An Alphabetical Analysis
Volume 5 - Dispensational Truth - Page 316 of 328
INDEX
brother Abel, he might have enjoyed like acceptance with Abel, and have
avoided the murderer's curse.  Those who see in Ezekiel 28 something more
than a reference to an ordinary King of Tyre, may perceive that an attack
upon true worship, a usurpation of Divine prerogative, lies behind the
judgment that caused the chaos of Genesis 1:2.
Coming to the end of the Sacred Volume and viewing the crisis and
conflict there depicted, it can be truthfully asserted that it is mainly a
conflict between true and false worship.  Worship lies in the forefront of
the ten commandments and is found in every section of the inspired
Scriptures.  The heart of the redeemed responds to the call:
`O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our
Maker' (Psa. 95:6).
Redemption, the gospel, prophecy, dispensational truth, are the outer
court of the Temple of Truth, but the inner shrine, the goal towards which
the whole purpose of the ages leads, namely, `that God may be all in all', is
the summing up in word and in fact of all that acceptable worship means.  A
theme that is so near the centre of all truth should therefore receive from
all who love the Lord the most earnest and prayerful attention, for if we are
right here, we have a corrective against all other evils, doctrinal,
dispensational and practical.  On the other hand, if we are wrong here, we
may be wrong all along the line.
In every argument or study it is a necessity that terms be defined.  We
must arrive at a clear, Scriptural understanding of what the word `worship'
means and all that the term connotes.  The inspired Scriptures were not given
in our mother tongue, but in Hebrew, Chaldee and Greek, yet, upon
examination, the English word `worship' itself will yield its quota.
The meaning of the word `worship'.  The reader will not need a long
explanation concerning the qualifying suffix, `ship', which is used in such
words as `fellowship', `discipleship', or in the less familiar form as in
`landscape'.  The word `worship' comes from the Anglo -Saxon weordhscipe,
`worth', or `worthy', with the added suffix, and primarily means
acknowledgment of `worth', wherever found.  Formerly the word `worship' was
not so restricted as it is now, e.g., Wycliffe gives a startling rendering of
John 12:26, `If any man serve Me, My Father shall worship him'! a usage of
the word that would now not be tolerated.  In our A.V., however, we still
read, `thou shalt have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with
thee' (Luke 14:10).  The Church of England marriage service contains the
words, to be uttered by the bridegroom, `with my body I thee worship', yet,
not idolatry, but recognition of the high place of honour in which the
husband holds the woman who has given herself so wholly into his keeping is
intended.  We still speak of a magistrate as `your worship', and of certain
Guilds as a `worshipful' company, without transgressing either Bible teaching
or good taste.  In all these usages the primary meaning, `worthy -ship', is
retained.  In every act of worship there is either expressed or implied the
sentiment, `Thou art worthy', and, commensurately with the advancing ranks in
the scale of being and holiness of those to whom this recognition is
addressed, will the `worship' offered grow richer, fuller and more exclusive.
All this however but skims the surface of meaning.  The only words that can
unfold the mind of God in this, and all other matters of truth, are the
inspired words of Holy Writ.