Worship in Spirit and in Truth

Worship in Spirit and in Truth   =

St. John 4:20-24 states, “Our fathers worshipped in this mountain [Mt. Gerizem]; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.  Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” 

Can we truly say we know what we worship?    The post-modern church has a fundamental misconception of what worship really is. It is not a guy on the platform playing a pipe organ so big you have to wear a crash helmet to get down off the bench, or some bloke down on the floor wearing sandals and a Jesus t-shirt playing his guitar or banjo, or six Barbies with microphones singing in front of the congregation.    

            Nick Page, in his book And Now Let’s Move into a Time of Nonsense, stated “Worship has become an event, an occasion, isolated and distinct from the rest of our life and from our real walk with God…Real worship stems from a conscious decision to live our lives in God’s way” (pp 26-27).  Worship is not about singing, or preaching, or testifying, or taking an offering and it certainly is not about the long laundry list of announcements we make. Worship is about acknowledging who God is and what He has done and what He does. We worship because:  

God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth. (St. John 4:24)

1. God has made it possible for us to be His children.

¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²The same was in the beginning with God. ³All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. ⁴In him was life; and the life was the light of men…¹⁰He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. ¹¹He came unto his own, and his own received him not. ¹²But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: (St. John 1:1-4, 10-12) 

3. God made us His children by adoption. 

¹⁵For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. (Romans 8:15)

4. God sent His Son to redeem us.

¹⁷For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (St. John 3:17)

5. God justifies us through His Son Jesus.

¹Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: (Romans 5:1)

6. Because of Christ, we can live without God’s condemnation.

¹There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Romans 8:1)

7. Nothing has the power to separate us from God.

³⁸For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, ³⁹Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)