Church Order: Worship, Sacraments, and the Lord's Supper

Acceptable Worship - Part 5

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Church Government

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2003-12-21

Synopsis: John Weaver continues his series on acceptable worship by expounding what it means to worship God 'in truth' from John 4:19-26. He argues that worship in truth involves due regard to the written Word of God (the totality of Scripture) and peculiar regard to the living Word, Jesus Christ, who is the full and final revelation of God. Weaver emphasizes that true worship is bounded by the objective truth of Scripture, that nothing should be introduced into worship without biblical warrant, and that New Covenant worship is spiritual, centered on Christ as the reality to which all Old Testament types and shadows pointed.

[John Weaver] Well, let's open our Bible today to John chapter 4. John chapter 4. And we'll begin with verse 19 and pick up where we left off. John chapter 4 and verse 19. The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain, and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus said that in her woman, believe me, the hour cometh when you shall neither in this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem worship the father. You worship, you 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 seeking such to worship him. God is spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. The woman saith unto him, I know the Messiah is cometh, who is called Christ.

[John Weaver] When he is come, he will teach us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee, am he. We are gathered together here today in what we normally refer to as a worship service, and since the true worship of God is demanded in the Bible, since it is commanded, since it is our duty and our obligation to worship the One True and the Living God, then none of us can be indifferent as to how we worship Him, because we must worship Him acceptably. I've told you in the first message it is our duty and obligation to worship God. Then in the second message I dealt with the proper object of worship, that is, He is the One True and the Living God. But not just simply in a general theistic sense, He is the One True and the Living God who has revealed Himself as father of the Lord Jesus Christ and father of believers. And then I pointed out that that one truly living God is also spirit. That is his essence.

[John Weaver] So therefore, if we worship God aright, we must worship him not only as the God and father of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the father of believers in the marbles of his grace, but we also must worship him as he who is spirit. And then I pointed out how that had an implication for us. That is, if we worship God, as Scripture says, we must worship him in spirit and in truth. Do you remember the passage in Philippians 3 and verse 3, where the Apostle Paul says that we are the true Israel, who what? Who worship God in spirit, have no confidence in the flesh, and rejoice in Christ Jesus. So I want you to understand that true worship is a direct fruit of the person and work of Jesus Christ. And when we talk about worship, I want you to understand that worship is absolutely essential. It is not a non-essential item. Look what our Lord says in verse 23. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipper shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth.

[John Weaver] Why? For the Father seeketh such to worship Him. So worship then is not a luxury, it is an essential goal of salvation. So we looked at the proper object of worship, that's the One True and the Living God, and last week we began looking at the proper sphere of worship and we saw that we must worship God in spirit. Now, spirit and in truth is actually the proper sphere of worship. If we worship God spiritually, I pointed out, first of all, we must be spiritually alive. That is, an unconverted and unsaved individual cannot render unto God the worship that he demands.

[John Weaver] The Bible says in Ephesians 2 in verse 1, and you have be quickened who are dead in trespasses and in sins. So in order to worship God spiritually, we must be made spiritually alive. Secondly, we must be spiritually assisted. Our Lord said in John 15 in verse 3, without me you can do nothing. Now if worship is something Therefore, it means we cannot do it without Christ. Without Him, we can do absolutely nothing. So we must be spiritually assisted. And then thirdly, we must be spiritually active.

[John Weaver] That is, we're not passive. We don't just sit here like a knot on a log. That means we must be actively engaged in worship.

[John Weaver] Now, I'm going to explain a little bit further. When I've talked about worshiping God in our spirit, I talk about worshipping God in the totality of our being. That our minds are occupied, our affections are engaged, our wills are engaged. David said it like this in Psalm 103, verse 1. He said, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless His holy name. So it's not just my voice that is going forth in praise and adoration to God. It's that my entire being is behind that voice. It's just like the Apostle Paul said in Romans 1 verse 9. He talked about how he served God in his spirit. Well, it was Paul's body that was moving all around the Roman Empire, worshiping and serving God. But it was his spirit that was motivating and moving that body to worship and honor God and to obey him. So we must worship God in our spirit. Now, we understand then, I hope in some degree, what it means to worship God in spirit.

[John Weaver] But we've got to ask ourselves, what indeed does it mean to worship God in truth? So I want to give you kind of an overview, and then I want to expand upon that overview and then give you some of the implications. So what does it mean when our Lord says they that worship God must worship Him in spirit and in truth? Well, let me just tell you, first of all, generally, to worship in truth means that we worship with every passion with every disposition of our heart, that the totality of our worship is guided and regulated by the Word of God. It means that everything that we are and everything that we do is brought in line with and in conformity with the Word of God.

[John Weaver] Now, I'm going to show you a little bit later that the word truth is used in different ways in Scripture. And of course, The context usually determines how that word is to be used. If you look in verse 22, our Lord told a Samaritan woman, you worship you know not what. He says, we know what we worship. For salvation is of the Judahites. That is, he was of the tribe of Judah. It was the southern tribe. How could he say that salvation is of the Judahites? Or how could he say that salvation, he could have said it like this, is of Israel? How could he make that statement? Well, let me show you why. Look in your Bibles very quickly to the book of Romans. Look in chapter 3, beginning there with verse 1. Romans chapter 3, verse 1.

[John Weaver] And here's what he said. What advantage then hath the Jew, or the Judahite, or what prophet is there in circumcision? Much every way chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God. Where was the law of God kept? It was in Judah where the tabernacle was. Later on where the temple was. And so it was the Israelites who had the divine revelation of God. Look in Romans chapter 9 if you would please. Romans chapter 9.

[John Weaver] And here it is plainly stated again. Romans chapter 9. He says in verse 3. For I could wish that myself were cursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh.

[John Weaver] Now he's going to tell you who they are. who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises, who are the fathers, and of whom is concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all. God bless forever. Amen.

[John Weaver] Now, what advantage, then, did Israel have over all the other nations? They had the truth. They had the Word of God. God did not give it to the Babylonians, to the Assyrians, to the Egyptians. He gave it to the Israelites. Therefore, our Lord could say in John 17, in verse 17, in his high priestly prayer, sanctify them through thy word. Thy word is truth. So very obviously, then, when our Lord says that we must worship in spirit and in truth, it has to have some reference to the word of God, which is truth. Now, What our Lord says, they that worship God must worship Him in spirit and in truth. First of all, when we talk about spirit, that then touches what you and I would know the subjective and the inward requirement of acceptable worship.

[John Weaver] For instance, I've told you last week that when you come in this building, you plop down in a chair and you may open your mouth physically and you may sing or you may talk or you may pray. That doesn't really amount to a hill of beans unless the Spirit is involved. In other words, we must worship the Lord in the totality of our being. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. So, when we worship God in spirit, it not only refers to the Holy Spirit of God, but it also refers to our spirit, and that touches upon the subjective and the inward aspect of worship. And unless we're worshiping God with our spirit, then our worship is unacceptable.

[John Weaver] But I want you to watch this. Our Lord then bounds that subjective and internal worship with an objective and external framework of truth, the Word of God. In other words, our emotions are not just something to run wild. We don't do whatever we think we want to do as we bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me. No, we must worship God in spirit. But that is bounded then on the other side with truth. So you might have. The worship internally and subjectively in the spirit, but it is bounded and surrounded by the external objective truth of the word of God. So you have that which is intangible and you have that which is tangible in one sense of the word. The intangible is that which is our spirit, which we cannot see and perceive. But then we have that tangible, which is the outward external word of God, which we can touch. So let me just try to develop this a little bit more. When we worship God in truth, there are going to be two specific aspects of truth that I'm going to cover this morning.

[John Weaver] The first one should be very obvious. When we worship in truth, we must worship then in a context that gives due regard to the Word of God in general. Because God's Word is truth. Secondly, we must worship also in a context in which we give peculiar regard to the Son of God in particular. Because he is truth incarnate.

[John Weaver] Now, let me put it to you like this. We worship God in regard to the truth written. And we worship God in relationship to the truth incarnate. So we worship him, first of all, in relationship to the totality of Scripture. And then secondly, we worship him in relationship to the finality and the fullness of the revelation which is in Jesus Christ our Lord.

[John Weaver] Now, let me just very quickly tell you this. I want you to turn, since you're in the book of John, just go ahead and turn to John chapter 12 and get ready for this verse because I'm going to quote two other verses before I get to John chapter 12.

[John Weaver] Now, help me out here with this. I want you to think with me now. The Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 16. Let me quote it for you. He said, all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. Verse 17, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto every good work. Now, when the Apostle Paul said, for all Scripture is God breathed, what is he talking about? He's talking about the written Word of God, is he not? Okay. So we know that the Bible is the God-breathed Word. It is the objective Word of God.

[John Weaver] Now watch what he said. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God. So that's the written Word.

[John Weaver] Now let me quote John 1, 1-3. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made were made by him. Without him was not anything made that was made. Now, what word is that being talked about in John 1, 1 through 3? Someone tell me. Christ. Now, when you get to verse 14 and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us.

[John Weaver] And we beheld His glory as the only glory of the Father, full of grace and truth. So Jesus Christ is the living Word. The Bible is the written Word.

[John Weaver] Now look what our Lord did in John 12 and verse 48. John 12, verse 48. He puts these together.

[John Weaver] Now watch what He says. He that rejected Me, that is the living Word, and receiveth not My words, that is the written Word, hath one that judgeth him, The word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

[John Weaver] Now let me put it to you very plainly. Now listen to me carefully. You cannot take one attitude toward the word of God and a different attitude toward the Lord Jesus Christ. You can't come up and say, well, I don't believe the Bible, but I believe in Jesus Christ. It doesn't work like that. You can't say, well, I don't believe in Jesus Christ, but I believe the Bible. No, it doesn't work like that. The Bible is the written word of God. Jesus Christ is the living word of God. They are together. They're one in the same in one sense of the word. And you can't have one without the other. If you despise the written word of God, you're also despising the living word of God. If you despise the living word of God, you're also rejecting and despising the written Word of God. So this is why I'm going to show you that if we worship God in truth, we must first of all worship with a due respect to the Word of God in general.

[John Weaver] And when I say that, I mean the whole, the totality of Scripture. Now the Bible refers to the Scriptures as the Word of Truth. You'll find that in Colossians 1 in verse 5. You'll find it in 2 Timothy 2 in verse 15. He said, Study to show yourselves approved unto God, workmen that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing what? The word of truth. So the Bible is the word of truth. Now, watch this.

[John Weaver] Let me try to tie these things together for you. So when you come into this building to worship God in spirit, that means when you Plop your bodies down in these chairs. What you do is this. Well, all right, I've got my body in the right spot. I should be here. But now my spirit must be actively engaged. My mind must be actively engaged. My will must be actively engaged.

[John Weaver] But if I am to be thinking, what am I to be thinking about? Well, the answer is you must be contemplating God his attributes, his character, his truth, or some aspect of that truth. In other words, you don't come in here and sit down and just say, well, I'm going to just sit here and wait for something to happen. I'm going to just sit here and wait for something to tickle my innards. Drink Mountain Dew, that's what Mountain Dew is supposed to do, tickle your innards, if you remember that old commercial.

[John Weaver] No, no, no, no, no. You come in and you sit down and you say, look, I'm going to worship God in my spirit. I'm going to bless Him with the wholeness of my being. And therefore, I must be active and my mind must be engaged. What must your mind be engaged in? And the first answer is truth. You remember what the Apostle Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 2, verse 7. He said, consider what I say.

[John Weaver] And the Lord will give the understanding in all things. God is not going to give us understanding without our considering. In other words, we must use the means, and at the same time, trust God to bless those means. So when you come in, you must consider what God has revealed. So in worship then, the mind is engaged in thinking about God. Now, if we are thinking about God, what thoughts must we think about Him? unless your thoughts are biblical, and unless your thoughts then respect the totality of scripture, the general revelation which God has given of himself in scripture, unless you are thinking about those attributes of God as they are revealed, then certainly your worship is defective and unacceptable. You see, God is not what you imagine. God is as he has revealed himself. Now, let me just give you an illustration.

[John Weaver] Many of you have read and studied on the life of Martin Luther. And I've brought messages on the life of Martin Luther before. But Martin Luther, when he posted the 95 theses on the castle church door in Wittenberg, Germany in 1517, we say well that was the beginning of the reformation but let me tell you something Luther had a real struggle before he was saved by the grace of God you know why? because back then everything that was taught basically was that God is a holy God and that is true and God is an angry God that is he's angry with our sin he's angry with our wickedness and God is a God of wrath and he is and one of Luther's problems was simply this Luther could not conceive of how such a holy, righteous, just God could love a wicked sinner like himself.

[John Weaver] Now, let me ask you a question. Is God holy and is God just? Yes. But God is also love. Do you realize Luther and a lot of those people who were really converted had a fear of God? I mean, they feared God. Because they knew about God's justice and God's righteousness and God's holiness. You know what has happened today? Just showing you. That aspect of God's character has been so neglected. And God is love has been preached so much that the average sinner thinks, well, if God is love, then God doesn't care what I do and what I don't do.

[John Weaver] And he'll never do me any harm. And therefore, I'll drink and curse and whoremonger around and spit in his face. And he won't send me to hell because God is love.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to understand something, folks. It is true that God is love. Let me show you. Look in John 3, verse 16. Here's a verse everyone in this room can quote. John 3, verse 16. The Bible says, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

[John Weaver] Now, let me ask you, is that truth? Well, of course it's true. But look at verse 36 in the same exact chapter. John 3, verse 36. He that believeth on the Son hath life, and he that believeth not the Son of God shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth upon him. Now, which is true? John 3, 16 or John 3, 36? Well, both are true. You see what I'm saying? So when you come to God, you can't just sit here and say, well, I want to contemplate on the fact God is love, love, love, and then totally neglect God's holiness and God's justice. Nor can you come in here and say, well, I want to just consider God as just and holy and totally neglect the fact that God is love and God is merciful and God is a forgiving God. No, we must consider God as he's revealed in the totality of Scripture.

[John Weaver] I suppose one of the greatest defects in our lives is that we really don't know who God is. And we cannot probably discuss the attributes of God sensibly or scripturally. If I were to mention the knowledge of God, the immutability of God, the justice of God, the holiness of God, the power of God, the goodness of God, not just referring to His omniscience, omnipotence, His omnipresence. No, no, no. Any of these attributes Most of us never, ever meditate upon them.

[John Weaver] Now, the point I'm trying to make is this. If we're going to worship God in spirit and in truth, our minds must be engaged as the truth is revealed in Scripture. Therefore, we must study to know the Word of God. How about this? Scripture says, Whosoever offereth praise glorifyeth me. Well, if you're going to come in this building and be thankful to God and offer Him praise. To whom are you going to offer that praise? And may I ask, why should you offer Him that praise?

[John Weaver] I've got news for you, folks. When we come to praise God, we don't just sit here and say, Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord. Let me tell you something. You know, if I give my grandkids money If I give them a gift, I don't want them to just come up to me and say, kiss me on the back of the head and say, thanks, Pop. No, I really prefer that they would hug my neck with a little excitement, you know, and maybe kiss my cheek and give me a good squeeze and say, Pop, I really appreciate that. Thank you.

[John Weaver] You understand what I'm saying? Most of us, when we thank God, we thank Him with such dullness and such deadness. No, we ought to praise Him with all that is within us. That doesn't mean you're jumping around and shouting and tapping toes on the pews. That's not what I'm talking about. But it means that your spirit is actively engaged and you're genuinely heartfelt thankful and your affections are set on Him and you are blessing the giver and more thankful to Him than for the gift. We come in here and we say that God has saved us from our sins.

[John Weaver] Have you ever contemplated and thought about sin? Let me tell you, there's a book, it's an old Puritan book. If you can, and it's still in print. If you can get a copy, you ought to get it and read it. The name of it is The Plague of Plagues by Ralph Denning. And all it is on our theology that is the doctrine of sin. You talking about somebody that can describe sin? You talking about somebody that can make you feel smaller than an ant? Let me tell you, if you don't know who you are and what you are and what you were, you don't know how to be thankful for what God has delivered you from. So if we're going to praise him for his salvation, we must actually know what sin is. We must know what redemption is. Now, let me make some implications before I go any further. Listen carefully. I'm going to show you this from Scripture. Where the word of God is neglected or perverted. Where the Word of God is neglected or perverted, worship is rendered unacceptable in direct proportion to that rejection or that neglect of the Word of God.

