Worship Lesson Part 1

The speaker is starting a series on the concept of worship. They discuss how all human beings are worshippers and that worship defines who we are. They provide various definitions of worship and emphasize the importance of worshipping God. They also talk about idolatry and how it takes many forms such as materialism and self-indulgence. The speaker explains why we should worship God, including the commandment to do so, God's love for us, and the abundant life that comes from worshipping Him. Good morning L.A. Christian Fellowship, as always it's a privilege to have the honor to speak in our fellowship and so I've been doing a lot of research both in the Bible and with the various texts, spiritual texts on the concept of worship and so I'm going to start a series, I know it's going to be a series because again it's a very complex topic but I'm hoping I can do it in three lessons, I'm not quite sure if three is going to be enough, we'll see. But today is my first lesson on the concept of worship and of every lesson I've ever taught for our fellowship, I really feel humbled by this lesson, to say I'm challenged by what I'm about to teach is an understatement. And so part one is entitled All Human Beings are Worshippers, David Foster Wallace an American author says there's no such thing as not worshiping, everybody worships, the only choice we get is what to worship. Another great quote by Paul David Tripp an evangelist from a church called the Redeemer's Hand says human beings by their very nature are worshippers, worship is not something we do, it defines who we are, you cannot divide human beings into those who worship and those who don't, everybody worships, it's just a matter of what or whom we serve. I feel like denying these concepts that all human beings worship is like claiming to have 20-20 vision but actually being blind, you can't turn on the TV, the internet and go out into this world and not see a world consumed by worship. What is worship exactly? Well there's several definitions, according to dictionary.com it is the feeling of expression of reverence and adoration for a deity as a noun, as a verb it's the show reverence and adoration with honoring with religious rites. I prefer C.S. Lewis' definition of worship and it says worship means respectful devotion, loving, honoring and obeying someone who deserves our highest regard. Worshiping God means acknowledging and celebrating his power and perfection and gratitude. Worship includes understanding and awe of God, God's holiness, we remember how great he is and behave reverently in his presence. But honestly the best place to look for the definition is really demonstrated through the word of God in Psalm 96, I'll give you a moment to turn there. In Psalm 96 it reads, O sing to the Lord a new song, sing to the Lord all the earth, sing to the Lord, bless his name, proclaim the good news of his salvation from day to day, declare his glory among the nations, his wonder among all people, for the Lord is great and greatly to be praised, he is to be feared above all gods, for all the gods of the people are idols, but the Lord made the heavens, honor and majesty are before him, strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. Give to the Lord, O families of the people, give to the Lord glory and strength, give to the Lord the glory due his name, bring an offering and come into his courts, O worship the Lord in beauty of holiness, tremble before him all the earth, say among the nations, the Lord reigns, the world also is firmly established, it shall not be moved, he shall not judge the peoples righteously, let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad, let the sea roar in all its fullness, let the field be joyful, and all that is in it, then all the trees of the woods will rejoice before the Lord, for he is coming, for he is coming to judge the earth, he shall judge the world with righteousness and the people with truth. This passage is an amazing passage that demonstrates how we as followers of God need to worship him. It also demonstrates another type of worship. If you look in verse 5, it says, for all the gods of the people are idols. See what this is talking about is idolatry. Idolatry is defined as worshiping anything that isn't God. And throughout the Bible, human beings struggle with idolatry, with knowing there is a God, but turning to other things and worshiping those things instead of God. In Isaiah 2, verse 8-9, it reads, The land is also full of idols. They worship the work of their own hands, that work their own fingers have made. People bow down, and each man humbles himself, therefore do not forgive them. Modern idolatry takes a lot of forms. Just to name a few, materialism, the love of money. In Exodus 20, verse 17, it says, You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You should not covet your neighbor's wife or manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor. God calls us not to covet our neighbor's stuff. You know, keeping up with the Joneses. How many people do you know are constantly striving to have what's better because of how it looks to the world? The love of money is consuming our world. And it's easy to get there, right? Because everything is so expensive. We live in one of the most expensive cities in the world, LA. It's easy to get caught up trying to make enough money to live and survive. And then, you know, it's easy to lose track. Sometimes our careers, I know for me, I can speak to this, our careers can become our idols. Our jobs can become more important than worshiping God, than taking care of our family, than loving the people in our lives, who need it most. And see, in