2 Chr 29:28 (NKJV) So all the assembly worshiped, the
singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded; all <this continued> until the
burnt offering was finished.
This is an interesting arrangement. The assembly was
apparently in prayer while the Eternal was being worshipped in song and
the offering was being burnt. It certainly sounds like everyone was busy.
Essentially this is what we and most churches do, but not at the same
time, and not, of course, with a burnt offering.
Job 1:20 (NKJV) Then Job arose, tore his robe, and
shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped.
I think we would all agree that we need not tear our
clothes and shave our heads to get closer to God when we pray. But then
Job was a very righteous guy.
Psa 95:6 (NKJV) Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.
Now this was David - A very highly regarded man in God's
eyes. And yet his method of worship seemed very plain, very similar to
what we might do.
Dan 2:46 (NKJV) Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his
face, prostrate before Daniel, and commanded that they should present an
offering and incense to him.
Prostrate prayer was apparently appropriate in Babylon
because all references to worship in the book of Daniel use the word which
means prostrating oneself in prayer, even in Daniel's prophecies.
So, as we have seen, the Old Testament’s form of worship
was basically prayer, but also describes one’s position while praying, as
well as sacrifices and other supporting activities.
3. The New Testament puts quite a different emphasis on
worship. I think it can best be described in John 4:23-24. This scripture
will be the key scripture of this sermon.
John 4:23-24 (NIV) Yet a time is coming and has now come
when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and
truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
{24} God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in
truth."
Pretty explicit, isn't it? Now the question is, what does
He mean by 'in spirit and truth'? And what does He mean "a time is coming
and has now come"? Let's answer the second question first: I believe
Christ is saying that "a time has now come" for His followers who have
God's Spirit to be able to worship God in spirit. "A time is coming"
for everyone to be able to worship God in spirit. That will come
after God gives everyone His Spirit. We are talking about the
establishment of the New Covenant - now, for those Christians who have now
received God's Spirit and are daily motivated to be guided by His Spirit
in everything they do - later for those who will receive it when
the whole world receives it.
First, let's look at 'truth'. There are many, many
scriptures which talk about truth. Christ began many of his statements
with 'I tell you the truth'. Pontius Pilate asked and you may ask 'What is
truth'? Let’s go through some scriptures which will tell us what truth is.
John 1:14 (NKJV) And the Word became flesh and dwelt
among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of
the Father, full of grace and truth.
verse 17 (NKJV) For the law was given through Moses,
<but> grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
Luke 20:21 (NKJV) Then they asked Him, saying, "Teacher,
we know that You say and teach rightly, and You do not show personal
favoritism, but teach the way of God in truth:
John 8:31-32 (NKJV) Then Jesus said to those Jews who
believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples
indeed. {32} "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you
free."
So to have truth, we must hold to Christ's teaching.
verse 40 (NKJV) "But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who
has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this.
Christ heard the truth from God the Father.
John 14:6 (NKJV) Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the
truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
John 15:26 (NIV) "When the Counselor comes, whom I will
send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth
who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me."
We who have God's Spirit are inspired by His Spirit to
understand the teachings of God the Father.
John 16:13 (NIV) "But when he, the Spirit of truth,
comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his
own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what
is yet to come."
John 17:17 (NKJV) [Christ praying to His Father]
"Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. [The
Father’s Word is truth.]
Rom 1:25 (NKJV) who exchanged the truth of God
for the lie, and worshiped and served the creation rather than the
Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
This verse nails secular environmentalists whose main
concern is protecting the environment at any cost but have little or no
appreciation for the Creator or His Words.
2 Th 2:13 (NIV) "But we ought always to thank God for
you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God
chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and
through belief in the truth."
1 Tim 3:15 (NIV) "if I am delayed, you will know how
people ought to conduct themselves in God's household, which is the
church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth."
The foundation of truth is God's Church -- God’s assembly
of people.
1 Pet 1:22 (NIV) "Now that you have purified yourselves
by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your
brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart."
