THE SACRED ACTIVITIES – WORSHIP
THE SACRED
ACTIVITIES – WORSHIP
INDEX:
- WHAT DOES WORSHIP ENTAIL?
- WORSHIP AS A MEANS TO ENTER INTO THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD
- WORSHIP AS A FORM OF WARFARE WORSHIP AS A MEANS OF DELIVERENCE FROM DEMONIC FORCES
- WORSHIP AS A MEANS OF STRENGTH AND DELIVERANCE
- IS SINGING AND PRAISE THE ONLY FORM OF WORSHIP?
- HOW OFTEN DO WE WORSHIP?
- IDOLATRY
- THE DEVIL AND WORSHIP
- CONCLUSION
INDEX:
- WHAT DOES WORSHIP ENTAIL?
- WORSHIP AS A MEANS TO ENTER INTO THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD
- WORSHIP AS A FORM OF WARFARE WORSHIP AS A MEANS OF DELIVERENCE FROM DEMONIC FORCES
- WORSHIP AS A MEANS OF STRENGTH AND DELIVERANCE
- IS SINGING AND PRAISE THE ONLY FORM OF WORSHIP?
- HOW OFTEN DO WE WORSHIP?
- IDOLATRY
- THE DEVIL AND WORSHIP
- CONCLUSION
“And Jesus answered him, ‘The first of all commandments is; Hear O
Israel; The Lord our God is One Lord: and you shall love the Lord your God with
all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all
your strength.’ This is the first commandment.’” Mark 12:29-30
Worshiping
the Lord is another awesome experience and privilege. In fact, in the book of
Psalms the Holy Spirit declares that all of creation praises Him. Praising and
worshiping the Lord is as natural as life itself, and should be for us who know
Him. In that He made mankind in His image and likeness (before we sinned), and
by observing the handiwork of His creation, we can conclude certain things
about God. God is an Architect, He is an Engineer, He is a Mathematician, an
Artist…a Musician. And because He is unfathomably Majestic, Beautiful, and
Magnificent, we resound in agreement, ‘Indeed, LET EVERYTHING THAT HAS BREATH
PRAISE THE LORD!”
WHAT DOES WORSHIP ENTAIL?
There are multiple forms of worship, and all
religions have various expressions of worship. Even non religions actually
employ (unwittingly) forms of worship, like the raising of hands and shouts of
praise. Such activities would thereby categorize them as a religion. What they
usually lack is the acknowledgement that they are actually performing acts of worship, and the object being worshiped is not
officially recognized as ‘a god’.
Worship typically is expressed in a variety of
sacrifices, offerings, rituals, music, singing, and even dance. For the
Christian, many forms of earthly worship have either been rendered obsolete,
like the sacrifices of the Old Testament, or repented of, such as superstitious
rituals, human sacrifice, sensual and immoral rites, the use of potions and the
like.
Jesus had set a precedent for worship. First
He quotes a rebuke from
God in the Old
Testament, “…This people honors Me with
their lips, but their heart is far away from Me. But in vain do they worship
Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.” Mark 7:6-7 NAS Then He went
on to teach us, “But the hour is coming,
and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in
truth; for the Father seeks such to worship Him. God is a Spirit, and they that
worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” John 4:23-24
So it is not the posture, volume, or
necessarily even the words we choose to worship Him, but it must come from a
sincere heart out of our innermost being (our spirit). From this point, worship
can explode into a glorious praise and worship in godly creative expressions. What
transpires in Holy Spirit led worship is that God inhabits the praises of His
people (Psalm 22:3); He comes forth,
and the glory falls.
This is ideal, however, in the many types
of worship services the Lord is present as we minister to Him. And when we are
worshiping Him with all our heart it is always refreshing to us even though
it is our expression of love and thanksgiving to Him.
Typically, Christian worship services include
prayer, singing praise and worship songs, and even Scripture reading. Christian
worship services vary from church and denomination, and can differ to great
extents. As long as the focus is by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the risen
Son of God, and from a sincere heart, it is acceptable to Him.
Worship to God and Jesus has been so
predominant, that more songs have been penned about Him than and any other
person in History. The varieties are as diverse as the varieties of music in
the world, and are expressed in most cultures and main languages wherever the
Gospel has traveled. Worship and praises fill Heaven according to the book of
Revelations, and there the Lord declares that those present will be from every
people, tribe, tongue, and nation
Revelation 5:9.
Worship by song and music is big with God, and
as the people of God flow in the power of His Holy Spirit, the creativity flows
and expressions of worship flow. The Book of Psalms is a penned version of some
of the inspired worship of the Israeli people. In fact it appears that during
their day, the Israelites were known for their worship songs. In Psalm 137:3-4,
while in captivity their captors said, “…sing
us one of the songs of Zion.” And their answer was, “How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?”
