Acceptable Worship

The simple knowledge of what the worship of God is has been all but completely lost to this generation. People think that going to a building where fellow ‘Christians’ are gathered constitutes worship. Many believe that playing 'Christian’ music is what worship is about. Others believe that making a lot of noise is where it’s at. And then others yet think that raising a hand or two halfway up, or even all the way up is the worship of God. So I guess you’re wondering by now, “So what’s wrong with these things, and just what the heck does this guy think worship IS?” Good question, so here’s the simplistic answer: Actually there is nothing wrong with any of the above, and in fact all of the above ARE parts of worshiping God, IF they are done on his terms and by the move of HIS Spirit. The sad truth is however that all of the above mentioned ways of worship are by and large done in vain by many of those who employ them. How is that, you may ask? Let’s check in with the scriptures to see exactly what I’m talking about: “Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, WITH them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (II Tim. 2:22). That really says it all, but we won’t stop there. What the apostle Paul was clearly saying is that the only worship of God that is acceptable to him is from those who have no sin in their lives. That is the definition of a pure heart, one that is TRULY and presently “washed, and sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus… by the Spirit of our God” (I Cor. 6:11). This same apostle let the congregation in Corinth know in no uncertain terms that NONE of their worship was of any worth at all because they had ONE man among them who was in unrepentant sin: “Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?” (I Cor. 5:6) The reason was that they were not obeying the commandment of “following righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart,” as cited above. As he went on to tell the Corinthians, everyone in the congregation became guilty of that one man’s sin by failing to reprove it and judge it (I Cor. 5:11-13). David of old understood this reality in his own day: “Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright” (Psm. 33:1). So did his son Solomon, to whom God gave unparalleled godly wisdom: “The sacrifice [offering of worship] of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD: but the prayer of the upright is his delight” (Prov. 15:8).

Though very few realize it, that was the difference between the offerings of Cain and Abel, as God himself informed Cain: “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door” (Gen. 4:7). Cain’s offering was not accepted by God, not because it wasn’t a blood offering as widely believed; but more simply because he brought it with unrepented of sin in his life. The beloved apostle punctuated this understanding for us: “For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous” (I Jn. 3:11,12). Make no mistake, Cain’s murder of his brother was the direct result of his offering being refused by God, while Abel’s was accepted (Gen. 4:8). Not many people have made a thorough enough study of the Bible to know that God almost NEVER sent prophets to reprove his people for a LACK of worship, but rather they were most often rebuked by the prophets FOR their worship of God; howbeit apart from his terms (Isa. 1:11-16; Jer. 7:8-15; Amos 4:4,5; Hos. 6:4-7; etc.). When Jesus was here there was certainly no shortage of God’s people “going to church” to worship the Lord. So was Jesus impressed with their zeal for worship? “Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But IN VAIN they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Mat. 15:7-9). Friend if you think that anything about any of this has changed then you are surely under the delusion spoken of in this article, which delusion has ALWAYS bedeviled the people of God as we have seen from the scriptures here. That delusion is, more pointedly, the belief that because we are worshiping God according to what we think is the way, or because of what our particular religious affiliation dictates as being the way; that our worship is acceptable to God. Nothing could be further from the truth in fact. THE ONLY worship that God accepts is a pure spirit of worship that is totally spontaneous and alive with the power of the holy Ghost IN “them that call on the name of the Lord with a PURE HEART!” Amen and AMEN!! THAT worship can move in all of the ways mentioned in the beginning of this article, and a whole lot more, anywhere and at anytime that the Spirit of God moves a true and holy believer. On the other hand I wouldn’t as much as give thanks for my food privately if I knew there was something in my spirit or conscience that needed righting.

The body of Christ today, meaning those who have been baptized WITH the holy Ghost, is so steeped in the traditions and doctrines of men that there isn’t a whole lot of worship anywhere that is being accepted by God. What little acceptable worship that exists, mainly exists with sincerely real people who are worshiping APART from the mainstream affiliations of Christianity; ALL of which are founded on and ruled by the commandments and doctrines of men, and not the revealed truth of God. There is some real worship taking place here and there, but you may search far and wide and still not find where it is. Seeing that the headliner doctrine of Christianity is a false new birth or remission of sins [i.e. getting saved], and subsequent doctrines that uphold the allowance of sin [they have to]; the opportunity for anyone to worship God acceptably in ANY Christian affiliation are slim to none, and slim just left town. That very much includes most Pentecostal affiliations as well, since that is where most of God’s people are at anyway. Again, the problem is that sin i almost always in the mix because of the indulgent doctrines of modern Christianity, and the lack of righteous judgment against sin in the body of Christ. The only answer to this ever-increasing dilemma is to follow the call of the Spirit of God which is saying, “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues” (Rev. 18:4). And go where? TO GOD, OF COURSE! One thing is certain, if you purify your heart before God, and worship him “in spirit, and in truth” by yourself or with a few others who are like minded; you can’t go wrong (Jn. 4:23,24, Mat. 18:20). If God has somewhere that HE would like to place you, where you can be fed and nourished solely by his Spirit and his truth; he is able to let you know that as well, if you want to know. Don’t be fooled my friend, just because it is called worship by men, or may look and sound like worship; that doesn’t mean that God sees it that way. In fact God gets sick and tired of hearing the hollow noise, and seeing the sin in the midst of it all. Just read the referenced scriptures of this article if you don’t believe me. “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches” (Rev. 3:19-22). Amen.