[John Weaver] Did you hear what I just said? Whenever the Word of God is neglected or perverted, worship is rendered unacceptable in direct proportion to that rejection or that neglect or that perversion. How can I say that? Well, look what the Bible says in Proverbs chapter 28. Watch carefully. Proverbs 28 and verse 9. There are many other passages, but this one is so clear and so plain, it cannot be misunderstood. Look in Proverbs 28 and verse 9. The Bible says, He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be an abomination. God says, you won't listen to my word. You won't obey my word. Even your prayer is an abomination. And the word abomination literally means a stench in the nostrils. So to the degree then that we neglect and reject or pervert the word of God to that degree, worship is unacceptable. You look at all the cults that deny the deity of Jesus Christ, and yet they profess to be worshiping the one true and the living God. Their worship is unacceptable.

[John Weaver] You look at the liberals, look at the people that deny the Word of God. Their worship is unacceptable. You look at the Christians who are living in abysmal ignorance of the Word of God. Their worship is defective and unacceptable. Certainly not to the degree that the cults and the liberals And the modernists are, but it's still unacceptable. You and I cannot live in willful ignorance of any facet of God's glory, of God's character, and then expect to render on Him true worship. And worship in truth. Because God has revealed Himself in the totality of His Word. The only God that exists is the God of Scripture, and He is as He has revealed Himself, and not as people try to make Him to be in their minds or in their imaginations. Let me go further. If we understand what worship in truth means, it means that nothing must be introduced into our worship for which there is no biblical warrant.

[John Weaver] Now, you think about this. If we're worshiping God in truth, we must not only know how to think of Him in truth, but we must also know how to approach Him in truth.

[John Weaver] Now, there have been two philosophies that have been brought down through the Reformation to us today. The first philosophy basically was espoused by Luther and some of those that were closely associated with him, and their attitude was this. Whatever is not forbidden in the Bible in worship, we maintain. In other words, if it's not forbidden, we'll maintain it. Zwingli and some of the others said, no, that's not right. We maintain nothing in worship except that for which we have biblical warrant. Now, who was correct? Well, it would be Zwingli and those like him. When you say, well, if it's not forbidden, we can do it. Do you know what the average church has turned into with that attitude? A three ring circus.

[John Weaver] I mean, they'll have gags, gimmicks, even circuses in the church building to quote-unquote draw people. One of my favorite stories, it is a true story so help me, was one preacher down in Florida had a baby elephant brought into the main auditorium for all the kids who came on their buses. And every kid who came on the bus got his picture taken with the baby elephant. And while he was there in front of the pulpit, an elephant did what elephants do. And the stench was so bad, when the preacher tried to preach over it, all the little kids just sat there and laughed and giggled the whole time.

[John Weaver] They not only had to clean the carpet, They had to replace the carpet. Now, why is something like that going on in a church building? You know why? Because anything goes just so we can reach our goals. If you understand the biblical principle, we do not allow anything in worship except for that which God demands. God tells us how we are to approach unto Him. Look in your Bibles, I can quote it, but I want you to look in your Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter 12, and look at verse 32. And you know as well as I do, this is repeated in Deuteronomy 4, it's literally repeated in the book of Revelation as well. But here it is, Deuteronomy 12, verse 32. Look what God says. Deuteronomy 12, verse 32. God says, What things soever I command you, observe to do it.

[John Weaver] Thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it." Ain't that simple? God said, whenever I command you, you observe to do it. But you don't add to it, and you don't take from it. So you and I do not take the attitude, well, we maintain what is not forbidden. No. We take the attitude, we throw out everything except for that which we have biblical warrant to maintain because that way we're giving due regard to the truth.

[John Weaver] Let me give you another observation before we go further. If worshipping God in truth has reference to worshipping him in the totality of the revelation that he's given to himself, one of the best ways To prepare yourself and to promote true worship is through a regular, systematic, expository preaching and teaching of the truth. And by the way, that would go for your personal study as well. You know what I do?

[John Weaver] I read through the Old Testament. I read through the New Testament. When I finish, I go back and I start all over again. And I read all the genealogies. I read all the hard passages. I try to pronounce all the hard names. Trying to read it all over and over and over and over. And you know something, pretty soon, some of it begins to soak in.

[John Weaver] Now, I've got news for you, folks. Expository preaching is the hardest of all preaching. But it's the best. And it's where you learn most of the Word of God. You know what can happen? I can tell you how I can have 500 people in a building in just a matter of months. You know how I can do that? By entertaining them. All I've got to do is preach a short 20-30 minute message, fill it full of jokes and humor and entertainment, and have me a good band up here, or good music, you know, that's all! Folks will flock to that. But you start preaching and expounding the truth of God, explaining the Scripture, now listen, and applying the Scripture, and expect the people to obey the Scripture, and all of a sudden they don't want any part of that. I believe that's why the Lord looked at His disciples and said, fear not, little flock, it's the Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. So if we're going to worship God in truth, we have to have due regard to the totality of truth.

[John Weaver] Now secondly today, and listen carefully, if we're worshiping God in truth, we must worship Him in a context that gives peculiar regard to the revelation of God in Christ. Now I told you earlier that the word true is used several different ways, and it's the context that determines how the word is used. Usually when we think about true, we think about true as opposed to false. Right? Well, when our Lord said, I am the true vine, what was he saying? All others are false. When he said, I am the true bread, what is he saying? All others are false. When he said, I am the true door, all others are false. There is true as opposed to false. But the word true is also used in a different way. You say, how's that? Well, look in your Bibles, if you would, to John chapter six, John chapter six.

[John Weaver] And let me show you. Verse 27, and then we're going to go back to John four and then come back to John six. Look in John 6, if you would please, and verse 27. Look at what our Lord said. He tells His disciples, labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give unto you, for him hath God the Father sealed. Labor not for the meat that perisheth. Now, go back to John chapter 4.

[John Weaver] You remember the woman at the well. His disciples, by the way, have gone away to buy meat while he is witnessing to this woman. And in John 4 and verse 31, the Bible says, In the meanwhile, his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat. Watch. But he said of them, I have meat to eat that you know not of. Well, they had brought him physical food. They said, Master, eat something here. He said, I've got meat to eat that you know not of. Look in verse 34. Jesus said unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work." Now, what is the true, substantial meat for Christ?

[John Weaver] It is the will of God. Now look in John 6 and verse 35. John 6, verse 35, once again, Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hunger, but he that believeth on me shall never thirst. And then he said in verse 27, labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth an everlasting life.

[John Weaver] Now, let me ask you a question. How many of us can live very long without eating? Some a lot longer than others. I understand that. But you know as well as I do, if we do not eat physically, we die. What does our Lord say? Our Lord is saying the physical food is a type, is a shadow of reality and the real bread of life, the substance, the substantiality is in Christ himself. It is his life. It is his salvation. Now, I want you to understand that there is a true as opposed to the shadow or the type. Let me just ask you, think about this. Was there true worship in the Old Testament?

[John Weaver] And the answer is yes. And the answer is no. The answer is yes, there was true worship in the Old Testament. in that they worshipped according to the limited revelation that God had given them. But the answer is no, because it was not the full and final revelation which we have now in Jesus Christ. So when Abel worshipped God in Genesis 4, did he worship Him in truth? Yes. A limited truth, but he worshipped Him in truth. A little bit later on, when Abraham worshipped God, Did Abraham worship Him in truth? And the answer is yes. But not in the way that we worship Him in the New Testament, and I'll explain that a little bit later. When they worshipped God in the tabernacle, when they worshipped God later on in the temple, did they worship Him in truth? And the answer is yes. in light of the limited revelation they had, but you've got to remember now that all of those things in the tabernacle, all of those things in the temple were mere types and shadows and emblems.

[John Weaver] It was not reality. It was not the substance. It was not the fullness of truth. Jesus Christ said in John 14 in verse 6, I am what? The truth. I am the truth. Now, look in John 4. Let me show you what I'm trying to explain. John 4. Notice, if you would please, in verse 21. Jesus said unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh when you shall neither in this mountain, that's Gerizim, nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father. You worship you know not what. We know what we worship for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, the hour is coming, that is future, and now is, and yet there is a presence, when the true worshipper shall worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship him. Now what is Christ saying? Christ is saying look, the hour is coming, there is a future hour, when true worship is going to be in spirit and truth, and it now is.

[John Weaver] Why did he say that now is because I am here. At this point, he had not finished his work. But he said the finishing of this work and the worshiping of God in spirit and truth is directly related to me. I am here now. So there's an element of worshiping in truth that is to be introduced not only at the coming of Christ. But also at the completion of his work.

[John Weaver] Now I've given you this verse before. I'm going to quote it and explain it one more time. John 1 17. The Bible says in John 1 17. The law came by Moses. But grace and truth by Jesus Christ. Now here's my question. Was there no grace in the Old Testament? What you know there was. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Everyone who's ever saved in the Old Testament was saved by grace. Was there no truth in the Old Testament?

[John Weaver] Well, of course there was. Everything that God has revealed is truth, but it was not fullness of grace nor fullness of truth until Jesus Christ came, because Jesus Christ is the fullness of truth and the fullness of grace. So he says the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. So grace and truth in its full and final manifestation only came in Jesus Christ.

[John Weaver] Now, what am I trying to show you? I'm trying to show you that everything else. In the Old Testament, around the tabernacle, around the temple was nothing more than types and emblems and shadows. Was there worship, true worship in the Old Testament? Yes. Was it worship in spirit and in truth? Yes. A limited amount of truth because the fullness of God's revelation had not been given. You know, what we do is this. We think about that tabernacle and temple worship, and I want to tell you the temple undoubtedly was magnificent. Undoubtedly.

[John Weaver] And if you've ever seen pictures of the attire of the high priest. Oh, my soul. I mean, just the breastplate with the 12 stones. Beautiful. The miter with holiness to the Lord. When you think about the beauty of the temple and the beauty of the high priest, and then you think about all those physical animals that were sacrificed. I think every one of us loves to smell steak grilling.

[John Weaver] Boy, they had an altar and they would cook the whole cow. And then there was the incense being burned. Now, listen to me. Here's the problem with that. You could see the temple. You could smell the temple. You could taste the temple in the fact that you ate the sacrifices. You could hear what was going on. You can touch it. And we tend to think that anything that we can see and smell and hear and taste and touch, that has to be real. But it wasn't. It was not real.

[John Weaver] Look very quickly in your Bibles. Hebrews chapter 8. I pointed this out a little bit earlier, but let me go a little further. Hebrews chapter 8. Notice, if you would please, verse 1, Hebrews 8, verse 1.

[John Weaver] Now, the things which we have spoken, this is the sum. Here's the total. We have such a high priest who is set on the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched and not man. Now, wait a minute. The true tabernacle was pitched by Lord, the Lord. Well, the first tabernacle was pitched by Moses, so that was not the true tabernacle. Watch verse 3. For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices, wherefore it is of necessity that this man have also somewhat to offer. For if he were on earth, that is Christ, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law, who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things. As Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle, for seetheth he that thou make all things according to the pattern shown to thee in the mount. Now note if you would, God specifically says that the tabernacle and later on the temple were nothing more than shadows.

[John Weaver] Now if you were in the shadow of a tree, are you in the tree? No. The shadow is an emblem. It's not real. So everything there was simply the shadow. God gave Moses the direction. Look in Hebrews 9, verse 24. Hebrews 9, verse 24. For Christ is not entered into the holy place made with hands, that is the tabernacle of the temple, which are the figures or the types of the true, but in the heaven itself Now to appear in the presence of God does. So once again, the Tabernacle and Temple is referred to as a figure. Look in Hebrews 10 verse 1.

[John Weaver] For the law having a shadow of good things to come and not the very image of the things can never with those sacrifices which they offer year by year continually make the comers there unto perfect. For the law having, that is the ceremonial law, having a shadow of good things to come. So, All of that in the Old Testament was nothing but a tie and shadow. And what we try to do is we try to reverse it. We try to say, boy, they really had reality back then. No, they did not have reality.

[John Weaver] Jesus Christ said, the hour is coming and now is when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth, not in Jerusalem, Not in Gerizim, but in spirit and in truth. That is, we will worship Him at the throne of His grace. Look in your Bibles to Hebrews 4, since you're there. Hebrews 4. And look, if you would please, at verse 14. Hebrews 4, verse 14.

[John Weaver] Seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens. Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession or our confession. For we have not a high priest who cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, but was at all points tipped flat as we are yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in the time of need. I want you to note we do not come to the time We do not come to the shadow or to the emblem. We come boldly to the throne of grace.

[John Weaver] Not in the physical sense, but in the spiritual sense. I pointed out before, there was no Israelite in the Old Testament that could run into the Holy of Holies anytime he wanted to. He could not run into the very presence of God. Even the high priest only went in once a year, and that was not without the shedding of blood. But now the Bible tells us we may come boldly to the throne of grace.

[John Weaver] Now, look in your Bibles to 1 Peter. Just turn over a couple of books. Hebrews, James, 1 Peter. Look in 1 Peter 2 and verse 5. In 1 Peter 2 and verse 5, the Bible tells us who are kept by the power of God through faith into salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. Now, notice the Bible says we are kept by the power of God. Now, look, if you would please, in 1 Peter chapter 1, beginning there with verse 18, He says, for as much as you know you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold received from your vain conversation, that's chapter 1, 1 Peter 1, verse 18. For as much as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. Ah, skip down to 1st Peter 2 and verse 5, but you also as lively stones are built up a spiritual house.

[John Weaver] We've been redeemed with truth now, with truth, the true sacrifice, Jesus Christ, and a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Now, what kind of sacrifices does God want now? Not a physical sacrifice, but a spiritual sacrifice. Why? Because we have been redeemed by the blood of Christ, by the true sacrifice, and therefore we are to give unto Him spiritual sacrifices, note, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

[John Weaver] Look back in your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 15. Hebrews 13 and verse 15. Hebrews 13, verse 15. Watch carefully. By Him, that is by Jesus Christ, by Him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually. That is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name. What kind of sacrifice do we give Him? We give Him the sacrifice of praise. Now, help me out.

[John Weaver] You don't have to turn there. But Romans 12, 1 and 2, what did the Apostle Paul say? I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your what? Bodies, a living sacrifice. Holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

[John Weaver] Now do you see, in this new covenant, since we have been redeemed, not with the blood of bulls and goats, but with the blood of Christ, we now offer unto Him a spiritual sacrifice We offer Him the fruit of our lips. We give Him worship in spirit and in truth. There are no vestments. There are no incense burners. The only thing we do is we praise Him. We give Him the sacrifice of praise through the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Now, our Lord says, they that worship Him You must worship Him in spirit and in truth.

[John Weaver] Do you realize the book of Hebrews is actually an expansion of John 4, verses 19-26? In fact, the word better is the key word in the book of Hebrews. And don't follow me, I'll just quote them for you. But in Hebrews 1 and verse 4, the Bible talks about Christ being better than the angels. In Hebrews 6 and verse 9, we have better things. In Hebrews 7 and verse 19, we have a better hope. In Hebrews 7 and verse 22, we have a better testament. In Hebrews 8 and verse 6, we have a better covenant. In Hebrews 8 and verse 6, we have a better promise. In Hebrews 9 and verse 23, we have a better sacrifice. In Hebrews 10 and verse 34, we have a better unenduring substance. In Hebrews 11 and verse 16, we have a better country. In Hebrews 12 and verse 24, we have better things. Everything is better in the New Covenant than it was in the Old Covenant because the Old Covenant did not have the fulfillment of the person and work of Jesus Christ.

[John Weaver] We have the distinct and definite advantage over anyone who ever lived in the Old Covenant. Now, let me make just a couple of applications. I want you to think about this. Look back in your Bibles. Hebrews chapter 8. Hebrews 8. Let's read it again. Let's look in verse 6 through 8. After he talks about the tabernacle and the temple being types and shadows, he says in verse 6, but now hath he, that is Christ, obtained a more excellent ministry by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. For finding fault with them, he said, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. And then he talks about the covenant, but note, if you would, this second covenant is built upon a better ministry. It's a better covenant upon better promises.

[John Weaver] Now, are you listening to? To go back. To any part. Of those Old Testament types and shadows. is to dig up what God has buried and to change the light of the sun for the light of a candle. Why would anyone want to go back to a type, to an emblem, to a shadow when you have a reality? Why would you want to light your house with a candle when you could open your windows and let the light of the sun in. And yet you look at all the people, all the cults who want to go back to the type and to the shadow and to the emblem instead of rejoicing in and holding on to the reality.

[John Weaver] Now let me make a point. And I'm going to show it to you from scripture. Go ahead and open your Bibles to Hebrews 13. I want you to see this. This ought to shake every one of us. Are you listening? Those who want the types and the shadows and the emblems really and truly have no right to Jesus Christ. You said, Pastor, how can you say that? Well, look at Hebrews 13 and verse 10. Look what the author of the book of Hebrews said. We have an altar. Watch, we have an altar where they have no right to eat who serve the tabernacle. What's he saying? If you want the type, if you want the emblem, if you want the shadow, you have no right to the reality. Now, listen to me.

