Participants: Mike Leno
Series Code: FC
Program Code: FC000045
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00:29 A mother was teaching her young daughter
00:32 about reverence in church. 00:36 Okay, honey, do you know why we must be quiet in church? 00:40 The mother said to the young daughter. 00:43 The young daughter thought for a moment 00:44 and then very seriously looked up at her mother and said, 00:47 because people are sleeping. 00:51 Worship is something that, it's sometimes hard to define. 00:57 Is being quiet always reverence? 01:02 Is good music always worship? 01:07 Does it take good preaching 01:09 in order for there to be worship? 01:11 Do you have to have preaching in order to worship? 01:15 The most important issues of life 01:19 I believe are issues of worship. 01:22 The great conflict between Christ and Satan 01:25 is a conflict over who to worship. 01:27 The temptations of Christ in the wilderness 01:30 were centered around the issue of worship. 01:34 Keeping the Sabbath is an issue of worship. 01:38 The conflicts spoken about 01:40 so graphically in the Book of Revelation 01:43 are centered around worship, 01:45 true worship versus false worship. 01:48 Even everyday decisions having to do with family, 01:51 career, money, all of those things 01:55 center around what you worship. 01:59 Today want to talk about two things. 02:02 The crises of worship and the glory of worship. 02:07 A man came into my office a few years ago 02:10 and stated that he didn't like attending church anymore 02:12 and of course I wanted to know why. 02:15 Well, he said I just, 02:17 I'm not challenged intellectually anymore. 02:21 Well, to be honest with him 02:22 I had to admit that I had been there. 02:24 Yes, there been many times when I have been to church 02:28 and felt like my brain had gone to sleep. 02:32 There was a time in my life while I was going to school 02:35 and I was being challenged by my professors. 02:37 And then when I went to church I felt like 02:41 there was nothing really there of interest. 02:45 I realized later that was my problem 02:49 more than it was the preacher's problem. 02:54 What do we go to church for? What do we worship for? 02:57 Why do we come here to get something, 03:00 education, social contact, entertainment? 03:04 You see, part of the problem 03:05 I believe is our consumer mentality in this 21st century. 03:09 Worship becomes an experience that we judge good, 03:13 bad or indifferent much the same way 03:14 that we would rate a car, a blender or a movie. 03:19 The fact is in true worship 03:23 we come into God's presence to do something, 03:26 to give something, not to get something. 03:32 Now, as a preacher I don't want to bore people. 03:36 We need education, we need good social contact, 03:39 church should benefit people 03:42 but the primary purpose of worship 03:45 is not to get something but to give worship to God. 03:51 In 1 Kings 12 03:53 we have a very fascinating story of the transition 03:56 from the reign of Solomon to his Rehoboam. 04:02 Solomon had been, 04:04 frankly pretty lousy king toward the end of his life. 04:07 He had married so many wives from all over the world 04:11 and they had brought their foreign gods 04:14 and forms of worship with them 04:16 that eventually Solomon lost his way 04:19 and he started worshiping gods from all over the world. 04:24 Well, when Solomon died his son Rehoboam 04:28 was the crown prince ready to take his place. 04:33 At that time there was a gentleman named Jeroboam 04:39 who left Jerusalem one day and ran into the prophet. 04:47 This was the prophet spoken about in 1 Kings 11, 04:53 and this prophet met Jeroboam 04:56 outside of Jerusalem on the way. 04:58 The prophet's name was Ahijah. 05:01 And he met Rehoboam-- Jeroboam-- 05:05 by the way do you know how they get 05:06 Jeroboam and Rehoboam straight? 05:08 I was to have that problem 05:09 and I finally realized that Rehoboam is a repeat. 05:12 Rehoboam is the son of Solomon. 05:15 So when Solomon died you had a repeat of Solomon 05:19 which was Rehoboam. 05:20 Well, just a little mental trick I use, 05:21 hope it works for you. 05:23 So Ahijah met Jeroboam on the road 05:26 secretly outside of Jerusalem. 05:29 This was before Solomon actually died. 05:31 In fact and he took of his shawl 05:34 and he ripped it into 12 pieces 05:37 representing the 12 tribes of Israel. 05:40 And he turned to Jeroboam and he gave him 10 of them 05:44 and he said the Lord has given the 10 tribes of Israel for you 05:48 to become a great kingdom. 05:51 Well, when Solomon died you might expect for Jeroboam 05:55 to immediately lead a, lead a revolt 05:57 and take the 10 tribes and be done with it. 06:00 But interestingly enough Jeroboam didn't do that. 06:02 He along with a number of the elder of Israel 06:05 met with Rehoboam and they pleaded with him 06:08 not to continue the ways of his father. 