But I have a problem with some churches posting on their church signs they worship God between 11 to 12 .
According to the Word of God this is somewhat misleading!
HOW IS IT MISLEADING?
It implies we worship the Lord one hour a week and this is not what the Bible teaches we christians should be doing.
Illus: It is true that some people could be classified as having SUNDAY MORNING RELIGION and when they leave church on Sunday morning they place God on the shelf until next Sunday.
But that certainly is not what the Bible teaches we Christians should be doing.
The Bible clearly teaches we should worship God seven days a week twenty four hours a day.
Look at 1 Corinthians 10:31 tells us “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God”
In other words I should not do a thing on Sunday that I would not do on Monday.
• Also we read in Colossians 3:17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
• Again we read in 1 Peter 4:11: “That God in all things may be glorified”.
In all things, God is to be glorified seven days a week in WORD AND DEED.
Everything that we christians do should be done to glorify God!!!
We do not worship only on Sunday between 11 and 12…
• Worship doesn’t stop when we leave church. We are to bring our worship with us when we come to church.
• We don’t stop worship when we leave church—we’re to take our worship with us when we leave church.
So that we understand how we are to worship the Lord Paul BREAKS IT DOWN FOR US…
For example, Paul defines how we are to worship the Lord as a:
(1)HOUSE WIFE
Look at Colossians 3:18 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord.
As she submit unto her husband she is worshipping the Lord.
Illus: I read of a woman that had this sign put over her kitchen sink: “Divine services held here three times a day.”
While she washed dishes, she was praising the Lord.
And also notice Paul addresses the…
(2) HUSBANDS
Look at Colossians 3:19 Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.
Husbands, tomorrow, when you love your wives—they are not the bitter half, but the better half—you will be worshiping God—give God thanks for that.
And also notice Paul addresses the…
(3) CHILDREN
Look at Colossians 3:20 Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.
Children, tomorrow morning, when you obey your parents in all things, and give God thanks for it, you will be worshiping the Lord.
And also notice Paul addresses the…
(4) EMPLOYEES
Colossians 3:22 Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God:
Employees, when you go to your job tomorrow, and you work for your boss as if he were Jesus Christ—not being a clock-watcher—then you will be worshiping the Lord, and give God thanks for it.
Notice again, in Colossians 3:23: “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men”
WHAT IS WORSHIP?
Worship is glorifying God (If you be a wife, husband, child or employee) in Word and Deed every day, not just one hour on Sunday morning.
”Everything I do is to glorify God.”
Worship is not just what we say—it is what we do. We are to do all to the glory of God.
• Some will say, “Well, I don’t believe in mixing politics and religion.” I do!!!
Illus: I can not glorify God in voting for a politician that believe in abortion, gambling, legalizing prostitution, homosexuality etc.
• Some say, “I don’t believe in mixing business and religion.” I do!!!
The Bible teach we should put our faith in everything we do.
Dear friend, if you cannot do something for the glory of God, then you have no business doing it. I don’t care what it is!!!
As a Christian, I’m talking to you about what you are to do on Sunday morning you should also do on Monday morning.
Illus: When we live our life like this, Dr. Adrian Rogers says, “The secular becomes sanctified. The everyday becomes edified. And, therefore, God becomes glorified.”
As a Christian:
• There is no time that is not sacred time.
• There is no ground that is not holy ground.
Bring God into your life seven days a week, not just Sunday Morning!!!
Illus: Have you ever seen these Sunday Morning Christians who gets religious when they come to church?
• All of a sudden they come into the church building, they get this stained-glass appearance in their eyeballs—all of a sudden they just turn it on.
And, while they’re in church, they’re very religious.
• And then, they go outside, and they turn it off again.
Hey folks, that turns people off and makes the gospel look bad.
Illus: If we could get these Sunday morning worshippers to understand that:
• We don’t just come to church to worship—we bring our worship with us.
• We don’t leave our worship at church—we take our worship with us.
Let me just wrap this all up by telling you what it means to do something in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Look at Colossians 3:17— “Do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.”
