Sunday, September 23, 2018 - When Worship Is Difficult!
Pastor Roger C. Marcos
September 23, 2018
Introduction
Satan wants to keep us from worshipping the One he hates. He wants to keep you from doing the right thing, whether that is spending time alone with the Lord in Scripture and prayer, attending and participating in ministry, or any other thing that will draw you closer to the Lord.
Many Christians struggle with diverse barriers to worship. Believers offer many excuses and put forth great effort in explaining the reason why they fail to adequately worship and praise the Lord on Sunday morning.
True Worship begins with a deep respect or reverence for God, a frame of heart, an attitude. This must be fixed in one's mind before we go further. An "act" of worship is an act proceeding from or the result of that attitude.
Text: Job 1:20-22 20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” 22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.
Proposition: to identify the hindrances that makes worship difficult to me to anyone else.
I. WORLDLY Hindrances Can Be A Big Factor In Our Worship.
Oliver Cromwell once defined worldliness as “anything that chills our affection for Jesus Christ”. Worldliness is the opposite of spirituality; it is the predominant condition when we centralize our minds and thoughts on the things of this world instead of on the things of God and his kingdom.
Think of the times that you decide to stay in bed instead of getting up to read the Bible; think of the times you scrapped family worship for no good reason; think of the times you stayed home from church instead of going to worship. Think of those things, and see which of these temptations is the one Satan brings to you.
- He makes the world look beautiful, attractive and desirable. Many people profess Christ and see him as desirable for a time. For a while they enjoy private and public worship and do it all with enthusiasm. But before long Satan presents to them worldly things and makes those look more beautiful and desirable than Christ, and many souls are drawn away. “Where one thousand are destroyed by the world’s frowns, ten thousand are destroyed by the world’s smiles.”
- He gives you an awareness of the difficulty of worshipping well. Satan will whisper, “It is difficult to pray well, it is hard to spend time with the Lord and to persevere until he speaks to you through his Word, it isn’t worth the effort of going to church and being warm and friendly and engaging with other Christians.” Whatever God tells you to do, Satan will present it to you as a great burden or as something you do poorly, and in this way he will keep you from it.
We acknowledge that God certainly is deserving our worship but sometimes we struggle to make Worship a Priority or reality in our lives. Yet, we still at times fail to worship “In Spirit and in Truth” as Jesus said of true worshipers in John 4:24.
A. Job Received A News. The loss of Job's property, and the death of his children. Do you think easy to worship when you loss your love one?
Tearing the garments, shaving or pulling off the hair of the head, throwing dust or ashes on the head, and fitting on the ground, were acts by which immoderate grief was expressed. Job must have felt the bitterness of anguish when he was told that, in addition to the loss of all his property, he was deprived of his ten children by a violent death. Had he not felt this most poignantly, he would have been unworthy of the name of man.
Worshipped - Prostrated himself; lay all along upon the ground, with his face in the dust.
Job 1:18-19 “While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, ‘Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!’”
Things got worse for Job - Satan was allowed to take Job’s health away. Then his wife turned on him.
Job 2:9-10 “His wife said to him, ‘Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!’ He replied, ‘You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?’ In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.
Job 17:6 “And now people use this proverb against me; they come and spit in my face. GNT
B. Job the Worshipper. Satan brought Job's troubles upon him on the day that his children began their course of feasting. The troubles all came upon Job at once; while one messenger of evil tidings was speaking, another followed. His dearest and most valuable possessions were his ten children; news is brought him that they are killed. They were taken away when he had most need of them to comfort him under other losses. In God only have we a help present at all times.
verse20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship
James 4:10 “.humble yourselves before the Lord and He will lift you up.”
Job 19:25-27 “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand upon earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see Him with my own eyes - I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!”
II. SPIRITUAL Hindrances In True Worship. An inability to enter into praise and worship indicates there is a basic problem between us and God.
A. Failure to Repent and Confess.
Psalm 32:1-5 “.Blessed is the man whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.’.”
- Sin - Psalm 66:18; Isaiah 59:2; Solution - 1 John 1:9
- Discouragement - 2 Corinthians 4:8,9; Solution = Isaiah 51:11
- Worry - John 14:27; Solution = Philippians 4:6,7
- Ignorance- Solution= Hosea 4:6
An inability to praise and worship indicates a basic problem which needs to be dealt with.
Seek God until you know the problem and then deal with it honestly.
If you still cannot enter into praise to God, go to a mature Christian and seek his or her help.
B. Failure to Forgive. Failing to Forgive Yourself May Be Holding You Back from the Freedom God Has for You
How can we meditate on or rejoice in God’s forgiveness, IF we refuse to do the same to others?
Ephesians 4:32 “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ forgave you.”
Conclusion:
What hinders you this morning from worshipping God?
More importantly what hinders you from accepting grace and making Christ the Lord and Savior of your Life? ...