Part 2 - Discourse on Worship:
ALL TRUE WORSHIPPERS OF GOD (YHWH) HAVE PRACTICED TRUE WORSHIP:
The need for all worshippers of the true God (YHWH) to worship him in truth was shown at Hebrews 11:4, "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he had witness borne to him that he was righteous, God bearing witness in respect of his gifts: and through it he being dead yet speaketh." (ASV); And at Hebrews 11:7, "By faith Noah, being warned `of God' concerning things not seen as yet, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; through which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith." (ASV); And at Hebrews 11:8-9, "By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out unto a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. 9 By faith he became a sojourner in the land of promise, as in a `land' not his own, dwelling in tents, with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:" (ASV).
In fact God (YHWH) instructed the nation of Israel in correct worship as shown at Exodus 19:5-6, "Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be mine own possession from among all peoples: for all the earth is mine:
6 and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel." (ASV); And at Deuteronomy 10:12-13, "And now, Israel, what doth Jehovah thy God require of thee, but to fear Jehovah thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve Jehovah thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, 13 to keep the commandments of Jehovah, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?" (ASV).
THE NATION OF THE JEWS REJECTS GOD'S (YHWH'S) SON:
Up until the rejection of his Son, Jesus (Yeshua) by the Jews, they had been his chosen people as affirmed at Matthew 21:42-45, "Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, The same was made the head of the corner; This was from the Lord, And it is marvelous in our eyes? 43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken away from you, and shall be given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. 44 And he that falleth on this stone shall be broken to pieces: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will scatter him as dust. 45 And when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them." (ASV); And at Matthew 23:37-38, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killeth the prophets, and stoneth them that are sent unto her! how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! 38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate." (ASV); And at Acts 13:45-46, "But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with jealousy, and contradicted the things which were spoken by Paul, and blasphemed. 46 And Paul and Barnabas spake out boldly, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first be spoken to you. Seeing ye thrust it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles." (ASV).
TRUE CHRISTIANS REVEALED BY GOD (YHWH) BY HIS SON:
All true footstep followers of Christ were not developed by man, but by God's (YHWH's) own Son, Jesus (Yeshua) Christ as revealed at Hebrews 1:1-2, "God, having of old time spoken unto the fathers in the prophets by divers portions and in divers manners, 2 hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in `his' Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds;" (ASV); And at Hebrews 2:3-4, "how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation? which having at the first been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed unto us by them that heard; 4 God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders, and by manifold powers, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will." (ASV); And at John 1:14-17, "Now it was the Preparation of the passover: it was about the sixth hour. And he saith unto the Jews, Behold, your King! 15 They therefore cried out, Away with `him', away with `him', crucify him! Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar. 16 Then therefore he delivered him unto them to be crucified. 17 They took Jesus therefore: and he went out, bearing the cross for himself, unto the place called The place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha:" (ASV).
ONLY ONE TRUE CHRISTIAN FAITH:
Many say that there can be many 'paths' to salvation, but the Bible clearly shows that true worshipers of God (YHWH) are not scattered in many different paths or faiths at Ephesians 4:1-6, "I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beseech you to walk worthily of the calling wherewith ye were called, 2 with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; 3 giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 `There is' one body, and one Spirit, even as also ye were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all." (ASV); And at 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, "Now I beseech you, brethren, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing and `that' there be no divisions among you; but `that' ye be perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 11 For it hath been signified unto me concerning you, my brethren, by them `that are of the household' of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. 12 Now this I mean, that each one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos: and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. 13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized into the name of Paul?" (ASV).
More is required than sincerely believing as shown at Romans 10:2-3, "For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God." (ASV); And at James 2:14 & 26, "What doth it profit, my brethren, if a man say he hath faith, but have not works? can that faith save him?" and "26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is dead." (ASV).
All true Christians must stay spiritually alert so as not to fall into traps of Satan the Devil and thus fall away from true worship as shown at 2 Corinthians 13:5, "Try your own selves, whether ye are in the faith; prove your own selves. Or know ye not as to your own selves, that Jesus Christ is in you? unless indeed ye be reprobate." (ASV); And at head the warning at 1 Corinthians 10:12, "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." (ASV).
Beware of false teachings concerning God (YHWH) that the Devil has introduced as shown at Genesis 3:4-6, "And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5 for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil. 6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat; and she gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat." (ASV).
