Matthew 15:32-39

Offer the Lord worship that He can accept. Matthew 15:32-39 32 Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.”33 His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?” 34 “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.“Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.”35 He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. 36 Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people. 37 They all ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 38 The number of those who ate was four thousand men, besides women and children. 39 After Jesus had sent the crowd away, he got into the boat and went to the vicinity of Magadan. Today as we have done previously we continue to look at what it means to worship. During the ministry of Jesus, there were many great miracles, but I would like to talk to you about the feeding of the four thousand and how it relates to worship. In the text, are there any words that relate to worship? We tend to focus on the miracle itself when we read the passage, but I would like us to see if there something here that relates to worship. What word or verse do you think is about worship? Let us read here: ...they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way. Is this not the act of worship, to sit before Jesus listening to the Word of God, to the point to which they were hungry and did not have the strength to return home? What do we think of when we say worship? At some churches it may be about the beautiful choir performance, or the presentation by the pastor, or the sequence of events that happen for service. Everything that we decide whether it is singing, praying or anything else that we consider to be worship. Then we ask, who accepts this worship that we are offering? We all know that it is God who accepts. Then we ask the question, did God ever tell us that we are to worship in this manner? The four thousand who sat before Jesus for three days, hungry and weak, were they worshipping God in the manner in which we do so today? Did they have morning service, afternoon service and evening service? Do you think so? When we say morning service are we assuming that we go through the routine of prayer, singing and sermon and are all these things necessary? It is not. There is no such requirement. Worship is the listening of the Word and repenting, and then laying down my life before God in a decision to change my life and in the grace that I have been given by the Lord, who is now my Master and when He accepts my worship and in return He answers my prayers. This is worship. When Jesus was here, there were many who sought healing from Him and He did heal many, but before there was healing, they first listened to the message, and people repented of their sins. Did Jesus sit with them for three days to heal the people? He did not. He taught the people about the kingdom of God. Today when we speak of worship, we say that God is our Father, because we have been saved by the blood of Christ, and we believe that Jesus is the way the truth and the Life, and because we have been chosen by God we offer Him honor and praise. Jesus who died for our sins and was resurrected and ascended into heaven, we worship Him as we wait for His return. If this is what we believe, then is it proper to worship to do so the way we think, or is it proper to worship according to the Holy Spirit with praise, thanksgiving and honor? What does it mean to worship in the Spirit? Is it to worship following a certain schedule? In the Old Testament, there seems to be many differences in their worship and ours today. In Genesis, God created everything in six days and rested on the seventh day. So as He rested He also told us to rest in the commandments given to Moses in the Exodus. The seventh day is a day of rest. We have changed it to the first day offer our worship to God, but on the days they did not rest, did they gather as we do today to worship? Is this so? They did not. During the Old Testament time, God told them to come before Him and offer sacrifices during the six days, but on the Sabbath they were to only rest. On the day of rest, in remembrance of all that God has done for us, we are to lay down all the things in our lives and lift up our eyes to God and honor Him. We see that Israel was later led into captivity later because of their sin. In Genesis 12, we see that Abraham worshipped God and God came to meet Him. Abraham left his family and left for the promised land of Canaan and we see that God met Him on the way and Abraham built God an altar. In Genesis 13:8 we see that Abraham split with Lot and God came again to him and reassured Abraham of the promise. Again Abraham built an altar to God. In Genesis 22 we see Abraham offering up Isaac as a sacrifice. What I want you to understand is no about the special worship we offer once a week. The Israelites were in captivity because they did not live according to the commands given to them in their sin, we see in Nehemiah 9:1-6 On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth and putting dust on their heads. 2 Those of Israelite descent had separated themselves from all foreigners. They stood in their places and confessed their sins and the sins of their ancestors. 3 They stood where they were and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day, and spent another quarter in confession and in worshiping the Lord their God. 4 Standing on the stairs of the Levites were Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani and Kenani. They cried out with loud voices to the Lord their God. 5 And the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah and Pethahiah—said: “Stand up and praise the Lord your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting.”“Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. 