True Worship

Scripture Text Ps. 95:6-7

Intro: The ‘Dictionary of Bible Themes” states that worship is mentioned hundreds of times in the bible. Scripture stresses the importance of regular corporate worship, while at the same time recognizing that believers may worship God spontaneously.

When was the last time you truly worshiped God?

I. What is “True Worship”? [v:6] Psalms 95:6 (NKJV) Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.

Worship means to show reverence and adoration for a deity.

 a. True worship is bowing down and kneeling in surrender to the Lord our Maker. [v:6 above] Worship in the truest sense takes place only when our full attention is on God, on His beauty, His glory, magnificence, and majesty, His power, splendor, love and compassion. It’s not in doing religious things but being in complete awe of God and all He is! If we are honest this doesn’t happen very often. Even in church or in times of quiet devotion, we get distracted and fail to see God as He truly is. It’s easy to be distracted! We must “cast down arguments [about God] and every high thing [rebellious thoughts] that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”  2 Corinthians 10:5 (NKJV) When your mind wants to wander bring it back into the obedience of Christ.

 

II. Things That Prompt Worship. Psalms 95:3-5 (NKJV)
³ For the Lord is the great God, And the great King above all gods.
⁴ In His hand are the deep places of the earth; The heights of the hills are His also.
⁵ The sea is His, for He made it; And His hands formed the dry land.

 1. True worship recognizes that God is the Lord. He is the sovereign, supreme, all-powerful over all so called gods (idols). God made everything and holds in place the universe. [Vs:3-5]

 2. True worship recognizes that God made us. [v:7] Psalms 95:7 (NKJV) For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice: Psalms 139:13-18 (NLT) ¹³ You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. ¹⁴ Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
¹⁵ You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. ¹⁶ You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.
¹⁷ How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered!
¹⁸ I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!

We are not here by accident. We are here by God’s perfect design and He has a plan for each of our lives. When we worship God we draw close to Him and we find His direction for our lives. He restores our soul and fills us with His Holy Spirit power.

Then He leads us in the paths of righteousness for His name sake. [Ps. 23:3]

 3. True worship recognizes God has made us a part of His forever family. [v:7] We are part of His flock which means We are under His care. God constantly watches over us.

     Psalms 139:7 (NLT) I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence!  God also provides for our every need.

     The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. [Ps. 23:1]

 4. True worship recognizes that we can never be separated from God and His love. Romans 8:38-39 (NKJV) ³⁸ For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Conclusion: We must learn to shut out the distractions that keep us from truly worshiping God. We must turn our mind and heart to Him every day, praising Him for who He is, what He has done for us, what He is doing and what He has already prepared for our future.         We must not to forget to thank Him for His everlasting, faithful love for us in Christ Jesus.

Invitation: You cannot worship God until you have a personal relationship with Him. If you do not have a personal relationship with God, it comes by confessing your sins to Jesus Christ and asking Him to forgive you and save you from Hell. Then invite Jesus into your life to take charge of you and your daily affairs. Then be baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then you can begin to truly worship God and receive His blessings for the rest of your life here on earth and then forever throughout eternity.

Pray for All Men!

Scripture Text 1 Tim.2:1-6

Intro: This Friday we have a new executive branch of government being installed. As Christians, We must be aware of the need to pray for the incoming administration. This is most important as we see those who are already stirring up trouble and rumors. The new administration will need God’s help to be able to make the changes that are necessary to make us truly one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. We must pray for God to change the hearts of those who oppose His will on earth. We are to pray for God’s kingdom to come and His will be done on earth as in heaven.

2:1 Paul encourages Prayer for all men! 1 Timothy 2:1 (NKJV) Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men. It is both a privilege and an obligation. It is a sheer privilege for us to have audience with God in behalf of our fellow men. And it is an obligation, too, for we are debtors to all with the good news of salvation. The apostle lists four aspects of prayer—supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks. In modern usage, supplication has the thought of strong and earnest request, making specific requests for specific needs. The word here translated prayers is a very general term, covering all kinds of reverent requests to God. Intercessions describe those forms of petition in which we address God as e Supreme Authority in behalf of others. Giving of thanks describes prayer in which we realize the grace and kindness of our Lord, and pour out our hearts in gratitude to Him. To summarize the verse, in praying for all men, we should be humble, worshipful, trustful, and thankful.

