Worship

If you would open your Bible to Deuteronomy chapter 17, there's a few different subjects that are addressed in this chapter, so we're going to break it into pieces.

Deuteronomy 17 · chapter mention

And tonight we're going to look at the first seven verses of this chapter.

And in this portion of the chapter, Moses is actually speaking to God's people about the serious offense of inappropriate worship.

You know, when we think about serious offenses to God, we also often think about heinous sins and crimes and blasphemy and those sorts of things.

But here in this text we realize that inappropriate worship, an attempt to worship God in the wrong way, is also a serious offense.

Let's read verses one through seven.

Thou shalt not sacrifice unto the Lord thy God any bullock or sheep wherein is blemish or any evil favouredness, for that is an abomination unto the Lord thy God.

If there be found among you within any of thy gates which the Lord thy God giveth thee, man or woman that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the Lord thy God, in transgressing his covenant, and hath gone and served other gods and worshiped them, either the sun or moon or any of the hosts of heaven which I have not commanded.

And it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, and inquired diligently, and behold it be true, and the thing certain that such abomination is wrought in Israel.

Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed that wicked thing unto thy gates, even that man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones till they die.

At the mouth of two witnesses or three witnesses shall he that is worthy of death be put to death.

But at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.

The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people, so thou shalt put the evil away from among you.

Let's pray.

Dear Lord, we just ask that you would give us understanding minds, open eyes, and obedient hearts as we come to your word this evening.

Lord, we of all things want to get our worship right.

We don't want to make an attempt to worship you that falls short of what you accept.

Father, we understand that there are so many different variations and options in worship.

And we understand that, Lord, there is a diversity to these things.

We certainly don't want to cross the line.

We don't want to be found offering you unacceptable and inappropriate worship.

And so, Father, may we come to realize that it is not just the intention that matters, but it's also the execution.

And Lord, I pray and ask that you would help us to be true worshipers, worshipers who bring you glory and honor to the highest and to the fullest.

I pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.

I think it's apparent there from those verses that Moses is addressing them and letting them know it's a serious offense to have inappropriate worship.

Specifically, he tells us that one of those offenses is sacrificing or offering a blemished sacrifice in verse 1.

And so understand there is following every other protocol that seems to be inherent in the verse.

Every other protocol is followed.

They are worshiping Jehovah, they are doing it in the chosen place, they're bringing it to the tabernacle, but the one issue is that the animal has a blemish, and that was forbidden by God.

That's offense that's listed there in verse 1.

Verse 2, violating God's law, that if they transgress the covenant, and so that's that law that governs them, and so that was a violation.

And then the uh the third citation was worshiping anything other than God.

And I fear that in our society we always kind of breathe a sigh of relief when it has anything to do with idolatry because we're not idolaters, and we think, well, we're not going and worshiping some other God, and we're not going to a shrine, and we're not doing this.

But I would remind you that putting anything higher in value or higher in priority in our life above God is also idolatry.

And so in America, it's not an idol, it's oftentimes materialism or something that we're chasing, success, whatever it may be.

If that becomes our consuming obsession, then that is worshiping that object or at least placing a higher value on it than we place on God.

And I would point out that the fact that these violations in the area of worship were punishable by death should make us aware that worship is something that we should be informed about, something that we should place importance on because God places importance on it.

You know, we are all products of our environment, and sometimes we're just raised up in a certain type of church or congregation, and this is how they worship, and this is how they did it.

We never question that.

We just, these are good people, we believe the Bible, we're doing everything.

And when we consider how serious it is to worship God and to have an offense if we worship him inappropriately, I think it it ought to kind of startle us to say, you know what, I need to look into the worship I'm offering the Lord because I don't want to offer him something that is deficient.

Now, obviously, we're not under the old covenant anymore, so you and I aren't worried about offering blemished animals or transgressing that old covenant or worshiping one of those false idols of the land.

We're in a new covenant with God.

