True Worship
by
John
MacArthur, Jr.
Word
of Grace Communications
ã 1982, 1985 by
John MacArthur, Jr.
All
rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission
in writing from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied
in critical articles or reviews.
Note:
Permission was received for Bible Bulletin Board (www.biblebb.com) to transcribe this book for
posting on their website, and all original copyrights and other rights are
still in effect.
Selected Scriptures Tape
GC 2005
2
True
Worship - Part 2
Outline
Introduction
Review
1. The Importance of Worship
A. Scripture Is Dominated with
It
B. Destiny Is Determined by It
1. Unacceptable worship
a) The worship of false gods
(1) Earthly / material gods
(2) Heavenly / supernatural gods
Lesson
b) The worship of the true God
in a wrong form
c) The worship of the true God
in a self-styled manner
(1) Nadab and
Abihu (Lev. 10:1-2)
(2) Saul (1
Sam.
(3) Uzzah (2
Sam. 6:1-9)
(4) The
Pharisees
(a) Matthew 15:1-9
(b) Matthew 23:23-28
d) The
worship of the true God with a wrong attitude
(1) Malachi 1:6-14;
(2) Amos 5:21-27
(3) Hosea 6:4-7
(4) Isaiah 1:11-20
(5) Mark 7:6
2. Acceptable worship
a) The picture of true
worshipers
b) The production of true
worshipers
(1) Synonymous with salvation
(a) John 4:23
(b) Acts 18:7, 13
(c) Acts 24:14a
(2)
(a) Matthew 2:11a
(b) Matthew 8:1-2
18
(c) Matthew 9:18a
(d) Matthew 14:33
(e) Matthew 15:25
(f ) Matthew 28:9
(g) Matthew 28; 16-17a
(h) John 9:31
(3) Seen in
(4) Stated by
c) The perspective of true
worshipers
Introduction
It’s
important for us to understand what the Bible teaches about worshiping God. We
began our series by briefly looking at John 4:20-24 as the basic text (which
we’ll examine in more detail later on) and then by moving to a definition of
worship. We defined worship as “honor, homage, reverence, adoration, praise, or
respect given to God.” In John 4:23b, our Lord instructs us to “worship him.”
Worship, then , is giving respect or honor to God. It is to that end that we
are called.
Review
In
our last lesson we discussed the following:
I. THE IMPORTANCE OF WORSHIP
A. Scripture Is Dominated with It
B. Destiny Is Determined by It
1. Unacceptable worship (see pp.
14-16)
a) The worship of false gods
(1) Earthly / material gods
(2) Heavenly / supernatural gods
Lesson
Now,
picking up where we left off last time, let’s look at three more kinds of
unacceptable worship:
b) The worship of the true God
in a wrong form
God will not accept the worship of a false god, nor will He accept the
worship of the true God if offered in the wrong way. Why? Because the worship
of the true God is very specifically established in Scripture, along with the
proper mode and manner.
An illustration of worshiping the true God in a wrong form is found in
Exodus 32. Moses was up on
19
they were not worshiping some other deity; the golden calf was their
representation of Jehovah God. They reduced God to an image and were worshiping
Him in an unacceptable way. When Moses returned from
God will not accept worship that is offered to Him in an unacceptable
manner. It’s unacceptable to reduce God to an image, a material representation,
an idol, or anything that is a result and product of one’s own thinking. I
often hear people say, “I worship God as I perceive Him to be.” Well, if your
definition of God doesn’t square with the Word of God, your worship is
unacceptable-even though you may identify it with the true God.
That leads me to a third kind of unacceptable worship:
c) The worship of the true God
in a self-styled manner
Not only is it unacceptable to worship God by reducing Him to an idol
or image, but it’s also unacceptable to reduce the activity of worship to some
personal definition. Let me show you what I mean by giving you a few scriptural
illustrations of people who worshiped God in a self-styled way.
(1) Nadab and Abihu (Lev.
10:1-2)
Aaron, the high priest, had two sons, Nadab and Abihu, who were entering
the priesthood. Leviticus 10:1 records for us the great day of their ordination
into the priesthood. This was the first actual day in which they were to lead
the people in the worship of God. But look what happened: “And Nadab and Abihu,
the sons of Aaron, took either of them
his censer [which, when filled with incense, was symbolic of worship, as its
fragrance rose to the nostrils of God], and put fire therein, and put incense
thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which He commanded them not.
