Correct Worship

In Spirit & In Truth

Worship means to give homage, honor, reverence, respect, adoration, praise, and glory to a superior being.

John 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship Him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.

Under the eschatological conditions of the dawning hour, true worshippers cannot be identified by their attachment to a particular shrine, entity, or place, but by their worship of the Father, in spirit and truth.

There are not two separable characteristics of the worship that must be offered: worship must be in spirit AND in truth. It must be God-centered, made possible by the gift of the Holy Spirit, and in personal knowledge of and  conformity to God’s Word-made-flesh, the one who is God’s truth.

The Importance Of Worship

John 4:24b …must worship Him in spirit and in truth.

Mark 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind,
and with all thy strength; this is the first commandment.

Worship is important because Scripture demands it. God’s Word is filled with it; all of life is affected by it; it is the
major theme of redemptive history; and it is commanded.

It is important that our worship is acceptable. There are several forms of unacceptable worship by religious people: The worship of false gods, worship in a wrong way, worship in a self-styled manner, and worship with a wrong attitude.

The Nature Of Worship

John 4:22 You worship you know not what; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.

You have the aggressive, enthusiastic, excited, faithful worship of the Samaritans, but they do not necessarily have the right content.

Exodus 30 deals with a perfume recipe, a fragrance designed to be only for God. When this incense rose to God’s nostrils, it was unique to Him. It was a picture of worship. That unique gift of that fragrance that rises out of the heart to the living and glorious God is something that is to be offered to no other person.

Worship is that which is inside of a person, outside of a person, and that which is within the corporate assembly of God’s people.

Worship is an overflow of a mind renewed by the truth of God. Contemplating God Himself is the trigger that sets off worship.

The Sphere Of Worship

John 4:21 Jesus said unto her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour cometh when you shall neither on this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.

Worship is not restricted to any location. God is, first of all, Spirit. God cannot be confined to a building. He is to be worshipped as an ever-present Spirit. He is alive at all times, everywhere at all times, therefore worship is to become a way of life.

God has a building: the visible, living assembly of the redeemed saints. When we come together like this, we constitute the temple of God in a unique way. We are not only individual temples, but collectively we are one great temple in which God dwells. 1 Peter 2:5

There’s an affirmation that comes when you are in the presence of God’s redeemed people—that unique and wondrous ministry that the Spirit of God accomplishes which He cannot accomplish in our isolation.

The Major Hindrance To Worship

There’s only one main hindrance to worship: when you and I get in front of God.

When we come here to get what we need, or when we have to do what we want to do to fulfill our desires, that is why we don’t have time for discovery or time for prayer, or time for meditation, or time for worship. In our self  focus we cannot really have an undivided heart, because we are always thinking about our projects, our activities, and our needs. It’s always self that is our greatest hindrance.

You see, we are only dealing with two things. We’re either dealing with God or us, that’s all. We cannot really free ourselves up to worship God until we can die to ourselves, and put God first.

To pretend homage to God and intend only the advantage to myself is rather to mock God than to worship Him. When we believe we ought to be satisfied rather than God glorified, we set God below ourselves and imagine that He should submit His own honor to our advantage. ~Stephen Charnock

Worship God in spirit and in truth.