Exodus: Bondage, Deliverance, and Passover: As Yet

Spontaneous Worship - Part 1 of 2

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Old Testament Studies

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2017-02-15

Synopsis: Pastor John Weaver introduces the concept of spontaneous worship, defined as worship given apart from stated public or private times, in recognition of God's goodness, mercy, and grace. Using Genesis 24:26 as the first biblical occurrence, he examines four Old Testament examples where individuals bowed and worshiped in response to God's providence, deliverance, and revelation of His character. He emphasizes that true worship must be in spirit and truth, through Jesus Christ, and that bowing symbolizes humility and submission, contrasting with the stiff neck of rebellion. Applications include cultivating a habit of spontaneous praise and maintaining a humble posture before God.

[John Weaver] Open our Bibles today to the book of Genesis chapter 24, and we're going to read verse 26. We will come back and pick up the context just a little bit later. Genesis 24 and verse 26. The title of the message in which I will be the same title next week because it is going to take me two weeks to finish the message is what I am going to call spontaneous worship or bowing and worship. So if you look in Genesis 24 and verse 26 the Bible just simply says, and the man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord. Worship is a word that is frequently heard especially among professing Christians. However, many who profess to worship the One True and the Living God really and truly do not worship Him. And those who often times profess to worship Him do not worship Him acceptably. The only way that you can actually worship the One True and the Living God in truth is through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ. And the amazing thing is the Scripture teaches us unless we are worshipping Him through the Lord Jesus Christ in reality we end up worshipping devils.

[John Weaver] For instance if you will hold Genesis 24 but look in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 10, 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and look at verses 20 and 21. 1 Corinthians 10 and verse 20 and 21 the Apostle Paul writes this, 1 Corinthians 10 verse 20, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, that is the unsaved, they sacrifice to devils and not to God. And I would not that you should have fellowship with devils. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of the devils. You cannot be partaker of the Lord's table and of the table of devils. The Apostle Paul is saying basically unless you are worshipping the One True and Living God and worshipping the way He is revealed, you end up worshipping devils.

[John Weaver] I said sometimes you worship unacceptably. Unacceptable worship is a failure to worship God in spirit and in truth. One may not worship God any way that he pleases. No, you must worship God according to the order in which He is laid down. Just think of the Old Testament. No one just came running into the tabernacle and did what they wanted to, and no one just came into the temple and did what they wanted to. No, there was a stated order. And God's stated order is found in John chapter 4, and that is His boundaries in worship are spirit and truth. For He said in John 4, But the hour cometh, and now He is, the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship Him." And then when you get to verse 24 he says this,"'For God is spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.' So the true and acceptable worship of God is bounded on the one hand by truth and on the other hand by spirit."

[John Weaver] Now we could say in one sense of the word that everybody worships. And they just simply do not worship the One True and the Living God, nor do they worship acceptably, but everybody worships in one sense of the word, because they either worship devils, or they worship self, or power, or money, or something. They just simply do not worship God as He is revealed in Scripture. But now as Christians we always talk about public and private worship.

[John Weaver] And of course the Lord demands both. We worship the Lord publicly and congregationally on Sunday, which is the day of our Lord's resurrection. And I've said this innumerable times, and I want to say it again. Easter is not just celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead on the first day of the week each Sunday. is a fresh celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Ok? So we worship Him publicly and congregationally on Sunday which is the day of His resurrection. But we also engage in private worship, often times in our homes, in our places of business, as we travel. However, one of the problems is so many people often times confuse the means of worship with worship itself. Now it is true that the means of worship are an integral part of worship. When we talk about the means of worship we are talking about prayer, we are talking about study of the Word of God, preaching the Word of God, expounding the Word of God.

[John Weaver] And yes these are means in worship and they are an integral part of it, but worship is more than that. Worship is when the entirety of our beings are engaged in giving our Lord praise, and honor, and adoration, it is when we submit to Him and recognize Him. I want you to turn in your Bibles, holding Genesis 24, we are coming back there, but look in your Bibles to Psalm 103, and let's begin reading there with verse 1. And you will get the idea what I'm talking about when I'm saying that real worship involves the entirety of our beings, especially our spirit and truth, because those are the two boundaries that God has laid down. But in Psalm 103 verse 1, look what David says, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within not just part of me, not a little bit of me, but bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name." So here we have the entirety of the being involved in God's worship, I would call it the spirit or man's spirit.

[John Weaver] Then he says in verse 2, bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits. So now the mind is engaged in worship. And then he lists some of these benefits, who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases, who redeemeth thy life from destruction, who crowneth thee with loving kindnesses and tender mercies, who satisfieth thy mouth with good things, so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's. So when David begins to worship the Lord he is engaged in his spirit. But he is also engaged in his mind.

[John Weaver] So he is not just sitting idly by doing nothing or dreaming about what he has got to do the coming week or what he did the past week. His mind is engaged on the goodness of God and the mercy of God and the grace of God. So it is just like when we sit here and we are saying, well we have come to worship the Lord, but we should be thinking and meditating upon the truth that is being expounded taught.

[John Weaver] Now let me quote a passage and then I want you to turn to Hebrews chapter 13. In fact go ahead and turn to Hebrews 13 and I'm going to quote the passage and I want you to listen carefully. The passage is from Jeremiah 33 and verse 11. Jeremiah 33 and verse 11 the Bible says, The voice of joy, the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, the voice of the bride, and of them that shall say, Praise the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for His mercy endureth forever, and of them shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord. So here are people who are praising the Lord. says they are going to bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord. Now look at Hebrews 13 and verse 15, the Bible says, by Him, that is by God the Father, by Him, or I'm sorry the Lord Jesus Christ, by Him the Lord Jesus Christ therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually that is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to

[John Weaver] His name. So it's by Jesus Christ that we're to offer the sacrifice of praise to God the Father continually. And he tells you specifically what the sacrifice of praise is. That is the fruit of our lips giving thanks unto his name.

[John Weaver] Now, when we talk about public and private worship, we have stated seasons. for worshiping God public and usually worshiping God privately as well. And that is good because God is a God of order. We could not worship publicly and congregationally if we did not have an order, if we did not agree to meet at a certain time in a certain place. If everybody just came and went as they pleased then there would not be any congregational worship, it might be individual. You can also have stated seasons at home. But the Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 14 and verse 40, let everything be done decently in order. Why? Because God is a God of order.

[John Weaver] But we are also commanded in Hebrews 10 and verse 25, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but so much the more exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching. So God commands us to assemble ourselves together praise Him and to exhort each other.

[John Weaver] Now we are talking about public worship and we are talking about private worship. There is another aspect of worship which I believe that has been extremely neglected not only by preachers but by Christians in general. And that is what I am going to call either spontaneous worship or just simply bowing and worshiping. Spontaneous worship is that worship which is given apart from the public and the private worship. It is worship that is given in recognition of God's goodness, and God's mercy, and God's grace. Now in one sense of the word it could be included as an aspect of private worship because you are doing it privately. But on the other hand There are no necessarily stated times for it, so therefore it can be spontaneous worship as well, or what I would just simply call bowing and worship. So let me give you what I'm going to call the classic illustration of spontaneous worship, or bowing and worship.

[John Weaver] I want you to look in your Bible, so Luke chapter 17, Luke chapter 17, and let's begin reading there with verse 11. Luke 17 and verse 11, and we will read through verse 17. Luke 17, verse 11, And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off.

