Peter Tan-Chi - Authentic Worship
Greetings in the wonderful name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. How are you feeling today? I'm sure all of you by now know that the lockdown has started and we will be completely locked down in Metro Manila. For many of us, our emotional life is like a rollercoaster, up and down. It's like a yo-yo, sometimes you're up, sometimes you're down. Why is it like that? Can I tell you why? You may not realize this: because you always think the world revolves around you. It's not about you. You need to understand. If you are self-centered, always thinking of yourself, what's going to happen? If people don't treat you properly, you feel bad. You want to control. You want to make sure things will happen based on what you want. If circumstances are not what you believe it should be, you are down.
That's the problem of a life that is self-centered. Our new series for this month, it's called Turn to your neighbor, tell your neighbor: it's not about you. If it is not about you, then what is it about? If it's not about you, if it's not about me, Today, I will start this series with Authentic Worship. Many Christians do not really know what is authentic worship. You know why? Because it's about themselves. They go to church. And in their mind, "What can I get out of it"? They want to feel good. Their worship is shallow. Nothing wrong if you enjoy the music. Praise God! But if you go to worship God with that idea, you want to entertain through music, my friend, you have to examine yourself. Praise God if you enjoy the message, but worship is more than just listening to the message.
Real, authentic worship begins from the heart. It's all about God. You want to listen to God's word. Why? Because you want to honor Him. You want to obey Him. Authentic worship is really God-centered. How do you define worship? Implication: the more you know God, the more you know who He is, the better you can worship Him. Because it is about our response to who God is, what He has done, and what He continues to do. I'm going to share with you Psalm 96, because Psalm 96 is a beautiful chapter that describes authentic worship. It has three cycles. First, it talks about personal worship. It's a call: sing to the Lord. And then it expands the circle of worship to the community, the nations. And then the last part of Psalm 96 is the universal worship of God. That's one way to look at Psalm 96.
Another way to look at it is it tells you what is worship, why we worship, and how we worship. Those are repeated in Psalm 96. As you see the cycle from personal worship to family worship, community worship to universal worship. I want you to think of three important words: first is praise. It's always pointing to God. You praise God. Second, protection. Authentic worship is given to us by God to protect us from counterfeit gods. And perspective. Why? Because true worship, authentic worship will align your perspective. You learn to pursue God's perspective, you learn to see things from God's perspective.
Let's begin with praise, point number one. Psalm 96. Let's read together. What is worship? Worship is praise. It is pointing us to God. Why? Because worship isn't about you. It's about God. "Sing to the Lord". Three times it's repeated: sing to the Lord, sing to the Lord. Worship is something you do as a way of life, the verbs "sing" is in the present tense. You continue to sing to the Lord. It is a command. It is not an option. We are commanded to sing to the Lord. And lastly, it is plural. God wants us not just to worship Him alone, but for others to join us in worshiping Him. When you worship God, do you really sing to Him? Notice the attitude. It's an attitude of joy. It's an attitude of being happy. You delight. You sing to the Lord.
Another observation: what is worship? "Sing to the Lord a new song". Worship has to be fresh. Notice: "new song". Oftentimes I ask people, "What has God been teaching you lately? Can you tell me? What has God been doing in your life lately"? I'll use the word "lately". Oftentimes, I hear people, the only story they can share is what God did five years ago, 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago. They have no new encounter with God. No, worship should be fresh. You must walk with God so that you can see how God is at work in your life. "Sing to the Lord", notice: "all the earth". Now you're encouraging others to worship with you. "Sing to the Lord, bless His name". Do you notice something? "Bless His name". You want to honor His name. "Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day".
Worship is not just singing! Worship is proclaiming. It is talking about God. "Proclaim good tidings of His salvation", notice: "day to day". Many times people think of worship as a once-a-week event. We confine worship to a Sunday, or for some people we confine worship to a place. We think it's inside a building. Worship is more than that. Worship can include singing, it includes what? Declaring, proclaiming the goodness of God. When you share the Gospel with people, that is worship. How do I worship? Let me share with you what my wife and I usually do. We set aside time, which is usually in the morning, and then I set time to meditate. Worship is also thanking Him, and then we added something new. We wanted to listen to music, especially hymns. Because music will also impact your emotion.
So worship is something you need to do intentionally. You practice daily and above all, true worship is really obedience. I tell God "I'm going to do it because I love You". So all my actions is an act of worship. Notice, verse three tells us: Here is where you have public worship. You are to declare God's glory. The word "glory" means what? Literally it's from the word "weighty", something heavy. You want people to know how great God is. "Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples". Recently, I was having fellowship with a couple, and I asked them, "What has God been doing in your life"? And I praise God for this young couple. God impressed upon this couple to return an idol. The idol was given to him when they got married. But the Lord convicted this couple: "Return the idol to your parents".
