What Does the Bible Really Say About Worship?

[0:00] It's a very important subject that we're going through tonight, a biblical theology of worship. You've got the notes there and for people online, you can download them at that link through the QR code or the URL.

[0:15] And it's really a lot of material to get through. I had like hundreds of pages that I've been canvassing through and I distilled it down as best I could to the real nub of it as to the biblical theology of worship.

[0:31] So I'm sure you'll get some value out of it tonight. I pray so. Firstly, then, the call to biblical worship. When you think about worship, it's right through the book, from Genesis to Revelation.

[0:43] It's something that's right through the Bible. Worship. Even at the earliest days of creation, the angels were worshipping God. And we think of worship for believers.

[0:56] Really, for believers, worship is the heartbeat of the Christian life. It's our privilege, isn't it? It's a sacred responsibility to ascribe worth and honour and glory to God alone.

[1:09] And Psalm 29, verse 2, Think about worship. It's something beautiful.

[1:22] It's God-glorifying. It's not some casual act or an emotional outburst or some performance for human entertainment. When you think about it, really, worship is not about us.

[1:43] It's about Him. It's about our Lord. He is the audience, not really us. In some churches, it's all about the audience and making it a feel-good experience for the people.

[1:54] But the object of worship is to glorify and lift up our Lord. It's not about us having some performance or us feeling good. And it's getting that right intent to it.

[2:08] So it's giving glory to His name. And John 4.24 is a really good verse that talks about worship. And in the context, the Lord is saying that the Father is seeking worshippers that are going to worship Him in spirit and in truth.

[2:26] And it says there, God is a spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. So those two things are really important. God is a spirit and we worship Him in spirit and in truth.

[2:39] That's the essence of worship. We're honouring our Lord. We're gathering together. And worship is not just gathering together when we worship, but it's personal devotion when we worship as well. It's a lifestyle of obedience.

[2:51] We could think how it tells us in Romans 12.1, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

[3:06] It's interesting that word service is a word that can also be put as worship. It's part of our worship is presenting our bodies, presenting ourselves to God.

[3:17] It's great to see some younger people here because worship is for everyone. It's all ages, isn't it? Not just adults, but children, young people, young adults.

[3:27] We all can worship. And it's saying there that we present ourselves, our bodies as a living sacrifice. It's our reasonable service or you could even put it that it's part of our worship.

[3:38] And so may our worship accord with God's word and be Christ-centered. It's really important that the worship is right, that it's acceptable to God and it's according to his will.

[3:49] So we can live a lifestyle of worship, a lifestyle of obedience. And that godly worship is involving to our own lives, that we can have a worship life, if you like.

[4:02] That our life would be a living sacrifice of worship unto God. And we want that our worship is going to glorify our Lord. And so we want to avoid the contrary kind of worship because the Bible talks about false kinds of worship or false doctrine.

[4:20] Worship that might be geared wrong. So we know in these days where worship, sometimes it's entertainment driven or emotionalism. It's worldly. And that's contrary to what God wants.

[4:33] The biblical foundation of worship. So we're at point number one there in the notes. The biblical foundation of worship. What is worship? How do we define it? And the word worship, it actually means to ascribe worth or value.

[4:52] And biblical worship means we recognize God's value, the worth of our God. He's worthy, isn't he? Worthy is the Lamb. That's worship. He's worthy. He's worthy as creator, as sustainer, as redeemer.

[5:06] We're giving him adoration and submission and obedience. And again, those two ways we can worship in spirit and in truth. So in spirit, it's from our heart.

[5:16] We're saved. We've got a regenerate heart. We're transformed. We're saved people. We're empowered by his spirit. So worshipping in spirit. And then worshipping in truth. That how we worship is truthful.

[5:28] It's according to God's word. It's not getting away from God's word through, for example, human traditions of worship, which might not be really biblical anyway, or cultural influences of worship.

[5:42] Our Lord talks about those who, in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines, the commandments of men. So there's some worship that God calls vain worship. And you could think, of course, in the modern times where it's all a bit of a spectacle and an entertainment, a circus even, or disco, where some worship services, so-called, are like that.

[6:04] Or some worship could be like in a church filled with icons and statues and smoke and ceremony and vestments and liturgy that is, again, that can be a vain kind of worship because it's actually not biblical, the most of that.

[6:21] So it's important, those two things, in spirit and in truth. And to not have that kind of vain worship that our Lord warns about. And we think about worship, it's not limited to singing or church services, like I say.

[6:36] It can be like our own personal devotion of worship, as well as like praying, preaching, giving, all of those things and that lifestyle of worship as well. So worship's a whole big thing, isn't it?

[6:47] Worshiping when we congregate, when we assemble. And it's right that we assemble, we get together and worship. That's really important that we worship together. But also worshiping in our own space with God, that personal devotion of worship.

[7:02] Psalm 96, verse 9, it says, O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness, fear before him all the earth. There's so many verses like that that talk about the grand nature of worship.

[7:14] It's God-centered. Worship's designed to exalt his glory. It's not to entertain or fulfill human desires. And then we see Matthew 4, verse 10, where our Lord is countering Satan there.

[7:28] And Satan's tempting him that he could bow down and worship Satan and have all these blessings. But the Lord Jesus says, as he quotes the Old Testament, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

[7:43] It seems the exclusivity of worship. Only God should be worshipped. Only the Lord thy God. It's interesting through the book of Matthew, our Lord was worshipped.

[7:54] And he didn't refuse that worship because that was appropriate worship when men worshipped Christ. Through the book of Matthew and other places too, where they bowed down and worshipped.

[8:05] But we should only worship God. It's exclusive to God. So in other words, it's not worshipping idols or angels or saints or modern idols that we can worship, materialism, all of these things.

[8:19] Only worship God. And then we see as part of the Ten Commandments there, Exodus 20, it tells us, Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.

