This generation is into what we call relational theology. It has been for a long time. You come to church to, quote, get blessed. There’s nothing wrong with being encouraged, but the focus has been wrong. It’s not been God, it’s been man. People went to seminary to prepare for the ministry and were told, and still are being told, to preach to people’s needs. My dear friends, we are to preach the word of God. It’ll handle people’s needs. We’re to give glory to God. We’re accountable to God to give God’s message. We need to hear from God. This generation is not focused on God. It’s focused on man. And worship is a realization of the holiness of God, how he’s different.
SPEAKER 1 :
Thank you.
SPEAKER 01 :
Welcome to the Friday broadcast of Hope for Today. Worship has been gutted, trivialized, and remade man’s image. For many folks, it’s just a mood, a style, or a musical experience. True worship, however, is far, far more than that. It’s the right response of a human heart brought face-to-face with the glory, majesty, and worthiness of God. Today, Bible teacher David Hawking begins the message called The Worship of God. Using selected scripture, including Revelation chapter 4, David’s going to show us what worship looks like when heaven is fixed on the throne of God. Well, stay with us as we bring you the Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible on the topic of worshiping God right here on Hope for Today. First, we want to quickly tell you about a free resource available right now on the Hope for Today homepage at davidhawking.org. This is called Does God Truly Love Me? Does God Truly Love Me? is written by our good friend Richard A. Bennett, and it’s designed to help you or someone you know be assured that the God we’re studying in this current radio series truly loves you and them and me. It’s available as a free download in multiple languages, nothing to sign up for. Just click, download, read it, and share it with as many folks as you like. Again, that’s Does God Truly Love Me? a free downloadable resource on the homepage at davidhawking.org. And here’s David with today’s study.
SPEAKER 02 :
Turn to Revelation chapter 4. We’ve come to worship Him. The English word worship, which is used in our Bible, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament, has four different Hebrew words behind it. But there’s one primary word in Hebrew that’s used 172 times. It’s the word shakah. And basically it means to bow down. In the New Testament, interestingly, as you read the word worship, there are eight different Greek words behind that. And again, there’s one primary word, the word proskuneo, which is a compound word of the word to kiss and the preposition toward. And the way it was used is interesting because if you came into a courtroom of a king or a dignitary and you were invited to come near to him across usually a marble or glass pavement, The first thing that you would do to honor him would be to bow down and to kiss his hand or his ring or his scepter. And that word, to kiss toward, is the word used in the New Testament translated worship. Leslie Flynn wrote in his book on worship, True worship is based on the inexhaustible excellencies of God. To worship God is to affirm his supreme worth, for he alone is worthy. Dr. Vernon Grounds writes in his book, Worship involves awareness of God, awe in His presence, adoration of Him because of His excellencies and acts, and affirmation of praise in all He is and does. Dr. John MacArthur said, Perhaps the greatest need in all of Christendom is the clear understanding of the biblical teaching about worship. That consuming selfless desire to give to God is the essence and the heart of worship. James Christensen, in a text that’s used in schools on worship, says, “…genuine worship takes place only when God is worshiped for His own sake.” The greatest achievement of the human soul is to be able to commune with God. The most significant activity of any group of people is to come into His presence and to magnify and worship His holy name. Revelation 4, the scene is heaven. The center of that is the throne of God. Let’s read it. After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. The first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this. Immediately I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne set in heaven. And one sat on the throne, and he who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance. And there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones. On the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes. They had crowns of gold on their heads. And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices.” And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God. Before the throne, there was a sea of glass like crystal. And in the midst of the throne and around the throne were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion. The second living creature like a calf. The third living creature had a face like a man. And the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. And the four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come. Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the 24 elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they exist and were created. What does it mean to worship? How do you tell a generation consumed with itself, its own rights, its own demands, the pursuit of pleasure dominating our culture, and how do you tell them to worship? The number one reason why we gather together is to worship the Lord. But I don’t know whether you’re worshiping or not. It’s amazing. Some people can smile and shine, make the preacher think they’re listening. And I don’t know whether you’re worshiping or not. You’re just good at it. There’s others who can sack through it and actually heard the whole thing. How they do that, I don’t know. They’re no blessing to me. But I tell you, only God knows whether or not worship will occur as we listen to what the Bible says about worship. Only God knows. And it seems to me, in understanding this and evaluating this from my own heart, that the only time I really know is when I’m all alone. So when nobody else is watching… And nobody else is with me to be impressed or to be influenced or motivated. It’s when I’m alone that I find out whether I really worship God or not. And that’s true, I believe, for all of us. Our Father who sees in secret, Jesus said, will reward us openly. Now, what is worship? I want to give you the following six things. Number one, it’s right there in Revelation 4 in front of our eyes. The reason… Behind the creation of all things. The Bible says in verse 10 that 24 elders fall down and worship him. And what they say is, you are worthy to receive glory, honor, and power. For you created all things. Everything God created. All the hosts of heaven, including the stars. The Bible says we’re designed to worship God. All the stuff. that is life. All the things we have, every last inanimate material thing that’s ever been designed or made by man, any material that’s ever come from the surface of the globe or put together in any way that’s technologically exciting or interesting to us has all been designed to worship him. My dear friends, you want to worship? The reason behind the creation is worship. Turn to Nehemiah chapter 9, please. When the children of Israel came back to the land after the Babylonian captivity, everything was in disarray. Their homes and towns were destroyed by Babylon. The temple was smashed to the ground, and it was a dismal sight. And they came back under the leadership of several people, one of whom was Nehemiah. And he’s got to exhort them to rebuild, and it’s not going to be an easy task. And there are people in the land who are going to oppose them. We had the Samaritans, and they were hated by the Jews. And these Samaritans are in the land. They’ve been there for quite a while. And they’re going to oppose the Jews who come back and are trying to rebuild after the Babylonian captivity. And Nehemiah is trying to challenge them to build. But he knew what we should all know. Building the external buildings is not what really needs to be done. What we need to do is to rebuild our hearts. He knew that people had to get right with the Lord. And in Nehemiah 9, verse 6, there’s a great celebration. A day of prayer and fasting and celebration. And all the Levites are on duty, according to verse 5. And all of them are shouting out with a loud voice, according to verse 4. This is no quiet deal. This is a loud burst of praise. It says to the people, stand up, bless the Lord. Blessed be His glorious name, exalted above all blessing and praise. But now look at verse 6. You alone are the Lord. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their hosts, the earth and all things on it, the seas and all that is in them. You preserve them all. The host of heaven does what? What does it say? Worships you. What is worship? It’s the reason behind the creation of all things. You alone are the Lord. You made it all. You are to be worshiped. Turn, please, to 1 Chronicles chapter 16. Not only is worship the reason behind the creation of all things, but it is a realization of the holiness of God. What does that mean? The separateness of God, how God is different from us, not how He’s the same. The Bible warns that in the last days, congregations will not endure sound doctrine. They’ll want teachers who have itching ears, that is, wanting to hear the applause of people and the appreciation. So they won’t preach the truth. They’ll give the people what they want. I warn us all, warning myself as a preacher and you who listen, we need to hear from God. This generation is not focused on God, it’s focused on man. And worship is a realization of the holiness of God, how He’s different. And now we’ve got radio and television preachers telling us, boldly on television, that man can be God. My friends, that was the lie of Satan in the Garden of Eden. He said, you should be as God. We will never be God. And by the way, God is not mere man. God became a man, but never ceased being God. We better wake up. Hey, I love to think about how I am the same as God. That helps me. I think because God thinks. I feel, have emotions because God does. I have volitional choice and rational thought because God does. I’m made in His image after His likeness, but I am not God. And even in the sense in which I am the same, I am so inadequate, imperfect, and so insufficient to even compare myself with the eternal God who is perfect in His personality. My friends, it is the holiness of God, the separateness is what holiness means, that causes me to worship. I’m not going to fall down and worship somebody who’s the same as I am. I’m going to fall down and worship He who is greater than I am. Interesting, in 1 Chronicles we have an offering being taken. Amen? Hey, I don’t want laughter, I want amens. Amen. I was preaching up in Portland, Oregon. A man came up to me after the service and he said, I really disagree with your taking a public offering. He said, we don’t do that in our church. I said, well, how do you pay for things? He said, well, we do it privately. We have a box out in the lobby. And if you want to give, you give. We don’t ask anybody to give. Well, you know, I’m not real tactful. And I said, well, you’re disobedient to the Lord. He said, no, you’re disobedient to the Lord. I said, well, the scripture will have to determine that. I said, I believe in public offerings. Well, we don’t. It’s private. I said, no, it’s