Worshipper

“ He said that it was not understood with them that a person bowing before a likeness or a picture of a saint did so with the intention of worshipping that saint or picture; but that the design was to inspire in the heart of the worshipper a disposition to emulate the virtuous deeds and good actions of that saint. ”

“ The theory of worship which prevailed through mediæval Christendom—the belief that the worshipper assisted only at rites wrought for him by priestly hands, at a sacrifice wrought through priestly intervention, at the offering of prayer and praise by priestly lips—was now set at naught. The laity, it has been picturesquely said, were called up into the chancel. The act of devotion became a common prayer of the whole body of worshippers. The Mass became a Communion of the whole Christian fellowship. ”

“ WORSHIP. O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth.—Psalm xcvi. 9.
In vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.—Mark, vii. 7.
But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.—John, iv. 23.
First worship God; he that forgets to pray
Bids not himself good-morrow nor good-day:
Let thy first labour be to purge thy sin,
And serve Him first, whence all things did begin. ”

“ I believe that whatever is meant as an act of devotion to God, or as an acknowledgment of His greatness and glory, whether expressed by the simple prayer of a Covenanter on the hill-side or by the ceremonies of a Catholic priesthood, or even by the prostrations of a Mahometan, or by the self-torture of a Hindoo, may and ought to inspire us with respect and with a devout feeling, at least when the worshippers themselves are pious and sincere. ”

“ I wish, in the light of these illustrations of what worship means, to note the thought that a great many men conscientious, earnest, simple who have never been accustomed to think of themselves as religious, and perhaps would deny it if a friend suggested to them that they had in them the possibilities of worship, that perhaps they are worshippers, even if they know it not. ”

“ Its aim is to please the deity, and if the deity is one who delights in charity and mercy and purity more than in oblations of blood, the chanting of hymns, and the fumes of incense, his worshippers will best please him, not by prostrating themselves before him, by intoning his praises, and by filling his temples with costly gifts, but by being pure and merciful and charitable towards men, for in so doing they will imitate, so far as human infirmity allows, the perfections of the divine nature. ”

“ Even devout worshippers, who confined their adorations to the one true God, sometimes thought they did honour to Him by introducing into His services the images and all the paraphernalia of the splendid cults of the great heathen empires. ”

“ Where these principles animate the worshippers, they will be governed by them also in daily life; their whole life will be a service and sacrifice well-pleasing in the sight of God, and what are called their “acts of worship” will not be artificial flowers stuck on to dead and rotting branches for their adornment, but sweet, natural blossoms, upon which God will smile, and which He will pronounce ”very good.” ”

“ In almost all ages worshippers of idols have put to shame the worshippers of God, by their fidelity to their convictions, the scrupulousness of their observance of the rites which they have esteemed religious, and the greatness of the cost at which they have done honour to their gods. ”

“ To this sacerdotal devotion, there necessarily attach certain characteristic sentiments, both moral and religious, which give it a distinctive influence on human character, and adapt it to particular stages of civilization. It clearly severs the worshippers by one remove from God. ”

“ Worshippers as well as preachers may, however, be so tempted. They [318] may sing with a gratified sense of exhibiting a good voice. They may find greater pleasure in what is sensational in worship than in what is simple and intelligible. ”

“ The illusion is strengthened by the multitude of stalactites which hang from the roof of the cavern and, glittering in the fitful glow of the torches, might be taken for burning cressets kindled to light up the revels in a baronial hall, or for holy lamps twinkling in the gloom of a dim cathedral aisle before holy images, where solitary worshippers kneel in silent devotion. ”

“ But when night had fallen, the sorrow of the worshippers was turned to joy. For suddenly a light shone in the darkness: the tomb was opened: the god had risen from the dead; and as the priest touched the lips of the weeping mourners with balm, he softly whispered in their ears the glad tidings of salvation. ”

“ The priests are deceiving you. You ought to come and worship God."
"You say I ought to worship God. I do worship heaven. We all ought to worship heaven and earth."
"I do not want you to worship heaven, but the Creator of heaven and earth. There is no God beside Him."
"But I have not seen Him. I do not know Him."
"No, you cannot see Him, for He is a Spirit; but He sees you, and He supplies your need every day by sending the rain and sunshine when needed. And better still, He will forgive your sins. He is the only one who can forgive sins." ”

“ It enables every one who comes into the church to be a worshiper. It gives to each one his part. It makes no distinctions. High and low, rich and poor, have equal share in the service. It teaches to worship reverently, and in spirit and in truth. "Everything in the Prayer-Book is solemn, humble, reverential, as it respects man, and ennobling and glorifying as it respects God." And this is meet and right. For, as has been truly said, "Worship is the concentration and consecration of whatever is noble in the world. ”

“ We must either love God, or hate Him, or be indifferent to Him; we must either trust, or distrust Him. I do not see how the people who would sever worship from all reference to human relations can look upon it as other than a mere homage of the lips or knees, a going to church, and attendance at religious services. Need I say that, when I define worship, I am defining the worship of the heart, not the attitude of those who honour God with their lips but whose heart is far from Him? ”

“ The angel (such are the words of that ancient defender of the true faith) , in the Apocalypse, forbids John, when desiring to worship him, saying, 'See thou {56} do it not; I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them who keep the sayings of this book. Worship God.' Therefore, to be the object of worship belongs to God only; and this even the angels themselves know: though they surpass others in glory, but they are all creatures, and are not among objects of worship, but among those who worship the sovereign Lord. ”

“ They are offering to God the most acceptable worship; for how can we more truly glorify our Father in the heavens, than by diligently occupying ourselves about our Father's business?—employing the powers bestowed by Him, in serving and blessing our fellow men?—working under the promptings of his unselfish love, and the guiding light of his revealed wisdom? "hervein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit." This—the faithful performance of uses from the love of use—is regarded in heaven as the truest worship. ”

