Believers & False Worship

Transcript

GR 459
10/03/82
Believers and False Worship
Jeremiah 10; 1 Corinthians 10:14-22
Gil Rugh

Chapters 7 through 10 of Jeremiah center around the messages Jeremiah gave at the temple, focusing on the futility of worship by the nation Israel. Jeremiah says they have degenerated to mere form and formality.

Chapter 10 concludes a major section of Jeremiah’s prophecy. It presents a strong satire on idolatry as God makes clear the futility of worshiping anything or anyone other than Him. It becomes a mockery of the foolishness that man would worship the work of his own hands. The first five verses picture cutting the tree in the forest and decorating it with silver and gold. Then in a strong statement of mockery in verse 5, God says of the idols, “Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field are they.” They have no real existence. They still are a piece of wood; in a little different shape, a little more attractively designed and carved, but still a piece of wood or metal. The character of the item has not changed. That contrasts with God and His greatness and the fact that there is no god like Him.

Speaking of idols that men make and construct with their hands, verse 15 says, “They are worthless, a work of mockery.” The result of worshiping these kinds of gods is judgment. So Jeremiah moves to his theme—pack your bags because judgment is coming. You are going to be carried away into exile, and the gods that you have worshiped will be of no help to you in any way.

We sometimes think we are excluded from these judgments because we do not have an image that we bow down to. But the point in idolatry is that man has constructed his own god. Whether you carry that image that you have made in your mind to the point of making a physical image is secondary. But many people today are worshiping a god they have created in their minds. They can describe what their god is like and what he does. It has nothing to do with the God who has revealed Himself in the Bible.

In our last study we saw that an idol is nothing. It has no substance and no real existence. We saw that Christians need to be careful not to develop a superstitious idea around these physical items—that they have some kind of power. There is no basis for thinking that if you have this kind of statue or picture, you had better get it out of your home as though there were some kind of evil or evil eye associated with it. That is just not the case. Let me make it clear that I am not saying you ought to have these items in your home. There may be occasions where it is good to get rid of them if you have them, but not because you are afraid there is some power emanating from them.

Paul makes this same point in 1 Corinthians 8:4: “Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that there is no such thing as an idol in the world, and that there is no God but one.” The issue here is eating food that has been offered first to an idol in sacrifice, then taken and consumed by the person. Paul makes the point that there is no such thing as an idol in the world—that the idol is not really a god. There are idols, obviously; but there is no such thing as an idol that is a god with any power or any real life existence.

Verses 5 and 6 indicate that there are those who claim to be God; there are idols that are presented as gods. “For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.” This is the same contrast that Jeremiah gave. You do not have to be afraid of idols. There is one true and living God. There are many gods and many lords that people worship and serve, but they are figments of the imagination. They are not real gods and real lords. They are gods that have been constructed in the minds of those who have created them.

Even if there is really nothing to idolatry, you cannot say that it does not matter if you get involved in idolatry. Even though the idol itself is nothing, it is a piece of wood just like this podium is a piece of wood; it has no more significance in power or life. However, there is a dynamic and an influence behind idol worship that we are to have nothing but nothing to do with. We are not to be associated with it in any way.

In 1 John 5:21 John wrote, “Little children, guard yourselves from idols.” This is a warning to believers to keep away from idols.

Paul zeroes in on this subject in 1 Corinthians 10 because the Corinthians had a tendency to go from one extreme to the other. If the case were proven that idols are nothing but a piece of wood, then, they concluded, it really does not matter if you participate in idol worship. Because idol worship is the worship of nothing, they reason, it is meaningless. So it is OK to be involved in a pagan religious system. I recognize that an idol is nothing, therefore I have the freedom to do that, right? Wrong! We have to be careful that we do not become logical in an unbiblical sense. There is more to idol worship than just that physical image that is being worshiped. There is the power and dynamic of spirit influence in all false worship. So the object is nothing, but behind all false worship there is spirit motivation and influence. We are to have nothing to do with that.

