Worship
Nehemiah 8:5-6
"And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood. And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground."
The word "worship" is derived from the Old English word "worthship", and constitutes the actions and attitudes that give honour and worth to the great God of heaven and earth. Worship is essentially God centered and not human-centered. In Christian worship we draw near to God with joy and gratitude for what he has done for us in Christ and through the Holy Spirit. Worship expresses faith, love and devotion from our hearts and with our lives to God the Father and to the worthy lamb who was slain for our sins (Revelation chapters 4-5).
Brief History of Worship of the True God
Human beings have worshipped God from the beginning of history. Adam and Eve had intimate fellowship with God in the Garden (Genesis 3:8). Cain and Abel both brought offerings of plant and animal life as tributes to God (Genesis 4:3-4). Noah built an altar to the Lord for a burnt offering after the flood (Genesis 8:20) Abraham built many altars for burnt offerings to the Lord (Genesis 12:7-8, 13:4,18, 22:9) and talked intimately with him (Genesis 18:23-33, 22:11-18).
Not until after the exodus, when the tabernacle was built, however, did public worship become formalised. Thereafter, regular sacrifices were offered daily and especially on the Sabbath, and God established several annual holy feasts as occasions for Israel to commemorate their faith and to worship God together as a people (Exodus 23:14-17; Leviticus 1-7; 23:4-44). This worship later became centralised around the Temple in Jerusalem. When the temple was destroyed in 586BC, the Jews built synagogues as places of worship and instruction while they were in exile and wherever they settled. These buildings continued to be used even after the building of the second temple (Ezra 3-6). There were synagogues in Palestine and all over the Roman world during new testament times (Luke 4:16, Acts 6:9; 13:14; 17:1,10; 22:19).
Worship in the early church took place both in the Jerusalem temple and in private homes (Acts 2:46-47). Outside of Jerusalem, Christians worshipped, as long as they were permitted, in the synagogues; when that was no longer allowed, they met elsewhere for worship - usually in private homes (Acts 18:7; Romans 16:5; Philemon 2), though sometimes they met in public halls (Acts 19:9-10).
Expressions of Christian Worship
- Two key principles govern Christian worship. (a) True worship takes place in spirit and truth (John 4:23 previous post), that is, worship must take place according to God's revelation of himself in the Son (John 14:6). Likewise, it involves the human spirit and not just the mind, as well as the manifestations of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:7-12). (b) The practice of Christian worship must correspond to the NT pattern for the church (Book of Acts).
- The key feature of Old Testament worship was the sacrificial system. Since Christ's sacrifice on the cross fulfilled this system (Matthew 5:17-20), there is no longer any need for the shedding of blood as part of Christian worship (Hebrews 9:1-10:18). The early church continually remembered Christ's one for all sacrifice (1 Corinthians 11:23-26). Also the church is instructed to "continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise - the fruit of lips that confess his name" (Hebrews 13:15), and to offer our bodies as "living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God" (Romans 12:1).
- Praising God is essential to Christian worship. Praise was a key element in Israel's worship of God (Psalm 100:4; 106:1; 117), as well as in early Christian worship (Acts 2:46-47; 16:25; Romans 15:10-11).
- A prominent Biblical way to praise God is by singing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. The Old Testament is full of instructions to sing to the Lord (1 Chronicles 16:23; Psalm 95:1; 96:1-2). At the time of Jesus's birth, the entire heavenly host burst into a song of praise (Luke 2:13-14), and the New Testament church was a singing community (1 Corinthians 14:15; Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16). Singing was a way of praise and in now way was viewed as a form of entertainment.
- Another important element in worship is seeking God's face in prayer. The Old Testament saints constantly communicated with God through prayer (Genesis 20:1,7; Numbers 11:12; 1 Samuel 8:6; Daniel 9:3-19). The apostles prayed continually after Jesus ascended into heaven (Acts 1:14) and prayer became a regular part of the worship of the Christian Church. These prayers could be on their own behalf, or they could be intercessory prayers on behalf of others.
- Confession of sin was clearly an important part of Old Testament worship. God had established the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16) as a national confession of sin. When Ezra and Nehemiah realised how far God's people had departed from his law, they led the entire nation of Judah in an intense public prayer of confession (Nehemiah 9). So too, in the Lord's Prayer, Jesus teaches believers to ask for forgiveness of sins (Matthew 6:12). James instructs believers to confess their sins to each other (James 5:16); though such confession we receive assurance of God's gracious pardon (1 John 9).
