Adrian Rogers - Faithful in Worship
Would you take your Bibles please, and be finding John chapter 4. A factor of faithfulness if you would be faithful to the Lord Jesus and faithful to His church is indeed worship. Let me tell you this, to learn to worship is your greatest need. To worship in spirit and in truth is the ultimate privilege. And to worship God is beyond a doubt, the supreme duty of any child of God. Let me say it again for emphasis, to worship is your greatest need. To worship is your ultimate privilege. To worship is your supreme duty.
Now, if I can get that out of my heart into your heart today, I’ll be happy, you’ll be blessed and God will be glorified. If you can see that to learn to worship is your greatest need, your greatest privilege, your greatest duty, is to worship God. We are invited, we are commanded, we are encouraged, we are empowered to worship Him. That, my friend is, as the business man would say, «The bottom line». Going to Heaven is not the bottom line. We go to Heaven to worship Him. Being saved is not the bottom line. We’re saved so that we can worship Him. You would be better if you worshiped better. Why worship? Very simply this, we become like what we worship. Whatever a man worships conforms that man.
The Bible speaks of those who worship idols in Psalm 115 verse 4 through 8. It’s a very interesting passage. It speaks of the heathen. It says, «Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: They have ears, but they hear not: noses they have, but they smell not: They have hands, but they handle not: feet, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat». And now here is the verse that I want to emphasize. «They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them». Do you get that? First a man molds the idol and then the idol molds the man; we become like what we worship. If you worship idols, you’ll become like the idol that you worship. But if you worship the Lord, if you behold His face as in a glass, you’re changed from glory to glory to the same image.
When you put a poker in the fire and leave it in there long enough, before long the fire is in the poker. Is that not true? I mean, it comes out glowing and red hot. When you immerse yourself in the presence of God, before long, the presence of God is in you. True worship will make you more like the one that you worship. And so, we’re going to learn a lesson today on worship. We’re going to learn that worship is the ultimate privilege, the supreme duty, and the greatest need of the child of God. There was a woman who learned this long ago, a woman of Samaria and I want you to look if you will in John chapter 4 verse 3, «He left Judea, and departed again into Galilee. And He must needs go through Samaria». Now, the need was not a geographical need. It would have been much simpler for Him to go another route. This is a mountainous route. He must needs go because He had a spiritual mandate, a spiritual reason for going.
Now, let’s read verses 5 through 24, «Then cometh He to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with His journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, 'Give me to drink.' For His disciples were gone away into the city to buy meat. Then saith the woman of Samaria unto Him, 'How is it that Thou, being a Jew, asketh drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.' Jesus answered and said unto her, 'If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, 'Give me to drink'; thou wouldest have asked of Him, and He would have given thee living water.' The woman saith unto Him, 'Sir, Thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast Thou that living water? Art Thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? ' Jesus answereth and said unto her, 'Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.' The woman saith unto Him, 'Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.' Jesus saith unto her, 'Go, call thy husband, and cometh hither.' The woman answered and said, 'I have no husband.' Jesus said unto her, 'Thou hast well said, 'I have no husband: ' For thou hast had five husbands.'»
Today, she could get an academy award couldn’t she? «'Thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidest thou truly.' The woman saith unto Him, 'Sir, I perceive that Thou art a prophet. Our fathers worshiped in this mountain; and ye say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.' Jesus saith unto her, 'Woman, believe Me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers 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.'»
Now that is an extended passage, but what a wonderful passage, that is, because it teaches us to worship. Do you know what’s wrong with the modern church today? We have forgotten how to worship. There’re people today who say, «Well, if you want to build a great church, on Sunday morning talk to the people about their needs. And help them to have their needs met». And when they talk about their needs they’re talking about their emotional, psychological, physical needs. That is, begin to scratch the people where they itch. And so many of our worship services across America have left Theology and gone to Meology; it’s man centered rather than God centered. Rather than worshiping God, we come and we turn our eyes inward and upon ourselves seeking to find life.
