IS YOUR WORSHIP FOR
REAL?
Isa 56:6-7, Jer
7:9-11. Mark 11:15-19
True worship is important to the Lord. During Old Testament
times, the Law was the guideline to praise and worship. The Lord designed His
Temple in Jerusalem
for worship for the nation of Israel
was lost. The Law was the tutor for worship until grace
came. The death and resurrection of Jesus was the beginning of the age of
Grace. True worship according to God's design
is not always maintained by the Church established in Jesus
name.
QUALIFICATIONS FOR WORSHIP
Isaiah 56:6-7
V:6 "Also the foreigners who join themselves to the
Lord, To minister to Him, and to love the name of the Lord, To be His servants,
every one who keeps from profaning the sabbath And holds fast My
covenant."
A. Everyone from all
nations are welcome in the House of the Lord.
1. There is a
qualification for Church membership.
a. You need a
relationship with the Father.
b. Jews and
Gentiles need a relationship with the Father.
2. A relationship
with the Father is established through faith in Jesus Christ.
B. Every believer in
Jesus is a minister of the Lord.
1. Every believer
has the authority to preach the Gospel of Jesus.
2. Every believer
has the responsibility to teach how salvation is obtained
through faith
in the atoning blood of Jesus shed on the cross.
C. Every believer has been transformed from a servant of the
world to a servant
of the Lord.
1. Believers
should put the Lord first in their lives.
2. You cannot
serve two masters.
a. There is no
in between. It is either the Lord or the world.
b. It is
through our service that we learn to trust the Lord.
D. The Jews were
commanded to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
1. The Lord
commanded a day of worship.
2. Jesus was
raised from the death on Sunday morning.
a. The day of
worship for believers was changed to Sunday.
c. The Jews
were under the Law. Believers are under Grace.
d. Everyday
for believers is a day of worship.
C. Believers should
hold fast to the Word of God.
1. The law was given to teach us obedience
to the Lord.
2. The law was
also given to teach the importance of sacrifice.
3. The law was
given to teach us how to worship the Lord.
V:7. " Even those I will bring to My holy mountain And
make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their
sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar; For My house will be called a house
of prayer for all the peoples."
A. The body is the
temple of the Lord.
1. No one can
come to the Lord but through Jesus Christ. Jn 6:37
2. No one can
come to Jesus unless the Father draws them.
3. Worship begins
in the heart. Worship does not begin in the physical building
called the church.
called the church.
B. Those who dedicate
themselves to the Lord will find peace and joy.
1. Since we are
the Lord's House, we should continue in prayer.
2. When prayer
cease, worldly events takes its place.
3. When our focus
is on the Lord, we can easily offer ourselves as a living sacrifice.
C. Our prayers and
offerings are acceptable to the Lord when we summit ourselves
to His commands.
D. God is no
respecter of person.
1. Your color,
race or nationality does not matter to the Lord.
2. What matters
to the Lord is obedience to His commands.
DISQUALIFIED TO WORSHIP
Jeremiah 7:9-11
V:9 "Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery and
swear falsely, and offer sacrifices to Baal and walk after other gods that you
have not known."
A. God is not
interested in your words.
1. God is
interested in your commitment and devotion.
2. We say a lot
of things. But do we mean what we say.
3. We say we love
the Lord, but do we show our love by what we do.
B. God list five of
His commands that we so often violate.
1. Do we steal?
a. Taking what
is not yours is stealing.
b. The first
thing Christians steal is God's tithes and offering. Mal 3:10
c. We pay
ourselves first and give God what is left over.
d. We miss
Church one Sunday and fail to bring the missed tithe to the
Church
the next Sunday.
2. Do we murder?
a. We may not
physically kill someone. We kill their spirit with our
mouths.
b.. Instead of
building up someone, we tear them down.
a. Instead
of looking for the good, we focus on the bad.
b. We are
full of negative comments, but no positive reinforcement.
3. Do we swear
falsely?
a. Do we
promise God we are going to do something, but fail to
follow
through.
b. Do we make
excuses for not serving the Lord.
c. Do we find
ourselves saying yes to the Lord, but really mean no.
4. Do we offer
sacrifices to idol gods?
a. Is there
anything we like more than God?
b. Can we find
time for football, basketball, and golf, but can't
find time
to study God's Word?
c. Do we trust
our jobs more than we trust the Lord?
d. When we say
we love the Lord, is it a statement that sounds good,
but is never
put into practice?
5. Do we commit
adultery?
a. Is there
any thing more important to you than God?
b. Is serving
God first or somewhere between first and last on your
list of
priorities?
c. Do you
volunteer to serve or do you have to be dragged into serving?
d. If you had extra money, would you
increase your offering to the Lord
or would
you find something else to buy first?
V:10. " Then come and stand before Me in this house,
which is called by My name, and say, 'We are delivered!' — that you may do all
these abominations? "
1. When you come to
Church on Sunday, do you remember what you didn't
do for the Lord. Do you make an effort to do what you know you
are
commanded to do?
2. Are all your
prayers all about what God can do for you and not what you can
do for God?
3. Does the Word
preached on Sunday convict you to be more like Jesus, or allow
you to stay the
same?
4. Do you find
yourself saying you are going to change for the Lord, but
find that you
stay the same?
V:11. "Has this house, which is called by My name, become
a den of robbers in your sight? Behold, I, even I, have seen it," declares
the Lord.
A. Has Church become
a place to socialize and not a place to grow?
