The Highest Priority
Genesis 22:1-19
22 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.
4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.
5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.
6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.
7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
11 And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.
14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.
Introduction: What we see in our text is the first use of the word worship found anywhere in Scripture. We are about to learn a lesson from a 100 year old man and a teenager about what biblical worship is. To do this I’m going to refer to something called hermeneutics. This is the study of the principles and of methods of interpreting the text of the Bible. Second Timothy 2:15 commands believers to be involved in hermeneutics: “15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” The purpose of biblical hermeneutics is to help us to know how to properly interpret, understand, and apply the Bible. One of the most important rules of hermeneutics is the “Law of first Mention,” which means law (or principle or rule) of first mention is a guideline that some people use for studying Scripture. The law of first mention says that, to understand a particular word or doctrine, we must find the first place in Scripture that word or doctrine is revealed and study that passage. The reasoning is that the Bible’s first mention of a concept is the simplest and clearest presentation; doctrines are then more fully developed on that foundation. So, to fully understand an important and complex theological concept, Bible students are advised to start with its “first mention.” In verse 5 of our text you have the first mention of the word “worship” in the Bible. This will be our focus this morning. What is worship?
There are a multitude of definitions in the church world today, so many in fact that someone wrote a book called “The Worship Wars,” to highlight the conflicts surrounding this subject. What can be learned from Abraham’s experience?
I. The Challenge to Worship – v 1-2
a. What worship is not?
Can our worship be wrong? Unacceptable worship touches all of the believer’s life, affecting his or her speech, thoughts and actions. This profoundly makes ‘wrong worship’ treacherous and infectious. God outwardly rejects it, and clearly states that the end of such participants is destruction.
b. What it has become. In every generation we have revivals of true worship but these revivals soon devolve into something less than worship as we substitute our preferences for Biblical truths.
c. What it is. Worship is done for God—because He deserves it—and for His pleasure alone. Worship can be public praise to God ( Psalm 22:22; 35:18) in a congregational setting, where we can proclaim through prayer and praise our adoration and thankfulness to Him and what He has done for us. True worship is felt inwardly and then is expressed through our actions. Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Dr. Billy Graham wrote this about worship… Mankind has always worshiped things: status, fame, popularity, people, money, and security. Anything that comes between God and man is idolatry. Many believe that pagan worship is a thing of the past, but it is ever present — we have just given it a new name: pop culture!
Daily we are called to make choices. When it comes to whom or what we worship, we have two choices; bow to the things of this world and spiritually die, or bow down before the true God and live. The Bible says,
Worship in the truest sense takes place only when our full attention is on God— on His glory, His power, His majesty, His love, His compassion. If people are really honest, this doesn’t happen very often, because even in church or in our times of quiet devotion, we get distracted and fail to see God as He truly is. Those who worship God first of all recognize that God is the Lord, the Sovereign, and all-powerful God of the universe. Worship is acknowledging God as Creator — man was not made by accident but by God’s perfect plan and will.
True worship should come from God’s people because He has made them part of His family, constantly watching over them. We must learn to shut out the distractions that keep us from truly worshiping God. We must turn our minds and hearts to Him every day, praising Him for who He is and what He has done to save lost souls. “Of those who keep the words of this book… worship God” (Revelation 22:9) True worship can be defined in its simplest, fundamental form is obedience. “Behold, to obey [the Lord] is better than sacrifice” (1 Samuel 15:22).
II. The Cost of Worship – v 2
a. True worship demands something of us.
Pastor Chuck Swindoll
Shortly before her death, Corrie ten Boom attended our church in Southern California. Following the worship service, I met briefly with her, anxious to express my wife's and my love and respect for her faithful example. She inquired about my family . . . how many children, their ages—that sort of thing. She detected my great love for each one and very tenderly admonished me to be careful not to hold on to them too tightly. Cupping her wrinkled hands in front of me, she passed on a statement of advice I'll never forget. I can still recall that strong Dutch accent: "Pastor Svendahl, you must learn to hold everything loosely . . . everything. Even your dear family. Why? Because the Father may wish to take them back to Himself, und when He does, it will hurt you if He must pry your fingers loose." And then, having tightened her hands together while saying all that, she slowly opened them and smiled so kindly as she added, "Remember . . . hold everything loosely. . . everything." In the back of my mind I can still hear her words.
b. True worship pays attention to details.
