Dive into this episode of the InTouch Podcast with Charles Stanley as we explore the profound purpose behind worship in the Christian life. Drawing from the book of Revelation, listeners are encouraged to contemplate the magnificent sights witnessed by John the Beloved and how they highlight the ultimate purpose of creation. Our journey anchors on the idea that God orchestrates everything with precise intent and calls us to a life of worship, loving God not for His deeds, but for who He inherently is.
00:00:01 Introduction to the Biblical View of Worship
Welcome to the InTouch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Friday, November 7th. If you have ever questioned your purpose in life, stay with us. Today, we continue our series on the biblical view of worship to help clarify what your life is truly meant to be about.
SPEAKER 01 :
We’re in the series on worship and tonight, God’s great purpose. So Revelation chapter 4, And if you look in the first verse, if you will, after this I looked, and behold, a door was opened in heaven, and the first voice which I heard was, as it were, of a trumpet talking with me, which said, Come up hither, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter, so that everything that follows from chapter 4, verse 1, will be those things that God revealed to the apostle John, John the Beloved, while he’s in exile on the Isle of Patmos. Now, friend, that has got to be some kind of a sight. Amen? And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God. And before the throne there was a sea of glass likened to crystal. And in the midst of the throne and round about the throne were four beasts or four living creatures full of eyes before and behind. And the first beast, or first creature, was like a lion, and the second like a calf. And the third creature had a face as a man, and the fourth was like a flying eagle. And the four creatures had each of them six wings about him. And they were full of eyes within, and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was and is and is to come. And when those creatures or beasts give glory… and honor and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth forever and ever. The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth forever and ever, and cast out crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. Look at verse 11. Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power. For thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. God never does anything without a very definite purpose. He doesn’t react to anything. He doesn’t respond to anything on the spur of the moment. He never responds or reacts in ignorance or without all the information of all the facts. Every single thing that God does, he does with definite purpose in mind. Everything people do, we can’t always say that they do with purpose. Everything the church does, we can’t always say they do it with the right purpose or any purpose at all in mind. But everything that God does, he does with purpose. For example, he created this world with a very definite purpose in mind. He created flowers to bloom and to give beauty. He created birds to sing in the early morning hour. He created the stars of the heaven, the moon, the sun to give light. God has done everything with a very definite purpose in mind. All of creation has a purpose behind it. You and I are the only creatures in all of the vast creation that God has made. We are the only creatures that have the capacity to bow down and worship the God of this creation. He created you and me for the ultimate purpose of worshiping Him. That is God’s great purpose in the universe. Now, we get it all mixed up. Look, if you will, in Philippians chapter 2. You know this passage, but I’m going to move to another that you’ll know, but I want to apply it in a different way. In Philippians chapter 2, you and I know the passage that says that one of these days… God having highly exalted the Lord Jesus Christ, one of these days in verse 10, that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Every knee will bow. Now we ought to be bowing our knees in worship and praise and adoration and genuine, listen, love toward God. Listen, watch this. Not because of what he does, but because of who he is. And he wants us to love him not because of what he does, but because of who he is. Now let me just give you something personal along that line. One day somewhere, I was sitting on the beach. I’d been down there very early in the morning taking some pictures of the sunrise. And when I’d finished, I sat down on a rock and I was just sitting there. And it’s just like the Lord just said to me, just like that, love is thou me? And then I knew that he was trying to get my attention about something. And without me answering, it’s just like he said, do you love me because I provide for you? Do you love me because I protect you? Do you love me because I’ve called you to preach my word? Do you love me because of the blessings I send into your life? Or do you love me simply because I’m me? And I’m afraid I had to tell him what most of you had to tell him. Lord, if I’m really honest, I’m sure that deep down inside, for the most of my life, whatever love I’ve expressed towards you has been motivated by what you did for me, not because you’re just God. Then it’s just like the Lord said, do you know how long I’ve loved you? I thought, yes, I do. And it’s like the Lord said, what motivated me to love you? And I couldn’t think of a thing. Wasn’t my righteousness. Wasn’t my service. Wasn’t anything within me. And it’s like the Lord said to me, now look, I want you to start loving me because I’m me, not because what I have to give you. Isn’t it