Matthew
4:8, “Again, the devil taketh Him up into an exceeding high mountain,
and sheweth Him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them and saith unto
Him, 'All these things will I give Thee, if Thou wilt fall down and
worship me.' Then saith Jesus unto him, 'Get thee hence, Satan for it is
written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt Thou
serve.'” This
matter of being a child of God includes worshipping God. Satan tempted
Jesus, and he’ll tempt us, too! The world will try and tempt us to give
all our time,
energy, attention, and effort to them! Jesus understood that the Will of
God for all mankind is, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, soul, mind and strength, and only Him shalt thou serve!” Do you
really worship God? If you do, how do you
do that? I felt I wasn’t really sure what that means! I need to find out
based on God’s Word!
At
least 3 kinds of worship are mentioned in the Bible. In Acts 17, we read
about the altar to the unknown God. He told those people, “Ye
ignorantly worship!” Matthew
15:9, Jesus told the scribes and Pharisees, “But in vain they do worship
Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” In
John 4, the woman at the well asked Jesus about worship. Jesus told her,
“True worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for
the Father
seeketh such to worship Him.” So there are: ignorant worship, vain worship, and true worship. What
is true worship? The dictionary definition of worship is: “Honor,
respect, reverence, love, and devotion expressed for an object or person
because of a
religious belief.” That’s worship! Jesus said, “The true worshippers
shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth.”
What does it mean to worship God in spirit? Psalms 95:6, “O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker.” Let us humble ourselves before Him – that’s the spirit of worship! I
Peter 5:6, “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God,
that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him; for
He careth for
you.” He’s describing true worship. When that woman asked Jesus about worship
in John 4, she mentioned, “Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and
ye say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.”
Jesus said, “But the hour cometh, and now is,
when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in
truth.” Jesus said, “Worship isn’t limited by place – we can worship God
anywhere and any time!” We’re grateful for that, but we need to be in
the right spirit! What
does it mean to worship in truth? Matthew 15:8, Jesus said, “This people
draweth nigh unto Me with their mouth, and honoureth Me with their lips;
but their
heart is far from Me.” They were probably saying beautiful words that
would impress many but Jesus wasn’t impressed because their heart wasn’t
in it! Many, say many wonderful things and think they are worshipping,
but it is vain and empty as far as God is
concerned. True worship is done in humility, and comes from the heart! Acts
17, Paul said their worship was ignorant. They did not know the god they
worshipped when they came to that altar. If we’re going to offer true
worship,
we have to know God! You have to spend time with Him. We practice the
RMS (reading, praying, and meditating). We could add meetings on the end
of that. We have to make sure we draw near to His presence. When we
pray, God wants to pour out His heart to us,
too. That’s how we get to know Him best, as we listen and wait, and
ponder what we’ve read and heard. Acts
17:25, “Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though He needed
anything, seeing He giveth to all life, and breath, and all things.” Many in the world feel they do worship God with their hands – religious
art, building hospitals or churches, etc. but He isn’t worshipped with
hands. Acts
17:30, “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now
commandeth all men everywhere 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.” True
repentance is part of true worship. Honor, respect, reverence, and love
all comes from the heart. True repentance only comes from the heart.
When we come
to Him and acknowledge we’ve been a sinner and need His help to change
and be different – then we’re turning to God for the provision He’s made
for our salvation! It’s part of true worship! In Matthew 15, a woman of Canaan came to Jesus pleading for help for her daughter. The disciples asked Jesus to send her away. Matthew
15:25, “Then came she and worshipped Him, saying, 'Lord, help me.' Jesus
told her, 'It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it
to dogs.'
The woman said, 'Truth, Lord, yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall
from their masters’ table.'” She couldn’t be offended! Jesus’ response was, “O, woman, great is thy
faith. Be it unto thee even as thou wilt.” Her daughter was made
whole from that very hour. She understood that the very least Jesus
would do for her would be more than enough to meet
her need! She worshipped Him and said, “Lord, help me!” It’s called
worship. Part of true worship is asking again and again for the Lord to help us. We honor and reverence Him, and that’s true worship. Genesis
22:5, “And Abraham said unto his young men, 'Abide ye here with the ass;
and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.'” God asked Abraham to take his son Isaac, and journey and offer him on
the mountain. He was going to sacrifice his son and told them, “I and
the lad go yonder and worship, and come again to you.” Isaac and the
servants didn’t know Abraham was intending to sacrifice
Isaac. They went, built the altar, and put the wood in order. Then
Abraham bound Isaac, laid him on the altar, raised the knife, and God
stopped him! Abraham called it worship! How does it apply to me?
Understand what Isaac represented to Abraham. God had
given Abraham a number of promises, but they all hinged on Isaac. Isaac
represented Abraham’s future! God said, “Give me your future,” and
Abraham did. I hope you trust God with your future every day! Allow God
to keep it, and trust God to fulfill His promises
to you! A part of true worship is trusting Him with all our future, and leaving it in His hands! Matthew
2:11, “And when they were come into the house, they saw the young Child
with Mary His mother, and fell down, and worshipped Him and when they
had opened
their treasures, they presented unto Him gifts: gold, and frankincense,
and myrrh.” The
wise men came seeking Jesus, and fell down and worshipped Him. They
gave Him gifts – gold, frankincense, and myrrh. I believe that was their
worship – they
brought the best they had. Part of true worship is bringing the best we have to God. The widow who brought 2 mites was giving God the best she had – her all. We don’t want to hold anything back! In
Matthew 14, Jesus joined them by walking on the sea, and the disciples
cried out for fear. Jesus said to them, “Be of good cheer; it is I; be
not afraid.” Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto Thee
on the water.” Jesus said, “Come.” Peter stepped out of the boat and
walked on the water but then he got his focus on the waves, and started
to sink. He cried, saying, “Lord, save me!”
Jesus caught him, and when they were come into the ship, the wind
ceased. “Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped Him,
saying, 'Of a truth Thou art the Son of God.'” They had been shown that
many times before but this time there was no question!
They had just witnessed Jesus do the impossible! Jesus enabled Peter,
one of them, to also do the impossible. They responded by saying, “Thou
art the Son of God.” They understood Jesus could do the impossible for
them if they would let Him. A part of true worship is letting God do the impossible for us. As
I watch my fellow laborers step up on this platform, it causes me to
worship God because I know they are, through God’s help, doing the
impossible! I
Samuel 1:27-28, “'For this child, I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my
petition which I asked of Him. Therefore also I have lent him to the
Lord; as long as
he liveth, he shall be lent to the Lord.' And he worshipped the Lord
there.” Hannah had brought Samuel to Eli and surrendered her claim on him. I can picture Eli thanking God for a life to be used.
True worship happens when we give thanks to God for lives yielded to God’s service! Thank
God for them, and for the elder and his wife who have given their home
to be used for you and your brethren. It’s a part of worship. Genesis 24, Abraham’s servant went in search of a bride for Isaac. God led him to the very woman God had chosen! When he understood that, he bowed himself and worshipped for the privilege of being used to find a bride for the master. There’s no greater privilege than to help find someone who will be part of the bride of Christ. It’s a part of true worship. May God help us worship in Spirit and in truth! |