worship - what it is and what it isn't

What is Real Worship?

In this lesson we will deal the subject of worship, and by worship we mean worshipping God. If you ask people today about worship you will probably get about as many different answers as the number of people you ask. So let us take some time now and see what the Bible has to say about worshipping God.

First let us give a definition of the word.

Worship –  to adore; to pay divine honors to; to reverence with supreme respect and veneration.

[American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster 1828]

By definition real worship will require our hearts to be centered on God himself. We must not only thank God for what he has done for us but we must thank him and praise him for what and who he is. As we show in this lesson we must worship God in Spirit and in Truth. Therefore worship is not some trance or state that we go into, it is getting our heart, soul and mind fixed on God and not ourselves or our needs or other worldly things.

It is plain to see that we are told to worship God.

Psalm 29:2 “Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty

of holiness.”

Psalm 45:11 “So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou

him.”

Luke 4:8 “And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan; for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shall thou serve.”

It is also very plain to see that he worthy of our worship.

John 3:16  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Romans 5:8 “But God commendeth his live toward us in that, while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.”

2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-word, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

When we consider exactly what God has done in saving us and giving his son to pay the penalty of our sin. It should be a privilege and honor to worship him.

According to the Bible we should worship God in Spirit and in Truth and have no confidence in the flesh. (John 4:24 ; Philippians 3:3)

Now when you look at the word “worship” in the concordance you we see that many times when it is found in the word of God it is connected with one of three things; Sacrifice, Giving, or Humility. We will look at each of these separately.

1)  Sacrifice (Genesis 22:5)

This is the very first time that the word occurs in a King James Bible. Here Abraham connects the offering of his son with worship. Now let us look at the typology of what is taking place here. Isaac here becomes a type of the Lord Jesus Christ; note God called him Abraham’s only son (Genesis 22:2,12). Abraham speaks prophetically of God himself becoming the sacrificial lamb (Genesis 22:8). The reason Abraham is willing to offer up Isaac is because he believes that God will resurrect him (Hebrews 11:19).

Therefore we see that real biblical worship is going to be connected with the Lord Jesus Christ who shed his blood for us and the fact that he was resurrected on the third day victorious over death hell and the grave.

This also applies in a spiritual application to us today. To worship God we will have to  set aside what we think or want and present our bodies a living sacrifice holy and acceptable unto God. (Romans 12:1-2)

2)  Giving (Deuteronomy 26:10 ; 1 Chronicles 16:29)

These passages are speaking about a literal offering and while it is true we should give our money to God, we can also make a spiritual application here as well. Have you ever heard the expression, “You get out what you put in”, this statement is very true when it comes to worship. Many people say that they don’t get anything out of Sunday School or Preaching or the song service. Maybe it is because they are not putting anything in. Before we go to church we must prepare our heart and mind with prayer and the study of God’s Word. We cannot live like the world and care nothing for God during the week and then expect to get a blessing when we go to church. This is plainly the law of sowing what you reap (Galatians 6:7-9).

3)  Humility (Joshua 5:14 ; Psalm 95:6)

As we will see in the next lesson in this series pride is a great hindrance to worship (Proverbs 16:18). There should be no arrogance or things of the flesh in our worship. This alone will show you that much of the music that is called worship music today in churches is not really worshipping the God it is about the flesh. Remember that real worship is about the death burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and when we consider that we should have no problem humbling ourselves before the Lord (Revelations 4:9-11 ; Revelations 5:9-10,12).

Some things about our Worship :

1)  To truly worship God we must be saved. (John 4:24 ; Romans 8:9)

In John it says that we must worship God in spirit and in truth. Therefore if one is not saved he is not in the spirit. Note that in John 3:6 it says that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Therefore as we stated in the previous lesson worshiping God is not about being in a trance or some other such experience but we must be saved and worship God in the spirit.

2) We must worship God according to the Truth (John 4:24)

In John 17:17 we see that the word of God is the truth. Therefore we must worship God in accordance with his word. Someone might ask what about all the different ways in which people worship God in all the different churches that exist today. Well the only way to know what is truth is by the Word of God. There are many forms of worship today that are not scriptural from the tongues movement to the rock band and laser light     shows that maybe good entertainment and draw big crowds but are not very scriptural (Proverbs 15:8). Some will say that is judging but we are to judge things by the word of God (1Corinthians 2:15).

3) We must worship God in Sincerity (Colossians 3:16)

Here we see in Verse 22 that we are not to serve God as if we are pleasing man but we are to serve him from the heart. If we are worshiping because we want to be seen of others or because we think that others are watching us and they expect us to that is not worshiping God sincerely.

Some Hindrances to our Worship :

There are many things that can hinder our worship of God. We will list some of the main ones but by no means are these only things that hinder our worship. And remember that each of us is affected differently by different things so we have to spot things that keep us from worship God and not let them hinder us.

1) Satan (1 Peter 5:8)

Form the very beginning Satan has desired worship. As a matter of fact he was created as the anointed cherub that covereth (Ezekiel 28:12-18) but fell through his pride and desire       to be worshiped (Isaiah 14:12-17). He even tried to get the Lord Jesus Christ to worship him (Luke 4:6-7). Therefore he will do everything in his power to try and get you to not      worship God. He is behind all of the false worship being done in churches today and will  do anything to get the worship and attention off of God or the Lord Jesus Christ.

