TEXT: Genesis 22:5

And Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go yonder; and we will worship and return to you" (Genesis 22:5, NKJV).

INTRODUCTION:

I want to return to a text that we touched on recently with another theme. Today I want to focus on one aspect of this text and that is "worship." When Abraham said to his servants that he and his son were going to Mount Moriah to worship he did not use the term as we most frequently use it today. He did not mean that he and Isaac were going to sing a few choruses and have an emotional high. When he said "worship" he meant that he was going to sacrifice to God. His worship was to cost him his son and it was to cost his son his life. That is not what we mean to say when we say "we are going to worship God."

I have seen a disturbing trend in the Assemblies of God and in Evangelical churches in general over the past few years. We have restricted the word worship to only one thing and that is to music. We have re-titled our "song leaders" as our "worship leaders." Worship is far more than music. It includes sacrifice, giving, witness, and Bible study among other things. We are worshipping God when we give our tithes just a much as when we are singing praise choruses. The title "worship leader" belongs to the pastor and not to the "song leader!"

When we focus on only one thing we are not a whole person and not a spiritually mature person. Jesus warned against such a limited concentration on one aspect of worship in Matthew 23:23.

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 (Matthew 23:23, KJV).

Everyone remembers his days spent riding the school bus. One of the things I remember most about riding the school bus in my Jr. High and Sr. High School years was Arthur. Arthur was one of those unique persons who was a genius in one area and a misfit and failure in most every other area of his life. He did not have any social graces and did not know how to make or keep friends. He had a phenomenal memory but it did not include math or history or the social sciences that he was supposed to know. But Arthur could tell you the name, make, model, and performance statistics of any car on the road and even cars that were no longer on the road. Arthur was a prodigy in one area and a total failure in every other area.

I fear that we are creating a generation of spiritual Arthurs who are prodigies in one area of worship but overall do not know the true meaning of worship.

Today I want to focus on a neglected aspect of worship; that is sacrifice to God. In future sermons I will address other neglected aspects of worship as well.

Just as Abraham offered his sacrifice to God in worship, so we must offer ourselves to God in worship. Scripture gives us examples of the type of sacrifice God desires in our worship as well as examples of unacceptable sacrifice.

I. A COSTLY SACRIFICE

A. David loved to sing unto the Lord.

1. The Psalms are a testimony to his worship in song.
2. 2 Sam 23 contains the last words of David and they are a Psalm unto the Lord.

B. David worshipped the Lord in many ways and on many occasions.

1. The census of Israel in 2 Sam. 24 (This implied confidence in man's might rather than God's power.)
2. A difficult choice

a. Seven years of famine
b. Three months of defeat in battle
c. Three days of pestilence

C. David understood the meaning of true sacrifice.

24 However, the king said to Araunah, "No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price, for I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God which cost me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver (2 Sam. 24:24, NASB).

1. Sacrifice means "to set apart unto God."
2. Its Latin roots are sacra meaning "holy" and faccere meaning "to make."
3. When a person offers something to the Lord of the whole universe and the Maker of the heavens and the earth it must be significant.
Giving that which costs you nothing is not really a sacrifice.
4. David purchased the threshing floor of Araunah, his oxen, and his implements and dedicated them to God. That site is the temple mount where God came down to meet His people and is perhaps the most sacred site on the earth today.

II. A WORTHLESS SACRIFICE

A. The Book of Malachi brings down the curtain on God's dealing with Israel in the Old Testament.

1. God declares His majesty in Malachi 1:14 "...for I am a great King," says the Lord of hosts, "and My name is feared among the nations" (Malachi 1:14, NASB).
2. Worthless sacrifices are an abomination unto God:

6 "'A son honors [his] father, and a servant his master. Then if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My respect?' says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests who despise My name. But you say, 'How have we despised Thy name?' 7 "[You] are presenting defiled food upon My altar. But you say, 'How have we defiled Thee?' In that you say, 'The table of the Lord is to be despised.' 8 "But when you present the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you present the lame and sick, is it not evil? Why not offer it to your governor? Would he be pleased with you? Or would he receive you kindly?" says the Lord of hosts (Malachi 1:6-8, NASB).

B. God declares his response to worthless sacrifices.

1. Shut the gate of the temple--Malachi 1:10.
2. I will spread the refuse of your sacrifices in your faces--Malachi 2:3.
3. I will not even look at your worthless sacrifice--Malachi 2:13
4. A partial tithe is not a tithe at all!

8 "Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, 'How have we robbed You?' In tithes and offerings. 9 "You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation {of you!.} 10 "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this," says the LORD of hosts, "if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows" (Malachi 3:8-10, NASB).

(Illustration: Ananias and Sapphira sought the glory of men and not the glory of God:

3 But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back some of the price of the land? 4 "While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God." 5 And as he heard these words, Ananias fell down and breathed his last; and great fear came upon all who heard of it. 6 And the young men arose and covered him up, and after carrying him out, they buried him (Acts 5:3-6, NASB).

III. A LIVING SACRIFICE

A. Paul urges the Church to present itself as living sacrifices to God:

1 I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:1-2, NASB).

1. It is a living sacrifice--Not a one time experience, nor a part time experience! It is an onongoing full-time experience.
2. It is a holy sacrifice--This means that you are no longer your own, but you are God's, therefore everything you do must be pleasing to Him.
3. It is a spiritual sacrifice--More than membership and tithe-paying.
4. It is a sacrifice of worship.

B. Scripture indicates that a sacrifice of worship includes,

1. Walking in love.

2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour (Ephesians 5:2, NASB).

1. Walking in the light--that is living a transformed life style,

14 Do all things without murmurings and disputings: 15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; 16 Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain. 17 Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all (Philippians 2:14-17, NASB).

1. Walking in charity--compassion and concern for the needs of others:

   18 But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God. 19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:18-19, NASB).

2. Walking in thanksgiving--The fruit of our lips:

15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of [our] lips giving thanks to his name. 16 But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased (Hebrews 13:15-16, NASB).

CONCLUSION:
Abraham declared, "I and the lad will go yonder and worship."

He offered himself completely to God.
He could surely have sung, "Living By Faith."
He offered the best that he had to God, his only son.
Malachi could not have hurled an accusation against Abraham.
His true sacrifice was his faith and trust in God:

12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the Lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me (Genesis 22:12, NASB).

Come, let us go yonder and worship God together!

Songs:

• "Is Your All Upon the Altar of Sacrifice Laid?"--Hymn #395
• "Have Thine Own Way Lord."--Hymn #347

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This is the outline of the sermon Dr. Harold Carpenter preached 05 January 2003. Dr. Carpenter and his wife served as missionaries for twenty years. Dr. Carpenter also taught missions for twenty years at Central Bible College. He now serves as Pastor of Fair Grove Assembly of God, Fair Grove MO.

© Harold Carpenter 2003. Published by permission.

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