Ten Marks of a Prevailing Church
Mark #7: Uncommon Worship
Isaiah 6
August 5, 2001
Intro:
A. [2 jokes]
1. An old farmer went to the city one weekend and attended the big city church.
He came home and his wife asked him how it was.
"Well," said the farmer, "it was good. They did something different, however. They sang praise choruses instead of hymns."
"Praise choruses?" said his wife, "What are those?"
"Oh they’re okay. They’re sort of like hymns, only different," said the farmer.
"Well, what’s the difference?" asked the wife.
The farmer said, "Well it’s like this - If I were to say to you: ‘Martha, the cows are in the corn,’ well that would be a hymn. If, on the other hand, I were to say to you: ‘Martha, Martha, Martha, Oh, Martha, Martha, MARTHA MARTHA, the cows, the big cows, the brown cows, the black cows, the white cows, the black and white cows, the COWS, COWS, COWS are in the corn, are in the corn, are in the corn, are in the corn, the CORN, CORN, CORN’!!! ‘Oh, Oh, Ooooooooh, yes, it’s true, the whole herd is in the awesome corn, yes, it’s true, the whole herd is in the awesome corn, --- weeell, it’s true, the whole herd is in the awesome corn!!! Alleluia! - That would be a praise chorus."
2. A young Christian went to his local church usually, but one weekend attended a small town church.
He came home and his wife asked him how it was.
"Well," said the young man, "It was good. They did something different however. They sang hymns instead of regular songs."
"Hymns," said his wife, "what are those?"
"Oh, they’re okay. They’re sort of like regular songs, only different," said the young man.
"Well, what’s the difference? Asked his wife.
The young man said, "Well it’s like this: If I were to say to you, ‘Martha, the cows are in the corn,’ well that would be a regular song. If, on the other hand, I were to say to you: ‘Oh Martha, dear Martha, hear thou my cry. Inclinest thine ear to the words of my mouth. Turn thou thy whole wondrous ear by and by, To the righteous, inimitable, glorious truth. For the way of the animals who can explain? There in their heads is no shadow of sense, Harkenest they in God’s sun or his rain Unless from the mild, tempting corn they are fenced. Yea those cows in glad bovine, rebelious delight, Have broke free their shackles, their warm pens eschewed. Then goaded by minions of darkness and night They all my mild Chilliwack sweet corn have chewed. So look to that bright shining day by and by, Where all foul corruptions of earth are reborn. Where no vicious animal makes my soul cry, and I no longer see those foul cows in the corn. AMEN!
"Then, if I were to do only verses one, two, and four and do a key change on the last verse, well that would be a hymn."
B. [Worship in Spirit and in Truth, by Leann Gabel of Amarillo, TX]
In Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman, it didn’t take long before their conversation turned to worship.
I would guess that was as hot a topic then as it is today.
The woman’s question was sincere, "I know there are two ways to worship…the Samaritan way and the Jewish way…but which is the right way?"
Jesus dealt with that question once and for all as he explained that the true God is seeking after worshippers to worship in spirit and in truth.
The Samaritan religion was characterized by enthusiastic, lively, and highly emotional worship.
Although this kind of worship was stimulating and left the worshippers feeling good, they were missing something.
They did not have information about God and the Messiah that had come.
They lacked the basic truths of God that should motivate us to worship Him in the first place.
The Jews had the opposite problem.
They believed the truth as revealed to them by God and literally built their entire culture around this truth.
Unfortunately, this kind of belief became as routine as lacing their sandals or washing their hands.
They lacked a spiritual, emotional experience that should accompany knowledge of such great truth.
The same kind of thing is happening today in worship.
Some people worship totally in the spirit.
It’s true that worship happens from the inside out.
Sincere worship begins within the depths of a person’s heart and overflows into every area of life, bringing blessing and joy to those around.
But with all this emotional charge, it’s easy to set our emotions above God.
That places us in danger of making an idol out of worship.
On the other hand are people who worship primarily in truth.
They know God as revealed in His Word and cannot be swayed in their beliefs.
People like this live with purpose and confidence.
Their faith is a rock for them in times of trouble and they provide strength for those around them.
Their thinking is clear and untainted by emotion.
But we can easily be hindered in our worship if we become so afraid of feeling that we emotionally disengage.
Our Heavenly Father wants our worship to be a balance between our heads (what we know about Him) and our hearts (what we feel towards Him).
On which side of the spectrum are you?
Do you need to simmer down your emotions and spend some time getting to know the God that you worship?
