Sunday, December 17, 2017 am
NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH 2017 (38)
Worship and the Church (2)
Worship in Spirit and In Truth
In spirit and in truth is taken from John 4:23-24 where Jesus was
engaged in a discourse with the Samaritan woman about worship.
He noted 3 elements associated with true worship: 1) An object of
worship; 2) Proper attitude; and 3) Proper action.
Interestingly, Joshua in his farewell address made a similar
statement, “Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and
put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the
River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord! Joshua
24:14 (we often most quote vs. 15).
In our next lesson we will examine what we do and HOW we are to carry
out each act. Then we will
engage in a special study on Instrumental music.
Finally, we will notice why and when we need to assemble.
Let
us get started emphasizing our worship in spirit and in truth.
a.
Our attitude is
important!
Our worship to God must come from the heart.
We need purity of heart in all that we do.
Matthew 5:8, it is the pure of heart that will see God!
Psalm 24:3-4, Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or stand in His
holy place, “He who has clean
hands and a pure heart…”
Hebrews 10:22, let us draw near
with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts
sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
Because of our Lord’s sacrifice,
we can draw near to God with a true heart.
Clearly, ONE of the ways we draw near to God is in our worship.
James 4:8, Draw near to God and He will draw near to you… cleanse
your hands, purify your hearts…
Mark 7:6 – their heart is far from me, thus making it vain – a text
where for eating bread with unwashed hands.
We need holiness - Psalm 29:2,
Give unto the Lord the glory due
to His name; Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
Friends, genuine worship is going to come from a genuine Christian.
It will not be something we do a couple of times a week, while
living for ourselves the rest of the time.
b.
God condemns improper
attitudes
– early on He rejected Cain’s sacrifice.
While rebuking what he did, the LORD also rebuked his heart –
Genesis 4:6-7.
Malachi 1:6-14 describes the corrupt attitude in worship of Judah,
returned from captivity and having not learned her lesson.
Amos 5:21-24 -I hate, I despise your feast days, sacred assemblies,
burnt and gain offerings, and the songs and instruments of praise.
Considering God commanded all of these, why would He hated and
despise them? Because they
had corrupted them with ungodly attitudes and motives.
- Matthew 6:1-18 deals with our worship.
In this text Jesus says, when we give, don’t sound a trumpet
(1-2); when you pray, don’t do it piously and to be seen of men (5-8);
and when you fast, do so dignified and not drawing attention to yourself
(16-18).
- Psalm 51:15-17, David wrote, O
Lord, open my lips, And my mouth shall show forth Your praise. For You
do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in
burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and
a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise.
c.
Every act of worship
involves a proper attitude
i.
Giving
– 2 Corinthians 9:6-7 – God loves a cheerful giver.
ii.
Lord’s supper
– 1 Corinthians 11:27-30 – do not eat in an unworthy manner, not
discerning the Lord’s body.
iii.
Singing
– Colossians 3:16 – with grace in your hearts, Ephesians 5:19, we are
singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.
1 Corinthians 14:15 – I will sing
with the spirit and I will also sing with the understanding
iv.
Learning the word
– Psalm 119:105, “Your word is a
lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
Acts 10:33, Cornelius and his household were ready to hear the things
commanded of God. While not dealing with a formal worship, it shows the
attitude we have toward His word.
Acts 17:11 – the Bereans searched the scriptures, …
See also 1 Thessalonians 2:13
The fact that we are worshipping “in spirit and in TRUTH” implies that
the truth is not only practiced, but taught.
v.
Prayer
– 1 Corinthians 14:15, we pray with the spirit and with the
understanding
Luke 18:10-14 – Pharisee and tax collector
d.
AS the church
– let us ensure that what we do is in sincerity
Ensure that what we do is not mere ritual.
Yes, God has given us clear instructions about HOW to worship
Him, but we must not make it JUST going through the motions.
- There are little things we can do to ensure this doesn’t happen.
Reminders, saying a few words, variety within bounds (different
songs, etc.), setting background for readings, etc.
When we come together, we as the church, seek to facilitate proper
worship. Make it as
comfortable as possible (again, this is not the priority, but in
whatever we can remove distractions, we can help).
Ensure that what we do is in reverence - Hebrews 12:28.
NEVER forget who our worship is directed to.
We have problems today with a
casual mindset that has made its way into the church in many places.
We ensure that it is
done, “decently and in order”
(1 Corinthians 14:40).
a.
God has always demanded
we worship properly.
He gives us a pattern.
This is manifested from the beginning.
Even in Genesis 4, the first sacrifice, it is implied there was a
pattern. Abel followed it
and Cain did not.
b.
The Bible condemns
corrupted and vain worship, etc.
Again, from the beginning, we
see this.
Matthew 15:7-9, when we create and bind man made traditions, it makes
our worship to God vain.
1 Corinthians 11:18-22 – what they were doing was NOT the Lord’s Supper.
They were condemned.
1 Corinthians 14 – their lack of orderliness and competitive attitudes
and actions were condemned by God.
Colossians 2:23 speaks of self-imposed religion and false humility, etc.
The KJV uses the expression, “will worship” meaning one who
worships according to his own will rather than God’s will.
c.
True worship includes:
Only following the New
Testament pattern – the Old Law was nailed to the cross.
Ephesians 2:14-15, Colossians 2:14, etc.
Even John 4:22-24 – the context, the hour is coming…
Following the pattern He has
given us – God’s instructions about HOW to worship Him is not an
accident. We must respect
the boundaries of scripture – 1 Corinthians 4:6
Colossians 3:17 tells us that whatever we do, it must be “in the name of
the Lord.
d.
As the church, let us
ensure that all is in place to worship truthfully. Facilitate our
singing together, leaders to orderly conduct the service, removal of
distractions, etc.
e.
Do not fellowship those
who are practicing or teaching error
– Ephesians 5:11, Romans 16:17-18, etc.
f.
In our next lesson we
want to notice the “truth” of each act of worship.