Worship

Worship

Today is the weekly Sabbath, a day we traditionally worship God. What is worship?

Some time ago, several members of the church talked to me about the subject of ways to worship God. Following our conversations, I decided to see what else the Bible and other references had to say about what the word "worship" really means.

So on this Sabbath day, let’s discuss the question of what worship is.

1. Webster's defines worship as a prayer, church service, or other rite showing reverence or devotion for a deity; religious homage or veneration. When used as a verb it means to show religious devotion or reverence, adoration or veneration for a deity; or to engage in acts of religious devotion such as offering prayers or attending church services.

2. The King James Version of the Old Testament has over 175 references to the word 'worship'. Most of them mean one of the following:

To bow down to God.

To reverently honor God - do reverence.

To kneel or stoop before God.

Performance of physical acts to please God.

As we shall see, the book of Daniel uses a word which means 'to fall prostrate'.

A few verses add a little more detail:

2 Chr 20:18 (NKJV) Jehoshaphat bowed with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the LORD.

2 Chr 29:28 (NKJV) So all the assembly worshiped, the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded; all <this continued> until the burnt offering was finished.

This is an interesting arrangement. The assembly was apparently in prayer while the Eternal was being worshipped in song and the offering was being burnt. It certainly sounds like everyone was busy. Essentially this is what we and most churches do, but not at the same time, and not, of course, with a burnt offering.

Job 1:20 (NKJV) Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped.

I think we would all agree that we need not tear our clothes and shave our heads to get closer to God when we pray. But then Job was a very righteous guy.

Psa 95:6 (NKJV) Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.

Now this was David - A very highly regarded man in God's eyes. And yet his method of worship seemed very plain, very similar to what we might do.

Dan 2:46 (NKJV) Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, prostrate before Daniel, and commanded that they should present an offering and incense to him.

Prostrate prayer was apparently appropriate in Babylon because all references to worship in the book of Daniel use the word which means prostrating oneself in prayer, even in Daniel's prophecies.

So, as we have seen, the Old Testament’s form of worship was basically prayer, but also describes one’s position while praying, as well as sacrifices and other supporting activities.

3. The New Testament puts quite a different emphasis on worship. I think it can best be described in John 4:23-24. This scripture will be the key scripture of this sermon.

John 4:23-24 (NIV) Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. {24} God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

Pretty explicit, isn't it? Now the question is, what does He mean by 'in spirit and truth'? And what does He mean "a time is coming and has now come"? Let's answer the second question first: I believe Christ is saying that "a time has now come" for His followers who have God's Spirit to be able to worship God in spirit. "A time is coming" for everyone to be able to worship God in spirit. That will come after God gives everyone His Spirit. We are talking about the establishment of the New Covenant - now, for those Christians who have now received God's Spirit and are daily motivated to be guided by His Spirit in everything they do - later for those who will receive it when the whole world receives it.

First, let's look at 'truth'. There are many, many scriptures which talk about truth. Christ began many of his statements with 'I tell you the truth'. Pontius Pilate asked and you may ask 'What is truth?' Let’s go through some scriptures which will tell us what truth is.

John 1:14 (NKJV) And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

verse 17 (NKJV) For the law was given through Moses, <but> grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Luke 20:21 (NKJV) Then they asked Him, saying, "Teacher, we know that You say and teach rightly, and You do not show personal favoritism, but teach the way of God in truth:

John 8:31-32 (NKJV) Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. {32} "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

So to have truth, we must hold to Christ's teaching.

verse 40 (NKJV) "But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this.

Christ heard the truth from God the Father.

John 14:6 (NKJV) Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

John 15:26 (NIV) "When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me."

We who have God's Spirit are inspired by His Spirit to understand the teachings of God the Father.

John 16:13 (NIV) "But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come."

John 17:17 (NKJV) [This is Christ praying to His Father] "Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. [The Father’s Word is truth.]

Rom 1:25 (NKJV) who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creation rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

This verse nails secular environmentalists whose main concern is protecting the environment at any cost but who have little or no appreciation for the Creator or His Words.

2 Th 2:13 (NIV) "But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth."

1 Tim 3:15 (NIV) "if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God's household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth."

