BEARING FRUIT IN 2020 - 1 Timothy 1:17: “The Discipline Of Committing Ourselves To Public Worship”

1. Disciplining ourselves for the purpose of godliness

2. The discipline of hearing God’s Word regularly

3. The discipline of  Public Prayer

4. The Discipline of Public Worship

“To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory forever and ever. Amen.” (1 Timothy 1:17). 

This is a great statement, made by a worshipping heart, the apostle Paul, to his son in the faith, Timothy, who is pastor of the church at Ephesus.

In this, the  last of our January series, we meditate on the nature of corporate worship.What is worship? What does the word mean? 

The word is derived from the English word ‘worth-ship‘.  It means to ascribe ‘worth’ to someone.

The human heart longs to worship. 

The reason for that is that the human race was designed and created by God to worship Him alone (Genesis 1&2).  However, the fall in Genesis 3 has turned every person from a God- worshipper into an idol-worshipper.  John Calvin observed that every human heart is an idol factory[1]. Solomon comments, “See this alone I have found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.”  (Eccl. 7:29)

Whilst the world now worships in many different ways (mainly that, which itself creates), we Christians are primarily interested in the recovery of the worth-ship of God. For the Christian, God is of the highest worth. Therefore the Christian pursues the worship of God as his or her highest goal. But where shall we learn how to worship God?   The Bible informs us concerning the essence and nature of true worship. It also exposes the nature and folly and consequences of false worship. Our pulpit ministry at Eastside, in tandem with all the true church in history,   deliberately aims to align our thinking with the Scriptures, and so aims to help us to worship God. This is hard work. It requires, as we have seen, robust training in godliness (1 Timothy 4:7 – see first sermon[2])

Paul’s letters to Timothy are essentially instructions on how the church ought to worship. The church at Ephesus, of which Timothy was the pastor, was born in an environment of strong idol worship. The temple of Artemis or Diana was found right here, in Ephesus. It was once considered to be one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.[3] But here in Ephesus the gospel had taken root and people were brought back to the worship of the true Creator God. It one thing for people to get out of that environment, but it is never easy to get the environment out of people. The enemy of our souls, the tempter, prowls around like a roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8). Paul  frequently draws attention to his work in his letters to Timothy.[4] 

In order to deal with that perpetual problem, namely   allowing our hearts to worship  that which cannot save us,  we have chosen to take   counsel  from Paul’s first letter to Timothy. There we have considered,

1.     The importance of training ourselves in godliness (1 Tim.  4:7-8). By disciplining  ourselves in godliness,  we  honour God; we learn  to  worship God.

2.     The discipline of hearing and reading God’s Word regularly (1 Tim 4:13). The Bible   teaches us  to worship God according to the pattern given to us, and not just according to the fancies of our own thinking.  

3.     The Discipline of Prayer (1 Tim 2:1-4). Prayer is the highest act of worship, for in prayer we declare our dependence upon God.  

4.     The Discipline of Worship. (1 Tim 1:17). This is what we shall consider now

Paul’s statement in1 Timothy 1:17

a.     A statement  that expresses the heart of worship (1:17)

b.     How Paul is lead to make that  statement:  How he became a worshipper  (1:12-16)

c.      What that statement leads to: A life of worship,  expressed in  the corporate life of the church   (2: 1-15 and the rest of the letter)

THE HEART OF WORSHIP (1:17)

Here we find Paul sinking on to his knees before God in worship as he makes this statement  (cf. Romans 11:33-36)

WHAT LEADS HIM TO WORSHIP? (1:12-16)

It is very clear! Here it is the thought of what Jesus Christ (not only his Lord but OUR Lord) has done for him! Paul here thanks God for giving him the strength (Gr.dunamis) for this service of being an apostle (1:1).  The phrase ’because he judged me faithful’ (pistis) needs to be understood in a passive sense. It was not that Paul was a faithful man and that upon this merit God judged him to be faithful, appointing him to this service. No, it is God that empowered him (i.e. gave him that dunamis) to be faithful and THAT is why Paul is  a faithful servant and apostle of the church. The glory and worship therefore belong to God and not to Paul.  Paul knows himself only too well. As he recites his history, he writes ”formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor and insolent[5]  opponent”. He knows that he was anything but faithful to God in himself.  He  knows that it was on the basis of God’s  grace  and love and mercy  in Jesus ALONE that He became what he was – the apostle  by command of God  our Saviour and  of Christ Jesus our hope (1:1).  It is that thought of God’s free, loving, unmerited grace and mercy to him, the foremost of sinners (1:15) ,  that leads  him to express this great  doxology- this utterance of praise  and worship to God. True worship of God begins when we know that we are made by God and kept by God.    