In the opening verses of 1 Corinthians 10, Israel has been presented as an example of a people who, having all shared in similar spiritual blessings and deliverance, had come under the judgment of God for their sin and rebellion. In light of the example of how God deals with those who involve themselves in idolatry and unfaithfulness, the Apostle Paul gives the command in 1 Corinthians 10:14, “Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.” This command is in the present tense: be constantly fleeing from idolatry. It is not something to be dabbled in or played with. It is something to get away from and to have no association with.

Some Christians delight in talking about their liberty and then seeing how close to the edge they can walk. Aha, you say that an idol is nothing, that there are no other gods, they reason. Therefore, I can dabble in false religion and false worship. No you cannot! You must flee from it. Paul uses this same word in 1 Corinthians 6:18: “Flee immorality.” As I recognize that I am one with the Lord, I cannot take that which has been joined to the Lord and join it in an immoral relationship with a harlot. I am to have the same attitude toward idolatry that I am to have toward immorality. I am to flee from it, to have no association with it.

In 1 Timothy 6 Paul is talking about greediness, covetousness, the pursuit of money, the lack of contentment in what you have in Jesus Christ and the ruin the love of money brings. Then verse 11 says, “But flee from these things, you man of God.” There is our word again. Get away from these things! Here is another area that could be developed—the way Christians dabble in love of money, which brings them to ruin in their service for Jesus Christ.

Another thing believers are to be running away from is found in 2 Timothy 2:22: “Now flee from youthful lusts.” We are to learn what to run from as we grow as believers. Some believers think that as they mature they are able to dabble in things they did not have the ability to dabble in before. No. A mark of maturity is knowing when to run and from what to run!

As Paul develops 1 Corinthians 10, one of the things we are to be running from is idolatry. “Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to wise men; you judge what I say” (vv. 14,15). The Corinthians are believers. They have the presence of the Spirit within them. They have the ability to discern the truth and to judge the validity of what Paul is saying. He expects them to act as wise men who use the knowledge they have and to apply it to this particular subject.

Let us look at the issue of demons as related to idolatry. “Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread” (1 Corinthians 10:16,17). He uses the example of what we call the communion service. It is a sharing in the blood and body of Christ. The word for sharing is koinonia, a word commonly carried over into English today, meaning to have in common, to share, a communion. It is not partaking of His actual body or blood, but it pictures that, demonstrating that we share together in Him. It joins us together with Him and portrays that sharing together which we have as the Body of Jesus Christ.

According to verse 17, there is one bread—“We who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread.” This is similar to 1 John 1 where we have fellowship with God and with one another. Our fellowship or sharing with one another is a result of our sharing together with Him. So in this act of worship, the communion service, we are sharing together in Christ as a body. The same principle is illustrated from the Old Testament in verse 18 of 1 Corinthians: “Look at the nation Israel; are not those who eat the sacrifices sharers in the altar?” Part of the sacrifice was burned, then the one offering the sacrifice was to partake of part of it himself. This indicated fellowship with the god upon whose altar the sacrifice had been made. In effect God and the one offering the sacrifice shared together in the sacrifice.

Moses refers to this in Leviticus 7:15: “Now as for the flesh of the sacrifice of his thanksgiving peace offerings, it shall be eaten on the day of his offering; he shall not leave any of it over until morning.” He continues in the same concept in chapter 8, verses 31 and 32, “Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons, ‘Boil the flesh at the doorway of the tent of meeting, and eat it there together with the bread which is in the basket of the ordination offering, just as I commanded, saying, “Aaron and his sons shall eat it.” And the remainder of the flesh and of the bread you shall burn in the fire.’” By picturing part of it burned and part of it eaten, they share together.

So from 1 Corinthians 10 Paul gives two examples of sharing: having fellowship together and participating in the communion service. Both clearly picture sharing together in that worship service with God.

