Worship in Spirit and Truth

Spirit of God for a People Filled With the Spirit of God

By definition we understand worship to be the work of attributing honor, glory, and to bring adoration to the object or being that is receiving the worship.

In christianese we understand this as the work of singing songs of praise or adoration. However, we know that worship is a life long daily habit of attributing to God the honor glory and reverence due to His name.

The church globally however, is faced with a harsh cultural reality that is taking from the worship and is changing the face of “worship”

There is a high demand for the church to entertain the congregation. Either we are the entertainer or the entertained. In lesser words our view of worship now appears as entertainment both in the worship where the praises and adoration we lift up appear as a concert and highlight the talent over the presence,

The sermon appears as a seminar on self-help and motivation over the truth that is found in His word.

In lesser words the church from beginning to end appears as a hub to entertain in the strength of the flesh while it sacrifices the Spirit and Truth

To Worship the Lord We Must Abandon the Flesh as We Present Our Worship in Truth

John 4:24 ESV

God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Our Posture of Worship is Defined not by who we are but by whose we are.

Scripture defines who God is and makes a declaration independent of those who worship Him.

Those who seek to worship Him are Given a Command to Worship not an Option

Two Postures of Worship

Spirit

Truth

Advancing into the Knowledge of what Worship is;

The work of expressing in attitude and gesture one’s complete dependance on a high authority

Prostrating before the person, kissing their feet, grabbing and kissing the hem the their garment, or even kissing the ground before them…

Worship in Truth

Appears self explanatory

Confusion on Who is Being Exalted and worshipped

Worship in Truth Requires Knowledge of Who We worship

John 4:21–22 ESV

Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.

Its not about what I heard who, or how, I am to worship

remove the self and emotion out of the equation

Right worship can only be given when we know what we are worshipping.

You cannot love what you do not know

You cannot worship what you do not love

The work that follows the acts of worship Jesus later explains is the very food that satisfies Him, as it is doing the will of God that feeds Him.

Worship in Truth Means We Surrender Our Versions of God

Exodus 20:1–6 ESV

And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Found on the Decalogue

We depend on the God of our Deliverance

We Must set down our dependance on foreign gods

Setting down Idols is more than carved images of foreign gods… it is the work of setting down our man-made construct of who God is

no more saying well my Jesus wouldn’t or not my God…

You are formed in His image not the other way around

Neither shall you form them nor should you surrender or worship them

Worship in Truth Means We Surrender the Entirety of Our Being

We accept God as our God in a personal relationship

We acknowledge His sovereignty in our lives

Because He is a Jealous God

We know Him with every sense that we have

Mark 12:29–30 ESV

Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’

There is only one God; and the being is not you

With Everything

Your emotions-Heart

Your heart yields to His truth that is found in Jesus Christ

Your passions-Soul

your soul being the driver which is your person yields to the passions of Christ

Your physical body-Strenght

(WWJD) Your body does what Jesus would do, “…I only do what the Father tells me to do”

Your intellect-Mind

Not blind faith

1 Cor 2:16 Your intellect does not trump what only the Spirit can speak... for what could be understood apart from Jesus we then are told that we have the mind of Christ

It is only in our complete and total surrender to the truth that we begin to worship God.

What does worship in truth look like… 2 Tim2:15 we are told to do the best we can to present ourselves to God… rightly handling the Word of Truth

Turning now to

John 8:31–32 ESV

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

If we are to worship in Truth we must abide in His word… only then will we know the truth and only then can we be delivered.