The Worship of God, Part 4

Tonight we want to continue our outline with looking at the consequences of true worship and then we'll move from there to look at the relevance of true worship and then examine the essence.

true worship and hopefully we'll be able to finish those all this evening because this is our last night together studying this topic. First of all, the consequences of true worship.

I want to give you three of them. The first one is this. When you come and worship God in spirit and in truth, when your heart is clean before Him, when your heart is totally fixed steadfastly upon Him, and you have opened the Word of the Lord to examine who God is. Three major things happen. One is upward, one is inward, and one is outward. The first one is this: the Savior is praised and exalted.

The Savior is praised and exalted. Psalm 34. Verses 1 to 3 read as follows. I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord. The humble shall hear it and rejoice. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. And so, when we worship God in spirit and in truth, when we honor his name, He is praised and he is exalted. Number two, the saints are purified and edified.

Not only is our Savior praised and exalted, but the saints, when they come together, are purified and they are edified. Psalm 24 verses 3 and 4. Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand? In his holy place, he who hath clean hands and a p heart. When you worship God in spirit and in truth, Then you understand that a worship church is a pure church, is a holy church. Why is that? Because they are coming to look and focus on God. And when they see God, they understand their sinful condition.

And they seek to get things right with their God. That's a purifying effect. So when you worship God in spirit and truth, the saints are purified as well as edified. The third consequence is that sinners might well be persuaded and evangelized.

That sinners might well be persuaded and evangelized. Why is it I say might? I'll tell you in a moment. But turn me over to 1 Corinthians chapter 14. 1 Corinthians chapter 14. And Paul was talking to those in Corinth, trying to help them understand how to effectively worship God. And so this is what he says in verse 23, 24, and 25. If therefore the whole church should assemble 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. Paul is saying, when you come together as a church, I know you're interested in speaking in tongues. I know you're interested in showy gifts, but I want to tell you something. If you were to prophesy, that is, to speak forth the word for God, to declare the word of God, when sinners come into your presence, they will be convicted. Because that which convicts the soul is not those who speak in tongues, but those who speak forth the word of God.

And when that person is convicted, he'll fall on his face and begin to worship God. That's important to note. Because you see, when we come together to worship God, we come together to put God on display. You can't have an effective. Worship service, unless God is the focal point of that service. If man's needs are the focal point of that service. Then the sinner who comes in does not see God, but sees man's needs. Therefore, it's important for you to declare the Word of God and preach. The Word of God, because that's what convicts the sinner and persuades him that he needs to know Jesus Christ.

The church is about a worship community. People who come together to exalt God, to put him on display. And when the unbeliever sees God, he has one of two responses: fall on his face and worship him because he's convicted, or continually harden his heart and walk away from God. And so sinners might be persuaded and evangelized. That's one of the consequences of tr worship. We come together as a body of believers. To exalt and honor and glorify God at all costs, because He is our supreme reason for exist.

Point number five, the relevance of true worship. This kind of covers a little bit of point number two of the last main point, but what happens to you?

When you worship God in spirit and in truth, what happens to you? What happens in my life? People are always interested, you know, what's in it for me, you know. So I'm going to tell you what's in it for you. Psalm 119 verses 16 says, Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments. While the last point dealt more with corporate worship, this deals more with personal worship. What happens in your life when you sit down and begin to honor and glorify your God and sing praises to His name and put Him on display?

Number one. It elevates my God or extols my God. Psalm 9 reads as follows. O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord. Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanks. Let us shout joyfully to him with song. For the Lord is a great God, and a great king above all gods, in whose hand are the depths of the earth. The peaks of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for it was he who made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Come, let us worship and bow down.

Let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker, for he is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and his sheep. Of his hand. And what happens personally to me is that I have put God in his proper perspective. In my life, I can't raise God to the highest place. God is already in the highest place. God put him there. God the Father sat him down at the right hand of God the Father. God put him in the highest place. What I do is I elevate him in my life because most of the time God is not in that first priority in my life.

And so when I begin to worship God and praise him, I am extolling him for who he is and putting him as a proper priority in my life, the number one reason for my existence.

And that's the greatest thing that you and I can ever do. That's the greatest thing that can ever happen to you and me, is to make sure God is in his rightful place in my heart and life. Number two, it enlightens my horizons.

It enlightens my horizons. Turn with me to the book of Revel, the fifth chapter. Revelation chapter 5. Tremendous chapter. Revelation 4 and 5 all deal with the worship of God the Father and God the Son. In Revelation chapter 4, you enter heaven and you see heaven's throne. In Revelation chapter 5, John is still in heaven. And God lets him understand more about true worship. Revelation chapter 5 is probably the hallmark chapter in the Bible when it comes to understanding the lion. Of the tribe of Judah, the Lamb of God, and what our response to him should be.

