It's amazing how often Christians can become so innoculated that we fail to realize just how much sin we condone in our lives and entertainment. I was just watching a movie that I absolutely loved, and was shocked at the amount of times a curse word was uttered or the Lord's name was used in vain! I have watched this movie over and over again and never realized it! The problem was I was hearing it, but just didn't care. And thats theproblem with so much of our lives today. we, as Christians, just don't care. If we are going to bring our thoughts under captivity to Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5), we have to understand this takes place in every aspect of our lives and we must care!
The Psalmist teaches us such a wonderful lesson in Psalms 101. Please read this!
"I will sing of mercy and judgment: unto thee, O LORD, will I sing.
I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.
I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.
A froward heart shall depart from me: I will not know a wicked person.
Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off: him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer.
Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me: he that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me.
He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house: he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight.
I will early destroy all the wicked of the land; that I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of the LORD."
I will set NO wicked thing beofre my eye... I HATE the work of them that turn aside...I will destroy ALL the wicked of the land.
Notice that... NO wicked thing, I HATE the works of the evil one, I will destory not some but ALL the wicked. How many times have we applied that to our lives! If we claim to be a follower of God, whose side are we on! Who is determinig our thoughts, our entertainment, our lives! Jesus says we have only one master. We can't please one if we serve the other. It's one or the other. Please, please, please please please! Take this to heart. If you care about your Christianity, let us "Be holy for He who calls us is Holy" (1 Peter 1:16) Let us realize that "we are not ourselves! But we have been bought with a price, let us glorify God in our bodies!" (1 Cor 6:19) If we truly want to serve God and be close to Him, we must realize that sin seperates us from Him! we can't condone it in any way shape or form. We must allow God and Jesus to be captain over our thoughts, our actions, our lives.
What will we do? "For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete. Look at what is before your eyes. If anyone is confident that he is Christ’s, let him remind himself that just as he is Christ’s, so also are we."
Please, be challenged by Pauls words here in 2 Corinthians 10:5-7, to take every thought captive to obey Christ, to remind ourselves that if we are confident that we are Christ's, that we are to live as He.
What shall we do?
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Monday, June 6, 2011
Worship
Worship. What constitutes it? When is it done? How is it accomplished?
This is part one of two. We will define worship in this part, then expand and examine other questions and thoughts about worship.
First off, the word worship. What does it mean? Reverent honor or homage paid to a god or divine being, or to attend the reverent service of a divine being.
As Christians, who serve the true and living God, when we sing praises of, or pray to our God, we are in fact worshiping Him. But that’s just what the dictionary has to say. What does God say about the matter?
First off, lets turn to Psalms 96. This is God speaking through the inspired psalmist, and His subject is exultation, or worship. Notice:
“O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth.
2 Sing unto the LORD, bless his name; shew forth his salvation from day to day.
3 Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people.
4 For the LORD is great, and greatly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the LORD made the heavens.
6 Honour and majesty are before him: strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
7 Give unto the LORD, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the LORD glory and strength.
8 Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts.
9 O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth.
10 Say among the heathen that the LORD reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously.
11 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof.
12 Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice
13 Before the LORD: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.”
Sing unto the Lord! Bless His name! Worship Him in the beauty of holiness! When? Only on one day a week? Or could it be every day of our lives! We see the example of Daniel, who went three times daily to pray toward Jerusalem, which was a worship act for the Jews. The Apostles worshiped God throughout the week, we see the example of Paul and Silas in prison singing hymns to God.
Worship is anytime we decide that we are going to dedicate a period of time from our lives and set it apart to devote to the praise and honor of almighty God.
Now, as it is generally accepted throughout Christianity that Sunday is the day that God has commanded us to worship Him on, we will not go into that. But Let’s turn our focus to and spend our time on what is to take place.
We mentioned that there are five acts of worship.
Singing, praying, study (preaching or study) Lord’s supper and collection.
Where is our authority for these?
