True Worship
by
John
MacArthur, Jr.
Word
of Grace Communications
ã 1982, 1985 by
John MacArthur, Jr.
All
rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without
permission in writing from the publisher, except in the case of brief
quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
Note:
Permission was received for Bible Bulletin Board (www.biblebb.com) to transcribe this book for
posting on their website, and all original copyrights and other rights are
still in effect.
Selected
Scriptures
Tape GC 2010
7
True
Worship - Part 7
Outline
Introduction
Review
I. The Importance of Worship
II. The Source of Worship
III. The
Object of Worship
IV. The Sphere of Worship
Lesson
V. The Nature of Worship
A. The Deviations of Worship in Spirit and
Truth
1. Samaritan Worship (spirit without truth)
2. Jewish Worship (truth without spirit)
B. The Discussion of Worship in Spirit and
Truth
1. Worship in spirit
a) The meaning
(1) Romans 1:9
(2) Psalm 103:1
(3) Psalm 51:15:17
b) The method
(1) Possession of the Holy Spirit
(2) Thoughts centered on God
(3) Discovery and meditation of God’s Word
(4) An undivided heart
Conclusion
Introduction
Years ago, William Temple, the Archbishop of
Canterbury, defined worship this way:
“To worship is to quicken the conscience by the
holiness of God, to feed the mind with
the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the
beauty of God, to open the heart to
the love of God, and to devote the will to the
purpose of God.” In other words, worship
is all that we are responding to all that He is.
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Review
I. THE
IMPORTANCE OF WORSHIP (see pp. 11-43)
John
important.
In fact, God saves men to worship Him - making it the goal of God’s
redemptive
plan.
Is the church’s focus on God...or man?
said,
“We are drifting toward a religion which, consciously or unconsciously,
keeps
its eye on humanity rather than deity.”
That’s
a true statement! Even today, the evangelical church is prone to be man-
centered
rather than God-centered. We are such a consumptive, pragmatic, man-
centered
society, that we tend to turn everything on ourselves. We talk to men and
their
needs, their problems, their programs, their methods, their efforts, their
sermons,
their songs, their books, their churches, and their organizations. And
somehow,
in all of that talk, we very often lose sight of the fact that we are to be
conscious
of God far more than of men.
II. THE
SOURCE OF WORSHIP (see pp. 47-51)
In John
4:23, the seeking of the Father is efficacious. In other words, He seeks out
those
individuals to worship Him and then redeems and transforms them into true
worshipers.
Therefore, the source of worship is salvation.
III. THE
OBJECT OF WORSHIP (see pp. 72-78)
When we
gather together, it is to focus on God and to worship Him in His trinitarian
fullness
as Spirit and as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. We don’t evaluate worship
on the
basis of what it does for us, asking questions like, “Is this going to meet my
needs?
Is it going to give me a good feeling? Is it going to inspire me? Is it going
to
bless
me?” To evaluate worship like that is to substitute affection for objective
trust.
When we
gather to worship God, He is the object, and our purpose is to give to Him.
IV. THE SPHERE OF WORSHIP (see pp. 78-81)
In John
worship
would no longer take place in a specific geographic location. And then in verse
24a, He
says, “God is a Spirit.” Therefore, we are to worship everywhere. Yet, in our
last
lesson we saw that there is still a temple where God meets His people. Do you
remember
what it is? It’s the temple the corporate assembly of the living church. Even
though
we should worship God everywhere at all times, there is still a unique building
made up
of living stones that are “built together for an habitation of God through the
Spirit”
(Eph. 2:22b; cf. 1Pet. 2:5). God is to be worshiped in all places and at all
times
but
also in the corporate assembly of His redeemed people, “not forsaking the
assembling
of ourselves together” (Heb. 10:25a).
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Lesson
V. THE
NATURE OF WORSHIP
A. The Deviations of Worship in Spirit and
Truth
1. Samaritan worship (spirit without truth)
In
John 4:22a, Jesus says to the Samaritan woman, “Ye worship ye know not
what.”
