Psalms 95:6-7 ESV
“Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep of his hand.”
In today’s modern market-driven churches, the word “worship”
is often closely associated with emotional experiences which take place during
a time of singing worship songs. So what has happened is that those professing
faith in Jesus Christ have largely accepted such emotional experiences as true
worship of God or as the only expression of true worship. So, what I am saying
here is that singing songs of praise to the Lord, especially as this evokes the
emotions, has become synonymous with true worship.
Now is true worship of God taking place in some people’s
lives during these times of singing worship songs? Surely! But singing songs of
worship of God does not naturally equate true worship of God. And that is of
concern because far too many people professing faith in Jesus Christ have
accepted that singing songs of praise to God does equate true worship of God
and so they do not go beyond that to learn and to experience genuine worship of
God. And thus they don’t become true worshipers of God.
For true worship of our Lord is not in lip service only.
True worship of God involves us humbling ourselves before our Lord and us
turning away from our sins, and us forsaking our idols, and us submitting to
Christ as Lord (Owner-Master) of our lives. It involves surrender of our lives
to Jesus Christ to do his will, and not our will, and us walking in obedience
to his commands (New Covenant). We now become God’s possession so that we will
now honor God with our lives and so we will no longer live for ourselves.
And this is not a one-time experience that takes place in
our lives, nor is this some kind of religious ritual or performance. For true
worship of God involves true submission to Christ as Lord, and it involves
daily dying with Christ to sin, denial of self, and us following our Lord in
obedience day by day and moment by moment. Every day we must see our lives as
belonging to the Lord and not to ourselves, and that our lives are to be lived
for him in obedience to his will. Our lives are to be given to God as living
sacrifices.
And this means that we are to be living holy lives separate
(unlike, different) from the world because we are being conformed to the
likeness of Jesus Christ in character. We are to be living in moral purity,
godliness, faithfulness, honesty, integrity, uprightness and self-control. And
we are to no longer be living to please our flesh, living like those who have
not been set free from our slavery to sin. So, we should no longer be liars,
thieves, the sexually immoral, the unfaithful, and the hateful.
For if we are his true sheep, Jesus said about his sheep
that we listen to him, which means we heed what he says, and we follow him, meaning
we obey our Lord in practice, and sin is no longer our practice (John 10:27).
Now righteousness and holiness and obedience to our Lord are to be what we
practice. Yet, it doesn’t mean we are perfect people (1 John 2:1-2), but we
also do not use lack of perfection as an excuse to continue in deliberate and
habitual sin. Now we walk in obedience to our Lord as our life course.
Also, we are no longer to be conformed to the ways of this
sinful world. We are not to immerse ourselves in our culture. We are not to
become like the world to attract the world to our “church” gatherings. “Church”
is supposed to be the body of genuine believers in Christ getting together to
encourage and exhort one another in the faith so that none of us will stray
from our pure devotion to Christ and so none of us will be hardened by sin’s
deceitfulness, but so we will all walk in holiness and in righteousness.
And then we are supposed to go out into the world, not to
become like the world, for we are to live lives that are different from the
world, but in order to love the people of the world as Jesus loves us, and in
order to share the truth of the gospel of Christ with the people of the world who
are still walking in darkness, whether or not they profess faith in Jesus
Christ. We are to talk with them about sin, and call them to repentance, and
call them to walks of obedience to our Lord, for this is what salvation is all
about.
Psalms 95:7-11 ESV
“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
when your fathers put me to the test
and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
For forty years I loathed that generation
and said, ‘They are a people who go astray in their heart,
and they have not known my ways.’
Therefore I swore in my wrath,
‘They shall not enter my rest.’”
We read in 1 Corinthians 10 that these things took place as
examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. So we are not to be
idolaters and revelers, as some of them were. We are not to be those who
indulge in sexual immorality, as some of them did. And we must not be those who
grumble against our Lord and who put Christ to the test by our sinful behaviors
and rebellion, as some of them did. For those who did such things were
destroyed and they did not enter into God’s eternal rest.
And these things happened to them as an example to us, and
they were written down for our instruction. So we are to take heed if we think
we are in right standing with God and that we are secure in our salvation lest
we fall. For Jesus said that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will
enter the kingdom of heaven but only the one DOING the will of God the Father
in heaven. And he said many on that day will tell him of all the things they
did in his name and he is going to say to them, “I never knew you. Depart from
me you workers of lawlessness” (see Matthew 7:21-23).
So, what this is saying to us is that just because we claim
Jesus as our Savior and Lord and heaven as our eternal destiny, it is no guarantee
that we have salvation from sin or eternal life with God. For the New Testament
Scriptures teach that if sin is what we practice, and if righteousness and
obedience to our Lord are not what we practice, that we will not inherit
eternal life with God regardless of the faith we profess with our lips. So don’t
put God to the test. Believe his word and obey his word.
[1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Matt
7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23;
Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 5:3-6; Col
1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Pet
1:17-21; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
An Original Work / September 26, 2011
When in the stillness of this moment,
Speak to me, Lord, I humbly pray.
Be my desire, set me on fire,
Teach me to love always.
Help me to walk in fellowship with You,
Listening to You; sit at Your feet.
Whisper Your words to me,
Oh, how gently, guiding me in Your
truth.
While we are waiting for Your blessing,
Lord, in our hearts be King today.
Help us to live for you ev’ry moment,
List’ning to what You say.
May we not stray from your word within
us,
Help us obey You, Lord, in all things,
Walking each moment, Lord, in Your
presence,
Our offerings to You bring.
Help us to love You, Lord, our master;
Be an example of Your love,
Helping the hurting, lift up the
fallen,
Showing them Your great love.
Teach them to love You, follow You
always,
Bearing their cross and turning from
sin;
Walking in daily fellowship with You,
Making You Lord and King.
No comments:
Post a Comment