True Worship

For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth...Eph 5:9

True Worship

he subject of worship is currently the center of a great deal of attention and controversy in the Lord’s church and in many of the denominations. Certainly this matter of worship should be of serious concern to all who desire to please God and who want to be His children.

Surely a study of true worship must include consideration of the words of Jesus in John 4:23,24, where the Lord said, "But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such doth the Father seek to be his worshippers. God is a Spirit; and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” True worship thus involves both the attitude of the worshipper (“worship in spirit”) and the content of the worship (“in truth”).

Romans 15:4 states that “whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning…” With that in mind, we see from Genesis 4 that the first record of worship contains the fact that one of the two worshippers did not worship acceptably. God prescribed acceptable worship, and Cain dared to change it. Abel’s worship was “by faith” (Heb. 11:4), and his faith came from heeding the Word of God (Rom. 10:17). Instructions for worship during the time of the tabernacle and the temple were outlined in detail by God. Nothing was left to personal preference or guesswork. The New Testament makes it clear what God regards as acceptable worship now.

Please note that from the beginning God has looked upon violation of His revealed will regarding worship as a very serious matter. As examples, let me refer you to Cain’s unacceptable worship (Genesis 4), Nadab and Abihu’s offering of strange fire (Lev. 10), the Pharisees’ making a show of their worship and religion, and the worship abuses by the Christians at Corinth (1 Cor. 11, 14).

The purpose of biblical worship is to exalt God. It is not intended to put attention on any man, nor is it designed primarily to provide blessings for the worshippers. Edification occurs, but it is not of first importance. Those who truly worship are indeed blessed, but this is a by-product, not the planned result.

I fully understand that those in favor of unwarranted changes in worship are in the majority in some situations, but this very good advice from someone outside the church is appropriate in such circumstances: “Never confuse the will of the majority with the will of God.” It is imperative that we remember that worship is not done to us, and it is not done for us, but it is done by us.

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