06:12 You see, his father Solomon had become 06:16 rather hard task master in his later life. 06:21 He had taxed the people beyond their endurance. 06:26 He had made their lives miserable. 06:28 And they-- and so Jeroboam, 06:30 I mean the elders pleaded with Rehoboam 06:32 not to continue in the wicked ways of his father. 06:35 They said, if you will be easy on the people 06:37 they will love you and they will serve you. 06:40 Well, Rehoboam said as a good politician word he said, 06:45 why don't you go away for a while 06:46 and I will consult my advisors and come back in three days 06:49 and I will give you my answer. 06:51 So while they were gone during that three days time 06:55 Rehoboam met with the rising stars of the kingdom. 06:59 These were the, the bright young minds, 07:02 the young guys who were trying to make a name for themselves, 07:05 they were trying to secure their position in the kingdom. 07:08 And Rehoboam met with them and he said, 07:10 "What do you think I should do?" 07:12 And those young men said, "Look, here's what you do. 07:16 You make the taxes worse. You make the slavery worse. 07:22 You do everything that your father Solomon did, 07:26 after all he had a great kingdom. 07:28 You do everything he did and more." 07:33 Rehoboam unfortunately took their advice. 07:35 And so when Jeroboam and the elders came back 07:37 and said what is your answer? 07:38 Rehoboam looked at him and said, 07:40 you think you had it bad under my father Solomon, 07:43 well, you are going to have it even worse under me. 07:46 And this caused such a, 07:49 such a riot practically amongst Israel that finally 07:54 they were ordered to go home 07:56 and Jeroboam led the 10 tribes of Israel off by himself 08:02 while Rehoboam was left with the two southern tribes 08:05 Judah and Benjamin. 08:07 And that is in fact how the kingdom of Israel 08:09 divided into two kingdoms. 08:11 The northern tribes of Israel 08:13 and the southern tribes called Judah. 08:17 Well, Jeroboam knew that this was God's plan. 08:22 He realized that God and his infinite wisdom 08:27 often has to have plan B. 08:30 In his wisdom in this case 08:31 he, he had ordained that the 12 tribes of Israel 08:36 would be his ambassadors to the world so to speak. 08:39 And he worked with them and he worked through them 08:42 to try to attract the world to himself. 08:47 The problem was with the wickedness of Solomon 08:51 and then Rehoboam it became impossible 08:53 to keep all those 12 tribes together. 08:55 So in the wisdom of God 08:56 he had plan B already ready to go into affect. 09:01 I can't help but think that this applies 09:03 to many of our modern situations. 09:06 You know, it was never God's will 09:08 that different things should divide us like 09:12 theology, and race, and things like that. 09:17 You realize today that the church 09:20 is the most segregated part of society. 09:26 That was never God's plan but it was plan B 09:29 and there are good historical reasons 09:31 why we have to have different churches. 09:37 The fortunate thing is even under plan B 09:40 we can all worship together if we want to. 09:44 Even under plan B when Jeroboam led 09:46 those 10 tribes off by themselves 09:50 Rehoboam became the king of Judah 09:53 in the southern kingdom. 09:58 They were supposed to remain faithful to God's original plan 10:01 where the yearly festivals 10:03 would be celebrated in Jerusalem. 10:07 The problem was when Jeroboam realized 10:10 what was going to happen he realized suddenly 10:12 that worship was going to cause crises in his kingdom. 10:17 He thought he was going to lose people over this. 10:20 He said, if people go from my kingdom 10:22 and travel every year down to Jerusalem to worship 10:26 why they are going to forget about me 10:28 and they are going to follow after the house of David again 10:31 and I'm gonna lose out. 10:34 And unfortunately Jeroboam's insecurity over numbers 10:40 and worship caused one of the greatest apostasies 10:45 of all time in Israel. 10:47 In fact, the Bible says that he took golden calves 10:51 and set them up in different parts of the country. 10:56 Let's read in 1 Kings 12:26. 11:04 "Jeroboam thought to himself, 11:05 'The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David. 11:08 If these people go up to offer sacrifices 11:10 at the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, 11:13 they will again give their allegiance to their lord, 11:15 Rehoboam king of Judah. 11:16 They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam.' 11:21 After seeking advice, 11:22 the king made two golden calves. 11:24 He said to the people, 11:25 'It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. 11:26 Here are your gods, O Israel, 11:28 who brought you up out of Egypt.'" 