Let us rehearse this question again:  Why can we truly worship the one true God of the Universe?  We can worship Him  because He makes Himself known to us. Paul writes to the Galatians and says that “it pleased God to reveal his Son in me” (Gal. 1:16).   We see that in our text. In his letter to Timothy Paul thinks about the way in which Jesus saved him, despite the fact that he was once a blasphemer, a persecutor and an insolent opponent of the gospel.  And he bursts into that great statement of worship. 

At the extreme end of our  experience of worship  there  can  be  a falling down,  and even  an experience of fear, and even losing consciousness,  or  the ability to see.   The apostle Paul experienced that in Acts 9:3-9. The apostle Peter experienced that in Lk 5:8. The apostle Thomas experienced that in John 20:21[6]. The apostle John experience that in Revelation 1:17.

But many more times we find people just simply dropping on to their knees when they encounter Jesus. The ESV  and NIV  describe this act  simply as kneeling before Jesus, but the  KJV captures the sense of gravitas  better when it  says  that they  worshipped  (proskuneo – lit. to bow down before)  Jesus.  In this sense Jesus is frequently worshipped or bowed down to.  Each time, Jesus accepted the worship.  Here are some examples from Matthew,

·       Matthew 8:2  -   A healed leper knelt before- i.e.  worshipped Jesus.

·       Matthew  9:18- A ruler knelt before (worshipped)  Jesus after He had healed his Son.

·      Matthew 14:33- The disciples worshipped Jesus after He had walked on water. "Those in the boat worshipped him, saying, 'Truly you are the Son of God.'" (Here the ESV  translates proskuneo as  worship)

·       Matthew 15:25: “A Canaanite woman came and knelt before him (worshipped), saying, 'Lord, help me.'"

·       Matthew 20:20, "Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling (worshipping) before him she asked him for something."

Do we  still worship God when we do not feel  anything?

The giving of  the glory  God,  when  His felt presence is near  is  our best experience, and   yet there may be  times when  we need to worship  in a principled fashion, like...

·       Habakkuk 3:17,18

·        Job  13:15a  “Though he slay me, I will hope in him”

·       Matthew   26: 39,42,44 -  Jesus, now forsaken of the Father  in the Garden, and yet  praying, "Your will be done".

We can worship, because the truth still remains the  truth. I may not feel  God’s love, but that does not prove that He does not love me and care for me. I still worship Him. He is still my Father.  Following the devastating news  of the death of his baby boy, David, sore depressed,  got up from his bed, washed his  face and went to the sanctuary to worship God  (2 Sam 12:20).

APPLICATION: THE CONTEXT OF WORSHIP

We have begun our meditation with the personal encounter of God  that leads to worship. But  private worship is not the highest form  or expression of worship. The highest form of worship  ends in public  worship. 

We have already noted that Paul does not privatise God or the Lord Jesus Christ.  He refers to God our Saviour and Jesus Christ our hope (1:1); Jesus our Lord (1:2, 12,14).  And so, the corporate worship service  of the church is the highest  expression of  human worship, and the highest exclamation of our worship can be   that which  1 Timothy 1:17  reveals, “To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only  God,  be honour and glory  forever and ever. Amen.“ 

That is, incidentally the language of the worship of heaven. This is what  the people gathered  before the throne  from all tribes, tongues, languages and nations  are saying:   “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits  on the throne and  to the Lamb… blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen. (Rev.  7:10-12).

And so as we survey the greater context of  Paul’s letter to Timothy,  we see the corporate effect of public worship  worked out in 1 Timothy 2,  as Paul  explains  what the church  in Ephesus should be doing  corporately  in worship. The first thing is prayer (2:1-7). The second thing is and  right  and submissive attitudes in worship (2: 8-15).  Furthermore, the  church ought to  be led by  worshipping elders and deacons, leading  the church  by the examples of their own worshipping  lives (Chapter 3) etc …I trust the point is made. The thought of Godleads to practical applications of worship. 

Beloved brothers and sisters.  Let the church worship! Come together regularly and praise  the  Lord, with all that He has given you. Do this in prayer, in song, by hearing the Word together and by doing what it says. Do it in in participating in the life of this body to the glory of God. 

