Jesus IS our worship
Series: Worship
Speaker: Sam Low
Date: 7th February 2015
Passage: John 17:1-26
00:00:00 --> 00:00:04 If you can keep John 17 open in front of you, we will get to that eventually.
00:00:05 --> 00:00:12 We are embarking tonight on the first of a four-week series looking at the topic of worship.
00:00:13 --> 00:00:18 You would be hard-pressed in modern churches to find a topic that is more divisive,
00:00:19 --> 00:00:22 more loaded and more misunderstood than worship.
00:00:23 --> 00:00:27 In different circles, the word worship has come to mean completely different things.
00:00:27 --> 00:00:32 For some, it's as simple as music that we do at one part of the service.
00:00:32 --> 00:00:37 For some, it might be something more personal and isolated and contemplative.
00:00:37 --> 00:00:39 For others, it's a whole bunch of different things.
00:00:40 --> 00:00:44 There is a level of fear and trepidation as we embark on this series
00:00:44 --> 00:00:48 because I know that in a room this size and in a church as diverse as ours,
00:00:48 --> 00:00:54 that there will be differences of opinion amongst us of what worship is and should look like.
00:00:54 --> 00:00:59 But we're not actually going to talk about our church services today.
00:01:00 --> 00:01:03 We will get to that conversation because what we do when we gather is worship.
00:01:04 --> 00:01:09 But there's some foundations that we need to lay before we start to have those conversations.
00:01:10 --> 00:01:13 And even though I am a little bit nervous about this series, I am also excited
00:01:13 --> 00:01:16 because the Bible teaches us that worship is a gift from God.
00:01:17 --> 00:01:19 In fact, it's something he commands us to do.
00:01:19 --> 00:01:21 So we want to be able to do it well.
00:01:21 --> 00:01:25 It's something that God has given us for our sake, for our joy.
00:01:25 --> 00:01:30 He's given it so that it can be a bit of a taste of the future bliss that we're going to know in heaven.
00:01:31 --> 00:01:35 And so whether we've been doing it for a week, a year or 80 years,
00:01:35 --> 00:01:38 it's something worth us thinking about and wrestling with together.
00:01:39 --> 00:01:42 And it's important before we begin that we all commit to one another
00:01:42 --> 00:01:44 that we will come to this series teachable.
00:01:45 --> 00:01:46 I don't mean ignorant.
00:01:46 --> 00:01:48 I don't mean holding your convictions loosely.
00:01:48 --> 00:01:53 But I mean eager to hear what God has to say about what worship should look like.
00:01:54 --> 00:01:57 So I'm going to pray to that end and then we're going to get stuck into it.
00:01:59 --> 00:02:02 Father God, we want to thank you that you are a God who loves us.
00:02:03 --> 00:02:05 You're a God who wants to be known by us.
00:02:05 --> 00:02:09 You're a God who has revealed yourself so that we can know you.
00:02:09 --> 00:02:16 And you're a God who gives yourself to us in such a way that we might find joy and contentment in you.
00:02:16 --> 00:02:21 God, I pray that as we reflect on what it is to worship you over these next few weeks,
00:02:21 --> 00:02:26 that you would give us hearts that yearn to be led by you and not by what is comfortable
00:02:26 --> 00:02:28 or what is familiar or what we prefer.
00:02:29 --> 00:02:34 I pray that the result of spending time thinking about this together will be that we are more unified,
00:02:34 --> 00:02:40 even as we disagree on how things might look or which way we like best,
00:02:40 --> 00:02:41 that we might be unified in Jesus.
00:02:42 --> 00:02:43 Amen.
00:02:43 --> 00:02:49 So our question for today is the first one.
00:02:49 --> 00:02:50 What is worship?
00:02:51 --> 00:02:56 We need to know what we're talking about before we can talk about when we do it or how we should do it.
00:02:57 --> 00:02:59 So the question we will ask today is what is worship?
00:02:59 --> 00:03:03 Or maybe more importantly, what does the Bible say is worship?
00:03:03 --> 00:03:07 Now, we need to separate it out from being thought of as something that we do
00:03:07 --> 00:03:12 because worship is better understood as something that is relational.
00:03:12 --> 00:03:18 It's a unique relationship and it's a special relationship because we're talking about worshipping God.
00:03:19 --> 00:03:26 But, and because it's a unique relationship, it has very specific parameters in terms of how we might relate to God.
00:03:26 --> 00:03:32 So over the course of the series, we're going to think more specifically about what it might look like for you to worship
00:03:32 --> 00:03:34 and what it will look like for us to worship.
00:03:35 --> 00:03:40 But today we want to stay a bit broader and give ourselves a definition of worship
00:03:40 --> 00:03:46 and to think what are the marks of true worship as opposed to maybe false worship or unhelpful worship.
00:03:46 --> 00:03:49 And so today I want to focus on three particular markers.
00:03:50 --> 00:03:57 Having said that it's relational, the first one that we want to say is true worship is responsive.
00:03:57 --> 00:04:06 So because worship is relational and because it's within the relationship between a creator and a creation,
00:04:06 --> 00:04:11 so a God who is infinite and a creature like us that is finite and limited,
00:04:11 --> 00:04:18 in that relationship God has full knowledge of us, but we only know what he reveals to us.
00:04:18 --> 00:04:26 We only know what he chooses to show to us, and so our relationship with him or our worship to him,
00:04:27 --> 00:04:33 our worship of him, is limited to and defined by who he shows himself to be.
00:04:34 --> 00:04:41 It needs to be a response to who he has revealed himself as and not just how we think we should do it
00:04:41 --> 00:04:43 or what we think might be appropriate.
00:04:43 --> 00:04:50 But we need to say even more than worship is responsive, because true worship is more specific than that.
