God Living Where You Are IV

We're in John 4, Learning some things that the Lord is teaching us about praise and worship. I believe that we'll at least have one more Sunday in this subject next week. Week. And, I don't know, sometimes the Lord surprises everybody and does something different. But in John chapter four, in case you haven't been with us or are new today or whatever, let's just pick up here where Jesus is talking to the woman of Samaria so that you get the flow of what he's saying here. Verse 21. Jesus said to her, woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know. We worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. For such the Father seeks to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship him in spirit. In truth. The woman said to him, I know that the Messiah is coming. He who is called Christ. When he comes, he will show us all things. And Jesus said to her, I who speak to you, am he. Beloved. I think it's important today that we underscore the reality of this passage, the context in which we find Jesus speaking these very profound words in worship. That he's not speaking them to some learned theological student who was struggling with how to understand the perfect way to come to God. That he wasn't addressing the scribes and Pharisees and faulting them for something that was imperfect in their own way, but that he literally was speaking to one of the premier outcasts of the day, a Samaritan. And I've addressed who the Samaritans were in former teachings. And I underscored the fact that they had been thrown together in the Jewish religion and a few others and really came out as being second class in that society. But on top of that, Jesus was speaking to a Samaritan woman. And a study of the culture of that day will tell you that woman enjoyed absolutely no privilege. In fact, women were so relegated to such a lower class of functioning in that society that it was improper for men to even speak to women. And I'm talking about husbands and wives. And it was not unusual for a wife to come and put the meal down at the husband's table and walk in the other room and eat her own. And so for Jesus in public to be speaking to a Samaritan woman was just an absolute shambles of the tradition of that time. In fact, the Disciples later on even say to that verse 27, they marveled that he was talking with a woman. So you see, what's important in that to us is that Jesus Christ was speaking this profound truth on worship to an unlearned, unspiritual outcast of his society. And that does so much to free me, and I trust to free you, that this teaching on praise and worship is for you. One thing that I fear about any teaching that I bring is that it somehow fits a slot in your spiritual understanding and that you figure, well, it's good that we're learning how to praise the Lord at church. And somehow what we do here is for this hour, or even for your quiet time, where it fills some sort of a spiritual place, but has no relevance to where you live. Beloved, I know that you struggle even as I struggle, with the things of life. You have families like I have a family. You have responsibilities like I do. And if what we do here on Sunday morning doesn't have relevance to what you're doing out there, then it's irrelevant. Amen. We're not trying to do something that we separate and say, well, that's spiritual. And now I'm getting down to the real world. Every time I hear that term, and I hear it a lot, it causes me to understand that person doesn't really, really know what is truth, what is reality, because the things of God are reality. And if we're growing in the knowledge of God, it will permeate everything that we do in life right where we live. As you come up out of the basin in Los Angeles, California, and head out north toward Baker's Field and then on up toward San Francisco. There's one point on the freeway, Interstate 5, as you're going north, where you see billows of water streaming down a huge cement aqueduct. And at the top of that hill, it's a long, mountainous kind of hill, is a huge reservoir which is the resting place of the water that's come down. And what really, that is, it's the main artery of water from the mountainous region in Northern California where tremendous amounts of snow fall every year and. And melt and form the streams and eventually the river. And this huge aqueduct that then brings the water from the beautifully rich Northern California area down to the parched, dry Southern California region. And right at the top of that aqueduct are two gigantic, huge doors that control the flow of the water that then streaming down the mountain, becomes this bubbling, churning kind of a stream. And there's such a picture in that, as I think about what Praise and worship are to be to us as believers. I see that. There's a real picture that comes in my mind that I trust it will be implanted in yours as well, of praise and worship as being the things that lift the doors of our hearts to enable the blessing of God to flow down into the dry, parched land. And it's every bit as practical as just that illustration is. You see, God has committed