Worship at the Throne

Revelation 4:10-11 ”The twenty-four elders fall down and worship the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever). And they lay their crowns before the throne and say, ‘You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honour and power. For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased’.”

To worship is literally “to kiss toward” (pros “toward” and kineo, “to kiss”). It suggests – to bow down, to show reverence and to adore. But probably the most accurate meaning is to adore.

From early in the Bible we find people worshiping God. Genesis 24:26, “Then the man bowed down and worshiped the Lord.” Hebrews 12:28 says, “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.”

TYPES OF WORSHIP IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

A.     “TRUE” WORSHIP…

1.    Referred to by Jesus in John 4:20-24

2.    This is the type of worship expected by God today (“an hour is coming, and NOW IS”)

3.    This concerns us personally

B.     “VAIN” WORSHIP…

1.    Referred to by Jesus in Matthew 15:7-9

2.    This worship is the result of:

a.   Following traditions of men and ignoring the commands of God on a particular subject

b.   Also, when worship is not done “from the heart”

C.     “IGNORANT” WORSHIP…

1.    Referred to by Paul in Acts 17:22,23

2.    This is worship offered in the absence of a knowledge of God’s will concerning who He is and how He is to be worshipped

D.     “WILL” (SELF-IMPOSED) WORSHIP…

1.    Referred to by Paul in Col 2:20-23 (KJV)

2.    This worship, closely aligned with VAIN worship:

a.   Is the result of doing what WE like and WE think is good

b.   But not taught by God in His Word

3.    [It should be evident, then, that not just ANY worship is acceptable to God!  There are different kinds that can be offered, but only ONE is acceptable. Since God will only accept “TRUE” WORSHIP, we had better understand what is involved…]

THE MEANING OF “TRUE” WORSHIP

A.     AS DEFINED BY JESUS…

1.    “…the true worshipers will worship the Father IN SPIRIT AND TRUTH;” – John 4:23

2.    But what is meant by the phrase “…in spirit and truth”? The contrast is between OT and NT worship!

B.     WORSHIPPING GOD “IN SPIRIT”…

1.      A better interpretation is that to worship in spirit means to offer “spiritual worship”

a.   In contrast to worship that is physical or fleshly

b.   This contrast is in harmony with the context

c.   Jesus began by saying “God is Spirit”

d.   Therefore the worship of Him is to be “spiritual”, that more in keeping with His nature

2.      To “worship in spirit”, then, is to offer up SPIRITUAL worship as taught in the NT and not the PHYSICAL as found in the OT.

C.     WORSHIPPING GOD IN “TRUTH”…

1.      What is meant to worship in “truth”?

a.   To worship according to the commands of God? (As so often interpreted)

b.   Certainly we should do this

c.   But again, this is no contrast to what God expected in the OT – NT worship, which God now expects of “true worshipers”, is according to the TRUE realities (God is Spirit, Christ in heaven) and is therefore SPIRITUAL in nature (spirit to Spirit).

CONCLUSION – we see that there are different types of worship, but only one is now acceptable to the Father. We see that this worship is “in spirit and in truth”… It is not the physical worship but a spiritual worship which is the true substance of what God wants of us.