Worship

[0:00] Tonight we're looking at the subject of worship and firstly what is worship?! The word worship is found 108 times in the Bible. Worship is basic to the human soul.

[0:21] ! For all of us there is that intrinsic wanting to worship. Man has always worshipped something or someone.

[0:32] Sometimes men worship themselves, don't they? There's that sense of worship, something to worship, someone to worship. And the psalmist cried this, Psalm 42, As the heart or the deer panteth after the water brook, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.

[0:49] That heart's thirsting and longing and desiring to worship, to seek after God from the soul. And what is worship? It's worth-ship.

[1:03] The English word worship is based upon a combination of worth and ship. So, as in God is worthy. He's got a worth. We're declaring his worth.

[1:15] He is worthy, isn't he? Worthy is the lamb that was slain. Worship focuses on God's worthiness. He's worthy. He deserves our worship. He warrants it.

[1:26] It's right to worship him. So that is worship. And another point, how are we to worship? How we worship matters. It's important we get the worship right.

[1:38] It's needful that we worship rightfully. And God's word shows us about worship. It tells us about false worship and true worship. There's two kinds. False and true.

[1:50] And our Lord tells us of some worship that it is false. It is vain, empty, fruitless, worthless worship. False worship. Our Lord tells us of such. In Matthew 15, he tells us of how this people draw near unto him with their mouth.

[2:10] He says, they honour me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. And he goes on, verse 9 of Matthew 15, but in vain they do worship me.

[2:25] In vain. It's false. Teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. So clearly some worship is false. It's not acceptable. It's vain. It's faulty.

[2:37] It's fruitless. It's worthless. Some worship is not acceptable to God. We might have the greatest edifice, as it were, a building to worship in, with all the wonders of architecture around us.

[2:53] We might have all the trappings that people can put to worship. But if it is only outward worship, outward only worship, it's meaningless.

[3:05] Hypocritical. Our Lord says it must be that worship that is not just honouring with the mouth and the lips, but our heart. It's not far from God. It's close to God. It's heart worship. Worship that is from that heart devotion unto our Lord.

[3:21] We love him from our heart. That simple love. That heart devotion to his glory. Outward worship. Outward worship. Or heart worship. Which one do we have? Is it vain worship?

[3:33] It could be some counting beads or prayer wheels or whatever they have, or different flags or holy smoke or holy water, so-called. And that can be vain and empty and really not even biblical.

[3:47] And it says of the people here in Matthew 15, our Lord says, of that worship, these were people that were praying and calling upon the name of God. They claimed to be the people of God.

[3:59] They believed the doctrine of God. They practiced the ordinances of God. But, big problem, their heart was far removed from God. To God it was vain worship. Only a form of godliness.

[4:12] And we all need to be mindful of that and avoid that false worship. Rather have that real, sincere, true worship. And our Lord told the woman at the well of such worship.

[4:24] John 4, 23. Of course there was a bit of a discussion about worship at this time with the Samaritan woman and where to worship and such.

[4:36] And our Lord puts her straight really as to what really mattered. It wasn't the location of the worship. Verse 23 of John 4, our Lord says, But the hour cometh and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth.

[4:53] For the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

[5:04] So we want that, fair dinkum, worship. We want to get it right, don't we? We want to have right worship. The right attitude, the right motive, the heart right. How are we to worship?

[5:16] In spirit and in truth. Both. First, it's worship in spirit. Worship in spirit. So it's a worship from the spirit, from the heart.

[5:28] The mind, the inner being of us, the whole heart and soul of us. Worship that's prompted by that right motive. Our heart is right. We're saved. We've got a clean heart, a right heart, a new heart.

[5:40] And it's a new motive, a new love, a new adoration, a deep desire to meet heaven's approval. Worship the Father. So it speaks about relationship with God too, doesn't it?

[5:52] Now, contrary to popular belief, not all worship is acceptable to God. There's all kinds of things called worship these days. And what matters is what is the spirit that's behind the worship.

[6:06] I received a flyer once and it went like this. Hit singles and rave reviews. Exciting and talented artists. Smash hits. R&B grooves.

