Sunday Service: 31/10/2021
Supporting Scripture: Psalm 29:1-2
Title of Message: Worshiping God in Spirit And Truth
Delivered by: Pastor Mercy
“Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name; Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.”
What is real worship? How do you know when God is pleased with your worship?
In (John 4:4-24), Jesus was travelling to Galilee and went through Samaria. The Samaritans and the Jews were enemies. Both sides thought they were the true heirs of Abraham and therefore were the ones who worshiped God the right way. Jesus stopped to get a drink from a well that Jacob had dug about two thousand years earlier. He met a woman there and began a conversation with her. During their conversation, it becomes apparent to the woman that Jesus was a prophet, so she asked a question that had bothered her for a long time. She said, “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.” (John 4:20)
In other words, who’s got it right? Jesus answered saying, “Woman believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem worship the Father “But the time is coming and is already here when true worshipers will worship the Father in sprit and in truth. For God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23-24)
What does it mean to Worship God in spirit?
The word “spirit” here is not referring to the Holy Spirit. Rather it is referring to our inner life, emotions, will, our heart. To worship God in spirit is to connect with God – person to person. It is offering up ourselves totally to Him and expressing how we feel about Him. True love has to be expressed – somehow, someway. What we know to be true about God and what we feel in our hearts about Him must be expressed. Worship in spirit begins when we come face to face with who God is and what He has done. When we see Him as the great Creator and also as Saviour, our spirits are filled with awe and gratitude, and it leads to worship – expression of what we feel.
Worship takes place in the heart – vs. 21. There is no appointed place or time, but a humble spirit is required. Some of the coldest and meaningless worship can take place in a church building. And some of the most powerful worship can take place at home. It is dangerous to think that worship can only take place in a church building, as if picking up a songbook, saying a few prayers, listening to a sermon and taking communion automatically means we have worshiped. Church buildings make it easy for Christians to gather to worship, but so is your room. True worship takes place anywhere.
There is no one right way to express your worship to God. No one style of music or one type of instrument or one posture of the body. The Bible is full of various forms of expression. Some people composed and sang songs, like Miriam after God delivered the Israelites across the Red Sea or Mary when she was visited by the angel with the news of her miraculous pregnancy.
David danced before the Lord and a lot of people when the Ark of the Covenant was brought home safely. (2 Sam. 6:14) His wife was upset; concerned about how other people might have thought it was undignified. David never gave a thought to how it looked to anyone but God. His audience was God, not the people around him.
- Wise men made a spiritual pilgrimage and gave an offering of gifts at the birth of Jesus as a way of worshiping.
- Paul told Timothy that he wanted men everywhere to pray lifting holy hands (1 Tim. 2:8).
- Mary, a friend of Jesus, broke a vase of expensive perfume over His feet and wiped them with her hair as an expression of worship. (John 12:3)
- The book of Revelation is full of references of those who fall down prostrate on their faces in worship.
You see, in each mode of expression, what was happening was something that started in the heart and led to a physical expression. The expression itself was not the key but what was in the heart. In fact, the expression often seems to be a “spontaneous” reaction in some cases – an automatic response to the reverence that strikes the heart. They couldn’t help it.
Worship in truth – involves:
Knowing what God has revealed about Himself. Not just having our own idea of what God is like but honestly searching His word to find out who He is and what He has done.
- As Creator and Ruler
- As Redeemer/Saviour.
Involves genuineness – 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 your reasonable service.”
- Worship is not restricted to a place and a time like Sunday morning church, it is a lifestyle.
- Worship happens in church but continues as you go out that door.
- Worship is happening when you take the time to visit a lonely person.
- Worship happens when you share a bit of your faith with someone.
That is why the greatest commandment is “you shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your mind and with all of your strength.” It is in spirit and in truth. When we really worship God as He desires, four things will happen. I’ll call them the four E’s of worship.
- Exalting – God is glorified, adored.
- Exemplifying – we as believers are purified and are example to the world (Ps. 24:4-5)
- Edifying – The church body is built up – that as individuals draw near to God, we draw near to each other and become a stronger church.
- Evangelizing – When people see our genuine worship of God, in our daily lives as well as corporately, they will want to know the God and the Saviour we so affectionately and carefully follow and has changed our lives.
Let’s strive to be known as people who worship God in spirit and in truth.