And uh and in this new covenant, we have different requirements for worship, at least as we see those laid out in Scripture.

Now, that does involve belief in the Old Testament Scripture.

We understand that when we're dealing with Old Testament, New Testament, we need to realize that believing in the Old Testament is not the same as being under the Old Testament.

I think that the Apostle Paul articulated it well in Acts 24, and I just want to read it to you for reference.

Remember, Paul had been a strict uh Pharisee who observed the strictness of the law.

I mean, every letter he tried to keep.

But then when he came to faith in Christ, he no longer strictly observed the law.

How many times did he write letters and address people who were trying to marry this legalism in with Christianity, with the grace of Christianity?

So we understand that Paul no longer saw himself under that old covenant of Moses.

Now he's in the new covenant with Christ.

So how does he view the Old Testament?

Well, he explains in Acts 24, verses 14 through 16.

Acts 24:14–16

He says, But this I confess unto you, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers.

And so he's talking about Christianity.

He's been accused of heresy by the Pharisees.

And Paul says, Hey, listen, I do worship God in a way that they call heresy.

But then he goes on to say this, believing all things which are written in the law and the prophets.

So Paul never stopped believing what the Old Testament said.

He just recognized that that law no longer had the same authority over him that it once had, because Christ is the end of the law to everyone who believes the law is fulfilled in Christ.

And so Paul says, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets, and have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.

And herein do I exercise myself to have always a conscience void of offense toward God and toward men.

And so I just point that out to you to say this is to be our understanding.

We believe the Old Testament from Genesis to Malachi, every single word.

But we don't, we are not under that law.

And so we're not keeping up with the dietary laws and the sacrificial laws and the dress laws and all of those things that were there.

We believe it's inspired scripture, but we are in a new covenant with God.

And so in this new covenant, we are still worshipers of God.

We are to worship God, but the prescription of that worship changes from the Old Testament to the New.

And if that's the case, we ought to have some idea of what New Testament requirements are for worship.

I mean, clearly they knew what the requirements were for worship in the Old Testament, and it was a dangerous thing to violate those.

And so we, as part of the New Covenant, ought to have some understanding.

What are these New Testament requirements?

And so with that in mind, I would like to take you through a survey of some New Testament passages on worship.

I'll give you the reference.

I've got them printed out to read to you.

If you want to go there to read them yourself, you can.

But I simply want to give you this overlook, this survey of these New Testament requirements of worship.

Number one, our worship must be in spirit and in truth.

Our worship must be in spirit and in truth.

We find this in what Jesus said to the woman at the well in John chapter 4, verses 23 through 24.

John 4:23–24

He said to her when she was debating and says, Well, the Jews say you worship up there in Jerusalem.

We say you worship at this mount in Samaria.

And who's to say who's right?

And Jesus responds and says, The hour is coming and now is when true worshipers, notice how he modifies that.

True worshipers, actual worshipers, shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth.

For the Father seeks such to worship him.

God is a spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

So we have a repetition, right?

Must worship in spirit and in truth.

True worshipers, according to Jesus in the New Testament dispensation, must worship God in spirit and in truth.

Well, that's great.

Those are requirements, but we got to figure out what those actually mean.

And so when he says that we must worship God in spirit, that means in the Holy Spirit.

And it is a reference to being born again by the Holy Spirit of God.

And so for a person to be able to truly worship God, they must have the Spirit of God dwelling in them.

The Holy Spirit of God comes to dwell in us the very moment that we put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ.

Only born-again believers can worship God.

Now there are people who attempt to worship God, but if they are not saved, they cannot truly worship God.

No matter how sincere, if they're not saved, it's not worshiped.

If they're not saved, it's not worship.

Maybe the person offering the blemished animal was sincere.

They just didn't want to worship their more, or they didn't want to offer their more valuable animal.

But perhaps they were sincere in wanting to worship Jehovah.

It doesn't give them any credit.

It doesn't give them any points.

What if a person sincerely wants to worship God?

