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WORSHIP

SERMON SERIES BY JOSEPH CARROLL

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WORSHIP

SERMON SERIES BY JOSEPH CARROLL

APRIL 1978

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Worship 5: The How of Worship – Joseph Carroll - April 7, 1978

Scripture References:

Revelation 22:1-5, John 4:24, Hebrews 10:22, Matt 5:8, Matt 6:6, Phil. 3:3, Rev. 5:9, Rev 5:12, Psalm 8, Psalm 19:1-2, Psalm 29:1-2, Psalm 36:5-9, Psalm 27:4, Psalm 84:1 and Psalm

73:25, Psalm 90:1-2, Mark 12:28-30, Psalm 93:1-2, Psalm 103:8, 11-13, 17-18, Psalm 104:1-5, 113:1-6, Psalm 139: 1-4, Luke 9:23, James 4:7

1) Read through the Scripture References on Thursday Night.2) Listen to the message and write a 2 page summary on Friday Morning.

3) By the end of the weekend, look through the reference notes and answer the two questions at the end.

Summary:

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Reference Notes:

Revelation 22:1-5

“His slaves shall worship Him.” - Williams

“His servants will worship Him.” – William Beck

How do we worship?

We must worship in Spirit and truth or reality (John 4:24).

1)Wemustworshipwithawholeheart.Trueworshipisheartworship,withthefirst condition being a pure heart (Hebrews 10:22). If that condition is not met, then there can be no acceptable ap proach to God in worship.

2) There must be clean hands. There must be no unconfessed sin, no sin that has not been dealt with.

We cannot walk in darkness and have fellowship with the One who is in the light.

We worship the One who dwells in light. There can be no true worship without moral obedience. The pure in heart see God (Matt 5:8).

We normally think of prayer as merely asking for something. Most people will say prayer is asking God to do something. It is petition, supplication, intercession and so on. Some might say it includes thanksgiving, but generally, most would come to God in prayer to ask for something. We have almost ignored the priority of worship.

7 Word Studies on Prayer

Words translated “prayer” have different meanings.

1) Prayer as a sense of need – 42 times 2) Prayer as an expression of desire – 74 times 3) Prayer as a spirit of humility – 1time 4) Prayer as a privilege of fellowship – 2 times 5) Prayer as a spirit of enquiry – 1 time 6) Prayer as a bond of union – 1time 7) Prayer as an attitude of consecration - 125 times. This is by far the most common word denoting prayer to God. Its root idea is consecration. It means the turning of ourselves to God in surrender. This is an attitude of worship expressed in prayer. Prayer is much more than asking God to do something.

The normal attitude of a believer in prayer is that of a worshiper who has turned to God with all his heart.

This solves the problem of being able to pray always because one must maintain that attitude of surrender to and worship of the living Christ.

Bishop Westcott

HissonsaidofWestcott,“Inhisfinalyearsmyfatherobviouslylivedintwoworldsatonce. Whilst his feet were set in the earth, his spirit was in the presence of God. Everything that came to him was met in that pres-ence. Nothing could ever surprise him from that attitude.”

How did he achieve this?Our quiet time or our worship time is simply the tuning of the instrument to prepare us for the day. Our attitude does not cease when we rise from our knees in our time of worship. It is to continue throughout the day, making it possible to pray always.

“God respecteth not the arithmetic of our prayers, how many they be; nor the rhetoric of our prayers, how long they be; nor the music of our prayers, how methodical they be; but the divinity of our prayers, how heart-strung they are.” -John Trapp

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Are your prayers from the heart, worship from the heart? Is the total man giving himself?

The How of Worship

1) Aloneness A. Enter your closet, a closed place. That place in your home you have put aside. It is there that you meet the Lord each morning. It may be in the woods, in the forest, but you are alone.

B. Matthew 6:6 - Very personal. Very intimate. Very much of aloneness with God. That isthefirstlessonwemustmaster.

a. Do not permit your family devotions to displace that time of aloneness with God. Very often when young people marry, they pray together. That is a wonder ful thing; they should pray together.

Group prayer is wonderful, but you must never neglect aloneness with God.

b.Thatisthefirstlessontomasteranditisnevertobeignored.Youhave entered into your closet; you have come with a pure heart and with no unconfessed sin.