But Jesus said in Matthew 16 verse 25, «Whosoever will save his life, shall lose it. But whosoever will lose his life for My sake and the Gospel’s the same shall find it». If you want to be utterly miserable, turn your life inward. If you want to be filled with joy, turn your life upward. Look into the face of God and learn to worship. Now, we’ve studied and read about a woman who was a miserable woman. And the reason that she was a miserable woman is she had never learned to worship. She was self-centered. She had been blinded by Satan. She was a slave to sin. She had sought satisfaction in the things of this world and she had gone from one husband to another. You can count them, five.
And then she had begun to live a life of immorality, perhaps a prostitute, or she had taken up with some ne’er do well as she’s living now with a man. They had not even had the benefit of a marriage ceremony. She thought that she could find joy in these things, but it is all turned to dust. And she’s like a faded flower now. Living in immorality, she’d been blinded by the devil. The devil says, «I’m going to make you happy», but he’s brought to her misery. Because not only has she been blinded by Satan, she has been broken by sorrow. Life has its thrills, but it has no real joy apart from the Lord Jesus. Sin at first is so attractive, so alluring. The bread of deceit is sweet, but afterward a man’s mouth shall be filled with gravel.
And she’s like so many today, living what they call the new morality. It’s not new and it’s certainly not moral. And the Hollywood crowd that I just referred to a little bit ago, we have young actresses today who have faces like angels and morals like alley cats. Don’t envy them, feel sorry for them. Here was a woman who was blinded by Satan. Here was a woman who was broken by sorrow, and here was a woman who was bound by sin. She was a religious woman. That is an interesting thing. She wanted to talk religion. But here religion you see, had never helped her. She had some ideas, but they were not from God. And her religion had not worked. She had a form of godliness, but there was no power in it. And this is why the Lord Jesus taught this woman about worship.
Now many of you may not be as destitute and as down as this woman, but I can tell you that whether you are up and out or down and out, your need today is to learn to worship God. Now why did God make you? Well, you say, «God made me to serve Him». No. If God wanted servants, He’d get angels not human beings. They’re a lot more punctual, a lot more faithful. No, no, He didn’t make you primarily to serve Him. He made you to worship Him, to love Him, to know Him, to enjoy Him and for Him to enjoy you. What did God make a fish to do? He made a fish to swim in the sea. What did God make a bird to do? He made a bird to fly in the air.
What did God make you to do? God made you, God created you for Himself to enjoy Him and for Him to enjoy you. And until you do that, you’ll never know fulfilment. You take a fish out of the sea and put him in the tree, to say the least, he’s an unhappy fish. Take a bird out of the air and put him under the water, to say the least, he’s an unhappy bird. Take a man who is made for God and immerse him in the things of this world apart from God and he will have no fulfillment. That’s what the apostle Paul said in the seventeenth chapter of Acts there to those superstitious people on Mars hill. He said, «You don’t even know what you’re worshiping». He said in verse 28, «God made us to worship Him, for in Him we live and move and have our being».
The element for a fish is water. The element for a bird is air. The element for a child of God is God Himself. In Him we live and move and have our being. And until you learn to worship, you’ll be like a fish out of water. You’ll be like a round peg in a square hole. We need to learn to worship. There are three things I pray God that the Holy Spirit of God will emblazon upon your heart today as we look at this passage and learn of worship. Number one, we must learn the meaning of true worship. Look in John 4 verse 22, Jesus said to this woman, «Ye worship, ye know not what». And there are many people like that who do not understand the meaning of worship. Jesus said, in Matthew chapter 15 verse 9, «In vain do they worship».
There is such thing as vain worship. For example, those that worship idols worship vainly. Exodus 34 verse 14, «For thou shalt worship no other God, for the Lord whose name is jealous is a jealous God». Now friend, you provoke the Almighty to jealousy if you worship some idol. Isaiah chapter 48 verse 11, God says, «I will not give My glory unto another». When you worship some New Age deity, when you worship some god of superstition, or some god of substance or success, or even yourself. And there’re many who worship at the shrine of self. Then you provoke the Lord to jealousy because God says, «I will not share My glory with another». And then, not only is there idolatrous worship, there is insincere worship.
