Channels of Grace – Worship III
Worship as a Way of Life
Malachi 1:1-2, 6-8, 12-13 (NLT)
This is the message that the LORD gave to Israel through the prophet Malachi. 2 “I have always loved you,” says the LORD. But you retort, “Really? How have you loved us?”…
6 The LORD of Heaven’s Armies says to the priests: “A son honors his father, and a servant respects his master. If I am your father and master, where are the honor and respect I deserve? You have shown contempt for my name!
“But you ask, ‘How have we ever shown contempt for your name?’
7 “You have shown contempt by offering defiled sacrifices on my altar.
“Then you ask, ‘How have we defiled the sacrifices?’
“You defile them by saying the altar of the LORD deserves no respect. 8 When you give blind animals as sacrifices, isn’t that wrong? And isn’t it wrong to offer animals that are crippled and diseased? Try giving gifts like that to your governor, and see how pleased he is!” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies…
12 “But you dishonor my name with your actions. By bringing contemptible food, you are saying it’s all right to defile the Lord’s table. 13 You say, ‘It’s too hard to serve the LORD,’ and you turn up your noses at my commands,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. “Think of it! Animals that are stolen and crippled and sick are being presented as offerings! Should I accept from you such offerings as these?” asks the LORD.
“Really? How have you loved us?”
“But you ask, ‘How have we ever shown contempt for your name?’
“Then you ask, ‘How have we defiled the sacrifices?’
‘It’s too hard to serve the LORD,’
Ezekiel 16:4-8, 15, 32-34 (NIV)
'This is what the Sovereign LORD says to Jerusalem: Your ancestry and birth were in the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. 4 On the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to make you clean, nor were you rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths. 5 No one looked on you with pity or had compassion enough to do any of these things for you. Rather, you were thrown out into the open field, for on the day you were born you were despised…6 " 'Then I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, "Live!" 7 I made you grow like a plant of the field. You grew up and developed and became the most beautiful of jewels… 8 " 'Later I passed by, and when I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love, I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Sovereign LORD, and you became mine…15 " 'But you trusted in your beauty and used your fame to become a prostitute. You lavished your favors on anyone who passed by and your beauty became his. … 32 " 'You adulterous wife! You prefer strangers to your own husband! 33 Every prostitute receives a fee, but you give gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from everywhere for your illicit favors. 34 So in your prostitution you are the opposite of others; no one runs after you for your favors. You are the very opposite, for you give payment and none is given to you.
We Cannot Fully Worship God without Emotions
We Cannot Fully Worship God without Reverence and Honor
G. Campbell Morgan: We usually define sacrilege as taking that belongs to God and using it in an unworthy manner. Sacrilege is when we take and give it to God when it means absolutely nothing to you. It is both.
We cannot fully worship without sacrifice
Romans 12:1
Because of God’s great mercy to us, offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God dedicated to His service and pleasing to Him. This is the true worship that you should offer.
Since delight is incomplete until it is expressed, praise and worship complete the enjoyment of God
2 Samuel 24:24 (NIV)
But [David] replied to Araunah, "No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing."
Application
1. Make worship the greatest pursuit of your life - If you don’t know how to worship God in spirit and in truth, even God will disappoint you.
2. Give Him the Best of your Substance
He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose – Jim Eliot
3. All areas of our lives become an expression of worship so convert every area excellently for the glory of God because they ultimately belong to Him
Colossians 3:17, 23 (NIV)
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him… Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men,
O THOU WHO CAMEST FROM ABOVE
O Thou who camest from above,
the pure celestial fire to impart
to light a flame of sacred love
upon the altar of my heart.
There let it for Your glory burn
with inextinguishable blaze,
and trembling to its source return,
in humble prayer and fervent praise.
Jesus, confirm my heart's desire
to work and speak and think for You;
still let me guard the holy fire,
and still stir up Your gift in me.
Ready for all Your perfect will,
my acts of faith and love repeat,
till death Your endless mercies seal,
and make my sacrifice complete.
Words: Charles Wesley, 1762 (Lev. 6:13)
Music: Samuel Sebastian Wesley, 1872