Now, what did He mean by that? Well, He acknowledged that the
Samaritans
were worshiping, they just didn’t know what they were worshiping.
You
see, the Samaritans only accepted the Pentateuch (the first five books of
the
Old Testament) as coming from God. So their knowledge was limited.
They
had enough to know some of the truths about God, but not enough to
have
the full salvation revelation. They were worshiping, but the didn’t know
the
fullness of what they were worshiping.
Samaritan
worship, then was enthusiastic worship without proper information.
Their
worship was aggressive, enthusiastic, excited, and faithful, but they didn’t
have
the right content. In other words, they worshiped in spirit but not in truth.
Did
you know that even though their temple was destroyed in 125 B.C.,
Samaritan
worship is still going on today? There are only about 400 Samaritans
still
alive, but if you were to go to
would
see them slicing up animals exactly as it was done during the Mosaic
economy.
They’re still at it, and they will not give it up. They’re enthusiastic,
but
they don’t have the right information or content.
2. Jewish worship (truth without spirit)
Back
in John 4:22b Jesus says, “We [Jews] know what we worship; for
salvation
is of the Jews.” Now the Jews were just the opposite of the
Samaritans.
They accepted all thirty-nine books of the Old Testament and
had
the whole revelation of the teaching of salvation. They had the truth - but
they
lacked the spirit. Just read Matthew 6:1-8, and you’ll see that they were
cold,
legalistic, and hypocritical. They went through the motions, but their
hearts
weren’t in it. Now I admit that there were some Jews who had a zeal
for
God, but the basic existing religion of
truth,
but their hearts were empty.
So,
without
the truth. Those are the two extreme poles of worship. On the one hand is
Mount
Gerizim, or enthusiastic heresy. On the other hand is
lifeless
orthodoxy. The Jews had all the accurate data, but they didn’t have any
heart.
The Samaritans had all the heart, but they didn’t have the data. What Jesus
is
saying is that both spirit and truth must be present in true worship. One
without
the
other causes an imbalance. Sincere, enthusiastic, aggressive worship is great,
but
it must be based on truth.
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Worship based on truth is
essential, but if it doesn’t issue in an eager, anxious,
thrilled
heart, it’s lacking. Often we can have light without heat or heat without
light,
but true worship demands a balance.
B. The Discussion of Worship in Spirit and
Truth
In John 4:23a, Jesus says,
“But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true
worshipers
shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth.” And then in verse 24b,
He
says, “They that worship him must worship him in spirit and truth.” Let’s look
at
these two elements of true worship:
1. Worship in spirit
a) The meaning
Worshiping
in spirit refers to the human spirit - the inner person. We are
to
worship from the inside out. It’s not a matter of being in the right place
at
the right time, with the right words, the right demeanor, the right
clothes,
the right formalities, the right activities, the right music, or the
right
mood. No! It is what’s on the inside - the spirit.
(1) Romans 1:9 -
[Gk.,
latreuo, ‘worship’] with my spirit.”
his
spirit.
(2) Psalm 103:1 - David writes, “Bless the Lord,
O my soul, and all
all
that is within me bless His holy name.” David is talking here about
glorifying
God from within.
(3) Psalm 51:15-17 - David comes to God with the
worship of
repentance
and says, “O Lord, open thou my lips, and my mouth shall
show
forth thy praise. For thou desirest not sacrifice, else would I give
it;
thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a
broken
spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not
despise.”
David acknowledged that God wasn’t interested in the
external
sacrifices, because they were just symbols of what God really
wanted
- the heart. And when he said, “Open thou my lips, and my
mouth
shall show forth thy praise,”do you know what that says to
me?
That pictures a man whose heart is filled with praise, but because
of his
circumstances and a lack of strength, he needs God to open his
mouth
so that the praise will come pouring out. That’s what it means
to
worship in spirit.
b) The method
How
can we worship in spirit? How can we be so filled with praise that
when
our mouths are pried open it just gushes out? How can we keep from
having
cold hearts - bored and indifferent? Let me give you several
principles
on how to worship in spirit.
