Word of Salvation – March 2025
Worship And Sabbath
Sermon by Rev. John Westendorp on W.C.F. ch.21 & Isaiah 56:1-8
Reading: Isaiah 58; Matthew 12:1-13; Westminster Confession – ch.21
Singing: BoW.092 It is good to sing Your praises
– BoW.206 In God the Father I believe
– BoW.178 Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness
– BoW.527 You are worthy
Theme: The necessity of worship according to God’s prescription focuses especially in Sabbath keeping.
Introd: Worship is something close to the heart of every child of God.
Worship is a subject we get passionate about.
That’s why periodically have those so-called “worship wars”.
We debate together and struggle together over issues involved in worship.
We’re passionate about worship because we know God is passionate about worship.
And we know God is passionate about worship because the Bible is full of it..
Worship is mentioned right at the very dawn of history.
Both Cain and Abel brought offerings… with Seth people began public worship.
And the Bible closes with worship in the book of Revelation.
John calls on those who keep the words of this book to worship God.
And in between we get great slabs of Scripture devoted to worship.
Much of Exodus and Leviticus consist of regulations for worship.
And right in the middle of the Bible is God’s “Book of Worship”.
There we find the Bible’s divinely inspired “Songs of Praise”.
God made us for worship and we do a great deal of it.
So it’s good for us occasionally to pause and reflect on the subject.
– What is worship… and who is it really for?
– How do we decide what is right worship and what is wrong worship?
– And then of course there’s that whole matter of the Sabbath… the Lord’s Day.
A] WORSHIP AND THOSE WHOM IT IS FOR.
- Since worship is so important it’s hardly surprising that Isaiah has a lot to say about it too.
The language of worship saturates his writings.
You’ll find numerous references… there’s a whole vocabulary of worship in Isaiah.
Sabbaths and prayers… offerings and temples… fasting and praise.
And Isaiah begins with it already in chapter 1 – sacrifices and prayer and religious festivals.
And he concludes with it in the second last verse of the book:
“From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another,
all mankind will come and bow down before me,” says the Lord.
Isaiah’s emphasis on worship is hardly surprising because Isaiah knows who God is.
In chapter 6 Isaiah has that awe inspiring vision of God on His throne.
God’s glory and majesty fill the temple and totally overwhelm the prophet.
So worship flows out of knowing who God is.
Worship arises out of an encounter with the Living God.
So we find the language of worship in this chapter too.
It’s there in our text: Three times the Sabbath is referred to.
And the closing notes have to do with burnt offerings and an altar, prayer and a temple.
- But there is something unusual about these verses.
In the O.T the regulations for worship had to do with the worship of Israel.
In fact… in some ways worship was restricted to the covenant nation… most of the covenant nation.
Because two categories of people were explicitly barred from temple worship.
There were the aliens… the foreigners… who were excluded.
So too were the maimed… eunuchs, for example, were singled out for exclusion.
And yet here God now specifically includes them and gives them solemn promises.
The worshipping eunuch who has lost his manhood is not only given a place in God’s temple.
He is also given a heritage better than sons or daughters.
And the worshipping foreigners God will bring to His holy mountain.
He will give them joy in His house of prayer.
So worship here moves beyond the limited scope of Israel.
There is a universal dimension to worship.
These verses end with a big picture that takes us beyond Israel to all nations:
My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.
Worship is so important that in the end it cannot be limited merely to Israel.
Nor only to those who are healthy and whole… worship is for all people.
- In the light of the Bible’s focus on worship it’s hardly surprising to find it in the W. Confessions too.
The Confession devotes a lengthy chapter to worship.
There too we find a whole vocabulary of worship… many parts of worship are highlighted.
It tells us that God is to be “held in awe, loved, praised, called upon, trusted in and served.”
And then it details some specific areas of worship.
It tells us who the object of our worship is to be: Only God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
A couple of sections are devoted to prayer.
And then the content of public worship is very briefly spelled out.
Furthermore it also shows us the breadth of worship.
Worship is not limited to some rituals on a Sunday in a church building.
In fact, it specifies that the location doesn’t even matter two hoots.
God is worshipped everywhere and at all times.
And then we get a spectrum of worship events listed.
Your daily private devotions when you quietly read your Bible and say your prayers.
Your family worship each day as you worship God together around the table.
And of course especially the public, corporate worship of the believing community.
(Something we are not to neglect… for God calls us to join together for public worship.)
- When the Westminster Confession deals with worship it begins where Isaiah leaves off.
It assumes that worship is a duty for all – based on the fact that God exists.
It takes its cue from the apostle Paul.
