WHAT WORSHIP IS AND WHAT WORSHIP IS NOT
John 4:20-24
John 4:20-24
(sorry: the Greek words did not paste in the proper font
INTRODUCTION
A. There is much confusion today concerning worship. True worship is when a member of the Lord’s New Testament church worships God in spirit and in truth. Having looked at the meaning of spirit and truth we learned that true worship is when in our spirit we come into the presence of God and commune with Him—another words “in spirit and truth” reveal that worship is not something of the flesh—one may become emotional during worship, however, though we demonstrate this emotion in our flesh, it is of a spiritual nature—in our spirit we recognize who God is and all He has did for us—we may weep when speaking of the cross—get excited about the rapture—these emotions are caused by getting close to God, but they are not a necessity for worship—these emotions are of a (passive nature) Example: The message made me emotional. We did not make ourselves emotional but the content of the message caused us to become emotional.
B. Today many are entering into worship expecting an emotional event. Some worship services are designed to move the emotions—this is not “in spirit and truth”.
C. At this point we need to look at the word “praise”. We have praise services. This is the part of the worship service where we get a little excited—we teach that it is okay to get excited and a little crazy during the praise service because this is what praise is.
1. When you do a word study on the word “praise” in the Bible you will discover that our definition of praise is different from the biblical definition.
2. There are 9 Greek words translated “praise” in the Bible.
PRAISE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
136 aio translated “praise” 2 times in the New Testament (Matthew 21:16; Luke 18:43) meaning a saying, proverb—praise, laudatory discourse
134 ainew translated “praise” 9 times in NT (Luke 2:13, 20; 19:37; 24:53; Romans 15:11; Acts 2:47; 3:8, 9; Revelation 19:5) meaning to praise, extol, to sing praises in honor to God
1391 doxa translated “praise” 4 times in NT translated “glory” 145 times in NT—“praise” John 9:24, John 12:43 (two times), 1 Peter 4:11) meaning a good opinion, judgment or view, resulting in praise, honor and glory
1868 epainos translated “praise” 11 times in the NT (Romans 2:29; 13:3; 1 Corinthians 4:5; 2 Corinthians 8:18; Ephesians 1:6, 12, 14; Philippians 1:11; 4:8; 1 Peter 1:7; 2:14) meaning approbation, commendation, praise
1867 epainew translated “praise” 4 times in NT (1 Corinthians 11:12, 17, 22 (two times) meaning to approve, to praise
5214 umnew translated “sing praise” 2 times in the NT (Hebrews 2:12; Acts 16:25) meaning to sing the praise of , to sing a hymn
133 ainesis translated “praise” 1 time in the NT (Hebrews 13:15) meaning praise, a thank offering
2127 eulogew translated “praised” 1 time in the NT—translated “bless” 143 times in the NT (Luke 1:64) meaning to praise, celebrate with praises, to invoke blessings
703 areth translated “praise” 1 time in the NT 1 Peter 2:9 meaning a virtuous course of thought, feeling or action
D. Praise is done with a jubilant heart, however, it is directed at God and it is not about us. The praising of God is not something to make us feel good but it is done because we are thankful to God, we acknowledge God for all He does for us and who He is—a proper praise service is not a service directed to excite the emotions of those involved or to offer the one praising something but to offer God something
