A Better System of Worship
Book of Hebrews Chapter 12 Verses 18 through 29
What is true worship? We could say that worship is the act of paying divine honors to the Supreme Being who is the Lord Jesus Christ.
The term "God" is such a generic term that sometimes I hate to use it and use the term Lord or Lord God.
It seems that everyone who has ever lived has a god that they worship!
Even the Atheist has a god! They put their own selves in the position of being god and they think they can tell all others what to do.
This is acting somewhat like a god.
Some people have many gods.
As Christians we are to reverence our Lord God! In the Old Testament He says His name is Jehovah.
He says He is the "I AM” because He is self-existing, and He is.
It is our Lord God who is the Giver and the Taker of life!
We could say our reverence is the fear that is within us, that is acceptable to the Lord God Jehovah.
You see if our worship is not acceptable to the One True God then it is not worship!
We also know Him as the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ!
We also know Him as God the Holy Spirit!
We are to acknowledge His perfection.
We should be unwilling to offend Him.
We should have that admiration of someone so great He is unfathomable.
We are to respect Him.
We are to respect everything that He says.
We are to respect everything that He does because everything the Lord does is the right thing to do.
We are to love Him and show that love to Him.
We are to talk to Him just like He is with us at all times because He is!
True worship must be of a spiritual nature, and it must be in accordance with the truth of God as revealed to us in the Bible.
Remember the Scriptures recorded in the Bible are the words that our God chose to use to teach us about Him.
Joh 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Joh 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
He did not have to reveal Himself to us! Think about that for a moment.
Worship involves presenting all we have in our heart, our body, our soul, and our entire being, to our Lord God!
Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
As Christians, we are to be devoted to our Lord God Almighty!
What is true worship?
Act 24:14 But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, "believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets":
Act 24:15 And have "hope toward God", which they themselves also allow, that "there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust".
Act 24:16 And herein do I exercise myself, "to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men".
This is the Apostle Paul describing to us true worship.
True worship is an expressed service of thought, speech, or action that ascribes glory to the One True God!
Let us begin:
*****Heb 12:18 For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest,
Heb 12:19 And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more:
We must be clear, "no one" can approach God and be acceptable to God who is imperfect, "no one"!
No human being can become perfect without the Lord Jesus Christ, who says we must be "Born Again"!
Imperfect beings can never become perfect beings!
It is a simple law of creation; imperfection can never be made perfection!
Once a thing is imperfect, it can never become perfect, it is impossible!
These things are true upon this earth, but God can do the impossible!
So, what can be done?
We could say that life is a race to perfection, but a race that cannot be won without the Lord Jesus Christ!
We must still understand it is God who will first call!
No one can approach God who has not been called by Him!
Once called, we must decide if we are going to approach God or not.
There is where the "gift of choice" becomes so important!
It is the call of God that enables a person to believe!
"It is then a human responsibility to answer the call of God"!
We must clearly understand that God will not just wait around to see if we will answer His call!
God is not governed by situations outside of Himself!
God's purpose will be achieved with us or without us!
Again, we must understand that God took it upon Himself to reveal Himself when He did not have to, so everything God now does is according to His own purpose!
In reality, God has sent out an invitation to join Him in His realm!
His realm is not upon this earth!
The first approach to God was the Old Covenant.
The second approach to God was the New Covenant.
The approach of the Old Covenant was an external, material approach to God.
People had to approach God to receive His Word and His Law.
The people approached God at Mount Sinai an earthly place, not Spiritual nor Heavenly, just a physical place upon this earth.
When we approach God with material and physical things, these things will not last, this approach will never last long because all material things never last.
A Christian must approach God with a Spiritual approach!
When we try to approach God through the Old Covenant of the Law, we will stand before God condemned!
When we stand before God according to His "Grace", we will be justified.
Just as if we had never sinned!
Mat_20:16 So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.
Mat_22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.
The children of Israel stood before God at the base of an erupting volcano, yet when God spoke His voice was so full of authority and so sure, it drowned out the noise of these things and the people became more frightened of God than the noise of Mount Sinai.
This is when the children of Israel decided they had a need of a mediator and Moses was God's man chosen for this position.
These people were so frightened of God, they did not want to hear from Him anymore!
We cannot be saved unless we hear for God in a personal way.
We cannot worship God unless we have a personal relationship with His Son Jesus!
*****Heb 12:20 (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart:
Heb 12:21 And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:)
Why could not God deal with Israel as He deals with the Church?
They could never overcome their true fear of God in order to approach Him in a Spiritual manner!
They could not make themselves believe they could have of a higher understanding of God.
Even Moses got caught up in this fear, as we all would have on this day.
Exo 20:19 And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.
They were as little children, who wanted to see past His voice in order to believe!
Exo 19:16 And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled.
We could say that God was preaching that day to the congregation of these Hebrews, who were so afraid they could understand the message.
When people approach God according to the Law, they must approach God cautiously, because each broken Law will see the wrath of God.
This is the fear that God intended for them to realize.
