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Bible Will I Find: My Worship Is True Worship? By: Gary Colley
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Bible Will I Find: My Worship Is True Worship? By: Gary Colley
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It is certainly important to determine if our worship is acceptable to our Father in Heaven. We might please ourselves in worship, but that does not mean we have pleased the Father. Notice the word “must” in the following passages: “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him (Heb.11:6); “God is a Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (Jn.4:24). No one can come before God with pleasing worship unless he or she first believes that God exist, second comes before him in the proper spirit or disposition, and third acts in harmony with what the Bible says pleases God. The proper spirit is found in Paul’s words, “Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: for our God is a consuming fire” (Heb.12:28-29). If our thoughts are not on worship (kissing the hand toward God), but rather on things of this world such as food, raiment, or home, or perhaps we eat the Lord’s supper without thinking of His death, burial, and resurrection, this one “eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body” (I Cor.11:23-29). It is then highly important for our devotion to be in the right spirit. But it is just as much a “must” that all that we do in worship be done according to God’s Word, or “in truth”(Rom.10:17). In the New Testament there are five avenues through which acceptable worship is offered: 1. Through preaching faithfully the Word (II Tim.4:1-5). 2. Singing songs of praise (Eph.5:19). For 600 years after the church was established on Pentecost (Acts 2), there was never anything but vocal music in worship of the church, because God had not commanded instrumental music in the New Testament. 3. The early church under inspired men partook of the Lord Supper every first day of the week (Acts 20:7). It is just as important that we not add anything to the Lord’s table, except unleaven bread and fruit of the vine, as it is that we not add instruments to singing. It is strange that some claim not to be able to see one of these requirements but can see harm in the other. 4. Another part of worship for the early church was fervent prayer (Acts 2:42). Their acceptable prayers were addressed to God (not Jesus, Mary, or a “saint”), and were prayed in the name of Jesus (Matt.6:9; Col.3:17). 5. Giving on the first day of the week, cheerfully and as prospered to the work of God, was always an important part of worship (I Cor.16:1-2). Any additions will render our worship unacceptable.–Gary Colley