[John Weaver] And they lifted up their voices and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy upon us. And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go, show yourselves unto the priests. It came to pass that as they went they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks.

[John Weaver] And he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?

[John Weaver] Now usually when this passage is preached upon the focus is upon the nine who were ungrateful, unthankful, and unappreciative. And I might add probably rightly so because most people take all of God's blessings and all of God's benefits and never think one thing about Him and just assume that God owes us all of these things. seldom do we focus upon this one who turned back and gave the Lord spontaneous worship.

[John Weaver] Remember He fell on His face and He praised Him, and He thanked Him. Now leprosy was a disease that cut men off from their families, from society, and from worship. You remember they had to have something over their mouths, over their lips, and if they saw anyone coming they had to cry, unclean, unclean, and just stay away. You remember the four lepers there in Samaria, how did they live? They lived off the garbage that was thrown over the wall.

[John Weaver] They could not go into the city. So leprosy was nothing more than a slow agonizing death is what it amounted to. And so when this man was cleansed, when he was miraculously and marvelously healed, he turned around and went back and fell on his face and worshiped and gave him thanks and praise.

[John Weaver] Now, let me mention something to you. I've heard people ask me, do you believe in healing? And I say, yes, because everybody has been sick and has gotten well. And then they say, but I mean, do you believe in divine healing? And I say, yes, because all healing is divine. Now, when I say that, let me explain. What I mean by this is I know that God can sovereignly and powerfully and miraculously heal someone just like He did this leper. I understand that. But do you realize when you and I get sick and we take herbs, or vitamins, or home remedies, or alternative medicine, or even prescription medicine, if we get well it is only because God has blessed the means. If God did not bless the means then we would not be healed at all.

[John Weaver] Jesus Christ is indeed the Great Physician. He is the Great Healer. And how many times have you and I been healed and we've never thanked God at all. We've been healed of the flu, of viruses, of colds, sinus infections, other maladies. and very seldom do we bow our head and worship. And I would like to say, how dare we take all of the blessings of God and never thank Him, and never acknowledge that it is all from Him.

[John Weaver] I'm not sure that you're aware of this, but I'm going to tell you that one of the names of God in Scripture is Jehovah-Rabbah, and it literally means the Lord that heals you will find that in Exodus chapter 15 and verse 26, the Lord that heals. So yes all healing comes from the Lord.

[John Weaver] Now when we are talking about bowing in worship that is exactly what this Samaritan did in Luke chapter 17. But the very first time it occurs in the Bible is back in Genesis 24 and verse 26.

[John Weaver] Now let me just read it again, and the man bowed down his head and worshiped the the Lord." Bowing and worshiping or spontaneous worship is revealed many times in Scripture. We are going to look at four of those passages today and the rest of them next Lord's Day Lord willing. But the very first occurrence of it takes place here in Genesis chapter 24. In Genesis 24 Abraham sends his servant Eliezer to get a wife for his son Isaac. And the interesting thing is when you read Genesis chapter 24 Eliezer identifies himself like this, I am Abraham's servant. He never even calls his own name, he just says, I am Abraham's servant. You say, well how do you know his name? Well because back in Genesis chapter 15 and verse 2, Abram said to the Lord, he said, Lord God what will thou give me seeing I go childless the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus." So the steward was the man who was in control of everything and his name was Eliezer.

[John Weaver] So if you look in Genesis 24 beginning there with verse 4 I want you to understand that Abraham gives him a charge and puts him under an oath that he would never bring Isaac back to where he came from, he had to stay in the land. So Genesis 24 notice verse 4, he says, but thou shalt go into my country, into my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac. And the servant said unto him, peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me into this land, must thou needs bring thy son again into the land from which thou camest. And Abraham said unto him, beware that thou bring not my son thither again, God of heaven, which took me from my father's house, and from the land of my kindred, in which spake unto me, and that sweared unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land. He shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence. If the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath, only bring not my son hither again."

[John Weaver] So Eleazar now has been given this charge, And so since he is the steward of the house and in control of everything, he takes ten camels and loads them down with goods to make the trip into Mesopotamia. So look in verse 10, and the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master and parted, for all the goods of his master were in his hands. and he arose and went to Mesopotamia into the city of Nahor. And he made his camels to kneel," now watch carefully, made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well of water at the time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw water.

[John Weaver] By the way, it just dawned on me when I read this passage earlier today, I told Alice it is scriptural for her to go out and water the cattle. So that's what it says. It was the time that the women go out and draw water So when it's raining and cold from now on it's her time. All right Watch if you would verse 12 and so Eleazar prays and he said O Lord God of my master Abraham I pray thee send me good speed this day and show kindness unto my master Abraham Behold, I stand here by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water. And let it come to pass that the damsel to whom I say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink, and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camel's drink also. Let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac, and thereby shall I know that thou hast showed kindness unto my master."

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to note what he asks. He says, there's going to be a lot of women coming. But the one that you've ordained, I'm going to ask her for a drink of water, and she's going to take the pitcher down and say, drink my Lord. What Eleazar was looking for was not just a beautiful woman, but a compassionate, willing, and gracious woman. And that's not all. He was also looking for a hard working woman.

[John Weaver] Now I don't know how many gallons of water it takes to water a camel, or 10 of them, but drawing water for camels could be quite an exercise. Especially when you're having to drop a bucket in the well and pull it up, and you keep doing that until those camels are full. Wow, so he said, let this be the woman that you have ordained. She gives me water, she waters my camels.

[John Weaver] Now watch verse 15, And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's with her pitcher upon her shoulder. And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her. And she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up. And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher. And she said, Drink, my lord. And she hastened, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink. And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking. and she hastened and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again into the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels. And the man wondering at her held his peace, to wit whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not.

[John Weaver] It came to pass, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden earring of a half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for hands of ten shekels weight of gold, and said, Whose daughter art thou? Tell me, I pray thee. Is there room in thy father's house for us to lodge in?" And she said unto him, I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Melchizedek, which she bared to Nahor. She said moreover unto him, We have both straw and provender enough in room to lodge in. Watch. And the man bowed down his head and worshipped the Lord. And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth, I being in the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master's brethren."

[John Weaver] Now here is an absolute remarkable incident of divine providence. Can you imagine this in your mind? Abraham in the land of Canaan, this servant takes ten camels and evidently others accompany him as well. And he travels all the way to Mesopotamia to get a wife for Isaac. There was no GPS. There was no road maps. There were no inns along the way, especially holiday inns. Just stop and think. He went into this country without an address, without a city, and God led him directly to Abraham's brother's house.

[John Weaver] And when the man saw this the Bible says he bowed his head and worshiped. In other words God had protected him, God had preserved him. I'm sure that there were robbers and thieves along the way looking for caravans. I understand that. yet when he got there he bowed his head and worshipped. And if you look in verse 48 he is giving testimony to Bethuel and to Laban and to his family and he says this, and I bowed down my head and worshipped the Lord and blessed the Lord God of my master Abraham which had led me in the right way to take my master's

[John Weaver] brother's daughter unto his son. So again he says, I bowed down and worshipped.

[John Weaver] Now here is the application, just stop and think. How many times has God providentially protected us, and preserved us, answered our prayers in a timely fashion, and in a loving and gracious way, and we fail to bow and worship. We fail to acknowledge Him. I could give illustration after illustration of how God has done things in my life, but You remember last week when the tornadoes were everywhere? And we did not have the meeting down here because of tornadoes. Do you realize just the time that I would have been going back through Adel, Georgia, after this meeting, is when a tornado went through Adel.

