The Bartizan of Worship in Which God Rejoice (Isaiah 66:1-4)
Rev. Myung-Sin Choi
1 Thus says the Lord: “Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest? 2 For all those things My hand has made, And all those things exist,” Says the Lord. “But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My word. 3 “He who kills a bull is as if he slays a man; He who sacrifices a lamb, as if he breaks a dog’s neck; He who offers a grain offering, as if he offers swine’s blood; He who burns incense, as if he blesses an idol. Just as they have chosen their own ways, And their soul delights in their abominations, 4 So will I choose their delusions, And bring their fears on them; Because, when I called, no one answered, When I spoke they did not hear; But they did evil before My eyes, And chose that in which I do not delight.”
Introduction
I have spoken to you about a shaman who was a shaman for 26 years. After she met Jesus Christ, she is living a good walk of faith. I saw her speak on a TV show one time and she said something very meaningful. This person said that the Christ that I met and the Christ that my church knows of is different. The host asked her what she meant by this. This person said that the church members think very lightly of Jesus and their faith very lightly. The host asked again what this person meant. The church members do whatever they want and if things don’t work out, they end up resenting God. But God just stays still. The host asked her if it was different when this shaman served evil spirits? The ex-shaman said that if you think of evil spirits lightly, you would be in a lot of trouble. I thought this was funny. This person said that many people in church don’t know how to serve God correctly and I am teaching them on how to. This host asked what this person meant. The person said that in order to serve God correctly, you have to believe in God’s word as God’s word. Another church member asked the ex-shaman if she actually believes in this. The ex-shaman said that when she believes in God’s word, then it will become fulfilled exactly. We live our walk of faith so easily. The word of God, we must believe in it as God’s word. We need to accept God’s word. But we don’t believe it, so we are not able to experience it. Our walk of faith is so simple. Hold onto his message. From our church’s new year’s message, we received the word of God the bartizan of the word, the bartizan of worship, and the bartizan of prayer. We need to restore the bartizan of worship that pleases God.
1. The Bartizan of God's Glory
1) The throne of God's glory
Verse 1 - Heaven is God’s throne. The distance from the sun and earth is about 150 million kilometers. If you try to walk that distance, it will take about 4,000 years. This is a huge distance. But that distance, if you try to travel it with the speed of light, then it will take 8 minutes. That distance of 4,000 years with walking but with the speed of light, it is just 8 minutes. If you look at that data, that distance is great. We call that light years. The measurement of the universe is 9 billion light years. If you look at earth from the universe, it is barely visible. It is just a speck. But what is astounding is that the universe is still growing and it is expanding faster than the speed of light. A researcher measured that the universe is expanding 200 times faster than the speed of light. The point of this is that the universe is huge. But the Biblical scripture says that heaven is God’s throne. That huge universe that is unfathomable and vast, it is God’s throne. This is what God said.
The earth is God’s footstool. This means that earth is a foundation. It means that God has dominion and rule over this earth. God who is the ruler of the earth has control over all things and the universe. This God asked us where the house that we will build is. What do you think of this? Do you want to see God? Change your thoughts. Who is God? He has control over time and space, and He is a being that is beyond our imagination. Why am I telling you that? The God we give worship to, I am telling you how important our worship to God is so important. The worship that we are giving to God, we need who God is. We need to know who this God is and what kind of being He is. We are worried about other things but we don’t try to understand or see what this God is. Our thinking of our worship service is beyond what we think worship is. Those who have misunderstandings regarding worship service, you have no reason to give worship to God.
2) Worship the King of glory
Verse 2 - All things were made by God. All things are decided by God’s hands.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 "To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: 2 A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted." - God has complete control over all things and knows everything about us, and over all things of this world. God decided everything before everything was created. God already decided when you will die. When you die, what your children will do, God already knows. Every decision is within God’s hands. Hold onto God.
Psalm 139:2 “You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off.” - All of our thoughts and everything that we do, God knows all of it. God knows what is inside of your heart. God knows what you will decide in your heart. This is the God who knows all things. Why did God make us like this?
Isaiah 43:7 “Everyone who is called by My name, Whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him.” - The reason why God created was so that we can give worship and praise to Him. This is speaking about God’s relationship with us. We were chosen by God to be His children to give Him glory and praise. This is why God created us. So what must we do?
Deuteronomy 6:5 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” - We who were chosen by God, we love God with all of our heart, soul, and strength. We must give our whole heart when we give worship to God. God said to stake our lives to love God. This is the posture that we must have when we give worship to God. This will please God.
2. The Bartizan of Christ's Salvation
1) The poor in spirit
Verse 2 - This is astounding. When you look at this Scripture, it says that God will look at us. Many people have been saved but those are looked by God, there are three types of people who will be. The God who is the Creator, His main concern are towards those who are poor, of a contrite spirit, and the one who trembles at His word. This is the blessing that we must receive. Those who are poor, this means those who have become bankrupt. This means those who have lost everything. What does it mean to be spiritually poor? You have lost the image of God and the blessings as children of God. Those who realize this, then you have become spiritually poor. You have become completely powerless. No matter what you do, you cannot restore yourself back up. You experience loss and despair.