Very much a teaching of Christ, which, as we just read,
came originally from the Father.
2 Pet 1:5-12 (NIV) For this very reason, make every
effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness,
knowledge; {6} and to knowledge, self-control; and to
self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;
{7} and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly
kindness, love. {8} For if you possess these qualities in
increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and
unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. {9} But if
anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has
forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. {10} Therefore,
my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election
sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, {11} and you will
receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ. {12} So I will always remind you of these things, even
though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you
now have.
Faith contains seven qualities: Goodness, knowledge, self
control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. Those who
are baptized should be demonstrating these qualities.
Again, truth is the teachings of Christ, which come from
the Father.
1 John 4:6 (NIV) "We are from God, and whoever knows
God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to
us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit
of falsehood."
Only the converted can accept God's truth, others reject
it as unimportant in their lives.
1 John 5:6 (NIV) "This is the one who came by water and
blood--Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and
blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the
truth."
2 John 1:4 (NIV) "It has given me great joy to find some
of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us."
The truth then could be described as the commandments of
God, the teachings of Christ, and the inspiration and guidance of the Holy
Spirit - all originating with the Father.
As we read in John 14:6, Jesus said that what he said was
the way and the truth and the life.
Back to John 4:23 to consider worshiping in Spirit.
John 4:23-24 (NIV) Yet a time is coming and has now come
when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and
truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
{24} God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in
truth."
In order to worship in spirit we must have God's
Holy Spirit. We will then want to worship God, not just worship Him
because we have to by writ, like the Jews of the Old Testament. The
more of God's Spirit we have, the more God will hear our prayers. When we
are in total obedience to Christ (i.e. obedience to God and love for our
fellow man) and are filled with God's Spirit, we can receive whatever we
ask. We are, at that point, "on God's wavelength."
John 9:31 (NIV) We know that God does not listen to
sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will.
Another plus for those of us who understand the need for
good works.
John 15:7 (NKJV) "If you abide in Me, and My words abide
in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
Now that we have covered the prime ingredients in worship,
I want to read to you some scriptures which describe Christian worship:
Rom 12:1 (NKJV) I beseech you therefore, brethren, by
the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice,
holy, acceptable to God, <which is> your reasonable service.
The 12th chapter of Romans is the Christian Living
Chapter. Paul, here, differentiates living sacrifices, as opposed
to the dead animal sin sacrifices required for the Jews prior to the
sacrifice of Christ. Among other things, verse 1 encourages us to serve
others.
James 1:27 (NIV) Religion that God our Father accepts as
pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their
distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
Could he be talking about the violent and immoral TV,
movies, music, drugs, adultery, fornication, and hateful attitudes of our
day?
Acts 18:13 (NIV) "This man," they charged, "is
persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the
law."
Paul was preaching that circumcision was not required for
people to become Christians. The non-Christian Jews of his day could only
relate to physical acts of worship, like circumcision and animal
sacrifice, not spiritual worship.
Phil 3:3-7 (NKJV) For we are the circumcision, who
worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no
confidence in the flesh, {4} though I also might have confidence in the
flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more
so: {5} circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, <of> the
tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a
Pharisee; {6} concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the
righteousness which is in the law, blameless. {7} But what things were
gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.
So Paul had as much or more reason to be judged as a
righteous Jew (actually he was a Benjamite) as anyone, but as perfect a
Jew as he was, he cast it all aside to be able to worship by the Spirit of
God -- to worship the Father in spirit and truth. Christ’s righteousness
far exceeded the righteousness of Paul in keeping of the law.
Col 2:20-23 Speaks of Self-imposed worship - piety or
voluntary worship:
Col 2:20-23 (NKJV) Therefore, if you died with Christ
from the basic principles of the world, why, as <though> living in the
world, do you subject yourselves to regulations; {21} "Do not touch, do
not taste, do not handle," {22} which all concern things which perish
with the using; according to the commandments and doctrines of men? {23}
These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed
religion [worship], <false> humility, and neglect of the body, <but
are> of no value against the indulgence of the flesh [sensual
indulgence].