[8:32] Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them. Not to bow down to icons or statues or images of men. Think about worship.

[8:42] Worship, it integrates heart, mind and actions. It's our duty to worship. We're commanded to. But it's our privilege as well. We want to. Because it's about our relationship with God, isn't it?

[8:54] We want to worship. And we see there Psalm 95 verse 6. It says, again, that sense of command. It's commanding us. Oh, come, let us worship and bow down.

[9:05] Let us kneel before the Lord our maker. We want to worship because we want to honour and glorify him. Next section, it talks about the nature of God as the object of worship.

[9:18] When we think about worship, it comes from that proper understanding of who God is, of his nature. It compels us to adore him. He's our maker. He's our saviour. He's our redeemer.

[9:29] We want to honour and glorify him. And it's that kind of worship that's right kind of worship. It's not a worship that's idolatry or a human-centred kind of worship.

[9:41] But it's worship that's spiritual. And it comes from that transformed heart. And then we see that God is holy as well. Exalt the Lord our God and worship at his holy hill.

[9:54] For the Lord our God is holy. God is holy. And we should have that awe and reverence and fear of him, that godly fear, that God is holy.

[10:05] So we should exalt our Lord. He's a holy God. And like the angels cried, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory.

[10:16] That honour and worship. And it's right through the book. As I say, right from Genesis, right through to Revelation. And then into eternity, there's going to be that glorifying our holy God.

[10:28] And there's caution at times where there's unfit worship. It talks there in Malachi 1 about people offering this polluted bread.

[10:39] So it wasn't the right kind of worship. And offering animals that were blind or not right sacrifices.

[10:53] And there was a rebuke there in Malachi because they were offering defiled offerings. They weren't offering the right offerings. And we could think of that today where we could take worship to carelessly and flippantly, casually, irreverent worship.

[11:11] When we think really worship is something, it's not a common thing, but it's a sacred thing. And we should want to honour our Lord. He's the Almighty. And we want to be careful about offering defiled offerings like it talks about there.

[11:26] And then we see that God is jealous as well. One of His names. He's jealous. His name is jealous, it tells us there. Exodus 34, verse 14.

[11:37] For thou shalt worship no other God. For the Lord, whose name is jealous, is a jealous God. He's the only one that's due our worship. We shouldn't give our worship to anyone but Him.

[11:48] And we see also biblical separation is something that's right through the book as well. That we're a separated people. We're God's own special people. And so we want to reject compromise or syncretism, which is kind of a blending of like worshipping Baal and God.

[12:04] You've got to make your mind up. You've got to worship just God. And to be separate, to not touch the unclean thing. Lots of verses like that. And then we see that God is triune as well.

[12:16] He's the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It tells us there, He's the Creator in Revelation 4. He's the Father, worshipped as the Creator. Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power.

[12:29] For thou hast created all things. And for thy pleasure they are and were created. Think of God the Father, the Creator. And we think of the Son. He's worshipped as Redeemer.

[12:40] It tells of Him, let all the angels of God worship Him. The first begotten. The Son of God. And then it tells us of the Holy Spirit. He enables us to worship. It tells us there, John 16, that He's the Spirit of truth.

[12:54] He will guide you into all truth. For He shall not speak of Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak. It says, He shall glorify me. It's Christ talking. And so the Holy Spirit is not to be like the focal point.

[13:10] The Holy Spirit puts the spotlight on Christ. The Holy Spirit glorifies Christ. But we see all three of them there. The Holy Trinity, we see the triune God. And you can see it there in the one verse.

[13:22] For through Him, Christ, we both have access by one Spirit, the Holy Spirit, unto the Father. God the Father. So you see the three there. That worship, it includes all three persons of the Trinity.

[13:35] God is triune. So we direct our worship to Him. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name. Bring an offering and come before Him. Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.

[13:47] God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints and to be had in reverence of all them that are about Him. In these verses, we see the command to worship.

[14:01] That it's a divine mandate. All of us have got that blessing. It's saying that we are called to that worship. We're called to worship Him. Commanded to worship Him.

[14:11] And so we want to make sure that our worship lines up with the Word of God and that it reflects God's glory. See that there? Whatever we do, whether we eat, drink, whatever we do, that we ought to do it to the glory of God.

[14:25] So when we worship, we want to make sure that the worship we give is glorifying to our God. Next section, theological foundations. A really big thing about worship is that it's based on the atonement, the blood atonement.

[14:39] Blood atonement is the foundation of worship. You see there, Leviticus 17, 11. It said it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.

[14:50] We can come and worship because Christ has made the way for us to worship. And we know that God is holy, He's just. He requires an atonement. He requires that provision for our sin.

[15:03] And Christ made that at the cross. So now, though sinful and separated from God, we can now draw near to God because Christ is our substitute. And we have the entrance made possible because of the blood of Jesus shed for us.

[15:18] And another wonderful verse about worship here is Hebrews 4, 16. How can we come to the throne of grace?

[15:32] Because He's made access for us now. He's opened wide the door into the Holy of Holies because Christ is our substitute. And so we think about worship.

[15:43] It's that response to glorify our Lord. We're saved. We've got the mercy of God. We've got grace. We can enter right into the holy place because of the work of Christ.

[15:55] Because of Calvary, we can come and worship. It tells us there, having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. Because of the atonement, we can enter.

[16:05] We can enter confidently, boldly, right into the very throne room, into the very holy of holies. That only the great high priests would be able to go into. But now every believer can enter in.

[16:18] Think about some biblical terms for worship. Now, in the Word of God, there's different words that are translated worship or praise or variations of worship.

[16:32] But there's a whole range of them. There's some. We'll go through them one by one that are in your notes here. Some of those biblical terms for worship. So some Old Testament ones.

[16:44] Of course, that's the Hebrew word. And we see the one there, hawa, to bow down. It's used a lot of times. Hawa is used to translate worship as in bow down.