himself to being for us. So many of us grow up thinking God's against us, don't we? We see God with a club. My God has arms of love that are outstretched on a cross. He couldn't hold a club. He loves us enough that he wants to give us all things along with him. The Bible says it's great love, but it requires of us that we receive, we become open to that which he wants to flow towards us. And that's one of the very practical things of praise and worship together. How many of you today feel like you've been laboring as a Christian? You feel drudgery? Oh, God, another day as a Christian, another day to fight the fight. Bring the rapture today, God, and end it all. I know why you're laughing. If you only knew how miserable I was at my job, God, how much longer. And there is a sense in which we anticipate the coming of the Lord. I believe that it's a blessed hope because as I said a few months back, you will always have conflict as a Christian. But God has always intended for us, on the other hand, to be walking as an overcomer. And I believe with all my heart that one of the secrets of that overcoming is growth in this matter of praise and worship as the Lord has intended. Now look at our text. Notice we're going to focus on this one little segment of 1 verse. Verse 23, the hour is coming. And now is when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. And here is the section for such. The Father seeks to worship him. Why does God seek for us to worship him that way? I know when I thought about that, I said to myself, the first, first thing went through my mind was, that's the right way. And therefore, if we want to be heard in front of God, in front of the throne of God, then we've got to do it the right way. Does that make sense to you? I mean, there's a right way and a wrong way, God. And you won't accept what's wrong and you will accept what's right. And that's not too far removed if you extrapolate that thought a little bit. You get down to thinking that God is a God who is looking for things. He wants his ducks in a row. And if you want to be in order with God, then you do it just so. And then I started thinking, well, maybe God wants people to worship him his way because he has some sort of an ego need, if I can use that term, that God has to be worshiped just right or he's not happy with it. And you know, we do that with God. And I want to say, I know with some of you it is as me at times we push God down so much to make him respond like we would. And so we see him responding as we would to any certain set of circumstances. And we feel like somehow God seeks people to worship him in spirit and truth so he can be just right and he can have his needs met and he could be benefited by something that we do. Don't you get that? Worship in truth now, folks. Do it right. Nothing benefits God, brothers and sisters. Nothing benefits God. God doesn't have any needs. He's not hanging back hoping that he'll just get the right stroke by this little group of believers since Sunday morning. Everything that God tells us to do, he tells us for what purpose for us. Because you see, God has given it all in Jesus. And all he wants is for us to have all of Him. And when we come to seek the Lord in spirit and truth as he has commanded, it's then that he's able to work on our behalf. You see that it's not because he needs his strokes up there. It's not because he has this rule book in heaven and it says only Spirit. And in truth, it's because he wants us to come into the full measure of life that he intended in His Son. That's why he seeks us. 2nd Chronicles 16:9 is a precious verse. And on it there, I think it kind of capsulizes the intent of God in this thing. And it says, the eyes of God look to and fro to find those and whose heart is blameless that he might be inclined toward them. I mutilate that enough. I'm going to turn to it and read it for you. 2nd Chronicles 16. Nine. For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro. I love. Can you imagine God looking all around the earth, throughout the whole earth. Here it is to show his might in behalf of those whose heart is blameless toward them or toward Him. Can't even read it correctly. For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show his might on behalf of those whose heart is blameless toward him. And we said, didn't we, that worship in spirit and truth was principally a matter of having a right heart before God. He's looking to show his power in your life. That's why he seeks us to worship him in spirit and in truth. Now what does that mean? How does it work out in the practicals? What difference does it make in my way to work tomorrow morning? How can it make a difference in my home tonight after all this glory that I have here on Sunday morning? And then I go home and the football game comes on and soon the Spirit just seems to whittle away and bingo. What difference can it make? Alright, I've outlined four different things that I feel praise and worship release in our lives. Now, the underlying principle is really the first one. Worship welcomes the presence of God. There's a truth that the more you study the