SURVIVOR SERIES
#5 – SURVIVING THROUGH WORSHIP
This morning, we are continuing with our theme of SURVIVOR
And what we’ve been doing over the last few weeks is we’ve been talking about how, in these times of…
--lay offs
--budget cuts
--bail outs
--intense spiritual warfare (church, home, family)
We’ve been talking about how to SURVIVE
Now, let me tell you right up front this morning again – God doesn’t just want you to SURVIVE, he wants you to THRIVE
But in order to THRIVE, you must SURVIVE
And I’ve given you some key principles that will ensure that you are a SURVIVOR
So far, we’ve talked about…
--the Assurance of Salvation
--Surviving Motherhood
--Surviving through Prayer
--(last week) Surviving Through The Holy Spirit
Well, today, we will be talking about SURVIVING THOROUGH WORSHIP
And a “sub-title” would be WORSHIP MAKES THE DIFFERENCE
With that in mind, let’s read…
•Psalms 103:1 ( KJV ) 1Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
•Matthew 4:8-11 ( KJV ) 8Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 10Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 11Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
INTRODUCTION
As I begin this message this morning, I want to ask you a
And that questions is: DOES WORSHIP MAKE A DIFFERENCE?
And I say to you it does
For you see, A worshipping…
--person is a different person
--home is a different home
--church is a different church
And when you read the Word of God, over and over again, one of the things that will absolutely stand out, is how much the Bible deals with the subject of WORSHIP
In fact, the Bible says more about WORSHIP than PRAYER
It tells us…
--WHO to worship
--worship the Lord only
--HOW to worship
--with all that is in us
--WHEN to worship
--in God’s house, in public, in private, good times, bad times, when you feel like it, when you don’t
--WHERE to worship
--in God’s house, in public, in private
--TO worship
--what happens WHEN worship is rendered
And without a question, you WILL NOT SURVIVE or THRIVE, unless you learn to release the power of WORSHIP in your life
And in thinking about SURVIVING THROUGH WORSHIP, in order for us to understand what worship is all about, let me give you 4 things…
1. THE FOCUS OF WORSHIP
Because, to be honest with you, everyone is a WORSHIPPER
We are all worshipping…
--something
--someone
And I want to ask a question: WHO ARE YOU WORSHIPPING?
Who is the FOCUS of your Worship
Jesus said that we are
Matthew 4:10 ( KJV ) 10Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
We ought to worship ONLY…
--the Lord God Almighty
--the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
--the Lord THY God
The Bible says…
Psalms 34:3 (KJV) 3O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.
The Lord is the One we ought to be MAGNIFYING
And, you know, I thought about that word MAGNIFY
You see, that’s what worship does – IT MAGNIFIES
And if we’re not careful, we can magnify…
--Obama
--the Economy
--the Doctor’s report
But the Bible didn’t say to MAGNIFY these things – it says – TO MAGNIFY THE LORD!
You know how a MAGNIFYING GLASS WORKS? If you focus a ray of sun light, you can set a fire
And that’s the reason why so many…
--people
--churches
--seniors
--teens
Aren’t on fire is because they are MAGNIFYING the wrong thing!
John Maxwell asked Bill Bright how he did the things he did and he said that Bill Bright said that when things got tough, he just concentrated on the attributes of God…
--His omnipresence
--His omniscience
--His omnipotence
--His justice
--His unchangeableness
--His glory
--His greatness
--His ability
Oh, that will help you out in the times we’re living in!
Let’s...
--praise
--worship
--magnify
The Lord for WORSHIP MAKES A DIFFERENCE!
Secondly, let me talk to you about…
2. THE FORMS OF WORSHIP
There are many forms of worship!
