John 4:20-24 – What Is Worship and How Do I Do It? – Bible study

John 4:20-24 "What is worship and how do I do it?" I have a strange question this morning, "What is worship and how do I do it?" That might seem to be a strange question to ask at church, but I would imagine that a lot of people would stumble at a correct answer. We know we are supposed to go to church to worship, and I imagine a lot of people go to church thinking that going to church is worshipping, but I believe many people might be surprised to find out that what they are doing is not worshipping at all. This morning, let’s ask and answer two important questions: What is worship? How do I do it? To answer those questions, let’s consider four thoughts: I. Worship Requirements – Two things are required before a person CAN worship God. A. To worship you must have access to God. 1. You cannot worship a God that you cannot get to. a. Jesus began His prayer… Matthew 6:9 … Our Father which art in heaven…. b. Jesus, on earth, had direct access to God, in heaven. c. By the way, the miracles that Jesus did proved that. d. For us to have that kind of access some barriers must be removed (and the biggest one is not the distance barrier). 2. The biggest barrier to worship is the sin barrier. Isaiah 59:2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. a. No one can worship God if they do not have access to Him. b. Many modern-day churches, in order to get bigger crowds in their church, have quit dealing with the sin barrier all together. (1) That is paradoxical. (a) You go to church to worship. (b) You cannot worship because of the sin barrier. (c) The church you go to worship won’t tell you about the sin barrier and how to remove it. (2) At their best, these churches are not accomplishing anything. (3) At their worst, they are deceiving people and damning them to hell. c. No individual, church, or religion can worship God that does not deal with the sin barrier. (1) There are many things that you and I can not know or understand without the Bible; however, sin is not one of them. (2) Every human being can know that sin exists and that they are afflicted with it. (a) All you need to do is count the number of people you have hurt. (b) How many have you deceived? used? abused? lied to? stolen from? climbed over? or otherwise injured, either physically or emotionally? (c) You don’t even need a Bible to know that this is sin. (d) If you really want to scare yourself, after you count all the people you actually did hurt, start counting all the things you wanted to do but talked yourself out of doing. (3) The existence of sin proves the Bible is true and Christianity is the only answer. (a) To my knowledge, no other book ore religion can tell you how to remove the sin barrier. (b) Once you know that sin is in you, what is the point of pretending that you are all right? (4) Once you stop avoiding the sin barrier and start looking for ways to deal with and remove it, you will see that your options are greatly limited. (a) Philosophy and education do not deal with sin. (b) Religions may try to make you better don’t fix what you have already done that is wrong. (5) No. You need to have your sins removed. (a) The Bible is the only Book with a message of sin removal. (b) Christ is the only Savior who died to take away sins. (c) Christianity is the only religion with a means of removing the sin barrier. (d) The only Christian church that is worth your time is one where they preach about sin and tell you what the Bible says about removing it. 3. So what do we need to know about the sin barrier? a. You need to know that Jesus died to tear the sin barrier down. Colossians 1:21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled 22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: (1) Sin separated us from God. Sin built a barrier between us and God. (2) Jesus tore it down. He reconciled us. (a) To RECONCILE means TO BRING TOGETHER AGAIN, TO BRING BACK TO A STATE OF HARMONY. (b) Jesus did not do this with sermons, songs, or even miracles, but THROUGH DEATH. (3) Jesus removed the sin barrier by taking all of our sins upon Himself and then paying for them. (a) Speaking of Jesus, Peter said: 1 Peter 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness…. Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. (b) These verses, and others like them, tell us that Jesus transferred our sins to His account, then died to pay for them on the cross. (c) This did not just remove the guilt of our sins. It removed the sin all together. John 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. Hebrews 1:3 (Speaking of Jesus) …when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; 1 John 3:5 And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. (4) Again, I say… (a) The Bible is the only Book with a message of sin removal. (b) Christ is the only Savior who died to take away sins. (c) Christianity is the only religion with a means of removing the sin barrier. (d) The only Christian church that is worth your time is one where they preach about sin and tell you what the Bible says about removing it. 4. What do you need to do? a. You need to believe the message of the Bible. (1) You need to believe that Jesus is God’s sinless Son. (2) You need to believe that Jesus died on the cross, taking your sins upon Him and paying for them. (3) You need to believe that because Jesus was God that He arose on the third day and ascended back to heaven. (4) There is no access to God for those who will not believe. b. You need to surrender yourself to Christ. (1) Not only did Jesus die to pay for our sins, but He leaves to direct our lives. (2) You cannot accept Jesus as Savior unless you are also willing to accept Him as Lord. (3) Having control of our lives is what got us into this sinful mess to begin with. (4) There is no need for Jesus to remove our sins if we are going to drive ourselves back into the