[6:17] Dance rhythms. Contemporary edge. Up-tempo rhythms. Dance beats. Hip-hop. And rap. The music is vibey.

[6:28] Pop sound. Unique style of rock. Upbeat soundtrack. One of the most commercially successful artists to entertain you. Now this flyer promoted supposed Christian music.

[6:44] It was actually a Christian music flyer. It was marketed in this slick style with all the looks and trappings of secular music. That can be a problem, I think. I think there's a question mark there, surely.

[6:56] We see the dress, the look of the people, just like the world. Almost like where is the godliness, the reverence, the fear of God, the sense of holiness.

[7:10] This kind of music can sometimes be tainted and it can be damaging, I put to you. In an actual church service where it can be invasive like a poisonous creeping plant.

[7:24] And before you know it, it's taken over and strangling the life out of the church. I'm not saying I'm against all that's modern, but we've got to be very selective, I put to you.

[7:37] Some churches want a human-centered worship service, an entertainment experience, rather than a God-honoring service. Sometimes there's a clash there.

[7:49] True Christian worship springs from the spirit. The spirit. The spirit must be right. What's the spirit behind it? Is it the spirit of God, the holy spirit of God?

[8:00] Or is it the carnal spirit of the world? Some would say a sincere motive and fervent emotion. That's the heart, is all that matters. But genuine worship has to have spirit and secondly, truth.

[8:14] It has to be in truth. Like I picked up maybe a question mark about that song earlier tonight. I mean Julie and I have been in some circles of churches where there's a lot that was sung that was huge question marks over what was sung because it really wasn't entirely true.

[8:31] And that really woke us up when we saw that. And we really had to grasp the fact that it wasn't true. It wasn't true. So genuine worship must be in truth.

[8:42] In spirit, the right spirit, the spirit of God, the holy spirit, and in truth. The truth of the word of God. Does our worship match up with God's word? That's important.

[8:53] That's vital, isn't it? That our worship is the right way to worship, that it is in truth. And we know God's word. It's God's word that is truth. We don't need some atmosphere conjured up and some nightclub disco feel, smoke machine.

[9:11] Human engineered kind of feeling centered, carnal directed atmosphere. What we need fundamentally is this, the truth.

[9:24] That's what we must have. And the Lord Jesus says sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth. John 17, 17.

[9:35] To worship God in truth is to worship him according to the directives of his word, his directions found in the Bible. And that is acceptable worship. It's more than just some warm, fuzzy feeling or some fervency.

[9:49] Truth must be manifest. Truth must be the foundation. Our worship without truth can offend a holy God. And that's serious.

[10:00] We must avoid that. We're not talking about preferences here. We're talking about what is true and what is not true. Not talking about style or personal preference as such.

[10:13] We're talking about the foundation of it. Where is it coming from? What's behind it? And Romans 10, 2 talks about some people having a zeal for God.

[10:26] And the zealous people that have all of the razzmatazz style of stuff. But a zeal of God that is not according to knowledge. Where it's a conflict with the knowledge, where it's a conflict with the word, that's a big problem.

[10:39] That's Romans 10, verse 2. Having a zeal, but not according to knowledge. We've got to make sure we line up with the word. Precept upon precept. Is it the word that is the plumb line?

[10:51] We're setting everything by. The rule of faith and conduct. If the music doesn't line up with Bible truth, if it's not God honoring, then there's a fundamental problem. So how we worship God is no trivial matter.

[11:04] This is no thing to have a blasé approach about. How we worship God is a very important matter. And so as a church, as like churches, when we are measured about what is accepted content and material, what is acceptable, and what is not acceptable.

[11:30] Sometimes there's a judgment call to make there, and churches make different judgment calls. And I get that. But how we worship God is no trivial matter. We don't take this lightly or carelessly. So we see in the word of God, for example, Cain, Adam's firstborn son, his worship was rejected by God.

[11:50] Because his worship was wrong. Now it's not really defined exactly, but perhaps it was his motive or his method.