[John Weaver] It wiped out an entire trailer park in 15 seconds. It destroyed innumerable homes. A number of people were killed. Tornadoes also hit Albany, Georgia. One went right over one of our daughter's houses. The only thing that she suffered was there was a tree down in her road. But the other daughter, every tree in her yard almost was gone. A neighbor's tree fell on the corner of their house, took out the roof. Another tree fell on their neighbor's house. Had they been in bed, they would have been dead because a tree went right through the bedroom and put all the rafters down on the bed.

[John Weaver] So Alice and I, this was Sunday afternoon, so Alice and I Monday morning got up. I took my chainsaws and we got things together and went over there. I was absolutely astounded. You will not believe me, but it looked like an atomic bomb. had gone off. Here, on Hill Street, for miles, practically every tree was turned over, snapped in two, every telephone pole, every light pole, all the lines were down.

[John Weaver] They've already been without electricity now for a week. They say it's probably going to be nine more days before they have electricity again. And when I say trees down, I'm talking about trees in my daughter's yard, pine trees this big around. That doesn't count the oaks. It's not a tree that you can go up and cut and say, well, I'll use this firewood. No, you have to have a tractor just to pull the section that you cut away. And I got to thinking as I looked at all that, I said, Lord, thank you, not just for preserving Alice and I and the house that we live in. I mean, we got a lot of rain, but that was it. But I got to thinking, Lord even if you had spared my house and took down all the trees around it I would have had the energy or the ability to cut up everything. I mean I would have had to have help immensely.

[John Weaver] So I'm just saying stop and imagine how many times God has sovereignly protected us and we take the attitude, wow, that was my lucky day. instead of giving God the honor and glory. When this man realized God's providence he bowed and worshiped.

[John Weaver] Now let me ask you a question, why do we bow our heads when we pray? Why often times do we bow and worship? We may drop our head or we may bend over like the Orientals do sometimes and almost kiss the ground. But why do we do that? Let me give you a biblical answer. Because bowing the head symbolizes humility, submission, and servitude. Refusing to bow symbolizes and indicates rebellion, and wickedness, and pride, and arrogance, and haughtiness. Let me show you. Look in your Bibles.

[John Weaver] Deuteronomy chapter 31, 5th book in the Old Testament. Deuteronomy chapter 31, look in verse 27 at what Moses is saying to the Israelites. Numbers chapter 31 verse 27, Moses said, For I know thy rebellion, and my stiff neck Behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, you have been rebellious against the Lord. How much more after my death?" But notice if he would, he said, Behold, I know thy rebellion and thy stiff neck. I want you to turn to Jeremiah chapter 17. And as you are turning, by the way just hold Deuteronomy, but turn to Jeremiah 17 and as you are turning there let me quote Psalm 75 and verse 5. Psalm 75 and verse 5 God says, lift not up your horn on high, speak not with a stiff neck.

[John Weaver] In other words don't become an arrogant, proud, haughty, hard headed, stubborn individual. Speak not with a stiff neck. Look in Jeremiah 17 and verse 23, you want to see what it symbolizes? Here it is. He said, but they obeyed not, inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction." So what is a stiff necked individual? He is someone that won't listen. He is someone that will not submit. He is someone that is hard headed and simply does that which is wicked and wrong. If you will go back to Deuteronomy chapter 10 and notice if you would please verse 16 here is what God tells Israel. he calls them a stiff necked people. In Deuteronomy chapter 10 and verse 16 he says this,"'Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart and be no more stiff necked.'" Lord don't act like that. In 2 Chronicles chapter 30 and verse 8 here is what he said, Now be ye not stiff-necked as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the Lord, and enter into the sanctuary which he has sanctified forever, and serve the Lord your God."

[John Weaver] Notice what he said, be not stiff-necked like your fathers were, but yield yourselves. So bowing indicates submission and yielding, where being stiff-necked indicates rebellion and hardheadedness. You remember when Stephen was about to be stoned in Acts chapter 7. He was giving a history lesson of those people who were about to kill him. And finally in verse 51 he said to those people, you stiff necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears you do always resist the Holy Ghost as your fathers did so to you. So he called them stiff necked in heart and in ears.

[John Weaver] Now, Most of you probably have never heard of a man by the name of William Ernest Henley. Henley was an English poet that died from tuberculosis. In fact he had actually wrestled and struggled with TB most all of his life because he contracted it as a young man. And while he was in the hospital suffering from tuberculosis, He wrote his poem, Invictus. Invictus is the epitome of arrogance, pride, rebellion, and a stiff neck.

[John Weaver] I want you to listen. Here is his poem. Remember this is a man that is dying of TB. He finally died in 1903, but here is what he wrote. Out of the night that covers me, black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be for my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance, I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance, my head is bloody but unbowed.

[John Weaver] this place of wrath and tears looms but the horror of the shade, and yet the menace of the years finds and shall find me unafraid." Now listen, it matters not how straight the gate, how charged with punishment the scroll. I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul. Wow! Here is a prime example of one who refused to bow in worship. And that poem exhibits everything that the Word of God speaks against and condemns.

[John Weaver] It is the cry of the infidel, the atheist, and the rebel. In the early part of the 20th century Dorothea Day wrote a poem in response to Henley's poem. Hers is just called, Conquered. Here is her poem. Out of the light that dazzles me, bright as the sun from pole to pole, I thank the God that I know to be, for Jesus Christ, the conqueror of my soul. Since His the sway of circumstance, I would not wince nor cry aloud.

[John Weaver] Under the rule which men call chance, my head with joy is humbly bowed. Beyond this place of sin and tears, that life with Him and His the aid, that spite the menace of the years keeps, and will keep me unafraid. I have no fear how straight the gate. He cleared from punishment the scroll. Christ is the master of my fate. Christ is the captain of my soul."

[John Weaver] And yes, with Dorothy Day, I'd rather bow and worship. I prefer to be conquered by Jesus Christ than to sail my ship as the captain of my own fate, because without Jesus Christ I know what my own fate would be." So yes, there are plenty of reasons to bow and worship. And we bow the head because it speaks of submission, yielding, servitude, humility. I want you to look in your Bibles to Exodus chapter 4. Here is the second occurrence of bowing in worship. Exodus chapter 4, notice if you would please verse 29-31, Exodus chapter 4, here the children of Israel hear that God is going to deliver them. Exodus 4 verse 29, And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel. And Aaron spake all these words which the Lord had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people. And the people believed. And when they had heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel, and that He had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped."

[John Weaver] Deliverance is a wonderful word. News of deliverance is even better. When the children of Israel just heard that God had sent Moses and Aaron, and they just heard that God had looked upon their affliction, They bowed their heads and worshipped. They were acknowledging the goodness and the kindness and the faithfulness of God. So let me ask you this. How often has God delivered you? Just stop and think how He's delivered us physically, mentally, emotionally, financially, and above all, spiritually. So have you bowed your head and worshipped? I believe that each deliverance calls for a round of praise and worship. Even news. When you hear... I've had people come to me and say, I have good news for you. You know, the very fact, just like the news that came that God was going to deliver them, they bowed their head in worship. I'd much rather have good news than I had bad news. I've got good news.

