back to index2022-01-16 Sacrifice of Praise
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If you could turn your Bibles with me to Hebrews chapter 13, we're going to be looking at verse 00:00:27.680 |
Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is the 00:00:35.280 |
And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. 00:00:43.760 |
Heavy Father we pray that you would bless this time and that we would not turn from 00:00:49.720 |
your word to the left or to the right, that we would neither add nor subtract from your 00:00:54.760 |
word, that you would send it Lord God to soften, encourage, rebuke, and strengthen the hearts 00:01:01.080 |
of men and women Lord God who have come to hear, asking for your grace in Jesus name 00:01:08.900 |
If you grew up in a Presbyterian church and they taught you the Westminster Catechism, 00:01:15.680 |
you'll probably already know that the very first and the most important part of the Catechism 00:01:21.360 |
begins by this question, what is the chief end of man? 00:01:27.080 |
So this is the first thing that you learn in the Catechism when they ask you what is 00:01:32.720 |
What is the most important thing that God desires of us that we should be pursuing? 00:01:36.960 |
And the answer to that question in the Catechism is man's chief end is to glorify God and to 00:01:46.080 |
Not to say that that's the only end but it's the most important thing that we are to pursue. 00:01:50.640 |
Now, basically this is the summary of everything that we're trying to do. 00:01:58.040 |
Whether you're a Presbyterian or not, the Catechism basically summarizes for us what 00:02:13.440 |
Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. 00:02:16.800 |
It's to praise him, to magnify him, to worship him. 00:02:23.720 |
C.S. Lewis on this reflection of praise where he kind of shares how he was really hung up 00:02:29.880 |
on this idea of how in every other instance where we are told to humble ourselves, Jesus 00:02:37.400 |
says that he who is the greatest in the kingdom of God is the one who serves, who is the least. 00:02:41.920 |
If you want to live, you have to learn to die. 00:02:45.120 |
And yet when it comes to God, he says to glorify him, magnify him, to worship him and worship 00:02:50.840 |
And so he kind of, he had a difficult time understanding this. 00:02:54.160 |
And this is the reflection that he found on this subject. 00:02:58.040 |
C.S. Lewis says on a reflection on Psalms praising God, it says, "The most obvious 00:03:03.080 |
fact about praise, whether of God or anything, strangely escaped me. 00:03:08.600 |
I thought of it in terms of compliment, approval, or giving of honor. 00:03:13.040 |
I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise. 00:03:19.120 |
The world rings with praise, lovers praising their mistresses, readers their favorite poet, 00:03:24.440 |
walkers praising the countryside players, praising their favorite game, and etc." 00:03:30.720 |
And so the point that he's trying to make is when we see it from our perspective is 00:03:34.280 |
like, oh, God wants to praise, he wants to be honored, he wants to be put on a pedestal. 00:03:38.660 |
But in reality, what God is basically saying, the chief end of man is to glorify God and 00:03:44.000 |
enjoy him forever, is that our appreciation, our restoration of this relationship would 00:03:50.360 |
lead to an abundance of joy that leads to praise. 00:03:54.840 |
And that's exactly what Jesus says when he says in John 10, 10, that I have come to give 00:04:03.620 |
That life there isn't bios, isn't just eternity, because according to Scripture, everyone has 00:04:10.880 |
Whether you have eternity in heaven, whether you have eternity in hell, the Bible says 00:04:16.380 |
He didn't come so that we would have eternity. 00:04:19.200 |
He says he came so that we may have joy, to be alive. 00:04:23.880 |
And again, whenever you think of being alive, you're talking about joy, you're talking about 00:04:29.160 |
And so Jesus says that he came to give us this joy, this life. 00:04:34.680 |
John chapter 4, 23, when Jesus is interacting with the Samaritan women, Jesus summarizes 00:04:39.760 |
their conversation, and he says, there's going to come a time whether you worship in this 00:04:43.920 |
mountain or that mountain, it's not going to matter. 00:04:46.960 |
What he's looking for, what he's searching for, are people who will worship him in spirit 00:04:56.360 |
The whole point of salvation is because we lost the ability to worship when we rebelled 00:05:03.040 |
The Bible described it as us falling short of God's glory. 00:05:07.620 |
So the whole point of salvation is to restore us so that we may reflect that glory again, 00:05:15.380 |
So discipleship, discipleship is to make worshipers of God. 00:05:23.120 |
Discipleship isn't simply going out, sharing the gospel, and people who didn't go to church 00:05:27.120 |
