MAGNIFIER

In This Lesson

1. Understanding Worship
2. The Origin of Worship
3. Methods of Worship
4. False Worship

Section 1 – Understanding Worship

BIG QUESTION: What is worship? How is worship defined in Scripture? Is there a specific way to worship?

While worship is a common term used in the church, it is sometimes difficult to pinpoint its exact meaning. According to Strong’s concordance and Merriam-Webster, worship is defined as follows:

Worship: to prostrate oneself; an act of reverence or adoration.

With this definition in mind, let’s turn to Scripture and see what Jesus had to say about worship.

In John chapter 4, Jesus is traveling through Samaria on His journey to Galilee. Around noon, He stops to rest at a well. A Samaritan woman approaches, Jesus asks for a drink, and He engages her in conversation. When she realizes His prophetic anointing, she begins to speak about worshipping in Jerusalem (John 4:19-20). The following is his reply:

John 4:21,23 “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father…But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.”

Jesus lists two specific components of worship: spirit and truth. When we worship in this manner, it is pleasing and acceptable to God.

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Worship in

Worshipping God “in spirit” is to worship with our mind, emotion, heart and intellect.

1. For spiritual worship to occur, our attitude must be right. We must worship the Creator of our spirit and Judge of our lives with reverence and honor.

Psalm 89:7 “God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be held in reverence by all those around Him.”

Psalm 5:7 “In fear of You I will worship toward your holy temple”

2. In order to worship God in spirit, we must take time to prepare our hearts and emotions. This is accomplished by continually spending time in prayer and developing a relationship with God. Otherwise, our worship may not be acceptable to God.

Mark 7:6 “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” (NIV)

3. Worship is a holy act; therefore we must also be holy. To be holy is to be separated from the world and consecrated unto God. Through repentance and living a daily lifestyle that is pleasing to God, we can purify ourselves unto holiness.

I Chron. 16:29 “…worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.”

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Worship in

1. Worshipping God “in truth” is to worship Him according to His Word. Because His Word is truth, it is the standard by which our worship is defined.

John 17:17 “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.”

2. If we do not live our lives according to Scripture, our worship will be hollow. Observe the examples of Cain (Gen. 4:3-7) and Saul (I Sam. 15:22).

3. God has specified the acceptable way He is to be worshipped. We will examine the origin of Biblical worship in the next section.

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Section 2 – The Origin of Worship

BIG QUESTION: Is worship a natural response? Was humanity born to worship God?

God has placed in all of mankind the desire and the need for worship. This is evidenced by many kinds of worship, even in remote countries among primitive natives.

1. God placed the desire to worship in mankind so that man would want to communicate and be in relationship with Him.

2. Worship is necessary that creation might express thanks and offer adoration to the Creator.

Psalm 139:14 “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works…”

3. At the birth of Jesus Christ, wise men from the East travelled a great distance to worship the Messiah (Matt. 2:2), a host of angels praised Jesus from the heavens (Luke 2:13-14), and a bright star shone supernaturally on Jesus’ manger. All of creation affirmed the need to worship God.

4. New Testament examples are sparse as to how the 1st century apostolic church worshipped, but the Old Testament is filled with examples of praise and worship from which we can derive the following statements:

5. Because the early 1st century church was Jewish, Old Testament worship methods were most likely adopted into New Testament worship.

6. The worship methods of David’s tabernacle mirrored the worship of the apostolic church. For example, David’s tabernacle was surrounded by choirs and orchestras offering continual praise, signifying that voices and instrument were used in praise and worship.

7. The worship in David’s tabernacle was often spontaneous and unrestrained.

8. David included music as part of the worship experience.

9. Therefore, our worship is

(1) based upon the apostolic pattern,

(2) which inherited its practice from its rich Jewish heritage, (3) which originated from God’s created purpose for mankind.

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Section 3 – Methods of Worship

BIG QUESTION: How can I worship God?

Before entering a throne room, one must prepare themselves to meet royalty. How much more should we prepare when approaching the King of kings? Worship can be broken down into three progressive steps.

1. . A thankful individual possesses an appreciative attitude. This creates the seeding ground for a great worship experience with God. If we are unthankful, our worship will ultimately be unacceptable to God.

“In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God.”

We should give thanks for what God has done, what He is doing, and what He is going to do.

2. . Praise expresses thanksgiving in verbal and demonstrative ways. Praise can be heard! Praise extols the nature, character, and attributes of God.

“Let everything that hath breath praise the LORD…”

3. . Worship is the ultimate interaction with God. This third level of ministry unto the Lord is not just man reaching toward God, but it is a mutual exchange between God and man. Worship enters the supernatural realm where one contacts the Spirit of God. Worship is entering the throne room of God and bowing in His presence.

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How to Praise & Worship

Psalm 35:28 “My tongue shall speak of Your righteousness…”

Psalm 47:1 “Shout unto God with the voice of triumph.”

Psalm 47:6 “Sing praises to God, sing praises…”

Psalm 126:2 “Then was our mouth filled with laughter….”

I Corinthians 14:2 “If your gift is that of being able to speak in tongues, that is, to speak in languages you haven’t learned…you will be speaking by the power of the Spirit.” (TLB)

Psalm 33:3 “Play skillfully with a loud noise.”

Psalm 47:1 “O clap your hands, all ye people…”

Luke 6:23 “Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy…”

Psalm 63:4 “I will lift up my hands in Your name.”

Psalm 149:3 “Let them praise His name with the dance…”

II Corinthians 9:7 “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give…God loveth a cheerful giver.”

Ephesians 3:14 “For this cause I bow my knees…”

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to Praise & Worship

Acts 16:25 “And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God…”

Psalm 34:1 “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.”

Psalm 63:1 “O God, You are my God; early will I seek You.”

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to Praise & Worship

Psalm 103:22 “Bless the LORD, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the LORD, O my soul.”

Psalm 111:1 “I will praise the LORD with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation.”

Psalm 150:2 “Praise God in His sanctuary: praise Him in the firmament of His power.”

What Happens When we Worship?

Praise 22:3 “But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.”

Isaiah 61:1‐3 “The Spirit of the LORD God is upon me… to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness…”

II Chron. 20:22 “Stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD…and when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon…which were come against Judah; and they were smitten…and the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries…”

From these verses, Scripture declares that God’s presence is brought to us, depressions are lifted, and victories are won when we worship God!

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Section 4 – False Worship

Having defined Biblical worship, understood its origins, and examined its methods, we now turn our discussion toward false worship.

Deuteronomy 11:16‐17 “Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. Then the LORD’s anger will burn against you…” (NIV)

Romans 1:22‐23 “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image… and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator.”

The Bible is full of warnings against worshipping idols of gold, silver, wood and clay, but we rarely encounter such idols in Western culture. To better understand false worship, we need to define the term idol:

Idol: a false god; an object of extreme devotion; a symbol of worship.

Any object of extreme devotion – other than the one true God – is an idol. Scripture proclaims “an idol is nothing…there is none other God but one” (I Cor. 8:4). Sadly, many people worship idols – tangible things they can touch, hold, or control – instead of the one true God.

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Worship of

1. As Jesus ministered in Judea, a young ruler approached Him and asked what he should do to inherit eternal life. Jesus told the young man to keep God’s commandments, and the young man responded that he had followed God’s commandments his whole life.

2. Jesus declared that the young ruler lacked but one thing.

Luke 18:22 “Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven: and come, follow Me.”

3. Jesus was testing the young ruler. Would he place God above everything else in His life? Was the call of God more important than his riches?

Luke 18:23 “And when he [the young ruler] heard this, he was very sorrowful, for he was very rich.”

4. Sadly, the young man decided that his riches meant more than a relationship with Jesus Christ. The young man’s money was his idol. We must not allow the pursuit of earthly riches to become our top priority in life!

