God Exalting

James Watson

Authentic Church • Sermon • Submitted 2 years ago

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Introduction: Many of you know that in the early church it was illegal to be a Christian so gathering for worship was truly a risk, because they could round up Christians in bulk and drag them off to prison. They needed to find a place where ever the police wouldn’t go. So they met in the Catacombs of Rome.

Romans were really supersticious about death. They didn’t want to be around it. So they built underground catacombs so they didn’t have to see graveyards. They wouldn’t even bury their own dead but would send slaves to do it. A lot of these slaves became Christians, and when the church was asking where can we meet that they won’t find us. The slaves were light, we’ve got an idea.

So the first underground church was born. And no one ever went down there to visit the tombs so they were able to decorate. Some of the earliest Christian art is on catacomb walls. They even left things set up from week to week.

It might seem crazy that the church would meet in a graveyard, but they weren’t afraid of death. In fact death was seen as a release to be with the Lord. Where they worship was a constant reminder of their own mortality. And with their dying breath, they wanted to exalt God.

Today we see that an authentic church is one that exalts God.

Transition to the Text: Turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm 100. the Psalms are a list of songs sung by the Jewish people in worship to God.

Introduce:

Authentic Principle: An authentic church worships God with a heart of thanksgiving.

Read:

Psalm 100 (ESV)

A Psalm for giving thanks. 1 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! 2 Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! 3 Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! 5 For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

Authentic Principle: An authentic church worships God with a heart of thanksgiving.

In a short 5 verse Psalm we get a beautiful picture of a hear of worship.

1. Sing praises to God. (Psalm 100:1-2)

Explanation: For many people it will come as no surprise that worship involves singing. However for me, I have had to spend a lot of time and effort trying to convince people that worship is more than just singing. From the welcome to the benediction, everything we do in our worship services is worship to God.

Yes, even the sermon is worship. Even giving is worship.

An authentic church emphasizes the importance of Corporate Worship but also helps people to worship in their own daily lives.

Romans 12:1 ESV

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Now while music is more than singing, it’s never less than singing. Singing is and always has been an integral part of worship. The entire book of Psalms is the song book of the the Hebrew National Worship....and still is.

There are even some Christians Denominations that exclusively sing Psalms.

There is something called the Regulatory Principle of Worship that says you don’t do anything in worship that is not expressly commanded or demonstrated in the Bible.

Prayer, Scripture Reading, Giving, and yes singing.

Singing is commanded.

Make a joyful noice to the Lord.

Joyful is an attitude. It doesn’t need to be on key.

Last year, when we were told we could gather in the Worship Center if we didn’t sing, we chose not to…because we believe that to worship without song would violate God’s command to sing.

Psalm 81:1–2 ESV

1 Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob! 2 Raise a song; sound the tambourine, the sweet lyre with the harp.

Colossians 3:16 ESV

16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Psalm 98:1 ESV

1 Oh sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.

Illustration: Singing is a powerful way to express emotion. Have you ever noticed how much easier it is to memorize song lyrics than to remember anything else.

We can struggle to try and remember scripture. But I bet you can remember every word to a song that told the story of your high school life.

I don’t think that its just a coincidence that the longest book of the Bible is a book of songs. And something else, if all we had were the Psalms, we’d have every major doctrine of the Christian faith. Even related to Jesus. In song!

Application: Sing songs. Sing good songs. Sing songs that speak of the majesty of God.

But I don’t know these songs! Sing a new song.

Let’s face it, I know that there are many contemporary Christian songs that we listen to on K-Love that have terrible theology.

There were also a lot of hymns that had terrible theology as well.

At North Hills, we do evaluate song based on their message and doctrine.

Josh Bingtan used to say that God used each new generation to write new songs that told God’s story for a new generation.

So we sing the old and we sing the new. But we sing to God.

2. Serve God. (Psalm 100:3)

Explanation: You might be surprised to see an admonition to serve the Lord in the midst of worship. Who is the Psalmist talking about?

The worship team? The Pastor? The ushers and greeters? The deacons?

Yes, but it includes all of us. Worship is an act of service to God. We serve God when we worship him. We serve Him when we come into His presence with singing!

We also serve one another.

Again:

Colossians 3:16 ESV

16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

There is nothing like being with others all lifting their voices in unison. I’m always amazed that more people who sing together, the more they meld together in perfect harmony. I’ve never heard a church singing poorly together. The louder everyone sings, the better they sound.

Illustration: My seminary puts on a conference every year in March where pastors from around the world gather together to be encouraged by the the word of God. And there is a lot of singing! Now I’ll say, the majority of attendees are men. And there is something about the power of God’s men when they sing. Not to discount the voices of women, but it’s rare when men sing.

Application: Do you see your singing as service to God?

3. Know the true God (Psalm 100:3)

Explanation: A lot of time when we read the Bible we have the tendency to miss the little things. For example in verse 3, our translations typically read

Know that the LORD, he is God!

However, whenever you see Lord in all caps in your Bible that means that this is God’s name.

The jewish people took the 3rd Commandment (You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain) that they got to the point they would refused to say it. When they got to the name in the reading, they would say Adonai, which means Lord. In the orginial hebrew, they left the consonants of God’s name YHWH. The vowels on the other hand, which go under the consonants were the vowel points for adonai. Now they didn’t know this when the King James version came out in 1611 because the pronunciation of the name of God was lost to history.

