OUR WORSHIP: TRUE OR FALSE? Matthew 21:1-17 “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” John 4:24

“Worship is not an external activity precipitated by the right environment. To worship in spirit is to draw near to God with an undivided heart. We must come in full agreement without hiding anything or disregarding His will.” Erwin Lutzer

CROWDS (vs. 1-11) motive : political deliverance FALSE WORSHIP | impure motives

"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem; The battle bow shall be cut off. He shall speak peace to the nations; His dominion shall be from sea to sea, And from the River to the ends of the earth.” Zechariah 9: 9-10

"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem; The battle bow shall be cut off. He shall speak peace to the nations; His dominion shall be from sea to sea, And from the River to the ends of the earth.” Zechariah 9: 9-10

“Then Pilate entered the Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to Him, ‘Are You the King of the Jews?’ Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.’ Pilate therefore said to Him, ‘Are You a king then?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.’” John 18: 33, 36-37

FALSE WORSHIP | impure motives MONEY-CHANGERS (vs ) motive : wealth

“For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.” Isaiah 56:7 “Has this house which is called by My name, become a den of thieves in your eyes?” Jeremiah 7:11

“Worship is first and foremost for His benefit, not ours, though it is marvelous to discover that in giving Him pleasure, we ourselves enter into what can become our richest and most wholesome experience in life.” Graham Kendrick

“When we believe that we should be satisfied rather than God satisfied in our worship, than we put God below ourselves as though He had been made for us rather than that we had been made for Him.” Stephen Charnock

“We’ve made worship self-centered instead of God- centered. We lobby for what we want: ‘I don’t like the songs.’ ‘I don’t like the volume.’ It’s as if we’re worshipping worship instead of worshipping God.” Geoff Bullock

FALSE WORSHIP | impure motives RELIGIOUS LEADERS (vs ) motive : approval

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” Matthew 23:25-28

“Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” Matthew 15:8-9

TRUE WORSHIP | pure motives CHILDREN (vs ) motive : who Jesus is – period.

People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.“ Mark 10:13-15

worship (proskuneo pros-koo-neh’-o) AV-worship 60; 60 1) to kiss the hand to (towards) one, in token of reverence (or to kiss, like a dog licking his master’s hand) 2) among the Orientals, esp. the Persians, to fall upon the knees and touch the ground with the forehead as an expression of profound reverence 3) in the NT by kneeling or prostration to do homage (to one) or make obeisance, whether in order to express respect or to make supplication; used of homage shown to men and beings of superior rank

OUR WORSHIP: TRUE OR FALSE? Where would you have been? at the MONEY-CHANGING TABLE using worship for your wants/desires? with the RELIGIOUS LEADERS putting up a really good show, but absolutely empty inside with no love for Jesus? in the CROWD shouting at the top of your lungs “Hosanna King Jesus” because you just wanted freedom from Rome? playing with the CHILDREN singing out to Jesus with pure motives simply because of who He is.

OUR WORSHIP: TRUE OR FALSE? Matthew 21:1-17 “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” John 4:24