[16:59] And 173 times it talks about that. It's a word that denotes reverence and submission to God. So it's used here. Exalt ye the Lord our God and worship at his footstool for he is holy.

[17:12] This sense of worship is a kind of bowing down in worship. Then the next one, yara, is fear or awe. That's used 317 times. And that emphasizes reverential fear.

[17:24] So it's used in this scripture here, Deuteronomy 6.13. Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God and serve him. One of the ways we worship God is to have that reverential fear, that awe of God.

[17:36] He's awesome. We should be in awe of him in that reverential fear. Fear the Lord thy God. The next one, Abad, means to serve. And it's got the connotation of serving.

[17:48] And it's a word used of worship, to serve. It tells us in Exodus 3.12, you shall serve God. Exodus 3.12, you shall serve God upon this mountain.

[18:01] So that's a word that means to serve. Then this one here, Barak, it means to bless. That's used 327 times in Psalm 63.4. Thus will I bless thee while I live.

[18:12] I will lift up my hands in thy name. That word bless there is another word used of worship, of praise. And then another one, Halal. Of course, we know hallelujah.

[18:24] Halal is praise. And it tells us there, for example, Psalm 146.2. While I live, will I praise the Lord? I will sing praises unto my God.

[18:35] It's used 146 times to praise. Halal. And then another one is Yadda. It means to give thanks. So you've got that one there in this verse here.

[18:46] Praise ye the Lord. O give thanks unto the Lord. For he is good. For his mercy endureth forever. To give thanks. And then some Greek words, like in the New Testament.

[18:57] We see numbers of times it talks about worship. It tells of our Lord being worshipped here. And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him. That's John 9.38.

[19:08] So at times Christ received worship. Like I said before. It means to fall down and worship. To prostrate yourself. And it's used of worship directed to God.

[19:19] Or the Son of God. He worshipped him. Worship. To fall down. And then another one there. Means to serve. That's that word Latrio.

[19:32] It means worship as a service. A spiritual service. And then another one there. Sebo. Means reverence. And used in Matthew 15.9.

[19:43] I don't have that to show you that one. But again, back to this main verse about worship. When the Lord talked to the woman at the well. And they talked about worship.

[19:54] And she was having a bit of an interchange with him. About the place of worship. But he didn't enter into that. The point wasn't so much the place of worship. But that you're worshipping right.

[20:06] And that God is looking for worshippers. The Father seeketh such to worship him. And he's looking for worshippers tonight. So you're in the right place if you want to be worshipping.

[20:17] To learn about worship. How can I be a better worshipper? How can I worship God? It's such an important thing. God's looking for people to worship him. He's still looking for people to worship him.

[20:29] And all of us can be worshippers. And the two-fold thing there. Worship in spirit and in truth. We want to be led by the spirit.

[20:41] To line up with the word of God. So we want truth. The scriptures. And then we want to have worship that's in spirit. It's according to God's spirit. Spiritual worship.

[20:52] It's led by God's spirit. Next section. Think about some biblical precedents for worship. So when you look at the word of God. It gives us some precedents. In other words.

[21:03] It gives us some examples. Some instances of worship. Some illustrations of worship. Different characters worship through the Bible. And we see there's Old Testament examples of worship.

[21:18] There's types and shadows. So there's pictures about the meaning of worship. And even the angels worship before creation. In Job 38 verse 7.

[21:30] And Lucifer at one time was one of the worshippers. But we see how he fell there in Isaiah 14. In his rebellion. And it shows God's exclusive right to worship.

[21:44] Because Lucifer wanted to have worship for himself. He said, I will sit on the mount of the congregation. I will ascend above the heights. I will be like the Most High.

[21:56] And he wanted to exalt his throne. And so you see that Lucifer, Satan. He had this pridefulness. This arrogance. That he wanted to get worship for himself.

[22:07] But it wasn't right that he wanted worship. Because only God can be worshipped. So you see that in creation. Even in the earliest days of creation. In the early stages.

[22:19] Even before the creation of the world. We see that Satan wanted to have worship. Which wasn't right. And then we see worship in Abel.

[22:30] He was really the first worshipper. It was Abel. That's shown to be worshipping. By giving a sacrifice. As he brought one of the firstlings of his flock. So he brought that little lamb.

[22:42] To show his worship. We see Abel there. He offered the more excellent sacrifice. Then we see Abraham. Also he worshipped.

[22:53] He built an altar. He built altars a few times. And he went to offer Isaac. As worship. He was willing to.

[23:04] Make that incredible sacrifice. Of Isaac. Then we see Noah. As well. The first thing he did. When he got off the ark. He built an altar to worship.

[23:15] He offered burnt offerings. So worship was. Really quite a recurring theme. And. Right through. The early days of. The Bible.

[23:27] You see worship as well. In the tabernacle. Where they. Offered worship. And. It was structured. Worship was according to a pattern. So it was all.

[23:39] Outlined. And clear. How it was to be conducted. But. There was a couple of characters. These two. Nadab and Abihu. They were sons of Aaron. And they.

[23:50] Brought worship. That was. A compromised worship. It wasn't done right. And. They were offering this strange fire.

[24:00] So. It wasn't authorized worship. And so they suffered. God's judgment there. Because worship isn't something. We should trifle with. Or toy with. Or do just how we feel like doing it.

[24:12] It's got to be done right. It's got to be done according to God's. Word. And then we see worship in the temple as well. There was 4,000. Worshippers there. The Levites.

[24:23] David organized the music. With 4,000 Levites. And they had harps. And. Sultry. So. Stringed instruments. And trumpets. And Solomon made musical instruments too.

[24:35] That. It talks about trumpeters. And singers. Instruments of music. And the house was filled with a cloud. So there's a great manifestation. Of God's presence. And you think about.

[24:46] Really the. Book of Psalms is. A hymn book. In your Bible. It's. Calls for universal praise. And. The last psalm.

