Why Worship?

TEXT: Deuteronomy 6:1-15

“Why Worship?”

All across the globe this morning, people have gathered together in buildings like this one. Some arrive in formal clothes; others arrive in more casual attire. Some arrive in Lincoln Continentals; others arrive in Yugo’s or Gremlins. Some meet in a Crystal Cathedral; others meet in a house or underground. Some attend large churches; others attend gatherings with just a few people present. Some arrive ready to minister & pray with people; others arrive desperate to hear from God & receive prayer. Some come to church packing their Thompson Chain Reference Bible & Greek Inter-linear Bible; others arrive with the Gideon’s Bible they stole 6 years ago from a hotel.

No matter what the circumstances or methods of their arrival, they have all assembled for one purpose: to worship God. You mean they didn’t come to hear the dynamic praise & worship? They didn’t come to hear clever sermons? They didn’t come to fellowship with one another & make vital business contacts? NO! Whatever their ulterior motive, they should all be assembled with one purpose: to worship the Almighty God.

TEXT: Isaiah 6:1-4

You might say, “Wait a minute, God made certain angels who only worship God all day?” I would like to add that they not only worship God all day, but for all eternity. For some people, it is hard to imagine a life like that. If you ask people what they think heaven will be like, many might respond that time will be spent sitting on clouds, strumming harps & sitting at somebody’s feet. When you ask those same people what hell will be like, those people will tell you that it will be a non-stop party. America, the devil has sold you a lie! Even if for all eternity, all I did was sit at the feet of Jesus… I can tell you that I would rather chose that, than to burn in the fires of hell that cannot be quenched. In hell, there will be no water to stop the burning, there will be no end to the pain, anguish, torment that people will endure there.

Some ask, why would we want to worship a God that sends people to hell? Simple, God doesn’t send anyone to hell. The sin in the person’s life & the fact that they rejected Christ, puts them in the same category as the rebellious angels, for which hell was originally made. All humanity was designed to spend eternity with God & to worship Him. Why should we worship God?

1. We have the capacity to worship. God created our bodies to be able to worship. God gave us tongues & voice boxes to be able to speak & sing praise to God. Our bodies are designed for worship. Too many times, we use our bodies for things that are anything but worship to God. Humanity has filled this planet with wickedness, unrighteousness, filthiness, & godless acts of depravity.

We have the capacity to worship God, but we use that to worship others & ourselves. We use our words to speak evil to others, betray one another, & sin against each other & God. We use our beautiful voices to sing love songs to other gods.

God gave us not only the capacity to worship him in our language, but also about a hundred other ones as well. There was a time when I was going through a very difficult spiritual struggle. I was being utterly selfish with God, but I wanted His help. I just didn’t want to do what He told me in order to get His help. So I went to Trinity Assembly of God in Cedar Hill, Texas. In that service, the pastor asked those who needed prayer to stand in the aisles, so people could pray for them. I closed my eyes, lifted my hands & started to pray quietly to myself. I felt a hand on my shoulder and I could hear a man begin to pray for me. He didn’t know what was going on in my life, so he prayed in tongues. When I heard him speak, I was completely amazed. He kept saying, “Yashon, Baruch HaShem Adonai. Baruch HaShem Yeshua HaMashiach.” For those of you who don’t know, that is Hebrew, of which I know some. God told me through that stranger, “Jason, forget your problems. I am your answer. Jason, Bless the Name of the Lord. Bless the Name of Jesus the Messiah.” Tears streamed down my face, because that day God spoke to me audibly through that man. And I knew that no one could take that away. For whatever reason, God chose to speak to me in a way that only I could understand him. After the man was done praying for me, I turned to him & asked, “Did you know what you were saying to me?” He was shocked & said, “No, I was just praying in tongues. Do you know what I said?” I told him that he had been speaking Hebrew & that God had told me exactly what I needed to hear. We have the capacity to hear, understand & take part in worship to God.