11:30 What a lie? Can you believe it? 11:32 He told them that the golden calves were the ones 11:34 that brought them out of Egypt. 11:36 Verse 29, "One he set up in Bethel, 11:38 and the other in Dan. 11:39 And this thing became a sin, 11:42 the people went even as far as Dan 11:44 to worship the one there." 11:47 Interesting isn't it that Jeroboam sold the idea 11:52 of this counterfeit system of worship by using convenience 11:59 and he used culturally relevant symbols, 12:03 the golden calves. 12:04 People realized what the golden calves were. 12:07 They were a common symbol in the world that time. 12:11 They didn't just come out of nowhere, 12:13 the nations around them used the golden calves 12:15 as symbols of their deities. 12:18 And its interesting that 12:20 he would set them up out of convenience 12:22 to try to keep the people in his own kingdom 12:24 but they became so popular 12:25 that the people would travel even further. 12:27 The land of Israel was set to extend 12:29 from Dan to Beersheba. 12:30 That's when all 12 tribes were united. 12:32 So the town of Dan was the further northern most 12:36 boundary of the land of Israel 12:38 and people traveled all the way up there 12:40 to see the golden calf and to worship in front of it. 12:45 Convenience, attractiveness, and familiarity are not wrong 12:52 but the issue is, are we worshipping God 12:56 or we just worried about our own success like Jeroboam was? 13:01 What are we really here for, 13:03 to please the largest number of people or this a time 13:07 when true worship can take place? 13:10 Many things divide us. 13:11 Petty things, traditions, 13:12 personal taste, personality conflicts 13:15 but there are more serious things that divide us also. 13:17 Things like prejudice, self protection, 13:19 jealousy, pride. 13:20 We live in a divided kingdom today 13:22 there is no way of getting around it. 13:24 Wasn't God's original plan but plan B is taking affect. 13:29 Like the account in 1 Kings 13:31 there is lots of history that goes into that yet, 13:35 we can still worship together if we choose to. 13:38 Even in a divided kingdom 13:40 God designed worship to unite people, 13:45 not divide them. 13:47 He could allow no compromise. 13:50 Not because he was arbitrary and eventual 13:53 but because changing worship meant changing loyalties. 13:58 The way we worship indicates the identity 14:01 and the kind of person that we worship. 14:05 That is the crises of worship today. 14:08 Who do you worship? 14:11 But now I want to turn to the glory of worship 14:15 and to do that I want to turn 14:17 to that most worshipful book, 14:20 the Book of Psalms. 14:22 And we turn now to Psalm 95:1-7. 14:30 "Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord, 14:33 let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. 14:37 Let us come before him with thanksgiving 14:39 and extol him with music and song." 14:44 Worship is not a spectator sport. 14:48 It uses the full range of emotions and expressions. 14:53 Verse 3, "For the Lord is the great God, 14:57 the great King above all gods. 14:59 In his hand are the depths of the earth, 15:02 and the mountain peaks belong to him." 15:05 The object and purpose of worship is to recognize 15:11 that the Lord is the great God. 15:15 Verse 5, "The sea is his, for he made it, 15:17 and his hands formed the dry land. 15:19 Come, let us bow down in worship, 15:21 let us kneel before the Lord our Maker, 15:23 for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, 15:27 the flock under his care." 15:30 The benefit and reason for worship 15:33 is that we belong to God. 15:37 There is a higher purpose to our lives 15:38 than just living for ourselves. 15:40 Worship guarantees that we look higher than ourselves 15:45 and that we belong to a higher purpose than just our own. 15:49 The fact of human existence is that 15:50 we become like that which we worship. 15:54 What we say we worship and what we really worship 15:58 are sometimes two different things. 16:01 What we really worship can often be revealed 16:04 by the way we spend our time, 16:07 what our check books reveal and what our priorities are. 16:11 Worship is a response to someone 16:14 who is already won our affection and allegiance. 16:17 You can't force worship. 16:19 You can only worship someone 16:21 that you are truly attractive to on all levels, 16:24 intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually. 16:28 I believe that we need to restore a sense of awe 16:33 and reverence in our worship. 16:37 There is a great truth that we need to hang on to 16:41 and that is that God came down to our level 16:45 in the sense that He became human like us. 16:49 But in our worship we dare not bring Him down 16:52 to our sinful level. 16:55 In John 15:15 we have one of my very favorite texts 16:59 in the Bible where Jesus said, 17:01 I no longer want to call you servants, 17:03 I call you friends. 