[John Weaver] Let me ask you a question. Now, I want you to think about this. Is there an altar in a local church? Well, let me ask that another way. Is there such a thing as a physical altar in a local church? You always hear people say, we want you to come down here to the altar. Would you think with me just for a moment on this? Was Moses out in the wilderness and the people getting upset and frustrated and discouraged? And he says, you know, I think what I'll do is build a tabernacle and build an altar, and that way we'll get everybody together. Is that how the tabernacle came around? Is that how the altar came to be built?

[John Weaver] No, we read it in Scripture a while ago. The tabernacle and the altar was not Moses's idea. It was originated with God. Now watch. There had to be, first of all, a divine revelation for that altar. Are you listening? Secondly, there was a divine pattern given to Moses. He said, see that thou make it according to the pattern given thee in the mount. Thirdly, it was built out of divine materials. Moses could not build that altar out of anything he wanted to. He had to build it out of the materials that God ordained. And fourthly, when there was a physical altar, the only place you could really worship and sacrifice to God was at that altar. Nowhere else. Now, when somebody tries to tell me there is an altar in a local church, I want to see the divine revelation for it. I want to see the divine pattern for it. I want to see the divinely commanded materials for it. And then if you tell me it's there, then the only place you can worship God is that physical altar.

[John Weaver] Now, what did the tabernacle have? A physical altar. What did the temple have? A physical altar. But why does the author of the book of Hebrews say we have an altar? Because Jesus Christ is our altar. Because Christ is our altar, we may worship Him wherever and whenever. Grace may now be mediated to anyone, anywhere, at any time, because Jesus Christ is our altar. Are you listening? We do not have a physical altar, but we have a real spiritual altar, Jesus Christ. We do not have a special physical priest, but we have a great priest who is Jesus Christ. We do not have a unbloody sacrifice, but we have a real sacrifice, which is Jesus Christ. We do not have a physical tabernacle or a physical temple, but we have a real tabernacle, the real temple, which is Jesus Christ.

[John Weaver] Everything in the Old Testament was types. Shadows.

[John Weaver] Now we have a reality. Let me show you. Do you realize this has such practical applications?

[John Weaver] Now, I am for doing things right. And I want the best for our Lord, certainly, there's no problem there. But have you ever noticed all the multi-million dollar buildings that are being built for church buildings? You know, the funny thing to me, Alice and I have passed some of the most magnificent buildings in our travels. And I know some of those church buildings alone, 15, 20 million bucks more Unhappily, most of them only use one or two days a week, anyhow.

[John Weaver] All that money, and here are these huge stained glass windows. And these big expensive organs and Steinway pianos. How are you listening? If you need A stained glass window and a Steinway piano and a deep throated organ to worship. Something's wrong with you.

[John Weaver] Now, if God in his providence allowed us to have something similar to that without debt, that'd be one thing. And if we could maintain a ministry, that would be a horse of a different color. I've got news for you folks. If the reality of Jesus Christ, if the reality of Him being our great High Priest, if the reality of Him being seated at the right hand of God the Father interceding for us, if the reality of His blood atonement, of His sacrificial sacrifice, of His perfect, total forgiveness, His greatness, His majesty, His

[John Weaver] deity, if that doesn't stir your heart, if that doesn't move you, no $40,000 stained glass window will ever move you. You understand what I'm saying? Reality is not in buildings. Reality is in Christ. The early church worshipped wonderfully well They have a special building. They met in the homes. Because it was unlawful for them to even meet. But yet they met. You see, the point I'm trying to make is this.

[John Weaver] If a seeking father has found us. If a seeking father has made us his child. By His marvelous grace, all we need is Him. You see, all true and acceptable worship is permeated with the consciousness of what Jesus Christ has done for us. Look back in your Bibles, Hebrews 10. Hebrews 10, verse 19. You should memorize these passages. Hebrews 10, verse 19, having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by new and living way, which you have consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh and having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true

[John Weaver] heart in full assurance of faith. What is it? And who is it that enables us to draw near. It's the person and work of Jesus Christ. Do you realize the only reason you and I are here today is because of Jesus Christ? The only reason we're saved is because of Jesus Christ. The only reason we understand anything is because of Jesus Christ. The only reason we can worship is because of Jesus Christ. So when we come to worship, what do we do? It's true, we plop our bodies down in these chairs, but our spirits are to be stirred.

[John Weaver] Our minds are to be engaged. Our affections are to be elevated. We're to think upon God and the truth that He's revealed of Himself in His Word. And we're to meditate upon and contemplate on the living truth Jesus Christ, who is the full and final revelation of God. He is reality. He said, I am the true bread. Not just true as opposed to false, but true as opposed to shadow and emblem and type and figure. He is reality. Let's pray. Father, we thank Thee today for Jesus Christ, for the truth that You have revealed in Him. We're thankful for Your Word, the written Word. And we pray, Father, that You would indeed enable us to bless Thee with all that is within us Give us grace to serve Thee acceptably with reverence and godly fear. May we worship Thee in spirit and in truth. In Christ's name we pray, Amen.

Acceptable Worship - Part 5

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	122903113326
Subject	Church Government
Course	Church Order: Worship, Sacraments, and the Lord's Supper
Genre	Sermon
Date	2003-12-21
Dictation Name
Book	Book 167: Acceptable Worship — Chapter 5
Source Timed Segments	91

Formatted Transcript

Introduction and Review

Weaver reviews the series, emphasizing that acceptable worship is commanded and must be in spirit and in truth. He recaps the proper object of worship (God as Father and Spirit) and the inward, subjective requirement of worshiping in spirit.

Well, let's open our Bible today to John chapter 4. John chapter 4. And we'll begin with verse 19 and pick up where we left off. John chapter 4 and verse 19:

Scripture Reading — John 4:19-26

"The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain, and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus said 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 worshippers 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. The woman saith unto him, I know that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ." "When he is come, he will teach us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he."

We are gathered together here today in what we normally refer to as a worship service, and since the true worship of God is demanded in the Bible, since it is commanded, since it is our duty and our obligation to worship the One True and the Living God, then none of us can be indifferent as to how we worship Him, because we must worship Him acceptably. I've told you in the first message it is our duty and obligation to worship God. Then in the second message I dealt with the proper object of worship, that is, He is the One True and the Living God. But not just simply in a general theistic sense, He is the One True and the Living God who has revealed Himself as Father of the Lord Jesus Christ and Father of believers. And then I pointed out that that one truly living God is also spirit. That is His essence.

Scripture Reading — Philippians 3:3

So therefore, if we worship God aright, we must worship Him not only as the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Father of believers in the marvels of His grace, but we also must worship Him as He who is spirit. And then I pointed out how that had an implication for us. That is, if we worship God, as Scripture says, we must worship Him in spirit and in truth. Do you remember the passage in Philippians 3 and verse 3, where the Apostle Paul says that we are the true Israel, who what? Who worship God in spirit, have no confidence in the flesh, and rejoice in Christ Jesus. So I want you to understand that true worship is a direct fruit of the person and work of Jesus Christ. And when we talk about worship, I want you to understand that worship is absolutely essential. It is not a non-essential item. Look what our Lord says in verse 23: "But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth."

Worship in Truth: General Definition

Worship in truth means that every passion and disposition of the heart is guided and regulated by the Word of God, bringing everything into conformity with Scripture.

But we've got to ask ourselves, what indeed does it mean to worship God in truth? So I want to give you kind of an overview, and then I want to expand upon that overview and then give you some of the implications. So what does it mean when our Lord says they that worship God must worship Him in spirit and in truth? Well, let me just tell you, first of all, generally, to worship in truth means that we worship with every passion, with every disposition of our heart, that the totality of our worship is guided and regulated by the Word of God. It means that everything that we are and everything that we do is brought in line with and in conformity with the Word of God.

Now, I'm going to show you a little bit later that the word truth is used in different ways in Scripture. And of course, the context usually determines how that word is to be used. If you look in verse 22, our Lord told the Samaritan woman, "Ye worship ye know not what." He says, "We know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews." That is, He was of the tribe of Judah. It was the southern tribe. How could He say that salvation is of the Jews? Or how could He say that salvation, He could have said it like this, is of Israel? How could He make that statement? Well, let me show you why. Look in your Bibles very quickly to the book of Romans. Look in chapter 3, beginning there with verse 1. Romans chapter 3, verse 1.

And here's what he said:

Scripture Reading — Romans 3:1-2

"What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God."

Where was the law of God kept? It was in Judah where the tabernacle was. Later on where the temple was. And so it was the Israelites who had the divine revelation of God. Look in Romans chapter 9 if you would please. Romans chapter 9.

The Written Word as Truth

The Bible is the Word of Truth. Worship must give due regard to the totality of Scripture, as God is only known as He has revealed Himself. Neglecting or perverting the Word renders worship unacceptable.

And here's what he said:

Scripture Reading — Romans 3:1-2

"What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God."

And here it is plainly stated again. Romans chapter 9. He says in verse 3:

Scripture Reading — Romans 9:3-5

"For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh."

Now he's going to tell you who they are:

Scripture Reading — Romans 9:3-5

"Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen."

Now, what advantage, then, did Israel have over all the other nations? They had the truth. They had the Word of God. God did not give it to the Babylonians, to the Assyrians, to the Egyptians. He gave it to the Israelites. Therefore, our Lord could say in John 17, in verse 17, in His high priestly prayer,

Scripture Reading — John 17:17

"Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth."

So very obviously, then, when our Lord says that we must worship in spirit and in truth, it has to have some reference to the word of God, which is truth. Now, what our Lord says, "They that worship God must worship Him in spirit and in truth." First of all, when we talk about spirit, that then touches what you and I would know as the subjective and the inward requirement of acceptable worship.

For instance, I've told you last week that when you come in this building, you plop down in a chair and you may open your mouth physically and you may sing or you may talk or you may pray. That doesn't really amount to a hill of beans unless the Spirit is involved. In other words, we must worship the Lord in the totality of our being. "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name." So, when we worship God in spirit, it not only refers to the Holy Spirit of God, but it also refers to our spirit, and that touches upon the subjective and the inward aspect of worship. And unless we're worshiping God with our spirit, then our worship is unacceptable.

But I want you to watch this. Our Lord then bounds that subjective and internal worship with an objective and external framework of truth, the Word of God. In other words, our emotions are not just something to run wild. We don't do whatever we think we want to do as we bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. No, we must worship God in spirit. But that is bounded then on the other side with truth. So you might have the worship internally and subjectively in the spirit, but it is bounded and surrounded by the external objective truth of the word of God. So you have that which is intangible and you have that which is tangible in one sense of the word. The intangible is that which is our spirit, which we cannot see and perceive. But then we have that tangible, which is the outward external word of God, which we can touch. So let me just try to develop this a little bit more. When we worship God in truth, there are going to be two specific aspects of truth that I'm going to cover this morning.

The first one should be very obvious. When we worship in truth, we must worship then in a context that gives due regard to the Word of God in general. Because God's Word is truth. Secondly, we must worship also in a context in which we give peculiar regard to the Son of God in particular. Because He is truth incarnate.

Now, let me put it to you like this. We worship God in regard to the truth written. And we worship God in relationship to the truth incarnate. So we worship Him, first of all, in relationship to the totality of Scripture. And then secondly, we worship Him in relationship to the finality and the fullness of the revelation which is in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Now, let me just very quickly tell you this. I want you to turn, since you're in the book of John, just go ahead and turn to John chapter 12 and get ready for this verse because I'm going to quote two other verses before I get to John chapter 12. Now, help me out here with this. I want you to think with me now. The Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 16. Let me quote it for you. He said,

Scripture Reading — 2 Timothy 3:16-17

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works."

Now, when the Apostle Paul said, "All scripture is God-breathed," what is he talking about? He's talking about the written Word of God, is he not? Okay. So we know that the Bible is the God-breathed Word. It is the objective Word of God.

Now watch what he said. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God." So that's the written Word. Now let me quote John 1:1-3.

Scripture Reading — John 1:1-3, 14

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made."

Now, what word is that being talked about in John 1:1-3? Someone tell me. Christ. Now, when you get to verse 14,

Scripture Reading — John 1:1-3, 14

"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us."

"And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." So Jesus Christ is the living Word. The Bible is the written Word. Now look what our Lord did in John 12 and verse 48. John 12, verse 48. He puts these together.

Now watch what He says. "He that rejecteth me," that is the living Word, "and receiveth not my words," that is the written Word, "hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day." Now let me put it to you very plainly. Now listen to me carefully. You cannot take one attitude toward the word of God and a different attitude toward the Lord Jesus Christ. You can't come up and say, "Well, I don't believe the Bible, but I believe in Jesus Christ." It doesn't work like that. You can't say, "Well, I don't believe in Jesus Christ, but I believe the Bible." No, it doesn't work like that. The Bible is the written word of God. Jesus Christ is the living word of God. They are together. They're one and the same in one sense of the word. And you can't have one without the other. If you despise the written word of God, you're also despising the living word of God. If you despise the living word of God, you're also rejecting and despising the written Word of God. So this is why I'm going to show you that if we worship God in truth, we must first of all worship with a due respect to the Word of God in general.

Scripture Reading — Colossians 1:5; 2 Timothy 2:15

And when I say that, I mean the whole, the totality of Scripture. Now the Bible refers to the Scriptures as the Word of Truth. You'll find that in Colossians 1 and verse 5. You'll find it in 2 Timothy 2 and verse 15. He said, "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." So the Bible is the word of truth. Now, watch this. Let me try to tie these things together for you. So when you come into this building to worship God in spirit, that means when you plop your bodies down in these chairs, what you do is this. Well, all right, I've got my body in the right spot. I should be here. But now my spirit must be actively engaged. My mind must be actively engaged. My will must be actively engaged.

But if I am to be thinking, what am I to be thinking about? Well, the answer is you must be contemplating God—His attributes, His character, His truth, or some aspect of that truth. In other words, you don't come in here and sit down and just say, "Well, I'm going to just sit here and wait for something to happen. I'm going to just sit here and wait for something to tickle my innards." Drink Mountain Dew, that's what Mountain Dew is supposed to do, tickle your innards, if you remember that old commercial. No, no, no, no, no. You come in and you sit down and you say, "Look, I'm going to worship God in my spirit. I'm going to bless Him with the wholeness of my being. And therefore, I must be active and my mind must be engaged." What must your mind be engaged in? And the first answer is truth. You remember what the Apostle Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 2, verse 7. He said,

Scripture Reading — 2 Timothy 2:7

"Consider what I say."

"And the Lord give thee understanding in all things." God is not going to give us understanding without our considering. In other words, we must use the means, and at the same time, trust God to bless those means. So when you come in, you must consider what God has revealed. So in worship then, the mind is engaged in thinking about God. Now, if we are thinking about God, what thoughts must we think about Him? Unless your thoughts are biblical, and unless your thoughts then respect the totality of scripture, the general revelation which God has given of Himself in scripture, unless you are thinking about those attributes of God as they are revealed, then certainly your worship is defective and unacceptable. You see, God is not what you imagine. God is as He has revealed Himself. Now, let me just give you an illustration.

Many of you have read and studied on the life of Martin Luther. And I've brought messages on the life of Martin Luther before. But Martin Luther, when he posted the 95 theses on the castle church door in Wittenberg, Germany in 1517, we say, well, that was the beginning of the Reformation. But let me tell you something: Luther had a real struggle before he was saved by the grace of God. You know why? Because back then everything that was taught basically was that God is a holy God—and that is true—and God is an angry God—that is, He's angry with our sin, He's angry with our wickedness—and God is a God of wrath—and He is. And one of Luther's problems was simply this: Luther could not conceive of how such a holy, righteous, just God could love a wicked sinner like himself.

Now, let me ask you a question. Is God holy and is God just? Yes. But God is also love. Do you realize Luther and a lot of those people who were really converted had a fear of God? I mean, they feared God. Because they knew about God's justice and God's righteousness and God's holiness. You know what has happened today? Just showing you. That aspect of God's character has been so neglected. And "God is love" has been preached so much that the average sinner thinks, "Well, if God is love, then God doesn't care what I do and what I don't do."

"And He'll never do me any harm. And therefore, I'll drink and curse and whoremonger around and spit in His face. And He won't send me to hell because God is love." Now, I want you to understand something, folks. It is true that God is love. Let me show you. Look in John 3, verse 16. Here's a verse everyone in this room can quote. John 3, verse 16. The Bible says,

Scripture Reading — John 3:16, 36

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Now, let me ask you, is that truth? Well, of course it's true. But look at verse 36 in the same exact chapter. John 3, verse 36: "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." Now, which is true? John 3:16 or John 3:36? Well, both are true. You see what I'm saying? So when you come to God, you can't just sit here and say, "Well, I want to contemplate on the fact God is love, love, love," and then totally neglect God's holiness and God's justice. Nor can you come in here and say, "Well, I want to just consider God as just and holy" and totally neglect the fact that God is love and God is merciful and God is a forgiving God. No, we must consider God as He's revealed in the totality of Scripture.