- Worship must include public reading of Scripture and its true proclamation. In Old Testament times God arranged that every seven years, at the Feast of Tabernacles, all Israelites were to assemble for a public reading of the Law of Moses (Deuteronomy 31:9-13); the clearest example is seen in Nehemiah 8: 1-12. The reading of Scripture was a regular part of the synagogue worship on the Sabbath (Luke 4:16-19), in the same way the New Testament believers when they met for worship, they would also read the Word of God (1 Timothy 4:13; 1 Thessalonians 5:27) along with teaching, preaching and exhortation based on it (Acts 9:8-10).
- Whenever God's Old Testament people assembled, they were instructed to bring tithes and offerings (Psalm 96:8; Malachi 3:10). Similarly, Paul wrote to the Corinthian Christians concerning the collection for the church in Jerusalem. True worship of God, therefore, includes the joyful giving of our offerings to the Lord for the work that the local church and the broader Christian community do.
- One of the unique elements of the New Testament Church was the role of the Holy Spirit and his manifestations. Among his manifestations in the body of Christ were a word of wisdom, a word of knowledge, expressions of faith, gifts of healing among others (1 Corinthians 12:7-10).
God's Blessings for True Believers
When worship occurs from the heart in spirit and truth, God has many blessings in store for his people. He promises: (1) to be with them (Matthew 18:20, (2) to overshadow his people with his glory (1 Peter 4:14), (3) to bless his people with showers of blessings (Ezekiel 34:26), (4) to impart an abundance of joy (John 15:11), (5) to answer the prayers of those who pray in sincere faith (Mark 11:24), (6) to freshly fill his people with his Holy Spirit (Acts 4:31), (7) to send manifestations of the Holy Spirit among his people (1 Corinthians 12:7-13), (8) to guide his people into all truth through the Holy Spirit (John 15:26), (9) to sanctify his people by his Word and Spirit (John 17:17-19), (10) to comfort, encourage and strengthen his people (Isaiah 40:1), (11) to convict his people of sin, righteousness and judgement by the Holy Spirit(John 16:8) and (12) to save sinners who become convicted of sin as a worship service (1 Corinthians 14:22-25).
Blockages to True Worship
Just because those who claim to be God's people have assembled for worship is no guarantee that true worship is taking place or that God is accepting their praise and listening to their prayers.
- If the worship of God is mere ritual and lip service and the hearts of the people are far from God, then God does not accept the worship. Christ severely castigated the Pharisees for their hypocrisy (Matthew 15:7-9; 23:23-28; Mark 7:5-7). Note the similar criticism Jesus made against the church in Ephesus, which continued to worship the Lord but no longer loved him supremely (Revelation 2:1-5). Paul warns believers that those who participate in the Lord's Supper without departing from sin, and without properly recognising the body of Christian brothers and sisters bring judgement on themselves (1 Corinthians 11:28-30). Therefore, we can only expect God to draw near to us and accept our worship only if our hearts are humble and righteously desiring fellowship and relationship with him (James4:8).
- Another blockage to true worship is a lifestyle of compromise, sin and immorality. God refused to accept Saul's sacrifices because he disobeyed God's commands (1 Samuel 15:1-23). Isaiah castigates the Israelites as a "sinful nation, a people loaded with guilt, a brood of evildoers" (Isaiah 1:4); at the same time, however, they were offering sacrifices and celebrating their holy days. Thus the Lord declared through Isaiah: "Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feats my soul hates. they have become a burden to me. I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands in prayer. I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood" (Isaiah 1:14-15). Likewise in the New Testament church, Jesus urged the worshippers in Sardis to wake up, because I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God (Revelation 3:2). In the same way James indicates that God will not hear the selfish prayers of those who have not separated themselves from the world (James 4:1-5).
God's people can expect him to draw near and accept their worship only if they have clean hands and a pure heart (Psalm 24:3-4; James 4:8).
Bible Verse
"Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care." Psalm 95:6–7, NIV
Prayer
Lord our God, strengthen in us all that comes from you and is eternal, all that is good and right and genuine. Let this shape our outward life and help us triumph over need and death. Help us to wait quietly, even when we don't know the answers to our questions, because we are certain that the outcome will be good and life-giving, to the glory of your Spirit and your name. We entrust ourselves to your hands. Stay with us, that we may receive your calling for our lives. Stay with us, so that in all our work and activity we may be aware of your guiding Spirit at work in our hearts. In Jesus Name. Amen.
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