not private. You said you had the box in the lobby. Hey, if you want to be private, put it in the toilet or something. What are you saying? Hey, come on. I mean, we check off our brains to try to prove a point. I said, in the Bible, everything’s public. Why it was so public in Acts 5, they laid the money in front of the apostles’ feet for everybody to see. That would be interesting. Put a little pressure on us. We in this individualistic country, we’re so, I think, obsessed with our privateness, our little world of rights, that we’re scared to death of exposure. What if God asked us to do that? Hey, David is asking for an offering publicly to bring this stuff here. And I want you to see what he said. 1 Chronicles chapter 16, please. Verse 28. Give to the Lord, O kindreds of the peoples. Give to the Lord glory and strength. Give to the Lord the glory due His name. Bring an offering. Come before Him. O worship the Lord in the beauty of what? Holiness, separateness. Tremble before Him, all the earth. The interesting thing is that God says, bring an offering. Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. Let me give you an application to this. Turn to 2 Samuel chapter 12. I’m going to show you somebody who worshiped the Lord in an unusual set of circumstances. It’s King David. It’s the story of the baby that he and Bathsheba had through their adulterous affair. The baby died. And it’s an interesting story as it relates to worship. In verse 15, it says, The Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife, that’s Bathsheba, aborted David, and it became very ill. David, therefore, pleaded with God for the child, and David fasted, went in, and lay all night on the ground. So the elders of his house arose and went to him to raise him up from the ground, but he would not, nor did he eat food with them. Then on the seventh day it came to pass that the child died. David has been fasting for seven days, pouring his heart out. He wouldn’t listen to anybody, wouldn’t eat. The servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, Indeed, while the child was still alive, we spoke to him, and he would not heed our voice. How can we tell him that the child is dead? He may do some harm. They’re thinking he’s going to take his life, commit suicide. Because he’s under so much grief. When David saw that his servants were whispering, David perceived that the child was dead. Therefore David said to his servants, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead. You know, that reminds me, many years ago I was asked by a family to communicate information to their mother, who was dying of cancer in a hospital, that her husband had just died of a heart attack. And the family asked me to do that. The man that was calling on them in the hospital was ministering to them, encouraging, but they felt it was a very serious deal. They said, David, you should go and tell him, tell the woman, because she’s known you since you were a child, tell her that, you know, her husband died. I said, why don’t you tell him? Well, we just can’t. I said, what? Well, if we do, it’ll kill her. Now, I don’t have immediate compassion. You know what I mean? People pray for me about it, but I am trying to learn. But I don’t immediately feel compassion. I immediately question things. I don’t want to. I just do. And the moment I thought of that, I said, well, what difference does it make? Now, here’s a woman who’s dying terminally ill, and they say if I tell her that her husband died, it would kill her. She’s already dying. Wouldn’t it be an act of mercy to tell her so she could die and go home to be with the Lord and not suffer anymore? You understand what I’m saying? Now, that one did bother me, and it’s good that I didn’t say it, because then my ministry would be, speak to folks directly and kill them. So I had to think that through a little bit, but they said to me, now be careful. I said, what do you mean be careful? Well, don’t just come out and tell her. We know what you’re like. I said, I think people want to know. Don’t do that. Well, I’ll try to do the best. Just be careful. Okay. So I walk into the room. The woman has known me since a child. She said, David, what’s wrong? Hey, I didn’t ask that. She did. She said, what’s wrong? I said, who said anything’s wrong? She said, why are you here? She said, if I wanted somebody to minister me, it wouldn’t be you. There’s nothing I can figure. Is there something real serious here? Why send you? I said, hey, I didn’t say there is or something wrong. It’s probably my husband. Is it my husband? Well, yeah, yeah. What’s happened to him? He’s dead. Folks, I tried. You know what she did? She grabbed me and hugged me and kissed me and said, thank you. I knew somebody would tell me the truth. She said, they’ve been running around here for a day. I knew something was wrong. People want to know the truth. Hey, you know what happened when David’s little baby died? For seven days he’s been weeping and fasting, and people are worried he’s going to kill himself. He’s so distraught. And you know what he does? Look at verse 20. David arose from the ground, washed, anointed himself, changed his clothes, fixed himself all up. He went into the house of the Lord and what? What does it say? He worshiped. The will of God’s done. Praise the Lord. He went to his own house and when he requested, they set food before him. And most people panic after that happens or have deep sorrow. And I’m sure David felt some of that. His servant said to him, verse 20, what is this that you’ve done? You fasted and wept for the child while he’s alive. And when the child died, you arose and ate food. So he said, while the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. For I said, who can tell whether the Lord will be gracious to me that the child may live? But now he’s dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? And here’s a wonderful statement of encouragement that any parent who has ever lost a baby or a child, I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me. My dear friends, for seven days, David’s honest face weeping before God and begging God, And the moment the child dies, worship. Worship is a realization of the holiness of God. God is not me. God’s ways are not my ways. God’s thoughts are not my thoughts. God decided to take the child. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