Anything that I do tomorrow, I have to ask does it to pass three tests.
And, if it will not pass these three tests, then:
• I cannot do it.
• I have no business doing it.
• It is wrong for me to do it!!!
Let’s look at the first test…
I. Test One: What Would Jesus Do?
Did you know the name of Jesus has a meaning to it—it speaks of the character of Jesus. It literally means, “Jehovah saves.”
When the Lord saves us He saves us from sin…right?
HOW DO I KNOW WHAT SIN IS?
Everyone does not agree what sin is!!!
Remember Paul deal with what is sin in his generation. Some felt it was wrong to eat meat offered to idols and others did not.
But one way we know what sin is…is what the Bible says sin is.
But here is a PROBLEM!!!
There is a lot of things that is sin that is not in the Bible.
• I can’t find anything in the Bible, for example, that says, “Thou shalt not drive through a school zone at 110 miles an hour.” It’s just not in there.
• I can’t find anything here in the Bible that says, “Thou shalt not smoke pot.” It’s just not in there.
• I don’t find anything in the Bible that says not to go to an X-rated movie. It’s just not in there.
• And, I don’t even find anything in the Bible that says I should not look at dirty pictures. It’s just not in there.
• I can not find anything in the Bible that says I should not beat my wife three times a day. It’s just not in there.
I can find some principles that teaches these things are sin, but I cannot find those things spelled out in the scriptures.
Now learn this about the Bible:
• Christianity is not a rulebook religion.
• The Bible is not, primarily, a list of dos and don’ts.
Illus: Let me explain it this way. Now, the younger that a child is, the more dos and don’ts you have to give that child.
Illus: Remember when your children just got old enough to stay home by themselves, and you and mama went off and left them, Remember when you walked out the door—what you kept on saying?
• “Don’t play with matches.
• Don’t let strangers into the house.
• Don’t being using Mom and Dad’s bed for a trampoline.
• Don’t go off.”
And you know, you kept saying, “Don’t do this, do this, and don’t do this,” because you were just not certain that they were mature enough, so you kept giving them rules.
But, as they get older and older, you find out that the more mature they have become, the less rules you have to give them.
But there are things that come up in a child’s life and you are not there to say, don’t do this or don’t do that and they have to make a judgment what to do.
And because you are not there to guide them they make a decision something like this.
They might say “Dad, since you were not here I knew what you would do if you were here and that is what I did!”
They acted on what was consistent with your character.
Now you see, the word name stands for character.
And, all I have to do in anything tomorrow is just ask myself,
• “Does this fit with the character of Jesus?”
• “What would Jesus do if He was here?”
Name stands for character. And so, you can just say, “I’ll do this in the name of Jesus.”
To do something in the name of Jesus means that Jesus would approve of it.
Illus: Politicians will place television ad on television stating things they approve and dis-approve. And when the ad close they will state their name and say “I approve of this Ad”.
Illus: Ted Williams—that puts his name, or used to do so, on the baseball bats for Sears?
Ted Williams thinks that it’s a good bat. He’s put his name on it. He approves of it.
You see, name stands for character; it stands for approval.
Now, what this literally means is that, when you do everything in the name of Jesus, don’t do anything to which Jesus couldn’t sign his name.
Name stand for character whatever I do is it consistent with the character of Jesus?
Could Jesus sign his name of approval to this?”
But let’s look at something else in how we can live a life of pleasing the Lord.
II. Test Two: Can it be Done in the Authority of Christ?
All right, the second question I must ask is, not only:
• First - Can it be done with the approval of Christ?
• Secondly—Can this thing be done in the authority of Christ?
Because, not only does name
• Stand for character,
• Name also stands for authority.
When a person puts his name on something, he’s actually putting his authority behind it.
Let me illustrate…
Illus: In our church someone can not go out and buy anything they want to buy in their name for this church and want re-embursement.
They have to come to the church office and as pastor I fill out a purchase order and sign my name to it and they can take that purchase order and buy what is needed.
As pastor I am given this authority. A name stands for authority.
