DISCOVER
THE BIBLE
FOR YOURSELF
Lesson Five
COME! LET US ADORE
HIM!
NOTE: We humans tend to think that God should feel
obligated to take us to heaven. But, in fact, heaven is God's home, not
ours. He's got control of the front door, just as we do our own front
door. When someone knocks, it's up to him whether he wants to let them
in, just like in our own home. And if someone tries to sneak into heaven
through a back way, he's entitled to do whatever he wants to keep them out,
just as we are in our own home.
With this in mind, let us give thanks to God for all he has done, not only to
invite us into his holy home, but to make it all possible. It took him
centuries to accomplish, and the excruciating sacrifice of his own son.
We are so unworthy! We should daily fall at his feet and whisper,
"Thank you...."
1. What is worship? In the Old Testament, the Hebrew words
translated worship are "segad" and "shachah" which mean to
bow down, and "abad" which means to serve. In the New
Testament, the Greek words translated worship are "doxa" which means
esteem, "eusebeo" which means reverence, "proskun" which
means to kiss the hand, and "sebomai" which means to venerate.
Psalm 5:7-8 says with the _________________ of God we will worship. Psalm
29:2,3 says we should worship him in _______________ splendor. Psalm
99:4-5 says to ________________ God when we worship. (Not once does the
Bible say we should please ourselves when we worship God.)
2. Does God always notice our worship? God lamented in Isaiah 1:15
that when the Jews raised hands in ________________, he hid his ______________
from them, and would not ___________________. In Amos 5:21 & 23, God
said, "I _______________ your religious feats, I cannot stand your solemn
______________. Away with the _________________ of your
_______________________." They were worshipping right, but living
their everyday lives wrong.
3. Did you ever receive a gift that was what the giver
liked, not what you liked? sometimes our worship to God is like that.
In the O.T. when God sometimes punished people immediately to get their bad
influence out of the way, two priests used fire for an offering that God did
not (Leviticus 10:1-2) __________________________. So they died
instantly. In Numbers 20:7-8 God told Moses to ____ ____________ the rock
to get water for the people. Instead, verse 11 says Moses did what to the
rock? ____________________ As a result, God wouldn't let Moses enter the
Promised Land. In I Samuel 13:8 Priest Samuel told King Saul to wait for
him _________ days so he could offer a sacrifice. Verses 12-14 tell how
Saul offered the sacrifice instead. As a result, Saul's ____________ was
taken from him. God had said what he meant, and meant what he said.
Jesus warned in Matthew 15:9 that people worship in ____________ when they
follow rules made by _________. Colossians 2:23 says our worship can seem
right, but it is _________ worship created by false _______________. Paul
predicted in II Timothy 4:3 that people with _____________________ ears will gather
teachers around them who will promote what they want.
4. It is important to search for a congregation that believes in becoming
a Christian and worshipping in the New Testament pattern because Jesus said in
John 4:24 we must worship him in both spirit and _________________. If
your search fails, try to begin a congregation in your home. Jesus said
in Matthew 18:20 that where _______ or _______ are gathered together in his
name, he is there with them. But when should we worship, and how?
Below are some guidelines from the Bible for you.
5. Under the Law of Moses, worshippers kept the
(Deuteronomy 5:12,14) ____________________ day, which is the
___________________ day of the week. Since Jesus nailed the Law of Moses
to the cross (Colossians 2:14), we must search the N.T. after he returned to
heaven to find out when to meet. Acts 20:7 reports that the Christians
met on the _____________ day of the week, and I Corinthians 16:2 says God's
people met on the ____________ day of the week. What day of the week did
Jesus come back to life (Matthew 28:1-5)? ________________ Apparently
this is what the Apostle John was referring to when he saw the vision of heaven
(Revelation 1:10) on the _________________ Day.
6. PRAYER: James 5:14-16 says we are to pray for the __________.
We are also to pray for (I Timothy 2:1) all men, ______________________ and
those in ______________________. Paul asked the church at Thessalonica to
join in his struggle to spread the kingdom (II Thessalonians 3:1-3) by
______________ for him. Who is our intercessor (Hebrews 7:22,25)?
________________ All prayers are to be said in whose name (John 14:9,
13)? _______________
Perhaps you will want to allow time for people to give orally or in writing
their prayer requests. Jesus emphasized that the world would recognize
those to be his followers (John 13:35) who ____________ each other. Your
group might also wish to get a newspaper and pray for some of the people in all
that "negative news." Prayer takes time. Allow as much as
you need. This is you talking to God.
7. BIBLE READING: The apostle Paul urged Timothy
(I Timothy 4:13) to devote himself to the public ___________________ of
Scriptures. Congregations tend to spend much more (or all) their time
talking or singing ABOUT the Bible instead of actually reading it. In
your Bible, count the number of pages these books are:
_____ Galatians
_____ Ephesians
_____ Philippians
_____ Colossians
_____ II Thessalonians
_____ I Timothy
_____ II Timothy
_____ Titus
_____ Philemon
_____ James
_____ I Peter
_____ II Peter
_____ I John
_____ II John
_____ III John
_____ Jude
These could all be read in their entirety without comment.
Or you may wish to have someone read every scripture in the Bible on any short
topic. Don't neglect it. This is God talking to you.