Listen to this passage of Scripture. Matthew chapter 15 verse 8, «This people draweth nigh unto Me with their mouth, and honoreth Me with their lips; but their heart is far from Me». We sing that «Jesus is more precious than silver, more costly than gold», and I suppose that most of you sing that. But I wonder, do you mean it? Do you honor Him with your lips, but your heart is far from Him? We sing, «Take my silver and my gold, not a mite would I withhold». And we withhold it with all our might. Isn’t that true? We sing «All to Jesus I surrender, all to Him I freely give», and don’t even get back to prayer meeting. What do we do? We sing, «Faith of our fathers, holy faith. To thee I’ll be true, even to death».
And we are ashamed even to bow our heads and thank God for food in a public restaurant. We sing, «All that thrills my soul is Jesus». And then we spend time eating garbage and tin cans in the back alley with the devil’s billy goats, saying «All that thrills my soul is Jesus». Half-hearted worship is an insult to Almighty God. There is idolatrous worship. There is insincere worship. There’s even iniquitous worship. Did you know that if you come to this place today to worship God or get on your knees at home and there is sin in your heart, that’s it makes God angry? Amos chapter 5, listen to this, God says in verses 21 through 24, «I hate, I despise your feast days and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies».
What that means is, your incense that you burn, «I’ll not taste of it with my nostrils, 'Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. Take away from Me the noise of thy songs.' We said, 'Lord, we thought it was pretty.' God says, 'Take away the noise of thy songs, for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.'» That is of your orchestra when it plays. «But let judgment run down as waters and righteousness as a mighty stream». When we worship God with sin in our heart, God says, «I will not hear you. He that offers his prayer, even his prayer shall be an abomination». To worship God with an unclean heart is an abomination to God.
Jesus said in Matthew chapter 5, when you bring your offering to the altar, you come to church to make your offering. God says, don’t leave it. I mean, don’t give it. Listen to it in verses 23 and 24, «Therefore, if thou bring thy gift to the altar and there rememberest that thy brother have ought against thee,» that is, that you’ve sinned against somebody and you’ve not made it right, «leave there thy gift before the altar and go thy way. First be reconciled to thy brother, then come and offer thy gift».
I don’t care how much money you give today. If you give money with hatred in your heart, or if you give money with unreconciled, unmade sins that are not made right, it is vain worship. It is an insult to Almighty God. God says, «Leave the money, go make it right with your brother». It’s very interesting. God didn’t say, «Take the money with you». God said, «I won’t receive it», and God says, «You can’t keep it». It’s tainted money. Taint yours and God won’t receive it. Either way, it belongs to God. Don’t say, «Oh well then, since I’m not going to get my heart right, I’ll just take this money then and spend it». No, that’s not what Jesus said. Jesus says, you put that money in escrow. Go get right with your brother. Go get right with your sister. Go ask for forgiveness and then come and bring that offering.
You see, there is idolatrous worship. There is insincere worship. There is iniquitous worship and God says, «I will not accept that kind of worship». What is true worship? Jesus said to this woman, «You worship, but you don’t know what you’re worshiping». Now let me tell you what worship is. Worship is the adoring, contemplation of God revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ. Worship is all that we are, responding to all the God is. All that we are: body, soul and spirit; mind, emotion and will. As much as in me is with my whole heart. It is everything responding to all that God is. Our English word worship comes from the old worth-ship. That is, we worship according to the worth that we place on God.
What do we see is worth our worship? We worship what we feel is worthy or of worth. That’s the reason we heard this morning, Revelation chapter 5 verse 12, speaking of those around the throne, «Saying with a loud voice, 'Worthy is the lamb that was slain, to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.'» How? When? And the way that a person worships says what they think of God. You want me to tell you your barometer of God? How much you love God? What you think of God? Your worship life. Have you ever seen one of those coffee urns and on the outside is a glass tube? You want to know what’s on the inside, you just look at that glass tube. Friend, do you want to know what’s in your heart? Just look at your worship. The way you worship God will tell me what you think of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Well, how much He’s worth to you. Whatever Jesus is worth to you will show up in your worship. It literally means, worth-ship. How many times we confuse worship with prayer and even with praise, and those are elements of worship, but they’re not the bottom line of worship. I told you before of a woman who was trapped in an apartment building. A brave fireman, she was there at the window screaming for help. A brave fireman went up a ladder to rescue her. Literally took her in his arms and brought her down that ladder. It’s one of those melodramatic stories that we’ve read about. Sat her on the ground. She was saved, her life was saved.