strange how we think we love God so much and our love is conditioned upon his answered prayer, conditioned upon his provision, this, that, and the other? We don’t like to admit that. But you see, when you stop and examine the real feelings, what you’re thinking and feeling down inside, you might be surprised what motivates you to do whatever you may do in the name of Jesus Christ. And the Lord has just opened my heart and searched me and stripped me and exposed me, analyzed me to myself. Now, he knew it all along. But you see, God’s great purpose in our life is not that we serve him. That’s just part of what he wants to do. But his purpose in our life is that we worship him. Now, What is it that God had in mind when he created the world? Well, let me just share some things with you tonight that I believe give evidence to the fact that God’s ultimate purpose for our existence and everything he does for us is that we might worship him. Let me ask you a question. Can you name anything God needs? Nothing. Can you name anything God cannot provide for himself? Nothing. Can you name the one thing that God wants from us? The one thing that he wants from us above everything else that he would not do for himself? He wants us to worship him. Listen, motivated by love and devotion to him because of who he is and not because of what he’s done. Now, because of what he’s done is the thing that grabbed their attention to begin with. But what he wants to work into our life is a higher purpose than serving him, a higher purpose than winning souls, though that’s a part of it, a higher purpose than any kind of ministry we could ever have. God isn’t impressed with anybody’s ministry who has not learned to worship God. You see, he can do everything that you and I can do and do the better of it. But there’s one thing God wants from you that nobody else can do for God in your place. There’s one thing that God wants from you that nobody else can do but you. And that is for you to love Him, praise Him, adore Him, worship Him, and make that the ultimate in your life. You say, well, what about those other ultimate goals? Well, all of these are tangible things that you and I work at here. His vocation for our life, his marriage partner for our life, all of these things constantly being conformed to his likeness. But why did he create this world? And I believe one of the first things we need to acknowledge is this, that the only reasonable, rational explanation for the creation of this world and humanity itself is that God could create a host of living human beings who would choose by their own rightful choice, overcoming sin and defeating Satan, and choosing God above the other idols of the earth, and choosing to love Him, worship Him, praise Him, and to live in adoration toward Him. That doesn’t mean that you and I just sort of walk along in some ethereal religious act all the time because worship is not located in some particular place. Remember what Jesus said to the woman at the well? And you know, if you look at the woman at the well and the Nicodemus, you would have thought that Jesus would have switched those two sermons around. He would have talked about a place of worship and all these things to the wise men like Nicodemus. And for a woman who was living in adultery, he would have talked about being born again. That’s the wisdom of the Lord. He knew that Nicodemus’ problem was self-righteousness. He knew that her problem was that she was lost. And he said to her, if you knew who you were talking to, you would ask of him and he would give you a drink of water and you won’t ever need but one drink because I’d placed within your well of water springing up in everlasting life. And she tried to get him off the subject by talking about worship. But in that conversation, Jesus gave some beautiful truths about worship that we’ll get to later on some of the message. But the very purpose of creation itself is to worship God. The second thing I want you to notice is this. When you go back to the Ten Commandments in the 20th chapter of Exodus, how did the Lord begin them? And I think this is evidence that His great purpose in life is that you and I would learn to worship God. In the 20th chapter of the Exodus, how does He begin? I am the Lord thy God, which hath brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, Thou shall have no other gods before me. Thou shall not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shall not bow down thyself to them nor serve them. For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children of the third and the fourth generations of them that hate me. His Ten Commandments of the law of God. How did he begin? He began by giving instruction about worship and Jesus said to Satan He says as it is written thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve You see he didn’t start with things that you and I would have started with he started with the basics That is when a man learns to worship the Lord God when he sees that is God’s great purpose for the nations for example And you see, God’s purpose is greater than oftentimes we think. And here’s what happens to us. And I see this going on all the time. We get all wrapped up in our little church or our big church or whatever size church you may go to. And we see all the people that we love and our friends and our fellowship. We think that’s great. Our program and all these things that are happening. But listen, what we need to see is that we are one small part of God’s vast, vast body of believers. And when He puts all the believers together, what does He have them to do? For eternity, we are going to worship Him. He saved us out of our sin, brought us together to teach