Sermon Central
-
I Can Worship God On My Own Terms Series
Contributed by Mark Atherton on Sep 6, 2001 (message contributor)
Summary: A look at the importance of the second commandment
Lie # 2
"I Can Worship God On My Own Terms"
----- True Worshippers worship in SPIRIT & TRUTH
----- If we don’t we will:
REDEFINE God
and
REDUCE God
2nd commandment is about how we worship, the first commandment was about who we worship. God says there is a correct way to worship. It has nothing to do with contemporary or traditional, pews or chairs, hymnals or overhead screens, clapping or not clapping, raising your hands or not, wooden pulpit or a plexiglass one. All of these things are irrelevant if we don’t worship God’s way’s which is in spirit and in truth. God is spirit and to worship Him we must worship Him in spirit. We are not to make any images or idols to facilate worship. We must worship Him in all His unseen splendor. True worshippers worship in spirit and in truth. Our services can be vibrant, hands can be lifted, tears can be flowing, testimonies can be given, but if there is not truth present, its not true worship. If we are not singing truth from our lips and the preaching is preaching truth for God’s word, then we fall short of God’s way to worship.
The second commandment is concerned with worship in spirit but it is especially concerned with worship in truth. Because God knows if we don’t worship in truth we will redefine Him.
We humans can worship a God of our own choosing. We have the ability to redefine Him and make Him in our image. We don’t run the risk today of craving an image out of stone or wood but we do ru the risk of redefining Him and thus making a mental image. If we worship less than the biblical god, we have redefined Him.
Besides redefining God, if we don’t worship in spirit and truth we will reduce Him as well. God plays many roles in Scripture. He’s the Father, a Shepherd, a Creator, a King and so forth. All of us see Him in one of the roles the best. But if we see Him only in that role, we reduce Him. Yes, He’s a Father, but He’s also a Priest. Yes, He’s a King, but He is also a Friend. Yes He’s a Shepherd, but He’s also a Judge. You say, there is no one image that can truly capture who He is, so chill out!! Well if you are thinking that then you understand why we don’t make images. He’s too big for that. He’s more loving than we can imagine, more merciful than we can imagine, and He hates sin more than we can imagine as well.