Where does this carry us? In verses 19 and 20 Paul says, “What do I mean then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No.” In other words, do not miss the point. It is still true that an idol is nothing. If an idol is nothing and you offer a piece of meat to nothing, the piece of meat is still just a piece of meat, right? It has not changed character. If you cook it on the stove or the grill, it is still a piece of meat. So the idol is nothing.

Paul does not want us to think there is more to an idol than there is, or that something sacrificed to an idol becomes more important. He said, “No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons” (v. 20). The real point is that they are not primarily sacrificing to that piece of wood. They are sacrificing to a spirit being behind the piece of wood. They, in effect, are sacrificing to demons. In this false worship the one being worshiped and honored with the sacrifice is not the piece of wood, because the piece of wood is nothing. But the spirit being behind that false worship is receiving the honor, adoration and worship. A demonic being is the motivating force for that religious activity in the first place. Paul makes a strong statement in verse 20: “The things which the Gentiles [unbelievers] sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and not to God.”

We must have God’s perspective on this and appreciate the seriousness of false worship. It is not just a matter that we are all attempting to worship God in our own way doing the best we can. There is a clearly defined line where some are worshiping the true and living God—they are the believers in Jesus Christ. The rest are worshiping demons. They believe they are worshiping God; but God tells us who they are really worshiping—demons.

Demons are those angelic beings who followed Satan in his rebellion against God. Satan attempted to set himself up above God and lost his position in heaven. There was a host of angelic beings who followed him in his rebellion. They, too, lost their position in glory. They are the demons. There is one Devil, also known as Satan or Lucifer; there are multitudes of demons. We do not have any idea how many, but obviously there are multitudes of millions of demons. Because a demon is a created being, it can only be in one place at a time just like us, but they do have great power, might and ability, far beyond human abilities. The Bible gives us certain glimpses into the spirit world which we do not have time to develop here, but in the realm of worship we find that one of the prime activities of fallen angelic beings is to develop, promote and encourage false worship which is not based on a true relationship with the true and living God.

Those who would worship God today, as we saw earlier in our studies, must worship Him in spirit and in truth according to John 4:24. That necessitates a recognition of personal sin and a recognition of the death of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, as the payment for sin. Your faith must be placed in Him as the One who died for you to pay for your sin. That is the only way to worship God. No one comes to God except through Jesus Christ. The Book of Hebrews develops strongly the fact that He alone can be the high priest. He alone is the sacrifice acceptable to God. So anyone worshiping in any other way is really worshiping demons. This is God’s evaluation of the situation.

The issue is the last statement of verse 20: “I do not want you to become sharers in demons.” He does not want us to fellowship with demons! He should not have to say that, but you see the logical progression. When you worship the true and living God, you are fellowshipping with God. When you worshiping demons, you are fellowshipping with demons. You are either sharing together with God or with demons. Everyone who worships is worshiping and sharing together in the spirit realm. Some are sharing together with God, but the problem is that some are sharing together with demons. That is a serious matter.

Since we have these powerful spirit beings who have tremendous ability to delude and to deceive, who is to say who is doing what? How do you know for sure that this tremendous religious experience you had has really come from God and not from the demonic world? There is only one way to know for sure, and that is to sift it through the Scriptures. There God tells me what a true and genuine relationship with Him consists of. I cannot trust my feelings. These spirit beings in the demonic world are powerful enough to absolutely delude and deceive me into thinking I have had the most tremendous religious experience with the true and living God that is possible. But if I come to the Word and examine it carefully, I find out how I can have a true relationship with God and truly worship Him.

Paul’s statement, “I do not want you to become sharers in demons” (v. 20), explains the fanatical element in false worship. There are those involved in false worship who are lukewarm about it, rather indifferent. Then there are those who would give their life for the gods they worship and serve. The driving force behind it all is the spirit world and its power.