6 You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you. They read the commands of God and confessed their sins in the light of the Word. In the New Testament, after Jesus came, we can see that the teachers of the Law, made things even more difficult by adding to it things with which they themselves could not do, because they were trying to find a way to serve God better. This is why Jesus rebuked them because they were creating a system which they themselves could not do and Jesus told them that you are not saved by the Law. We wait for the return of the Messiah, and in reverence to God we rest of the given day. And on this day, as we study the Word, and offer up our worship, has it become just another form of a ritual as in the time of Christ? In the Old Testament God commanded the people to come during the week to offer up their sacrifices, and on the day of rest, each were to stay where they were and remember God. When Jesus was born, Joseph and Mary made the trip up to Jerusalem and it took them how many days? If today after you finish service you go home, then the moment you get home, you need to prepare and then leave once again to worship again. How can anyone live like this? It is impossible. We can see that those in the Bible only made the trip to worship during those special occasions when God had told them to do so. Today we come and worship saying that God is here and that is the foundation of our worship. If we worship saying that God is here, then I ask you, what is the condition of your heart? Is your heart prepared to meet God? What did you come here to offer to God as you come before Him today? You say you have come to worship, but are you here for something that your heart is seeking, or did you come to give thanks for all the blessings that God has given you? They are completely different reasons. In Isaiah 66:1-4 it is recorded, This is what the Lord says: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be? 2 Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?” declares the Lord. “These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word. 3 But whoever sacrifices a bull is like one who kills a person, and whoever offers a lamb is like one who breaks a dog’s neck; whoever makes a grain offering is like one who presents pig’s blood, and whoever burns memorial incense is like one who worships an idol. They have chosen their own ways, and they delight in their abominations; 4 so I also will choose harsh treatment for them and will bring on them what they dread. For when I called, no one answered, when I spoke, no one listened. They did evil in my sight and chose what displeases me.” They are killing bulls and worshipping God, but is their purpose to worship God in a manner that He will accept? God did want the offering of young lambs. But is it offered in the manner that God would accept? Today we worship, sing praises and pray, but did God accept these praises and prayer? If He did not, then just as it says in Isaiah, we are murdering animals. The killing of the bull is equaled to the killing of a person. Why? The bull that I am offering for my sins I am offering with the heart of a murderer and God will not accept this. It does not matter that I come before God ask for forgiveness, cry and pray out loud, for if in my heart if I have hate then I am a murderer. If I have a heart of a murderer and come before God and pray, will God accept this prayer? He will not. We think that there is nothing wrong with hate. We ask God to get rid of the one we hate so that we may have peace, how then can God gladly accept this worship? This cannot be. The offering of a lamb is equaled to breaking of a dog’s neck. The grain offering is compared to pig’s blood. It is all cursed. The sacrifices are compared to those things that God commands that we neither eat nor touch and our worship is being compared to idol worship, how then can God accept this worship? He will not. This is why it says that God will punish them. It is possible to offer worship that looks sincere. We should not fall into the trap of thinking that we are offering God sincere worship when we are not. SCRIPTURE PASSAGE..... The people tremble when they hear the scripture but there is no life of obedience. If we come before God and offer up a ritual without truly living the life that is required, then we are not worshipping God with a sincere heart. Isaiah 58:1-11 it is about true fasting. “Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the descendants of Jacob their sins. 2 For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them. 3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’ “Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. 4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high. 5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? 6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? 8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness[a] will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. 9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, 10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. 11 The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. We see that there is a fasting that God delights in and also a fasting in which God despises. What is the fast that the Lord delights in? And what is the one He despises? Fasting that is filled with strife, quarreling, and fists will not be heard because you raise your voice to God. But when we fast and pray, if we do so for something that we desire to attain, though God may answer it because you have prayed for it, it will not be a fast that God will accept gladly. Rather through that prayer you will receive a curse and end up with more spiritual problems that later. When we fast in a manner that God delights and accepts, we see what is recorded here for us. “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? 8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness[a] will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. 9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, 10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. 11 The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. When we fast in a manner that God delights in, this is what He will do for us. When we worship it is the same. It is not in the formality or the ritual we go through, but it is offering up worship that God delights in and when He accepts He will help us with our troubles. If we worship for the sake of raising our voices to God so that we may be heard, it is not a worship that He will gladly accept, and the result will be that which none of us will know. We raise our voices to God so that the plans that we have desired, or the things we must do we ask Him to help us with. Is this not why we lift our voices to Him? There are good reasons to fast but it should not be out of our selfish desires but in obedience to God. In Daniel 6:10 10 Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. This is also worship. Having a set time and place in your life to give your life to God. As we can see fasting that God delights in, and like Daniel praying to God during set times all are a part of worship. In what manner have you come before