If they're not saved, it's not worship.

It's not received by God.

It's not accepted by God.

And so in spirit means you have to have the Holy Spirit in you.

You're worshiping through, if I can say it this way, the connection or the conduit of the Holy Spirit between you and the Father.

And without that, there is no worship.

If that does not exist, if you are unsaved, there is no worship that is happening.

And then in truth means in reality.

In reality.

As God has revealed himself to be.

And so a true worshiper must be born again.

They must have the Holy Spirit of God in them to worship God.

But they also need to worship in truth.

They need to worship God in reality as God has revealed Himself to be.

Listen, not as they would imagine Him to be.

I'm afraid that there's a lot of people who've created an imaginary God because they don't like everything He's revealed about Himself.

They don't like that He is a God who has wrath for sin.

That just doesn't sit right with people.

I can't believe that God would send somebody to hell.

My God would never do that.

Well, you're not worshiping the God of the Bible.

Because to worship God in truth, you must worship Him in reality.

Reality is what He has revealed Himself to actually be.

Is God love?

Yes, without a doubt.

God is love.

God demonstrated His love on the cross.

He could not love us more in that He sacrificed Himself for us.

Is salvation a free gift?

Yes, it is.

Does God pursue sinners?

Yes, He does.

Will He offer free and full forgiveness to anybody who believes?

Yes.

But if somebody rejects the gospel, they will experience the full, unmitigated wrath of God for all eternity.

That's what God's revealed himself to be.

And so if I'm going to worship God in spirit and in truth, I have to worship him through my relationship with Jesus Christ, and I have to worship him as he has revealed himself to be.

Number two, our worship must be governed by the Word of God, not the traditions of men.

Our worship, the New Testament, says our worship must be governed by the Word of God, not by the traditions of men.

We find this in Mark chapter 6, verses 6 through 9, where Jesus once again is speaking.

Mark 6:6–9

And he says, This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

Howbeit, listen to this next phrase, how be it in vain they worship me.

Their worship is empty, it's in material, it's not real.

Why does he call their worship vain?

He goes on to say, Because they teach for doctrines the commandments of men.

For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men.

And he said unto them, Full well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your own tradition.

And then he says in verse thirteen, making the word of God of none effect through your tradition.

So according to Jesus, these Jews were not worshiping God in reality because they had taken the traditions that had been handed to them from their forefathers and elevated them above the word of God.

Now, I think that this is a tricky area for a lot of us because we we love traditions.

And even people who say I don't love traditions, you'll find that they fall into routines.

And routines become traditions when you carry them on long enough.

And so it's just part of human nature.

We come up with our, I mean, how many of you all have a morning routine, right?

How many of you have a nightly routine?

Well, I mean, we just fall into these rhythms, and those easily become traditions.

And there's nothing wrong with that, except when our tradition takes on more importance than the word of God.

If there's traditions that we hold that we actually place more value on than what the Bible says, then we're abusing that tradition.

And in my time in ministry, I've seen this firsthand, and you probably have too.

Some people get more upset about rearranging the furniture or the order of service than they do about neglecting preaching certain parts of the Word of God.

And so I'm not simply trying to blast people for having traditions.

Like I said, that those things are not wrong, those are natural to us.

But if those things become more important to us than the word of God, then we've missed the mark.

And if we elevate them above the word, then we are falling into this same trap that these people were in.

And so our worship must be governed by the Word of God.

Number three, theology is necessary to worship.

Theology is necessary to worship.

This comes from Acts chapter 17, when the apostle Paul is there in Athens and he's about to address them, and he says, he stands up in the midst of Mars Hill and he said, You men of Athens, I perceive or I notice that in all things you're too superstitious.

Acts 17 · chapter mention

For as I passed by and beheld your devotions, or monuments, I found an altar with this inscription, to the unknown God, whom therefore you ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.

And so the Athenians were ignorantly worshiping, uninformed worship, attempting to worship this unknown God, but they didn't know anything about him.

