We might be in approved fellowship with all Christendom — Papal and Protestant, Church and Dissenters — and yet have no fellowship with God

"For if we say we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness (ignorance), we lie, and do not the truth" —

because Papalism and Protestantism, while claiming fellowship with God, are mantled in the darkness of human tradition, and pervert and persecute the truth, teaching for doctrine the commandments of men·

It is the duty, therefore, of all who would embrace the Christianity of the Bible to lay hold of the things indicated for man's faith, and to separate themselves from all Papal and Protestant Sects, and either to maintain their own individuality, or if sufficiently numerous, associate themselves together as a community of witnesses,

"who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus the Christ" (1 John i. 8-7;Rev. xii. 11-17).

Dr. John Thomas

The word "worship" in the Bible, as well as in everyday conversation, has a wide range of meanings. For instance, we declare that worship belongs to Deity alone, and yet, perhaps, in speaking an hour later of the companion we have chosen, we say we worship the very ground on which she stands. Nobody misunderstands us. And so, in the Bible, "worship" sometimes merely means to do reverence; which is permissible even to human beings (Matt, xviii. 29; Luke xiv. 10; Rev. iii.9; Dan. ii. 46). Especially is that kind of worship due to Christ (Matt. viii. 2; ix. 18; xiv. 30-33; xxviii. 17;Luke xxiv. 52; John ix. 38; Phil. ii. 9, 10; Heb. i. 6;Rev. v. 12, 13).

Wisdom is profitable to direct; and Jesus exhibited such when he uttered such sentiments as those recorded in John xiv. 6, 13; xv. 16; xvi. 23, 24, 26; Rom. vii.25; xvi. 27; Eph. v. 20; Heb. vii. 25. Hence, there is a form of worship which God alone can have.

Faith in the Almighty God, who is the Inspirer and Preserver of his Word, makes us confident that He is the one Who has created everything and Who allows things to exist.

The true heart motivations of persons who are brought in touch with the Words of God, as recorded in the Book of books or the Bible, become manifest as to meeting the conditions. Its influence is far more powerful than anything that we personally might say. It empowers a person and at the same time it give confidence to trust that Divine Creator and to give all reason to trust, honour, praise and worship Him.

Our life is from God. Our power to breathe and the air that we breathe are from God. The earth and all the things that we enjoy are from God, his gifts to us. The Divine Creator or Maker of all things is he is our Life-giver and the One upon Whom we depend for everything good He ought to be our God Whom we worship, adore and please. This should be true of us regardless of what nation we belong to today.

Times of ignorance of this God have long prevailed on earth, even long before Paul discovered the altar “To an Unknown God” at Athens nearly two millennia ago. Throughout the ages there have always been people who knew that God very well and who wanted others to know that God also. For many of those lovers of God it was not always easy to openly talk about Him nor to worship Him publicly.

For such lovers of God it is known that in the system of things we are nearing certain times when it shall be very important to take a stand against the world of man and to choose for God. Christadelphians do believe the Time of Jehovah can soon be at hand. Jehovah decreed the appointed seasons for us to seek Him, that we might find Him! And think of it: Now is the appointed season for us to seek The Highest God with good hope of actually finding Him and knowing Him!

It is not only important to find God. We have to give Him all the honour which belongs to Him.

The first man knew his Supreme Maker but doubted His right to Superiority and Sovereignty. Not trusting Him fully made that man lost Him. That great loss brought death upon that one first man and upon all the nations who were made from him. The only Highest Source of life. Jehovah God desires His creatures to be perfect and to have them to recognise and praise Him as the Only One God.

We should praise the Source of life out of thankfulness and because in Him we can get life which shall have no ending.

Being made in the image of God, we do not have to make an image of this God to worship.

When are the "progeny of God", we should consider Him as the Head of the family and as our Great Grand Father. That Father of us we ought not to imagine Him being like gold or silver or stone, like something sculptured by the art and contrivance of man.

