December 24, 2015

SPIRITUAL WORSHIP 2

Memory verse: John 4:24 “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth”

As we said yesterday, Jesus showed us where and how to worship in the New Testament. We stopped yesterday by saying that only those in the spirit which is the new location for the New Testament worship can worship God. So who exactly is in the Spirit? Who according to the word of God lives in the Spirit?

Romans 8:9 “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his” so the man in whom the Spirit of God dwells is the one who is in the spirit. The only man that can worship God is the man in whom the Spirit of God dwells. Who is this man? He is the believer in Christ Jesus. The believer is born of the Spirit (nature) and indwelled by the spirit (presence). He has the nature and presence of God in him. His worship is accepted by God because it is in God and of God. So how do we worship in the New Testament? We worship him by the Spirit. Now remember in our definition of worship yesterday, we described worship as obeisance to or reverence to. Notice it didn’t say anything about singing and dancing. Worship is not singing neither is it dancing; you can worship God in a song or in a dance though both have to be of the Spirit for it to be worship but true worship is first and foremost an attitude, a lifestyle.

Now in Old Testament worship, they had expressions of worship. Expressions wherewith they showed their worship to God for example; David danced before the Lord with all his might in 2 Samuel 6:14, the priest of God singing praises as instructed by Jehoshaphat, the slaying of 1000 burnt offering by Solomon. All these were expressions of worship in the Old Testament.

In the New Testament however, our expressions are totally different in that instead of doing things in the flesh like they did, we do them in the spirit. So instead of dancing before the lord like David did, we dance in the Lord. Instead of singing by the flesh, we sing in the Spirit. So our expressions of worship in the New Testament are essentially born of the spirit of God who is our nature and who indwells us.

CONFESSION: I offer spiritual worship by the spirit to God daily; the fruit of my lips extol and magnify the finished work of Christ. I rejoice in the Lord always, yea I rejoice.

Further Bible Reading: Colossians 3, 1 Corinthians 14

Share with others