What True Worship is. Part [4] 04/26/2024 (Evening thought)

1st Samuel 5:And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him.

[Patriarchs & Prophets pp 586] The Philistines removed the ark in triumph to Ashdod, one of their five principal cities, and placed it in the house of their god Dagon. They imagined that the power which had hitherto attended the ark would be theirs, and that this, united with the power of Dagon, would render them invincible. But upon entering the temple on the following day, they beheld a sight which filled them with consternation. Dagon had fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of Jehovah. The priests reverently lifted the idol and restored it to its place.

Thus, manifestations of extreme reverence do not always mean that true worship is taking place. As a matter of fact, what devils have succeeded in doing is to invert the order of priorities, as it pertains to the various aspects of worship. They’ve succeeded in placing praise first, reverence in second place, prayer in third place and obedience last of all if not nonexistent, through the teaching of the law of God being nailed to the cross.

The same is true of praise, for a person’s mouth can be full of praises while at the same time the worship could be vanity. The Scripture warns as against this particular type of worship, because praises without obedience is equivalent to flattery. In many of the great cathedrals of earth, when the pipe organ begins to play, with the deep bass tones reverberating throughout the building, one is filled with a sense of awe and reverence as the music will thrill every fiber of your being and yet, for all of this, God is nowhere to be found in many such churches.

2nd Corinthians 11:But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

May God add His blessing to the study of His word. “Good night” and God bless!