[24:57] Psalm 150. Says. Let everything that have breath. Praise the Lord. Praise you the Lord. So really. Everyone's called. Right across the world. There's a call to everyone.

[25:09] To praise the Lord. Praise God. Moving on to the New Testament. We see that. There's a lot of talk about worship. In the book of Hebrews.

[25:20] And it's all centered on Christ's finished work. The offering of Christ. Once for all. And we see that. Believers are.

[25:31] Called a temple. Like every believer is a temple. It says that. Paul says to the Corinthians. Know you not that you are the temple of God.

[25:41] And that the spirit of God dwells in you. So. That thought of. Every one of us. Should be like a living temple. Offering spiritual worship. And Hebrews.

[25:53] It talks about. Offering the sacrifice of praise. So sometimes it can be a sacrifice of praise. So. In the sense that.

[26:04] We may not always feel to praise. But we should yet offer. Praise. Giving thanks to his name. Offering that praise continually.

[26:15] And then in the early church. We see that they got together. Of course they gathered. On a Sunday. The first day of the week. They got together. Some make. Make some argument about.

[26:27] Oh we should be meeting on the Sabbath. Well here it tells us. In Acts 20. They met on the first day of the week. Which is the Sunday. The first day of the week. Is Sunday. And so they got together.

[26:38] As they were accustomed to. To break bread. And. They. Heard preaching. And they gathered. A fellowship. Acts 2 there. The worship was.

[26:50] Steadfast. They got together. They heard the teaching. The doctrine. The fellowship. The breaking of bread. And prayer. So worship was simple. And it was scriptural. And think about.

[27:03] Worship. That really. It's something. That's got an eternal dimension. It's almost like. When we're worshipping down here. It's almost like. We're. Having the choir practice. For the real thing.

[27:16] The real event. Of heaven. In a way. Isn't it? Think about that. Revelation 5. There's an example there. They sang. A new song. Worthy. Is God.

[27:27] He was slain. He's redeemed. He was slain. Thinking of the praise there. Before the lamb. They're falling down. Worship.

[27:38] In eternity. We can't really. Grasp that. That. Our earthly worship. Foreshadows. Heavenly worship. And heaven's going to be filled. With unceasing worship. Think about.

[27:49] It talks about. Revelation 5 there. Revelation 4. You can see. Revelation 14. That. There was this voice. Of great thunder.

[27:59] There was the voice. Of harpers. Harping with their harps. They sung. As it were. A new song. Before the throne. Think about. The multitudes there. The multitudes.

[28:11] Of the saved. And there. Revelation 15. As well. They sang. The song. Of Moses. The servant of God. The song. Of the lamb.

[28:22] Great and marvellous. Are thy works. Lord God almighty. All. All. Rendering praise. Unto him. And then. Revelation 5. Another one there. How they're saying.

[28:33] Blessing. And honour. And glory. And power. Be unto him. That sitteth upon the throne. And unto the lamb. Forever and ever. It says. They fell down. And worshipped him. So you see.

[28:43] Lots of examples there. Of worship. In heaven. Worship. In eternity. There's a. There's this. Wonderful. Dimension. That this is something. That we're going to be doing. For eternity. Forever.

[28:55] And. It's almost like. We're just practicing. For that. Which is our eternal calling. Next section. Think about some principles. Of biblical worship. So what does the bible.

[29:06] Tell us then. What are some principles. About how to worship. Of course we should be guided. By the word of God. And we see. That it tells. That we shouldn't. Kind of deviate. From that. We saw.

[29:17] As we've referred to. Before. About the judgment. Of those that were. Offering compromised. Worship. Worship needs to follow. Biblical patterns.

[29:28] And. Not to be some. Man-made thing. And it needs to be. In spirit. And in truth. Like we talked about. And in Hebrews. It talks about. How we worship.

[29:39] Or serve. Worship. Same word there. To serve God. Acceptably. With reverence. And godly fear. That should be. Something that's a hallmark. Of our worship. That. It's something that.

[29:50] We're revering God. We're honouring him. We're reverent. And there's a godly fear. A godly awe of him. And. Serving God. Worshiping God. Acceptably. And of course.

[30:01] It tells that. With the church service. That it should be done. Decently. And in order. I like to the instructions. About the tabernacle. And the temple. That they were told.

[30:11] To make it. According to the pattern. So god's given us the pattern. It's really what the bible. Lays out for us. We want to worship scripturally. And of course. There's that truth that.

[30:23] Worship is. Male led. It's qualified men. That are to teach. And to have that. Right authority. And that.

[30:34] There's an oversight. And it's men. That conduct that. It's just. That's the rightful way. Of doing it. Whereas you see. These days. Anything goes. And that's really not.

[30:46] Biblical. It's very clear. That it's meant to be. Male leadership. And then we see. Worship as a sacrifice. As well. Like we talked about. Before. Romans 12. 1.

[30:56] That we're a living sacrifice. That. It's our reasonable. Service. Our spiritual worship. And that we should. Offer. Sacrifice. Of praise.

[31:06] To God. Continually. See here. In 1 Peter 2. That we're a holy priesthood. As that sacrifice. Or offering. And. That it's acceptable worship. Worship as a sacrifice.

[31:18] Then. Next section. Some elements. Of biblical worship. So. What should worship include? What are some of the. Features of biblical worship? Of course. The word of God. When we worship. We get together.

[31:29] We open the Bible. And we have some. Exaltation. We have some readings. And some preaching. And learning. So we can get edified. And equipped. As believers.

[31:39] And we see that. For example. In Nehemiah. 8 verse 8. That. They. Had the. Preaching of the word. It was read to them. And then there was some.

[31:51] Interpretation. Some giving of the sense. So that people. Had understanding of it. So. Preaching should be central. When we gather. When we worship. Whereas you see. In some circles. It's almost like.

