Sensible Worship

Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

Luke 4:8 KJV

1. Cain’s Worship
2. Disobedience in Worship
3. Ignorant in Worship
4. Samaritanism
5. Israel’s Worship
6. Vain Worship
7. Will Worship
8. Humanism

The principle for worship is to do things God’s way and not your own.

Cain’s Worship

Read Genesis 4:3,5

³ And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. ⁵ But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

Cain started this lack of respect in worship. He knew the principles given to him by his father, Adam. Sin alienated the relationship between God and himself. If there’s no mediator, blood must be shed. Cain’s offering didn’t atone for his sins, so God rejected his offering.

Disobedience in Worship

Read Leviticus 10:1-2

¹ And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not. ² And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord.

When offering to the Lord, you must do His commands, not your own. You must understand and know the difference between what is holy and what is not holy. You must be sanctified before God, or you will die. Take worship seriously, it is never a joke. Disobedience has caused Nadab and Abihu to be destroyed publicly, so He could continue to be glorified by the people. God’s laws and requirements are not subject to modification by anyone.

Ignorant in Worship

Read Acts 17:22-31

²² Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. ²³ For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, To The Unknown God. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.

²⁴ God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; ²⁵ Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; ²⁶ And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; ²⁷ That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:

²⁸ For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. ²⁹ Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device. ³⁰ And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

³¹ Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

Just because you are not informed about the truth of worship does not mean you are justified by your actions. Your worship actions may be good intentions, but your lack of biblical education had to stop you from worshipping God correctly. Now, you read the truth above. All people are called to repentance. Worship is not found in temples, mosques, or churches. Seek the Lord Jesus for a new happy life.

Samaritanism

Read John 4:19-26

¹⁹ The [Samartian] woman saith unto him [Jesus], Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.

²⁰ Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. ²¹ Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. ²² Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.

²³ 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. ²⁴ God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

²⁵ The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. ²⁶ Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.

Everybody worships, but do they understand the real truth about worship? The Samaritans believed God’s sanctuary and worshipping place to be at Mount Gerizim in Samaria (and not Mount Zion). Jesus tells the woman at the well that worship is not a place. It is an action and duty by all true worshippers of God. Samaritanism is still practiced today by those who pick and choose the parts of the Torah they like and reject what they do not like. It is clearly read above that every Believer in Christ, will worship in spirit and in truth only.

Related Article: List of Unacceptable Worship Actions Towards God

Israel’s Worship

Read Amos 5:21-25

²¹ I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. ²² Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. ²³ Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. ²⁴ But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream. ²⁵ Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?

The Lord tells the children of Israel one last time to seek Him and live. He is tired of their games. They wanted to be like the nations, so God led them into captivity. When people will not listen to the truth and will disregard those of good character it is an evil time. Worshipping God has become a tradition, and not of love and respect. Today, you will have a reprobate mind if your heart is not in your worship (Romans 1:28). Every offering to God must be acceptable.

Vain Worship

Read Matthew 15:1-18

¹ Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, ² Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. ³ But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?

⁴ For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. ⁵ But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; ⁶ And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.

⁷ Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, ⁸ This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. ⁹ But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. ¹⁰ And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand:

¹¹ Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. ¹² Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? ¹³ But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. ¹⁴ Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.

¹⁵ Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable. ¹⁶ And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding? ¹⁷ Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? ¹⁸ But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.

Vain means devoid of substance and with unsuccessful results. The teachings of men are unacceptable worship: for it has no respect towards God’s commands. Every Believer in Christ must genuinely worship, or it is vain worship. Anything other than in spirit and truth (John 4:24), it is just practicing rituals and traditions, or you are just faking it (Matthew 15:8). Faith must have belief in it from the heart. If you are seeking God’s truth from His Word, then you will do as He commands. His truth will always set you free to worship God correctly (John 8:32). God’s will and purpose be done for you. Hopefully, your mouth will not deceive you.

“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.”

Colossians 2:8

Will Worship

Read Colossians 2:18-23

⁸ 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,¹⁹ 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.

²⁰ 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, ²¹ (Touch not; taste not; handle not; ²² Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?

²³ 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.

Will-Worship means to express worship your own way, self-taught, and according to how you are feeling. This form of worship is led by the indulgence of the flesh according to Colossians 2:23. Self-made religion and asceticism show the point of you worshipping without the knowledge of God in the hope of freeing the soul to pursue the purpose of spiritualism. Speaking to the dead is not a true connection to communing with God, but it is connecting with demons. Falling angels are demons who worship not God. Doing sinful things from the world has no value because they can never honor and respect Almighty God.

Humanism

Read John 3:13-21

¹³ And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

¹⁵ That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. ¹⁶ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. ¹⁷ For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

¹⁸ He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. ¹⁹ And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

²⁰ For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. ²¹ But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

Why study human desire (psychology) to reach God? “The Greater Good” is never the purpose and will of God. Your imagination will never free you to know the Heavenly Creator God. Understanding the world of reason and science alone apart from sanctification as the foundation will cause your worship to be rejected by God. Striving to live in a moral and ethical world for non-religious people is nonsense. Faith and sin are dismissed by global and human traditions instead of the principles of God. Yes, everyone has free will to choose their final destination – heaven or hell. However, God in His mercy and grace has sent Jesus to redeem everyone from their sins (John 3:16-17). Your God-given potential is to free your rational mind from evil deeds and renew them to the well-being of good and righteousness found by knowing the Son of God. Humanistic psychology is not for the followers of Jesus Christ. Are we innately good? No, we are not according to the acknowledgment of the Laws of Moses and the New Testament scriptures. This fact is not subjective to our nature of sin, but it has always been since the separation of God: for in Him there is no darkness at all. Every Humanism must come to the light of God in order to know the truth about the whole person.

God will not accept any own type of futile worship. We must follow His commands by submitting to the Lord’s judgments. He is the Great Ruler, and what He has said goes – period, bottom line! Every Follower of Jesus Christ must not stand with pride and give what is due to His holy name. This is our purpose and what we were created for – to praise and worship God acceptably.