Ten Most Wanted

THE WORSHIPER

In this study we will set sail from common waters to some uncharted waters in the Christians life.
The waters will become deeper from ankle deep to neck deep.
I hope you will consider them and become familiar with these waters in your life time as soon as possible.
From studying the Scriptures it is evident that God’s best men are those with Biblical attributes; Christ-like character; Spirit filled men.
Last week we saw one of God’s Top Ten Men, The Faithful Man.
The “faithful man” may not have had an unblemished record as was the case with King David, Peter or John Mark.
Their youth may have been tainted with activities unbecoming to a believer like Jacob or Gideon.
But, they became faithful as they matured and remained faithful to the Lord till their last days. Become one of God’s “Top Ten.” be faithful.

A second great character trait found among God’s “Ten Most Wanted Men” is the man who knows how to worship the Lord in Spirit and Truth.


** If you are a baseball coach, you look for players with talent of the game. If you are a conductor of an orchestra you look for musicians with talent as well. God is looking for Christians with worshipful hearts.

When our Lord went to Samaria, He stopped by Jacob’s well and there He conversed with a woman.
He reveals to her what true worship is all about.
In John 4:23 we read, “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”

A Christian is a unique being. Whereas most people in the world are body and soul with a human spirit dormant to God or dead to spiritual worship; the Christian’s spirit has been awaken or made alive to spiritual things (Ephesians 2:1).

**True worship of God is not the activity of the flesh without but the adoration of the spirit from within as God’s child meditates on His Word or hears truth proclaimed and then participates in that worship time.

**That doesn’t mean your body and soul isn’t involved. They are very much involved. Your physical body gets you here every service.
Some folks have said, ‘I couldn’t make it Sunday preacher, but I was there in spirit.” I don’t want any spirits flying around the church.
I can’t hear a spirit sing or see a spirit smile. I would much rather have you here in the flesh. If the spirit is singing inside, your body is singing outside.
Your soul which is your mind will and emotions need to be stirred by God’s Spirit.
Your spirit is that part of you that is fed spiritual water, manna or meat from God’s word, which ever you can handle in a worship service.

In the introduction let me give you three thoughts to begin:
1 – If we worship God in spirit then our spirit must be cleansed and our sins confessed. Why? Because God is holy! That is ankle deep water. You cannot worship God with sin in your life. It is just impossible.
Psalms 99:9 Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at his holy hill; for the LORD our God is holy.
Understand something for interesting about true worship.
Worship doesn’t take place in a pew or a church, though you should be faithful to God’s church. Worship takes place in your heart.

I Corinthians 3: 17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
2 – If we worship God in spirit, we will find the worship service very quite at time, for we are allowing God’s spirit to be just what He is.
He is a surgeon. Hebrews 4: 12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
3 – True worship is a very intimate relationship a person has with Jesus Christ.
If under the preaching of God’s word, God’s Spirit speaks to you to make things right or to confess sin or to dedicate more of your time and self to God, that is between you and Jesus, not you and the preacher.

Worship is adoration, devotion and respect that we give to the Lord, but it is more.
Worship is witnessed by others by the love, joy and adulation seen in our face and it heard in our voice as we speak our Lord’s name.
Worship is witnessed by our family, our children and our friends as we honor the Lord’s house and imitate His person.
Worship is witnessed a man’s loyalty and commitment to Christ and His Church.
***Do you get more joy out of a ballgame than singing and praising the Lord? If you weigh out a little deeper into some uncharted waters, the things of God would bring you greater joy.

How does a believer in Christ become a worshiper of Christ.

To make worship as simple as possible let’s break it into three parts:
I - First, we must Behold Him
II - Second, we must Bow before Him
III - Third, we must Bless Him.

I - “Behold Him.”
Over 1300 times the word “Behold” is used in the Scriptures.
Look at three examples only:
1 - Look at John 1:29. “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
John the Baptist was touched by Jesus before he was born.
The very name of Christ caused John to get excited when he was in his mother’s womb.
When John became an adult, he was “the man!”
He was the one Israel looked to and revered as the prophet of God. But, when Jesus came along, John said, I must decrease and he must increase.
A true worshiper lifts up Christ while he becomes less and less. But as he becomes less and less, in God’s eyes he becomes more and more.
John told his followers to now follow Christ.

Notice the words, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world.” Think about what Jesus did for you.
Behold Him. Take a deeper look at his life and read His Word.
**Worship comes from knowing Christ’s life in detail. “Behold Him!”

2 - Look at Mark 16:6. The angel appeared to the women at the tomb on resurrection morning. When the women saw the stone rolled away and the body of Christ gone, as read, “And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.
The angel was saying examine yourself and realize that He is risen.
He is alive. He lives forever like He was saying...
** Worship comes from understanding what the resurrection means.
It means to the believer, 1) Your sins are gone. 2) Your savior lives. 3) He is your intercessor today. 4) He loves you. 5) He is watching over you. 6) He will give you grace day by day. 7) One day he will take you home. 8) You’re divinely complete.