Now, do you know how difficult it is to return an idol to your parents? But they wanted to trust God. They believe that it is more glorifying to God if they honor God by being respectful, so they explained to their parents why they're returning the idol. Of course, the parents were so angry. And the parents said, "You will never have babies, because I gave you this idol so that the idol will grant your prayer request; so you will have a baby". Would you believe it? Two months later, the wife got pregnant. Now you have to know their story. For many years, they wanted a baby, but that idol did not do anything. And when they returned the idol, the Lord granted them their prayer request.
What's my point? That is the meaning of worship. It's a fresh encounter. You see how God is at work. I heard a story of the wife. She was in the fashion business. And when this pandemic hit, of course their business was affected. But because of her love for the Lord, she kept serving God. And what did she do? She converted her machineries to make face masks and she used it to donate to CCF, to donate to hospitals. And would you know what happened? They were telling us the story. In God's amazing way, the people that were recipients, the hospitals that were recipients of their goodness decided to order from them. And they told me their business has never been better. That my friend is the meaning: you tell of His glory. Tell people what God has done.
In fact, worship is not just confined to your stories. The Bible tells us you worship God in many ways. 1 Corinthians 10:31 tells us, That is true worship. It's all about Him. You point people to God. It's praising Him in whatever you do. We are now in the Olympic season. The 2020 Olympics is ongoing in Tokyo, Japan. And here's an example of how you can worship God, how you can honor God in every way, in every area of your life. Let me share with you the story of Sydney McLaughlin. Sydney won the gold medal for the 400-meter hurdles. She not only won the gold medal, she broke the world record. But I want you to notice something: how she worshipped God in the midst of her success.
This is what she said: Amazing testimony that is declaring the glory of God. Worship is praise. Everything points to God. It is not confined to just a once-a-week experience. It's not confined to a place. Why do we worship God? Let me tell you why we worship God. Look at Psalm 96:4: The greatest being in the whole universe is none other than God Himself. Why do we worship? Because of who He is, what He has done, what He continues to do, but we worship Him because God is great and He deserves our best; "greatly to be praised. He is to be feared", the word "feared" means what? Reverence. Treat Him with respect. Do not worship God flippantly.
If you notice verse five, it tells us: Authentic worship is pointing us to God, is praising Him, and it protects us from worshiping idols. Then he contrasts, Psalm 96 contrasts the true God with idols. Do you notice, he's now saying you need protection from counterfeit gods. "For all the gods of the people are idols, but the Lord made the heavens", you have a description of who God is: the Creator, the Almighty God, the Creator of heavens and earth versus counterfeit gods. What is God like? "Splendor and majesty are before Him". Here are descriptions of God's greatness: splendor, majesty. These are beautiful descriptions of the greatness of God: strength and beauty; combining God's omnipotence with God's beauty.
You may say, "What are idols"? Idols are anything that takes the place of God in your life. What do you love most? Idols are very subtle. It can be your children. It can be your career. It can even be God's work, but you need to examine your own hearts. If something's taken away from you and you get so angry, be careful, that can be an idol. And the most dangerous idol is yourself. You want people to treat you in a certain way. You want people to act in a certain way, and if they don't do what you want to do, in your mind they're wrong. And you get so angry. And that my friend is a symptom that your idol is yourself. You want people to please you.
You want to please yourself, and you are not focusing on God who alone deserves our worship, who along deserves our obedience, our trust. Something that is good can become an idol. It can be family. It can be career. It can even be ministry, it can be marriage, it can be children! And most of us don't realize we are no longer worshiping God. We are no longer putting God first. Why? Because we have idols. Some of you, your idols are your children. You overprotect them. I'm reminded of this wife. She wanted to have a baby. She has been praying for a long time to have a baby. She was telling herself, "If only I can have a child, I'll be the happiest person".
God granted her a baby girl, and she was so excited. She began to pour her energy in raising up this baby girl. She protected, she provided, she guided. This girl became the central focus of her life. Guess what happened? Without realizing it, that girl has become her idol. When this young girl became a teenager as she grew up, she decided to leave home. Why did she leave home? Because she felt she was being strangled by her mom, her mom's over-controlling manner, her mom's desire to make her into the kind of person she wanted to be. You see, you will know something's an idol when it becomes the most important thing in your life. How do you know something has become the most important thing? What makes you angry?