Ecclesiastes 2, verse 21, it reads, For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This, too, is meaningless and a great misfortune. What does a man give for all the toil and anxiety, striving with his labors into the sun? All his day's work is pain and grief. Even at night, his mind does not rest. This, too, is meaningless. See, idolatry doesn't provide fulfillment, long-term fulfillment. It might fulfill us here and there for tiny bits of time, but it's not what we're meant for. It's fake worship. The next type of idolatry is self-idolatry. And this is where we start fulfillment of the self for the exclusion of all others and their needs and desires. This leads to self-indulgence through alcohol, drugs, sexual sins, and food. The affluent countries of our world have unlimited access to alcohol and drugs, prescription drugs even among children, and food. Obesity rates, Dean was preaching on this last week, in the U.S. have skyrocketed. It's an epidemic. The self-control we desperately need is spurned in our insatiable desire to eat, drink, and medicate more and more. We resist any effort to get us to curb our appetites. We're determined to make ourselves the God of our lives. And that's how it started in the Garden of Eden, where Satan tempted Eve and said, you'll be like God in Genesis 3.5. See, the question today that needs to be answered is, who are you worshiping? What do you devote your time, energy, your thoughts to? Are you experiencing true worship today? Are you living in idolatry? Point number two, why should you worship God? Obviously, as a Christian, I believe worshiping God is truly the greatest thing. There are many reasons, in my opinion, that we need to worship God, and not other things. The first is it's commanded. Turn with me to Exodus chapter 20, starting in verse 3. In Exodus chapter 20, starting in verse 3, it reads, You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the knees. You shall not bow down to them or serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. In Deuteronomy 6, if you flip over a book or two, it reads in chapter 6, verse 5, it says, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And this is a quote, this is the Old Testament quote of Jesus, where he kind of says the same thing, but adds a few more. In Mark 12, verse 30, it says, And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first and greatest commandment. See, God commands us. He created us, and He commands us to only worship Him. For our devotion, our love, our aspirations, to be fixated on Him. And when we don't do that, again, we're going against our very fundamental nature. Second reason why I believe we should worship God, so turn with me to John chapter 3. I'm sure most of you have heard this scripture before. In John chapter 3, starting in verse 16, it says, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. Do you realize how much God loved you? God loves each and every one of us so much that He gave His Son to die for us. In 1 John 2, verse 2, it says, And He Himself is our propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world. Jesus didn't just die for people who are choosing to follow Him. He died for everyone in the entire world. Take a moment to think about this, whether you're a Christian or not. Jesus Christ died for you. Someone that gave their life so you would live differently. Do you? I have such a hard time with, I can't imagine having my children die for someone else. I can't fathom that type of love. And yet God loved us that much. Third, turn with me to John chapter 10. In John 10, verse 10, it says, The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and they may have it more abundantly. See, the thief is Satan. And all of idolatry, all of idolatry leads to our destruction. But Jesus has come to give us abundant life. All idolatry and everything it promises, and Jesus, want everything from you. They want all your worship. This world's idols of money, of sex and drugs, this world's idols of taking care of yourself and looking after number one. For you to be successful, it calls us to give our very all, all of our worship to them. Power does. Sexual fulfillment. Athletics. These are not what make Jesus unique. Jesus also calls for us to give him everything. But what makes him unique is that he gave everything first. All those idols didn't give up anything to get you. Jesus gave up his very life so that you could be free to worship your Father in heaven. Jesus is the only one who lays his life down first before he asks you to pursue him. He dies. He gives up everything and then calls him to himself. There's no force, only wooing. His love is so great that it compels us, it should compel us, to lay down our lives in return. That's the only appropriate response when we understand just how great his sacrifice for us was. There's a problem with this though. See, you can't learn this mentally. You can't sit in a Bible study or sit here and mentally hear what I'm saying and completely understand how much he loves you. It's not possible. This is not an exercise in learning, a mental game. This is a heart game. Worship requires your heart. In order for you to understand how much Jesus loves you, you've actually got to start worshiping. You've got to start striving to live what Jesus teaches. Years and years ago, I was sharing this with some brothers in a Bible study here recently. I was in a Bible study, I was studying the Bible with an atheist. He was a very intelligent young man and very respectful and he heard me and listened. We did two or three or four Bible studies and he was always very agreeable, very kind. But he wasn't coming to face. You know, he understood the stories