What is true worship to God and what is not- Greek/Freemason Rebuttal PART 1

"I worship God through my membership in my organization" is a common statement heard from members of Greek/Freemason organizations when told their organization is one of Satan's evil attempts to deceive people.  Is it true?  Can a Christian claim they are worshiping the true God, Jehovah by the activities they partake in through their fraternity/sorority?  What does the word of God say? What does it mean to "worship?  These questions will addressed in this post and those who have an ear to hear will hear from God the truth.  Because this is a complex topic, this post will be broken down into four posts. This is post 1.

First, what does it mean to worship in practical terms.  Merriam defines worship as "to honor or reverence as divine being or supernatural power" or "two regard with great or extravagant respect, honor, or devotion".
John Piper (2016) gives this statement about worship of God, " The inner essence of worship is to know God truly and then respond from the heart to that knowledge by valuing God, treasuring God, praising God, enjoying God, being satisfied with God above all earthly things. And then that deep, restful, joyful satisfaction in God overflows in demonstrable acts of praise from the lips and demonstrable acts of love in serving others for the sake of Christ." (emphasis added)


Delesslyn  Kennebrew (2012) wrote, "Worship is to honor with extravagant love and extreme submission(Webster's Dictionary,1828). True worship, in other words, is defined by the priority we place on who God is in our lives and where God is on our list of priorities. True worship is a matter of the heart expressed through a lifestyle of holiness." (emphasis added).
Giving sacrifices is a form of worship.  In the Bible worship is defined in these scriptures:

Hebrews 13:15 "Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name."



Romans 12:1-2 "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is reasonable service.  And do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."
Many who profess to be Christians and defend staying a member of their Greek/Masonic organization claim they are not idol worshiping, but again, we have look at what it means to 'worship'.
                                             Point 1. Life and Death are in the Tongue
Throughout the word of God it is clear God expects His followers to praise Him and a common form or praise is in singing songs.  "Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises! For God is the King of all the earth; Sing praises with understanding" Psalm 47:6-7.
 Most of every church has a music ministry.  What are those songs supposed to be about?  Do choirs sing about the specific church denomination? Do they sing about the accomplishments of the church?  No, for the most part, many sing praises to God/Jesus, songs about His grace, mercy, love, songs of thanksgiving.
When Greeks and Masons sing songs who are they praising? Who do they proclaim when it comes to their "good works"?  Who gets the credit for their "good works"?  Most if not all Greeks/Freemason have songs/chants that are proclamation of the 'greatness' of their organization and its members.
Here are a few examples of some the songs sung by these Greek/Masonic organizations:
Delta Beta Hymn                                                                           Alpha Kappa Alpha
Delta Sigma Theta, how we love thy name                          I think I shall never know
And they blessed Sisterhood                                                 another love that thrills me so
Thru the coming years may we bring thee fame                Dwells in my heart by night, by
N'er forget the things for which you stood.                          day as does my love for A.K.A.
Freemason                                                                                  Phi Beta Sigma
May freedom, harmony, and love                                         Phi Beta Sigma sings in part of "Oh 
Cement you in the grand design;                                         Sigma Dear"...we raise our hearts in
Beneath the Omniscient Eye above,                                    song, we pledge our loyalty...Phi 
The glorious Architect divine                                                 Phi Beta is the life.
                                        Point 2.  God loves a cheerful Giver
Another form of worship is giving, being generous.  Now, I understand that today, many churches today are nothing more than Satan's playgrounds where the money given is to just support the pastor's lifestyle, but for churches that are not ruled by Satan, the members give up their earnings for the furthering of God's kingdom.  The money, time, resources are used to preach the gospel, tend to orphans, widows, help those in and out of the body who have various problems.
Where does all the money, time, resources go from members in Greek/Masonic organizations?  Is it to spread the gospel?   It is true some of them feed the homeless, have programs to help children, widows, but again who gets the credit for these activities?  I know for a fact that many of the so called "good works" are nothing more than activities to promote humanistic activities to cater to the elite.  One example, a chapter I was in holds a yearly scholarship pageant. What would be the result of all the activities to support this pageant, did we give out much money in scholarships?  No, literally the event itself would cost near $100,000 dollars but we would only end up giving out about 17% of that in scholarships, all the rest went towards the event itself in expensive hotels/decorations/etc.


