WHAT IS TRUE WORSHIP?
Victor Choudhrie
Worship
Gen 22:5-7
5 He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”
6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together,
7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?” “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.”The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
We have fire, sword, wood … where is the sacrifice.
In the OT, there is no worship without sacrifice.
None shall appear empty-handed.
Temple was for worship.
2 Chron 7:12
12 the LORD appeared to him at night and said: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices.
God chose temples as a place of sacrifice.
Sacrifice and worship go hand in hand.
Slaughter / Shachat
OT:7819
shachat (shaw-khat’); a primitive root; to slaughter (in sacrifice or massacre):
KJV – kill, offer, shoot out, slay, slaughter.
A Jew could not worship in the temple without an animal to sacrifice. You went to the temple and if you had committed any sin, then you confess your sins to 2 people as witnesses, the men to men and women to women. Women would not confess their sins to men (or priests). Once you confess your sins, then mikvah (purification/baptism). Women went to separate pool – women baptized women, men baptized men. There was to be no men in the women’s pool. It was not allowed for men to handle wet women.
After the purification, they would go to the altar and the priest would take the animal and he would put the hand on the head of the animal and transfer the sin to the innocent animal as a substitute. The animal died for the people’s sins. The animal slaughtered and an offering was given. The priest kept one leg of the animal.
You stood outside Solomon’s Court and there you prayed facing the holy of holies (God was there). While you prayed, you always prayed, “Messiah, come”. This was the routine they followed.
Come
Confess your sins
Repentance
Baptize
Go to temple offer sacrifice
And only then could you go to the temple for worship
We’re NT people — we don’t do that.
This was the function of the priest — to offer animals. The sacrificial animal was offered by the priest — people couldn’t offer it themselves. The priest had to do that.
While they encamped, the elders told the stories of what God did in Israel so the young people knew all the stories of the OT times. Every single Jew knew his history in detail. That’s how they worshiped God.
Confession
Baptism
Sacrifice
Prayer
Community Meal
Sharing of stories of the OT
Now … New Testament
We are 1 Peter 2:9
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
We are a royal priesthood
How do we become royal priesthood … Revelation 5:9-10
Rev 5:9-10
9 And they sang a new song:
“You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.
10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”
Sang a new song and were made a kingdom of priests to serve our God. And they will reign on earth. The blood of Jesus made us priests and kings under the priesthood of Jesus to reign on earth.
The business of the priest is to offer sacrifices.
Rom 15:16
16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
Minister→priest
Difference between the OT and NT is that in the OT they offer 4-legged animals, in NT we offer 2-legged animals.
If you want to worship God, you offer 2 legged animals — living sacrifices.
Ps 51:17
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
Broken heart – contrite spirit … 2 legged sacrifice
We are the priests of the New Covenant and we offer 2-legged animals.
When you get together to worship … worship is not singing a lot of songs. It is not complete until you offer two-legged animals as sacrifices. Not one or two, but as many as you like. How many animals did Solomon offer on the day of inauguration of the temple — 22,000 bulls, 120,000 sheep. The temple became a slaughterhouse.
The business of the church is to offer Gentiles as sacrifice. Then repentant souls will come and be offered as a sacrifice.
How do we do this?
1 Cor 14:23-27
23 So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who do not understand or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind?
24 But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all,
25 and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming,
“God is really among you!”
26 What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or
a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.
If a sinner comes in, he will repent and he will be added to the church.
Brethren … (not brothers — which is gender-specific) Brethren (neutral)
Household of God — adelphos — we are in the same womb — in God’s womb
Man, woman, children — all have the right to participate.
Prophecy …
In the church these things happen when you prophecy
A person is being challenged, exhorted, comforted
Everyone in the church has some problem. We comfort that person with comforting words, we pray for that person — everyone needs that.
Comforting in the church is very important because everyone has a problem.
People come there — there were unbelievers in the church — in the house church there were unbelievers.
Mark 11:17 — my house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations … but you have made it a den of thieves.
They made a church a place of business, selling goats, pigeons, etc. If people are gathering together to make a joyful noise, it’s a den of thieves …
Jesus wants all nations to come to his church to be saved.
Unbelievers should come to the church to be prayed for, saved, delivered … and then you have a movement.
The instruments of worship in the OT are sword, fire, and sacrifice.
In NT– the sword (the Word Eph 6:17), the fire (the Holy Spirit), the sacrifice (2-legged animals).
Worship is offering sacrifice. Without sacrifice, your worship is incomplete.
Praise: Hellel ..Halal … sacrifice
Eph 5:19-20
19 Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord,
20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Col 3:16
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
Phil 4:16-19
17 Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account.
18 I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And God shall supply all my needs according to his riches in glory.
Paul appreciated fruit credited to their account more than offering.
Rom 12:1
12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship.
Admonish each other
Teach each other
Singing songs
Make melody in your heart
Ne how wa? How are you? (Western)
Chi le ma? Chinese when they meet one another, “Have you eaten?”
You can talk after your stomach is filled.
Worship- — transformation (Romans 12:1-2)