00:04:50 --> 00:04:57 True worship is a right response to God, a right response to the creator who has revealed himself.
00:04:57 --> 00:05:01 And there is only one right response to the God who's revealed himself to us.
00:05:01 --> 00:05:06 Because God has revealed himself in scripture as the creator, as the sustainer,
00:05:06 --> 00:05:12 as the holy and righteous judge over creation, as the jealous God who will not share his name and honour,
00:05:12 --> 00:05:16 because that's who he is and who he's shown himself to be,
00:05:17 --> 00:05:23 the only response we can give to somebody like that who is infinitely worthy is everything.
00:05:25 --> 00:05:30 Our worship must be a response to who he is and what he deserves,
00:05:30 --> 00:05:34 and so if we are to worship him rightly, if we are to respond to him rightly,
00:05:34 --> 00:05:40 we must give him all glory and honour and praise because he's worth that.
00:05:40 --> 00:05:46 And anything less than all glory and all honour and all praise is a wrong response to him.
00:05:47 --> 00:05:50 Anything less than absolute submission and complete and perfect obedience
00:05:50 --> 00:05:56 is a wrong or at least inadequate response to the God who has revealed himself.
00:05:56 --> 00:06:00 And so worship that is half-hearted or worship that is exclusive
00:06:00 --> 00:06:05 falls short of the kind of worship that God demands from us.
00:06:05 --> 00:06:10 It's almost like I have made a marriage commitment to my wife.
00:06:11 --> 00:06:15 We have said vows, I have said that she is my wife and I will love her and care for her and do all those things.
00:06:16 --> 00:06:19 Now imagine that I chose to make that same commitment to another woman.
00:06:21 --> 00:06:25 It doesn't actually matter how well I love and care for the two of them.
00:06:25 --> 00:06:29 It actually doesn't matter whether or not they feel loved and cared for.
00:06:29 --> 00:06:35 If both of them feel loved and cared for, I've still failed in my relationship to them
00:06:35 --> 00:06:41 because in our culture, given not everywhere, but in our culture, by definition,
00:06:41 --> 00:06:44 marriage is between one man and one woman.
00:06:45 --> 00:06:47 And so as soon as there is a second woman,
00:06:48 --> 00:06:54 I am not treating the wife with the exclusive commitment that is required from a husband.
00:06:54 --> 00:07:00 So sharing my allegiance like that becomes inadequate.
00:07:00 --> 00:07:04 And it doesn't matter how much effort I put into loving these two women.
00:07:04 --> 00:07:07 I have failed at the fundamental relationship.
00:07:07 --> 00:07:13 I have failed because by definition, a husband must love one wife exclusively as his wife.
00:07:13 --> 00:07:24 And in the same way, the God who has revealed himself as all glorious and all powerful and worthy of all honour demands our exclusive allegiance.
00:07:25 --> 00:07:32 It doesn't matter how much effort we put into trying to worship him or pray to him or obey him,
00:07:32 --> 00:07:35 if we are also doing that in another direction as well.
00:07:36 --> 00:07:40 Because of who he is, our worship to him must be a right response.
00:07:40 --> 00:07:42 And that response is exclusive.
00:07:43 --> 00:07:44 It is wholehearted.
00:07:44 --> 00:07:50 It is the giving of all honour, glory and praise because he's worthy of that and nothing less.
00:07:50 --> 00:07:57 Throughout the whole Old Testament, worship with God has always been in response to who God showed himself to be.
00:07:58 --> 00:08:05 So when God gave the Old Testament Israelites the sacrifices that would become part of the way that they worshipped him,
00:08:05 --> 00:08:09 that was a response to the holiness and justice of God.
00:08:09 --> 00:08:14 When God gave them commands to give financially for tithes and giving,
00:08:15 --> 00:08:20 that was a response to God revealing himself as the provider for all their needs.
00:08:20 --> 00:08:22 When God gave them the priestly system,
00:08:22 --> 00:08:28 that was a response to God showing themselves that he was holy and pure and perfect and they were not.
00:08:29 --> 00:08:30 Even when you go to the Ten Commandments,
00:08:30 --> 00:08:38 which are kind of like the relational distinctives for what it looks like for Israel to have a relationship with God.
00:08:38 --> 00:08:46 You could call the Ten Commandments the worship distinctives because they were defining what a right response to God was.
00:08:46 --> 00:08:48 Listen to how they open in Exodus 20.
00:08:48 --> 00:08:49 It'll be on the screen.
00:08:49 --> 00:08:56 I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
00:08:56 --> 00:09:02 This is the preamble, if you like, to the instructions that God will give his people on how to relate to him.
00:09:03 --> 00:09:09 They must relate to him in light of who he has shown himself to be when he rescued them.
00:09:09 --> 00:09:13 When he, with his mighty hand, took them out of slavery in Egypt,
00:09:14 --> 00:09:17 God revealed himself as a God who is faithful to promise,
00:09:17 --> 00:09:24 as a God who is mighty, as a God who does not tolerate even Egyptian pharaohs belittling him.
00:09:24 --> 00:09:31 The relationship Israel has to have with God is to be defined by who God has shown himself to be.
00:09:32 --> 00:09:36 They can't just look around at what other cultures and people do when they want to worship something
00:09:36 --> 00:09:38 and grab hold of that and copy.
00:09:39 --> 00:09:44 Worship must be a response to who God has revealed himself to be
00:09:44 --> 00:09:49 and specifically for them, who he revealed himself to be when he rescued them.
00:09:50 --> 00:09:57 And so, because he has shown himself to them and to us to be infinitely worthy of all honour and glory,
00:09:58 --> 00:10:05 our worship of him must be exclusive, wholehearted, and defined by who he says he is and nothing less.
00:10:05 --> 00:10:12 True worship is a right response to the God who's revealed himself and he does that in scripture.