[John Weaver] And you don't need to stand there and say, wow, this is my lucky day. No, it's not lucky. It's God's sovereign providence. And when the news comes to you, you bow and worship. How many times have we failed to give God His glory, and the glory that is due unto His name. The Bible says in Proverbs, not in Proverbs but in Psalm 29 verse 2, give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name. Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name. So the second time people bowed in worship was when they just heard that God was going to visit them. Wow. I want you to turn in your Bible to Exodus chapter 12. Here is the third instance of bowing in worship and it involves the Passover. And everybody understands the Passover, Exodus chapter 12 beginning there with verse 23, Exodus 12 verse 23, notice For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians, and when He seeth the blood upon the lintel and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door, and will not suffer the

[John Weaver] destroyer to come into your houses to smite you. And then He says this, And you shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever. And it shall come to pass when you become to the land which the Lord will give you, according as He hath promised, that you shall keep this service. shall come to pass when your children shall say unto you what mean you by this service, that you shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when He smote the Egyptians and delivered our houses, and the people bowed the head and worshipped."

[John Weaver] Now let me tell you something, news of deliverance is one thing. The promise of deliverance is even better, but neither one of them are as good as actual deliverance itself. When you are delivered and you see your enemies either destroyed and or rendered completely helpless, it's time to bow and worship. So when God passed over the Israelites, and they were spared. They bowed their head and worshipped."

[John Weaver] Now the Passover is a type. The anti-type or the fulfillment is Jesus Christ. The Passover was delivering the children of Israel out of Egypt The anti-type, the Lord Jesus, 1 Corinthians 5 verse 7, for even Christ our Passover sacrifice for us, is our deliverance not from Egypt but from the flesh, the world, the sin, and the Devil. So we have now the anti-type in Jesus Christ. So when you think about the Passover you automatically think of redemption.

[John Weaver] Because that's what it was. He redeemed his people out of the land of Egypt. So now we have redemption in Jesus Christ. I want you to think about this. I don't know how often you think about redemption. It crosses my mind fairly regularly. But the Bible tells you in 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 30, But of him, that is God the Father, but of him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Jesus Christ is our redemption. And when you get to Ephesians 1 and verse 7, the Bible says, In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.

[John Weaver] So here's what I'm pointing out. The very thought of redemption should cause us to bow and worship. You say, but I love the Heavenly Father. Really? Well, let me ask you, why do you love Him? Because He what? First, loved you. Hearing is love. Not that He loved him, but He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. So, how often do you thank the Heavenly Father? for sending His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to be our redemption and our salvation and our propitiation.

[John Weaver] You remember what the Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 9 and verse 15? Talking about Jesus Christ, he said, thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift. In other words, words cannot even put together the value of Jesus Christ. But when it came to actual redemption, they bowed their head and worshiped. As we go along our way and we think about what God has done for us in Jesus Christ, we need to spontaneously just bow our heads and worship and thank Him for the redemption that's in Jesus Christ.

[John Weaver] If you will look in your Bibles to Exodus 34, here's the fourth and final passage I'm going to show you today. I'll finish, Lord willing, next Sunday. But look in Exodus chapter 34 and verses 4 through 8. God commands Moses to hew him two tablets, he broke the first two, and come back up into the mount. Verse 4, And he hewed two tablets of stone like unto the first. And Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up into Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him. And he took in his hand the two tables of stone. And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. Wow!

[John Weaver] Watch, and the Lord passed by before him and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the children's children unto the third and to the fourth generation."

[John Weaver] Now in one instance Moses had asked to see God's glory and God put him in the cleft of the rock and he said you can't see my face but I'll cover so I pass by and you can see the rear part of me but still at the same time it was his glory, it was his mercy, it was his grace that he saw. Now watch this. Here's my question. Have you seen, comprehended, or understood to any degree any of God's attributes or God's character? What about God's sovereignty? God is absolutely, totally sovereign.

[John Weaver] He's in control of everything. If God shows you His Godhood, if God shows you His deity, if God shows you His sovereignty, and you perceive it and you grasp it, then you can't grasp Him fully because only God can understand God, but you can see a part of it. What should you do? The answer is you should bow and worship, just like Moses. Moses here bowed and worshiped verse 8, and Moses made haste and bowed his head to the earth and worshipped. What if God shows you His omniscience? Any part of it. That is, He knows everything. Known unto God are all of His works from the beginning. God knows the end from the beginning. What if God shows you His omnipresence? That He's everywhere at once in the totality of His being. And you understand that in some degree.

[John Weaver] What about God's omnipotence, His all-powerfulness? What about His immutability, His unchangeableness, His infinity, His veracity, His truth, His love, His grace, His mercy? When you see these things, even to the slightest degree, you should bow your head in worship when you think about them. And I've got news for you. You stop and think about people that are our age, younger, who not only are already dead, but many have such physical, mental, and emotional difficulties.

[John Weaver] I saw a woman today at dinner. She could not even straighten her head up. She was like this. And you could tell she had some kind of real physical problem. And in my mind, I said, Lord, help her, and Lord, thank you that you've protected me. You know what that is? That is understanding in some sense of the word God's love to us.

[John Weaver] Now, God loved her as well, undoubtedly, because she's still alive. But I'm just simply saying We have seen things and we know things that other people do not know and see. Let me show you. Look in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 13. Matthew chapter 13. And let's begin there with verse 16. Matthew 13 verse 16. Watch carefully what our Lord says. He is talking to His disciples. Matthew 13 verse 16. Watch. He tells His disciples, but blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear. For verily I say unto you that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which you see and have not seen them, and to hear those things which you hear and have not heard them. Do you realize when God shows you truth, any truth, in His And especially in relationship to his character and his attributes, it's time to bow and worship because multitudes have never seen and never heard. And you've been blessed to hear and to see. If you would turn right over to Luke chapter 10 and look at verse 21.

[John Weaver] Luke 10 verse 21. Look at what our Lord says. Luke 10, verse 21. In that hour, Jesus rejoiced in spirit and said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Thy sight. Do you realize, as a believer in Jesus Christ, And understanding truths from God's Word, you know more than many philosophers. You know more than a lot of men with earned PhDs behind their names.

[John Weaver] Because God has enlightened you. He's illuminated your mind. He's opened your eyes so that you could see and understand. And whenever God shows us any truth out of Scripture, we should bow and worship. And by the way, the truth that he's showing you today is bowing and worship, and you should learn to do that regularly, many times a day. Just drop your head and say, thank you, Lord. Praise you, Lord. I give you grace, and I give you praise, and I give thee honor and glory because you're God. Now, let me make just two applications.

[John Weaver] The first one is this. Spontaneous worship is often the purest and the best worship because it leaps from our hearts and mouths in grateful adulation and adoration. We may be overwhelmed with any thought of God's mercy, of God's love, of God's grace, and without hesitation we find ourselves mentally, emotionally, even vocally giving praise and honor to the Lord Jesus Christ. And there's nothing wrong with that. There are many times I'll just say, praise the Lord. I think of something. Alice will hear me and she'll say, what did you say? I'll say, I was just praising the Lord, that's okay. That's what we need to do.

[John Weaver] And the second application is this, whatever our circumstance, whatever our situation, we want to make sure that we do not have a stiff neck, and that's spiritually speaking. That would include our attitude, our actions, our words, our mental, our emotional state. In order to make sure that you do not have a stiff neck, and that you lift not up your horn on high and speak with a stiff neck, you must remember who God is and who you are. You have to remember He is the Lord, we are the subjects.

[John Weaver] He is the master, we are the servants. He is the head, we are the body. He is the creator, we are the creatures. He is the shepherd, He is the sheep. He is God and we are the dust of the earth. Moreover, We must remember Luke 14 and verse 11. Listen. For whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased, but whosoever humbleth himself shall be exalted. So if we do not want God to put us down, do not exalt yourself with a stiff neck. Because God is able to humble those that exalt themselves.