DEPARTURE FROM TRUE WORSHIP STARTED AFTER THE FLOOD OF NOAH'S DAY:
Shortly after the Flood of Noah's day, the Devil started to lead people astray into false worship as shown at Genesis 10:8-10, "And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before Jehovah: wherefore it is said, Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before Jehovah. 10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar." (ASV); And at Genesis 11:4 & 9, "And they said, Come, let us build us a city, and a tower, whose top `may reach' unto heaven, and let us make us a name; lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth." And "Therefore was the name of it called Babel; because Jehovah did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did Jehovah scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth." (ASV).
APOSTASY FROM TRUE CHRISTIAN BELIEF WAS FORETOLD IN ADVANCE:
The Apostle Paul gave a warning in advance that many would leave the true Christian faith and become apostate, and in fact this started to happen while he was still alive as recorded at Acts 20:29-30, "I know that after my departing grievous wolves shall enter in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them." (ASV); And at 2 Peter 2:1, "But there arose false prophets also among the people, as among you also there shall be false teachers, who shall privily bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master that bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction." (ASV); And at 1 Timothy 4:1-2, "But the Spirit saith expressly, that in later times some shall fall away from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 through the hypocrisy of men that speak lies, branded in their own conscience as with a hot iron;" (ASV).
A good example of a myth that was adopted as a false doctrine is the Trinity; why is this false doctrine so pervasive and ingrained that few any longer question where it came from or its legitimacy or lack thereof? It is due to a quark of history that many are ignorant of. It came about because in 325 A.D. a pagan Worshipper of the Unconquered Sun, Emperor Constantine wanted religious unity within his empire and cared naught for Bible truth. He called all the known bishops of the so called Christian church to a church council which he himself, a pagan at the time of the council - he claimed to became a Christian on his death bed, and through political prowess got the bishops to agree to incorporate into so called Christianity the principle belief of the pagans in a three-in-one god doctrine in rough form that declared coequality and coeternity for all parts/manifestations of this false doctrine. A historian, Will Durant, had this to say about this, "Christianity did not destroy paganism; it adopted it." [see APPENDIX, ITEM 3 FOR DETAILS].
In fact, the clergy class bear heavy responsibility for false teachings as shown at Matthew 23:13-15 & 33, "But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye shut the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye enter not in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering in to enter. 14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, even while for a pretence ye make long prayers: therefore ye shall receive greater condemnation. 15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he is become so, ye make him twofold more a son of hell than yourselves." (ASV); And at Ezekial 34:2-10, "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, even to the shepherds, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Woe unto the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the sheep? 3 Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill the fatlings; but ye feed not the sheep. 4 The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought back that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with rigor have ye ruled over them. 5 And they were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and they became food to all the beasts of the field, and were scattered. 6 My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my sheep were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and there was none that did search or seek `after them'. 7 Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of Jehovah: 8 As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, surely forasmuch as my sheep became a prey, and my sheep became food to all the beasts of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my sheep, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my sheep; 9 therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of Jehovah: 10 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my sheep at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the sheep; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; and I will deliver my sheep from their mouth, that they may not be food for them." (ASV).
The Bible also foretold that the majority of the people would want this type of false teaching by the religious leaders at 2 Timothy 4:3-4, "For the time will come when they will not endure the sound doctrine; but, having itching ears, will heap to themselves teachers after their own lusts; 4 and will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside unto fables." (ASV); And at Jeremiah 5:30-31, "A wonderful and horrible thing is come to pass in the land: 31 the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?" (ASV); And at John 3:19, "And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil." (ASV).
Clearly, worship that relies on the traditions of men is vain and God (YHWH) dishonoring as shown quite forcefully by Matthew 15:3-9, "And he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? 4 For God said, Honor thy father and thy mother: and, He that speaketh evil of father or mother, let him die the death. 5 But ye say, whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, That wherewith thou mightest have been profited by me is given `to God'; 6 he shall not honor his father. And ye have made void the word of God because of your tradition. 7 Ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, 8 This people honoreth me with their lips; But their heart is far from me. 9 But in vain do they worship me, Teaching `as their' doctrines the precepts of men." (ASV); And at Colossians 2:8, "Take heed lest there shall be any one that maketh spoil of you through his philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ:" (ASV).
See Part 3 - Discourse on Worship