19 Oct Sermon r2
Worship the Lord Your God ad serve Him only
Matt 4:10
In this conditional clause, we have the key to the testing of Jesus, and indeed to all such testing. As in the very first account of testing, failed by Adam and Eve (Gen 3:1–7), the question centers on a choice between the will of Satan or the will of God, which involves implicitly the rendering of worship to the one or the other. Satan indeed vaunts himself as god in place of the only God. Thus, at stake here is the fundamental issue addressed by the first of the commandments: “I am the Lord your God … you shall have no other gods before me” (Deut 5:6–7).
Satan has finally revealed his true intention of these tests – he wants to be acknowledged or ‘worshipped’ as God.
So today when we worship together here in this place, we are acknowledging that our God – the triune God is the only true God, to whom only do we offer our praise, adoration and worship.
So worship is not only an act but a relationship; not only an outward gesture but an expression of our inward feeling toward God.
Worship is a privilege that God has given to all those who acknowledge His name; who has accepted the free gift of salvation to become the sons and daughters of God.
Throughout the Bible, we see how people in every generation worshipped God.
God is the one who initiated worship for His people. The Jews worshipped God in Holy places, at holy times (festivals) and with Holy People.
Jn 4:23
Jesus' worship - Luke 10:21
In Psalm
Paul's praises
As early as the day of Adam and Eve, there was worship because we see how Cain and Abel knew that they have to make offering to God. Gen 4:3
When Noah was delivered from the Ark, he immediately built an altar and made an offering to God. Gen 8:20Gen 8:20
Definitions
Over the years and from many sources I have collected the following meaningful definitions of worship. While they come from different authors, together they give a comprehensive view of what worship ought to be. (1) “Worship is the adoring reverence of the human spirit for the divine.” (2) “Worship is man’s response to God’s revelation of himself.” (3) “Worship is the outgoing of the human spirit toward God, recognizing in Him the source of all life and love and goodness and holiness and righteousness.” (4) “To worship is to feed the mind on the truths of God, to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to cleanse the conscience with the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, and to devote the will to the purpose of God.” (5) “Worship is a group of specialized activities in which we draw near to and commune with God in an extraordinary manner.” (6) “Christian worship is communion with the true and living God, directions for which are given by the Holy Spirit. Jehovah, through all the ages from the time of Cain and Abel until now, has prescribed the exact means to be employed in acceptable worship. Any deviation from God’s plan of worship has always been unacceptable.” (7) “The word worship means worth-ship--and is ascribing worth to God and from
Him drawing worth into dependent souls. Worship is more than adoration end reverence; it is a response of the whole man to God’s act, and includes praise and thanksgiving.”
The New Testament plainly teaches that there are five, and only five
Definitions
Over the years and from many sources I have collected the following meaningful definitions of worship. While they come from different authors, together they give a comprehensive view of what worship ought to be. (1) “Worship is the adoring reverence of the human spirit for the divine.” (2) “Worship is man’s response to God’s revelation of himself.” (3) “Worship is the outgoing of the human spirit toward God, recognizing in Him the source of all life and love and goodness and holiness and righteousness.” (4) “To worship is to feed the mind on the truths of God, to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to cleanse the conscience with the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, and to devote the will to the purpose of God.” (5) “Worship is a group of specialized activities in which we draw near to and commune with God in an extraordinary manner.” (6) “Christian worship is communion with the true and living God, directions for which are given by the Holy Spirit. Jehovah, through all the ages from the time of Cain and Abel until now, has prescribed the exact means to be employed in acceptable worship. Any deviation from God’s plan of worship has always been unacceptable.” (7) “The word worship means worth-ship--and is ascribing worth to God and from
Him drawing worth into dependent souls. Worship is more than adoration end reverence; it is a response of the whole man to God’s act, and includes praise and thanksgiving.”
The New Testament plainly teaches that there are five, and only five