God’s Purposes for the Church - Worship
Chuck Brooks, Pastor-Teacher, GraceWay Church February 7th, 2016
One becomes a member of God's true church by trusting in Christ alone. You become a member of God's true church by believing that Jesus' death on the cross was sufficient payment for your sin.
One doesn't get into God's true church by walking in, talking in or sitting in; one gets into God's true church by giving in," that is, giving in to the fact that you are a sinner and that the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life though Jesus Christ our Lord.
The Bible teaches that you become a member of God's true church there are some responsibilities that need to be carried out or fulfilled along with the other members of the church. These responsibilities are what we call the "Five Purposes for the Church." These purposes are:
• Worship
• Ministry
• Evangelism
• Fellowship
• Discipleship
How do we know these are the five purposes from the church? The church is called to do many things but these are the five main purposes that have been extracted from the words of Jesus Himself who said, “I will build my church” (Matthew 16:18).
These five purposes are taken from two passages of Scripture: Matthew 22:36-40, The great Commandment: "Jesus said, `Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and Prophets hang on these two commandments."
Then from the Great Commission Jesus said, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you."
From the Great Commandment we take “Love God With All Your Heart” …that's worship. Also “Love Your Neighbor as Yourself” …that's ministry. From the Great Commission we take the words of Jesus, “Go and Make Disciples” that’s evangelism; The word “baptize” is how the church incorporates people who’ve trusted Christ into fellowship; Jesus’ words, “Teaching them to obey all I have commanded” is discipleship.
Today we are going to look at the first in our list of five purposes for the church: worship.
1. The Bible teaches us that God requires people to worship Him on His terms alone.
As early as Genesis 4:3 we find that God refused to accept Cain’s sacrifice because it was the fruit of the ground; it was the work of his own hands and not a blood sacrifice. Cain did not worship on God’s terms; he was doing his own thing.
So serious was God about people approaching Him on His terms, He applied the strictest judgment upon those who attempted to approach Him on their own. An example of this is found in 2 Samuel 6:
(2 Sam 6:6 NKJV) And when they came to Nachon's threshing floor, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled.
(2 Sam 6:7 NKJV) Then the anger of the LORD was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his error; and he died there by the ark of God.
The Law strictly prohibited any Israelite's contact with the ark of God—God’s holy presence hovered over the ark (cf. Ex. 25:14; Num. 4:5, 15, 20).
Earlier the Philistines experienced the judgment of God that was associated with the ark they had captured from the Israelites and were stricken with nasty tumors (1 Sam. 5:1-6:18).
After that the Philistines were glad to get rid of the ark and put it on a cart. As the went through the territory of Beth-shemesh, the men of that region looked into the ark. The Bible tells us in 1 Samuel chapter six that the Lord God struck 50,070 of the people dead just because they looked into this ark.
Like the Philistines and the men of Beth Shemesh, Uzzah's error was disobedience to the Law of God, based upon an inadequate view of the holiness of God and the commands of God when it came to the worship that involved the ark of God (cf. 1 Chr. 15:12-15).
Under the New Covenant God is just as holy. He is just as concerned about us approaching Him properly as He was in the days of old. He requires His people to worship Him on His terms.
Romans 12:1-2 says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service. And be not fashioned according to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, and ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
2. The Bible shows that God requires there must be an intercessor.
In the pages of Old Testament scripture, we find that not just anyone could enter into the presence of the Lord. Abraham represent his people before God. When God delivered the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage, He called Moses who interceded for the people on many occasions.
When God gave Moses the dimensions for the tent of meeting (the Tabernacle) He also commanded Moses to sanctify his brother Aaron who would represent the people as they worshipped God in the tabernacle. As High Priest, Aaron had to observe the strictest of requirements. If he violated the least of these conditions while ministering in the presence of the Lord, he could die.
Exodus 28:34 tells us that the Jews were instructed to sew bells to the hem of the priest’s garment. Verse 35 says that this was done so that they could hear him moving around as he ministered in the sanctuary and know he wasn’t dead. Tradition also tells us that the Jews would tie a robe around the high priest so that if he made a mistake and God judged him for it, they could pull him out without having to go into that sacred place and get him.
Under the New Covenant, the Christian no longer needs a human priest to go before God on behalf of the people--As the Great High Priest (Hebrews 4;14), Jesus is our Intercessor and He has granted to those who have trusted in Himself the distinct privilege of being royal priests.
(1 Pet 2:9 NKJV) But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
(1 Pet 2:10 NKJV) who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
This means:
(1) Every believer has immediate access to God in Jesus Christ;
(2) The approach to God has been made forever open by a perfect sacrifice in Jesus;
(3) Followers of Jesus have the privilege and responsibility of interceding for one another before God; and
(4) Each Christian has the responsibility of a meaningful priesthood, representing God to the people in witnessing, teaching and worship.