To explain this passage, let's refer back to verse 8.
(Col 2:8-10 NKJV) Beware lest anyone cheat you through
philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men,
according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to
Christ. {9} For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;
{10} and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality
and power.
Paul was counteracting the Colossian heresy, which in
part, taught that for salvation one needed to combine faith in a non-deity
Christ with secret knowledge and with man-made regulations concerning such
physical and external practices as circumcision, eating and drinking, and
living an ascetic life of contemplation and self-denial. Verse 22 should
probably be translated "We would not handle, taste, nor even touch". Paul,
in verse 23 is condemning this self-imposed, ascetic, sanctimonious
worship as worthless because it totally failed to control sinful desires.
I am going to read the entire chapter of Hebrews 9, and a
little of Hebrews 10 because, I believe, it most clearly reflects why much
of the worship of the Old Testament had to be replaced by the worship
described in the New Testament.
These scriptures will show the inferiority of the old
sacrifices to the sacrifice of Christ as the means of access to God: The
blood of bulls and goats was of no real value as a sin offering; while the
blood of Christ is all-sufficient to purge away sin, but there is more..
(Heb 9 NKJV) Then indeed, even the first covenant had
ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary.
This reflects specified ceremonies for worship and a
worldly sanctuary.
{2} For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in
which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called
the sanctuary; {3} and behind the second veil, the part of the
tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All,
The Jews seemed to believe the first room signified this
world. The Holy of Holies signified heaven where we are face to face with
our Father.
{4} which had the golden censer and the ark of the
covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the
golden pot that had the manna, Aaron's rod that budded, and the
tablets of the covenant; {5} and above it were the cherubim of glory
overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in
detail. {6} Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests
always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the
services. {7} But into the second part the high priest went alone once a
year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the
people's sins committed in ignorance; {8} the Holy Spirit indicating
this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest
while the first tabernacle was still standing. {9} It was symbolic for
the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which
cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the
conscience; {10} concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings,
and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation. {11} But
Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater
and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this
creation. {12} Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with
His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having
obtained eternal redemption.
Let’s turn briefly to Exodus 24:3-8.
(Exo 24:3-8 NKJV) So Moses came and told the people all
the words of the LORD and all the judgments. And all the people answered
with one voice and said, "All the words which the LORD has said we will
do." {4} And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD. And he rose early in
the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and
twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel. {5} Then he
sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings
and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the LORD. {6} And Moses
took half the blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he
sprinkled on the altar. {7} Then he took the Book of the Covenant and
read in the hearing of the people. And they said, "All that the LORD has
said we will do, and be obedient." {8} And Moses took the blood,
sprinkled it on the people, and said, "This is the blood of the covenant
which the LORD has made with you according to all these words."
Ex 24:3-8 describes the covenant or contract God made with
the Israelites at Sinai when Moses came down from the mount with
the ten commandments. It states that the sacrifice must be made with the
blood of oxen. The blood of the oxen was then sprinkled on the people to
confirm their agreement to keep the ten commandments. Heb 9:12 seems to
describe another covenant between God and the Israelites thirty nine years
later in the Moab wilderness. It is described in Deut 29. Please hold your
place in Hebrews 9 and turn to Deut 29.
(Deu 29:1-21 NKJV) These are the words of the covenant
which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in
the land of Moab, besides the covenant which He made with them in
Horeb [Sinai]. {2} Now Moses called all Israel and said to them:
"You have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of
Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land; {3} "the
great trials which your eyes have seen, the signs, and those great
wonders. {4} "Yet the LORD has not given you a heart to perceive and
eyes to see and ears to hear, to this very day. {5} "And I have led
you forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes have not worn out on
you, and your sandals have not worn out on your feet. {6} "You have not
eaten bread, nor have you drunk wine or similar drink, that you may know
that I am the LORD your God. {7} "And when you came to this place, Sihon
king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan came out against us to battle, and
we conquered them. {8} "We took their land and gave it as an inheritance
to the Reubenites, to the Gadites, and to half the tribe of Manasseh.