God to worship Him? I want to ask us, not only those here, but all who say they believe, if you did not come before God with a repentant heart to seek forgiveness for not being able to live the life that God desires, or if you did not come to give thanks for allowing you to live another day in His grace even though you are a sinner and you are grateful for this moment and you offer up your praise and thanks to Him, but you are here to tell God that you gave Him offerings and that you performed for Him, so now you are demanding that He give you blessings, fix your troubles and if this is the reason that you came then He will not accept your worship. If until this moment you have lived the life of a sinner worthy of death, but not being required to pay the penalty for your sins, and with patience as God calls you to repent and you have been given grace to stand before Him today in this place of worship, then out of the gratitude for this grace, you confess your sins to God, you offer gladly with joy the decision to turn your life around and to live to do God’s will, this is the worship that God will accept. Then God will train you so that He may use you to do His will, and this training must be complete so that as a servant of God, as a worker for Him, you can used. The reason that God’s will is not evident in our lives, is because we refuse to go through the training and immediately seek the blessings, so our desires and God’s will does not match up. If we offer God this type of worship, then our attitude of worship must be changed and made right. When we attend service for an hour, we think that a good service is when from beginning to end everything flows nicely and there is no interruption to the order of things. Is a flowing schedule and not having any interruptions define what proper worship is? If a pastor’s sermon goes a minute too long people complain that it was a long sermon. In today’s media age, we just cut out parts of the message to fit the time. We put all the other things into the video but remove parts of the message. If God gives us all His word then is it any different that we cut out the parts that we do not want to hear? If that is the attitude that we have when we come to worship, then how can God accept our worship when we accept what we want and remove what we do not want? We complain about a service that runs long and are concerned about what we have to do next. Would we not also complain to God if He decided to show up late for service? The only reason we do not do so is because we do not see Him, but If we could see Him, what would we say? We would question Him,“Why did you come late?” “I have been waiting here for you since 10 AM.” “There is only 10 minutes left for service and I have to go soon.” “Why did you come so late?” This is how we would complain to Him. In big churches they may have up to 7 or 8 services, does that mean that the Spirit of God must wait for us to finish all our worship according to our schedule? In today’s age, I may attend the 7 AM worship and then go spend the day playing golf, or go to work, or whatever it is I do because I have done my duty at church. Then I demand that God follow me and bless me in all that I do. Then If I tell the Spirit to follow me and help me with what I do, then whose Spirit should attend the second worship after I have left? Which God will sit there and accept the second worship, and which God should go and follow you and bless you as you go about your day? Why should God have to follow all those who have left and also be bound to the other services? Of course we believe that God is spirit and that He is great and able to do such and follow us and help us, but frankly speaking you came here to worship a mascot that you created that you brought and along that you serve. How can it be proper worship when this is your attitude you bring? Even the time of worship is what you decide, and also the manner in which to worship. You decide all that you will do. For example, there is open worship. How comfortable it is. The pastor wears jeans and t-shirt, comes out comfortably and gives the sermon. Personally that would be nice for me as well. Who would argue about the clothes you wear when the pastor comes out wearing sandals? It is open worship. Where in the Bible does it say open worship? Has worship ever been closed? Because I am comfortable I ask God to accept my worship, but we did not teach the truth about God who is the one who accepts our worship. It is possible that a new believer having an no idea of worship may come to worship God is their own way and the worship is open to explore, but that is why many of the good churches seeing the new churches grow as worship gets comfortable have themselves changed in their form of worship so that too may see growth. Even those who know God, come to worship Him comfortably in a relaxed posture in an air conditioned room listening to a ear pleasing message. Some churches are putting on great performances of singing and dancing and is now becoming an event which people experience. Who has made God out to be so unworthy of respect and honor? It is those who have led the way and say that they have believed God. They have made God unworthy. That is why the nonbelievers have even greater disrespect for God. Who fears a God that does not command respect? We have opened the doors for all the anti-Christs to come into the church. Let us look at those who worship and bow down to idols. Would you worship and bow down to God if that was the way we were to do so? We would not. We would complain that that is idol worship and judge them, but we would not give our hearts completely and bow down and worship God as they do their idols. Which god is receiving more respect and honor in their worship? If you were a god which worship would you accept? Would you accept the worship of the one who is relaxed, who gives some money and then says what they want and then leaves and then demands of you to give them what they want? Or like those who build great buildings to you, and whenever it is time, they stop whatever it is they are doing, and bow down and worship. Whose worship would you accept? We judge them, but do we really worship God with our lives? We do not. Our entire posture of worship is wrong. The people spent three days listening to Jesus. That was not the only time, and when Paul was preaching to the late hour and a child fell asleep and fell and died. They stay late listening to the Word, they spend three days attentive