1. Has Church
become an opportunity to be with friends and not an opportunity
to be a
friend to Jesus?
2. Is worship an
act of your emotions, a display for others or an expression of
love for the
Lord?
3. If your
worship is an expression of your love for the Lord, what evidence
can you supply that it is Love?
B. Are you robbing
the Lord of His worship by showing up on Sunday just to
be entertained by
the choir or the preaching?
1. If you knew in
advance that a particular preacher was preaching, would
you stay home?
2. If you spent
God's money on Saturday night, would you show up on Sunday
and ask for
forgiveness. Or would you say it is no big deal?
3. Do you ever get
up on Sunday morning and say this is the day I am going
to stay at
home and relax?
CLEAN UP YOUR HOUSE FOR WORSHIP
Mark 11:15-19
V:15. " Then
they came to Jerusalem
A. Jesus gets upset
when your worship in God's temple is not for real.
1. Church is not
the place to conduct business.
2. Church is not
the place to push your personal agenda.
B. We dishonor the
Lord when we come to Church for anything other than prayer and
worship.
1. The temple in Jerusalem
2. In this large
outer court, money changers set up tables to convert the Roman
and Greek
money into the Jewish coinage to pay the annual half shekel
Temple
tax.
a. The system
was corrupt with a profit been made with the exchange.
b. The selling
of unblemished doves for sacrifice was permitted.
c. Traffic
through the outer court to other parts of the city was also permitted.
3. The outer court
had become a place of commerce.
4. Jesus cleared out
the outer court to return it to its divine purpose of worship and
sacrifice.
D. We must be careful to keep our hearts and minds clear of
the clutter of the world
so our worship is
continuous.
1. When our focus
is on the Lord, daily worship is possible.
2. Seek the Lord
first and all things needed will be added to us.
3. This promise of
the Lord should give us confidence to trust the Lord with our
lives.
lives.
V:16. " And He would not permit anyone to carry
merchandise through the temple."
A. The Lord holds
the authority over our lives.
1. The Lord has
reserved believers for His worship and glory and will not allow
the worries of the world to consume us.
the worries of the world to consume us.
2. We are the
Lord's temple and every day is a day of praise and worship.
B. When our focus is
not on the Lord, the merchandise of the world will consume us.
1. It is not
God's design for us to be concerned with the things that are temporal.
2. It is God's
design that we be focused on the things that are eternal.
C. How do we live in
this world which is materialistic and not be affected by it?
1. Everyday new
gadgets are invented and presented to us
for our consumption.
2. These new
gadgets makes life simpler and sometimes more enjoyable.
3. We must keep
in mind that nothing made by man has any lasting value.
a. Only the
things we do for the Lord are eternal.
b. Joy does
not exist in things, but in the Lord.
c. The love
of material things will soon bring misery.
d. The love
of the Lord brings joy.
STUDY THE WORD TO IMPROVE YOUR WORSHIP
V:17. " And He began to teach and say to them, "Is
it not written, 'MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL THE
NATIONS'? But you have made it a ROBBERS' DEN."
A. Prayer is our
communication with the Father.
1. Prayer is
universal.
2. The method of
prayer never changes.
3. The effectiveness
of prayer never diminishes.
B. God commands us to
pray without ceasing.
1. Constant prayer
is constant communication with the Father.
2. A diminished
prayer life, robs God of our worship, our devotion, our
communication
with Him and our love for Him.
3. When we focus
on the merchandize of the world, we cannot focus on the Lord.
a. Gradually
our focus on worldly items will rob God of our trust in Him.
b. Gradually
our focus on worldly items will rob God of His worship.
THOSE WHO HATE THE WORD
V:18. " The chief priests and the scribes heard this,
and began seeking how to destroy Him; for they were afraid of Him, for the
whole crowd was astonished at His teaching."
A. The world hates
the teaching of the Lord.
1. The world
hates the truth which is Jesus Christ.
2. Those who hold
worldly authority, hate the authority of Jesus.
B. Jesus was
crucified because He taught the truth about the righteousness of the
Father.
Father.
1. Men are lovers
of themselves. Jesus taught the Love of God and the love of
others.
others.
2. Men pride
themselves in their possessions. Jesus taught us to resist the proud and
seek to be
humble.
3. Men taught an
eye for an eye. Jesus taught us to turn the other cheek.
C. The Devil knows
Jesus, fear Him, but will not follow Him.
1. The Devil know
the truth, but practice deception.
2. We should not
be surprised that the world goes in the wrong direction as we
follow Jesus.
follow Jesus.
3. Following the
crowd leads to destruction, corruption and eternal damnation.
4. Following
Jesus leads to peace, joy and eternal life.
WORSHIP WHILE IT IS DAY
V:19. " When evening came, they would go out of the
city."
A. There is a
morning time when believers must work serving the Lord.
1. While it is
day, we must make it our duty to teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
2. While it is
day, we must pursue the righteousness of the Lord.
B. There is a night
time when no man can work.
1. This life is
but a short period of time which will soon come to an end.
2. We have to
make a choice for Jesus while it is still day time.
3. No choices
will be made when the lights go out.
4. Our choices
end at the moment of death.
B. The Lord is
coming back for His Church.
1. All believers
will leave this city called the world and be taken to the Holy
City
the Lord.
2. If you want to
be counted in the Lambs Book of Life, make God's temple a
house of prayer.
house of prayer.
3. While it is
day, let us learn to worship the Lord in spirit and in truth.
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