The common worship that we seek is biblical, reverent, joyful, edifying and filled with praise to God.   

One last plea, particularly to the younger parents. Do not let your children miss out on this worship. Let the children worship. There is plenty of biblical evidence that children are included in public worship.  Jesus wanted to see the little children not neglected in our midst. Let them  be present  in the means of grace. Let them hear the Word preached; let them see the Lord’s supper and baptism administered, and let them ask their parents, what do these things mean? Let them be prayed for publically and let them participate in prayer; let them sit with their parents in worship and let them experience what  demonstrates our weekly priority. And God will respond to your faithful worship by giving them true life. Amen.

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[1] https://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/institutes.iii.xii.html

[2] https://joachimrieck.blogspot.com/2020/01/bearing-fruit-in-2020-1-timothy-47.html

[3] By 401 AD it had been ruined or destroyed. Only foundations and fragments  now remain at the site.

[4] 1 Tim  1:20; 3:6,7, 4:1, 5:15; 2 Tim 2:26

[5] showing a rude and arrogant lack of respect.

[6]

Psalm 95 - THE CHURCH IS MADE TO WORSHIP

Today, we want to look at the subject of worship and the church.  For the Christian, God is the center of worship and therefore our thesis is this:”the church is made to worship God”. Every true  church must reflect that priority. 

The church in our age, and in every age has struggled with this and for many people worship has been reduced to that time in the service when we sing. 

We have a worship band and a worship leader and we sing songs of worship. At a strategic point of the service the worship leader says: “We have now finished worshiping God, and now it is time for the 15 minute sermon.” But is that it? Is that worship? We want to argue that worship is much more than that. 

Worship is a mindset and a way of life that inhabits the life of the individual member of the church. All that we are and all that we do reflects worship. Let us then look at a text in the Bible that teaches us the heart of true worship. 

Psalm 95 is part of a group of Psalms that praise and worship God as King (cf. Psalms 93, 95-100). 

Psalm 95 has long been used in the church as a call to worship. [1] 

This Psalm can be divided into two parts: 

1. Vv. 1-7b reflects a call to worship 

2. Vv. 7c- 11 is a warning against false worship. We are often helped to appreciate the true by considering what is false. 

1. THE CALL TO WORSHIP (95:1-7b) 

The Psalm begins with exuberant rejoicing. God’s people are a happy and joyful and singing people because they see what God has done for them. 

Note the following aspects associated with their worship: 

(i) Worship is God-centered. There is a preoccupation with God. Worship is not music driven, or personality driven, and least of all it is self-energized enthusiasm. Biblical worship has God in mind. 

A faulty view of God or a little view of God diminishes our worship. 

(ii) Worship is congregational. Four times in vv.1,2 we read of the ’us’, “Let us sing, let us make a joyful noise; let us come into his presence …” 

(iii) Worship is vocal. The words employed in verses 1 and 2 all refer to a vocal, public praise of God. Here it is not subdued. It is exuberant. The phrase ‘joyful noise’ (cf v.1b, 2b) comes from a Hebrew word meaning “to raise a shout.”[2] This was done in anticipation of a battle or after a victory [3]. Some Christians think that our singing to God cannot be loud or exuberant. Now while there may be inappropriate noise created by overpowering instruments, perhaps because the musicians that are man centered and focused on themselves, there can be nothing more God glorifying than a congregation singing loud and exuberantly to the praise of her God. We will speak about the silent aspects of worship in a moment, but for now, let us settle the point that there is an aspect of our worship which is loud. 

(iv) Worship must be based on truth. 

a. In vv. 3-4 we are helped to understand what ought to excite our worship. Consider the primary biblical truth in Psalm 95 which helps us to sing exuberantly: V.3 The LORD (YAHWEH) is a great God (EL) and a great king (MELECH) above all gods (ELOHIM). The primary truth which ought to govern our worship is that our God is sovereign. He is our King. 

b. Moreover, from vv. 4 & 5 we learn more about the nature of God’s sovereignty. God is the Creator and Owner of the earth. He is sovereign over every aspect of life on this earth. He is sovereign over the depths, the heights, the sea and the dry land. We find here the totality of His creation and control of the earth. The world is not only the work of His hands, but it is in His hands right now. That is a reason for praise. 

c. In vv. 6,7 the effects of that worship on the lips of the worshipper sink deep down into the worshipper’s heart. The worshippers are no longer making a joyful noise. They are no longer singing loudly. The key word that characterizes the first five verses is praise, while the key phrase that summarizes vv. 6 and 7 is ‘bow down’. 

Worship involves both, making a joyful praise and a speechless bowing down. When the God who is praised is understood, we are silent and we are comforted. We experience Him as our personal God, our Maker, and our Shepherd. 

2. FALSE WORSHIP  (95:7c-11)

Life in a fallen world severely challenges worship. We see it illustrated in the following verses, which are an illustration from Israel’s flawed history of worship. The reference here is to the waters Meribah and Massah. 

The illustration from Israel’s history is taken from 2 incidents which illustrated the conduct of God’s people who had hardened hearts- another way to say that they did not have their God on their minds. (Ex. 17:1-7 and Numbers 20:1-13). 

Meribah is derived from the Hebrew word for strife. 

Massah means test. 

Both incidents refer to times in the life of Israel when, after having been brought out of Egypt and through the desert by God with great signs and wonders and visible miracles, they refused to believe and trust God when they saw that there was no water (see Ex. 17:7). They refused to worship God in their experience. 

This text is cited in Hebrews 3:7-11, and there it refers to Hebrew people who were tempted to give up on Jesus, when times got tough. 

So then, we find a dramatic change of tone in the closing verses 8-11 of this Psalm. And the repeated point concerning this incident is that God’s people refused to worship when it came to a time of testing. They became faithless. They hardened their hearts against God. 

Faithlessness and a hardened heart are the sworn enemies of worship. So we must see that Massah and Meribah are not just historical incidents. They are manifestations of a persistent problem with true worship. These problems are picked up in Psalm 95 and in Hebrews 3:7-11, and they are addressed as worship problems. 

We cannot take the message of this Psalm lightly, because the New Testament makes it clear that the warning of this text applies as much to men and women of our time as it did in ages past. 

The message of this Psalm, both to its original audience and to us teaches us that, 

• We should worship God as a congregation, both in ourloud rejoicing (vv. 1-2) and by our quiet reverence (v. 6).
• Our worship is to be based on both, God’s sovereignty as our Creator (vv. 3-5) and Sustainer and Shepherd (vv. 6-7). 
• Vv. 7c-11 remind us that we must worship God by our obedience. 
• We must learn to worship in good and in challenging times. Worship is not just the repetition of rituals. It is not just the shouting of praises or participating in random acts of reverence. 
• True worship begins in the heart, and it governs our mind and actions. 

Let us take very careful note then of the relationship between the exhortation to worship God in verses 1-7 and the warning of verses 8-11 where we are reminded that failure to worship is induced by a hardened heart. 

SOME DIAGNOSTIC QUESTIONS WITH REGARD TO WORSHIP TO SELF AND THE CHURCH[4]

• How much do I know about what the Bible says about worship?
• Who can help me learn more about biblical worship?
• Do I want above all to draw near to God in worship?
• Do I want to please God rather than myself in worship?
• Do I understand my responsibility to worship God with his people regularly?
• Will I seek God’s will in worship while avoiding a judgmental and legalistic spirit toward others?

You need to ask the following about the worship of any church you attend:

• Does this church love and believe the Bible? Is the worship of this church filled with the Word of God?
• How much of the service is given to the reading of the Bible?
• How much of the service is given to biblical prayer?
• How much of the service is given to singing that is biblical in content?
• What is the content of the preaching? Is preaching a substantial part of the service?
• Is the Law of God clearly present in the service? (Without law you cannot understand gospel)
• Is the Gospel of Jesus Christ clearly expressed and central in the service?
• What is the role of the ordinances in the ministry of the church?
• Are both joyful thanksgiving and reverent awe expressed and balanced in the service?

An Invitation to Worship 

Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. (Ps. 95:6-7) 

We need to heed that call to worship and to identify with a congregation that worships faithfully. We must worship in a way that pleases God, for our God is a consuming fire. 

This service ended with celebrating the Lord's Supper.

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[1] ‘Before the beginning of their prayers,’ writes Athanasius of the practice of the Church of Constantinople, ‘Christians invite and exhort one another in the words of this Psalm.’ In the Western Church the whole Psalm appears to have been generally used. In the Eastern Church an invitatory founded on it is used at the commencement of service.” A. F. Kirkpatrick, The Book of Psalms (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House , 1982), p. 572.

