God's Favorite House Part 3: If We Build It He Will Come Series

God’s Favorite House Part 3

If we build it HE will come

"TRUE WORSHIP"

TEXT: II Chronicles 29:1-11, 15-29

INTRO:

I heard a story one time about a man that was extremely over weight. He had a genetic problem that caused his problem with weight.

The young man sits down with Tommy Tenney and told this story…

“Tommy, I know people laugh at me” He would say.

The young man was so heavy that it inhibited him socially.

He said “ I have very good friends who would love for me to come visit them. We regularly spend time together in restaurants, but I would love to just sit down in the intimacy of their homes and fellowship with them. Yet, I can’t.”

“Tommy, when I drop by their homes, I will stand at the foyer with my hat and coat on the whole time. I never take them off until I scan the room looking for a place to sit, a place that will hold my weight.” He said, “I have made my mind up. I have broken my last chair. I refuse to sit in a seat that looks as if it won’t bear my weight. I won’t be embarrassed anymore. I just won’t visit if I have to do that. So I scan the room from the doorway.”

“I always here my friends telling me in all ea4rnestness and sincerity “come on in, have coffee sit and visit with us.” But the whole time I am talking I am scanning the living room, kitchen whatever. I have visited before unsuccessful but I am looking to see if they have added any furniture that might hold me up. I knew there was nothing there on my previous visit but I want to spend time with them, I want there company.

With a sigh he said “These visits often end sadly I have make up an excuse and say I need to get going and go out to my car and weep, I want so bad to be with my friends and loved ones.

If we can grasp this that God wants to visit us but we have not built any thing to which will hold His weight, we have not built for Him a mercy seat through worship.

Do we want Him to visit us? Or are we satisfied with the status quo?

In our text we see that the final stage of Hezekiah’s reforms that resulted in a great revival for Judah was restoring true worship. He gained this TRUE WORSHIP by building or rebuilding the house of God (the house of WORSHIP).

There are many people today that fail to appreciate the power of true worship. Rather than see a worship service as a real opportunity to enter into God’s presence they often feel going to Church is something they have to do...thus no joy!

ILLUS: The reasons why I have not been to church in awhile falls under one of these excuses.

1. Every time I went, they asked for money.

2. The people I sat next to didn’t seem friendly.

3. The seats were too hard and not comfortable at all.

4. I went to many services but the pastor never asked me to sing.

5. The others made decisions that I couldn’t agree with.

6. The services went into overtime and I was late getting home.

7. The pianist played numbers I’d never heard before and it wasn’t my style of music.

8. It seems the special services are always scheduled when I want to do other things.

9. I suspect that I was sitting next to some hypocrites.

10. My parents took me to too many services when I was growing up.

11. I hate to wait in the traffic jam in the parking lot after the service.

True worship is a transforming experience, and is certainly a mark of a revived Church or believer.

If we move into true worship, the kind that will build a mercy seat then God’s glory or God’s Kabod (the Hebrew term for glory) will show up and then we can have revival. Not until then, we cannot have revival based on temporal things we base our revival on God.

The real tragedy is that any Church can be in revival all the time, the opportunity for true worship at any service is there, and we just need to enter into worship in the right way.

The Bible teaches us that there is tremendous joy in worshipping God in the right way, with the right heart. The path to a revived Church or believer can be found in true worship. But, there must be preparation first.

If we build it HE will come

I. PREPARATION IN WORSHIP 29:10-19

A. Covenant 29:10-11 Recognize the Need

1. Hezekiah understood that Judah had lost its passion for worship, the Temple had been closed by his father Ahaz, and the people hadn’t worshipped for some time.