If you're afraid to lose something, if you're afraid that that thing will be taken away from you, that thing has become your idol. And an idol has a way of controlling us. You see anything that you want to control will eventually control you. For some people, it is the approval of your friends, validation from social media. You are now being controlled by the opinion of people. You want to be popular. Can I share with you how difficult life would become? You are now controlled by others, what they think about you. Friends, the worship of God and God alone will protect us. That's why this topic is so crucial. It's not about you. It's about God. Make God the God of your life. Most important in your life should be to please Him, to worship Him. Be aware of the idols in your life.
Worship is foundational. It is so important. God made us to worship Him. If we don't worship Him, we will worship something else. And when we worship something else, it will affect our Christian life, it will even destroy our own life. And that's why, learn to worship God. I like what A.W. Tozer said, Apparently, what he's saying is authentic worship is an indicator of your spiritual life, an indicator of your spiritual maturity. Let us learn how to worship the Lord. True worship begins when you recognize that you have false idols, you have idols in your heart. You need to surrender your idols to the Lord, confess that sin, and you begin a real relationship with God through Jesus. You need to say, "Lord Jesus, I need You. I need to connect with God the Father through You".
And that my friend is where true worship begins: when you experience the reality of Jesus as your Lord and Savior. I believe this pandemic is God's way of preparing us to understand what true worship is. You begin to realize you can worship God anywhere because it begins from the heart. It is recognizing who God is. It is responding to the reality that He is God. You give Him your praise. You worship God when you tell others. You worship God not just by singing, you worship God by doing. It does not have to do with your body position.
People say, "Should I be standing up? Should I be raising my hand"? Those are secondary. To worship God in spirit and in truth, according to Jesus in John 4, What does it mean? Worship is from the heart. And that's why He warns us: If you read the next verse, you know what it says? You will disregard the word of God. Neglecting the word of God, you hold to the tradition of men. True worship will never compromise the truth about God, the truth about His word. We think if you are sincere, it's good enough. Sincerity will not compensate for truth. Feelings should not take the place of authentic worship. Many people, you go to a church building, you attend worship. Why? You feel good, you love the music, you like the clapping, you like the dancing, praise God! But that is not true worship. True worship will involve the mind, the emotion, and the will, the action.
After worship, how do you live your life? True worship is transformation of the life. Why? You want to honor God, you want to please God. And that, my friend, is why this message is so important. Authentic worship: it's not about you. It's about Him: pleasing Him, living for Him. I like what Tim Keller said: In other words, worship involves the mind, the heart, and the will. Worship: you have to be intentional. Who are we worshiping? God! It involves the heart. It involves the emotion, because of who God is, how precious, how great; it involves your feelings and it involves your will. And that's why the psalmist is saying, "Ascribe to the Lord, ascribe to the Lord, give what is due Him".
Let me share with you the importance of knowing God. You see worship is like a thermometer. A thermometer measures the temperature. Worship is like a spiritual thermometer. It measures your spiritual health. It measures your spiritual life. The more you know God, the more intimate you are with Him, the better is the quality of your worship. I am reminded of the story of a mother who decided to clean the attic. And when she went to the attic, she saw the gift, of her grandmother, it's a beautiful necklace. It's an heirloom: from grandmother to mother and to her. However, it has been gathering dust because they did not wear it. She never saw her mother wearing it. So she decided to have it appraised. When she went to the appraisal company, she noticed something: the man began to use a magnifying glass, the man began to examine the necklace. And she noticed something: the man began to mumble.
The man began to have the following expression: "Wow. Whoa". And his breathing became stronger and stronger as if he was gasping for air, "Wow. Wow". After a while the woman asked her, "Sir, what do you think of this piece of jewelry"? The man said, "This is amazing"! "How much is it worth? A hundred thousand dollars"? The man said, "More, more". "Is it a couple of a hundred thousand dollars"? "More, more". "Is it over a million dollars"? He said, "More, more". "How much"? He said, "Madam, this is priceless. The diamonds, the precious stones, the cut, the technique, this is priceless"! When this woman heard that this piece of jewelry is priceless, how did it impact her life? I guarantee you, she will no longer treat that piece of jewelry as ordinary. It will no longer gather dust in the attic. Why? Because of the value.
