words, you are so in love with God, so in tune with God, so adoring of God that the transfer of any affection from him never enters your mind because the worship you have for him is absolutely passionate.

The psalmist has said in Psalm 84, verse number 10, for a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. But there's a song that has been written that we sing better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere. But unfortunately, most people can't sing that with a clear conscience because they'd rather be a thousand other places than in the house of God. They'd rather be doing a thousand other things than being with the one true God in his house and worshiping him.

And so the psalmist expressed it well, better is one day in your courts, better is one day in your house than a thousand other places, than any place where the wicked dwell. Because in your presence is where he wanted to be. Worship for him was absolutely a passionate desire. Psalmist also said in Psalm 27, verse number four, one thing I have asked from the Lord that I shall seek that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in his temple.

One thing I have asked, just one thing, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. That's passion. That's desire. That's adoration. That's commitment. That's someone who, who wants to be with this God because God's word is paramount. Then the worship of God then will be passionate. It will be something that drives us to honor and live for the glory of God. So let me start by saying this, whenever you talk about worship, people truly have missed the boat.

Most, most people in the church have no idea about worship. Let me say it to you this way. Most people to some degree believe that music is worship. I'm here to tell you today that music is music and worship is worship. But music is not synonymous with worship in scripture. Most people don't understand that. They think that music is worship. Now music can be one of a myriad of ways you express worship, but it's only one of a myriad of ways. For instance, giving is worship. So when we take the offering on Sunday morning, that's a form of worship.

Second Corinthians chapter 8, Second Corinthians chapter 9, Proverbs 3, verse number 9, we honor the Lord with the firstfruits of our increase.

So my question is, why don't we sing one song and take six offerings? Think about it. We take one offering, sing six songs. Why? Prayer is worship. Come let us worship and bow down and kneel before the Lord, our God, our maker. So why don't we take the offering, pray, take it again, pray some more, take another one, pray again, sing a song, and then preach? Because none of you would show up. You'd stop coming. You'd leave saying all they want to do is take the offering to that church. All they want is money.

No, no, that has nothing to do with it. Because the highest form of worship is sacrifice. And we offer a sacrifice of praise, right? But we also offer a sacrifice of our gifts. So when you give to God, worship is best defined by sacrifice. So if when you gave, it did not hurt, it wasn't sacrifice, therefore it wasn't true worship. Think about that for a minute. You see, so many times we have misunderstood worship. We think that music is worship. Music is music. Worship is worship. The two are not synonymous in scripture, yet music can be a form in which we express our worship to God.

Worship is the heart going up to God in gratitude and praise with thanksgiving for all that God has done. Worship acknowledges God to be who he is, what he does as revealed in scripture, and expressing gratitude to him. Others believe that music is something that motivates and induces worship. Again, not true. It might induce an emotion. It might induce a feeling, but that is not worship. So, we must not think that somehow the songs that we sing or the way we sing them is somehow going to motivate me to worship.

Listen, if you weren't motivated to worship God before you arrived, guess what? You won't be motivated while you're here. Because the preparation takes place way before you ever park in the parking lot. In reality, the Jews got this one right. They prepared for the Sabbath on Friday night. Because they knew that in order to be prepared for Saturday's worship, it began on Friday night. So, in all reality, your worship begins on Saturday night. But a lot of us like to stay up late. Watch the late show, go to late in movies, and go to bed, and quickly get out of bed, and roll out of bed, and get dressed, and run to church with no preparation for worship whatsoever.

And thinking that if we sing the right songs in the right way with the right tune, somehow I'll be motivated to worship the King. Motivation does not come from a sound. It comes from the scriptures. Motivation does not come from a tune. It comes from the text. It does not come from the music. It comes from the message. That's the motive for worship. Here's another error that the common church has. Some say that music creates the mood for worship. You go to some churches and they turn the lights down, or turn them off altogether, and have strobe lights, or have some kind of lighting effects, or smoke effects.

Somehow, we're going to create a mood for people to worship. Again, that is not true either, because worship is truly a permanent attitude. God seeks true worshipers, those who worship Him in spirit and in truth. And Philippians 3.3 says that we are the circumcision. We are the marked ones. We are the ones who worship God. Worship is an attitude that's permanent. Not a mood that can be created by lighting, music, or smoke. On top of that, we must realize that there is something that creates a worshipful attitude, and that is the reading and the preaching of the Word of God.

