To brighten up, to cheer up, be merry, cause to rejoice Part 3 How to “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.” Psalms 122:1 To brighten up, to cheer up, be merry, cause to rejoice

Helps us… Temple in Jerusalem The house of God today is the: “church of the living God.” 1 Tim. 3:15 Helps us… Temple in Jerusalem

To be Strengthened Spiritually Ps. 50:7-15 v. 7-9 -- sacrifices and burnt offerings 10. For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. 11. I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine. 12. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof. v. 13-15 “call upon me in the day of trouble”

David prayed, “Now therefore, our God, we thank You and praise Your glorious name. But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For all things come from You, and of Your own we have given You” 1 Chronicles 29:13,14 “God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things” Acts 17:24,25

God wants more than just certain actions… 1 Samuel 15:22 “And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.”

Psalms 51:14-17 14. “Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. 15. O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise. 16. For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. 17. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”

Isaiah 66:1,2 1. “Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? 2. For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.”

God wants obedient worshippers Eph. 4:11-16 - for edification of the body Worship is not an end in itself … …but it is a means to an end. Hebrews 10:25 “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”

God wants obedient worshippers 1 Cor. 11:27-30 “Weak and sickly” - - “many sleep” = spiritual Prov. 11:24-25 “The generous soul will be made rich…” 2 Cor. 9:6,7 “he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.”

To be Strengthened Spiritually Helps us… To be Strengthened Spiritually

Connection between Worship and Character Widespread social corruption “I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness against sorcerers, against adulterers, against perjurers, against those who exploit wage earners and widows and the fatherless, and against those who turn away an alien — because they do not fear Me” Mal. 3:5

Matthew 23:23-24 23. “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. 24. Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.”

1 Sam. 15:22 “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice” Deut. 10:12-13 12. And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, 13. To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?”

Micah 6:6-8 6. “Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? 7. Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 8. He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”

Mark 12:33 “to love [God] with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices” Hosea 6:6 “I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.” Matt. 9:13 and Matt 12:7

Relation between worship and our living. If we think we can… Speak with unbridled tongue - Jas.1:26 Turn deaf ears to needy - Jas. 1:27 Mistreat our wife - 1 Pet. 3:7 Come and worship in an acceptable way “One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be an abomination” - Proverbs 28:9

Relation between worship and our living. And God said through Isaiah, “I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting” Isaiah 1:10-15 Isaiah 1:16,17. 16. “Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; 17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.”

Makes us stronger spiritually Worship to God is Beneficial… Makes us stronger spiritually Makes us better people

“I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.” Psalms 122:1

Sermon by Arthur Pigman Evans Church of Christ 515 Gibbs Road Evans, Ga. 30809 706-855-1249 evanscoc@bellsouth.net www.evansgachurchofchrist.org Sunday Morning July 7, 2013