But I want you to see how worship enlightens my horizons. Look at this. And I saw in the light, in the right hand of him who sat on the throne, a book or a scroll written inside, and on the back, sealed up with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the book and to break its se? Now I told you this before, I'll tell you it again, that the key word in the book of Revelation is the word loud, is the word great. 84 times it's used. In the book of Revelation, God likes lots of noise.

He likes it loud where he is. And so 84 times the book of Revelation, it talks about the greatness and the loudness of what takes place. And this strong angel comes along and with a loud voice makes a proclamation. He's a herald and therefore gives forth a message. And this is the message: who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals? And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the book or to look into it. And I began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it.

Here is John. He's been escorted into glory. God has given him a glimpse of heaven. Revelation 4 and 5 tells you exactly what heaven is like at heaven's throne where God the Father sits. And John sees this book in the hand of God the Father. It's the seven seals. The seven seals need to be broken. It's a title deed to earth. Somebody owns the right to earth. And the strong angel comes and with a loud voice begins to proclaim: who is worthy to open the book? And no one answers. No one responds. There's no one in heaven, no one on earth, no one under the earth to respond.

Paul can't do it. Elijah can't do it. Moses can't do it. Daniel can't do it. Isaiah can't do it. John the Baptist can't do Nobody can do it. And the Bible says John begins to weep.

And it says in verse number five, and one of the elders said to me, stop. Weeping to command. John, stop it. Don't cry anymore. And what to say? Behold, the lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has overcome, so as to open the book and its seven seals. And I saw between the throne with the four living creatures, and the elders, the lamb standing as if slain. having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God, sent out into all the earth. And he came, and he took it out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne.

And when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, having each worn a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, Worthy art thou to take the book, and to break its seals, for thou wast slain, and didst purchase for God with the blood, or with thy blood, men from every tribe, and tongue, and people and nation. And thou hast made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign upon the earth.

And I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures. and the elders, and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the lamb that was slain. To receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing, and every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea and all things in them, I heard saying. To him who sits on the throne, and to the land be blessing, and honor, and glory, and dominion, forever, and ever.

And the four living creatures kept saying, What? Amen. And the elders fell down and worship. You see, one of our problems is that our horizons are not enlightened because we don't know how to worship God. And therefore, we can only look at a horizontal perspective.

We only see things so far. The book of Revelation is not about the end times. The book of Revelation is about Jesus Christ. And if you read through the book of Revelation and don't fall down as the 24 elders did and worship him and praise His name, then something is extremely wrong with your spiritual condition. You either do not know who Jesus Christ is, that you might fall down and worship him, or your heart is turned cold toward him. You can't read to the book of Revelation without having the same response as the 24 elders.

Because you see Jesus Christ in all of his glory. He's finally revealed for who he is and what he will do.

And therefore, the only response is to worship Him because finally our horizons are enlightened. We see the end. We know the end. It's always good at the end because Jesus Christ is in control. What's in it for you? When you worship God, when you honor Him, when you worship Him in spirit and in truth. Your whole perspective on life changes. It changes. Because for maybe the first time, you've been enlightened.

Number three. When you come to worship God, it will erase your f. It will erase or eclipse your f. When you truly worship God, you will soon forget the distractions around about you. You will soon forget about the disturbances within you. You will soon forget how Satan him wants to defeat you, for you are His enemy over in Psalm 91, verse number 1, it says this: He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow. the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, My refuge in my fortress, my God in whom I trust.

For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper and from the deadly Pestilence. A true worshiper fears only one thing, and that's God. He fears nothing else. Because he has seen the Holy One of Israel and therefore bows before him and hides himself under the shadow of the Almighty. Number four, true worship will enlarge my perspective. Over in Psalm 30. It says this in verses 1 to 4, I will extol thee, O Lord, for thou hast lifted me up and hast not let my enemies rejoice over me. O Lord, my God, I cried to thee for help, and thou didst heal me.

O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from She. Thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit, sing praise to the Lord, you. His godly ones and give thanks to his holy name. And when you worship God in spirit and in truth, he enlarges your perspective on life like nothing else. Next, number five, true worship exh my spirit. Accelerates my spirit. There's something that God does in my soul. There's something that God does inside of me. That you know what? It really can't be explained in words.