And my friend, authentic worship happens when you understand the true value of who God is. That's why the psalmist said in Psalm 96:7, 8: "Ascribe to the Lord glory; ascribe to the Lord glory. Bring an offering, come into His courts". When you use the word, "ascribe; ascribe", worship is really ascribing value. The ultimate value to the Ultimate Being, that is who God is. The truth is this: once you know God, you will never treat Him the same way. There will be worship. There will be respect. There'll be adoration. Do you notice: "bring an offering and come into His courts". Worship always involves giving. Deuteronomy 16:16, 17 tells us, What is this verse saying? Because of who God is, because of what He has done for you, you are acknowledging God owns everything. And because He owns everything, you offer to Him. The truth is this: giving to God is a privilege.
I praise God for many CCFers. In spite of the lockdown, by the grace of God, the giving has continued. You know why? Because you are giving from the heart. But the best kind of worship, if you look at the Bible, is found in Romans 12:1. It says the following: There are many ways we worship God. We worship God when we sing to Him. We worship God when you tell others about the Good News. When you share the Bible, that's worshiping God. You worship God when you give. But can I tell you? One of the best ways to worship God: "present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice". You are to offer, offer your bodies. Do you notice? Some of us have not understood what worship is. True worship is giving your life, your all to God. "Living, holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship".
That's how you worship God! Because of who God is, God deserves your best. And what's your best? Your life, your entire being. Friends, have you dedicated your entire life to the Lord? Do you notice the description? Living and holy sacrifice. The word "living and holy" is a contrast from the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, when they offer an animal sacrifice, it's dead. In the New Testament, our worship of God is to offer our own lives. Living holy, dedicated to God. Friends, have you given your life to the Lord? That is authentic worship. True worship will align our perspective. What do we mean? Look at Psalm 96:9-10: This verse is telling us, it's telling me that when you worship God, you have to realize worship has to do with how we live. In the Old Testament, the priests will wear an outer garment. It's white.
But real worship is more than just putting on an outer garment. It's really a way of life. It is recognizing the Lord is king. Your perspective should be worship is ascribing to God for who He is. Therefore, who is God? Do you notice? The Lord is king in verse 10. Notice in verse 10, He's not only king, "He will judge the peoples with equity". Wow! Look at the expansion of what you need to understand. He's now inviting the entire universe, the heavens, the earth, the sea. Look at verse 12: Do you notice? Worship is now being expanded: the whole universe, the heavens, the earth, the sea, the trees, the plants, everybody! And the attitude is joy, rejoicing, be glad. Why?
Look at this perspective: My friend, this is the meaning of what true worship is: for who He is, what He has done, and what He will do. This is future tense. We are now worshiping God for what He will do in the future. It's called faith in God's promises. The Lord is coming again, you worship Him. He is coming to judge. This is future tense. He promised He will come. "He will judge the world in righteousness; the peoples in His faithfulness". Friends, worship will expand your spiritual eyes. Worship will remind us that we are not to judge God based on what's happening now. Because the truth is this: worship will expand your horizon. It tells you what's going to happen in the future, and what's going to happen in the future? God is coming again. He's going to judge. He will judge the world in righteousness, the peoples in His faithfulness.
What do I mean? Let me give you a closing example of how a man was so discouraged. This is found in Psalm 73, because he could not understand how come a good God would allow the wicked to prosper. There are many people today who probably identify with this man. In Psalm 73, this is what he said: He is saying, "Lord, I don't understand you. How come the wicked are prospering? How come they seem to be at ease"? I'm sure many of you feel the same way at times. You see politicians, you see people. I'm not saying all politicians are bad, but I'm saying the truth is there are people who take advantage of their power, they take advantage of their position and they've accumulated so much wealth. And then this man is feeling sorry for himself. He said... You know what he's saying?
"I'm feeling sorry for myself. I've been following God, yet I'm not blessed. I struggle with finance, but look at my neighbor. They don't follow God. They are so blessed. Lord, that's not fair". What was the turning point of this man's life? When he was feeling sorry for himself, notice what he said in verse 16: What was the turning point in his life? He said, "I was so troubled. I pondered to understand this, I couldn't understand why the wicked are prospering and why the righteous oftentimes suffer". Then he arrived at a turning point in his life. How? "Until I came in the sanctuary of God", you see, there is something about worship.
As I've said before, worship doesn't have to be in a particular place, but oftentimes there is something about entering the sanctuary of God. There is something about corporate worship. "Until I came into the sanctuary of God; then I perceived their end". His perspective was changed. How was it changed? This is what he said. He discovered in verse 18: He's saying, "Lord, I now understand there will be a day of judgment, and the judgment will be fast and they will be destroyed". His perspective changed. And he began to realize the truth. And what is the truth? Look at verse 23, he said, "Lord, these are my blessings". Worship will open your eyes, it changes your perspective. Look at what he says. He's now realizing the reality of God's presence. He said, "I'm always with You. In the midst of pain, in the midst of suffering, in the midst of injustice, it's okay. You know why? I am with You. You're holding my right hand".
