God Cares About How we Worship Him.

Articles

Derek Long
03/22/20 - Worship

God Cares About How We Worship Him By Derek Long
God takes seriously how people approach Him in worship. Cain offered a sacrifice which was not acceptable to God and his worship was rejected (Genesis 4:1-5). Nadab and Abihu offered incense using profane fire which God had not commanded and were killed by the Lord (Leviticus 10:1-2). The people of Joshua’s generation were concerned about the tribes which would settle east of the Jordan building an altar to sacrifice upon besides the altar God had instructed them to use (Joshua 22:10-34). God rejected Saul from being king partially due to the fact he offered sacrifices instead of waiting for Samuel to do so (1 Samuel 13:8-14). King Ahaz was a wicked king of Judah. Ahaz quit using the altar God had instructed them to use and replaced it with an altar built according to the pattern of an altar he saw in Damascus (2 Kings 16:10-16). Uzziah was a good king of Judah for many years and yet eventually he became filled with pride and entered the temple to burn incense and God struck him with leprosy till the day of his death (2 Chronicles 26:16-21). God was not pleased with the sacrifices of the children of Israel when they were offered while they were still engaging in sin (Isaiah 1:13). God was not pleased when the Israelites offered to Him sacrifices which were less than their best (Malachi 1:6-14). God obviously has laws and expectations for the worship men render unto Him. God lays out a prescribed pattern for worship and He expects us to follow the pattern He has laid out. If we deviate from the pattern, He will reject our worship and ultimately bring judgment upon us if we do not repent.
Jesus spoke of the type of worship God will expect from people under the New Covenant. In John 4:21-24, “Jesus said to hear, ‘Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.’” Under the New Covenant, we are not obligated to go to a certain geographical location to worship God. However, we are obligated to worship God in spirit and truth. Our worship today needs to spring from the proper attitude and must be offered according to what the truth revealed in God’s word (John 17:17) teaches us to do. Let’s examine some aspects of acceptable worship for us today.
• Acceptable worship will include prayers to God. Acts 2:42 speaks of the worship of the early church in Jerusalem. It says, “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in prayers.” God expects His people to pray together when they come to worship Him today.
• Acceptable worship will include Bible teaching. Acts 2:42 mentions the disciples “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine.” The only way for people to continue steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine is for it to be taught. Acts 20:7 gives us an example of the disciples gathering together in Troas and Paul “spoke to them and continued his message until midnight.” Teaching is something God expects to occur when His people come to worship Him today.
• Acceptable worship will include saints giving of their means on the first day of the week. 1 Corinthians 16:1-2 gives us the following instructions, “Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also: On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come.” God expects His people to give as they have prospered on the first day of the week to carry on the work He gave the church to do.
• Acceptable worship will include partaking of the Lord’s Supper every first day of the week. 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 gives us instructions concerning partaking of the Lord’s Supper. Acts 20:7
shows us an example of early Christians partaking of the Lord’s Supper. It says, “Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight.” The Lord’s Supper was observed on the first day of the week (Sunday). Since the first day of the week occurs weekly, we understand the Lord’s Supper is to be observed weekly not monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, annually, etc.
• Acceptable worship will include singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Ephesians 5:19 says, “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” Colossians 3:16 says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” God expects His people to sing songs of praise to Him. God expects them to make melody in their heart. God said nothing about them playing a mechanical instrument of music in worship to Him. When people add to what the Lord commanded, they will face His judgment (Proverbs 30:5-6; Revelation 22:18-19).
Let’s make sure we are worshipping God acceptably so we will not face His condemnation like those we examined in the first part of this article!