HOW TO WORSHIP GOD

Worship is a shortened form of the word worthship and denotes the act of attributing worth or honor to God. To worship God acceptably, we must worship Him in spirit and in truth. So says our Lord in John 4:23,24: “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: 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.” These statements teach that, if man would worship God, he must worship Him according to His directions, not according to the dictates of his own heart.

First, God must be worshiped in spirit. Worship is an act of the spirit, not the flesh. To worship according to the flesh is to develop worship forms which appeal to and please the flesh or fallen nature of man. Worshiping in the spirit is using the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22, 23) in expressing God’s worth. Chief among the fruit of the Spirit in worship is love and faith. We cannot worship God unless we love Him. Thus, the first commandment pertains to loving God (Matt. 22:37, 38). Worship must also be offered in faith, “for whatsoever is not of faith is sin” (Rom. 14:23; See also Heb. 11:6).

Second, God must be worshiped in truth. Cain’s worship was rejected by God for two reasons: it was not offered in faith (Heb. 11:4), and it was not according to truth (Gen. 4:3-5). His sacrifice was the work of his own hands, grown from the cursed earth, not the blood sacrifice of an innocent lamb which typified the Lord Jesus Christ. To worship God, we must acknowledge the Persons of the Holy Trinity, the Deity and the sacred humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the inspiration and authority of God’s Word. How can anyone declare the true worth of God when he denies the truths He has revealed concerning Himself?