The history of man reveals the fact that he is sure to worship the object
of his devotion, even if it be an idol. The Old Testament is a commentary
on false and misdirected worship. Because men were wont to worship the work of
their own hands or the works of nature, Moses directed the children of Israel
in the book of Exodus 20:3 that "Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou
shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that
is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water
under the earth; Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for
I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting iniquity of the fathers upon the
children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;..." It is
imperative, therefore, that a man be devoted to God. Jesus said, "Thou shalt
worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." (Matthew 4:10). The
conception of the world as to the way God may be worshiped is a misconception
of the truth. In action, men are saying, "God may be worshiped acceptably in
various ways." But our ways are not the ways of God. Jesus taught us the true
way in which to worship God acceptably. "God is a spirit, and they that
worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." (John 4:24)
I. THE FIVE KINDS OF WORSHIP MENTIONED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT.
A. VAIN WORSHIP.
Jesus declared in Matt. 15:7-9,"{Ye}hypocrites, well did Esaias
prophesy of you, saying, (8) This people draweth nigh unto me
with their mouth, and honors me with{their} lips; but their heart
is far from me. (9) But in vain they do worship me, teaching {for}
doctrines the commandments of men."
1. Were the Pharisees and scribes worshiping God?
2. Did the fact that they worshiped God mean that their worship was acceptable?
Fill in the following things that make worship vain:
(1) People draw nigh with their .
(2) Honor the Lord with their.
(3) Their is far from .
(4) They teach for doctrines the of men.
The Pharisees worshiped God, but their worship was in vain. This
kind of worship is useless, empty and void. They had sought to substitute for
the ways of God the ways of men. There are many who are guilty of the same
mistake. Such worship is vain because they observe the doctrines and commandments of men.
The public is not to be deceived, even though vain worshippers praise God with their lips, their hearts are far from Him.
B. IGNORANT WORSHIP (Acts 17:23)
Paul declares, "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."
The Athenians were guilty of ignorant worship because they were
uninformed of the true God. There is absolutely no justification
for ignorant worship. The apostle Paul declared: "And the times of
this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every
where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he
will judge the world in righteousness by {that} man whom he hath
ordained; {whereof} he hath given assurance unto all {men}, in
that he hath raised him from the dead." (Acts 17:30-31).
Jesus speaks plainly about God and instructs men that they should worship Him in truth, so we must learn the truth.
1. Were the Greeks at Athens worshiping sincerely?
2. Did the fact that they sincerely worshiped make their worship acceptable?
C. WILL WORSHIP. (Col. 2:23)
Paul described this type of worship when he says,"Which things
have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and
neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the
flesh." The "shew of wisdom" seems to be the dominating feature in
many places. Contrary to "will worship" and a "shew of wisdom" the
Christian, magnificent in his profound faith in God, is determined
to worship God according to Him that leads to profound devotion
will spurn every false way. The true Christian is interested only
in pleasing his Creator. He thinks more of the Creator than he does
of the creature, and refuses to exchange the truth of God for a
lie. Paul speaks of some who "exchanged the truth of God for a
lie," and worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator, who is blessed forever (Rom.1:25).
D. MOCKED WORSHIP. (Mark 15:19-20)
"(19) And they smote him on the head with a reed, and did spit upon
him, and bowing {their} knees worshipped him. (20) And when they
had mocked him, they took off the purple from him, and put his own
clothes on him, and led him out to crucify him." This action on
the part of the soldiers is the height of contemptible mockery. For
more than nineteen hundred years men have looked upon this scene,
some with indifference, others with sincere regret because of the
blasphemy and scorn that was heaped upon the Son of God. Human
nature has never changed. There are men who mock, ridicule, and
blaspheme the sacred precepts of the scripture. The Christian must
not be guilty of mock-worship. When we bow the knee before God may
we do it in sincerity. Like David, "Let the words of my mouth, and
the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my
strength, and my redeemer."(PSA 19:14)
E. TRUE WORSHIP. (John 4:24)
"God {is} a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship {him}
in spirit and in truth." Our heavenly Father has ordained that
some things must be done in the worship service. God requires
nothing so complex that He makes it impossible for any man to worship Him in an acceptable manner. On the other hand, that which
God requires is so plain that any man is without excuse in his
failure to follow the Lord's plan. The simplicity of scriptural
worship makes it possible for the Christian to worship God in the
beauty of holiness. There are "true worshipers" in the land and
they can and may be identified. Their worship is according to or
in keeping with the teachings of the Scriptures. Jesus said,
"But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall
worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh
such to worship him." (JOH 4:23). The "true worshipers" of the
Lord met upon the first day of the week. "And upon the first
{day} of the week, when the disciples came together to break
bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and
continued his speech until midnight."(ACT 20:7)