00:10:13 --> 00:10:18 Here at St Paul's we have a core value of Christ-centred Bible saturation.
00:10:18 --> 00:10:23 We looked at this in our series at the end of last year, but let me read to you one paragraph from that core value.
00:10:23 --> 00:10:24 It says,
00:10:24 --> 00:10:29 And that paragraph and that core value is based on a few different passages of scripture,
00:10:29 --> 00:10:31 but I want to take you to one in particular in 2 Corinthians 4.
00:10:31 --> 00:10:33 It'll be on the screen and I'm going to read from a verse.
00:10:33 --> 00:10:34 It says,
00:10:34 --> 00:10:53 And that paragraph and that core value is based on a few different passages of scripture,
00:10:53 --> 00:10:56 but I want to take you to one in particular in 2 Corinthians 4.
00:10:57 --> 00:10:59 It'll be on the screen and I'm going to read from a verse earlier.
00:10:59 --> 00:11:29 In verse 2, it says,
00:11:29 --> 00:11:58 The revelation that God has given us, the way he has revealed us is in Jesus.
00:11:58 --> 00:12:03 Our core value of Christ-centred Bible saturation makes it explicit for us.
00:12:03 --> 00:12:06 We don't want to be people who just know the Bible for the Bible's sake.
00:12:06 --> 00:12:12 We want to look at Jesus in scripture because that is the purpose of God's word to us.
00:12:14 --> 00:12:18 And it is clear in that 2 Corinthians passage that if the gospel is veiled,
00:12:18 --> 00:12:23 it is veiled to those who are perishing,
00:12:23 --> 00:12:30 we cannot know God unless he reveals himself to us.
00:12:30 --> 00:12:36 And so our worship must be a response to who he has revealed himself to be.
00:12:36 --> 00:12:41 If we have any other starting point, we start somewhere other than with God.
00:12:42 --> 00:12:48 And so our worship must be saturated by God's word and the message of the gospel of Jesus,
00:12:48 --> 00:12:52 because that is where God has revealed himself in the person and work of Jesus.
00:12:52 --> 00:12:56 So the first thing is true worship is responsive.
00:12:56 --> 00:13:02 The second thing, for any true worship to be a right response,
00:13:02 --> 00:13:08 it needs to be gospel-shaped, which means at least three things.
00:13:09 --> 00:13:11 Firstly, it means it's initiated by God.
00:13:11 --> 00:13:15 If we take the word worship away, because that's the bit where we get confused,
00:13:15 --> 00:13:18 that's where we trip over when we try and think about the idea of worship.
00:13:18 --> 00:13:23 If we just think about the gospel, the shape of the gospel is it starts with God.
00:13:24 --> 00:13:28 God chooses to draw people into a relationship with himself.
00:13:28 --> 00:13:31 It has nothing to do with the people who he's drawing in.
00:13:31 --> 00:13:33 Ephesians 1 says it like this.
00:13:33 --> 00:13:35 It says he chose us in him, in Jesus,
00:13:36 --> 00:13:40 before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.
00:13:40 --> 00:13:45 So before anyone had any chance to somehow endear themselves to God
00:13:45 --> 00:13:49 or convince him that he should choose them and invite them into a relationship,
00:13:49 --> 00:13:51 God had already done the choosing.
00:13:52 --> 00:13:55 The amazing grace of the gospel message is God chose you
00:13:55 --> 00:13:58 before you had done anything good or bad,
00:13:58 --> 00:14:01 knowing that you were going to do bad things and be completely unworthy.
00:14:02 --> 00:14:07 The gospel clearly starts with God and then draws in unworthy people.
00:14:07 --> 00:14:11 In the passage that Tom read out for us in John 17,
00:14:11 --> 00:14:12 if you've got it in front of you,
00:14:12 --> 00:14:15 and from verse 20, I want to read this last chunk.
00:14:16 --> 00:14:18 My prayer is not for them alone.
00:14:19 --> 00:14:22 This is Jesus praying just before he goes to the cross.
00:14:22 --> 00:14:25 He's about to be arrested, face his trial, and ultimately die.
00:14:25 --> 00:14:28 My prayer is not for them alone.
00:14:28 --> 00:14:32 I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,
00:14:32 --> 00:14:37 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.
00:14:38 --> 00:14:42 May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
00:14:42 --> 00:14:45 I have given them the glory that you gave me,
00:14:45 --> 00:14:47 that they may be one as we are one,
00:14:47 --> 00:14:49 I in them and you in me,
00:14:49 --> 00:14:51 so that they may be brought to complete unity.
00:14:51 --> 00:14:55 Then the world will know that you sent me and you have loved them,
00:14:55 --> 00:14:57 even as you have loved me.
00:14:57 --> 00:15:01 Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am
00:15:01 --> 00:15:03 and to see my glory,
00:15:03 --> 00:15:07 the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
00:15:07 --> 00:15:10 Righteous Father, though the world does not know you,
00:15:10 --> 00:15:13 I know you and they know that you have sent me.
00:15:13 --> 00:15:17 I have made you known to them and will continue to make you known
00:15:17 --> 00:15:21 in order that the love you have for me may be in them
00:15:21 --> 00:15:24 and that I myself may be in them.
00:15:24 --> 00:15:28 This is one of the most glorious passages of Scripture,
00:15:28 --> 00:15:31 but it's also difficult when you first glance at it.
00:15:31 --> 00:15:34 It feels like John is maybe walking around in circles as he's talking,
00:15:35 --> 00:15:37 but let's try and follow what Jesus is praying here.
00:15:38 --> 00:15:40 The message of this passage in John 17
00:15:40 --> 00:15:45 is that God sent Jesus so that we might be one
00:15:45 --> 00:15:50 just as Jesus and the Father are one.