Lets begin… (Please note, these are not in any order of importance, but simply as they came to mind)
1. Singing. The natural response of a happy heart is to sing! And this is what the early church did. They sung songs of praise in their worship to God. Ephesians 5:19 is the command “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord”
Also we see in Colossians 3:16- Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. God desires for us to worship Him in song. Notice here, this does not say on Sunday only, but, if we look at the context of these two chapters, Paul is referring to the daily lifestyle of the Christian. It is important for us to worship God in song.
2. Praying. This is how we communicate with or speak to God. In Acts 2:42 it says “And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.” They continued steadfast in prayer. Notice what prayer is… It is a human being, humbling his heart, bowing his spirit, and coming into the presence of God almighty, right into the very throne room of God! In Revelation 4 and 5, it shows the 24 elders in the throne room of God, falling down before Him, lifting up His name in a Holy song, and in chapter 5:8, they have golden bowls of incense, which or the prayers of the saints! Our prayers are right in there with the worship of the elders.
3. Study. On numerous occasions we see the word of God being opened in a worship assembly or gatherings of people. On the first day of the week, Paul was at Troas and he preached to the saints there, in the synagogue in Acts 13:15, the leaders of the synagogue, invited the preachers Paul and Barnabas, if they had a “word of exhortation” to “say on”. To speak to them. No indication here this was on a Sunday. In Acts 8, Phillip is in Samaria, now Phillip is a deacon in the Church, not an apostle, and he was speaking to the people throughout his time there with them. Any time the word of God is opened, whether it be in a group study or a sermon, we are worshiping God. How? The word of God is His communication to us! Just as prayer is ours to Him. When the “Bread of Life” is being broken, no matter how, God is speaking to us. Study is study, no matter the method. Any way it is done, people are still interacting. With a Bible class lesson where people are encouraged to speak up, there is interaction with the study leader. Same with preaching. The preacher is presenting the lesson, the only one speaking, but the audience is interaction with him the whole time! Attention, turning to the passages he directs them to, taking notes, thinking about and dwelling on what he is speaking, adding to his thoughts in their own minds. Constant interaction between the speaker and his audience. That’s why we have study instead of Preaching as the third act of worship.
4. Lord’s Supper. Matthew 26:26-29- And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.
And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.
This verse does not tell us that it is worship, but it explains what it is. How do we know it is an act of worship? Well, the early church gathered for the purpose of partaking of it on the first day of the week. Acts 20:7- And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.
They gathered to partake of the Lord’s Supper. On the first day of the week. Now, we know through extra biblical sources, those of Roman governors writing to Emperors, that they did this every week, as well as to have a study, to sing and to pray.
On the first day of the week. And only on that day.
5. The collection. We turn to 1 Corinthians 16:1-2- Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.
Upon the first day of the week. Again, this act is “day specific” as well. It can only be done on the first day of the week, when we are gathered together to worship God.
There is where we have the authority for our worship practices under New Testament Christianity. This is what constitutes our worship to God almighty. Anything more than this would be to add to His word and His pattern.
This will complete this post for now! Soon, I will be posting part two. Please check back! I will discuss, whether these acts can be done throughout the week and if they should be done throughout the week.
Hope to be with you again soon!
This is part one of two. We will define worship in this part, then expand and examine other questions and thoughts about worship.
First off, the word worship. What does it mean? Reverent honor or homage paid to a god or divine being, or to attend the reverent service of a divine being.
As Christians, who serve the true and living God, when we sing praises of, or pray to our God, we are in fact worshiping Him. But that’s just what the dictionary has to say. What does God say about the matter?
First off, lets turn to Psalms 96. This is God speaking through the inspired psalmist, and His subject is exultation, or worship. Notice:
“O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth.
2 Sing unto the LORD, bless his name; shew forth his salvation from day to day.
3 Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people.
4 For the LORD is great, and greatly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the LORD made the heavens.
6 Honour and majesty are before him: strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
7 Give unto the LORD, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the LORD glory and strength.
8 Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts.
9 O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth.
10 Say among the heathen that the LORD reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously.
11 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof.
