IS WORSHIP IMPORTANT?
This morning, I want to begin a series of messages entitled PURSUING HIS GLORY
If we are going to…
--be all God wants us to be as a church
--be effective in fulfilling all that God has planned for us
--be relative, dynamic, demonstrative
Then, it’s going to happen one way and one way only: And that us to PURSUE HIS GLORY
Now the main reason…
--this church is here today
--you are here today
--we’re all here today
Is to BRING GLORY TO GOD
But bringing Glory to God doesn’t just automatically happen
There is a scripture (Psalms 29:1, 96:7-8) that says that we ought to GIVE GOD GLORY – inother words it’s an…
--act
--choice
--intention
In fact, NOT giving God the glory is the essence of sin
Romans 3:23 ( KJV ) 23For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
So, please understand that bringing glory to God doesn’t just automatically happen
That’s why we’re going to be talking about PURSUING HIS GLORY
And over the next several weeks, we’re going to be talking about…
--what is His glory?
--pursuing through prayer
--pursuing through worship
--passion
--ministry
So many things
So with that in mind, I want to start this series out this morning by talking about WORSHIP!
To “Pursue His Glory” you must worship, so let’s talk about that today
With that in mind, let’s read…
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.
INTRODUCTION
Today, I want to speak to you on the subject of WORSHIP
You know, worship is a BIG SUBJECT – and one of the first things you’re supposed to do as a public speaker is NARROW your topic
YOU’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE LIKE…the little boy who said for “Show and Tell” today I want to talk about the world and all there is in it
That’s a little too big of a subject
Well, in a lot of ways, WORSHIP is a huge subject…we just could not in this one message exhaust all there is about worship
Because, really, when you think about it, WORSHIP is mentioned more in the Bible than any other subject of the Bible
For instance, you’ll only read of…
--the VIRGIN BIRTH in 3 places
--the GREAT COMMISSION in 3 places
But over and over, book after book of the Bible, from Job, who told us about…
Job 38:7 ( KJV ) 7When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
…back in eternity past
Until the final climatic book of Revelation, you’ll…
--read passage after passage
--read principle after principle
--read prophecy after prophecy
--see scene after scene
About this thing call WORSHIP
And really, what you could say is that the Bible is a WORSHIP MANUAL
And when I preach on worship, there’s so many ANGLES that I could go at it on
For instance, I could talk about the…
A. EXPRESSIONS OF WORSHIP
Because there are so many BIBLICAL ways to express worship…
--singing
--dancing
--just a tear running down your cheek
--sacrificing something of value
--shouting
--kneeling
--bowing
There are just so many expressions of worship, and I could preach a whole sermon on the expressions of worship
And then, not only the EXPRESSIONS of worship, but I could talk to you about…
B. THE EFFECTS OF WORSHIP
Because if there’s one thing we learn about worship it is this – something happens when we worship…
--think about the story of King Jehoshapt in 2 Chronicles 20
--Paul and Silas in prison
There’s even a scripture that talks about how in the future in the Millennial Reign, it says…
Zechariah 14:17 ( KJV ) 17And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.
I certainly don’t have time to get into the prophetic implications of this text, but just suffice it to say NO WORSHIP, NO RAIN!
I could go and on but just understand this: THAT WORSHIP CAUSES SOMETHING TO HAPPEN
If you need…
--healing, the best thing you can do is worship
--sanctification, the best thing you can do is worship
--a turn around in your marriage, the best thing you can do is worship
--strongholds to come down, the best thing you can do is worship
--deliverance, the best thing you can do is worship
--breakthrough, the best thing you can do is worship
Something happens when we worship
But not only could I talk to you about…
--the EXPRESSIONS of worship
--the EFFECTS of worship
But, thirdly, I could talk to you about…
C. THE ETERNALITY OF WORSHIP
Because forever and forever we will be worshipping the Lord
And so, with all that we could talk about when it comes to WORSHIP, let me just try to NARROW MY FOCUS in this message to just one thought: WHY IS WORSHIP SO IMPORTANT?
I believe we must understand that if the Bible says so much about it, then it’s got to be IMPORTANT
And so, let me give you 3 reasons – the absolute top 3 reasons – why worship is so important
First of all, worship is so important because…
1. GOD DEMANDS IT
That’s right, God DEMANDS (or COMMANDS) it
And I don’t think we quite get that
In other words – God doesn’t REQUEST it – He REQUIRES it!
I think we really need to let that settle in, because so many times we kind of think that worship is optional, if I do it fine, if not fine
If the preacher asks us to lift our hands to worship, we might, but we might not, depending on the mood we’re in
And I’m certainly not saying that your worship has to come at the request of the preacher – not at all
But if we’re not careful, we can kind of get the feeling that if I praise Him, and worship him, okay, and if not, okay
But my friend, that’s just not the case
Listen again to our text – Jesus in fighting the devil said…
Matthew 4:10 ( KJV ) 10Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God…
Did you get that? THOU SHALT WORSHIP THE LORD
That’s a command
Just like…
--THOU SHALT NOT KILL
--THOU SHALT NOT STEAL
--THOU SHALT NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS
Here’s another command – THOU SHALT WORSHIP THE LORD THY GOD
In fact, if you really go back to the 10 Commandments, isn’t that what the first 2 commands are all about…
--no other gods before me
--no graven images (idols)
The reverse is implied – you’re not to take graven images because YOU ARE TO worship and bless and praise and magnify the Lord
He demands worship!
God demands it from…
A. CREATION IN GENERAL
•Isaiah 55:12 ( KJV ) 12For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
•Psalms 148:2-3 ( NLT ) 2Praise him, all the armies of heaven! 3Praise him, sun and moon! Praise him, all you twinkling stars!
