Praise and Worship

STUDY INDEX

Page 1 - The Importance of Praise

Page 2 - Methods of Praise; Expressions of Worship

Page 3 - Expressions of Worship; Blessings on True Worship

Page 4 - Is There a Wrong Way to Worship?; Conclusion

Is There a Wrong Way to Worship?

Just because those who claim to be God's people have gathered together for worship is no guarantee that true worship is taking place and that God is accepting their praise or hearing their prayers. Jesus said concerning the religious leaders of His day, "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." (Matthew 15:7-9).

Jesus warned again in Matthew 7:22-23, "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

God will not accept just any worship offered to Him. His requirements which He has set forth in His Word must be met. David wrote, "Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation." (Psalms 24:3-4). "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you," James writes. Then he adds, "Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded." (James 4:8).

A lifestyle of compromise and sin will hinder true worship. God refused to accept the sacrifices of King Saul because he disobeyed God's command (1 Samuel 15:1-23). The prophet Isaiah said of the people of Israel that they were, "A people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward."

Even though the people were full of iniquity and sin, they continued to worship and to offer sacrifices just like nothing was wrong. Listen closely as Isaiah continues his warning: "To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow." (Isaiah 1:11-17).

The apostle James gives a warning to those who pray and ask for things with greed and lust in their hearts. "Ye ask, and receive not," James said, "because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts." (James 4:3).

Worship which is offered to God with the motive to appear spiritual and righteous before others will not be accepted. Jesus said in Matthew 6: 1-7, "Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: that thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

Paul gives a stern warning to those who partake of the Lord's Supper without first examining themselves. "He that eateth and drinketh unworthily," Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, "eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep (die)." (1 Corinthians 11:29-30).

In Acts chapter 5, we again see stern action taken against those who practice evil in their worship. A man named Ananias with his wife Sapphira sold a possession and gave part of it to the apostles, but kept back part for themselves. Peter discerned what they had done and said, "But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things." (Acts 5:3-5).

We see here Ananias, and later Sapphira, both being killed for lying to the Holy Spirit. With so much wickedness and wordliness among God's people in the modern church, one would think we would see more of this today. Why do we not? Is it because we live in the age of grace (I remind you that the New Testament church was also in the age of grace). Or is it because the church today has no man like Peter, filled with the Spirit of God and with boldness, who will stand and say, "Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost?"

In the Old Testament, we see Nadab and Abihu, the sons of the High Priest Aaron, offering incense before the Lord. But they did not follow God's commands and offer it properly. Leviticus 10:1-2 tell us that they offered strange fire before the Lord, which He commanded them not to do, "and there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord."

Matthew Henry comments on this verse, "Next to Moses and Aaron, none were more likely to be honourable in Israel than Nadab and Abihu. There is reason to think that they were puffed up with pride. While the people were prostrate before the Lord, adoring his presence and glory, they rushed into the tabernacle to burn incense, though not at the appointed time; both together, instead of one alone, and with fire not taken from the altar. If it had been done through ignorance, they had been allowed to bring a sin-offering. But the soul that doeth presumptuously, and in contempt of God's majesty and justice, that soul shall be cut off. The wages of sin is death. They died in the very act of their sin. The sin and punishment of these priests showed the imperfection of that priesthood from the very beginning, and that it could not shelter any from the fire of God's wrath."

In Conclusion

Permit me to be candid for a moment. As I began this study, the Dove Awards were on the television. I watched as the host, clothed in a low-cut dress, introduced a female trio trailed by a pair of male dancers. They were dressed very worldly and looked like clones of Britney Spears, Destiny's Child, or some other similar group. They sang as the men danced very suggestively. If the sound had been turned down, I would think I was watching MTV. But even with the sound turned up, I could not hear the message, if there was one, in their song which was being drowned out by the music and incessant beat.

My heart breaks as I look at what the Christian music industry has become, and I see thousands of young people (and adults) being led astray. The words of Christ throb within my mind, "They honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me." For those who argue that they are reaching people who like rock or rap music - people who normally would never listen to gospel - I say this: If I understand Jesus's words, if there was any ounce of Christ in their message and music, the world would reject it and their songs would never be played on secular radio or MTV (read David Wilkerson's article, Driven to Darkness).

Over the past decades music has gained an unprecedented prominence in the church. So much so that music has replaced faith and preaching as the new means of grace. The influence of music has become so dominant that it is not unusual for worship ministers and worship teams to spend more time in ministry with the congregation than pastors do expounding the Word of God. And, if I may add, the preacher has left his priority of spending time in the secret closet of prayer so that he may stand before the congregation and say, "Thus saith the Lord." His anointed sermons from God's throne have been replaced with PowerPoint presentations held in a casual classroom-type atmosphere. 

