WORSHIP IN SPIRIT AND TRUTH---2

Worship in spirit and truth:

Those who worship the Father must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth!!! 

"But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."--(John 4:23-24)

...those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth...

Spirit and truth, so what is this spirit and truth?

Our spirit is the center of our being.  It is where our thoughts, beliefs, desires and our hopes reside.  And the Spirit of God is the one who knows the thoughts of God.  We must have a clear conscience and a pure heart in order to worship God properly in our spirits.  We are told to be clear minded and self-controlled so you can pray (commune with God).  The same is true of worship, we must enter his sanctuary being dead to ourselves and alive through Jesus Christ.

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. ²And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."--(Romans 12:1-2)

Wow, what a perfect picture of worshipping in the spirit!  Our body is offered as a holy sacrifice, our will is sacrificed and our mind is renewed away from the worlds ways and into God's way so we can know His mind and worship him according to His will.

Then, we have the second part of worship, "worshipping in truth".

1 John 3:18 says, "Let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in TRUTH."

 

So action and truth are related to each other.  Action and truth accompany each other.  They are critical to the TRUE WORSHIP that the Father seeks.  We must worship in spirit and in truth. 

"Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, "You will be made free'?"
Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed."--(John 8:31-36)

So Jesus clearly says here that sin is contrary to the truth.  Truth and sin are directly opposed to each other.  Those who sin are slaves of sin.  Those who say they love God but do not obey His commandments are liars and the TRUTH is not in them (1 John 2:4).  The fulfillment and the carrying-out of God’s Word is not in them.  Therefore, truth is not in them.  They may have good words, they may say they have a good heart, but without the REALITY of the TRUTH which is manifested in our actions, they do not have TRUE FAITH and a heart that is truly right before God. 

As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead (James 2:26).  Can such a faith save a man?  No!  So just as we have no life without the Spirit of God, we don’t have salvation (or saving faith) without good fruit and deeds that accompany our faith.

 

If there is something very important that we should learn from Jesus, it is that the Father wants us to know our hearts and to be pure before Him in the true love of God.  Jesus is pictured in the book of Revelation as having eyes of flaming fire.  He searches the hearts and minds and will repay each person according to their deeds/works.  Peter thought he knew his heart when he said to Jesus, “I am ready to die with you.”  Jesus told Peter that he would deny 3 times that he knew Jesus that very night.

 

The Apostle Peter thought he knew his heart.  Do we think we can know our own heart without the revealing power of Jesus?  Are we being honest with God and walking in the fear of God?  Jesus wants us to know our hearts and will reveal it to us if we trust and seek him with our whole heart in sincere faith.  God is the revealer of mysteries.  The heart is deceitful above all measure, who can know it?  What man can discern the thoughts and intentions of even his own heart?  The Scripture states that the Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any double-edged sword and it judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart and lays it bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give an account.  So you see the Word of God, by the power of the Spirit of Jesus, can reveal our own hearts to us.  A man is made new by renouncing hidden and shameful ways and by committing himself to the righteous judge…Jesus Christ.

 

Jesus (yeshua which means the Lord saves) is able to save completely those who come to God through Him.  We must fear God!  Jesus cleanses us from all unrighteousness if we confess our sins and turn away from them.  He has been sent by God as the promised messenger and Savior.  He reveals sin by the light of His truth.  Then, we must worship God in the light of HIS SPIRIT AND HIS TRUTH which He reveals to us--to walk in righteousness and holiness by the light of His truth.  The man walking by the Spirit hears what the Spirit speaks!  We can be taught by God and we can obey His commands because of the Spirit of wisdom and revelation He has given us through Jesus Christ who rose from the dead.  Praise the Lord!