“ Jesus Christ to be Worshipped, Hence God: Jesus Christ is to be worshipped by men and angels; and worship is an honor to be paid only to true Deity. The angels of heaven refuse the adoration we call worship. ”

“ In our worship there would be the inoffensive absence of some views dear to you: in your worship there would be the actual presence of some views most painful to us. In our worship, you would hear addressed that Great Spirit whom you, too, adore and seek: in your worship, we should hear addressed, as God, him whom we revere and follow, as the image of God, the man Christ Jesus. In our worship, you would find deficiencies only; in yours, we should find what, to us, is positively objectionable, religion materialized and the Deity distributed into persons. ”

“ Now you know, worship is proper only to God.' Worship him that made heaven and earth, and the sea,' said the angel, Rev. xiv. 7. Worship only is proper to God alone. Now, beloved, all the acts of worship that belong to God the Father, are given to the Son Jesus Christ, both angels and men are commanded to worship him, as well as we, Heb. i. 6. Let all the angels of God worthip him;' And in Phil. ii. 10. 'That at the name of Jesus every knee fhould bow, both of all things in heaven and on earth;' mark sirs, things in heaven, as well as things on the earth, must worship Christ ”

“ We are the true adorers and true priests, who, praying in the spirit, in the spirit sacrifice prayer, proper and acceptable to God, which, assuredly, He has required, which He has looked forward to for Himself. This victim, devoted from the whole heart, fed on faith, tended by truth, entire in innocence, pure in chastity, garlanded with love [agape] , we ought to escort with the pomp of good works, amid psalms and hymns, unto God's altar, to obtain all things from God for us. ”

“ For though they worship not the same idols, they worship Christ with the same heart: and they can never do otherwise, whilst they live in the same lusts. So that the unmortified Christian and the heathen are of the same religion. For though they have different objects to which they do direct their prayers, that adoration in both is but forced and ceremonious, and the deity they truly worship is the god of the world, the great lord of lusts: to him they bow with the whole powers of soul and sense. ”

“ All acceptable worship must be undertaken and performed by the immediate moving of the Holy Spirit, which is neither limited to places, times, nor persons; and therefore all outward significations of Divine worship, unmoved by secret inspiration, which man sets about in his own will, 627and can both begin and end at his pleasure, all acts of worship thus mis-qualified, consisting either in prayers, praises, or preaching, prescribed, premeditated, or extempore, are no better than superstitions, will-worship, and abominable idolatry in the sight of God. ”

“ Here is a supreme priest who believes God to be—what, in the name of God, does he believe God to be?—and discerns that all worship of God is a scenic phantasmagory of wax candles, organ blasts, Gregorian chants, mass-brayings, purple monsignori, wool-and-iron rumps, artistically spread out, to save the ignorant from worse.... ”

“ The prophet said,
"All that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb." Rev. 13:8.
While worldly influence and the voice of popular religion exalt this ecclesiastical power and give glory to it, the gospel message calls all men to worship God. [Pg 250]
"Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come: and worship Him.... If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark, [I] ... the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God."
The issue, it is clear, involves the question of authority. ”

“ O angels of the clergy, who have the eternal Gospel to preach, present their words, their actions, and their intentions to God, and purify them in that fire of love which consumes you. Angels of infidels, whom the true faith has never enlightened, intercede for them; that, practising what they know, they may at length discover the hidden secrets of the kingdom of God. O angels of all those who, throughout the world, are deprived of religious instruction, open for them some source of salvation; raise up some one to break for them the bread of the Word. ”

“ For if they worship, and honour with the name of worship, the heathen—those who in their heathen wickedness deny even the name of God—and yet do not worship them as their maker, as though they worshipped them alone, and so do not sin; how much more does it become us to worship and honour Jesus, Who converted our stubborn minds from all worship of vain error, and taught us to worship and serve and minister to the one God, our Father and our Maker. ”

“ But it finds its expression in worship, for worship is the Godward aspect of life. It expresses, it emphasizes, it helps to make permanent the feelings that mould life. It is the recognition that our life comes from God: that it has been redeemed by God; it is the quiet joyous resting upon the facts of His love; it is the conscious spiritual offering of our life to God; it is the adoration of His majesty. This worship the Church leads and organizes. ”

“ Therefore there is a difference between the prayer to God and the invocation of the saints. We pray to God asking Him to help us by His omnipotence: we pray to the saints to help us by their intercession with God.
Our veneration of the saints should consist, primarily, in the imitation of their virtues. It is truly profitable only when we are intent upon following their example; for only by imitating their virtues shall we share their eternal bliss in heaven. ”

“ The paying divine adoration to angels and saints, expressly contrary to God's commands, and derogatory to his honour, who alone ought to be worshipped in heaven and earth; and to worship any other, either saint or angel, or any creature, is idolatry, and a breach of the second commandment. ”

“ The people cried out at this wonder, the gods have come down to us, and when the rumour reached the High Priest that the gods had come to their city, he drove out two oxen, garlanded, and would have sacrificed them in our honour, but we tore our garments, saying, we are men like yourselves and have come to preach that you should turn from vanities and false gods and worship the one true living God, who created the earth, and all the firmament. ”

“ The record of their writings strengthens the witness to the faith once delivered to the saints, and binds us to loyalty to that which has stood the test of ages. They, 'the general assembly and church of the firstborn enrolled in heaven,' themselves, we believe, worship God with a purer worship than ours; the thought of their presence in worship, as we join with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven, lifts our hearts to a wider, more spiritual adoration. ”