II. THINGS THE CHRISTIAN IS TAUGHT TO DO IN THE WORSHIP ON THE LORD'S DAY:
A. TEACH
1. Acts 20:7, "And upon the of the week, when the disciples came together to , Paulunto them.
2. Matt. 28:20,"them to observe things whatsoever I have you...."
After a believer is baptized, Jesus instructs that they are
to be taught the commandments of Jesus.
3. John 6:45, "It is written in the prophet, And they shall be
all of God."
In the Christian dispensation the prophet declared that the
followers of Christ all would be taught of God.
B. PRAY
1. Eph. 6:18, "always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints."
2. Acts 2:42, "And they continued steadfast in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread and in.
The Jerusalem church was a praying church.
3. Phil. 4:6,"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing
by andwith thanksgiving let your requests be
make known unto God.
There is a lot of comfort in telling Jesus about our troubles.
Christians should thank the Lord daily for all of His marvelous goodness. All prayer must be offered in Jesus' name.
C. SING
1. Eph. 5:19, "Speaking to yourselves in psalms and
and spiritual songs, and making in your
heart."
2. Col. 3:16, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in
all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms
and and songs, with
grace in your unto the Lord.
3. A close study of the foregoing scriptures reveal the fact
that the Lord has told us what to do--sing; what to use--psalms,
hymns, spiritual songs; and how to use them--make melody in the heart.
How can we improve on the Lord's plan? He who presumes to do so is guilty of a
presumptuous sin. Instruments of music in the worship service are a sure sign
of a departure from the original instruction as to the way the Christian
should worship the Lord in song.
D. LORD'S SUPPER
1. Acts 2:42, "And they continued steadfastly in the doctrine and fellowship and in of , and
in prayer." The Jerusalem church partook of the Lord's supper.
2. Acts 20:7 (Please read and fill in)
(1) What did the Christians assemble for at Troas?
(2) When God told Israel to remember "the Sabbath Day to
keep it holy, how often did he expect them to keep the
Sabbath Day holy? Every Sabbath or any Sabbath that they
chose?
(3) In the same connection, when the disciples at Troas came
together on the first day of the week to break bread,
how often did they take the Lord's supper (break bread)?
Any first day or every first day?
Then, too, there are others who declare that it is unnecessary to observe the Lord's Supper once a week.
The only time element stipulated as to
frequency (how often) is the first day of the week. The first day of the week
comes every week to the Christians just as the Sabbath Day came every week to
the Jew!
E. CONTRIBUTIONS
1. 1 Cor. 16:2, "Upon the first day of the week, let everyone
of you in store, as God hath prospered him, that
there be no when I come."
The foregoing passage declares,"...let each of you..." The
fact of personal responsibility is here emphasized. Each
Christian is to give as he or she has been prospered. Very
naturally, the amount given will vary in amount, depending
on the extent to which the Christian has been prospered.
2. 2 Cor. 9:7, "Every man according as he in his
heart, so let him ; not grudgingly, or of
necessity; for God loveth a giver."
3. God has planned that each Christian should give as he or
she has been prospered and according as he or she has planned
in the heart. God has never authorized His children to go from
door to door to solicit money from local business men or to
raffle off a quilt or to have a bingo party. God wants His people to support His kingdom on the first day of the week as
they have been prospered and after they have purposed to
give out of a cheerful heart.
***All Bible texts and quotations are taken from the King James Version.
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