(1) We must worship God on His terms and (2) There must be an intercessor.
3. In the Old Testament the Bible teaches that God met with people in a specific place—the tabernacle and the temple.
God gave Moses specific instructions on how to build the tabernacle for He would meet with His people there. His presence would fill that place. However, today God meets with His people in a new and living way. Christians are the temple of God.
1 Corinthians 3:16 says, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” And 1 Corinthians 6:19 says, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own.”
In Old Testament times, God would meet with His people in a place, a building made with hands. Under the New Covenant God dwells in those who have obeyed the Gospel and have turned to follow the Savior, Jesus Christ.
4. The Bible teaches that God requires His people to come to worship dressed in the right clothing.
God gave Moses specific instructions on what the high priests were to wear.
(Exo 28:3 NKJV) "So you shall speak to all who are gifted artisans, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron's garments, to consecrate him, that he may minister to Me as priest.
(Exo 28:4 NKJV) "And these are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate, an ephod, a robe, a skillfully woven tunic, a turban, and a sash. So they shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons, that he may minister to Me as priest.
Some denominations have borrowed from passages like these and require their leaders to dressed in robes and vestments. Some churches require their leaders to minister in robes and their people to come to church all dressed up.
But is this what the Bible is teaching those under the New Covenant to do? You are not going to find a dress code in the New Testament. However, you will find some principals related to how we should cover ourselves.
For example, 1 Timothy 2:9-10 says, “I also want the women to be modest and sensible about their clothes and to dress properly; not with fancy hair styles or with gold ornaments or pearls or expensive dresses, but with good deeds, as is proper for women who claim to be godly.”
The focus then as we see in Scripture is on godliness. A godly man or woman will not want to dress in a way that draws attention to themselves. A godly man or woman will not want to dress in a way that provokes someone to lust (1 Thessalonians 4:6).
The clothing that God wants us to be dressed in as we worship Him is righteousness. He is concerned that you and I come to worship Him dressed in the righteousness of Christ because if we come wearing our own righteousness is like coming to him dressed in filthy rags.
The prophet Isaiah wrote, “But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.” (Isa 64:6 NKJV)
When we come to worship God, we must come dressed in the righteousness of Christ.
(Isa 61:10 NKJV) I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
In Philippians 3:8-9 Paul writes, “I count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith…”
In 1834 Edward Mote wrote the following words of the song, The Solid Rock.
When he shall come with trumpet sound,
oh may I then in him be found.
dressed in his righteousness alone,
faultless to stand before the throne.
When it comes to worship, we must come on the right terms, with the right intercessor, in the right place, with the right clothing. In our last point about worship we will find that we must come to God with the right perspective.
5. The Bible teaches that people were to come to worship God with the right perspective of Him.
A popular 12 step program encourages its participants to “Believe in a power greater than yourself; a God of your own understanding.”
This is what we are seeing in the world today, people who may not deny God, but create their own.
For example, there is The Church of Scientology, a cult created by L Ron Hubbard (Elron) in 1952 as an outgrowth of his earlier self-help system called Dianetics. The Church of Scientology holds that at the higher levels of initiation (OT levels) mystical teachings are imparted that may be harmful to unprepared readers. These teachings are kept secret from members who have not reached these levels. In the OT levels, Hubbard explains how to reverse the effects of past-life trauma patterns that supposedly extend millions of years into the past.
Among these advanced teachings is the story of Xenu (sometimes Xemu), introduced as an alien ruler of the “Galactic Confederacy.” According to this story, 75 million years ago Xenu brought billions of people to Earth in spacecraft resembling Douglas DC-8 airliners, stacked them around volcanoes and detonated hydrogen bombs in the volcanoes. The thetans then clustered together, stuck to the bodies of the living, and continue to do this today. Scientologists at advanced levels place considerable emphasis on isolating body thetans and neutralizing their ill effects.
Some of the more famous Scientologists include, Tom Cruise, John Travolta, Juliette Lewis, Jenna Elfman, Kirstie Alley, Kelly Preston, Elisabeth Moss, Isaac Hayes, Catherine Bell, and Nancy Cartwright.
As people create gods in their own image we hear things like:
• God is everywhere…He is in the grass and the tree and the animal or insect…
• God is the father of everyone…we are all God’s children…
• God is love and mercy and would never condemn anyone to hell…
• God put this person in my life…
• God blessed me with hitting the lottery…
• God will forgive me if I do this or that…
• God told me to kill my children…
But as we read the Old Testament scriptures we are immediately introduced to a deity who is omnipotent…who spoke and “created the heavens and the earth”.