to the Word of God abandoning themselves and the things of this world, but this is not our attitude. We decide when we will come, stay as little as possible, and expect God to meet us when we do. And we get upset when God does not meet us and we leave angry. Will God accept such worship? We decide the duration of worship. The duration for singing, praying and the length of the service. If it does not follow our desire we complain that the worship is without blessing or grace. What happened to being led by the Spirit and seeing the power of God manifest? If this is the manner of worship at any other church at any other service, then will God accept it? There are many ads that speak of open worship and offering worship for the youth or a girls worship. Who is the worship for? They do not say that it is worship to God from the youth but rather they say it is a worship for the youth. Who is going to accept this worship? If you look at the meaning of what they are saying they are saying that the youth are going to be worshipping for themselves. Can you say that God accepted the worship, that there was much grace and the the spirit moved if the youth are only gathering to jump and sing and feel good for themselves? The meaning of a single word is important. Who is worshipping who when the title means the worship of the youth or any other group. Should there be a difference in worship when it is being offered to God? There can be differences, but the heart of worship whether young or old, boy or girl, should be bound to God and not to the satisfaction of oneself. How can God accept worship that is not to Him but for the self? Worship by the youth who do so to please God. Yes, there is such worship. But if it is worship for the pleasure of the one giving it, then God will not accept it. It is like sacrificing a bull but equaled to killing a person. If we come to worship in this manner will God accept our worship? If I decide the time, place and order of worship and expect God to come and meet me when I am present and I get upset when He is not present, will God accept this worship? If the first service goes a little longer and gets pushed into the second service hour, do not those who attend the second service complain about the problem that this now creates for all the other order of events that are now effected by it? If the prayer is long, if the sermon is long, then those who attend worship get upset. Who is the one who is to accept the worship but who gets mad and attends it? I am saying let us not come to worship God in this manner and come to seek Him with this attitude. If it takes all day, if it days all night, if it takes a few days if God is truly within me, then I must let go of everything in this world and come before God and humble myself and this is how we are to come and worship God. If we are always setting the time, place and manner and expecting God to accept our worship, then will He accept it? Times have changed. In the past you went to pay your respect to those who had passed away they made food and prepared all their gifts with sincerity. Today you can call in your order and have it all ready for you. They will even deliver it for you where ever you desire it to be sent. If circumstances arise and you cannot go to the funeral you consider that you have done so even though you did not. Is this not how we are with our worship? If our worship is changing as is the way we show respect to those who have died then none of it will matter. The true heart of on who worships must be like that of the five virgins who were wise and ready for their grooms. In Matthew 25 we see the parable of the ten virgins. Five who were wise and five who were foolish. The five wise virgins had the heart of true worship. We can say that they were waiting for the coming of Jesus but their attitude was of a true worshipper. Not only were their lamps full and burning but they also had prepared extra oil for they were prepared. Today when we come to worship at a designated time and place, but if the Spirit of the Lord delayed Himself, and He decided to come at 11 then we need to keep extra oil, and sing praises and wait with patience so that we can meet the Lord. It is when we meet the Lord that we can enter into the place where there will be celebrating. Without this attitude, but with complaining as to why He is not here now, then we are like fools who will never enter into the place of celebration, which means we are not worshipping the Lord properly. If you are here to meet the Lord, if you have let everything down to come before Him, then do not preset a time and expect Him to come. Worship is not about what you do in your own strength, in the offering, in the singing and the praying. Why do you go to meet someone of high position? It is to see their face. You pay good money to get an autograph, some pay tens of thousands of dollars to have a meal with them. But when you come before God, you come with your desires which you want to have met. That is the wrong attitude of worship. Even amongst people when you desire to ask a favor of a person in a high position you must first have a good relationship before you can ask the favor. Even then you may have to persuade then by giving them a large gift for the request to be made. God will come and meet us when we come before Him and offer our lives in gratitude for saving us from our sins and repenting and thanking Him for being patient with us even up until now and confessing all our sins before Him and asking forgiveness for not living the way that He ha desired. But now you confess that you will change your life and live for Him. Will He not meet us then? Will our relationship not be mended and when we fast, would we not receive all the blessings as promised in Isaiah. My relationship must be right with Him, and my attitude of worship must be right, then will my problems be solved. I will be able to go in the right direction in this life. You can live the live of victory that you desire. Do you desire to go? Then correct your attitude of worship. Live the life of one who worships God. When you stand right before God, then when you lift your eyes up to God, He will provide all that you need as He has promised. We have been called to be the salt and light of this world in the lives that we live. This is the life that will give glory to God for which we were given life. May we give glory to God by living with the right heart of worship. Sermon by Pastor Howard Park translation by Miguel Park