in the Bible and those were all nice and good, but he wasn't ready to make any changes in his life. I realized the problem is it was all hitting his head and not his heart. I told him, I said, this is never going to work. You need to start living like a Christian. You need to start worshiping God and Jesus and then faith will spark in your heart. And that's the only way it can be done. You can't, you know, attempt to worship in sports and hear how the sport works. You actually have to participate in the sport to learn how it really works properly. Same thing here. Christianity is not an idle thing, it's a hands-on activity that takes all of your effort, all of your strength, all of your love, all of your commitment. And speaking of that young man, he became a Christian because he finally started having faith. God changed his heart. The fourth reason I believe you need to worship the Lord, our Heavenly Father, is you need to see the witnesses. You need to realize the witnesses that exist, that existed. In Luke 24 verse 48 it says, And you are witnesses of these things. In Acts 10 verse 39 it says, And we are witnesses of all things which he did, both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging him on a tree. This is talking about the apostles. And they actually witnessed the physical life of Jesus. They saw his death. They saw the miracles he performed. They saw and heard his teachings. They witnessed his resurrection. Jesus in his existence is a historical fact. Even his death is a record in history. But these men are witnesses of him being who he said he was. He was the Son of God and the King of kings and Lord of lords. And these men are the fathers of Christianity. The reason we believe, these men went to their deaths. Some people are like, well, you know, there's no evidence that Jesus was resurrected. These men had the opportunity to die of old age. But instead of recanting who Jesus really was, they went to their deaths, brutal murders, because of their faith in Jesus. They died, they lived impoverished lives. They were not living in some fancy church and dying of natural causes, but rather they were living their lives for Jesus to their very horrific deaths. They're our witnesses. No man dies for a lie, not when given the opportunity to be free. But these men died for the truth, and that truth is that Jesus is the Son of God and he came to free us from our sins. Lastly, turn with me to Philippians chapter 2. Philippians chapter 2 verse 9 says, Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name which is above every name, that the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven and of those on earth and of those under the earth. The last reason you should worship God is because sooner or later it's going to happen. You're going to bow your knee and worship Jesus. It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when. Jesus says he will return, and when he returns, every knee, every human being who has ever lived on this planet will bow before him. The ones that get to live with him in eternity are the ones who worshipped him here on earth before he came back. And that's the reality. That's what we need to consider, because sooner or later you will bow your knee and worship the King. In conclusion, today is my introduction to the study of worship, what worship is, why we should worship the Lord and not worship idols. I'd like to conclude with my favorite story on worship, and that's found in Daniel 3. I'll give you a moment to turn there. In Daniel 3, to set the context, the followers of God, the Israelites, have been taken captive by the King of Babylon, and they are living in Babylonia. The King has taken the leaders of the Israelite nation, the young leaders, and assimilated into his leadership. So there are Israelite leaders amongst the Babylonian leaders. And here we go. Nebuchadnezzar, starting in verse 1, Nebuchadnezzar the King made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits, and its width sixty-six cubits. He set it up to the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. And Nebuchadnezzar sent word to gather together the satraps, the administrators, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the officials of the province, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar had set up. So the satraps, the administrators, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the officials of the province gathered together for the dedication of the image the King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Then the herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, that at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, psalter, symphony, and all kinds of music, you shall fall down and worship the God the gold image of King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. And whoever does not fall down in worship shall be cast immediately into the midst of the burning, fiery furnace. So at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, symphony, and all kinds of music, all the people, nations, and languages, fell down and worshipped the gold image which Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Therefore at that time certain chaldeans came from and accused the Jews. They spoke and said to the King Nebuchadnezzar, O King, live forever! You, O King, have made a decree that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, psalter, symphony, and all kinds of music shall fall down and worship the gold image. And whoever does not fall down in worship shall be cast in the midst of the burning, fiery furnace. There are certain Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O King, have not paid due regard to you. They did not serve your God to worship the gold image which you have set up. Then Nebuchadnezzar, in rage and fury, gave the command to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. So they brought these men before the King. Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying to them, Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you did not serve my God to worship the gold image which I have set up? And if you are ready, at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, psalter, symphony, and all kinds of music, and you fall down and worship the image which I have made, good. But if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning, fiery furnace. And who is the God who will deliver you from my hands? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the King, O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from this burning, fiery furnace, and he will deliver us from your hand, O King. But if not, let it be known to you, O King, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up. But if not, let it be known to you, O King, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up. Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the expression on his face changed to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And he spoke and commanded that they heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated. And he commanded certain men of valor who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and cast them into the burning, fiery furnace. These men were bound in their coats, their trousers, their turbans, and their other garments, and there were cats in the midst of the burning, fiery furnace. Therefore because the king's command was urgent and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning, fiery furnace. Verse 24 Then the king Nebuchadnezzar was astonished, and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, Did we not cast three men bound in the midst of the fire? They answered and said to the king, True, O king, look, he answered, I see four men loose walked in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt, and the form of their forth is like the Son of God. Then Nebuchadnezzar went near the mouth of the burning, fiery furnace, and saying, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, come here. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came from the midst of the fire. And the satraps, the administrators, the governors, and the king's counselors got together, and they saw these men of whose bodies the fire had no power, their hair of their head was not singed, nor were their garments affected, and the smell of the fire was not on them. Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted in him. And they have frustrated the king's words and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own god. Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, or language, which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut into pieces, and their houses shall be made into an ash heap, because there is no other god who can deliver like this. Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon. This is an amazing story on worship. And the first thing I'd like to say is, we've talked about this many times as a fellowship. There's two kind of sources of Bibles we use in our fellowship, both the Masoretic and the Septuagint. For those of you who don't own a Septuagint or have never read a Septuagint, this chapter in the Masoretic is missing two huge portions of Bible text that the Septuagint includes. And they are amazing. From within the fire, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Abednego says a prayer, a prayer in the fire, and it's recorded in the Septuagint. And then while in the fire, the three of them sing a song, and it's a gorgeous, beautiful song, truly very worshiping. So that's way cool. You should check it out sometime, because it's just amazing. However, let's focus on the lesson here. First question to all of us, is your worship this strong? Look at verse 18. In verse 18, they say, Even if... even if... in some versions in verse 18, say, Even if he... So they're actually saying here, God has the ability to save us, but even if he chooses not to, we're not going to worship that gold. We're going to stay true to our faith and continue to worship God. Would you be able to do that? Is your worship that strong? What if the most important prayer of your life was being said? What if you knew in your heart God could say no? Every day we pray for God's will to be done. What if his will is to say no to your prayer, something you hope he says yes to? Would you still worship him? Those of you who don't feel like you're striving to worship Christ daily, are you like King Nebuchadnezzar? Do you need to see a miracle to begin worshiping God, or do you need to be humbled before you realize you need Christ in your life? In the very next chapter, despite witnessing this miracle, Nebuchadnezzar lost his entire kingdom for the purpose of helping him realize and acknowledge and worship God. What will it take to get you to start learning about Jesus? What if God is using this very moment, right now, you being here, to reach out to your heart and nudge you to see how much he loves you and wants to be a part of your life? Brothers and sisters, what if today, God is calling us to consider our daily worship, every day, of him, and he's calling us to strive to transform? I'll close with Romans 12, verses 1 through 2. It says, Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, that this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and prove what God's will is, his good and pleasing and perfect will. Thank you.