Later on, she went to the firehouse to thank that fireman. They got acquainted. They began to date. They got married and I trust lived happily ever after. When she was in that window saying, «Help me! Save me»! That’s like prayer saying, «God I’ve got a need. I need You». And that’s legitimate. We need to do that. And we call upon Him when we’re in trouble. Thank God for that. That is petition. Then when she went to the firehouse to say, thank you. That’s praise and thanksgiving. And we ought to do that. «You’re a strong, wonderful firemen. Thank you for risking your life».
And how many times we ought to come to God and thank God and give God glory and give God praise. But when they fell in love and got married and she loved him now, not because he had rescued her, not because of these other things, but she loved him for who he is and she gave all of her to all of him. Friend, that is like worship and that’s where many of us fail to come to that bottom line and sometimes our prayers are, «Help me Lord, save me». And that’s wonderful. Or, «Thank You Lord for what You’ve done». But how many times have we just simply come to God and said, «O God, I just pour out my heart in love to You». That is true worship.
Now, you must know the meaning of worship. Now, you must also practice the true method of worship. What is the method of worship? Look if you will in John 4 verses 21 and following, «Jesus saith unto her, 'Woman, believe Me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet in Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship, ye know not what: we know that what we worship for salvation is of the Jews, '» now watch this, «'but the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him.'» Now what is the method of true worship? Do I have your attention? We worship God in spirit and in truth. Who said so? The Lord Jesus.
Now here was a woman and she wants to have a theological argument because Jesus is getting very close to her deepest need. And so she’s trying to change the subject like many people do when you witness to them, they want to argue religion rather than look God in the face. And so she said, «Now wait a minute. You say, You being a Jew, the Jews worship at Jerusalem there on Mount Zion and Mount Moriah where the temple is. We are Samaritans, we worship here in Samaria, Mount Gerizim. And so which is the true place to worship»? And she wanted to get an argument going.
Now, here is here is the problem with so much worship today. Do you know what the Samaritans did? They rejected all of the Bible but the first five books of the Bible. I mean, they just rejected. All they accepted was Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. They rejected all the rest of it. So therefore, they were limited in their knowledge. They did not know. They did not understand. They worshiped what they knew not. They had their worship. They’re worship in Samaria was primarily emotional. They worked themselves up into a frenzy, emotional worship.
Now the Jews on the other hand, led primarily by the Pharisees, they had all of the Bible, they had all of the prophets, they had the truth, but they didn’t have the Spirit. The Samaritans worship was enthusiasm; that is spirited worship. But they didn’t have the truth. And so often you see these things together. I mean, today, some are worshiping with simply dry orthodoxy and others are worshiping with fanaticism, enthusiastic heresy. And some churches, they freeze in formalism and other churches they fry in fanaticism. And they’re either like those in Jerusalem or they’re like those in Samaria. And neither one of them have Jesus, who said, «It’s not Jerusalem, it’s not Samaria. The hour is coming when you will worship the Father in spirit and in truth and the place of worship will be the heart».
Now how do you do this kind of worship? Let me mention three things and check up and see if these things are true about you today. See if you have the true method of worship. Number one, you must be regenerated by the Father. You see, we are to worship the Father and He is not your Father unless you’re saved, unless you’re born again. To the unsaved, you are of your father, the devil. I hope that didn’t hurt your feelings, but I do hope it stirred your mind. I do hope that it pricked your conscience.
Jesus said of the Pharisees in John 8 verse 44, «You are of your father, the devil». Now, to worship the Father, you must make certain that you have been born into the Father’s family; that you have been born again. That you have become a partaker of the divine nature. You cannot worship God that you don’t know. You worship, Jesus said to the Samaritan, «You’re worshiping someone you don’t know». Paul said in Acts chapter 17:23 to the people in Athens, «You are ignorantly worshiping». You must be regenerated by the Father. Have you been saved? Have you been again? In John 14:6, Jesus said, «I am the way, the truth and the life and no man comes to the Father, but by Me». Is He your Father? Does the Spirit of God in you cry out «Abba Father»? Because the Holy Spirit of God can only help you to worship when God is your Father.
So that’s the very first thing. You must be regenerated by the Father. Have you got it? Secondly, you must be activated by the Spirit. Born from above, and then you worship from within. The Holy Spirit of God comes into you. Jesus teaches that true worship is Spirit-filled worship. Ephesians chapter 5 verses 18 and 19, «And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord».
You cannot worship God apart from being filled with the Holy Spirit. Let me tell you something, if you’re not saved, you cannot worship. If you’re not Spirit-filled, you will not worship. If you have trouble with worship, if you have no desire to worship, if worship to you is boring and tedious, do you know what that says about you? You’re either not saved or not Spirit-filled. And how can you be Spirit-filled? Just agree with the Spirit as to the desire and purpose of the Spirit. What is the desire and the purpose of the Holy Spirit? To glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. When your one goal and aim is to glorify Jesus above everything else, when He’s more precious to you than silver, more costly than gold, when you want to adore Him, the Holy Spirit of God that is in you will join you and praise will come up out of you.
Listen to me, when you get Spirit-filled, you’ll have to backslide to keep from worshiping. You cannot help but worship. I know when I am Spirit filled. When I eat, when I’m in the car alone, I just want to say, «Jesus I love you». When I’m studying I want to say, «O God, how great You are». And out of my innermost being is flowing a river of living water. And anybody who is filled with the Holy Spirit and knows that experience, you know exactly what I’m talking about. You must be regenerated by the Father. You must be you must be motivated and energized by the Holy Spirit of God. Regenerated by the Father, activated by the Spirit and regulated by the Word. Listen to what Jesus said, «You worship the Father,» you’re regenerated by the Father, «in spirit,» you’re activated by the Spirit, «and in truth,» you are regulated by the Word.
Now, you get in a lot of services today and people don’t want the Word of God. They just want to come and have a praise service, quote «praise service». They want to sing. They want to pray, they want to praise, they want to testify, but they don’t want to study the Word of God. That’s the reason why all true worship is linked with the study of the Word of God. That’s the reason we have this pulpit right here. That’s the reason you’re sitting here this morning with an open Bible in your hand. Psalm 145 and verse 18, «The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him; to all that call upon Him in truth». In truth. You don’t just conjure up a god of your own imagination and then worship Him; that’s idolatry. Psalm 47 and verse 7, «For God is the King of all the Earth. Sing ye praises with understanding».
Let’s don’t sing any songs that are not theologically sound and that people cannot understand. If you worship God in spirit without truth, that will make you a fanatic. If you worship God in truth without the spirit, that will make you a Pharisee. But if you worship God in spirit and in truth, you’ll have one of the grandest experiences you’ve ever had. «God is a spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth». Now I’ve talked to you about the meaning of worship. I’ve talked to you about the method of worship. Let me talk to you finally about the motive of true worship.
Look in verse 23, John chapter 4 and verse 23, look at it. Jesus said, «But the hour cometh, and now is when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father,» underscore this, «the Father seeketh such to worship Him». Did you come to church this morning seeking something? Did you? Well, let me tell you something, God did too. God came this morning seeking something! God came seeking worshipers! Did you come seeking to worship? You see, you don’t come to church primarily for what you can get, you come for what you can give. You don’t come to church to worship, you bring your worship to church. You’ve been worshiping all through the week and then we come corporately to worship together and God is so pleased when we worship Him corporately in spirit and in truth.
When we forsake not the assembling of ourselves together, but we come together as brother and sisters in Christ to worship our Lord. Do you know what’s wrong with many churches? They think that that worship is some sort of spectator sport, that we have this preacher and we have this choir and this orchestra, and we have these musicians and we come and sit down out there and we get our Bibles out and we begin to study and we look up there and we begin to listen and we begin to critique the sermon and criticize the music. Like somehow it’s a performance and we’re the critics. That is not the way it’s supposed to be, ladies and gentlemen.
