What It Means To Worship 💎 In Spirit And Truth

Now let’s turn to the words of Jesus about worship in the New Testament. Jesus is talking to the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. Without going into the background, He says: “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth;  for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.

” That’s a remarkable statement, isn’t it?  Almighty God is seeking for those who will worship Him. But, we have to worship Him  according to His terms, in spirit and in truth.

Then Jesus goes on in the next verse: “God is spirit, and those who worship  him must worship in spirit and truth. ” So, in worship I believe it’s our spirit  that relates directly to God as spirit. See,  according to the Bible, man consists of three  elements: spirit, soul and body.

I think our soul is very active in praise and thanksgiving but  when it comes to worship, then it’s our spirit in direct communion with God’s spirit. And  we must worship Him in spirit and in truth. Without the Holy Spirit, we really cannot  worship.

I think those of you who have had an experience of being filled with the Holy Spirit  will bear me out, it changes the way you worship. You have a new dimension. That doesn’t make  us perfect or superior to other people but it does release something in us that makes us  capable of appreciating what worship ought to be.

But it also says in truth. Truth,  I believe, requires sincerity. I really believe it’s extremely important  that we learn to be sincere in our worship.

Just to illustrate this, I  want to take a little picture from the book of Leviticus. Leviticus is the  Old Testament book about priestly ordinances and sacrifices. What’s the Leviticus of the New  Testament, which book?

Hebrews, that’s right. In connection with the sacrifices, the Lord gives  directions as to what may be offered in sacrifice and what may not be offered. In verses 1 and 2,  He demands that a certain aromatic gum called Frankincense shall be always offered on every  sacrifice.

Let’s look at it. Leviticus 2:1–2: “When anyone offers a grain offering to the  LORD, his offering shall be of fine flour, and he shall pour oil on it [which  is a type of the Holy Spirit] and frankincense. He shall bring it to Aaron’s  sons, the priests; one of whom shall take from it his handful of fine flour and oil with all  the frankincense.

And the priest shall burn it as a memorial on the altar, an offering  made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD. ” Now, there were various things in the sacrifice.  There was flour, there was oil.

Only a portion of those were burned. But all the frankincense was  burned. Frankincense, in the Old Testament, is a type of worship.

And our offerings given to God  also serve the ministers of God, the priesthood. But there’s one part of our offering  that never goes to anybody but God, that’s the frankincense, the worship.  How important it is to remember we do not offer worship to any human being  at any time, but only to the Lord.

Now, frankincense is a kind of  aromatic gum that comes from a tree. And when it’s burned, it gives forth a  beautiful fragrance. It has no real beauty in itself but it has this beautiful fragrance. 

And that’s what God wants, that’s what our worship becomes to God: a beautiful, aromatic  fragrance that rises up in His nostrils. On the other hand, there’s one thing that  must not be put on the offerings of God. If you look in verse 11 of the same chapter: “No grain offering, which you bring to  the LORD, shall be made with leaven, for you shall burn no leaven nor any honey  in offering to the LORD made by fire.

” Honey before it’s in the fire is sweet and tasty.  But when it’s burned it becomes a black, sticky mess. And what the Lord is saying is, “Don’t you  offer to me any worship that won’t stand the fire.

Offer to me frankincense because the more  the fire, the sweeter it becomes. But don’t offer to me worship that when you’re tested  and tried, becomes a black, sticky mess. ” Think of that.

Ask yourself, “Am I putting honey  on my prayers? Or, are they with frankincense? Am I telling God things that I won’t live out? 

Or, am I praying to Him in spirit and in truth? ” One final very vivid picture  of worship is in 1 Corinthians  6 Verse 16–17. This is a very frank passage,  like the Bible is a frank book.

Paul says: “Do you not know that he who is going to a harlot  [or prostitute] is one body with her? For the two, God says, shall become one flesh. But he who  is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.

” We’ve got to be frank and see the contrast. The  first example is physical, sexual, immoral union. But right together with that, parallel to that, Paul speaks about the one who is joined  to the Lord in the spirit.

In other words, there’s two kinds of unions: there’s physical  union and there’s union in the spirit. What is worship? That’s what it is.

It’s the only  way our spirits can unite directly with God. And out of that union there comes procreation. Worship is what makes us spiritually productive.