That does do that. The reading, that's why Paul said in 1 Timothy 4.13, give yourself to the reading, to the instruction, and to the teaching, the exhortation of the Word of God. The Word of God will help us understand who God is, which then allows us to express praise and gratitude with thanksgiving to the God we adore. How about this? Some Christians believe that music is to be used to reach the unbeliever. Do you know that nowhere in Scripture was music ever used as an evangelistic tool, or an evangelistic technique?

Nowhere was that ever used, because music is not designed to be used that way. At least the music that brings honor and glory to God, because when you sing, you are singing in gratitude to God for all that He has done and who He is. And so our praise, our music that we sing honors God. So really we are singing to God. We're not singing to the unbeliever. We're singing to God. Now the unbeliever might come into your presence and hear you sing about God. So indirectly it might be used that way, because they hear you singing about this God you adore.

But music is not designed to be used as an evangelistic tool. Never has been. It never will be. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by a word concerning the Christ. Very important to understand that. That's why the Bible talks about a new song, right? Psalm 33, Psalm 95, Psalm 96, 98, Psalm 148 talks about the new song. The new song is a song of the redeemed. The new song is like the song in Exodus chapter 15. The song of Moses. The new song is like the song of the Lamb in Revelation chapter 15.

It's a song of redemption. It's a song that the redeemed can sing. God has put a new song in my mouth. He's put a new song in my heart. And the song that He puts in my life is a song that reverberates with the greatness of God. And all that He has done, it's a song of redemption. It's a song that only the redeemed can sing. And that's why in Revelation 15, it's the redeemed who sing it. And in Exodus chapter 15, it was the Israelites who were redeemed out of Egypt and saved from Pharaoh and his army.

They would sing about the victory of God. The character of God that would throw the horse and rider into the sea. And they had obtained victory. That's the song. The new song. In fact, over in 2 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles chapter 29, Hezekiah is restoring temple worship. It says in verse 27 or verse 25, he then stationed the Levites in the house of the Lord with symbols and with harps and with lyres. According to the command of David and of Gad the king seer and of Nathan the prophet. For the command was from the Lord through his prophets.

The Levites stood with the musical instruments of David and the priest with the trumpets. Then Hezekiah gave the order to offer the burnt offering on the altar. When the burnt offering began, the song of the Lord also began with the trumpets accompanied by the instruments of David, king of Israel. While the whole assembly worshipped, the singers also sang. So the assembly would worship, but they weren't singing. The singers were singing. And it says, and the trumpet sounded. All this continued until the burnt offerings was finished.

Now at the completion of the burnt offerings, the king and all who were present with him bowed down and worshipped. Okay. So they worshipped by bowing down. They worshipped in humility. They worshipped through prayer. But their music is separated from worship. So you need to understand that most people, when you talk about worship in the church, conjure up this idea about songs and music and tunes. But in scripture, it's not that way. And so if we're going to be the kind of church that God commends and does not condemn, then our worship must be passionate.

For it to be passionate, it must be absolutely accurate. It must be in line with what God's word says. Because the Bible is filled with those who worshipped the king. In fact, if you go to the book of Matthew, Matthew chapter two, you realize that when the magi came to Jerusalem in verse two, they asked, where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east and we have come to worship him. We have come to worship him. And so they finally find him in a house.

And it says in verse 11, after coming into the house, they saw the child and Mary, his mother, and they fell to the ground and worshipped him. Then opening their treasures, they presented to him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Their worship included no music. They didn't come and sing a song to Jesus. They came, bowed down and worshipped him. And by worshipping him, they gave of their treasures. They gave gold, they gave the best. They didn't come and say, well, what's a little infant going to do with gold?

I'm not going to give him any of my gold. I'm going to hold on to that. He's just an infant. He has no value. And he doesn't understand the value of gold. Why give him that? But they did because they recognized him as the king, the son of David. And he'd give it in the gold that would allow Mary and Joseph later to flee to Egypt, have the money to do so, because the wise men would come and worship the king. But they came to worship him. Okay. And if you go over to Matthew chapter 10, in Matthew, I'm sorry, Matthew chapter 8, these words are spoken.