We find in Genesis chapter two that He is love…He planted a beautiful garden in Eden and put man there to care for it…He saw that Adam was alone and it was not good and so He created for Adam a helper fit just for him.
We discover in Genesis chapter three that God is holy and that He hates sin and that there are penalties for disobeying His commands.
We learn in Exodus 20:3 that God requires that He be worshipped exclusively and that He has set aside a day of the week where we offer Him our undivided attention. We also learn that He values human relationships—that we honor our parents and value the sanctity of life, respect another’s property and tell the truth and remain sexually pure.
Yet, God is still misrepresented in the world and sadder still, in the church.
In an article on Ligonier.org, Sinclair Ferguson writes:
Many years ago now there was a scholarly movement that became known as “The Quest for the Historical Jesus.” Scholars said “Let’s try to get behind the Gospels to find out who Jesus really was, and what he was really like.” So they took bits and pieces of the Gospel testimony and made a picture of Christ. One of the shrewdest things that was said about this movement was that these scholars were like people looking down a well to find Jesus, but didn’t realize that the “Jesus” they saw was really just a reflection of themselves from the water at the bottom of the well!
Sometimes I feel this is actually what has happened in popular evangelicalism. Our “Jesus” is actually a reflection of ourselves. This is the constant danger when we don’t simply open the Scriptures and listen to their testimony about Jesus: we make a Jesus in our own image, usually domesticated. Sadly, much that dominates the Christian media seems to fall foul here. Any Jesus who isn’t both Savior and Lord, Sacrificial Lamb of God and Reigning King, cannot be the Jesus of the Gospels. And any Jesus who does not call us to radical, sacrificial, and yes, painful, discipleship, cannot be the real Jesus.
A question we need to ask ourselves is, “Have I created a Jesus in my own image?”
Many in the church have a perception of Jesus as the one who came to this earth to meet all of their needs. And rather than be accountable to Him, He is accountable to, and answers to you. He’s your butler or your genie because, after all, He has “promised to supply all your needs.”
This is exactly what Joel Osteen teaches in his latest book, The Power of I Am. This past week I listened to Osteen read from this book and urge his followers to repeat after him saying, “I am strong. I am healthy. I am confident. I am confident. I am secure. I am talented. I am creative. I am disciplined. I am focused. I am valuable. I am beautiful. I am blessed. I am excited about my future. I am victorious.”
Who then becomes the focus? YOU are the focus and God is nothing more than an errand boy who is expected to provide “stuff” on demand. Osteen declares, “When you talk like this, (“I am!”) these things will follow you and God will provide them.”
C.H. Spurgeon who lived from 1834-1892 once said, “A time will come when instead of shepherds feeding the sheep, the church will have clowns entertaining the goats.”
Many in the church attend service with “expectation” (we hear this in songs and from the mouth of the worship leader). Certainly there believer who knows the God of the Bible has hope and expectation that God will keep His promises. The psalmist says, “My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him” (Psalm 62:5, KJV).
But for many, “expectation” means that they approach worship hoping that they will experience something or hear something that will make them feel good or better about themselves. The message more than anything reaches the emotions rather than promoting spiritual growth.
An example of this can be found as you listen to many of the speakers on Ted Talks. One of the most viewed Ted Talk videos is the one called, Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are by Social psychologist Amy Cuddy.
In this video the speaker’s main point is that standing in a posture of confidence, even when we don’t feel confident — can affect testosterone and cortisol levels in the brain, and might even have an impact on our chances for success. It’s a powerful video with an inspirational story at the end and has been viewed some 32 million times.
Many churches have opted to inspire people rather than to teach people the Scriptures and reach them with the Gospel and so people look for churches they can attend and leave after the service with a good feeling about themselves.
Many churches choose this approach when it comes to the music. Music more often than not serves as a meal that satisfies the physiology and not the spirit. There is truth to what I just said.
In 2001, neuroscientists Anne Blood and Robert Zatorre at McGill University in Montreal used magnetic resonance imaging to show that people listening to pleasurable music had activated brain regions called the limbic and paralimbic areas, which are connected to euphoric reward responses, like those we experience from sex, good food and addictive drugs. Those rewards come from a gush of a neurotransmitter called dopamine. As Lee Haslam, a popular DJ says, “music is a drug”.
And so someone tells you that they had a good time of worship and you ask them “How so?” They respond, “The choir really sang!” If you ask what the sermon was about, they might answer, “I don’t know but he really preached!” What they are telling you is that they got their “Sunday fix.”
When it comes to worship, we must come on the right terms, with the right intercessor, in the right place, with the right clothing and we must come to God with the right perspective.
