Unacceptable Worship
I.
What is unacceptable worship?
a. The worship of false gods
i. These can be deities of a religious nature
ii. Or they can be supernatural idols
1. Such as gold or silver
2. Power and prestige
3. Self
b. The worship of the true God in the wrong way
i. Worship of the true God is established in Scripture
ii. The manner of worship is equally established
1. One of our examples when it comes to this can be found in Exodus 32
2. This is the incident when Israel worshipped the golden calf while Moses
was receiving the law on the Mount
a. What you understand from reading this passage is that they
were not worshipping some other deity
b. That golden calf was their representation of God
3. The Israelites had reduced God to an image
a. They were worshipping God in an unacceptable way
b. And they were executed on the spot because of it
iii. An unacceptable manner is to reduce God to an image
1. To reduce God to a material representation
2. To reduce God to anything that is the result of your own thinking
c. The worship of the true God in a self-styled manner
i. For an example of this, let’s look at Leviticus 10
ii. This is the story of Nadab and Abihu
1. Verse 1 of Leviticus 10 says, “And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron,
took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense
thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded
them not”
2. Not only was this strange fire, but it’s quite possible that they were also
drunk…verse 9 suggests this possibility
iii. Verse 2 says, “And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and
they died before the Lord”
1. God will not accept self-styled, self-invented modes of worship
2. We do not worship God on our terms, but according to the terms of
Scripture
iv. I Samuel 13 is another example to us in this
1. Verses 8-9 say, “And he tarried seven days, according to the set time
that Samuel had appointed: but Samuel came not to Gilgal; and the
people were scattered from him.
9 And Saul said, Bring hither a burnt offering to me, and peace offerings.
And he offered the burnt offering”
a. No one was allowed to do the function on the alter except the
priest
b. So, here, Saul is intruding into the priestly office
2. Verses 10-14 say, “And it came to pass, that as soon as he had made an
end of offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went
out to meet him, that he might salute him. And Samuel said, What hast
thou done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered
from me, and that thou camest not within the days appointed, and that
the Philistines gathered themselves together at Michmash;
12 Therefore said I, The Philistines will come down now upon me to
Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the Lord: I forced myself
therefore, and offered a burnt offering.n
13 And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept
the commandment of the Lord thy God, which he commanded thee: for
now would the Lord have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever.
14 But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the Lord hath sought him a
man after his own heart, and the Lord hath commanded him to be
captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the Lord
commanded thee”
a. God will be worshipped by one who is after God’s own heart
b. One who is after God’s own heart obeys Scripture
c. And there wasn’t anybody in Saul’s line ever on the throne
d. David would step in and take his place
v. II Samuel 6 is another illustration of this
1. This is the story of Uzzah, who was transporting the ark of God
a. Uzzah was a member of the Kohathites
b. It was the duty of the Kohathites to transport the Ark of the
Covenant
c. According to Numbers 4,they were raised to know how to
transport the Ark
i. It was always to be done without anyone ever touching
it
ii. It had rings on the side to slide poles through so they
could carry it on their shoulders
2. Uzzah took the liberty, though, to put it on cart, which he never should
have done
a. God will not be handled at the whim of man
b. He will not be handled in a self-styled way, no matter how good
the intentions
3. Verses 6-7 say, “And when they came to Nachon's threshingfloor, Uzzah
put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen
shook it.nn
II.
7 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote
him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God”
a. Uzzah knew better
b. He was trained all his life that you do not touch the Ark
vi. In Matthew 15, you see that this is exactly what the Pharisees did
1. They tried to worship the true God with their own self-styled system
2. Not according to God’s commandments
3. In the first 9 verses, you will see this for yourself
a. Verse 2 says, “Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of
the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread”
b. Why are you breaking our rules, our standards
4. But, Jesus answered, “But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye
also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?”
