“Qualities of Authentic Worship”

(Nehemiah 8-10)

INTRO: CANDID CAMERA.

  • It was a simple business trip, so Al took his wife and children with him to enjoy theMiamisun. Monday morning,February 3, 1969, Al and his family left from NewarkAirport on Eastern Airlines Flight 7.
  • One hour later aboard Flight 7, the flight attendant passed Al, walking toward the cockpit. Behind her was a man, one of the passengers. He had a seven-inch knife blade pressed against the flight attendant’s throat.
  • Then, the captain’s voice came over the cabin speakers: “There is a man on board who wants to fly toHavana. We’d better go his way. Don’t worry, everything is O.K.”Silence.
  • Al heaved a sigh. In a calm half-whisper he reassured his wife. The captain was cooperating. Everything would be all right. What happened next took Al completely by surprise. The 90+ skyjacked passengers of Eastern Airlines Flight 7 – began to laugh!
  • Their laughter was so hilarious that the skyjacker leaned out of the cockpit doorway to see why. The passengers applauded. The skyjacker was bewildered and confused. “What are you laughing at?” he demanded.
  • THEY LAUGHED LOUDER. Even after Flight 7 landed inHavana– even after the passengers were safely returned to theUnited States– passengers were still taking the whole detour as a gigantic joke.
  • At the outset of the trip someone aboard had recognized Al and word spread among the passengers.They were convinced that they were being pranked by America’s prankster. That is why the skyjacked passengers laughed all the way toCuba.Because they had recognized, AllenFunt, famed director of Candid Camera.
  • They believed they were on Candid Camera. They were not. It was a real skyjacker. It was a real skyjacking.
  • You are known by the life you live. People make their assessment of your character by the things you do and by the things you say.

CENTRAL TRUTH: Authentic worship can be seen in the lives of those who have chosen to follow God wholeheartedly.

  • NEHEMIAH and EZRA were colleagues – workers together for the purposes of God. NEHEMIAH was the governor – the political leader. EZRA, the older of the two, was a priest and a scribe – the religious leader.
  • EZRA arrived in Jerusalem more or less 13 years before NEHEMIAH. When Ezra arrived, he found the people living in sin. The same was true for Nehemiah. The people had lost their reverence – their awe for God and in doing so, abandoned authentic worship for lives of sin.
  • So Nehemiah, the political leader called the people together in unity to hear the religious leader, Ezra, read the Law to them.

THERE’S A SOUND CURE FOR OUR NATION’S ILLS.

Truth No. 1(Nehemiah 8 – 9:4)

KNOWING GOD THROUGH HIS WORD.

  • Through the reading of God’s Word, the people understood what God demanded of them and they responded with obedience.

While EZRA read the Law before the men and women of Israel, they began to mourn and weep because they understood what God demanded from His people and how they failed in following that Law.

The people saw where they had fallen short and reinitiated the celebration of the Feast of Booths which was a remembrance of their deliverance by God from Egypt.

God’s Word reveals to us the character of God and what He desires from us as His people. God’s Word also shows us where we fall short of God’s desires for us and how to restore true worship. (2 Timothy 3:16)

  • Gaining God’s perspective, the people recognized their sin and confessed it before God.(9:1-4)

Seeing where they stood in their relationship to God, the people made confession of their sin.

As the people encountered God, they encountered His Holiness and His purity. In seeing those qualities, they could see their own sinfulness.

  • As the people grew in their knowledge of God, they chose to worship God.

In the midst of the people becoming acquainted with God through the Law, they saw that He is a God of compassion and mercy. He is the Almighty God who has a purpose for His people.

Praise and adoration lifted the hearts and minds of the people to focus on God. They concentrated on His greatness, His majesty, His mercy, and His power.

This great God desired to have a relationship with His people and that relationship is fueled by authentic worship.

Truth No. 2(Nehemiah 9:5-37)

REMEMBERING WITH GRATITUDE ALL THAT GOD HAS DONE.

  • Throughout the life of these people, God has blessed, disciplined, rescued, and blessed them time and time again.

The majority of CHAPTER 9 is the story of the acts of God on behalf of His people beginning with Abraham until their current day.

They could also see in that story where God disciplined them because of their choice to disobey God.

  • Relating their history reminds them of their need for total dependence upon God.

They could see through the story where God loved them, cared for them, and wanted them to experience His purposes in their lives.

  • Their acts of confession, repentance, praise, and gratitude created in the people a great love for God.

Remembering how good God is to us leads us to move away from sin. Remembering brings us to praise. We learn to love God with our whole hearts because of His great love for us.

Truth No. 3 (Nehemiah 9:38 – 10:39)

COMMITMENT TO OBEDIENCE.

  • After relating all that God had done, the people committed to live in a way that pleased God.

VS. 9:37 tells us that the people were in great distress because they realized that in spite of the great goodness of God, they had chosen to live disobedient lives.

Their great distress led them to make a commitment to live in obedience to God. They wanted to live in ways that pleased God.

Distress often moves people to make promises to follow God with their whole heart, but then things improve and people forget their promises.

  • Their individual choice to obedience soon spread to all the people as they chose to follow God in unity.

In CHAPTER 10, we see various times the use of the plural “WE” (9:38; 10:30, 32, 34-37, 39). This signifies that the people acted in a united way to follow the Lord.

Personal worship spills over into lives of others. When we live in ways that please the Lord, then those around us will surely know it.

Truth No. 4 (Nehemiah 10:39)

CAREFUL ATTENTION TO CORPORATE WORSHIP.

  • Their return to authentic worship created a movement among the people that united them to follow God.

Authentic worship is strengthened by communion with other worshipers. The people knew this to be true. Throughout their history, they had seen its truth.

When the followers of God join together in authentic worship, they are united by the Spirit of God.

  • The people committed to not neglect the house of God, which for them was a commitment to not neglect corporate worship.

Worship joins us together before the Throne of God. Believers united before God are a powerful force. That is why it’s important that we not neglect the worship of God.

CONCLUSION: FAITHFULNESS OF GOD.

  • I’m sure that all of us could tell some story of God’s faithfulness. He has done so much for us.
  • He merits our involvement in the Word of God. He wants to show us more of Himself and that’s what being in the Word will do.
  • He has done so much for us that should inspire in us a great love for Him.
  • All that God has done should spur obedience in us and cause us to join with others in obedient living.
  • Authentic worship has those qualities that reflect a genuine love for God and a desire to serve Him through obedience. Is your worship authentic? Have you lost your awe of God? Return to Him today.