Lesson 1.25: The King's Teaching About His Worship (Part 1)

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LESSON 1.25: THE KING'S TEACHING ABOUT HIS WORSHIP (PART 1)

"19 The woman saith unto Jesus, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. 21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:21-24). KJV

Loved ones, God, the Holy Spirit, is everywhere. That is why we do not have to be on a special mountain to worship Him. It does not matter where we are. We can worship Him anywhere at any time. We can worship Him on a mountain top or in the valley, in a church building, or in our home.

The important thing is that we worship Him, "in spirit and truth." That is, we must worship Him with our deepest emotions. We must truly worship Him with our hearts. We must worship Him according to the truth of His Word. We must worship God according to His instructions.

Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain because Abel had faith (cf. Romans 10:17). He heard what God said and he obeyed it. Abel worshipped with the right attitude. He had respect for God, and he offered the kind of sacrifice God wanted. God was pleased with the things Abel offered.

But Cain worshiped with the wrong attitude. He was more concerned about what he wanted than what God wanted. God did not accept Cain's worship (Hebrews 11:4).

Today, God still wants people to worship Him with the right attitude. We must worship Him with love, reverence, and respect. We must be concerned about what God wants, NOT what we want. The purpose of our worship is not to please ourselves. It is to please God.

1. Worship In The Early Church - Teaching

On the day of Pentecost, in Acts chapter 2, about 3,000 people believed what Peter said, changed their hearts and lives, and were baptized. God added them to the church of Christ, and they started meeting together. They spent their time listening to the teaching of the apostles. They shared everything with each other. They ate together and prayed together (Acts 2:41-47).

The apostles healed sick people and did many powerful things. People felt great respect for God. They met together at the temple every day. There, they listened to the teachings (preaching) of the apostles and learned how to worshiped God together. The early church was a worshiping community.

The apostles were guided by the Holy Spirit, "into all truth" (John 16:13). The early church worshiped as it did because the inspired apostles taught them how to worship.

2. Worship In The Early Church – Prayer

By word and example, the 1st century congregations of the churches of Christ were taught to pray (Romans 16:16).

One evening, in Acts chapter 4, Peter and John were arrested by the temple police and were put in jail. Their preaching about Jesus had upset the Jewish leaders. The next morning, Peter and John were brought out of jail and made to stand before the Jewish high court. The high priest and other powerful men were there for the trial.

The authorities tried to find something wrong with Peter and John, but they could not. So they commanded Peter and John not to speak or teach about Jesus any more. Then they let them go free. What did Peter and John do? They went straight to the church members and had a prayer meeting.

They prayed, "Lord, listen to what those Jewish leaders are saying. They are trying to make us afraid! We are your servants. Help us to say what you want us to say without fear. Help us to be brave by showing us your power" (Acts 4:29-30).

As they were praying, the house began to shake. It shook as if there were an earthquake. "They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they continued to speak God's message WITHOUT fear" (Acts 4:31). God answered their prayer and gave them the courage to speak the truth boldly.

Later, in Acts chapter 12, King Herod arrested Peter and put him in jail. Herod planned to kill Peter to please the Jews, but the church prayed for Peter day and night.

During the night, an angel of the Lord appeared inside the prison. The angel touched Peter and woke him up. The chains fell off Peter's wrists. The angel took Peter by the hand, led him out of the jail, and left him standing in the street.

When Peter realized what had happened, he went to the home of Mary. There, he found many Christians gathered, and they were praying. God had heard their prayers and had saved Peter's life. Their prayers had opened the prison. There is power in prayer (James 5:16).

Other Examples Of Prayer

The church in Antioch sent Barnabas and Saul out on their first missionary journey. But before the two men left, the church "fasted and prayed" (Acts 13:3). The church in Antioch was a praying church.

During Paul's third missionary tour, he met with the Ephesian elders. After telling them goodbye, he knelt down, and "they all prayed together" (Acts 20:36). The elders in Ephesus were praying men.