00:15:50 --> 00:15:54 In fact, Jesus says he wants us to be with him where he is
00:15:54 --> 00:15:57 so that we can see the glory that the Father has given him.
00:15:58 --> 00:16:02 Jesus wants us to be able to see the Father in the way that he sees him.
00:16:03 --> 00:16:06 Unhindered, he wants us to get the full vision of God the Father
00:16:06 --> 00:16:10 so that we can respond, so that we can know the same love
00:16:10 --> 00:16:12 that the Father has for the Son.
00:16:13 --> 00:16:13 Did you catch that?
00:16:14 --> 00:16:17 Jesus wants us to experience the same love
00:16:17 --> 00:16:19 that God the Father had for him.
00:16:20 --> 00:16:23 The relationship that we're drawn into
00:16:23 --> 00:16:26 when we place our faith in Jesus and we become Christians
00:16:26 --> 00:16:31 is the love and service and mutual honour and worship
00:16:31 --> 00:16:33 of the Father and the Son.
00:16:33 --> 00:16:37 When we place our trust in Jesus,
00:16:38 --> 00:16:43 we are drawn into that unhindered, incredible response to God.
00:16:43 --> 00:16:48 We're drawn into Jesus' perfect adoration of his heavenly Father,
00:16:48 --> 00:16:49 perfect service and obedience.
00:16:50 --> 00:16:51 And what all of that means,
00:16:52 --> 00:16:55 the reason Jesus prays that, the reason that matters,
00:16:55 --> 00:16:59 is that the only acceptable response to the Father,
00:16:59 --> 00:17:02 the only right response to God,
00:17:03 --> 00:17:04 the only true worship,
00:17:05 --> 00:17:08 is that of Jesus himself.
00:17:09 --> 00:17:13 The only one who sees God in all his majesty and power
00:17:13 --> 00:17:16 and responds appropriately is Jesus,
00:17:17 --> 00:17:20 who gives his life in obedience to the Father's will.
00:17:21 --> 00:17:24 No worship that is self-generated,
00:17:24 --> 00:17:27 no matter how skilfully or well-intentioned
00:17:27 --> 00:17:28 or theologically correct,
00:17:29 --> 00:17:31 is acceptable to God.
00:17:32 --> 00:17:37 It doesn't matter how much you want to bring your worship.
00:17:37 --> 00:17:40 It doesn't matter how earnest you are in doing it.
00:17:41 --> 00:17:43 It is unacceptable
00:17:43 --> 00:17:48 unless it is the perfect love and service
00:17:48 --> 00:17:50 shown by Jesus to his Father.
00:17:50 --> 00:17:55 This is why true worship has to be gospel-shaped.
00:17:55 --> 00:17:57 Because in the gospel,
00:17:57 --> 00:18:00 we recognise that it's about God drawing us in
00:18:00 --> 00:18:02 and not us pushing into God.
00:18:03 --> 00:18:05 We realise that it's about God's initiative
00:18:05 --> 00:18:06 and in the gospel,
00:18:06 --> 00:18:10 we find the means by which our attempts to worship
00:18:10 --> 00:18:15 can be transformed into true and God-honouring worship.
00:18:16 --> 00:18:18 The gospel-shaped worship is God-initiated
00:18:18 --> 00:18:20 and it's Jesus-focused and empowered.
00:18:20 --> 00:18:23 Have a look at Hebrews 7 on the screen with me here.
00:18:23 --> 00:18:26 This is talking about priests in the Old Testament.
00:18:27 --> 00:18:27 It says,
00:18:27 --> 00:18:29 There have been many of those priests
00:18:29 --> 00:18:31 since death prevented them from continuing in office.
00:18:32 --> 00:18:34 But because Jesus lives forever,
00:18:34 --> 00:18:36 he has a permanent priesthood.
00:18:37 --> 00:18:39 Therefore, he is able to save completely
00:18:39 --> 00:18:41 those who come to God through him
00:18:41 --> 00:18:44 because he always lives to intercede for them.
00:18:44 --> 00:18:47 Such a high priest truly meets our need,
00:18:48 --> 00:18:50 one who is holy, blameless, pure,
00:18:50 --> 00:18:52 set apart from sinners,
00:18:52 --> 00:18:54 exalted above the heavens.
00:18:55 --> 00:18:56 Unlike the other high priests,
00:18:56 --> 00:18:59 he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day,
00:18:59 --> 00:19:01 first for his own sins
00:19:01 --> 00:19:02 and then for the sins of the people.
00:19:03 --> 00:19:06 He sacrificed for their sins once for all
00:19:06 --> 00:19:08 when he offered himself.
00:19:08 --> 00:19:13 If worship is relating to God rightly,
00:19:14 --> 00:19:16 then for any worship to be possible,
00:19:17 --> 00:19:20 the barriers that stand between us and God
00:19:20 --> 00:19:22 having a relationship have to be dealt with.
00:19:23 --> 00:19:25 Our inadequacy, our sin,
00:19:26 --> 00:19:27 God's justice, his purity,
00:19:28 --> 00:19:30 and the only place they can be drawn together
00:19:30 --> 00:19:32 is in the life and death
00:19:32 --> 00:19:34 and resurrection of Jesus.
00:19:34 --> 00:19:38 In his once for all sacrifice,
00:19:39 --> 00:19:41 in his forever priesthood,
00:19:42 --> 00:19:45 unworthy, unacceptable people like us
00:19:45 --> 00:19:48 can come to know God as our heavenly father.
00:19:48 --> 00:19:49 Jesus rose from the dead
00:19:49 --> 00:19:51 and the passage in Hebrew says
00:19:51 --> 00:19:54 he now lives forever to be our priest.
00:19:55 --> 00:19:58 That means when we bring our inadequate,
00:19:58 --> 00:20:00 half-baked attempts at obedience
00:20:00 --> 00:20:02 and praise and honour,
00:20:02 --> 00:20:05 he takes them and transforms them
00:20:05 --> 00:20:09 and instead presents his perfect life of obedience
00:20:09 --> 00:20:10 to God the Father
00:20:10 --> 00:20:14 so that our failure to honour God as he deserves
00:20:14 --> 00:20:18 is transformed by Jesus,
00:20:18 --> 00:20:20 is replaced by Jesus.
00:20:21 --> 00:20:24 He is the only sufficient priest,
00:20:25 --> 00:20:27 the only suitable worshipper.
00:20:27 --> 00:20:29 He's holy, he's blameless, he's pure
00:20:29 --> 00:20:31 and his worship of God
00:20:31 --> 00:20:33 is the only right response.
00:20:34 --> 00:20:35 What the gospel does
00:20:35 --> 00:20:37 is draws us into Jesus.
00:20:38 --> 00:20:40 We get to share in his perfect obedience.
00:20:41 --> 00:20:43 We get to share in his perfect worship.
00:20:43 --> 00:20:45 We become fellow sons and daughters.
00:20:45 --> 00:20:46 We become co-heirs.
00:20:47 --> 00:20:48 We are washed by his blood
00:20:48 --> 00:20:50 and we are given access to God
00:20:50 --> 00:20:52 even though we don't deserve it.
00:20:52 --> 00:20:57 What that means is worship is not just about Jesus.
00:20:59 --> 00:21:02 Jesus is our worship.
00:21:06 --> 00:21:10 Worship is not actually something that we do or bring.
00:21:10 --> 00:21:14 He is our response to God.
00:21:14 --> 00:21:18 His perfect life and obedience and sacrifice
00:21:18 --> 00:21:20 are our response to God
00:21:20 --> 00:21:21 and it is by faith in him,
00:21:23 --> 00:21:24 independence on him,
00:21:24 --> 00:21:28 that we can offer acceptable worship to God.
00:21:28 --> 00:21:30 It is through faith in him
00:21:30 --> 00:21:31 and dependence on him
00:21:31 --> 00:21:34 that we can have a relationship with God.
00:21:35 --> 00:21:37 What that means is that all true worship
00:21:37 --> 00:21:40 has to begin with a gospel-shaped response.
00:21:40 --> 00:21:43 It has to begin with inadequacy and confession.
00:21:44 --> 00:21:46 We don't show up with this fantastic prayer
00:21:46 --> 00:21:47 that we've prepared.
00:21:47 --> 00:21:49 We don't show up before God
00:21:49 --> 00:21:51 with this amazing day of service and obedience
00:21:51 --> 00:21:52 that we've managed to put together.
00:21:53 --> 00:21:56 We show up with empty hands
00:21:56 --> 00:22:01 in desperate need of help and forgiveness.
00:22:02 --> 00:22:04 Any worship that comes to God
00:22:04 --> 00:22:07 apart from utter helplessness
00:22:07 --> 00:22:09 is false worship.
00:22:10 --> 00:22:12 Because nothing you can do
00:22:12 --> 00:22:13 is ever going to be acceptable
00:22:13 --> 00:22:16 for a God who is infinitely valuable.
00:22:18 --> 00:22:20 It's unacceptable because even your best
00:22:20 --> 00:22:23 falls so far short of what God is worthy of.
00:22:25 --> 00:22:27 True worship is all about Jesus
00:22:27 --> 00:22:29 and faith in him.
00:22:30 --> 00:22:32 Jesus is both the object of our worship.
00:22:32 --> 00:22:35 He's the thing that makes us want to worship.
00:22:35 --> 00:22:38 He's the revelation of God that we respond to.
00:22:38 --> 00:22:42 But he is also the means by which we can worship.
00:22:43 --> 00:22:45 He is what we respond to
00:22:45 --> 00:22:48 and faith in him is the response that's required.
00:22:49 --> 00:22:51 Our worship must be marked
00:22:51 --> 00:22:53 by a humble awareness of our sin
00:22:53 --> 00:22:56 and a confidence and a boldness to approach God.
00:22:56 --> 00:22:58 That is the gospel paradox.
00:22:58 --> 00:23:00 That's the challenge or the tension
00:23:00 --> 00:23:01 of the Christian life
00:23:01 --> 00:23:03 is that we live every day conscious
00:23:03 --> 00:23:06 of our sin and our failure before God
00:23:06 --> 00:23:09 but comforted and confident
00:23:09 --> 00:23:12 in the death and resurrection of Jesus
00:23:12 --> 00:23:13 to deal with that problem.
00:23:14 --> 00:23:15 The same is true when we worship.
00:23:17 --> 00:23:19 We need to be always conscious
00:23:19 --> 00:23:21 of our inadequacy
00:23:21 --> 00:23:24 so that we might fully depend on
00:23:24 --> 00:23:26 our sufficient saviour,
00:23:26 --> 00:23:28 our sufficient substitute.
00:23:28 --> 00:23:32 Gospel-shaped worship is initiated by God.
00:23:32 --> 00:23:32 It's about Jesus
00:23:32 --> 00:23:33 and it's forward-looking.
00:23:34 --> 00:23:36 One of the things that the gospel does for us
00:23:36 --> 00:23:37 as Christians,
00:23:37 --> 00:23:38 as followers of Jesus,
00:23:38 --> 00:23:39 is it places us in the tension
00:23:39 --> 00:23:41 of what we already have as Christians
00:23:41 --> 00:23:44 and what we're looking forward to in the future.
00:23:44 --> 00:23:47 So we know that we have been forgiven by God,
00:23:47 --> 00:23:48 that it's been done by Jesus
00:23:48 --> 00:23:50 but it's one day
00:23:50 --> 00:23:51 that we will actually go to be with him.