17:06 Because the servant doesn't know his masters business, 17:08 he just does what he is told. 17:10 Jesus says, in affect telling them. 17:12 But a friend knows the masters business. 17:16 But that is not mean 17:17 that God is just one of the guys. 17:20 He is not cool, He is not hip, 17:21 He is not just a casual occurrence 17:23 or an indulgent heavenly grandpa or Santa Claus. 17:27 In fact, God loves the losers. 17:31 He condemns the so called cool in crowd of Pharisees. 17:35 He respects a sincere choice for or against Him 17:40 but He has no tolerance for the lukewarm 17:43 who just take Him lightly. 17:46 God enjoys our worship as long as it's directed to Him. 17:52 If we make Him out to be something 17:54 He is not its just as bad 17:56 as if we were bowing down before golden calf. 18:00 You see, ultimately true worship must recognize 18:04 who God really is. 18:07 And we get this confused a lot of times. 18:09 The glory of worship is that it takes us out of ourselves, 18:12 it takes us out of our human contact, 18:15 context and let us contact the divine. 18:20 Now I like pleasant worship services. 18:23 I love music. 18:24 I love music that expresses the grandeur 18:27 and the grace and love of God. 18:30 But music itself is not music. 18:33 I love prayer. 18:35 I love to listen to people who can pray with a fervent, 18:40 faith and devotion to God. 18:46 But while prayer can be a great part of worship, 18:49 prayer is not in itself worship. 18:52 You can go through the motions 18:54 of something without really worshipping. 19:00 So what is worship? 19:02 When you go to your house of worship 19:05 and you walk in and you take your seat 19:08 and you listen to the music, you listen to the prayers, 19:10 you listen to the preaching. 19:12 Where is the worship? 19:15 I like to suggest to you that it's all around you. 19:18 Worship is that invisible component 19:21 when anyone turns their hearts sincerely to God 19:24 and gives Him praise and honor from their heart. 19:30 You see, worship can be loud as in Psalm 95, 19:34 let us sing for joy to the Lord, 19:35 let us shout aloud to the Rock 19:38 or you can be quiet as when Elijah heard 19:44 the still small voice on top of Mount Horeb. 19:51 It doesn't matter whether the preacher 19:53 challenges you intellectually or not. 19:56 It doesn't matter whether your best friends 19:58 are sitting beside you or not. 20:00 It doesn't matter if the music is beautiful or not. 20:05 Now we hope for all of these things. 20:07 We like for the preacher to be engaging 20:08 and educational and inspirational. 20:11 We like for the music to be inspirational and beautiful. 20:14 We like all of our friends to be there with us 20:17 but all of those things are not worship. 20:21 You see, worship is something that is best done I believe 20:27 in a group of people where we can have an environment 20:30 where a worship can take place spontaneously. 20:33 But ultimately worship is a personal thing. 20:36 Worship is what happens 20:38 between you and God spontaneously, 20:41 directly from your soul to God. 20:45 Is it possible to worship God all alone 20:49 by yourself in your house? 20:51 Yes, it is. 20:52 Is it possible to worship God 20:54 out on a mountain top somewhere? 20:56 Oh, yes, I had been there, I have done it. 20:59 Is it possible to worship God 21:02 while you are traveling down the highway to work? 21:05 Yes, it is. 21:08 But as in the days of Jeroboam and Rehoboam 21:13 worship is also designed to unite us 21:16 as we seek the Lord together. 21:19 There is a component of worship that cannot be alone. 21:23 Worship has a force and a meaning 21:28 that cannot be had any other place than with-- 21:31 than when you are with fellow believers in Christ. 21:35 It's a wonderful thing when true worship happens. 21:38 At the heart of worship though, 21:41 at the very heart of worship is the kind of person God is. 21:45 The object of our worship 21:46 is what's important not the quality of our worship. 21:49 We don't worship, worship, we worship God in Christ. 21:57 All through Old Testament history 21:59 we have a picture of a loving God 22:02 who is doing anything He can to reach His people, 22:05 anything He can. 22:06 And He has to deal with the most 22:08 severe circumstances sometimes. 22:11 Slaves in Egypt are needed to be delivered. 22:14 Daniel in lions den, 22:17 he dealt with every conceivable human situation 22:20 and in every situation 22:22 he tries to point the people up toward himself 22:26 and the kind of person he was. 22:28 The Ten Commandments the great law 22:30 was intended to be a revelation of God's character 22:33 to attract people so that they knew 22:35 who they were worshipping. 22:36 And finally the pinnacle of God's revelation 22:40 about Himself was that God man, Jesus Christ. 