Are You Saved? # 10

Ephesians 4: 1 ‘I encourage you to live the kind of life which proves that God has called you’

Last time we were saying that following our salvation, we have a continuing responsibility to provide evidence that our salvation is real

In this Series we are learning about the 5 evidences that prove that our salvation is real

So far:

1/ Our Salvation Testimony

2/ An Obedient Life

This time:

3/ Real Worship

Here are 3 things about Real Worship

Firstly, Real Worship is the heartfelt expression of our gratitude to God for saving us

Before we were saved, in our ‘fallen’ sinful condition, even though we knew the truth about God, we didn’t know God and we refused to worship Him

Romans 1: 19-21a ‘They know the truth about God...but they wouldn’t worship Him’

C.F Romans 1: 21b ‘their minds became dark and confused’; Romans 1: 24a ‘So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired’; Romans 1: 28-32

And instead of worshipping God we, Romans 1: 25 ‘worshipped and served the things God created’

But when we come to know God through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, we are changed and out of our heart comes real worship: the heartfelt expression of our gratitude to God

C.F Galatians 6: 15b ‘we have been transformed into a new creation’.

That’s real worship!

Secondly, Real Worship is more than an emotional experience at Church on Sunday

I love our Sunday Services, I love our brilliant Pilipino orchestra and choir, I love our congregational singing, but I don’t need those things to worship God

My heart is ready to worship the Lord anytime, anywhere, 24/7, no matter what my circumstances are

John 4: 23b ‘true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship Him that way’.

Testimony: A few years ago, we had some friends stay in our home over the weekend and a friend of theirs joined us for lunch on Sunday. The friend had come from a Service in her Church and over lunch she commented that their worship time in the Church that morning was ‘great’!

Over the years, I have thought a lot about that comment:

What was it that made their worship time ‘great’?

Was it the performance of the Worship Team that made their worship ‘great’?

Was it the enthusiasm of the congregational singing that made their worship time ‘great’?

Or, was it a sense of the presence of God in the Service that made their worship ‘great’?

About 30 years ago, there was a popular teaching in New Zealand Churches that said that the Worship Team were responsible for preparing the congregation to worship the presence of God which would hopefully arrive some time during the worship

That teaching puts a lot of pressure on the Worship Team to perform doesn’t it!?

So, if the presence of God comes during the Service – does that make it ‘great’?

And, if the presence of God doesn’t come during the Service – does that make it NOT ‘great’?

And who gets to decide if the presence of God is in the Service or not – how do you know?

The problem with this teaching is that it is an Old Testament teaching that says, God’s presence will come to us if we worship Him the right way

C.F 1 Kings 8: 11

Here is a very important teaching about the presence of God from Jesus:

Referring to the presence of God in the Holy Spirit Jesus said, John 14: 17b ‘He lives with you now and later will be in you’

The ‘with you now’ that Jesus referred to was the time before Jesus' death on the cross: it was still the Old Testament Age when the Holy Spirit was with them but not in them

The ‘in you’ that Jesus referred to was the time after Jesus' death on the cross: that time would become the New Testament Age when the Holy Spirit would be in them and in us

Understanding that truth should change our thinking about real worship: On Sundays when our wonderful Worship Team lead us in worship, they are not preparing for the presence of God to be with us

What they are doing, using music and song, is inviting us to worship God Who is already amongst us as a Congregation and Who is already in us as believers; that we, 1 Peter 2: 9 – 10a ‘may proclaim the excellencies of Him...Who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light’

That’s real worship!

Thirdly, Real Worship is a ‘living and holy sacrifice’ to God

Romans 12: 1 ‘And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him.’

When we think about sacrifice, sometimes we mistakenly think that sacrifice means we reluctantly give to God something we don’t really want to give

Like: our money;

“I don’t really want to give my money to God, I could use it to get a pizza – but OK, as a sacrifice I will give my money to God”

Like: our time;

“I don’t really want to go to Church this Sunday, I could use my time going to a movie and eating a pizza afterwards - but OK, as a sacrifice I will give my time to God and go Church”

Like: our worship;

“Here I am in Church, I’m late, I feel sad I missed that movie and the pizza but now that I’m here, as a sacrifice I will worship God today”

This kind of thinking is so bad; sacrifice does not mean reluctantly giving something to God we don’t really want to give

Sacrifice means willing giving God the best of everything that includes:

Our money

Our time

Our worship

Here’s a statement that will really challenge you:

God wants more than your money; He wants more than your time, and He wants more than your worship

“Pastor David, what does God want?”

Very simple, God wants EVERYTHING!

Romans 12: 1 ‘And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him.’

When God has our bodies (Romans 12: 1), He has our money, He has our time, He has our worship and much more...He has EVERYTHING!

As Jesus said, you are to love the Lord your God, Mark 12: 30 ‘with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength’

Testimony:

In 2014 our Senior Elder and I were in a Service together in a Church in Zimbabwe

It was a Methodist Church, and it was and, in my opinion, the most ‘alive’ Church I have ever been in

The people were very poor, they had nothing, but they loved the Lord with all their heart, all their soul, all their mind and all their strength!

The people came early to the Service and as we arrived, we saw all the children practicing their dance moves outside the building

As the Service was about to begin, the women began singing and they led the Congregation inside the Church building which was by now packed with people

The Service ‘took off’!

The very young children danced up front as the Congregation was worshipping the Lord, then the young women came up front dancing and worshipping the Lord, followed by the young men and then the older women came up front and danced in worship to the Lord then the older men followed them and danced for the Lord in worship

That’s real worship!