2) Your flesh (Romans 7:18)

We must remember that our flesh will never want to worship God. It doesn’t want to pray, read the Bible, and go to church naturally we have to force it. Another thing about the flesh is that it always wants to try and worship God its own way instead of the way God said in his word. This is why we have rock music, light shows, 15 minute sermons, and other fleshly forms of worship today is because we are trying to please man’s flesh.   When God says that we must worship his way he means it. In the Old Testament he killed and man for touching the Ark of the Covenant, and killed two men for kindling strange fire on the altar. God is serious about worship and we must keep our flesh in check.

3) Pride (Proverbs 8:13)

God hates pride and pride will definitely hinder our worship of God. Many times we will  not say amen, shout or raise our hand in praise of the Lord because we are too proud. We are too afraid of what others might say or think about us. I sure am glad that Jesus was not too proud to die on the cross for us.

4) Grieving the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30-32)

We cannot grieve the Holy Spirit and expect to worship God. On might ask how do I grieve the Holy Spirit? By allowing all the things in verses 31 to stay in your life and by not doing the things listed in verse 32. The things in verse 31 would include a critical  spirit and gossiping about anybody and everybody. Having an unforgiving spirit will not only hinder your worship but also your prayer life.

Some things that we are told not to Worship :

1) Nature (Job 31:26-28)

Yes it is true that God created everything in nature and he can also be seen in nature but   we are still not to worship the sun, moon, stars, trees, clouds, animals, mountains, etc. Worship of these things is what has got man into the trouble that we are in today.

2) Men (Acts 10:25-26)

Have you ever wondered why they call actors stars, because people worship them just like the stars. There are people today who dress and act in accordance with Hollywood and tell you that if you do not you are out of style. The Bible says that we are not to worship men. That includes stars, professional athletes, politicians, world leaders, preachers, religious leaders, or even our own selves.

3) Angels (Revelations19:10)

Many today worship angels or other religious symbols and figures but once again this is    not scriptural.

UNACCEPTABLE WORSHIP

0. INTRODUCTION

A. We have been saved to worship God. (Isa. 43:21; John 4:23)

B. However, God will not accept our worship if it does not meet His criteria.

C. There are at least five types of worship that are unacceptable to Him.

I. INDIFFERENT WORSHIP - WORSHIP WHERE PEOPLE JUST GO THROUGH THE MOTIONS

God abhors it when people pretend to worship Him when their hearts are far from Him. (Matt. 15:7-9)

· God desires people to worship Him with a broken spirit and a contrite heart. (Psa. 51:16-17)

· A broken spirit occurs when we acknowledge our sin against God and do not try to justify, excuse, or rationalize the evil of our own hearts. (Psa. 51:4)

· A contrite heart occurs when we throw ourselves on the mercy of God and repent of our sins, and do not try to "clean up our act," by giving more, praying more, or getting involved in religious activity in the hopes that God will "get over" being mad at us. (Heb. 12:17)

God does not accept the worship of those who come to church on Sundays and pretend to worship Him, but the rest of the week they live as if He doesn’t exist. (1 Sam. 16:7)

II. INFERIOR WORSHIP - WORSHIP THAT IS SUPERFICIAL IN THAT WE FAIL TO GIVE GOD HIS DUE

Inferior worship occurs when we fail to give God our best. (Mal. 1:6-14)

· When we don’t bring the bestthat we have to God, we are treating the matter of worship with distain, with flippancy and with contempt. (Ex. 23:19a; Deut. 17:1)

· When we choose not to serveGod with our best in our worship, whether it is our time, our talents, or our finances, we are showing God that we do not honor Him. (Luke 16:13)

Inferior worship occurs when we fail to give God what belongs to Him.

· Everything we have belongs to God. (Psa. 24:1; 50:10; Hag. 2:8)

· Everything we have was givento us by God. (Deut. 8:18; 1 Cor. 4:7; Jam. 1:17)

· We are just stewards of everything He has given to us. (1 Chron. 29:14; 1 Tim. 6:17-18)

· God requires that we give a portion of what He has given to us back to Him. (1 Cor. 16:1-2)

· When we refuse or neglect to give back to Him that portion, then we are in effect stealing from God. (Mal. 3:8-9)

· How can we expect our worship to be pleasing to God if we are stealing from Him at the same time?

Inferior worship occurs when we fail to obey His commands. (1 Sam. 15:22-23; Matt. 5:23-24)

III. IMPROPER WORSHIP - WORSHIP BASED ON MAN-MADE TRADITIONS

This type of worship occurs when we care more about the traditions of men rather than the revelation of God. (Mark 7:9, 13; Col. 2:8) The worship of the Pharisees was based on man-made traditions and Christ was harsh in his criticism on how the Pharisees worshipped. (Matt. 15:3, 6b, 8-9)

IV. IGNORANT WORSHIP - WORSHIP WITH NO RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD OR KNOWLEDGE OF GOD

In order to worship God in an acceptable way, we must understand who He is. (Heb. 11:6)

· Jesus said the Samaritans did not worship in an acceptable way because they worshipped a God they did not know. (John 4:22)

· Paul told people in Athens who were worshipping the Unknown God in ignorance that they would be judgedunless they repented of this ignorant worship. (Acts 17:22-25, 29-31)

The only way we can properly worship God is to worship Him as He is revealed in Scripture.

V. IDOLATROUS WORSHIP - WORSHIP SOMETHING OR SOMEONE OTHER THAN THE TRUE GOD

A. Idolatry occurs when we worship a god of our own creation. (Rom. 1:23)

B. Idolatry occurs when we make God in our image, when we worship God as we want to perceive Him, rather than as He is revealed in Scripture.

Idolatry occurs when we put wealth or materialism in the place of God. (Job 31:24, 25 & 28)