And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before
the Lord.”
It’s very possible that Nadab and Abihu were drunk, because in verse 9
the Lord gave the following stern warning to Aaron, suggesting to us that his
sons were drunk: “Do not drink wine or strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with
thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die.” So, it
may well have been that Nadab and Abihu got drunk, went into the Tabernacle,
and began to fool around and do
20
things that were not according to God’s law for the
priesthood-so God
devoured them with fire! God will not accept self-styled, self-invented modes
of worship. We are not to worship God on our own terms; we are to worship Him
according to the terms prescribed in Scripture.
(2) Saul (1 Sam. 13:8-14a)
King Saul worshiped God in a self-styled manner. In 1 Samuel 13,
starting in verse 8 we read, “And he tarried seven days, according to the set
time that Samuel had appointed; but Samuel came not to Gilgal, and the people
were scattered from him. And Saul said, Bring here a burnt offering to me, and
peace offerings. And he offered the burnt offering.”
“Now,” you say, “is that any big deal?” It sure is! Nobody was allowed
to function at the altar except for the priests. Saul wanted to put on a
display of power and confidence before the people, so he intruded into the
priestly office. Verse 10 continues, “And it came to pass that, as soon as he
had ceased offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out
to meet him, that he might bless him. And Samuel said, What hast thou done? And
Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that thou
camest not within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered
themselves together at Michmash, therefore, said I, the Philistines will come
down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the Lord; I
forced myself therefore, and offered a burnt offering. And Samuel said to Saul,
Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the Lord thy
God, which he commanded thee; for now would the Lord have established thy
kingdom upon
God will be worshiped only by someone who is after His own heart. In
other words, someone who obeys God’s Word. Because of Saul’s self-styled
worship, there would never again be anyone in Saul’s line on the throne.
(3) Uzzah (2 Sam. 6:1-9)
Uzzah was a member of a group known as the Kohathites, who were
responsible for transporting the Ark of the Covenant. The Kohathites were
raised, from the time they were small, to know nothing but how to transport the
ark, and, according to Numbers
trained from childhood to do it
21
that way, but he took the liberty of putting it on a
cart. That was his first
mistake, because God will not be handled at the whim of man in a self-styled
way-no matter how good the intentions. So as the ark was being transported on a
cart (which was in violation of the rules God had set down), verses 6-7 tell
us, “And when they came to Nacon’s threshing floor, Uzzah put forth his hand to
the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it [i.e., it looked
like it was going to fall off the cart]. And the anger of the Lord was kindled
against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error, and there he died by the
ark of God.”
You see, Uzzah knew better. He had been trained all his life to never
touch the ark. But in his own way, he thought he could intrude into God’s
commandments. The true God cannot be worshiped in a self-styled way!
(4) The Pharisees
The Pharisees tried to worship the true God with their own self-styled
system-not according to God’s commandments or standards, but according to their
own inventions.
(a) Matthew
15:1-9-”Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, who were of
You see, they told Jesus that He wasn’t worshiping according to their
tradition, but Jesus told them that they weren’t worshiping according to God’s commands. They had
invented their own system.
In verses 4-6, Jesus gives them an illustration of how their traditions
violated God’s commands. Then in verses 7-9, He says, “Ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah
prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth near unto me with their mouth, and
honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. But in vain do
they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”
God isn’t interested in all the holy hocus-pocus that goes on in so
many “Christian” churches where the traditions of men have been substituted for
the commandments of God. God is to be worshiped in spirit and in truth-not
through images, rituals, or liturgies.
(b) Matthew 23:23-28-The Lord
further indicted the Pharisees in the following passage: “Woe unto you,
22
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye pay tithe
of mint and anise and
cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, justice, mercy, and
faith; these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Ye blind
guides, who strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. Woe unto you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the
platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess....For ye are like
whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full
of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear
righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.”