[12:01] In contrast, we see Abel's worship was received. And it says of his worship, Abel worshiped by faith. So it was clearly Abel's worship was by faith.

[12:13] Cain's worship was not. It was lacking somehow. We know Abel gave the firstborn, the lamb, the blood was shed.

[12:24] The sense of the picture of the Christ to come and the cross of his atoning sacrifice. Whereas Cain's sacrifice was some veggies from the garden, pretty much, was his crop that he gave.

[12:42] So the bottom line is Cain's worship was false, but Abel's worship was accepted, was by faith. So we've got to be careful about the motive, the method.

[12:56] Is it according to the word of God? Another example is Nadab and Abihu. These men were also severely judged.

[13:07] Nadab and Abihu, they were severely judged. It was instant death. They offered strange fire at the altar. So it wasn't the fire that God had directed and regulated.

[13:19] It was strange fire. They conjured it up. They manufactured it of their own making. And so this was again an offence unto God. And the Lord did not allow their father to mourn the death of Nadab and Abihu, but rather commanded the father to mourn their great sin against a holy God.

[13:39] So these two, Nadab and Abihu, they minimised sin and they made up their own rules for worship. We can't do that. We've got to be directed by the scriptures. We've got to follow God's regulation and God's intent for worship.

[13:54] So our worship to be acceptable must line up with the Bible. It must be the Bible that we can say, yes, there's not a conflict with the word of God here. We've got to make sure that it fits with the word of God, with the heart of the word of God, which is reverent worship, holy worship.

[14:11] And worship that comes from a saved heart. Worship that is from the heart and is committed to Christ. Worship that is by faith. So this how of worship can be a controversial subject.

[14:22] As we know, there's well-meaning people who take one side and another. But it's a question we all have to grapple with. Is it okay to bring in the rock band, the drum kit, the rock beat, the jazz up, the church, make the worship more contemporary and relevant to attract people in from the lost world around us?

[14:43] In some circles today, instead of psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, you can have the beat and the rhythm. And it's all relentless, purposely aimed at the physical and the sensual, not the spirit and the spiritual.

[14:59] So there's a conflict there. There's a question mark there I put to you. Do we truly worship in the spirit or is it worshiping in the flesh? It's just some emotional atmosphere made up.

[15:10] Now, Julie and I have been in that kind of style of church for a time. And it's almost like it's all choreographed. They know how to change the music and build it up and create an atmosphere and create influence over the gathering.

[15:26] It's almost like it's all engineered. And that can be a big question mark I put to you. Do we truly worship in the spirit or is it in the flesh? Is it like a man-made thing, a man-centered thing, a man-driven thing, a man-engineered thing?

[15:43] It's important to consider where does the worship and the music come from? Rock and roll is the product of the world. Let's face it. The world, the flesh and the devil. You can't really put it any other way.

[15:54] Now, we've all got different perspectives about what music we might say is okay or not. But when it's clearly of the world, the flesh and the devil, when it's singing about sin, when it's filled with pagan, immoral thoughts and concepts and philosophies, it's tainted.

[16:15] It's dirty. But the hip church now is mimicking all of that. It's mimicking the world. They're copying it. They're copying the styles. They're copying the artists and the entertainment.

[16:27] They're adopting all of the entertainment schemes and methodologies of the worldly rock stars. They're trying to make this music look acceptable for worship.

[16:39] But it's tainted, I put to you. It's tainted. The Bible urges us as believers to not follow the world, not to imitate the world. Rock music at its heart is not spiritual.

[16:53] Certainly not the right spirit. It's sensual, isn't it? That's the point. Is it sensual or is it spiritual? There's a big difference there. And so the very beat of that music is inclined to evil, I put to you.

[17:09] You might disagree, but I'm putting it how it is, how I see it. So-called Christian rock will paganise our youth. I've seen that. I've talked before and I'm still grieving over the time it happened.

[17:24] As young Christian parents, our children went to a Youth Alive concert and that's where they learnt how to do headbanging. And we certainly didn't teach them to do headbanging in our home, but they came home with sore necks from headbanging down in the mosh pit at the Christian event.