It's almost as if you sit in complete awe and wonder. You are absolutely speechless. You don't know what to say. The psalmist said in Psalm 62. These words, my soul waits in silence for God only, for in him is my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation. My stronghold, I shall not be greatly shaken. Verse number five and six: My soul wait in silence for God only. For my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation. My stronghold I shall not be. Shaken. I'm not sure that we understand what happens at a worship service.

How we try to focus people in on who God is through song, through testimonies, through preaching. It 's all about God. And to be able to sit there and to be so focused in on Him, I don't have to sing a word. I don't have to say a word. All I got to do is be with my God. And it refreshes my spirit and moves me closer to him. I trust that you would experience that when you come to worship with us on Sundays. And lastly, when I worship God in spirit and in truth, it enhances my walk. It enhances my walk.

Psalm 27, verse number 8. When thou didst say, seek my face, my heart said to thee, thy face, O Lord, I shall seek. When God said, seek me, my response was, I'll seek you, God. I'll seek you. I'll do what you want me to do. There's something about true worship that enhances our walk with God. Say, wow, Pastor, you know, I really want to do all that kind of stuff. I've seen the importance of worship. I realize I've got to do it. I've seen the substance of worship. I got to worship God in spirit and in truth.

I've seen the consequences. I want that to happen in my life. Where does that begin? How does that happen? Isaiah chapter 6, and we'll close here. Turn there with me if you would, please. I want to read through it with you and then give you four principles. That are very basic for your life and for mine. In the year of King Uzziah's death, I saw the Lord sitting. On a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of his robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above him, each having six wings. With two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.

And one called out to another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out while the temple was filling with smoke. First thing you need to notice is that Isaiah saw the L.

It's important for us to understand if we are going to be true worship, we must see God. And then it says. Then I said, verse number five, Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips. For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Then one of the ser flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongues. And he touched my mouth with it and said, Behold. This has touched your lips, and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin is forgiven.

Isaiah saw the Lord. And then it says in verse number 8, then I heard the voice. Isaiah saw. God touched. Isaiah heard. I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Who shall I send and who will go for us? Isaiah sat through a heavenly worship service. He saw the Lord, experienced his touch. In the stillness that followed, he heard the voice of God. So many times is it not true that our hearts are so noisy that we really can't hear God speak. And then it says this. Then I said, Here am I. Send me. And he said, Go.

Isaiah saw, God touched. Isaiah heard and Isaiah responded to the Lord. My responsibility as a messenger of God is to give you the message. Your response to that is to say to God, I'll go. I'll do. I'll seek your face. Whatever it is you say, Lord, I'll do that. From this, we draw four principles that I want to give to you before we close. Four principles that will help you understand. How I can worship God in spirit and in truth. Number one, true worship, in terms of its essence, initiates in a retreat from the world.

It initiates in a retreat from the world. Folks, if you're going to see God You got to walk away from the world. You got to let go of the things of the world. You got to leave the pressures of the world behind. You got to become preoccupied with God. You must abandon the worry of the world. I'm afraid, as A. W. To said, we see the world not as a battleground, but as a playground. And we like playing there. And if we're going to see God, we must retreat back away from the things of the world. Number two.

True worship predicates a recognition of our need. When you see him for who he is, as Isaiah did, Isaiah immediately saw his condition and knew that there was something vile about his condition. And God touched that condition. When we come to worship God, we must come aware of our sinful condition, aware of the pitfalls of our lives, aware of those things that aren't right and say, God, do what you've got to do in me. Make me right. Touch that in my life. Make it whole. We must come with that bitter spirit and say, God, remove it from me.

We must come with that lifestyle of disobedience and say, God, make me obedient to you. I want to serve you. I want to honor you. In order for me to worship God, it predicates that I recognize my condition and that I come to Him and honor Him and want Him to do whatever He needs to do to make me right with Him. Third principle.

It necessitates a reverence for his presence. It necessitates a reverence for his presence. Isaiah revered his God. We read it earlier in Revelation chapter 5. Where the elders, the 24 elders, and the four living creatures would fall down, prostrate themselves before the throne of heaven, and worship God. There was an extreme reverence for God for who he is. He is our God, and he is our audience of one. And when we come to worship, we come to honor him. We've lost that in modern Christianity. True worship necessit a reverence.

Of his presence. And last, true worship culminates in a response to our Lord. You have not worship truthfully unless you leave responding as Isaiah did. Here am I. I will go. Send me. I will do it, Lord. Whatever you need, I will do. May God help us to be true worship. People who worship him in spirit and in truth. People who are exactly what God wants us to be.