Lesson 24

     The purpose of our worship is to glorify God.  Our worship to God is very important.  If we expect to please God, so we can go to heaven when this life is over, we "must worship Him in spirit and in truth."  Worship requires that we be an active participant and not a spectator.  We must not pervert the worship of God by our being entertained by choirs, praise teams, concerts, and other entertainment groups.

     Our worship is to be holy and sacred, because it is God we are suppose to be worshipping.  We must approach God with humility and godly fear in showing Him reverence and respect by worshipping Him in the way He has specified in the Bible.  To worship God the way we see fit is disrespectful to Him.  Anything God has specified for us to do that we leave out is displeasing to Him, and anything we add that he has not authorized is also displeasing to Him.  It is quite evident that many people are trying to worship God after the will of men.  When you look around, you can see the many different things done in the worship of many differing churches which are not in accordance with God’s will.  They are following the commandments of men.  As we see in Mark 7:7 our Lord said, "And in vain they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men."  It is sad when people allow their worship to become vain.

     Today there are over 400 different denominations with many different plans of salvation, practicing different kinds of worship, teaching different doctrines, and wearing different names which are unheard of and unknown in the Bible.  Is this what God wants?  A denomination must have a man made creed, confession of faith, manual, discipline, catechism, and such like in order to exist.  Each conflicting doctrine, which each denomination has produced, contradicts the scriptures.  If people would follow what the Bible says, and only what the Bible says, then there would only be one church, the church of Christ.

     We have also seen that we must worship and only serve God, and not some idol or icon.  God has commanded women not to teach or take a leading role over men in the church.  We must regularly attend worship of the church; and the way we dress must be modest.

     In our worship we offer prayers to God.  We have seen that God only hears those who are obedient to His will.  Our giving is an indication of our love for God.  We are not to give to be seen of men.

     We are to remember our Lord’s death in partaking of the Lord's Supper every first day of the week as the church in the first century did.  When we partake of the Lord’s Supper every first day of the week, we not only remember the great sacrifice the Lord made for us, but we proclaim the Lord’s death to the world until He comes again.

     As we worship in spirit and in truth, we are to sing praises to God.  We are to do the singing ourselves and not have a choir to sing to us.  God has only authorized singing.  Man has perverted the worship of God by adding mechanical instruments of music, because man likes them.

     When God’s word is preached, God is glorified.  Only God’s will must be preached.  If one is preaching man’s will, he is preaching a perverted gospel.  The Bible must be the final and only source of spiritual authority for all that we teach and practice. 

     The Lord is to be worshipped and glorified in His one church, the one He built and purchased with His own blood.  He is the saviour of only His one church.  People are laboring in vain if they are not in that one church.

     Only saved people are in the Lord’s church.  We are saved only after we have done the will of God and not man’s will.  A more complete discussion of what we must do to be saved entitled "Are You Really Sure Of Your Eternal Salvation?" can be found on the following web site: http://www.netbiblestudy.net

     God must be worshipped in His church only as He has specified otherwise it will be vain and useless.  The Lord has specified that each congregation of His church is to be overseen by a group of elders, who meet His qualifications.  Are you worshipping in the church of Christ, the one He bought with His own blood?  Please don’t wait until the Day of Judgment to find out how wrong you are.  Don’t allow someone to cheat you of your reward in Heaven.

     Please think seriously about the things pointed out in this writing, particularly the scriptures which have been quoted.  Do not allow anyone or anything to cause you to vainly worship God by participating in worship that follows the commandments of men instead of God.  If our worship to God is vain we will loose our souls.  We will not be able to go to Heaven, but we will have to spend forever and ever in eternal punishment.  I wonder if many people really believe there is going to be an eternal punishment in the fires of Hell.

     But as the Bible says in Hebrews 9:27, "It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment."  We will all stand before the Lord on the Day of Judgment and give an answer as to how we have obeyed Him.  But on that day, as we are told in Matthew 7:13-14, only few will be saved and the majority of people will be lost.  Such a tragedy!

     Our Lord says in Matthew 6:33, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness."  Going to heaven has got to be our first priority in our life or we probably will not make it.   We will not accidentally end up in Heaven.  Heaven is too great and glorious to miss.  It will be beyond our greatest expectations.  There is no way to visualize how wonderful it will be.  Don’t you want to go there?  Please don’t miss it.  If we miss Heaven the only other place for us is eternal punishment, which is horrible and beyond description.

     Deuteronomy 10:12-13 sums up everything quite well, "What does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commands of the Lord and His statues."  This is what God requires of us, both in our obedience and worship of Him.  We must worship God in spirit and in truth, if we really want to go to heaven.

4)         Does the name of your church where you attend give glory only to God and Christ and does not glorify the names of men such as John the Baptist, Martin Luther, the Day of Pentecost, Rome, Nazareth, etc.

5)         Do only men take a leading role in the worship of the church where you attend?

6)        Do you faithfully attend the worship services of your congregation?

7)         Do you pray to God regularly?

8)         Do you give cheerfully as you have been prospered every first day of the week?

9)         Do you partake of the Lord’s Supper every first day of the week?

10)        Do you sing in worship?

11)        Does the church where you attend have a choir that sings for you during the worship service?

12)        Does the church where you attend use mechanical instruments of music in the worship service?

13)        Are you worshipping God in spirit and in truth? 

 

14)        Are you worshipping God in the one and only church the Lord established?

15)        Is the congregation of the church where you attend overseen by a plurality of elders?

16)        Have you been baptized (immersed) for the forgiveness of your sins so you can be saved?

17)        Has the Lord added you to His one church?

18)        Are you really sure you are ready to stand before the Lord in judgment?

19)        If you were to die today do you know for sure without a doubt that you would go to heaven?