Maybe you need to loosen up and let the Holy Spirit guide your emotions as you worship Him.
Jesus said, "True worshippers will worship in Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks." (John 3:23)
C. Now, to help us answer the question of which side we are on—I’m going to actually answer it for us.
1. The reason I’m going to answer it for us is because I think that you will be tempted to compare yourself with others at Somerset in order to determine if you’re on the Spirit side or the truth side of worship.
2. I really don’t believe comparing ourselves with each other is really a good indicator.
3. You see, Christian churches in general have leaned towards the truth side of worship with very little emotion and spirit.
4. Then there are Pentecostals that have leaned more towards the emotion and spirit side with less truth than Christian churches (in general—that doesn’t mean all of them!).
5. But what needs to happen (and I believe IS happening) is that we Christian church people need to move more towards spirit and emotion and the Pentecostals need to move more towards the truth side.
6. And as I said, I do believe that is beginning to happen.
7. We need to move toward a balance between Spirit and truth.
8. So I believe that we here at Somerset have been on the truth side and we can use more of a balance between Spirit and truth.
9. We should not go to the opposite extreme of all spirit, but we should move more towards a balance.
10. So this mourning I want to suggest four aspects that should characterize a worship service that is balanced between spirit and truth; first…
I. A Sense of God’s Presence
Isaiah 6:1-4, In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." 4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
A. Isaiah experienced God’s presence.
1. Isaiah said that he saw the Lord high and lifted up.
2. Isaiah saw God sitting on His throne.
3. Isaiah saw the angels with six wings flying around the throne.
4. Isaiah heard the angels singing, "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord Almighty."
5. Isaiah felt the building shake at the sound of the angels’ singing.
6. Isaiah saw the smoke that filled the room.
7. Isaiah saw, heard, and felt the presence of God.
B. And that is exactly what we must do as we worship God as well—we must sense God’s presence as we gather together.
1. We are here to visualize in our minds God seated high upon His throne.
2. We are here to seek the presence of God.
3. We are here to feel God’s presence as we worship Him.
4. That may mean that some will want to sit in quiet reverence and they should have the freedom to do that.
5. That may mean that some will want to clap their hands and they should have the freedom to do that.
6. That may mean that some will want to raise our hands and they should have the freedom to do that.
7. That may mean that some may want to weep tears of joy and thanksgiving.
8. That may mean that some may want to fall down on their knees and pray.
9. But as we sense God’s spirit in this place, we may feel some emotion.
10. And the truth is that emotion is good and we should not be afraid of that as we move towards a balance of Spirit and truth.
11. But it does not mean that everyone should worship God the same way.
12. The truth is that we have leaned so far towards the truth side that we have become like the Pharisees and our worship has become nothing more than ritual and routine.
13. So we must give people the freedom to respond to God in whatever way they feel the need to do so as they sense God’s presence.
14. Some folks may need to raise their hands and they need to have the freedom to do that without fear of someone getting upset with them or thinking them weird.
15. The raising of hands is a perfectly Biblical way of worshipping God.
16. But others should also have the freedom to not raise their hands and not worry about someone looking down upon them because they don’t.
C. You see we are here to worship God and that means that we must sense His presence.
1. He is the One we are here to worship--He alone is worthy of our worship.
2. And therefore what our neighbors do or don’t do is none of our business.
3. If our neighbors worship one way and we worship another, that is fine.
4. Because it is more important that we all sense God’s presence than it is that we all worship uniformly.
5. God is the audience, not the people in the pews.
6. The people on the platform are not entertainers.
7. We are all the performers and God is the only one in the audience.
8. And therefore we are here to make HIM happy and not our neighbors.
9. Pleasing God is what worship is all about.
10. And when people sense God’s presence, they need to be given the freedom to worship in the manner that God touches them and leads them to do.
D. That is the spirit side and there is a truth side to this as well that is recorded in 1 Corinthians 14.
1. There Paul describes the opposite extreme that we are on.
2. There Paul infers that the Corinthian’s worship was chaotic.
3. But Paul said that there should be order in the church because the Spirit can be controlled with the mind.
4. Paul said that everyone in the church should not be speaking in tongues as was happening in the Corinthian church as does happen in many churches today.
5. Paul said that at most, three should speak in tongues and even then there must be an interpreter.
6. Paul also said there should be no more than three speakers because they were having too many speakers.
7. He gave those guidelines in 1 Corinthians 14 to prevent worship from becoming disorderly.
8. Paul said there must be order and clarity in the church.
9. But Paul also said that speaking in tongues was a good thing.
10. Paul said the miraculous things were good things, they just needed to be done in an orderly way and in a way that was understandable to visitors.