E. Worship differs from praise—while both acknowledges God, praise is not worship and worship is not praise.
WORSHIP IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
4352 proskunew translated “worship” 60 times in 54 verses in the NT meaning to kiss the hand to (towards) one, in token of reverence—to fall upon the knees and touch the ground with the forehead as an expression of profound reverence—in the NT by kneeling or prostration to do homage (to one) or make obeisance—from the root 4314 & 2965 meaning to kiss, like a dog licking his master’s hand
Matthew 2:2, 8, 11; 4:9, 10; 8:2; 9:18; 14:33; 15:25; 18:26; 20:20; 28:9, 17; Mark 5:6; 15:19 ; Luke 4:7, 8; 24:52 ; John 4:20-24; 9:38; 12:20 ; Acts 7:43; 8:27; 10:25; 24:11 ; 1 Corinthians 14:25 ; Hebrews 1:6; 11:21 ; Revelation 3:9; 4:10; 5:14; 7:11; 9:20; 11:1, 16; 13:4, 8, 12, 15; 14:7, 9, 11; 15:4; 16:2; 19:4, 10, 20; 20:4; 22:8; 22:9
4576 sebomai translated “worship” 6 times in the NT Matthew 15:9; Mark 7:7; Acts 18:13; 16:14; 18:7 meaning to revere or worship
1391 soza translated “worship” 1 time in the NT Luke 14:10 meaning opinion, judgment, view
3000 latreuw translated “worship” 3 times in the NT Acts 7:42; 24:14; Philippians 3:3 meaning to render religious service or homage, to worship
2151 eusebew translated “worship” 1 time in the NT Acts 17:23 meaning to act piously or reverently
1479 eqeloqrhskia translated “worship” 1 time in the NT Colossians 2:23 meaning will worship
2323 qerapeuw translated “worshipped” 1 time in the NT Acts 17:25 meaning to serve, do service
4573 sebazomai translated “worshipped” 1 time in the NT Romans 1:25 meaning to fear or be afraid
4574 sebasma translated “that is worshipped” 2 times in the NT 2 Thessalonians 2:4 meaning whatever is religiously honored, an object of worship
F. Jesus said that the Father desired for true worshippers to proskunew Him-- to kiss the hand to (towards) one, in token of reverence—to fall upon the knees and touch the ground with the forehead as an expression of profound reverence—in the NT by kneeling or prostration to do homage (to one) or make obeisance—from the root 4314 & 2965 meaning to kiss, like a dog licking his master’s hand
I. WHAT WORSHIP IS
A. Worship is coming into the presence of God and acknowledging Him for who He is and remembering who we are.
1. He is God—we are sinners—How do you go into the presence of God, taking into account of who He is and who we are and not be humble? How can we enter into the presence of God in any other manner than as a dog licking his master’s hand?
2. We stand just before God because of Christ, however, we still sin, we still fall short of the glory of God—knowing where you are at this moment in your life, can you stand before God and proclaim total innocence? Can you walk into His presence with your head held high and proud?
3. When we come to worship God we are coming into His presence—When we do this we must recognize and honor Him for who He is.
Illustration
You are driving to town. You are traveling 100 miles and hour and passing cars on the right and left. In your mirror you see a cop and he pulls you over. What is your attitude towards the cop? You know you are guilty of something bad. Do you get an attitude or start begging when he approaches you?
B. So how can we come into the presence of God without humbling ourselves before Him?
C. I am driving down the road, a deer jumps out in front of me, I swerve and miss it. I am happy, relieved, I say with exclamation “praise the Lord!” This is praise—I am thankful for His protection
D. But when I come into His presence to worship I come in a different manner. I come before Him to worship knowing that I am not worthy to be saved from anything. I deserved death, but God, who is rich in grace and mercy saw proper to let me live—even though fall and stumble—worshipping God is realizing that we exist because He allows—He is God and we are but sinners saved by grace, grace He gave unto us.
II. WHAT WORSHIP IS NOT
A. It is not about us but God.
B. Worship is for God
C. Anything outside of reverence is not worship
D. We may sing and shout when we praise Him but when we worship we stand before Him knowing that at any moment He could take the breath of life in which He gave us.
1. Understand, however, that this fear of the Lord is a reverent fear and not a fear as of the “boogieman”
2. It is an honoring fear a reverential fear that gives recognition to God for His greatness, His mercy and loving kindness
3. Though art worthy O Lord to be honored, to be reverence—I owe you my life—my eternal state is because of You—and I worship you Lord—I bow in your presence and recognize who You are in light of who I am.
Summary: Worship is not about us but about God. Worship is honoring God for who He is. Worship is coming into the presence of God—How do you come into the presence of an almighty God? Many today think that worship should be this or that—worship should be as God intended. A time of devotion to Him in recognition of who He is.
