When Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan (Matthew 4), Satan takes Him into an exceeding high mountain and said, "All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me." Matthew 4:9. Jesus responds, "...It is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him ONLY shalt thou SERVE. Matthew 4:10.

Again, when Jesus was traveling from Judea to Galilee, it was necessary for him to travel through Samaria. On this trip He encountered a woman of Samaria at Jacob's well. John 4. The subject of their conversation was "worship." This will be OUR SUBJECT in this Lesson and four others lesson to follow.

In this First Lesson, I will cover the following areas: 1. Define Worship, and show what is involved in worship. 2. Answer the Question: What acceptable worship must include, and 3. Show the object of our worship.

I ...Worship Defined

Vine's Expository Dictionary. "Honor, Obeisance, Reverence, and Homage paid, by man to Deity." Notice the word "PAID!" That is more to worship than mere feelings. It surely must include feelings, but much more is involved. Satan said to our Lord, "...If you will fall down and worship me." Matthew 4:10.

Some people complain, after a worship service: "I didn't get anything out of that service." That is really the wrong question. The real important question is: What did you put into it? Or, What did you pay? If you do not GIVE anything (or, put anything into it), how can you expect to get anything out of it? You cannot get something for nothing, even in WORSHIP. WORSHIP in and of itself; is NOT necessarily acceptable to God. Because:

1) THERE IS VAIN WORSHIP

"But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." Matthew 15:9.

2) THERE IS IGNORANT WORSHIP

"For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you." Acts 17:23,

3) THERE IS WILL WORSHIP

"Which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh." Colossians 2:23. Involved in this is Presumptuous Worship. "Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression." Psalms 19:13.

4) THERE IS "TRUE WORSHIP.

"God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." John 4:24. This is what we should always strive for as we attempt to worship God.

Worship is also described in an Old English word "WORTHSHIP." This is a compound word including two words WORTH and SHIP. "Worth" means Value or Price Paid. "SHIP" means to engage for service. So worship means, "something paid to deity."

II ...WHAT MUST WORSHIP INCLUDE?

Worship involves ATTENTION. God got Moses attention in a Burning Bush. "And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed." Exodus 3:2. Isaiah had preached for years, but in Chapter 6, he came into the presence of the Lord, and this is what happened. "Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: and he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged." Isaiah 6:5-7. When the Seraphim flew to Isaiah with a live coal (fire), in a tong and touched his lips, God got his attention.

In Acts 2, with the coming of the Holy Spirit, and the power, with which the church was to be established, God got the attention of the people, with the sound of a rushing mighty wind and the cloven tongues of fire. As Peter spoke, every foreigner (those that spoke a different language) heard and understood what Peter was saying. Then, eight time in the Book of Revelation, John said, "he that hath an ear, let him hear." That is, let him pay close attention to what God says in the Bible, so as to Obey Him.

1) WORSHIP INVOLVES OUR MEMORY

There is always a looking back. The Bible was completed nearly 1900 years ago, and it is our GUIDE in WORSHIP today. Jesus said, in connection with the Observance of the Lord's Supper, as a part of WORSHIP: "And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, this is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me." Luke 22:19. Here we use our memory to look back to the cross, and then, forward to his coming again.

2) WORSHIP INVOLVES HONORING GOD

No finite or mortal man can know what Worship is due a sovereign, God except as God himself tells him: WHAT to do and HOW to do it. God has given us a Divine Plan for Worship. If there was NO DIVINE PLAN, then there would be NO worship that would NOT be acceptable. There would be NO Disorder in Worship, No Error in Worship, and NO transgression of God’s law in Worship. And yet, the Bible clearly teaches that these things are possible. Matthew 15:8-9.

Churches of Christ throughout the world worship the same way. WHY? Because we recognize that there is a DIVINE PLAN for worship. If people can worship differently and God accepted their worship, that would mean, there is no Divine standard, and no Divine rules for Worship. Or it would mean God is a respecter of persons, and this cannot be true. "For there is not respect of persons with God." Romans 2:11.

What better way can we Honor God, than by obeying Him, by doing exactly what he tell us to do in our Worship of him? When all worshippers, worship God Exactly as He tell us to, then we can say that we are all honoring God.

3) WORSHIP INVOLVES REVERENCE FOR GOD.

That is, worshippers perform Acts of Obeisance and demonstrate Respect of God. God created man as a free moral agent (that mean he has the right to choose whether he will obey God, or whether he will not obey Him.)

QUESTION: Is there REVERENCE and RESPECT for God, when people GO BEYOND God’s specific instructions and do what they want to do, rather than that which God has told us to do? NO! When people change, alter, or in some way circumscribe God's Divine Plan, they show no respect or reverence for God. If a person will do that, they demonstrate by those actions that they will change any of God’s Laws.

