Worship And Revival: Living The Zeal Of The Word

THEME: WORSHIP LIVING THE Zeal of the WORD-

CHECK YOUR VITAL SIGNS

Worship is a vital part of our walk with God.

Pulse or heart rate, breath, blood pressure!

If any of those 3 isn’t normal…then someone is in big trouble.

Your vital signs are good indicators what’s going on inside your physical body.

Well, worship is a healthy response to a healthy relationship with the Lord.

If someone isn’t worshipping, it’s a good indicator something is wrong in their spirit.

Text: Psalm 99:1-5; 8-9

1 The LORD reigns; let the peoples tremble! He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake! 2 The LORD is great in Zion; he is exalted over all the peoples.

3 Let them praise your great and awesome name! Holy is he! 4 The King in his might loves justice. You have established equity; you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob. 5 Exalt the LORD our God; worship at his footstool! Holy is he! In the pillar of the cloud he spoke to them; they kept his testimonies and the statute that he gave them. 8 O LORD our God, you answered them; you were a forgiving God to them, but an avenger of their wrongdoings. 9 Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at his holy mountain; for the LORD our God is holy!

ILLUSTRATION: THE ZEAL OF COMMUNISTS.

In the late 1940s Whittaker Chambers was called to witness before a New York Grand Jury against Alger Hiss, one of among high government officials. Chambers, a one-time Communist, accused Hiss of trying to transmit confidential government documents to the Soviet Union through him.

When asked by one of the jurors what it meant to be a Communist, Chambers struggled to provide a clear answer. Finally he told them that when he was a Communist, he had three heroes.

His first hero was Polish, a political prisoner in Warsaw. While there, he insisted on cleaning the toilet of the other prisoners because he felt that the most devoted member of any community should take upon him the lowliest tasks as an example to those who were less devoted. "That," said Chambers, "is one thing it means to be a Communist."

His second hero was a German Jew who was captured and court-martialed during a revolution in Bavaria. When told that he was under the sentence of death, he replied, "We Communists are always under sentence of death." "That," said Chambers, "is another thing it means to be a Communist."

His third hero was Russian exiled to a Siberian prison camp where political prisoners were flogged. He sought some means of protesting that inhumane persecution. Finally in desperation he drenched himself with kerosene, set himself on fire, and burned himself to death as a protest against what he considered a great indignity. "That," repeated Chambers, "is also what it means to be a Communist."

How many of us Christians reveal that kind of commitment to our Lord? How zealous are you in Worshipping God?? Such commitment is costly.

o Worship is important to the church. As a matter of fact the church is powerless without worship.

o Worship is important to the soul. Worship is how we come into the presence of God.

o If we don’t go into the presence of God we cannot grow spiritually, therefore we shall surely die spiritually speaking.

o That’s why when we come to the house of God it is vital that we worship.

o We need to get our minds off the busy day that we had and get our minds on God. We can’t worship God if our minds are everywhere but here.

WORSHIP IS IMPORTANT. WE HAVE TO HAVE WORSHIP

• Worship is what brings revival. It brings the power of the Holy Ghost and with the power of the Holy Ghost comes deliverance, peace, and victory.

THAT’S WHY THE DEVIL WANTS TO HINDER OUR WORSHIP.

• THE DEVIL will do whatever it takes to distract you to the point that when you get to church you don’t feel like worshiping. That’s how he robs us of our blessing.

• Because worship is what gives us the strength to get up and go on.

• If we don’t worship we become weak and feeble and easy to whip.

SO THE DEVIL WANTS TO HINDER OUR WORSHIP.

• There is an old song that we sang when I was a boy: “As we gather...”

• And that is exactly why we have gathered here today and there’s not a problem or a devil that’s going to stop us from worshiping God.

This is God’s house, and He’s worthy of all we can give

Question: Why did I come to church today? What’s my purpose?

• Did I come to worship God or did I come for some other reason?