People are without excuse since God’s attributes are seen in creation.
Only the fool says in his heart, “There is no God!”
So no one has any excuse because nature tells us that there is a God.
And if everyone can see it then everyone ought to worship… to ascribe worth to God.
Worship is for all… it is not just an option for some.
The God who made all things and who fills the universe wants to be worshipped.
He, the Sovereign Lord, who is good and who does good to everyone is worthy of our worship.
But it is especially true that Christians ought to worship.
We see His goodness not only in creation… we see His perfect goodness in Christ His Son.
And so He deserves our worship even more for what He has done for us in Christ.
We especially ought to worship because we know that God as our Father in Jesus.
So as this chapter of the confession proceeds it becomes clear that only believers worship acceptably.
For example, it reminds us that prayer that is acceptable is to be made in the name of Jesus.
Everyone must worship God but only God’s people… only believers can worship Him in the right way.
B] THE RIGHT KIND OF WORSHIP.
- Let’s go back to Isaiah because Isaiah is not just concerned about worship as such.
Isaiah is especially concerned about true worship. Worship that is according to God’s will.
In Israel in those days people were passionate about worship too.
But often passionate about the wrong kind of worship. Idolatry had infiltrated the nation.
Some of the worst kinds of religion were being reintroduced.
Religions that God had banned when Israel had conquered the Promised Land.
So not surprisingly Isaiah spends a lot of time denouncing idolatry.
He is scathing in his condemnation of the tin pot gods that people worshipped.
In chap.40 he talks about the craftsman who carves an idol out of wood.
But it’s got to be a special kind of wood that won’t rot.
You can’t have your idol gods getting gangrene in their toes.
And you’ve got to make them with a solid base so that they don’t totter and fall.
In chapter 44 he slings off in an even longer and more sarcastic and witty way at idol worship.
And it’s all to highlight – not only that God alone is to be worshipped.
It’s also to make clear that the invisible God cannot be represented by images.
God does not ever want to be worshipped through them.
Worship is directed to the one true God, who Himself tells how He is to worshipped.
- Here in our text Isaiah is also concerned about wrong worship.
But now not about the worship of idol gods… or the worship of the Lord through idols.
His concern here is another common one in the book of Isaiah.
Wrong worship also happens when the worship of God is not matched by a godly lifestyle.
And that comes out very clearly in these verses. And not only here either.
That’s what Isaiah so roundly rebukes in his opening message already in chapter one.
There he pictures Israel as involved in many religious rituals and ceremonies.
But it was sickening to God in heaven… because in the temple they worshiped
but back home they abused the poor and neglected the needy.
In chapter 1 God goes so far as to refer to Jerusalem as Gomorrah.
Their worship stank to high heaven because of their abominable behaviour.
Worship is not right worship if the inner attitude of the heart is wrong.
God rejects our worship when it is not motivated by a right relationship to Him.
We notice that here in that these verses begin with a call to maintain justice and to do what is right.
And it then says that the man is blessed who does this and keeps the Sabbath.
We see it both in vs.4 with regard to the eunuch and in vs.6 with regard to the foreigner.
Sabbath keeping is linked to doing what pleases the Lord.
It is tied inseparably to serving the Lord and holding fast to God’s covenant.
So it is not enough in worship to merely go through some rituals… through some religious exercises.
Life on Monday must conform to our worship on Sunday
There is a close link between the worship of keeping the Sabbath
and the lifestyle of doing what pleases the Lord.
- The Westminster Confession is very concerned about correct worship too.
Historically it’s even the main reason why this chapter was written in the first place.
The context is the Reformation and the deterioration of worship at that time.
Many human additions were added. Things were done that were not according to Scripture.
During the Middles Ages worship moved well beyond Scripture.
Prayer was made to the saints… as if they could hear us and help us.
Prayer was made for the dead… when at death their destiny was already fixed.
Statues and images were not just works of art but were used as aids in worship.
And those who wrote the Confession wanted to deal with those issues in worship.
So the message needed to be heard that we can’t just do what we like in worship.
The only worship God accepts is the kind of worship which He decides.
We are not to be guided by our imagination but by principles drawn from Scripture.
- So there are some clear parallels between Isaiah and the Westminster Confession.
Both denounce wrong worship… both spell out that worship must be in obedience to God Word.
But what about that key concern of Isaiah that Sunday’s worship be reflected in Monday’s behaviour?
Is the W. Confession only concerned about the external regulations and getting that right?
No! It is also concerned about the whole of life. And it shows that in two ways.
First it links together worship and service. God is worshipped and served.