[John Weaver] And if you don't believe me, just ask Nebuchadnezzar. Because that's exactly what he said. He's able to humble those. Drove him insane for seven years. Made him eat grass like an oxen for seven years. The way up? is down. So if we do not wish to be put down, we better not lift ourselves up. And if we want to be lifted up by God, as our Lord said, behold, I'm among you as he that serveth.

[John Weaver] We must take the position of humility and servitude, and especially by bowing and worshiping. Let's pray. Father, help us today Lord, teach us and speak to our hearts. And help us, Father, to bow and worship before Thee. You've been so good, so gracious, so kind, so beneficent. Thank You, Father, for Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank You for His so great salvation. Thank You, Father, for the Holy Spirit in His ministry. Thank You for the Word of God. Thank You for the ministry and the saints of God. And help us, Father, to love Thee and to live for Thee, and to bow in worship. In Thy name we ask and pray, amen.

[John Weaver] so so

Spontaneous Worship - Part 1 of 2

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	u3FQYMOld3s
Subject	Old Testament Studies
Course	Exodus: Bondage, Deliverance, and Passover: As Yet
Genre	Sermon
Date	2017-02-15
Dictation Name
Book	Book 183: Spontaneous Worship — Chapter 1
Source Timed Segments	72

Formatted Transcript

Introduction to Spontaneous Worship

Weaver introduces the message title and reads Genesis 24:26, defining spontaneous worship as bowing and worshiping apart from public or private stated times.

Open our Bibles today to the book of Genesis chapter 24, and we're going to read verse 26. We will come back and pick up the context just a little bit later. Genesis 24 and verse 26. The title of the message, in which I will be the same title next week because it is going to take me two weeks to finish the message, is what I am going to call spontaneous worship or bowing and worship. So if you look in Genesis 24 and verse 26, the Bible just simply says,

Scripture Reading — Genesis 24:26

"And the man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord."

Worship is a word that is frequently heard, especially among professing Christians. However, many who profess to worship the One True and the Living God really and truly do not worship Him. And those who often times profess to worship Him do not worship Him acceptably. The only way that you can actually worship the One True and the Living God in truth is through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And the amazing thing is the Scripture teaches us unless we are worshipping Him through the Lord Jesus Christ, in reality we end up worshipping devils.

The Necessity of Worship in Spirit and Truth

Worship must be through Jesus Christ and bounded by spirit and truth; otherwise, it is unacceptable and may even be worship of devils.

For instance, if you will hold Genesis 24 but look in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 10, 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and look at verses 20 and 21. 1 Corinthians 10 and verse 20 and 21, the Apostle Paul writes this, "But I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, that is the unsaved, they sacrifice to devils and not to God. And I would not that you should have fellowship with devils. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of the devils. You cannot be partaker of the Lord's table and of the table of devils." The Apostle Paul is saying basically unless you are worshipping the One True and Living God and worshipping the way He is revealed, you end up worshipping devils. I said sometimes you worship unacceptably. Unacceptable worship is a failure to worship God in spirit and in truth. One may not worship God any way that he pleases. No, you must worship God according to the order in which He is laid down. Just think of the Old Testament. No one just came running into the tabernacle and did what they wanted to, and no one just came into the temple and did what they wanted to. No, there was a stated order. And God's stated order is found in John chapter 4, and that is His boundaries in worship are spirit and truth. For He said in John 4,

Scripture Reading — John 4:23-24

"But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship Him."

And then when you get to verse 24 he says this,

Scripture Reading — John 4:23-24

"God is spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth."

So the true and acceptable worship of God is bounded on the one hand by truth and on the other hand by spirit.

Now we could say in one sense of the word that everybody worships. And they just simply do not worship the One True and the Living God, nor do they worship acceptably, but everybody worships in one sense of the word, because they either worship devils, or they worship self, or power, or money, or something. They just simply do not worship God as He is revealed in Scripture. But now as Christians we always talk about public and private worship.

Public, Private, and Spontaneous Worship

God commands both public and private worship, but spontaneous worship is often neglected. It is worship that arises from recognizing God's goodness.

And of course the Lord demands both. We worship the Lord publicly and congregationally on Sunday, which is the day of our Lord's resurrection. And I've said this innumerable times, and I want to say it again. Easter is not just celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead on the first day of the week. Each Sunday is a fresh celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Okay? So we worship Him publicly and congregationally on Sunday, which is the day of His resurrection. But we also engage in private worship, often times in our homes, in our places of business, as we travel. However, one of the problems is so many people often times confuse the means of worship with worship itself. Now it is true that the means of worship are an integral part of worship. When we talk about the means of worship we are talking about prayer, we are talking about study of the Word of God, preaching the Word of God, expounding the Word of God.

And yes these are means in worship and they are an integral part of it, but worship is more than that. Worship is when the entirety of our beings are engaged in giving our Lord praise, and honor, and adoration, it is when we submit to Him and recognize Him. I want you to turn in your Bibles, holding Genesis 24, we are coming back there, but look in your Bibles to Psalm 103, and let's begin reading there with verse 1. And you will get the idea what I'm talking about when I'm saying that real worship involves the entirety of our beings, especially our spirit and truth, because those are the two boundaries that God has laid down. But in Psalm 103 verse 1, look what David says,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 103:1-5

"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, not just part of me, not a little bit of me, but bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name."

So here we have the entirety of the being involved in God's worship, I would call it the spirit or man's spirit.

Then he says in verse 2, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits." So now the mind is engaged in worship. And then he lists some of these benefits, "who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases, who redeemeth thy life from destruction, who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies, who satisfieth thy mouth with good things, so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's." So when David begins to worship the Lord he is engaged in his spirit. But he is also engaged in his mind. So he is not just sitting idly by doing nothing or dreaming about what he has got to do the coming week or what he did the past week. His mind is engaged on the goodness of God and the mercy of God and the grace of God. So it is just like when we sit here and we are saying, well we have come to worship the Lord, but we should be thinking and meditating upon the truth that is being expounded and taught.

Now let me quote a passage and then I want you to turn to Hebrews chapter 13. In fact go ahead and turn to Hebrews 13 and I'm going to quote the passage and I want you to listen carefully. The passage is from Jeremiah 33 and verse 11. Jeremiah 33 and verse 11 the Bible says,

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 33:11

"The voice of joy, the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, the voice of the bride, and of them that shall say, Praise the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for His mercy endureth forever, and of them shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord."

So here are people who are praising the Lord. It says they are going to bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord. Now look at Hebrews 13 and verse 15, the Bible says,

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 33:11

"By Him, that is by the Lord Jesus Christ, therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name."

So it's by Jesus Christ that we're to offer the sacrifice of praise to God the Father continually. And he tells you specifically what the sacrifice of praise is. That is the fruit of our lips giving thanks unto his name. Now, when we talk about public and private worship, we have stated seasons for worshiping God public and usually worshiping God privately as well. And that is good because God is a God of order. We could not worship publicly and congregationally if we did not have an order, if we did not agree to meet at a certain time in a certain place. If everybody just came and went as they pleased then there would not be any congregational worship, it might be individual. You can also have stated seasons at home. But the Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 14 and verse 40, let everything be done decently and in order. Why? Because God is a God of order.