[32:02] The Bible doesn't feature. Very much. And the people. Don't really come. And open a Bible. And they really get. Some meat. Out of the word of God. That the Bible. Sometimes is missing. In some churches.

[32:12] Whereas really. It's preaching. And the word of God. Should be central. And then you see. Prayer. Of course. There should be prayer. When we get together. We should be praying. Without ceasing. And praying.

[32:22] Not with vain repetitions. Like some. Liturgy. That's just a very stale. Repeated. Words. Out of a book. But that it's. Real worship.

[32:33] It's genuine prayer. And that we're praying. For another two there. That one. Timothy 2. That it's. There's prayers. For people. For needs. For intercessions. There's giving of thanks. So.

[32:43] Prayer is something. It's communion with God. That should be. A big feature of our worship as well. Pray for one another. We're told. And then we should see singing. Singing of psalms.

[32:54] And hymns. And spiritual songs. A couple of scriptures there. Talk about that. Speaking to yourselves. Psalms. Hymns. And spiritual songs. Songs. And then we see Colossians 3. Teaching and admonishing one another.

[33:07] So you think. The. Content of the songs that we sing. There's doctrine in them. We're teaching one another. It's almost like. When you open the hymn book. And you sing a song. That actually.

[33:18] There's a sermon in the song. And it's like. There's actually. Teaching in the songs. That we sing. Whereas again. In some quarters. It's very superficial. It's very repeated lyrics.

[33:30] Just some mantra. And there's not a lot of content. Whereas. God helping us. The songs that we pick. God helping us. The. Selection of songs. That we have to sing. There's doctrinal truth in them.

[33:42] They're actually accurate. And biblical. And we can learn something. From the songs that we sing. So that's a good thing. That. The music's doctrinally relevant. It's sound.

[33:52] It's focused on God. And his word. And then we see. When we worship too. There's opportunity for giving. It says that. We should lay by. And give on the first day of the week.

[34:04] It talks about giving. Not grudgingly. But cheerfully giving. And so that's another aspect of worship as well. And then of course you think. When we get together. There's the Lord's Supper.

[34:16] And there's baptism. The two ordinances of the church as well. Next section. You think about the heart of the worshiper. So when we come. How should we worship? I referred to it before.

[34:27] That scripture that talks about. Serve God acceptably. With reverence and godly fear. We want to approach God. This is a sacred time. As much as. There's joy.

[34:39] We can have a smile. An enjoyment. In our worship. But it's not. That that's the focus. But that our hearts would be. Filled with gladness. To worship our Lord.

[34:50] To approach him. With that. Sense of the sacred. As we come. To honour him. To lift him up. And there's a reverence there. As we worship. So having that heart.

[35:00] To worship. And we think of the brokenness too. As we come. To worship. Sometimes the word speaks to us. We get conviction. Says the sacrifices of God. Are a broken spirit.

[35:11] A broken and a contrite heart. Oh God. They will not despise. Think about. When the word of God's open. We get the gospel. We get some challenge. From the scriptures. That there's.

[35:21] A brokenness before God. We've got a humility. Before him. And we can acknowledge. His sovereignty. And our sinfulness. We might be like. Isaiah. When he. Saw God. And the angels crying.

[35:32] Holy. Holy. Holy. And Isaiah. Was there saying. Woe is me. For I am undone. I am a man of unclean lips. Mine eyes have seen the king. The Lord of hosts.

[35:43] He had that conviction. That sense of awe. That sense of the reverence. Of a holy. Holy. Holy God. And how. He felt unworthy. So there's a sense. Where we come. And that God might touch us that way.

[35:55] When we're worshipping. That we've got that sense. That we're unworthy. And yet we're glad worshippers. And we see that brokenness. That humility there. And then we see the joy.

[36:06] And thanksgiving. That comes. Another element of worship. In Psalm 102. It says. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come before his presence. With singing. It says there.

[36:16] Psalm 100. Verse 4. Answer into his gates with thanksgiving. And into his courts with praise. Be thankful unto him. And bless his name. We've got that joy in thanksgiving. When we worship.

[36:27] It's a reminder of Calvary. It's a blessing. To love him. To worship. To get fed by his word. To encourage one another.

[36:38] To be amongst the saints. There's a joyfulness there. And it's not some manufactured emotionalism. The joy that we have comes from our salvation. Because of the wonder of it.

[36:49] Isn't it? That we can have joy. Because we're saved people. And it tells us there. When we have God's presence. In his presence. There's fullness of joy. There's a sense where we kind of come into his presence.

[37:02] But we shouldn't have the thought. That that's just exclusively when we come to church. Because we've got God's presence with us all the time. Don't we? Wherever we go. He's with us. But it's almost like it's more manifest.

[37:13] When we gather as a congregation. When we get together and assemble. As the church. That there's that sense of the presence of God. It talks about how. That wherever two or three are gathered.

[37:25] In his name. That there he is in the midst of them. So there's a blessing there as well. And then you think of. That section there. Faith and obedience. When we come before him.

[37:36] We want to be. Not trifling with worship. Again. Isaiah 1. Talks about. Vain oblations. So like a kind of vain worship. We see there that.

[37:48] In that case. In that reference there. Isaiah 1. That God's saying that. He didn't like that worship. That it. It was something that he didn't want.

[37:59] He. Was not happy with that worship. He was not pleased with that worship. Because it was something that was not right. It wasn't. It was a compromised kind of worship.

[38:10] So we want to make sure. That the worship we give. Is the right kind of worship. That it comes from. A life that is right with God. And that it's.

[38:21] A fitting. Acceptable worship. Next section. Thinking about worship. A little bit more. Teasing out that idea. Of whether worship is right or not. There's a sense of biblical separation.

[38:33] And. We're told that we should. Not compromise. We think. For example. How. In 2 Corinthians 6. Verse 17. It talks about. Come out from among them. And be you separate.

[38:43] And so we want to be. Not joining together. With that which is a compromise. Whether there's worldly. Ways. Worldly dress. Or. Music. Or.

