Return to Mt. Moriah: Worship Lessons from Abraham

Read Genesis 22:1-19


Abraham’s example of faith and worship on Mount Moriah is constantly remembered throughout the Scriptures, even in the New Testament.

Background:
Abraham was  a man of faith.  He was a man who worshipped and loved God with all his heart, soul, mind and strength.  It says in James 2:23 “And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend.” 

God promised Abraham that he would be a great nation in Genesis 12:1-3. 
The Lord said to him: “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.

However, he initially doubted God because his wife, Sarah, was barren. Sarah had Abraham sleep with her Egyptian slave named Hagar because they did not have the patience to wait for God’s perfect time.  Hagar bore him Ishmael when he was eighty-six years old.  This particular sin has caused mankind serious consequences through generations even up to our time today.   God was not referring to Ishmael as the son of promise.  God said Abraham will have a son through his wife Sarah.

The Lord reminded him of His promise when he was ninety-nine years old and a year after, Sara bore Isaac. Abraham, like any father, loved his son very much; he meant the world to him. But God had to test Abraham's faith and probably to find out if He was still first in his heart.

God commanded Abraham to take Isaac, his only son, whom he loves very much, and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on Mount Moriah. Many would call God’s command “extreme”, or “unnecessary”.   But if God is going to use Abraham as the foundation for the great nation of Israel, He has to be certain that his faith will stand strong under any circumstance. Abraham kept his faith and followed God.

Worship Lessons from Abraham (The Five P’s of Worship):

1. When you worship, PRESENT your best offerings (verse 10)

-  One of the purposes of worship is to bring our offerings.   Exodus 23:15  says "No one is to appear before me empty-handed."  When we give, we do not give to the church but instead, we give through the church so that the work of the Lord will prosper.  

- Abraham’s best offering to God was the one he loved the most, Isaac. What is yours?  What are you willing to give up for the Lord?

2. When you worship, be PUNCTUAL (verse 3a)

- “The early bird catches the worm” or in our case, more opportunities to worship God and strengthen our relationship with Him if we arrive early or be punctual during our church service.  

- When you’re late to a church service, you are on the losing end. The first part of the service, the PRAYER and PRAISE AND WORSHIP – this is the time we talk to God.  We sing songs to Him.  We pray to Him.  We prepare our hearts.  That is US talking to GOD.  When it is time for the sermon, this is GOD talking to US.  It is a two-way communication.

3. When you worship, be PREPARED physically, emotionally and spiritually (verse 3b)

- Abraham was ready when it came to offering Isaac to God.  The Bible says he got up early, saddled his donkey, chopped wood and even carried fire.  Are we prepared when we go to church on Sundays?  Do we bring our Bibles?  Our pens?  Do we pray before going to church? Do we get rid of all kinds of "baggages" that may keep us from truly worshipping God?

4. When you worship, stay POSITIVE and trust in God (verse 5-8)

-  In verse 5  … "We will worship and then we will come back to you.”  In verse 8,  Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.”  Abraham had complete faith and trust in God that He knows what He is doing.

- Staying positive in life requires faith in knowing that  God will guide us in our lives into something better.

5. When you worship, PREVENT any kind of distraction (verse 5,9)

- Abraham made sure that there will be no distraction or anything that will prevent him from worshipping the Lord.   He asked his servants to stay behind.  Otherwise, they might even interfere when they saw him that he will sacrifice Isaac.  The Bible did not even tell us where Abraham’s wife Sarah was, she was probably sleeping when he left otherwise, she could also interfere.  And while Abraham was there in the mountain, the Bible said he bound Isaac… again making sure that he won’t be able to refuse or prevent him from the sacrifice.

- When we come to church on a Sunday, are we really there?  Or are are just physically present but our minds are distracted?  We come to church but we are distracted by so many things.
- Worship is important. God deserves our complete attention so we should do our best to make sure nothing will take our minds off Him.  

Concluding Thoughts:

In the end of God’s test for Abraham, an angel came and stopped him from offering Isaac, and instead, God provided a Ram to sacrifice. Abraham’s faith paid off, and he was blessed with God’s promise. Similar in our lives, trials may seem impossible to get through, but if we follow the Five P’s when it comes to worship, God will always deliver. 

When God is pleased with our worship, He will bless us.

About 1000 years after Abraham’s visit to Mt. Moriah, a righteous king in Israel bought a land on Moriah, a threshing floor from a man named Araunah  to build the Lord’s Temple.  The name of this king is David.  Araunah offered to give the land to King David for free – but King David refused. It was a kind gesture, but David insisted on paying for the land, and he gave Araunah 50 shekels of silver. The reason that he gave was this:

 I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing. (2 Samuel 24:24 NIV)

David recognized that an important aspect of worship is giving God something that belongs to us, something that requires some sort of sacrifice.  
God deserves our wholehearted worship.. He deserves our best.  Our best mood.  Our best appearance.  Our best offering.  Our best attitude.    We worship the Lord out of respect.  We worship the Lord out of gratitude. 

From the time of David, another thousand years have passed and a sacrifice is once again required.  But this time, it’s different.  This time, the sacrifice is to substitute for the sins of mankind, once and for all.  Biblical scholars believed that this sacrifice  once again, happened in Moriah.  A lot of scholars believed that the apex of Mt. Moriah was actually Mt. Calvary where Jesus was crucified.
This time, the sacrifice is not a ram caught in thickets or a son of an important leader like Abraham – this time the sacrifice is God’s only begotten Son,  the Lamb of God Who Takes Away the Sins of the World...not a ram but a LAMB.

The main difference -- this time the sacrifice pushed through...the sacrifice happened...Jesus was crucified once and for all as a substitute for your sins...as a substitute for my sins.  Just like how Abraham obeyed God and how Isaac obeyed Abraham, Jesus obeyed the will of the Father.

This is the reason why we can worship the LORD with all those five Ps of worship without any issue. Are we not supposed to worship Him with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, with all our strength?  With what Christ has done, is He not deserving of our worship?

Worshipping God is something we will do for eternity.  Let us start doing it right.... starting today!

Prayer

Wherever you are, whatever you situation you may be -- you need the love of Jesus in your life.
Please say this prayer sincerely from your heart:  

Father God, I confess all my sins to you today.  Please forgive me.  Today, I open my heart to your Son Jesus Christ.  I accept Him in my life as my Savior and as my Lord.  May the Holy Spirit come to my life and make me the kind of person you want me to be.  In Jesus Name, I pray.  Amen.

The above article is an excerpt from a sermon delivered at WCF Richmond on  February 1, 2015

I apologize if there are grammatical and spelling errors.  

If you are looking for a church in British Columbia, Canada please visit our website at:
 www.wordchristianfellowship.com