The Word of God preached today at NRN -

Part 3   Delighting in the Word

 



The Word of God is of supreme importance in the life of the Christian, containing as it does God’s revelation of his Person, his will and his ways. The Word needs to be poured over, ingested into one’s mind and heart, meditated on, and acted upon. It is a unique and precious repository of spiritual truth and guidance and encouragement. There is no aspect of the life of the church or of the individual believer that should not be tied to a scriptural mooring and infused with biblical substance:

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.                                   2 Timothy 2:16-17

Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.    Psalm 119:105                                                      

When Christians gather for corporate worship, it is logical that the Word of God should play a central and dominant role. For since worship involves focusing our thoughts and hearts and voices on the praise of God, in response to his self-revelation and his gracious
saving initiative, we of course need
that view of God which the Word gives us if our worship is to be “in Spirit and in truth”. Our worship can only duly honor God if it accurately reflects what he reveals about himself in his Word.

 God’s Word is the AUTHORITHY   for worship.

Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”                 John 4:23-24

As James White puts it, “the first step toward making our worship more biblical is in giving the reading of God’s Word a central role in Christian worship on any occasion”.

John MacArthur has put it, “If we are to worship in truth and the Word of God is truth, we must worship out of our understanding of the Word of God”

Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain? The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart…   Psalm 15:1-2

Worship is a response to God's work, and the Word of God is the means by which he works in the world. God performs great acts by his Word. For example, we know that Jesus simply spoke and seas were calmed (Mark 4:39), fevers were cooled (Luke 4:39), demons were cast out (Mark 1:25), sins were forgiven (Mark 2:10), the blind received their sight (Luke 18:42), the dead were raised (Luke 7:14). God worked by means of his Word!

You make the word of God useless in order to follow your own teachings. You pretenders! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you. He said,   

 “‘These people honor me by what they say.

    But their hearts are far away from me.

     Their worship doesn’t mean anything to me.

  They teach nothing but human rules.’ ”                

(Isaiah 29:13)                                                                                      Matthew 15:6-9

God’s Word is  PROMINENT  in worship.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.                                                                  John 1:1

The Son of God is the Word of God. He is God's communication to the world, God's Word.

God has also chosen to reveal himself not only as the Word but also by the Word. Think back of the first passage we looked at today: 2 Timothy 2:16

"All Scripture is inspired by God." This means that God ordained to speak to us and reveal himself to us and interpret his deeds in history for us by inspiring written words. That's what "scripture" means: writings. All the Scripture - all the writings in the Jewish-Christian canon - are inspired, God-breathed. God’s Word!

No prophecy ever came from what a person wanted to say, but people led by the Holy Spirit spoke words from God.                                          2 Peter 1:21 (NCV)

By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.                                     Hebrews 11:3 (NKJV)

If worship is meant to be a spiritual communion with God and a reverent, loving response to God, then at the heart of worship must be the revelation of God himself, and he has ordained to be known mainly by his Word.

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.                                              Hebrews 4:12 (NKJV)

God’s Word brings about   NEW  BIRTH

Worship depends utterly on the spiritual miracle of the new birth and the ongoing work of reawakening faith. And these miracles God does by the Word.

You have made yourselves pure by obeying the truth. So you have an honest and true love for each other. So love one another deeply, from your hearts. You have been born again by means of the living word of God. His word lasts forever.               1 Peter 1:22-23a

New birth is worked by God through the Word. This means that the life we need to worship authentically comes by the Word. No life, no worship. No Word, no life.  Not only that, the constant reawakening of faith Sunday after Sunday comes by hearing the Word of Christ:

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.                                                                       Romans 10:17 (NKJV)

God does his works in the world by his Word and gives new life by his Word and awakens faith by his Word. Without the Word of God, there would be no life, no faith, no work, no revelation and no worship. The Word of God is to worship as air is to breathing.

Closing: Preach the word. Be ready to serve God in good times and bad. Correct people’s mistakes. Warn them. Encourage them with words of hope. Be very patient as you do these things. Teach them carefully. The time will come when people won’t put up with true teaching. Instead, they will try to satisfy their own desires.                                        2 Timothy 4:2-3a

The Word of God is the AUTHORITHY FOR WORSHIP.  The Word of God is so prominent in worship. It is not a mere work of man. It is a gift and work of the Holy Spirit. And therefore it happens most and best where a people are praying and spiritually prepared for it. The Word of God bring NEW BIRTH – YOU can be born again by the Word of God.

For now, pray for me and pray for yourselves. And let us seek with all our might to become a people who live and worship by the power of the Anointed Word of God.