Worship Means the Heart Going Out in Fervent Praise and Adoration To God

‘Praise is really the chief object of all public acts of worship. We all need to examine ourselves at this point. We must remember that the primary purpose of worship is to give praise and thanksgiving to God. Worship should be of the mind and of the heart. It does not merely mean repeating certain phrases mechanically; it means the heart going out in fervent praise to God. We should not come to God’s house simply to seek blessings and to desire various things for ourselves, or even simply to listen to sermons; we should come to worship and adore God. ‘Blessed be the God and Father’ is always to be the starting point, the highest point.’

Extracted from The Everlasting Covenant by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Related Posts:
Realization of the Truth Concerning our Redemption Always Leads to Praise

Realization of the Truth Concerning our Redemption Always Leads to Praise

And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, "We have seen extraordinary things today. Luke 5:26

‘the realization of the truth concerning our redemption always leads to praise. …..Surely praise and thanksgiving are ever to be the great characteristics of the Christian life. Take, for instance, the Book of the Acts of the Apostles. It has been said of that Book that it is the most lyrical book in the world. In spite of all the persecution which those early Christians had to endure, and all the hardship and difficulties, they were distinguished by a spirit of praise and thanksgiving. They were people who were thrilled with a sense of peace and happiness and joy they had never known before. The same note is found, too, throughout the New Testament epistles — ‘Rejoice in the Lord’, ‘Rejoice in the Lord always’. Even in the Book of Revelation which portrays trials and tribulations that are certain to face God’s people, this note of triumph and praise is to be found running through it all. This is the ultimate peculiar characteristic of God’s people, of Christians….If we realize truly what ‘grace’ and ‘peace’ mean we cannot help praising.
All must surely agree that it is impossible to read through the New Testament without seeing that this is to be the supreme thing in the Christian life. It must of necessity be so, because if this gospel is true, that God has sent His own Son into the world to do for us the things we have been considering, then you would expect Christians to be entirely different from unbelievers; you would expect them to live in a relationship to God that would be evident to all, and that should above everything else produce this quality of joy………………….. Hence we find this constant exhortation in the New Testament to praise God and offer up thanksgiving. This is what differentiates us from the world. The world is very miserable and unhappy; it is full of cursing and complaints. But praise, thanksgiving and contentment mark out the Christian and show that he is no longer ‘of the world’.

Extracted from The Everlasting Covenant by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Losing Your Life For My Sake and the Gospel's

For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. Mark 8:35

Jesus said, "Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. Mark 10:29-30

What Kind of Worship God Desires From His People ?

'Worship is not an addendum to life, it is at life’s core. You see, the people who worship God acceptably enter into eternal life, but the people who do not worship God acceptably enter into eternal death. Worship, then, becomes the core. Time and eternity are determined by the nature of a person’s worship.

Now, there are only two kinds of worship that can be offered-acceptable or unacceptable worship. The majority of the world offers unacceptable worship, and God will not accept it. The Bible is explicit on this. There are people today who say that ultimately everybody is going to be saved, but that is not true. The Bible does not say that. But it does say that there are only two kinds of worship - acceptable or unacceptable worship.' True Worship by John MacArthur, Jr.

In this embedded sermon, Pastor John Macarthur explained what is unacceptable worship:

1. The worship of false gods of any kind
   


2. The worship of the true God in a wrong form


3. The worship of the true God in a self-styled way


4. The worship of the true God in a wrong attitude or heart

True worship that is acceptable to God must not be conformed to this world. It is a form of worship from a worshiper that is reflective of the heart of a believer that has been transformed by God's power and from a mind that has been renewed.


'I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.' Rom 12:1-12

There is a right way to worship God, it is the only kind of acceptable worship that God desires.

'Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.' Psalms 24:3-4

There is a place for corporate worship in the lives of believers. Believers to be found gathering to worship by honoring and praising God through Jesus Christ.

'Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.' Hebrews 13:15-16

The Lord's Prayer

The Lord's Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen

Related links
Lord’s Prayer: Confession should be a daily activity for the Christian – by R. C. Sproul

Come, people of the Risen King

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" She said to him, "Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world." Joh 11:25-27

Come, people of the Risen King

Come, people of the Risen King,
Who delight to bring Him praise;
Come all and tune your hearts to sing
To the Morning Star of grace.
From the shifting shadows of the earth
We will lift our eyes to Him,
Where steady arms of mercy reach
To gather children in.

REFRAIN
Rejoice, Rejoice! Let every tongue rejoice!
One heart, one voice; O Church of Christ, rejoice!

Come, those whose joy is morning sun,
And those weeping through the night;
Come, those who tell of battles won,
And those struggling in the fight.
For His perfect love will never change,
And His mercies never cease,
But follow us through all our days
With the certain hope of peace.

Rejoice, Rejoice! Let every tongue rejoice!
One heart, one voice; O Church of Christ, rejoice!

Come, young and old from every land -
Men and women of the faith;
Come, those with full or empty hands -
Find the riches of His grace.
Over all the world, His people sing -
Shore to shore we hear them call
The Truth that cries through every age:
“Our God is all in all”!

Rejoice, Rejoice! Let every tongue rejoice!
One heart, one voice; O Church of Christ, rejoice!

