Worshipping Community – Zoom Bible Study for June 29th 2021 at 2:30
Please read Genesis 4: 1-16 – Cain and Abel.
This passage presents the reader with a lot of what we might call “firsts”. What would you say they (the firsts) might be?
For what reason do you think God had regard for Abel’s offering and not for his brother Cain’s? Do you think the Lord is being unfair to the older brother?
What principle attitudes is the Lord looking for in his worshippers? What do the Old and New Testament have to say about this?
It has been (Calvin, Genesis Commentary) said that, in their worship, Abel wanted to please God and that, by contrast, Cain wanted to get something from God. Which approach best describes our attitude towards God in worship?
How do you prepare for worship? How can what we offer acceptable to Him?
Do you think the Bible tells us explicitly about what form our corporate (church) worship should take? What implications might this have for the way we do things when we gather to worship? What changes would you like to see our churches?
Please meditate upon the words of Isaac Watts’ hymn, “When I survey the Wondrous Cross”.
MFR
And God will not accept much less be pleased by Cain’s tithe offering unless it comes with faith in God’s promises â– Without faith, it’s impossible to please God • How can we know that Cain’s lack of faith is the cause for God’s displeasure? â—¦ Look at what follows… Gen. 4:6 Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? Gen. 4:7 “If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” • These two verses offer one of the more inscrutable statements in all scripture
We should note in passing that this is the first mention in the Bible of anger â– Cain expressed anger against God because God does not accept Cain’s sacrifice â– We’re left feeling that Cain arrived before God so that he could receive praise for his tithe â– When the praise didn’t come, it angered him
In John 4:23, Jesus said this: “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.”
The reality that God the Father is seeking worshipers who worship in spirit and truth, implies that there is both a wrong and right way to worship God. In fact, we see the importance of proper worship early on in Scripture. Cain and Abel both brought offerings before the Lord but Cain’s was rejected (Gen 4).
Similarly, we see rejected worship throughout much of Israel’s history. God derailed Israel for their fasting in the book of Isaiah and said that it would not be accepted. He shared their unrighteous complaints and then answered them. In Isaiah 58:3-4 it says:
Israel noticed that their fasting was unprofitable and they asked, “What good is it?” God rebuked them and said that the type of worship they were offering was unacceptable. How could they be living in quarrelling and strife and expect their offering to be accepted by God? God said their voices (i.e. their prayer and worship) would not even be heard by him. In Malachi 1, God rejected the offerings of the priests because they were offering the lame and the blind, instead of offering a lamb without blemish.
Many people in the church have the same dilemma. They recognize that their devotions aren’t profitable, the church services they attend aren’t alive, and they wonder why it is so. Sometimes the problem is that their worship has been rejected by God.
As we consider this reality, we must ask the question, “How can we have a worship that is acceptable to God?” Jesus said God is seeking proper worship; he looks for it. When I was young, I used to show up to church with no preparation; the concept of preparing for worship never dawned on me. I thought only pastors, teachers, and the worship teams prepared. However, I began to realize that what I received from God on Sundays or in a small group was often proportional to my preparation. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled” (Matt 5:6). The only people who are hungry are the ones who have contemplated God and their condition, which reveals their needs. And it is those people who God fills during worship. They come to church with an eIf we are going to worship God, we must prepare through fasting, mourning, and separating, and we must lead others to do the same. An unprepared worship is an unacceptable worship.
Application Question: What are some other practical ways to prepare for daily worship? In what ways is God challenging you to be more prepared to come into his presence?
expectation because they recognize their great need and that of their community, and therefore, God satisfies their hunger.
If we are going to worship God, we must prepare through fasting, mourning, and separating, and we must lead others to do the same. An unprepared worship is an unacceptable worship.
Application Question: What are some other practical ways to prepare for daily worship? In what ways is God challenging you to be more prepared to come into his presence?
Often in our services, very little time is given to actually reflect and respond to the Word of God in prayer. The preacher preaches and closes in prayer, we sing a quick hymn and the service is over. However, I think it is a very healthy practice to have time to respond to God, right after the Word of God has been given. This was the principle behind the “altar call,” which many churches have discarded. It is wise to take time to meditate and respond to what God has spoken, even if only through an extended time of corporate prayer and worship.
With that said, I think the main principle we should take from this text is the need to hear and respond to the Word of God as a part of our worship. Listen to what James says:
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.
James 1:22-23
a hearer and a doer of God’s Word?
Leaders must continually call their people to hear and respond to God’s Word. Jesus said, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples” (John 8:31). Only those who live and abide in Christ’s words are truly saved. Therefore, leaders must also warn those they lead of the tendency towards self-deception. It is possible to be a hearer and not a doer and be deceived about one’s faith.
Application Question: How can churches similarly give greater honor to the Word of God in our services and also an opportunity to respond? How is God challenging you to be both a hearer and a doer of God’s Word?
Acceptable Worship Includes the Leadership of Righteous Leaders
And the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah and Pethahiah—said: “Stand up, and praise the LORD your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting.” “Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise.
