Introduction:

A. Worship defined:

1. “reverence offered a divine being or supernatural power; also : an act of expressing such reverence.”  Webster’s New World College Dictionary Third Edition.
2. Greek word “proskuneo” appears in passages such as (Luke 4:8 and John 4:24) and is defined in Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament to mean: “used of homage [respect] shown to men and beings of superior rank.

B. Who should be worshipped?

1. God alone (Matthew 4:9-10).
2. No man is to be worshipped (Acts 10:25-26).

a. The Catechism of the Catholic Church makes the Pope supreme:
• # 936 “The Lord made St. Peter the visible foundation of his Church. He entrusted the keys of the Church to him. The bishop of the Church of Rome, successor to St. Peter, is "head of the college of bishops, the Vicar of Christ and Pastor of the universal Church on earth"
• # 937 “The Pope enjoys, by divine institution, "supreme, full, immediate, and universal power in the care of souls"
b. Clearly, the Catholic Church claims the Pope follows after Peter, but they must have missed our account of Peter refusing worship which would contradict the Pope of today allowing people to worship him and kiss his ring.
c. II Thessalonians 2:3-4 “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.”

3. Mary was not a person to be worshiped.

a. Jesus showed that Mary or other members of his physical family were not more significant than other disciples (Matthew 12:46-50).
b. While the fact exists that Mary must have been a very great woman for God to have chosen her to bring His Son into the world (Matthew 1:18ff.), no scripture authorizes the worship of Mary.

4. We are not to worship idols (Deuteronomy 8:19).

a. I Corinthians 6:9-10
b. I Corinthians 10:14

5. Angels are not be worshipped, as there is not authority for such and as a matter of fact there is clear condemnation of angelic worship:

a. Colossians 2:18
b. Revelation 22:8-9

I. Types of Worship

A. Ignorant worship is worship that is a result from or showing lack of knowledge of Biblically approved worship (Acts 17:22-23).

1. Ignorant worship must be corrected (Acts 17:24-29).
2. God will not accept that which is ignorant (Acts 17:30).
3. God has fully supplied us with the information we need to properly worship Him (II Timothy 3:16-17 and II Peter 1:3).

B. Vain worship is empty worship that often occurs through the following of the traditions of men (Matthew 15:7-9).

1. That which is based upon the traditions of men is wrong (Colossians 2:6-8).
2. One cannot claim to please God while not doing the things that pleases Him (Luke 6:46).

C. Will-worship is that type of worship man chooses himself to do; self-imposed religion.

1. Will is “desire; wish; I.E. ‘call it what you will’ - Webster’s New World College Dictionary Third Edition.
2. Will-worship is wrong (Colossians 2:20-23).

D. Worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:24).

1. The context of this passage contrasts the physical, ritualistic worship of the Old Testament Law occurring in a place to the spiritual worship that will be New Testament worship (John 4:19-24).
2. True worship means genuine worship.

a. Genuine worship is not just “going through the motions”.
b. Genuine worship is based upon what God desires us to do as revealed in His word, not the three aforementioned types of false worship.
c. We will notice that God shows clearly in the New Testament what He wants us to do in worship to Him.

II. Acts of Worship

A. Noticing what was done in collective worship in the account of Acts 20:7 we can see some things clearly.

1. It was the first day of the week wherein they assembled for the purpose of partaking of the Lord’s Supper (v.7) “And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread…”

a. The Lord instituted the Lord’s Supper to include unleavened bread and the fruit of the vine (Matthew 26:17; 26-28).
b. The Lord’s Supper was a purposed memorial wherein all the brethren partook of the emblems, not a common meal (I Corinthians 11:18-34).
c. Jesus gave the example of the first day of the week as we see in Acts 20:7, (Luke 24:29-30).

d. Multiple cups were certainly authorized by Jesus Christ (Luke 22:17).

2. On that same first day of the week in which they partook of the Lord’s Supper the record says: (Acts 20:7) “…Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.”

a. Preaching is a part of worship.
b. The word of God is what is to be preached (II Timothy 4:2).
c. That which the audience needs to hear cannot be left aside:

Ezekiel 3:18

Acts 20: 26-27

d. The preaching of the Gospel edifies brethren (Acts 20:32).

