WORSHIP IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH
By: Mike Jones
It has been said, “Worship in Spirit is worship motivated by the life of God in the church community and His Spirit will manifest itself through visible actions by ALL that will participate.” To go a step further, worship in “Spirit and in truth” simply means worship motivated by the life of Christ; and this worship is expressive because of the covenant God established with His Son and we’ve been given privy to it as children of the Most High God.
I’ve come to realize that the attitude of true worship starts in the heart. I have taught a number of seminars on Intercessory Prayer with the focal point being on worship, praise, and thanksgiving. God created man with a deep craving only He can fill. When God met with Adam in the coolness of the day in the garden, their spirits connected and fellowship was the result. After the fall of man, God removed His Spirit from man and I honestly believe that since God is so AWESOME, and He covers every element of space, a residue of His Spirit was left in man and that is why he tries to do good but evil is present and it rules over him through his fleshly acts. God created man for one purpose – to worship Him. Spiritual deadness causes man to do everything else (lie, steal, cheat, kill, etc.) to fill that void. Through a spirit of deception, man sadly feels that he’s good and if he does enough good to out weigh his sins, then God owes him free passage into heaven.
Man’s form of salvation is one that’s based on merits. Romans 3:12-18 states, “They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat [is] an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps [is] under their lips: Whose mouth [is] full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet [are] swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery [are] in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes.” “Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, Who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” (2 Corinthians 4:1-4)
Down through the ages, God always sought fellowship with man through worship of who He is. The Bible states in Hebrews 11:6,”but without faith, it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” Man through fear and a lack of understanding prefer to remain at a distance thinking man can meet his own needs. Psalms 14:1 states, “the fool has said in his heart, there is no God.” They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none who does good.” We are told in scripture that God is a Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and truth (John 4:24). The only perfect example of God we will ever see is Jesus as revealed through scripture. When we accept Jesus as Savior, we enter into covenant relationship with God through His Son, Jesus. Because of His redemptive work, we enter into a covenant of heirs with God and joint heirs with Christ. The three components of relationship with God are: knowledge of God; covenant relationship with God; then we move into worship of God. I will say more about these three components in later chapters.
When I was attending graduate school, I took an advance course on worship, to be well rounded in my course study of church leadership/administration. One of my professors (Dr. David Mendez) made a profound statement about true worship. He states, “True worship is, worship joining with and rejoicing with all that God is, all that He has done, and all that He is yet to do. Worship consists of a feeling in the heart stemming from a relationship with God. These feelings must be expressed as an outward sign of an inward condition. Without emotion there can be no true worship and without a lifestyle of worship, there can be no true loving union with the Lord, Jesus.”
What came to mind after reading Dr. Mendez statement was the word “intimacy.” Intimacy means, “knowing” in an intimate relationship. The Old Testament talked about how Adam knew Eve and conceived and bore children. God wants to become intimate with us through our fellowship with His word. We make the mistake of not actively pursuing Him in fellowship therefore other activities take the place of true fellowship time that God requires. Some of the activities aren’t necessarily sin, they’re more like… (TO BE CONTINUED)
(Adapted from Theology of Worship Manual: all Scripture references are taken from the KJV unless otherwise noted.)