It's not people who didn't read the Bible to read the Bible. 00:05:32.680 |
The whole purpose of salvation is to get people who couldn't worship God to be worshipers 00:05:40.560 |
You can have people who are very diligent, very disciplined, very active in pursuing 00:05:51.980 |
That is his primary passion, that is his primary pursuit, and that's the primary thing that 00:06:02.880 |
The text that we're looking at this morning in verse 15 and 16, there are four things 00:06:06.380 |
that I want to highlight about true worship that he seeks. 00:06:10.160 |
First thing is, worship is what Jesus came to restore. 00:06:14.440 |
Worship, first and foremost, is what he came to restore. 00:06:19.140 |
When we think of salvation, sometimes we think of salvation as not dying, not going to hell. 00:06:27.400 |
We imagine what heaven would be like, but the primary thing that Jesus says is that 00:06:35.440 |
In 1 Peter 2 verse 9, it said, "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy 00:06:41.840 |
nation, a people for God's own possession, so that the reason why Jesus did everything 00:06:48.360 |
that he did is so that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who has called you out 00:06:58.000 |
Everything that he's done for us, everything he's given us, the reason why we belong to 00:07:06.000 |
Whole reason why you and I have been created was to bear his image, to reflect his glory, 00:07:14.960 |
But because of our rebellion, because of our sin, we've fallen short of that glory. 00:07:19.480 |
So the whole reason why Jesus came, and that's why he says, "Through him give praise." 00:07:24.800 |
That was the whole purpose of the book of Hebrews. 00:07:28.640 |
For 13 chapters, we've been talking about the excellencies of Christ, supremacy of Christ 00:07:34.200 |
over everything, and to don't take your eyes off of who Jesus is. 00:07:38.800 |
But the point of that is not simply to save us from judgment. 00:07:43.440 |
The point of it is to restore us into proper worship. 00:07:47.360 |
Isaiah 43 verse 19, it says, "The people whom I formed for myself will declare my praise." 00:07:54.760 |
Over and over again, God says in deliverance of Israel, in bondage, they're in anguish 00:08:02.640 |
and they're crying out to God, and Jesus, I mean, God raises up Moses and he sends Moses 00:08:07.640 |
to Pharaoh, and he says this repeatedly over and over again. 00:08:12.560 |
The reason why I am sending you, the reason why I'm demanding, why Yahweh is demanding 00:08:18.080 |
Pharaoh to let my people go, he says, is so that they may worship me. 00:08:25.560 |
And he repeats that same phrase over and over again through Moses, Exodus 7, 16, 8, 1, verse 00:08:31.360 |
20, chapter 9, verse 1, 13, chapter 10, verse 3, verse 7, chapter 28, verse 41, chapter 00:08:37.040 |
29, verse 1, over and over again, the same phrase. 00:08:42.200 |
Let my people go, so that they may worship me. 00:08:47.520 |
He didn't say, let my people go because they've suffered enough. 00:08:51.960 |
Because if you remember, once they got delivered and they were in, they were in the desert, 00:08:57.880 |
they experienced hunger that they didn't experience out in Egypt, even though they had a hard 00:09:01.480 |
life and they started grumbling and complaining. 00:09:04.200 |
Oh, when we were there, at least we didn't have to worry about that. 00:09:08.920 |
Even though our life was hard, we didn't have to worry about the people trying to kill us, 00:09:13.620 |
And when they got thirsty, they said, oh yeah, we never ran out of water over there. 00:09:17.760 |
See, but God never said to them, let my people go so that they can drink, let my people go 00:09:24.640 |
He said, let my people go so that they may worship me. 00:09:29.360 |
So the primary reason why Israel was established and why Israel was delivered and chosen was 00:09:36.040 |
for the same reason why you and I have been chosen, is so that we may worship him. 00:09:42.000 |
In fact, in every scene that we see in the Bible, where we see the throne of God, what 00:09:48.040 |
you and I are going to see when we die and are in heaven, is described in this way. 00:09:52.680 |
Isaiah 6, 2, 3, Isaiah sees the throne of God and says, "Seraphim stood above him, each 00:09:59.440 |
With two he covered their face, and with two he covered his feet. 00:10:03.840 |
And with two he flew, and one called out to another and said, 'Holy, holy, holy is the 00:10:09.000 |
Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory.'" 00:10:18.120 |
In fact, every scene that we see of heaven, it's a scene of worship. 00:10:22.320 |
Revelation chapter 7, 11, "And all the angels were standing around the throne and around 00:10:27.480 |
the elders of the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne 00:10:38.120 |
Because when they were in the presence of God's glory, the natural response was they 00:10:48.160 |
But the second response from fear and terror is to worship God. 00:10:52.360 |
