Worshipping God
Intro.
A. The belief and worship of a Supreme Being is universal. Every people group in the world has this commonality. Whether in a civilized or uncivilized group of people, belief and worship of a deity is existent. There are, however, several differences of understanding on the object, reason (or motive) and way (or means) of worship.
B. Generally, people think of worship as coming to church, temple, or any sacred place where they believed the Presence of a deity could be communed. It is defined as the “act of paying homage and reverence to a deity” and “to take part in a religious service.”
C. The Bible simply defines worship as “to reverence and honor God.”
D. Now, to get the biblical paradigm of worship, we will discuss and tackle several relevant questions on this topic.
1. “What kind of worship that is acceptable to God?”
A. Worship that is consistent to the truth. (Jn.4: 24) The truth referred here is the revelations of God in the Bible. Worship must be consistent to the revelations of God. Any form of worship that is incongruous to the teachings of God’s word is unacceptable no matter how sincere and passionate the worshippers are.
v For example:
a. Human sacrifice.
b. Idol worship.
c. Worship of many gods.
d. Sex worship.
v God revealed in His word how to worship Him. The Bible actually gives us the instructions and ways on how to worship Him. They are written right in His word. Truth is the platform on which we must stand if we are to accomplish anything according to God’s will. We must worship in accordance with the Word of God—His instruction to us concerning how we are to think and act. Therefore, worship must never conflict with the commandments of God as revealed in His Word—Truth.
B. Worship that centers on God. (Exo. 20: 3; 34: 14) Worship is exclusive to God. The reason is because there is no other god except the Lord. When He said, “You shall have no other gods except Me,” it doesn’t mean that God has a counterpart divine beings. God is One, and there is no other god before and after Him.
v The Bible prohibits polytheism and idolatry; God hates both. Polytheism is the belief of many gods, while idolatry is the worship of any being or thing other than God.
v In the Bible, the most important element of worship is its object. To worship anyone or anything, other than God, is idolatry and is abominable to Him. Therefore our worship must center on Him.
C. Worship that engages our total being ( Matt. 22: 37). We must engage our whole being in worship.
v Our mind and emotion. They must be focused on God in worship. Mindless and heartless praise are not praise at all. Worship must be free from any hypocrisy. God hates pretensions in all forms.
v Our strength, or our body. In Romans 12: 1, Paul says, “Offer your body as living sacrifice…” We can never accomplish anything here on earth without our body. So God is expecting us to worship Him with our bodies being presented to Him.
D. Lastly, worship must be consistent to God’s character of Holiness. The Bible says, “Worship the Lord in the beauty of His holiness.” (Ps.29: 2; 96:9) It implies two principles:
v Worship must not be associated with orgies or any immoral activity. True, God-honoring, biblical worship is totally isolated from anything offensive to the nature of God or anything that contradicts His will for His children. Like for example, associating worship with sexual activity. This practiced was rampant during Paul’s time. This is the reason why Paul warned the Christians in Corinth to guard themselves against the sin of immorality.
v The true worshiper of God must be separated or consecrated unto God. It is impossible to truly worship God while simultaneously living in an unholy manner. One must live in total obedience to God. True biblical worship is integrally linked to humility, truth, and obedience to the Lord. Therefore we actually worship our God by doing His will—whatever it might be—with a proper heart attitude.
2. How can we worship God?
>What is the right way of worship?
>There exists a contention on which way of worship is right among different religious groups nowadays. One group claimed their way is the right way, and another group claimed the same. But the problem lies on confusing way from expression. From the biblical point of view, a “way” can never be changed or altered except being abrogated by a new divine revelation, while expression can be varied. There is variety of expression.
A. Declaring His praise. The Bible is filled of commands to praise the name of the Lord, to exalt Him above all others. One must only open His Bible in the book of Psalms to know this truth.
Ø The focus of praise is the character of God, His goodness, love, mercy, faithfulness, wisdom, power and might. Therefore we praise God for Who He is. Worship, then, is “About Who we know”. Worship is God’s idea, not our idea.
Ø Praise can be done through singing, shouting, meditating and proclaiming. This can also be associated with clapping, dancing and prostrating. These are “expressions of worship”, not “ways of worship.” Any expression is acceptable, provided that it shall not go outside the context of the criteria of worship. Basically, it must be truthful and wholesome.
