True Worship

INTRODUCTION: - WHAT IS PRAISE/WORSHIP?

PRAISE = “to commend, to applaud or magnify” - For the Christian,

praise to God is an expression of Worship, Lifting-up & Glorifying the Lord.

WORSHIP = in English, to ascribe worth, to pay homage, to reverence.

- in Hebrew, the word most commonly translated “worship” in the OT means “to

prostrate (oneself)”

PROSTRATE = in Websters, stretched out with face on the ground in adoration or

submission, bow down, fall down flat, do reverence

- in Greek, the word most commonly used in the NT (for worship)

means “to kiss the hand, to prostrate oneself

WHY WORSHIP GOD?

a. He is worthy of our praise:

Revelation 4:11 - 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.

b. The Word commands us to:

Psalm 95:6-7 - 6 Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the

Lord our Maker; 7 for His is our God and we are the people of His pasture, and the

flock under His care.

Psalm 150:6 - Let everything that has breath praise the Lord;

We’re going to look at 2 things TODAY in regards to True Worship:

1. False Worship 2. True Worship

I. FALSE WORSHIP

A. Hearts are not right (hypocrisy):

Matthew 15:7-9 - 7 “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you;

8 ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 9 They

worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men’ ” <Isaiah 29:13>

**Amos 5:21-24** - READ***

(hate, despise)

B. Disobedience:

Leviticus 10:1,2 - 1 Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in

them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, contrary

to His command. (God’s) 2 so fire came out from the presence of the Lord and

consumed them, and they died before the Lord.

II. TRUE WORSHIP

A. When?

Hebrews 13:15 - Through Jesus, therefore, let us CONTINUALLY offer to God a

sacrifice of praise -- the fruit of lips that confess His Name.

Psalms 146:2 - I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long

as I live.

B. How?

John 4:23,24 - 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true

worshippers will worship the Father in Spirit and Truth, for they are the kind of

worshippers the Father seeks. 24 God is Spirit, and His worshippers must

worship in Spirit and in Truth.

**There are many different ways of praising & worshipping God... singing,

clapping, shouting, dancing, playing instruments, lifting up our hands, verbally

praising/worshipping God, etc.

It is HOW ... we worship! It is HOW... we Praise!

Is it onto God? Is it in Spirit and in Truth?

The Quality of Praise and Worship is MORE important than the Quantity of Praise and

Worship!

But if you take Quality and add it to Quantity, than you have something,

something God wants -- our all!

III. Attitude towards Worship of God

We need to understand God for who He is, what He has done, what He will do...

-- ILLUSTRATION - The Pearl --

Isaiah 59:2 - But your iniquities (sins) have separated you from your God; your sins

have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.

A. God is Holy - hates sin... We need to come Him PURE

We NEED to daily confess our sin and get in right standing with Him

B. Sing From the Heart - picture a little child on their Father’s lap singing -

same way with us - God, our Father, wants us to climb up on His lap and sing to Him

...Think about that!!

Jack Hayford says it in this way... “There are no talent shows in heaven.”

God is NOT judging us according to our talents,

but rather the content of our hearts!!

C. Worship Him with Your Lives

Romans 12:1,2 - There I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your

bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of

worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of the world, but be

transformed by the renewing of your mind.

We NEED to Worship God more than just what we DO ON SUNDAYS...

our relationships/ our lifestyle/ our thought-life... should be an ACT OF WORSHIP.

True Worship is understanding WHO God is and responding to Him. It is an

intimate and transparent moment where our hearts are totally unguarded before the

Father.

IT’S YOU AND me LORD!!

CONCLUSION: We can not reduce OUR GOD to music...

or reduce our Praise & Worship toward God to music...