An Australian pastor recounts a conversation he had with his worship leader just prior to a 2 day seminar. The worship leader asked, "How long do you want us to worship?  Twenty minutes?" The pastor responded "What about two days." "I don't think I could play my guitar that long" the worship leader retorted.  The pastor's response was "you're talking about music and I am talking about worship".

There is a subtle understanding now that suggests that music alone constitutes worship. Barry Chant asks the question: "Have we unknowingly, actually arrived at a position where music has replaced faith as the means by which we appropriate God's blessings and where the worship leader or the worship team rather than the evangelist is responsible for bringing people to God?" Jared Cooper describes a time when his church abandoned music altogether to test the genuineness of their worship... They learned to worship without music. (quoted from Deception in the Church).

I would like to quote in closing an excerpt from an article written by Donald Bloesch which appeared in the February 2001 issue of Christianity Today. Brother Bloesch writes:

"Evangelical Protestantism is in trouble today as an increasing number of business and professional people are searching for a new church. The complaint I hear most often is that people can no longer sense the sacred either in the preaching or in the worship. The atmosphere in most of our services is clubby, merry and festive rather than adoring and expectant. What is missing is the fear of God, the experience of God as the Wholly Other.

"Worship has become performance rather than praise. The praise choruses that have preempted the great hymns of the church do not hide the fact that our worship is essentially a spectacle that appeals to the senses rather than an act of obeisance to the mighty God who is both holiness and love. Contemporary worship is far more egocentric than theocentric. The aim is less to give glory to God than to satisfy the longings of the human heart. Even when we sing God's praises, the focus is on fulfilling and satisfying the human desire for wholeness and serenity.

"This motivation is not wrong in itself but becomes questionable when it takes priority. Some of the new choruses speak of "falling in love" with Jesus. A sentimental love, not an adoring love, characterizes our relationship to God. We are urged to cultivate a feeling of love rather than to demonstrate the power of love through sacrificial service to our neighbor.

"Perhaps as a means of avoiding the rigorous wrestling with Scripture and theology, we direct our energies to mastering skills in church management and communication. Method looms more important than content. Worship has become therapy; prayer often degenerates into magic. Religion becomes a flight from the world rather than a catalyst for renewing the world.

"Earlier evangelicals like John Wesley sounded the call to social holiness, bringing the Word of God to bear upon every aspect of human life. Calvin saw the world as a theater of the glory of God, the arena in which we are called to work out our salvation in fear and trembling.

"Much of modern religion turns the soul inward rather than directing it outward to the crying needs of society. Modern evangelicalism has shamefully adapted to the therapeutic society, which makes personal fulfillment the be all and end all of human existence. An eros spirituality, the desire to possess God and his blessings, predominates over a spirituality of the cross, a willingness to serve both God and our neighbor in God's world.

"I am by no means discounting the rightful place for the experience of salvation in the life of the Christian. There is nothing wrong with singing, for example, "Spirit of the Living God, Fall Afresh on Me," so long as the focus is not exclusively on "me." Yet Calvin made clear there must be something more to the Christian life than striving to save one's own soul.

"We are called to build a holy community in which secular life might be permeated by the values and verities of the law and the gospel. It is not wrong to seek blessings from God as we live out our vocation of being witnesses and ambassadors of our Lord Jesus Christ. These blessings, however, should be sought as the means to glorify God and to advance his kingdom.

"Several decades ago conservatives were celebrating an evangelical renaissance, and evangelicalism on the surface still looks robust as its churches record continued membership gains. Yet numbers can deceive: church attendance in Germany rose dramatically in the years immediately following Hitler's rise to power. I believe that in the present cultural situation, it is more appropriate to speak of the evangelical debacle, a compromised church that rests no longer on the clear message of Scripture but on the carnal desire for a place in the sun.

"We need revival today, but we also need reformation - a fundamental change in our priorities and attitudes. We must see ourselves as emissaries of the high and holy God entrusted with the gospel of reconciliation and redemption, sent into the world in order to bring the world into submission to the will of the living God.

"Amid the growing shadow over the church of our time, there are nevertheless signs of hope. The Spirit of God is indeed moving in some of the new ventures in evangelism and discipleship, but evil spirits are also at work. It is incumbent on us to pray for the gift of discerning spirits so that we can separate what is true and abiding from what is false and ephemeral."

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