The Apostle John encourages believers in 1 John 4:1 to be discerning because we are dealing with spirit forces and spirit beings. “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” There you see the warning. We must test the spirits. The way you test the spirits is that you test the teachers by the message they proclaim. How do you know if they are genuine? By sifting them through the Word of God. Do you remember what Isaiah said? “To the Law and the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn [light]” (Isaiah 8:20). This is the standard. God has given the revelation of Himself. Now I measure the teachers and what they say according to what God has said. If it does not measure up, I know their spirit is not from God. They have a spirit behind them, but it is not the Holy Spirit of God. It is a demonic spirit.

John gives the basic foundational test: “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; and this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world” (1 John 4:2,3). A person’s attitude and teaching regarding the person and work of Jesus Christ is foundational. Is He the Son of God come to earth to provide redemption? People who deny the person or work of Jesus Christ are manifesting demonic teaching, not Holy Spirit teaching. That is a crucial difference. All teaching must be measured by the same standard--the Word of God; what does it teach regarding the Son of God, Jesus Christ? That is how we test the spirits, not by how you feel about them.

Some people turn on the television to listen to a speaker and say, “I feel good after listening to him.” The demons have the ability to make you feel good as well as to make you feel bad when you listen. One of the most effective things Satan can do is to give you a spiritual high. People who depend on their feelings evaluate speakers by the feelings they get. All Satan has to do is make them feel good. Some people might say they would follow that person to the end of the world because they feel good when they listen to him. That has nothing to do with reality. That does not mean you cannot feel good when you hear the Word of God, but feelings are not the standard to use.

John continues, “You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4). We ought not to have an unhealthy fear. We ought to respect Satan and the demon world, but we have no reason to fear them in the wrong sense because the Holy Spirit of God indwells us as believers, and He is more powerful than Satan and all of his hosts. Be careful. I am not more powerful than Satan and all of his hosts, but the Holy Spirit of God who indwells me is.

“They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them” (v. 5). Why can they get such a wide hearing and such a large response? The world of unbelievers is under the leadership of Satan, so they are simply following Satan’s teachers. John contrasts the two in verse 6: “We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” It sounds subjective, but it is objective because it is from the revelation of God. We take John’s message and measure teachers by it. Are they from God, or are they from Satan? It depends on how they measure up to the message of God Himself.

Paul instructed Timothy, “But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons” (1 Timothy 4:1). Do you see what happens? Some have been deceived and led away from the truth of the Word of God. The demonic spirits are deceitful, and they promote deceitful doctrines. Have you ever wondered how men can be so clever as to come up with some of these doctrines? They are not that clever. But demonic beings are far more clever and intelligent than you and I are; they are the origin of these doctrines. So we have the doctrine from the spirit world which is both good and bad—doctrine from the Holy Spirit of God and doctrine from demonic beings.

You have to be careful, because you can be deceived away from the truth of God by deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons. Paul tells how in verse 2: “By means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron.” This is a warning; it is going to happen. That is why it is so crucial for Christians to be discerning about the teaching we expose ourselves to. It does make a difference. That is one of the reasons Satan works so hard to keep Christians ignorant of the Scriptures, because if you are ignorant of the Scriptures, how are you going to know whether what someone is saying is true or not? Christians can get lured away and confused.

In 2 Corinthians 4 Paul discusses part of Satan’s tactics. “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:3,4). Our goal is to reach out in this city with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Do you know what the major obstacle is? The god of this world, Satan, is blinding minds so that they do not see the light of the glory of the person of the Son of God.

So we are not going to do battle with other people. We are going out to battle against Satan and demonic beings. He is the one who is blinding minds, veiling the spiritual eyes to keep them from seeing and understanding that Jesus Christ the Son of God died to pay the penalty for sins. They must understand that only by faith in Him can they have forgiveness and cleansing. Anyone who has not come to believe this truth has been blinded by the god of this world.