See, when we are separated from God's glory, what you and I are not able to do is to worship 00:11:00.500 |
But because Jesus took away the barrier and he covered us with his blood, now we are able 00:11:05.640 |
to be in the presence of this God and to see his glory and break out in worship. 00:11:13.760 |
So the whole thing that he says, "Through him," the reason why Jesus did what he did 00:11:22.160 |
Because praise is where we find our life, where we find the greatest joy. 00:11:28.900 |
We end up worshiping whatever brings the greatest joy in our life. 00:11:34.800 |
We look forward to it because that brings true life. 00:11:38.680 |
So the difference between a Christian and a non-Christian is what he worships. 00:11:43.960 |
I think some of you know that I'm not a fan of Disneyland. 00:11:51.240 |
So I'm not saying objectively that no one can go, that this is a place of sins, purgatory. 00:11:55.600 |
I'm not saying that it's like that for you, but it's like that for me. 00:12:01.240 |
So when I think of Disneyland, I don't have happy thoughts. 00:12:10.000 |
I think of teenagers getting out of line, three-hour lines to ride a 15-second roller 00:12:18.600 |
And then you have to pay, what, $800 to get in now? 00:12:22.420 |
So when I think of Disneyland, those aren't happy thoughts. 00:12:26.120 |
That's something that you do to please somebody else. 00:12:31.480 |
But I know some of you guys don't feel that way. 00:12:34.200 |
You guys go there and you spend your money, you spend all day hurting yourself in the 00:12:41.040 |
sun, emptying your pockets, eating $15 churros, and then you come out and then you calculate, 00:12:52.480 |
I don't understand that because it doesn't bring joy. 00:12:59.720 |
But some of you fantasize about, "When's the next time I can go?" 00:13:04.000 |
Because that place brings happiness to you, right? 00:13:07.560 |
And you're willing to sacrifice, whatever it is that you're willing to go there because 00:13:12.360 |
it's a place that brings Zoe to you to some degree. 00:13:16.640 |
See, the Bible says that true life is found in Christ. 00:13:21.280 |
Jesus says, "I am the way and the truth and the life. 00:13:26.640 |
Through him, we're able to be restored into true life where we find true joy. 00:13:36.800 |
And when that joy is restored, we have true worship. 00:13:41.760 |
And so that's what he means by he is pursuing people to restore them back into the purpose 00:13:50.440 |
See, the greatest benefit of our salvation is a new life that he has given us so we're 00:14:06.240 |
Sometimes we forget what it is that we have in Christ. 00:14:09.580 |
And because we forget what it is that we have in Christ, we let trivial things become the 00:14:16.440 |
And when that seems to be threatened, we get anxious and we worry and we compromise in 00:14:23.080 |
But the whole purpose of our salvation is to open the gate so that we can get to the 00:14:33.960 |
The whole purpose of all of Hebrews, in fact, the whole purpose of the whole Bible is to 00:14:39.320 |
open the gate and to come in so that we can experience this life. 00:14:46.360 |
So worship is exactly what Jesus came to give us, restore to us. 00:14:52.160 |
Number two, worship is not circumstantial, but it's continual. 00:14:58.080 |
That's what it says in verse 15, "Let us continually offer up sacrifices of praise to God. 00:15:03.020 |
That is the fruit of lips that give thanks to his name." 00:15:06.360 |
You know, in the Old Testament, God had major sacrifices in the book of Leviticus. 00:15:10.800 |
You had the whole offering, you had the sin offering, peace offering, the guilt offering, 00:15:16.680 |
And so these are all offerings that God commanded the nation of Israel. 00:15:20.800 |
You cannot approach God without the whole offering, the burnt offering, because that 00:15:28.680 |
So every time they approached God, they were reminded, "You are sentenced to be atoned 00:15:33.360 |
And all of this to point to the true atonement that was coming in Christ. 00:15:39.100 |
And then there were offerings that were freewill offering. 00:15:42.680 |
When things are happening, you're thankful to God and out of free gift. 00:15:49.640 |
But whenever certain things happened, maybe you had a great harvest or God answered prayer, 00:15:54.080 |
for whatever the reason, you would voluntarily give your offering. 00:16:01.080 |
So whenever they were overflowing in thankfulness, they would bring that to God voluntarily. 00:16:11.200 |
What was voluntary then, he said, it's commanded. 00:16:14.240 |
In 1 Thessalonians 5, 16 to 18, he says, "Rejoice always." 00:16:23.480 |
Does he not know that sometimes there's suffering in our lives? 00:16:28.240 |
Does he not know that I don't have a job and I don't know where the next paycheck's coming 00:16:32.760 |
Does he not know the relational problems that I'm having with my wife or husband or my children? 00:16:48.400 |