00:23:52 --> 00:23:53 It's one day that our sin
00:23:53 --> 00:23:55 will finally and fully be washed
00:23:55 --> 00:23:56 and cleansed
00:23:56 --> 00:23:58 and we will spend eternity with God.
00:23:58 --> 00:24:00 We need to approach worship
00:24:00 --> 00:24:02 conscious of that same tension.
00:24:03 --> 00:24:05 Worship is relating to the God
00:24:05 --> 00:24:06 who has drawn us
00:24:06 --> 00:24:07 into a relationship with himself
00:24:07 --> 00:24:10 but the relationship that we have now
00:24:10 --> 00:24:13 is just a shadow of the one
00:24:13 --> 00:24:14 that we're looking forward to.
00:24:14 --> 00:24:15 The New Testament says,
00:24:15 --> 00:24:18 you know, now we know just slightly.
00:24:18 --> 00:24:20 We have a stunted relationship.
00:24:20 --> 00:24:22 It's like looking in a mirror dimly
00:24:22 --> 00:24:25 and the heavenly picture
00:24:25 --> 00:24:28 is one where we will know God fully,
00:24:29 --> 00:24:30 even face to face,
00:24:30 --> 00:24:32 where we will know him intimately
00:24:32 --> 00:24:33 and enjoy him incredibly,
00:24:33 --> 00:24:35 where all of our sinful desires
00:24:35 --> 00:24:37 will be fully and completely washed away
00:24:37 --> 00:24:38 so that there will be nothing
00:24:38 --> 00:24:41 hindering us from worshipping him
00:24:41 --> 00:24:42 and loving him
00:24:42 --> 00:24:43 and being loved by him.
00:24:44 --> 00:24:46 And the reason this matters for worship
00:24:46 --> 00:24:49 is that because our experience of worship now
00:24:49 --> 00:24:50 is not what it will be,
00:24:50 --> 00:24:53 you need to expect
00:24:53 --> 00:24:55 that it will be imperfect.
00:24:57 --> 00:24:58 You need to assume
00:24:58 --> 00:24:59 that your worship
00:24:59 --> 00:25:01 will not be what it could be.
00:25:02 --> 00:25:04 Our ability to obey,
00:25:04 --> 00:25:05 our ability to focus on Jesus
00:25:05 --> 00:25:07 when things are difficult,
00:25:07 --> 00:25:08 our ability to trust him
00:25:08 --> 00:25:11 will be a wrestle day to day.
00:25:13 --> 00:25:15 Jesus will be an amazing blessing.
00:25:15 --> 00:25:16 Worship is a gift
00:25:16 --> 00:25:17 where we get to celebrate
00:25:17 --> 00:25:19 and respond to what God has shown us,
00:25:20 --> 00:25:22 but there's so much more in store.
00:25:23 --> 00:25:24 See, the flip side
00:25:24 --> 00:25:26 to worship not being what it will be
00:25:26 --> 00:25:29 is that even now,
00:25:30 --> 00:25:32 it's a taste of what's to come.
00:25:34 --> 00:25:35 Worship is God's gift
00:25:35 --> 00:25:36 to spur us on.
00:25:37 --> 00:25:39 It's the little taste test,
00:25:39 --> 00:25:40 the entree, if you like,
00:25:40 --> 00:25:42 for the feast of joy
00:25:42 --> 00:25:42 and satisfaction
00:25:42 --> 00:25:44 that we will experience in heaven
00:25:44 --> 00:25:46 when we get to relate to God
00:25:46 --> 00:25:47 freely and fully.
00:25:48 --> 00:25:49 Sometimes we talk about
00:25:49 --> 00:25:52 church being the shot in the arm
00:25:52 --> 00:25:53 that we need to get through the week.
00:25:54 --> 00:25:55 It's the spiritual kind of
00:25:55 --> 00:25:56 pick-me-up that we need,
00:25:56 --> 00:25:58 so our weeks are shaped like this.
00:25:58 --> 00:25:59 And it's actually not
00:25:59 --> 00:26:01 completely wrong to say that.
00:26:02 --> 00:26:04 When we gather for worship like this,
00:26:04 --> 00:26:05 which is what we do,
00:26:05 --> 00:26:07 we do worship when we gather together,
00:26:07 --> 00:26:09 it's good and right
00:26:09 --> 00:26:10 that this should feed you
00:26:10 --> 00:26:11 and encourage you
00:26:11 --> 00:26:11 and spur you on
00:26:11 --> 00:26:12 and energize you
00:26:12 --> 00:26:13 because this
00:26:13 --> 00:26:15 is a taste of heaven.
00:26:17 --> 00:26:18 Heaven will be
00:26:18 --> 00:26:19 infinitely better than this,
00:26:20 --> 00:26:21 but this is God
00:26:21 --> 00:26:22 just giving you a little teaser
00:26:22 --> 00:26:24 of what it will be like
00:26:24 --> 00:26:26 to reflect on his majesty,
00:26:26 --> 00:26:28 to reflect on his grace
00:26:28 --> 00:26:28 and love
00:26:28 --> 00:26:30 and mercy.
00:26:33 --> 00:26:33 Now next week,
00:26:34 --> 00:26:34 we're going to wrestle
00:26:34 --> 00:26:35 with the question of
00:26:35 --> 00:26:36 so when do we worship?
00:26:37 --> 00:26:38 Is there a set time?
00:26:38 --> 00:26:39 Is there...
00:26:39 --> 00:26:40 You stew on that for a week
00:26:40 --> 00:26:41 and we'll come back to it.
00:26:42 --> 00:26:43 But just one last thing
00:26:43 --> 00:26:44 to finish tonight.
