Worshiping in Spirit and Truth
Worshiping in Spirit and Truth
The word “worship” occurs some 185 times in the Bible.
Worship means different things to different people.
Style of music or no music, Rituals or Ceremony’s,
Four kinds of worship are mentioned in the New Testament.
VAIN worship. Matthew 15:8-9 – “– “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. 9 And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.”
IGNORANT worship. Acts 17:22-23 – “Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, ‘Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; 23 for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the one whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you.’”
TRUE worship. John 4:24 – “God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”
What is worship? It is how we live our lives.
Romans 11:33-12:2: Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” “Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?” For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen. Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
John 4:24 – “God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”
“True worship is based on a right understanding of God’s nature, and it is a right valuing of God’s worth.”
The Full Meaning of Worship
Three groups of words throughout the Bible convey aspects of what we commonly call “worship.”
Worship as Homage or Grateful Submission to God
The most common word for “worship” literally means “bend over” or “bow down.” It describes a gesture of respect or submission to human beings, to God
Worship as Service to God
Another group of biblical terms often translated “worship” literally means “serve” or “service.”
In response to what God has done for us in Christ, we are to present our bodies to him as “a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God” (Romans 12:1).
Worship as Reverence or Respect for God
A third group of terms sometimes describes worship – words meaning fear, reverence, or respect for God indicate the need to keep his commandments, obey his voice, walk in his ways, turn from evil, and serve
Worship involves Praise and Thanks giving
Praise for who God is and has done
Thankfulness for what he has done for us
Our goal and desire should be to have an undivided heart that is devoted to Jesus Christ above everything else. When we have a pure, single-minded focus on Jesus, the result is a life of worship.
God can’t have second place in our lives.
If we want to worship Him then we must put God first, above everything else. When we love something more than God, we devalue Him. We’re saying that a job, person, possession, or hobby is better than God. This is the opposite of Biblical worship. It’s idolatry.
"Are you seeking for Christ with all your heart? James 1:8 says, "He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."
The word for double‑minded literally means "two souls." Here's a person trying to face both ways at the same time. Trying to live with one foot in the church and one in the world.
They’ve got just enough of the world in them that they can't be happy in church and just enough Christ in them they can't be happy in the world. They’ve become a spiritual schizophrenic, a two-soul person. We are to love the Lord with all our heart."
How to Grow In Worship
Love for God is the result of truly knowing God. When we see God in all His beauty and splendor and behold all that He has done for us, we can’t help but love Him. Through the Bible, God reveals Himself to us. He shows us how glorious and awesome He is. We see how much He loves us and all that He has given us in the gospel.
If we want to worship God, we need to spend time reading His word and responding to it in prayer. The more we read His word and pray, the more our hearts will be filled with love for God and the more motivated we’ll be to worship God.
The Greek language the New Testament was written in has several different words that in our modern Bibles have been translated as Praise, Worship, or some other praise-type word. However, often these original words had other nuances or associations that give us a broader picture of what worship should look like.
The Magnificat
At the beginning of the New Testament, we find Mary, receiving news of her upcoming pregnancy. Her response is now known as the Magnificat:
Luke 1:46-47 ESV | “And Mary said, “My soul magnifies (megalunó) the Lord, and my spirit rejoices (agalliaó) in God my Saviour.””
Often the Bible pairs words. Using two words to express a similar idea in close proximity. Here Magnify and rejoice are used in the same phrase.
Strongs's #3170: megaluno - (pronounced meg-al-oo'-no); to make (or declare) great, i.e. increase or (figuratively) extol:--enlarge, magnify, shew great.
· Strong’s Greek: 3170 | enlarge, magnify, exalt, to make or declare great
· Usage: (a) I enlarge, lengthen, (b) I increase, magnify, extol.
· 8 Occurrences
When we magnify the Lord, just like using a magnifying glass, we don’t make him bigger, but he becomes bigger in our view. It’s like zooming in on him so that all the distractions around disappear and all we see is him (Hebrews 12:1-2).
Strong's #21: agalliao (pronounced ag-al-lee-ah'-o)
from agan (much) and 242; properly, to jump for joy, i.e. exult:--be (exceeding) glad, with exceeding joy, rejoice (greatly).
· Strong’s Greek: 21 | to exult, rejoice greatly
· Usage: I exult, am full of joy.
· 11 Occurrences
In worship, we don’t rejoice mildly, or rejoice averagely. We rejoice greatly!