INTRODUCTION
A. There is much confusion today concerning worship. True worship is when a member of the Lord’s New Testament church worships God in spirit and in truth. Having looked at the meaning of spirit and truth we learned that true worship is when in our spirit we come into the presence of God and commune with Him—another words “in spirit and truth” reveal that worship is not something of the flesh—one may become emotional during worship, however, though we demonstrate this emotion in our flesh, it is of a spiritual nature—in our spirit we recognize who God is and all He has did for us—we may weep when speaking of the cross—get excited about the rapture—these emotions are caused by getting close to God, but they are not a necessity for worship—these emotions are of a (passive nature) Example: The message made me emotional. We did not make ourselves emotional but the content of the message caused us to become emotional.
B. Today many are entering into worship expecting an emotional event. Some worship services are designed to move the emotions—this is not “in spirit and truth”.
C. At this point we need to look at the word “praise”. We have praise services. This is the part of the worship service where we get a little excited—we teach that it is okay to get excited and a little crazy during the praise service because this is what praise is.
1. When you do a word study on the word “praise” in the Bible you will discover that our definition of praise is different from the biblical definition.
2. There are 9 Greek words translated “praise” in the Bible.
PRAISE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
136 aio translated “praise” 2 times in the New Testament (Matthew 21:16; Luke 18:43) meaning a saying, proverb—praise, laudatory discourse
134 ainew translated “praise” 9 times in NT (Luke 2:13, 20; 19:37; 24:53; Romans 15:11; Acts 2:47; 3:8, 9; Revelation 19:5) meaning to praise, extol, to sing praises in honor to God
1391 doxa translated “praise” 4 times in NT translated “glory” 145 times in NT—“praise” John 9:24, John 12:43 (two times), 1 Peter 4:11) meaning a good opinion, judgment or view, resulting in praise, honor and glory
1868 epainos translated “praise” 11 times in the NT (Romans 2:29; 13:3; 1 Corinthians 4:5; 2 Corinthians 8:18; Ephesians 1:6, 12, 14; Philippians 1:11; 4:8; 1 Peter 1:7; 2:14) meaning approbation, commendation, praise
1867 epainew translated “praise” 4 times in NT (1 Corinthians 11:12, 17, 22 (two times) meaning to approve, to praise
5214 umnew translated “sing praise” 2 times in the NT (Hebrews 2:12; Acts 16:25) meaning to sing the praise of , to sing a hymn
133 ainesis translated “praise” 1 time in the NT (Hebrews 13:15) meaning praise, a thank offering
2127 eulogew translated “praised” 1 time in the NT—translated “bless” 143 times in the NT (Luke 1:64) meaning to praise, celebrate with praises, to invoke blessings
703 areth translated “praise” 1 time in the NT 1 Peter 2:9 meaning a virtuous course of thought, feeling or action
D. Praise is done with a jubilant heart, however, it is directed at God and it is not about us. The praising of God is not something to make us feel good but it is done because we are thankful to God, we acknowledge God for all He does for us and who He is—a proper praise service is not a service directed to excite the emotions of those involved or to offer the one praising something but to offer God something