11. But Paul didn’t say to sit in the pews and sit on your hands in order to keep order in the church which is what too many Christian churches insist on.
12. When we move towards the balance of Spirit and truth, we are avoiding two extremes and we are worshipping in the manner that God expects.
13. What I am saying is that even though we have been worshiping on the truth extreme and we are now allowing people the freedom to worship in other ways than we have in the past, that does not mean that we are going overboard in the opposite direction.
14. It just means that we’re moving more towards the center which is a balance between Spirit and truth.
15. So we cannot be afraid of sensing God’s presence as we worship Him.
16. In order to worship God correctly, we must sense His presence.
II. A Sense of Our Sinfulness
Isaiah 6:5, "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."
A. When Isaiah found Himself in the presence of God, he realized he was a sinner.
1. Isaiah realized that his mouth wasn’t pure.
2. Isaiah acknowledged that the people that he hung out with had filthy mouths as well.
3. Isaiah cried out that he was ruined because he had fallen short of what God wanted from him.
B. And I want us to notice that sensing God’s presence will cause us to realize our own sinfulness.
1. Worshipping God correctly will cause us to sense our own short comings.
2. Worshipping God correctly will cause us to compare ourselves with the holiness of God.
3. When we are in the presence of a perfect, holy, sinless God, we will feel like we don’t belong there.
4. We will feel like we don’t deserve to be in God’s presence.
5. Isaiah cried out, Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."
6. Isaiah sensed God’s presence and then sensed his own sinfulness.
7. Do you see that this is why so many Christians don’t think they sin anymore.
8. Do you see that this is why so many Christians couldn’t tell you the last time they did something wrong?
9. Its because they don’t truly worship God.
10. They don’t sense God’s presence when they worship.
11. They simply go to church, go through the routine over and over and over again, and never sense God’s presence.
12. But when we truly sense God’s presence, we cannot help but be convicted of our own sinfulness.
13. We will want to fall down and cry out with Isaiah that we are ruined!
14. We will want to fall down and cry out with David that we need to be cleansed!
15. We will want to repent.
16. We will want to seek God’s forgiveness.
17. When we worship God in Spirit and in truth, we will sense God’s presence and we will sense our own sinfulness, and we will have…
III. A Sense of God’s Grace
Isaiah 6:6-7, Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."
A. When Isaiah acknowledged his sin, an angel touched a live coal to his mouth and cleansed it.
1. Isaiah acknowledged his sin and God forgave him.
2. Isaiah acknowledged his sin and God took away the sin from his mouth.
3. Isaiah acknowledged his sin and experienced God’s grace.
B. And again, that is exactly what should happen to us when we worship God in Spirit and truth.
1. When we sense God’s presence in worship, we will sense our sinfulness.
2. When we sense our sinfulness, we will sense God’s grace.
3. When we worship God in Spirit and truth we will sense His presence.
4. When we sense His presence, we will sense our sinfulness.
5. When we sense our sinfulness, we will repent of the specific things that we have done wrong.
6. When we acknowledge our sins in this way, God forgives us.
7. When we acknowledge our sins, God will take away our sin.
8. When we acknowledge our sins, God will give us His grace.
9. The Bible teaches that God cannot allow sin in His presence and this is why so many people miss what real worship is.
10. They are sinners and they don’t sense the presence of God in there worship and therefore don’t truly worship and don’t receive a touch of grace from God.
11. Going to church becomes nothing more than a routine.
12. But when we worship as Isaiah did and the way Jesus taught, we can receive a touch from God.
13. That’s because when we sense His presence and we sense our sinfulness, we receive a touch of grace from God.
14. And it is something that we can feel—just as Isaiah felt the touch of the coal to his mouth, we can feel the touch of God when we worship in Spirit and truth.
C. And again, when we receive the touch of grace from God, we may need to respond…
1. We may need to cry tears of joy.
2. We may need to raise our hands.
3. We may need to clap our hands.
4. We may need to shout, "Hallelujah!"
5. We may need to fall down on our knees and pray to God.
6. Because when God touches you with His grace, you can feel it and you will respond in some way.
IV. A Sense of Our Transformation
Isaiah 6:8-13, Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" 9 He said, "Go and tell this people: "’Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ 10 Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed." 11 Then I said, "For how long, O Lord?" And he answered: "Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged, 12 until the LORD has sent everyone far away and the land is utterly forsaken. 13 And though a tenth remains in the land, it will again be laid waste. But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land."