2) Sin

Youshouldnotwaituntilyourquiettimetodealwithunconfessedsin.Sinshouldbedealtwithimmediately.Ifyouarecon-scious of having grieved or quenched the Spirit or have done something that is not pleasing to the Spirit, then you must stop wherever you are and you must confess your sin then go on. It should not take more than 30 seconds. Please do not leave the confession of your sin to your quiet time when you are alone with your Lord.

A. D.L. Moody

a. Every evening before bed, he would ask the Lord to show Him if there was anything during the day that displeased Him. He would wait quietly in the Lord’s presence and confess what the Lord revealed to him.

b. He never put his head on his pillow until he was absolutely certain there was nothing between him and his Lord. And such a man is prepared for worship.

3) The Holy Spirit

A. We come with dependence on the Holy Spirit. He is going to draw out your heart in worship. There must be that total unceasing dependence on the Holy Spirit at all times.

B. Philippians 3:3 - “We are the true circumcision who by the Spirit of God worship Him.” Williams The only way you can worship God is by the Spirit.

All in Christ by the Holy Ghost for the glory of God. All else is nothing. - Monod

William Beck translates it “We who worship by God’s Spirit.”

4) Concentration

A. We enter our closet, shut the door behind us and we are alone with our Lord. We kneel, close our eyes and concentrate all of our attention and affection on the Lamb of God. We are alone, on our knees, forgetting all else in order not to forget Him.

B. My quiet time truly became a quiet time when I began to concentrate all of my attention and affection on the slain Lamb of God. Be still in His presence.

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C.Whenyoufirstbegin,youmayfindturmoilwithin.Allsortsofthoughtsmayrace throughyourmind.Youthinkofadozenthingsyoushouldattendto.Youhaven’tgotagreatdealoftime foralonenesswiththeLordatthemoment.Youwillcomebacklater.Noyouwon’t.Trust the Spirit of God to enable you to concentrate all your attention and affection on the Lamb of God. Don’t give up.

5) Using Scripture – Express your ascriptions of worth audibly. Pray aloud. A.Rev 5:9 – Use the words as your own. a.“YouareworthytotakethescrollandtoopenthesealsforYouwereslainand YouhaveredeemedmetoGodbyYourblood.” b. The word must be intensely personal and adapted for your own use. B. Rev 5:12 C. The Psalms abound in worship! D. Psalm 8

a.Changeitfrom“OhLord,ourLord”to“OhLord,myLord,howexcellentisYourname in all the earth.”

b. It is intensely personal.

You are pouring out your heart to the One you love. You are actually cultivating your love for Christ in worship.

E. Psalm 19:1-2 - The Spirit of God is going to use the Word of God to draw out your heart in worship.

F.Psalm29:1-2-Itmustbepersonal.“IgiveuntoYou,OLord,theglorydueYourname.”

G. Psalm 36:5-9 –The richness of His person

a.SetaboutmemorizingScripture.Whenyoucometoyourtimeofworship,youwill findtheSpiritofGoddrawingoutthatverseorpassageofScripturethatHewantsyou to use to worship the Lamb of God. b. What a tremendous worshiper of God David was. Here was a man who surely unceasingly worshiped his God. What was the key to it all? It was the one thing that he desired and the one thing he sought after(Psalm 27:4). Only this kind of man could give us these psalms.

H. Psalm 84:1 and Psalm 73:25 together:

a.TakingcertainextractsfromthePsalmsandputtingthemtogether:HowlovelyisYourdwellingplace,Oh LordofHosts!WhomhaveIinheavenbutYouandbesidesYou,Idesirenothingonearth.

b.ThisisthelanguageofatrueloverofChrist.Usethosewordsasyourown.“Youare heaven to me.”

I. Psalm 90:1-2

a.“Lord,Youhavebeenourdwellingplaceinallgenerations”canbecome“Youhave beenmydwellingplace,wondrousLord,sincethatfirstdaywhenmychainsfelloffandmy heart was free.”

b. What do you notice about these passages of Scripture in which you worship the Lord?YouareoccupiedwithHim.Thetrueloverisoccupiedwiththeoneheloves.

c. Mark 12:28-30

In worship you are completely occupied with the One you love. You are unmindful of self or anyone or anything else. This is essential in true worship.

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J. Psalm 93:1-2

K. Psalm 103:8, 11-13, 17-18

L. Psalm 104:1-5, 113:1-6 - Use Psalm 104. Adapt it to worship, which is intensely personal and a direct ascription of praise to the One you worship. Worship the Lord.

