Sermons

The Spirit Enables Worship

Philippians 3:1-3

I grew up thinking that worship meant going to church, and singing songs.  That was it.   Just something I was supposed to do: going to church, and singing songs.  That was worship for me in my early years.

But God powerfully changed that years later, when Jan and I went to visit Jack Hayford’s church – The Church on the Way.  We were there on a Sunday, and people were at church and singing songs – but from looking around we could tell that they were experiencing something very powerful, something deeply satisfying.  From looking at them we could see that they were beholding Jesus, adoring Jesus, worshiping Jesus – and this was profoundly comforting and encouraging and strengthening to them.  And that Sunday showed me that I had not been experiencing worship as God intended it to be – that worship was much more than I had been experiencing. 

So what I want to do this morning is show us what biblical worship can be, and help us grow in experiencing biblical worship. 

Let’s turn to Philippians 3.  If you need a Bible, we’d like to give you one to use, so go ahead and raise your hand and we’ll bring one to you.  Philippians 3 is on page 981 in the Bibles we are passing out. 

The church in Philippi faced a serious problem.  They had started off well, understanding we all have sinned against a holy and righteous God, and that there is nothing we can do to pay for our sins or to earn God’s forgiveness.  But they also understood that in great mercy God sent Jesus.  That Jesus lived the perfectly righteous life we should have lived, and experienced the terrible punishment that we deserve, and that if we will trust Jesus, then all our sins will be punished in Jesus, and Jesus’ perfect righteousness will be given to us – so we will be completely forgiven, we will have the heart-satisfaction of knowing Jesus, and all God’s love and goodness and promises will be true for us forever.  They had started off very well.

But now they faced a serious problem, because some false teachers hade visited this church who taught that Jesus’ death was not enough.  They taught that to be saved we must be circumcised.  Now in the Old Testament every man who trusted God and was saved from his sins was circumcised.  Circumcision did not earn salvation, but it was a sign that you had been saved.  But when Jesus came, that changed, and circumcision was no longer the sign that you were saved.

But imagine how troubling it would have been to hear that to be saved you must be circumcised.  People would be wondering: “Have I been saved?  Have my sins been forgiven?  Maybe God’s wrath against my sin has not been paid by Jesus?  Maybe I’m still facing God’s wrath for my sins?  Should I get circumcised?  Are you going to get circumcised?”  This would have been particularly troubling for the men.

So these false teachers brought all kinds of confusion and doubt into the church.  And here in Philippians 3 Paul deals with this issue – by telling them what does show that someone is saved.  Is it circumcision?  Or something else?  Look at vv.1-3 –

1              Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.

2              Look out for the dogs [the false teachers], look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh [who urge people to get circumcised].

3              For we are the circumcision [In Old Testament Judaism, saved people were called “the circumcision,” so Paul is going to explain who the saved people are: we are the circumcision, we are the saved people] who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—

So who is it that has been saved?  Look again at v.3:

For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—

So with the coming of Jesus, the saved people are not the ones who are circumcised.  The saved people are the ones who worship Jesus.

This makes worship really important.  Imagine that you were looking for work, and went to a job interview for a job you really wanted.  And the interviewer told you that there were 10 other people applying, and that the one who got the job would get an email this afternoon.  How important would checking your email be?  Really important.  More important than it usually is.  Because your email will show you if you got the job.

That’s what Paul is saying here.  It’s really important to know that you’ve been saved.  And the way to know you’ve been saved is by seeing if you worship Jesus.  If you do not worship Jesus, then you have not been saved.  If you do worship Jesus, then you have been saved.  Worshiping Jesus is really important.

So what does it mean to worship Jesus?  In v.3 Paul explains worship with two phrases.

First, it means to glory in Christ Jesus.  Read v.3 again --  

For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus …

So what is glory, and what does it mean to glory in something?  Instead of defining it, let me try to illustrate it.

Imagine driving to Yosemite, coming out of that last tunnel, and right in front of you is the huge, deep valley, with El Capitan on the left, Half Dome at the end of the valley, and the Three Sisters on the right.  Now when you see the valley, you go “whoa.”  Why? 

There’s the fact that it’s real; not a picture.  It’s huge: wide and long and high.  It’s got beautiful colors: the blue of the sky and the green of the trees and the white of the clouds and the blue of the Merced River and the gray of El Capitan and Half Dome.  And it’s unique: there’s no other valley anywhere like Yosemite Valley.

All that combines to make you say “whoa.”  Now what you see when you say “whoa!” is glory.  Glory is majesty and beauty and rarity and value.  And to glory in something means that you feel its glory and express its glory.

But now imagine that as you drive through the tunnel and see Yosemite in front of you, you say to your son sitting in the back seat – “There is it – Yosemite Valley!”  And your son looks up from his computer game, says “cool,” and goes back to playing.  Now there’s nothing wrong with that.  Your son will grow out of it.

But notice that you both saw Yosemite Valley.  But he did not see its glory; he did not feel its glory.  He did not worship.

So worship is not just agreeing to truth about Jesus.  Worship is feeling the glory of Jesus.  Worship is feeling and expressing the glory of Jesus.  Do you feel and express the glory of Jesus?