Words and Music by Keith and Kristyn Getty and Stuart Townend
Copyright © 2008 Thankyou Music/ Copyright Control

No Prosperity Gospel, No False Christ, Just Be Faithful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ

It is very sad and it grieves to know that many professing church pastors and "evangelists" today are not faithful to their calling to make a full and accurate presentation of Gospel of Jesus Christ. Many present Jesus as simply a mean to an end. To suit to their whims and fancies of their own humanistic theology and bellies, they present a false "christ" and a perverted "gospel" like "Accepting Jesus as your Lord and Saviour will not only save you from sin and hell, but also give to you health, ....., favour, the power to get wealth, all good things you can think of and more." This perversion of the Gospel invitation sadly robs Christ of His true accomplishments in the Cross and the Glory due to God alone. This type of false and perverted Gospel invitation directs sinners away from true faith and repentance found in Jesus Christ alone. Such perversion of the Gospel turns sinners to seek a "lesser god", more like a "golden calf", definitely not the Lord Jesus Christ and God of the Bible .

For some faithful preaching, check this video out. This video on an open air sermon by a nameless preacher to the homeless community in Detroit that stay in a large underground plaza underneath the city of Detroit.

Preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to homeless of city of Detroit
Under the City Evangelism:

Visit http://www.puregospeltruth.com/
Support: http://www.puregospeltruth.com/donate.html




Without Christ's finished work on the cross, there is no good news and no hope for all men and women before God. In this second short clip, Pastor Thabiti Anyabwile explained Why Did Jesus Have To Die? This is the central core of the Lord Jesus Christ's true accomplishments on the cross where He alone bore the sinner's sins and all its curse and all its penalty and all its wrath and provided the only acceptable satisfaction to God in order to reconcile condemned the sinner to an eternal life relationship with a Holy God.

God, If You're Real, Show Me a Sign ?

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. Rom 1:18-25

The Holiness of God

There is but one only, living, and true God, who is ....most holy (Of God, and of the Holy Trinity -WCF Chapter II -I)

In the book of Isaiah, it is recorded that Prophet Isaiah saw the LORD high and lifted up.

“In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.... “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.” (Isa 6:1,5).

Why did Isaiah cried out like that? Prophet Isaiah, viewed as righteous man of virtues in Israel, was given a view of an absolutely Holy God. In his classic book “The Holiness of God”, Dr R.C. Sproul described it vividly, “In that single moment, all his self-esteem was shattered. In a brief second he was exposed, made naked beneath the gaze of the absolute standard of holiness. As long as Isaiah could compare himself to other mortals, he was able to sustain a lofty opinion of himself to other mortals, he was able to sustain a lofty opinion of his own character. The instant he measured himself by the ultimate standard, he was destroyed - morally and spiritually annihilated. He was undone. He came apart, His sense of integrity collapsed.”

Pastor John Macarthur commenting on the same Isaiah’s vision of an absolutely Holy God said, “Beloved, no one can stand in the presence of God without becoming profoundly and devastatingly aware of his own wretchedness, sinfulness. That's why I'm telling you. If we don't understand the holiness of God, we don't understand our sinfulness. And we don't understand how heinous it is and we don't understand the consequences of it. To see even the smallest glimpse of God's holiness is to be devastated...devastated. Isaiah would never be the same, never. Neither would anybody else.”

Isaiah saw the Seraphim around the throne of God and they cried out “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!" Isa 6:3

Why the cry of “Holy, Holy, Holy”? What is the meaning behind this thrice repetition? God is God, He is not like us. He is the Almighty, Infinite, Eternal, Just, Unchangeable, Perfect and Sovereign God, He is absolutely Holy and we are not. It is meant to emphasize the importance of acknowledging, recognizing and fearing God’s otherness or uniqueness. Essentially it is like saying, “Otherness, Otherness, Otherness” or “ Unique, Unique, Unique”.

An absolutely holy God who is merciful and full of grace did not left Isaiah devastated because “one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for." Isa 6:6-7

Pastor John Macarthur said on Isa 6:6-7“Beloved, I think all of this looks at the cross, don't you? I think all of this looks at the cross. I think the cross is the live coal that touches our lips. The cross is the thing that purges us. You see, you and I could never stand in the presence of a holy God, we would be consumed. That's why the Pharisees had to kill Jesus. I mean, they had to kill Him, He ruined the average. He came along and He was God and His holiness was so real that their supposed holiness was exposed and they had to kill Him. And when He died He died not because they had to kill Him, but because God had to let Him die for our sin. The cross touches us and makes us pure.”

Our appropriate response must be to acknowledge that God is Holy, Holy, Holy. We must exercise great care in approaching God recognizing He is a thrice Holy God. He is the unchangeable God and still always the thrice Holy God. We get a very clear view and manifestation of God’s holiness at the Calvary cross. God’s perfect hatred of sin caused Him even to take the life of His own begotten Son, the pure and sinless Lamb of God. R.C. Sproul once said “Because until you meet a God who is holy and is sovereign, you don’t know what grace means.” By faith, we can see the Calvary cross is for us that same live coal and the cross touches our filthy and unclean lips and makes us pure, gives us Christ’s righteousness to stand boldly before God. “Therefore let us come boldly to the throne of grace,that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Heb 4:16. Heavenly Father, You are Holy, You are Lord God Almighty, We thank You for the cross, Your amazing grace and mercy through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.