Illus: If I write a bad check, they don’t put the check in jail—they put me in jail.
Why? Because my name on that check stands for me, it stands for my authority.
So, tomorrow, when I go out to live, I am to do all that is consistent with His character, and with His authority.
You bring His name into it—you do it in the name of Jesus.
Every one of us is to live tomorrow authoritatively.
Illus: I like the way E. N. Thomas said it this way, “I just vacate and He occupies, and I vacate and He occupies, and I vacate and He occupies, and the first thing you know, my life is just one great big vacation, because He has come into me, and He has begun to live His life through me.”
Now, tomorrow, don’t do anything that Jesus couldn’t sign His name to.
To live a life above sin we must ask ourselves…
• What would Jesus do?
• What I am fixing to do can I do it on the authority of Christ.
III. Test Three: Will What I Do Result in bringing Glory to Jesus?
Illus: When this wonderful church voted to build this church they honored me by putting a DEDICATION STONE in the brick work of this church.
They said, “We did that in your name,” what did they mean?
Now, remember we’re to do everything we do in the name of Jesus.
And so, here’s the third test that I can put to anything that I can do—or should do:
• Will it bring glory to Jesus?
• Can I do it in His name so that it will it bring Him glory?
Now, if it brings Him glory, then I can do it. If it doesn’t bring Him glory, then I can’t do it.
• Now, again, I want to remind you—we’re not just talking about church work.
• We are not talking about worshipping the Lord from 11 to 12
Sunday.
We are talking seven days a week twenty four hours a day.
Look again at Colossians 3:22-23 again, “Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God; and whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men”.
Now, suppose you have a job: Suppose you work in an automobile shop and you straighten bent fenders.
Now, the Bible says, in verse 23: “Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord” (Colossians 3:23).
Now, you ought to straighten fenders to give Jesus glory, and if you can’t straighten fenders to give Jesus glory, then you ought not to straighten fenders.
If you cannot bring glory to God as:
• A Lawyer
• A dentist
• A physician,
• A businessman—then you ought not to do it.
The Bible says that everything you do, you are to do in the name of Jesus. Nothing is excluded!!!
That is, everything that I am to do, I am to do with:
• His approval,
• His authority,
• And for His glory.
Do you understand that—with His approval, in His authority, and for His glory? It is to bring glory to Him—everything I do.
So, therefore, if you have a secular job—how should you serve your employer?
Well, look again, if you will, in Colossianss 3:24 “Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ”
Now, that’s interesting. When you work at a secular job—what the world calls a secular job—Paul says that you’re serving Jesus.
How many businessmen have there been who have said, “Boy I’d just like to quit this job and serve the Lord”?
Friend, you’ve got a skewed idea of what Christianity is.
You are serving the Lord, on your job, if you do it in the name of Jesus.
• If you work at a large business you are a missionary in that place of business!
• If you are a mother with ten children you are a missionary among those children.
• If you live in a neighborhood you are a missionary in that neighborhood.
• If you are in school or college you are a missionary on that campus.
God puts you right there, and that job that you have is to be your temple of devotion and your lampstand of witness, and all that you do, you are to do as to the Lord.
So, verse 22 says that you are to work honestly.
Look at verse 22: “According…not with eyeservice, as menpleasers” (Colossians 3:22)—that means that you’re not to be a clock-watcher, just getting by.
You are to serve the Lord heartily. In verse 23: “Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily” (Colossians 3:23).
That is, it’s a sin for you not to do your best. The reputation of Jesus is at stake.
Ecclesiastes 9:10 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.
Scripture tells us to do everything with all our might because one day we will die and we will no longer be able to come back and re-do what we are doing now.
Conclusion:
Worship is living on Monday the way we do on Sunday.
It is asking ourselves in everything we do:
I. WHAT WOULD JESUS DO IF HE WAS HERE
II. WORSHIP IS SIMPLY DOING EVERYTHING I DO IN THE NAME OF JESUS.
III. WORSHIP IS DOING EVERYTHING FOR THE GLORY OF GOD.