But we are also commanded in Hebrews 10 and verse 25, "not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but so much the more exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching." So God commands us to assemble ourselves together to praise Him and to exhort each other. Now we are talking about public worship and we are talking about private worship. There is another aspect of worship which I believe that has been extremely neglected not only by preachers but by Christians in general. And that is what I am going to call either spontaneous worship or just simply bowing and worshiping. Spontaneous worship is that worship which is given apart from the public and the private worship. It is worship that is given in recognition of God's goodness, and God's mercy, and God's grace. Now in one sense of the word it could be included as an aspect of private worship because you are doing it privately. But on the other hand there are no necessarily stated times for it, so therefore it can be spontaneous worship as well, or what I would just simply call bowing and worship. So let me give you what I'm going to call the classic illustration of spontaneous worship, or bowing and worship.

The Classic Illustration: The Grateful Leper

In Luke 17, one leper out of ten returned to bow and worship Jesus after being healed, exemplifying spontaneous worship in response to deliverance.

I want you to look in your Bible, so Luke chapter 17, Luke chapter 17, and let's begin reading there with verse 11. Luke 17 and verse 11, and we will read through verse 17. Luke 17, verse 11,

Scripture Reading — Luke 17:11-17

"And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off." "And they lifted up their voices and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy upon us. And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go, show yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass that as they went they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks."

"And he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?" Now usually when this passage is preached upon the focus is upon the nine who were ungrateful, unthankful, and unappreciative. And I might add probably rightly so because most people take all of God's blessings and all of God's benefits and never think one thing about Him and just assume that God owes us all of these things. Seldom do we focus upon this one who turned back and gave the Lord spontaneous worship. Remember he fell on his face and he praised Him, and he thanked Him. Now leprosy was a disease that cut men off from their families, from society, and from worship. You remember they had to have something over their mouths, over their lips, and if they saw anyone coming they had to cry, "Unclean, unclean," and just stay away. You remember the four lepers there in Samaria, how did they live? They lived off the garbage that was thrown over the wall.

They could not go into the city. So leprosy was nothing more than a slow agonizing death is what it amounted to. And so when this man was cleansed, when he was miraculously and marvelously healed, he turned around and went back and fell on his face and worshiped and gave him thanks and praise. Now, let me mention something to you. I've heard people ask me, "Do you believe in healing?" And I say, "Yes, because everybody has been sick and has gotten well." And then they say, "But I mean, do you believe in divine healing?" And I say, "Yes, because all healing is divine." Now, when I say that, let me explain. What I mean by this is I know that God can sovereignly and powerfully and miraculously heal someone just like He did this leper. I understand that. But do you realize when you and I get sick and we take herbs, or vitamins, or home remedies, or alternative medicine, or even prescription medicine, if we get well it is only because God has blessed the means. If God did not bless the means then we would not be healed at all.

Jesus Christ is indeed the Great Physician. He is the Great Healer. And how many times have you and I been healed and we've never thanked God at all. We've been healed of the flu, of viruses, of colds, sinus infections, other maladies, and very seldom do we bow our head and worship. And I would like to say, how dare we take all of the blessings of God and never thank Him, and never acknowledge that it is all from Him. I'm not sure that you're aware of this, but I'm going to tell you that one of the names of God in Scripture is Jehovah-Rapha, and it literally means the Lord that heals you. You will find that in Exodus chapter 15 and verse 26, the Lord that heals. So yes, all healing comes from the Lord.

Now when we are talking about bowing in worship, that is exactly what this Samaritan did in Luke chapter 17. But the very first time it occurs in the Bible is back in Genesis 24 and verse 26. Now let me just read it again, "And the man bowed down his head and worshiped the Lord." Bowing and worshiping or spontaneous worship is revealed many times in Scripture. We are going to look at four of those passages today and the rest of them next Lord's Day, Lord willing. But the very first occurrence of it takes place here in Genesis chapter 24. In Genesis 24 Abraham sends his servant Eliezer to get a wife for his son Isaac. And the interesting thing is when you read Genesis chapter 24 Eliezer identifies himself like this, "I am Abraham's servant." He never even calls his own name, he just says, "I am Abraham's servant." You say, "Well how do you know his name?" Well because back in Genesis chapter 15 and verse 2, Abram said to the Lord, he said, "Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus." So the steward was the man who was in control of everything and his name was Eliezer.

First Occurrence: Eliezer's Worship (Genesis 24)

Eliezer bowed and worshiped when he saw God's providential guidance in finding Rebekah for Isaac, demonstrating worship for divine providence.

So if you look in Genesis 24 beginning there with verse 4, I want you to understand that Abraham gives him a charge and puts him under an oath that he would never bring Isaac back to where he came from, he had to stay in the land. So Genesis 24 notice verse 4, he says,

Scripture Reading — Genesis 24:4-27

"But thou shalt go into my country, into my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac. And the servant said unto him, Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me into this land, must I needs bring thy son again into the land from which thou camest? And Abraham said unto him, Beware that thou bring not my son thither again. The Lord God of heaven, which took me from my father's house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that sware unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land. He shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence. And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath: only bring not my son thither again."

So Eliezer now has been given this charge. And so since he is the steward of the house and in control of everything, he takes ten camels and loads them down with goods to make the trip into Mesopotamia. So look in verse 10, "And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master and departed, for all the goods of his master were in his hands. And he arose and went to Mesopotamia into the city of Nahor. And he made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well of water at the time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw water." By the way, it just dawned on me when I read this passage earlier today, I told Alice it is scriptural for her to go out and water the cattle. So that's what it says. It was the time that the women go out and draw water. So when it's raining and cold from now on it's her time. All right. Watch if you would verse 12, and so Eliezer prays and he said, "O Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee send me good speed this day and show kindness unto my master Abraham. Behold, I stand here by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water. And let it come to pass that the damsel to whom I say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink, and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also. Let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac, and thereby shall I know that thou hast showed kindness unto my master."

Now, I want you to note what he asks. He says, "There's going to be a lot of women coming. But the one that you've ordained, I'm going to ask her for a drink of water, and she's going to take the pitcher down and say, 'Drink, my lord.'" What Eliezer was looking for was not just a beautiful woman, but a compassionate, willing, and gracious woman. And that's not all. He was also looking for a hard working woman.

Now I don't know how many gallons of water it takes to water a camel, or ten of them, but drawing water for camels could be quite an exercise. Especially when you're having to drop a bucket in the well and pull it up, and you keep doing that until those camels are full. Wow. So he said, "Let this be the woman that you have ordained. She gives me water, she waters my camels."

Now watch verse 15, "And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder. And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her. And she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up. And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher. And she said, Drink, my lord. And she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink. And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking. And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again into the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels. And the man wondering at her held his peace, to wit whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not."

"And it came to pass, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden earring of a half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold, and said, Whose daughter art thou? Tell me, I pray thee. Is there room in thy father's house for us to lodge in? And she said unto him, I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, which she bare unto Nahor. She said moreover unto him, We have both straw and provender enough, and room to lodge in. And the man bowed down his head and worshipped the Lord. And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth, I being in the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master's brethren."

Now here is an absolute remarkable incident of divine providence. Can you imagine this in your mind? Abraham in the land of Canaan, this servant takes ten camels and evidently others accompany him as well. And he travels all the way to Mesopotamia to get a wife for Isaac. There was no GPS. There were no road maps. There were no inns along the way, especially Holiday Inns. Just stop and think. He went into this country without an address, without a city, and God led him directly to Abraham's brother's house.

