DEFINITION
Worship
comes from the Hebrew word Shachah (shaw-khaw’) 1) A prime root, to depress or prostrate in homage to royalty to God. 2) Bow self down, crouch, fall down flat, reverence, stoop
The scriptures recognize worship as being due to God, to deity alone. The rank of being supreme. Only God is worthy of our worship. It’s alright to praise each other, a group or a thing, but only God is worthy of our worship. Matthew 4:10. Jesus says to Satan, get thee behind me Satan; for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve. Praise and worship go together but they are not the same. We praise God for what He has done and is doing and will do, but we worship God for who He is. God does not share his worship with anyone or anything. Your worship is no more valid than the object of your worship. “Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water
under the earth....” Exodus 20:3-4 In Revelation 22:1-9, John talks about his vision on the Island of Patmos, where he says an angel came to him and showed Him a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb..., and on the other side of the river, was the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits..., and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: and they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no more night there; and they need no candle, neither the light of the sun: for the Lord God gives them light. John said when I saw these things and heard these things, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which showed me these things the angel said don’t do it, “I am your fellow-servant: I am one of the them who kept the saying of this book. Don’t worship me worship God.”
Acts 10:24-25 — When Peter arrived in Caesarea, Cornelius had called together his kin folks and friends while waiting on him. And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshipped him. But Peter picked him up and said stand up I am just a man like you. If any of you think you deserved to be worshipped, read Acts 12:2025 and see what happened to Herod when he dared to accept worship that belonged to God only. Upon a set day, Herod arrayed himself in his royal robe and his crown and sat upon his throne and made an oration to his people and the people shouted saying this is the voice of God and not a man. Herod never gave God the glory, and the angel the angel of the Lord smote him and he was eaten by worms. Now evident, this shows that Je-
sus is God; because, Jesus (without hesitation) accepted such worship (John 20:28). After the storm, they that were in the ship came and worshipped him saying of a truth thou art the son of God. Luke 24:52 says after Jesus had been raised from the dead, He walked with His disciples on the Emmaus road but they did not know Him. He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them and parted from them and was carried up to heaven and they worshipped and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. In Luke 5:8, Jesus told them to launch out into the deep and down your nets after they had fished all night and caught nothing. After obeying God, they filled two ships. When Peter saw this he fell down at Jesus knees and worshipped. This homage they gave to Christ in these scriptures would be nothing but sacrilegious and idola-
try, if Christ were not God. It was Jesus Himself who said worship God only; He had no right to take the place of God if He were not God (John 5:23). God himself commands all men to render worship to the Son, even as they do to Him. Even the angels are commanded to render worship to the Son. Hebrews 1:6 says “...let all the angels of God worship Him.” Philippians 2:10 states, “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow...” and verse eleven says, “and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Acts 7:59-60 — Stephen worshipped the Lord when he was to be stoned to death. I hear Him saying Lord receive my spirit, and he kneeled down and cried with a loud voice, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.” God and only God is worthy
of our worship. There are men and women who is worthy of respect, honor, praise, and recognition, but only God is worthy of our praise. If the judge comes in the courtroom, we all rise. When the bride enters, in we all rise. When the president enters, we all rise; but when we come in the presence of the almighty God, we bow down. We fall down at his feet. Why? Because of who He is. Worship when we are happy, when we are sad, when we have much, and when we have little. Job worshipped when he was rich. He worshipped when he was poor. Job worshipped when he was well. Job worshipped when he had seven children and when he had none. He worshipped when his friends accused him and walked out and when his wife didn’t understand. No matter what you are going through God is worthy.
LIBERTY HILL
BAPTIST ASSOCIATION, INC Theme Scriptures: John 4:23, 24 • Psalm 27:4 • Philippians 3:3 • Revelation 19:10