THE K I N G ’S BUS I NE S S
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R eligious worship is th e acknowledge m ent to God of our reverence for Him, and the yielding to Him of th e honor and homage due Him. Worship is a necessity of man, and is universal. All men everywhere have th e ir altars, th e ir groves, th e ir priests, th e ir sacrifices, th e ir form s of m anifest ing th a t which we designate as worship. This fact, of itself, proves th a t it is inh eren t in th e being of man, and th e question of who, where, when and how, are we to worship, comes n atu ra lly to every soul. The Bible h as th e solution of every problem of hum an life, and we who have th e Bible in our hands find th is problem solved for us. God has not left us w ithout definite instructions. Under th e old dispensation, it was clearly de fined for the Jews. Read carefully Deut. 26:1-10, and you will find a key. Acceptable worship- of Jehovah was led by a lost sinner, redeemed by blood and know ing th a t he was redeemed. No one could offer acceptable worship to God who doubted his acceptance by God. Our Lord made it clear to th e Samari ta n woman. The question of etern al life is settled. He is th e living w ater, spring ing up into everlasting life. Some people worship th e sun, some th e moon, some the stars, some th e devil, some evil spirits, some Mrs. Eddy, some worship themselves,— h u t th e re is h u t one tru e object of worship and th a t is A lm ighty God, revealed in Jesu s Christ as F ath e r. Someone has well said th a t “ in prayer we are occupied w ith our needs; in praise, w ith blessing; b u t in worship we are occupied w ith H im self,” as F ath e r. Here we have th e Word “F a th e r” in troduced for th e first time. In studying th e S cripture always notice first th ing s; it is exceedingly im po rtan t w ith g reat doctrines and g reat events. The term “ F a th e r” was no t fam iliar to th e Jews, nor to th e Sam aritans. In th e Old Tes tam en t God is compared to a fath e r once or twice, and th e term is used of
H im th ree tim es w ith a fu tu re relation in view. “No man h a th seen God a t any tim e; the only-begotton Son, who is in th e bosom of th e F ath e r, He h ath de clared H im ” ,— or made H im known as F ath er. The term “F a th e r” is associated w ith the word “ Son” ,— so th a t God, as the F a th e r of our Lord Jesus Christ, is the object of worship. This is a new era in the world’s histo ry concerning th e revelation of God. The Son came to make Him known. The F ath e r, then, is th e object of wor ship. The F a th e r seeketh worshipers. God seeks sinners to save them . He sought Adam and Eve as soon as they had sinned. He sent H is Son to seek sinners (Luke 1 9 :1 0 ). The only object of worship, then, is God th e F ath e r, th rough th e Lord Jesus Christ. "No man cometh, unto th e F ath e r, h u t by me” (John 1 4 :6 ). One cannot come to Him for salvation save th rough Jesus Christ. One cannot come to H im in prayer excepting in th e name of Jesus Christ. One cannot come to Him in worship save by Jesu s Christ. We wor ship God, the F ath e r, th rough th e Son, by the, Holy Spirit (Phil. 3 :3 ). “F o r we are the circumcision which worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in th e flesh.” ‘ The P urpose of Worship. God’s glory is th e chief end of man, , and in worship we glorify God. The F a th e r seeketh worshipers. He h as a F a th e r’s h eart, a hung ry h eart, and He seeks th e worship of His children. He cannot be satisfied, as a F ath e r, w ith anything less th a n the worship of His children. He is a Spirit, and demands sp iritu al worship. He can only be ap proached th rough a sp iritu al natu re. The n atu ra l man cannot approach Him (1 Cor. 2 :1 4 ). “ But th e n atu ra l man receiveth not th e things of th e Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him ; n eith er can
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