The Dangers Of Corrupt Worship

The Danger of Corrupt Worship

By

Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.

SCRIPTURE: - John 4:23-24 says “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. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth”.

PRAYER: -

OPENING: - Over the past couple of weeks God has been dealing with me on praise and worship. Much of what we call and do as worship today has degenerated into a form of entertainment, involving anything and everything except offering a sacrifice of praise and reverence to a Holy God. Although there are all different kinds of styles and shapes and forms of worship, we must ensure our focus of worship is on God, on His holiness, and His majesty. Spiritually and emotionally we must be moved to a sense of awe and reverence for God, if that is not done then all that was done was entertainment and bodily exercise and the Bible says in 1 Timothy 4:8 “For bodily exercise profiteth little...”

Amos 5:21-24 says “I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream”. God tells Israel about their corrupt worship He says He hates what their idea of worship is and how He will not accept it. He says take away the noise of thy songs and thy string instruments, because it is nothing more than corrupt worship.

The Bible says in Psalm 100:1-5 “Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Let me propose here that this is joyful noise is unto the Lord not our own personal gratification. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations”.

Unfortunately, a lot of what we call worship today does not lead into a corporate care and concern for the masses but has literally become a privatized experience of a select few that promotes self-glorification and one’s own personal edification.

We must remember Worship occurs when people encounter God who loves them and desires a relationship with them. “Worship does not lead to an encounter with God. It is an encounter with God”.

The purpose of our worship is to glorify, honor, praise, exalt, and please God. Our worship must show our adoration and loyalty to God for His grace in providing us with the way to escape the bondage of sin, so we can have the salvation He so much wants to give us.

There is a Catholic Catechism that says, “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever”.

What Does Glorify Mean?

In Hebrew, the word glorify is kabod; and in the Greek, it is doxazo. First, to glorify means to shine, to demonstrate and to manifest the divine. In other words, glory represents the Lord’s presence.

Second the word glory means to reflect, to show forth, to demonstrate and to express the image of an object or person so that it may be seen by all. In the New Testament doxazo can mean to signify, extol and ascribe honor to, and worship. It is most often used of an external manifestation. According to the Bible, to glorify God means to bring Christ’s glory or radiance to light, to manifest it or to reflect it. When we glorify God, we are reflecting how awesome and amazing He is through our actions and attitudes.

To glorify God means we bring Him honor through what we say, how we act, and how we think. To glorify God means to acknowledge His glory and to value it above all things. It means we make it known to others. It means we have a heartfelt gratitude. We glorify God through our faith, through our love and through our desire to obey Him. We glorify God through our desire to know Him. We glorify Him when we worship Him. However, our worship must be done according to His Word. Since worship must be done according to His we must search our hearts and our worship practices to make sure that they are not displeasing to the Lord. Understand if our worship is not done according to the Word of God, we must change it regardless of what we have been accustomed to.