[38:54] Worldly entertainment. Rather that it's a holy kind of worship. There's a separation from that. Which is worldly. And then the next one. Separation from false doctrine as well.

[39:04] It tells us there. Not to be. Unequally yoked together. With unbelievers. That can happen when there's a bit of a conglomeration. A bit of a mishmash. And. We're not against meeting together.

[39:16] With like-minded churches. That share. The same. Godly intent. And the same. Godly. Fellowship. That we have. But when there's a mixture.

[39:27] When it's an ecumenical kind of gathering. Where there's people with all kinds of views. And. People from churches. That don't preach the gospel. They don't really have. Sound teaching.

[39:38] We want to be separated from that. Because it's a compromise. It's a conflict. You know. It's like we can't. Kind of. Hold hands with them. And sing kumbaya. Because.

[39:48] They actually are not saved people. Numbers of them. So that kind of thing. Where we can't. Actually. Consider them. Our brothers and sisters in Christ. They're not saved yet. Or they might be following some.

[40:00] Real falsehood. And that seems more and more the case. With interfaith. Kind of trends these days too. And even some. Ministerial associations. Where there's a compromise.

[40:11] With really cults. For example. Seventh-day advances. Where there's a mixture. Which is. A compromise. Which is. Really quite dangerous. And wrong.

[40:23] With apostasy. So we want to separate from. False doctrine. And not to. Associate with. That which is. Wrong teaching. And there's dangers there too.

[40:33] As in the notes there. Talking about. The contemporary. Christian music. Where it's kind of. Mimicking. Secular music. And it's adopting. Secular. Kind of. Beats.

[40:43] And rhythms. And carnal. Kind of emotions. We're told clearly. In the word of God. To love not the world. Now that's not. Worship. That's not music.

[40:54] That's fitting. For the worship. Of a holy God. And so we want to be careful. About that kind of compromise too. And it talks there about. Those that are contrary.

[41:04] To the doctrine. That you've learned. To avoid that. Don't. Just don't. Associate with that. It's good to have that. Definite stand. When it's something. That's clearly. Wrong.

[41:15] I'm not talking about. Minor differences. Between believers. But when it's a clear difference. That's. It's right. That we should not. Associate with that. Which is compromised.

[41:27] Because the Bible warns us. About things like that. It tells us there. Paul told the Corinthians. Know you not. That a little leaven. Leaveneth the whole lump. You think when you go. Doing some cooking.

[41:37] And you've got the batch of dough. You put a little bit of yeast in it. And that affects the whole thing. And it's the picture there. Of a little bit of error. Can affect the whole church. So that's why.

[41:47] You want to be very careful. Not going to. Not going to have that. If it's doubtful. We're not going to do it. We're not going to have it. And. Rather to avoid it. Because. There can be that incremental compromise.

[41:59] You let a little bit of something in. And before you know it. It's trashed the whole thing. That can happen with a church. Where they get off track. And they allow this.

[42:10] And they allow that. And before too long. They've lost their distinctiveness. They've lost their strength as a church. Because they've compromised. And that's. Not a good thing at all.

[42:23] Because. And that can happen when worship's driven by feelings. Rather than truth. Where you might accommodate. And that's why. We are careful about. The song choices we have.

[42:34] That yeah. We want to be selective. Because there's some song choices that. It's a. Little bit doubtful. So. Who'd rather. Just steer clear from anything that is.

[42:46] Doubtful. Moving on. Next page. Last one. Warnings about. False worship. Again. Some of these things we've. Talked about. Where it's worshipping anything.

[42:58] But God. Our worship should be exclusive. To our Lord. Shouldn't it? And. Avoiding. That which is contrary to that. Again. The ten commandments.

[43:09] Thou shalt have no other gods before me. He's the one and only God. That we should worship. There's warnings there about. Those who draw nigh to God with their mouth.

[43:21] They honour God with their lips. But their heart is far from me. So that's. The. Common phrase. Lip service. They're paying lip service. They're saying.

[43:31] Oh Jesus is my Lord. But actually their heart. Isn't actually. Lining up with their lips. Their heart is actually far from me. They don't know him.

[43:42] So there's those that might have. Just. A token. Christianity. Where. They're talking the talk. But not walking the walk. Their heart is not engaged.

[43:55] And then you see how. Emotionalism. Again. The heart is deceitful. And desperately wicked. Some people have got the kind of. Philosophy. The. I'll just follow my heart.

[44:09] I'll follow my heart. But the Bible says. The heart is deceitful. And desperately wicked. Who can know it. Jeremiah 17. So it's important that we don't just follow our heart. Oh it feels good.

[44:20] So it must be right. Or. Even in worship. That people have to think. Oh. That's kind of a nice catchy tune. And I like the sound of that. But. It can be. Our heart can be misled.

[44:31] So we don't follow our heart. We go with the word. We don't prioritise our feelings. Over the truth. And then you've got formalism there. Where it's empty rituals. Without devotion. Some people.

[44:42] They just go through the motions. Don't they? And church just becomes. A kind of ritual thing. Where they're just going through. Some. Process. Some. Routine.

[44:54] Some liturgy. Without really having the truth. It's like they're just going through some. Motions. Some rituals. Empty rituals. And it just becomes a formalistic thing.

[45:05] Then you've got this syncretism. Where you're trying to blend the. Pagan and the. Worldly. With Christian things. And Israel did that. When. Aaron.

[45:16] Was left to his own devices. Down the bottom. The people were dancing around the golden calf. And. They just. Carried on with all the. Worldliness. Of. Egypt.

[45:27] That they left behind. But it was still in there. This immorality. With the golden calf. Because. Sometimes it's easy to be misled. Even. As they were the people of God. Because they.

[45:38] Didn't have that distinction. From the world. Think about the word of God. In our worship too. That the word of God is central. That it's according to truth. We know. The Lord Jesus says.

