Worshiping in Spirit and in Truth
Outline:
Definition of worship
- An act of how much you value something or someone. It is how you treat something as deity.
- Deity – somebody treated as a god
- A form of connection to God, prepares us for heaven.
- Worship is obedience to the law.
- Worship is the believer’s response of all that they are – mind, emotions, will, body – to what God is and says and does. (Warren Wiersbe, Real Worship, p. 26)
- Of many ways and forms (e.g., raising hands, dancing and singing)
- Rooted in the character and permanence of God
- Ps. 62:11-12 (Secure output) - 11 One thing God has spoken,
two things I have heard:
“Power belongs to you, God,
12 and with you, Lord, is unfailing love”;
and, “You reward everyone
according to what they have done.”
- Emphasizes that throughout history, God showed He is strong and loving.
- Deut. 7:9, 12 (do) - 9 Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.
12 If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the LORD your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your ancestors.
- Makes clear that He wants a close relationship with us – on the level of intimate friendship expressed through covenants
- Jer 31: 3 – 4 (do) - 3 The LORD appeared to us in the past,[a] saying:
“I have loved you with an everlasting love;
I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.
4 I will build you up again,
and you, Virgin Israel, will be rebuilt.
Again you will take up your timbrels
and go out to dance with the joyful.
- shows that He loves us with everlasting love and continually draws us with his loving kindness, building us up over so that we can join others in worshiping Him.
- Giving to God what He is worthy of
- It is letting our whole lives point to the supremacy and worth of God.
- Fundamentals of Worship.
- Who to worship – God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – one in accord)
- Worship no other gods
- Warning of idolatry – musicians, actors, athletes, etc.
* Foundations are used to make things stand; endure for a long period of time.
- Spirit and in truth – unlocked
- Worshiping God "in spirit" means with reverence, attentiveness, and having the right purpose of honoring God, while understanding what we are doing.
- In order to worship God in the right spirit, we must take time before worship to make ready our hearts and emotions so we will be in the proper frame of mind. Our mind must be ready, attentive, and alert.
- Worshiping God “in truth” can mean two things: the Word and Jesus.
We must worship God in truth. Since His word is truth, we must worship Him according to His word. Here the Lord is telling us that everything we do in worship, we must have God's divine approval. Truth is not arbitrary. Truth for one person is the same as truth for the next. God has not spoken in unclear ways.
- Many people want to do what they think best and what seems right to them. We are warned not to do this in Proverbs 14:12, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death." According to what God says we can loose our soul by doing what seems right in our own eyes.
- To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” – John 8:31, 32. When you worship Jesus you are actually declaring publicly announcing the truth for all people to see, for all people to know and for all people to worship.
Rewards of Worship – Ps. 31:19 - What a stack of blessing you have piled up
for those who worship you
Story of Silas
Children Bible Story – Paul and Silas
by Ramon.KGS on Saturday, April 10, 2010 5:21.
Acts 9:10-25; 14:1-22
Saul was blind when he arrived at Damascus, but by the time he left he could see again with his eyes and his heart. Saul became one of Jesus’ strongest followers. He also changed his name, now he was called Paul. Paul traveled from village to village and told people his story. He had been a religious leader who had wanted to kill all Christians before God had met him and changed him. Jesus had forgiven him and Paul wanted nothing more than to tell people how Jesus could change lives.
Sometimes Paul traveled with friends, one of whom was a man named Barnabas. Together they went from city to city and taught the same things Jesus had taught. Sometimes they made friends and sometimes they made enemies. In one place they met a man who had never been able to walk. This man listened to Paul with all his heart.
Paul said. “Stand up!”
The man jumped up and could walk! He was so happy, he started dancing!
Later, some Jews from Antioch told many people that Paul was evil. They beat him up and threw rocks at him until they thought he was dead. Then, they dragged him outside the city. While the disciples stood around his body, Paul got up and went right back into the city to preach, as if nothing had happened!
One day, Paul and his friends healed a young girl. She was a slave who could tell other people’s fortunes and while she was sick, her masters had made a lot of money from this. When Paul made her better, her masters could not make anymore money and so they grew angry. They grabbed Paul and Silas, dragged them to the police, lied about them and called them traitors. An angry mob beat Paul and Silas and afterwards they threw the two men into prison. Paul and Silas had their feet fastened between heavy blocks of wood and were chained and put under heavy guard.
They were chained in one position so they could not even move around a little bit. Their backs ached from the beating the guards had given them. It looked like a hopeless time for the two apostles but Paul and Silas did not give up. They did not complain. Instead, they sang!
At about midnight, they sang and prayed, praising God while the other prisoners listened to them. Suddenly, a great earthquake shook the prison and the cell doors swung open. Everyone’s chains came undone.
When the jailer woke up and saw all the doors open he drew his sword and was about to kill himself. He thought all the prisoners had escaped and he knew his punishment would be terrible.
Paul cried out. “Don’t hurt yourself, we’re all still here!”
The jailer called for lights and rushed in trembling with fear as he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then, he led them out of the prison.
