Real Worship
Isa. 6:1-8
Introduction:
I’ve been blessed beyond measure in my life in what God has allowed me to witness and experience over the last 20 years.
As a kid when we went on vacation we would venture all the way off to Eunice, LA…yeah, good times.
My first trip to New Orleans didn’t come for me until the 7th grade for the 1984 World’s Fair…2nd was in 1986 in the 9th grade.
I didn’t even leave the state of LA for the first time until the summer after my sophomore year of high school when I helped my best friend and his family move to MS.
So when God opened the door for me to fly to Salt Lake City for a mission trip to Southern Idaho, it was blown away by my first opportunity to fly and even see the beautiful Northwest, including Snake River Gorge.
Then on that return trip I was able to drive down and see one of the most incredible sights in this great land of ours, the Grand Canyon.
But God wasn’t done because just 2 years later He put me on a plane and set me down in Zimbabwe, Africa where I would spend a summer and really see God’s creation in a new way.
Included on that trip was a trip to Victoria Falls…to this day I don’t think I’ve seen anything quite so magnificent in my life.
And to think that the God who created all of that is the God who fearfully and wonderfully made me.
In times like that I’m drawn to Psalm 8:1, 3-4, 9.
When I stood at the top of Victoria Falls, probably way closer to the edge than I needed to be and was being soaked by the mist…I couldn’t help but worship this great God of ours.
Romans 1:20 reminds us that through creation we see His “invisible qualities” and “divine nature.”
On that day I was worshipping the creator God as a result of witnessing His creation, and being awed by Him.
Honestly, very little compares to real, genuine worship.
This morning I want us to talk about that subject, worship…real worship.
And for that I want us to look at one of the passages that I think best lays out for us what real worship is.
Read Isaiah 6:1-8 and pray.
Background:
Isaiah was a prophet located primarily in the southern Kingdom, known as Judah.
He writes this passage it says at the time of Uzziah’s death.
Uzziah was a contemporary of Jeroboam, who ruled in the northern kingdom of Israel.
Jeroboam ruling from 793-753 BC, Uzziah ruling 792-740…so this is around 740BC when Isaiah received this revelation.
Uzziah was an interesting sort, also known in Azariah in 2 Chronicles, he was known to be a “just” ruler and he extended Judah’s prosperity and territory, going as for as controlling Edom and seizing several Philistine cities during his reign.
At the same time Jeroboam, though having a long rule, but he found a lot of instability due to a high turn over of leaders.
Yet in spite of Uzziah being considered “just” in 2 Chronicles 26 we read of his leprosy that came as a result of his prideful move to enter into the Temple of God and attempt to play the role of priest and bring an incense offering to the Lord.
Scripture says he remained a leper until the day he died, and that is where we pick up Isaiah’s writing this morning.
Isn’t it ironic that the very thing that Uzziah was being punished for, entering into God’s temple for worship, is the very thing that Isaiah speaks of in our passage?
Worship…entering into the temple of God, into His very presence so that real worship can take place.
I can’t think of any better passage of scripture to really define what real worship is for us better than Isaiah 6, and that is what I want us to focus on this morning.
What is real worship?
Before we really dig in I think we need to define worship because I think we have lost sight of what that is.
From Webster’s Dictionary we see it’s etymology as being from the Old English word weorthscipe which means worthiness and respect.
It goes on to define it as:
• Reverence offered a divine being or supernatural power, an act of expressing such reverence
• A form of religious practice with its creed and ritual
• Extravagant respect or admiration for or devotion to an object of esteem
Mike Harland, a Worship Director for Lifeway says worship is “Our response to who God is and what He has done.”
Ed Stetzer, a former church planter and now a seminary Prof at SEBTS as well as a director of Lifeway Research defines worship as “The volitional act of us engaging in speaking forth the worth of God.”
Oswald Sanders said, “In the act of worship God communicates His presence to His people.”
The point is this, worship is not just something we attend and witness, and it is an experience and an encounter between God and man.
Like I mentioned a few Sunday evening’s back, it is the difference between coming to worship and coming for worship…with one you are a spectator and with the other you area participant.
True and real worship is a beautiful collision between the Immortal and the mortal that should bring about a change.
1. Majesty, vs. 3
The core of our worship is the revelation of God.
How great is our God?
When we enter into real worship we discover just how great this God is.
That is what happened to Isaiah…he saw God for who He truly is.
In God’s presence we see God for who He is, vs. 1-2
Applic: God has called us to go deeper in our relationship with God and in our worship so that we can see God for who He really is.
Leave the outer courts and into the Holy of Holies…where God resides!
Two things we discover about God when we go into His presence:
a. His majesty and glory.