So, what I’m trying to show
you is that there is a category of unacceptable worship. One cannot worship
false gods or the true God in a wrong form or in a self-styled manner. It must
be according to the prescription of Scripture.
d) The worship of the true God
with a wrong attitude
If we eliminate all false gods, all images of the true God, and all
self-styled modes of worship, our worship will still be unacceptable if our
heart attitude isn’t right. This kind of unacceptable worship really hits us
right where we live. Very few of us worship a false god or an image of the true
God. And most of us don’t invent our own ways to worship God. We try to worship
according to Scripture. But a question each of us needs to ask himself is: Do I
have the right attitude? If you don’t, it’s unacceptable to God!
Let me show you some passages that develop this truth.
(1) Malachi 1:6-14;
Malachi the prophet indicted the people of God because of their sin. In
this marvelous prophecy he pointed out at least seven monumental sins of which
they were guilty. But the one that stands out and dominates them all is that
they were involved in worshiping God with the wrong attitude. They were just
going through the motions, with their hearts far from God.
Let’s look at Malachi’s indictment. Starting in 1:6, we read, “A son
honoreth his father, and a servant his master; if, then I be a father, where is
mine honor? And if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the Lord of hosts
unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, In what way have we
despised thy name? Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, In what
way have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table [or ‘altar’] of the Lord
is contemptible.”
23
Do you know what they were doing? They were treating
their worship with
contempt. It was strictly a function, strictly a routine, strictly a ritual.
Not only was their heart not involved, but they were actually bringing to God
that which was the least rather than that which was the best. But before we
pounce on them with both feet, may I
remind you that to come to worship with any kind of a wrong attitude-any
kind-is to have contempt for worship.
Now, what were they doing? Verse 8 tells us that they were offering the
blind for sacrifice. In other words, they would bring blind animals to
sacrifice because they were useless to them. A blind animal, since it would
have difficulty finding food, would probably die anyway; so they would get rid
of it by sacrificing it to God. In addition to that, the blindness might have
been caused by disease, so they were offering God diseased animals as well. The
worship that they offered to God was to give Him what they couldn’t use.
Verse 8 continues: “And if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil?
Offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy
person? saith the Lord of hosts. And now, I pray you, beseech God that he will
be gracious unto us. This hath been by your means; will he regard your persons?
saith the Lord of hosts.” In other words, “If this is how you treat God, how do
you think He’s going to treat you? Do you think He’s going to regard you any
differently than you regard Him?”
Then he says in verse 10, “Who is there even among you that would shut
the doors for nothing? Neither do ye kindle fire on mine altar for nothing. I
have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of hosts, neither will I accept an
offering at your hand.” There are some things that God won’t accept-worship offered
in a materialized way, in a self-styled way, and in a half-hearted way.
Verse 11 continues, “For from the rising of the sun even unto the going
down of the same, my name shall be great among the nations, and in every place
incense shall be offered unto my name and a pure offering; for my name shall be
great among the nations, saith the Lord of hosts.” God told them to bring a
pure offering. When they were to sacrifice a lamb, it was to be the best lamb
in the flock-without spot or blemish. But they weren’t doing it!
Look at verses 12-14: “But ye have profaned it, in that ye say, The
table of the Lord is polluted; and the fruit of it, even its food is
contemptible. Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness is it! And ye have sniffed
at it, saith the Lord of hosts; and ye brought that which was torn, and the
lame, and the sick; thus ye brought an offering. Should I accept this of your
hand? saith the Lord. But cursed be the
24
deceiver, who hath in his flock a male, and voweth,
and sacrificeth unto
the Lord a corrupt thing; for I am a great King, saith the Lord of hosts, and my name is terrible among the
nations.”
Remember, Malachi started out indicting the priests. The priests were
the leaders in the sin, but it filtered all the way down to the people. The
whole system was rotten from top to bottom. They had contempt for the table of
the Lord-and the key is in verse 13, where it says, “Behold, what a weariness.”
To them the whole exercise of worship, they probably said something like, “What
a drag! We have to go down there and worship again. Well, let’s just get rid of
that blind or lame lamb-we don’t need it!” They went through the function and
the form, but their hearts weren’t in it. There was no reality there.
In chapter 3, they went even further. In verses 13-14 they apparently start to bad-mouth God: “Your
words have been stout against me, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, What have we
spoken so much against thee? Ye have said, It is vain to serve God; and what
profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked
mournfully before the Lord of hosts?” In other words, they decided that they
didn’t make enough money serving the Lord-there wasn’t enough profit in it.