A. When Isaiah sensed God’s grace, he was immediately transformed into God’s servant.
1. When Isaiah received a touch of God, he was willing to go and share the good news with others.
2. When Isaiah felt the touch of God on his mouth, he was willing to use his mouth to speak for God.
3. When Isaiah experienced God’s forgiveness, he was willing to go to great lengths to serve God.
4. And God told Him right away that it was not going to be an easy challenge.
5. God told Him that his mission was going to be tough.
6. But because Isaiah had experienced God’s presence, he was transformed.
7. Because Isaiah had acknowledged his sinfulness, he was transformed.
8. Because Isaiah had felt God’s grace, he was transformed.
9. Isaiah was transformed into a servant of God who would go to extraordinary lengths to spread His Word.
10. Isaiah was transformed into a committed servant who would serve for as long as God called Him.
B. And my friends, do you see that this is why so many lack that kind of commitment to the cause of Christ today?
1. Do you see that because people don’t worship God correctly, they don’t have the commitment to serve God under difficult circumstances?
2. Do you see that because people don’t worship God correctly, they don’t have the commitment to serve God for long periods of time?
3. Do you see that because people don’t worship God correctly, they are content to merely show up and go through same old routines Sunday after Sunday and year after year and never really do anything for God?
4. Do you see that because people don’t worship God correctly, and even though they may have been in church for years, there is no real change in their lives?
C. But do you also see that correct worship will transform us into warriors for Christ?
1. If we sense God’s presence we will be transformed like Isaiah.
2. If we sense our sinfulness we will be transformed like Isaiah.
3. If we sense God’s grace we will be transformed like Isaiah.
4. If we worship God correctly, we will be changed.
5. 2 Corinthians 5:17, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
6. God said in Revelation 21:5, He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!"
7. When we worship God in Spirit and truth, God will change us into something new.
8. When we worship God in Spirit an truth, God will transform us into His own creation.
9. Therefore when we worship God correctly, we must sense our own transformation.
10. We must sense how God wants to transform us.
Conclusion:
A. When is the last time you sensed God changing you?
1. Have you been worshipping God correctly?
2. Have you been worshipping God in Spirit and truth?
3. Do you sense God’s presence when you worship Him?
4. Do you sense your own sinfulness when you worship God?
5. Do you sense God’s grace as you worship Him?
6. Does God change you as you worship Him?
B. What is your response when you leave worship?
1. Is your first response to evaluate the people on the platform or the people in the pews?
2. Is your first response to criticize someone who did or didn’t do something that you didn’t like?
3. Or is your first response to sense how God is transforming you into His new creation?
4. Do you sense God transforming you into His new creation?
5. That’s what correct worship should do.
6. Worshiping God in Spirit and in truth with transform you into the image of Jesus Christ!
C. And friends do you see that correct worship has nothing to do with what kind of songs we sing or what order the service is?
1. Do you see that the things that we argue about are absolutely the wrong things we should be focusing on?
2. Do you see that we can sense these things no matter what songs we sing?
3. Do you see that we can sense these things no matter what the order of service?
4. Do you see that when we focus on these things we are not focusing on God?
5. Do you see that what happens in each person’s heart is what worship is really all about?
D. The Greek word for worship is: proskuneo, (pros-koo-neh’-o) (mean. to kiss, like a dog licking his master’s hand); to fawn or crouch to, i.e. (lit. or fig.) prostrate oneself in homage (do reverence to, adore):--worship.
1. That is how we should worship.
2. We tell God how much we love Him.
3. And when we do that correctly, it will transform us.
E. How is God wanting to transform you today?
1. What response do you need to make today?
2. Perhaps you need to come into His presence for the first time, acknowledge your sinfulness, receive His grace.
3. Perhaps you need to worship Him correctly and allow Him to transform you into what He wants you to be.
4. Today, three of our teenagers (Kenneth, Marcus, and Chris) are going to come and sing the same song they sang for us last Sunday.
5. They are going to sing it through one time acapella and then we will start the CD and we will all join in singing with them (the words are inserted in the bulletin).
6. And as they sing, I want to encourage you to sense God’s presence, sense your sinfulness, sense God’s grace, and sense God transforming you.
7. And if you feel the Holy Spirit leading you to respond in some way, I want to encourage you to do it.
F. [Sing, "We Fall Down…"]