                                                               Point 3. Heart Ownership
The greatest commandment Matthew 22:37, "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind."For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also"  and "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" Matthew 6:21. EVERY one of these Greek/Freemason have some song, chant, oath about their heart belonging the the organization.  What do members of these organizations treasure? Many profess to treasure their organization, their songs and chants talk about their heart,mind, everything being given to the organization and they believe this is not worship?
These organizations demand that a persons's heart and loyalty belong to the organization. Followers of God are to above all else, guard our hearts with all diligence for out of them spring the issues of life (Proverbs 4:23).


These are points 1 thru 3 of 10.  If anyone is interested in more information please click on this link:


https://www.outfromamongthem.com/


There is going to be a Day of Judgment, and God will judge everyone who has ever lived, His wrath is going to poured out on all the wicked and ungodly. The eyes of the unrepentant wicked need to be opened and the ears unplugged so they can see and hear the truth. In order for the children of Satan to become children of God they must believe  The Good News ,  Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, born of a virgin; Jesus lived and died but He rose from Dead, and now offers anyone who will believe in Him Salvation.  Salvation is a free gift from God, anyone who will believes in the shed blood of the risen Savior, Jesus, will know and have a real relationship with the true God.  You can't work for it or buy because the price has already been paid with the Blood of Jesus Christ and  Believing in Jesus gets us into the Kingdom of God and saves us from the righteous wrath of God.  But that is not all, He gives us a new heart and mind NOW, and we receive some of His blessing from heaven NOW and are equipped to be able to live a life that is holy and acceptable to Him NOW. (Romans 6:9; 10:9-13, Ephesians 2:8, Isaiah 7:14, 2 Corinthians 5:18-19). 
1. Believe in your heart that Jesus Christ is real, He lived and died and rose from the grave. (Romans 10:9-10)
2. Believe that you are a sinner, repent-turn from your sins and realize and accept you need Jesus. (Mark 1:15, Matthew 4:17, Acts 3:19)
3. Confess with your mouth that Jesus is your Lord and God. (Romans 10:9)
4. Find a local Bible preaching church that does obey the commandment for water baptism for the remission of your sins and to identify yourself with Christ. (Acts 16:31)

This is just the first step to a lifelong journey of growing in truth and love with the God who created this earth and everything in it, including every human being that has ever lived.


Bible verses related to this post:   Proverbs 4:23; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Chronicles 29:11; Psalm 105:1; Psalm 16:2; Psalm 95:6; Matthew 5:15-16; Isaiah 12:4; Psalm 73:25; Psalm 9:2; 1 Corinthians 10:31; Psalm 103: 1-4; Psalm 63: 3-4, 7-8; Psalm 100; Acts 17:30; Ephesians 2:8-9; Psalm 47:6-7: 2 Corinthians 9:7; Matthew 22:37; Matthew 5:37; Matthew 5:33-37; Matthew 5:16; Matthew 7:21-23; Matthew 6:21; James 4:4; 1 Corinthians 5:11; 1 Corinthians 10:20-22; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; Galatians 3:28; Matthew 20:25-28; Romans Chapter 1; 1 Corinthians 13:1-3; Matthew 7:21-23; John 8:12;  Deuteronomy 18:10-12
References:  https://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/worship; https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/what-is-worship; https://www.christianitytoday.com/biblestudies/bible-answers/spirituallife/what-is-true-worship.html;  http://www.stichtingargus.nl/vrijmetselarij/g/greekindex.html

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