3) Look at Luke 24:39. Thomas doubted that Jesus had risen from the dead though all the disciples testified to Thomas that they had seen the Lord. A week later Jesus appeared to Thomas and said in Luke 24:39, “Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.”
True worship is hands on. It is not hearing from another what worship is about. It is you individually beholding Him.
It is you seeing Him for who he is and falling in love with Him.
It is you considering His words and deciding what to do as you worship Him in your heart.
**Worship comes from a personal relationship with the Lord.

The worship that makes a difference in our lives and others takes place during the week.
Then gathering at God’s Church becomes more precious.
Singing songs and giving praises to Jesus Christ becomes very enjoyable to a worshiper.

To those who Behold Him, their lives changed.
Then, their life will change those around him.
--Spending time alone with Jesus will make you a discoverer.
…He is the most awesome person in all the world.
... He loves you more than your very best friend.
…He wants the best for you in time and eternity for you.
…Drawing near to him will not hurt you but help you greatly.
…He is more striking than a falling star..
--You will discover:
…He is more radiant than a crimson sunrise…
…He is more serene than a gentle breeze blowing over a Kansas wheat field.
…He is more amazing than the snow capped peaks of Mt. Everest…
…He is more peaceful than the fragrance after the rain.
…He is more fragrant than a bouquet of roses.
…And He is more precious that a new born baby.
In I Chronicles 16:29 David was having a worship service and said, “Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.”

II – BOW BEFORE HIM. Psalms 95:1-10
95:1 O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.
3 For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.
5 The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.
6 O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.
7 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,
8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
To “bow” before our Lord is to humble ourselves before Him.
It is when we yield our will to Him.
It is when we give to Him all of our rights to our lives.
Let me give you an illustration of Worship:
How many of you fish? When you go fishing, do you wait till the morning you are to leave at 5:00 to gather you tackle, your fishing poles, pack your bags, gas up your truck and prepare for the trip? No!
A good fisherman will be thinking about the trip for weeks.
He will think and plan and prepare for his trip so when he leaves the next morning everything is ready to go.
The same is true with a hunter, a boater or a musician.

In the same way there is planning and preparation and participation for the true worshipper.
If we don’t plan and prepare for Sunday worship there will be little participation on our part.
Just as a prepared fisherman enjoys a good day of fishing, the man that plans and prepares for worship will enjoy a day of worship with the Lord.

May I encourage you either Saturday night to spend time in the scriptures and praying for a good service on Sunday or else get up thirty minutes early on Sunday morning, which means go to bed earlier on Saturday night and give yourself to the worship of the Lord before you get to Gods’ house on Sunday morning.
What will happen?
In time as you behold Him and bow or yield your life to Him, Heaven will come down and glory will fill your soul.

III – BLESS THE LORD
In the Bible we see a picture of one who beheld the Lord and bowed before Him. Then he blessed the Lord.
At first, this man did not know God.
-He was on a road in life that would eventually end up in Hell.
-He lived in what is known today as modern day, Iraq.
-He may have worshiped the moon god Allah.

But, God revealed Himself to Him and this man beheld God and gave His life to God.

Today we would use the term in the New Testament, “God saved Him. That man was Abraham.” Genesis 12:1

God was very, very good to Abraham. Genesis 13:1-2
As Abraham walked God’s way – he made many mistakes.
But, God delivered Abraham time and time again.

One of the great desires of a Jewish man and woman was to have a Baby, but Sarah; Abraham’s wife was barren.

As Abraham walked with God, God told Abraham, I am going to give you a son. I am going to make you a great nation.
From that son, your people will cover the earth as the sand of the sea.

And Abraham walked with God. He was 75, Sarah 65…
24 years passed and Abraham and Sarah had no son together.
Abraham was 99 and Sarah was 89.

The angel of the Lord came to Abraham and told him. “This time next year you will have your son.”
Sarah heard the news and laugh. “How can I who am old and long pass child bearing have a son she thought.”

Hey folks, the God who saves our soul from an eternal hell because of his mercy and grace and the work of His Son on Calvary can work miracles any time he desires.

Guess what? A year lady there was a little baby crying in Abraham’s tent, born to his wife, Sarah.
She was 90 and Abraham was 100.

Let me tell you, Abraham loved that kid like a Father, a grandfather and a great grand father.

For seventeen years, Abraham loved Isaac and Isaac loved Dad.
They walked and talked and Abraham taught Isaac about God and His greatness. He taught Isaac God words and all God had done.

They hunted together. They worked together. They learned together. They worshipped together.

Then one day God tells Abraham He is going to show the world what true worship is all about.
Genesis 22:1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.


1 - This worship took Preparation. Genesis 22:3-4
3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.
4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.
Abraham made preparation for this worship service.
-So Abraham got up early in the morning, packed the food and water needed and saddled his ass, took two of his young men and Isaac.
-They traveled for three days before they saw Moriah.

