What Are You Looking For?
Isaiah 6:1-7 (8-13) 1 Cor. 15:1-11 Luke 5:1-11 Psalm 138 John 4:21-24
There are many kinds of churches. There simply have to be. God uses a wide variety of vehicles to carry us into His Kingdom, and if those vehicles are from God, then they are equally sanctified by God. Yet, there’s much confusion today between the vehicle we ride in – and the fuel that powers it – Worship.
Ben Merold said this about worship: “In most churches we have the preacher performing, with God as the prompter, and the people as the audience. In truth, worship should be the people performing, with the preacher as the prompter, and God as the audience.”
When we read the Books of Genesis and Exodus, we see the core qualities of “worship”. For instance, “Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God.” The words “just” and “perfect” used together mean “genuine righteousness.” The phrase “walked with God” indicates consistency. Noah was consistent, and his worship was constant.
In the case of Abraham, we find little mention of Abraham worshipping as we might think of it – except that he obeyed each of God’s instructions. He may not have always made wise choices, but when directed by God, he obeyed. Our obedience reflects the condition of our hearts toward God. This too is worship.
In today’s era of praise and worship music, many have brought into the church things that society finds pleasing, but they may not be helping much beyond entertainment. As a consequence, many are distracted and confused about what worship really is.
Worship isn’t found in our choice of music, although our choice of music can inspire our worship. Worship isn’t defined by the architecture of our churches, but the architecture can help lift our thoughts above our mundane lives. All the artistic energies ever spent on Christian themes have never produced a single convert to faith in Jesus Christ. But some have helped us to change our minds about how we live and think.
Worship is not a communal experience – although many may worship together.
Worship is an individual encounter with a single, triune God.
Worship is not a place you go, a hymn you sing, or a video you watch. Worship is what you do . . . in your heart!
We heard the words of Jesus in this morning’s scripture: “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
What makes for worship are not the ornate features; what makes worship is not this podium or the organ which fills this room with a sense of holiness; what makes worship is not the fact that we have carpet or the fact that we have lights, a sound system and electricity.
What makes worship is when we set our spirits properly to allow the presence of God to become alive within us. Worship is when God’s presence and glory fills us and fills the place where we reside.
Consider in the Book of Chronicles where Jehoshaphat was preparing for battle. The Bible says that when he prayed for God’s guidance, the prophet Jahaziel told him not to go out as an army but as worshipers of God. He was told NOT to put the military in the front line because God told him, “Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.” (2 Chron. 20:15)
So Jehoshaphat stood before his army and declared, “Believe in the LORD your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.” And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the LORD, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying: ‘Praise the LORD, For His mercy endures forever.’”
That’s right. He put his CHOIR at the front of his army. . . . And just in case you’ve got the wrong idea, he actually liked his choir!
Here’s the rest of the story. “Now when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated. For the people of Ammon and Moab (turned) against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to (completely) kill and destroy them. And when they had (destroyed) the inhabitants of Seir, they (turned on one another and were destroyed.)
24 So when Judah came to a place overlooking the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude; and there were their dead bodies, fallen on the earth. No one had escaped.” (2 Chron. 20:22-24)
“The battle is not yours but God’s!” In this world, we may win battles without God, but we can never win the war without God!
In your daily life, the only way to defeat armies that may against you is not with weapons that look like theirs—because your weapons of warfare are not worldly. They are much stronger – even “to the pulling down of strongholds.” To be victorious against God’s enemies, you must know how to worship.
For those who insist on playing the detective, let’s consider what may have happened in that wilderness campaign. This entire war was born out of greed for plunder and conquest . . . as most wars have historically been.
• Apparently the battle started when the choir began to sing. Frankly, I’m glad we don’t have that problem when our choir sings.
• The armies of Ammon and Moab “rose up against” the inhabitants of Mount Seir instead of Israel. So why did they turn on their allies? Could it be that the songs of the Hebrews frightened them; made them question whether the Hebrews were stronger than expected? Maybe they decided that Mount Seir would be an easier conquest? Whatever the case, it quickly became an internal dispute in which the army of Mount Seir received the short end of the stick.
• But then we read that it didn’t end there. “And when they had (destroyed) the inhabitants of Seir, they (turned on one another and were destroyed.)” Once the lust for power begins, as the saying goes – Power corrupts! They wanted more, and their greed destroyed them.
• In the end, the intended victim – Judah – discovered that the most powerful weapon against their enemies was their trust in God.
Worship can do amazing things for the worshippers. It has an effect, and it has an after-effect. There is something about the GLORY of God that can do things to you and with you that nothing else can. The Glory of God can do things the choir, the preacher and not even your best friend can do.
In case you haven’t figured it out, this is one of those sermons where you should be saying to God, “Lord—I just want to see your GLORY—I want you to be manifested to me.”
Are you in church today to experience “church” or to experience “God”? Are you content to just have fellowship with your friends, or have you come for fellowship with your Creator?
In John 9, Jesus healed a blind man, but the Pharisees immediately challenged Jesus’ right to heal on the Sabbath. The blind man simply responded: “Whether He is a sinner or not, I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.”
So what were you looking for when you arrived at the church doors? Do you want answers that fit your preconceptions about God? Or do you want the real thing . . . the encounter with God Himself . . . with all the surprises that may entail?
- The reason why so many people run from church to church; they join one church this month and two months later they join another church; and 3 months later they join another church—it’s because THEY’RE LOOKING FOR CHURCH . . . NOT GOD! They seek entertainment . . . not worship.
Isaiah was seeking God in worship, and just like Isaiah, you too can find God’s glory all by yourself. Isaiah wasn’t in a worship service; he wasn’t hanging out with the choir; — but in the year that King Uzziah died, “when Isaiah was all by (himself)” — because he had set his own heart on worshipping God, God revealed Himself to Isaiah.
What we see here is the Glory of the LORD as seen through the eyes of Isaiah. And when the throne of God appeared before Isaiah, “. . . the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.”
When God’s glory comes in, things do get shaken. They get shaken so much, in fact, that the only things left are the things that can’t be shaken. Our problem is that we keep clinging to shaky things!
Every shaking in your life is not from the Devil. Sometimes God’s glory will come through your front door in order to shake some things that need shaking. He may do it or allow it so that we’ll discover what cannot be shaken.
God may shake some people away from you to remind you that the only One who is unshakable is Him. He may shake some things away from you to return you to His unshakable truth.
We need the glory of God in our lives. We need an encounter from God so that the revelation of God can be released; so that we can be changed—because the text is tailored to teach us that – when you truly, genuinely and authentically encounter the GLORY of God – things HAPPEN!
God has a way of taking areas of your life that seem to be ruined, yet, He turns them around to be used for His glory. That’s the reason why the enemy wants your life messed up. He doesn’t want you in the glory of God. He knows that God’s glory will heal your weakness and make you strong; to make you who you’re supposed to be.
In 2 Corinthians 3:17, Paul tells us, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” True freedom requires true power, and there’s no greater power than the Spirit of God. We can know that Spirit and have that freedom when we walk daily in worship with Jesus Christ.
Please join with me in prayer:
