Conclusion
Concluding
notes: Worshipping in the Holy Spirit
'But 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. God is
a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in
truth.' (John 4:23-24)
The body of Christ is called to
be worshipping witnesses to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Great Commission to preach the gospel to
all nations can only be fulfilled by those who have hearts filled with the joy
of the Holy Spirit, and have no other desire except to gain Christ. Effective evangelism must always be motivated
by the love of Christ, and the message of salvation will 'cut to the heart'
when it is presented to the world by worshippers who are anointed of the Holy
Spirit.
The nature of Christ will be seen
in the life of the worshipper. This is
produced by the fruit of the Spirit. A
worshipper will bring forth the sweet fruit of holiness, 'love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
meekness, and self control', (Galatians 5:22-23). Without the fruit of the Spirit there can be
no worship. The worshipper can only come
into the presence of God with the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
He or she must leave the cares
and concerns of the world behind, having one desire; to know Christ. We cannot approach God on the basis of our
own righteousness, but only through the righteousness of Christ. True worship requires the worshipper to
approach God in a right manner in obedience, in holiness and with godly fear
and reverence. Yet many believers have
never gone up to worship. The concerns
and affairs of everyday life keep them from ever going up to worship.
Worship is not singing songs, but
singing is a wonderful means of being able to express our worship. The worshipper sings out of a relationship
with Christ. Singing songs of praise is worship when our hearts are full of the
joy of the Lord. This joy is not
dependent upon favourable circumstances.
The joy of the Holy Spirit will be present when there is nothing hindering
our relationship with the Lord, and the desire of our heart is to know
Christ.
The Holy Spirit enables the
worshipper to become more aware of the beauty of Jesus through worship. We should ask ourselves the question, How much does Jesus mean to me? Worshippers are excited about Jesus. They are excited about who He is and what He
has done. They are excited about doing
His will. They are excited about being
witnesses to Him. They are excited about
being able to show their love through being counted as a 'fool for
Christ'. They are excited about being
part of His great eternal plan and purpose.
They are excited that one day they will see Him face to face.
Worship is perfected in
weakness. The power of God is manifested
in those who are weak in the flesh.
Anointed worshippers boldly stand for truth in meekness, but never
compromise their love for the Lord. They
refuse to be contentious, and joyfully lay down their lives as a love offering
to the Lord. Many wonderful Christians
have been prevented from moving into the anointing because they are not willing
to be broken by the Holy Spirit.
A worshipper must not grieve the
Holy Spirit. We must be tender hearted
towards one another or we may go down from worship to being in conflict with
other believers. If we hold particular
teachings with a form of 'hardness of heart' then we can become more eager to
defend our beliefs than to be worshippers who glorify the Lord. Our relationship with Christ must never be
affected by our standing for the truth.
The Lord never compromised His relationship with the Father when the
religious leaders attacked His teaching.
Joy always characterises
worshippers who regard every situation and circumstance as an opportunity for
worship. They face trials, persecutions,
and afflictions with joy because they can express their love for the Lord in
them. They rejoice when people say all
kinds of evil things against them. They
pray for those who persecute them and their prayers lead to rebels becoming
part of the family of God. They rejoice when suffering shame for the name of
Jesus because they are united with Him in sufferings. They rejoice because they know that they are
united with Christ in the eternal plan and purpose of God. They desire to fulfil the higher calling to
worship, and through worship to be led into the place of intercession. The Father is seeking worshippers.