Romans 7:24 “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” - We need to be able to make this confession. Who can save me from this body of death? Have you experienced this before? What apostle Paul was searching for, you can only find that in Christ.
Matthew 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” - Those who are found by Christ, you will be blessed. When you beg God for spirituality, then God will bless you. If you are able to confess your powerlessness, then God said that He will bless you.
2) Those who are humble and contrite in spirit
Contrite means mourning. This means that when you mourn the death of a loved one. What kind of heart is this mourning like? You are mourning because you lost God and you have been abandoned by God. Because of your sin, you have been abandoned by God. You are mourning for this. When you realize your sin and you are a sinner, then you will be able to mourn before God. I think God is pleased when you do this. When you realize that you had no choice but to die because of your destiny and judgment. I have left God and there is no hope in my life. I have been bound by sin. I need forgiveness.
Let me give you an example of a confession in Luke 18:13 “And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ ” - When you think about the sin that you have committed, you cannot look towards heaven. When you think about the sin that you have committed, you have no choice but to mourn before God. The only thing that you can say before God is to ask God for mercy. Those who have this kind of heart, then God said that He will protect and look towards you. God cleansed of our sins on the cross. God allowed this to happen.
3) Those who hear the Word and fear the Lord
I have told you this before but the reason why Adam and Eve were destroyed is because they disobeyed God’s word. They treated God’s word lightly. The result of this was all of their descendants had no choice but to fall into destruction and sin.
This was what Samuel said to King Saul in 1 Samuel 15:23 “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.” - When you throw away God’s word, then God will reject you. When you take God’s word as precious, then God will see you as precious. To tremble at God’s word. You know of shamans but these shamans are always obedient towards what the evil spirits say. Even during a cold day, if an evil spirit tells them to go into freezing water, then the shaman will do exactly what they say. If they do this, then the shaman receives spiritual powers such as fortune telling. They are able to receive these spiritual powers because they obey the words of the evil spirits. What will happen if we listen to the word of God?
Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction.” - This means that what is absolutely necessary is to fear God. But those who are fools, they despise wisdom and instruction. They think lightly of God’s word. In the Bible, we see many heroes of faith. The commonality of all of these heroes of faith, they all feared God and listened to God. They also were very obedient towards God’s word. They held onto God’s word and entered into the furnace of fire. Why was that? They realized that the word of God was living and active, and they believed in God as the living God. They realized that the word of God were not words on a piece of paper but the word of God is God, Himself. We know of pastors who are martyred for their faith. Why were they martyred for their faith? They truly believed that the word of God is living and active. When you do this, then you will experience the power of transcending time and space.
3. The Bartizan of the Holy Spirit's Power
1) The Ruler of worship
Verse 3 - They are giving worship that does not please God. They were more focused on their own benefits, not what God wants. You are worshiping for what you want.
1 Samuel 15:22 “So Samuel said: ‘Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.’ ” - The main core of worship is to be obedient towards God’s word.
2) The Ruler of the Church
Verse 4 - Those who fail in worship and don’t give worship that God desires, then God will allow delusions. This means wrong thoughts and temptations. Fear will be upon them. Those who fail in worship, this is what will happen. This means that we need to hold onto the worship that God is pleased with. Hold onto God’s word and make a resolution. God blesses and looks towards who holds onto and applies the word of God. I am telling you this because we need to take the new year’s message as life. We spoke about the bartizan in the new year’s message. We need to take God’s word as His commandment, and live our life. We can’t just take God’s word and think of it as another message. We must hold onto God’s word and pray, then God will bless you tremendously.
Long time ago, there was a farmer who believed well in Jesus Christ. In the area that he was living in, a missionary came. This missionary built a church in that area. But there was a halt in the construction of the church because of lack of money. But that farmer’s land was worth a great deal of money and he sold his land, and helped finish the construction of the church. The missionaries were worried because the farmer sold everything so how will he make a living? The missionaries asked how the farmer will live? The farmer said that he has nothing prepared and has nothing. So the missionaries told the farmer to be a caretaker of the church. But the farmer had a son so the missionaries helped the son get education. So the son was able to send him to America to study abroad. The son was able to graduate from a university in America and graduated from a seminary school in Princeton. He also received His Ph.D in Yale University. The son returned back to Korea and this son became a famous professor in Korea. He became the president of Yonsei University and received a high power in the ministry branch of education. God took this lowly farmer and allowed his son to become a great elite. What his farmer gave, God knew of his sacrifices. This farmer was able to see that God was alive. When he made this confession and resolution, God blessed this farmer tremendously. May you give everything to God then God will take complete responsibility over your life.
Conclusion
Exodus 15:2 “The Lord is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; He is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will exalt Him.” - This is what I always hold onto. May this become your confession for your life.
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