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(1) Possession of the Holy Spirit
Before
we can worship God in our spirits, the Holy Spirit must be there to
prompt
worship. According to 1 Corinthians 2:11b, “Even so the things of
God
knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.” So if you don’t have the Spirit
of
God within you, prompting your heart, motivating your heart, cleansing
your
heart, and instructing your heart - worship isn’t going to happen. God
cannot
be worshiped without His Spirit energizing that worship. That’s basic.
That’s
the bottom line.
You
have to be saved to worship God. Once you’re saved the Holy Spirit
comes
to live in your heart to point you to God, to prod you, to poke you,
to
push you, to instruct you, and to purge you so that you can worship.
That’s
His ministry. It all begins with the resident Holy Spirit. We worship
God
in our human spirit because we are prompted by the Holy Spirit to do so.
(2) Thoughts centered on God
Worship
is an overflow of a mind renewed by the truth of God. Contemplating
God
is the trigger that sets off worship. Now contemplating God, or thinking
thoughts
about Him, can be translated into the familiar word meditation.
True
worship comes forth out of meditation. You say, “Well, what exactly is
meditation?”
To meditate is to focus your whole mind on one subject.
If
you find it hard to focus your whole mind on one subject, it’s fairly normal-
especially
in our distracting world. We are exposed to so many things through
the
media that our minds are cluttered, and our attention spans are very limited.
But
let me tell you something - the key to effective worship is to be able to
concentrate
your whole mind on one subject, to meditate on God.
(3) Discovery and meditation on God’s Word
Meditation
is based on information. If you’re going to be thinking on one
subject,
you have to have a subject to think on. That’s basic! The best, the
purest,
the truest, the most wonderful and blessed meditation is based on
what
I like to call discovery. In other words, when you discover a great truth
about
God, begin to meditate on that truth until it captivates every element
of
your whole thinking process. That meditation will give rise to worship.
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You say, “Well, if worship is based on
meditation, and meditation is based
on
discovery, what is discovery based on?” Discovery is based on time spent
with
God in prayer and in the Word. Sadly, we primarily see prayer as a way
to
get things, and we have lost sight of its communion element - living in the
consciousness
of God’s wonderful presence and just communing with Him
there.
Do You Get Bored in Church?
If you
get bored in church, may I suggest to you that it’s not a commentary on the
sermon
- it’s a commentary on your heart! Even if the sermon isn’t particularly worth
listening
to, the chance to pick up some truths about God that come through, and then
to
meditate on them, should be the most exhilarating time of your life. If you’re
uninterested
or indifferent, it’s not a commentary on the sermon, it’s a commentary on
you.
You
see, if you go to church thinking, “I hope the preacher’s got something to say
that
will
get me into a worship mood,” you’ve missed it. By the time Sunday rolls around,
you
should be so eager to worship with the assembly of believers that you can
hardly
wait to
get into the place to get started. Why? Because you should be in the process of
meditating
over what you discovered in the Word of God throughout the week. As you
study
the Word of God, commune with him in prayer, discover truths about Him, and
meditate
on those truths, the joy of worship will appear.
C.H.
Spurgeon said, “Why is it that some people are often in a place of worship and
yet
they
are not holy...? It is because they neglect their [prayer] closets. They love
the
wheat,
but they do not grind it; they would have the corn, but they will not go forth
into
the fields to gather it; the fruit hangs upon the tree, but they will not pluck
it; the
water
flows at their feet, but they will not stoop to drink of it.” Worship - isn’t
passive -
it
takes effort!
We’ve
been rooted and grounded in Christ, but how deep our roots grow and
how
beautiful our fruit appears depends, to a large degree, on our process of
discovery
and meditation on God’s wonderful truth. Now I know it’s hard for
us
to meditate. It’s difficult for us to isolate our minds on one subject. But
it’s
a
discipline - we have to train ourselves to be able to do it. I think about
those
men
who learn how to sit in the middle of the teeming mass of humanity in
and
I wonder why Christians can’t think on God without being distracted.