I suppose one of the greatest defects in our lives is that we really don't know who God is. And we cannot probably discuss the attributes of God sensibly or scripturally. If I were to mention the knowledge of God, the immutability of God, the justice of God, the holiness of God, the power of God, the goodness of God, not just referring to His omniscience, omnipotence, His omnipresence. No, no, no. Any of these attributes—most of us never, ever meditate upon them.

Now, the point I'm trying to make is this. If we're going to worship God in spirit and in truth, our minds must be engaged as the truth is revealed in Scripture. Therefore, we must study to know the Word of God. How about this? Scripture says, "Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me." Well, if you're going to come in this building and be thankful to God and offer Him praise, to whom are you going to offer that praise? And may I ask, why should you offer Him that praise? I've got news for you, folks. When we come to praise God, we don't just sit here and say, "Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord." Let me tell you something. You know, if I give my grandkids money, if I give them a gift, I don't want them to just come up to me and say, kiss me on the back of the head and say, "Thanks, Pop." No, I really prefer that they would hug my neck with a little excitement, you know, and maybe kiss my cheek and give me a good squeeze and say, "Pop, I really appreciate that. Thank you."

You understand what I'm saying? Most of us, when we thank God, we thank Him with such dullness and such deadness. No, we ought to praise Him with all that is within us. That doesn't mean you're jumping around and shouting and tapping toes on the pews. That's not what I'm talking about. But it means that your spirit is actively engaged and you're genuinely heartfelt thankful and your affections are set on Him and you are blessing the giver and more thankful to Him than for the gift. We come in here and we say that God has saved us from our sins.

Have you ever contemplated and thought about sin? Let me tell you, there's a book, it's an old Puritan book. If you can, and it's still in print. If you can get a copy, you ought to get it and read it. The name of it is "The Plague of Plagues" by Ralph Venning. And all it is on hamartiology, that is the doctrine of sin. You talking about somebody that can describe sin? You talking about somebody that can make you feel smaller than an ant? Let me tell you, if you don't know who you are and what you are and what you were, you don't know how to be thankful for what God has delivered you from. So if we're going to praise Him for His salvation, we must actually know what sin is. We must know what redemption is. Now, let me make some implications before I go any further. Listen carefully. I'm going to show you this from Scripture. Where the word of God is neglected or perverted, worship is rendered unacceptable in direct proportion to that rejection or that neglect of the Word of God.

Did you hear what I just said? Whenever the Word of God is neglected or perverted, worship is rendered unacceptable in direct proportion to that rejection or that neglect or that perversion. How can I say that? Well, look what the Bible says in Proverbs chapter 28. Watch carefully. Proverbs 28 and verse 9. There are many other passages, but this one is so clear and so plain, it cannot be misunderstood. Look in Proverbs 28 and verse 9. The Bible says,

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 28:9

"He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination."

God says, "You won't listen to my word. You won't obey my word. Even your prayer is an abomination." And the word abomination literally means a stench in the nostrils. So to the degree then that we neglect and reject or pervert the word of God, to that degree, worship is unacceptable. You look at all the cults that deny the deity of Jesus Christ, and yet they profess to be worshiping the one true and the living God. Their worship is unacceptable.

The Regulative Principle of Worship

Nothing must be introduced into worship without biblical warrant. God commands that we neither add to nor diminish from His instructions (Deuteronomy 12:32).

Now, you think about this. If we're worshiping God in truth, we must not only know how to think of Him in truth, but we must also know how to approach Him in truth. Now, there have been two philosophies that have been brought down through the Reformation to us today. The first philosophy basically was espoused by Luther and some of those that were closely associated with him, and their attitude was this: Whatever is not forbidden in the Bible in worship, we maintain. In other words, if it's not forbidden, we'll maintain it. Zwingli and some of the others said, "No, that's not right. We maintain nothing in worship except that for which we have biblical warrant." Now, who was correct? Well, it would be Zwingli and those like him. When you say, "Well, if it's not forbidden, we can do it," do you know what the average church has turned into with that attitude? A three-ring circus.

I mean, they'll have gags, gimmicks, even circuses in the church building to quote-unquote draw people. One of my favorite stories, it is a true story so help me, was one preacher down in Florida had a baby elephant brought into the main auditorium for all the kids who came on their buses. And every kid who came on the bus got his picture taken with the baby elephant. And while he was there in front of the pulpit, an elephant did what elephants do. And the stench was so bad, when the preacher tried to preach over it, all the little kids just sat there and laughed and giggled the whole time. They not only had to clean the carpet, they had to replace the carpet. Now, why is something like that going on in a church building? You know why? Because anything goes just so we can reach our goals. If you understand the biblical principle, we do not allow anything in worship except for that which God demands. God tells us how we are to approach unto Him. Look in your Bibles, I can quote it, but I want you to look in your Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter 12, and look at verse 32. And you know as well as I do, this is repeated in Deuteronomy 4, it's literally repeated in the book of Revelation as well. But here it is, Deuteronomy 12, verse 32. Look what God says. Deuteronomy 12, verse 32. God says, "What thing soever I command you, observe to do it."

"Thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it." Ain't that simple? God said, "Whenever I command you, you observe to do it. But you don't add to it, and you don't take from it." So you and I do not take the attitude, "Well, we maintain what is not forbidden." No. We take the attitude, we throw out everything except for that which we have biblical warrant to maintain because that way we're giving due regard to the truth.

The Role of Expository Preaching

Regular, systematic expository preaching and personal Bible study are essential for promoting true worship by grounding believers in the truth.

Let me give you another observation before we go further. If worshipping God in truth has reference to worshipping Him in the totality of the revelation that He's given of Himself, one of the best ways to prepare yourself and to promote true worship is through a regular, systematic, expository preaching and teaching of the truth. And by the way, that would go for your personal study as well. You know what I do? I read through the Old Testament. I read through the New Testament. When I finish, I go back and I start all over again. And I read all the genealogies. I read all the hard passages. I try to pronounce all the hard names. Trying to read it all over and over and over and over. And you know something, pretty soon, some of it begins to soak in.

Now, I've got news for you, folks. Expository preaching is the hardest of all preaching. But it's the best. And it's where you learn most of the Word of God. You know what can happen? I can tell you how I can have 500 people in a building in just a matter of months. You know how I can do that? By entertaining them. All I've got to do is preach a short 20-30 minute message, fill it full of jokes and humor and entertainment, and have me a good band up here, or good music, you know, that's all! Folks will flock to that. But you start preaching and expounding the truth of God, explaining the Scripture, now listen, and applying the Scripture, and expect the people to obey the Scripture, and all of a sudden they don't want any part of that. I believe that's why the Lord looked at His disciples and said, "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." So if we're going to worship God in truth, we have to have due regard to the totality of truth.

Worship in Truth: Peculiar Regard to Christ

Worship in truth also means giving peculiar regard to Jesus Christ, who is the truth incarnate and the full and final revelation of God, the reality to which all Old Testament types pointed.

Now secondly today, and listen carefully, if we're worshiping God in truth, we must worship Him in a context that gives peculiar regard to the revelation of God in Christ. Now I told you earlier that the word true is used several different ways, and it's the context that determines how the word is used. Usually when we think about true, we think about true as opposed to false. Right? Well, when our Lord said, "I am the true vine," what was He saying? All others are false. When He said, "I am the true bread," what is He saying? All others are false. When He said, "I am the true door," all others are false. There is true as opposed to false. But the word true is also used in a different way. You say, "How's that?" Well, look in your Bibles, if you would, to John chapter 6, John chapter 6.

And let me show you. Verse 27, and then we're going to go back to John 4 and then come back to John 6. Look in John 6, if you would please, and verse 27. Look at what our Lord said. He tells His disciples,

Scripture Reading — John 6:27, 35

"Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed."

Labour not for the meat that perisheth. Now, go back to John chapter 4. You remember the woman at the well. His disciples, by the way, have gone away to buy meat while He is witnessing to this woman. And in John 4 and verse 31, the Bible says, "In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat." Watch. "But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of." Well, they had brought Him physical food. They said, "Master, eat something here." He said, "I've got meat to eat that you know not of." Look in verse 34. "Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work." Now, what is the true, substantial meat for Christ?

It is the will of God. Now look in John 6 and verse 35. John 6, verse 35, once again, "Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst." And then He said in verse 27, "Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life." Now, let me ask you a question. How many of us can live very long without eating? Some a lot longer than others. I understand that. But you know as well as I do, if we do not eat physically, we die. What does our Lord say? Our Lord is saying the physical food is a type, is a shadow of reality, and the real bread of life, the substance, the substantiality is in Christ Himself. It is His life. It is His salvation. Now, I want you to understand that there is a true as opposed to the shadow or the type. Let me just ask you, think about this. Was there true worship in the Old Testament?

And the answer is yes. And the answer is no. The answer is yes, there was true worship in the Old Testament, in that they worshipped according to the limited revelation that God had given them. But the answer is no, because it was not the full and final revelation which we have now in Jesus Christ. So when Abel worshipped God in Genesis 4, did he worship Him in truth? Yes. A limited truth, but he worshipped Him in truth. A little bit later on, when Abraham worshipped God, did Abraham worship Him in truth? And the answer is yes. But not in the way that we worship Him in the New Testament, and I'll explain that a little bit later. When they worshipped God in the tabernacle, when they worshipped God later on in the temple, did they worship Him in truth? And the answer is yes, in light of the limited revelation they had, but you've got to remember now that all of those things in the tabernacle, all of those things in the temple were mere types and shadows and emblems.

It was not reality. It was not the substance. It was not the fullness of truth. Jesus Christ said in John 14 and verse 6,

Scripture Reading — John 14:6

"I am the way, the truth, and the life."

I am the truth. Now, look in John 4. Let me show you what I'm trying to explain. John 4. Notice, if you would please, in verse 21. "Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain," that's Gerizim, "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," the hour is coming, that is future, "and now is," and yet there is a presence, "when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him." Now what is Christ saying? Christ is saying, "Look, the hour is coming, there is a future hour, when true worship is going to be in spirit and truth, and it now is."

Why did He say that "now is"? Because I am here. At this point, He had not finished His work. But He said the finishing of this work and the worshiping of God in spirit and truth is directly related to Me. I am here now. So there's an element of worshiping in truth that is to be introduced not only at the coming of Christ, but also at the completion of His work.

Now I've given you this verse before. I'm going to quote it and explain it one more time. John 1:17. The Bible says in John 1:17,

Scripture Reading — John 1:17

"For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ."

Now here's my question. Was there no grace in the Old Testament? Why, you know there was. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Everyone who's ever saved in the Old Testament was saved by grace. Was there no truth in the Old Testament?

Well, of course there was. Everything that God has revealed is truth, but it was not fullness of grace nor fullness of truth until Jesus Christ came, because Jesus Christ is the fullness of truth and the fullness of grace. So he says the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. So grace and truth in its full and final manifestation only came in Jesus Christ.

Now, what am I trying to show you? I'm trying to show you that everything else in the Old Testament, around the tabernacle, around the temple was nothing more than types and emblems and shadows. Was there worship, true worship in the Old Testament? Yes. Was it worship in spirit and in truth? Yes. A limited amount of truth because the fullness of God's revelation had not been given. You know, what we do is this. We think about that tabernacle and temple worship, and I want to tell you the temple undoubtedly was magnificent. Undoubtedly.

Old Testament Worship as Shadow

Old Testament worship, with its tabernacle, temple, and sacrifices, was a shadow and type. True worship in spirit and truth is now possible through Christ, who is the substance.

And if you've ever seen pictures of the attire of the high priest—oh, my soul. I mean, just the breastplate with the 12 stones. Beautiful. The miter with "Holiness to the Lord." When you think about the beauty of the temple and the beauty of the high priest, and then you think about all those physical animals that were sacrificed. I think every one of us loves to smell steak grilling. Boy, they had an altar and they would cook the whole cow. And then there was the incense being burned. Now, listen to me. Here's the problem with that. You could see the temple. You could smell the temple. You could taste the temple in the fact that you ate the sacrifices. You could hear what was going on. You can touch it. And we tend to think that anything that we can see and smell and hear and taste and touch, that has to be real. But it wasn't. It was not real.

Look very quickly in your Bibles. Hebrews chapter 8. I pointed this out a little bit earlier, but let me go a little further. Hebrews chapter 8. Notice, if you would please, verse 1, Hebrews 8, verse 1. "Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum:" Here's the total. "We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man." Now, wait a minute. The true tabernacle was pitched by the Lord. Well, the first tabernacle was pitched by Moses, so that was not the true tabernacle. Watch verse 3. "For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer. For if he were on earth," that is Christ, "he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law: who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount." Now note if you would, God specifically says that the tabernacle and later on the temple were nothing more than shadows.

Now if you were in the shadow of a tree, are you in the tree? No. The shadow is an emblem. It's not real. So everything there was simply the shadow. God gave Moses the direction. Look in Hebrews 9, verse 24. Hebrews 9, verse 24: "For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands," that is the tabernacle or the temple, "which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us." So once again, the tabernacle and temple is referred to as a figure. Look in Hebrews 10 verse 1.

"For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect." For the law having, that is the ceremonial law, having a shadow of good things to come. So, all of that in the Old Testament was nothing but a type and shadow. And what we try to do is we try to reverse it. We try to say, "Boy, they really had reality back then." No, they did not have reality. Jesus Christ said, "The hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth," not in Jerusalem, not in Gerizim, but in spirit and in truth. That is, we will worship Him at the throne of His grace. Look in your Bibles to Hebrews 4, since you're there. Hebrews 4. And look, if you would please, at verse 14. Hebrews 4, verse 14.

"Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession." Or our confession. "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." I want you to note we do not come to the type. We do not come to the shadow or to the emblem. We come boldly to the throne of grace.

New Covenant Worship: Spiritual Sacrifices

Believers now offer spiritual sacrifices of praise through Jesus Christ, who is our altar, high priest, and sacrifice. We have bold access to the throne of grace.

Jesus Christ said, "The hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth," not in Jerusalem, not in Gerizim, but in spirit and in truth. That is, we will worship Him at the throne of His grace. Look in your Bibles to Hebrews 4, since you're there. Hebrews 4. And look, if you would please, at verse 14. Hebrews 4, verse 14. "Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession." Or our confession. "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." I want you to note we do not come to the type. We do not come to the shadow or to the emblem. We come boldly to the throne of grace.

Not in the physical sense, but in the spiritual sense. I pointed out before, there was no Israelite in the Old Testament that could run into the Holy of Holies anytime he wanted to. He could not run into the very presence of God. Even the high priest only went in once a year, and that was not without the shedding of blood. But now the Bible tells us we may come boldly to the throne of grace.

Now, look in your Bibles to 1 Peter. Just turn over a couple of books. Hebrews, James, 1 Peter. Look in 1 Peter 2 and verse 5. In 1 Peter 2 and verse 5, the Bible tells us, "Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." Now, notice the Bible says we are kept by the power of God. Now, look, if you would please, in 1 Peter chapter 1, beginning there with verse 18. He says, "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." Ah, skip down to 1 Peter 2 and verse 5, "Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house."

We've been redeemed with truth now, with truth, the true sacrifice, Jesus Christ, "an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." Now, what kind of sacrifices does God want now? Not a physical sacrifice, but a spiritual sacrifice. Why? Because we have been redeemed by the blood of Christ, by the true sacrifice, and therefore we are to give unto Him spiritual sacrifices, note, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Look back in your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 15. Hebrews 13 and verse 15. Hebrews 13, verse 15. Watch carefully. "By him"—that is by Jesus Christ—"by him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name." What kind of sacrifice do we give Him? We give Him the sacrifice of praise. Now, help me out.

You don't have to turn there. But Romans 12:1-2, what did the Apostle Paul say? "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." Now do you see, in this new covenant, since we have been redeemed, not with the blood of bulls and goats, but with the blood of Christ, we now offer unto Him a spiritual sacrifice. We offer Him the fruit of our lips. We give Him worship in spirit and in truth. There are no vestments. There are no incense burners. The only thing we do is we praise Him. We give Him the sacrifice of praise through the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Now, our Lord says, "They that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth."

The Superiority of the New Covenant

The book of Hebrews demonstrates that everything in the New Covenant is better because of Christ. To return to types and shadows is to reject the reality.