And Paul says, I will declare God to you.

That, my friends, is theology.

And if you read the rest of that text in Acts 17, you find one of the most theologically dense passages of Scripture in all the New Testament.

I mean, Paul goes from God being omnipotent and omniscient and omnipresent.

I mean, he just covers so many theological subjects.

And I'll remind you, theology simply means knowledge of God.

When you put that ology on the end of a word, bibliology or soteriology or theology, it is just simply the knowledge of.

And so theology is the knowledge of God, but I don't want you to think about it in an academic sense.

That's what we normally think.

Oh, theology, that sounds dull.

That sounds boring.

That sounds like thick books in small print, and I have no interest in that.

But I would encourage you not to think academically about theology.

Think about relationally theology.

How are you going to have a relationship with a God you don't know?

You say, Well, I know God, then you know theology.

Because theology is the knowledge of God.

Remember what God said to husbands in 1 Peter 3, 7.

He said, Likewise, you husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto your wife.

The way that I love my wife the best is by knowing her, right?

It is by knowing things about her.

It is knowing what she likes and what she dislikes, what frightens her and what excites her, what pleases her and what displeases her.

That comes through my knowledge of her.

And in the same sense, through my knowledge of God, I learn what he likes and what he dislikes.

And so in our relationship with God, the better that we know him, theology, the better we are at worshiping him.

As a matter of fact, uh in my personal prayer time, I begin it with worship.

I f I believe that's the format that's given by Jesus, our Father which art in heaven.

Hallowed be thy name.

It begins with worship.

And my worship in my personal prayer time consists of me singing or saying the attributes of God, praising him for them.

I worship you, God, because you are eternal.

You had no beginning and you have no ending.

You always have been, you always will be, you always are, from everlasting to everlasting.

And then I praise him because he's self-existent.

And I think about the fact that God doesn't rely on anybody or anything outside of himself to support his existence.

He is totally and truly and completely self-sufficient.

And there is none like him in the universe.

You realize every one of us are dependent on someone or something else for our existence.

You can't exist without that oxygen.

Well, that's that, do you make that inside of you?

No, no.

That's in the atmosphere.

You breathe it in.

You can't exist without food.

Do you make that inside of you?

Oh no, no.

You've got to consume that and take that in.

All of these things, even the devil, though he may be more powerful than you and I are in a sense, still relies on God for his existence because he was created by God.

Nobody created God.

God does not need the cattle of the earth.

He doesn't need our sacrifices.

How many times does he say in the Bible, I don't need your temple?

I don't dwell in houses built by men's hands.

He is truly self-existent.

Now, those things I learned over time by getting to know God from His Word.

He is eternal.

He is self-existent.

He is a Trinity.

He is love.

He is the creator.

He is the Redeemer.

He is the sovereign ruler.

He is the supreme judge.

And so all of that grows out of my knowledge of God.

The way that I worship God is through what I know about Him.

Let me ask you, what if I were to sincerely say from my heart, God, you are the greatest genie I've ever heard of in all the world?

And you're not limited to just three wishes.

You grant wish after wish after wish after wish.

You say, that's not worship.

Why?

Because it's not true.

It's not real.

It's not accurate about God.

It doesn't matter if I'm sincere about it.

That's not worship.

My worship is born out of my theology.

And if your theology is shallow, your worship is shallow.

That's why preaching is central to worship in the New Testament church.

Preaching not only glorifies God, it's not just the preacher proclaiming that God is all of these things, but it is also meant to reveal God to the hearers.

Hopefully, when you come to church, you hear the Word of God, you learn things about God.

God is explained to you, and you are adding to your knowledge of God, and you are deepening your worship of God.

When the Word of God is preached, God is revealed and it prompts people to worship.

Number four, worship is Christ-centered, not self-centered.

Worship is Christ-centered, not self-centered.

Before I read the verse, can I just simply state there's an epidemic of self-centered Christianity in our world today?