B. Thanking Him. To give thanks to God is a biblical mandate. All God’s people are mandated to honor God through thanksgiving. However, genuine thanksgiving flows naturally from those who experienced the mercy of God. So the apostle Paul says, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift.” This gift referred by Paul is the Son of God who gave His life for the redemption of our soul. Thanksgiving is our logical response for what God has done in our lives especially for God’s gracious act of giving His precious Son to die for us. The sacrifice of Jesus is the epitome of God’s love, mercy and goodness. We should remember, the sacrifice of Jesus indicates the gravity of our sin. Therefore, ingrates have no part in God’s kingdom.
C. Obeying His commands. Jesus said: “If you love me keep my commandments. (Jn.14: 15). Love and obedience are inseparable elements when we are to truly worship God. You can’t say you love Him but live contrary to His will. There are specific commands in the bible, and I want to mention just a few. We are mandated to:
v Trust God. It is to be wholly convinced that God is able to handle your life now and in the future. It is to hope in Him without any stain of doubt.
v Love one another. This is a very important command in the New Testament. The love that is used here is divine, “agape”. It is to love without conditions. It is to love any person regardless of his/her status, personality, race, etc. It is even to regard others more important than you. Pride says, “I am better, greater and more significant”; love says, “You are needed, you’re important.” How is love expressed? Through sympathy, concern, caring, sharing, building, encouragement, etc.
v Pray. Jesus Himself prayed. He is our model. Paul also gave us this command in the epistles he wrote.
v Live in purity & holiness. God says in His Word, “Abstain from all appearance of evil.” God wants us to live holy lives.
v Give offerings for the expansion of the work of His kingdom here on earth. We are commanded to give financial support to God’s work. But of course it must come from the heart of the giver.
v Be filled with the Spirit. This means, “allowing God to have the ultimate control of your life.” He must be allowed to direct; he must be allowed to govern. Although God is infinite, He waits your decision to open up your life for Him.
v Serve God. This is about our resources and abilities that God has given us. When you become a member of His Body by accepting Jesus, you will become God’s instrument, and He seeks to use what you have to accomplish His purposes. Being a member of the body of Jesus, you have a responsibility to fulfill, a role to play for the building up of the body. We call it “ministry”. This ministry is based on the spiritual gifts and abilities that God has endowed on you. Would it be in the area of music, teaching, leadership, administration, preaching, organizing, or any other form of ministry that will build the body of the Lord.
D. Proclaiming your faith. (Matt.5: 16) The light that you have is your “faith in Jesus”. You will shine it by confession and good deeds. By so doing, the verse says, your Father in heaven will be glorified, or shall we say be given honor and praise. Therefore, one way of worshipping God is living in light of your faith in Jesus. You declare your faith then, either by your mouth or by your actions. With this principle, worship can be done everywhere.
3. What is the right motive of worship?
Ø Many people treat worship as a way to manipulate the Sovereign God. Their motive of worship is to compel God to give them a downpour of blessings. Material blessing then is thought to be a reward of worship.
Ø On the other hand, some people worship God out of unhealthy fear. They think of worship as something that would appease an angry or tyrant God. These people actually get a distorted understanding and erroneous picture of the God of the Bible. God does not force worship on us. He did not terrorize the human race to impel worship from them.
a.) Illustration: Baal worship.
b.) Appl.: God is worthy to be worshipped because He is lofty, holy, majestic, great in power and glory.
A. God’s pleasure.
Ø The ultimate goal and purpose of worship must be the pleasure of God. True, biblical and God-honoring worship aims for God’s glory.
Ø We need to always remember that worship is not for our benefit. Worship is for God. It is not in any means to make bargain with God. We are not in the position of making any demand to God. After all, we are mere creatures, a speck of God’s vast creation. We should stand in great awe of Him.
Ø Therefore, let’s always strive to please God. The ultimate goal of life is not material and physical happiness but that God’s pleasure. The Bible says of God’s creation, “And for Thy pleasure they are created. Thou art worthy oh Lord.”
B. Love.
Ø God created us emotional beings. He has given us the power and ability to love. Therefore He wants us to serve Him with all our heart, which means, with all our affections and love. Human being is not created to be without feeling, because without emotion, everything will become mechanical, lifeless and dull. So there must be intimate feeling; there must be love. We serve God because we love Him.
Ø Do you truly love God?