[17:43] You know, God help us. And this is influencing our children, our children, our grandchildren. It's tainted. It's wrong. Surely. Isn't it?

[17:55] Rock music won't turn its worshippers to God, but to worldliness. And rock is a compromise. It's a compromise, people. And it's leading the church into error and deceptions.

[18:06] The Bible urges us to choose the godly and to shun what is ungodly. We have to decide that for ourselves. You might draw the line different from me, but certainly don't stand too near the grey pit.

[18:20] A grey bit. Stand firmly on one side or the other. Can't you stand not for compromise, but for Christ? Stand not for that which is tainted and unrighteous, but that which is clearly right and true.

[18:33] Rather stand there. In 2 Corinthians 6 verse 17 it says, Wherefore come out from among them and be separate and touch not the unclean thing, saith the Lord.

[18:44] Touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you. So Christ calls us to come out of that. That's where we were. That's where we were when we were lost.

[18:55] And we want to be separate from that. Touch not the unclean thing. Now there's a lot of talk about hand hygiene at the moment. Don't touch the unclean thing. It's going to contaminate you, alright?

[19:07] Don't touch it. True Christian music is music which worships and glorifies God. There's no question about it. There's no question mark. It's spiritual.

[19:18] It edifies the saints. It's good for your soul. And there's no question there. Stand there. James 4 verse 4 it says, You adulterers and adulteresses know you not that friendship of the world is enmity with God.

[19:30] It's hateful to him. Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. We can't worship God truly in spirit and in truth with this worldly style of music.

[19:42] There's almost no limit now to how far some churches will go. I'm talking, you know, I've talked about how maybe there's a question, there's an element of this or that.

[19:53] But some have just gone completely right off the charts here, right off the spectrum. There's one Lutheran church in South California that distributes flyers and they advertise their church services, God's country good time hour.

[20:08] And they offer line dancing following the worship. So if you want to stick around tonight, we'll get the do-si-dos going and all that. Line dancing following the worship. And you can dance to a band called Honky Tonk Angels.

[20:21] And that's what some churches are doing now to draw the crowd, to bring in the numbers. And they want a preacher that will dazzle and excite and entertain.

[20:32] And they'll abandon, happily abandon all that is of the old paths. So that there's entertainment, it's all the focus. It's all about the spotlights and the colourful lights, the disco lights and the man-made inventions.

[20:47] We don't want that, friends. We want the old paths, the old paths. And the old paths are not saying old and crusty and old and boring, but they're old and true.

[21:00] They're tried and true. These are the old paths. Jeremiah is told here, as the Lord says, stand ye in the ways and ask for the old paths. Where is the good way? And walk therein and ye shall find rest for your souls.

[21:13] But they said, we will not walk therein. There's a sense where the old paths, the Word of God, the tried and true, the time-tested, the God-honouring truth of worship in spirit and in truth, worship that's speaking truth.

[21:30] That should be what we want. But the bottom line is that some would rather have entertainment for man's benefit rather than worship to the almighty God. There's a big conflict there.

[21:42] Here's an ad for a Sunday evening service. I've heard of this. There's a spectacle here about some church. I think this might be a different reference here. But this is a common theme in some circles where there's the bulletin that went out of some large, well-known church in the heart of America's Bible Belt.

[22:01] And it's called Circus. See Barnum and Bailey bested as the magic of the Big Top Circus comes to the fellowship of excitement. Clowns, acrobats, animals, popcorn.

[22:12] What a great night. It's like some churches, they've become like circuses. And even literally so. It's quite astonishing that some are actually calling it a circus event just to draw a crowd, to use any method they like to draw people.

[22:31] Without any regard for what is holy. So they can boost attendance. Now, I know our youth group lately, we offered some popcorn because we had a film night. A gospel film.

[22:42] But we're not saying this popcorn's sinful or anything. But there's a sense where, you know, where that's the focus. That bringing in like McDonald's into some churches, aren't they?