He demands it from the animals on the earth
Psalms 148:7-10 ( NLT ) 7Praise the LORD from the earth, you creatures of the ocean depths…wild animals and all livestock, small scurrying animals and birds…
B. HE DEMANDS IT FROM THE ANGELS
Psalms 148:2 ( KJV ) 2Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts.
The cherubim, seraphim, and all the angelic hosts worship God day and night 24/7!
C. HE CERTAINLY DEMANDS IT OF HIS HIGHEST – HUMANS
You mean to tell me that God…
--expects
--demands
--requires
Worship of the…
--angels
--stars
--trees of the field
--animals
And when it comes to you, are you going to so, “I don’t think I’ll do that!”
No! You are to worship – it’s a command, you shall worship
When Michelangelo finished that great marble statue of Moses – he looked at it and hit it on the knee and said NOW SPEAK!
And when God made you, when He finished, He said – NOW WORSHIP!
There is coming a day when…
Philippians 2:10-11 ( KJV ) 10That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Worship is so vitally, vitally, important if for no other reason than that God commands/demands it!
Secondly, not only is worship so important because HE DEMANDS IT, it’s important because…
2. GOD DESERVES IT!
You see, God as our…
--Sovereign
--Lord
--King
He has every right to DEMAND it – but let me tell you something that takes this a little further
He not only DEMANDS it, He DESERVES IT
Don’t we get a little upset when people DEMAND something but don’t DESERVE it
This whole illegal immigration argument is based on the fact that people are coming here and not paying taxes but are demanding free schools, health care, etc.
I’m not trying to make a political statement here, but the truth is that we really don’t like it when someone DEMANDS something that doesn’t DESERVE IT
But my friend, God has every right to DEMAND you to worship
But that’s not all, doesn’t He deserve it?
I mean, think about the fact that He gave us life
The very source of our existence and the very air that we breath all come from God
Not only do we have life, but what about the blessings of life…
If you…
--have a job, then you ought to worship
--live in America, then you ought to worship
--drive a car, then you ought to worship
--can see, you ought to worship
--can hear, you ought to worship
--have hot and cold running clean water, you ought to worship
Count your blessings name them one by one and it will surprise you what the Lord has done!
The Psalmist said I’M LOADED!
Psalms 68:19 ( KJV ) 19Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation.
But not only PHYSICAL/MATERIAL blessings – and there are too many to number
But what about the SPIRITUAL blessings
Just look at the Cross
He…
--was beaten
--was bruised
--was buried
He didn’t have to do it
He DESERVES worship for…
--the cross
--forgiveness
--a second, second chance
--hope
--His soon return
--the promise of heaven
--my inheritance!
And if you can’t worship because God DEMANDS IT, then you most certainly ought to worship because God DESERVES IT
Worship is important because…
--God DEMANDS it
--God DESERVES it
But finally, and this is so powerful…
3. GOD DESIRES IT
John 4:23 (KJV) 23But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Did you hear that?
All of…
--creation can Praise Him
--the angels can praise Him
But there’s still something missing until YOU praise Him
Think about that! If…
--all the trees of the field clap their hands
--all the rocks cry out
--all the seraphim and cherub cry to him
And even all the rest of HUMANS can praise Him
But I leave out MY praise, there is something missing to God
Why is that?
Just like your fingerprint and your DNA – your worship is unique
Why? Because there’s nobody just quite like you
You are special to God
When He made you, He said “I’ll never do that again!”
God loves YOU so much, if He had a refrigerator, then your picture would be on the front!
Your worship is so unique because every life has a unique blend of…
--trials
--tests
--backgrounds
--opportunities
--situations
And all of it is so highly unique and intertwined that only that individual person’s praise can quite fill up that portion of God’s desired and deserved worship
Here’s something: If you DON’T worship, that is something that in a sense God will miss that nothing else can do
And that’s why He desires YOUR UNIQUE worship!
I don’t know quite HOW you worship…
--some will dance
--some will holler
--some will just shed a tear
--some will just smile
--some will shout on their knees
Whatever it is that you do – DO IT IN YOUR OWN UNIQUE WAY BECAUSE HE DESIRES IT
Something is missing to God
Why is worship so important…
--God demands it (it’s a command)
--God deserves it (if for no other reason than the cross)
--God desires it (your worship is so unique that without it, God misses something He can’t get anywhere else!)
Worship is important
IN CLOSING
Years ago the Crown Prince of India gave to Queen Victoria the most precious thing he had. He was a child prince and he gave to the Queen of England, the “coroner diamond”. The coroner diamond is perhaps the most famous diamond of all history. Do you know how big it was when the prince gave it to the queen? One hundred and eighty-six carats, an almost flawless diamond. Can you imagine a diamond about as big as your fist? This diamond was given to the Queen. It was put with the crown jewels in the Tower of London. Later on when that young prince became a man, that Indian prince he went to London. He went to the tower of London and he said, "Would you please place that diamond in my hand?" They placed it in his hand. Then he said to the Queen, "Here, I want to give it back to you one more time.” He said, "When I gave it to you the first time, he said I did not fully understand all that I was doing. I gave it to you with the heart and mind of a child. But, now with the heart and mind of a man I want to give it back to you one more time with a deeper fuller meaning than I had the first time."
That’s what worship is… the more we know and the more we grow, we want to keep doing it all over and over again
Worship is important to God
You were made to worship – you deprive yourself and God something wonderful
Look at it like this, when you worship God, He begins to bless, and when He blesses you worship greater, and then He blesses more, and then you add more – it goes round and round
Let’s do it this morning!
