Title: True Worshipers/John 4:20-24
I hope that those who participated in today's worship will have the grace to meet the Lord.
A true worshiper must have a clear object of worship. The father is the object of worship. This is what Jesus taught. Jesus prepared the way for us to come to God. The Holy Spirit is the one who guides you along the way. When the Father is glorified, Jesus, the Son, is also glorified. And the Holy Spirit is glorified.
The true worshiper is commanded to worship in spirit and truth rather than place, ceremonial order, or form. Today, we will only talk about worshiping in spirit. The word "spirit" means the spirit-man of man. We must worship from the inside out. It is not a matter of the right place, the right time, the right words and attitude, the right clothes, the right form, the right behavior, the right music, the right atmosphere. That's right! It is a matter of what is in me - in the soul.
Paul worshiped with the spirit (Romans 1:9). David speaks of glorifying God from within, all that is within me, to praise his name (Psalm 103:1). David said that the worship God seeks is a broken spirit. Outward worship should be an expression of the heart.
1) You must be possessed by the Holy Spirit.
In order to worship God in spirit, the Spirit must help us. If we do not have the Holy Spirit within us to stimulate our hearts, move our hearts, purify our hearts, and teach our hearts, worship will not be accomplished. God cannot receive worship unless the Holy Spirit encourages it. That is the basic and the lowest level.
We are saved to worship. When we are saved, the Holy Spirit is in our hearts to encourage, stimulate, push, teach, and purify us so that we can worship God to turn us toward God. That is the work of the Holy Spirit. We worship with all our spirit. Because the Holy Spirit prompts them to do so. 1 Corinthians 12:3 "No one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit" No one can worship without the help of the Holy Spirit.
2) We must focus our thoughts on God.
Worship flows from a heart renewed by the truth of God. Deep meditation on God is the trigger to begin worship. Meditation is to focus the whole mind on one subject. The key to effective worship is being able to meditate on God with your whole heart.
3) Discover and meditate on the Word of God.
Meditation is based on knowledge. If you want to think about a topic, you must have a topic to think about. Blessed contemplation is based on discovery. When you discover a great truth about God, meditate on that truth until it completely takes over your entire thought process. Such meditation will make you worship.
Discovery is based on time spent with God in prayer and in the Word. We have forgotten the element of living prayer consciously of God's wonderful presence and of communing with God there.
Worship begins with the indwelling Holy Spirit. Second, our thoughts must be focused on God. Third, we must discover and meditate, which arises from the time we spend in prayer and Bible study. More simply, there is no meditation without discovery, no worship without meditation. If you go to church after meditating on what you have discovered and making it your own, you will find them pouring out with praise when your mouth is opened in worship.
When you get tired of church, it doesn't tell you what the church is like, it tells you what your state of mind is. If you spend a week meditating on God and discovering the truth, the joy of worship will overflow. If you go into the closet and spend a week there, you will be filled with the emotion of worship.
4) You must have a heart that does not share.
In Psalm 86:5-10, he was pouring out his heart to God while praising God's wonders and virtues. But his worship was hindered in two ways. There was no truth in him, and he lacked an indivisible heart. Verse 11 says, “Teach me your ways, O LORD; I will walk in your truth, so that I may fear your name with all my heart.”
David was not thrilled with the discovery. Discovery means not only finding out what you didn't know before, it also means finding out what you previously knew and forgot. Or it could mean that you now know for sure what you knew and remembered before, but didn't see with so much certainty. So David asked God to help him find out.
At the end of verse 11, "Let us fear Your name with all our hearts." The word to fear means worship. The opposite of one mind is a divided mind. What prevented David from worshiping was his shared heart that he did not have the truth he needed to meditate on.
When we try to worship, we experience a divided heart. To pray, our hearts are filled with all kinds of thoughts. We worship with a shared heart because we are thinking about our plans, our actions, and our needs. So there is no time to discover the truth, to meditate on, or to worship. Our worship is disturbed. Our ego is a hindrance to worship. When we think we should be satisfied rather than glorify God, we put God below us. This is the worship of idolatry and an obstacle to worship. Putting ourselves and our needs, interests, and blessings above God is a hindrance to worship.
Songs of praise flow from a heart that is determined, undivided, and focused on God.
To worship in spirit we must possess the Spirit, our minds must be focused on God, we must abide in the Word of God by discovery and contemplation, and we must also have an undivided, united heart.
5) You must have an open and repentant heart.
When we approach God through worship, we must approach it with an open and repentant spirit. If worship is difficult and you hardly feel that God is near, then there must be something in your life that you have long overlooked. You must be willing to confess your sins with a broken heart and a repentant heart that only God knows. We must deal with our sins in order to worship. In order to enter communion with a totally holy God, that sin must be purged. We must confess our sins before God and worship Him with a pure heart.
The God who is worshiped is a Spirit. Therefore, spiritual fellowship is necessary. That way is to worship in spirit and truth. This is the way to go to God, the Spirit, and the way to worship. Worshiping in the Spirit requires the help of the Holy Spirit. We need to focus on God. We must discover and meditate on the Word of God. We must worship with an undivided heart. We must worship God through repentance. God is looking for people who worship like this.