00:26:44 --> 00:26:44 I said there was three.
00:26:44 --> 00:26:45 The first one is that
00:26:45 --> 00:26:46 true worship is a response.
00:26:47 --> 00:26:48 The second one is that
00:26:48 --> 00:26:49 true worship needs to be
00:26:49 --> 00:26:50 gospel-shaped.
00:26:50 --> 00:26:51 And the third one
00:26:51 --> 00:26:53 is that true worship
00:26:53 --> 00:26:55 needs to be both
00:26:55 --> 00:26:56 adoration
00:26:56 --> 00:26:58 and action.
00:26:59 --> 00:27:00 It needs to be both
00:27:00 --> 00:27:01 affection
00:27:01 --> 00:27:03 and obedience.
00:27:04 --> 00:27:05 You can't actually have
00:27:05 --> 00:27:07 one without the other.
00:27:07 --> 00:27:08 To the one who
00:27:08 --> 00:27:09 sings wholeheartedly
00:27:09 --> 00:27:10 and is overcome
00:27:10 --> 00:27:11 with emotion
00:27:11 --> 00:27:12 at the mere mention
00:27:12 --> 00:27:13 of Jesus
00:27:13 --> 00:27:14 or the cross
00:27:14 --> 00:27:15 and yet
00:27:15 --> 00:27:17 does not wrestle
00:27:17 --> 00:27:17 with sin,
00:27:18 --> 00:27:19 does not see it
00:27:19 --> 00:27:19 as important
00:27:19 --> 00:27:20 to live a life
00:27:20 --> 00:27:21 of obedience,
00:27:21 --> 00:27:22 there is a disconnect
00:27:22 --> 00:27:22 there.
00:27:22 --> 00:27:23 There is a misunderstanding
00:27:23 --> 00:27:24 of the gospel.
00:27:26 --> 00:27:26 And equally,
00:27:27 --> 00:27:27 to the one who
00:27:27 --> 00:27:28 fiercely wrestles
00:27:28 --> 00:27:29 with sin
00:27:29 --> 00:27:30 and is militantly
00:27:30 --> 00:27:30 disciplined
00:27:30 --> 00:27:31 in their day-to-day
00:27:31 --> 00:27:32 routine
00:27:32 --> 00:27:33 but has no love
00:27:33 --> 00:27:34 for Jesus,
00:27:35 --> 00:27:36 there is a disconnect
00:27:36 --> 00:27:36 there.
00:27:37 --> 00:27:38 There is a misunderstanding
00:27:38 --> 00:27:39 of the gospel
00:27:39 --> 00:27:40 and what you are
00:27:40 --> 00:27:41 flirting with
00:27:41 --> 00:27:42 is legalism
00:27:42 --> 00:27:42 rather than worship.
00:27:45 --> 00:27:46 Worship
00:27:46 --> 00:27:47 is a response
00:27:47 --> 00:27:48 to who God
00:27:48 --> 00:27:49 has revealed himself
00:27:49 --> 00:27:50 to be in the gospel.
00:27:51 --> 00:27:52 That means
00:27:52 --> 00:27:53 that in worship
00:27:53 --> 00:27:54 we serve
00:27:54 --> 00:27:55 and we obey
00:27:55 --> 00:27:57 because of what God
00:27:57 --> 00:27:58 has done for us.
00:27:58 --> 00:27:59 Out of love
00:27:59 --> 00:28:00 and adoration
00:28:00 --> 00:28:01 it needs to be
00:28:01 --> 00:28:02 that sense of awe
00:28:02 --> 00:28:03 and affection
00:28:03 --> 00:28:04 and love
00:28:04 --> 00:28:05 for the God
00:28:05 --> 00:28:06 who gave his son
00:28:06 --> 00:28:07 so that you could
00:28:07 --> 00:28:07 know him.
00:28:09 --> 00:28:10 And that awe
00:28:10 --> 00:28:11 and love
00:28:11 --> 00:28:11 and affection
00:28:11 --> 00:28:12 and adoration
00:28:12 --> 00:28:14 needs to express itself
00:28:14 --> 00:28:15 in obedience.
00:28:17 --> 00:28:17 Now,
00:28:17 --> 00:28:19 this whole message
00:28:19 --> 00:28:20 might feel a bit
00:28:20 --> 00:28:21 overwhelming.
00:28:22 --> 00:28:23 You might wish
00:28:23 --> 00:28:24 that we could just
00:28:24 --> 00:28:26 erase the last 25 minutes,
00:28:26 --> 00:28:27 you had a much
00:28:27 --> 00:28:28 more simple
00:28:28 --> 00:28:29 and handleable
00:28:29 --> 00:28:30 understanding
00:28:30 --> 00:28:31 of worship
00:28:31 --> 00:28:32 before we began.
00:28:32 --> 00:28:33 you might now
00:28:33 --> 00:28:34 be more nervous
00:28:34 --> 00:28:35 about worship
00:28:35 --> 00:28:35 thinking,
00:28:35 --> 00:28:36 what if I do it wrong?
00:28:38 --> 00:28:39 But I want you
00:28:39 --> 00:28:39 to remember
00:28:39 --> 00:28:41 worship,
00:28:42 --> 00:28:43 this is the one thing
00:28:43 --> 00:28:44 you pick up tonight,
00:28:45 --> 00:28:46 worship is not
00:28:46 --> 00:28:47 about you.
00:28:48 --> 00:28:49 It's not about
00:28:49 --> 00:28:50 if you do it
00:28:50 --> 00:28:50 right or wrong.
00:28:51 --> 00:28:52 It's a response
00:28:52 --> 00:28:53 to who God is
00:28:53 --> 00:28:55 and it's a response
00:28:55 --> 00:28:56 that he's provided
00:28:56 --> 00:28:57 in his son.