{9} "Therefore keep the words of this covenant, and do them, that
you may prosper in all that you do. {10} "All of you stand today before
the LORD your God: your leaders and your tribes and your elders and your
officers, all the men of Israel, {11} "your little ones and your wives;
also the stranger who is in your camp, from the one who cuts your wood
to the one who draws your water; {12} "that you may enter into covenant
with the LORD your God, and into His oath, which the LORD your God makes
with you today, {13} "that He may establish you today as a people for
Himself, and that He may be God to you, just as He has spoken to
you, and just as He has sworn to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob. {14} "I make this covenant and this oath, not with you alone,
{15} "but with him who stands here with us today before the LORD our
God, as well as with him who is not here with us today {16} (for you
know that we dwelt in the land of Egypt and that we came through the
nations which you passed by, {17} and you saw their abominations and
their idols which were among them; wood and stone and silver and gold);
{18} "so that there may not be among you man or woman or family or
tribe, whose heart turns away today from the LORD our God, to go and
serve the gods of these nations, and that there may not be among you a
root bearing bitterness or wormwood; {19} "and so it may not happen,
when he hears the words of this curse, that he blesses himself in his
heart, saying, 'I shall have peace, even though I follow the dictates of
my heart'; as though the drunkard could be included with the sober. {20}
"The LORD would not spare him; for then the anger of the LORD and His
jealousy would burn against that man, and every curse that is written in
this book would settle on him, and the LORD would blot out his name from
under heaven. {21} "And the LORD would separate him from all the tribes
of Israel for adversity, according to all the curses of the covenant
that are written in this Book of the Law,
I interjected the above verses from Deut 29 to show that
there seems to have been two contracts between the Eternal and the
Israelites. The first at Sinai committing them to obey the ten
commandments and the judgments; the second thirty nine years later, just
before they crossed the Jordan River and entered Canaan, which seems to
have added the rest of the laws due to their violation of the simple rules
the Eternal had given them at Sinai.
Deut 31:24-27 shows that the law of Moses was in addition
to the Decalogue.
(Deu 31:24-27 NKJV) So it was, when Moses had completed
writing the words of this law in a book, when they were finished, {25}
that Moses commanded the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of
the LORD, saying: {26} "Take this Book of the Law, and put it
beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may
be there as a witness against you; {27} "for I know your
rebellion and your stiff neck. If today, while I am yet alive with you,
you have been rebellious against the LORD, then how much more after my
death?
The KJV says "Take this book of the law, and put it in
the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may
be there for a witness against thee."
The NASB says "Take this book of the law and place it
beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may
remain there as a witness against you."
Back to Hebrews 9.
{13} For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes
of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the
flesh, {14} how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the
eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your
conscience from dead works to serve the living God? {15} And for this
reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for
the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that
those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal
inheritance. {16} For where there is a testament, there must also of
necessity be the death of the testator. {17} For a testament is in force
after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator
lives. {18} Therefore not even the first covenant was dedicated without
blood. {19} For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people
according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water,
scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the
people, {20} saying, "This is the blood of the covenant which God has
commanded you." {21} Then likewise he sprinkled with blood both the
tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry.
Again, notice that the blood of calves at this covenant
with water was sprinkled on the scarlet wool, the hyssop, the people, and
on the tabernacle. There was no tabernacle at Sinai. Paul was describing
the covenant made in the Moab wilderness described in Deut 29.
{22} And according to the law almost all things are
purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no
remission. {23} Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things
in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things
themselves with better sacrifices than these. {24} For Christ has not
entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true,
but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;
{25} not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters
the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another; {26} He then would
have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now,
once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the
sacrifice of Himself. {27} And as it is appointed for men to die once [Isa
45:9], but after this the judgment, {28} so Christ was offered once to
bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will
appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.