Offer up, he says, to pray without ceasing and in everything give thanks. 00:16:58.160 |
When things are going well, he says, in everything. 00:17:02.000 |
Now, Apostle Paul is writing this church where people were being beaten for their faith. 00:17:19.080 |
And then the only reason why they didn't kill him is because they thought he already died. 00:17:26.080 |
He gets back up, gets back into Lystra and preaches the gospel. 00:17:30.720 |
People are praying and prophets are telling him, don't go to Jerusalem because they're 00:17:35.000 |
going to capture you there and you're going to be in prison. 00:17:36.800 |
He says, not only am I willing to go to prison, I'm willing to die. 00:17:45.440 |
Thessalonica is almost the only city that we know where Apostle Paul hurries up, packs 00:17:52.360 |
The reason why he leaves is because persecution was so intense. 00:17:56.200 |
He was concerned for the Christians who converted there. 00:18:04.200 |
And the whole reason why this letter was written is because he was concerned after he left 00:18:11.080 |
That's the background behind 1 Thessalonians. 00:18:12.680 |
And it is that letter, within that letter he says to rejoice always, to pray without 00:18:24.680 |
For this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 00:18:29.440 |
Think about all the things that we wrestle with about God's will. 00:18:32.720 |
Is it God's will for me to marry this guy or this girl? 00:18:36.720 |
Is it God's will for me to go to this school or that school? 00:18:39.800 |
Is it God's will for me to have this business or that business? 00:18:53.160 |
He didn't spell out that these people are to be engineers, these people are to be businessmen, 00:19:03.120 |
Make a wise choice that honors and glorifies God. 00:19:12.040 |
Our praise, our rejoicing, our thanksgiving, constantly. 00:19:19.800 |
In Philippians chapter 4, 6 it says, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and 00:19:24.040 |
supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." 00:19:28.020 |
This is the go-to text whenever we're anxious, right? 00:19:31.360 |
Whenever we get stuck, whenever we have problems, it's like be anxious for nothing, but in everything 00:19:36.120 |
by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 00:19:41.720 |
And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ 00:19:45.840 |
So if you've memorized this verse, you probably repeat that, meditate on this constantly. 00:19:50.280 |
But you notice here where thanksgiving is mentioned? 00:20:00.680 |
Because typically we would think thanksgiving happens as a result of answered prayer. 00:20:09.440 |
With everything by prayer and supplication let your requests be made known to God. 00:20:12.280 |
And when God gives you the peace, make sure you give him thanks. 00:20:19.240 |
Thanksgiving is before the prayer is answered. 00:20:21.440 |
So our thanksgiving is not contingent upon answered prayer. 00:20:25.800 |
He says to have the right heart to come before God with thanksgiving in your heart. 00:20:31.100 |
So clearly thanksgiving is not circumstantial. 00:20:35.360 |
Thanksgiving is not dependent upon what's happening around us. 00:20:41.560 |
Luke chapter 10, 17 to 20, when he is sending out the 70 disciples and Jesus says this to 00:20:47.320 |
them, "The 70 returned with joy and saying, 'Lord, even the demons are subject to us in 00:20:54.600 |
And he said to them, 'I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. 00:20:57.800 |
Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions and over the power 00:21:07.760 |
Wouldn't you break out into praise if demons were subjected to you? 00:21:11.880 |
If even power is that you can go out, get bit by scorpions, they're not going to hurt 00:21:19.720 |
But he qualifies that and he said, "You're going to see powerful things. 00:21:22.760 |
You're going to have power over these demonic, you're going to cast them out. 00:21:28.800 |
But he qualifies this, he said, "Nevertheless," verse 20, "do not rejoice in this, that the 00:21:35.040 |
spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven." 00:21:43.240 |
He qualified all of that in rejoicing in everything, praising in everything, because our peace, 00:21:48.560 |
our joy, our praise is not based upon answered prayer in our circumstance. 00:22:17.200 |
Happiness is not wanting what you have, but having what you want. 00:22:22.040 |
See, as Christians, he said, "Our joy and our praise does not change because of circumstance." 00:22:30.680 |
Because the Bible says that everything that we need for a life of godliness has been given 00:22:34.360 |
to us in the knowledge of his son, Jesus Christ. 00:22:38.080 |
So the peace that he gave us, he said, "It's a peace that the world cannot give you, and 00:22:43.240 |
it's a peace that the world cannot take from you." 00:22:46.300 |
So therefore, our rejoicing, our thanksgiving is based upon our eternal security that we 00:22:52.120 |