And when the man saw this the Bible says he bowed his head and worshiped. In other words God had protected him, God had preserved him. I'm sure that there were robbers and thieves along the way looking for caravans. I understand that. Yet when he got there he bowed his head and worshipped. And if you look in verse 48 he is giving testimony to Bethuel and to Laban and to his family and he says this, "And I bowed down my head and worshipped the Lord and blessed the Lord God of my master Abraham which had led me in the right way to take my master's brother's daughter unto his son." So again he says, "I bowed down and worshipped."

So again he says, "I bowed down and worshipped." Now here is the application, just stop and think. How many times has God providentially protected us, and preserved us, answered our prayers in a timely fashion, and in a loving and gracious way, and we fail to bow and worship. We fail to acknowledge Him. I could give illustration after illustration of how God has done things in my life, but you remember last week when the tornadoes were everywhere? And we did not have the meeting down here because of tornadoes. Do you realize just the time that I would have been going back through Adel, Georgia, after this meeting, is when a tornado went through Adel.

Second Occurrence: Israel's Worship at News of Deliverance (Exodus 4)

The Israelites bowed and worshiped upon hearing that God had visited them and would deliver them from affliction.

Deliverance is a wonderful word. News of deliverance is even better. When the children of Israel just heard that God had sent Moses and Aaron, and they just heard that God had looked upon their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshipped. They were acknowledging the goodness and the kindness and the faithfulness of God. So let me ask you this. How often has God delivered you? Just stop and think how He's delivered us physically, mentally, emotionally, financially, and above all, spiritually. So have you bowed your head and worshipped? I believe that each deliverance calls for a round of praise and worship. Even news. When you hear... I've had people come to me and say, "I have good news for you." You know, the very fact, just like the news that came that God was going to deliver them, they bowed their head in worship. I'd much rather have good news than I had bad news. I've got good news.

Third Occurrence: Worship at the Passover (Exodus 12)

After the actual deliverance from the destroyer, the people bowed and worshiped, a type of redemption in Christ that should prompt our worship.

And you don't need to stand there and say, "Wow, this is my lucky day." No, it's not lucky. It's God's sovereign providence. And when the news comes to you, you bow and worship. How many times have we failed to give God His glory, and the glory that is due unto His name. The Bible says in Psalm 29 verse 2, "Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name. Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness." Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name. So the second time people bowed in worship was when they just heard that God was going to visit them. Wow. I want you to turn in your Bible to Exodus chapter 12. Here is the third instance of bowing in worship and it involves the Passover. And everybody understands the Passover, Exodus chapter 12 beginning there with verse 23, Exodus 12 verse 23, notice "For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians, and when He seeth the blood upon the lintel and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come into your houses to smite you."

"And you shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever. And it shall come to pass when you become to the land which the Lord will give you, according as He hath promised, that you shall keep this service. And it shall come to pass when your children shall say unto you, What mean you by this service? That you shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when He smote the Egyptians and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped."

Now let me tell you something, news of deliverance is one thing. The promise of deliverance is even better, but neither one of them are as good as actual deliverance itself. When you are delivered and you see your enemies either destroyed and or rendered completely helpless, it's time to bow and worship. So when God passed over the Israelites, and they were spared, they bowed their head and worshipped.

Now the Passover is a type. The anti-type or the fulfillment is Jesus Christ. The Passover was delivering the children of Israel out of Egypt. The anti-type, the Lord Jesus, 1 Corinthians 5 verse 7,

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 5:7

"For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us,"

is our deliverance not from Egypt but from the flesh, the world, the sin, and the Devil. So we have now the anti-type in Jesus Christ. So when you think about the Passover you automatically think of redemption. Because that's what it was. He redeemed his people out of the land of Egypt. So now we have redemption in Jesus Christ. I want you to think about this. I don't know how often you think about redemption. It crosses my mind fairly regularly. But the Bible tells you in 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 30, "But of him, that is God the Father, but of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption." Jesus Christ is our redemption. And when you get to Ephesians 1 and verse 7, the Bible says, "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace."

So here's what I'm pointing out. The very thought of redemption should cause us to bow and worship. You say, "But I love the Heavenly Father." Really? Well, let me ask you, why do you love Him? Because He first loved you. Herein is love, not that we loved Him, but He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. So, how often do you thank the Heavenly Father for sending His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to be our redemption and our salvation and our propitiation.

Fourth Occurrence: Moses' Worship at God's Revelation (Exodus 34)

When God proclaimed His name and attributes, Moses bowed and worshiped, teaching that any glimpse of God's character should lead to worship.

If you will look in your Bibles to Exodus 34, here's the fourth and final passage I'm going to show you today. I'll finish, Lord willing, next Sunday. But look in Exodus chapter 34 and verses 4 through 8. God commands Moses to hew him two tablets, he broke the first two, and come back up into the mount. Verse 4, "And he hewed two tablets of stone like unto the first. And Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up into Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him. And he took in his hand the two tables of stone. And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. Wow!"

"And the Lord passed by before him and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the children's children unto the third and to the fourth generation." Now in one instance Moses had asked to see God's glory and God put him in the cleft of the rock and he said you can't see my face but I'll cover so I pass by and you can see the rear part of me but still at the same time it was his glory, it was his mercy, it was his grace that he saw. Now watch this. Here's my question. Have you seen, comprehended, or understood to any degree any of God's attributes or God's character? What about God's sovereignty? God is absolutely, totally sovereign.

He's in control of everything. If God shows you His Godhood, if God shows you His deity, if God shows you His sovereignty, and you perceive it and you grasp it, then you can't grasp Him fully because only God can understand God, but you can see a part of it. What should you do? The answer is you should bow and worship, just like Moses. Moses here bowed and worshiped verse 8, "And Moses made haste and bowed his head to the earth and worshipped." What if God shows you His omniscience? Any part of it. That is, He knows everything. Known unto God are all of His works from the beginning. God knows the end from the beginning. What if God shows you His omnipresence? That He's everywhere at once in the totality of His being. And you understand that in some degree.

What about God's omnipotence, His all-powerfulness? What about His immutability, His unchangeableness, His infinity, His veracity, His truth, His love, His grace, His mercy? When you see these things, even to the slightest degree, you should bow your head in worship when you think about them. And I've got news for you. You stop and think about people that are our age, younger, who not only are already dead, but many have such physical, mental, and emotional difficulties.

The Symbolism of Bowing and the Danger of a Stiff Neck

Bowing symbolizes humility and submission; a stiff neck symbolizes rebellion. Believers must avoid pride and remember their position before God.

Now let me ask you a question, why do we bow our heads when we pray? Why often times do we bow and worship? We may drop our head or we may bend over like the Orientals do sometimes and almost kiss the ground. But why do we do that? Let me give you a biblical answer. Because bowing the head symbolizes humility, submission, and servitude. Refusing to bow symbolizes and indicates rebellion, and wickedness, and pride, and arrogance, and haughtiness. Let me show you. Look in your Bibles.

Deuteronomy chapter 31, 5th book in the Old Testament. Deuteronomy chapter 31, look in verse 27 at what Moses is saying to the Israelites. Deuteronomy chapter 31 verse 27, Moses said,

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 31:27

"For I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck. Behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, you have been rebellious against the Lord. How much more after my death?"

But notice if you would, he said,

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 31:27

"Behold, I know thy rebellion and thy stiff neck."

