Worship: For The Purpose of Godliness
To worship is “to ascribe worth or value to something or someone.”
In worship we focus and respond to God our Father; we magnify His worthiness of praise; we approach and address God as He is worthy; as the Holy and Almighty God, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, the Sovereign Judge to whom we must give an account, He is worthy of all the worth and honor we can give Him and infinitely more. The more we focus on God, the more we understand and appreciate His infinite worth. As we understand and appreciate this, we can’t resist - help it, we must respond to Him.
How does the invisible God reveal Himself to us here on Earth that we might focus on Him?
1) God reveals Himself in a general way through Creation {Romans 1:20}.
2) God has flawlessly revealed Himself through His written Word {Romans 2:14-15; 2 Peter 1:20-21} and His incarnate Word, Jesus Christ {John 1:1,14,18; Galatians 4:4-5; Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:1-2}. So, in response to God’s revelation of Himself, we should seek God by means of Jesus Christ as revealed in the Bible, and as we do so, God opens the eyes of our understanding, and we see God revealed in Scripture and respond in - with worship.
Romans 1:20 (NLT2): For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see His invisible qualities - His eternal power and divine nature. So, they have no excuse for not knowing God.
Romans 2:14-15 (NLT2): Even Gentiles (those without God), who do not have God’s written law, show that they know his law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it. They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right.
2 Peter 1:20-21 (NLT2): Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God.
Our worship of God, be it public, family or private, should be based upon and include God’s Word – the Bible; God’s Word reveals God to us so that we may focus on Him, and to the extent we focus on Him we will worship Him. So, if there’s little revelation of God, there is little focus on God. And if there is little focus on God, there is little worship of God. Conversely, much revelation of God fosters much focus on God, which in turn evokes much worship of God. Bible reading and preaching are central in public worship because they are the clearest, most direct, most extensive presentations of God in the gathering. For the same reasons, Bible intake and meditation are the heart of private worship.
Since worship is focusing on and responding to God, regardless of what else we are doing we are not worshiping if we are not thinking about God. We may be listening to a biblically sound sermon, but if we aren’t mindful of what it says about God or from God to us, we aren’t worshiping God. We may be singing “Holy, Holy, Holy,” however, if we aren’t thinking about God while singing it, we are not worshiping God. We may be listening to someone pray, however, if we aren’t praying with him or her and thinking of God, we aren’t worshiping. We can say that all things done in obedience to our Lord, even everyday things at work and at home, are acts of worship.
Worship often includes words and actions. However, it goes beyond them to the focus of the mind and heart. Worship is the God-centered focus and response of the soul; it is being preoccupied with God.
Worship is done “in spirit and truth”
The most profound passage on worship in the New Testament is found in John 4:23-24. There Jesus Christ said, “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Before we can worship in spirit and truth, we must have within us the One who is the “Spirit of Truth” {John 14:17}, that is, God the Holy Spirit. He lives only within those who have come to Jesus Christ in repentance and faith. Without Him true worship will not happen. As 1 Corinthians 12:3 declares, “No one can say Jesus Christ is Lord except in the Holy Spirit.” That doesn’t mean a person cannot speak the words “Jesus Christ is Lord” apart from the Holy Spirit, for anyone who can talk - speak can utter the phrase. Rather, it means no one can say “Jesus Christ is Lord” as a genuine confession of their “worshipful submission” to Jesus Christ apart from the regenerating power and indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit - God.
The Holy Spirit reveals God to us and testifies of Jesus Christ; He convinces us of our sin against God; Holy Spirit makes Jesus Christ and His saving power irresistible. Holy Spirit opens the mind to the truth of Scripture and awakens the heart that were dead toward God. He causes souls that were cold in worship to burn with passion for Jesus Christ.
To worship God in spirit involves worship from the inside out. It also necessitates sincerity in our acts of worship. No matter how spiritual the song we are singing, no matter how poetic the prayer we are pray, if it isn’t sincere then it isn’t worship, it’s hypocrisy. The balance to worshiping in spirit is to worship in truth. Worship in truth is worship according to the truth of Scripture.
We worship God as He is revealed in His Word - the Holy Scriptures, not as we might want Him to be. We worship Him according to the truth of who He says He is, a God of both mercy and justice, of love and wrath, who both welcomes into heaven and condemns into hell.
Secondly, worship according to the truth of Scripture means to worship God in the ways to which He has given His approval. In other words, we should do in the worship of God what God says in His Word - the Bible. We must worship in both spirit and truth, with both heart and head, with both emotion and thought. If we worship with too much emphasis on spirit, we will be mushy and weak on the truth, worshiping mainly according to feelings.
Worship in the spirit:
Originates from within, from the heart; it must be sincere, motivated by our love for God and gratitude for all He has done; our worship must be infused with heartfelt commitment, faith, love and zeal. Our worship must also be infused with our emotions and affections; true worship engages the heart, the affections, the totality of our being - everything we are and have. Worship that lacks heart - a real love for God and devotion to Him, is worthless.
In Romans chapter 12, Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ tells us what “spiritual worship” is: “So, brothers and sisters, since God has shown us great mercy, I beg you to offer your lives as a living sacrifice to Him. Your offering must be only for God and pleasing to Him, which is the spiritual way for you to worship. Do not change yourselves to be like the people of this world, but, be changed within by a new way of thinking. Then, you will be able to find - follow - decide what God wants for you; you will know what is good and pleasing to Him and what is perfect (without error or mistake, flawless, complete, absolute, free from any need, short of nothing, completely fulfilled).”
The text of Romans chapter 12 teaches that the believer is to be devoted to God. Everything he or she is – has, must be dedicated to the worship and service of God. Anything less than total devotion is short of God's glory: it is sin. Therefore, when discussing the believer's relationship to God, Scripture is strong in its exhortation. Without equivocation, God’s Word urges total devotion. Therefore, because of the mercies of God (all this that God has done for us), we must devote ourselves to God. We must dedicate and commit ourselves to Him.