He says, "Don't rejoice because of the temporary things that you see. 00:22:56.340 |
Rejoice that your name is written in heaven in eternity." 00:23:00.120 |
So whether good or bad, when we have faith in God, we always have reason to praise. 00:23:10.480 |
You know, after the sermon, we're going to sing this song, "Blessed Be Your Name." 00:23:15.680 |
You guys probably know this song, but the song goes like this, "Blessed be your name 00:23:19.120 |
in the land that is plentiful when your streams of abundance flow. 00:23:30.040 |
Even rappers who have vile lyrics, when they come and get their award, they said, "Thank 00:23:39.080 |
When people win lottery, even atheists, "Thank God." 00:23:50.880 |
What's uniquely Christian is the second verse. 00:23:54.360 |
Blessed be your name when I am found in the desert place, though I walk through the wilderness. 00:24:02.520 |
Blessed be your name on the road marked with suffering, though there's pain in the offering. 00:24:12.520 |
Sometimes having a lot of things become a hindrance to true joy. 00:24:17.400 |
True joy, we believe and we know that it's found in Christ. 00:24:23.280 |
And there's a reason why Jesus said it's hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom. 00:24:27.800 |
It's easier for a camel to enter through the eye of a needle. 00:24:31.480 |
It's because of the distraction, because of the temptation. 00:24:35.280 |
Because we naturally think that if I had that, if I had this, if my circumstance changed, 00:24:40.880 |
if my relationship, if something changed, if my health was better, it would be so much 00:24:47.160 |
And that becomes a distraction to really seeing the true joy that we have in Christ. 00:24:53.400 |
I remember when I was back in college, you know, I had this janitorial job and I would 00:25:02.440 |
And I remember one day I was coming out and I was driving home near Biola. 00:25:08.720 |
And I was driving home and I ran through a red light. 00:25:12.040 |
And there were three cars on the road, 2 in the morning. 00:25:14.640 |
My car, the car I hit, and the cop behind her. 00:25:19.920 |
And so we're there exchanging phone numbers and all this stuff. 00:25:28.500 |
So they weren't satisfied with whatever settlement that they got. 00:25:34.060 |
And so they started coming after my parents, but they realized that I wasn't 18, I was 00:25:39.320 |
So they started coming after me for three years. 00:25:43.640 |
Every few months I would get a letter from the lawyer, you know, this is what's going 00:25:48.120 |
And then at the end they would, they sent me a final letter saying that we, the court 00:25:52.840 |
demands that you list all your assets, because they're trying to sue me. 00:26:02.640 |
And then I remember having this conversation with my roommates, because they were all about 00:26:06.240 |
10 to 11 years older than I was, and I was asking them for advice. 00:26:09.000 |
Because the only thing I have is the $50 in my bank account, and I had this guitar that 00:26:15.760 |
And my guess is it was worth about 100 bucks. 00:26:28.680 |
And I mailed it, put a stamp on it, and I sent it back. 00:26:32.520 |
And then the next email, or not email, the next letter that I got basically in summary 00:26:44.100 |
She probably regretted it for three years of pursuing me, you know. 00:26:48.160 |
I think she was waiting for me to graduate college and make some money, you know, and 00:26:55.160 |
I shared this story because it was so satisfying to not worry about losing anything. 00:27:03.160 |
In fact, right around that time, I was driving a Hyundai XL. 00:27:08.760 |
And I was driving it, and I was coming out of this parking lot. 00:27:11.360 |
You know one of those light poles in the parking lot, and it had a huge cement block to hold 00:27:17.760 |
And if you get too close to it, you don't see the cement block. 00:27:20.000 |
So I was there, and I was driving out of the parking lot, and I didn't even see it. 00:27:23.960 |
So I was revving to get out, and I smashed my car into that. 00:27:30.160 |
It was in the middle of the car, and I hit it hard. 00:27:34.680 |
I came out, and the car was dented in, and I couldn't even drive it because the whole 00:27:40.600 |
So I had to call the tow truck, took it to the garage, and they said, man, what did you 00:27:55.680 |
So basically they said, in order to fix this, we need to get a machine and pull the body 00:28:03.640 |
And they were saying it's going to cost $2,000, $3,000 to fix all this. 00:28:10.560 |
And I remember coming home from that, my roommates picking me up, thinking like, man, now I really 00:28:22.080 |
And so that was my first thought of anxiousness of what am I going to do. 00:28:26.040 |
And then, weirdly, there was a sense of peace. 00:28:38.480 |
And for some reason, initially, it brought anxiousness, but I was happy. 00:28:43.760 |
People would think I'm crazy that I'm thinking that. 00:28:45.560 |