B. While prayer would have occurred in the partaking of the Lord’s Supper (I Corinthians 11:23-26), prayer does not need to be limited to just the Lord’s Supper.

1. Collective prayer is acceptable to God (Acts 4:24-31).
2. Prayer must be done according to the will of God (I John 5:14).
3. Prayer is a privilege not extended to the lost (I Peter 3:12 - CF. Isaiah 59:1-2).

C. Song worship is common among all religions.

1. Song worship is not right because it is a common practice, but because it is a biblical practice (Matthew 26:30).
2. Song worship is to be vocal (Ephesians 5:19).

a. We find no authority for playing, clapping, dancing, humming, whistling, etc.
b. Some argue that silence on God’s part is permissive, but God says that is not so (Deuteronomy 12:32; 29:29, Joshua 1:7, and Revelation 22:18-19).
c. In part two of our series we discussed on the pattern of song worship in the New Testament shows our worship in song is to be vocal only.

D. Contribution is a practice we only see done upon the first day of the week (I Corinthians 16:1-3).

1. We do not see local churches in the New Testament having bake sales, fund raisers, etc.
2. We do see saints giving as they had purposed (II Corinthians 9:7).

E. Some acts of worship are not just bound to the times in which the saints are assembled.

1. We find the Lord’s Supper observed only among the assembled saints.
2. Praying and singing to the Lord was not limited to the assembly (Acts 16:25).
3. Nor is the preaching of the Gospel (Mark 16:15-16, Acts 5:42, and Acts 8:4).
4. One must remember that scriptural worship is not just bound to the times when the saints are assembled.

a. Preaching error is not accepted at any time, as the word of God is truth (John 17:17).
b. Praying can be done improperly, even in private (Luke 18:10-14).
c. Singing is no exception to the rule.  Some try to claim a whole different set of rules, but they do so with no authority from the Lord.  Singing, when directed to God, cannot be separated from other items of worship when it comes to do those things scripturally (I Corinthians 14:15 and James 5:13).

III. Points to Consider About Leading in Worship

A. Common sense must be used when it comes to those whom lead in worship services.

1. When the church is gathered together [assembled] participating in worship, women are not to speak (I Corinthians 14:34-35 and I Timothy 2:11-12).

a. Common sense comes into play when we realize it is not permissible for a woman to ask questions, offer information, or take lead when the church is fully assembled acting in worship to the Lord.
b. If you miss a song number look to someone beside / behind you quietly.

2. Paul said (I Corinthians 14:40) “Let all things be done decently and in order.”

a. Having an open forum type of worship assembly is not decently and in order.
b. Everyone in the meeting house must contribute effort to having the service be decent and in order.

3. When one comes to worship they are coming to be reverent before God.  Is that displayed in our attitudes, promptness, apparel, and mindset?

B. Leaders need to prepare for leading the worship service.

1. It is expedient to have one lead the songs to keep things in order.
2. That song leader needs to realize that songs are a method of teaching (Colossians 3:16), and therefore take the preparatory measures to assure truth is presented in the songs.
3. Song leaders, those conducting the prayer, waiting on the table, passing the collection plate, and preaching need to lead in such a way that God is pleased and the faithful saints are in agreement.

C. Because sin separates God from man (Isaiah 59:1-2), it is logical and biblical to not have those serving in the worship service who are not faithful Christians.

1. No authority to have open worship wherein anyone and everyone can lead (Colossians 3:17).
2. God desires true worshippers, therefore one who leads others must be a “true worshipper” (John 4:23).

Conclusion:

A. When worshipping God it is always good to have things in their proper perspective.

1. God always sees and knows what we are doing (Hebrews 4:13).
2. Christ watches what is going on in His body the church (Revelation 2:1).
3. Therefore, it is always a good idea to act as though the Lord is sitting near to you during worship and observing your actions.  Also, remember that He looks beyond the flesh and sees your heart (Matthew 9:4).

B. Proper worship involves our intellect and our emotions.

1. We cannot allow our emotions to control our worship, but must balance our knowledge to assure we are doing what is right opposed to what feels right.
2. Matthew 22:37
3. Let us show our love through our scriptural, heartfelt worship!

 

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2003 by Brian A. Yeager may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes at no cost to others.