Do you realize the book of Hebrews is actually an expansion of John 4, verses 19-26? In fact, the word "better" is the key word in the book of Hebrews. And don't follow me, I'll just quote them for you. But in Hebrews 1 and verse 4, the Bible talks about Christ being better than the angels. In Hebrews 6 and verse 9, we have better things. In Hebrews 7 and verse 19, we have a better hope. In Hebrews 7 and verse 22, we have a better testament. In Hebrews 8 and verse 6, we have a better covenant. In Hebrews 8 and verse 6, we have a better promise. In Hebrews 9 and verse 23, we have a better sacrifice. In Hebrews 10 and verse 34, we have a better and enduring substance. In Hebrews 11 and verse 16, we have a better country. In Hebrews 12 and verse 24, we have better things. Everything is better in the New Covenant than it was in the Old Covenant because the Old Covenant did not have the fulfillment of the person and work of Jesus Christ.

We have the distinct and definite advantage over anyone who ever lived in the Old Covenant. Now, let me make just a couple of applications. I want you to think about this. Look back in your Bibles. Hebrews chapter 8. Hebrews 8. Let's read it again. Let's look in verse 6 through 8. After he talks about the tabernacle and the temple being types and shadows, he says in verse 6, "But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah." And then he talks about the covenant, but note, if you would, this second covenant is built upon a better ministry. It's a better covenant upon better promises.

Christ as the True Altar

There is no physical altar in the church; Christ is our altar. True worship is not dependent on buildings or externals but on the reality of Christ's person and work.

Let me ask you a question. Now, I want you to think about this. Is there an altar in a local church? Well, let me ask that another way. Is there such a thing as a physical altar in a local church? You always hear people say, "We want you to come down here to the altar." Would you think with me just for a moment on this? Was Moses out in the wilderness and the people getting upset and frustrated and discouraged? And he says, "You know, I think what I'll do is build a tabernacle and build an altar, and that way we'll get everybody together." Is that how the tabernacle came around? Is that how the altar came to be built?

No, we read it in Scripture a while ago. The tabernacle and the altar was not Moses's idea. It was originated with God. Now watch. There had to be, first of all, a divine revelation for that altar. Are you listening? Secondly, there was a divine pattern given to Moses. He said, "See that thou make it according to the pattern given thee in the mount." Thirdly, it was built out of divine materials. Moses could not build that altar out of anything he wanted to. He had to build it out of the materials that God ordained. And fourthly, when there was a physical altar, the only place you could really worship and sacrifice to God was at that altar. Nowhere else. Now, when somebody tries to tell me there is an altar in a local church, I want to see the divine revelation for it. I want to see the divine pattern for it. I want to see the divinely commanded materials for it. And then if you tell me it's there, then the only place you can worship God is that physical altar.

Now, what did the tabernacle have? A physical altar. What did the temple have? A physical altar. But why does the author of the book of Hebrews say we have an altar? Because Jesus Christ is our altar. Because Christ is our altar, we may worship Him wherever and whenever. Grace may now be mediated to anyone, anywhere, at any time, because Jesus Christ is our altar. Are you listening? We do not have a physical altar, but we have a real spiritual altar, Jesus Christ. We do not have a special physical priest, but we have a great priest who is Jesus Christ. We do not have an unbloody sacrifice, but we have a real sacrifice, which is Jesus Christ. We do not have a physical tabernacle or a physical temple, but we have a real tabernacle, the real temple, which is Jesus Christ.

Everything in the Old Testament was types. Shadows. Now we have a reality. Let me show you. Do you realize this has such practical applications?

Now, I am for doing things right. And I want the best for our Lord, certainly, there's no problem there. But have you ever noticed all the multi-million dollar buildings that are being built for church buildings? You know, the funny thing to me, Alice and I have passed some of the most magnificent buildings in our travels. And I know some of those church buildings alone, 15, 20 million bucks or more. Unhappily, most of them only use one or two days a week, anyhow. All that money, and here are these huge stained glass windows. And these big expensive organs and Steinway pianos. Now are you listening? If you need a stained glass window and a Steinway piano and a deep-throated organ to worship, something's wrong with you.

Now, if God in His providence allowed us to have something similar to that without debt, that'd be one thing. And if we could maintain a ministry, that would be a horse of a different color. I've got news for you folks. If the reality of Jesus Christ, if the reality of Him being our great High Priest, if the reality of Him being seated at the right hand of God the Father interceding for us, if the reality of His blood atonement, of His sacrificial sacrifice, of His perfect, total forgiveness, His greatness, His majesty, His deity, if that doesn't stir your heart, if that doesn't move you, no $40,000 stained glass window will ever move you. You understand what I'm saying? Reality is not in buildings. Reality is in Christ. The early church worshipped wonderfully well without a special building. They met in the homes. Because it was unlawful for them to even meet. But yet they met. You see, the point I'm trying to make is this.

Conclusion: Drawing Near Through Christ

All acceptable worship is permeated with the consciousness of what Christ has done. We draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith because of Him.

If a seeking Father has found us, if a seeking Father has made us His child by His marvelous grace, all we need is Him. You see, all true and acceptable worship is permeated with the consciousness of what Jesus Christ has done for us. Look back in your Bibles, Hebrews 10. Hebrews 10, verse 19. You should memorize these passages. Hebrews 10, verse 19, "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; and having an high priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith." What is it? And who is it that enables us to draw near? It's the person and work of Jesus Christ. Do you realize the only reason you and I are here today is because of Jesus Christ? The only reason we're saved is because of Jesus Christ. The only reason we understand anything is because of Jesus Christ. The only reason we can worship is because of Jesus Christ. So when we come to worship, what do we do? It's true, we plop our bodies down in these chairs, but our spirits are to be stirred.

Our minds are to be engaged. Our affections are to be elevated. We're to think upon God and the truth that He's revealed of Himself in His Word. And we're to meditate upon and contemplate on the living truth Jesus Christ, who is the full and final revelation of God. He is reality. He said, "I am the true bread." Not just true as opposed to false, but true as opposed to shadow and emblem and type and figure. He is reality. Let's pray. Father, we thank Thee today for Jesus Christ, for the truth that You have revealed in Him. We're thankful for Your Word, the written Word. And we pray, Father, that You would indeed enable us to bless Thee with all that is within us. Give us grace to serve Thee acceptably with reverence and godly fear. May we worship Thee in spirit and in truth. In Christ's name we pray, Amen.

Study Guide

Major Themes

Worship in Truth as Scripturally Bounded

Summary: True worship is not merely subjective or emotional but is bounded and regulated by the objective truth of God's Word.

Evidence: Weaver states: 'to worship in truth means that we worship with every passion... that the totality of our worship is guided and regulated by the Word of God.'

The Sufficiency and Authority of Scripture in Worship

Summary: Nothing should be introduced into worship without biblical warrant; God's commands must not be added to or diminished.

Evidence: Weaver cites Deuteronomy 12:32 and argues for the regulative principle: 'we throw out everything except for that which we have biblical warrant to maintain.'

Christ as the Fullness of Truth and Reality

Summary: Jesus Christ is the truth incarnate, the reality to which all Old Testament types and shadows pointed. Worship in truth requires peculiar regard to Him.

Evidence: Weaver explains: 'grace and truth in its full and final manifestation only came in Jesus Christ' and 'He is reality.'

The Transition from Shadow to Substance in Worship

Summary: Old Testament worship was a shadow; New Covenant worship is in spirit and truth because Christ has come and completed His work.

Evidence: Weaver says: 'all of that in the Old Testament was nothing but a type and shadow... Jesus Christ said, "The hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth."'

Spiritual Sacrifices in the New Covenant

Summary: Believers offer spiritual sacrifices of praise, not physical ones, because they have been redeemed by the blood of Christ.

Evidence: Weaver references 1 Peter 2:5 and Hebrews 13:15: 'we now offer unto Him a spiritual sacrifice... the fruit of our lips.'

The Danger of Returning to Types and Shadows

Summary: To reintroduce Old Testament ceremonial elements is to reject the reality of Christ and to exchange the sun for a candle.

Evidence: Weaver warns: 'To go back to any part of those Old Testament types and shadows is to dig up what God has buried and to change the light of the sun for the light of a candle.'

Christ as the True Altar and Mediator

Summary: There is no physical altar in the church; Christ Himself is our altar, high priest, and sacrifice, enabling us to worship anywhere.

Evidence: Weaver argues: 'We do not have a physical altar, but we have a real spiritual altar, Jesus Christ.'

The Inadequacy of External Aids for True Worship

Summary: Elaborate buildings, stained glass, and instruments cannot produce true worship; only the reality of Christ can stir the heart.

Evidence: Weaver states: 'If the reality of Jesus Christ... doesn't stir your heart... no $40,000 stained glass window will ever move you.'

Key Arguments

Worship must be regulated by the totality of Scripture

Summary: Because God is as He has revealed Himself in the whole Bible, worship that neglects or perverts any part of His revelation is defective and unacceptable.

Evidence: Weaver says: 'The only God that exists is the God of Scripture, and He is as He has revealed Himself... to the degree then that we neglect and reject or pervert the word of God, to that degree, worship is unacceptable.'

The regulative principle is biblical

Summary: Deuteronomy 12:32 commands not to add or diminish from God's commands, implying that worship elements must have explicit biblical warrant.

Evidence: Weaver quotes Deuteronomy 12:32: 'What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.'

Expository preaching is essential for true worship

Summary: Systematic teaching of the whole counsel of God equips believers to worship in truth by knowing God as He has revealed Himself.

Evidence: Weaver states: 'one of the best ways to prepare yourself and to promote true worship is through a regular, systematic, expository preaching and teaching of the truth.'

Christ is the full and final revelation of God

Summary: John 1:17 teaches that grace and truth came in their fullness through Jesus Christ, making Him the ultimate object of worship and the lens through which we approach God.

Evidence: Weaver explains: 'grace and truth in its full and final manifestation only came in Jesus Christ.'

Old Testament worship was typological and temporary

Summary: The tabernacle, temple, and sacrifices were shadows pointing to Christ; now that He has come, worship is in spirit and truth, not tied to physical locations or rituals.

Evidence: Weaver cites Hebrews 8:5 and 10:1: 'the law having a shadow of good things to come... all of that in the Old Testament was nothing but a type and shadow.'

Believers offer spiritual sacrifices through Christ

Summary: Because Christ is the true sacrifice, believers now offer spiritual sacrifices of praise, not physical ones, as their reasonable service.

Evidence: Weaver references 1 Peter 2:5 and Romans 12:1-2: 'we now offer unto Him a spiritual sacrifice... the fruit of our lips.'

Returning to types denies the sufficiency of Christ

Summary: Those who cling to Old Testament shadows have no right to Christ, according to Hebrews 13:10, because they reject the reality.

Evidence: Weaver quotes Hebrews 13:10: 'We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.'

True worship is independent of physical structures

Summary: Since Christ is the true temple and altar, worship can occur anywhere and does not require elaborate buildings or instruments.

Evidence: Weaver argues: 'We do not have a physical altar, but we have a real spiritual altar, Jesus Christ... Reality is not in buildings. Reality is in Christ.'

Scripture References

John 4:19-26

Context: The primary text for the sermon, where Jesus teaches the Samaritan woman about worship in spirit and truth.

Philippians 3:3

Context: Paul describes true believers as those who worship God in spirit, have no confidence in the flesh, and rejoice in Christ.

Ephesians 2:1

Context: Used to show that spiritual life is necessary for worship; we were dead in trespasses and sins.

John 15:5

Context: Without Christ we can do nothing, including worship; we must be spiritually assisted.

Psalm 103:1

Context: David's call to bless the Lord with all that is within him illustrates worship in the totality of one's being.

Romans 1:9

Context: Paul served God in his spirit, showing that the spirit motivates bodily worship and service.

Romans 3:1-2

Context: The Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God, giving them the truth that others lacked.

Romans 9:3-5

Context: Israelites received the adoption, glory, covenants, law, service, and promises; Christ came from them according to the flesh.

John 17:17

Context: Jesus prayed, 'Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth,' linking truth directly to Scripture.

2 Timothy 3:16-17

Context: All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness.

John 1:1-3, 14

Context: Jesus is the living Word who became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.

John 12:48

Context: Jesus equates rejecting Him with rejecting His words; the written and living Word are inseparable.

Colossians 1:5; 2 Timothy 2:15

Context: The Scriptures are called the word of truth; we are to rightly divide it.

2 Timothy 2:7

Context: Paul tells Timothy to consider what he says, and the Lord will give understanding; the mind must be engaged.

John 3:16, 36

Context: Both God's love and His wrath are true; we must worship God as He is revealed in the totality of Scripture.

Proverbs 28:9

Context: If one turns away from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination, showing that neglect of the Word corrupts worship.

Deuteronomy 12:32

Context: God commands not to add to or diminish from His commands, establishing the regulative principle for worship.

John 6:27, 35

Context: Jesus is the true bread of life; the physical is a shadow, and Christ is the substance.

John 14:6

Context: Jesus declares, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life,' identifying Himself as the embodiment of truth.

John 1:17

Context: The law came through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ, indicating the fullness of revelation in Him.

Historical References

Martin Luther's struggle with God's holiness and love

Context: Weaver uses Luther as an example of someone who initially could not reconcile God's justice with His love, illustrating the need for a full biblical view of God.

The Reformation and the regulative principle (Luther vs. Zwingli)

Context: Weaver contrasts Luther's view (whatever is not forbidden is allowed) with Zwingli's view (only what is commanded is allowed), arguing for the latter.

A preacher in Florida who brought a baby elephant into the church

Context: An illustration of the absurdity that results from the 'whatever is not forbidden' approach to worship.

Ralph Venning's book 'The Plague of Plagues'

Context: Weaver recommends this Puritan work on the doctrine of sin to help believers understand the depth of their sin and thus be more thankful for salvation.

Important Quotes

to worship in truth means that we worship with every passion, with every disposition of our heart, that the totality of our worship is guided and regulated by the Word of God.

Significance: Defines the core concept of worship in truth as being bounded by Scripture.

He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.

Significance: Key verse (Proverbs 28:9) showing that neglect of God's Word makes worship unacceptable.

grace and truth in its full and final manifestation only came in Jesus Christ.

Significance: Summarizes the argument that Christ is the fullness of truth, surpassing Old Testament shadows.

To go back to any part of those Old Testament types and shadows is to dig up what God has buried and to change the light of the sun for the light of a candle.

Significance: Powerful metaphor warning against reintroducing ceremonial elements into worship.

We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.

Significance: Hebrews 13:10, used to argue that clinging to types forfeits the reality of Christ.

all true and acceptable worship is permeated with the consciousness of what Jesus Christ has done for us.

Significance: Concluding summary of the Christ-centered nature of worship.

Discussion Questions

What does it mean practically for our worship to be 'guided and regulated by the Word of God'?

Context: Weaver defines worship in truth as being bounded by Scripture.

How does the regulative principle (only doing what Scripture commands in worship) protect the church from error?

Context: Weaver contrasts the Lutheran and Zwinglian views and argues for the latter.

In what ways might we be tempted to neglect or pervert the Word of God in our worship today?

Context: Weaver warns that worship becomes unacceptable in proportion to our neglect of Scripture.

Why is expository preaching essential for promoting true worship?

Context: Weaver argues that systematic teaching of the whole counsel of God equips believers to worship in truth.

How does understanding Old Testament worship as shadow and type deepen our appreciation for New Covenant worship?

Context: Weaver explains that Christ is the reality to which all shadows pointed.

What are some modern examples of 'going back to types and shadows' in worship?

Context: Weaver warns against reintroducing ceremonial elements and relying on external aids.

How does the truth that Christ is our altar, priest, and sacrifice change the way we approach God in worship?

Context: Weaver emphasizes that we have bold access to the throne of grace through Christ.

What does it look like to offer 'spiritual sacrifices' of praise in our daily lives?

Context: Weaver references Hebrews 13:15 and Romans 12:1-2 about offering the fruit of our lips and our bodies as living sacrifices.

Applications

Study the whole counsel of God

Summary: To worship in truth, believers must diligently study all of Scripture to know God as He has revealed Himself, not just favorite attributes.

Evidence: Weaver says: 'we must study to know the Word of God... most of us never, ever meditate upon them [God's attributes].'

Evaluate worship practices by Scripture

Summary: Examine whether elements of corporate and personal worship have explicit biblical warrant, and remove those that do not.

Evidence: Weaver states: 'we throw out everything except for that which we have biblical warrant to maintain.'

Engage the mind in worship

Summary: Worship requires active mental engagement with biblical truth about God, not passive waiting for emotional experiences.

Evidence: Weaver says: 'you must consider what God has revealed... the mind is engaged in thinking about God.'

Reject reliance on external aids for worship

Summary: Do not depend on buildings, music, or aesthetics to produce worship; focus on the reality of Christ.

