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Divine Worship to Be Given to Jesus Christ
(1)
Matt 28:9—“And
as they went to tell his disciples, behold
Jesus met them, saying, All hail.
And they came and held him by the feet, and
worshipped him.”
Luke 24:52—“And
they worshipped him
and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.”
Matt. 14:33—“Then
they that were in the ship came and
worshipped him,
saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.” (Compare
Acts. 10:25,
26—“And
as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and
worshipped him.
But Peter took him up, saying,
Stand up; I myself also am a man.”)
Rev. 22:8,
9—“And
I John saw these things and heard them. And when I had heard and seen I fell
down to worship
before the feet of the angel which showed me these things. Then saith he unto
me, See thou do it not:
for I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren, the prophets, and of them
which keep the sayings of this book:
worship God.”
Matt. 4:9,
10—“And
saith unto him, All these things will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and
worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is
written thou shalt worship
the Lord thy God, and him only
shalt thou serve.”
FIRST PROPOSITION:
Jesus Christ accepted without hesitation a worship which good men and angels
declined with fear (horror).
Question:
Is not the verb translated “worship” in these passages, sometimes used of
reverence paid to men in high position?
Answer:
Yes, but not in this way by worshipers of Jehovah, as is seen by the way in
which both Peter and the angel drew back when such worship was offered to
them.
(2)
1 Cor. 1:2—“Unto
the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ
Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place
call upon the name of Jesus Christ
our Lord, both theirs and
ours.”
2 Cor. 12:8,
9—“For
this thing I besought the
Lord thrice, that it might
depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for
my strength
is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my
infirmities, that the
power of Christ may rest
upon me.”
Acts. 7:59—“And
they stoned Stephen,
calling upon the Lord,
and saying, Lord Jesus
receive my spirit.”
SECOND PROPOSITION:
Prayer is to be made to Christ.
(3)
Ps. 45:11—“So
shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy
Lord;
and worship thou him.”
Jno. 5:23—“That
all men should honor the son,
even as they honor the father.
He that honoreth not the son honoreth not the father which hath sent him.”
(Compare Rev.
5:8,
9,
12,
13—“And
when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell
down before the lamb,
having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odors, which are the
prayers of saints. And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take
the book and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed
us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and
nation. Saying, with a loud voice, Worthy is the lamb that was slain to
receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and
blessing. And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth, and under
the earth, and such as are in the sea and all that are in them, heard I
saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth
upon the throne, and unto
the Lamb for ever and
ever.”)
THIRD PROPOSITION:
It is God the Father’s will that all men pay the same divine honor to the son
as to himself.
(4)
Heb. 1:6—“And
again, when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he saith, And
let all the angels of God
worship him.”
Phil. 2:10,
11—“That
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in
earth, and things under the earth: And that every tongue should confess that
Jesus Christ is
Lord
to the glory of God the Father.” (Compare
Is. 45:21–23.
Where it is unto Jehovah that every knee is to bow, etc.”)
FOURTH PROPOSITION:
The Son of God, Jesus, is to be worshipped as God by angels and men.
GENERAL PROPOSITION:
Jesus Christ is a person to be worshipped by angels and men, even as God the
Father is worshipped.
Summary:
By the use of numerous Divine names, by the ascription of all the
distinctively Divine attributes, by the predication of several Divine offices,
by referring statements which in the Old Testament distinctly name Jehovah God
as their subject to Jesus Christ
in the New Testament, by coupling the name of
Jesus Christ with that of God
the Father in a way in which it would be impossible to couple that of any
finite being with that of the Deity, and by the clear teaching that
Jesus Christ should be
worshipped, even as God the Father is worshipped—in all these unmistakable
ways, God in His word distinctly proclaims that Jesus Christ is a Divine
Being, is God.
Note:
Whoever refuses to accept
Jesus
as his Divine Savior and
Lord
is guilty of the enormous sin of rejecting God. A man often thinks he is good
because he never stole or never murdered or never cheated. “Of what great sin
am I guilty?” he complacently asks. “You are guilty of the awful, damning sin
of rejecting God,” we reply. But suppose one questions or denies His divinity.
That does not change the fact nor lessen his guilt. Questioning or denying a
fact never changes it. Suppose that one denies the goodness of a man who is in
fact the soul of honor. It would not alter the fact but simply make the
questioner guilty of awful slander. So denying the fact of the Deity of
Jesus
Christ does not make it any
less a fact, but it does make the denier guilty of awful blasphemous slander.
Torrey, R. A. (1898). What the Bible
teaches a thorough and comprehensive study of what the Bible has to say
concerning the great doctrines of which it treats (81). New York,
Chicago [etc.: Fleming H. Revell company.
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