This is the fear that God wants us all to realize, we absolutely do not want to see the wrath of our Heavenly Father.
We just do not want to see the wrath of God!
God has shown us a way to avoid His wrath by His Son Jesus!
The second approach, the New Covenant removes the wrath of God!
*****Heb 12:22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
Heb 12:23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
Heb 12:24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
The New Covenant is a Covenant of "Grace"!
The true approach to God today is by this New Covenant!
The Old Covenant, the Law is our "schoolmaster" to teach us about sin not about salvation!
Gal_3:24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
Gal_3:25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
This new approach to God is Spiritual and it is Heavenly!
It is by the cross of Christ Jesus that a doorway is opened for us to enter into Heaven, which is where our Lord is located right now.
This Mount Zion that is the place of the city of the New Jerusalem.
Mount Sinai is earthly and physical!
Mount Zion is both Spiritual and Heavenly!
What does the Church say?
2Co 5:1 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
We should know that there are angels around every child of God to help and protect us, but there are still more angels in Heaven than can be counted.
These angels are perfect and when we get to Heaven we will have been perfected.
Rev 5:11 And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;
Rev 5:12 Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.
In fact, we will join them singing this same song!
It is by this New Covenant, that the Church will enter into Heaven and there is no other path but by the Church!
That One, who is the Firstborn, is of course the Lord Jesus Christ!
He is also God and the Judge of all things, but we can be assured He will only judge according to the Word of God!
The Lord Jesus is First Born of the Church, but He is also the Founder of the Church, the Author of Salvation, the Beginning of the Truth, and Savior of the Church.
Those who are part of the true Church, are the same ones whose names are written in Heaven in the Lamb's Book of Life.
We get to Heaven, we will join not only the angels, but also to those who have gone on before us who have already reached that state of perfection.
Eph 2:19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
Eph 2:20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
Eph 2:21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
Those that can reach Heaven's gates are the same ones who have been judged by God and are then "justified".
Each believer has been judged while in this body of flesh and justified to enter in Heaven!
Rom 8:33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.
Rom 8:34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
It is also important that it is this same Judge who will judge the unbeliever!
Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Heaven is the place where all the Saints of God will come together to rejoice in the Lord!
Joh 14:1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
Joh 14:2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
Joh 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
Joh 14:4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.
We can only be received into Heaven if, we know the Mediator and He knows us!
1Ti 2:3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
1Ti 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
1Ti 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
1Ti 2:6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
Then comes the warning to all those who reject the Lord Jesus.
*****Heb 12:25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:
Heb 12:26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
If we remember when we started in this great book, the first thing we read was that we had better listen to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Heb 1:1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
Heb 1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
Here in this Scripture the Holy Spirit states that we had better not refuse the Lord Jesus Christ, who is speaking to us in this New Covenant!
There is no one who will escape the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ and then get to Heaven!
There is God's warning about a great shaking and judgment of the entire universe not too far into our future.
There is a new unshakeable kingdom that must be received by all!
It was Moses who spoke on this earth and gave us the Law of God.
It is the Lord Jesus Christ who speaks from Heaven who speaks as He is God, because He is!
Because the Lord Jesus is speaking from Heaven, the New Heaven, we will be held more accountable than the Old Covenant Saints and will face a much greater judgment if we reject our Redeemer.
Mar_6:11 And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.
There will be no escape whatsoever for any person who refuses to hear the words of "Mercy" and "Grace", which are the words that the Lord Jesus Christ proclaims.
It is only by the Blood of Jesus Christ we will ever enter into Heaven!
*****Heb 12:27 And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
There is coming a great shaking of this earth!
In the time of Moses when God spoke, the early Hebrews became so afraid, they just told Moses that he could talk to God.
They did not want to hear the voice of God again because of their great fear.
There is another great shaking coming again when God will decide to speak to this earth, and this is a promise and God does not ever break His promises!
Hag 2:6 For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land;
Hag 2:7 And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts.
Have you ever seen the damage caused by earthquakes today and some are major, but we have seen nothing compared to the day God will shake this entire planet called earth and there will be no place to hide then and there is no place to hide now because the Lord put us in the places where we are located, he knows where we are at all times.
It will be only those things that cannot be shaken that will remain!
God's New World will be eternal and more alive than anything we can see upon this earth!
2Pe 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
2Pe 3:11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
2Pe 3:12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
2Pe 3:13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
By the way, God does not make empty threats!
*****Heb 12:28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
Heb 12:29 For our God is a consuming fire.
How do we receive God's New Kingdom?
1) Make sure we have received the "Grace of God".
Grace is that unspeakable gift and favor of God that comes by His "Grace".
2) Make sure after we have received God's Grace, and that we serve Him with a godly fear.
This fear describes our reverence to Him and His formidable power.
Mat 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Psa 33:8 Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
We must serve God according to His Word because God is a consuming fire.
A consuming fire will not go out until all things that fuel it are consumed!
Let us pay attention and worship God, the Lord Jesus Christ with the reverence that He deserves!
This way we will be in practice when we join Him in His Father's House.
Amen
