Continuing Study on Worshipping God
John 4:20-24
I. Introduction (John 4:24)
A. What is worship? True worship, real devotion does not consist in the performance of certain religious duties at set times, but in the spirit in which the Ordinary duties of common life are performed. William Law
B. This is a series looking at True Worship, and True Worshippers
C. So Far, we have looked at the Wrong Ways to Worship, and began to explore the Right Ways to Worship God
D. Later on, we will look at HOW God’s people worshipped God – it’s awesome
II. Principles of Worship
A. Everyone worships some-thing or some-one!
B. But most people miss the target when it comes to worshipping God - People assume they know what worship should be like.
C. Worship means to show someone’s worth! To show someone’s worth-ship! An act of ascribing worth/value to a person. Ascribing great worth to a person
1. To honour – extol, lift-up, praise
2. To please
3. To bless
4. To love with all the heart
5. To glorify – put all the attention on – put the lime-light on
6. To serve gladly and whole-heartedly
7. When a person worship’s God, these things are all active!
III. Review – Worshipping God in Spirit
A. Worshipping God in Spirit is An Inner Worship (Psalm 103:1) – not a formality, not an external act – it happens only on the inside!
B. Worshipping God in Spirit is An Attitude – the WAY you approach God is just as important as the fact that you are worshipping God
C. Worshipping God in Spirit is Consuming (Eph 5:18)
IV. Message – Worshipping God in Truth
A. Most People Have a Problem with the Truth (John 18:33-38)
1. It is not a fable we are following (2 Peter 1:16-19)
2. God’s word IS truth (John 17:17)
3. Proven by the fact that so many work so hard at corrupting it (2Cor 2:17)
B. The two sides of worship are:
1. Worshipping in Spirit – internal, right attitude, consuming
2. Worshipping in Truth – worshipping according to God’s way, the true way
3. Both are related – both are two vital halves of worship that must be balanced
a. Some people have too much “spirit” in their worship, and not enough truth, not enough facts, not enough reality in their relationship with God (they can sure put on a good show)
b. While others have a lot of truth, but very little spirit, very little heart, very little passion, very little giving
C. The Meaning of Worshipping in Truth:
1. It is God’s way of worship – How He expects us to approach Him
2. To worship God in truth means to worship Him in sincerity, in reality – not faking it, or just going through some traditional motions or rituals
3. It means, no hypocrisy, no guile, not something that is guessed at, but obeyed from the heart!
4. To worship God in Truth means that our worship is limited strictly to how the Bible says to worship God
a. Not according to the way we’ve always done it – that’s tradition
b. Not according to feelings – wow I FEEL so good and spiritual today
c. Not according to pressure – forced to worship a certain way like the rest of the world is – under pain of death or torture
d. Not according to the way the rest of the world worships – doesn’t matter that there are 850 million Catholics, 1 billion Buddhists, 1 billion Muslims
e. But only according to how God has recorded that we should worship Him
D. The Truth About Right Worship
1. True Worship is Simple (2Cor 11:2-4) not ritualistic
2. True Worship is Real – Sincere – not a façade (Mt 15:25). No fake smile, or fake words, but out of reality, and from an honest heart – expressing how you feel, and what you need to an awesome God who loves you and will help you!
3. True Worship is of the Saviour (Philp 2:5-11) – if your worship is not of Jesus, then it is false – period. Jesus is the test to see if we are truly worshipping right!
4. True Worship is Serious (Psalm 2:10-12) – not a flippant act on occasion
5. True Worship is Humbling (Mic 6:8)
6. True Worship is Clean (Psalm 29:2)
7. True Worship is Tested (1John 4:1) – test the spirits, test your motives
a. The Holy Spirit does not work independently of His word. If there is no word preached, or given out then there is no way for the Holy Spirit of God to work!!!
b. There are many spirits – most are counterfeits (2Cor 11:14)
c. Feelings are not a reason to worship and many times hinder or twist our worship
d. Not all worship is right worship
1) Humming? Transcendental meditation?
2) Barking and Hissing – Like in some Pentecostal churches
3) Rock music based worship teams instead of hymns and preaching
4) Speaking in unknown tongues – blurting them out in a church meeting
5) Genuflecting, and honouring a piece of bread instead of the living and true Saviour
6) Honouring your dead ancestors – talking to them, and seeking their help
7) Worshipping multitudes of God – Greek, Romans, Hindus
8) Worshipping Allah - Muslim
8. True Worship is Thankful (Psalm 100)
V. Conclusion
A. Worship for too long has been the domain of
1. “It’s just how we do it”
2. “Whatever feels good, do it”
3. “Whatever works for you”
B. That’s not what Jesus is promoting in John 4:24 – there most definitely is a right way and a wrong way to worship God
C. So, there are limits placed on how we are to worship
D. Those “limits” are what make worship real, and effective – which is what God deserves!
Craig Ledbetter
Bible Baptist Church, Ballincollig, Cork, Ireland