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(Story of a man taking a trip. Before he left he gave instructions to his sons about making some improvements to their home. He said, "Build a house, a Barn and Dig a well." In each case he gave the place where they were to put the house, the barn and the location of the well. When he returned, they had built the house and dug the well where the father had told them too, but had built the barn in a different place.

The father said to his sons, "You have not done one thing that I told you to do." The sons responded, "Yes, the only thing that we changed was the location of the barn." The father responded, "No! you built them where you wanted to build them. By your action, you have shown that if you had wanted the house and well in a different place, you would have put them there."

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If people will violate God’s Divine Laws of Worship, then they demonstrate to God that they will CHANGE any of His laws. How can one reverence God and NOT follow his directions or instructions? The simple FACT is, they cannot! Yes, we must reverence God in our worship.

4) WORSHIP INVOLVES HOMAGE (External Acts).

Church attendance for example. Here is a problem that all churches face. And it shows that we have church goers, and NOT true worshippers. The question is often asked, "Why don't people come back Sunday night and Wednesday night?" That is NOT the real question. The real question is: Why do they assemble on Sunday morning? Is it to PAY Respect, Homage, and Adoration to almighty GOD? That should be the REAL REASON. Are these things done on Sunday night and Wednesday night? Or, does God deserve these thing ONLY on Sunday morning?

5) WORSHIP INVOLVES FELLOWSHIP. Acts 2:42

An ASSEMBLY infers FELLOWSHIP. It is a Feast for the soul, not a Funeral. It is a Celebration of Victory, NOT to mourn a defeat. There should be joy in our hearts, it should NOT just be something to endure for an hour. We should be transported to the very presence of God in our worship. "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." Matthew 18:20. We should built each other up in the Most Holy Faith. "Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend." Proverbs 27:17. We build each other up in our Worship of God together. "For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself." Romans 14:7.

6) WORSHIP INVOLVES SERVICE.

This is a service that is given to fellowman as well as God. When Jesus was questioned about: what is the greatest commandment, this was his answer: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." This LOVE involves any service that we render to God or to man.

III... THREE THINGS THAT ACCEPTABLE WORSHIP MUST INCLUDE

      1) It must be only that which is due a sovereign God.

      2) And, only that which will spiritually profit (or edify) those who are worshipping.

      3) And, only that which is so clearly taught in the New Testament that it may be enforced upon every congregation assembled to WORSHIP.

The New Testament provides all of these: There is an assembly to cultivate Fellowship, Pay Honor, Reverence, Respect, and Homage to God. The Lord's Supper is observed to commemorate the Lord's death, and to look forward to his return.

There is a period of Bible teaching. This shows respect for God's Word, and a sincere desire to know more about it. It also shows a love for the truth. "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth." John 17:17.

There is a recognition of the presence of God. We show this by singing praises to Him, and teaching and admonishing one another with spiritual songs. "Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord." Ephesians 5:19. "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." Colossians 3:16.

There is the giving of our material worth, to support Lord's work. (This is a test of our love.) For you see, everything that we have, really belongs to God. He wants to know if we love Him, or if we LOVE MAMMON. (Matthew 6:24).

There are prayers, that show our complete trust in God. These are channels through which we express to God, our heartfelt appreciation and love for all that he has done for us.

IT IS REALLY BEAUTIFUL, WHEN DONE IN OBEDIENCE TO GOD.

IT IS UPLIFTING AND THRILLING and give SATISFACTION to our Souls.

IT IS TRUE WORSHIP.

IV THE OBJECT OF OUR WORSHIP

Some may think this POINT infantile or juvenile, but notice Revelation 22:9, There is a simple command: "...Worship God." "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." Exodus 20:3. "For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or on earth; as there are gods many, and lords many; yet to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we unto him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through him."

1 Corinthians 8:5-6.

There has been throughout History, many gods and goddesses. (Notice: When these god’s are mentioned, there is always a lower case "g," whereas when the God of Heaven is mentioned, a capital "G" is used.) These god’s symbolize wealth, property, fame, and fortune. The fact is, they still exist in the hearts of mind of many people. There are materialistic idols that people worship today. And there are many things that occupy their time, talent, and attention -- things that many put first, ahead of God.

Jesus put things in their proper perspective in: Matthew 6:33, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." This is the Lord’s answer to what True Worship really is. We must put God and the body of His Son FIRST, before anything else. (His Son’s Body is His Son’s church, of course).

A very important question: Are your worshipping God acceptably today?

End

By: Bro James W. Bowers, Jr.