One of the dominant characteristics of King
David, of whom the Lord said “…(is) a man
after My Own heart…” Acts 13:22, was his deep dedication to worship the
Lord with song, and with instruments. He was called the sweet psalmist of
Israel and was the author of perhaps over a third of the psalms in the Book of
Psalms. The Scriptures say that he played skillfully and even invented
instruments to worship the Lord 1 Chronicles 23:5, Amos 6:5. Under the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit, not only were the songs divinely inspired, but
they were also prophetic, and the Lord continues to speak to us through them to
this day.
King David revolutionized worship in Israel by
establishing priests whose sole duty was to render endless praise and worship
to the Lord with songs and instruments. This new statute was confirmed by
Solomon along with the priests and elders when they established the order of
temple service. In the book of Acts, the apostle James reiterated the prophetic
word from the book of Amos that the Lord would rebuild the tabernacle of David Acts 15:15-17 (Amos 911-12). Until this
day, we still follow the admonition from Paul where he said, “…and as you sing psalms, hymns, and
spiritual songs, with gratitude in your hearts to God.” Colossians 3:16 NIV
WORSHIP AS A MEANS TO
ENTER INTO THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD
“Make a joyful noise to the Lord all ye lands, serve the Lord
with gladness, come before His presence with singing… Enter into His gates with
thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless
His name.” Psalm 100:1-2,4
Elisha, when put on the spot by the king of
Israel for a word from the Lord, called for a minstrel to minister unto him
until the anointing fell and thus enabling him to declare the word of the Lord.
2 Kings 3:13-15
WORSHIP AS A FORM OF
WARFARE
During the days of
Jehoshaphat, a huge army from Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir invaded Judah.
Jehoshaphat called all the people to fast. The Lord told them that He would
fight for them. In response, Jehoshaphat appointed those who sang to go before
the army worshiping and praising the Lord. The Lord set ambushes against them
and their enemies turned on each other and destroyed themselves. 2 Chronicles 20 Now as followers of Jesus, one way that we fight our battles against the powers of darkness through worship. That torments the devil.
WORSHIP AS A MEANS OF
DELIVERANCFE FROM DEMONIC FORCES
King Saul was tormented by an evil spirit
which was actually sent by the Lord because of his disobedience. To find relief for him
his elders sought out a minstrel who could minister to him and bring him peace.
Of course they found David when he was a young man who had dedicated
himself to worshiping the Lord. When He played and sang, the evil spirit departed
from Saul, 1 Samuel 16:14-23.
WORSHIP AS A MEANS OF
STRENGTH AND DELIVERANCE
Paul and Silas after being beaten and thrown
into prison for preaching the Gospel of Jesus, while in pain and stocks, prayed
and sang praises to God. Then there was an earthquake, the prison shook, and
all the prisons doors opened and their bonds were loosed. It not only turned
out for Paul and Silas’s liberation, but the salvation of the jailer and all
his house. Acts 16:25
IS SINGING AND PRAISE
THE ONLY FORM OF WORSHIP?
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to
offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your
spiritual act of worship.” 1 Corinthians 12:1
If we have surrendered our life to God in
Christ Jesus, our entire life should be a sacrifice of praise and worship to
the Lord. As for specific acts of worship, our service to the Lord in whatever
we do is a form of worship. Our giving in tithes and offerings is a form of
worship. “Whether therefore you eat, or drink,
or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31
HOW OFTEN DO WE
WORSHIP?
We can worship whenever
we wish and as often as we can. There are and will be times when worshipping
and praising God is going to be an act of faith and sacrifice. It does not
depend on how we feel or any of our circumstances, but on the fact is that He
is always worthy. Anytime and anywhere when our heart is lifted up in Him or we are reaching out to Him is a good time to worship.
“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no
sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I
will be joyful in God my Savior.” Habakkuk 3:17
IDOLATRY
Whenever we render to people or things what
should belong to God alone, then, by default we are making them or that a god.
We have seen people praising and worshiping leaders, lifting our hands at
secular concerts (which is an Biblical expression of worshiping the Lord) and so on. We may have even done so ourselves.
May the Lord awaken us to our careless activities, Psalms 28:2, 44:20, 63:4, 119:48, 134:2, 141:2, 143:6
THE DEVIL AND WORSHIP
The devil who wanted
to exalt himself as god also craves worship, which is why he asked Jesus to
worship him Matthew 4:9, Isaiah 14:12-14.
In the Book of Revelation, the antichrist, who is an envoy of the devil, will manipulate
the people to worship him and his image. Revelation
13. Chapter 15:2 speaks of the
company of the saints who did not surrender to the worship of the beast, nor
take his mark.
Another beautiful example of believers
(meekly) defying an authority which was forcing people to commit idolatry were
the three Hebrews, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. In so doing they were
thrown in to the fiery furnace because they refused to worship King
Nebuchadnezzar’s idol, Daniel 3; however,
the Lord brought them forth with a mighty deliverance.
CONCLUSION - SO WORSHIP IS…
Worship is our expression of love, gratitude,
and honor, that we render to God our Creator and Heavenly Father, for He alone
is Worthy.
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