True Worship

 

by

 

John MacArthur, Jr.

 

 

Word of Grace Communications

P.O. Box 4000

Panorama City, CA 91412

 

 

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 4:23 tells us that the Father seeks true worshipers. That makes worship very

        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?

 

                Evelyn Underhill, writing in 1928 to a conference of Church of England clergy,

                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 4:21 Jesus indicates to the woman of Samaria that the time would come when

        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 Mount Gerizim on their holy days, you

                        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 Jerusalem was lifeless. They had the

                        truth, but their hearts were empty.

 

                So, Jerusalem had the truth without the spirit, and Mount Gerizim had the spirit

                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 Jerusalem, or barren,

                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 - Paul says, “For God is my witness, whom I serve

                                        [Gk., latreuo, ‘worship’] with my spirit.” Paul worshiped God with

                                        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

                        India and contemplate their navels for days at a time in an undistracted fashion,

                        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 worship