When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed him. And the leper came to him and worshipped before him. He bowed down before him. He prostrated himself before the Lord. Then over in Matthew chapter 9, verse number 18, while he was saying these things to them, a synagogue official came and worshipped before him or bowed down before him again. Worship was the prominent theme. The leper didn't sing. The synagogue official didn't sing, but he worshipped the king. He bowed before him in the humble submission.

Over in Matthew chapter 15, Matthew chapter 15, these words are spoken. I think it's Matthew chapter 15. Let me see.

Hold a second. Yeah. Matthew chapter 15, verse number 25, Matthew 15, verse number 25. And this woman from Canaan, this Syrophoenician woman, she came and began to worship him saying, Lord, help me. Remember in Matthew 14, verse number 33, after Jesus came walking on the water and calmed the sea, it says those who were in the boat worshipped him saying, you are certainly God's son. And then over in Matthew chapter 28, Matthew chapter 28, these words are spoken. Matthew 28, verse number 17, when they saw him, they worshipped him, but some were doubtful.

In other words, the first gospel, Matthew's gospel has a theme that helps us understand true biblical worship.

Jesus is the king, and because he is the king, he deserves to be worshipped. Well, if you go to the book of Revelation, the same thing is true. Go back to Revelation chapter 5, verse number 14. And the elders, which are representative of the church, fell down and worshipped him. Same thing in chapter 4, verse number 10. Same thing in chapter 7, verse number 11. And all the angels were standing around the throne, around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God saying.

Notice they keep saying. They don't sing, they say. They say it in Revelation 4. They say it in Revelation 5. They say it in Revelation 7. No one says they're singing. It says they're saying, okay? And they are saying what? That Jesus is the one who is worthy to be slain. He was the one to receive glory and honor. Revelation 11, verse number 16. And the 24 elders who sat on the throne before God fell on their faces and worshipped God saying, we give thanks. Remember Revelation chapter 14. Revelation 14, verse number 7 or 6.

And I saw an angel flying in midheaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people. And he said with a loud voice, fear God and give him glory because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and the springs of waters. So remember in the book of Revelation, you have three avenues by which the gospel will be preached. It will be preached by an angel that flies around in midheaven, two witnesses, one like Moses, one like Elijah and 144,000 converted Jews.

And there is this angel that flies around in midheaven proclaiming the eternal gospel. And it says, fear God, give him glory and worship him because the whole earth is worshipping the Antichrist. They're bowing before the Antichrist. And so the cry comes, fear God and worship him because that is the gospel message. We are to worship the one true God. So in the first book of the New Testament, in the last book of the New Testament and everything in between is all about the worship of the Supreme King, the God of the universe, the Lord Jesus Christ.

And that worship is seen as something that is absolutely passionate by those who bow before him. And so our worship must be characterized by passion because it comes from the inside out. It comes because we are totally committed to the one true King, the Lord of glory, and he is the one we bow before. All that to say, what are the characteristics of a worship that's passionate? I want to give them to you. Not sure how far I'll get today, but that's okay. We want to give them to you so you understand that we can become a church that God commends and does not condemn, that we have ears.

We have listened to what the Spirit says to the churches, and we don't want to transfer our affection to any other individual or any other thing. We are completely loyal to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. So worship that is passionate, number one, affects expectation.

It affects expectation. In other words, God expects worship. He demands he be worshiped, and when we worship him in a way that he is prescribed in Scripture, it affects that expectation. And so therefore we must understand what that truly means. We know way back in the book of Exodus, the Lord God said these words, Exodus chapter 20. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.

You shall not worship them or serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

God, at the outset, when he gives his commandments, says there is to be no rivals to my affection. There are to be no rebuttals to who I am as your God. You are to worship me and worship me only because who you worship and how you worship will do more damage to your children and to your children's children than any one thing you ever do. Your lack of worship, your inappropriate worship, your transfer of worship will affect your children and your children's children more so than you can ever begin to imagine.