So we all come from the one first man that God made, no matter of what nation we might now be, no matter where we dwell on this earth. Inasmuch as that one first man was made or created by God and was thus a “son of God,” we are in a way the “progeny of God” because of our coming from that man. Certainly, then, we ought to worship as our God the Creator whose progeny we are.

Our Maker asked us not to make any graven image of Him or any other god, thing, animal or idol to come to bow down in front of it and to worship it. Everybody has to know the set apart name or Holy Name of God. Jehovah does not franchise His glory.

“ Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:” (Ex 20:4 ASV)

“ Ye shall make you no idols, neither shall ye rear you up a graven image, or a pillar, neither shall ye place any figured stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am Jehovah your God.” (Le 26:1 ASV)

“ Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,” (De 4:16 ASV)

“ To whom then will ye liken me, that I should be equal to him? saith the Holy One.” (Isa 40:25 ASV)

“ I am Jehovah, that is my name; and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise unto graven images.” (Isa 42:8 ASV)

"We know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit helpeth our infirmities".

It is an Apostolic saying. Who has not suffered from indecorous prayers?

The disciples felt their inability so much that they asked the Lord to teach them to pray. And he taught them "the Lord's Prayer". In English it takes only about sixty words.

"God is in Heaven and thou upon earth; therefore let thy words be few".

So said Solomon; and the "Greater than Solomon" upholds it. His own examples are marvels of chaste brevity and simplicity. All acceptable prayer is based upon faith and obedience, coupled with brevity, simplicity and suitability.

Thanks for the Bread and Wine should be carefully confined to the subject. A closing prayer should not epitomise a lecture or exhortation. Prayers that God "will make us" thus and so, without our honest endeavour, are hypocrisy.

"The Lord make us truly thankful" is an indecorous prayer. "Father, I thank Thee", is the Christ model. Prayer that God will save all the audience in the Kingdom of God is not in harmony with Christ's declaration: "Many are called, but few chosen".

"Words few — Deeds true", and the Lord will have mercy upon us and "help our infirmities"

C. C. Walker

We know that at the moment we live in a time where there is a lot of false worship. But real lovers of God should try to bring people closer to God and worship That Only One True God, the Creator and immortal Source of all life, full of faith.

Christadelphians look forward to that time when there shall come more light in the darkness and when the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Jehovah.

“ For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea.” (Hab 2:14 ASV)

We know and pray for that time that soon may come, when the ungodly world shall have to hear and see everywhere men and women preaching the Good News of the coming Kingdom and the Greatness of the Elohim Hashem Jehovah. As lovers of God those living in the city of Christ shall go out into the world to have God's Name known and to carry forward the worship of the One God on an earth cleansed of all false religion.

People shall have to know that the Kingdom of the new world will tolerate none but the true religion.

When all mankind originally worshipped the One God Jehovah it was in an earthly paradise, the Garden of Eden. Likewise, when all the Kingdom-preaching survivors practice the one pure and undefiled religion after the great tribulation now near at hand, paradise will soon make its reappearance, not just on the site of the former one in Eden, toward the east, but all around the globe.

No faithful brother or sister could engage in "worship" with those who are not "in Christ Jesus"; and only those are in Christ Jesus who have been "baptised into Christ" by immersion in water.

“ For as many of you as were baptized into Christ did put on Christ.” (Ga 3:27 ASV)

Those who say:

"Our Father, who art in heaven"

should really be people who are sincerely praying to God the Father, Who is a Singular Spirit Being, and not a godhead part of a Trinity.

Saying "Our Father in heaven" is an inscription that can only be used by those who are the "sons and daughters of God" by being brothers and sisters of "the Son of God"

“ And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee: wherefore also the holy thing which is begotten shall be called the Son of God.” (Lu 1:35 ASV)

“ For both he that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,” (Heb 2:11 ASV)

God requires pure worship, not defiled by a mixture of heathen rites, like we can find in many denominations of Christendom.

These, who are true Christadelphians, can neither worship with the alien, nor allow the alien to join them in worship; therefore, although those who are servants are commanded to obey their masters (Col. iii. 22), yet they would have to refuse to take part in "family worship' even if so ordered, as we have to obey God rather than man (Acts v. 29). To do so would be to act a lie.