[22:53] Things like that. To kind of just have some draw card. Isn't the Bible enough? Isn't the Word of God enough? We've got to have excitement and clowns and such.

[23:05] It's pretty sad, I think, where there's this honky-tonk church services, a carnival sideshow atmosphere. It's taking away from things. And then in some churches we have these emotional-centred churches.

[23:19] You've got people laughing uncontrollably, barking like dogs, roaring like lions, clocking like chickens, jumping, running, convulsing. And they see this as evidence that the power of God has been imparted to them.

[23:32] Again, Julie and I have been there. We've done that. We've seen that. Where it's a reproach. This so-called slaying in the spirit. It's totally non-biblical. It's utterly unbiblical.

[23:43] And yet, some will fall for it. Literally fall for it. Is this true worship? No. It's not biblical. It's not true. So let's take a stand. Lest we offend someone.

[23:55] After all, people like a church where they get entertained, where they feel good. That's how some people think. People want to laugh and a joke. Here's a preacher, a woman, a woman pastor, who I think is a lesbian in a Lutheran church.

[24:09] People want that today. Just be trendy and cool. Foolishness, jokes, no consideration for morality. That's what the Bible says about the preaching of the word or of pastoring.

[24:22] Anything goes now, rather than God's sure word. And some churches place their entertainment and excitement as the emphasis. There's a danger there, I'll put to you.

[24:33] Now, we're not against our church being joyful. I know sometimes I get an occasional smile here and there. There's nothing wrong with a bit of joy. The joy of the Lord, that's what we should have.

[24:44] Amen? We should have some joy here. Amen. And one day our joy will be complete, brothers and sisters, in the presence of our Lord. But the desire to make everyone happy, that the service is all about making people happy or comfortable, or happy and excited, it's not scriptural.

[25:03] Some would say it's good for the church to conform to the culture around it. But the true believer is not of this world. Our Lord says of his people, they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

[25:17] There's a difference there. You that are saved, you are not of the world. We were there, now we're not. We're not of it. And we stand with the word of God, which says, be not conformed to this world.

[25:29] But be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, acceptable, perfect will of God. So God calls for a change within the human heart. And our Lord calls us to self-examination, self-discipline, self-denial.

[25:43] The work of the church is not growth, it's faithfulness, truthfulness, discipleship. The church is not here to cater for the whims and fancies of people. Our purpose is to exalt God and edify his saints.

[25:57] So the church is not here for you to give you goosebumps or manipulated emotions. It is here for the glory and honour of our Lord. That's the ultimate and absolute aim.

[26:09] The church is not here to show a load of hoopla as to proclaim the life-changing truth of God's word. The gospel, the gospel, it unsettles, it provokes, it strikes the chord, doesn't it?

[26:22] It talks about pricking the heart, doesn't it? Cutting, being cut in the heart. It's getting right with God. What happens here at this church won't necessarily make us feel good every time.

[26:35] Sometimes you'll come to church and you'll feel really bad. And it can be good to feel bad. Amen, isn't it? When God's convicting, when God's moving, when God's saying, Oh, the truth hurts.

[26:50] We may even feel like we are believers who've been unfaithful or backslidden. We need to get things right with God. That's a good thing to feel. And by his grace, we who are lost or guilty, needy sinners here tonight might come to feel that desperate need of a saviour.

[27:06] And that's a good thing to feel. Amen, isn't it? True worship involves the mind, the emotions, the will, the conscience, all of that. And sola scriptura, only the Bible, Scripture only, should be our guiding point to what we do.

[27:25] And in our worship service, there's preaching and worship. Both of them. Preaching, making known the name of our Lord. Worship, praising his name. Made known.

[27:36] Making known the name by preaching, praising his name by worship. So we need the two. The faithful preaching of the word of God and that our worship is intelligent.

[27:47] It's a reasonable worship. It's a loving response to the revelation of God. It's a relationship with God. So true worship, it merges the heart and the mind. They work together. He touches our heart.

