Dearly beloved in Christ, I greet you in the sweet name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Beloved in Christ, it is good to know how we should worship the Lord. Today in worship, all the thoughts of men have been transformed into teachings and have taken the form of worship. We should not resort to such worship, but should worship Him in the way acceptable and desirable to the Lord.
1. With Joy “Serve the LORD with gladness; Come into his presence with singing.” Psalm 100: 2
When we gather together in the presence of the Lord, the Lord gives us joy. The Lord who said that He would be present in the midst of those who gather in His name would make manifest His presence in a way to make us happy. “. . . . in Your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm 16:11). We do experience the joy of His presence in the gathering of His children. That is why we should worship with joy. In Jeremiah 31:13 it is written: “Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old, together;For I will turn their mourning to joy, will comfort them, and make them rejoice rather than sorrow.” Let us meditate upon it and come to His presence with joy to worship Him. To worship is to attribute all glory to Him. It is praising Him. Praising is a part of worship. So let us come to His presence, as David said, with praises. We are to worship Him with joy.
“So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD...” Judges 10:16
In the term ‘foreign gods’ is included several things. In Philippians 3:19, it is said that “their god is their belly.” There are people who worship the things of this world and things that pertain to their life style. Dear Brother/ Sister, in worship we should leave out things that are foreign to Christian ways. It includes several other things. In Colossians 3:5, we are told, “Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” Peter warns us: “and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry” (1 Peter 4:3). We are cautioned in Deuteronomy 4:23: “Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God which He made with you, and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of anything which the Lord your God has forbidden you.” We read in Exodus 20:3, & 4, “You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth” There are people who believe in idols. They place certain idols in their business places thinking that it would facilitate their business. In a Christian shop, once I noticed an idol that they thought was an image of Jesus Christ. They had placed incense and candles before it. When I counselled them, they were not prepared to accept it. They attached importance to it thinking that it would bring blessings to them. But these are signs of idol worship. We should worship the Lord God in truth and spirit.
“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.”
Hebrews 12:28
Worship acceptable or desirable to the Lord is worshipping Him with reverence and awe. We should worship the Lord with fear and reverence. At the time of worship rising up and walking here and there, going out for water, chatting with others about their families or office or business are some of the things to be avoided. In worship, we are bound to be in silence observing discipline and reverence. That is the service acceptable to the Lord. We are before the Lord God who created the entire universe, the Lord Almighty. To be before the loving Lord without reverential fear is ignoring His very presence. This is abominable. “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” (James 1:27). The Lord expects this from His worshippers: a life of holiness and acts of love. It should be a life where there is no place for sinful thoughts. Their lives should be filled with acts of kindness to helpless widows and those in trouble. But we should be cautious not to be drifted to sinful relationship with those whom we helped. There are people who begin with good intentions but miserably end in sinful activities. We should not be defiled that way. We should not give room for desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes and the pride in possessions. We should guard ourselves against such temptations. What we do to others should not be done as an advertisement of our good deeds, but must be done in secret. Jesus Christ said that what the right hand does should not be known to the left hand. Beloved in Christ, worshipping the Lord with a heart filled with reverence and awe would be a blessing to us.
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service”
Romans 12:1
We should always do a reasonable service. This is to devote our spirit, soul and body to worship the Lord Jesus Christ. This is an important portion of worship. As we do not do that properly, it becomes worldly and the name of the Lord is not lifted up. We are not able to preach His name. Dear Brother/ Sister, do you do reasonable worship? Is your worship acceptable to the Lord? When we come to worship Him, what is the state of our mind with which we come into His presence? Worship is not a gathering of the children of God to entertain ourselves. We as the children of God should be in the presence of the Lord God with reverence and godly fear and devote ourselves to Him. That is what He desires. Many a time, we fail even to humble our body before His presence. In the third chapter of Daniel we read about three young men. It is the testimony of the king Nebuchadnezzar himself: “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God” (v.28). Yielding our bodies is necessary. In the presence of God, we should commit our spirit, soul and bodies to Him. This is reasonable service. Whenever we do that, He transforms us into an acceptable tool for Him. Through that He brings about a great transformation in the place. In most gatherings we sing songs. Of them, one song is “I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back.” We sing it beautifully. In Assam, a state of India, there lived a tribe of people. A few young men from England had come to proclaim Jesus Christ in their midst. This tribe is well-known for easily killing people. A minister of God went in their midst and had converted one family to Christ. They began to lead many from among the tribe to Christ. The news reached the Chieftain of the tribe and he called for him. He asked him to appear before him with his wife and two children. Then he was questioned on his faith on Christ. He was compelled to renounce his faith in Christ. But he began to sing: “I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back.” The chieftain was terribly angered. He asked his archers to shoot arrows at their two children. They were killed. Again he was given a chance to deny Christ. But he continued sing the song. Now he lost his wife. Again he was given one more chance to renounce his new found faith, but he would not. He continued with the very same song. So he too was killed. But after a few minutes, the chieftain thought about the reason for him to give his very life for Christ. He wanted to know about this Jesus Christ. At that very place, he gave his life to follow Christ. Then the whole tribe accepted Jesus Christ. When his life was devoted to reasonable service, there came a revival among the people. The name of Jesus Christ was exalted. Dear Children of God, let us commit to do reasonable service to the Lord.
