Sunday, December 28, 2014

Worship for the Believer

“To worship God is to ascribe the proper worth to God, to magnify His worthiness of praise, or better, to approach and address God as He is Worthy.”
                                                                             Donald S. Whitney

What does God say about Worship?

          Old Testament
1. You shall have no other gods before Me.
2. You shall not make for yourself any idols.
3. You shall not take the Name of the Lord your God in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.
                                                (Exodus 20:1-11)

Deuteronomy 4:24 For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

          New Testament
Matthew 22:37-38 YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND. This is the great and foremost commandment.
                                                              
Worship is focusing on and responding to God
            His presence (John 20:28)
            In His creation (Romans 1:20)
      
Worship is about being God-centered, or preoccupied by God.

“The Glory of God is always the issue”
                                    Gordon L. Borror

Psalms 8:1 O LORD, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth, Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens!

Luke 2:14 "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased."

“Your view of God is the most important view you have, and to the extent your view of God is distorted…to the extent, your life is out of focus.”
                                                     Gordon L. Borror

Worship is to be done in Spirit and in Truth

John 4:23-24 "But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."
 
Worship in spirit
Only a person indwelt by the Holy Spirit can truly worship God (1 Corinthians 12:3).
The Spirit reveals God to us, and teaches the truth of Scripture.
Worshiping God in the spirit is to begin with the heart.
 
Worship in truth
Worship must be in accordance to the truth of who God is as revealed by Scripture

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

“Worship is from the heart and head, with both emotions and thought.”
                                                                                        Donald S. Whitney

Worship is to be expected both Publicly and Privately

                    Public Worship (Church)

Heb 10:24-25 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
                  
Believers are to meet as brothers and sisters as a body that they might worship God together.
            Praise in song and testimony
            Prayer
            Preaching and reading of God’s Word
            Response

                    Private Worship (Individual/Family/Home)
        
Matt 6:6 "But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

Believers are to spend private time alone with God.
            Reading, studying, and meditating upon God’s Word (devotions)
            Praise
            Prayer

Public worship does not excuse a believer from private worship;
and how effective can public worship be without private worship throughout the week.


            Sources
God, Creator and Redeemer.  The Holy Bible.  From the Heart of God: Through the Hands of Holy Men, From Before the Foundation of the World.
 
Borror, Gordon L. "Worship." Lecture, Southwestern Baptist theological Seminary, Fort Worth, TX, 2006.

Whitney, Donald S.  Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life.  Colorado Springs: Navpress, 1991.

Whitney, Donald S.  Spiritual Disciplines within the Church: Participating Fully in the Body of  Christ.  Chicago: Moody, 1996.