|
   
|
Now that we've studied in depth the
scriptural organization of the church, we need to determine the worship
practices authorized by scripture.
As with church organization we see many different worship practices among
the various denominations in the world today. Some meet on Sunday,
others meet on Saturday. One uses the native language to perform the
various acts of worship, while another uses a language largely foreign to
the worshippers. Some "speak in tongues" and engage in
other "miraculous" acts during their assembly periods while
others deny the existence of such events today. One religious body
may use mechanical instruments of music while another will shun their use
and sing only during their worship services. We've already seen how
the various religious organizations around us today cannot all be part of
the same body. So one must ask the question, "Of these varied
types of worship practices, which are practiced by the members of the one
body of Christ?"
Before examining the scriptures and
studying their instructions with regards to worship practices we need to
understand worship and what it is. If we don't understand what
worship is, we will have a difficult time understanding the worship
practices outlined in the New Testament. First, let's consider the
word "worship." There are seven different Greek words
translated "worship" in the KJV. The one used most
frequently is proskuneo,
which is translated "worship" or "worshipped" 60 times
in the NT. Other Greek words translated "worship" and
their frequency of use in the NT are doxa
(1), eusebeo
(1), therapeuo
(1), latreuo
(3), sebazomai
(1), and sebomai
(6). Other concepts of worship recorded in the NT include ethelothreskeia,
translated "will worship"; theosebes,
or "worshipper of God"; sebasma,
translated "that is worshipped"; threskeia,
translated "worshipping"; and latrueo,
neokoros,
and proskunetes, all of which are translated "worshipper." As you can
see, the concept of worship is a complex one, with thirteen different
Greek words being used by the writers of the NT. In addition to the
above words being translated "worship" or something similar,
they are also translated into other English words, such as
"religion" or "devotion." I'd recommend those
who are interested in a more detailed examination of worship link to the
above words and read the various scriptures in which they are used, and
also study the other words the English translators decided to use when
translating the KJV.
Time won't permit me to include every
example of worship in our study today, but I'd like to include a few
examples, which will help us understand worship. Let's begin in
Matthew. Turn to chapter
2, verses 1-8. Here we see the wise men who had seen the star
God placed in the sky. They came to worship Jesus (2). Herod
heard of these things, and was troubled by what he heard (3). He
then consulted the chief priests and scribes as to where the Christ should
be born (4-6). Herod called the wise men to him, asking when they
had seen the star (7). He then sent them to Bethlehem, telling them
to search for the child and bring him word again once they had found him
(8). What was his reason for asking this: So that he might
worship Jesus also! But was Herod's motive in worship the same
as that of the wise men? No! We see the wise men worshipping
Jesus in verse
11, presenting precious gifts to Him. Afterwards God warned them
in a dream to return to their homeland by another route. Why?
Because Herod sought to kill Jesus! (13)
So we see two entirely different motives to worship in this account.
One designed to worship God in a manner of reverence, the other with a
motive to destroy the son of God.
In Matthew
4:9,10 we read of Satan tempting Jesus to worship him. But Jesus
replies by stating, "Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written,
Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve."
In both instances the word proskuneo is used, one time referring to
the worship of Satan, the second referring to the worship of God. Do
we have other accounts recorded, indicating the possibility for one to
worship Satan rather than God? Yes, we do. Proskuneo is
used to refer to the worship given to a man (Matthew
18:26); to the Dragon by men (Revelation
13:4); to the Beast (Revelation
13:4,8,12); to the image of the Beast (Revelation
13:15); to demons (Revelation
9:20); and to idols (Acts
7:43).
In Colossians
2:18-23 we read the following: "Let no man beguile you of
your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding
into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly
mind, And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and
bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with
the increase of God. Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the
rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject
to ordinances, (Touch not; taste not; handle not; Which all are to perish
with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? Which
things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and
neglecting of the body: not in any honour to the satisfying of the
flesh." The verb katabrabeuo is translated "beguile" in this passage, and is the only
time this word is used in the NT. The above link will take you to a
Greek lexicon, and I'd also recommend you consider Vine's
definition of this word. As Vine's notes, this word refers to the
lost reward of one who follows the words of false teachers. Paul
tells us in these few verses that these false teachers don't hold to the
Head, from which the body is nourished and held together. (We know
from our earlier study that the Head of the body is Jesus.) In Jesus
we are free from the rudiments of the world. Since we are free, why
subject ourselves to the ordinances, commandments, and doctrines of men?
These doctrines have an appearance of wisdom in will worship, humility,
and neglecting the body, but "are of no value against the indulgence
of the flesh." (NKJV, verse
23) But what is this will worship Paul mentions? Will
worship is defined in the Greek
lexicon as "voluntary, arbitrary worship; a: worship which one
prescribes and devises for himself, contrary to the contents and nature of
faith which ought to be directed to Christ; b: said of the
misdirected zeal and the practice of ascetics." So Paul gives
us a grave warning against following false teachers, who don't derive
their doctrine from the Head of the body, and whose teaching has an
appearance of wisdom through their self-imposed religion, false humility,
and neglect of the body. (NKJV verse
23) Does this sound familiar to us today? We see these
characteristics abound in religious doctrine today. Paul tells us
that we cannot use these outside indicators as evidence of doctrine
derived from Christ! False teachers, whose doctrine is of men,
oftentimes display these characteristics, and may draw many sincere people
away from the true doctrine of Christ leading them to lose their reward!
We must not succumb to the appearance of humility and sincerity,
worshipping in a fashion devised by men but which is contrary to the
contents and nature of faith, which ought to be directed to Christ.