There are models of churches that are built around the needs, wants, and desires of the attendees, not around the God they're supposed to be worshiping.

And so there's a great danger to get this one wrong.

The apostle Paul said in Philippians 3 3, for we are the circumcision, which worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

Now I know that we already talked about worshiping God in spirit, but what I want you to see is that Paul juxtaposes the Spirit in the flesh here, and he is putting forth this idea that our worship of God is Christ-centered.

It's not self-centered.

This old flesh always wants to have center stage.

This old flesh wants to be catered to.

One of the great dangers in worship is that we make it about what we want, not about what God wants.

What makes me feel like I've had a worship experience?

You know, there's a lot of people who choose the church because of the way that it makes them feel.

But the danger is that what pleases my flesh does not please God.

There is some music that my flesh likes that doesn't please God.

There are some messages that my ego likes that doesn't please God.

You see, there are some things that our flesh can deceive us into.

Oh, yeah, that's my kind of church.

Man, I mean the pastor always tells me how good I am, how how much I can accomplish, how much potential I have in me.

Well, that's all fine and good if he's reading from a Bible text and explaining a scripture.

But if it's just pop self-help, that's self-centered, and that's not worship.

That's that's catering to our own ego.

But you know, it's not just those types of churches.

I mean, this can be found in any church when a person says, Well, this is the music I want to sing, this this is the sanctuary style that I want, this is what I want in a church, and nothing else will be acceptable.

Do you really think let me ask you this question?

Do you really think that Christ prefers Gregorian chants over bluegrass?

Now you might, but do you think Christ really prefers one over the other?

Do you think that Christ prefers pews over chairs?

Now listen, you can relax.

We're never putting chairs in this auditorium.

The incline is too steep, so we've got to have something bolted to the floor.

But do you really think that Christ has a preference whether you sit in a pew or a chair to worship him?

I'm not saying that you can't have a preference.

I like the pew, I like the chair, I like bluegrass, I like Gregorian chants.

It's fine to have a preference.

What I'm saying is that is that is that we make our worship about Christ.

Not about me, not about what I want, not about the creature comforts I need to feel like I'm worshiping God.

If it was required to have creature comforts, do you think the underground church in China would be able to worship God?

But are they able to worship God?

It's not about our creature comforts, it's about Christ.

And so worship must always keep Christ at the center.

And then let me finish this, even and don't get too excited about that because it's a long finish.

But let me finish with a descrip with a description of worship in heaven.

And we find this in the book of Revelation.

Revelation, beginning in chapter 4, verse 9, and I want to read the entire chapter of chapter 5.

I find it just to be so moving.

Revelation chapter 4, verse 9, it says, When those beasts give glory and honor and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth forever and ever, the four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

Revelation 4:9

And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside sealed with seven seals, and I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book and loose the seals thereof?

And no man in heaven nor in earth, neither under the earth was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.

And I wept much because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.

And one of the elders said unto me, Weep not.

Behold the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David hath prevailed to open the book and to loose the seven seals thereof, and I beheld, and lo in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders stood a lamb, as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth, and he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.

And when he had taken the book the four beasts and the four and twenty elders fell down before the lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers of the saints.

And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof.

For thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by the blood by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation, and hast made us unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth.

And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne, and the beast, and the elders, and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the lamb that was slain, to receive power and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing, and every creature which is in heaven and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them heard I saying, Blessing and honor and glory and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

And the four be said amen.

And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth forever and ever.

Is there any doubt in your mind that that is worship?

Do you have any doubt that what we just read is actually worship?

Were they worshiping?

Absolutely.

Without a doubt, they were worshiping.

I believe that that's the most perfect picture of worship we will see.

It is the worship that takes place in heaven.

The most perfect picture of it.

Obviously, the context is different.

We're not in heaven, are we?

We're not in the visible presence of the Lamb.

We're not freed from this body of sin just yet.

And so I don't believe that that heavenly worship can be exactly replicated.

