Amen. Well, turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm 24 this evening. Psalm 24. We come now in our study of worship to the subjects of worship. We’ve covered the object of true worship the last several weeks. That is, who is worshiped? And we’ve seen that Yahweh, the God of scripture, is the true object of worship. And now, as we consider the subjects of worship, we ask the question, who may worship? Talked about who is worshipped, but now who may worship? And as we look at scripture to answer this question, we see scripture address some of these questions for us. Questions like, who does God invite into his presence? Whose worship will he accept?

Way back when I was in seminary in Pennsylvania, we had a class called Evangelism and Church Growth. And you could say it was near the bottom of the list of my favorite classes, or useful classes in that matter, or for that matter. In fact, I actually went and asked for a refund for this class. Seriously. It did not work. But for many reasons, not even including what I’m about to talk about.

But anyways, in that class, the professor He was an adjunct professor, somebody they brought in to teach this class, and he was this younger, hot-shot pastor of this young, up-and-coming, fast-growing church in the area. And he was the one they hired in to teach this class on church growth.

And this was the only class that he taught at the seminary, but he asked us in class, Are your church services designed for believers or unbelievers? Or he also, he rephrased it a couple times, but basically got down to, is the church for believers or for unbelievers? And he was surprised, taken aback, when several of us answered believers. The church is for believers. In fact, one of us, I can’t remember who it was, said that the worship service is for God and believers are there for him. Well, he changed the subject pretty quickly. It was not going the way that he hoped that discussion was going to go.

You see, there’s a reason why his church and churches like it grow so fast, because of the way that that question is answered. Who is the church for? Who are the worship services for? In preparing for this sermon, one of the books that I’ve used a lot as a helpful resource on the topic of worship, it used an example from a church, I think it was a church in England, of an invitation on their website to their worship service.

And this is the invitation that’s given. The title of it is, Come As You Are to Worship. And it says, we welcome you to the community, full stop. You do not need to be anything. You do not need to be married with kids, or teetotal, or employed, or in good health, and you certainly don’t need to be holy. You can come from any background, religious, social, cultural, or racial. Jesus accepts everyone as they are, and we aim to do the same. Now some of the sentiment in there may be admirable.

But is that the biblical attitude toward worship? Is that what the Bible tells us worship ought to be? Are we to approach God in our worship as we are? And this seems to assume that anyone’s worship is acceptable to God. But is that biblical? Now I do want to say, we know that salvation is offered to sinners as they are. The gospel is for anyone and everyone. And all of those things about your background and where you come from, that’s true when it comes to salvation.

But, is the same true of worship? Is that how we are to approach Are we to remain as we are as we come to worship God? Is that what we see in Scripture? Is anyone’s and everyone’s worship accepted by God? And what are the requirements of worship that God accepts?

Well, that will be the focus of our study this evening as we focus on who may worship. And we find clear explanations and examples of these requirements in the Old and New Testaments, but we again will begin in Psalm 24. This is a psalm that we’ve learned to sing, and we have sung in our Sunday morning services. So allow me to read for us Psalm 24. This is the word of the Lord. of David, a psalm.

The earth is Yahweh’s as well as its fullness, the world and those who dwell in it. For he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers. Who may ascend into the mountain of Yahweh and who may rise to his holy place? He who has an innocent hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to worthlessness and has not sworn deceitfully, he shall lift up a blessing from Yahweh and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

This is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face. Pay heed, O Jacob. Lift up your heads, O gates, and be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? Yahweh, strong and mighty. Yahweh, mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O gates, and lift yourselves up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is he, the King of glory? Yahweh of hosts. He is the King of glory.

As you can see, this psalm is framed by the picture of a conquering king. A king who has conquered in battle and is now returning to his people. You see this in verses one and two, and then verses seven through 10. The beginning and the end of the psalm show this picture of a king returning victorious. But in verse three, the psalmist, David, He asks, who may ascend into the mountain of Yahweh, and who may rise to his holy place?

This is royal court language, speaking about admission to an audience with the king. Who may come into this one they are celebrating the return of? You see, in the ancient world, People could be invited into the throne room of the king for many reasons.