[45:50] Sanctify them. Make them holy. Through thy truth. Thy word is truth. So the word of God is central. To when we worship. That it lines up with the word. And then next section. Think about some practical applications.

[46:01] About worship. We want to make sure that. We're worshipping. In a godly way. Hebrews 10. Encourages us.

[46:12] To assemble together. Not forsaking the assembling. Having that active participation. All the more. As you see the day approaching. That we should want to worship.

[46:23] Get together and fellowship. And then. When we're worshipping. That there'll be that edifying. Let all things be done unto edifying. In other words. Building up one another. That we get something. That's going to encourage each other.

[46:34] We can build up each other in the faith. Think of all those other things. That are in the notes there. Reverent music. That. We're leading skillfully. That.

[46:45] We're not entertaining worldly. Kind of instruments. For example. Some have drums. As a very dominant thing. And really.

[46:55] The Bible doesn't speak about drums. It's not in the Bible. Whereas. In some churches. The drum kit. Is the. Is right on the center. And it's all about the drum kit.

[47:07] That can be a real danger as well. Where it can take away from the reverence. When that kind of thing comes in. And then you see. About communion. It should be reverent. The avoiding of compromise.

[47:18] All of those things there. All of these things are important. To establish. And have. Those things in place. And then in personal worship too. That we can have that daily devotion.

[47:30] That we can learn to be a worshiper. Not just in church. But. In our home place. In our family place. We can have that time with. God. That daily devotion. And.

[47:41] Learning to live. In a way that pleases God. Trying to. Walk right with him. And. Even our service. There's a sense where.

[47:52] When we do something for God. That's like a worship as well. So. Even when we do something practically. When we might. Give of our time. In the sense of serving there.

[48:05] Talks about that. Hebrews 13. 16. With such sacrifices. God is well pleased. Could be when you're giving time. To serve. And to. Contribute. To participate.

[48:16] That is a kind of worship as well. And then we think about. The power of congregational singing. Something happens when we get together. And sing. You can't have that at home. Like. As much as people might.

[48:28] Stay home and watch the church service. Online. And sometimes you have to. If you're not well. You stay home. But. There's just something that happens. When you get together. And we're all singing.

[48:39] A congregation singing. It's just something special about that. And. It talks about that there. That worship. And. It builds unity as well. When we get together and sing.

[48:49] And then even in the family space. You can. Encourage your children as well. Mums and dads. Involve the family. You could. Sing some songs at home. There's nothing stopping you doing that.

[49:01] Reading the Bible together there. Deuteronomy 6. Family worship. Next section. Think about worship and spiritual warfare. There's a sense where there's a powerful thing.

[49:12] When we worship. Something powerful. And. We see there in Psalm 149. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth. And a two-edged sword in their hand.

[49:24] There's a sense where worship is a powerful thing. The praises of God. Praise has power. There's an instance there in 2 Chronicles 20. The worshipers were there.

[49:35] And. They went before. The army. And. It says that the Lord set ambushments. So. God intervened.

[49:46] And brought victory. Because. They were worshiping God. It's almost like part of their battle plan was worship. They sent the worshipers ahead. Of the soldiers.

[49:58] And so there's power in worship. Something to think about. Think about Paul and Silas too. It says they prayed and sang praises. And then God intervened.

[50:09] As they were in the prison there. You see that. Their praises in prison. It brought. Deliverance. So don't underestimate the power of praise. I know there's.

[50:20] Different authors have written books about the. Power of praise. And it's good to think about. Hey. Maybe I should just praise God more. And. Have that.

[50:31] Worshipful heart. Towards God. Even. In the day by day. Life. And. Even when things are hard. You can bring the sacrifice of praise. Then you think about the transformational power.

[50:42] Of worship. You got a few things there. Some four things there. That it talks about. The power of worship. To glorify God. To edify believers.

[50:53] The evangelistic impact. And then preparing for eternity. So have that. That. Heart to praise him. To give him glory.

[51:04] I am the Lord. That is my name. And my glory. Will I not give to another. Neither my praise. To graven images. Make. Giving God. Your praise. The ultimate. Goal of your life.

[51:15] That you want to give him praise. And glory. There's many scriptures. That talk about. Praise. Especially of course. In the Psalms. And Psalm 150.

[51:25] Talks about praising him. Praising him. Praising him. Over and over. It talks about. Giving him praise. With different instruments. Different actions. Praising him.

[51:37] And then let everything. That have breath. Praise the Lord. Praise you the Lord. Think about. How you're preparing. For eternity. Even. When you worship. When you worship.

[51:47] As a congregation. When you worship. In your private. Devotions. That you can. Have that. Heart to praise him. From the. Depth of your heart. Again.

[52:00] Just some. Errors in worship. Because. We've talked much about. Right worship. But there are. There is some worship. What we talked about. Of vain worship. Of worship. That's compromised. Or corrupt worship.

[52:12] Worship that God. Doesn't want. He refuses that worship. And. It's sad. Without dwelling on it. Too much. In some quarters. It's very entertainment. Focused.

[52:23] And. It's all about. Entertaining the congregation. Rather than. Actually. Honoring. The holy God. It's actually more about. Making the congregation.

[52:34] Feel good. Because of the. Entertainment. Kind of value. Of the worship. It's really not about. Us. When we worship. It's about. Giving God.

[52:44] All the praise. It's. Directing our. Worship towards him. He's the audience. We're having an audience. With the king. So we want to give him. All the glory. And praise. It's not about.

[52:55] Having. All of the. Entertainment. Driven style. Where it's about. The atmosphere. And about. Making it all about. Our sensations.

[53:06] That sensual. Kind of. Thing. Rather than. Having the word of God. That it's scriptural. We see there in Amos. It talks about. How the Lord. Talks about.

[53:17] A famine coming. Of hearing. The words of the Lord. So you see in some. Circles that. The word of God's not there. It's scarcely there. And so there's this famine. There's like this.

