YOU ARE ESSENTIAL FOR WORSHIP
1 Cor 3:16-17
The churches ultimate priority is our call to worship. David
said, “Give unto
the LORD, O you mighty ones, Give unto the LORD glory and strength. Give unto
the LORD the glory due to His name; Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.
The voice of the LORD is over the waters; The God of glory thunders; The LORD
is over many waters. The voice of the LORD is powerful; The voice of the LORD
is full of majesty. The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars, Yes, the LORD splinters
the cedars of Lebanon. He makes them also skip like a calf, Lebanon and Sirion
like a young wild ox. The voice of the LORD divides the flames of fire. The
voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness; The LORD shakes the Wilderness of
Kadesh. The voice of the LORD makes the deer give birth, And strips the forests
bare; And in His temple everyone says, "Glory!" The LORD sat
enthroned at the Flood, And the LORD sits as King forever. The LORD will give
strength to His people; The LORD will bless His people with peace.” Psalm
29:1-11
The more you know God, the
greater your
ability is to worship God
We know this is true as you study Holy Scripture, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! "For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?" "Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?" For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen” Rom 11:33-36. What we learn about God is to always motivate us to authentic worship. The knowledge of God through His Word warms our heart with affections for Him and His sustaining grace in our lives.
This produces in us a deeper
worship of Him.
Our worship is never to be superficial, but an upward praise from the depths of our hearts to the Heavenly realm where He is seated. Why? This leads me to our text of Scripture this morning. Turn in your bibles as we will be looking specifically at 1 Cor 3:16-17…But we need some context to what is happening here. The Christian life isn’t easy because all of us are faced with two problems.
The
world’s influence
The
fleshes influence
One is an eternal problem, where the other is an internal problem. The cause of division in the church was more than a worldly one; it also had internal fleshly influences. The Corinthian church had succumbed to the pressures of this world, but they were also succumbing to the pressures of their own flesh. We sometimes associate worldliness and the flesh…. with drinking and dancing in the church but it goes much deeper than that. Because we can be easily influenced by the world that our own fleshly desires become what we believe to be true. What do I mean? John MacArthur explains it this way “It is buying the world’s philosophies, buying human wisdom. It is looking to the world, to human leaders, to influential and popular people, to neighbors, associates, and fellow students for our standards, attitude, and meaning. Worldliness is accepting the world’s definition; the world’s measuring sticks, the world goals.” And Paul had to gently rebuke them all because of these two influences the world and their fleshly desires. (v1-v3). The Corinthian church really struggled with these two influences and we need to be careful ourselves as we are faced with so many decisions and distractions in today’s aggressive world. Have you forgotten? Its’ not about you, and me, to why we are here in the first place and everything we do is for His glory and our growing in grace. (v4-v15)
“Let me remind you” Paul gently says, to the church as he explains the verses that follow for those who are truly in Christ to remember why they are here. “Do you not know that you are a temple of God?” The noun Paul uses for “You” is referring to “plural not singular”. We see this “you temple” in Peter’s response to the believers in his first epistle. “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 2:2-5
We also see the same language used in in Paul’s second letter to this church. “We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians; our heart is wide open. You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections. In return (I speak as to children) widen your hearts also. Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, "I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty." 2 Cor 6:11-18
What Paul is saying is, “You are a community of saints as God’s dwelling place.” The church is a unique dwelling place. Paul says to the Corinthian church, For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, "I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty." 2 Cor 6:16-18
This means that God moves in the midst of the community of saints.
This is why the church is
unique, yet ordinary.
Peter said, “You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house,….” 1 Peter 2:5. We are living stones in God’s temple and when we come together we produce or constitute a place of worship. The church is not a building made with stones it’s a building made up of living flesh. This is why Jesus said what He said to the woman at the well. “The woman said to him, "Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship." Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." John 4:19-24. Our worship is only genuine when we come together in spirit and in truth. Our worship is not about the building or the pews or the name on the wall outside. Our worship is about a Living God who has sustained us and separated us to a worship that is acceptable in His sight.
A more acceptable worship…. than the worship the Jews tried to fabricate in the Old Testament. The temple we worship in is a temple that God blesses with His wonderful presence through the covenant in His Son’s blood. Understand! In The Old Testament, everything they did was to be symbolic to what Christ was going to do. And that was to free men and woman from the bondage of death and destruction. The Temple in the Old Testament was to stimulate the people to worship as a way of life. Our worship is genuine when we come together to constitute a place of worship where God is present and at home with us. All believers are linked together as fellow citizens in the Kingdom of Light. All who are in Christ belong and are a part of the household of God. John MacArthur wrote, “The visible, living assembly of the redeemed saints becomes the grand, spiritual temple of God.” We are a temple, fitted together and growing, the dwelling place of God through the Spirit. We are a temple that is built upon the teachings of Scripture.
Do you realize how essential
it is to why
we worship together?
A Christian can worship Him….. at the beach, the cottage down at the lake, driving down the road, sitting under a tree, walking in the woods, sitting in the living room or anywhere under any kind of circumstances or conditions. The sphere of worship is unlimited. I’m not denying or saying…. you can’t worship on your own, and you should in the car, walks, as a family, privately at work or wherever. But God has called us according to Paul “a temple” when we gather together every Lord’s Day.