Soren Kierkegaard, whose theology I don’t agree with completely, said something that I totally agree with. He said, «If you think of the worship service as if it were a theater, then don’t use this figure of speech». Don’t get the idea that the preacher is the actor and the people out there are the critics to acclaim or to criticize. No, no. The preacher is not the actor; the people are the actor. The preacher is the prompter behind the wings helping them and God is the audience. Now, we’re not saying it’s a drama. We’re not saying that at all. We’re not saying it’s a play, but if it were a play. You see, God is not looking to see you watch me perform. God is here energizing me to help you to praise before God.
Do you understand what we’re talking about? You see, God is the audience. The preacher is the prompter. We are the ones who praise and we’re to come together gloriously united praising the Lord Jesus Christ and giving Him worship and giving Him praise and giving Him glory. Have you ever been in a boring worship service? Never. You’ve been in some services that were not worship services, but you’ve never been in a worship service that was boring. I mean, it might of called itself a worship service, but what could be more thrilling? What could be more glorious? What could be more energizing? What could be more wonderful than when people come to worship the great God of eternity and lift our hearts to God in praise?
Some years ago in a wealthy Boston suburb, a tragic thing happened. Some very wealthy people were going to have what they called a christening for a little baby, a christening party. And so all of the people came and they were rejoicing in this little baby, a christening for this little baby. And they were eating and drinking and laughing and after a while somebody said, «Where is the baby»? The mother’s heart just jumped. She thought about the baby. She’d not heard about the baby, not even a whimper from the baby for a while. She went to the big master bedroom where they had put the baby in the middle of that big bed where they felt it would be safe.
And found out that in the darkened room all the guests had come and piled their coats on that bed, and beneath that pile of coats was the smothered and dead form of a little baby. And they’d come to celebrate the christening of that child and while they were talking and eating and drinking, there was that child, suffocated beneath their coats. I can’t think of anything much more tragic in the natural world than that. I can’t think of anything much more tragic than the spiritual world for people to come to a place like this to drink coffee and slap backs and fellowship and laugh and sing and fail to remember Jesus. Fail to give Him glory and just let Him be smothered under all of our activities and fail to worship Him. God’s great heart desires worship.
Is God some sort of an egotist that we have to praise Him? Keep boasting His moral by telling Him how good and how great He is? That’s not it at all. Friend, when you worship God you enjoy God and God enjoys you and we would be better if we worshiped better because we become like what we worship. And he that offers praise, glorifies God. How we need today to learn to worship. Our church needs to be a worshiping church. And when you don’t come here on Sunday morning. And by the way, the Bible teaches corporate as well as individual worship. When you don’t come here on Sunday morning, do you know what you’re saying when you don’t come to this church? You say, well I’ll just have our own little church at home. You’ll miss it!
The Bible says in Hebrews 10:25, «Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together». When you come to church on Sunday morning do you know what you’re saying? You’re saying two things to everybody who sees you come. Number one, you’re saying, «God is important to me». And number two, you’re saying, «You folks are important to me. You’re important to me. My brothers and sisters are important to me. God is important to me and you’re important to me». Friend, when we worship, it shows the worth that we place upon our Lord. Bow your heads in prayer. Pray this prayer:
Lord God, teach me to worship. Teach me to worship in spirit and in truth.
Now while heads are bowed, if you’ve never been saved, remember that you cannot worship the Father in spirit and in truth until He becomes your Father. And He becomes your Father when you’re born into His family by receiving Jesus into your heart. Jesus said, «I am the way, the truth and the life and no man comes unto the Father but by Me». If you’re not saved and you want to be saved, if you want to know that you’re a child of God, if you want to be fitted for worship, would you pray a prayer like this:
Dear God, I know that You love me. I know that You want to save me. I confess that I am a sinner. I confess that I deserve judgment and Hell because of my sin, but I am sick of my sin. I’m tired of my sin. I repent of my sin. Jesus, I believe that You’re the Son of God. I believe You died for my sin on the cross. I believe that God raised You from the dead and right now in repentance and faith I receive You Jesus into my life as my Lord and Savior. Come into my life. Become my Lord and Savior. Begin now to make me the person You want me to be. And Lord Jesus, I will make it public. I will not be ashamed of You because You died for me. In Your name I pray, Amen.