Sermon Notes, October 2, 2016 AM
The Heart of Worship
Steve W. Reeves
INTRODUCTION:
A. I
have a beautiful wrist-watch I received as a gift many years ago. It is still a
beautiful piece of jewelry. I can polish it
to a wonderful luster. You may notice that I
never wear it. The reason is simple. It
does not run. I could buy a new wristband for it
or clean and polish it every day but until
someone goes inside to correct the problem
it will not function as it should.
B. This
watch reminds me of a profound truth about life and our worship of Almighty
God. No matter how good you look on the
outside if the inside is not right our worship
is in vain.
1. In Proverbs 4:23 – the Bible says, “Keep
your heart with all diligence for from it
springs the issues of life.”
2. In 1 Samuel 16:7 Samuel was told, “God sees
not as man sees, for man looks at
the outward appearance, but the Lord
looks at the heart.”
3. Jesus pronounced a blessing on those who
are pure in heart in the beatitudes
(Matthew 5:8).
4. When these verses use the term, “heart”
they are referring to our will, our desires,
our passions, affections, perceptions
and thoughts.
5. The heart of worship is worship from the heart! .
D.
This was exactly what Jesus told a group of religious leaders. This conversation is
recorded in Matthew 15 and Mark 7. As we
continue our series, “Here I Am to
Worship, we are going to read Mark 7:1-8.
I. THE
PICKY PHARISEES
A. A group of Pharisees and Scribes came from
Jerusalem to question Jesus.
1. The Pharisees and teachers of the law
were like referees at a ball game ready to
blow the whistle on anyone who
violated the rules. They believed not only in the
Old Testament law but also in the traditions
that had been passed down from
generation to generation.
2. They were wanting to throw a penalty
flag on Jesus. They were jealous of
Jesus’ popularity with the people.
They were offended by His teaching and
doubtful of His miracles.
B. Here
they notice that Jesus’ disciples were eating without washing their hands.
1. My mother was not a Pharisee but
before we would eat she would ask, “Did you
wash your hands?”
2. In this case the hand washing was not
for the purpose of hygiene. Mark
explained how the Jews would not eat
unless they washed their hands
according to the traditions of the
Jews. They even had a prescribed way of
washing the hands that involved scrubbing
one palm with the other fist and vice
versa as water was poured over the
hands. Then the hands would be turned
over and fresh water would be used
to rinse them.
3. You could have scrubbed your hands as
painstakingly as a surgeon but if you did
not follow tradition you had not
done it properly. It is important to note that Mark
went on to say they had other traditions regarding
the washing of cups, pitchers
and kettles. The word “wash” in this
text is “baptismous” meaning “dipping” or
“immersing.”
II. THE COURAGEOUS CHRIST
A.
These Pharisees were starting a debate they had no chance of winning.
1. Jesus responded to their criticism in
verses 6 – 8 – “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy
of you hypocrites, as it is written:
‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their
heart is far away from Me. ‘But
in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines
the precepts of men.’ 8 Neglecting
the commandment of God, you hold to the
tradition of men.”
2. Jesus quoted a passage from Isaiah 29:13.
a. Isaiah lived over 700 years before Jesus
was born. The problem was the
same in Jesus’ day as it was in
Isaiah’s day and as it is in our day.
b. People were going through the
motions of religion but their hearts were not
right with God. They were “talking
the talk,” but not “walking the walk.” They
were engaged in rituals without righteousness.
They had form without
substance.
B. Jesus made three important statements in
the answer he gave.
1. They were hypocrites.
a. “Hypocrite” is a theatrical term
meaning “one who is pretending or acting.”
b. Are we ever guilty of “pretending”
to worship?
2. Though they honored God with their lips
their hearts were far from Him.
a. They were singing, “How Great
Thou Art,” but they didn’t honor God with their
lives.
b. There was no justice, mercy or
kindness in them. They were idolatrous.
3. Their worship was in vain because
they honored their traditions more than they
honored the commands of God. Jesus
said that there is such a thing as “vain”
worship.
a. Jesus went on in verses 9-13 to
give an example.
b. He said, “You set aside the
commands of God to observe your own traditions.”
c. For instance, instead of “honoring
father and mother,” (caring for them) they
would say, “what I have is “Corban,”
(Aramaic term meaning, “devoted to
God”), thus they could not help
their parents.
d. “You nullify the word of God by
your tradition.” They did many things like this.
III. AVOIDING VAIN WORSHIP
A. I do not believe we want our worship to
be in vain. We do not want it to be
ineffective and unpleasing to God.
B. This being the case, notice the two
essential qualities worship must possess.
1. It must flow from pure hearts..
a. It musts be genuine. It is
reflected in the lives we live.
b. In Matthew 23 Jesus provided
insight into the character of the Pharisees.
1.) In vs. 14 – they made long
prayers but mistreated widows.
2.) In vs. 15 – they traveled
around to proselyte others and made them twice
as much sons of hell as
they were.
3.) In vs. 16 – he called them “blind
guides.”
4.) In vs. 25 – they were clean
on the outside but corrupt on the inside.
5.) In vs. 27 – they were like
whitewashed tombs. Beautiful on the outside but
inside full of dead men’s
bones.
c. Socrates was approached by a
young man who asked him what it would take
to become educated. Socrates
took him to the town fountain, grabbed him by
the neck and plunged his head
under water. Finally the young man broke free
and came up gasping for air. “What
did you want more than anything?” asked
Socrates. “Air,” came the reply. “When
you want knowledge like a drowning
man wants air you will be on
your way to an education,” said Socrates. May I
say that true worship is the
result of a passionate desire that is as intense as a
drowning man’s desire for air.
See Psalm 42:1-2.
2. It must follow the commandments of
God and not the traditions of men.
a. You and I live almost 2000 years on this
side of the cross. This means we
must sift through years of
church history, creeds, teachings and traditions.
How can we determine what is
tradition and what is the will of God There is
only one way to distinguish
between the traditions of men and the word of
God. We must know the word of
God.
b. 2 Timothy 2:15 – “Be
diligent to present yourself approved to God as a
workman who does not need to be
ashamed, accurately handling the word of
truth.”
c. We need to exercise caution when
we do something because, “we’ve always
done it like that.” A young
couple married and the new wife was preparing her
first meal – a baked ham. She cut off both ends. “Why did you do that,” asked
first meal – a baked ham. She cut off both ends. “Why did you do that,” asked
her husband? “My momma always
did” was the reply. They called her mother.
“Why did you cut off the ends of
the ham?” “My momma always did it that
way.” They called grandma. She replied, “My
momma always did it that way.”
They called great grandma who
replied. “My pan was too short.” We must
exercise discretion and caution when distinguishing between doctrine and
tradition.
CONCLUSION:
A. The
heart of worship is worship from the heart.
1. Not just any heart – but a heart that
has been redeemed. A heart that has been
cleansed and made new by the redeeming
grace of God and the blood of Christ.
2. Remember John 4: 23 – Jesus said, the
time had come when “True worshipers will
worship the Father in spirit and truth;
for such people the Father seeks to be His
worshipers.”
B. Who
have you given your heart to today? Where is your heart during this housr of
worship? Do you love the Lord with all of
your heart, soul, mind and strength?
1. There are some who need to come today to
confess faith in Christ and be baptized
into Him for the remission of sins.
2. There are others who need a renewed
heart, a renewed spirit and a renewed
commitment.
3. If we can serve you we urge you to come
as we stand and sing.