So the ritual of praise must go together with a life of thanks.
Sunday’s faithful worship has to be followed by Monday’s faithful life of service.
I’m reminded of the visitor to a Mennonite church who asked: “When does the service start?”
The person who was asked answered: “The service begins as soon as the worship ends.”
We see the W. Confession’s concern about the attitude of the heart also in another way.
It is concerned that there be nothing half-hearted about the way we serve God.
Rather it ought to be with all our heart, soul and might.
Not by keeping worship in a separate little compartment removed from business.
So that at work we behave in total contrast to the way we worshipped in church.
Worship and work together flow out of a desire to please God.
That was the challenge for the eunuchs and it is the challenge for us.
C] THE FOCUS OF THE SABBATH.
- There is one other interesting feature about worship here in Isaiah 56 and later in chap.58.
Relatively little is said about the temple and sacrifices.
It’s there… but it’s not the key issue.
Because both the foreigner and the eunuch were barred from temple worship in any case.
So what does worship focus on especially?
In Isaiah 56 it focuses on Sabbath keeping.
In Isaiah 58 it focuses on fasting and Sabbath keeping.
That was the centre of worship for ordinary Israelites.
Especially for foreigners and those who had been mutilated: the Sabbath.
But this is not only relevant for aliens and for eunuchs.
We need to remember that Israelites were only required to go to the temple three times a year.
So was that the only time Israelites worshipped God? Just three times a year?
No! Every Sabbath Day was a day of worship.
So we see that worship was far more than some occasional rituals in the temple.
At the very least it was a weekly event as they kept the Sabbath.
- Here is the very heart of the covenant. And we see that clearly in these verses.
The eunuch is called to keep God’s Sabbath… and to hold fast to God’s covenant.
The foreigner is to keep the Sabbath… and to hold fast to the covenant.
Covenant and Sabbath belong together.
Because the Sabbath was the sign of the covenant for Israel (Exod.31:17).
Just as circumcision was the sign of the covenant with Abraham.
So keeping the Sabbath was a weekly covenant way of worshipping God.
A reminder to them of the covenant God had made with them.
A weekly celebration of God’s covenant goodness to His people.
What we have then is worship as a repeated weekly spiritual re-focusing on God.
In some ways… on God as their Creator (Exod.20) who worked six days and then rested.
In another way… focusing on God as their Deliverer (Deut. 5) and Saviour.
- When the W. Confession deals with worship it also focuses on the Sabbath.
It regards it as a special time set apart for the worship of God.
So if we are going to talk worship we must talk Sabbath.
It is the special day God has set aside for worship of Him.
We need to understand that the Sabbath was not just something for Israel.
We call the Sabbath a creation ordinance because God instituted it at the beginning.
We read of it being a day set apart already back in Genesis 2.
So in the Ten Commandments God does not institute is as something new.
He doesn’t say to Israel: And from now on I’m setting apart for you a Sabbath Day.
Instead God calls them simply to remember the Sabbath day as a worship day.
That helps us to understand why God calls the alien and the eunuch to keep the Sabbath.
Because it is for all people… Jew and Gentile alike.
God calls everyone to keep one day in seven as special for the worship of Him.
- Tonight we also read from Matthew’s gospel where Jesus claimed to be Lord of the Sabbath.
IOW: the Sabbath sign is fulfilled in Christ.
The rest of the Sabbath foreshadowed the eternal rest we find in Jesus.
That means that things have now changed somewhat for us.
That doesn’t mean that the whole thing is cancelled and is now irrelevant for us.
The principle of a one-in-seven day of rest as a creation ordinance still stands.
And both Jesus and the early church worshipped on one special day a week.
But two things are different.
Jesus as Lord of the Sabbath showed us that it is not a day of legalistic inactivity.
Jesus went about doing good.
So it is a day for worship and for seeking the welfare of others.
And because Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath we now keep that special day on Sunday.
The first day of the week in celebration of the resurrection of our Lord.
And the day that Holy Spirit was poured upon the church.
When we put all this together we see the wonderful way Isaiah 56 comes together.
Foreigners are included… and so are the maimed and disabled.
Not by undergoing some worship rituals in a temple – important as they were.
But by keeping that sign of the covenant that was fulfilled in Jesus.
That makes Isaiah 56 a prophecy of the age of Messiah.|
All this has become a reality… all kinds of people are now included in Christ.
Worship is important. We are passionate about it because God is passionate about it.
In worship we ascribe worth to God – especially for Jesus, our Saviour and Lord.
Worship… because worthy is the Lamb who was slain
to receive honour and glory and praise now and forever.
Amen.