It could be to give an account for something they had done. Think of the baker in the story of Joseph in Genesis 40. He was called in to Pharaoh to give an account and his head was lifted off him as Joseph predicted. Or it could be to receive a request. from the king or to make a request of the king. Think of the queens, Vashti and Esther in the book of Esther. They had to be granted permission to come before the king. And as they were ushered into the king’s presence, these subjects would bow down in a gesture of honor and submission, waiting for the acceptance into the presence of the king. Well, that’s exactly what Psalm 24 pictures for us. This type of a scene, the context of worshiping a victorious king. Who may ascend into the mountain of Yahweh and who may rise to his holy place? Or in effect, David says, who can worship this king? Whose worship will Yahweh accept? And the answer provided is not, everyone, come as you are. That’s not what he says. Instead, he specifies four requirements for admission to see this king, to worship this king. Four requirements to acceptance from God.

And they are clean hands, a pure heart, true devotion to Yahweh, and keeping their word. These are the four marks of someone who is welcomed into the presence of God. These are four marks of authentic faith, four evidences of a life that pleases God. And these four can be summed up in Jesus’ words in John 4 that we’ve already looked at in this series.

John 4 verse 24, God is spirit and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth. So even in the New Testament, we see requirements for worshiping God. They must worship in spirit and in truth. But let’s look at these four characteristics in Psalm 24 of a true worshiper. In verse four, it begins with, he who has innocent hands. He who has innocent or clean hands, some versions say. What does it mean that worshipers must have clean hands?

Now, it does not mean that we all must stop by the bathroom and wash our hands before you’re admitted into the sanctuary. Although that may not be a bad policy. You’ve got to think about that one. But that’s not what it means. It’s not talking about washing your hands literally. Clean hands mean that a person’s actions are not characterized by sin. They are not dirty with sin. Psalm 15 is a very similar psalm to this one, and there David lists 11 examples of what could be considered having clean hands or innocent hands, hands that are ready to worship God. Turn to Psalm 15, just over a few pages in your Bibles.

Psalm 15. Let me read this Psalm for us. And again, it begins the same as what we see in verse 3 of Psalm 24. Psalm 15, starting in verse 1, says, O Yahweh, who may sojourn in your tent? Again, asking that question of who. Who is able to come be with God, to sojourn in your tent, to spend time with you in your, that word tent is tabernacle. This is speaking of the worship of God. Again, who may dwell on your holy mountain? Same as Psalm 24. And then he answers for us with the rest of the Psalm.

He who walks blamelessly and works righteousness and speaks truth in his heart, he does not slander with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor takes up reproach against his friend, in whose eyes a reprobate is despised, but who honors those who fear Yahweh. He swears to his own hurt and does not change. He does not put out his money at interest. Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken.”

So those whose worship are acceptable, again, asking the same question Psalm 24 is, what must they be? Who is it that is welcomed into the tent of God, welcomed onto the high mountain, the holy mountain of God? This is speaking to worship. Who is it who is welcome to worship God?

And let’s look at these 11 characteristics. Number one, he says he must be blameless. He walks blamelessly. He must be free of any charge of sin or wickedness. He’s not somebody who is easily associated with sin. His life shows a life that people wouldn’t believe accusations against him because that’s just not who he is. That’s what it is to be blameless.

They are above reproach, as the New Testament speaks of the qualifications of an elder. It’s the same idea. He who walks blamelessly. Number two, he works righteousness. Their actions are righteous. They do the right things. Thirdly, he speaks truth in his heart. Not just with his mouth, He speaks truth in his heart.

This means someone’s thoughts and speech are characterized by integrity. This is a phrase of integrity, to speak truth in his heart. I was once told that integrity is the person you are when no one’s looking. The person you are when nobody else knows. That’s what it means to have integrity, when you’re the same person both in public and in private. So he speaks truth in his heart.

Number four, they refuse to slander. He does not slander with his tongue. He does not make false accusations. He does not say things that will hurt a friend or a neighbor. The same thing is true of the next one, number five, they do no harm to neighbors. Why? Because the command in scripture is to love your neighbor. So you don’t do the opposite. You don’t harm your neighbor. And then number six, they do not ridicule their friends. So not only do they act right towards their neighbor, they don’t speak poorly of their neighbor.

