Sermon Tone Analysis

It matters who you worship!

It matters who you worship!

, So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious.

For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’

What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.

And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him.

Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for

So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious.

For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’

What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.

And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him.

Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for

“‘In him we live and move and have our being’;

as even some of your own poets have said,

“‘For we are indeed his offspring.’

Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.

The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

The apostle Paul described true worship perfectly in

: “I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God which is your spiritual service of worship.

And do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable, or well pleasing and perfect.”

This passage contains all the elements of true worship.

First, there is the motivation to worship: “the mercies of God.”

God’s mercies are everything He has given us that we don’t deserve: eternal love, eternal grace, the Holy Spirit, everlasting peace, eternal joy, saving faith, comfort, strength, wisdom, hope, patience, kindness, honor, glory, righteousness, security, eternal life, forgiveness, reconciliation, justification, sanctification, freedom, intercession and much more.

God has given us the knowledge and understanding of these incredible gifts motivating us to pour forth praise and thanksgiving—in other words, motivation us to worship!

Also in the passage is a description of and the advocation for the manner of our worship: “present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice.”

Presenting our bodies means giving to God all of ourselves.

The reference to our bodies here means all our human faculties, all of our human efforts—our hearts, minds, hands, thoughts, attitudes—are to be presented to God.

In other words, we are to give up control of these things and turn them over to Him, just as a literal sacrifice was given totally to God on the altar.

We are to place ourselves in His hand.

But how?

How are we to do this pastor ?

Again, the passage is clear: “by the renewing of your mind.”

We renew our minds daily by cleansing them of the world’s “wisdom” and replacing it with true wisdom that comes from God.

We worship Him with our renewed and cleansed minds, not with our emotions.

Emotions are wonderful things, but unless they are shaped by a mind saturated in Truth, they can be destructive, out-of-control forces.

Where the mind goes, the will follows, and so do the emotions.

tells us we have “the mind of Christ,” not the emotions of Christ.

There is only one way to renew our minds, and that is by the Word of God.

It is the truth, the knowledge of the Word of God, which is to say the knowledge of the mercies of God, and we’re back where we began.

To know the truth, to believe the truth, to hold convictions about the truth, and to love the truth will naturally result in true spiritual worship.

It is conviction followed by affection, affection that is a response to truth, not to any external stimuli, including music.

Music as such has nothing to do with worship.

Music can’t produce worship, although it certainly can produce emotion.

Music is not the origin of worship, but it can be the expression of it.

Do not look to music to induce your worship; look to music as simply an expression of that which is induced by a heart that is rapt by the mercies of God, obedient to His commands.

True worship is God-centered worship.

People tend to get caught up in where they should worship, what music they should sing in worship, and how their worship looks to other people.

Focusing on these things misses the point.

Jesus tells us that true worshipers will worship God in spirit and in truth ().

This means we worship from the heart and the way God has designed.

Worship can include praying, reading God's Word with an open heart, singing, participating in communion, and serving others.

It is not limited to one act, but is done properly when the heart and attitude of the person are in the right place.

It’s also important to know that worship is reserved only for God.

Only He is worthy and not any of His servants.

, And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”

And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that!

I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus.

Worship God.”

For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

We are not to worship saints, prophets, statues, angels, any false gods, or Mary, the mother of Jesus.

We also should not be worshiping for the expectation of something in return, such as a miraculous healing.

Worship is done for God—because He deserves it—and for His pleasure alone.

Worship can be public praise to God, in a congregational setting, where we can proclaim through prayer and praise our adoration and thankfulness to Him and what He has done for us.

, will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.

, will thank you in the great congregation; in the mighty throng I will praise you.

True worship is felt inwardly and then is expressed through our actions.

"Worshiping" out of obligation is displeasing to God and is completely in vain.

He can see through all the hypocrisy, and He hates it.

He demonstrates this in

“I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.

Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them.

Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen.

But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them.

Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen.

But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

As He talks about coming judgment of His people.

Another example is the story of Cain and Abel, the first sons of Adam and Eve.

They both brought gift offerings to the Lord, but God was only pleased with Abel's.

Cain brought the gift out of obligation; Abel brought his finest lambs from his flock.

He brought out of faith and admiration for God.

True worship is not confined to what we do in church or open praise (although these things are both good, and we are told in the Bible to do them).

True worship is the acknowledgment of God and all His power and glory in everything we do.

The highest form of praise and worship is obedience to Him and His Word.

To do this, we must know God; we cannot be ignorant of Him.

, For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’

What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.

Worship is to glorify and exalt God—to show our loyalty and admiration to our Father.

Let us pray…

This is the second of three major speeches by Paul in Acts (17:22–31.

The first one is in 13:16–41 and the last in 20:18–35).

So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus...

I want you to notice the connection with v. 19, And they took him and brought him to Areopagus, saying May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?

It seems most likely that Paul was brought to an informal meeting of the Areopagus court, with possibly a wider group of people present.

What took place there was more of an open inquiry than a hostile inquisition.

Furthermore, Paul took the opportunity to address the city and its culture when he said “Men of Athens, he was not trying simply to engage with the philosophers.

He wanted to speak to all in the marketplace.

Listen to his next statement, ‘I perceive that in every way you are very religious.’