8. GOOD WORKS: In Hebrews 10:24-25 God told us to not stop
___________________________ together so we can encourage each other with
____________ and ____________________________. Jesus explained in Matthew
25:34-40 that we are blessed when we feed the ___________________, provide a
drink to the ________________, give clothes to the ________________, and visit
people in __________________. Indeed he said, "Whatever you did to
the least of these may ____________ you did it to ________." Most
assemblies of the church consider mention of those with needs as just "the
announcements" so rush through them. We must not. People
attending should take pad and pencil and be prepared to write down someone's
need to help with during the week.
9. LORD'S SUPPER: Acts 20:6-7 says Paul and his friends arrived in
Troas and stayed _____ days. It was not until the ____________ day of the
week that they finally assembled, and then it was to do what?
______________________________________. Notice, they assembled in order
TO break bread (the Lord's Supper, Holy Communion). It was the primary
purpose of their assembly. How often did they meet on Sunday?
Quarterly? Yearly? In the O.T. when it said to remember the Sabbath
Day to keep it holy, which Sabbath Day did they keep? __________________
Just think? Easter every Sunday! Later, in verse 11, they broke
bread in a different way, for they "ate," indicating an early
breakfast on Monday (after the midnight sermon).
I Corinthians 11:23-25 says we are to
________________________ Jesus' sacrifice during the Lord's Supper. In so
doing, verse 26 says we are preaching a silent sermon to each other.
Verse 27 does not say we are to be worthy of taking the Lord's Supper, but we
are to do it in a ___________________ manner ~ remembering Jesus' sacrifice in
our place. A related thing we are to do is (verse 28, 31-32) make this
our weekly self-________________________ and not leave judging us up to God.
Just thinking of the ways we sinned the previous week makes us even more
grateful to Jesus. (NOTE: Do we have to have an official of the
church hand the emblems to us? No example of it anywhere in God's Word.)
10. OFFERING: We are told in I Corinthians 16:1-2 to set aside
money in proportion to our ____ _________________. God says in II
Corinthians 9:7 we are to give what each of us has __________
_____________ in his own heart, but does not list a percentage as does the Old
Testament. The only time tithing is mentioned in the N.T. is once while
Jesus was still living under the O.T. (remember, he nailed the old Law of Moses
to the cross). A close study of giving in the O.T. reveals that the
average Jew actually gave about a third of his income.
11. SINGING: It seems as though music has taken over our worship to
the sad neglect of praying, reading the Bible, and keeping the Lord's Supper.
Let us first look at music in the O.T. that Jesus nailed to the cross
(Colossians 2:13-15). There are two kinds of music - singing and playing.
I Chronicles 15:16 says what tribe was appointed (ordained) to play
instruments? ________________ Seen any Levites lately? Verses 19-21
list what three instruments to be played during their worship? ______________________________________________________________________________________
These same instruments are repeated throughout the O.T. (I Chronicles 16:4-6,
42; 25:6) indicating they were the only ones authorized by God (see II
Chronicles 29:25) in his worship.
Not only were performers to be Levites, but they were
required (I Chronicles 16:37 & 23:30; also Nehemiah 11:22-23) to play every
_______________. Further, the Temple had to provide living quarters for
them (Nehemiah 10:28, 39), and put them on the payroll (Nehemiah 12:45-47).
That's O.T. worship.
Look up Matthew 26:30 and Mark 14:26. Did Jesus sing, play, or both?
______________________ Romans 15:9 says Christians ___________ hymns to
God's name. I Corinthians 14:15 says we will both pray and
_________________ with our spirit and mind. Ephesians 5:19 says
Christians are to speak to each other by ______________________ and making
music on (the strings of) our heart. Colossians 3:16 says we are to
__________ with grace in our hearts. Hebrews 2:12 says we are to
___________. James 5:13 says we are to _________________.
Your concordance lists no instance of playing an instrument as part of worship
on earth in the Christian era. since God went into such detail in the
O.T. to specify playing, which instruments, and who were to play, do you think
he forgot to mention it in the N.T.? The encyclopedia states that
instruments were not introduced into worship until the late 7th century, and
were not even generally accepted until the 18th century.
12. ORGANIZATION: Although Peter wrote two books in the Bible,
never did he call himself pope. The apostle John lived longer than any
apostle, wrote five books of the N.T., yet never called himself archbishop.
I Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9 explain overseers/pastors/elders/bishops
(all the same office in Greek and list of qualifications). Among other
things, they must have (I Timothy 3:2) one ____________. I Timothy 3:8-13
explains deacons, including having (I Timothy 3:12) one ____________.
These are the only offices we are told about in the N.T. for the church.
Very simple.
CONGRATULATIONS!
You have just completed this entire course, "Discover the Bible
for Yourself." We hope you have enjoyed it and that it has helped
your general understanding of the Bible. You are a good student, or
you would not have stuck with it.
If you are interested in doing another course, most of them consist of 8-12
lessons. The life of Christ and activities of the Apostles are fairly
simple, partly because they do not jump around the Bible as much as this course
has. They mostly follow down the line in order by chapter and verse.
Also the Letters of the Apistles are like this.
Again, Congratulations!