2:2 We are to pray for government leaders. 1 Timothy 2:2 (NKJV) For kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. This includes Kings, presidents and all who are in authority. These must occupy a special place in our prayers. In (Rom. 13:1) Paul reminds us that the authorities that exist are ordained of God and in (Rom. 13:4) he says they are ministers of God to us for good. Without government we would have chaos. Terrible persecutions were inflicted on the Christians of that day by the wicked ruler Nero, but the apostle Paul says that should not affect the fact that Christians should pray for their governmental heads. The NT teaches that a Christian is to be loyal to the government under which he lives, except when that government orders him to disobey God. In such a case his first responsibility is to God. We may simply refuse to obey any order that is contrary to the word of God and then quietly and submissively take the punishment as we have seen some do. A Christian should not engage in revolution or in violence against the government, but take lawful ways to change government when we believe the government is wrong. The reason Paul gives for praying for rulers is that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness [conforming to the laws of God] and reverence [deep respect for God]. It is for our own good that the government should be stable and God fearing so that the country is preserved from revolution, civil war, turmoil, and anarchy and have God’s blessings.

2:3 Prayers are good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior. 1 Timothy 2:3 (NKJV)  For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, God is pleased and accepts our prayers when we pray for all mankind. Therefore, to pray for all men is to promote the will of God in this regard. Prayer proves we depend on God for everything that we need in this world! We don’t depend on mankind alone because God is Supreme and is our Savior.

2:4 God desires all men to be saved. 1 Timothy 2:4 (NKJV)  who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. No one is beyond salvation if they desire it. There is the divine and the human aspects of salvation. The first half of the verse indicates that man must be saved. The verb here is passive; man cannot save himself but must be saved by God. This is the divine side of salvation. In order to be saved, man must come to the knowledge of the truth. God does not save men against their will. He does not populate heaven with rebellious subjects. Man must come to Jesus who is: “the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” Salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ and Him alone. This is the human side.

2:5 God desires that all men know the truth about salvation! 1 Timothy 2:5 (NKJV) For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, The truth is there is only one God because God said He is one; there is not a different god for each nationality and religion. Therefore, He is the God of all men, no matter what their race or nationality and prayer should be made to Him in behalf of all men. As the one God, He desires the salvation of all men and the truth is there is only One Mediator between God and men. Paul identifies the Mediator as the Man, Christ Jesus. This declares the deity of the Lord Jesus. In order to be the Mediator between God and men, He must be both God and Man. The Lord Jesus is God from all eternity, but He became Man in Bethlehem’s manger for us. He represents the whole race of humanity. No man can come to God in any other way. A mediator is a go-between, who can stand between two and communicate peace between them. Through Christ, who is Perfect Man, God can approach men with forgiveness of sins. Consequently any poor sinner can approach Him, and will by no means be rejected.

 This verse effectively contradicts the teaching so common today that there are many ways to God. God says there is only one Mediator, and His name is Christ Jesus.

2:6 Jesus gave Himself as a ransom for all. 1 Timothy 2:6 (NKJV) who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time, The emphasis is on the fact that God desires the salvation of all men. This is further shown by the fact that Christ was a ransom. Notice that the ransom is for all. A ransom is a price paid to release or set another free. This means that the work of the Lord Jesus on Calvary’s cross was sufficient to save all sinners. This verse teaches that the death of Christ was substitutionary. He died as a Substitute in behalf of all mankind. Whether all will accept it is another question, but the fact remains that the redemptive work of Christ was sufficient for all who will believe.

     To be testified in due time means that the testimony concerning Christ’s substitutionary work was to be given in its proper time. Now is the proper time. God has decreed that the gospel message should go out in this age in which we live. This is the purpose of the church. We are to keep telling the old, old story, of Jesus and His love. The church is designed to demonstrate the overwhelming longing on the part of God to save and bless mankind.

     Invitation: God’s desire to save all mankind includes you. God gives you a personal invitation right now to come to Him, so you can know the truth and be saved. Confess your sins to Jesus and ask Him to save you and invite Him into your life to take charge of you till you come to be with Him in Heaven. Then be baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost! If you are already saved, will you make a determination today to pray for our new government leadership and all mankind everywhere?

This will be pleasing and acceptable to God!

Guided by "The Shepherd"

Scripture Text Psalm 23

Intro: We all must daily make the choice of whom and what will guide us in the affairs of our lives this New Year. We must pray and read God’s word each day for His guidance because He knows the best and prosperous way. We would be wise if we started each day with Psalm 23 and claimed the promises of this chapter for ourselves in addition to our other readings and prayer. May we pray this Psalm and meditate on it to begin each new day this coming year. As we do we will see a big difference in our attitudes and the direction of our lives! We will experience the blessings and favor of Father God on our lives each day!

I. Daily declare the Lord as your Shepherd. Psalms 23:1 (NKJV) The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

 a. Lord means Master, Owner, Mentor, Supreme authority. He is the “Self-existent One.”

 b. The sheep follow the shepherd because he is the One who feeds, takes care of, and watches over His sheep. Jesus calls Himself the Great Shepherd in John chapter 10. Shepherds name their sheep. Jesus the good Shepherd calls His sheep by name   and His sheep hear His voice and follow Him. They will not follow a stranger. If we read and focus on His word each day this year and pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit, it is sure to set the direction of our lives in the blessed and favored way of God. As we follow the good Shepherd, Jesus, We shall not want, but we will be stable and secure through whatever circumstances or situations we face throughout the year.