Look at verse 24. Here is an amazing perspective: that his future is glorious. His eternity is secure. And then look at his conclusion: In other words, he's saying, "Lord, You are my most precious possession". When he began to worship God, he realized the ultimate value, the most precious possession is God Himself. That my friend is true worship: when you begin to realize the ultimate value of life is not the blessings of God. The ultimate value of worship is experiencing intimacy with God; it's God Himself. You see many times we are so busy. We're busy with activities, we fail to slow down and worship God.
When you worship God, you meditate on who God is, His presence. Worship is really involving, is engaging the mind, God's word, who God is (that's truth), spirit (from the heart), and above all, you experience His presence. When you engage your entire being, you'll notice something: you can quietly experience God's presence without doing anything. Just meditate, learn to appreciate the beauty of God's presence. And that only happens when you take time to worship the Lord. So worshiping God may involve singing, worshiping God may involve telling people about the greatness of God, which you will learn: every time we evangelize people, you are declaring the good news, that's worship. Whatever you do for God, it can be business activities, that's worship.
When you dedicate your life, your entire being to God, whatever you do, do it for God, that is worship. You can be a mother. You can be a student. You can worship God in your daily activities because you do it for Him, you are conscious, that is worship. And above all, oftentimes, worship can just be silence in His presence. And that is what Psalm 73 talks about. My prayer is that you will grow in your worship. You see worship is not just a thermometer. Worship is a thermostat. It will help you recalibrate your mindset. It will help you grow in your spiritual life. You know why? As you focus on God, as you study God's word, it impacts your spiritual life. Just like the psalmist. He was discouraged. He felt like giving up and then he entered the presence of God. He worshiped God, and the Lord open his eyes.
You and I need to have our eyes opened. You and I need to have our perspective transformed, and that can only happen when you worship God. Your perspectives are changed. Worshiping God is exercising faith: faith in His promises, faith in what He will do in the future. Psalm 96 closes with a future declaration. It's faith: This is solemn truth. Today, many people are hurting. Why? Because the reality is many times there is no fairness. There is no justice. That's reality. Today, people are abused. People are taken advantage of. But the good news is this: why do you worship God? Because you are reminded that someday wrongs will be made right. Injustice will be corrected. The righteous will be rewarded and the guilty punished. In the meantime, you have to keep on worshiping God, trusting Him.
When you worship God, your eyes are opened. You begin to see your horizon is no longer temporal. Your horizon begins to be eternal. You don't sweat over small stuff. You're able to forgive. You're able to love. You are able to think things differently. You know why? Because the temporal is now clearly understood compared to the eternal. Friends, how's your worship today? I pray that as we begin our new series on "It's Not About You", it's about Him. And how do you focus on Him? It's practicing learning to live a life of authentic worship. Today, most Christians are not discipled to worship God properly. Why? Our worship is shallow, it's feel-good. You go to a worship service, it's about feeling it's about getting.
But true worship, authentic worship is much deeper. It is ascribing to God who He is. It's living a life that's pleasing to Him. It's giving thanks to him. In spite of. You know why? Because of worship will transform your life. It changes your perspective. It protects you from counterfeit gods. And above all, it will point you to Jesus, you will praise Him, a life that brings honor and glory to the Lord. Worship begins when you dedicate your entire being to the Lord. That's the real first step. When you say, "I will have no other gods before me. You and You alone will be my God. You and You alone will I worship".
Have you committed your life to the Lordship of Jesus? The first step is to surrender your idols. I don't know what are the idols of your heart. It can be yourself. Wanting to control. It's all about you. Or it can be a family member. You put so much value in a particular person, your joy, your happiness, all your fears are all tied up to the wellbeing of that person. My friend, that is guaranteed to fail you, because idols are doomed to disappoint us. But only the true worship of God will protect you from the rollercoaster of life. The worship of God will protect us from a yo-yo spiritual experience. The worship of God will deliver you from self-centeredness. But step one: confess your idols. Let's pray:
Lord Jesus, I surrender my all. I want to acknowledge You and You alone as my Lord. You are my God. I worship You and worship You alone. May You be the most important person in my life. May You be my greatest love. Thank You for the blessing, but I pray I will not worship the blessing, but I'll worship You and You alone. Thank you, Jesus, for being my Lord, for being my Savior. Thank you, Jesus, for loving me. I come before You as my Lord and Savior. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.