Worship...For the Purpose of Godliness

Matthew 4:10 NASB95

Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’ ”

Psalm 95:6 NASB95

Come, let us worship and bow down, Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.

Matthew 15:8–9 NASB95

‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me. ‘But in vain do they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’ ”

It is possible to “worship” God in vain!

Hebrews 12:28 NASB95

Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;

Worship is…Focusing on and Responding to God

John 20:28 NASB95

Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”

Revelation 4:8 NASB95

And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.”

Revelation 4:11 NASB95

“Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”

Revelation 5:12–13 NASB95

saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.”

The word worship descends from the Saxon word weorthscype, which later became worthship.

The Hebrew for worship describes the thought of prostrating oneself or bowing in surrender and submission.

The more we focus on God, the more we understand and appreciate His infinite worth. As we understand and appreciate this, we can’t help but respond to Him.

EXERCISE: Let’s each close our eyes and in as brief as possible (not more than three or four words) say something about God that describes His character and identity.

Whitney, Donald S.. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (p. 104). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

If you could see God at this moment, you would so utterly understand His worthiness of worship that you would instinctively fall on your face and worship Him.

So how does the invisible God reveal Himself to us here that we might focus on Him?

General Revelation through Creation…Specific Revelation through His Word

Whitney, Donald S.. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (p. 104). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

So let’s take a moment and meditate on what it means to us that God is holy...

That’s why all worship of God—public, family, and private worship—should be based upon and include much of the Bible.

So if there’s little revelation of God, there is little focus on God. And if there is little focus on God, there is little worship of God. Conversely, much revelation of God fosters much focus on God, which in turn evokes much worship of God.

Whitney, Donald S.. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (p. 104). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

You may be listening to a biblically sound sermon, but if you aren’t mindful of what it says about God or from God to you, you aren’t worshiping. You may be singing “Holy, holy, holy,” but if you aren’t thinking about God while singing it, you are not worshiping. You may be listening to someone pray, but if you aren’t praying with him or her and thinking of God, you aren’t worshiping.

Worship often includes words and actions, but it goes beyond them to the focus of the mind and heart. Worship is the God-centered focus and response of the soul; it is being preoccupied with God.

Whitney, Donald S.. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (p. 105). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

Whitney, Donald S.. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (p. 106). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

Whitney, Donald S.. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (p. 105). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

Whitney, Donald S.. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (p. 106). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

Worship is…Done in Spirit and Truth

John 4:23–24 NASB95

“But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

John 4:

John 14:17 NASB95

that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.

The Holy Spirit opens minds to the truth of Scripture and awakens hearts that were dead toward God. He causes souls that were cold in worship to flame with passion for Christ.

Spirit Filled worship is from inside out!

John 17:17 NASB95

“Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.

Whitney, Donald S.. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (p. 107). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

Truth Filled worship is from the Bible in!

First, we worship God as He is revealed in the Bible, not as we might want Him to be.

Second, worship according to the truth of Scripture means to worship God in the ways to which He has given His approval in Scripture. In other words, we should do in the worship of God what God says in the Bible we should do in worship.

Whitney, Donald S.. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (p. 107). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

Whitney, Donald S.. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (p. 107). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

Worship is…Expected both Publicly and Privately

So we must worship in both spirit and truth, with both heart and head, with both emotion and thought. If we worship with too much emphasis on spirit we will be mushy and weak on the truth, worshiping mainly according to feelings. That can lead anywhere from a lazy, unthinking tolerance of anything in worship at one extreme to uncontrollable spiritual wildfire on the other. But if we overemphasize worship in truth and minimize worship in spirit, then our worship will be taut, grim, and icily predictable. (pg. 109)

Whitney, Donald S.. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (p. 109). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

Worship is…Expected both Publicly and Privately

Hebrews 10:25 NASB95

not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

Your devotional experiences may rival those of Jonathan Edwards or George Müller, but you need corporate worship as much as they and these Jewish Christians in did.

What are some graces and blessings of corporate worship that cannot be achieved in private worship?

Jesus went the the synagogues but He also went away for a private time of worship with God.

How can we worship God publicly once each week when we do not care to worship Him privately throughout the week? Can we expect the flames of our worship of God to burn brightly in public on the Lord’s Day when they barely flicker for Him in secret on other days?

“The Master sent me to tell you that He is willing to meet with you in private whenever you’re ready, and for as much time as you want to spend, and He’ll be expecting you most every day”

Worship is…A Discipline to be Cultivated

Worship is…A Discipline to be Cultivated

It is a journey not a destination…PRESS ON!

The Worship of God makes people more Godly because people become like their focus.

Describing contemporary man, someone has said, “He worships his work, works at his play, and plays at his worship.” In defiance of this, will you cultivate the Discipline of worship?

A.W. Tozer: “If you will not worship God seven days a week, you do not worship Him one day a week.”

Whitney, Donald S.. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (p. 115). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.