That's why worship is so crucial. That's why the word of God must be paramount so the worshiper of God will be passionate, will be the way God has described for it in scripture for us to follow. And so the Lord makes it very clear that, listen, who you worship, how you worship is so crucial. So when you come to the book of Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy chapter 6, he says in verse number 10, I'm sorry, verse number, yeah, verse number 10, that it should come about when the Lord your God brings you into the land in which he swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you great and splendid cities, which you did not build, and houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, and hewn cisterns, which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees, which you did not plant and you eat and are satisfied, then watch yourself that you do not forget the Lord who brought you from the land of Egypt out of the house of slavery.

You shall fear only the Lord your God, and you shall worship him and swear by his name. You shall not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who surround you, for the Lord your God in the midst of you is a jealous God. Otherwise, the anger of the Lord your God will be kindled against you, and he will wipe you off the face of the earth. You don't think that God takes worship seriously? Absolutely. He expects his people to worship him. He expects his people to adore him. He expects his people to serve him.

He expects his people never to forget him. And they demonstrate that by keeping their loyalties aligned with him, that they are sold out to the one true God, never wanting to compromise their stand, never wanting to compromise their beliefs, never wanting to compromise their values, because they love the one true God and will worship only him. That's why the Lord God said over in Luke chapter 14, verse number 26, these words, if anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. Then he says, verse 33, so then none of you can be my disciple who does not give up all his own possessions. In other words, God says, I must have all your affection.

I must have all of you. I don't want a part of you. I want all of you. That's why Christ said in Matthew 6, 24, no man can serve two masters. You can't. Because one you're going to adore and the other you're going to put aside. You're going to treat as if they don't exist. So you must only serve one master. And that master is the king of the universe, the Lord of glory. And we must bow before him in submission. We must worship the one true God over in Psalm 148. Psalm 148. These words are spoken.

Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord from the heavens. Praise him in the heights. Praise him all his angels. Praise him all his host. Praise him sun and moon. Praise him all stars of light. Praise him highest heavens in the waters that are above the heavens. Let them praise the name of the Lord for he commanded and they were created. He also established them forever and ever. He has made a decree which will not pass away. Praise the Lord from the earth, sea monsters and all the deeps, fire and hail, snow and clouds, stormy wind fulfilling his word, mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, beasts and all cattle, creeping things and winged fowl, kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all judges of the earth, both young men and virgins, old men and children.

Let them praise the name of the Lord for the name alone is exalted and his glory is above earth and heaven. And he has lifted up a horn for his people. Praise for all his godly ones, even for the sons of Israel and people near to him. Praise the Lord. In other words, creatures instinctively praise the Lord. Insects and creatures instinctively worship the Lord. Snow and hail, fire and sleet give praise and honor to the name of God because he is the creator of all things. And so nature by nature praises God.

But we who are created beings as people, we don't by nature praise him. And so we must understand what it means to lift his name on high and to honor him as our king and to voice that as loudly and as clearly as we possibly can. It's important to realize that Christ said to the woman at the well in John four, a day is coming, but all true worshipers will worship the father in spirit and in truth. Worship is not so much a place. Worship is about who you are and who you worship. And how he is worshiped.

And so Christ made it very clear that he was and is the Messiah of Israel. And he is the one to be worshiped in spirit and in truth. Think of it this way. The furnace, the furnace of worship is the soul of a man. The fuel for worship is the scripture God gives to man. And the fire of worship is the spirit of God. The furnace is a soul. Okay. The fuel scripture and the fire is the spirit of God. And our body is the temple of the Holy spirit. And the fire of that spirit is fueled by the scripture. That's why we let the word of Christ dwell in us richly.

And as the scripture fuels our souls, the fire of the spirit of God is seen in worship of God is passionate. So worship affects expectation. Number two, worship emphasizes preparation.

The worship of God that is passionate affects expectation and emphasizes preparation. Emphasizes preparation. We know what Solomon said in the book of Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes five, verse number one, guard your steps as you go to the house of God.