Ø Let us check ourselves and find this out. We have to ask ourselves:
o Do I have the passion to read and meditate God’s Word? If you truly love God, then there should be an “inner thirst” for His Word.
o Do I have the passion for prayer? It is unthinkable for any child of God to not pray. Communication is one of the most important elements in building love relationship. Intimate relationship, in fact, is characterized with good communication.
o Do I have the desire to fellowship other believers? Christianity is a religion of love and fellowship. He who truly loves God loves the fellowship of the church.
o Do I have the desire to give myself for the work of the Lord? We should remember that the nature of true love is self-giving. Willingness to sacrifice oneself is the character of true love.
C. Gratitude.
Ø In our culture we have what we called “utang na loob.” This means, “a person is being indebted of something”. This depicts a person who received help that meets his desperate need. And because of that, normally he will be deeply grateful to his benefactor and endeavor to compensate the generosity he received. Our question this morning is: “Why should we be deeply grateful to God?” The simple answer is, “because we owe God everything!”
Ø Let’s have some specific reasons why should our hearts be filled with gratitude to God:
o Our physical existence. We should be grateful to God our Creator for giving us the wonderful privilege to live such life we have. Though life is full of adverse circumstances, to come into being is already a great privilege.
o His blessings. Before God created human being, He first made a suitable place for him, a viable place where all his need to live is being provided. This means that God is so concerned with our needs. Everything we have is part of His provision to us.
o The forgiveness of our sins. The gravity of sin should be fairly realized; it must not be treated lightly. The Scriptures teach us that because of our sins, all of us deserved the divine punishment of God. We are worthy of His wrath. But God is great in mercy. He has forgiven us through the death of His Son. All our sins are washed away by the blood of Jesus shed at the cross of Calvary.
o The sacrifice of Christ. Jesus suffered death not for His own sin, but for the sin of the world. He paid the penalty of our sins through His vicarious death at the cross. He is our substitute. The Word of God says, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5: 21).
o The gift of eternal life. Anyone who have believed and accepted Jesus as his or her savior and Lord is given the assurance of eternal life. (1 Jn.5: 11, 13; Jn.6: 47).
Ø The story of a woman who came to anoint Jesus and the parable the Lord gave at that occasion found in Luke 7: 41-47 gives us important principles on being deeply grateful to God.
a) One should realize how much He owed God.
1. We have disobeyed God’s divine will.
2. We have dishonored God.
3. We have committed great offense against the holiness of God.
4. We disregard His commandments.
5. We didn’t obey Him.
6. We didn’t give Him the Glory being the glorious God and Creator of all things.
b) One should realize how much He received from God.
1. We received His great mercy.
2. We received forgiveness of our sins.
3. He paid the penalty of our sins.
4. Instead wrathful punishment, God promised us eternal glory in Christ.
c) One should response to God’s generosity by expressing his heartfelt gratitude.
1. We should be willing to give our all to God. We can never compensate God’s generosity. All He had required on us is our deep devotion to Him. This is giving our all to God.
2. We should be willing to pass all “restrictions” and come to God. What I mean for restriction here is “anything that hinders you to bring yourself to God.”
3. We should be willing to follow God regardless of what it costs us.
D. Trust.
Ø There is one thing indicated in the Scripture that can greatly please God: Faith. “Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Heb.11: 6). Trust greatly honors God because:
a) It recognizes the Person of God. To believe that God exists and is alive is the foundation of all theological doctrines. You can never adhere to anything spiritual if you don’t believe in the Existence of God. There are people who deny the existence of God despite the irrefutable evidences of His existence. On the other hand, many people believed God’s existence but live like God is dead; they don’t trust Him.
b) It recognizes the Power and Ability of God. To trust God is to believe and to be wholly convinced that God is able to do anything. “Nothing is impossible with God,” Luke 1: 37 says. He can meet any need. He can heal any disease. He can stop anything to take place, or He can cause anything to happen. Nothing is too hard for Him. Trust, actually, recognizes God as He is. Many people, even Christians, are guilty of the lack of respect to God’s Power and Ability. To truly honor and worship God, we must come to the place where we can trust nothing but God to supply our needs.
c) It recognizes the Veracity of God’s Promises. God is highly honored when we believe that His Word is true and believe that He is also true and faithful to his Word. It is actually having the sense that to know that when God say something it will surely take place.