M. Psalm 139: 1-4

N.Studytheseverses.TaketheversesthattheSpiritofGodimpressesuponyou.Adaptthem toyourownusethatyoumightworshiptheLordinyourwords.TheSpiritofGodwillhelpyou.MemorizetheseversessothatHecancallupontheminyourworship.Endeavortomemorizeatleastoneverseaweek.

6) Using Hymns

A. Holy, Holy, Holy

a. This is a hymn of worship.

b. Even a small child only 3 and a half years old must learn one thing, that she was created to worship God and she must never forget it. What music to a father’s ears and what music to the Lord’s ears.

B.FairestLordJesus,telltheLord.That’sworship.Memorizeit. a. Tell Him that. It’s a great hymn. Work to adapt this hymn.

C. And Can It Be That I Should Gain? a.You’llhavetoworktoadaptthishymn.Itcanbedone.

b.HeleftHisFather’sthroneabovechangedto“YouleftYourFather’sthroneabove.”Sofree,soinfiniteYourgrace;

YouemptiedYourselfofallbutloveAnd bled for Adam’s helpless race.

Wondrous Lord, ‘tis mercy all, immense and freeAnd O dear Lord, it found out me!

D. Tiredness can be an enemy to true worship.

E.TheChristianBookofMysticalVerse–A.W.Tozer a. For every hour that he preached he must spend two and a half hours in prayer.

7) Using Books A.A.W.Tozer a. The Knowledge of the Holy – A small volume on the attributes of God. God is a wonderfulBeing.WecannotevendefineHim,butaswestudyHisattributes,wecan see something. There is no book that will give you an introduction to the attributes of God as this one will. b. Worship c. The Pursuit of God

B. A.P. Gibbs – Worship

C. John Stott - A chapter on worship in Stott’s Christ the Controversialist

Youmayknowthe“how”ofworship,meettheconditionsofworship,butsomehowyou’renotgettingthrough.Somehowitisn’t real.

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6 Hindrances to Worship

1) An unsurrendered Heart – There is no such thing as a once for all surrender. Let Him take up his cross daily. Let him de-throne himself and enthrone Christ (Luke 9:23). The process is the daily cross, the daily dethroning of self that Christ may remain enthroned. So that you never cease to surrender. That’swhatthismessageisallabout.Youaretomaintainthatatti-tudetoandworshipofJesusChristyourLord.Youcandriftawayfromthatattitudeandyoucanyieldtocompetingaffec-tions.SuddenlyyourealizeyouarenotgettingthroughtotheLordinworship.Yourealizeyoudon’treallywanttoworship.Yourheartisnotpure.JesusChristisnotalltoyou.He’sjustsomething,noteverything.Keepyourheartsurrendered.Keepittender toward the Lord.

2)UnconfessedSin-Itwon’tjustgoaway;itmustbedealtwith.Sinisacancer;itmustbedealtwith.Keepshortaccountswithconfessionofsin.Confessitimmediately,recognizeit,dealwithitandgoonwiththeLord.

3) Wrong Attitude A. Another hindrance is a wrong attitude, especially toward some other brother or sister in the body of Christ. One should not have a wrong attitude toward anybody on the face of the earth. We are to love our enemies. It’s when we have wrong attitudes and wrong speech toward other members of the body of Christ that the Spirit of God is grieved. If the Spirit of God is grieved, you cannot worship God by the Spirit. It’s impossible to worship Him without the Spirit. It’s when we have wrong attitudes and wrong speech toward other members of the body of Christ that the Spirit of God is grieved.

When the Spirit of God is grieved you cannot worship God by the Spirit. It is impossible to worship Him without the Spirit.

Watch your attitudes very carefully. This is where the devil will get you.

4) Unbelief

A.Youmaycometoworshipandnotgetthrough.Yourattitudemaybe,“Imightgetthrough; I hope I’ll get through.”

B.No,believeGod.Believethatyou’regoingtohaveawonderfultimewiththeLord.

C.Mrs.Stewart-“IjustwanttolookmybestforHim.”SheknewJesusChrist.

5) Enemy Opposition

A. There will be times when a cloud will come upon you; it is oppression. Refuse it in the name of Jesus. James 4:7- Thisismuchmorecommononmissionfields,butyoucanexperienceithereinAmerica.

6) Physical Tiredness

How wonderful it will be in eternity!

Our service will be beholding Him, it will be worship.

His slaves shall worship Him and they shall see His face. Dear King David will at last have his desire.

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Questions:

1) What did the Lord really impress on your heart from this message?

2) Truth always demands a response. How are you going to apply that truth this week?