THOUGHTS ON OUR WORSHIP
Moses told the children of Israel these words regarding their worship when they would live in the land of Canaan:
“These are the statutes and rules that you shall be careful to do in the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess, all the days that you live on the earth. You shall surely destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. You shall tear down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and burn their Asherim with fire. You shall chop down the carved images of their gods and destroy their name out of that place. YOU SHALL NOT WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD IN THAT WAY. [Deut. 12:1-4]
Yes, friends, it DOES matter HOW you worship. Worship can be wrong! God has given instructions in the N. T. as to HOW He is to be worshiped, specifically, what acts of worship to render, and HOW to render those acts.
This helps us to understand:
WHY the Lord's death is to be observed as well as how often the Lord's supper is to be observed;
- it helps us to understand why we don't assemble on Saturday, but rather on Sunday;
- it helps us to understand why animal sacrifices are NOT to be continued, although they were commanded under the Law of Moses, as well as other changes in worship today that differs from the worship under the Law of Moses, such as the use of instruments and the place of worship.
Remember the warning of Moses, "YOU SHALL NOT WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD IN THAT WAY."
Jesus also said that worship can be wrong; the reason?
"...in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men." - Matt. 15:8-9
God hasn't left worship up to us, to decide and do as WE please; He has told us WHAT do, and WHAT NOT to do in worship.
Let us respect HIS will in the matter of worship, and the spiritual blessings in Christ are ours to be enjoyed, chief of which is the forgiveness of our sins (Eph. 1:3, 7)
7/31/2018
rdb
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