New Testament Worship

“Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and you say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. 21Jesus said unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour comes, when you shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.  22You worship you know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 23But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship him. 24God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4: 20-24).

“Therefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:” (Isa. 29: 13)

This generation is full of empty words; there is no other time in history when we have ­better choirs and worship songs. Our services are becoming super in terms of music, organization, sermon delivery, etc. However, there is no other time when sinners feel so comfortable in the Evangelical churches. Our mouth-praise is a mile wide while our fear of God is an inch deep. While we have very many truthful Christians, we also have an amazing number of untruthful ones.

The Lord told the woman at the well that climbing the mountain or visiting the temple to worship are no longer necessary because that is not true worship actually; thereby dealing a big blow to the flesh. God is a Spirit, and by implication true worship must be in spirit and truth.  The reason is that while you can praise Him from a distance far away; worship is only possible in His presence and you cannot access His presence without having relationship to Him. Gone are the Old Testament days when everyone has to do things to worship God; in the New Testament, you need to get close and get real.

To worship God in spirit, our spirit must link up with God’s Spirit; this is impossible without the help of the Holy Spirit. To worship God in truth, our heart and mouth must meet; our words must be true to our lifestyle; e.g. when we say to Him that He means more than gold to us, then that must be true otherwise, it is empty worship. God always required of His worshippers to be truthful; what is additional for us in the New Testament is to worship in spirit.

This is why we need to pay much attention to the most precious Holy Spirit; He is the one that makes the New Testament worship possible. We need to know His voice and obey Him absolutely. We need to know that He is a lover of worship songs and many times songs are what we need to stir up our spirit to worship God. Only the righteous in Christ can truly worship God; that is why the confessions in this Bible must lead us into repentance in many areas of our lives to assist us to be worshippers of God in spirit and in truth.