“ Servants, obey in all things them that are your masters according to the flesh; not with eye-service, as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing the Lord:” (Col 3:22 ASV)

“ But Peter and the apostles answered and said, We must obey God rather than men.” (Ac 5:29 ASV)

Read also Dr. Thomas' Worship with the Alien

Extremists on this, as on all other subjects, are to be avoided. They cause divisions. There is a happy medium. We dare not invite, or countenance, the alien taking part in our approaches to God. He is their Creator, but not their Father; and we abuse our privilege if we allow the outsiders to invade the Holy Place. In fact, it is our duty to instruct them concerning the difference between the clean and the unclean, the holy and the unholy. But we must also avoid the other extreme, just as Paul did. He would be no party in preventing the outsider falling down and worshipping God (1 Cor. xiv.23-25). Solomon did not prevent the stranger from praying in the Temple (2 Chron. vi. 32, 33); nor did Jesus hush the Hosanna cry of the little children (Matt,xxi. 15, 16). Whilst insisting on the observance of First Principles, let us avoid extremes.

True worship has to do with sincere personal heartfelt worship of the Only One True God, abstaining from all associations with false gods and heathen rites.

To worship God one does not have to have a specific set of texts or a specific mass or Eucharist service to fulfil in a specific place or building. Any place and any personal prayer which is worthy of God is acceptable to God and can be part of our service to God.

The Bible declares that a sound belief of the simple fundamentals of God’s purpose is essential to salvation. It teaches that the Gospel is “the power of God unto salvation, to everyone that believeth” (Rom. 1:16); that “life eternal” is bound up in a correct understanding of the truth “concerning the only true God and Jesus Christ” (John 17: 3), and that “without faith” (which comes from “hearing the word of God” - Rom. 10:17), it is “impossible to please God” (Heb. 11:6).

It is that pleasing of God which has to be the essential initiative or us setting on to come to prayer. Prayer being a form of conversation with our heavenly Father, Jehovah, our Only One God. Jesus, God's son, provided us with a model prayer, the Lord's Prayer or "Our Father". But in the older books of the Holy Scriptures we can find other interesting prayers and songs which can be used freely a prayer text or as a base to compose your own new prayer.

The worship of God should happen not only out of love but also in truth. The Bible states:

“God is a Spirit, and those worshiping him must worship with spirit and truth.” (John 4:24)

Jehovah God being an unseen Spirit Being may be one of those difficult things which make many to go away from true worship and to seek refuge in false worship, including making images that represent their gods. Naturally The God can and shall not be pleased when people worship false gods.
If we worship idols or any god other than the true God, we will not have Jehovah’s approval. If people claiming to worship God teach their own ideas instead of what the Bible teaches, their worship is in vain. It is not acceptable to God.

Our worship must be in harmony with the truth of God’s Word.

“6 And he said unto them, Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoreth me with their lips, But their heart is far from me. 7 But in vain do they worship me, Teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men.” (Mr 7:6-7 ASV)

To worship Jehovah God “with spirit” means that our sacred service to our God is motivated by a heart full of love and faith.

“37 And he said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second like unto it is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 40 On these two commandments the whole law hangeth, and the prophets.” (Mt 22:37-40 ASV)

“ yet knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we believed on Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the law: because by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” (Ga 2:16 ASV)

We can express our faith in Christ to God and show or express our thankfulness for that Gift of Grace. We should know we have Jesus as our mediator and high priest, which means we really do not need someone else to mediate on our behalf.

The objection to use an organ, or other musical instrument, at our meetings for worship and praise, and that, too, because such are used by the Apostasy, and have no New Testament sanction, is worthless.

The Apostasy does many things in common with Christadelphians. They stand up to sing; they close their eyes in prayer; they put their dead in coffins. None of which things does the New Testament sanction. We have, however, in other parts of the Scriptures evidence that God has never forbidden the use of musical instruments in His praise, but the contrary.