There is…
--laughing
--crying
--running
--laying prostrate before God
--shouting
--hand clapping
--every day living (working, eating, driving)
--singing
--serving
We read of these physical expressions of worship in a number of places:
a. Proclaim! – 1 Chron. 16:23; Psa. 40:9; 92:1-3
b. Shout – Psa. 27:6; 66:1; 95:1
c. Bow down – Psa. 5:7
d. Lift your hands – Psa. 63:4
e. Clap your hands – Psa. 47:1
f. Sing – Psa. 5:11; 7:17
g. Play instruments – Psa. 33:3; 150:3-5
h. Dance before Him – Psa. 149:3
There are 6 Hebrew words for “PRAISE”
A. YADAH
Definition: Yadah is a verb with a root meaning, "the extended hand, to throw out the hand, therefore to worship with extended hand." According to the Lexicon, the opposite meaning is, "to bemoan, the wringing of hands."
Example: Psalm 63:4 -- "Thus I will bless Thee while I live, I will (YADAH) lift up my hands in Thy name"
2. HALAL
Definition: Halal is a primary Hebrew word for praise. Our word "hallelujah" comes from this base. It means, "to be clear, to shine, to boast, show, to rave, celebrate, to be clamorously foolish."
Example: Psalm 113:1 -- "Praise (HALAL) ye the Lord, Praise (HALAL) O ye servants of the Lord, praise (HALAL) the name of the Lord."
3. SHABACH
Definition: Shabach means, "to address in a loud tone, to commend, to triumph, to exclaim, glory, shout."
Example: Psalm 145:4 -- "One generation shall praise (SHABACH) thy works to another and declare Thy mighty acts."
4. BARAK
Definition: Barak means, "to kneel down, to bless God as an act of adoration." When used in the scripture it implies, "expecting to receive a blessing from the Lord."
Example: Psalm 95:6 -- "O come let us worship and bow down; let us kneel (BARAK) before the Lord our maker."
5. ZAMAR
Definition: Zamar means, "to touch the strings" and is used concordantly with instrumental worship. Psalm 150 is a perfect example of this kind of praise. David said, "Awake my glory; awake harp and lyre, I will awaken the dawn! I will give thanks to Thee, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises (ZAMAR) to Thee among the nations."
Example: Psalm 21:13 --
"Be Thou exalted O Lord, in Thine own strength, so will we sing and praise (ZAMAR) Thy power."
6. TEHILLAH
Definition: Tehillah simply means, "to sing, to laud." "God is enthroned on the praises (TEHILLAH) of Israel" (Ps 22:3). This is the kind of praise that God dwells in. Any form of singing can be praise, but one of the higher forms was the Dorean mode which was neither western major nor oriental minor. It was sort of chanting whereby the words of HALAL were melodiously chanted. This is the expression of praise the Psalmist said God inhabited.
Examples:
Psalm 33:1 -- "Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous; for praise (TEHILLAH) is comely for the upright."
Psalm 34:1 -- "...His praise (TEHILLAH) shall continually be in my mouth."
Not only the…
--focus
--forms
But, thirdly, let me talk to you about…
3. THE FOREVER OF WORSHIP
Because that’s what we’re going to be doing forever and forever and forever
Revelation 8:1 ( KJV ) 1And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
Get use to it!
If you don’t like…
--holiness, get use to it
--loudness, get use to it
--worship, get use to it
Revelation 7:9-17 ( KJV ) 9After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; 10And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. 11And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, 12Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. 13And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? 14And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. 16They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. 17For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
There’s going to be major changes made!
And then, finally, not only…
--focus
--forms
--forever
But, finally…
4. THE FORCE OF WORSHIP
I want to go back to my original question
Does worship make a difference?
It made a difference…
A. AT THE WALLS OF JERICHO
Joshua 6:5 (KJV) 5And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.
B. JOB
Job 1:20-21 (KJV) 20Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, 21And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.
C. JEHOSHAPHAT
2 Chronicles 20:21-22 (KJV) 21And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever. 22And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.
D. DAVID
Psalms 42:5 (KJV) 5Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.
E. PAUL & SILAS
F. FOR JESUS IN OUR TEXT!
It will make a difference for you!
INTRODUCTION
Let me tell you 2 THINGS…
--IT’S A COMMAND
--IT DOESN’T JUST HAPPEN!
You have to “set the table”
Let’s “set the table” today