(Heb 10:1-10 NKJV) For the law, having a shadow of the
good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never
with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year,
make those who approach perfect. {2} For then would they not have ceased
to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more
consciousness of sins. {3} But in those sacrifices there is a reminder
of sins every year. {4} For it is not possible that the blood of bulls
and goats could take away sins. {5} Therefore, when He came into the
world, He said: "Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body
You have prepared for Me. {6} In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin
You had no pleasure. {7} Then I said, 'Behold, I have come; In the
volume of the book it is written of Me; To do Your will, O God.'" {8}
Previously saying, "Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and
offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them" (which
are offered according to the law), {9} then He said, "Behold, I have
come to do Your will, O God." He takes away the first that He may
establish the second. {10} By that will, we have been sanctified through
the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Verses 9 and 10 talk about a new covenant but notice
nothing is said about the discontinuance of law-keeping as some portend
today.
Verses 15 through 17 answers the question of whether we
are living today under the new covenant.
(Heb 10:15-17 NKJV) But the Holy Spirit also witnesses
to us; for after He had said before, {16} "This is the covenant that
I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My
laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them," {17} then
He adds, "Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more."
Notice that verses 15 and 16, quoting Jer. 31:33 and Heb.
8:10-11, describes those who are living under the new covenant as
keeping His laws in their hearts and minds. Verse 17 then promises that
their sins and lawless deeds He will no longer remember. These people have
already been called, have lived their lives in such a manner that they
have been judged acceptable, and for that their former sins will no longer
be remembered. The implication and everyday evidence is certainly strong
that those who are not called at this time are not under the new covenant.
Only those who are called and committed are living and will live under the
new covenant.
(Rev 22:14-15 NKJV) Blessed are those who do His
commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may
enter through the gates into the city. {15} But outside are dogs
[sodomites G2965] and sorcerers [those who misuse drugs in connection
with the occult] and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and
whoever loves and practices a lie.
Heb 12:28-29 (NIV) Therefore, since we are receiving a
kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so
worship God acceptably with reverence and awe [see John 4:19-24 and
Rom 12:1, which we read earlier], {29} for our "God is a consuming
fire."
The Lord was described as a 'consuming fire' in Deut 9:3
when He went ahead of the Israelites to assure them victory over their
enemies. In the New Testament concept, He can be depended upon to stand by
us in overcoming our problems, but perhaps just as important here, the
term describes the awe that we should have for him.
The importance of thanksgiving in prayer can best be seen
in:
Eph 5:19-20 (NIV) Speak to one another with
psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to
the Lord, {20} always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Rev 4:9-11 (NIV) Whenever the living creatures give
glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for
ever and ever, {10} the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits
on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay
their crowns before the throne and say: {11} "You are worthy, our Lord
and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all
things, and by your will they were created and have their being."
This adoration and praise exemplifies the way all of us
can praise God, in prayer, according to the phrase in the outline prayer
of Luke 11:2 'Our Father in Heaven, hollowed be your name....' and further
discloses the manner of worship by the Heavenly Host.
In conclusion, let's consider the three major points we
have covered today:
1. We have discussed how the ten commandments, the law of
Moses, and the New Covenant originated and were confirmed under different
covenants.
2. We talked about the rituals described in the Old
Testament for worshiping God via sacrifices, etc. and we explained why the
sin offerings had to be replaced by the blood and love of Christ. If you
need to refresh your understanding, go back and reread Hebrews 9.
3. We discussed the New Testament requirement to worship
in Spirit and Truth, and described what that means and how that applies to
real Christians today.
Probably the most important lesson to be gained from this
sermon is that, even though God has given you this understanding of the
truth and the tools to communicate with Him, you still must do it.
Don't have a Laodicean attitude and think that just because you have been
called today, that you have it made - because like the Laodiceans of
Rev.3, if you have a self-satisfied, lukewarm attitude, He will spue you
out of His mouth.
Let’s all zealously worship God in Spirit and in Truth.