The results of unacceptable worship are in chapter 4:1, 3: “For,
behold, the day cometh, that shall burn like an oven; and all the proud, yea,
and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn
them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor
branch...And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the
soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts.”
Do you worship with the right attitude?
The
previous illustration in Malachi shows that the people of God had come to the
place where they were worshiping the true God, in the true way, with the wrong
attitude. Their hearts weren’t in it. Now look at your own heart. You say,
“Well, I don’t worship false gods-I worship the true God, I haven’t reduced Him
to an image, and I haven’t invented my own way of worship-like sitting on a
mountain contemplating my navel. I’m trying to worship according to God’s
standards as recorded in His Word.” Now, let me ask you some questions: Is your
heart in your worship? When it comes time to give, do you give the best of all
you have? When it comes time to make your promises to God, do you make Him the
promise that is the most reflective of His magnanimity and generosity? Is your
heart filled with awe and reverence? If your heart isn’t right, your worship is
pointless and unacceptable.
25
(2) Amos 5:21-27
God said, “I hate, I despise your feast days, and I
will not take delight in your solemn assemblies [i.e., ‘I can’t stand your
worship’]. Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meal offerings, I will
not accept them; neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.”
Now even the good animals are being offered here. They’re doing it the right
way, externally, but God will not accept it.
Verse 23 continues, “Take away from me the noise of thy songs; for I
will not hear the melody of thine harps. But let justice run down like waters,
and righteousness like a mighty stream. Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and
offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of
In other words, God said, “I’m through with you! On the one hand you
come and offer sacrifices to Me, but then you turn right around and worship
false gods. You’re so engrained, engulfed, and involved in the system of the
world, that your worship is hypocritical and unacceptable.
(3) Hosea 6:4-7
“O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O
(4) Isaiah 1:11-20
Again God indicts
Verse 12 continues, “When ye come to appear before me, who hath
required this at your hand, to tread my courts? Bring no more vain oblations;
incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of
assemblies, I cannot hear; it is iniquity even the solemn
26
meeting. Your new moons and you appointed feasts my soul hateth; they are a
trouble unto me; I am weary of
The point is this: Whether it’s in Malachi, Amos, Hosea, or Isaiah—the
people were doing the right thing, to the right God, in the right way, but with
the wrong attitude-and God doesn’t accept that!
(5) Mark 7:6
This is similar to Matthew 15 (see pp. 22-23), but I want to look at it
since I feel it wraps up this point. “He (Jesus) answered and said unto them
(the Pharisees), Well hath Isaiah prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is
written, This people honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from
me.” That is unacceptable worship.
If you worship false gods, or if you worship the true God reduced to
some kind of image, or if you worship the true God in a self-styled way, or if
you worship the true God in the right way with the wrong attitude-it’s
unacceptable and will effect your destiny. God cannot accept one who is
unacceptable.
Now, that is the first kind of worship that determines one’s destiny.
Let me tell you about the second.
(2) Acceptable Worship
a) The picture of true worshipers
Psalm 24:3-6 gives a very significant definition of a true, acceptable
worshiper: “Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in
His holy place [i.e., ‘Who will He accept?’]? He who hath clean hands, and a
pure heart, who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.
He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of
his salvation. This is the generation of them who seek him, who seek thy face.”
Those who are acceptable, true worshipers are the ones who have “clean hands:
(i.e., they are obedient to God, purified,
27
and made clean), “a pure heart” (i.e., their motives
and desires are right),
and who truly “seek Him.”
b) The production of true
worshipers
(1) Synonymous with salvation
Acceptable worship is really a key to understanding the whole matter of
salvation. Why? Because the goal of salvation is to produce acceptable, true
worshipers. If you’re truly saved, you’re a true, acceptable worshiper.
Therefore, as you examine your worship, you’re also examining your salvation.
Let me show you some passages to help you understand this.
(a) John 4:23- “But the hour cometh, and now
is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth;
for the Father seeketh such to worship Him.” Notice the phrase “true
worshipers.” That is a term to describe a Christian, a saint, a believer. We
could be called true worshipers as easily as we could be called
Christians, believers, saints, children of God, or any other term which
describes our identity and union with Christ.
