The Origin of Worship

Pastor Lamont W. Jones

Doxology: The study of the glory of God and its purpose

Old English - wurethscipe

Middle English - worshipe

Prefix - "wor" - the modern word is short for worth

Suffix - "ship" - quality, shape or condition

Old Anglo Saxon - worthship

Worship - what does it mean? Its very easy to fall into the standard thinking that "worship" revolves around music. It is true that so much of our music in the body of Christ today lends itself to worship, but it is truly the opposite. Is worship centered around music or is music just one aspect of worship? It is very common now for people to refer to only intimate songs to be worship and anything more celebratory is praise. So the usage of the term worship gets more and more narrow.

Prior to David's timeline, worship was personal and private and only included members of your family or household, Ge 8:20, Ge 12:7, 22:5 (I and the lad will go yonder and worship). David changed all of that.

David's Timeline

The glory departed - 1 Sam 4
The ark was captured - 1 Sam 5
An unrest in the nation - 1 Sam 6
Time for a change - the kairos of God - 1 Sam 7
David brings up the ark in a new cart - 2 Sam 6
It was in Abinadab's house 7 miles away from Jerusalem
Due to the roughness of the road, the ark shook, Uzzah reached out to steady the ark and died beside it
Only the Levites should move the ark
David stopped the procession and moved the ark to Obededom the Gittite's house
After 3 months, David brought it to Jerusalem
Placed in a new tent
70 years passed since it stood in the tabernacle at Shiloh
The old tabernacle was now at Gibeah
David carefully sets in order the ritual of divine worship at Jerusalem - 1 Chr 16
A new spiritual era had begun
The service of praise and worship was for the first time introduced into public worship
Zion became God's "Holy Hill"

The Curse of Careless Worship

Malachi 1:6-14

The priest were despising the name of God by the way they handled the sacrifices in the temple.

Verse 8 - When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that no evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that no evil?

Verses 13-14 - What a weariness this is, you say, and you sniff at me, says the Lord of hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Shall I accept that from your hand says the Lord? Cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock, and vows it, and sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished.

How could you not think about Cain and Abel and their offerings and not make the connection. God was into worship, service, sacrifice and offerings from the very beginning. Pure and untainted worship has always been God’s agenda.

This would explain why the praise and worship element or atmosphere is dead in some of our churches because the offering is not acceptable! There are too many blemishes, issues, hang-ups or baggage connected to us. We say one thing outside the church and another thing inside the church. The air is stale and God’s presence is gone. We are having service but the ark-the presence of the Lord is departed and what’s worst, some are putting their hands on the things of God and dying right beside the presence of the Lord. They are dying outside His presence. It is better to die in the presence of the Lord.

It is the motive in particular that is crucial in worship.

They had become bored with God. Their basic attitude toward worship was - "what a weariness this is!"

When it is time to bring sheep from the flock to sacrifice, what do you bring?
Do you bring sheep with diseases and broken legs or do you steal sheep to bring?

Malachi 1:10 - Oh, that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire upon my altar in vain!

hinan - Hebrew word behind that phrase "in vain"

The phrase "in vain" carries a lot of weight. It is used in 2 Samuel 24:24 in a way that is very similar to this verse, but the translation brings more clarity.

David was trying to avert a plague. To do so he needed to place to build an altar to offer sacrifices to the Lord. The threshing floor of Araunah was the right place and Araunah offers his threshing floor and animals to David for nothing.
David responds, "No, but I will buy it of you for a price; I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God hinam - which cost me nothing."
David declared, "I value God so much that I cannot bring myself to worship in a way that looks as if I love money more than I love Him.
It must cost me something and He is my treasure not this world.
True worship comes from a heart where God is treasured above all human property and praise.

May the Lord teach us how to worship in spirit and in truth. May the Lord open our eyes to His greatness. And may He forbid that we offer Him in the pew, pulpit, choir loft, behind the microphone or behind the instruments the leftovers of our lives.

The emphasis is not on how or what style we sing or play, but how we live our lives. In fact, when we narrow down worship, there is really only one style of worship – its called a “lifestyle”!

This is

Kingdom Worship

and it's time saith God for

Kingdom People

to take

Center Stage!

Worship Is A Lifestyle

Evangelist Maria L. Jones

Hebrew - shachah

to bow oneself down
to sink down
to prostrate oneself before something out of honour

Greek - proskneo

to designate the custom of prostrating oneself before a person and kissing his feet, the hem of his garment or the ground.

English - worthship or worthiness

actions motivated by an attitude that reveres, honors, or describes the worth of another person or object.

John 4:23 - 24

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. God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

A True Worshipper

Worships

Him

Spirit & Truth

In Spirit

Genesis 1:27

So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

1 Thessalonians 5:23

And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

You are a Spirit

You have a Soul

You live in a Body

Three Dimensional Man

Body – This is your PHYSICAL component it is your flesh. Your 5 senses - sight, hearing, smelling, tasting, and your touch.

Soul – This is who YOU are, This is your individuality - mind, will and emotions.

Spirit – This is the source of power and control for both your body and soul; it is either evil or good, darkness or light, unholy or Holy, unclean or clean, of Satan or of God.

God created your spirit, soul and body to be as one (just like the Trinity – Father/Son/Holy Spirit), but when Adam sinned, that oneness was broken and now our body fights against the soul. Your spirit is the part of you that referees between the two.

In order to be a true worshipper and worship Him in the spirit - with your spirit

Your spirit must be born again (the unsaved can not worship)
You must keep harmony between your soul and body.

When we get saved, we are given a recreated life in the spiritual part of our being (our spirit).

2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

We then have to renew our mind and crucify our flesh. By renewing the mind with the Word of God, we prevent the soul from agreeing with the body. A renewed mind (soul) will agree with the new spirit, which will agree with the Spirit of God.

Here are a few scriptures that explain how this is done:

Romans 12:1 – 2 - Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Romans 8:1 & 13 - There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
James 1:21 - 22 – Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

In Truth

Where your soul spends eternity after it departs from your body is determined by your personal relationship with God (saved or unsaved).

Your personal relationship with God is determined by how you worship Him in truth.

To worship Him in truth depends on the purity of your heart.

A Pure Heart is: