True Worship of God

All believers must make worship a vital part of their Christian life. From the day of their new birth in Christ, Christians must exercise true worship of God. The Apostle John who was "in the Spirit on the Lord's day" (Revelation 1:10) was given a glimpse of this form of worship of God with thousands upon thousands of angels and people worshipping God before His glorious throne in heaven.

It is important to learn early in life to worship God and to love God's house. The Psalmist expresses this sentiment in Psalm 84:10 thus, "For a day in Thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness." Again, "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD." (Psalm 122:1)

Have you ever wondered what would happen if we are not allowed to worship? Without worship many Christians will be spiritually under-nourished and eventually be starved to death without being fed the Word of God. Worship is so vital that in countries where worship is not allowed, believers would go through great pains and sufferings to worship God. In Italy, one of the more popular tours is to visit the catacombs. Catacombs are long tunnels dug deep into the mountains. In those early days Christians were hunted like animals, persecuted and killed by the Romans for their faith. They were forbidden to worship openly, so they had to hide themselves in mountains and caves. Today, there are countries which persecute Christians for worship. From reliable sources, we are told that in China today, Christians have to worship in secret, in homes and in other remote places to avoid attention and arrest by the Communist authorities.

True worship is like a little oasis in the desert. It is a place of rest, a place to refresh our tired bodies from the constant beating of the "winds and storms" of life, and to drink of the living water which is Christ. It is a place to cool down and to get in touch with the realities of life, instead of hallucinating and seeing the mirage of the false world. And it is the place to get our bearings, our composure and our direction right again in the midst of the vast expanse of the dry and hot desert.

However, we need to recognise that worship of God is a journey of life. And this journey is not always smooth. True worship does not come to believers straight away. It develops gradually as faith increases. If you are somewhat discouraged now, take comfort that you are not alone. Don't give up. Persevere on. I have to struggle with my own worship of God for a long time in my younger days. And to be honest I still struggle with it at times. But God wants us to continue to abide in Him with the assurance that in the ultimate, we will be more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

It is sad to see many worshippers today neglecting worship. Many so-called Christians attend Sunday Worship merely as a routine. It has become a ritual and custom, at best. They feel bored easily, wishing that the service would end soon so that they can go home to do their things. Are we guilty of this kind of behaviour? Is our attitude towards worship right or wrong? Let us look at what true worship is? Why is worship important to believers? And how we can worship with the right attitude?

First of all let us define the term "worship". In order for us to properly understand what worship really means, consider this definition: "Worship is the quickening of the conscience by His holiness; the nourishment of the mind with His truth; the purifying of the imagination by His beauty; the opening of the heart to His love and the surrender of the will to His purpose." Using this definition, let us proceed to try to fully understand what constitutes true worship which is for our spiritual blessing.

Let us examine the 4 areas as follows:

1. The quickening of the conscience by His holiness;
2. The nourishment of the mind with His truth;
3. The purifying of the imagination by His beauty;
4. The opening of the heart to His love and the surrender of the will to His purpose.

Notice the words - conscience, mind, imagination, heart and will all speak of the inward aspect of worship. In other words, worship is primarily inward - a spiritual relationship with God and not carnal entertainment for self-gratification. Matthew 6:6 reminds us, "But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." It involves an intimate and close relationship with God. However, the charismatics by and large employ outward means to excite the worshippers. To excite the eyes, a variation of lights is used, for the ears they gear up the sounds of drums, guitars and amplifiers. The carnal senses of the worshippers are kept aroused with repetitive beats.

True worship does not appeal to the outward but the inward. What then is true worship of God?

Firstly, worship is the quickening of the conscience by His holiness which must sanctify believers. Every time we worship God the Holy Spirit will quicken our conscience to see our sinfulness before a thrice-holy God. "Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy." (1 Peter 1:16) Sin and holiness cannot co-exist. Whenever we sin against God, we are to confess and repent immediately before the Lord for "if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9) So true worship is to stir up our conscience to see whether or not we have sinned against God. The Holy Spirit convicts as well as sanctifies us. This is vital for spiritual growth and worship will be joyous and enriching because God will be in the midst of our worship to bless us. What if we refuse to repent of our sins? God will not hear us or receive our worship. Do you know why so many Christians can come to worship Sunday after Sunday and yet remain stagnant in their spiritual lives? So, as we come for worship let us quicken our conscience by His holiness to see our sinfulness before a thrice-holy God and to ask for forgiveness.

Secondly, worship is the nourishment of the mind with His truth which must instruct us towards godly living. In worship, particularly Sunday Worship, the main focus is on the Word of God for "all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works." (2 Timothy 3:16-17) Worship is a time of learning and to be instructed in God's Word. It is feeding time for our minds and our souls with the truth of God. All worshippers are to be attentive to the preaching of God's Word. In some Baptist churches the congregation will respond with a loud "Amen" whenever they agree with the preaching. Though this is not our B-P practice, the point is that we are to be attentive to what is preached so as to be nourished by the Word. It is not just head knowledge but that we "be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." (Romans 12:2) So let us come to worship God with a ready and earnest mind to be instructed in God's Word. I recommend that you bring your pen and note book to write down what God wants you to learn.

Thirdly, worship is the purifying of the imagination by His beauty which must bring honour and glory to His Name. God's beauty, majesty and glory were so resplendent which the Apostle John experienced while in exile on the isle of Patmos when he wrote the book of Revelation. In Psalm 90:17a, the psalmist expressed it thus, "And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us." When we worship God with such intimacy, we get a glimpse of the purifying effect of the beauty of God. Again, "O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth." (Psalm 96:9) And yet again, "One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in His temple." (Psalm 27:4) So let us worship God in a manner wellpleasing in His sight, praising and exalting Him who reigns on high.

Fourthly, worship is the opening of the heart to His love and the surrender of the will to His purpose which must come from total obedience to Him. In John 4:23-24 Jesus said, "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." What is true worship? It is when Christians seek to worship God "in spirit and in truth." Spiritual worship is when the heart is fully yielded in surrender to God, without dependence on any external form for acceptance. When our will is brought under control to the Spirit of God we will be led by Him. We must be willing to submit to the will of God by allowing the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us in our daily living. As such our lives would be evidenced by the fruit of the Spirit which is "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." (Galatians 5:22-23) And we are further reminded in Galatians 5:25 that "if we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit."

In conclusion, let me illustrate with a story. In the good old days of sailing ships, a small boy was traveling on shipboard with his father. Once a day the boy would see the captain stand on deck with sextant in hand, looking out for his bearings. The boy said to his father, "Daddy, what is the captain doing?" His father replied, "The captain is taking our bearings, seeing where we are, finding out if we are going in the right direction." As a matter of fact, this can be likened to what we are doing at worship service on Sunday. We are checking in with God; we are seeing where we are; we are finding out about our directions in relation to His will concerning our journey of life. We can so easily become confused or lose our bearings out there in our school-week or work-week that we need to check out our bearings. On Sunday, as we come for worship, we touch base with the Lord of our life, and from Him we take our bearings to set us in the right direction. We could have drifted from our course during the week, battered by the winds and currents of life. We may have strayed from the "strait and narrow way" which leads to life everlasting. If such be our case, let us ask the Lord to set our course aright that we may walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we have been called. (Ephesians 4:1)

"Worship is changing for the best.
A change from insecurity to assurance,
A change from unhappiness to blessing;
A change from sin to holiness;
A change from indifference to reverence and praise to God."

May God help us to worship Him in spirit and in truth today and everyday of our lives.

Elder Peter Goh
Adapted from Calvary Tengah BPC Weekly 25th March 2007