Also notice, at the end of verse 23, that the Father seeks true
worshipers to worship Him. Do you know why the Father sent the Son into the
world? Well, in Luke 19:10 Jesus says, “For the Son of man is come to seek and
to save that which was lost.” Why did God send Christ to seek sinners and save
them? We just saw why at the end of verse 23: “For the Father seeketh such to
worship Him.” The primary reason we’re redeemed is to worship God-not to
make us happy. If He wanted to keep us out of hell, He could have just not
created us. But He created man and set out to redeem him, because He seeks to
be worshiped. So worshiping God is synonymous with Christian existence—with
being a believer.
b) Acts 18:7, 13- “ And he [
28
to evangelize men primarily to keep them from hell or to put them in
the sphere of God’s blessing. Primarily, we’re to evangelize men so that they
might worship God, showing them that to live apart from worshiping Him is an affront
to His holy nature and a rebellious act in His world. The heart and soul of
evangelism is to call men to worship the God who is worthy of worship.
How tragic it is for the Christian who understands that he is called
and redeemed to worship God, to not worship God as fully as he ought.
(c) Acts 24:14a-When
(2)
The gospel record supports the fact that people are redeemed for the
purpose of worship. In fact, what we find is that when people see the truth of
Christ, they have an immediate response of worship-giving honor, homage,
respect, reverence, adoration, and praise to God Himself. For example:
(a) Matthew 2:11a-”And when they [the ‘wise
men’ of verse 1] were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary,
his mother, and fell down, and worshiped him.” The first thing these
king-makers did when they came into His presence was to fall down and Worship
Him. Why? Because that is the initial response to the reality of Christ.
(b) Matthew 8:1-2- “When he was come down
from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. And, behold, there came a
leper and worshiped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.”
You see, the leper knew who Jesus was, so he responded in worship.
(c) Matthew 9:18a- “While he spoke these
things unto them, behold, there came a certain ruler, and worshiped him.”
(d) Matthew 14:33-After the disciples
witnessed Jesus walking on the water and stilling a storm, verse 33 tells us,
“Then they that were in the boat came and worshiped him, saying, Of a truth,
thou art the Son of God.”
29
You see, whoever it is, whenever it is, wherever it
is, the instantaneous,
spontaneous response to Christ is worship.
(e) Matthew 15:25 - “Then came she [a woman
of
(f) Matthew 28:9 - “And as they went to tell
his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held
him by the feet, and worshiped him.”
(g) Matthew 28:16-17a - “Then the eleven
disciples went away into
(h) John 9:31 - Jesus healed a man who was
born blind. When questioned by the Pharisees about Jesus, he said, “Now we know
that God heareth not sinners; but if any man be a worshiper of God, and doeth
his will, him he heareth.” This man makes an interesting contrast and says that
there are only two kinds of people - those God hears, and those He doesn’t
hear. The people He doesn’t hear are sinners, and the people He hears are
worshipers. So the contrast is between sinners and worshipers. In fact, the
whole world can be divided into “the sinners” and “the worshipers.” Therefore,
to be saved means to be a worshiper.
(3) Seen in
When God called
30
Now, the Old Testament picture of redemption was
deliverance from
(4) Stated by
In Ephesians 1:3
good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace,
through which he hath made us accepted in the Beloved; in whom we have
redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches
of his grace.” You see, worship is the result of redemption.
I submit to you that we’re called to worship. Without question, we are
called to render acceptable, true, spiritual worship – not just sometimes or once
a week - it’s to be a way of life.
c) The perspective of true
worshipers
We have been saved to worship. Look at Hebrews 12:28: “Wherefore,
receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved [i.e., the eternal kingdom], let us
have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.” The word
“serve” is the Greek verb latreuo and should be translated “worship.” In
Hebrews 10:2, the noun form of latreuo is translated “worshipers.”
Basically, then, the idea of verse 28 is as follows: “Since we have received
the kingdom which cannot be moved, and since we have become worshipers of God,
then let us have the graciousness to respond to God who has made us worshipers,
by worshiping God acceptably.” Put in
31
Going back to Hebrews 12, notice verses 28b-29: “By which we may serve [lit.,
‘worship’] God acceptably with reverence and godly fear; for our God is a
consuming fire.” In other words, we’d better worship God acceptably - or else!