They don’t talk about them behind their back. And then seven, they have no respect for reprobates. in whose eyes the reprobate is despised. And this goes with number eight, which is they honor those who fear Yahweh. So they despise the reprobate and honor those who fear Yahweh. They honor the right people and not the wrong ones.

This is important in the life of a Christian. Who is it that you show respect to? Who is it that you honor? Who is it that you support with your life or with whatever it may be? Pay attention to who it is you give honor to because you’re associated with them when you give honor. And it says here in Psalm 15, in whose eyes the reprobate is despised but honors those who fear Yahweh. Honor the right people because it’s important. Honor the right people, be wise in who you give honor to.

And then the ninth characteristic here, they keep their word. He swears to his own hurt and does not change. They keep their word even when it costs them. Even when it costs you something to keep your word. And then number 10, they refuse to take advantage of people financially. He does not put his money out at interest. If somebody needs money, they give money. Or they loan it without interest. They don’t take advantage of people by charging them more just to borrow that money. He does not put his money out at interest. Number 11, they reject bribes. Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. Not only do they reject bribes, they reject bribes that will convict an innocent person. They’re not easily bought.

They have convictions in life. And this last line of the psalm is critical. He who does these things will never be shaken, which is another way of saying, but when they stand before God, they have nothing to fear. Their worship will be accepted because that’s how the psalm started. The context of this is who is able? Who may sojourn in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy mountain? And then he gives a list. And because of those things, he who does those things will not be shaken.

They are secure in the presence of God. So how could you sum this up for us today? Well, this is the type of person that walks worthy, as Ephesians chapter 4 says. The prisoner of the Lord exhort you to walk worthy of the calling to which you’ve been called.” To walk worthy.

All of these things listed here in Psalm 15 are basic Christian principles. These are things that are explained and exampled in the law of God. These are things God’s character reflects. So to live with clean hands. means to live as a Christian, to practice what you preach, to live like what you believe is true, to live like a Christian Monday through Saturday as well, not just on Sunday, to not be a hypocrite. That is living with clean hands, and that’s number one. So back to Psalm 24. Number one is clean hands. Number two, it says, He who has innocent hands and a pure heart. So number two is a pure heart.

This means it’s not just our external actions, though those are important because we just covered that in number one, but it’s also about our motives. It’s our motives in our lives lived for God. We also see this in Psalm 73, chapter one, where it says, surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. So God shows favor to those who are well-intentioned, who are pure in their hearts.

It’s not just going through the motions for them. Again, this can be another form of hypocrisy. There can be outward hypocrisy, but there can also be inward hypocrisy, coming from a form of worshiping God externally, but not really worshiping Him in our hearts. A pure heart is a heart that doesn’t hang on to wrongs against them. It doesn’t hang on to resentment and bitterness.

It confesses sin to God and seeks to repent from sin. This is the heart we see in Psalm 51, the sinner’s prayer. Psalm 51 is David’s prayer of repentance as he seeks to repent from his sin with Bathsheba. What does he say? In Psalm 51 verse 10, create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Cleanse my motives. Make sure that I’m not doing this for selfish reasons. True worshipers are repentant worshipers with a clean heart. Thirdly, we see devotion to God, true devotion to God. He who has innocent hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to worthlessness. Who has not lifted up his soul to worthlessness. Now, this seems like an odd statement to us. What does he mean, not lifting up your soul to worthlessness?

Well, the worthlessness here is a euphemism for idols. It’s someone who has not worshiped idols too. One of the main problems in Israel is not that they didn’t worship God, it was syncretism, which means they brought in other worship to mix with their worship of God. Let’s try a little bit of everything and see how that goes. But here, the worship God accepts is the one who worships him alone, who has not lifted up his soul, to these worthless idols, to worthlessness. These idols are worthless, they are nothing. We’ve covered those things when we talked about idolatry. True worshipers are devoted to worshiping God alone.

It’s not God plus whatever I want. It’s not Jesus plus something else. It’s not I need to add a little worship in my life to balance out my schedule, while I devote all my time and energy and everything else to whatever else I want. God should have the central place in your life. And everything else has to make room for worship. For the time you devote to God. And he desires our worship. And the things that we do to worship him, like going to church, being with God’s people, reading our Bibles every day.