II. We will be blessed with spiritual nourishment and refreshment. Psalms 23:2 (NKJV) He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.       

  a. The first blessing of the Shepherd is spiritual nourishment. As a shepherd leads sheep to fresh grass for feeding, so the Lord leads His people. Not only to feed, but He makes us lie down to rest, and enjoy tranquility, peace, and safety; (in green pastures) —Where there are both delight and plenty. “The image is that of a flock feeding in green, lush meadows, and relaxing in quietness by the streams of water running gently through them. This image conveys the idea of the provision made for the soul as well as the body. Jesus opens his hand and fills His sheep with every need and more. One who follows the Lord does not lack any spiritual nourishment or refreshment either because He makes us lie down and rest in peace as He provides us with everything needed for a fulfilled and blessed life.

 III. We will have vitality and moral direction. Psalms 23:3 (NKJV) He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake.

  a. He restores our soul each day as we look to Him. I shall not lack spiritual vitality because the Lord restores and refreshes my soul with His forgiveness, love, peace and joy as I follow Him. We all need our souls restored during rough times in our lives. I shall not lack moral direction because the Lord is leading and guiding me in the right way (paths of righteousness). A good shepherd knows the right paths on which to bring the sheep home safely. So too the Lord loses none of His sheep, but guides them in the right way. He does so because of His reputation (or name’s sake). Our part is to make sure we follow the Shepherd’s leading through daily prayer, bible reading, and meditation as He speaks guidance and direction to us by His Spirit. Then as we follow His leading, Ps.1:3 says we shall be like a tree planted by streams of living water bringing forth fruit in season, our leaf will not wither and we will prosper in all we do.

IV. We will have the Lord’s protection. Psalms 23:4 (NKJV)
⁴ Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

  a. There is no need to fear through the rough places in life, even in the face of death because the Shepherd is right there with us. If one finds himself in a valley of deep darkness, depression, (or shadow of death), he need not fear. The Lord is with us and will protect us. The rod and staff are the shepherd’s equipment to protect the sheep in such situations. The rod is used to fight off the wolves and the staff is used to gently bring a straying sheep back into the fold. David was comforted by the Lord’s presence and protection. Believers are never in situations the Lord is not aware of, for He never leaves or forsakes His people. Hebrews 13:5-6 (NKJV) ⁵ Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." ⁶ So we may boldly say: "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?"

V. We will have the Lord’s provision. Psalms 23:5 (NKJV) You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.

  a. In this verse the scene changes to a banquet hall where a gracious host provides lavish hospitality. Under this image the psalmist rejoiced in the Lord’s provision. What was comforting to David was that this was in the presence of his enemies. Despite impending danger, the Lord spread out a table for him, that is, God provided for him. Food is placed before him, while his enemies stand frowningly at the door.

 b. He also anoints our heads with oil. Shepherds anoint the heads of their sheep to soothe the scratches and wounds. For priests the anointing oil speaks of consecration to their work. For kings the anointing oil is associated with coronation as ruler. For the believer the anointing oil is symbolic of the Holy Spirit the moment he receives Jesus as his Savior. This anointing of the Spirit seals us for God and guarantees the believer victory over Satan, sin and the world. The Spirit is also our teacher. He takes God’s word and teaches us truth. The Spirit gives us the power of to live the life God has called each of us to live and do what He called us to do.

When we think of all the riches of grace which we have in Christ Jesus, we burst forth with the grateful acknowledgment, “My cup runs over!” with God’s blessings and favor.

   

 VI. We will have God’s loyal love. Psalms 23:6 (NKJV) Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.

  a. David realized that the Lord’s good loyal love (mercy)(grace) would follow after him everywhere through all his life him as a result of God’s anointing on him. God’s blessings on His people remain with them no matter what their circumstance may be. So he concluded I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. The house of the Lord referred to the sanctuary (tabernacle). David said I had rather be in the Lord’s house than anywhere else on earth. For the rest of his life on earth he would enjoy full communion with the Lord in His sanctuary and then when this life is over face to face communion with Him and Jesus forever in Heaven.

INVITATION: Is the Lord your Shepherd? Have you confessed your sins to Jesus and asked Him to forgive you? If not, you will not dwell with the Lord forever. Ask Jesus now to forgive your sins against God and ask Him to forgive you and invite Him to be your Shepherd and lead you through all the storms of life to the dawn of that beautiful day there in Heaven.