God’s people “worship Him in spirit and in truth.” John 4:24.
A world confused by false worship
For any building to last, the secret lies in its foundation. True religion or worship has also its foundation which, if removed “…no worship can be pleasing to God.” Lift Him Up 342.
Today the world is full of different religions. In the Christian world, people worship in diverse manners, and in the way that pleases them. To them the teaching is–the way that you worship, where, when or how does not matter; but it is only important that you pray or worship in the name of Jesus. The reason for such teachings is that “…with the open Bible before them, and professing to reverence its teachings, many of the religious leaders of our time are destroying faith in it as the word of God. They busy themselves with dissecting the word, and set their own opinions above its plainest statements. In their hands God’s word loses its regenerating power. This is why infidelity runs riot, and iniquity is rife.” DA 258
Through the religious leaders, Satan has confused the teachings of the Bible in such a manner that even the plainest statements are misinterpreted. Will Jesus accept just anything as long as it is called “worship”? In this matter it remains our God-given duty to clearly point out to the world the true worship that God desires of His children. The Bible teaches us of true religion and of the form of worship that alone is acceptable before God.
We should always bear in mind that whenever worship is taking place, the homage thereby paid may either be to God or to the prince of darkness, the Devil. (1 Kings 18:21; Joshua 24:15). There is no neutral ground whatsoever. Therefore, it is very dangerous while striving for eternal life to ignore this very crucial fact, especially for us “upon whom the ends of the world are come.” 1 Cor. 10:11. Many spend huge amounts of resources for a religion that will not save them. They strive to advance the work of the archenemy. In view of this, let us then discover the very foundation of divine worship, and therefore come to know the acceptable form of worship, which is of the LORD. To do this, it is important to ask the question: Why do we worship God?
People in the world have their many gods, and place their trust in them, hoping that the gods will give them what they want. In traditional religions, people worship many gods, or what they call “spirits”. They have bizarre beliefs and a multitude of ceremonies. For example, in my country they prepare alcoholic beverages and various kinds of foods; they go to the graves and offer these foods and beverages as a sacrifice, coupled with many rituals, to appease the supposed anger of the gods. They hope, in return, that rain may fall, or that they may receive something they have asked for. The worshiping of idols, or any other gods, is as old as sin itself; we find from the beginning, when self filled his heart, Lucifer rebelled in heaven. “He exhorted himself above all that is called God” (just as the ‘man of sin’), and those he deceived turned from the God of heaven to himself. So he became the first of the gods, and from then on, the deceived angels worshiped him as their god; later man joined in the worshiping of this god.
The Reason for Worshiping God
The foremost reason why we ought to worship and give glory to Him is the fact that He “made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” Rev.14:7. He is our Creator. The other reasons all derive from this fact. It is this fact alone that puts Him above all other gods, as the other gods do not have the ability to create.
“The duty to worship God is based upon the fact that He is the Creator and that to Him all other beings owe their existence. And wherever, in the Bible, His claim to reverence and worship, above the gods of the heathen, is presented, there is cited the evidence of His creative power. ‘All the gods of the nations are idols: but the Lord made the heavens.’ Ps.96:5. ‘To whom then will ye liken Me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things.’ ‘Thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God Himself that formed the earth and made it: . . . I am the Lord; and there is none else.” Isa. 40:25, 26; 45:18. Says the psalmist: ‘Know ye that the Lord He is God: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves.’ ‘O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.’ Ps. 100:3; 95:6. And the holy beings who worship God in heaven declare why their homage is due to Him: ‘Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for Thou hast created all things.’ Rev. 4:11” GC 436 – 437
In the above testimony, the well-laid-out verses clearly show the relationship between God and creation. In the present truth of Revelation 14, the apostle John presents a class that through “the threefold message, are keeping the commandments of God” GC 437. Of these commandments, there is none that has been the centre of as much controversy as that which occupies the fourth place in the Decalogue. Numerous are the theories that have been advanced to explain away the validity of this commandment. For example, some have said it is Jewish and not Christian; others claim it is substituted by the jubilation of the resurrection of Jesus; still another class claim that the day does not matter, since counting from any day of the week it turns out to be the seventh day before the next week arrives; just to mention a few. These explanations have no biblical basis whatsoever and are themselves contradictory such that none of them can, in any way, satisfy the searching mind. Yet it is this fourth commandment (of the Sabbath) that tells us who God is to us–the reason why we worship Him. The other nine do not depict God as Creator. “For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Exodus 20:11.
Sabbath – the foundation
“The importance of the Sabbath as the memorial of creation is that it keeps ever present the true reason why worship is due to God–because He is the Creator, and we are His creatures. The Sabbath therefore lies at the very foundation of divine worship, for it teaches this great truth in the most impressive manner, and no other institution does this. The true ground of divine worship, not of that on the seventh day merely, but of all worship, is found in the distinction between the Creator and His creatures. This great fact can never become obsolete, and must never be forgotten.”–J. N. Andrews, History of the Sabbath, chapter 27 (GC 437, 438) (emphasis mine).
In the fourth commandment are three very important characteristics of the authenticity of the lawgiver, according to Ex 20:11: (a) His name, (b) His title,–the Creator–none else can claim this title as presented in the verses above, (c) Heaven and earth is His territory. Satan knows that if he can rid the law of the fourth commandment, people will be in total darkness as to whom they owe their existence, and who is their God.
“It was to keep this truth ever before the minds of men, [that He is the creator] that God instituted the Sabbath in Eden; and so long as the fact that He is our Creator continues to be a reason why we should worship Him, so long the Sabbath will continue as its sign and memorial. Had the Sabbath been universally kept, man’s thoughts and affections would have been led to the Creator as the object of reverence and worship, and there would never have been an idolater, an atheist, or an infidel.” GC 438.
The Sabbath truth strikes directly Satan’s government for what it really is, so he will fight against this commandment until the close of time.
The worshiping of God in spirit and in truth means we need to know why He ought to be worshiped, and then we must worship on the right day (Saturday, Sabbath) which will remain or “stand as a memorial of creation, a constant reminder of the power of God” PK 678
Furthermore, Rev. 14:9, 10 presents those in Satan’s camp who will receive the mark of the beast. The true worshipers will have the seal or sign of God as written in Exodus. 31:17; Ezek. 20:20. The Sabbath is the sign between God and His people. When people worship on this day God recognizes them as His.
How did the change come about? “Only by changing God’s law could the papacy exalt itself above God; whoever should understandingly keep the law as thus changed would be giving supreme honor to that power by which the change was made. Such an act of obedience to papal laws would be a mark of allegiance to the pope in the place of God.” GC. 446
There are also other instructions given concerning what is deemed as acceptable worship, but let us first begin from the foundation; just as one cannot build the upper part of the house without first building the foundation, God will reveal more light. Many churches speak about Christ about the very foundation of true worship, and hence, salvation, but in reality they deny Him. This article presents the fact that, as much as people may claim to worship Jesus, they actually deny Him by casting aside the very ordinance that He Himself instituted, that which points to Him as the Creator.
In the solemn hour of the judgment in which we live, we are called upon to “Fear God, and give glory to Him;… [to] worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” In order to understand and keep the Sabbath as it ought to be kept, we need to put aside all personal pride so that we may humbly worship at the feet of Jesus. Now we can worship God on the Sabbath–the special day of worship, which He Himself dedicated. This is the foundation of divine worship and none other. AMEN
Joel Jungubawa
Msiska, Malawi