I know that’s tough. It’s tough to stay committed to reading your Bible every day, whether you start a beginning of the year Bible in a year plan or whatever it may be, but sometimes it’s hard to stay committed because things come up in life. But in those moments where you’re faced with a choice of giving that time to God or to something else, what is it that’s getting our attention? What is it that we’re valuing in the moment?

God is a jealous God. He alone wants our worship. In Deuteronomy chapter 6, we know this passage well, verses 4 and 5. Hear, O Israel, Yahweh is our God and Yahweh is one. This was the constitution of Israel. This was their bedrock foundation statement. We have one God.

He alone is to be worshipped. And it goes on, you shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. With all of it. There should be no heart, soul, or might left to worship anything else. God should get it all.

The worship of a true worshiper is undivided worship. God alone gets our worship. The fourth characteristic of a true worshiper is that they keep their word. Verse 4. and has not sworn deceitfully. Those who worship God, whose worship is acceptable, are those who have not been deceptive in the oaths that they make.

That’s what it’s speaking of, swearing deceitfully, making a promise and doing it deceitfully. By definition, an oath guarantees that people will keep their word. And so this statement, to keep your word or not to swear an oath deceitfully, is self-evident. If you make an oath, you’re making a promise.

We saw in Psalm 15 when we looked at clean hands, he who swears to his own hurt and does not change in Psalm 15 verse 4. Swearing an oath to your own hurt, keeping a promise even though it costs you something, Even though it’s not what’s most advantageous for me, I’m still going to keep it because I gave my word. God cares about that. It’s important to God that we keep our word, that we come through on the promises we make.

Keep your word even if it costs you. You know, one of the rules of Islam is that you must keep your oaths unless something better comes along. It’s called the rule of better. I’m serious. Keep your oath unless something better comes along and then all you have to do is just make up for breaking your word and then it’s fine.

That’s literally one of their principles. That’s not us. That’s not who we are. We are the people of the God of the Bible. And he tells us, keep your oaths. Do not swear deceitfully. Why? We worship a God who keeps his word. We ought to be people who keep ours. We are God’s ambassadors. We are God’s representatives on the earth. We reflect who God is to those around us. And if we go around breaking our word, not keeping our promises, how does that reflect upon the God who keeps his?

And sometimes this means you don’t make promises. If you can’t keep it, don’t make the promise. If you don’t know if you can keep the promise, don’t swear that oath. Say you’ll do your best. But be very careful about what you make promises to do because God expects you to keep it.

And what is the reward for those who meet these four qualifications? of those who can enter the presence of Yahweh, those who can ascend into the mountain of Yahweh and rise to his holy place. Those who have clean hands and a pure heart and true devotion to Yahweh and those who keep their word. What is their reward? Verse five, he shall lift up a blessing from Yahweh and righteousness from the God of his salvation. This idea of righteousness from the God of his salvation is the idea of vindication. They are declared righteous in God’s presence.

Or to boil all of this down, the next verse, verse six, this is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face. This is who he’s talking about. This is the ones who meet these qualifications. They’re the ones who seek God, seek His face. True worshipers, you could say today, true worshipers are Christians. True worshipers, the ones who meet these qualifications, are Christians. They’re people who not only profess to be Christians, they’re people whose life matches their profession.

And ultimately, none of us live up to this. None of us live up to these qualifications on our own, in our own doing. It is what we are called to live like, but none of us keep it perfectly. And that is why we have need of a savior. He covers us with his righteousness because he kept this perfectly.

And we are free to worship God as he truly desires to be worshiped, because we are vindicated by his righteousness. When we come to worship God, when we are in Christ, this is what God sees when we are in his presence. He sees us as people with clean hearts, or clean hands and pure hearts, and those who keep our words and who are fully devoted to him. When we come into the presence of God to worship Him, we wear the robes of Christ. That’s who is welcome into His presence as true worshipers. But something we do see in this passage is that there are requirements for worshiping God. There is a list. There are things that must be met. In these Psalms, both Psalm 24 and Psalm 15, they offer a biblical correction to the idea that God only looks on our hearts and that our external actions aren’t as important because these lists speak of our actions.

It’s not that just as long as we’re sincere and as long as we mean well, then it’s fine. As the confession that was read this morning, a few of you asked me about it, but as the confession read this morning, let me find it here. Much less can any be saved who do not receive the Christian religion, no matter how diligently they live their lives according to the light of nature and the teachings of the religion they profess. It’s not just about good intentions. It’s not. You can’t just live your life as a good person and do your best as far as you see it. You can’t just be really devout in your religion.

There is one way to God. There is one way into his presence, and it’s through Christ. And that is the mark of a true worshiper. The Bible refuses to separate people’s actions from their hearts. And actions that seek to honor God and the well-being of others prove a transformed heart. And this was ultimately the downfall of Israel. This was what led to their exile and removal. They worshiped God with their words, and their rituals, and their ceremonies, and they thought that was fine.

As long as we go do the things, that’ll make up for everything else. We go once a year, and we do the priest thing, and all of that, and once we do that, and we keep the rules and those things, then we can worry about the rest later. We can do what we want. As long as we go to confession and we do the works and do the things, then we’re covered, right?

That was how Israel functioned. But their hearts were far from God. And this was proven by their lives outside of the worship setting, just like it is with ours. It’s one thing to act like a good Christian for an hour a week, When you’re around other good Christians, that’s easy. Your life outside of here proves your heart.

And the Israelites, their worship was rejected because their lives proved to themselves to be hypocrites, to be saying one thing and doing another. I’m gonna read for you a few rebukes from the prophets to Israel, and listen to how it affects your view of worship. Listen to how their worship was the thing that betrayed them before God, the thing that God finally said, I’ve had enough.

Turn to Amos chapter five. Amos, one of the minor prophets, near the end of your Old Testament, Amos chapter five. One of the harder books in the Bible to find. Amos chapter five, starting in verse 21. This is following all the rebukes from Amos to the shepherds of Israel. Starting in verse 21. This is God’s final declaration to them. His final decision about their worship. Verse 21.

I reject your feasts.” The feasts were part of their worship. It was what they did every year as part of their worship system. I hate, I reject your feasts, nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. See that? They were solemn in the way that they assembled. It was really sincere. They really meant well. It was a solemn assembly. Nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies even though you offer up to me burn offerings and your grain offerings I will not accept them And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fat wings Remove from me the tumult of your songs.

I will not even listen to the melody of your harps. I Don’t want your music But What did they do instead of this worship that they kept offering, but let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream? God doesn’t want their worship, and do they live like their people of God? Do they live in justice and righteousness?

Again, the book of Amos is about rebuking the leaders of Israel for being crooked and wicked. And he says, I don’t want your worship ceremonies anymore. Start living right. Start living as though you actually care about the promises made to the God of the Bible, to the God of Israel.

Turn over to Hosea. Hosea is another place. You know the story of Hosea. God tells Hosea to go and marry a prostitute. As an illustration, of his relationship with Israel, Hosea chapter six. And as he speaks of their worship, Hosea chapter six, starting in verse four, what shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Signifying all of Israel.

For your lovingkindness is like a morning cloud and the dew which goes away early. Your lovingkindness. That’s that word hesed I’ve spoke about before. It’s God’s character. It’s that faithfulness, mercy, love, everlasting love, lovingkindness, faithfulness, the things that make God who he is. The things they were to reflect because of who their God is.

And he says, your loving kindness is like a morning cloud. It’s like the fog in the morning. You’re nice for a couple hours till the coffee wears off. And then the loving kindness is gone. And you don’t reflect God anymore. You don’t live like God’s people anymore. You can fake it for a little while. But then your true colors show. Therefore, I have hewn them in pieces by the prophets. I have killed them by the words of my mouth, and the judgments on you are like the light that goes forth.

For I delight in loving kindness rather than sacrifice, and in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. I delight in the loving kindness rather than sacrifice. You can’t make up for the way that you live just by going and doing penance at worship service. I want your loving kindness shown in your life rather than your sacrifices. And listen to that last line, and in the knowledge of God rather than burn offerings.