We haven't got our crowns yet, so we can't throw those down, can we?

But the principles are transferable.

Let me just pull those out for you.

Exalting the Lord by humbling ourselves.

They fell down.

They fell down in his presence.

There is just something about that heart attitude of humbling ourselves in the presence of God.

Why do we bow our heads when we pray?

Well, you said it's so people don't look around when you're given the invitation.

Yeah, that's more than that.

It is an act of humbling ourselves.

It is bowing our head to God, recognizing that He is the exalted one.

We are not.

I believe that that's a non-negotiable principle of worship.

We don't come in here thinking we're so great.

We come in here thinking he's so great.

Another principle I find is that they gave God all the credit for their accomplishments.

That's what the casting those crowns are about.

Right?

They get those crowns, we're told in the Bible, for what they did in service to the Lord on this earth.

And when they cast those crowns at his feet, they're saying we couldn't have done that without you doing it through us.

And so when we come to church and we are happy about the things that God has allowed us to accomplish, whether we have had a successful career, we've built a home, we have a family, we have security, whatever it may be, all of the credit ought to be given to God.

We shouldn't think I worked so hard, I dedicated so much, I was so disciplined in doing this.

No, God, if you had not given me life, if you had not given me breath, if you had not given me opportunity, if you had not given me favor, I'd have nothing.

You get all the credit.

I thank you for every good thing in my life.

Here's another one that I see.

Verbalizing our praise in the presence of others.

It says multiple times throughout that text, chapter 4, verse 10, they said this.

John heard it.

In chapter 5, verse 9, it tells us that they said with a loud voice, and in chapter 5, verse 12, I heard the voice saying, John says.

Hey, you know what that tells me?

They weren't silent in their worship.

They didn't keep it all on the inside.

They praised God, they verbalized it in the presence of others.

Now, listen, you you may not be super comfortable with that, but that takes us back to the idea that we worship God in the way he's revealed himself, not in the way that we want to.

And one of the things that God has revealed in his word is that he put us together into a congregation and he wants to be praised in the congregation.

And the church comes together for corporate worship.

That doesn't mean we all come sit in the same room and we sit quietly and collectively.

It is the idea that we have the opportunity to praise God in front of witnesses.

And if we're ashamed to praise God in front of witnesses, Jesus says, I'll be ashamed of you before my Father.

One of the indispensable ingredients in worship, I believe, that is laid out for us here, is the idea of verbalizing praise.

How about this one?

Opening and reading the book of God.

There's a book in the hand of God.

John went because no man was found worthy to open the book, and then the lion of the tribe of Judah sets forth, and he opens the book and he looses the seals.

Now I understand that that sealed book has to do with the end times.

But isn't it interesting that there is a book that is central to this worship scene in heaven?

And there is a book that is supposed to be central to our worship here.

We open the book, we read the book, and we worship from the book.

Another element we find is recognizing the Lord's worth.

Multiple times they say, Thou art worthy.

Thou art worthy.

I've told you this before.

You probably remember.

The word worship in its English origins actually means the condition of being worth.

It is the idea that we say, I worship God, we worship him because his worth is so high to us.

He is worth more to me than anything else.

Worship.

What's worth the most to you?

That's what you worship.

And here we find that they are saying, worthy is the Lamb.

He's worth it.

He's worth my time to get up and to get the kids ready and to get dressed and to come to church.

It's worth it to put up with a multitude of personalities that I don't naturally get along with.

It's worth it to sing some of the songs that some people like, but it's not my favorite because it's praising Jesus.

It's worth it to give a portion of my goods in the offering because I know that that's propagating the gospel of Jesus Christ.

You understand that all is attributed to him being worth it.

And worship is a recognition of the Lord's worth.

Here's another one.

Worship sees Christ as both Savior and Lord.

We have those two sides of Jesus portrayed in that text of Scripture as both the lion and the lamb.

He is the lion of the tribe of Judah.

He is the conquering, fierce, apex predator that none can stand against.