Worship when Christ was Born
When Jesus was born, the shepherds who first saw him also responded in praise:
Luke 2:20 ESV | “And the shepherds returned, glorifying (doxazó) and praising (aineó) God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.”
Their response gives us another pair of words.
Strong's #1392: doxazo (pronounced dox-ad'-zo)
from 1391; to render (or esteem) glorious (in a wide application):--(make) glorify(-ious), full of (have) glory, honour, magnify.
· Usage: I glorify, honour, bestow glory on.
· 62 Occurrences
Matthew 15:31 ESV | “… they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel.”
There is a word sometimes used for a particular kind of hymn, Doxology. It comes from Ancient Greek: doxa, meaning ‘glory’ and -logia meaning ‘saying’. Probably the most famous doxology from scripture is found at the end of Jude.
Jude 24-25 ESV | “Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”
From before time began, to the moment when all of time and space are wrapped up, and beyond, God is worthy of all glory, majesty, might and dominion.
Strong's #134: aineo (pronounced ahee-neh'-o)
from 136; to praise (God):--praise.
· Strong’s Greek: 134 | praise, to praise
· Usage: I praise.
· 8 Occurrences
Luke 2:13 ESV | “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying”
Strong's #136: ainos (pronounced ah'-ee-nos)
apparently a prime word; properly, a story, but used in the sense of 1868; praise (of God):--praise.
· Strong’s Greek: 136 | praise (noun)
· Usage: praise.
· 2 Occurrences
Jesus quotes Psalm 8:2, saying,
Matthew 21:16 ESV | “Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise”
Jesus is quoting a Hebrew passage in Greek, so His quote translates the original. The Greek word is ainos, meaning a story that expresses praise or commendation. In this context, the praise of God. In Hebrew, Psalm 8 uses ‘ōz, translated in English as “ordained praise” [BSB] or “established strength” [ESV, NASB, AMP, NKJV]. This Hebrew word has various other uses including meaning loud and mighty, implying high volume!
Psalm 68:33 ESV | “… he sends out his voice, his mighty voice.”
2 Chronicles 20:21 ESV | “… and the Levites and the priests praised the LORD day by day, singing with all their might to the LORD.”
From all this, we get a picture of praise that is a very bold, loud declaration of support. The kind of support that would strengthen an army or a mighty warrior. Worship can be loud and bold.
Strong's #1868: epainos (pronounced ep'-ahee-nos)
from 1909 and the base of 134; laudation; concretely, a commendable thing:--praise.
· Strong’s Greek: 1868 | praise
· Usage: commendation, praise, approval.
· 11 Occurrences
From ainos we also get epainos. This is ainos (praise) combined with epi (to put on top). So epainos is a story that puts God on top. Helps Word-Studies describe epainos as “accurate acknowledgement (appropriate commendation, recognition); enthusiastic acknowledgement for what deserves praise”. This needn’t be a song, but it could be.
Ephesians 1:6 ESV | “to the praise of his glorious grace …”
Sometimes our praise is for the ears of those around us. Worship can be declaring God’s works to the next generation (Ps 145:4). We should encourage one another with testimonies of His goodness. Teach our children about His power and faithfulness. When we do this we secure our children in the knowledge that God is who He says He is and always fulfils His Word.
The Price of Honor
1 Peter 1:7 ESV | “that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honour at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
Here scripture pairs praise with glory and honour. Praise is epainos, and glory is doxa from where we get doxazó, but honour is a new word, timé.
Strong's #5092: time (pronounced tee-may')
from 5099; a value, i.e. money paid, or (concretely and collectively) valuables; by analogy, esteem (especially of the highest degree), or the dignity itself:--honour, precious, price, some.
· Strong’s Greek: 5092 | price/honour, a valuing, a price
· Usage: a price, honour which belongs or is shown to one: pre-eminence
· 41 Occurrences
1 Timothy 6:16 ESV | “[God] alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honour and eternal dominion. AMEN
What’s really important concerning worship is this.
Worship is not what going on around you
Worship is what going on in you.
Not rituals, ceremonies, or music, or performances
Worship is a growing and maturing process taking place within us.
Worship sees God as he is, and sees us in need for him in our lives.
Worship makes us closer and more useful to God.
Worship is when our heart and soul is singing to God
Worship is communing with God
Worship brings Gods children closer to each other
Worship is demonstrating God in the world