That’s why you see Jehovah in the King James Version. But that’s certainly not God’s name. It’s likely closer to Yahweh or Yahveh. We aren’t entirely sure. We do know the His name means “He is.”

Throughout the Bible names mean a lot. a person’s life could be determined by the name their parents gave them. God also frequently changed a person’s name when He changed their life.

For God to reveal His name is to reveal Himself and enter into a deeper relationship with his people.

A new Bible translation that came out last year, the Legacy Standard Bible translates 100:4 as Know that Yahweh, He is God.

Now why am I giving this lesson on God’s name?

We need to know God in order to worship Him. And we need to know Him as He has revealed Himself.

Illustration: There is something about a name. Names mean a familiarity. And the ability to know and use someone’s name is to have a relationship with them.

You would never use a kings name to their face. Your majesty.

You would never use a president’s name to their face. Mr. President. of when we have a female president, Madam President.

A title is a name of respect.

God’s title is God or elohim. God’s name is Yahweh. His covenant name for His people. It’s ironic that the Jewish people were so afraid to use God’s name when it was given to them as a sign of their relationship. To fail to use the name was to keep their God at a distance.

God desires closeness.

Hebrews 10:19 ESV

19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus,

Application: To know God’s name is to be invited into an intimate and authentic relationship with Him. It’s not to be taken for granted but to be enjoyed.

In the OT, the people were invited to come with the caveat that they had to deal with their sin. Today, we come in a different name.

The name of Jesus.

Philippians 2:9 ESV

9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,

To know the true God is to know him as he has revealed Himself. And our God has revealed Himself as Trinity.

Many people want to say that Christians, Muslims and Jews all worship the same God as if they just misunderstand a minute detail of God’s nature. To fail to worship God as He wants to be worshipped is the worst kind of idolatry.

4. Gather for Worship (Psalm 100:4-5)

Explanation: Enter His Gates with thanksgiving is a lot like Hebrews 10:19. But we gather not necessarily because it’s a command, but because it is a privledge. We should not neglect it. In the OT, worship was meant to cost you something. You could never come to worship empty handed. You came with an offering in your hands and a song in your heart.

The Jewish people worshipped weekly as a family at the synagogue and 4 times a year they were to appear before God at the Temple in Jerusalem.

Worship doesn’t have to be hard, but it’s not about taking the easy way out.

I’m amazed at the stories of people in 3rd World countries that will walk for hours to worship together with the people of God.

People in places like china gather for worship even if it might cost them their lives.

That’s the way it’s been for thousands of years. We are called to come.

Illustration: Now for years, long before COVID, I would tell people that sitting home on your couch watching Charles Stanley or Adrian Rogers or Joel Olsteen in not gathering for worship.

And I still believe that, but things have changed with COVID. What if you are sick? Stay home. Immunocompromised? Or someone else in your life immunocompromised? Stay home. We provide the LiveStream for you to be able to stay connected to your church.

However, if you are able to make it, then I personally believe that you should be present. We should take all the precautions we need to take. Mask if you want to.

We must be wise, but we must not live in fear.

If you aren’t able to come to church, you need to make an effort to stay connected. Zoom life. call someone just to chat.

Worship isn’t easy. Harder now. Will cost you something. Take effort. Do something.

Application: An authentic church gathers as a priority. That’s what church means: Gathering.

We enter his gates not with a sacrifice but by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. We come with heart and minds filled with love for our savior.

Response: How is your worship?

Summation: Authentic Principle: An authentic church WORSHIPS God with a heart of PRAISE.

1. SING praises to God. (Psalm 100:1)

2. SERVE the Lord (Psalm 100:2)

2. KNOW the true God. (Psalm 100:3)

3. GATHER for Worship (Psalm 100:4-5)

Closing Illustration: we were created to worship Go. There is a God sized hole in each out souls that only God can fill. May God draw you close to Him as you gather in worship.

when it comes to worship, it’s hard not to think about the great martyrs who worshipped God at the cost of their lives. The world said no you can’t do that. yhey Cared more about what God thought than what men thought.

Let’s pray.

Week 21 of 2021-2022 Sermon Series: Authentic Church: God Exalting (Psalm 100)

Authentic Principle: An authentic church WORSHIPS God with a heart of PRAISE.

1. SING praises to God. (Psalm 100:1)

2. SERVE the Lord (Psalm 100:2)

2. KNOW the true God. (Psalm 100:3)

3. GATHER for Worship (Psalm 100:4-5)

Response: How is your WORSHIP?

Opening Discussion: What thoughts come to mind when you think about worship? How would you define worship?

Sermon:

What does Psalm 100 say about the importance of singing?

Read Ephesians 5:18-21. What does Paul add to our understanding of singing as worship?

Why is singing such an important part of worship?

What does this Psalm tell us about God? Why is it important to know and worship God as He is as opposed to how we may want Him to be?

Why is it important to be intentional about our worship of God? Why is worshipping with others an important part of worship?

How does worship lead us into a deeper and more meaningful relationship with God?

Application:

When do you most feel like worshipping?

What helps you get into a spirit of worship?

What part does singing play in your worship?

When it comes to worship, what part does your serving play?

Why is important to really know God as He is before we can worship him?

Why is it important to “come to worship God?” Why should worship cost us something? What does this look like in your life?

How will you make worshipping God a priority this year?