Is
Worshiping Jesus Biblical?
Well, praise Jesus, I want to talk about this
topic. Give me just a second here, guys. I'm going to get to a place where I
have a bit better reception. Let's see here. I'm going to give this just a
minute here to see if I'll have enough bandwidth. There’re some places where I
can stream, and it works well and some are not as good. So we'll go up the
hill. Let's go.
Hi
everyone, I want to talk about this topic of should Christians worship Jesus,
because on and off you'll hear Christians say, you know, Jesus is the Son of
God and we don't worship the Son, we just worship the Father. Anyone who says
this is extremely ignorant. They obviously don't know the scriptures and they
definitely don't know Jesus because if they did know Jesus, they would know
that He's worthy of worship. And if they knew the scriptures, they would know
that the scriptures bear witness of the worship of Jesus Christ and that it is
not idolatry. Jesus is not just a man, even though He's the Son of Man, but the
Son of God is God. And I want to show you this from the scriptures.
First
off, though, I want to, yeah, most of the people that deny that Jesus is the
Son of God or God or that He should be worshipped are Jehovah's Witnesses. I've
run into quite a few of those guys and they definitely deny that Jesus is
worthy to be worshipped. But Christians are also doing it, even Baptists. When
I was in the Baptist church, guys, there would be pastors who would say and
believe that we shouldn't pray to Jesus, that Jesus can't hear our prayers. They
would say Jesus is not worthy to be worshipped. He just came to show us the
right way. In college, they'd spread that kind of nonsense also. But I want to
show you from the scriptures today how Jesus was worshipped. But first, before
we start, I want to read one of the false proof texts that the Jehovah's
Witnesses use to try to show that Jesus shouldn't be worshipped. And it's all
mixed up, obviously. But this is found in Revelation, chapter 22. And what they
say is that Jesus said, don't worship me, but worship God the Father. And
basically, they put a few of Jesus' words together with a poor translation to
get this. But this is found in Revelation chapter 22. It's in verse 6-11. I'm
going to read it right now.
It says,
Then he said to me, “These words are faithful and true.” And the Lord God of
the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must
shortly take place.
Now,
let me back up for a minute. This is John on Patmos. This is the revelation of
Jesus Christ in the book of Revelation. And throughout this book, an angel has
been speaking to John in this revelation. This angel, over and over again, says
that he is not Jesus. And again, this angel here will say that he's not Jesus.
But because some of Jesus' words are in this chapter, then they correlate the
words of Jesus as being this angel. So look what it says, Verse 6, Then he said
to me, “These words are faithful and true.” And the Lord God of the holy
prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take
place. 7 “Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the
prophecy of this book.”
So you could say that that is Jesus speaking
there. But then verse 8, Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I
heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed
me these things. So people assume that this angel in verse 8 is the same person
who spoke the words in verse 7, which was Jesus. And then they say, verse 9, (is
Jesus saying don't worship Him?) Then he said to me, “See that
you do not do that(, meaning fall down in worship). For I am your fellow servant,
and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this
book. Worship God.” 10And he said to me, “Do not seal the words of the prophecy
of this book, for the time is at hand. 11He who is unjust, let him be unjust
still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him
be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still.” So you basically
see this angel speaking to John, some of the words of Jesus there. And then you
see people who are trying to make Jesus seem like He is just a man, say, look,
Jesus Himself said, don't worship me, worship the Father. So you can see how
they can come to that conclusion.
I want
to point out a few things though that are enlightening. One thing about this is
this same angel uses these things throughout Revelation here. So I want you to
compare with me what this angel says in chapter 22 compared to Revelation 19
verse 10. So if you go back to Revelation 19 verse 10, it says, And I fell at
his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “See that you do not do that! I am
your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus, worship
God, for the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy.” Obviously, these
words are exactly the same as we just read in Revelation 22. This fellow says
it in the same way. But then you see clearly that whoever this fellow is cannot
be Jesus. Because why would Jesus say that He is the brethren and that He has
the testimony of Jesus? So clearly this is an angel. It is the angelic
messenger speaking to John when he says “I am your fellow servant and of your
brethren”. Whoever this was, was most likely originally a person because he was
part of the brethren.
Another
Christian, another disciple that died, someone that he sees in this revelation.
And then he just says, you know, we're the ones that have the testimony of
Jesus Christ. I have the testimony of Jesus Christ. You have a testimony for
Jesus Christ if you are with the Lord. But that doesn't mean we are Jesus. And
obviously this angel is not Jesus. You also see the same thing in... Let's see
here. Okay, so these examples here basically just show that we should not be
bowing down to men. But we bow down to God. Now there are some people that say
that, for example, doubting Thomas when he bowed down to Jesus and he said, you
know, my Lord and my God. Because I believe that to be a very wonderful text
that displays that we can worship Jesus. But they will say, well, he wasn't
falling down and worshipping Jesus. And if he was, he was just misled. And
Thomas was just saying “my Lord and my God”, meaning, you know, how powerful is
God in heaven that He would raise His son from the dead. So they try to
basically smudge the truth in all of this, guys. They will even say that when
the wise men came to worship Jesus that the word “worship” is a different word.