He asked. “Tell me, please, how do I become a follower of your God?”
Paul and Silas said. “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.”
The jailer nodded and brought Paul and Silas to his own home. There he washed their wounds as the rest of the family listened to Paul talk about Jesus. They wanted to become Christians too. The jailer and his family were all baptized right there. Then they served a meal to the apostles. Everyone was filled with joy because they knew what it meant to believe in God.(http://www.houseandhome.org)
Extravagant Worship
Acts 16:23-26 “And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:
(24) Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.
(25) And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.
(26) And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.”
This Bible story begins the unjust arrest of Paul and Silas. Because they had cast a spirit of divination out of a girl, the local Philippians’ authorities beat them and then threw them into a jail cell. Besides the trauma of the severe beating, they were fastened in stocks which clamped their arms and legs in an immobile position, causing cramps and loss of circulation. The atmosphere there was depressing. According to the standards of that day, a prison was more like the resemblance of a dungeon. A dark, damp, stench-ridden place, with no facility for waste or comforts of any kind.
Yet, in spite of the throbbing pain in their bodies and the disheartening atmosphere, at midnight Paul and Silas were heard praying and singing praises to God! What a strange sound this must have been to the other prisoners, who were used to only hearing the groans or curses of those who had been beaten.
Then suddenly, there was an earthquake that shook the prison! The doors flung open, and amazingly, the bonds of Paul, Silas, and every other prisoner were released! What caused this mighty discharge of power?
- Paul and Silas knew the secret of how to lift their hearts above their troubles and enter into God’s presence and power. Through praise and worship their hearts were raised into the joyous presence and peace of God, and provided God a channel for his power to operate in their circumstances.
- Praise means “to commend, to applaud or magnify.” For the Christian, praise to God is an expression of worship, lifting-up and glorifying the Lord. It is an expression of humbling ourselves and centering our attention upon the Lord with heart-felt expressions of love, adoration and thanksgiving. High praises bring our spirit into a pinnacle of fellowship and intimacy between ourselves and God — it magnifies our awareness of our spiritual union with the highest God. Praise transports us into the realm of the supernatural and into the power of God. “Blessed are the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance” (Psalms 89:15).
There are many actions involved with worship to God — verbal expressions of adoration and thanksgiving, singing, playing instruments, shouting, dancing, lifting or clapping our hands. But true praise is not “merely” going through these motions. Jesus spoke about the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, whose worship was only an outward show and not from the heart. "'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Matt. 15:8. Genuine praise to God is a matter of humility and sincere devotion to the Lord from within.
Since praise manifests God’s presence, we also realize that praise repels the presence of the enemy, Satan. An atmosphere which is filled with sincere worship and praise to God by humble and contrite hearts is disgusting to the Devil. He fears the power in the name of Jesus, and flees from the Lord’s habitation in praise. He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God." (Psalms 50:23).
Types of Worship
- An example of acceptable and unacceptable worship in the Old Testament is that of Cain and Abel. Cain and Abel both worshiped God. Abel did as God directed, but Cain tried to worship God the way he saw fit.
- Acceptable worship - worship "by faith", that is "by the word of God."
- Unacceptable worship – unrewarded like Cain’s
- Vain Worship: When we follow the commandments of men instead of God’s instructions, our worship becomes vain. If our worship is vain, it is empty, hollow, and useless.
Worship is now
Story of Abraham and Isaac
Isaac grew into a strong and healthy boy, and Abraham loved his son with all of his heart—and then some!
One day, God called out, "Abraham!"
"Here I am," said Abraham.
"Abraham, I want you to take your only son Isaac—the one you love so dearly—up to the mountains, and there offer him to Me," said God. "I will show you where to go." Abraham felt sad. He had waited so long for a son, and he didn't want to give him away. But Abraham obeyed.
Early the next morning, he rose and took his only son—the one he loved so dearly—up into the mountains.
After three days, Abraham finally reached the place God had told him about. "Father," said Isaac, "we have fire and wood, but where is the lamb for our offering?" "God will provide," said Abraham, with tears in his eyes. And he began to carefully arrange the firewood on the altar. At last he bound Isaac and laid him on top. "Stop!" cried a voice from heaven. "Do not harm the boy. Now I know that you trust Me completely."
Then Abraham saw a ram caught in a thicket. He and Isaac offered the ram to God. And Abraham named the mountain "God will provide."
God was testing Abraham to see if he still loved God. May be now that Abraham had a promised son, he would love the gift more that the one who gave the gift to him.
After everything Abraham had been through, he knew that he had to obey God. Abraham knew that God gives his best to those who are willing to give him their best.
Just as Abraham was about to plunge the knife into Isaac, the angel of the LORD stopped him. Abraham had shown God that his faith was still in God. Everything that Abraham had belonged to God ... even Isaac.
Consider the person in your life who is your most treasured gift. Maybe it is a child, like Isaac, or a dear friend, a family member, or a spouse.
How would you feel if God asked you to give up this gift? Have you thanked God for this gift?
http://www.childrenstory.info/biblestoryforchild/chdbblabrahamandisaac.html