The foundation of truth is God's Church -- God’s assembly of people.

1 Pet 1:22 (NIV) "Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart."

Very much a teaching of Christ, which, as we just read, came originally from the Father.

2 Pet 1:5-12 (NIV) For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; {6} and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; {7} and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. {8} For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. {9} But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. {10} Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, {11} and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. {12} So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have.

Faith contains seven qualities: Goodness, knowledge, self control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. Those who are baptized should be demonstrating these qualities.

Again, truth is the teachings of Christ, which come from the Father.

1 John 4:6 (NIV) "We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood."

Only the converted can accept God's truth, others reject it as unimportant in their lives.

1 John 5:6 (NIV) "This is the one who came by water and blood--Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth."

2 John 1:4 (NIV) "It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us."

The truth then could be described as the commandments of God, the teachings of Christ, and the inspiration and guidance of the Holy Spirit - all originating with the Father.

As we read in John 14:6, Jesus said that what he said was the way and the truth and the life.

Back to John 4:23 to consider worshiping in Spirit.

In order to worship in spirit we must have God's Holy Spirit. We will then want to worship God, not just worship Him because we have to by writ, like the Jews of the Old Testament. The more of God's Spirit we have, the more God will hear our prayers. When we are in total obedience to Christ (i.e. obedience to God and love for our fellow man) and are filled with God's Spirit, we can receive whatever we ask. We are, at that point, "on God's wavelength."

John 9:31 (NIV) We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will.

Another plus for those of us who understand the need for good works.

John 15:7 (NKJV) "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

Now that we have covered the prime ingredients in worship, I want to read to you some scriptures which describe Christian worship:

Rom 12:1 (NKJV) I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, <which is> your reasonable service.

The 12th chapter of Romans is the Christian Living Chapter. Paul, here, differentiates living sacrifices, as opposed to the dead animal sin sacrifices required for the Jews prior to the sacrifice of Christ. Among other things, verse 1 encourages us to serve others.

James 1:27 (NIV) Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Could he be talking about the violent and immoral TV, movies, music, drugs, adultery, fornication, fake statements, greed, profanity, rebellious and hateful attitudes of our days?

Acts 18:13 (NIV) "This man," they charged, "is persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law."

Paul was preaching that circumcision was not required for people to become Christians. The non-Christian Jews of his day could only relate to physical acts of worship, like circumcision and animal sacrifice, not spiritual worship.

Phil 3:3-7 (NKJV) For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh, {4} though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: {5} circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, <of> the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; {6} concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. {7} But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.

So Paul had as much or more reason to be judged as a righteous Jew (actually he was a Benjamite) as anyone, but as perfect a Jew as he was, he cast it all aside to be able to worship by the Spirit of God -- to worship the Father in spirit and truth. Christ’s righteousness far exceeded the righteousness of Paul in keeping of the law.

Col 2:20-23 Speaks of Self-imposed worship - piety or voluntary worship:

Col 2:20-23 (NKJV) Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as <though> living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations; {21} "Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle," {22} which all concern things which perish with the using; according to the commandments and doctrines of men? {23} These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion [worship], <false> humility, and neglect of the body, <but are> of no value against the indulgence of the flesh [sensual indulgence].

To explain this passage, let's refer back to verse 8 of Col. 2.

(Col 2:8-10 NKJV) Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. {9} For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; {10} and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.

Paul was counteracting the Colossian heresy, which in part, taught that for salvation one needed to combine faith in a non-deity Christ with secret knowledge and with man-made regulations concerning such physical and external practices as circumcision, eating and drinking, and living an ascetic life of contemplation and self-denial. Verse 22 should probably be translated "We would not handle, taste, nor even touch." Paul, in verse 23 is condemning this self-imposed, ascetic, sanctimonious worship as worthless because it totally failed to control sinful desires.

I am going to read the entire chapter of Hebrews 9, and a little of Hebrews 10 because, I believe, it most clearly reflects why much of the worship of the Old Testament had to be replaced by the worship described in the New Testament.

