Gospel Worship

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!" And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!" Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for." And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Then I said, "Here I am! Send me." And he said, "Go, and say to this people: "'Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.' Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed." Then I said, "How long, O Lord?" And he said: "Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is a desolate waste, and the Lord removes people far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. And though a tenth remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak, whose stump remains when it is felled." The holy seed is its stump.- Isaiah 6:1‭-‬13 ESV

Rev. Dwight Yoo

The making of worshippers

Isiah was a prophet during the reign of King Uzziah. He was walking into the temple when he received a vision. He saw angelic beings. These were pure beings compared to humans. So the angels covered the eyes and feet in an act of modesty. God was set apart even from the angels. He is so great that he is on a whole other level. Isiah sees this and he is lost, he is undone. Isiah was considered the most righteous man in his generation. But when he caught a glimpse of God, his sense of self worth and righteousness fell apart. As long as Isiah compared himself to his peers, he could consider himself righteous. But the moment he saw the greatness and righteousness of God, he saw himself as unclean. But God does not come to crush and judge, he comes to save. He sends the angel to cleanse him of sin. Then God asks for someone to go and speak to his people and not be heard. This is a job that nobody would want. Preach and get no response. Speak and be ignored. There is nothing for Isiah to gain from this. Isiah is not coerced. This is grateful response of one who is forgiven by God.

The pattern of encountering of God
. Sees God
. Sees his sin
. Receives grace and assurance
. Responds in grateful devotion
. Given a promise

The focus of worshippers

The story of Jesus is the central storyline of the Bible. Some consider the Bible to be a book of stories. A collection of good moral teachings. But we consider the Bible to be all about Jesus. The Bible is not like a bag of pearls, but rather if we grab a pearl, we will find that we have pulled out a necklace of pearls and Jesus is the centerpiece.

But it is not just the general worship of God. We worship God for his redeeming work through the life and death of Jesus. The gospel is how we focus our worship.

The shaping of worshippers

Why do we need to reminded again and again of the gospel? Doesn't it get old? Why are we called to worship again and again? Worship is where God does a work in our hearts. He is working on our hearts. Why would we need this? Because this world is constantly trying to turn us away from God and to worship other things. We are prone to wander. We are easily distracted from and forget the gospel.

Sundays are important. But we need more, we need daily gospel immersion. More than just worshipping on Sundays, our everyday lives should become a daily worship of God.