I Timothy 6:10 “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some have coveted after, they have erred from the faith…”

Luke 12:34 “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

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Worship of

1. The incredible advance of human knowledge has impressed so many that we feel we can save ourselves. Society is obsessed with health, fitness, food and recreation, often to the detriment of a relationship with God.

2. In Luke 12:22-31, Jesus teaches that life is more than food, and the body more than fashion. While natural pursuits such as fitness and recreation are not evil in themselves, they stand as stumbling blocks if permitted to take the place of priority in our lives.

3. If we turn to material things to achieve peace of mind, it is likely our hearts are focused on self-preservation and self-gratification instead of the kingdom of God. Instead, we should pray as Jesus prayed: “not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42).

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Worship of

1. Whether the objects of affection are movie stars, poets or politicians, people are hungry for information about them. They want to know what they’re saying, wearing, etc. Billion dollar industries revolve around this obsession with celebrities!

2. Because people form mental bonds with their favorite celebrities, they assimilate the celebrity’s characteristics in themselves and thus feel acceptance. How much more should we seek to develop godly characteristics to be accepted by the God of the universe?

3. It is likely that the most prevalent idol of modern times is the “sports hero”. While sports in themselves are noble activities for exercise, fellowship, teamwork and relaxation, God does not want us to replace worship for Him with worship for sports and sports heroes.

SUMMARY: Anything that is placed before God constitutes idol worship.

That is a strong statement, but God’s Word is very clear on this subject. Let us take inventory of our hearts, establish our priorities, and remove anything that stands between us and our relationship with God.

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Biblical Response to False Worship

BIG QUESTION: How can we ensure that idols do not stand between us and God?

Matthew 6:33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.”

Matthew 22:37‐38 “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment.”

Luke 4:8 “And Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’’”

Love, worship, serve, and seek God first! Worship should never become routine, but should be fresh every time you offer it to God.

When worship is offered according to Biblical methods, you will always receive a warm and exciting response from Him!

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For Deeper Study

Understanding Worship

1. In the Hebrew Bible, hallelujah is actually a two-word phrase. The first part (hallelu) is the plural form of the Hebrew verb hallal, which means a joyous praise in song. The second part (jah) is a shortened form of YHWH, the name for the Creator. The word hallelujah is therefore a request for a congregation to join in praise toward God. It literally means “Praise God” or “Praise the LORD”!

The Origin of Worship

1. If you would like to expand your vocabulary of worship expressions, begin to read and memorize the psalms. You will soon be able to recall the attributes of God in worship. This will expand and inspire your praise.

Methods of Worship

1. If leaving a church service feeling defeated describes your consistent experience, you need to evaluate your worship involvement. If you are a quiet, self-conscious individual, offering praise and worship according to Biblical methods will help liberate you from the prison of self-consciousness and propel you to greater spiritual heights.

2. If you are looking for apostolic, anointed music, you will find many selections at www.pentecostalpublishing.com.

False Worship

1. Construct a list of your priorities in life; then construct a list of what the priorities in your life should be. If these two lists do not match, what can you do to correct the problem? If a relationship with God is not number one on your list, what is standing in your way and threatening your salvation?

True of False

______ 1. Thanksgiving is a primary attitude of gratitude forming the essential basis for real praise and worship.

______ 2. True spiritual worship transcends the physical and becomes a spiritual interaction between God and man.

______ 3. If Christians work for God and serve Him through evangelism and edification, worship becomes unnecessary.

______ 4. Praise is deep, silent meditation upon God.

______ 5. Dancing is not a form of New Testament worship since it was an Old Testament practice.

______ 6. Worship must be based on love for God, and that love will then seek to express itself in actions of adoration to Him.

______ 7. Since the early church was Jewish and Jesus was the Jewish Messiah fulfilling all the Old Testament types, many methods of worship in the Old Testament were carried into the worship of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Memorization

Memorize Psalm 150

“Praise ye the LORD.

Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.

Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.

Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.

Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.

Let everything that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.”