<%@LANGUAGE="JAVASCRIPT" CODEPAGE="1252"%> Untitled Document How To Know If Our Worship Is Accepted By God
We all want to be accepted in our world.
But foremost in our minds should be the thought that God accepts us.
Let us find out how.

Introduction
Worship is a system of adoration towards a deity or supreme being.
There are many types of worship—pagan, idol, people, things, self, and vain worship.
We learn from the Bible that there is a true form of worship, and that is the kind we need to concentrate upon.
Often times, man decides how to worship his god.
What we will attempt to do in this sermon is to show what God wants from us in our worship.
We need to learn how our worship is accepted by God.
We need to know that our faith is right, and will produce for us the desired reward of heaven.
Genesis 4:3-5
“So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the LORD of the fruit of the ground. And Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering; but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell”.
Hebrews 11:4
“By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks.
From these passages we learn that God does care about how we worship Him.

Some Facts
We do not read of the instructions for worship in Genesis.
However in Hebrews we see that Abel acted by faith.
And Faith comes from the word of God –
Romans 10:17
Apparently Cain did not act by faith.
So we can conclude by logic that their father, Adam had received instructions from God, and had revealed God’s will to his sons.

How To Determine God’s Will Today
In order to be accepted of God, we must have faith (Hebrews 11:6).
But not any faith will do.
It must be an obedient faith (Acts 10:35).
Faith that moves us to DO what He commands.
We also need to worship in spirit and truth as well as from the heart (John 4:24).

An Example To Help Us See This Principle
Lost Dog: Looking for lost dog. Medium size, tan with white markings, Boxer-pit mix, answers to the name Fred. Reward if found and returned.
Obviously my will is that Fred be brought back to me, and I am willing to make a sacrifice to get him back.
Now I wait until I have a knock on the door, and here is what people have brought to me in hopes of receiving a reward:

A Black Pit Bull Terrier
So it is a dog, it has four legs, and it is a pit, so I should get the reward, right?
Must we remind you that the ad called for a pit, boxer mix that was tan with white markings?
Is this acceptable to me?
No way,
Yet people use logic that demands God reward them because they made a partial effort.

A Poodle
Another person brings a cute little white poodle dog, and asks for the reward.
Do they get the money?
It is a dog, and that is what was in the ad. So, I should give them the reward, right?
Bringing part of what God wants does not bring all of what God wants.
But people still expect God to accept what they want to offer.

A Pig
Well, it looks like a dog. It has four legs and a tail. It is breathing so “do I get the reward?
While this may seem absurd, it is how men reason, and how they treat God.
They don’t care about the details, they just care about the reward.
This is what happens when we substitute what has been specified with something not mentioned.
A table has four legs.

Does It Really Matter?
Even if the dog is a boxer-pit mix, I know my dog, and if any animal is brought to me that is not Fred, I will reject it.
Imagine a person knocks on the door and says he found my dog, but the dog did not want to come, but since he found the dog, he deserves the reward. Will that work for me?
That is like these people who claim to have found the Lord, but refuse to give up their lifestyle.

Does It Really Matter To You?
God will reject anything that is not rightfully His.
Can you imagine if your child was taken from you, and you were brought back a different child.
Would that be acceptable to you?
God gave us Jesus as the only way
(John 14:6), yet people try to find God without Jesus.

God Rejects Wrong Worship
Isaiah 1:10-15
Malachi 1:6-9
Hosea 6:4-10
God rejects worship that is not according to His command.
Those mentioned in the above passages were guilty of continued sin, and were choosing to continue in sin, rather than repent and return unto God.

God Has Told Us What He Wants
To worship Him in spirit and truth – John 4:24
To worship Him is to love Him – heart, soul, mind, strength – Mark 12:30
Jesus said: “If you love me, you will keep My commandments”. – John 14:15
Jesus instructed the Holy Spirit to guide the apostles, and the early church into all truth.
Thus we have the apostles doctrine.
Thus we have the examples of the early church.
Thus, when we read the scriptures, we can know what God wants.
So why do we follow men who make up their own rules and expect God to just take whatever man sends His way?

Conclusion
So much more could be said about acceptable worship, and that would take many sermons.
The point of this lesson is to show that God will not just accept any worship.
God will only accept the worship He has specified.
All other worship is in vain.

By Carey Scott

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