us the truth of the Scripture. Why? Not that we simply serve Him, though that’s a vital part of it, but that first of all, we learn to love Him, unmotivated by anything, but just because He’s God. We learn to adore Him and praise Him and reverence Him and honor Him and bow down before Him because He’s God. And you see, most worship today… Most sermons today are not centered around God. They’re centered around man. And secondly, they’re not centered around what God is and who he is and our relationship to him. Most sermons you hear today are centered around what can God do for me? That’s not what the Scripture teaches at all. When the Lord thinks about us, He’s talking about our worshiping Him, our serving Him, our loving Him, our devotion to Him, our loyalty to Him. It’s all to Him. He says, I’m a jealous God and I’ll not share you with any other. And you see, that’s the reason God has drawn a line in this world. He says, don’t step over that line. Over on this side of the line is the world. The world is full of idolatry. And the reason he says to the nation of Israel, he said, you ought to be a peculiar people because he didn’t want his people getting all fouled up by mingling and mixing with people who were living in idolatry. Which brings me to the third reason, I think, that evidence that this is God’s great purpose for mankind is the penalty he warned the nation of Israel of if they violated that commandment. And all through the Old Testament, for example, he’s talking about, well, how many times does he have to come back to the nation of Israel, for example, and warn them about the same old sin over and over and over again, the same thing. And somehow they never understood. You look at the book of Judges. Do you know why the book of Judges is in there? The book of Judges, for example, are the dark days of the people of Israel. Living in adultery. And here’s what you’ve got a rollercoaster life for the nation of Israel in the book of Judges. What are they doing? In adultery, repent. Adultery, repent. Adultery, repent. Look, if you will, in Deuteronomy chapter… 11 verse 26. He says, Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse, a blessing if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day, and a curse if you’ll not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out of the way which I commanded you this day to go after other gods which you have not known. Now listen, I want you to think about this. What is God’s great purpose for the nations? What’s God’s great purpose for us? His purpose is that we honor Him. Listen, there is something about worship that releases and liberates. There’s something about it that energizes. There’s something about worshiping God, praising Him, looking to Him, singing to Him, wanting nothing in return but just the capacity to tell Him how great He is. Revelation chapter 15, look at verse 4. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? For thou only art holy. For all nations shall come and worship thee for thee, for thy judgments are made manifest. Every nation of the earth, he says, shall come before thee and worship thee. Listen, watch this. It is God’s ultimate purpose that the people of God would worship him and love him and be devoted to him. But listen. Listen. What is his purpose? Now watch, here’s what we do. We get all mired up in that little church and that little work and that little family, that little this, that, that, and the other and so forth. And what happens? We miss the big picture. And the big picture is that we’re a part of the vast kingdom of God. We’re a part of the vast glory of God. God is doing something. And if you and I could back off out into space and picture the world. And every single true believer would stand up, holding their arms straight up, praising the Lord. I’ll tell you, I believe it would pass through the atmosphere. When the people of God really begin to worship God, there’s something electrifying, something motivating, something powerful. There is a releasing of the Spirit when God’s people bow their knee, their heart, their spirit before Him. And they want nothing in return but just to love Him. We know more about everything in the church than we do how to worship God. But I just wanted you to get the picture here that God’s great purpose in your life is not to go into the ministry. That may be his will for your life. That may be his call for your life, but his ultimate purpose for your life and mine. And he says in Revelation chapter 15, that fourth verse for the nations of the world. When he says he delivers up the kingdom, what is it going to be for? To worship and praise and adore the Lord our God forever. When you look in the book of the Revelation, you see the martyred saints, what are they doing? They’re worshiping the Lord. And I want to ask you tonight, why do you pray to get something or to give something? And maybe you and I should check our praying out. And after we’ve prayed to ask Lord, now have I given something or have I just been the recipient by asking for something? You kids are going to college. You’re going to get a degree and you’re going to be taught how to do certain things. But you know what God’s interested in? He’s not interested in plaques on the wall. He’s not interested in eloquence and all the rest. He’s just interested in whether you are willing to bow your spirit before him and to walk daily in adoration and praise to the Lord God.
SPEAKER 02 :
Thank you for listening to God’s Great Purpose. If you’d like to know more about Charles Stanley or InTouch Ministries, stop by intouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of InTouch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.