00:28:58 --> 00:28:59 Worship,
00:28:59 --> 00:29:00 true worship
00:29:00 --> 00:29:01 is all about
00:29:01 --> 00:29:02 Jesus.
00:29:04 --> 00:29:05 It's all about
00:29:05 --> 00:29:06 trusting that God
00:29:06 --> 00:29:07 has provided
00:29:07 --> 00:29:08 all that you require.
00:29:10 --> 00:29:11 Worship is meant
00:29:11 --> 00:29:12 to be a delight
00:29:12 --> 00:29:13 and a joy for us,
00:29:13 --> 00:29:15 not because we like
00:29:15 --> 00:29:15 the music,
00:29:16 --> 00:29:19 but because the God
00:29:19 --> 00:29:20 who we worship
00:29:20 --> 00:29:21 in each and every day
00:29:21 --> 00:29:23 is utterly delightful
00:29:23 --> 00:29:25 and completely
00:29:25 --> 00:29:26 satisfying.
00:29:26 --> 00:29:29 true worship
00:29:29 --> 00:29:31 is a response
00:29:31 --> 00:29:32 to the God
00:29:32 --> 00:29:33 who reveals himself
00:29:33 --> 00:29:36 and that response
00:29:36 --> 00:29:37 is faith
00:29:37 --> 00:29:38 in his son
00:29:38 --> 00:29:39 who lived
00:29:39 --> 00:29:40 the perfect life,
00:29:41 --> 00:29:42 died the substitute's
00:29:42 --> 00:29:43 death
00:29:43 --> 00:29:44 and now lives
00:29:44 --> 00:29:44 forever
00:29:44 --> 00:29:46 interceding for us.
00:29:47 --> 00:29:48 True worship
00:29:48 --> 00:29:49 is both
00:29:49 --> 00:29:50 adoration
00:29:50 --> 00:29:51 and action
00:29:51 --> 00:29:52 because our God
00:29:52 --> 00:29:53 is worth
00:29:53 --> 00:29:54 that and more.
00:29:57 --> 00:29:57 Let's pray.
00:30:02 --> 00:30:03 Father God,
00:30:03 --> 00:30:04 we want to
00:30:04 --> 00:30:05 confess
00:30:05 --> 00:30:05 that there is
00:30:05 --> 00:30:07 some part of us
00:30:07 --> 00:30:07 that needs
00:30:07 --> 00:30:08 to be able
00:30:08 --> 00:30:08 to contribute.
00:30:09 --> 00:30:10 There is some
00:30:10 --> 00:30:11 part of us
00:30:11 --> 00:30:11 that wants
00:30:11 --> 00:30:12 to be able
00:30:12 --> 00:30:13 to do something
00:30:13 --> 00:30:14 to worship you.
00:30:15 --> 00:30:16 There is some
00:30:16 --> 00:30:17 part of us
00:30:17 --> 00:30:17 that needs
00:30:17 --> 00:30:17 to still be
00:30:17 --> 00:30:18 in control.
00:30:19 --> 00:30:20 Help us
00:30:20 --> 00:30:20 to be able
00:30:20 --> 00:30:21 to recognize
00:30:21 --> 00:30:23 that we
00:30:23 --> 00:30:23 can't be
00:30:23 --> 00:30:24 in control,
00:30:24 --> 00:30:25 that we
00:30:25 --> 00:30:25 are helpless
00:30:25 --> 00:30:27 within ourselves,
00:30:27 --> 00:30:27 that we
00:30:27 --> 00:30:28 need you.
00:30:29 --> 00:30:30 God,
00:30:30 --> 00:30:30 help us
00:30:30 --> 00:30:31 to be people
00:30:31 --> 00:30:32 who seek
00:30:32 --> 00:30:32 you and
00:30:32 --> 00:30:32 find you
00:30:32 --> 00:30:33 in your
00:30:33 --> 00:30:33 word.
00:30:34 --> 00:30:35 Help us
00:30:35 --> 00:30:36 to be people
00:30:36 --> 00:30:36 who delight
00:30:36 --> 00:30:37 in our
00:30:37 --> 00:30:38 inadequacy
00:30:38 --> 00:30:38 and our
00:30:38 --> 00:30:38 weakness
00:30:38 --> 00:30:39 and our
00:30:39 --> 00:30:39 hopelessness
00:30:39 --> 00:30:40 because there
00:30:40 --> 00:30:41 is hope
00:30:41 --> 00:30:41 in the
00:30:41 --> 00:30:42 gospel.
00:30:43 --> 00:30:44 Help us
00:30:44 --> 00:30:45 to be people
00:30:45 --> 00:30:45 who rejoice
00:30:45 --> 00:30:46 in depending
00:30:46 --> 00:30:47 on Jesus,
00:30:48 --> 00:30:49 not just
00:30:49 --> 00:30:49 for forgiveness
00:30:49 --> 00:30:50 but for
00:30:50 --> 00:30:50 everything.
00:30:51 --> 00:30:53 help us
00:30:53 --> 00:30:54 to know
00:30:54 --> 00:30:54 the joy
00:30:54 --> 00:30:55 and satisfaction
00:30:55 --> 00:30:56 that are
00:30:56 --> 00:30:56 found in
00:30:56 --> 00:30:57 you
00:30:57 --> 00:30:59 as we
00:30:59 --> 00:30:59 adore
00:30:59 --> 00:30:59 you,
00:31:00 --> 00:31:00 as we
00:31:00 --> 00:31:01 obey you,
00:31:01 --> 00:31:02 as we
00:31:02 --> 00:31:02 live lives
00:31:02 --> 00:31:03 of wholehearted
00:31:03 --> 00:31:04 worship.
00:31:05 --> 00:31:06 Amen.