[27:58] You might get some joy tonight. You might get some, wow, yeah, that was good. That was a blessing. And it touches your mind too. It doesn't bypass your mind. Because the word of God speaks to the mind as well as the heart.

[28:11] And so genuine worship is the truth and the spirit. We're edified, we're built up, not just our emotions stirred up. And we're honouring the Lord, revering his name, standing in awe of him.

[28:24] So worship, it's a holy expression before a holy God. That's what it is. Think of that holiness. Sometimes holiness is just thrown out the window. There's no holiness anymore.

[28:35] It's all about being a user-friendly environment, appealing to the crowd, a church that seeks to be more, looking more and acting more like the world. Just more and more worldly, more like the world.

[28:46] Such that there's scarcely any difference. Some churches are virtually like a nightclub with the odd Jesus thrown in there for a good measure. But it's like their goddess become hardly discernible from the world.

[29:01] How can we truly honour the Lord with shallowness? We should have the truth. So God's true church is no circus. It's no entertainment centre.

[29:12] It's about God's holiness. It's about our sinfulness. It's about our worship and honouring and revering and fearing and regarding him. It's our worship from a godly source.

[29:24] And that's why we try to be measured about where we source our music. Where does it come from? Who wrote it? Where is it leading? Where does it lead to?

[29:36] Sometimes you can open the door ajar and before long it's wide open. Anything goes. So be careful about that. Let's be aware of that. Of the danger. Of where does it come from?

[29:47] Is it from a godly source? So we've seen these things. We've seen what worship is. We've seen how we ought to worship. Thirdly, who is worship for? This is the fundamental, really the most important aspect of all.

[30:01] Who is the worship for? I'll give you a hint. It's not for you. Our worship is to be focused upon him. Upon our Lord.

[30:13] Not on the worshipper. He is the audience. As much as you're listening to me, he is the audience, isn't he? He is the audience of our worship, of our time together.

[30:24] He's the only proper recipient of our worship. Our Lord God. And if it is truly to be for God, then we must worship according to his word. And it's important to get the worship right, like we see with Mary and Martha.

[30:38] Martha, busily serving, a real worrywart, wanting to get everything just down pat, and everything just nicely set out, and the practical needs catered for.

[30:52] And we need people like Martha. We could do with a few more Martha's. But the sense of it though, here in Martha and Mary's account, is that Martha was just obsessed with that, and neglected the worship.

[31:03] She neglected to sit at the master's feet. And so we see there the Lord Jesus saying, Martha, Martha, thou art careful, full of care, troubled about many things. But one thing is needful, he says, and Mary has chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

[31:21] And it says that she sat at the master's feet and heard his word. So Mary's worship had eternal significance, whereas Martha's busy activity meant nothing really beyond that particular afternoon.

[31:34] Sure, there might have been some nice biscuits or refreshments or the practicalities were catered for, but it was Mary that had an eternal benefit sitting at the master's feet.

[31:47] And so it's the same for us that the worship is for him. It's unto him as we sit at his feet, as we hear his word, that he takes priority over our life, over every other activity of life.

[32:00] And all the things that Martha could have done, perhaps that could have been done less, and more could have been done to sit at the master's feet. And we can learn from Mary's example as she sat at the master's feet and heard his word.

[32:18] So worship, let's get it right. It's really the ultimate priority. It's not marketing or community and social activities. We had a practical need this morning.

[32:29] Someone needed some help. And people sometimes just ring the church when they want something practical, but you don't see them otherwise. And we can get drawn into that, the social gospel, where we're just catering for practical things.

[32:42] But the ultimate need, and I did talk to this man about his soul, who sought some practical help. I gave him the gospel. I gave him material to read and challenged him to trust Christ to be saved.

[32:53] That's the ultimate, is the spiritual aspect, isn't it? I know you would get that, brother. People ring churches wanting handouts. And we can get diverted being just like the social gospel churches.

[33:05] But the spiritual element, the gospel matters. That's the gospel that counts. It's the truth that counts. It's the worship. It's the spiritual side that matters. The worldly organisations can feed the poor and such, but it's about the spiritual angle that is the vital.