[53:27] People are starving. For the Bible. Because. The Bible's not even referred to. It's scarcely there. And there's this great. Starvation of people.

[53:38] A famine. In the land. Of hearing the words of the Lord. And then in some. Circles. It's very casual. It's very. It's just this. Irreverent.

[53:49] Way of. Being. That the worship. Is just. Crass. And. Lacking. So there's lots of things. We could think about.

[54:00] Here's a bit of a. Chart that I put together. You see that there. Of. The comparison. True worship. And then.

[54:10] False worship. So you see on the. On the true side. True biblical worship. It's God-centered worship. The focus is on our Lord. And his glory.

[54:21] It's all about Jesus. And. Giving him his worth. It's worth ship. That he is worthy. Worthy is the land. It's God-centered. Whereas on the other side. The false kind of worship.

[54:33] It's kind of man-centered. It's about the feelings. It's about the entertainment. It's about the sensation. It's pleasing the flesh. It's man-centered. And you see.

[54:44] On the next line. Biblical worship. Is about the spirit. It's about the word of God. It's about the truth. The other side. It's about the lighting.

[54:55] It's about repetition. It's about the atmosphere. Fear rather than the truth. It's about the hype. And emotion. Next line. You see that. Right worship.

[55:06] True worship. Is reverent. And holy. It's saying. Glory. And honor. And praise. It's giving. Our awe. And our reverence. Of God.

[55:16] It's about the holy God. And then you see. The kind of corrupted worship. It's casual. It's flippant. It's irreverent.

[55:26] Towards God. It's like. There's a carelessness there. A flippancy. And the next line. The right worship. Is guided by the word of God.

[55:37] It's actually. It accords with scripture. It's not contrary to the Bible. It's worship. That would be pleasing. And honoring. And received by God. It's scriptural worship.

[55:47] Whereas on the other side. It's more self-serving worship. It's about man-made practices. And rituals. In some cases. Or just. A worldly kind of way of thinking.

[55:58] It's all about the self. Next one. You see. Right kind of worship. Worship is doctrinally sound. It actually lines up with the Bible.

[56:09] We can't find something. That's contrary here. This is biblical truth. So the words that we're seeing. A Bible. The words that we're seeing. Are true. And truthful. They're focused on.

[56:20] What is doctrinally sound. On the other side. You see. It's all about. What is superficial. It's about the rocky. The sensual. The beat. The shallowness.

[56:31] Repetitive lyrics. It's all about. This kind of worldly way. Of doing it. Next line. You see. Preaching is central. That the word of God. Is read. It's taught.

[56:41] It's about the word of God. It's about feeding our soul. With the Bible truth. That there's preaching. That is central. It's obeying the word of God. Whereas on the other side. It's like the music.

[56:52] And the performance is central. So the band is central stage. And it's all about that. Rather than. The word of God. And actually God's truth. It's sidelined.

[57:03] Which is a sad thing. And you see. The third line there. That. Right worship. That holy living. Accompanies the worship. So the people that are singing.

[57:14] And leading. That they're living right. That what they're singing. And saying. Matches with their life. There's not a compromise there. Whereas.

[57:25] In some quarters. There's a hypocrisy there. That. They might be worshipping. On the Sunday. But they're living worldly. And carelessly. And there's a hypocrisy there.

[57:36] In their lifestyle. And the next one. We see. In right worship. It's sacrificial giving. And serving. That. There's that right spirit.

[57:46] Behind. That sacrificial. Way of serving. And worshipping. But on the other side. We see. People coming to worship. Where. It's all about.

[57:57] What can I get out of it. There's some people. Like in the notes there. It says. That they have the attitude. What do I get out of church. And they. They leave the service.

[58:07] And say. Oh. I didn't get anything out of it. As in. I'm there just to get. Something out of it. For myself. This selfish expectation. It's all about me. Me. Me. I'm going to find a church.

[58:19] And they have this. Consumer mentality. Where they shop. They go church shopping. To find. What is it. That's going to please me. And what I want. And what am I going to get out of it.

[58:29] Does that church offer me. What I want. Rather than. Going to. Congregate. And fellowship. Because. I'm there. Because I love God. And I want to be. A part of it.

[58:40] What can I give God. Rather than. What can I get out of it. And then you see. The last one there. That. Right. Worship. Has got this eternal focus. That. Hey. This is. We're getting ready for heaven.

[58:52] This is a worshipfulness. There's a glory. There's. That sense of. Heavenly. Worship. Worship. Whereas. On the other side. It's all about the here and now. About entertainment value.

[59:03] And about. This kind of temporary focus. You can see. Quite a contrast there. Of those. Kind of. Two kinds of worship. Hopefully. Prayerfully. We've.

[59:14] Learned something tonight. To. Help us be better. Worshippers. That will be. Rather on the right side. Of the worship. That we want the worship. That's right. And truthful. And honoring our Lord.

[59:25] So. Let's just pray. Shall we. Lord God. We thank you. That we can worship you. Help us Lord. To worship you. In spirit. And in truth. Lord. That you give us. The right spirit.

[59:35] Help us as a church. To choose wisely. How we worship. The way we worship. Lord. To come with the right heart. To worship. Lord. To have that reverence. And awe of you. Lord.

[59:46] To have that honor. And glory. Of you. And that focus upon you. Lord. That you would be lifted up. And draw all men. Unto yourself. Lord. That we'd be better. Worshippers.

[59:56] Not just when we get together. As the church. As we assemble. But also. In our personal devotion to. Lord. Help us. To have that worshipful heart.

[60:07] A worshipful home. Lord. That we'll have that right spirit. Be glorified. Lord. In your church. We pray. And help us Lord. To learn more and more each day.

[60:18] To worship you. More truthfully. And rightly. Lord. That you would be glorified. As we live our lives. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen.

[60:30]