Did you do that today? Did you watch your steps as you came to the house of God? Were you frivolous with your steps? How did you come to the house of God and draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools for they do not know they are doing evil? What is the sacrifice of fools? The sacrifice of fool is saying to God, yes, I will do something, but then not follow through. But the sacrifice of the wise says, yes, I will do this Lord. And yes, I will follow through. And you do. And so when you go to the house of God, you guard your steps.

You watch your steps. You protect your steps. In other words, you watch over your life before you get to the house of God. And when you get there, you go to listen.

Why? Because listening is a part of worship. Did you know that part of your worship is learning how to listen? And so as you listen to what God says, you begin to understand who he is and what he's done, which allows your heart to express itself in gratitude and thanksgiving for the glory of his name.

Worship is all about God. Worship is all about the king of glory. Worship has nothing to do with how we view ourselves. And so we must keep that in constant view. So the writer of Ecclesiastes says, guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God. In other words, don't be too quick to say anything to God. We're so quick to talk to God. We want to pray to God. We want to speak to God. We want to talk to God.

And Solomon says, don't be so quick to do that. Why? Because if you're talking, you're not what? You're not listening. You're not listening. If you're talking, you're not listening. So make sure you're not too quick to bring up a matter to God. For God is in heaven and you are on the earth. Therefore, let your words be few. God's in heaven. In other words, he's sovereign. He rules overall. In fact, he's so sovereign. He's so above you that if you never bring up a word to him, it's okay. Because he already knows what's on your heart.

He already knows those things. See? And so you don't have to bring it up to him anyway. Just go and listen to what he has to say, because what he has to say to you is going to speak to the question that you have already. See? And so preparation is so important. That's why Charles Spurgeon said these words. There should be some preparation of the heart in coming to the worship of God. Consider who he is and whose name we gather. And surely we cannot rush together without thought. Consider whom we profess to worship.

And we should not hurry into his presence as men run to a fire. Moses, the man of God, was warned to put off his shoes from his feet. When God only revealed himself in a bush. How should we prepare ourselves when we come to him who reveals himself in Christ Jesus, his dear son? There should be no stumbling into the place of worship. Half asleep. No roaming here as if it were no more than going to a playhouse. We cannot expect to profit much if we bring with us a swarm of idle thoughts and a heart crammed with vanity.

If we are full of folly, we may shut out the truth of God from our minds. Therefore, it's imperative that we prepare ourselves to worship. And I told you before that if you have not prepared your heart before you arrive, it's not going to happen while you're here. There must be a clean heart to worship the King. A clean heart. Not a dirty heart, not a filthy heart. But a clean heart. Psalm has said these words. Psalm 24, verse number 3. Psalm 24, verse number 3. Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?

Who may stand in this holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart. Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood and has not sworn deceitfully. This man shall receive a blessing from the Lord. Let me ask you a question.

Do you have a clean heart? Have you confessed your sins to the Lord? Over in Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10, verse number 22. These words are spoken. Let us draw near with a sincere heart. That is, not a hypocritical kind of heart, but a sincere heart. In other words, when you draw near to God, do it truthfully. Do it in sincerity. Don't do it because it's a game. Don't do it because you're doing it for somebody else. And certainly don't do it hypocritically, but do it with sincerity. In full assurance of the faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

A clean heart. A cleansed life helps us prepare for worship. It was A.W. Tozer who said, No worship is wholly pleasing to God until there is nothing in me displeasing to God. That's good. I better say that to you again because I think half of you missed it. No worship is wholly pleasing to God until there is nothing in me displeasing to God. And so therefore, I must have a clean heart. I must have confessed my sin. I must be right with God. I must be right with my spouse. I must be right with my children.

I must be right with those that have sinned against me and I have sinned against. I got to have a clean heart. So many people come to church to worship the king. And I hear these words. I didn't get anything out of it. Well, that's a commentary on you, not the church. Amen. That's your problem. If you didn't get anything out of it, that's your heart issue. And maybe you have a dirty heart. Maybe you have an unclean heart. Maybe you have a heart that's not really truly committed to the king. And you've come in not with a sincere, genuine approach to God.

You've come with another agenda, another idea. But you didn't come having guarded your steps. Having cleansed your heart. Worship that's passionate emphasizes preparation. There's a clean heart. Number two, there is a contrite heart.

