VAIN WORSHIP: THEY HONOR ME WITH LIP SERVICE
(Message by Tanny Keng)
1. Vain Worship
Isaiah 29:13
"...these people draw near to me with their mouths, and honor me with their lips, yet have removed their hearts far from me. Moreover, their worship toward me is the doctrines of men."
a) Even by the time the Messiah had come, many religious leaders were false in their worship. God was honored in words, but insulted in practice. A stark example of this is the second occasion on which Jesus cleansed the temple by driving out those who were desecrating it. He said, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer' but you have made it a den of robbers" (Matthew 21:12-13, Isaiah 56:7).
b) There were two occasions on which Jesus drove people from the temple. The first is recorded in John 2:13-22, the second in Matthew 21:12-13.
c) Jesus showed great concern for the digression of his people from true worship and service to God into the hypocrisy and vanity of the religion they practiced. When he quotes Isaiah 29:13 in Matthew 15:7-9 he uses the translation, "In vain do they worship me..." When we look at Isaiah 29:13 we can identify three elements of the worship that made it vain.
2. They Honor Me With Lip Service
a) It is possible to repeat words in worship to God without participating in their meaning.
b) Perhaps you have occasionally found yourself in church singing a hymn, singing every word clearly, even enjoying the song, only to realize that you were not taking note of the words but thinking of something else. This makes you feel rather foolish before God, because you have been singing in worship to him by wrote, without thinking about what you are singing. Imagine if you worshiped like that all the time! How vain that worship would be.
c) Lip service means saying “YES” with your mouth but saying “NO” in your heart and by your actions. It is honoring God with your lips when your heart is far from him.
d) Words uttered by the mouth, however true, do not impress God if the speaker is not taking account of their meaning. Some religions have forms of words that are considered to have power in themselves. But true religion is taking account of what the word of God means, and believing it.
e) Imagine, for example, reciting the Apostles’ Creed or similar when you do not believe half of what it says, or reciting the Lord’s Prayer, "Our Father in Heaven..." when you do not believe there is a real Father in Heaven.
The End ...
1. Vain WorshipIsaiah 29:13
"...these people draw near to me with their mouths, and honor me with their lips, yet have removed their hearts far from me. Moreover, their worship toward me is the doctrines of men."
a) Even by the time the Messiah had come, many religious leaders were false in their worship. God was honored in words, but insulted in practice. A stark example of this is the second occasion on which Jesus cleansed the temple by driving out those who were desecrating it. He said, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer' but you have made it a den of robbers" (Matthew 21:12-13, Isaiah 56:7).
b) There were two occasions on which Jesus drove people from the temple. The first is recorded in John 2:13-22, the second in Matthew 21:12-13.
c) Jesus showed great concern for the digression of his people from true worship and service to God into the hypocrisy and vanity of the religion they practiced. When he quotes Isaiah 29:13 in Matthew 15:7-9 he uses the translation, "In vain do they worship me..." When we look at Isaiah 29:13 we can identify three elements of the worship that made it vain.
2. They Honor Me With Lip Service
a) It is possible to repeat words in worship to God without participating in their meaning.
b) Perhaps you have occasionally found yourself in church singing a hymn, singing every word clearly, even enjoying the song, only to realize that you were not taking note of the words but thinking of something else. This makes you feel rather foolish before God, because you have been singing in worship to him by wrote, without thinking about what you are singing. Imagine if you worshiped like that all the time! How vain that worship would be.
c) Lip service means saying “YES” with your mouth but saying “NO” in your heart and by your actions. It is honoring God with your lips when your heart is far from him.
d) Words uttered by the mouth, however true, do not impress God if the speaker is not taking account of their meaning. Some religions have forms of words that are considered to have power in themselves. But true religion is taking account of what the word of God means, and believing it.
e) Imagine, for example, reciting the Apostles’ Creed or similar when you do not believe half of what it says, or reciting the Lord’s Prayer, "Our Father in Heaven..." when you do not believe there is a real Father in Heaven.
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