Expressions of Worship

Introduction

John 4:21–23 NKJV

Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.

We’ve established the fact that God is looking for worshippers and you could be what He’s looking for. We also see that the key is “less of me.” So, if God is looking for worshippers and you and I could be what He’s looking for then we would have to admit that:

Worship Must Be Expressed

God is looking for worshippers and the church is looking for workers. The problem is not worship; the problem is the object of worship. That’s the battle today—the target of worship. If your object is wrong, your outcome is wrong. Lucifer was kicked out because he diverted praising, adoring and magnifying from God to himself. Thus, he became a god unto himself. But God will not share His glory with another, so Lucifer was kicked out of heaven, and then God starts a human race on this planet. God only has one person down here and he’s a worshipper. Worship is no more or less than adoration and love towards deity. It is a love that you express in a multiplicity of ways. But if it is true love and adoration it cannot stay unexpressed.

If a man tells his wife he loves her, but he never hugs or kisses her, or buys thing for her, or makes loving gestures, then that lady is not very likely to believe that guy.

Love must be expressed. If love is not expressed it stagnates, it dies, it becomes corrupted, becomes less than pure love.

SHOUT

Psalm 32:11 NKJV

Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous; And shout for joy, all you upright in heart!

Psalm 47:1 NKJV

Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples! Shout to God with the voice of triumph!

1 Thessalonians 4:16 NKJV

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

CLAP

Psalm 47:1 NKJV

Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples! Shout to God with the voice of triumph!

DANCE

Psalm 149:3 NKJV

Let them praise His name with the dance; Let them sing praises to Him with the timbrel and harp.

Psalm 150:4 NKJV

Praise Him with the timbrel and dance; Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes!

SINGING

Psalm 98:4 NKJV

Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth; Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

Psalm 150:1–6 NKJV

Praise the Lord! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty firmament! Praise Him for His mighty acts; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness! Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; Praise Him with the lute and harp! Praise Him with the timbrel and dance; Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes! Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with clashing cymbals! Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!

TRIUMPHAL ENTRY

Luke 19:37–40 NKJV

Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying: “ ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.” But He answered and said to them, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.”

Are You Worshipping a Feeling or a Fact?

We need a fuller comprehension of this subject so we can be more comfortable because knowledge is power.

There is no sense in dancing, shouting or clapping if we don’t know why we are.

Is it only because of a feeling?

God is trying to take us beyond the feeling to the fact.

Have you ever been in a praise service and the singing starts, and the feeling gets on you, and you just don’t want it to leave?

Do you know what you are doing?

You’re enjoying what’s happening, but if you’re not careful, you’ll start worshipping your worship.

You’ll start praising your praise.

You’ll substitute a nice feeling for a true focus on God.

You’d better make sure that the centerpiece of your worship is correct.

If the object isn’t factual, God will reject it.

Every effort at worship is not God-acceptable worship.

Cain was rejected because God would not accept bloodless worship (or Cain’s attitude).

Salvation is of the Jews

When Jesus said, “salvation is of the Jews,” he was saying that the Samaritans were a rival religion, with a mixture of truth, feelings and human ideas.

They had, in the eyes of God, a man-made religion that was unacceptable.

The Jews had a religion that originated in God, exalting and magnifying the holiness of God.

It showed the necessity of a substitute blood sacrifice that the Samaritans couldn’t fathom.

It is the sacrifice of a substitute that leads to forgiveness, atonement and restoration.

Salvation has always been by divine grace, not by human merit. And grace is offered to the sinner on the grounds of sacrificial atonement.

Thus, through the Jews, God established once and for all His divine right to show the method of approaching Him.

God gave them sacrifices, rituals, temple rites, and circumcision—and He said, “salvation is of the Jews.”

Here’s why:

1) they know the object, the one true living God, and

2) they have the approach to God that He will accept.

Everything else is rejected.

That’s why Ruth kept following Naomi and wouldn’t leave her.

Ruth 1:16 NKJV

But Ruth said: “Entreat me not to leave you, Or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, And your God, my God.

Ruth left behind heathen Moabite worship for true worship.

Salvation is of the Jews because acceptable worship only has God as the target.

A New Priesthood for Salvation

God didn’t nullify the promises He made to Israel. He fulfilled them in Jesus Christ. The veil was rent open for all to approach. The final sacrifice was offered, and the old priesthood ended as a new priesthood began. According to Hebrews 13, the new priesthood is to offer spiritual sacrifice even with the fruit of our lips.

Hebrews 13:15 NKJV

Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.

According to the New Testament every believer is now a spiritual priest.

And the duty of every priest is to offer sacrifices unto God.

Now Hebrews 13:15 says that the sacrifices we offer are spiritual expressions, even the sacrifice of our lips, praising God by Christ Jesus.

The temples of our bodies supersede the tabernacle of Israel.

For God, incarnate in the man Christ Jesus, said unto the Samaritan woman: the time is coming and now is when it will not be a location.

You will neither worship in this mountain, nor in the temple at Jerusalem. You will now worship in spirit and in truth.