2 - This worship took Plans.
Genesis 22: 5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. What are they going to do? They are going to worship.
6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.
Abraham stopped and told his young men to stay there, that he and his son were going to go and worship God and come back.
Abraham made plans how to fulfill this worship service.

Abraham took the wood and laid it on Isaac’s back and took the knife and fire and they headed towards Mt Moriah.
a. Wood was the altar. We need to bring our altar or worship of God with us if we are to worship God. What does that mean?
If your home was to be warm years ago, you had to go out and cut your own wood. If your worship is cold, you haven’t been splitting enough wood. You haven’t been putting your spiritual back into it.
If you are to worship God, cut your own wood.

b. The knife represents the word of God which is a two-edged sword.
God’s word will do surgery on you. Let me insure you that if you allow God to do the surgery needed on your heart at home, you would never get your toes stepped on at Church.

c. The fire is the Holy Spirit. He will burn away sin and He will purify your life. He will inspire you and fill you with enthusiasm. The very word “Inspiration” in the Bible means to be enthusiastic.

Abraham brought these item with him to the worship service.

3 – This worship took Participation.
They get to the mountain and Isaac speaks, 7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? Did Abraham forget something? No!
8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
As they walked they talked and I am sure Abraham revealed to Isaac what must happen.
For Isaac a 17-year-old to hear, “Son you are God’s sacrifice. You must die,” must have been a blow to him, but he never flinched.
Now we see worship from Abraham and from Isaac.
--Abraham is willing to give God his greatest love, the very best thing in his life. He binds Isaac’s hands and Isaac willingly lets him
--Abraham raises his hands in the air to take his sons life and Isaac says not a word.
His worship and understanding of God is “I will die if that is what God wants.” I will give you my very life.
Then Suddenly the Lord called from heaven.
11 Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
12And 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.
What happened? One out of 10,000 times God may take a life only to give them greater rewards in the resurrection. But 99,999 times out of 1,000 to those who worship, God gives them back every thing they were willing to give and much, much more.

If you ever come to the place where you worship God and you are willing to bless God with your all, you will discover God will bless you the desires of your heart.
Abraham called the place Jehovahjireh.
Jehovahjireh means the “God who provides.”
For God had provided a sacrifice.
God not only gave Isaac back to Abraham but he provided a sacrifice in the place of his son and sent greater blessings.

Have you Beheld Jehovah Jireh?
When you do you will never forget the sacrifice He gave for you!


True Illustration: I read this in the paper a few years ago. A good man who had dated a woman for some time, loved her dearly and desired to marry her.
-He planned an extravagant evening.
-He planned a meal at a fancy restaurant.
-He had the waiter bring a special desert and in the whip cream was placed a beautiful diamond ring.
When she found the ring, the man gave to the woman he loved a precious note that said, I love you. I could spend the rest of my life with you. Will you spend your with me. Will you marry me?
The woman looked at him and said, “I told you, we were only friends.”

Wait! -- A lot of people in churches and out of churches have treated Jesus Christ the same way.
They want to be Jesus’ friend, but they don’t want to commit their lives to him in Salvation. True worship takes commitment.
David Brainerd was an American colonial missionary to the Indians who died at the age of twenty-nine reveals that worship humbles you.
His diary reveals a young man intensely committed to God. Brainerd once said to Jonathan Edwards: “I do not go to heaven to be advanced but to give honor to God.
It is no matter where I shall be stationed in heaven, whether I have a high seat or a low seat there...My heaven is to please God and glorify Him, and give all to Him, and to be wholly devoted to His glory.”
Vance Havner reveals that worship makes you faithful. He said, A wife who is 85% faithful to her husband is not faithful at all. There is no such thing as part-time loyalty to Jesus Christ.
We worship God as we behold his worth or worthiness.
to look God-ward, and to acknowledge in all appropriate ways the value of what we see. The Bible calls this activity "glorifying God" or "giving glory to God," and views it as the ultimate end, and from one point of view, the whole duty of man (Ps. 29:2; 96:6; 1 Cor. 10:31).
Scripture views the glorifying of God as a six-fold activity:
1 - Praising God for all that he is and all his achievements;
2 - Thanking him for his gifts and his goodness to us;
3 - Asking him to meet our own and others' needs;
4 - Offering him our gifts, our service, and ourselves;
5 - Learning of him from his word, read, study, hear preaching, and obeying his voice;
6 - Telling others of his worth, both by public confession and testimony to what he has done for us.
Worship is the submission of all our nature to God.
It is when our conscience is quicken and made alive to His holiness.
It is the nourishment of mind with His truth.
It is the purifying of imagination by seeing His beauty.
It is the opening of our heart to His love.
It is the surrender of our will to His purpose.
Then God’s worshipers come together in adoration and selfless praise to our Lord and our God.