These scriptures will show the inferiority of the old sacrifices to the sacrifice of Christ as the means of access to God: The blood of bulls and goats was of no real value as a sin offering; while the blood of Christ is all-sufficient to purge away sin, but there is more.

(Heb 9 NKJV) Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary.

This reflects specified ceremonies for worship and a worldly sanctuary.

{2} For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary; {3} and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All,

The Jews seemed to believe the first room signified this world. The Holy of Holies signified heaven where we are face to face with our Father.

{4} which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron's rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; {5} and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail. {6} Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services. {7} But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people's sins committed in ignorance; {8} the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing. {9} It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience; {10} concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation. {11} But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. {12} Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

Let’s turn briefly to Exodus 24:3-8. Please hold your place in Heb. 9.

(Exo 24:3-8 NKJV) So Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, "All the words which the LORD has said we will do." {4} And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD. And he rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel. {5} Then he sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the LORD. {6} And Moses took half the blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar. {7} Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, "All that the LORD has said we will do, and be obedient." {8} And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, "This is the blood of the covenant which the LORD has made with you according to all these words."

Ex 24:3-8 describes the covenant or contract God made with the Israelites at Sinai when Moses came down from the mount with the ten commandments. It states that the sacrifice must be made with the blood of oxen. The blood of the oxen was then sprinkled on the people to confirm their agreement to keep the ten commandments. Heb 9:12 seems to describe another covenant between God and the Israelites thirty nine years later in the Moab wilderness. It is described in Deut 29. Please hold your place in Hebrews 9 and turn to Deut 29.

(Deu 29:1-21 NKJV) These are the words of the covenant which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant which He made with them in Horeb [Sinai]. {2} Now Moses called all Israel and said to them: "You have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land; {3} "the great trials which your eyes have seen, the signs, and those great wonders. {4} "Yet the LORD has not given you a heart to perceive and eyes to see and ears to hear, to this very day. {5} "And I have led you forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandals have not worn out on your feet. {6} "You have not eaten bread, nor have you drunk wine or similar drink, that you may know that I am the LORD your God. {7} "And when you came to this place, Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan came out against us to battle, and we conquered them. {8} "We took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, to the Gadites, and to half the tribe of Manasseh. {9} "Therefore keep the words of this covenant, and do them, that you may prosper in all that you do. {10} "All of you stand today before the LORD your God: your leaders and your tribes and your elders and your officers, all the men of Israel, {11} "your little ones and your wives; also the stranger who is in your camp, from the one who cuts your wood to the one who draws your water; {12} "that you may enter into covenant with the LORD your God, and into His oath, which the LORD your God makes with you today, {13} "that He may establish you today as a people for Himself, and that He may be God to you, just as He has spoken to you, and just as He has sworn to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. {14} "I make this covenant and this oath, not with you alone, {15} "but with him who stands here with us today before the LORD our God, as well as with him who is not here with us today {16} (for you know that we dwelt in the land of Egypt and that we came through the nations which you passed by, {17} and you saw their abominations and their idols which were among them; wood and stone and silver and gold); {18} "so that there may not be among you man or woman or family or tribe, whose heart turns away today from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations, and that there may not be among you a root bearing bitterness or wormwood; [like to Islam]{19} "and so it may not happen, when he hears the words of this curse, that he blesses himself in his heart, saying, 'I shall have peace, even though I follow the dictates of my heart'; as though the drunkard could be included with the sober. {20} "The LORD would not spare him; for then the anger of the LORD and His jealousy would burn against that man, and every curse that is written in this book would settle on him, and the LORD would blot out his name from under heaven. {21} "And the LORD would separate him from all the tribes of Israel for adversity, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this Book of the Law,

I interjected the above verses from Deut 29 to show that there seems to have been two contracts between the Eternal and the Israelites. The first at Sinai committing them to obey the ten commandments and the judgments; the second thirty nine years later, just before they crossed the Jordan River and entered Canaan, which seems to have added the rest of the laws due to their violation of the simple rules the Eternal had given them at Sinai.

Deut 31:24-27 shows that the law of Moses was in addition to the Decalogue.