Do we read elsewhere of man worshipping
God in a fashion devised by men? Yes, we do. If you've read
any of my other studies, you know the verse I'm thinking of. Matthew
15:9, "But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the
commandments of men." In Colossians
2:18-23 we read of false teachers teaching doctrine devised of men.
Jesus tells us the value of worship according to these doctrines: it
is vain! The Greek word translated "in vain" in this verse
is maten
and means "fruitlessly." So false teachers teach doctrine
which is not derived from the Head of the body, leading others to lose
their reward through obedience to such doctrine, and making their worship
to God fruitless! How incredibly sad! Are these people
worshipping? Yes! Jesus didn't say that "In vain do they
carry on certain religious rites", or something to that effect.
These people are worshipping God, but their worship is fruitless.
What makes it fruitless? Teaching for doctrine the commandments of
men, which they learn through false teachers who look someplace other than
the Head of the body for their authority. Does their worship appear
genuine? Yes! Sincerity is not the issue. Undoubtedly
these people are genuinely sincere in their efforts to worship God.
If sincerity is not the issue, then what is? Authority. We
learn in Colossians 2 and Matthew 15 where vain worshippers gain their
authority: from men! When the false teachers preach
their false doctrine, to whom are they not holding fast? The Head of
the body (Jesus Christ). When members of the one body of Christ
worship God, to whom will they hold fast? The Head of the
body. Worship to God by members of the body of Christ will be
fruitful, because the doctrine they hold fast is not of men, but of God.
If one is truly a member of the body of Christ, they will be able to
confirm this fact by objectively evaluating their worship
practices. As I've said in my other lessons, Jesus would have no
right to condemn men for worshipping God according to the commandments of
men if men couldn't know how to worship God properly. It is
the responsibility of each and every one who desires to worship God in a
fruitful manner to search the scriptures and determine what worship is
holding fast to the Head of the body, and what doctrines are holding fast
to the teachings of men.
From these verses we see that God
desires us to worship Him in a specific way. Do the scriptures
tell us what that way might be? Yes! Jesus tells the woman of
Samaria, "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." (John
4:23) So God "seeketh" men to worship Him in spirit
and in truth. Let's take a closer look at this statement. What
does Jesus mean when He says God "seeketh" men to worship Him in
this fashion? Paul tells us in Acts
17:25 that God doesn't need anything from man, seeing how He is the
source of all things anyway. But God seeking men to worship Him
almost sounds like He needs something from us. Let's go back to the
original language one more time. The Greek word translated "seeketh"
in this verse is zeeteo.
It has two principle definitions: to seek for, seek after, or strive
for something; or to demand something from someone. Which definition
of zeeteo makes most sense in this context, and in light of Acts
17:25? To demand something of someone! So when Jesus
tells the woman of Samaria that God seeks men to worship Him in spirit and
in truth, He is telling her that God demands men to worship Him in this
fashion. To worship Him any other way is to worship in vain.
For another example of zeeteo meaning "demand" please
turn to Mark
3:31,32. Here we see Jesus' mother and brothers, standing
outside the place He was, calling Him. In verse 32 the multitude
about Him said to Him, "Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without
seek for thee." Were His mother and brethren seeking to find
Him? No! They'd already found Him, and were calling for Him
outside the place He was. They were demanding to see Him. The
KJV translators use "seek" to express this demand.
Jesus teaches us that God demands
worship to Him be in spirit and in truth. Here we see two
requirements before one can worship God acceptably: spirit and truth.
Remember our study of the conjunction "and" in an earlier
lesson? "And" is a coordinating conjunction, and serves to
connect two words or word phrases of equal grammatical importance.
Our worship to God is acceptable only if it is both in spirit AND in
truth. To be in spirit but not in truth renders worship vain, as
does worship which is in truth but not in spirit. Please consider
the worship Herod would have offered Jesus. Would it have been in
truth? Most likely. He would have put forth the necessary
physical actions to appear to be worshipping the savior. But in
spirit, hardly! He wanted to know where Jesus was so he could
eliminate Him as a threat to his throne. When Paul tells the
Colossian brethren to beware of false teachers who put on a show of
religion through their ascetic acts, were those who followed the teaching
of these false prophets worshipping in spirit? Most likely.
They were likely genuinely sincere in their offering of worship to God.
But what made their worship vain? Failing to also worship in truth.
When man combines the true acts of worship with the true spirit of
worship, then man's worship is not in vain but is fruitful and acceptable
to God.
As you consider the worship practices of
the various religious bodies today, which do you believe is lacking,
spirit or truth? We know one or the other is lacking, because we've
shown that they aren't all part of the one body of Christ. Since
they are different bodies, they have different heads. The fact they
have different heads means that all but one of these bodies (the one being
the true body of Christ) have failed to hold onto the Head of the church
and have followed false teachers into vain worship. But what makes
their worship vain, lack of spirit or lack of truth? As I observe
religious people today, to me it is nearly always lack of truth.
People who attend worship services do so with a sincere desire to worship
God. Their spirit is not in question most of the time.
Certainly, there will always be people who go to worship services lacking
the proper spirit. There are undoubtedly those who are part of the
one body of Christ whose worship is vain due to a lack of spirit in their
worship. But for the majority of religious organizations today their
worship is vain due to absence of truth in their worship. But how
does one correct this problem? One must look to the source of truth
in order to determine what worship practices are truthful. We know
what that source of truth is: The Bible, which is the inspired word
of God. Jesus puts this issue to rest in John
17:17. If we are to discover what demands God has of us to make
our worship truthful, we must look only to the word of God for His
instructions.
This concludes our study on the basics
of true worship. Now we will look to the scriptures and discover the
instructions God has given us to make our worship acceptable to Him.
Please follow the links provided in the navigation bar to the left.
|