But I just remember, and even I couldn't understand it. 00:28:51.680 |
I mean, the thought of having nothing was very freeing. 00:28:57.960 |
I share this story because I remember at that time thinking that all the pursuits that we 00:29:05.800 |
give so much attention to is such a great hindrance oftentimes. 00:29:12.520 |
And we pursue it because we think that that's going to make us happy. 00:29:16.320 |
That if we have that, a bigger house, a nicer car, a better job, better retirement, and 00:29:20.360 |
we pursue that because we think that if we had that, if we visited this, if we ate that, 00:29:26.740 |
But the very thing that we think is going to cause happiness is a source of frustration 00:29:34.120 |
And so I remember at that moment just having nothing, just being free. 00:29:39.320 |
I could literally come before God and say, "Here am I. 00:29:42.880 |
I can have an earthquake hit and have the house burned down, and all I have to do is 00:29:46.480 |
pick up my sleeping bag and go somewhere else. 00:29:52.040 |
See, our joy and our praise is not based on circumstance. 00:29:57.480 |
It's not based upon community or health, but what we have that the world cannot take away. 00:30:05.880 |
Thirdly, worship involves more than what we do on Sunday. 00:30:11.200 |
In Hebrews chapter 13, verse 16, it says, "Do not neglect doing good and sharing." 00:30:18.320 |
Worship is more than just putting in our time. 00:30:22.980 |
The word "Liturgo" in our Bibles are translated oftentimes as worship. 00:30:28.120 |
There's three prominent words in the Greek that's translated worship. 00:30:32.880 |
"Proskoneo" is to be prostrated before God, to be bent over in worship. 00:30:38.600 |
So most of the time you see the word "worship" in the New Testament, it's that word "proskoneo." 00:30:45.080 |
"Sabomai" means a sense of reverence and respect. 00:30:52.120 |
"Liturgo" oftentimes in your Bible is translated "serve." 00:30:56.740 |
And sometimes in your translation, it'll be translated as "worship," because that's exactly 00:31:03.000 |
"Liturgo" means the actual physical act of carrying out something as an act of worship. 00:31:09.840 |
So sometimes that word is described when priests are in the temple, at least in the Septuagint, 00:31:15.680 |
the Greek translation of the Old Testament, where they are performing these acts as an 00:31:22.120 |
Sometimes in the New Testament, it's translated as an act of giving, serving, living in obedience. 00:31:28.320 |
And Romans chapter 12, verse 1, it says, "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, 00:31:32.480 |
to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual 00:31:42.800 |
So worship is not simply just what we do here, singing, listening, attending. 00:31:57.360 |
I think the struggle that we get into is when we are doing things simply out of obligation, 00:32:05.200 |
Jesus and God becomes a taskmaster, because we want to be serious Christians. 00:32:21.360 |
But do you ever notice that the people who are the most bitter and angry after a while 00:32:29.400 |
are the people at one point who used to serve the most? 00:32:41.040 |
And at the end of that, it turns into bitterness. 00:32:47.160 |
And they don't, they didn't get the praise, or whatever it was that they were looking 00:32:52.880 |
So the people who served the most, gave the most, end up becoming the most antagonistic 00:33:08.560 |
And so when we do things out of worship, it produces greater joy. 00:33:17.120 |
And I think of that, if I go to Disneyland, right, because somebody made me, that's torture. 00:33:29.920 |
Standing in the sun, my knees swelling up, surrounded by kids cursing. 00:33:40.520 |
And at the end of that, I don't come out singing and dancing. 00:33:56.600 |
That's when somebody is trying so hard to appease a taskmaster, and realizing that you 00:34:05.840 |
And so you're constantly living and serving out of guilt, out of accountability, in order 00:34:21.040 |
And that's exactly what was happening with Mary. 00:34:23.920 |
Mary, it wasn't that that she was serving, but the serving led to grumbling. 00:34:32.600 |
Marys are the one who are staying late, and show up early to clean up the church. 00:34:36.440 |
But the problem with Mary wasn't that she was serving, but that her serving led to the 00:34:45.240 |
You guys are all staring at me like, "Were you in the same Bible?" 00:34:56.840 |
Even in our worship, even in our service, God wants us to do it out of act of worship. 00:35:05.600 |
You notice when new Christians come in, and they're just happy to be here? 00:35:15.480 |
And at the end of all their service, they ask, "Oh, anything else that you need?" 00:35:22.720 |
Versus people who've been weighed down by sacrifice. 00:35:24.720 |
They've been working so hard, sacrificing so much more than anybody else. 00:35:41.240 |
The call for Christians is to make other worshipers. 00:35:46.040 |
Not people who are more disciplined, not people who simply read the Bible more, more organized, 00:35:50.480 |