If true worship can be defined as obedience… then we must pay attention to the details of what God commands us to do. Worship services in the church culture today often times are anything but worshipful.
Since our Lord is sovereign, not only are our times in His hands, so are all our possessions and all the people we love. Releasing our rights to Him includes the deliberate releasing of our grip on everything and everyone. Easy? Never.
3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.
5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.
c. True worship
God choose this place in His word to insert the word worship. Think about what we find here…a perplexed hundred year old man and a confuse teenager to teach us about what true worship is. Abraham began the process of obeying God’s command and he calls it worship.
ABRAHAM'S WORSHIP
The Jews have a legend that when Abraham started on his journeys he saw the stars in the heavens and said, "I will worship the stars." But before long the stars set. Then Abraham saw the constellations—the Pleiades and the rest of them—and he said, "I will worship the constellations." But the constellations also set. Then Abraham saw the moon sailing high in the heavens and he said, "I will worship the moon." But the moon also vanished when her season was over.
Then Abraham saw the sun in all his majesty, coming out of his chamber like a bridegroom and rejoicing as a strong man to run a race. But when the day was spent, he saw the sun sink on the western horizon. Stars, constellations, moon, and sun—all were unworthy of his worship, for all had set and all had disappeared. Then Abraham said, "I will worship God, for he abides forever." (cf. Genesis 12:1)
III. The Compliance in Worship – v 3-5
a. It must cost us something. We must offer our mistakes and our miracles. Ishmael and Isaac! King David said that he would not offer of that which costs me nothing.
Job 1:21 And 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. Keep a loose grip!
b. We must think about what we are doing
THE HEART OF WORSHIP
In late 1990's in Watford, England, Matt Redman's church had a high caliber praise band and worship team, yet the pastor knew that the congregation had lost its way in worship. So the Pastor asked "When you come through the doors on a Sunday, what are you bringing as your offering to God?" Matt Redman says the question led initially to some embarrassing silence. Eventually, heartfelt prayers and heart-driven songs were sung as they experienced God in a fresh way. Through that experience, Matt wrote this:
When the music fades,
all is stripped away, and I simply come
Longing just to bring something
That's of worth that will bless your heart
I'm coming back to the heart of worship,
and it's all about You, Jesus
I'm sorry, Lord, for the things I've made it
When it's all about You All about You, Jesus.
After a little while, they re-introduced band, praise team, etc, & with the renewed focus & intensity, the corporate time became authentic. Worship from the heart is not about the newest, latest, greatest, or hottest song on the charts. It's not about the oldest, most obscure, and well-known song. In fact, true worship is not about a song at all, it's about a Son. It's about our bringing to Him my soul, my life, and my all.
From Jerry Watts Sermon "Lessons From the Shepherds"
IV. The Commendation of Worship – v 6-14
12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
a. What does God want me to do?
John 4:23 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.
Abraham was willing to give God the thing that he loved the most.
b. What are you holding on to this morning?
“I didn’t go to religion to make me happy. I always knew a bottle of Port would do that. If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity.”
? C. S. Lewis
Jesus wants it all, He is deserving of it all. Don’t make Him pry your fingers off of what He has called you to do.
"True worship is God-centered worship. People tend to get caught up in where they should worship, what music they should sing in worship, and how their worship looks to other people. Focusing on these things misses the point.
Jesus tells us that true worshipers will worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). This means we worship from the heart and the way God has designed. Worship can include praying, reading God's Word with an open heart, singing, playing an instrument, participating in communion, and serving others. It is not limited to one act, but is done properly when the heart and attitude of the person are in the right place.
It's also important to know that worship is reserved only for God. The truth is we all worship something and this is why one of the Ten Commandments tell us to worship God alone -- because it is essential in our relationship with the Lord."
http://www.gotquestions.org/true-worship.html:
Conclusion: Remember what I said earlier in the message, that God wants our mistakes and our miracles. He wants the things that we loathe and the things that we love. He wants Ismael and Isaac. Have you fully surrendered to Him this morning.
