One of the biggest problems I have with the modern day church is that many Christians today have an incorrect view of worship. And the issue is that many people equate worship to a song that is sung. So right off the bat, I need to make the distinction that worshiping God and singing praise songs are different.
And there is a correct way to worship. The Nation of Israel, back in the times of Isaiah the prophet, had the problem of offering tainted worship. Look at what God says to them in Isaiah chapter 1 verses 15 to 16.
In this passage, the Israelites lifted up their hands to show their adoration, and they prayed many prayers. And they looked like holy people, but God said here that He'll turn His face away and He will refuse to listen to them. And the reason why is because their hearts were given to sin, and what God wanted most during that time wasn't their adoration or prayers, but their repentance.
All that to say, worship is more than a song we sing. So if you're a believer, please pay close attention to these four points so that we as a church can offer acceptable worship to our God. Point number one, worship is complete surrender and willingness to serve.
Matthew chapter 4 verses 8 to 10. Again, the devil took him up on an exceedingly high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, "All these things I will give you if you will fall down and worship me.
" Then Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan, for it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and Him only you shall serve. " In this passage, the devil brought Jesus on the top of a high mountain, and he displayed the kingdoms of the world with all their power and riches. And then he told Jesus that he'd give them to him if Jesus fell down and worshipped him.
And Jesus rebuked him and said, "Get out of here. Worship belongs only to God, and you should only serve Him. " And what I want you to notice here is how worship was connected to falling down and how it's connected to service.
You'll see a similar repetition if you look at Daniel chapter 3. In this passage, Nebuchadnezzar demanded that his people worship him, and in Daniel chapter 3 verses 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, and 15, worship was connected to falling down or bowing in submission. In every one of those verses, it says the people should fall down and worship.
And in verses 12, 14, 18, and 28 of that chapter, worship was connected to service. So all that to say, in these passages, worship had nothing to do with songs that were sung and had everything to do with someone bowing in surrender and having a willingness to serve. You see, Satan didn't want Jesus to sing him a song.
He wanted Jesus, the King of Kings, to bow down in surrender to him and offer his willingness to serve him. So we learn here that worship is a choice that people can make, and it has two steps, surrender and service. So should a Christian decide to worship God, they must first surrender.
You see, in a war, if someone surrenders, they admit total defeat. And the one that they surrender to now has the freedom to do whatever they want with the belongings of the one defeated. So for the Christian, they must give their heart, their ambitions, their will, their desires, their dreams, their bodies, their possessions, and give it all to God.
And the next step is service, which means the one who worships God offers their body and mind to accomplish the will of God. In fact, God's will should be everything to the Christian who worships God. And for that person, they not only set their heart to do what God desires, they also position themselves so they can hear God's voice and discern what God wants them to do.
Surrender and service. To take away any of these two steps would compromise true worship. And that would lead us to point number two.
Worship can be empty. Matthew chapter 15 verses 8 to 9. In this passage, Jesus says that certain people will come near to him with the words of their mouth, but their hearts are actually far.
And these people's worship is vain and fruitless. So every believer must be cautious because the worship that we offer to God can be vain and empty. And we can look holy with all our songs and prayers, but have our hearts be far from him.
And this can happen when someone prays, prayers, reads the Bible, sings songs of praise, and attends Bible studies. But they disregard God's will and will disobey his commands and live according to their own desires. Point number three.
Worship must be done in spirit and truth. John chapter four verses 23 to 24. So there's a theme here.
And this is what Jesus tells the woman at the well that there will be a time when true worshipers will worship God the Father in spirit and truth. And that God is looking for those who will truly worship him in spirit and truth. So there's a theme here.
And that's what Jesus tells the woman at the well. And that God is looking for those who will truly worship him in spirit and truth. So there's a theme here of worshiping God in truth or in accordance to what is real.
And the way that we as believers know truth is through God's word. Because John 17, 17 reads, "Sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth.
" So all that to say, when someone looks at the truth of God's word and walks in the spirit to obey what God commands, it is then that a person truly worships God. And this can happen when we sing praise songs. In the lyrics of a song, we can see how they connect to a truth in God's word.
Truths like God is good or God is faithful. And we can bow and surrender to those truths and submit ourselves to God's word. So don't get me wrong.
We as God's people can worship God through the praise songs that we sing, but worship can be in anything we do so long as there is surrender and service. We can surrender and serve God at work, at school, in our relationships with our family and friends. And we can surrender and have a willingness to serve him in our hobbies and as we go throughout our day.
And we can also worship as we read our Bibles. Because we can see God's truths and obey them. And we can worship as we pray.
Because we can bow our minds to God and seek his will in order to accomplish it. And we can worship God as we fellowship with believers. Because when we're with his people, we can obey his command to encourage and bless them.
So all that to say, worship is more than a song to sing. It's a lifestyle of regularly surrendering what we have to God and being open to serve him no matter what we do and no matter where we are. And lastly, point number four, worship belongs to God alone.
Revelation chapter 22 verses 8 to 9. "Now I, John, saw and heard these things, and when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. Then he said to me, "See that you do not do that, for I am your fellow servant and of your brethren the prophets and of those who keep the words of this book.
Worship God. " In this passage, John was so intimidated by an angel that he fell down to worship him, but the angel rebuked him and said, "No, don't do that. I'm just like you.
We both serve God. So worship God. " So the final point is that as Christians, our worship, our surrender, and our service belong to God alone.
And while we can serve managers or bosses at our jobs or pastors or teachers at church, those above us will never be our master because only one can hold that role. And the reason why we obey and honor them isn't because of their superiority, but because God, who is above them, commands us to. And should anyone ever call for us to disobey what God commands, we as Christ's followers should decline and go back to God and surrender and offer our complete obedience to him alone.
All right? So as followers of God, may we all present true worship to him today and let us all remember these four points. Worship is complete surrender and willingness to serve.
Worship can be empty. Worship must be done in spirit and truth. And worship belongs to God alone.
To conclude, I do want to say that worship is difficult because oftentimes we want to worship ourselves. We like what's ours. And we'll do what we want with our bodies and take steps to secure our pleasure and our satisfaction so that we can reach our goals for our life.
And we can pray prayers, sing songs, and go to Bible studies all without truly worshiping God. So note, true worship requires sacrifice. And if it's really a sacrifice, it means it should hurt.
And the danger that every Christian should be aware of is to live the life of a comfortable Christian that's devoid of self-sacrifice. So should we ever fall to this, may we all remember what God did for us. He gave us everything so that we can be saved from hell, so that we can be adopted into his family.
And so that he could secure our salvation. God gave us everything. So before you worship, I'd encourage you.
to really consider what you have in God. And to always remember, Jesus loves you.