Word, you realize that there's all kinds of levels of truth in God. That's one of the faults, by the way, of the Evangelical church today is that they have pretty much determined that there's one level of truth and that is by grace. You're saved through faith, not of yourselves. It's a gift of God and that's where they leave you. But you see, there's another level of truth and another. One thing I love about the Word is you can uncover one level of truth and then go on to the next and the next. On you go. And one truth that you hear is that God is everywhere. Right? God is everywhere. Is that truth? Yes, it is in Him. The Bible says we live and move and have our being. But it's also true that God delights to manifest Himself in special ways at certain times. Is it not so that as much as I can say that it's true that God is present with you on your way home in the car. He is. There is a sense in which he would desire to manifest or show Himself in a special way with you right there in that circumstance. And the way that the Lord Jesus is free to do that is by the praise of your heart. And the Bible clearly shows us that. Turn to 2 Chronicles 5. I want to urge you again. It grieves me that some of you have come week after week and don't bring your Bibles. And that's a word of exhortation to you if you're a regular part of this fellowship. You know you need your Bible here. Because you'll miss something that God would want to teach you. Not because we have any rules that say that. Brother Gene has some Bibles if you'd really like to have one. Slip your hand up and he'll send it down the road to you. Okay. Praise the Lord. Second Chronicles, chapter 5. Here's a good illustration of this very principle. The people had come to praise the Lord at the dedication of Solomon's temple. And you can imagine what a fantastic celebration that was. Someday we'll do another study of that temple and its opulence and the things that God ordained to be present there. And it goes through their preparations and they're all there and they're all going through the orders of the lord. In verse 14. O Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to thy servants who walk before thee with all their heart. Who has kept with thy servant David, my father, what thou didst declare to him? Yea, thou didst speak with thy mouth and with thy hand hast fulfilled it in this day. Now therefore, O Lord God of Israel, keep. Am I reading chapter six? I told you it's been a rough day. I'm having a hard time. I was looking along there and I was waiting for what I was looking for. All right, Praise the Lord. Back to verse. Okay, the same setting. Let's pick it up in verse 12, chapter 5. I'm sorry. And all the Levitical singers, Asaph, Heman and Jedyathun, their sons and kinsmen arrayed in fine linen with cymbals, harps and lyres. I want to plant it right now in your mind and heart. There are musicians in this body that need to come forth. And in the next weeks we're going to be giving you an opportunity to come forth with your musical gifts to help lead us all in worship. I know it. The Lord's spoken it to my heart. It's going to happen. So you just keep. If you know that's you, then just get ready because the hand of the Lord is coming on you. Alright? And they stood east of the altar with a hundred and twenty priests who were trumpeters. Wow, it's getting exciting, isn't it? They're going to blow that place. And it was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison. It was the duty that was their call, to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the Lord. And when the song was raised with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, Praise to the Lord, for he is Good, for his steadfast love endures forever. The house, the house of the Lord was filled with a cloud, so that the priest could not stand to minister because of the cloud. For the glory of the Lord filled the house of God. Hallelujah. The Lord was present, wasn't he? But he manifested himself. The glory filled the house of the Lord. Because the Lord God has committed himself to inhabit the praises of his people. Flip over a few hundred pages to Psalm 22. Now, I never have been one to believe that you take a verse out and you build a whole theology on it. But I think this particular verse of Scripture says more clearly than any other the truth. That was just illustrated by 2 Chronicles 5 and a lot of other places. It says, yet thou art holy, enthroned in the praises of Israel. Enthroned in the praises of Israel. Now, that word in the Hebrew is Yashab. Y, A S, H, A B, not sahib Yashab. Okay? And that means to inhabit, to sit down, to dwell, to remain, to marry in some cases, or to be enthroned. You see the Bible saying that the Lord God inhabits, sits down in, dwells in the praises of his people. What a glorious truth, brothers and sisters. That's why the very first thing we do every Sunday morning is we spend those 10, 15 minutes praising the Lord. Do you see that there's wisdom in that? Because we say, lord, you come. You come in a special way, inhabit the praises of your people. And that's what he does. And I believe that if