BEAUTIFUL WORSHIP
1 Chronicles 16:29 – “Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.”
I’ve learned that one of my priority responsibility as a pastor is to teach the church = “how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” (1 Timothy 3:15).
Failure on my part as pastor to teach this to the church will make me a failure before God despite of my other accomplishments..
Notice: The church is the “‘house’ or ‘household’ of God”, meaning, He must be the Head of this household or the Head of this family He alone has the authority to set the rules on “how thou oughtest to behave thyself in it.”
We pastors are simply instructors and implementers or executioners of His rules and regulations.
(Ex. Moses = when the Lord instructed him to build the TABERNACLE. The Lord gave Him all the details, from the materials and their measurement and how to build them. God did not even gave Moses any right to give Him his suggestion).
In connection with this, I’ve learned also that God does not accept every service and worship offered to Him.
(Ex. Cain – God did not accept His offering which is actually His manner of worshipping God.)
So the MOST IMPROTANT QUESTION to ask right now is, = “What kind of God does God accepts?”
Our TEXT reveals to us the things that God seeks from those who worship Him, or for Him to accept our worship.
Are you familiar to the popular saying =
“BEAUTY IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER”?
• Beautiful in their own eyes
• Beautiful in the eyes of their parents
• African tribe = beautiful are those who have wide mouth – wide enough to put a plate inside.
• Philippine Tribe = beautiful are those women who put tattoo on their face and body.
Because of these, another saying was de veloped –
“LOVE IS BLIND”
Others object to this and correct it, saying –
“LOVE SEES SOMETHING & SEES MORE THAT OTHERS CAN’T SEE”
How do you view your CHURCH WORSHIP SERVICE?
How do you view your WORSHIP as an INDIVIDUAL?
When it comes to WORSHIP – “GOD MUST BE THE BEHOLDER!!!”
Is our worship TRULY BEAUTIFUL in the eyes of God?
Many wrongly thought so – because of . . .
• Beautiful Face
• Beautiful Clothes
• Beautiful Building
• Beautiful PROGRAM
• Beautiful SINGING (Choir, Special Number)
• Beautiful PREACHING
Don’t be mistaken, I am not against these, and I’m not saying that all of these things are wrong, but if these are the things we offer Him – we fall short of God’s requirement and expectation.
Borrowing the Lord’s message to Belshazzar =
“Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting!!!”
In God’s weighing scale – these things will surely be found wanting or lacking.
This brings us to another saying =
“REAL BEAUTY IS FROM WITHIN AND NOT FROM WITHOUT!!”
Please read I Samuel 16:5-7 (discuss the background)
Here, Samuel wrongly thought ELIAB to be God’s appointed replacement for Saul – because of his OUTWARD APPEARANCE.
“But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart” (verse 7).
Matthew 23:27 – “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.”
2 Timothy 3:5 =“Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”
“Even though they will make a show of being religious, their religion won't be real. Don't have anything to do with such people.” (CEV)
According to Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, in John 4:23-24 = Not everyone who worships are true worshippers of Him. God seeks true worshippers – those who worship Him in the true and spiritual manner, which is suitable to God’s nature and agreeably to God’s will.
“But 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. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”
The Laodecian Church = the church that claims to be . . .
“. . . rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing;”
But in God’s sight it is . . .
“. . . wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:”
The reason for this is because = Christ is driven outside the church =
“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”
The Lord rejects this church =
“I will spue thee out of my mouth.”
“I will have no more to do with you.” (1965 Bible in Basic English).
So, let us now examine the Scriptures and learn from it, first of all the …
I. WORSHIP THAT GOD REJECTS (NOT BEAUTIFUL)
1. HEARTLESS (Hypocrital) –
Mark 7:6-7 - “He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”
2. HAUGHTY SPIRIT (Proud, Arrogant, Self-important)–
James 4:6 – “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.”
Proverbs 16:5 – “Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.”
3. HARBORING SIN (Cherish, Protect, Conceal) –
Psalm 66:18 – “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:”
Let us also examine the Scriptures to learn from it, secondly, the …
II. WORSHIP THAT GOD RECEIVES (BEAUTIFUL)
1. RIGHT PURPOSE = TO HONOR the LORD (TO SHOW GREAT RESPECT)–
1 Chronicles 16:29 – “Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.”
Ephesians 3:21 – “Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”
“Glory belongs to God in the church and in Christ Jesus for all time and eternity! Amen” (GW)
1 Corinthians 10:31 – “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”
Romans 15:5-6 – “Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus:
That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
2 Thessalonians 1:12 – “That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
• Many are guilty of SELF-IDOLATRY (Ex. NARCISM)
• While others are guilty of PASTOR-LATRY
• Others are guilty of CHURCH-LATRY
(Illus. Many wrongly thought that in church service =
God is the Director, Pastor is the Actor, Congregation are the Critics
While the right arrangement goes like this =
Pastor is the Director, Congregation are the Actors, God is the Critic)
2. RIGHT PRINCIPLE = IN HUMILITY (WAY OF WORKING)
2 Chronicles 7:14 – “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
James 4:10 – “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.”
Deuteronomy 8:2 – “And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.”
3. PRACTICE = IN HOLINESS (PATTERN OF ACTION, PERFORMANCE)–
1 Chronicles 16:29 – “Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.”
(COMMON ERROR = Others make worship as one of the means to an end, when it supposed to be the very end itself)
4. RIGHT POWER = HOLY SPIRIT (STRENGTH, AUTHORITY)–
John 4:24 – “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”
“God is Spirit, and those who worship God must be led by the Spirit to worship him according to the truth.” (CEV)
“God is Spirit, and only by the power of his Spirit can people worship him as he really is.” (GNB)
Ephesians 5:18-20 – And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
5.RIGHT PRIORITY = TO THE HOLY BIBLE (BEING THE FIRST AND MOST IMPORTANT PART)
Psalm 138:2 – “I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.”
Ecclesiastes 5:1 – “Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.”
•It is through the Holy Bible that we can know Christ more.
John 5:39 – “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.”
•Listening to the Holy Bible proves that a person is of God
John 8:47 – “He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.
1 Thessalonica 2:13 – “But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:”
•It is the Holy Bible that can build up our lives.
Acts 20:32 – “And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.”
•Hearing and keeping Holy Bible is the greatest of blessings.
Luke 11:28 – “But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.”
“Jesus replied, "That's true, but the people who are really blessed are the ones who hear and obey God's message!” (CEV)