See2 Sam. vi. 5; 1 Chron. xiii. 8; xvi. 5, 37, 42; 2 Chron.v. 12,13; xxix. 25 ; Neh. xii. 27, 36; 1 Sam. x. 5; Psalm xxxiii. 2; xliii. 4; cl. 4; Isa. xxx. 29; xxxviii. 20; Jer.xlviii. 36.

No doubt there are many "false notions" as to the Truth coming "as the result of anyone's private petitions to the Almighty", but we do well not to push this too far.

"It is God that worketh in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure" (Phil. ii. 13).

"In Him we live and move and have our being", as Paul told the Greeks, and reminding them of the saying of their own poet:

"For we are also His offspring" (Acts xvii.28) ....

The coming of the Truth is a subtle thing, in which we may sometimes fail to discern between the call of God and the answer of God ....

Dr. Thomas was a long time in coming to a perfect knowledge of the Truth. At what stage were his prayers first heard and answered by God? Who could say? So while rebuking the "vain worship" of Christendom, let us take care not to discourage the stranger who seeks God's face only to learn His will that he may do it.

C. C. Walker

This assertion is frequently attributed to the Lord Jesus, but without any warrant· The one who made the statement was a young man who did not even know whether Jesus was a sinner or not (John ix. 25, 81). Not only so: God does hear sinners; the Book of Jonah contains overwhelming evidence of that fact, to quote the Author of the "Ways of Providence": God cannot give Eternal Life to the unjustified in Christ, but He may open His hand in temporal things when they call to Him in trouble.

The same writer, just before his death, advised an interested stranger thus:

"Though not yet in the fulness of the light that the Gospel calls us to, as one fully convinced, as you say, that popular belief is unscriptural, do not fear to pray to God, that He may reveal the matter more fully to you. It is not possible that God should be angry with such a prayer".

F. G. J.

Taking Paul as our guide, there can be no doubt that we should allow (nay, we would say insist) upon our children taking part in our religious exercises. When Paul was in Syria (Acts xxi. 5), it reads:

"They all brought us on our way, with wives and children, till we were out of the city; and we kneeled down on the shore and prayed".

No principle was broken. Far more harm is likely to be done by excluding the little ones than in admitting them to our devotions. Our children are not like outsiders. We have an especial responsibility; and, while teaching them to discern that out of Christ there is no hope of life eternal, or present fellowship with God; yet the ears and eyes of God are not less mindful of their supplications and actions than of those of the young lions and the ravens (Psalm xxxiv. 10; Job xxxviii. 41). Jesus himself was anxious to hear the little ones when he was on earth (Matt. xix. 14; Mark x. 14, 16).

The reader of those records who cannot, with his mind's eye, see the Lord kissing those little ones, is lacking the desirable faculty of imagination. Jesus hasn't altered (Heb. xiii. 8).

He hears "the ravens when they cry" (Job xxxviii.41; Psalm cxlvii. 9); and, as Paul told the Athenians,"We are His offspring". He has heard the prayers of sinners when it suited His purpose — vide Pharaoh.

He heard him, and granted Pharaoh's requests. Coming down to New Testament times, there is the Lord's own attitude, when the children greeted him with their Hosannahs! When the Pharisees asked him to rebuke them, he replied that if he did "the stones would immediately cry out" (Luke xix. 40).

We teach our children to thank any friend who gives them anything, and should we not teach them to thank God who gives us everything we possess?

Sister R. Roberts

The following is from the pen of one whose praise in the gospel was in all the ecclesias.

"To forbid children to sing hymns, or to give thanks for common mercies, is to go beyond the commandment, and degrade them even below the inanimate creation, which is called upon to 'rejoice before the Lord', while 'everything that hath breath' is called on to 'praise the Lord'.

They may not Break Bread, and they may not take any part implying that they are integral parts of the House of God in Christ Jesus; and we would do wrong to invite them to do anything that would lead them to regard themselves in that light. But to forbid them the use of the hymn book, or the utterance of thanks, for what God actually gives them, cannot please God.

"Let our zeal be expended in keeping our children from evil things; let us not erect an unnecessary barrier between them and what is good".