But that’s not all that worship is.  There is a second crucial part.  Read v.3 again --

For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh …

To put no confidence in the flesh means understanding that there is no ultimate glory in me or you or anyone or anything else.  There’s nothing I can do – like be circumcised, or go to church – that impresses God.  Ultimate glory is only in God as revealed in Jesus.  Not even Yosemite is ultimately glorious – because Jesus made Yosemite.  Only God as revealed in Jesus -- in His perfect righteousness, flawless goodness, overflowing love and mercy – is ultimately glorious, supremely glorious, incomparably glorious.

So worship means feeling and expressing the glory of Jesus, and feeling that only Jesus is ultimately glorious.  So here’s the full definition of worship: worship means feeling and expressing the incomparable glory of Jesus.

Let me give you an example of worship.  Blaise Pascal was a follower of Jesus and a brilliant mathematician who lived in France in the 1600’s.  And after he died someone discovered a little pocket hand-sewn inside a vest that he always wore.  And inside this little pocket there was a piece of paper with writing on it.  It described a powerful experience of worship that Blaise Pascal had years before:

This day of Grace, 1654;

From about half past ten at night, to

About half after midnight,

Fire.

God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob,

Not of the philosophers or the wise.

Security, security.  Feeling, joy, peace.

God of Jesus Christ.

Forgetfulness of the world and of all except God.

He can be found only in the gospel.

Joy, joy, joy tears of joy.

This is eternal life; that they might know Thee

The only true God, and Him whom Thou has sent,

Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ.

I have separated myself from Him;

I have fled, renounced, crucified Him.

May I never be separated from Him.

He maintains Himself in me only in the Gospel.

Renunciation total and sweet.

That’s it.  Worship is feeling and expressing the incomparable glory of Jesus.

But now if you are honest, at this point you should be asking – how is anything like that possible for me?  That’s what we all should be asking at this point. 

Maybe you have never felt anything of the glory of Jesus, and so you feel like that could never happen.  Maybe you are in a total funk this morning, maybe you are bound up in fear of losing your job, or anger at your husband, or guilt at how you yelled at your son, so you’re thinking that could certainly never happen this morning.

But if you think it’s not possible, I’ve got good news.  It’s totally possible, because of what Paul says in v.3.  Let’s read it again:

For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus …

How do we worship?  By the Spirit of God.  Not by ourselves, but by the Spirit of God.

Imagine that before you head to Yosemite Valley you hear that no matter how much fog is there, you will be able to see the valley by the Spirit of God.  That if you will ask the Holy Spirit, and set your eyes towards the valley, he will blow the fog away, and you will be able to see.  You will always be able to see by the Spirit of God. 

But what do we tend to do?  We drive to Yosemite, and come out of that tunnel, and there’s the fog.  So what do we do?  We think – “there’s fog.  We’ll never be able to see.  Look at how thick the fog is!  We could be here all day waiting.”  So you head back home. 

But what should we do?  We should remember what God said – we will be able to see the valley by the Spirit of God.  That if we will ask the Holy Spirit, and set our eyes toward the valley, he will blow the fog away, and we will be able to see.  So even though the fog is really thick, even though we can’t see anyway it will lift -- we do that.  We ask the Holy Spirit to come and blow the fog away, we set our eyes towards the valley – and just as God promised – the wind of the starts to blow, and the fog goes away – and there’s the valley.

See, whenever you gather with two or three other followers of Jesus, the Holy Spirit is there with infinite power ready to help you worship. 

Are you feeling completely unspiritual? He can change your heart so you see and love Jesus. 

Are you weighed down with worry?  He can so show you Jesus love and power and promises that your worry disappears. 

Are you distracted by the Super Bowl?  He can so show you Jesus’ glory that you forget all about the Super Bowl.

Are you burdened with guilt?  He can so show you Jesus’ death on the Cross that the guilt lifts from you.

Are you angry at someone?  He can so show you what you have in Jesus that your anger is removed.

This happened to me last Sunday morning.  I came here feeling pretty scattered and distracted, and I was having a hard time focusing on Jesus.  I wasn’t seeing or feeling much of the glory of Jesus.  But in pre-service prayer we prayed for the outpouring of the Spirit.  And as worship started I was trusting that Jesus would help me, and I was asking for the work of the Spirit.  And I set my heart on the truth of Jesus that was in the songs.  And on about the third or fourth song, suddenly I noticed that I was feeling love for Jesus.  I was feeling heart-satisfaction in Jesus.  I was seeing and feeling and expressing the glory of Jesus.  The Holy Spirit had blown the fog of sin away so I could worship.

So how do we experience this work of the Spirit?  Let me give you five steps.

First, understand that the Holy Spirit is here, ready to help you worship no matter how you feel.

Second, tell Jesus the true state of your heart.  Don’t pretend.  Tell him you are worried about your finances, distracted by your son’s misbehavior, cocky about this last week’s successes.

Third, ask for the work of the Holy Spirit.  Ask earnestly – feeling how much you need Him and what a gift worship will be to you.  Ask persistently – don’t stop until He meets you.

Fourth, set your mind on the truth of Jesus in song and Scripture.  Remember, what the Holy Spirit enables you to do is feel the truth of Jesus.  But He can only do that if you are looking at the truth of Jesus.  So set your mind on the truth of Jesus.

Fifth, continue until worship arises in your heart.