Psa 147:5, “Great is our Lord and abundant in Power”
Examples of who He is: Creator, sustainer, provider.
Look at the names of God to see just how great He is!
b. His holiness
“Holy, Holy, Holy…” v. 3, same in Rev 4 with John
I’m not sure if you have ever considered this, but of all the attributes and words used to describe God, “Holy” is the only one used in triplicate.
Examples: Love, awesome, mighty…
“Holy” is the only attribute of God that we find in scripture that is in triplicate.
Not only is He is holy, He is Holier and He is Holiest.
And when we worship God and see Him for who He truly is, we first and foremost should see that He is holy.
RC Sproul once said, “Men are never duly touched and impressed with the conviction of their insignificance, until they have contrasted themselves with the Majesty of God.”
And that takes us to the 2nd component of real worship this morning…
2. Man, vs. 5
In God’s presence we see ourselves for who we are, vs. 3-6
Illus: Ever put on a shirt that looked fine until you got outside in the sunshine and saw a stain?
Lights that bring out problems.
Applic: Think about this, when we are worshipping God and we are in God’s presence we are under the “Lights” of His holiness and righteousness.
Under those lights our sins and sinfulness is made clear.
We see our need, much like Isaiah saw His need and God cleansed Him.
God sent His Son to earth to die in order to cleanse our sin.
Rom 3:10, “There is no righteous, not one”
Rom 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Rom 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ.”
It is when we see our need, we cry out to God to save us…and He answers with salvation, with grace, with mercy, with love, and with life and life more abundantly.
A. It draws us into salvation, vs 7
B. It draws us into service…takes us to our 3rd component of worship...
3. Mission, vs. 8-9a
In God’s presence He prepares us for service, vs. 6-8
Applic: God prepares us in corporate worship and in private worship to be his instrument, BOTH CORPORATE AND PRIVATE!!!
Worship is a lifestyle and not regulated to weekly attendance…
Prayer is an example of private worship.
It is in these encounters that God prepares us for what He wants us to do.
Go to: 2 Tim 2:21
We encounter God and in doing so we encounter ourselves, and it draws us into His salvation and His service.
And when the Majesty of God meets up with man the result is the mission.
God to Great Commission, Matthew 28:16-20…they began with worship!
An encounter that changed them and sent them out as agents of change in this world that is so in need of the Gospel.
And 2000 years later it hasn’t changed!
Transition:
Here is what it comes down to for us, if we relegate worship to music then we are missing out completely.
While music is a tool of worship it is not and never should be the goal.
Here is why I say this:
Who can worship to this song?
Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty! Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
Holy, Holy, Holy, merciful and mighty! God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!
How about this one?
The splendor of the King, clothed in majesty
Let all the earth rejoice, All the earth rejoice
He wraps himself in Light, and darkness tries to hide
And trembles at His voice, Trembles at His voice
How great is our God, sing with me
How great is our God, and all will see
How great, how great is our God
Age to age He stands
And time is in His hands
Beginning and the end, Beginning and the end
The Godhead Three in One
Father Spirit Son
The Lion and the Lamb, The Lion and the Lamb
The first, “Holy, Holy, and Holy” was written in 1826 and is found at the front of our hymnals, the latter written in 2004 by Chris Tomlin and is sung at youth camps, on college campuses and “contemporary” churches across our country.
If Tomlin was born 200 years ago he would have been a hymn writer and probably would have been told “You can’t play that type of music…we’ve never done it that way before!”
That is same thing many writers of those songs we sing out of our hymnal was told.
And they are not alone.
When George Frederic Handel wrote “The Messiah” it was scoffed at by church leaders because it sounded way too modern…and today none of us can help getting chills when we hear the Halleluiah chorus.
This is why we need to understand that worship isn’t about music.
Neither is worship is not about cultural norms.
Worship is about an encounter.
It’s about seeing the majesty of God and seeing Him for who He is and giving Him the reverence He is due.
Worship is about seeing ourselves in the light of this great and mighty God and crying out to Him for grace, not just for salvation, but for life.
And finally it is about hearing His call to us to be on mission for Him.
When we truly worship we enter into the throne room of the unchanging God and then leave changed and are sent out as agents of change.
Closing: Do you worship?
I mean do you really worship?
Have you worshipped here this morning?
If not, it isn’t the song leader’s fault, nor the choir’s or even mine…you are the director of your worship.
And it can only happen if you are born again believer.
God is not about a ritual that we call worship, but He is about a relationship that leads us into heart felt worship.
If you are a born again believer, what do you need to offer in worship today?
How about yourself?
Romans 12:1, “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”