“...If you return to the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths from among you, and prepare your hearts for the Lord, and serve Him only; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.” 1 Samuel 7:3
This is what the prophet Samuel said to his people. Today put away all foreign gods from among you and to serve the Lord Jesus Christ alone. When the Israelites did that, the Lord delivered them from the hands of the Philistines. There are several who live without deliverance. When we worship Him truly, the Lord Jesus Christ will fully deliver a person. It is full and complete. Deliverance from the fear of death and the forces of darkness are necessary. We need deliverance from sinful habits and traditional practices. We need deliverance from worshipping those which are not gods. There are people who are shifted and tossed about without any real deliverance. They do not know the way out. But they should know that it is Jesus Christ who alone can give deliverance. No other power can deliver them. People have lost several blessings – the blessings of freedom, deliverance, happiness, peace – and live a treacherous life. Deliverance is the way to the blessings of freedom, peace and happiness. As you worship truly with the children of God, the first blessing that you have is deliverance.
“So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord, and his soul could no longer endure the misery of Israel.” Judges 10:16
As you remove all the foreign gods and worship the Lord, He is moved to do things for us. He will not forsake any sinner. In Luke 17: 13 & 14, we see the widow lamenting over her dead son. Jesus Christ on seeing her condition was moved and he comforted her and did a miracle. “Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” (Luke 7:14). The dead man came back to life. He gave him to his mother. Because He was moved, He worked a miracle by bringing him back to life and the sorrow of the woman was changed to happiness. When we worship Jesus Christ, He is moved to do away with all our problems in the lives of our children, and makes the heart of the parents abound with joy. In Matthews 14:14, it is recorded: “And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.” When He is moved with compassion, He removes all illness. Therefore, let us worship the Lord God by glorifying His name in a way acceptable to Him so that He is moved into compassion and to act on our behalf. Dear Brother/ Sister, if you are troubled with any disease, commit yourself to worship the Lord committing your spirit, soul, and body. He will be moved to do something for you. A leper came to Jesus Christ, and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean” (Matthew 8:2). Jesus was moved with compassion and touched him. The life of a leper is wretched by being shunned by all and living away from the camp. Everyone hated him and segregated him. It was a life filled with loneliness, emptiness and pain. It was miserable. Jesus Christ by His compassion touched an untouchable. The basic reason for His compassion is the worship we do for Him.
“As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Acts 13:2
As the children of God were fasting and worshipping the Lord, the Holy Spirit instructed them to set apart Barnabas and Saul for the ministry the Lord had for them. Think of that. At the time of worship, they got the guidance of the Holy Spirit. They were separated for a definite ministry. Some separate themselves from others. There are people who separate a group from the church. But here the Holy Spirit does that for a purpose. Once a minister of God was guided at the time of worship by the Holy Spirit to separate himself from that church for doing the ministry in the way the Lord directed him. He also committed himself accepting the suggestion. But he did not want to separate from the church or the pastor, and so asked the Lord for the reasons. Then the Holy Spirit spoke to him and explained. There is a tree that yields a lot of fruit. All the seeds that fall from it cannot grow into trees under it. Therefore, the gardener separates some of the branches and plants them in another place so that they can grow and become fruit bearing trees. That is what the Holy Spirit does. If the branch continued to remain in a tree without bearing fruit, it withers and it is removed and put into fire. Thus the Holy Spirit explained to him clearly and separated him. Think of this. The Holy Spirit unites and separates. When we work according to His will and purpose, it is a great blessing. As you worship, you can receive guidance from the Holy Spirit.
“So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian” (Daniel 6:28).
When you worship the Lord continually in the presence of the Lord, He not only protects you but also crowns you with success. Daniel worshipped the Lord continually. As a result, the Lord did a surprising thing for him. He sent His angels and bound the mouth of the lions. The king had faith in the living God and enquired Daniel coming to the den: “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?” Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths, so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before Him; and also, O king, I have done no wrong before you” (Daniel 6:20-22). The king rejoiced in taking him out of the den. All his enemies were destroyed. The Lord helped him to live a successful life. Because of worship we have deliverance, and move the Lord into action. He guides us and also makes our life successful. So let us commit ourselves to worship in a way acceptable to the Lord and thereby be endowed with all the blessings associated with it.
May the Lord bless us!
In the service of Christ Jesus,
Bro. C. Ebenezer Paul.