[33:21] That's what we're here for. And so really every aspect of the church service, the music, the praying, the preaching, even the offering, is worship unto our God. It's all worship, the whole lot.

[33:32] And God wants true worshippers in his presence. Those who come to worship him only. Friends, he is the focus of our worship. And it's not about you. It's not about me.

[33:43] It's not about us coming to church to feel good, to sing some songs that we like for our own benefit. Our own benefit is to give him praise. It's to give him glory. It's to lift up his name. And he is the one that our worship is for.

[33:56] So our worship is not to entertain and please us or lift our emotions. That can happen. You might worship God and feel good about it. That's a good thing. And we should feel good about worship, shouldn't we?

[34:08] But it's not about us feeling good. That's not the motive. Our motive is unto him. It's unto him. Unto him be glory. And so this world is filled with a false, skin deep kind of religion, a superficial, feel good, emotion centred, carnal driven kind of atmosphere and environment.

[34:31] But we who love Christ and his word, we believe in his word, that it's true. This is the fundamental to guide how we worship, to guide how we live, not to accommodate the styles and preferences of an unbelieving world.

[34:45] We want to reach our world, but we don't have to be a rock concert to do that. Let's make our concentrated effort that it be in spirit and in truth.

[34:57] They go hand in hand. The truth is the fundamental. And the spirit does not conflict with the truth. The word of God says that he will guide you into all truth, the spirit.

[35:09] The spirit and the word work together. They're not in conflict. So if the spirit is taking you away from the word, it's taking you away from that which is righteous and true and honoring to God, there's a big question mark there.

[35:24] So let's worship. Do we worship or do we just go to church? Church, I like to think that we have a meeting, but it's more than just having a meeting.

[35:35] We're meeting with God. That's the point, isn't it? We're meeting with him. And the first thing to do to worship God, make sure you're saved. That's really the bottom line, the essential point.

[35:49] You can't worship him unless you're saved. He says those that worship God, they worship the Father in spirit and in truth. Is he your father? Now, you might say, oh, we're all God's children.

[36:00] Some people like to say that, don't they? Everybody's God's children. No. Wrong. Boo. That's wrong. The wrong answer. It says in the Bible, John 8, 44, your father is the devil.

[36:13] Wow. And if you've got a father like that, then you need to get adopted by God the Father, I don't want to have the devil as my father. No.

[36:24] I want to have God the Father. And the awful truth though is without being saved, the devil is our father. John 8, 44. Don't stay there.

[36:35] He's not a good father. But God is that perfect father. And God cannot receive our worship unless we are his, his sons and daughters. But as many as received him, Christ, he gave the power to become the power of God.

[36:49] He gave the power to become the sons of God, the children of God, even to them that believe on his name. That's the wonderful truth of it. So make sure you're saved. That's really the fundamental starting point really, isn't it?

[37:03] And then when you're saved, God can receive your worship because he is your father. So if your father is the devil, the good news is that can change. That can change. In an eye blink.

[37:15] In that moment of faith. In that moment of trust. You can be adopted into the father and his family. And have that new name, that new nature, that new heart.

[37:29] And be made a new creation. You can be saved. And worship him. Let's pray. Lord, we praise you for your great grace. It's new every morning, that mercy, the faithfulness of God.

[37:42] Lord, we thank you for your word. That this is the rule book really for worship. And we know we ought to worship you in spirit and in truth.

[37:54] Lord, may we not accommodate anything that is questionable. But rather stand firmly on that which is honouring to you. Pray that each one might know you, Lord, as father, as Lord.

[38:08] That we can know you as your children. And you want your children to worship you in spirit and in truth. Lord, help us to be such a people. All to your praise, Lord.

[38:19] As we know, worship is not really a meeting. It's a lifestyle. Lord, that our worship will continue as we head home and live our week ahead.

[38:32] That we will continue to worship you. That our worship will be our life. Our life will be a worship unto you.

[38:44] Until we may gather next time together to worship as your people together. Lord, help us not to neglect that. We pray in Jesus' name.

[38:55] Amen.