(Deu 31:24-27 NKJV) So it was, when Moses had completed writing the words of this law in a book, when they were finished, {25} that Moses commanded the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying: {26} "Take this Book of the Law, and put it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there as a witness against you; {27} "for I know your rebellion and your stiff neck. If today, while I am yet alive with you, you have been rebellious against the LORD, then how much more after my death?

The KJV says “Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.”

The NASB says “Take this book of the law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may remain there as a witness against you.”

Back to Hebrews 9.

{13} For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, {14} how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? {15} And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. {16} For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. {17} For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives. {18} Therefore not even the first covenant was dedicated without blood. {19} For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, {20} saying, "This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you." {21} Then likewise he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry.

Again, notice that the blood of calves at this covenant with water was sprinkled on the scarlet wool, the hyssop, the people, and on the tabernacle. There was no tabernacle at Sinai. Paul was describing the covenant made in the Moab wilderness described in Deut 29.

Continuing with Heb. 9:

{22} And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission. {23} Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. {24} For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; {25} not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another; {26} He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. {27} And as it is appointed for men to die once [Isa 45:9], but after this the judgment, {28} so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.

(Heb 10:1-10 NKJV) For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. {2} For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. {3} But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. {4} For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. {5} Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: "Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me. {6} In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. {7} Then I said, 'Behold, I have come; In the volume of the book it is written of Me; To do Your will, O God.'" {8} Previously saying, "Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them" (which are offered according to the law), {9} then He said, "Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God." He takes away the first that He may establish the second. {10} By that will, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Verses 9 and 10 talk about a new covenant but notice nothing is said about the discontinuance of law-keeping as many assert today.

Verses 15 through 17 answers the question of whether we are living today under the new covenant.

(Heb 10:15-17 NKJV) But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before, {16} "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them," {17} then He adds, "Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more."

Notice that verses 15 and 16, quoting Jer. 31:33 and Heb. 8:10-11, describes those who are living under the new covenant as keeping His laws in their hearts and minds. Verse 17 then promises that their sins and lawless deeds He will no longer remember. These people have already been called, have lived their lives in such a manner that they have been judged acceptable, and for that their former sins will no longer be remembered. The implication and everyday evidence is certainly strong that those who are not called at this time are not under the new covenant. Only those who are called and committed are living and will live under the new covenant.

(Rev 22:14-15 NKJV) Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. {15} But outside are dogs [sodomites G2965] and sorcerers [those who misuse drugs in connection with the occult] and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.

Heb 12:28-29 (NIV) Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe [see John 4:19-24 and Rom 12:1, which we read earlier], {29} for our "God is a consuming fire."

The Lord was described as a 'consuming fire' in Deut 9:3 when He went ahead of the Israelites to assure them victory over their enemies. In the New Testament concept, He can be depended upon to stand by us in overcoming our problems, but perhaps just as important here, the term describes the awe that we should have for him.

[pause]

The importance of thanksgiving in prayer can best be seen in:

Eph 5:19-20 (NIV) Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, {20} always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Rev 4:9-11 (NIV) Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, {10} the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: {11} "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being."

This adoration and praise exemplifies the way all of us can praise God, in prayer, according to the phrase in the outline prayer of Luke 11:2 'Our Father in Heaven, hollowed be your name....' and further discloses the manner of worship by the Heavenly Host.

In conclusion, let's consider the three major points we have covered today:

1. We have discussed how the ten commandments, the law of Moses, and the New Covenant originated and were confirmed under different covenants.

2. We talked about the rituals described in the Old Testament for worshiping God via sacrifices, etc. and we explained why the sin offerings had to be replaced by the blood and love of Christ. If you need to refresh your understanding, go back and reread Hebrews 9.

3. We discussed the New Testament requirement to worship in Spirit and Truth, and described what that means and how that applies to real Christians today.

Probably the most important lesson to be gained from this sermon is that, even though God has given you this understanding of the truth and the tools to communicate with Him, you still must do it. Don't have a Laodicean attitude and think that just because you have been called today, that you have it made - because like the Laodiceans of Rev.3, if you have a self-satisfied, lukewarm attitude, He will spue you out of His mouth.

Let’s all zealously worship God in Spirit and in Truth.

Sermon given by Wayne Bedwell

September 1, 2012