Paul then sailed to Tyre and visited with Christians there. Afterwards, the followers of Christ walked with Paul to the ship, and they "all knelt down on the beach and prayed" (Acts 21:5).

The Scriptures say, "Don't worry about anything, but pray and ask God for everything you need, always giving thanks for what you have. And because you belong to Christ Jesus; God's peace will stand guard over all your thoughts and feelings" (Philippians 4:6-7).

Again the Spirit says, "Never stop praying. Whatever happens, always be thankful" (1 Thessalonians 5:16-17).

Jesus and the apostles were people of prayer. The early church was a praying church. We, too, receive power from God through prayer.

3. Worship In The Early Church - Singing Praises To God

Along with teaching God's word and praying, the early Christians were taught to worship God by singing – using the fruit of their lips (Hebrews 13:15).

On the night before Jesus was killed, He and His apostles, "sang a song and then went out to the Mount of Olives" (Matthew 26:30). Even under the shadow of the cross, Jesus sang praises to His Father.

In Philippi, Paul and Silas were beaten with rods and thrown into jail. The jailer put them far inside the jail and tied their feet between two large blocks of wood. But, "about midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing songs to God" (Acts 16:25).

The Scriptures say, "Encourage each other with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make melody in your hearts to the Lord" (Ephesians 5:19).

The Bible does not make clear the difference between psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. It is possible that "Psalms" were Old Testament poems set to music, that "hymns" were praises sung to God, and that "spiritual songs" were songs sung by Christians to encourage and inspire one another.

Again the Holy Spirit says, "Sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God" (Colossians 3:16).

When we come together for worship, we receive strength from one another. One person's faith stirs up faith in another person. Faith is born in community; faith grows in community; and faith is passed on in community.

Without the fellowship of the church, our faith would become weak and cold – like an ember losing heat when it is pulled out of the fire. In fellowship, we give warmth, strength, and encouragement to one another.

No Musical Instruments In The Early Church

Church historians agree that mechanical musical instruments were NOT used in the New Testament church. In New Testament times, the church sang without the aid of organs, harps, tambourines, flutes, drums, pianos, guitars, or any other mechanical musical instrument.

For hundreds of years, the human voice was the only instrument used in Christian worship. No one knows with certainty why God did not include instrumental music in the worship of the New Testament church. We only know that every church leader who wrote about musical instruments during the first 300 years of church history spoke out against them.

Perhaps God excluded instruments from worship because He wanted us to communicate clearly with Him and speak joyfully with one another. A mechanical musical instrument often drowns out the message of the song.

God had His own reasons for excluding musical instruments from the worship of the church. It does not matter what His reasons were. We are His servants, and a servant does not ask the Master why He does thus and so. A servant simply obeys the Master and tries to please Him.

The Father told the Holy Spirit what to say to the apostles. Then, the Holy Spirit led the apostles "into all truth" (John 16:13). That is, the Holy Spirit told the apostles what to teach.

Since the early Christians worshiped without musical instruments, the apostles must have taught them to sing A cappella (chapel style, without instruments). That is reason enough to sing without musical instruments today. Like Abel, our strongest desire is to please God and to offer gifts that are pleasing to Him.

Points To Remember In This Lesson

1. God can be worshiped anywhere. We do not have to go to Mount Gerizim, Mount Moriah, or to any other mountain to worship God. We do not have to be in a temple, a cathedral, or in any building to lift our voices to God in praise.

God is a Holy Spirit. He is everywhere. We can worship Him anytime, anywhere. The important thing is that we worship Him, "in spirit and truth." We must worship Him with our deepest emotions, and we must worship according to the truth of His Word.

2. The early church was a worshiping community. Private worship is NOT enough. Christians are a worshiping group. In worship, we come near to God with a true sincere heart (Hebrews 10:22), and we "encourage each other to show love and do good things." That is why "we should not quit meeting together" (Hebrews 10:24-25).

3. The apostles taught the church how to worship. It DOES matter how we worship God. Cain learned that the hard way.