In this text, it says that the Levites led Israel in the worship of God. In the law, God had commanded that a certain tribe should lead the worship of Israel, the tribe of Levi. Within the tribe of Levi, the priests came from the lineage of Aaron who also led specific acts of worship at the temple. Levites were given commands on how to keep themselves holy in order to approach the Lord and lead in worship (Lev 10). They were commanded to be holy and to lead the people in holiness. If the Levites were not holy, it would have drawn the people away from God instead of towards him. It is the same for our spiritual leaders.
Scripture teaches that leaders cannot positively affect people without having holy lives. Remember what Paul said to Timothy: “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers” (1 Timothy 4:16). If leaders don’t have a right life and right doctrine, they will not save the hearers; they will, in fact, destroy them. Acceptable worship includes righteous leaders.
In fact, the requirements for leaders in the New Testament have nothing to do with race, ethnicity or tribe; the requirements are primarily righteous character traits. Take a look at the requirements for an overseer in 1 Timothy 3:1-3:
Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.
The qualifications for an overseer are primarily character traits—they are to be above reproach, the husband of one wife (a one-woman man), self-controlled, hospitable (a lover of strangers), etc. They are to be people with godly character. Other than the requirements of them being male and apt to teach, the other requirements are all character traits. Therefore, worship must be led by godly leaders.
When God called someone to write the hymnal of Israel—the Psalms—he called a godly leader named David. Acceptable worship is led by godly leaders. We can have little to no doubt that the Levites leading the worship of Israel wListen to what James 5:16 says: “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”
While encouraging the church to bring their sick to the elders for prayer, James said, “the prayer of the righteous man is powerful and effective.” When a righteous man or woman prays, the power of God moves.
Similarly, when the leadership of the church is ungodly and unrighteous, then it removes the power and blessing of God. We saw this with Israel while Christ was on the earth. The spiritual leaders of Israel, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, were ungodly. Consequently, they led the people away from God with both their teachings and their actions. Ultimately, this brought the judgment of God.
In the Old Testament, God often rebuked the spiritual leaders of Israel for their corruption and leading Israel astray. Listen to what he said through Jeremiah:
“From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. ‘Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace. Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when I punish them,” says the LORD.
Jeremiah 6:13 -15
Jeremiah said the prophets and the priests both practiced sin and that God was going to judge both them and the people. They were still worshiping God, but their worship was not acceptable. The leaders were leading them into sin. A characteristic of acceptable worship is having godly leaders.
Jesus said, “It is enough for the student to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master” (Matthew 10:25). It is our leaders who set the ceiling for our development. If a leader is ungodly, then he will hinder the worship and development of a congregation. But, when a leader is righteous and growing, he sets the standard for the congregation’s development.
A characteristic of acceptable worship is the leadership of godly leaders. When the church is under God’s judgment, you will typically find ungodly people in leadership. Isaiah 3:1-7 describes how, when God judges a people, he removes godly leaders and gives them the leaders they deserve. Consider what it says:
See now, the Lord, the LORD Almighty, is about to take from Jerusalem and Judah both supply and support: all supplies of food and all supplies of water, the hero and warrior, the judge and prophet, the soothsayer and elder, the captain of fifty and man of rank, the counselor, skilled craftsman and clever enchanter. I will make boys their officials; mere children will govern them. People will oppress each other—man against man, neighbor against neighbor. The young will rise up against the old, the base against the honorable. A man will seize one of his brothers at his father’s home, and say, “You have a cloak, you be our leader; take charge of this heap of ruins!” But in that day he will cry out, “I have no remedy. I have no food or clothing in my house; do not make me the leader of the people.”
Isaiah 3:1-7
Godly leadership is an important aspect of worship and receiving God’s blessing. In this text, the Levites, those chosen by God to prepare themselves uniquely for worship, were called to lead the people in praising God. Similarly, the leadership of the church should be people of character in order to receive and dispense the blessing of God.
This is a reminder for us, as leaders, to cultivate holy lives so we can lead people in righteousness and not bring God’s judgment. But also, it is a reminder for us to help raise up other godly leaders so that people can be led into true worship.
Application Question: In what ways have you seen the leadership of a church or ministry affect its worship either negatively or positively?
ere godly as well.
Conclusion
As we look at Israel and the continual revival happening in the nation, we learn a lot about worship that pleases God. What are aspects of acceptable worship, worship that our God seeks and desires? How can we as leaders, lead our people into acceptable worship?
- Acceptable worship includes preparation. We need to prepare our spiritual sacrifices so that they may be received by God.
- Acceptable worship includes confession. Sin will hinder our worship, and therefore, we must continually confess before God.
- Acceptable worship includes hearing and responding to the Word of God. God blesses those who hear and do his Word.
- Acceptable worship includes righteous leaders. Leadership affects our worship. Our leaders must be godly.
- Acceptable worship includes God-centered prayer. Selfish prayers are not acceptable to God (cf. James 4:3). Prayer is primarily to honor God and to get his will done on the earth.
Application Question: In what ways is God challenging you to offer worship that is acceptable to him?