[2] The primary nuance of the word ranan is to “cry out” or to “give a ringing cry” (BDB). It may refer to jubilant singing, but not necessarily so.

[3] Josh. 6:10,16,20; 1 Sam. 4:5; 17:20,52

[4] From an article  by Dr. Robert Godfrey : “ PLEASING GOD IN OUR WORSHIP “

John 4:1-26 "True and False Worship"

“But the hour is coming, and is now here when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit  and in truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship Him. God is  Spirit  and those  who worship Him  must worship  in spirit  and  truth.” (John 4:23,24)

You will remember that Jesus spoke  these words  to a  Samaritan woman  at a well at Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.His disciples has gone to town to buy some food. He was tired and thirsty, and He asked the woman for some water since she had the equipment to draw water from the well. 

This episode starts an unusual and a remarkable conversation.  It was unusual in that Jews and Samaritans were not on speaking terms, due to longstanding historic hostilities. It is unusual because this woman is   a prostitute. She has slept with many men, and Jesus points out that the man that she is with at the moment is not her husband. But as Jesus asks   for water from this Samaritan woman   we find here an amazing conversation on the nature of true worship.

Now the Samaritans were descendants of Jews of the Northern kingdom of Israel, after 722  BC after the conquest of their territory by the Assyrians. They had subsequently interbred with the nations around them, and had also developed a mixed religion. They had built a separate worship place on Mt. Gerizim and they rejected all of the Old Testament except their version of the first five books of Moses. That religion therefore contained similarities   with the Jewish faith, but it had mixed in elements of idol worship and the embracing of a system of worship that was far from the true worship of God. This story then is about a woman who learned the meaning and practice of true worship   as she came to know the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. It was a divine appointment. It was a life changing experience. It was a movement in which she moved from the death of the soul caused by false worship into the life giving knowledge of Spirit revealed truth as it is in Jesus.

So  then  the basic  fact here is  that  Jesus  is  talking to a woman who is lost  in a system  of false worship. To begin with, she did not know who Jesus was. He was, to her just another Jew, but there was already   something that drew her attention to the fact that He was different. He spoke to her, a Samaritan and a woman,  and thus her surprised response:  “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” [v.9]. He asked her for some water, which came from an ancient well that Jacob, whom the Samaritans also owned as their ancestor and father, had dug.  

But Jesus was going to do more than just ask for water from the well of their common ancestor. He was going to make her a radical counter offer. He would offer her   living water. That thought fascinates her. Living water?  Water which shall never make you experience thirst again?  That sounds like a good idea. “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water” [v.15].  But she does not really understand who Jesus is and what He is talking about. He needs to take her a little further.

“Go and call your husband…”. Here begins the process of helping her to see that He is more than just a tired and thirsty Jew looking for water.  She answers, “I don’t have a husband.” Jesus replies, “That’s right. But you’ve had five, and the man who you are with now is not your husband.” She was shocked!  How did He know this? There is only one possibility.   “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet”!   A prophet is a spokesman of God. The true prophets of God always challenged the nation to return to true worship. False prophets always led the nation into false worship.  So this discussion and Jesus unusual knowledge of her domestic circumstances leads to the heart of the matter for which Jesus had come to speak to her: the   nature of true and false worship. False worship leads away from God. True worship leads us to God.

She initiates the discussion. She says in v. 20: “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain; and you [Jews] say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.”  Please note, that from this point onwards Jesus never goes back to the issue of her adulterous life. He had come to the topic that was really important.

At this point it is important to understand  that the whole world may be divided into two classes of people: true worshipers and false worshipers, and Jesus is now here to make the vital distinction between the two, and we shall learn that that vital distinction lies in Himself.

Verse 21   is the turning point:  “Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.”  Jesus says   that true worship is not confined to a location or place. At one time Jesus pointed out that those that were worshiping  in the temple of God in Jerusalem (Matthew 15:8)  were  indulging in false worship.  “This people honour me with their lips but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me.”  True worship comes not from attending a holy place. True worship originates in the heart. So Jesus reminds the woman that true worship is not about her mountain of worship (Mt. Gerizim) or the Jewish mountain of worship (Mt Zion).  

How you worship is vastly more important than where you worship !

Verse 22 introduces the question of whom or what you worship. “You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.”  Here Jesus begins to make the vital distinction between true worship and false worship. The Samaritans rejected all the Old Testament except for their version of the books of Moses. Their knowledge of God was deficient and so their worship was deficient.  

