Sunday Sermon Notes

Honest & Genuine Worship

Introduction

A true story - a woman entered a Haagen-Dazs store on the Kansas City Plaza for an ice-cream cone. After making her selection, she turned and found herself face to face with Paul Newman. He was in town filming the movie Mr. and Mrs. Bridge. Newman’s blue eyes caused her knees to buckle. She managed to pay for her cone, then left the shop, heart pounding. When she gained her composure, she realized she didn’t have her cone. She started back to the store to get it and met Newman at the door. "Are you looking for your ice-cream cone?" he asked. She nodded, unable to speak. "You put it in your purse with your change."

When was the last time the presence of God quickened your pulse?

Read Psalm 51:16-17.

Verse in context:

•David had been confronted about his sin by the prophet Nathan.
•He was guilty of an adulterous relationship with Bathsheba.
•He had sent her husband into a dangerous battle and had betrayed him unto death.

*This passage is one of the greatest examples of true repentance.

•He asked for mercy.
•He asked for cleansing.
•He repented of his sin.
•…even of the sins of his heart
•He subjected himself to discipline and justice
•He asked for restoration
•He promised to teach others about God.

Read again Psalm 51:17.

Why did he now approach the subject of worship?
(Before this repentance, his worship and sacrifice was not acceptable to God!)

*There were things standing in the way of honest worship – until he truly repented.

•To often our worship is relegated to a spot once a week on Sunday, and in strict accordance with a set of man-made rules.
•We come, attempting to worship with sin remaining in our hearts.
•With this unconfessed or unrepentant sin, we are not capable of honest and genuine worship of a Holy and Almighty God.

*Until we realize…

•God, in His Glory,
•Ourselves, in our sinful condition,
•Receive cleansing from God,
•The life He wants for us – life in His will,

…we will never be able to engage in honest and genuine worship of God.

The Glory of God

Read Isaiah 6:1-8.

Seated on the throne – the rightful place for kings
Where is He seated in your life?

The holiness of God – (sacred and pure) – when confronted with the holiness of God, we must find ourselves lacking.

*Trouble is that many don’t give thought to the holiness of God.

•They avoid thinking about God.
•When they do attempt to worship, they try not to dwell on issues of holiness.
•the saved and the non-believers do this – Why?

*The conviction that such comparisons bring – (God’s holiness vs. man’s wretched life) – is terribly uncomfortable.

Holiness – the reason that sin won’t even be allowed in heaven
Grace – Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, that allows us into heaven, if we choose Him

*In order to engage in honest and genuine worship, we must first come to terms with the glory and holiness of God!

Our Sinful Condition

Read Isaiah 6:5, below:

"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."

•He had come into the presence of God.
•When confronted with the holiness of God, he realized his sin.

*So it is with us – when we are confronted with God, we realize our sin.
The trouble is: many Christians and non-Christians today avoid contact and all thought about God.

*When Isaiah realized his sin and unworthiness, he said “Woe is me, I am undone!”

•ruined
•without hope
•lost
•doomed

Undone – everything he thought himself to be
–everything he had pretended to be

Undone in the presence of the Almighty and Holy God

*God sees past our charades and false-fronts, too!
Isaiah didn’t even realize his sin until he came into the presence of the Living God.
When was the last time you came into the presence of God?

*In order to engage in honest and genuine worship, we must first humble ourselves and realize our wretched and imperfect condition before God.

The Cleansing God Offers

Read again Isaiah 6:6-7, below:

Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."

Note the timing: Isaiah was cleansed only after he was undone – after he had confessed!

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. – 1 John 1:9

*You can’t expect a new word from the Lord or the magnificent worship experience you hope for when you’re still carrying around a truckload of unconfessed sin.

Why does sin remain unconfessed – why do we carry around this guilt in our heart?
(Because even when we’re at church, we refuse to come into the presence of the Living God.)

But if you will…

 You will see the power, majesty, and holiness of God.
 He will make you aware of your sinful condition.
 If you repent, He will make you clean.

*You don’t have to live with guilt anymore – you can have a new start.

Note the source: the angel took a live coal from the altar – the altar of God.

 the only true place of sacrifice
 the only true source of forgiveness
 the only true source of cleansing

Fit For Duty

Read Isaiah 6:8, below:

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

*He was fit for duty only after he had been cleansed.

So the question remains:
How can I engage in honest and genuine worship of the Living God?

Read Psalm 51:17, below:

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise.

Worship in humbleness – broken, undone, sorry, repentant, and penitent

*Throw away pride and realize the power, majesty, and holiness of God.