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True Worship that God Receives

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(Isaiah 1:13)

Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me.
New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations--I cannot bear your evil assemblies.

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There was a prophet named Isaiah. This prophet lived through the times of King Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah as kings of Judah.

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The people of Isaiah's time were very eager in offering sacrifices to God. So the temple of Jerusalem was always full of people who were trying to offer sacrifices to God.

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During the Old Testament time, the people brought many animals to offer sacrifices to God. At that time, they killed the animal and made it bleed and offered it to God. Then, God received that sacrifice and forgave their sins.

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They chose the best animal and offered it God. They spent huge amounts of money to offer expensive and good animals. They thought God would of course receive their sacrifices  because they were offering good animals.

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And the people of Judah during that time were also eager in gathering together. They gathered every Sabbath and they gathered and offered sacrifices to God on every first day of the month. Even that time, they used very good rams and bull calves to offer sacrifices to God.

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They were also very eager in keeping the feasts. They stopped all their work and they followed the rules and kept the Feast of Tabernacles and the Feast of Passover. Their eagerness looked very great.

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But God appeared to Isaiah and said a very surprising thing.
"I don't want any of these sacrifices that you have offered. I have more than enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fattened animals. I am not pleased with the blood of bulls and lambs and goats." God was telling them that HE will not receive just the expensive and good sacrifices.

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"You come to appear before me but that is just trampling of my courts.
Stop bringing meaningless offerings. Your incense is detestable to me."

God was saying that HE did not want them to come to offer only sacrifices.

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God continued. "I hate your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts. They have become a burden to me. I am too weary to bear them. Even you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you. Even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen." The people of Judah kept all the feasts very eagerly but God was saying all those were meaningless. And God was saying that HE would not listen to their prayers.

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Then why did God tell the people of Judah that HE would not receive their offerings? Why did God tell them that HE could not receive their sacrifices?

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They offered good offerings to God but in their daily lives, they did bad things.
They used bad ways to bully weak people.
They bullied poor people and they did bad things to them.

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Outwardly, the Israelites gathered eagerly and worshiped God as if they really loved God but they did not like following the words of God. They did not want to live accordingly to the words of God. They had their own thoughts and they only did what they wanted to do. God knew all of their lies. That was why God did not receive their sacrifices.

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The same thing goes with us. Even though we come to church and worship eagerly, if we, in our daily lives, say bad words and do bad things and bully weak people outside of the church, God will not receive our worship like how God did to the Israelites.

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We should not be like the Israelites. Dear friends, who have heard today's sermon we should not be contented with just attending the worship service on the set time. Like the words of God you heard in this sermon time, do good things and be kind to others.

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We should work harder to become people who can offer the worship that God receives. If you offer the worship that God receives, God will raise you into a big person of faith. Even today, God is looking for someone who can worship God with a true heart.