Acceptable worship, first of all, is the result of salvation. But filling out
that worship and living up to its fullness comes as a result of the
graciousness of the believer who willingly offers his body in an act of
spiritual service - worshiping God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.
And because God is a consuming fire, we need to be worried about the
consequence if we don’t worship Him properly!
By
way of application, if you have trouble and problems in your life, and you’re
going through a checklist to determine why these things may be occurring, put
at the top of that checklist: “Perhaps I’m not worshiping God with a true heart
and a true spirit and don’t have the grace to worship God acceptably with
reverence and godly fear.” If so, the consequences may be His chastening.
Focusing on the Facts
1.
Besides worshiping false gods, what other kinds of unacceptable worship are
there (see pp. 19-20, 23)?
2.
How did the Israelites worship the true God in an unacceptable manner? What
were the consequences of that misdirected worship (see pp. 19-20)?
3.
What happened to Nadab and Abihu, who failed to worship God in the proper
manner (see p. 20)?
4.
Although Saul had good intentions, was his priestly display acceptable to God?
Why? As a result, what type of person did the Lord seek to lead His people (1
Sam. 13:14; see p. 21)?
5.
What should Uzzah have known not to do as he was transporting the ark (see
pp.21-22)?
6.
Why did Jesus condemn the way the Pharisees were worshiping God (Matt. 15:1-9;
see p. 22)?
7.
How did the Pharisees appear outwardly? What really characterized their lives
(Matt. 23:28; p. 22)?
8.
For what primary sin did Malachi indict the people of Israel? How was that
expressed (see pp. 23-24)?
9.
What are the results of worshiping God with the wrong attitude, according to
Malachi 4:1 and 3 (see p. 25)?
10.
Why did God not take delight in the worship of Israel, according to Amos 5:
21-27 (see p. 26)?
11.
According to Psalm 24:3-5, who is the one whose worship is acceptable to God?
What are two things such a person receives from God (see pp. 26-27)?
12.
What is the goal of salvation?
32
13. What is the primary reason for evangelizing? What would be some secondary
reasons (see pp.28-29)?
14.
When did people worship Jesus in the gospels (see pp. 29-30)?
15.
What two categories of people did the blind man of John 9 correctly recognize
(v. 31; see p. 30)?
16.
What function did the Tabernacle, the Temple, and the priesthood play in the
nation of Israel (see p. 30)?
17.
Identify the Old Testament picture of redemption. What are the two responses to
redemption, according to Deuteronomy 26:10-11 (see p. 31)?
18.
How often are we called to render acceptable worship to God (see p. 31)?
19.
Why should man be worried about the consequences of not worshiping God properly
(Heb. 12:28-29; see p. 32)?
Pondering the Principles
1.
We live in a permissive society that condones all kinds of self-expression –
however bizarre. We are careful to not infringe on anyone’s personal rights as they
adamantly request, “Let me do things my way. I’ve got to be me. I’m not hurting
anybody.” We hesitate to burst the bubble of someone who has a self-deluded
perspective of reality. But it may be necessary to open such a person’s eyes.
When you share the truth of the Bible with someone like that, prepare yourself
with prayer that the Spirit would guide your thoughts and words and that He
would soften the person’s heart. If you know of any published materials that
can acquaint you with his religious world view, become familiar with them.
Don’t be afraid to shine light into his darkness just because you don’t fully
comprehend his religious beliefs, since your primary objective is to present
the gospel.
2.
Since you are reading this book, you probably aren’t worshiping false gods or
even the true God in the wrong way or in a self-styled manner. However, you may
be worshiping God with the wrong attitude. Are you worshiping Him because He
has created you and saved you from sin and death? Do you go through the same
routine Sunday after Sunday without really considering what God has done for
you? Are you using church attendance solely as a means of blessing or
acceptance by God? If so, begin this very day to praise God for who He is and
what He has done. Then, as you worship next Sunday in church, make a point of
concentrating on the hymns that are sung, the Scripture that is read, and the
message that is preached, that your heart might offer gratitude to God as you
depart to serve Him with your life. Meditate on Psalm 86, noting the psalmist’s
requests and his reasons for worshiping God.
33
Provided
by:
Bible Bulletin Board
Websites: www.biblebb.com and www.gospelgems.com
Email: tony@biblebb.com
Online since 1986