22:46 He is the clearest revelation in history 22:50 of who God really was. 22:51 You want to know what God is like? 22:53 You want to know what God's personality is like? 22:56 What He likes, what He doesn't like, 22:58 how He treats people? 23:00 You want to know what God is like? 23:01 You look at Jesus Christ 23:03 because that's what God is like. 23:05 Jesus came to earth to reveal the Father. 23:10 Do you know God? 23:12 I mean, do you really know Him? 23:16 If you really want to know God 23:18 I invite you to spend time with Him. 23:21 Spend time praying and studying 23:26 and experiencing who He is. 23:30 And because we are selfish human beings 23:32 it is best to not neglect the solitary study 23:37 and prayer and worship 23:38 but to do it with your human believing family. 23:45 My friends, there is no greater thing. 23:49 There is no higher purpose in human existence 23:54 than to know the person that you are worshipping. 23:58 There is no better way to worship God 24:02 than to know Him personally in the person of Jesus Christ. 24:07 A couple of years ago I came across something 24:12 that just grabbed my soul. 24:15 I wish I had written it but I didn't. 24:17 Its part of a sermon by a pastor Samuel Lockridge, 24:22 it's entitled "That's my King! 24:24 The Bible says, my king is a Seven Way King. 24:29 He's the King of the Jews, that's a racial King. 24:31 He's the King of Israel, that's a National King. 24:34 He's the King of righteousness. 24:35 He's the King of the ages. He's the King of Heaven. 24:39 He's the King of glory. 24:40 He's the King of kings and He is the Lord of lords. 24:42 That's my King. Well I wonder if you know Him. 24:47 David said the Heavens declare the glory of God, 24:52 the firmament show His handiwork. 24:54 My King is a sovereign King. 24:56 No means of measure can define His limitless love. 25:00 No far seeing telescope can bring into visibility 25:04 the coastline of His shore of supplies. 25:07 He's entirely sincere. He's eternally steadfast. 25:10 He's immortally graceful. He's imperially powerful. 25:14 He's impartially merciful. 25:16 Do you know Him? 25:18 He's the greatest phenomenon 25:19 across the horizon of this world. 25:22 He's God's Son. He's the sinner's Savior. 25:25 He's the centerpiece of civilization. 25:28 He stands alone in solitude of Himself. 25:32 He's august and He's unique. 25:34 He's unparalleled. He's unprecedented. 25:37 He's the loftiest idea in literature. 25:39 He's the highest personality in philosophy. 25:43 He's the supreme problem in high criticism. 25:46 He's the fundamental doctrine of true theology. 25:49 He's the carnal necessity of spiritual religion. 25:53 He's the miracle of the age. 25:55 He's the superlative of everything good thing 25:58 that you choose to call Him. 25:59 He's the only one qualified to be an all sufficient Savior. 26:03 I wonder do you know Him today? 26:06 He supplies strength for the weak. 26:08 He's available for the tempted and the tried. 26:11 He sympathizes and He saves. 26:16 He strengthens and sustains. 26:17 He guards and He guides. He heals the sick. 26:19 He cleansed the lepers. He forgives sinners. 26:22 He discharges debtors. He delivers the captive. 26:27 He defends the feeble. He blesses the young. 26:30 He serves the unfortunate. He regards the aged. 26:33 He rewards the diligent. He beautifies the meek. 26:39 Well, I wonder if you know Him? 26:42 Well, my King He's the key to knowledge. 26:45 He's the wellspring of wisdom. 26:47 He's the doorway of deliverance. 26:48 He's the pathway of peace. 26:50 He's the roadway of righteousness. 26:52 He's the highway of holiness. 26:53 He's the gateway of glory. 26:58 Do you know Him? Well, His office is manifold. 27:01 His promise is sure. His light is matchless. 27:04 His goodness is limitless. His mercy is everlasting. 27:07 His love never changes. His Word is enough. 27:09 His grace is sufficient. His reign is righteous. 27:15 His yoke is easy and His burden is light. 27:18 I wish I could describe Him to you, 27:19 but He's indescribable. 27:20 He's incomprehensible. 27:22 He's invincible. He's irresistible. 27:24 Oh, you can't get Him out of your mind. 27:26 You can't get Him off of your hand. 27:28 And the Pharisees they couldn't stand Him, 27:31 but they found out they couldn't stop Him. 27:33 Pilate couldn't find any fault in Him. 27:36 The witnesses couldn't get their testimonies to agree. 27:39 Herod couldn't kill Him. 27:40 Death couldn't handle Him 27:42 and the grave couldn't hold Him. 27:43 Yeah, that's my King. That's my King. 27:46 Yeah, and thine be the Kingdom and the power and glory, 27:50 forever and ever and ever and ever and ever 27:52 and how long is that? 27:53 And when you get through with all of the forever's, 27:55 then, amen. 27:56 Good God, Almighty, amen. |
Revised 2015-05-11