It doesn't really mean worship. But all throughout the scriptures, guys, from
the time Jesus was a baby, even talking about Jesus in the Old Testament, you
have people that came to worship Jesus Christ or talked about the worship. And
if you think all of these people were just misled or it was a poor translation,
I want to open your eyes to the truth of this, that these men were not just
misled. The people that bowed down and worshipped Jesus or worshipped Jesus
when he was a baby, like the wise men, for example, they were not just misled. And,
you know, once they get to heaven, they will be correct.
And if
you don't believe me, I want you to look with me at Revelation chapter 5,
because it shows what happens in heaven with the worship of Jesus. So this is
found in Revelation chapter 5. I'm just going to start at the beginning here. It
says, 1And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll
written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. 2Then I saw a strong
angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and to
loose its seals?” 3And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was
able to open the scroll, or to look at it. 4So I wept much, because no one was
found worthy to open and read the scroll, or to look at it. 5But one of the
elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the
Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.”
If you
know anything about prophecy and the prophets and the lineage of Jesus, you
know that when it's saying the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David,
you know prophetically this is speaking about no other than the Lamb of God,
Jesus Christ. So we're not talking about God the Father here. We're not talking
about some other prophet. We're talking specifically about Jesus Christ, the
Son of God. So look with me at chapter 5 verse 6. 6And I looked, and behold, in
the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of
the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and
seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
7Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the
throne. 8Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the
twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb.
So they
fell down to worship the Lamb. They fell down to worship Jesus. And by the way,
this is not happening on earth, but this is happening in heaven. So this is
being ordained and approved in heaven, not just on earth by men.
So
they're each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the
prayers of the saints. 9And they sang a new song, saying:
“You
are worthy to take the scroll,
And to
open its seals;
For You
were slain,
And
have redeemed us to God by Your blood.
Obviously
only Jesus did that. Jesus only redeemed us by His blood on the cross. He
resurrected from the dead.
Out of every tribe and tongue and people and
nation,
10And
have made us kings and priests to our God;
And we
shall reign on the earth.”
11Then
I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living
creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten
thousand, and thousands of thousands, 12saying with a loud voice:
“Worthy
is the Lamb who was slain
To
receive power and riches and wisdom,
And
strength and honor and glory and blessing!”
This is
the worship of God, guys. This is the worship of the Lamb, Jesus Christ. Only
the ignorant would say you worship Jesus. Then listen to this13And 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, I heard saying:
“Blessing
and honor and glory and power
Be to
Him who sits on the throne,
And to
the Lamb, forever and ever!”
14Then
the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down
and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever.
This is Jesus Christ, and you see all heaven
and all earth, all creatures, worshipping Jesus Christ. You have this in the
scriptures. This is throughout the scriptures. This is not just misled men,
guys, who are on earth worshipping the baby Jesus or Jesus when he's 30 years
old. This is found throughout the Scriptures. The prophets worshipped Jesus.
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob worshipped Jesus. David worshipped Jesus. The Psalms
were recorded and written about Jesus. Isaiah 53 is about Jesus Christ. Don't
believe any liars that tell you can't pray to Jesus, that you don't worship
him. Obviously, they don't know the scriptures, and obviously, they have never
met Jesus Christ. Don't listen to these heretics. If you want life, there is
only one name that is given that can save you from your sins, pull you up from
the grave and restore you to God, and that is our high priest who is in heaven.
This is the Lamb of God who shed his blood for you. His name is Jesus Christ.
Will
you worship Him? Will you praise Him? And will you allow Him to save you from
your sins? Yeah, guys, if the signal was too bad, I can make this message
again. I can review it to see where the signal was too poor. But if the message
is breaking up a lot, obviously, we can make it again. But if the message is
breaking up a lot, obviously, we can make it again. But if the message is
breaking up a lot, obviously, we can make it again. But let me pray for those
of you who want prayer, and for those that do want to worship the Lord. “Lord
Jesus, I pray for the body of Christ in your name, that people can come out of
sin, that they would come out of deception, like the deception that is in the
churches today. People that don't know you, Lord, I pray that people can truly
repent and come into your light, and worship you, and obey you, and know you,
Lord Jesus, as the one true living God. I pray for my brothers and sisters in
the Lord, that they would be filled with the glory of God, and that you would
shine through them, and there would be no more room left in them for the works
of the devil, but that they would say what pleases you all the time, that they
would be thinking about you, that they would be filled with your Holy Spirit,
Lord. I pray this in your name, Jesus. Amen.”