And then he is the lamb that has already been slaughtered and sacrificed the most helpless.

And when we think about Jesus, we cannot divide his Lordship from His Saviorship.

We must see Him as both.

He is the Savior, He's the only one who can save me.

He did the work of salvation on the cross.

But He's the Lord.

And the Lord has ultimate and supreme authority in my life, and whatever the Lord says I'm supposed to do, that's what I do.

No if, ands, or buts.

Worshiping is recognizing him, not just for his saviorship, but also for his lordship.

Here's another prayers offered to God.

It says that those elders had golden vials, which are the prayers of the saints that were poured out as an offering to the Lord.

That tells me that prayer is part of our worship.

We begin with prayer, we end with prayer.

We insert prayer in the middle.

Why?

Because we want to offer our prayers to God.

We want to have a time when we're not just talking to each other, but we're talking to God.

We understand that we are here assembled for Him and with Him and under Him.

And so we pray to Him.

And then the final element that I find in this text is music and singing.

Now, let me uh let me digress a little bit on this one.

We uh in Sunday school class we were talking about our Baptist distinctives, and one of the people in my class was raised primitive Baptists.

Anybody know what?

You say, yeah, that we was raised that way.

We had an outhouse.

We didn't have indoor plumbing, no.

Primitive Baptists are one of those groups that don't believe in musical instruments in the church.

They say, well, the New Testament church didn't use those musical instruments, so it has to be a cappella only.

And as conservative as a piano and an organ are, they think we've done gone liberal because we brought the instruments into the church.

But you know what I find in worship in the Old Testament?

Instruments.

You know what I find in the worship in heaven?

Well, there's at least one instrument.

There's a harp.

I believe somewhere I read about a trumpet.

There's at least two instruments in heaven.

And so instrumentality is not against the protocol of God for worship.

I believe it's actually part of it.

God gifted those first uh artificers to create those instruments of worship, like tubal cane and jubil.

I can't remember which one created what, but one of those brothers.

One of those brothers started making instruments.

Then when we find when God prescribes for their worship at the temple, there were musicians that were to play and To sing.

We read in the Psalms, the very Psalms that are prescribed to be read in our worship, tells us to worship God with the harp and with the psaltery and with other instruments.

And so we find here in heaven music and singing.

I think it's important.

Remember, Deuteronomy 17 is teaching us that inappropriate worship is a serious offense to God.

Therefore, we must do our due diligence to make sure that what we call worship can be supported by Scripture.

I don't want to miss the mark.

I don't want to be locked into tradition.

I want to make sure that when we gather for worship, we are worshiping God.

And the way we do that is by making sure that we're following the protocols of the New Testament.

The second London Baptist Confession of 1689 says this about worship, and it says it well.

That is very well said.

And so, like I said, I believe that there is variety.

We're not told what style of music to sing, but the lyrics ought to be theologically, biblically sound, Christ exalting.

We're not given the dress code for what church attire looks like.

We're told to be modest.

Don't come in here showing out and showing off.

We're not told what kind of seating to have in the church.

I mean, as far as I know, the primitives still have seating, but I don't see any of it called out in the New Testament.

So I think that those things are inconsequential.

It all has to do with our spirit and with the word.

And if we've got those things right, then we can worship in any manner of condition.

And God finds it well pleasing.

Let's pray.

Dear Lord, thank you so much for your word.

Thank you for instructing us on what is acceptable and unacceptable worship.

I cannot think of anything worse than standing before you one day thinking that I had worshiped you rightly only to find out that I had it wrong.

And so, Lord, may I only go as far as what your word says, and may I follow the leadership of your Holy Spirit.

Father, I thank you that as a church we're not caught up in the latest fads of worship technology and service, but that we're more concerned about seeing you through Scripture and praising you in theologically sound music.

Father, we love you and that is why we worship you.

And so, Lord, I pray and ask that you would help us always to be guided by your word.

And I pray that in Jesus' name.

Amen.