Isaiah 12 Series

Isaiah 12

Read Isaiah 12:1-6

Transition:

The mission of this church is to: Reach, Raise Up, & Release people to Live the Word of God

What does it mean to live the Word of God?

We have broken it down into four values: Worship, Outreach, Relationships, & Discipleship

The first and foremost of those values is Worship

Westminster Catechism starts with “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever”

The Bible actually tells us that we are created to worship God

Is 43:7 Everyone who is called by My name,Whom I have created for My glory;I have formed him, yes, I have made him.”

Now worship takes many forms

It is more than just standing here on Sunday singing a couple of songs

But I always say if you can’t stand here and sing on Sundays with like minded people you probably aren’t worshipping him the rest of the week.

Worship has the same root word as Work in the Greek

It is giving worth to something we do or someone we know

It is often said that we worship our work, work at our play, and play at our worship

We worship God when we praise Him with our mouths, Pray to Him, Obey His Word, and give our tithes and offerings

God wants us to cultivate a life of worship of Him

Why? because he knows if we don’t we will worship others things

The Bible is very clear we cannot worship two masters

That is what Israel has fallen into and it has caused a whole heap of mess

As Isaiah brings this word to the people of Israel he reminds them that one day they will Worship

Judgment and tough times are coming, but one day, worship will be restored

God reminds Israel that he set them apart and they had chased after other gods

But God doesn’t just tell Israel to worship him.

He shows them the benefits of worshipping him

So when we are struggling we can worship God to endure and thrive through it

As we look at Isaiah 12 we see 10 benefits of worship

In That Day vs. 1a

The first benefit of worship is that one day we will stand before Christ and worship

The phrase “In that Day” signifies a significant event: The Day of the Lord

The return of Christ to rule to world

1 Thess 4:16-17 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

We will worship him with thankful hearts

We will be saved from the evil and pain of this current world

We worship because one day we know he is coming back for us

Give Thanks vs. 1b

The second benefit of worship is to give thanks

This one seems obvious but is often overlooked

In the parable of the 10 lepers Jesus heals all of them but only one comes back

It proves the point that we often spend a lot of time praying for God to work in our lives

But we rarely go back and thank him once he does

When we worship it gives us the opportunity to tell God how thankful we are for him

As the Spirit works in our hearts and lives this should start to cultivate a attitude of gratitude

1 Thess 5:18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Anger Removed vs. 1c

The third benefit of worship is to remember that God’s anger has been removed

God’s anger was removed by the cross

Jesus put himself between us and the anger of the Lord

All of humanities sin was placed on His Son and that sacrifice appeased God

God is no longer angry with us and his anger has been turned away by His son Jesus

We need to celebrate this when we worship

We thank God for it and we remind ourselves that God is not angry with us

Ps 27:9 Hide not your face from me. Turn not your servant away in anger, O you who have been my help. Cast me not off; forsake me not, O God of my salvation!

This doesn’t mean that God doesn’t discipline us, he’s just not angry with us

He does that in a very loving way

Comfort vs. 1d

The fourth benefit of worship is that He comforts us

Worship can be very comforting

When we are going through a rough time worship is the one thing we can turn to that will turn our spirits