Text: Genesis 22:1-19.
Delivered on: September 21, 2008. Streetsboro.
INTRODUCTION.
Sometimes when we are going to study a specific topic it is good to go all the way back to the beginning.
Jesus did it. Matthew 19:8. He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.
The first time that the word “worship” is used is in Genesis 22.
Genesis 22:1-19. Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. 5 And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.” 6 So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together.7 But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together. 9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” So he said, “Here I am.” 12 And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” 13 Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son.14 And Abraham called the name of the place, The-LORD-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the LORD it shall be provided.” 15 Then the Angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time out of heaven,16 and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— 17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” 19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.
BODY.
WORSHIP MUST BE BASED ON THE WORD OF GOD.
Everything that Abraham did in this text, he did by the authority of God.
It would have been wrong for him to sacrifice his son the day before this.
It would have been wrong for him to offer his son on any other day besides this one.
In Genesis 22:2, God tells Abraham to go and offer his son as a burnt sacrifice.
Hebrews 11:17. By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son
That faith came from the word of God. Romans 10:17. So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
James 2:26. For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
It was the same way with Cain and Abel.
Abel worshiped according to faith. Hebrews 11:4. By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.
If Abel offered sacrifice by faith, then we know that God had spoken.
Therefore, Cain knew how to worship!
Genesis 4:6-7. So the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”
Cain worshiped God.
But notice how his works are described.
1 John 3:12. Not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.
Therefore, we conclude that Cain’s sacrifice was not accepted because it was not what God wanted.
His worship was not based on God’s word!
We also notice that Abraham didn’t question God.
He didn’t quarrel with him.
He didn’t try to improve upon what God had told him to do.
He didn’t look for loop holes in God’s commands.
However, this is exactly what many people do today in regard to their worship.
When God told Abraham to go and worship, he didn’t have to list all the wrong ways to worship!
God told Abraham what He wanted done and expected him to obey.
God is not OBLIGATED to accept our worship.
There is such a thing as vain worship. Matthew 15:9. And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.
WORSHIP INVOLVES AND ACT OR ACTS. Genesis 22:5. And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.”
The particular act expected of Abraham was the offering of his son. Hebrews 11:17. By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son.
Abraham’s worship had a definite beginning and ending.
He was not yet worshiping when he told the young men to stay put.
He would not be worshiping when he returned from the mountain.
Worship was not something that he could just do in his mind while he was sitting at home on the couch.
Many think that they are fulfilling their obligation to worship by sitting at home and watching a sermon on T.V.
Worship involves specific acts at a specific time in a specific location.
The acts are according to truth. John 4:24. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.
The time and location are the first day of the week with the saints.
Acts 20:7. Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight.
Hebrews 10:25. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
WORSHIP INVOLVES A COSTLY PRESENTATION.
Abraham had to offer up his only son! Can you even begin to imagine what that must have felt like?
David would not offer anything to God which had cost him nothing. 2 Samuel 24:24. Then the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God with that which costs me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.
Our worship is described as a sacrifice. Hebrews 13:15. Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.
Good worship is hard work!
We must do it in spirit. Or with the right attitude and reverence.
We must do it in truth. According to the word of God.
And yet we still here people say, “I didn’t get anything out of worship today.”
If you got nothing out of it, it is because you put nothing into it.
It evidently cost you nothing.
When Abraham went yonder to worship, he most definitely got something out of it!
WORSHIP INVOLVES A SEPARATION FROM THE WORLD.
Abraham went “yonder.”
We must leave the world behind when we come to worship.
This is part of what it is to worship in truth.
We need to leave a worldly cares at the door.
How can we sing “Count Your Blessings” when we are sitting there worrying about our trials?
How can we give with a joyful heart when all we are thinking about is all the other things I could use that money on?
How can we pay attention the Bible lesson when all we are thinking about is the football game yesterday?
One area in which the world is creeping into the church is with the infatuation of entertainment.
Worship is not about me.
Worship is for the purpose of bringing glory to God.
Any joy that I have is a by-product.
WORSHIP RESULTS IN BLESSINGS FOR THE WORSHIPPER.
Abraham was blessed.
Can you imagine what Abraham felt like going up that hill?
God was testing Abraham.
Notice how God worded His command to Abraham. Genesis 22:2. Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
Can you imagine what he felt like coming back down? I imagine that he felt like the weight of the world had been lifted off his shoulders.
Genesis 22:17-18. Blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
Isaac was blessed.
He had a father who truly trusted in God.
Genesis 18:19. For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice, that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.
We too are blessed when we worship God the way He wants to be worshiped.
We are edified.
We are admonished.
We are recharged.
CONCLUSION.
Do you think it is possible that God is testing us today with our worship?
Are you part of a church that worships according to the simple New Testament pattern?
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