we just came and started with announcements and then went on and on and on, that there would be something missing in the dynamic of the Lord. And I hope that you start every time, every day that you have, with praise in your heart. Take time to praise the Lord together as a family on your individual life, so that the Lord can inhabit those praises. Some days he inhabits them quickly. Other days your heart needs to be cleaned out a while. And we'll talk about how praise does that very thing. But you say, well, that's nice. And it's a real spiritual thing, Jay. I'm glad that I see that in there. But, you know, sometimes when the Lord manifests his presence, it's very physical. Turn to Luke 2. Here is the time in Jesus life when he is about to be presented in the temple. And Luke 2. I'll pick it up. Verse 22. And when the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, and they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, and so on. And then down to verse 26. And it had been revealed to Simeon, that is, by the Holy Spirit, that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And inspired by this spirit, he came into the temple. And when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him according to the custom of the law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said. And then it goes on and gives Simeon's word. But that's not what I wanted you to see. I just want to get to the. Here's the picture. Here's Jesus, Mary, Joseph and Simeon, at least in the temple. Now look at verse 36. And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phinuel of the tribe of Asher, who was of great age. Having lived with her husband seven years from her virginity and as a widow till she was 84, she did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour, she gave thanks to God and spoke of him to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. And when they had performed everything according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city of Nazareth. You see the woman Anah or Anna, but whatever you prefer, had been praising and worshiping the Lord in that temple for all those years. And she saw Jesus, the Christ, physically manifested before her. Now, I don't know that the Lord will appear to you in a vision if you learn to praise him and worship Him. But I do know that something is released in your life. It's just like those gates, that huge aqueduct opening up. And all I can tell you is, in my experience, and we could take time and go all over this assembly today, people could say, when I learned to praise God, I learned that there was a release in my life that was just like being physically touched by God. And it's truth, brothers and sisters, I'm not making it up. I know it. I've experienced it. And we as a people need to seek to live in it. Now, the second thing that worship specifically does, it conquers the world circumstances. First thing it does is it manifests the presence of God. Second thing it does, it conquers the world. Probably there's not a few of us who've been maybe turned off by the glib way in which some people today will say they'll be confronted with a catastrophe of some sort and say, well, praise the Lord anyhow. And you get the feeling that they're kind of glibly writing off what God wants to Teach them in that thing. We have buttons that say ptla, Praise the Lord anyhow, that kind of thing. And there's a sense in which that's right. And there's a sense in which it can be simply an escape from facing the reality of what God wants to work in your life. But when a person rightly praises the Lord, circumstances change. It's interesting to me that in the Bible, God equates praise with strength. Now look at Psalm 82. And at the same you folks on the left hand side, Psalm 8, 2. You folks on my right hand side, Matthew 21:16. How about if someone reads out from your Bible, Psalm 82, Bruce. Okay, let's have another version on this side. How about the King James? Does someone have King James? Hear him. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings, thou hast perfected strength. Now Jesus quotes that same verse from the Old Testament and it reads. Who would like to read it over here? Dave, would you read says from the lips of children and infants, you have ordained praise. All right. Or in the King James, someone over here, just to show the parallel. Anyone have it on this side? Oh my. Bill, you want to read it for us? Same verse. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings, thou hast ordained strength. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise. The same word. Praise is strength. Hallelujah. Praise is strength. And I'll tell you, that circumstance that you face and whatever it is, when you begin to bring the power of praise against cannot resist that strength of God. It begins to whittle away the eroding spirit of that negative thing in your life. Lord, I praise you today for your hand in my life. I thank you, Lord, that you know my circumstance and I just commit it to you now and I praise you that your life is greater than anything against me from the world outside. And I thought as I was preparing today, it would be great to take 10 minutes and have people stand up and give testimonies to wear. Praise has destroyed a stronghold of the enemy in our lives. Just put your hand up and say, it's happened to me at least once. Amen. It has. Praise equals strength. Just look to see that kind of strength. Turn to Acts 16. Let me say this too, for the people who didn't bring Bibles. Don't be selfish. Some of you are. Share your word with somebody. They're sitting there looking at their thumbnails and you're okay. If someone beside you doesn't have their Bibles, just say okay. I'd be happy to share with you. Verse 25 of Acts 16. About midnight. Well, let's begin at verse 24. Having received the charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. You got to get the picture of this place where Paul and Silas were being confined was glum, dark, damp, and had a putrid odor. I guarantee those things. Beyond that, I don't know what living things were down there along with them. But it was bad news because the inner prison was the worst place they could be kept. About midnight, Paul and Silas were complaining to God about all their negative circumstances. That's what we would do. Oh, God, here I am again. The same thing for breakfast, right? Paul and Sardis were praying and singing hymns to God. I can't believe that. I love it. We get upset if we don't have the right shirt ironed in the morning. Praying and singing to the Lord in the midst of that prison, rejoicing and worshiping. And they weren't just. They weren't mumbling, thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Like some of us tend to do, because. And the prisoners were listening to them. Hallelujah. And suddenly there was a great earthquake. So that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's fetters were unfastened. And I'll say to you in your homes, when you become the one that praises the Lord in the midst of a struggling, tumultuous time, everyone's fetters will be broken. And you can change that whole environment in your home by worshiping and praising the Lord, even if you don't feel like it. And I don't think Paul and Silas, who had been beaten and thrown in that inner prison, really felt like it at all. But the Lord set them free and the people with them free. And he can use you to do the same thing. And I need that. I need that release. And I venture to say some of you do, too. Praise is strength. Hallelujah. Do you need guidance today? Learn to worship the Lord, because praise brings his word to you. Flip back about five or ten pages to Acts 13. Acts 13. Now, in the church at Antioch, there were prophets and teachers. Barnabas, Simeon, who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene Mana, and a member of the court of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. And while they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, there they are together, same as Anna the prophetess, worshiping the Lord and fasting. The Holy Spirit said, set apart for me, Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. How many of you said, lord, I'd like to know the work to which you've called me. There it is. Hallelujah. And so you see, this worship that I'm talking about is not something just for Northway Christian community or for your own little spiritual life, but it's for all of life, because it permeates, it pervades, it goes all the way down into it. The Bible calls Jesus in Revelation 5. 5, the lion of Judah. Isn't that neat? I love it. Jesus is the Lamb of God, meek, mild, gentle. Jesus is the lion of Judah, fierce, awesome, devouring. And Judah in the Hebrew literally means praise. The line of praise. Praise devours those things in our lives that would be a roadblock or a hindrance. Another thing that worship and praise do is to conquer the weakness of our flesh. Just that line of Judah you can picture, praise devouring the flesh of our soul. That which gets in the way of our growing in the Lord. I know, as sure as I'm standing here, I've said it before. But just so you know, that in my life back in 1972 and 73, it was the truth of this principle that began to free me to be the Lord's person more completely. It was just an act of faith and obedience because someone told me that praise was the pathway to fullness in Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. If you're in a cycle of frustration and you just say, I'm not growing, I'm the same as I was last year at this time, well, don't even turn to Isaiah just for the sake of time. But in Isaiah chapter six, he has a vision of the Lord seated on the throne. And he says, holy, holy, holy, O Lord God Almighty. And he realizes God's holiness. And in verse five, the Bible says to Isaiah, we read, woe is me. I am undone, a man of unclean lips. And you see, when you begin to worship the Lord God reveals the things in you that are unclean, the unseemly parts, the parts that are keeping you from being his person. Worship overcomes that flesh in us, the worldliness that's in us, the weakness of ourselves. Ever notice that when you get near a godly person, you get uncomfortable? People are shaking head. Yes. I