Worshipping by Faith
by Paul Smithson
Whatever we do in word or deed we must "do all in the name of the Lord," i.e. by His authority (Col. 3:17). Many regularly worship God but have taken little thought as to whether there is divine authority for the manner in which they worship. It is imperative not only that we worship God, but that we worship Him as He has directed; for it is possible for one to worship God in vain (Mt. 15:9).
God makes it very plain in His Word that men must do what He says in the way He says to do it; for what might seem right to men might not be right in the eyes of the Almighty God. "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts" (Isa. 55:8). "There is a way which seems right to a man, but the end is the way of death" (Prov. 14:12).
The worship of Cain and Abel (Gen. 4) is a good example of two men worshipping God, one with authority and the other without it. Abel offered an animal sacrifice, Cain a vegetable sacrifice. The Scripture tells us that God was pleased with Abel's sacrifice but had no regard for Cain's. The reason for God's acceptance of one and disregard for the other is explained in Hebrews 11:4 which states, "By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain..." God's acceptance of Abel's worship was because it was offered "by faith." This implies that Cain and Abel were not left on their own to determine how they were to worship God; for "faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God" (Rom. 10:17). These men must have had some revelatin from God as to how they were to worship-something upon which to base their faith.
Abel worshipped God like God wanted him to worship. Cain worshipped like Cain wanted to worship. Thus, Abel's worship was pleasing to God and Cain's worship was in vain. It was neither the lack of worship, nor the worship of a false God that condemned Cain. It was the worship of the true God in a false way. False religion is trying to worship God in any other way than that which God has directed. To worship God acceptable one must have faith in God to follow His direction. Unless we are willing to strive to walk by faith, following His will in all things, we can never be pleasing to God.
Cain's worship was offered out of convenience according to man's way. There are people everywhere who are looking for a religion they like. Many go from church to church trying to find one that is pleasing to them. Yet we, like Abel, must be concerned with what is pleasing to God. We must seek to worship and serve God by faith, offering to Him only what He has authorized in the way He has directed. This is true concerning the music we offer up (Eph. 5:19, Col. 3:16) or when and how we partake of the Lord's Supper (1 Cor. 11:23-29; Ac. 20:7). Are you worshipping by faith?
A follow-up to this article...
Posted by David F. Sims, doing my part to "turn the world upside down" (Acts 17:6)
All quotes taken from the New American Standard Bible, unless otherwise stated.
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