These are unbelievers. They don’t know God. And yet they’re coming to the worship service. And they’re performing the worship rituals. They’re making burnt offerings and sacrifices. And he said, I’d rather that you know God. So again, who is welcome to worship?

It’s not those like these people. God doesn’t want their worship. They didn’t even know God. and they attempted to worship him. And their worship is rejected. This is the type of thing you’ll see in many mainline denomination churches today, unfortunately. You know the type of churches that I mean. The ones with more rainbow flags on the walls than people in the pews. That’s these type of people. They put on a facade of knowing God and being God’s people. But very clearly, they do not know God. God would rather knowledge of Him than false rituals of worship by unbelievers.

And turn over to Isaiah. Isaiah is another. A place filled with God challenging the worship of Israel. We looked at the places where he puts the false gods on trial and rebukes them for their idolatry. But go right to the very beginning of Isaiah. Isaiah chapter one. This is the tone Isaiah starts with. And it lets you know what’s coming. It lets you know what Isaiah has to say to this people. What God has to say through him. What God has to say to this nation who worshiped them in their rituals, they went to sacrifice, they went to make the offerings, but they were far from God in their hearts.

Isaiah chapter 1 verse 3, an ox knows its owner and a donkey its master’s manger, but Israel does not know. My people do not perceive. Even an ox knows its owner. But Israel doesn’t. Israel doesn’t understand. They don’t know who owns them, who their master, who their Lord is. In verse four, alas, sinful nation, people heavy with iniquity, seed of evildoers, sons who act corruptly. They have forsaken Yahweh. They have spurned the Holy One of Israel. They have become estranged from him. Their sinful lives showed that they didn’t know him. Again, our actions reveal our hearts. The way that we live on a day-to-day basis reveal what’s coming out of our hearts. As Jesus says, the overflow of your heart comes out your mouth. What’s in your heart will be revealed. You just have to sit back and watch. And so what does God have to say about this people and their worship? Was their worship accepted? Does he say, come as you are, come one, come all. All of you are welcome to worship me. Go down to verse 11. Isaiah chapter one starting in verse 11.

What are your multiplied sacrifices to me, says Yahweh? I’ve had enough of your burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle and in the blood of bulls and lambs or goats I take no pleasure. your multiplied worshipful offerings, your continued dead animals, God doesn’t need them.

It’s not as though you’re feeding God, as though he can’t do without you continually giving him these animals. All the animals are his. What are your multiplied sacrifices to me? You think you’re accomplishing something by just continually killing more animals? You think you’re earning the favor of God by that? While you go and live wickedly? While you don’t even know him?

He continues, when you come to appear before me, who requires of you this trampling of my courts? Bring your worthless offerings no longer. Incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath, the calling of convocation, I cannot endure wickedness and the solemn assembly. Think of that. As we asked the question earlier, who may worship? Who is welcome into the presence of God to worship? He says, I cannot endure wickedness and the solemn assembly. My soul hates your new moon festivals and your appointed times. They have become a burden to me. I am weary of bearing them.

So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you. Indeed, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood. You see, God doesn’t just roll his eyes at them. He doesn’t just hold his nose and take whatever they give him. He hates their worship. He hates it. He hides his eyes from them. He doesn’t listen to their prayers.

God doesn’t just accept worship from anyone. It’s not come as you are and do as you please. They needed what we see in Psalm 24. He who has innocent hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to worthlessness and sworn deceitfully. And listen to the next verses in Isaiah here. And listen to what they must do. How are we to correct this problem? This is a big problem. That God hates our worship, won’t listen to our prayers, and doesn’t want anything to do with us anymore. What are we supposed to do?

Verse 16. Wash yourselves. Purify yourselves. Remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes. Cease to do evil and learn to do good. Seek justice. Reprove the ruthless. Execute justice for the orphan. Plead for the widow. This is the problem. This is the problem.

This is what was keeping them from being accepted in their worship. They were doing the worship right. They were killing the animals, the bulls, the goats. They were keeping the new moon feasts and all the different feasts they had to keep. They were doing it all right. This was the problem.