Evidence: Weaver warns: 'If the reality of Jesus Christ... doesn't stir your heart... no $40,000 stained glass window will ever move you.'

Offer spiritual sacrifices of praise

Summary: Continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God through Christ, acknowledging His finished work as the basis for access.

Evidence: Weaver cites Hebrews 13:15: 'let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.'

Meditate on the person and work of Christ

Summary: Let worship be permeated with the consciousness of what Christ has done, as He is the full revelation of God.

Evidence: Weaver concludes: 'all true and acceptable worship is permeated with the consciousness of what Jesus Christ has done for us.'

Prioritize expository preaching

Summary: Seek out and support preaching that systematically expounds Scripture, as it is the best means to promote true worship.

Evidence: Weaver states: 'one of the best ways to prepare yourself and to promote true worship is through a regular, systematic, expository preaching.'

Cultivate heartfelt gratitude for salvation

Summary: Understand the depth of sin to appreciate the greatness of redemption, leading to more fervent praise.

Evidence: Weaver says: 'if you don't know who you are and what you are and what you were, you don't know how to be thankful for what God has delivered you from.'

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-06T03:32:40Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T16:20:37Z

Clean Transcript

Acceptable Worship - Part 5

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

Well, let's open our Bible today to John chapter 4. John chapter 4. And we'll begin with verse 19 and pick up where we left off. John chapter 4 and verse 19: "The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain, and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus said 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 worshippers 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. The woman saith unto him, I know that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ."
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"When he is come, he will teach us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he." We are gathered together here today in what we normally refer to as a worship service, and since the true worship of God is demanded in the Bible, since it is commanded, since it is our duty and our obligation to worship the One True and the Living God, then none of us can be indifferent as to how we worship Him, because we must worship Him acceptably. I've told you in the first message it is our duty and obligation to worship God. Then in the second message I dealt with the proper object of worship, that is, He is the One True and the Living God. But not just simply in a general theistic sense, He is the One True and the Living God who has revealed Himself as Father of the Lord Jesus Christ and Father of believers. And then I pointed out that that one truly living God is also spirit. That is His essence.
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So therefore, if we worship God aright, we must worship Him not only as the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Father of believers in the marvels of His grace, but we also must worship Him as He who is spirit. And then I pointed out how that had an implication for us. That is, if we worship God, as Scripture says, we must worship Him in spirit and in truth. Do you remember the passage in Philippians 3 and verse 3, where the Apostle Paul says that we are the true Israel, who what? Who worship God in spirit, have no confidence in the flesh, and rejoice in Christ Jesus. So I want you to understand that true worship is a direct fruit of the person and work of Jesus Christ. And when we talk about worship, I want you to understand that worship is absolutely essential. It is not a non-essential item. Look what our Lord says in verse 23: "But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth."
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Why? "For the Father seeketh such to worship Him." So worship then is not a luxury, it is an essential goal of salvation. So we looked at the proper object of worship, that's the One True and the Living God, and last week we began looking at the proper sphere of worship and we saw that we must worship God in spirit. Now, "spirit and in truth" is actually the proper sphere of worship. If we worship God spiritually, I pointed out, first of all, we must be spiritually alive. That is, an unconverted and unsaved individual cannot render unto God the worship that He demands.
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The Bible says in Ephesians 2 and verse 1, "And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and in sins." So in order to worship God spiritually, we must be made spiritually alive. Secondly, we must be spiritually assisted. Our Lord said in John 15 and verse 5, "Without me ye can do nothing." Now if worship is something, therefore, it means we cannot do it without Christ. Without Him, we can do absolutely nothing. So we must be spiritually assisted. And then thirdly, we must be spiritually active.
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That is, we're not passive. We don't just sit here like a knot on a log. That means we must be actively engaged in worship.
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Now, I'm going to explain a little bit further. When I've talked about worshiping God in our spirit, I talk about worshipping God in the totality of our being. That our minds are occupied, our affections are engaged, our wills are engaged. David said it like this in Psalm 103, verse 1. He said, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name." So it's not just my voice that is going forth in praise and adoration to God. It's that my entire being is behind that voice. It's just like the Apostle Paul said in Romans 1 verse 9. He talked about how he served God in his spirit. Well, it was Paul's body that was moving all around the Roman Empire, worshiping and serving God. But it was his spirit that was motivating and moving that body to worship and honor God and to obey him. So we must worship God in our spirit. Now, we understand then, I hope in some degree, what it means to worship God in spirit.
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But we've got to ask ourselves, what indeed does it mean to worship God in truth? So I want to give you kind of an overview, and then I want to expand upon that overview and then give you some of the implications. So what does it mean when our Lord says they that worship God must worship Him in spirit and in truth? Well, let me just tell you, first of all, generally, to worship in truth means that we worship with every passion, with every disposition of our heart, that the totality of our worship is guided and regulated by the Word of God. It means that everything that we are and everything that we do is brought in line with and in conformity with the Word of God.
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Now, I'm going to show you a little bit later that the word truth is used in different ways in Scripture. And of course, the context usually determines how that word is to be used. If you look in verse 22, our Lord told the Samaritan woman, "Ye worship ye know not what." He says, "We know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews." That is, He was of the tribe of Judah. It was the southern tribe. How could He say that salvation is of the Jews? Or how could He say that salvation, He could have said it like this, is of Israel? How could He make that statement? Well, let me show you why. Look in your Bibles very quickly to the book of Romans. Look in chapter 3, beginning there with verse 1. Romans chapter 3, verse 1.
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And here's what he said: "What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God." Where was the law of God kept? It was in Judah where the tabernacle was. Later on where the temple was. And so it was the Israelites who had the divine revelation of God. Look in Romans chapter 9 if you would please. Romans chapter 9.
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And here it is plainly stated again. Romans chapter 9. He says in verse 3: "For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh."
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Now he's going to tell you who they are: "Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen."
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Now, what advantage, then, did Israel have over all the other nations? They had the truth. They had the Word of God. God did not give it to the Babylonians, to the Assyrians, to the Egyptians. He gave it to the Israelites. Therefore, our Lord could say in John 17, in verse 17, in His high priestly prayer, "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth." So very obviously, then, when our Lord says that we must worship in spirit and in truth, it has to have some reference to the word of God, which is truth. Now, what our Lord says, "They that worship God must worship Him in spirit and in truth." First of all, when we talk about spirit, that then touches what you and I would know as the subjective and the inward requirement of acceptable worship.
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For instance, I've told you last week that when you come in this building, you plop down in a chair and you may open your mouth physically and you may sing or you may talk or you may pray. That doesn't really amount to a hill of beans unless the Spirit is involved. In other words, we must worship the Lord in the totality of our being. "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name." So, when we worship God in spirit, it not only refers to the Holy Spirit of God, but it also refers to our spirit, and that touches upon the subjective and the inward aspect of worship. And unless we're worshiping God with our spirit, then our worship is unacceptable.
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But I want you to watch this. Our Lord then bounds that subjective and internal worship with an objective and external framework of truth, the Word of God. In other words, our emotions are not just something to run wild. We don't do whatever we think we want to do as we bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. No, we must worship God in spirit. But that is bounded then on the other side with truth. So you might have the worship internally and subjectively in the spirit, but it is bounded and surrounded by the external objective truth of the word of God. So you have that which is intangible and you have that which is tangible in one sense of the word. The intangible is that which is our spirit, which we cannot see and perceive. But then we have that tangible, which is the outward external word of God, which we can touch. So let me just try to develop this a little bit more. When we worship God in truth, there are going to be two specific aspects of truth that I'm going to cover this morning.
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The first one should be very obvious. When we worship in truth, we must worship then in a context that gives due regard to the Word of God in general. Because God's Word is truth. Secondly, we must worship also in a context in which we give peculiar regard to the Son of God in particular. Because He is truth incarnate.
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Now, let me put it to you like this. We worship God in regard to the truth written. And we worship God in relationship to the truth incarnate. So we worship Him, first of all, in relationship to the totality of Scripture. And then secondly, we worship Him in relationship to the finality and the fullness of the revelation which is in Jesus Christ our Lord.
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Now, let me just very quickly tell you this. I want you to turn, since you're in the book of John, just go ahead and turn to John chapter 12 and get ready for this verse because I'm going to quote two other verses before I get to John chapter 12.
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Now, help me out here with this. I want you to think with me now. The Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 16. Let me quote it for you. He said, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works." Now, when the Apostle Paul said, "All scripture is God-breathed," what is he talking about? He's talking about the written Word of God, is he not? Okay. So we know that the Bible is the God-breathed Word. It is the objective Word of God.
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Now watch what he said. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God." So that's the written Word.
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Now let me quote John 1:1-3. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." Now, what word is that being talked about in John 1:1-3? Someone tell me. Christ. Now, when you get to verse 14, "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us."
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"And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." So Jesus Christ is the living Word. The Bible is the written Word.
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Now look what our Lord did in John 12 and verse 48. John 12, verse 48. He puts these together.
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Now watch what He says. "He that rejecteth me," that is the living Word, "and receiveth not my words," that is the written Word, "hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day."
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Now let me put it to you very plainly. Now listen to me carefully. You cannot take one attitude toward the word of God and a different attitude toward the Lord Jesus Christ. You can't come up and say, "Well, I don't believe the Bible, but I believe in Jesus Christ." It doesn't work like that. You can't say, "Well, I don't believe in Jesus Christ, but I believe the Bible." No, it doesn't work like that. The Bible is the written word of God. Jesus Christ is the living word of God. They are together. They're one and the same in one sense of the word. And you can't have one without the other. If you despise the written word of God, you're also despising the living word of God. If you despise the living word of God, you're also rejecting and despising the written Word of God. So this is why I'm going to show you that if we worship God in truth, we must first of all worship with a due respect to the Word of God in general.
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And when I say that, I mean the whole, the totality of Scripture. Now the Bible refers to the Scriptures as the Word of Truth. You'll find that in Colossians 1 and verse 5. You'll find it in 2 Timothy 2 and verse 15. He said, "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." So the Bible is the word of truth. Now, watch this.
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Let me try to tie these things together for you. So when you come into this building to worship God in spirit, that means when you plop your bodies down in these chairs, what you do is this. Well, all right, I've got my body in the right spot. I should be here. But now my spirit must be actively engaged. My mind must be actively engaged. My will must be actively engaged.
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But if I am to be thinking, what am I to be thinking about? Well, the answer is you must be contemplating God—His attributes, His character, His truth, or some aspect of that truth. In other words, you don't come in here and sit down and just say, "Well, I'm going to just sit here and wait for something to happen. I'm going to just sit here and wait for something to tickle my innards." Drink Mountain Dew, that's what Mountain Dew is supposed to do, tickle your innards, if you remember that old commercial.
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No, no, no, no, no. You come in and you sit down and you say, "Look, I'm going to worship God in my spirit. I'm going to bless Him with the wholeness of my being. And therefore, I must be active and my mind must be engaged." What must your mind be engaged in? And the first answer is truth. You remember what the Apostle Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 2, verse 7. He said, "Consider what I say."
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"And the Lord give thee understanding in all things." God is not going to give us understanding without our considering. In other words, we must use the means, and at the same time, trust God to bless those means. So when you come in, you must consider what God has revealed. So in worship then, the mind is engaged in thinking about God. Now, if we are thinking about God, what thoughts must we think about Him? Unless your thoughts are biblical, and unless your thoughts then respect the totality of scripture, the general revelation which God has given of Himself in scripture, unless you are thinking about those attributes of God as they are revealed, then certainly your worship is defective and unacceptable. You see, God is not what you imagine. God is as He has revealed Himself. Now, let me just give you an illustration.
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Many of you have read and studied on the life of Martin Luther. And I've brought messages on the life of Martin Luther before. But Martin Luther, when he posted the 95 theses on the castle church door in Wittenberg, Germany in 1517, we say, well, that was the beginning of the Reformation. But let me tell you something: Luther had a real struggle before he was saved by the grace of God. You know why? Because back then everything that was taught basically was that God is a holy God—and that is true—and God is an angry God—that is, He's angry with our sin, He's angry with our wickedness—and God is a God of wrath—and He is. And one of Luther's problems was simply this: Luther could not conceive of how such a holy, righteous, just God could love a wicked sinner like himself.
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Now, let me ask you a question. Is God holy and is God just? Yes. But God is also love. Do you realize Luther and a lot of those people who were really converted had a fear of God? I mean, they feared God. Because they knew about God's justice and God's righteousness and God's holiness. You know what has happened today? Just showing you. That aspect of God's character has been so neglected. And "God is love" has been preached so much that the average sinner thinks, "Well, if God is love, then God doesn't care what I do and what I don't do."
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"And He'll never do me any harm. And therefore, I'll drink and curse and whoremonger around and spit in His face. And He won't send me to hell because God is love."
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Now, I want you to understand something, folks. It is true that God is love. Let me show you. Look in John 3, verse 16. Here's a verse everyone in this room can quote. John 3, verse 16. The Bible says, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
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Now, let me ask you, is that truth? Well, of course it's true. But look at verse 36 in the same exact chapter. John 3, verse 36: "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." Now, which is true? John 3:16 or John 3:36? Well, both are true. You see what I'm saying? So when you come to God, you can't just sit here and say, "Well, I want to contemplate on the fact God is love, love, love," and then totally neglect God's holiness and God's justice. Nor can you come in here and say, "Well, I want to just consider God as just and holy" and totally neglect the fact that God is love and God is merciful and God is a forgiving God. No, we must consider God as He's revealed in the totality of Scripture.
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I suppose one of the greatest defects in our lives is that we really don't know who God is. And we cannot probably discuss the attributes of God sensibly or scripturally. If I were to mention the knowledge of God, the immutability of God, the justice of God, the holiness of God, the power of God, the goodness of God, not just referring to His omniscience, omnipotence, His omnipresence. No, no, no. Any of these attributes—most of us never, ever meditate upon them.
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Now, the point I'm trying to make is this. If we're going to worship God in spirit and in truth, our minds must be engaged as the truth is revealed in Scripture. Therefore, we must study to know the Word of God. How about this? Scripture says, "Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me." Well, if you're going to come in this building and be thankful to God and offer Him praise, to whom are you going to offer that praise? And may I ask, why should you offer Him that praise?
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I've got news for you, folks. When we come to praise God, we don't just sit here and say, "Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord." Let me tell you something. You know, if I give my grandkids money, if I give them a gift, I don't want them to just come up to me and say, kiss me on the back of the head and say, "Thanks, Pop." No, I really prefer that they would hug my neck with a little excitement, you know, and maybe kiss my cheek and give me a good squeeze and say, "Pop, I really appreciate that. Thank you."
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You understand what I'm saying? Most of us, when we thank God, we thank Him with such dullness and such deadness. No, we ought to praise Him with all that is within us. That doesn't mean you're jumping around and shouting and tapping toes on the pews. That's not what I'm talking about. But it means that your spirit is actively engaged and you're genuinely heartfelt thankful and your affections are set on Him and you are blessing the giver and more thankful to Him than for the gift. We come in here and we say that God has saved us from our sins.
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Have you ever contemplated and thought about sin? Let me tell you, there's a book, it's an old Puritan book. If you can, and it's still in print. If you can get a copy, you ought to get it and read it. The name of it is "The Plague of Plagues" by Ralph Venning. And all it is on hamartiology, that is the doctrine of sin. You talking about somebody that can describe sin? You talking about somebody that can make you feel smaller than an ant? Let me tell you, if you don't know who you are and what you are and what you were, you don't know how to be thankful for what God has delivered you from. So if we're going to praise Him for His salvation, we must actually know what sin is. We must know what redemption is. Now, let me make some implications before I go any further. Listen carefully. I'm going to show you this from Scripture. Where the word of God is neglected or perverted, worship is rendered unacceptable in direct proportion to that rejection or that neglect of the Word of God.
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Did you hear what I just said? Whenever the Word of God is neglected or perverted, worship is rendered unacceptable in direct proportion to that rejection or that neglect or that perversion. How can I say that? Well, look what the Bible says in Proverbs chapter 28. Watch carefully. Proverbs 28 and verse 9. There are many other passages, but this one is so clear and so plain, it cannot be misunderstood. Look in Proverbs 28 and verse 9. The Bible says, "He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination." God says, "You won't listen to my word. You won't obey my word. Even your prayer is an abomination." And the word abomination literally means a stench in the nostrils. So to the degree then that we neglect and reject or pervert the word of God, to that degree, worship is unacceptable. You look at all the cults that deny the deity of Jesus Christ, and yet they profess to be worshiping the one true and the living God. Their worship is unacceptable.
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You look at the liberals, look at the people that deny the Word of God. Their worship is unacceptable. You look at the Christians who are living in abysmal ignorance of the Word of God. Their worship is defective and unacceptable. Certainly not to the degree that the cults and the liberals and the modernists are, but it's still unacceptable. You and I cannot live in willful ignorance of any facet of God's glory, of God's character, and then expect to render unto Him true worship—worship in truth. Because God has revealed Himself in the totality of His Word. The only God that exists is the God of Scripture, and He is as He has revealed Himself, and not as people try to make Him to be in their minds or in their imaginations. Let me go further. If we understand what worship in truth means, it means that nothing must be introduced into our worship for which there is no biblical warrant.
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Now, you think about this. If we're worshiping God in truth, we must not only know how to think of Him in truth, but we must also know how to approach Him in truth.
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Now, there have been two philosophies that have been brought down through the Reformation to us today. The first philosophy basically was espoused by Luther and some of those that were closely associated with him, and their attitude was this: Whatever is not forbidden in the Bible in worship, we maintain. In other words, if it's not forbidden, we'll maintain it. Zwingli and some of the others said, "No, that's not right. We maintain nothing in worship except that for which we have biblical warrant." Now, who was correct? Well, it would be Zwingli and those like him. When you say, "Well, if it's not forbidden, we can do it," do you know what the average church has turned into with that attitude? A three-ring circus.