and work harder, and sacrifice more, and love people that you can't love, and I'm going 00:35:57.400 |
The people we're pursuing are other worshipers. 00:36:02.240 |
In Psalm 23, verse 5, it said, "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. 00:36:09.400 |
You ever put too much coffee or whatever in your cup, you know what I mean? 00:36:18.120 |
And it's too hot, and you can't drink it, so you got to move it from wherever it is 00:36:26.960 |
And if somebody else has that, you don't want to be near them because you know you're going 00:36:31.320 |
So you kind of walk gingerly, try to keep it in the cup, but it always ends up overflowing, 00:36:45.400 |
You know the best way to evangelize is to have our cup overflow, to have our cup overflow. 00:36:53.240 |
So you can come to church and sacrifice, and get up early in the morning, and serve people 00:37:02.200 |
Love people that you hate, but then come to church and love them anyway. 00:37:17.120 |
He said, "We've fallen short of the glory of the gospel of Jesus, glory of God." 00:37:22.280 |
And then he says that, "The God of the saints has blinded the mind of the unbelievers so 00:37:25.400 |
that they do not see the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ." 00:37:29.520 |
So the whole point of the preaching of the gospel is that through what Christ has done, 00:37:33.960 |
through the preaching, through the sharing of the gospel, that their eyes may see what? 00:37:39.680 |
Their sin, yes, but why do they need to see their sin? 00:37:44.820 |
So that they can be cleansed of their sin, so that what? 00:37:49.200 |
They can see the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ, so they can see his glory. 00:37:53.820 |
So if all the gospel is, is God's going to get rid of your sin, that's not attractive. 00:38:01.040 |
Yeah, we're not going to go to hell, but that's not the point of salvation. 00:38:09.120 |
That you too may be able to see the glory of who he is, that you too may worship. 00:38:15.020 |
And so the best way to make disciples of other people worshiping is to have our cup overflow. 00:38:21.660 |
When our cup overflows, other people will catch that. 00:38:28.580 |
Evangelism has to come as an overflowing of our heart of who God is. 00:38:33.700 |
That this is not something that we do because you're supposed to do it. 00:38:39.060 |
Like miserable people trying to make other miserable people. 00:38:43.340 |
No, he said he came to give life and to give this life abundantly. 00:38:49.980 |
The joy that he gave me, the worship, praise, peace that he gave me, that you also can have. 00:39:02.320 |
In our generation, I've been hearing through the grapevine, through articles and different 00:39:06.140 |
people saying that in order to bring more people to church and ease whatever guilt and 00:39:12.100 |
shame that people may have, I've been hearing, it's like there's no way you can please God. 00:39:22.980 |
So you don't need to feel guilty because God loves you just the way you are. 00:39:28.580 |
The problem with that is that may apply in justification, but when it comes to sanctification, 00:39:37.700 |
Have you not read about the letters that is written in the book of Revelation? 00:39:44.300 |
It's filled with things that God is pleased with, things that God is not pleased with. 00:39:49.540 |
So yes, we can displease God, grieve the Holy Spirit, and we can also please God. 00:39:55.780 |
Here it says our worship, a life of worship, pleases God. 00:40:02.860 |
In Hebrews chapter 12, verse 2, it says, "Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter 00:40:06.580 |
of faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross." 00:40:13.580 |
What joy was worth his sacrifice and his suffering? 00:40:22.820 |
Even though in every way he was equal with God, consider equality, we've got something 00:40:26.340 |
not to be grasped, but he emptied himself, became nothing. 00:40:32.420 |
What is it that he had after the cross that he didn't have before the cross, and it was 00:40:44.380 |
Our worship was the joy that he was pursuing. 00:40:50.460 |
Our worship, our joy, our life is what he was pursuing. 00:40:53.940 |
That's why it says, "He endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the 00:41:01.660 |
He sacrificed himself in order to pursue his joy so that you and I may have this joy. 00:41:08.860 |
Spurgeon says this about this subject, "Dear brothers and sisters, be sure that you do 00:41:16.420 |
If you ever lose the joy of religion, you will lose the power of religion." 00:41:22.300 |
"If you ever lose the joy of religion, you will lose the power of religion. 00:41:26.700 |
Do not be satisfied to be a miserable believer. 00:41:29.840 |
An unhappy believer is a poor creature, but he who is resigned to being so is in dangerous 00:41:38.740 |
Greater importance attaches to holy happiness than most people think. 00:41:42.980 |