E. Worship differs from praise—while both acknowledges God, praise is not worship and worship is not praise.
WORSHIP IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
4352 proskunew translated “worship” 60 times in 54 verses in the NT meaning to kiss the hand to (towards) one, in token of reverence—to fall upon the knees and touch the ground with the forehead as an expression of profound reverence—in the NT by kneeling or prostration to do homage (to one) or make obeisance—from the root 4314 & 2965 meaning to kiss, like a dog licking his master’s hand
Matthew 2:2, 8, 11; 4:9, 10; 8:2; 9:18; 14:33; 15:25; 18:26; 20:20; 28:9, 17; Mark 5:6; 15:19 ; Luke 4:7, 8; 24:52 ; John 4:20-24; 9:38; 12:20 ; Acts 7:43; 8:27; 10:25; 24:11 ; 1 Corinthians 14:25 ; Hebrews 1:6; 11:21 ; Revelation 3:9; 4:10; 5:14; 7:11; 9:20; 11:1, 16; 13:4, 8, 12, 15; 14:7, 9, 11; 15:4; 16:2; 19:4, 10, 20; 20:4; 22:8; 22:9
4576 sebomai translated “worship” 6 times in the NT Matthew 15:9; Mark 7:7; Acts 18:13; 16:14; 18:7 meaning to revere or worship
1391 soza translated “worship” 1 time in the NT Luke 14:10 meaning opinion, judgment, view
3000 latreuw translated “worship” 3 times in the NT Acts 7:42; 24:14; Philippians 3:3 meaning to render religious service or homage, to worship
2151 eusebew translated “worship” 1 time in the NT Acts 17:23 meaning to act piously or reverently
1479 eqeloqrhskia translated “worship” 1 time in the NT Colossians 2:23 meaning will worship
2323 qerapeuw translated “worshipped” 1 time in the NT Acts 17:25 meaning to serve, do service
4573 sebazomai translated “worshipped” 1 time in the NT Romans 1:25 meaning to fear or be afraid
4574 sebasma translated “that is worshipped” 2 times in the NT 2 Thessalonians 2:4 meaning whatever is religiously honored, an object of worship
F. Jesus said that the Father desired for true worshippers to proskunew Him-- to kiss the hand to (towards) one, in token of reverence—to fall upon the knees and touch the ground with the forehead as an expression of profound reverence—in the NT by kneeling or prostration to do homage (to one) or make obeisance—from the root 4314 & 2965 meaning to kiss, like a dog licking his master’s hand
I. WHAT WORSHIP IS
A. Worship is coming into the presence of God and acknowledging Him for who He is and remembering who we are.
1. He is God—we are sinners—How do you go into the presence of God, taking into account of who He is and who we are and not be humble? How can we enter into the presence of God in any other manner than as a dog licking his master’s hand?
2. We stand just before God because of Christ, however, we still sin, we still fall short of the glory of God—knowing where you are at this moment in your life, can you stand before God and proclaim total innocence? Can you walk into His presence with your head held high and proud?
3. When we come to worship God we are coming into His presence—When we do this we must recognize and honor Him for who He is.
Illustration
You are driving to town. You are traveling 100 miles and hour and passing cars on the right and left. In your mirror you see a cop and he pulls you over. What is your attitude towards the cop? You know you are guilty of something bad. Do you get an attitude or start begging when he approaches you?
B. So how can we come into the presence of God without humbling ourselves before Him?
C. I am driving down the road, a deer jumps out in front of me, I swerve and miss it. I am happy, relieved, I say with exclamation “praise the Lord!” This is praise—I am thankful for His protection
D. But when I come into His presence to worship I come in a different manner. I come before Him to worship knowing that I am not worthy to be saved from anything. I deserved death, but God, who is rich in grace and mercy saw proper to let me live—even though fall and stumble—worshipping God is realizing that we exist because He allows—He is God and we are but sinners saved by grace, grace He gave unto us.
II. WHAT WORSHIP IS NOT
A. It is not about us but God.
B. Worship is for God
C. Anything outside of reverence is not worship
D. We may sing and shout when we praise Him but when we worship we stand before Him knowing that at any moment He could take the breath of life in which He gave us.
1. Understand, however, that this fear of the Lord is a reverent fear and not a fear as of the “boogieman”
2. It is an honoring fear a reverential fear that gives recognition to God for His greatness, His mercy and loving kindness
3. Though art worthy O Lord to be honored, to be reverence—I owe you my life—my eternal state is because of You—and I worship you Lord—I bow in your presence and recognize who You are in light of who I am.
Summary: Worship is not about us but about God. Worship is honoring God for who He is. Worship is coming into the presence of God—How do you come into the presence of an almighty God? Many today think that worship should be this or that—worship should be as God intended. A time of devotion to Him in recognition of who He is.
Amen Brother!! Thanks for the stand you take and the love you have for God's people.
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