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I mean, they'll have gags, gimmicks, even circuses in the church building to quote-unquote draw people. One of my favorite stories, it is a true story so help me, was one preacher down in Florida had a baby elephant brought into the main auditorium for all the kids who came on their buses. And every kid who came on the bus got his picture taken with the baby elephant. And while he was there in front of the pulpit, an elephant did what elephants do. And the stench was so bad, when the preacher tried to preach over it, all the little kids just sat there and laughed and giggled the whole time.
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They not only had to clean the carpet, they had to replace the carpet. Now, why is something like that going on in a church building? You know why? Because anything goes just so we can reach our goals. If you understand the biblical principle, we do not allow anything in worship except for that which God demands. God tells us how we are to approach unto Him. Look in your Bibles, I can quote it, but I want you to look in your Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter 12, and look at verse 32. And you know as well as I do, this is repeated in Deuteronomy 4, it's literally repeated in the book of Revelation as well. But here it is, Deuteronomy 12, verse 32. Look what God says. Deuteronomy 12, verse 32. God says, "What thing soever I command you, observe to do it."
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"Thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it." Ain't that simple? God said, "Whenever I command you, you observe to do it. But you don't add to it, and you don't take from it." So you and I do not take the attitude, "Well, we maintain what is not forbidden." No. We take the attitude, we throw out everything except for that which we have biblical warrant to maintain because that way we're giving due regard to the truth.
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Let me give you another observation before we go further. If worshipping God in truth has reference to worshipping Him in the totality of the revelation that He's given of Himself, one of the best ways to prepare yourself and to promote true worship is through a regular, systematic, expository preaching and teaching of the truth. And by the way, that would go for your personal study as well. You know what I do?
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I read through the Old Testament. I read through the New Testament. When I finish, I go back and I start all over again. And I read all the genealogies. I read all the hard passages. I try to pronounce all the hard names. Trying to read it all over and over and over and over. And you know something, pretty soon, some of it begins to soak in.
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Now, I've got news for you, folks. Expository preaching is the hardest of all preaching. But it's the best. And it's where you learn most of the Word of God. You know what can happen? I can tell you how I can have 500 people in a building in just a matter of months. You know how I can do that? By entertaining them. All I've got to do is preach a short 20-30 minute message, fill it full of jokes and humor and entertainment, and have me a good band up here, or good music, you know, that's all! Folks will flock to that. But you start preaching and expounding the truth of God, explaining the Scripture, now listen, and applying the Scripture, and expect the people to obey the Scripture, and all of a sudden they don't want any part of that. I believe that's why the Lord looked at His disciples and said, "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." So if we're going to worship God in truth, we have to have due regard to the totality of truth.
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Now secondly today, and listen carefully, if we're worshiping God in truth, we must worship Him in a context that gives peculiar regard to the revelation of God in Christ. Now I told you earlier that the word true is used several different ways, and it's the context that determines how the word is used. Usually when we think about true, we think about true as opposed to false. Right? Well, when our Lord said, "I am the true vine," what was He saying? All others are false. When He said, "I am the true bread," what is He saying? All others are false. When He said, "I am the true door," all others are false. There is true as opposed to false. But the word true is also used in a different way. You say, "How's that?" Well, look in your Bibles, if you would, to John chapter 6, John chapter 6.
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And let me show you. Verse 27, and then we're going to go back to John 4 and then come back to John 6. Look in John 6, if you would please, and verse 27. Look at what our Lord said. He tells His disciples, "Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed." Labour not for the meat that perisheth. Now, go back to John chapter 4.
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You remember the woman at the well. His disciples, by the way, have gone away to buy meat while He is witnessing to this woman. And in John 4 and verse 31, the Bible says, "In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat." Watch. "But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of." Well, they had brought Him physical food. They said, "Master, eat something here." He said, "I've got meat to eat that you know not of." Look in verse 34. "Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work." Now, what is the true, substantial meat for Christ?
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It is the will of God. Now look in John 6 and verse 35. John 6, verse 35, once again, "Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst." And then He said in verse 27, "Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life."
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Now, let me ask you a question. How many of us can live very long without eating? Some a lot longer than others. I understand that. But you know as well as I do, if we do not eat physically, we die. What does our Lord say? Our Lord is saying the physical food is a type, is a shadow of reality, and the real bread of life, the substance, the substantiality is in Christ Himself. It is His life. It is His salvation. Now, I want you to understand that there is a true as opposed to the shadow or the type. Let me just ask you, think about this. Was there true worship in the Old Testament?
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And the answer is yes. And the answer is no. The answer is yes, there was true worship in the Old Testament, in that they worshipped according to the limited revelation that God had given them. But the answer is no, because it was not the full and final revelation which we have now in Jesus Christ. So when Abel worshipped God in Genesis 4, did he worship Him in truth? Yes. A limited truth, but he worshipped Him in truth. A little bit later on, when Abraham worshipped God, did Abraham worship Him in truth? And the answer is yes. But not in the way that we worship Him in the New Testament, and I'll explain that a little bit later. When they worshipped God in the tabernacle, when they worshipped God later on in the temple, did they worship Him in truth? And the answer is yes, in light of the limited revelation they had, but you've got to remember now that all of those things in the tabernacle, all of those things in the temple were mere types and shadows and emblems.
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It was not reality. It was not the substance. It was not the fullness of truth. Jesus Christ said in John 14 and verse 6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." I am the truth. Now, look in John 4. Let me show you what I'm trying to explain. John 4. Notice, if you would please, in verse 21. "Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain," that's Gerizim, "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," the hour is coming, that is future, "and now is," and yet there is a presence, "when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him." Now what is Christ saying? Christ is saying, "Look, the hour is coming, there is a future hour, when true worship is going to be in spirit and truth, and it now is."
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Why did He say that "now is"? Because I am here. At this point, He had not finished His work. But He said the finishing of this work and the worshiping of God in spirit and truth is directly related to Me. I am here now. So there's an element of worshiping in truth that is to be introduced not only at the coming of Christ, but also at the completion of His work.
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Now I've given you this verse before. I'm going to quote it and explain it one more time. John 1:17. The Bible says in John 1:17, "For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." Now here's my question. Was there no grace in the Old Testament? Why, you know there was. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Everyone who's ever saved in the Old Testament was saved by grace. Was there no truth in the Old Testament?
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Well, of course there was. Everything that God has revealed is truth, but it was not fullness of grace nor fullness of truth until Jesus Christ came, because Jesus Christ is the fullness of truth and the fullness of grace. So he says the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. So grace and truth in its full and final manifestation only came in Jesus Christ.
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Now, what am I trying to show you? I'm trying to show you that everything else in the Old Testament, around the tabernacle, around the temple was nothing more than types and emblems and shadows. Was there worship, true worship in the Old Testament? Yes. Was it worship in spirit and in truth? Yes. A limited amount of truth because the fullness of God's revelation had not been given. You know, what we do is this. We think about that tabernacle and temple worship, and I want to tell you the temple undoubtedly was magnificent. Undoubtedly.
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And if you've ever seen pictures of the attire of the high priest—oh, my soul. I mean, just the breastplate with the 12 stones. Beautiful. The miter with "Holiness to the Lord." When you think about the beauty of the temple and the beauty of the high priest, and then you think about all those physical animals that were sacrificed. I think every one of us loves to smell steak grilling.
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Boy, they had an altar and they would cook the whole cow. And then there was the incense being burned. Now, listen to me. Here's the problem with that. You could see the temple. You could smell the temple. You could taste the temple in the fact that you ate the sacrifices. You could hear what was going on. You can touch it. And we tend to think that anything that we can see and smell and hear and taste and touch, that has to be real. But it wasn't. It was not real.
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Look very quickly in your Bibles. Hebrews chapter 8. I pointed this out a little bit earlier, but let me go a little further. Hebrews chapter 8. Notice, if you would please, verse 1, Hebrews 8, verse 1.
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"Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum:" Here's the total. "We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man." Now, wait a minute. The true tabernacle was pitched by the Lord. Well, the first tabernacle was pitched by Moses, so that was not the true tabernacle. Watch verse 3. "For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer. For if he were on earth," that is Christ, "he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law: who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount." Now note if you would, God specifically says that the tabernacle and later on the temple were nothing more than shadows.
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Now if you were in the shadow of a tree, are you in the tree? No. The shadow is an emblem. It's not real. So everything there was simply the shadow. God gave Moses the direction. Look in Hebrews 9, verse 24. Hebrews 9, verse 24: "For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands," that is the tabernacle or the temple, "which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us." So once again, the tabernacle and temple is referred to as a figure. Look in Hebrews 10 verse 1.
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"For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect." For the law having, that is the ceremonial law, having a shadow of good things to come. So, all of that in the Old Testament was nothing but a type and shadow. And what we try to do is we try to reverse it. We try to say, "Boy, they really had reality back then." No, they did not have reality.
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Jesus Christ said, "The hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth," not in Jerusalem, not in Gerizim, but in spirit and in truth. That is, we will worship Him at the throne of His grace. Look in your Bibles to Hebrews 4, since you're there. Hebrews 4. And look, if you would please, at verse 14. Hebrews 4, verse 14.
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"Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession." Or our confession. "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." I want you to note we do not come to the type. We do not come to the shadow or to the emblem. We come boldly to the throne of grace.
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Not in the physical sense, but in the spiritual sense. I pointed out before, there was no Israelite in the Old Testament that could run into the Holy of Holies anytime he wanted to. He could not run into the very presence of God. Even the high priest only went in once a year, and that was not without the shedding of blood. But now the Bible tells us we may come boldly to the throne of grace.
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Now, look in your Bibles to 1 Peter. Just turn over a couple of books. Hebrews, James, 1 Peter. Look in 1 Peter 2 and verse 5. In 1 Peter 2 and verse 5, the Bible tells us, "Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." Now, notice the Bible says we are kept by the power of God. Now, look, if you would please, in 1 Peter chapter 1, beginning there with verse 18. He says, "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." Ah, skip down to 1 Peter 2 and verse 5, "Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house."
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We've been redeemed with truth now, with truth, the true sacrifice, Jesus Christ, "an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." Now, what kind of sacrifices does God want now? Not a physical sacrifice, but a spiritual sacrifice. Why? Because we have been redeemed by the blood of Christ, by the true sacrifice, and therefore we are to give unto Him spiritual sacrifices, note, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
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Look back in your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 15. Hebrews 13 and verse 15. Hebrews 13, verse 15. Watch carefully. "By him"—that is by Jesus Christ—"by him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name." What kind of sacrifice do we give Him? We give Him the sacrifice of praise. Now, help me out.
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You don't have to turn there. But Romans 12:1-2, what did the Apostle Paul say? "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."
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Now do you see, in this new covenant, since we have been redeemed, not with the blood of bulls and goats, but with the blood of Christ, we now offer unto Him a spiritual sacrifice. We offer Him the fruit of our lips. We give Him worship in spirit and in truth. There are no vestments. There are no incense burners. The only thing we do is we praise Him. We give Him the sacrifice of praise through the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Now, our Lord says, "They that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth."
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Do you realize the book of Hebrews is actually an expansion of John 4, verses 19-26? In fact, the word "better" is the key word in the book of Hebrews. And don't follow me, I'll just quote them for you. But in Hebrews 1 and verse 4, the Bible talks about Christ being better than the angels. In Hebrews 6 and verse 9, we have better things. In Hebrews 7 and verse 19, we have a better hope. In Hebrews 7 and verse 22, we have a better testament. In Hebrews 8 and verse 6, we have a better covenant. In Hebrews 8 and verse 6, we have a better promise. In Hebrews 9 and verse 23, we have a better sacrifice. In Hebrews 10 and verse 34, we have a better and enduring substance. In Hebrews 11 and verse 16, we have a better country. In Hebrews 12 and verse 24, we have better things. Everything is better in the New Covenant than it was in the Old Covenant because the Old Covenant did not have the fulfillment of the person and work of Jesus Christ.
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We have the distinct and definite advantage over anyone who ever lived in the Old Covenant. Now, let me make just a couple of applications. I want you to think about this. Look back in your Bibles. Hebrews chapter 8. Hebrews 8. Let's read it again. Let's look in verse 6 through 8. After he talks about the tabernacle and the temple being types and shadows, he says in verse 6, "But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah." And then he talks about the covenant, but note, if you would, this second covenant is built upon a better ministry. It's a better covenant upon better promises.
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Now, are you listening? To go back to any part of those Old Testament types and shadows is to dig up what God has buried and to change the light of the sun for the light of a candle. Why would anyone want to go back to a type, to an emblem, to a shadow when you have a reality? Why would you want to light your house with a candle when you could open your windows and let the light of the sun in? And yet you look at all the people, all the cults who want to go back to the type and to the shadow and to the emblem instead of rejoicing in and holding on to the reality.
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Now let me make a point. And I'm going to show it to you from scripture. Go ahead and open your Bibles to Hebrews 13. I want you to see this. This ought to shake every one of us. Are you listening? Those who want the types and the shadows and the emblems really and truly have no right to Jesus Christ. You said, "Pastor, how can you say that?" Well, look at Hebrews 13 and verse 10. Look what the author of the book of Hebrews said. "We have an altar." Watch, "We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle." What's he saying? If you want the type, if you want the emblem, if you want the shadow, you have no right to the reality. Now, listen to me.
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Let me ask you a question. Now, I want you to think about this. Is there an altar in a local church? Well, let me ask that another way. Is there such a thing as a physical altar in a local church? You always hear people say, "We want you to come down here to the altar." Would you think with me just for a moment on this? Was Moses out in the wilderness and the people getting upset and frustrated and discouraged? And he says, "You know, I think what I'll do is build a tabernacle and build an altar, and that way we'll get everybody together." Is that how the tabernacle came around? Is that how the altar came to be built?
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No, we read it in Scripture a while ago. The tabernacle and the altar was not Moses's idea. It was originated with God. Now watch. There had to be, first of all, a divine revelation for that altar. Are you listening? Secondly, there was a divine pattern given to Moses. He said, "See that thou make it according to the pattern given thee in the mount." Thirdly, it was built out of divine materials. Moses could not build that altar out of anything he wanted to. He had to build it out of the materials that God ordained. And fourthly, when there was a physical altar, the only place you could really worship and sacrifice to God was at that altar. Nowhere else. Now, when somebody tries to tell me there is an altar in a local church, I want to see the divine revelation for it. I want to see the divine pattern for it. I want to see the divinely commanded materials for it. And then if you tell me it's there, then the only place you can worship God is that physical altar.
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Now, what did the tabernacle have? A physical altar. What did the temple have? A physical altar. But why does the author of the book of Hebrews say we have an altar? Because Jesus Christ is our altar. Because Christ is our altar, we may worship Him wherever and whenever. Grace may now be mediated to anyone, anywhere, at any time, because Jesus Christ is our altar. Are you listening? We do not have a physical altar, but we have a real spiritual altar, Jesus Christ. We do not have a special physical priest, but we have a great priest who is Jesus Christ. We do not have an unbloody sacrifice, but we have a real sacrifice, which is Jesus Christ. We do not have a physical tabernacle or a physical temple, but we have a real tabernacle, the real temple, which is Jesus Christ.
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Everything in the Old Testament was types. Shadows.
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Now we have a reality. Let me show you. Do you realize this has such practical applications?
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Now, I am for doing things right. And I want the best for our Lord, certainly, there's no problem there. But have you ever noticed all the multi-million dollar buildings that are being built for church buildings? You know, the funny thing to me, Alice and I have passed some of the most magnificent buildings in our travels. And I know some of those church buildings alone, 15, 20 million bucks or more. Unhappily, most of them only use one or two days a week, anyhow.
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All that money, and here are these huge stained glass windows. And these big expensive organs and Steinway pianos. Now are you listening? If you need a stained glass window and a Steinway piano and a deep-throated organ to worship, something's wrong with you.
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Now, if God in His providence allowed us to have something similar to that without debt, that'd be one thing. And if we could maintain a ministry, that would be a horse of a different color. I've got news for you folks. If the reality of Jesus Christ, if the reality of Him being our great High Priest, if the reality of Him being seated at the right hand of God the Father interceding for us, if the reality of His blood atonement, of His sacrificial sacrifice, of His perfect, total forgiveness, His greatness, His majesty, His
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deity, if that doesn't stir your heart, if that doesn't move you, no $40,000 stained glass window will ever move you. You understand what I'm saying? Reality is not in buildings. Reality is in Christ. The early church worshipped wonderfully well without a special building. They met in the homes. Because it was unlawful for them to even meet. But yet they met. You see, the point I'm trying to make is this.
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If a seeking Father has found us, if a seeking Father has made us His child by His marvelous grace, all we need is Him. You see, all true and acceptable worship is permeated with the consciousness of what Jesus Christ has done for us. Look back in your Bibles, Hebrews 10. Hebrews 10, verse 19. You should memorize these passages. Hebrews 10, verse 19, "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; and having an high priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true
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heart in full assurance of faith." What is it? And who is it that enables us to draw near? It's the person and work of Jesus Christ. Do you realize the only reason you and I are here today is because of Jesus Christ? The only reason we're saved is because of Jesus Christ. The only reason we understand anything is because of Jesus Christ. The only reason we can worship is because of Jesus Christ. So when we come to worship, what do we do? It's true, we plop our bodies down in these chairs, but our spirits are to be stirred.
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Our minds are to be engaged. Our affections are to be elevated. We're to think upon God and the truth that He's revealed of Himself in His Word. And we're to meditate upon and contemplate on the living truth Jesus Christ, who is the full and final revelation of God. He is reality. He said, "I am the true bread." Not just true as opposed to false, but true as opposed to shadow and emblem and type and figure. He is reality. Let's pray. Father, we thank Thee today for Jesus Christ, for the truth that You have revealed in Him. We're thankful for Your Word, the written Word. And we pray, Father, that You would indeed enable us to bless Thee with all that is within us. Give us grace to serve Thee acceptably with reverence and godly fear. May we worship Thee in spirit and in truth. In Christ's name we pray, Amen.
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Acceptable Worship - Part 5

