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Acceptable
Worship
Jesus
said, "...the true worshipers shall
worship the Father in SPIRIT AND TRUTH; for such people the father seeks to be
His worshipers. God is spirit, and those
who worship Him must worship in SPIRIT AND TRUTH." (John 4:23-24)
In SPIRIT:
refers to our attitude, love, motive,
and zeal to follow the Lord…."'spirit' here does not refer to the Holy
Spirit, but to the spirit of man." (Pulpit Commentary [vol. XVII, p. 169])
In TRUTH:
refers to the revealed truth of God. Jesus
prayed to His Father, "Sanctify them
in the truth; Thy word is
truth." (John 17:17)
Certainly we MUST worship with the
proper MOTIVE, ZEAL, EMOTION, and TRUST.
That is our part; to worship
with the proper SPIRIT. But we
MUST also worship according to the commands and examples of the WORD of
God. We cannot invent our own ways of
worship. God provided us with clear
instructions - That is the part He
provided; to worship in TRUTH.
When we study the New Testament, His
law for us today, we find only
the following items of worship being commanded, or practiced by the first
century saints as they were guided by the apostles who were being directly led
by the Holy Spirit.
1. PRAYER: "First of all,
then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made
on behalf of all men,..." (I Tim. 2:1-8) Also, those who had just become Christians "were continually devoting themselves
to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to
PRAYER." (Acts 2:41-42) God’s
word gives us authority to pray. When
saints pray with the proper spirit, that is worship.
2.
LORD'S SUPPER: “And on the first day of the week, when we
were gathered together
to
break bread, Paul began talking to them....."
(Acts
20:7) Paul rebuked the church at
3. SINGING: "Let the word of
Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one
another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in
your hearts to God." (Col. 3:16)
Paul tells the church at
4. GIVING OF OUR MEANS
(Fellowship):
“On the first day of every
week let each one of you put aside and save, as he may prosper, that no
collections be made when I come"
(I Cor. 16:2) Those
who had just become Christians "were
continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and TO FELLOWSHIP, to
the breaking of bread and to prayer." (Acts 2:41-42) God’s
word gives us the authority to give of our means. When saints give of their means with the
proper spirit, that is worship.
5. TEACHING: Those who had just become Christians "were continually devoting them selves to THE APOSTLES' TEACHING and to
fellowship, to the breaking
of bread and
to
prayer." (Acts
1. CAN WE pray with our minds and hearts and
please God? Paul said, "I shall pray with the spirit and I
shall pray with the mind also:..." (I Cor. 14:15)
Obviously we can.
What if we add, as some religions
do, a "prayer wheel" (an
apparatus to which a written prayer is attached, each revolution of the wheel
counting as an utterance of the prayer.
[Webster's Dictionary]); would that be "in SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH?" Obviously not!
2. CAN WE
partake of the Lord's Supper on the first day of every week, blending
our hearts and minds as we commune with our Lord as He instructed us to;
remembering Him in the way He requested and be pleasing to God? Obviously we can.
What
if we use a computer to do our remembering for us; or simply play a video tape each
week of saints partaking of the Lord's Supper instead of our actually partaking
of it ourselves? Would that be "in
SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH?" Obviously not.
3. CAN WE sing with our minds and hearts and
please God? Paul said, "I shall sing with the spirit and I
shall sing with the
mind also." (I Cor.
Obviously
we can.
What
if we add the mechanical making of music (i.e. drums, guitar, piano, organ,
etc.) to praise God; or have a group sing for us? Would that be "in SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH?" Obviously not.
4. CAN WE save a portion of what God has blessed us with
each week out of our paychecks, and lovingly give it to the Lord on the first
day of the week and be pleasing to God? Obviously we can.
What
a percentage was automatically taken out (like our social security and income
tax) without our having to put any thought into how much or why? Would that be "in SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH?" Obviously not.
5. CAN WE meet with other Christians and hear
the word of God proclaimed; "searching
the scriptures to see whether these things were so" (Acts
What
if we sent a tape recorder to services instead, collected and stored up the
sermons until we have a more "convenient season" to hear the word of
God proclaimed; would that be worshiping "in
SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH?" Obviously not.
We Cannot Please God By Adding To, Or
Taking Away, From His
Instructions!
Paul told the Christians at
Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to me 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of
heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven." (Matthew
7:21)
David A. Beck