You have to worship according to his word, understanding the word, through the word, using the word – functioning through the word. To submit to the will of God. What God is looking for in those who worship Him is a demonstration in their lives of the fruits of His Spirit. The Fourth Commandment (Part One) (1997). It states only this fact, and one must look elsewhere in the Bible to find information concerning His form and shape. Our worship must be guided, motivated, and empowered by His Spirit. More importantly, the Bible does not give any instruction in celebrating His birth, nor any example of the first-century church doing so, nor any indication that the celebration of birthdays is pleasing to God at all! Compare the expressions, God is light; God is love (1 John 1:5; 1 John 4:8). Would we believe this to be "overboard"? “In truth.” 2. This is why Paul testifies before Felix, the procurator of Palestine, "But this I confess to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect, so I worship the God of my fathers. In great contrast to this present evil world's gross ingratitude, God has revealed to those who will listen and act that thankfulness is a duty to which the elect of God are bound. What did the Israelites do here? God seeks that everybody to worship Him in spirit and truth. Praise and thank God for all His works and for providing brethren by whom we can be encouraged. True worship must be “in spirit,” that is, engaging the whole heart. Worship in Spirit and Truth Prayer. ... John 4:24 proclaims that those who worship God must worship Him in spirit and truth. It pleased God to reveal Himself through the Son and to reconcile us to Himself through Jesus’ death. In our relationship with Him, He wants us to emphasize the spiritual—His character, the qualities of His spiritual attributes, and His purpose. Jesus Christ is the image of God, the creator, sustainer, and reconciler of creation, and the head of the church (Colossians 1:15-20). The essence of true worship of God must be on His terms and in accord with His nature. To worship God in spirit and in truth is something which God requires of everyone who follows Him. It must spring from a knowledgeable, devoted heart under the influence of His Holy Spirit. Any human being with enough willpower can keep the law of God in the letter, but God must empower us to keep it in the spirit. Jesus intends us to understand His words in John 4 in the same respect. The phrase worship in Spirit and truth comes from a passage a Scripture found in John 4 when Jesus was traveling though Samaria and he stopped at a well. Power to do what? But a deeper study of worship shows that it is more a thing of the heart and mind than a physical action or position. Worship in Spirit and Truth Prayer. However, they erred in isolating sincerity and ceremony away from the truth as revealed in God's Word. He does understand, but He wants us to trust Him. The answer is in verse 1: Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, "Come make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.". 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. They are absolutely holy, pure, and undefiled, uncreated and eternal. Are we careful in tithing? The Lord of Host is your name. A true Christian does not lie and does not associate with lies, but seeks after truth in all aspects of life. The problem was the delay he perceived. That’s exactly what Jesus said. Your everyday, ordinary, sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life. True worship must be “in spirit,” that is, engaging the whole heart. Thankfulness comprises part of this list. a. fternoon. Nevertheless, God reveals Himself to him there, and the transformation of Jacob begins. Being spirit, God is not confined to material things, so idols are totally irrelevant as worship aids. With all of these approaches to worship, a common description people use to describe worship is that it should be in Spirit and truth. Jesus said we need both spirit and truth in our worship. It must be in spirit and in harmony with His nature, which the Bible reveals. God saw this as an attempt by these people to control Him through redefining His nature. One cannot know the true God unless one knows the truth of God. Leave a comment. Thus, Amos admonishes, "Do not seek Bethel! If we do, we have adjusted already. Jesus warned in Matthew 6:1-2, David did worshiped sincerely from the heart and according to God’s instruction, but Christ told of a new age of worship. It seems that these people turned the feast in Bethel into nothing more than a vacation. The reality or truth that our worship must be based on is, of course, God's Word. Lewis, in his book Mere Christianity, asserts that one of Satan's most common ploys is to "send error into the world in pairs"—pairs of opposites—"and then he encourages us to spend a lot of time thinking, Which is the worst?" It has taken up residence, and therefore the Father is there, as well as the Son. As I said, worship in spirit flows out of worship in truth. God wants us to worship Him humbly rather than the way the world worships idols. He gave them the power to keep God's law in the spirit, not just its letter. The phrase describes the nature, not the personality of God. Prepare to Meet Your God! ... an implicit critique of Samaritan practices and all worship not regulated by … . He shows his new love by obeying God and His law in his life in areas like those mentioned in verses 10-12. We are. Satan was clearly attempting to get Christ to worship him—a being besides God—and to that Jesus replies, referring to the Father, "Him only you shall serve." Amos 5 and the Feast of Tabernacles. Notice how Psalm 45:10-11 shows that we must choose between alternatives that will present themselves from time to time. He was with them, teaching, leading, guiding them into truth. There are two principles of note in this command– authority and disposition. John W. Ritenbaugh We seek to do God's will. The same acts of worship are repeated in King Hezekiah's day, as "all who were present with him bowed and worshiped" (II Chronicles 29:29). One of the subtle clues Greek gives to its readers is how it views a series of words. Cogitations on Christmas. 1. When done properly, if we truly understand worship, this attitude of a bowed-down heart and head permeates everything we do. This statement by Jesus is the main Biblical text we turn to when regarding Christian worship. (literally or figuratively)prostrate oneself in homage (do reverence to, adore)." See what over 145,000 subscribers are already receiving each day. Churches seem to rise on almost every corner, and a great deal of talking about religion goes on. That is alarming! Jesus Himself did not actually say that, but this woman was speaking to a Jew, and the Jews certainly taught that Jerusalem was the only place to worship. To say that we must worship God “in spirit” means, among other things, that it must originate from within, from the heart; it must be sincere, motivated by our love for God and gratitude for all he is and has done. It was well known that Jews worshipped God at Jerusalem and Samaritans worshipped Him at Mount Gerizim. At the same time, worship must be “in truth,” that is, properly informed. Martin G. Collins . God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, destroy all their engraved stones, destroy all their molded images, and demolish all their high places. 5 Ways to Worship in Spirit and Truth 1. In the Israelite mind, Bethel thus became associated as a place of renewal, of reorientation, of transformation by God. It is not easy for human nature to surrender its dominance over one's life. Twice Jacob, one of the fathers of Israel, has important events happen to him there. Notice, it is not just with part of our lives but everything. My heart rejoices at the realization of your desire to draw men unto yourself. We change the image of God by saying, "He won't mind. He warns His people specifically in these verses, as well as in Revelation 22:18-19, not to add to His instructions, nor to take away from them, and this is clearly within the context of adopting pagan practices in conjunction with worshipping Him. Mere words are not enough! When Job hears the horrific news of the total loss of everything he once enjoyed, including all his children, he does what many would consider an unusual thing: "Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshipped" (Job 1:20). John 4:24 instructs us regarding the way God desires that we worship Him: "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth." The Spirit, the essence of God's mind, was on the verge of residing in them, but it was not yet firmly lodged in them where it would consistently manifest the characteristics of the God Family. In John the 4th chapter he tells the woman that God is seeking those who are willing to worship him "in spirit and in truth" (verse 23). Worship in Spirit and Truth (From Forerunner Commentary) Exodus 32:7-10 (Go to this verse:: Verse pop-up) These people were undoubtedly sincere, but God did not care for their sincerity one bit. True worship is Christ-focused. But not everyone can explain what Jesus meant when he said the Father is seeking men and women who will worship him “in spirit and truth” (v. 23). He leaves Bethel as a man with a future. Observations in … Here, "spirit" stands contrasted to ritual, rite, or form as represented by His mention of the Temple in Jerusalem (verse 20). We need to examine ourselves to see whether we are making adjustments in our way of life to be in harmony with the spirit of the age. Orthodoxy does not necessarily produce piety. We, as Christians, speak often of worship, and constantly turn to John 4:24 to demonstrate the need for us to worship God in spirit and in truth. Thomas reflects on the prayers for the bishops, presbyters, and deacons. Jesus didn’t refer to corporate worship in the sanctuary when He sp… and they that worship him; worship is due to him on account of his nature and perfections, both internal and external; with both the bodies and souls of men; and both private and public; in the closet, in the family, and in the church of God; as prayer, praise, attendance on the word and ordinances: must worship him in spirit and in truth; in the true and spiritual manner before described, which is suitable to his nature, and agreeably to his will. Being spirit and a purposeful God, He is pleased only with what resembles Him. It was ignorant because they rejected all the Old Testament except the Pentateuch, and her ancestors were guilty of syncretizing what truth they had with forms of worship brought from their ancestral homeland. They should have left Bethel singing and exemplifying, "Oh, how I love Your law! But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. Balancing Truth and Spirit. Which was better, Mt. So He cannot even be isolated to an hour or two on the Sabbath. The idea that worship must be performed only at a specific place of revelation?Mt. Any representation of God changes Him into a different god from what He really is. John W. Ritenbaugh Why? Jesus says in John 4:24, "God is a spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." The word spirit is translated in the Old Testament from the Hebrew ruach, and in the New Testament the Greeek pneuma. We need more power than what we humanly have to keep God's law in the spirit. He understands." Does this have an end-time application to the church of God? It is these true worshippers to whom God grants His Spirit. The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Fifteen). The “truth” part is plain enough — with the coming of Jesus, that truth centers on his person and work, the … The Holy Spirit and the Trinity (Part Five). As we bow our hearts and heads to God in worship, crying out for mercy and to be filled with God's attitudes, we are comforted and filled. He must command us to worship Him because it is possible to worship others and things besides God. Is this worshipping God in spirit and in truth? (Acts 24:14). The apostles were literally seeing the Holy Spirit of God, the essence of God's mind, in the action, in the life, of a fellow human being—Jesus Christ. By developing a thankful attitude now, we prepare ourselves for the soon-coming Kingdom of God. 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