The exciting thing is that we depend on the Word of God which is alive and powerful and we are indwelled by the Spirit of God who is greater than the god of this world. God in His grace is often pleased to remove the blindness as His Word is proclaimed, and to defeat the purposes of Satan and draw that one to salvation in Himself. That is why we can go with confidence and courage. But we dare not go with cockiness, because there is no hope for me in my own cleverness, brilliance or reasoning, to do battle with the god of this world. The only thing that can bring about change in a life is the Word of God used by the Spirit of God.

Paul tells us who we are battling with in Ephesians chapter 6. “Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (vv. 10-12). We cannot do battle with Satan in our own strength. That is why we must have the armor of God as it is developed in Ephesians. We are in spiritual warfare and spiritual conflict.

Let us look at a couple of other passages dealing with teachers. If we do not get anything else from this study, we must fix in our minds that false teachers are present under the influence and control of Satan himself.

Peter wrote, “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves” (2 Peter 2:1). This warning says there will be false teachers among those who profess to be true believers. There will be those who are secretly working in destructive heresies. Do you know how Satan has prepared the way? By Christians sitting in church services week after week, attending activities but never being built up in the truth of the Word of God. As a result they come to such a weakened state that they do not even recognize a heresy when it stares them in the face. Peter says it is going to happen, and it does happen. We are warned about it. It is not enough that a man professes to love Christ. His message must also conform to the Word of God.

In 2 Corinthians 11 Paul is dealing with those who are attacking his ministry and trying to usurp his position. “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ” (v. 13). The greatest danger to evangelical Christians is not from those far-out groups but from those who are disguised as true representatives of Christ. “And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their deeds” (vv. 14,15). From among professing Christians, there are those who are disguised as Christians. But they are really the agents of Satan whom he is infiltrating among believers to teach and disseminate doctrine, which is not according to the Word of God. Those who are not discerning are deceived and led astray.

Jesus uses the parable of the tares among the wheat in Matthew 13 to describe what happens. “He presented another parable to them, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares also among the wheat, and went away. But when the wheat sprang up and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. And the slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’, and he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ And the slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No; lest while you are gathering up the tares, you may root up the wheat with them. Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn”’” (Matthew 13:24-30). Satan is going to mix tares in among believers, and I cannot sort them out. You say, “Wait a minute, you said to be discerning.” I am. When it comes to teachers who are presenting supposed truth, I can measure them in light of the Word. But I do not know the truth about every single person because I cannot look on the inside. God has not called me to be the judge and say, “All right, you are a believer; you are not; you are a believer; you are not.” That is not possible. When a man begins to teach and proclaim the truth of the Word of God, his character becomes more evident and there the line is more obviously drawn.

Let us go back to Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 10:20,21: “I do not want you to become sharers in demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.” You cannot maintain fellowship with God and fellowship with demons. You cannot worship God and worship demons. It is not a matter of going to the idol’s temple and partaking in a service of false worship, then saying it does not matter because there is really nothing to it. To do so is to join yourself in false worship. We are not to have any part of that. The issue is the worship of the Devil versus the worship of God. Should I say I have the freedom to dabble and to dally? Not a bit. That is why it is so overwhelmingly important that believers not involve themselves in any way in false worship systems.

Some Christians are part of churches where the Word of God is not believed and taught. They are involving themselves in the worship of demons, which is totally contrary to what God instructs. Some say they are attending those churches to be a testimony. Who said you ought to join in worship in those kinds of places to be a testimony? We think we have come up with a better idea than God has. I am not saying everybody has to come to this church, but every believer ought to be joined in fellowship where the Word of God is believed and proclaimed. What are those doing who worship where the Word of God is not believed or proclaimed? They are joining with those who are the worshipers of the Devil. Can they say they are doing it in the name of a testimony and expect God to bless it? Ridiculous! The only thing that happens is that it ruins their effectiveness as believers. They subject themselves to the deception of Satan because they do not have the discernment and are not functioning as God intends them to function.