Worship
in the spirit, then, begins with the resident Holy Spirit. Second, our
thoughts
must be centered on God. Third, we must be involved in discovery and
meditation,
which arise out of time spent in prayer and Bible study. May I make it
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simple? No discovery - no
meditation; no meditation - no worship. If you go to
church
with a heart filled with discovery from your own study (or even if you’ve
learned
it from somebody else) and you’ve meditated on it and made it your own,
you’re
going to find out that when your mouth is pried open it will overflow with
praise!
A
fourth principle for worshiping in spirit is:
(4) An undivided heart
In
Psalm 86:5-10 we see David worshiping and glorifying God for who He
is
and for what He’s done. “For Thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive,
and
plenteous in mercy unto all those who call upon thee. Give ear, O Lord,
unto
my prayer, and attend to the voice of my supplications. In the day of
my
trouble I will call upon thee; for thou wilt answer me. Among the gods
there
is none like unto thee, O Lord; neither are there any works like unto
thy
works. All nations whom thou has made shall come and worship before
thee,
O Lord, and shall glorify thy name. For thou art great, and doest
wondrous
things; thou art God alone.”
David
was pouring out his heart to God - extolling His wonders and His virtues.
But
his worship was hindered in two areas - he was lacking the truth and he
was
lacking an undivided heart. Look at verse 11. “Teach me thy way, O
Lord;
I will walk in thy truth; unite my heart to fear thy name.”
First
of all, David was lacking the thrill of discovery. Now, sometimes discovery
isn’t discovering something you didn’t previously
know; it can also refer to discovering
something you knew before, and forgot - or
discovering something you knew before
and remembered, but never saw with such clarity. So,
David asked the Lord to help
him in his discovery process.
I
would just like to suggest that when you find it difficult to worship, to
meditate
on God’s Word, to go through the process of discovery, or to let
God
touch your life with his Word to produce praise, you need to stop and ask
the
Holy Spirit to be your teacher. He is the one who teaches us all things
(1
John 2:27; cf. John 16:13).
Second,
at the end of verse 11, David says, “Unite my heart to fear thy name.”
The
phrase “fear thy name” was a euphemism for worship. In other words,
David
wanted to worship God, but he needed to have his heart united. What’s
the
opposite of a united heart? A divided heart. The first problem David
had
in worshiping God was that he didn’t have the truth he needed to meditate
on.
But second, he was distracted - he had a divided heart.
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We’ve all experienced a
divided heart, haven’t we? Times where we sit down
and
say, “I’m going to pray now and spend some time with the Lord.” But
no
sooner do we get started when our minds begin to flood with all sorts of
distractions,
or the kids come blasting through the door at the moment of our
greatest
discovery! It’s so difficult for us to concentrate, and I imagine it was
even
more difficult for David. After all, he was a king, and he had a lot on his
mind.
Not only was he concerned about all that was going on in his kingdom,
but
there were many things in his personal life that weren’t right. So he
basically
said, “God, I want to worship You; but I need an undivided heart to
go
along with the right instruction. I want to discover, and I want to be able
to
meditate without being distracted.”
Conclusion
When you try to focus your spirit on worship, there
will be one major hindrance - self. When you get in front of God, your worship
will be hindered. You see, we often have things that we want to do to fulfill
our own desires, so we don’t have time for discovery, or prayer, or meditation,
or worship. And it’s hard to have an undivided heart because we’re always
thinking about our projects, or our activities, or our needs. Self always gets in the way of
worship. And we can’t really be free to worship God until we eliminate self
altogether and become lost in worshiping God. It really comes down to that fact
that we are just too lazy to make the effort. We’re so self-indulgent with ease
that we won’t expend ourselves to dig deep, to scoop up the water, to pluck the
grain, as Spurgeon said.
One of the great experiences of my brief life has
been to read Stephen Charnock’s book The Existence and Attributes of God. It
contains all of his thoughts about God - rich, profound insights - and takes
and entire lifetime to digest. At one point, he says this; “To pretend homage
to God and intend only the advantage to myself is rather to mock God than to
worship Him. When we believe we ought to be satisfied rather than God
glorified, we set God below ourselves and imagine that He should submit His own
honor to our advantages.” That’s the hindrance to worship - when we set
ourselves and our needs, advantages,
blessings, and so on, above God.