As you are happy in the Lord, you will be able to praise his name. 00:41:47.140 |
Rejoice in the Lord that you may praise him." 00:41:50.580 |
You notice here rejoicing and praise are intertwined? 00:41:56.140 |
And we are rejoicing when we recognize what it is that we have in Christ that leads into 00:42:01.980 |
John 17, 13, Jesus says, "But now I have come to you, and these things I speak in the world 00:42:06.960 |
so that they may have my joy made full in themselves." 00:42:13.720 |
He wanted us to have the joy that he has because of where he is. 00:42:18.100 |
He wanted us to bring us to him so that we may experience that joy. 00:42:21.780 |
Isaiah 62, verse 5, it says, "For as young man marries a virgin, so your sons will marry 00:42:28.580 |
And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so your God will rejoice over you." 00:42:38.580 |
So many people live their lives thinking he's a taskmaster watching to see if we're going 00:42:43.900 |
And yet the way that he describes our relationship is he rejoices over us. 00:42:51.600 |
He pursued the cross and the shame ultimately to pursue joy, to see us come and rejoicing 00:43:01.220 |
and experience this life that he wants us to have. 00:43:05.100 |
So the primary thing that he's looking for, the primary thing that he rejoices over is 00:43:14.980 |
If you've ever loved something so much that their happiness brings the greatest joy to 00:43:20.340 |
you, you know exactly what we're talking about. 00:43:24.440 |
If you're a parent and you've raised children, you know what we're talking about. 00:43:30.620 |
If you love your wife or your husband, just seeing them happy makes you happy. 00:43:36.060 |
Parents or maybe your friends, you could be a co-worker, or maybe you're leading Bible 00:43:40.820 |
study and you've committed yourself to certain people and just seeing the joy that you brought 00:43:53.380 |
I started with Disneyland, so let me end with Disneyland. 00:44:02.020 |
But I do have one very fond memory of Disneyland. 00:44:14.900 |
And so Nathan was, I forget how old he was, but he was enough where he could run, but 00:44:21.900 |
But I remember we all decided to go to Disneyland. 00:44:34.820 |
And so if you remember, if you know where Disneyland is, if you go into the gate, there's 00:44:39.620 |
that outer part before you go into the tunnel where you suffer afterwards, you go into that 00:44:47.500 |
But before the suffering happens, there's that one little place where they have the 00:44:52.460 |
You take the pictures and they have a shop there. 00:44:54.300 |
So we all got there and we're all waiting for people to come. 00:44:57.220 |
And then so we get into that place and we're all standing on the side. 00:45:01.900 |
And I'm gearing up for a long day of suffering. 00:45:08.900 |
He pops out of his chair and he just started running back and forth, just happy to be in 00:45:18.860 |
Because he realized where he was and once he realized that, he just like, "Ahh!" 00:45:25.180 |
And literally, I mean, he was just back and forth. 00:45:27.620 |
I can't imagine another human being being that happy about anything, right? 00:45:32.840 |
More happy than if your favorite team won the championship. 00:45:36.300 |
I mean, at that age, I mean, he was just, "Yeah!" 00:45:41.940 |
And I remember all of us just kind of like gearing up for this long day. 00:46:04.220 |
Words kicked in and it wasn't because I was looking forward to what was in there. 00:46:08.500 |
It was seeing that just pure joy from that child at that age. 00:46:14.540 |
All of a sudden, without a single word being spoken, that was worth that day. 00:46:20.460 |
I share that with you because that's how the Bible describes our salvation. 00:46:27.100 |
That we've tasted the goodness of God and we're eagerly waiting to get into that gate. 00:46:35.660 |
That once we get in, that any bit of joy and happiness and praise and thanksgiving that 00:46:42.460 |
we may have experienced here, the Bible says we've only experienced it in part. 00:46:50.580 |
We kind of imagine, but when Christ comes in his glory, we will be glorified with him 00:46:57.980 |
and we will be in eternity celebrating and praising forever. 00:47:16.980 |
So as we focus this year in saying hope and pray, that prayer does not become another 00:47:22.100 |
task, another discipline, but it was an avenue for us to express our thanksgiving to him, 00:47:28.900 |
to commune with the only being that can give us that peace and joy. 00:47:36.340 |
And all the distractions of our lives, that we would learn to see it as it really is, 00:47:43.900 |
And to focus our eyes upon Christ, often perfect of our faith. 00:48:14.100 |
That you would sanctify us, that we would learn more and more each week what it means 00:48:19.580 |
to be worshipers who worship you in spirit and in truth. 00:48:22.700 |
Help us, Lord God, to know this joy, that it may overflow in thanksgiving and praise.