Worship is a fabric of the human life the call to worship God through God’s Word. The response by faith and obedience, love and devotion towards God and one another. The Fellowship meal, union and communion with our great God and King. For heaven Jesus conducts the worship of Heaven and from there He purifies the worship of His church on earth. What do I mean? The Hebrew writer reminded who is over the church. “Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.” Heb 8:1-2. In Hebrews 12:28-29 says, “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire.” The reason the world has not been consumed by His wrath is because of the gospel though the means of His church.
His temple… who worships Him as a vocal example of His grace and mercy towards repenting sinners. You, as a temple, are vital for our increase as we grow and mature together. If you and I treat worship and the truth that is before us this morning for self-seeking blessings. You and I have missed the point of worship, and why our assembly is so precious and important together. If we are to maintain a consistent lifestyle of continues worship; we need to fellowship and encouragement of one another. Our corporate worship feed each other to strengthen this temple that God blesses. We do not come together for a few songs; like were watching or participation as if we are attending our children’s assembly night at school. We are not coming together to hear Mike speak for 45 minutes either.
Our gathering for worship is
an exercise
in covenant renewal.
A weekly celebration that reminds us of His death and resurrection and the glorious victory we have over this world in Christ. Through songs that remind us of His character and attributes. Though the reading of His Word that reminds of His grace and mercy. Through the preaching of His word as if God is speaking to you through your pastor. As Paul said to Timothy, “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.” 1 Tim 4:13. Through prayer and fellowship as we assemble together because “You” are a temple that God desires though Christ.
Our weekly gathering is a foretaste
of the heavenly banquet
that we will be doing for eternity.
“You” worship is essential to our fellowship, because we are a temple together for His glory and for our essential worship as we assemble together. As Paul said in 1 Cor 11:18, “When you come together as a church” Indicates this is a unique time when Christians gathered together. Just as we are not to forsake assembling together, because there is no assemble apart from the temple.
Temple that is made of flesh and bone not brick and mortar. We come as David did, with a heart that overflows, “boils over” with a tongue that cannot be contained because of His righteousness. “My heart is overflowing with a good theme; I recite my composition concerning the King; My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.” Psalm 45:1
What does genuine worship
look like that
displays the temple of God?
How should we approach worship together that is purely directed towards God alone so that we don’t become influenced by the world and the flesh? There was a preacher who was forced into retirement because years of preaching had caused his voice to crack. This old time preacher was invited to an event with a group of high-society people by a close friend for lunch. The person heading up the luncheon requested a famous actor to recite something for the guests. So he asked “Does anyone have a specific request?” The old time preacher said “How about the 23rd Psalm?” The actor replied, “That’s unusual request, but I know it. I’ll do it on one condition, though: you recite it after me.” The old pastor hadn’t bargained for that, but for the sake of the Lord, he agreed. The actor stood and recited the 23rd Psalm with the tone of his lyrical voice. When he finished everyone applauded. The old time preacher then stood up and went through the psalm in his humble way with a crackling voice.
When he was done, there was
not
a dry eye in the room.
Sensing the emotion of the moment the actor stood up and said, “You clapped for me, but you wept for him. The difference is obvious: I know the psalm, but he knows the Shepherd.” This is what a temple demonstrates to the lost and confused world. This is what separates the true believer from the ones who worship from an external operation. If there any one thing a church must be, it is an assembly of people who know the Shepherd.
Anything less is not a church.
Look what Paul says in (v17) “If anyone destroys God temple, God will destroy him.” Paul is pointing to those devoid of Spirit; they are purposely ruining, corrupting and destroying the church. They influence the members as they model their worldly ways. This is why Paul says what He says in the opening of this chapter. The church is God’s temple and those who seek to destroy her with bad doctrine or humanism is in great danger. WHY? The “You are the temple of God” are holy, because He is holy. You are that people….. set apart, to assemble together because He is holy to the highest superlative. “Holy, Holy, Holy”
The temple belongs not to
Satan
but to God, Himself.
There is no other temple than the church of Jesus Christ, where the Godhead is pleased to dwell. Paul already reminded them of this truth. “Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. "For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.” 1 Cor 2:12-16. As the seventeenth century confession of faith states, “The church has existed from the beginning of the world and will last until the end.”
This is why “You” are important and nothing should get in the way of that. Nothing! The visible living assembly of the redeemed saints becomes the grand, spiritual temple of God. A very special temple Paul said, “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” Eph 2:19-22. The NKJV says “in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, (v21)
The local church is linked together as fellow citizens in the kingdom of Light. The local church is a family linked by a common citizenship and common life. The local church is described as a “temple”, fitted together to be a dwelling place of God through the Spirit. “You” plural…. are the “temple of God” offering to Him spiritual sacrifice in a way not possible anywhere other than in the assembly of the redeemed church. As Paul said “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Rom 12:1-2
This is what “You” mean in this passage. I can’t be me without you! I can’t be a temple without you. That’s why Church is essential
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