Let’s be free to worship God. when we come together
in the assembly of His redeemed people, may our lives be so filled with praise
from time spent with God in prayer, study, discovery, and meditation, that when
our mouths are opened, praise might burst forth and our inner spirit offer true
worship to Him.
Focusing on the Facts
1. What was
the nature of Samaritan worship? Why was it limited (see p. 86)?
2. In
contrast to Samaritan worship, what was the general nature of Jewish worship?
What
did the Jews lack ( see p. 86)?
3. The two
extreme poles of worship are enthusiastic _____________and lifeless
________________(see
p. 86).
91
4. What two
ingredients did Jesus say must be present in true worship for there to be a
proper
balance (John 4:23-24; see p. 87)?
5. What does it
mean to worship in the spirit (see p. 87)?
6. According to
Psalm 51:15-17, what was God not interested in? Why (see p. 87)?
7. What must a
Christian have to prompt him to worship (1 Cor. 12:3; see p. 88)?
8. Define
meditation as it relates to worship. Why is it difficult today for Christians
to
meditate
(see p. 88)?
9. How can the
discovery of a great truth result in worship? What are the sources of
discovering
spiritual truth (see p. 88-89)?
10. Explain the wrong perspective of prayer that
many Christians have (see p. 88).
11. If you get bored in church, what is the primary
problem? Explain (see p. 89).
12. Does the process of discovering spiritual truths
refer only to discovering something
new?
Explain (see p. 90).
13. Who should be our teacher in the practice of
meditation? Why (John 16:13; see p. 90)?
14. Why did David pray for God to unite his heart
(Ps. 86:11; see p. 90)?
15. What can be a major hindrance when you try to
focus your spirit on worship? Explain (see p. 91).
Pondering the Principles
1. How would
you rate the nature of your worship? Is it more like Samaritan worship or
Jewish
worship? If you are weak in the area of truth, increase the time you spend in
your
personal study of God’s Word through tapes, books, or classes, about the Bible.
If you
feel you are gifted as a teacher, begin leading a Bible study for those who are
not
as
spiritually mature as you. Nothing forces you to learn better and faster than
having
to
prepare to communicate to others what you have learned. If you are weak in the
area of
enthusiasm, listen to or read the testimonies of how God has worked mightily
in the
lives of others. Recognizing that God is actively involved in the business of
transforming
lives can give you a renewed sense of vitality. Or associate regularly with
committed
Christians who are excited about their ministries. Imagine what effect a
dynamo
like
2. Have you
ever found yourself justifying not going to church or not paying attention to
the
message because you’ve heard it before? Some key elements in the process of
spiritual
growth are remembrance and repetition. Peter expressed the importance of
them:
“So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and
are
firmly established in the truth you now have. I think it is right to refresh
your
memory
as long as I live. And I will make every effort to see that after my departure
you
will
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always be able to remember
these things” (2 Peter 1:12-13, 15; NIV*). Don’t ever
think
that you have grasped all the important truths contained in the Bible. If you
remain
teachable, you will gain new and deeper insights to the truths you thought you
had
once mastered.
3.
word of
Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another: (Col. 3:16,
NIV;
cf. Phil. 4:8-9). Do you take time to reflect upon the Scripture you read? Or,
do
you
race through the Bible so that you can stay on your Bible-reading schedule?
Reading
the Bible is of little value unless you make time to ponder the spiritual
truths
you
find and allow the Spirit to implant them in your heart. As you read, put
question
marks by
the verses you don’t understand. Begin a systematic study of those problem
spots.
If a passage is unclear, reread it. Put a key verse on a card and memorize it,
or
meditate
on it as you work around the house or drive your car. Follow the example of
the psalmist, who meditated on the Word “day
and night” and became well nourished
and
fruitful (Ps. 1:2-3).
* New International Version
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