12 Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice
13 Before the LORD: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.”
Sing unto the Lord! Bless His name! Worship Him in the beauty of holiness! When? Only on one day a week? Or could it be every day of our lives! We see the example of Daniel, who went three times daily to pray toward Jerusalem, which was a worship act for the Jews. The Apostles worshiped God throughout the week, we see the example of Paul and Silas in prison singing hymns to God.
Worship is anytime we decide that we are going to dedicate a period of time from our lives and set it apart to devote to the praise and honor of almighty God.
Now, as it is generally accepted throughout Christianity that Sunday is the day that God has commanded us to worship Him on, we will not go into that. But Let’s turn our focus to and spend our time on what is to take place.
We mentioned that there are five acts of worship.
Singing, praying, study (preaching or study) Lord’s supper and collection.
Where is our authority for these?
Lets begin… (Please note, these are not in any order of importance, but simply as they came to mind)
1. Singing. The natural response of a happy heart is to sing! And this is what the early church did. They sung songs of praise in their worship to God. Ephesians 5:19 is the command “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord”
Also we see in Colossians 3:16- Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. God desires for us to worship Him in song. Notice here, this does not say on Sunday only, but, if we look at the context of these two chapters, Paul is referring to the daily lifestyle of the Christian. It is important for us to worship God in song.
2. Praying. This is how we communicate with or speak to God. In Acts 2:42 it says “And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.” They continued steadfast in prayer. Notice what prayer is… It is a human being, humbling his heart, bowing his spirit, and coming into the presence of God almighty, right into the very throne room of God! In Revelation 4 and 5, it shows the 24 elders in the throne room of God, falling down before Him, lifting up His name in a Holy song, and in chapter 5:8, they have golden bowls of incense, which or the prayers of the saints! Our prayers are right in there with the worship of the elders.
3. Study. On numerous occasions we see the word of God being opened in a worship assembly or gatherings of people. On the first day of the week, Paul was at Troas and he preached to the saints there, in the synagogue in Acts 13:15, the leaders of the synagogue, invited the preachers Paul and Barnabas, if they had a “word of exhortation” to “say on”. To speak to them. No indication here this was on a Sunday. In Acts 8, Phillip is in Samaria, now Phillip is a deacon in the Church, not an apostle, and he was speaking to the people throughout his time there with them. Any time the word of God is opened, whether it be in a group study or a sermon, we are worshiping God. How? The word of God is His communication to us! Just as prayer is ours to Him. When the “Bread of Life” is being broken, no matter how, God is speaking to us. Study is study, no matter the method. Any way it is done, people are still interacting. With a Bible class lesson where people are encouraged to speak up, there is interaction with the study leader. Same with preaching. The preacher is presenting the lesson, the only one speaking, but the audience is interaction with him the whole time! Attention, turning to the passages he directs them to, taking notes, thinking about and dwelling on what he is speaking, adding to his thoughts in their own minds. Constant interaction between the speaker and his audience. That’s why we have study instead of Preaching as the third act of worship.
4. Lord’s Supper. Matthew 26:26-29- And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.
And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.
This verse does not tell us that it is worship, but it explains what it is. How do we know it is an act of worship? Well, the early church gathered for the purpose of partaking of it on the first day of the week. Acts 20:7- And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.
They gathered to partake of the Lord’s Supper. On the first day of the week. Now, we know through extra biblical sources, those of Roman governors writing to Emperors, that they did this every week, as well as to have a study, to sing and to pray.
On the first day of the week. And only on that day.
5. The collection. We turn to 1 Corinthians 16:1-2- Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.
Upon the first day of the week. Again, this act is “day specific” as well. It can only be done on the first day of the week, when we are gathered together to worship God.
There is where we have the authority for our worship practices under New Testament Christianity. This is what constitutes our worship to God almighty. Anything more than this would be to add to His word and His pattern.
This will complete this post for now! Soon, I will be posting part two. Please check back! I will discuss, whether these acts can be done throughout the week and if they should be done throughout the week.
Hope to be with you again soon!
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