Worthy Art Thou

Wendell Winkler

 

John 4:24 is the New Testament’s classic text on worship: “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” An analysis of this passage reveals five points:

 

  • THE ACTION—Worship

  • THE AIM—Him

  • THE ABSOLUTE—Must

  • THE ATTITUDE—Spirit

  • THE AUTHORITY—Truth

 

Be it observed that the mandate “must” qualifies all aspects of the passage: the action, aim, absolute, attitude, and authority.

In this present study, we are primarily concerned with the aim/object of our worship. As Revelation 22:8-9 succinctly states, “Worship God.” Accordingly, let us observe:

 

1. The Bible Resplendently Teaches Us That God Is the Sole Object of Our Worship

 

Jesus so taught. In the temptation, Jesus responds to Satan: “Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve” (Mt. 4:9-10; Deut. 6:13).

John so taught. He penned in Revelation 19:10, “And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” In John 9:31, he quoted the healed blind man: “If any man be a worshiper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.”

Paul so taught. He affirmed, “For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit” (Phil. 3:3).

The Hebrews writer so taught. Hebrews 12:28 reads, “Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.”

 

Observation. We become like the God we worship. Speaking of the idols men had formed with their own hands, the Psalmist said, “They that make them are like unto them, so is everyone that trusteth in them” (Psa. 115:1-8). Hence, when men scripturally worship the God of the Bible, they are loving, just, respectful, and civilized. In contradistinction, where heathen idolatry prevails, men grovel in filth, debauchery, and immorality.

 

2. The Reasons Why Jehovah Is So Worthy of Our Worship Are Apparent and Multiple

 

Paul’s sermon on Mars’ Hill, as recorded in Acts 17:22-31, constitutes a marvelous study of our present emphasis. It is basically a sermon on God. The premise of the sermon is found in verse 23: “Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.” The information set forth in the sermon, in which Paul shows why God is worthy of worship, cannot be improved upon in our day.

“Worthy Art Thou,” affirmed Paul of Jehovah, because of who he is.

 

  • God is set forth as creator. “God that made the world and all things therein . . . seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on the face of the earth” (vv. 24-26). See also Isaiah 42:5.

  • He is set forth as Lord. “He is Lord of heaven and earth” (v. 24). He is, indeed, the supreme and sovereign ruler of the universe!

  • He is set forth as Father. “Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God” (v. 29).

  • He is set forth as the judge. “Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained” (v. 31).

  • He is set forth as our benefactor. “He giveth to all life, and breath, and all things . . . for in him we live, and move, and have our being” (vs. 25, 28).

  • In this marvelous sermon, then, God is set forth as our creator, Lord, Father, judge, and benefactor. Indeed, “Worthy Art Thou!”

 

(2) “Worthy Art Thou,” affirmed Paul of Jehovah, because of his nature and character.

 

  • He is described as being omnipotent. “God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth” (v. 24). He is not like Neptune, god of the sea; or Jupiter, god of the sky; that is, he is not a god for this and a god for that. Rather, he exercised omnipotence, having made heaven and earth; thus, he is Lord overall.

  • He is described as being all sufficient. “Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things” (v. 25). The psalmist wrote, “For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fullness thereof” (Psa. 50:10-12).

  • He is described as being omnipresent. “That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: for in him we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17: 27-28). The god of the Athenians, Athene, lived in the Parthenon, but such was not the case with Jehovah. He is everywhere at the same time. He fills heaven and earth. Observe, however, that though Jehovah is omnipresent, and transcendent, he is still very near: “Though he be not far from every one of us” (v. 27).

  • He is described as being spiritual. “Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device” (v. 29). Our Lord affirmed, “God is a Spirit” (John 4:24).

  • God is described as being exacting. “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent: because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained” (Acts 17:30-31).

  • He is described as being impartial. “And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth” (v. 26). Such an affirmation challenged the exclusiveness of the Athenians who thought, “We are Greeks and all others are barbarians.” Such also challenged the Jews’ pride who counted all others as pagans,

  • He is described as being righteous. “He will judge the world in righteousness” (v. 31).

 

Summation. In this great sermon, Jehovah is described as being omnipotent, all-sufficient, omnipresent, spiritual, exacting, impartial and righteous. Indeed, “Worthy Art Thou!”

 

An additional thought. In Revelation 4, John takes us into the very throne room of God where the twenty-four elders “fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created” (Rev. 4:10-11). Indeed, “Worthy Art Thou!”

 

3. Since Jehovah Is the Exclusive Object of Our Worship, a Number of Things/Objects Are Excluded

 

Ancient idolatry. The first commandment of the decalogue prohibits idolatry (Ex. 20:3-5; see also Deut. 6:13-14; 8:19; 11:16; 11:26-32; Jer. 25:4-7). Such is also forbidden in the New Testament (1 Jn. 5:21; Gal. 5:19-21). And the folly of pursuing idols has often been shown in Egypt (Ex. 7-12), at Carmel (1 Kgs. 18:17-46), in Babylon (Dan. 5:18-21; Isa. 46:1-2), and on Mars’ Hill (Acts 17:22-31). Too, such is seen in the writings of Isaiah (2:12-21; 44:14-20), Jeremiah (2:26-28; 48:7, 23, 46) and the Psalmist (115:1-7). However, man has often succumbed to idolatry. The Israelites worshipped the golden calf (Ex. 32:1-35), the Gentile worshipped the creature rather than the Creator (Rm. 1:26-32), the Moabites worshipped Chemosh, the Zidonians worshipped Baal, the Ammonites worshipped Moloch, the Ephesians worshipped Diana, the Corinthians worshipped Aphrodite; and, of the Thessalonians, Paul wrote, “How ye turned to God from idols” (1 Thes. 1:9-10).

 

Modern day idolatry. Idols need not be made of metal or stone. They can be in the blueprint of the mind. Accordingly, Ezekiel 14:3 reads, “Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?” Indeed, an idol is anything that comes between us and God. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia observes,

 

Idolatry originally meant the worship of idols, or the worship of false gods by means of idols, but came to mean among the Old Testament Hebrews any worship of false gods, whether by images or otherwise, and finally the worship of Jehovah through visible symbols (Hos. 8:5-6; 10:15); and ultimately in the New Testament idolatry came to mean, not only the giving to any creature or human creation the honor or devotion which belonged to God alone, but the giving to any human desire a precedence over God’s will (1 Cor. 10:14; Gal. 5:20; Col. 3:5; 1 Pet. 4:3).

 

  1. V. Pearce observed,

 

“Thou shalt have no other gods before me” is the first commandment. One’s god is his supreme good. Our English word ‘God’ has the same root as ‘good.’ When one has any supreme good other than Jehovah, he has another god. His god is that for which he sacrifices everything else, that which he puts first, even before the work and the worship of Jehovah. Thus, one can easily ascertain what his god is.

 

Back then the gods were metal; now they are mental. What form does idolatry take in our given day and time?

 

  • Humanism—the worship of self

  • Hedonism—the worship of pleasure

  • Recreational-ism—the worship of Play

  • Materialism—the worship of mammon

  • Ancestralism—the worship of parents or ancestors

  • Intellectualism—the worship of knowledge

  • Satanism—the worship of devils/Satan

 

Additionally, there is the worshiping of power, images, and man. But let us never forget, “But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him” (1 Cor. 8:6). Jesus and his church are to be first and primary in our lives (Mt. 6:33).

 

Conclusion

 

One of these glad days, if we are faithful, it will be our happy privilege to enter the city not made with hands, and in that city, we shall lovingly and eternally fulfill the angel’s mandate of Revelation 19:10, “Worship God!”