The Apostle John warns us not to encourage false teachers in any way. “Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds” (2 John 9-11). We are to do nothing in any way to encourage or participate in the ministry of one who does not teach properly concerning the person and work of Jesus Christ. Your very presence is an encouragement to him. Your being here today encourages me. It would be rather discouraging if I had to get up and preach to empty seats. Do not encourage a false teacher by your presence. You would not want to shake his hand and say, “Oh, the Lord bless you.” Rather, you might hope he comes to a ruinous end. You would hope no one comes to hear him. Your ultimate prayer and desire is that he might believe that Jesus Christ is the only Savior. You can have no fellowship with him, and you must do nothing to encourage him in leading people to hell.


Paul continues his reasoning in 1 Corinthians 10:22: “Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than He, are we?” Are we trying to provoke God to battle? If you read the opening verses of 1 Corinthians 10, you can see what is happening. We are supposed to be fellowshipping with God. But if we are involved in an unbiblical system of worship, we are not in fellowship with God. So are we trying to provoke God? Do you realize what happened to Israel when they provoked God? He brought judgment upon them. Are you trying to provoke God by involving yourself in something else? Oh, no, I have good intentions. You do not! If you really had good intentions, you would want to do what God says! This is choosing to do good? We often have other motives that are leading us on. We may not want to do the hard thing; we do not want to be divisive. We should not be any more divisive than God is, but we should not be any less than God is either.

God said the same thing to Israel in Deuteronomy 32 about 1500 years before Paul came on the scene. “They sacrificed to demons who were not God, to gods whom they have not known, new gods who came lately, whom your fathers did not dread. You neglected the Rock who begot you, and forgot the God who gave you birth . . .They have made Me jealous with what is not God; they have provoked Me to anger with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation, for a fire is kindled in My anger, and burns to the lowest part of Sheol” (Deuteronomy 32:17,18,21,22).

Do you see how serious this matter of worship really is? First you must recognize your own sinfulness and come to believe in Jesus Christ. When that has happened, then you must be worshiping God according to His Word and in fellowship with other believers within the context of the true proclamation of the Word of God. Do we really understand the issue behind false worship? False worship of any kind is really idolatry. Does that grip our minds? Do we see its importance? If God should lead you to another church in this city or in another place in the world, I hope you will recognize that it is overwhelmingly important to join yourself with believers under the sound teaching of the Word of God to worship Him as He has instructed in His Word.

If you are not a believer in Jesus Christ, do you see the significance of the issue of worship? It is not important for you to worship according to the way this church does. The issue is worshiping God according to His instructions. Have you come to recognize your own personal sinfulness? That is the beginning point of worship, seeing yourself as God sees you. If you come thinking you are all right and you are going to worship God on your own terms, that is unacceptable. Have you come to realize that you personally are a sinner, that you need God, and that God, out of love for you, sent His Son Jesus Christ to die on a cross? He died because the penalty for sin is death. God raised Him from the dead because the penalty had been paid. Righteousness had been secured.

If you will believe that Jesus Christ died for you personally, in that instant of time God cleanses you from your sin and brings you into a permanent relationship with Him. It begins in this life at the moment of your faith and goes on for eternity. That is the other aspect you must recognize—that you are destined to spend eternity with the one you worship. Matthew wrote regarding the judgment that Christ will set up on earth in preparation for His kingdom. “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels’” (Matthew 25:41). Those who have not come to believe in Christ have, in effect, been worshiping the Devil. Satan is destined to spend eternity in hell, and all those who have worshiped him and his demons are destined to spend eternity in hell with him. This issue is one of overwhelming significance. Praise God for grace manifested in Christ. It is possible for us to have a personal relationship with God Himself in this life and for all eternity by putting our faith in His Son who died in our place.