Incidentally, the Jewish system of worship, though they had the full revelation of God was also deficient (see Nicodemus in John 3) because they failed to see in their full Scriptures  the Lord Jesus Christ as their Messiah. Jesus had to point out  in John 5:39,40:  “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.”  

True worship comes from the heart and it must be based on a true perception of God in Christ. V.23 brings the discussion to a climax: “But the hour is coming, and now is here , when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.”  

What does it mean to worship in spirit and truth?  

For the answer to this we need to go back to  John 3 and the conversation that Jesus had with Nicodemus.  Here Jesus shows  Nicodemus that true spiritual worship, based on  true spiritual understanding   begins when you are born again  (John 3:1-8). It is the Holy Spirit that makes the crucial difference. He helps our spirits to truly worship, because He shows us who Jesus is.   It is the Holy Spirit who gives life to our spirits, and so when Jesus says that true worshipers worship in spirit, He means that true worship only comes from spirits that are made alive by the Holy Spirit. 

No amount of church attendance, singing, raising hands, hearing good preaching will make you a true worshiper. You must be born again by the work of the Holy Spirit. He must change your idolatrous heart into a heart that loves God your Father and Jesus as your Mediator and the Holy Spirit as   your Life Giver. That is what the Bile teaches. That is what you must believe and practice. Real worship comes from the spirit within and is based on true views of God.

Worship must have heart and worship must have head. Worship must engage your emotions and worship must engage your thought.  Head without heart produces dead orthodoxy.  Heart without head produces emotionalism that easily leads to spiritual deception.

True worship comes from people who know God and who love Him deeply! 

Let us investigate  the word  worship  a little  further, to help us  to see what true  worship  leads us to do.

The word “worship” comes from an ancient Anglo- Saxon word “weorthscipe“.   It literally means to attribute worth to someone – hence “worth – ship“.

The following words   are commonly translated as worship  in the English language:

(i)     The Hebrew word   “shachah” and the Greek word “proskuneo“, indicate a bowing down; a prostration before God.

(ii)   The Hebrew word “abodah”   and the Greek words   “leitourgia” and “latreia”, which indicate   the rendering of service to God.

Worship  is both,  a bowing down and a rendering of service to God. The act of worship has to do with yielding oneself up for the service of God.

Worship is therefore an attitude and an act. The worshiper knows who he/she is before God, and because of this they prostrate themselves before God. This attitude of the heart ultimately governs  your attitude  in  worship. This is what leads to a life that worships God in spirit and in truth (John 4:23, 24).

This is at the heart  of  our  Sunday worship. The seventh day in particular is designed to focus our attention on God, and having bowed before Him in worship, and rightly instructed in the Holy Scriptures  we disperse to serve Him   throughout the week as   we live consciously in the presence of God as we work, eat, play and sleep.  

APPLICATION: A right understanding of God leads to a life of worship!

Unfortunately  the meaning  of  biblical worship  has been  watered down by the contemporary emphasis  on  worship  as ‘singing’. Much emphasis in Namibian church is on the worship leader and the worship group. A lot of money is spend in purchasing sound equipment , instrument, lights  and smoke machines so that the  worship service begins to look more like a disco  or a  concert.   Music produces feelings  and many Namibian people confuse feelings with the Holy Spirit. Many of our Namibian churches sing so much that they are tired when it comes to careful listening   and obeying of the Bible. 

Biblical worship has been watered down as many of our churches do not place the correct preaching of the Bible, the Word of God at the center of their worship services. And sadly, even when the Bible is opened so often the Bible is not preached reverently and passionately and in the power of the Holy Spirit, because the preachers themselves are not worshipers.

The truth is that worship is more than Sunday attendance and singing.  It is the living out of the truth that we sing about on Sunday. Sunday worship moves beyond the sermon, the ordinances, the prayers and songs of adoration into a life of worship throughout the week. It is living out our lives in worship for the  rest of the week, as we obey God  in everything.

True worshipers become better husbands, wives, parents and children. 

True worshipers become better employers and employees. 

True worshipers are humbled by the Word of God. They are filled with the fruit of the Spirit. Under the Word of God they are transformed into  a people that love God and  who love  the church and who love people  and who love this lost world. 

They love to share the gospel with people like   the Samaritan woman  who is caught up in idol worship. 

They are eager  to  introduce them to  Jesus who frees them by His Holy  Spirit from false worship.