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

John Weaver continues his series on acceptable worship by expounding what it means to worship God 'in truth' from John 4:19-26. He argues that worship in truth involves due regard to the written Word of God (the totality of Scripture) and peculiar regard to the living Word, Jesus Christ, who is the full and final revelation of God. Weaver emphasizes that true worship is bounded by the objective truth of Scripture, that nothing should be introduced into worship without biblical warrant, and that New Covenant worship is spiritual, centered on Christ as the reality to which all Old Testament types and shadows pointed.

Introduction and Review

Well, let's open our Bible today to John chapter 4. John chapter 4. And we'll begin with verse 19 and pick up where we left off. John chapter 4 and verse 19:

Scripture Reading — John 4:19-26

"The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain, and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus said 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 worshippers 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. The woman saith unto him, I know that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ." "When he is come, he will teach us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he."

Scripture Reading — Philippians 3:3

So therefore, if we worship God aright, we must worship Him not only as the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Father of believers in the marvels of His grace, but we also must worship Him as He who is spirit. And then I pointed out how that had an implication for us. That is, if we worship God, as Scripture says, we must worship Him in spirit and in truth. Do you remember the passage in Philippians 3 and verse 3, where the Apostle Paul says that we are the true Israel, who what? Who worship God in spirit, have no confidence in the flesh, and rejoice in Christ Jesus. So I want you to understand that true worship is a direct fruit of the person and work of Jesus Christ. And when we talk about worship, I want you to understand that worship is absolutely essential. It is not a non-essential item. Look what our Lord says in verse 23: "But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth."

Worship in Truth: General Definition

Worship in truth means that every passion and disposition of the heart is guided and regulated by the Word of God, bringing everything into conformity with Scripture.

And here's what he said:

Scripture Reading — Romans 3:1-2

"What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God."

The Written Word as Truth

And here's what he said:

Scripture Reading — Romans 3:1-2

"What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God."

And here it is plainly stated again. Romans chapter 9. He says in verse 3:

Scripture Reading — Romans 9:3-5

"For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh."

Now he's going to tell you who they are:

Scripture Reading — Romans 9:3-5

"Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen."

Scripture Reading — John 17:17

"Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth."

Scripture Reading — 2 Timothy 3:16-17

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works."

Now watch what he said. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God." So that's the written Word. Now let me quote John 1:1-3.

Scripture Reading — John 1:1-3, 14

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made."

Now, what word is that being talked about in John 1:1-3? Someone tell me. Christ. Now, when you get to verse 14,

Scripture Reading — John 1:1-3, 14

"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us."

Scripture Reading — Colossians 1:5; 2 Timothy 2:15

And when I say that, I mean the whole, the totality of Scripture. Now the Bible refers to the Scriptures as the Word of Truth. You'll find that in Colossians 1 and verse 5. You'll find it in 2 Timothy 2 and verse 15. He said, "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." So the Bible is the word of truth. Now, watch this. Let me try to tie these things together for you. So when you come into this building to worship God in spirit, that means when you plop your bodies down in these chairs, what you do is this. Well, all right, I've got my body in the right spot. I should be here. But now my spirit must be actively engaged. My mind must be actively engaged. My will must be actively engaged.

Scripture Reading — 2 Timothy 2:7

"Consider what I say."

Scripture Reading — John 3:16, 36

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 28:9

"He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination."

The Regulative Principle of Worship

Nothing must be introduced into worship without biblical warrant. God commands that we neither add to nor diminish from His instructions (Deuteronomy 12:32).

The Role of Expository Preaching

Regular, systematic expository preaching and personal Bible study are essential for promoting true worship by grounding believers in the truth.

Worship in Truth: Peculiar Regard to Christ

Worship in truth also means giving peculiar regard to Jesus Christ, who is the truth incarnate and the full and final revelation of God, the reality to which all Old Testament types pointed.

Scripture Reading — John 6:27, 35

"Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed."

It was not reality. It was not the substance. It was not the fullness of truth. Jesus Christ said in John 14 and verse 6,

Scripture Reading — John 14:6

"I am the way, the truth, and the life."

Now I've given you this verse before. I'm going to quote it and explain it one more time. John 1:17. The Bible says in John 1:17,

Scripture Reading — John 1:17

"For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ."

Old Testament Worship as Shadow

Old Testament worship, with its tabernacle, temple, and sacrifices, was a shadow and type. True worship in spirit and truth is now possible through Christ, who is the substance.

New Covenant Worship: Spiritual Sacrifices

Believers now offer spiritual sacrifices of praise through Jesus Christ, who is our altar, high priest, and sacrifice. We have bold access to the throne of grace.

The Superiority of the New Covenant

The book of Hebrews demonstrates that everything in the New Covenant is better because of Christ. To return to types and shadows is to reject the reality.

Christ as the True Altar

There is no physical altar in the church; Christ is our altar. True worship is not dependent on buildings or externals but on the reality of Christ's person and work.

Everything in the Old Testament was types. Shadows. Now we have a reality. Let me show you. Do you realize this has such practical applications?

Conclusion: Drawing Near Through Christ

All acceptable worship is permeated with the consciousness of what Christ has done. We draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith because of Him.

Acceptable Worship - Part 5

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	122903113326
Subject	Church Government
Course	Church Order: Worship, Sacraments, and the Lord's Supper
Genre	Sermon
Date	2003-12-21
Dictation Name
Book	Book 167: Acceptable Worship — Chapter 5
Source Timed Segments	91

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction and Review: Weaver reviews the series, emphasizing that acceptable worship is commanded and must be in spirit and in truth. He recaps the proper object of worship (God as Father and Spirit) and the inward, subjective requirement of worshiping in spirit.
Worship in Truth: General Definition: Worship in truth means that every passion and disposition of the heart is guided and regulated by the Word of God, bringing everything into conformity with Scripture.
The Written Word as Truth: The Bible is the Word of Truth. Worship must give due regard to the totality of Scripture, as God is only known as He has revealed Himself. Neglecting or perverting the Word renders worship unacceptable.
The Regulative Principle of Worship: Nothing must be introduced into worship without biblical warrant. God commands that we neither add to nor diminish from His instructions (Deuteronomy 12:32).
The Role of Expository Preaching: Regular, systematic expository preaching and personal Bible study are essential for promoting true worship by grounding believers in the truth.
Worship in Truth: Peculiar Regard to Christ: Worship in truth also means giving peculiar regard to Jesus Christ, who is the truth incarnate and the full and final revelation of God, the reality to which all Old Testament types pointed.
Old Testament Worship as Shadow: Old Testament worship, with its tabernacle, temple, and sacrifices, was a shadow and type. True worship in spirit and truth is now possible through Christ, who is the substance.
New Covenant Worship: Spiritual Sacrifices: Believers now offer spiritual sacrifices of praise through Jesus Christ, who is our altar, high priest, and sacrifice. We have bold access to the throne of grace.
The Superiority of the New Covenant: The book of Hebrews demonstrates that everything in the New Covenant is better because of Christ. To return to types and shadows is to reject the reality.
Christ as the True Altar: There is no physical altar in the church; Christ is our altar. True worship is not dependent on buildings or externals but on the reality of Christ's person and work.
Conclusion: Drawing Near Through Christ: All acceptable worship is permeated with the consciousness of what Christ has done. We draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith because of Him.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

Worship must be regulated by the totality of Scripture

Because God is as He has revealed Himself in the whole Bible, worship that neglects or perverts any part of His revelation is defective and unacceptable.

Weaver says: 'The only God that exists is the God of Scripture, and He is as He has revealed Himself... to the degree then that we neglect and reject or pervert the word of God, to that degree, worship is unacceptable.'

The regulative principle is biblical

Deuteronomy 12:32 commands not to add or diminish from God's commands, implying that worship elements must have explicit biblical warrant.

Weaver quotes Deuteronomy 12:32: 'What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.'

Expository preaching is essential for true worship

Systematic teaching of the whole counsel of God equips believers to worship in truth by knowing God as He has revealed Himself.

Weaver states: 'one of the best ways to prepare yourself and to promote true worship is through a regular, systematic, expository preaching and teaching of the truth.'

Christ is the full and final revelation of God

John 1:17 teaches that grace and truth came in their fullness through Jesus Christ, making Him the ultimate object of worship and the lens through which we approach God.

Weaver explains: 'grace and truth in its full and final manifestation only came in Jesus Christ.'

Old Testament worship was typological and temporary

The tabernacle, temple, and sacrifices were shadows pointing to Christ; now that He has come, worship is in spirit and truth, not tied to physical locations or rituals.

Weaver cites Hebrews 8:5 and 10:1: 'the law having a shadow of good things to come... all of that in the Old Testament was nothing but a type and shadow.'

Believers offer spiritual sacrifices through Christ

Because Christ is the true sacrifice, believers now offer spiritual sacrifices of praise, not physical ones, as their reasonable service.

Weaver references 1 Peter 2:5 and Romans 12:1-2: 'we now offer unto Him a spiritual sacrifice... the fruit of our lips.'

Returning to types denies the sufficiency of Christ

Those who cling to Old Testament shadows have no right to Christ, according to Hebrews 13:10, because they reject the reality.

Weaver quotes Hebrews 13:10: 'We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.'

True worship is independent of physical structures

Since Christ is the true temple and altar, worship can occur anywhere and does not require elaborate buildings or instruments.

Weaver argues: 'We do not have a physical altar, but we have a real spiritual altar, Jesus Christ... Reality is not in buildings. Reality is in Christ.'

Scripture References

John 4:19-26: The primary text for the sermon, where Jesus teaches the Samaritan woman about worship in spirit and truth.
Philippians 3:3: Paul describes true believers as those who worship God in spirit, have no confidence in the flesh, and rejoice in Christ.
Ephesians 2:1: Used to show that spiritual life is necessary for worship; we were dead in trespasses and sins.
John 15:5: Without Christ we can do nothing, including worship; we must be spiritually assisted.
Psalm 103:1: David's call to bless the Lord with all that is within him illustrates worship in the totality of one's being.
Romans 1:9: Paul served God in his spirit, showing that the spirit motivates bodily worship and service.
Romans 3:1-2: The Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God, giving them the truth that others lacked.
Romans 9:3-5: Israelites received the adoption, glory, covenants, law, service, and promises; Christ came from them according to the flesh.
John 17:17: Jesus prayed, 'Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth,' linking truth directly to Scripture.
2 Timothy 3:16-17: All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness.
John 1:1-3, 14: Jesus is the living Word who became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.
John 12:48: Jesus equates rejecting Him with rejecting His words; the written and living Word are inseparable.
Colossians 1:5; 2 Timothy 2:15: The Scriptures are called the word of truth; we are to rightly divide it.
2 Timothy 2:7: Paul tells Timothy to consider what he says, and the Lord will give understanding; the mind must be engaged.
John 3:16, 36: Both God's love and His wrath are true; we must worship God as He is revealed in the totality of Scripture.
Proverbs 28:9: If one turns away from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination, showing that neglect of the Word corrupts worship.
Deuteronomy 12:32: God commands not to add to or diminish from His commands, establishing the regulative principle for worship.
John 6:27, 35: Jesus is the true bread of life; the physical is a shadow, and Christ is the substance.
John 14:6: Jesus declares, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life,' identifying Himself as the embodiment of truth.
John 1:17: The law came through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ, indicating the fullness of revelation in Him.

Historical References

Martin Luther's struggle with God's holiness and love: Weaver uses Luther as an example of someone who initially could not reconcile God's justice with His love, illustrating the need for a full biblical view of God.
The Reformation and the regulative principle (Luther vs. Zwingli): Weaver contrasts Luther's view (whatever is not forbidden is allowed) with Zwingli's view (only what is commanded is allowed), arguing for the latter.
A preacher in Florida who brought a baby elephant into the church: An illustration of the absurdity that results from the 'whatever is not forbidden' approach to worship.
Ralph Venning's book 'The Plague of Plagues': Weaver recommends this Puritan work on the doctrine of sin to help believers understand the depth of their sin and thus be more thankful for salvation.

Important Quotes

to worship in truth means that we worship with every passion, with every disposition of our heart, that the totality of our worship is guided and regulated by the Word of God.

Defines the core concept of worship in truth as being bounded by Scripture.

He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.

Key verse (Proverbs 28:9) showing that neglect of God's Word makes worship unacceptable.

grace and truth in its full and final manifestation only came in Jesus Christ.

Summarizes the argument that Christ is the fullness of truth, surpassing Old Testament shadows.

To go back to any part of those Old Testament types and shadows is to dig up what God has buried and to change the light of the sun for the light of a candle.

Powerful metaphor warning against reintroducing ceremonial elements into worship.

We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.

Hebrews 13:10, used to argue that clinging to types forfeits the reality of Christ.

all true and acceptable worship is permeated with the consciousness of what Jesus Christ has done for us.

Concluding summary of the Christ-centered nature of worship.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

What does it mean practically for our worship to be 'guided and regulated by the Word of God'?

[Context]

Weaver defines worship in truth as being bounded by Scripture.

[Question]

How does the regulative principle (only doing what Scripture commands in worship) protect the church from error?

[Context]

Weaver contrasts the Lutheran and Zwinglian views and argues for the latter.

[Question]

In what ways might we be tempted to neglect or pervert the Word of God in our worship today?

[Context]

Weaver warns that worship becomes unacceptable in proportion to our neglect of Scripture.

[Question]

Why is expository preaching essential for promoting true worship?

[Context]

Weaver argues that systematic teaching of the whole counsel of God equips believers to worship in truth.

[Question]

How does understanding Old Testament worship as shadow and type deepen our appreciation for New Covenant worship?

[Context]

Weaver explains that Christ is the reality to which all shadows pointed.

[Question]

What are some modern examples of 'going back to types and shadows' in worship?

[Context]

Weaver warns against reintroducing ceremonial elements and relying on external aids.

[Question]

How does the truth that Christ is our altar, priest, and sacrifice change the way we approach God in worship?

[Context]

Weaver emphasizes that we have bold access to the throne of grace through Christ.

[Question]

What does it look like to offer 'spiritual sacrifices' of praise in our daily lives?

[Context]

Weaver references Hebrews 13:15 and Romans 12:1-2 about offering the fruit of our lips and our bodies as living sacrifices.

Applications

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