True Worship

Greetings SLCC!

I hope you're all doing well today. I've been reflecting on yesterday's message and by God's grace I'm seeking to be a true worshipper of Him as I go about my business today. I trust the Lord is helping you to do the same!

Here is a snippet of yesterdays sermon in case your spiritual batteries are in need of a little recharge today:

John 4:23-24 23 "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."

We hear a lot of talk these days about politicians who want to “shake things up” in Washington, don't we? Well, Jesus came on the scene a few thousand years ago shake things up in a major way in the religious world! When He arrived, He ushered in an era of profound change. Among other things, His teaching revolutionized people’s understanding of the proper way to worship God the Father.

People in Jesus’ day tended to get all caught up in externals, the location of worship and the rituals of worship. And on a large scale religious people are still guilty of this today, aren’t they? They consider their mere attendance and observance of the rituals of their local churches, mosques, and temples as acts of worship.

If we are not careful, we can fall into the same trap of externalism even at our relatively informal, non-ritualistic services at SLCC. We can begin thinking of our worship as merely an external thing, believing that going to church on Sunday, sitting in a pew, singing a few songs, praying a few prayers, and listening to a sermon are somehow by themselves tokens of worship that satisfy God.

Well, while those things can be sincere expressions of worship, they are not by themselves the essence of worship. True worship is not an external thing; it is an internal thing. God is seeking for worshippers who understand this and who worship Him from the heart!

God the Father is spirit. He is not physical. He doesn't have a body, arms, hands, legs or feet. He is not an old man with white hair and a long beard as many artists have sought to portray Him. He is a spiritual being, not a physical being. And what is most important about Him is not what He looks like, but what He is like. Therefore, what is most important for us in our relationship to Him is not to know and admire His outward, physical form—that is not the issue—but rather to know and admire His inward character and attributes—that is the issue! That is preeminent!

Likewise what is most important about us in our relationship to God is not our physicality or the outward things of our lives. It is not about what we wear, or where we go, or how often we go, or the rituals we engage in externally. It is about who we are and what we think on the inside. It is about our heart! The question is, do we worship Him from the depths of our being; do we worship Him in “spirit”?

And also, do we worship Him in “truth.” If what is important about God is His character, what He is like, what pleases Him and what displeases Him, then what is important for His people is that they know what He is like, what pleases Him and what displeases Him, right?

Where do we learn these things? Where do we go for these truths? We learn the truths of God from the Word of God. In Psalm 119:60 we are told, “The sum of Your word is truth.” And, in His prayer to His Father recorded in John 17:17 Jesus proclaimed, “Your word is truth.” So, the Bible is the storehouse of divine truth!

Therefore, it is in our study of His Word that we grow in our understanding of truth and our capacity to worship God in truth. It is in our study of the Word that our eyes are opened to the “wonderful,” awe-inspiring attributes of God (Ps. 119:18). It is in our study of the Word that we are confronted with the glories of God’s nature and character. And it is our understanding of these truths that grounds our worship of God; it is what drives it and fuels it and guards it from error and perversion! So, we must worship God in truth as well as in spirit, with our minds as well as our hearts. That is the kind of worshipper that God desires.

So in light of all this, where is the right place for worship and when is the right time? Everywhere is the right place and all the time is the right time. Worship should be a 24-7 reality for us. It takes place constantly as we reflect on who our God is and all that He has done for us in Christ.

Well, I trust you are renewed in your zeal to worship God in spirit and in truth today and the rest of this week. It's as easy as turning our minds away from self and the distractions of this world and fixing them on biblical truths--the truths that reveal to us the beauties of our God! I look forward to seeing you next week when we meet again to allow our individual worship to flow out into corporate worship at SLCC. See you then!