A contrite heart. Psalm 51 verse number 17 says this. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart. Oh God, you will not despise. Wow. A broken and contrite heart. In other words, when you come into the house of the Lord, when you come to worship God, you can't come with arrogance. You can't come with pride. You can't come and say, you know, I know more than he does. I can sing better than they can sing. I can pray better than they pray. I'm better than they are. You can't come with an arrogant heart.

You can't come. Well, try to teach me. I have a PhD. I know all there is to know about the scripture. You come with arrogance. You don't come with a broken and contrite heart. That is broken over my sin and that which displeases God and which brings reproach upon his name. Coming humbly before the God of the universe. Bowing before him in submission. There needs to be a clean heart if I'm prepared to worship. There needs to be a contrite heart if I'm prepared to worship. There needs to be a clear heart.

A clear heart. The psalmist said in Psalm 86, verse number 11, unite my heart to fear thy name. To fear thy name is a way in which the Old Testament describes the worship of God. Unite my heart to worship you. In other words, a clear heart is an undistracted heart. Okay. A clear heart thinks clearly and biblically. A clear heart is not distracted by anything else around it. It's not distracted by the events of yesterday. It's not distracted by the events of this afternoon. It's not distracted by the person in front of me nor the person behind me.

It is a clear heart. Unite my heart, oh Lord, to fear thy name. May my heart be so fixed upon thee. That there's nothing that clutters it nor distracts it from seeing who you are and what you've done. There needs to be a clean heart. There needs to be a contrite heart. There needs to be a clear heart. And there needs to be what I'm going to call a connected heart. Okay. It's connected to the one true God. Psalm 51, verse number 7, says it this way. Psalm 51, verse number 7. That's not the verse I want.

I want Psalm 57, verse number 7. My bad. Psalm 57. My heart is fixed. My heart is steadfast. My heart is connected, oh God. My heart is supremely connected. I will sing, yes, I will sing praises. Awake my glory, awake harp and lyre. I will awaken the dawn. I will give thanks to you, oh Lord, among the peoples. I will sing praises to you among the nations. For your loving kindness is great to the heavens and your truth to the clouds. Be exalted above the heavens, oh God. Let your glory be above all the earth.

A connected heart is a fixed heart, is a steadfast heart. It's connected to the one true God and only to him. There is not a diverse connection. That is not connected to this person, to that person, to this thing. I'm connected to one. I'm steadfast. I'm fixed upon Christ. So many times in our lives, we come to worship the king and our hearts are attached to other things. That's what Solomon said in the book of Proverbs. Son, give me your heart. Give me your heart. Why? For I will flow all the issues of life.

Protect your heart. Why? It must be connected to one person and one person only, the king of glory. It must be cleared from all forms of distractions. It must be contrite and broken, clean and pure. And lastly, you must have a compliant heart. A compliant heart. Psalm 139 verse number 23, search me, O God, and try me and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the ways of righteousness. In other words, I'm compliant to whatever God says.

I'm willing to relinquish everything for the sake of doing what God says. It's a heart that says, yes, Lord, teach me. Yes, Lord, is there wickedness in me? Yes, Lord, is there anything about me? Now I can come into the house of God because my heart is free from distractions. It's clear. I can come to the house of God because I am fixed on one person and one person only. And not only am I fixed on that person, my heart has been cleansed and it's clean. I come broken over my sin. I come broken over my arrogance.

And I come with contrition before God. And I say, yes, Lord, whatever you say, I will do. Whatever you say, I will obey because, Lord, I am committed to following you. Now you're ready to worship because a worship that's passionate affects expectation. God expects it. And it emphasizes preparation. But we're not done because there's several more things you need to understand when it comes to a worship of God that's passionate. That's next week. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for today and a chance to be in your word and a chance to study you.

I pray, Father, for every one of us that our hearts will be in tune with thee. How we sing, Lord, all to thee. I surrender. Have thine own way, Lord. Have thine own way. I pray that that would be our prayer. Lord, have your way with us. Have your way with our families. Have your way with our work. Have your way with our finances. Lord, have your own way. And may we follow that way because our hearts are prepared to receive whatever you have for us. In Jesus' name, amen.