Living The Life Of Worship

I. Introduction

A. Background.

1. At the age of 75 Abraham was called by God

2. Read 12:1-4a. The Bible tells us that Abraham was a friend of God

3. Abraham’s journey with the Lord was cyclical, full of spiritual peaks and valleys. In his life, we see…

a. Faith – Leaving His father’s household to go to a Land yet unseen. At God’s command

b. Failure – Fathering a child (Ishmael) by His wife’s handmaid Hagar

c. Courage – Leading an alliance to go and rescue Lot and the people of Sodom while destroying 5 Kings

d. Cowardice - On more than one occasion he lied because he was afraid of being Killed because of her beauty

e. Prayer – He interceded and appealed to God not to destroy the righteous of Sodom with the sinners

f. Patience – He had to learn to wait 25 years for the fulfillment of God’s promises, He was 100 years old when the son of promise, Isaac, was born

4. Abraham’s walk was real before the Lord… by this time in our text God had been preparing, molding and shaping him for more than 40 years to be a father of a nation.

5. God through the circumstances of life and skillful leading, had shaped the heart of Abram (high father) in chapter 12 into the heart of Abraham (Father of a multitude of nations) in chapter 22.

6. But now it was time to put the years of development to the ultimate test.

7. At this time Abraham was approximately 115 years old and his beloved son of promise Isaac was between 15 and 17 years old

8. Today’s text centers around a worship service and is birthed out of Abraham’s life of worship

B. Burden

1. We become like what we worship. If we:

a. Worship possessions…become a materialistic person.

b. Worship money… become a greedy person.

c. Worship Sex… become a lustful person.

d. Worship Power… become a corrupt person. But…

e. Worship Jesus… become a Christ like person

2. The Hebrew word for Worship in verse 5 of our text is the word Shachah.

3. Although there are several examples of worship in the Bible, prior to this passage, this is the first mention of the word in all of scripture. It means:

a. To bow down, to prostrate ones self, as an act of respect before a superior being.

b. It means to surrender or to fall down in submission

c. Worship is Worth-ship.

d. Worship is service of God expressed, not only in religious gatherings, but also in every area of life.

4. Worship is always a direct response to God’s initiative.

5. In His discourse with the Samaritan woman at the well, Jesus plainly removes the veil that was masking what was the very pursuit of God. Jesus said, in John 4:23, “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.” NAS

6. God Seeks true worshippers!!

7. Abraham was such a worshipper of God.

8. By examining this testing of his faith, we can gain some insight on how we too can make worship the major theme of our lives

9. Our thought for this evenings sermon is Living the Life of Worship

10. PRAY!!

11. Let’s look at our text…READ V 1-14

II. Exposition

A. The Life of Worship will be Tried and Tested ( v.1)

1. God tests the hearts of His worshippers to gauge their spiritual condition.

a. Moses instructed Israel in Deut 8:2, “Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.”

2. The Hebrew word tempt in our text, Nacah, means to test, to try, to prove, to assay, to put to the test, to put to the proof. This verb carries with it the idea of testing the quality of someone or something or someone through a demonstration of stress.

3. There is a big difference between testing and temptation.

4. James chapter 1 tells us that Temptations come from the wicked desires within us

5. Tests come from the Lord who has a special purpose to fulfill in us.

6. Abraham had been tested from the beginning in his walk with God. He faced:

a. The Family Test: when he had to leave his father’s household and kindred and go to a land that God would show him.

b. The Famine Test: which he failed when he doubted God and went to Egypt for help

c. Fellowship Test: which he passed when he gave Lot the first choice of the pastureland when the land they were on couldn’t support both of their flocks.