don't know if that's ever happened in here, but you get near a godly person, you get uncomfortable. Now, sometimes it's because they don't know how to communicate the truth of their experience. And other times it's because the presence of God in them convicts you or right where you are. You'd like to blame it on them being too spiritual, but it may be just that their spirituality is bringing to light where you're hanging back. See, the praise of God purifies us. Look at Proverbs 27, 21. I'd not seen this before, and I really appreciated this verse. Hallelujah, Lord. Proverbs 27. Here's what praise does for us worshiping the Lord. The crucible is for silver and the furnace is for gold. A man is judged by his praise. You see that there's a testing that comes in us because the Lord isn't going to be content with an impure work in your heart. And I'm grateful for that. Aren't you? How many of you feel like if it was left up to you, you'd just be comfortable and try to just kind of slide into heaven on the servant's entrance, so to speak, the back door. Heaven doesn't have any back doors. And so the Lord says, I am committed to purifying. I love that. Thank you, Lord. But what do you know about a crucible? What do you know about a furnace? It's rather uncomfortable, right? Kind of hot. And a man is judged according to his praise. And I love the reality of the truth, that your life, God will perfect his work. He'll purify your life. He'll show you where there needs to be work and your spirit according to your praise. Hallelujah. You see that? And so as you're before the Lord, thanking him and praising him, the very practical truth comes down that the Lord says, son or daughter, here's where you need to let go. Here's where you need to address yourself. Here's where you need more, here's where you need less. A man is judged according to his praise. Finally, I want to just conclude with a thought that worship enters us into the streams of living water. Probably one of the most precious and beautiful pictures in the Scriptures, and it's a very hidden one. And I have to confess to you that discovering this to me was like taking a drink of that living water. Look at Ezekiel 47. We could take a show of hands of how many people have read Ezekiel once in the last five years. I don't think mine would get up very far. Halfway. Maybe I just get. What do you do with a guy that sees wheels and things? Ezekiel 47. Then he brought me back to the door of the temple. And behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple. Now this is a heavenly vision, the temple signifying worship and praise. And here's this picture that Ezekiel shares. The temple faced the east, and the water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple south of the altar. And then he brought me out, by the way, the north gate, and led me around the outside of the outer gate that faces toward the east. And the water was coming out on the south side and going eastward with a line in his hand. The man measured a thousand cubits and then led me through the water and it was ankle deep. Again he measured a thousand cubits and led me through the water and it was knee deep. And again he measured a thousand and led me through the water and was up to the loins. And again he measured a thousand. And it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen. It was deep enough to swim in a river that could not be passed through. And he said to me, son of man, have you seen this? He goes on and describes what happens. Verse 8. This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabia. And when it enters the stagnant waters of the sea, the water will become fresh. And wherever the river goes, every living creature which swarms will live. And there will be very many fish. You see that water? That river symbolizes the life of the living God. And everywhere it goes, it brings forth life. And I praise the Lord today that it's a growing thing. It's ankle deep and then knee deep and then to our loins and then literally covering us that we can't go through it. And that's a picture of what God wants to flow through you, or if you will. That's God's way of saying, I'm raising up the doors of that aqueduct so that that water can spill down over you. And that's how we have ministry that's of the Spirit. Brothers and sisters, there's so much of the flesh today, but God wants to raise up a ministry of the Spirit among us. And I rejoice that that Spirit, that worship, is the entryway of the ministry of life in our midst. Worship makes the way for the flow of the rivers of living water. Hallelujah. So what do you need today? Do you need to be released from negative circumstances? Do you need to have the word of the Lord for your life and guidance? Do you need to have your life tested and judged by your praise? Oh, I don't know, but I know this, that there is so much of God for us as we grow in worship. And praise, and it all focuses around his son, Jesus. And we're going to sing now. Ask Jan to come up a song that will move us to focus on that one never changing truth of the loveliness of God's son. That's the focal point of our worship.