SPEAKER 01 :
This is Hope for Today, the audio broadcast ministry of David Hawking. And David’s back in just a moment or so to close out our study for today. First, Matt’s here, and we have some home Bible study resources. Matt, I think folks are really going to like these. Jim, we believe our Attributes of God radio series is addressing a critical, critical need in the church today. There is a tremendous misunderstanding of the nature, work, and attributes of God, the God of the Bible. Matt, it’s almost like Satan is working overtime to trick and deceive people. His favorite old strategy is mixing a bit of truth with a strong helping of lies to steer folks down that wide path that leads to destruction. Yeah, think about your friends, your people at work, neighbors, maybe even family members. I mean, how do they understand God? I want to know what the Bible says about God. I want to know what the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob says about God. separating fact from the multiplicity of errors that we see and hear daily from the world regarding God’s nature, work, and attributes. And that’s what this radio series is all about. The greatness of God, the sovereignty of God, the power of God, the fear of God, praise of God, the holiness of God, the worship of God. Hallelujah to our God, the incarnation of God. The triunity of God, the righteousness of God, the faithfulness of God. The mercy of God. Aren’t we grateful for God’s mercy? Amen. The patience of God. And God is patient with us, isn’t he? Wow. He is in the love of God, the glory of God. Those are 16 messages total, Jim, about two months on radio. And we’re going to help you save everything you’re hearing in this series for future use, review, and sharing. The Attributes of God radio series at 16 audio messages on MP3 CD is just $20. And to help you get the most from our radio series and future study, add David’s original sermon notes and outlines for the Attributes of God series. The complete sermon note pack is just $10. We also want to tell you about David’s book, The God of the Bible. This is a rich resource for a deeper and continued study and a perfect follow-up to the truths we’re hearing in our current radio series on the attributes of God. The God of the Bible by David Hawking is just $20. Order any of these resources by phone at 875-BIBLE. That’s in the U.S., 888-75-BIBLE in Canada. Or you can order on our website, davidhawking.org. And as the Lord leads, would you prayerfully consider joining with us in this ministry with a financial contribution? Your support helps keep this broadcast going out and helps us continue sharing the truth of God’s word without compromise. And for your prayers, your support, and your encouragement, thank you. It means so much to all of us here on the Hope for Today team that you’re becoming a part of the team by praying for us and giving as God directs. To send a donation or a prayer request, write to Hope for Today, Box 3927, Tustin, California, 92781. In Canada, write to Hope for Today, Box 15011, RPO7OAKS, Abbotsford, B.C., V2S 8P1. Or, of course, you can give online at davidhawking.org. That’s davidhawking.org. Or if you’d like to talk with us by phone, call 875-BIBLE in the U.S., 888-75-BIBLE in Canada. And again, Bible is 242-53. And here’s David to close this out.
SPEAKER 02 :
One of the more difficult subjects about the attributes and abilities of God to deal with is the worship of God. And I say that because the word worship, talk about an overused word. It’s applied to so many things. We have worship groups and a worship pastor and a worship program. I’m not trying to be critical, but I really wonder in my heart sometimes whether there’s real worship going on. Our Lord Jesus said if we want to worship his Father, that we need to worship Him in spirit and in truth. Now, he didn’t put the definite article, the, in front of spirit, so he’s not talking about the Holy Spirit. He’s talking about what’s inside contrast to the outside. Too many things in the worship styles of our churches today are external. They are not dealing with the internal relationship of the believer with his Lord. in spirit and in truth. It’s according to what God’s Word teaches. That’s how we worship Him. The very word worship in the Old Testament, the word shakah, means to bow down, and we do so little of that. “‘Come, let us worship and bow down,’ says the psalmist.” It’s my prayer that our studies might open up our hearts to who God is. Don’t forget The God of the Bible, a wonderful hardback book, the perfect companion to these messages, and just call our office. God bless you.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, thank you, David. And for him to get David’s book, The God of the Bible, for just $20, go to davidhawking.org or call us at 800-75-BIBLE in the U.S. or 888-75-BIBLE in Canada. Well, next time, David returns with day two of his message on the worship of God. He’ll take us back to the Word and show us that true worship is not about man, not about style, and not about religious performance. It is about the worthiness of God. Be sure to join us right here on Hope for Today.