a. They said, “You don’t worship by our traditions”
b. Jesus said, “You don’t worship by God’s commands”
i. They invented your own system
ii. He then gives them an illustration of it
5. Down in verse 7-8, Jesus says, “Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy
of you, saying, 8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth,
and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me”
a. God says that He will be worshipped in spirit and in truth
b. Not through imaged, rituals, or liturgies
6. Matthew 23:23 is a classic example of this, “Woe unto you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin,
and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy,
and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other
undone”
a. They missed the whole point of true worship
b. As verse 25 says, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the
platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess”
Perhaps one of the most prevalent forms of unacceptable worship today…
a. Worship of the true God with the wrong attitude
i. To truly worship God, you have to have the right heart attitude
ii. Starting in the book of Malachi, you can work your way back through the Old
Testament to find examples of this
b. In the book of Malachi, the prophet is confronting the people with their sins
i. The one that stands out and dominates all is that the people were worshipping
God with the wrong attitude
1. They were going through worship as a function
2. They were going through the motions and their heart wasn’t in it
ii. Verse 6 of chapter 1, where Malachi speaks to Israel, says, “A son honoureth his
father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour?
and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the Lord of hosts unto you, O
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy
name?”
1. The priests have been carrying out their function
2. But that’s all it was to them
3. But, verse 7 says, “Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say,
Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the Lord is
contemptible”
a. They were treating worship with contempt
b. It was strictly a routine and there was no heart
c. They were bringing to God the least rather than the best
d. Having contempt for worship is coming to worship with any kind
of wrong attitude
Verse 8 says, “And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer
the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be
pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the Lord of hosts”
1. A blind animal was useless to them
2. A blind animal would probably die anyway because it couldn’t find its
way to the food
3. So, why not just get rid of the blind animal this way?
a. The blindness may have been because of some disease
b. And so they were offering God, possibly, diseased animals
i. This was the kind of worship they offered God
ii. Just give God what you can’t use
Verse 10 says, “Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for
nought? neither do ye kindle fire on mine altar for nought. I have no pleasure in
you, saith the Lord of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand”
1. There’s some things God won’t accept
2. He will not accept worship offered half heartedly
Verses 11-12 say, “For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of
the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place
incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall
be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts. But ye have profaned it, in
that ye say, The table of the Lord is polluted; and the fruit thereof, even his
meat, is contemptible”
1. They treated the table of the Lord as an unworthy thing
2. They treated it as a useless thing
3. They were treating the table of God with contempt
Verse 13 says, “Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and ye have snuffed
at it, saith the Lord of hosts; and ye brought that which was torn, and the lame,
and the sick; thus ye brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand?
saith the Lord”
1. If you go back to verse 6, you see that this indictment was leveled at the
priests
2. The priests were leaders in the sin and it filtered all the way down to the
people
3. Verse 13 holds the key where it says, “Behold, what a weariness”
a. The whole exercise of worship, to them, was a big pain in the
neck
b. It was a boring deal to them
c. They went through the form, but their hearts weren’t in it
c. Chapter 3 in Malachi goes even further
i. They got so sick of worship that they began to bad mouth God, as verse 13-14
indicates
ii. “Your words have been stout against me, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, What have
we spoken so much against thee? Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what
profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully
before the Lord of hosts?”
1. They were basically saying that there was no profit in worshipping God
2. That’s a terrible attitude to have
iii. The result of all this can be found in chapter 4 verses 3-6, which say, “And ye
shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet
in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts. Remember ye the law of
Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the
statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the
coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he shall turn the heart of
the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I
come and smite the earth with a curse.”
1. The people of God had come to the place where they were worshipping
the true God in the true way…
2. But they had the wrong attitude, their hearts were not in it
d. Amos 5:21-25 says, “I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn
assemblies. 22 Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not
accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.n
23 Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy
viols.
24 But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.n
25 Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O
house of Israel?”
i. God couldn’t stand their worship
ii. He couldn’t stand their worship activities
1. But, here, they are bringing the good animals
2. They are doing it the right way externally, but God will not take it
a. Because their hearts were not right
b. There was no justice or righteousness
3. Verses26-27 say, “But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and
Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.n
27 Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus,
saith the Lord, whose name is The God of hosts”
a. God is through with them
b. While they went through all this performance of worship, they
turn around and worship false gods
i. This is hypocrisy
ii. This is unacceptable
e. Hosea 6:4 says, “O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto
thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away”
i. Tis is almost melancholy on the part of God
ii. What am I going to do with you two?
iii. I want more than just a burnt offering
1. I want you to know Me
2. I want you to reflect Me and My attitude of mercy
f. Isaiah 1:10-11 is similar to Amos
g. The point is the same in all of the above passages
i. They were doing the right thing to the right God in the right way
ii. But with the wrong attitude