sin He saved us from. (5) There is no access to God for those who will not surrender. B. Worship requires us to maintain our access with God. 1. We must use the access God has given to us. a. It is strange how something so valuable and so out of our reach could finally be attained and then be treasured so little as fellowship with God. b. God desires us to use this access that He has given to us. (1) He wants us to talk to Him, about anything and everything. (2) He desires us to learn about Him, to know Him, not just scholastically but personally. (3) He desires us to come to Him, to abide in His presence, to feel His love, to experience His power and His glory. (4) He desires to be a part of our lives and for us to be part of His majestic plan. c. Yet, most Christians, once saved, have very little time to devote to using the access God has given to them. 2. We must keep the access God has given to us. a. We must not sin away the access we have with God. b. God will never break the fellowship we have with Him. (1) If it is broken, it will always be broken by us. (2) God loves us and gave His Son for us. He will never disown, discard, or destroy us. Romans 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (3) You ask, "What about sin?" Sin is US breaking fellowship with God not God breaking fellowship with God. c. Staying away from sin is an important aspect of maintaining fellowship with God. (1) Sin is what broke our fellowship with God in the beginning, it can do it again. (2) However, it you are saved, sin can never destroy our relationship with God altogether. (3) Why? Simply put, because God won’t allow it. John 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 1 Peter 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. (4) Frankly, if God had not made it impossible for the relationship to be destroyed again, it would be. (5) God has made this new relationship an eternal relationship; and we should praise Him for doing so. (6) Regardless, our goal is to stay away from sin. d. What if we do not? What if we sin? (1) If we sin, the relationship between God and ourselves becomes damaged but not destroyed. (2) God has provided the means for its repair. 1John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. C. I am spending more time on this aspect of the message because… 1. …without these two elements, you cannot worship God. 2. And because if you have these two elements, you need nothing else to worship God. II. Worship Helps A. Most people confuse the things that help us to worship with worshipping. B. What are the things that help us to worship God? 1. Singing Ephesians 5:19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; a. Singing is good. b. Singing good godly songs can lead to worship. c. However, singing in and of itself is always not worship. d. Many have gone to church and sang songs but never worshipped God. 2. Praise and thanksgiving Psalms 69:30 I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving. Psalms 100:4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. a. Both are commanded in the Bible. b. Both are good. c. For them to be genuine, both require a spiritual heart. d. It is difficult to imagine either being offered from a truly grateful heart without worshipping God. e. Yet, how many times have you bowed your head at the table, prayed over the food–thanking God for it–only to wonder a moment later if you prayed before you ate? f. You should not be able to offer praise or thanksgiving without worshipping God but some times we do. 3. Prayer a. Again, the Bible both commands prayer and it is an activity of the spirit. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 Pray without ceasing. b. Yet, I dare say that every Christian who makes it a practice to pray has found themselves at least once uttering words without their heart and soul being involved in it. 4. Preaching a. Here is what we spend most of our time in church being busy about. Me do it and you listening to it. b. Is preaching or listening to a sermon worship? c. Again, the answer is not necessarily. d. It can lead to worship and it may be part of worship if done correctly, but it can also be just so much activity without any worship at all. C. I have mentioned five things – singing, praising, thanking, praying, and preaching. 1. All good and godly things for sure. a. Each and everyone of them an important, necessary, and common occurrence in every good Bible preaching church. b. Yet, all of them can be done without any worship being involved in them at all. 2. How is this possible? Because these things are NOT worship. a. You can worship God without doing any of these things. b. And any one of these things can lead you into a glorious time of worshipping. 3. All five of these things are WORSHIP HELPS. a. They are things that the Bible commands us to do to move us to the place of worship. b. Yet, they are not the end of the journey. c. They are the means to the end (worship). III. What then is worship? A. Worship is loving on God. 1. It is adoring Him. 2. It is honoring Him. 3. It is acknowledging Him. 4. It is exalting Him. 5. It is glorifying Him. B. That is it. 1. Perhaps it is a bit anti-climatic. 2. However, that is what worship is. a. If singing moves you to adore God, sing. b. If praising and thanking God moves you to exalt God, praise and offer thanks. c. If prayer moves you to honor God, pray. 3. However, do not confuse these actions with worship. C. You can sit in a thousand church services, hear a thousand messages, sing thousands of songs and yet, never truly exalt, honor, and adore the God you are there to worship. IV. How do I do it? You take the time to walk into the presence of God and love on Him! During almost every service, our church gives an invitation to those not right with God, but it is also an opportunity for those who are right to worship. Will you go into God’s presence this morning and worship Him?