What’s your perspective of God? How do you approach Him to worship? Let’s look for a moment at how the Hebrews did it.
It has been conjectured that Psalm 95 was written for the Feast of Tabernacles that was celebrated after the Jewish exiles returned to Judah from Babylon.
Verses 8-11 would remind them of when they spent the 40 years wandering in the wilderness years, and it is interested that they are quoted in Hebrews 3:7–4:13 and applied to believers today.
The church must take heed to what happened to Israel and so Paul writes in 1 Corinthians chapter ten:
1Co 10:6 And these things were our examples, that we should not be lusters after evil, as they also lusted.
1Co 10:7 Nor should we be idolaters, even as some of them, as it is written: "The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play."
1Co 10:8 Nor let us commit fornication, as some of them fornicated, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day.
1Co 10:9 Nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted Him and were destroyed by serpents.
1Co 10:10 Nor murmur as some of them also murmured and were destroyed by the destroyer.
1Co 10:11 And all these things happened to them as examples; and it is written for our warning on whom the ends of the world have come.
1Co 10:12 So let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.
Psalm 95 calls on Israel to worship God. Listen to its words.
Psa 95:1 O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.
Psa 95:2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.
Psa 95:3 For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
Psa 95:4 In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.
Psa 95:5 The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.
Psa 95:6 O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.
Psa 95:7 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today if ye will hear his voice,
Psa 95:8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
Psa 95:9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.
Psa 95:10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:
Psa 95:11 Unto whom I swore in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.
• We first find the psalmist exhorting us to worship God in the context of who He is (The LORD; He is sovereign; He is omnipotent; He owns us).
• Psalm 95 also encourages us to worship God in the context of who we are (His sheep).
• Lastly, we are given a series of admonitions or warnings (Don’t harden your heart; don’t tempt or provoke God; don’t stray in your heart; don’t grieve or disgust Him).
Let’s look briefly at each of these.
1. We first find the psalmist exhorting us to worship God in the context of who He is (The LORD; He is sovereign; He is omnipotent; He owns us).
Do you have this perspective as you prepare for worship? And I’m not talking about once you get to church…as some have a hard time doing that with any regularity.
Key truth: The foundation for Sunday worship must be laid Monday thru Saturday.
This is why some of us don’t make it to church on Sunday because of how we live on Monday through Saturday. In order for us to have the proper perspective of God as we worship Him on Sunday, we need to be developing that perspective of Him throughout the week.
In Exodus 19:10-11 we find instructions for the people to prepare for worship: “Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes. And let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day the LORD will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people’”.
God wanted the people of Israel, before they came near to Him, to get ready to come near to Him, in order to prepare themselves for an encounter with Him. He gave them two days to do it and on the third day they were to be ready!
In our worship preparation we need to see God as “the LORD; who is sovereign; who is omnipotent; who owns us.” We are to prepare ourselves for worship. We cannot come haphazardly busting into an encounter with God. And, we cannot forfeit worship because we are not ready. We must get ready and then worship because He is worthy!
2. Psalm 95 also encourages us to worship God in the context of who we are (His sheep).
As sheep, we are dependent on Christ our Shepherd. He is our shepherd, not our genie.
Yes, the shepherd feeds and cares for the sheep, but as Jesus says in John 10:27, “My sheep respond to my voice, and I know who they are. They follow me…”
3. Lastly, we are given in Psalm 95 a series of admonitions or warnings (Don’t harden your heart; don’t tempt or provoke God; don’t stray in your heart; don’t grieve or disgust Him).
In other words, you need to come confessing your sins…you need to come broken and contrite. Psalm 51:17 says, “The sacrifice pleasing to God is a broken spirit. O God, you do not despise a broken and sorrowful heart.”
Don’t do what the devil wants you to do when you are in sin. He says to you, “Don’t come, you are too dirty; stay away’ back off…God will not receive you.”
You see, the devil does that because he wants worship onlyfr for himself (Isaiah 14). You and I need to do what the Apostle James says in chapter four of his letter:
Jas 4:7 So then, submit yourselves to God. Resist the Devil, and he will run away from you.
Jas 4:8 Come near to God, and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners! Purify your hearts, you hypocrites!
Jas 4:9 Be sorrowful, cry, and weep; change your laughter into crying, your joy into gloom!
Jas 4:10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
The Bible teaches that once one becomes a member of God's true church there are some responsibilities that need to be carried out. These responsibilities are what we call the "Five Purposes for the Church." These purposes are:
• Worship
• Evangelism
• Discipleship
• Fellowship
• Ministry
Today we looked at worship. Next time we will look at Evangelism. Let us pray.