They needed to wash themselves. They needed to get rid of the evil in their life. They needed to purify themselves. They needed hearts devoted to God. They need to cease to do evil and learn to do good. Or, as we say, they need to repent. They need to turn from their evil and turn toward God and live for Him. This is what God desires in the lives of His worshipers, lives of repentance.

Later in Isaiah, turn to Isaiah 33, God has specific instructions for Israel as to how they can return to Him and return to His favor and worship Him correctly again. Isaiah chapter 33. Let’s start in verse 13. You who are far away, hear what I have done. And you who are near, acknowledge my might.

Sinners in Zion are in dread. Trembling has seized the godless. Who among us can sojourn with the consuming fire? Who among us can sojourn with continual burning? This is the very question that worshipers must ask. Who can be in the presence of God? Here in this context, they have seen the judgment of God and the people are terrified.

Sinners in Zion are in dread. You think? Trembling has seized the godless. It ought to. The godless ought to be trembling in fear. So this is the right foot. They’re starting off in the right foot. Being without God, you ought to be scared for your life.

And here in Isaiah, the prophet speaking of this future generation who will recognize the God that they worship. speaks as though these people are not worthy. They are trembling in fear. Who can sojourn with the consuming fire? Who among us can sojourn with continual burning? This is the prophet’s perspective.

This is what the people ought to be thinking. Think about Isaiah 6 and his appearance before the God of the ages, the ancient of days. This is what Isaiah has seen, and now he’s telling them, this is what you ought to feel. Trust me, I’ve seen it. I know what this God is like. I’ve seen him. Who among us can sojourn with this consuming fire? Who among us can sojourn with this continual burning?

And he answers for us in verse 15. He who walks righteously. and speaks uprightly. He who rejects greedy gain of oppression and shakes his hands so that they hold no bribe. He who stops his ears from hearing about bloodshed and shuts his eyes from looking upon evil. He will dwell on the heights. His refuge will be in the strongholds of the cliffs. His bread will be given to him. His water will be sure.

It is the exact same things we saw in Psalm 24. live like the people of God. It is those people who not only profess to be God’s people, it’s those who live like God’s people. This is what the covenant was for. Live like you’re mine. It is those people who show evidence that they’re God’s people by the way that they live.

People who live lives of repenting from sin and seeking after God. And it’s people who live their lives as a living sacrifice to the God that we worship. Every part of our lives is a living sacrifice. It’s those people who seek to give Him glory, to show His importance in all things.

That is who God invites to worship Him. That is whose worship He accepts. The worship service is for God. And God’s people are invited. That is what it means to be God’s people. We exist for Him. And we are only God’s people because of Christ. We come to God through Christ.

And we cannot live up to these requirements and expectations of our own might and our own power. Israel is a good example of that. So what is required of true worshipers is not relying on our own strength and might and goodness. It’s recognizing our sinfulness coming to Christ and worshiping God through him. It is wearing His robes of righteousness as we enter the presence of God to worship our Creator. This is what is required for true worshipers of Him.

This is what is true of those who are in Christ. All of these life qualifications that we’ve read through tonight, if you’re a Christian, this ought to be evident in your life. This is who we are. This is who we are because of Christ. So if you don’t know Christ, if you’re not covered in His righteousness, you need to come to Him for salvation and begin to live for Him. That is what’s required for true worshipers. Let’s stand and close in a word of prayer.

Our God, we thank You for your instruction in your word, that you don’t leave us to our own devices to figure out how to do this, to figure out who it is that you welcome to worship you, but that you tell us it’s your people, people who show evidence of your work in their lives, of your work in their hearts, people who live lives of repentance, Christians, who are the ones who are welcome to your presence, to worship you. Welcome to live lives of worship to you. Lord, I pray that as we consider this idea of our worship and how we ought to be worshiping, that as we reflect on these parts of our life that we’ve looked at tonight, that We are examining our own lives and seeing where we may not measure up in one area or another, and that we would repent of that, that we would live a life of repentance, seeking to turn from our wickedness and turn toward you. And Lord, we thank you for Christ. We thank you for covering us in his righteousness, for taking the punishment for our sin. and making us acceptable worshipers of you. God, we thank you and we praise you. We pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.