I want you to turn to Jeremiah chapter 17. And as you are turning, by the way just hold Deuteronomy, but turn to Jeremiah 17 and as you are turning there let me quote Psalm 75 and verse 5. Psalm 75 and verse 5 God says, "Lift not up your horn on high, speak not with a stiff neck."

In other words don't become an arrogant, proud, haughty, hard headed, stubborn individual. Speak not with a stiff neck. Look in Jeremiah 17 and verse 23, you want to see what it symbolizes? Here it is. He said, "But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction." So what is a stiff necked individual? He is someone that won't listen. He is someone that will not submit. He is someone that is hard headed and simply does that which is wicked and wrong. If you will go back to Deuteronomy chapter 10 and notice if you would please verse 16 here is what God tells Israel. He calls them a stiff necked people. In Deuteronomy chapter 10 and verse 16 he says this, "Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart and be no more stiffnecked." Lord, don't act like that. In 2 Chronicles chapter 30 and verse 8 here is what he said, "Now be ye not stiffnecked as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the Lord, and enter into the sanctuary which he has sanctified forever, and serve the Lord your God."

Notice what he said, "Be not stiffnecked like your fathers were, but yield yourselves." So bowing indicates submission and yielding, where being stiffnecked indicates rebellion and hardheadedness. You remember when Stephen was about to be stoned in Acts chapter 7. He was giving a history lesson of those people who were about to kill him. And finally in verse 51 he said to those people, "Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye." So he called them stiffnecked in heart and in ears.

Now, most of you probably have never heard of a man by the name of William Ernest Henley. Henley was an English poet that died from tuberculosis. In fact he had actually wrestled and struggled with TB most all of his life because he contracted it as a young man. And while he was in the hospital suffering from tuberculosis, he wrote his poem, "Invictus." "Invictus" is the epitome of arrogance, pride, rebellion, and a stiff neck. I want you to listen. Here is his poem. Remember this is a man that is dying of TB. He finally died in 1903, but here is what he wrote. "Out of the night that covers me, black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be for my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance, I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance, my head is bloody but unbowed."

"Beyond this place of wrath and tears looms but the horror of the shade, and yet the menace of the years finds and shall find me unafraid." Now listen, "It matters not how strait the gate, how charged with punishments the scroll. I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul." Wow! Here is a prime example of one who refused to bow in worship. And that poem exhibits everything that the Word of God speaks against and condemns. It is the cry of the infidel, the atheist, and the rebel. In the early part of the 20th century Dorothea Day wrote a poem in response to Henley's poem. Hers is just called, "Conquered." Here is her poem. "Out of the light that dazzles me, bright as the sun from pole to pole, I thank the God that I know to be, for Jesus Christ, the conqueror of my soul. Since His the sway of circumstance, I would not wince nor cry aloud."

"Under the rule which men call chance, my head with joy is humbly bowed. Beyond this place of sin and tears, that life with Him and His the aid, that spite the menace of the years keeps, and will keep me unafraid. I have no fear how strait the gate. He cleared from punishment the scroll. Christ is the master of my fate. Christ is the captain of my soul." And yes, with Dorothea Day, I'd rather bow and worship. I prefer to be conquered by Jesus Christ than to sail my ship as the captain of my own fate, because without Jesus Christ I know what my own fate would be. So yes, there are plenty of reasons to bow and worship. And we bow the head because it speaks of submission, yielding, servitude, humility. I want you to look in your Bibles to Exodus chapter 4. Here is the second occurrence of bowing in worship. Exodus chapter 4, notice if you would please verse 29-31, Exodus chapter 4, here the children of Israel hear that God is going to deliver them. Exodus 4 verse 29, "And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel. And Aaron spake all these words which the Lord had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people. And the people believed. And when they had heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel, and that He had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped."

Applications: Cultivating Spontaneous Worship and Humility

Spontaneous worship is often the purest worship; we must guard against a stiff neck by remembering who God is and who we are, and by humbling ourselves.

The first one is this. Spontaneous worship is often the purest and the best worship because it leaps from our hearts and mouths in grateful adulation and adoration. We may be overwhelmed with any thought of God's mercy, of God's love, of God's grace, and without hesitation we find ourselves mentally, emotionally, even vocally giving praise and honor to the Lord Jesus Christ. And there's nothing wrong with that. There are many times I'll just say, "Praise the Lord." I think of something. Alice will hear me and she'll say, "What did you say?" I'll say, "I was just praising the Lord, that's okay." That's what we need to do. And the second application is this, whatever our circumstance, whatever our situation, we want to make sure that we do not have a stiff neck, and that's spiritually speaking. That would include our attitude, our actions, our words, our mental, our emotional state. In order to make sure that you do not have a stiff neck, and that you lift not up your horn on high and speak with a stiff neck, you must remember who God is and who you are. You have to remember He is the Lord, we are the subjects.

He is the master, we are the servants. He is the head, we are the body. He is the creator, we are the creatures. He is the shepherd, we are the sheep. He is God and we are the dust of the earth. Moreover, we must remember Luke 14 and verse 11. Listen. "For whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased, but whosoever humbleth himself shall be exalted." So if we do not want God to put us down, do not exalt yourself with a stiff neck. Because God is able to humble those that exalt themselves.

And if you don't believe me, just ask Nebuchadnezzar. Because that's exactly what he said. He's able to humble those. Drove him insane for seven years. Made him eat grass like an oxen for seven years. The way up is down. So if we do not wish to be put down, we better not lift ourselves up. And if we want to be lifted up by God, as our Lord said, "Behold, I'm among you as he that serveth."

We must take the position of humility and servitude, and especially by bowing and worshiping. Let's pray. Father, help us today Lord, teach us and speak to our hearts. And help us, Father, to bow and worship before Thee. You've been so good, so gracious, so kind, so beneficent. Thank You, Father, for Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank You for His so great salvation. Thank You, Father, for the Holy Spirit in His ministry. Thank You for the Word of God. Thank You for the ministry and the saints of God. And help us, Father, to love Thee and to live for Thee, and to bow in worship. In Thy name we ask and pray, amen.

Study Guide

Major Themes

Spontaneous Worship

Summary: Worship that arises apart from scheduled times, in response to recognizing God's goodness, mercy, and grace.

Evidence: Weaver defines it as 'that worship which is given apart from the public and the private worship... in recognition of God's goodness, and God's mercy, and God's grace.'

Worship in Spirit and Truth

Summary: Acceptable worship must be bounded by spirit and truth, through Jesus Christ; otherwise it is unacceptable and may be devil worship.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'the true and acceptable worship of God is bounded on the one hand by truth and on the other hand by spirit.'

Humility and Submission in Worship

Summary: Bowing the head symbolizes humility, submission, and servitude, while a stiff neck indicates rebellion and pride.

Evidence: Weaver explains, 'bowing the head symbolizes humility, submission, and servitude. Refusing to bow symbolizes and indicates rebellion, and wickedness, and pride.'

Divine Providence and Deliverance

Summary: God's providential protection and deliverance should prompt spontaneous worship, as seen in the lives of Eliezer and the Israelites.

Evidence: Weaver asks, 'How many times has God providentially protected us, and preserved us, answered our prayers... and we fail to bow and worship.'

Redemption in Christ

Summary: The Passover deliverance prefigures redemption in Christ, which should continually cause believers to bow and worship.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'The very thought of redemption should cause us to bow and worship.'

Revelation of God's Character

Summary: Any glimpse of God's attributes—sovereignty, mercy, grace—should lead to worship, as Moses did when God proclaimed His name.

Evidence: Weaver asks, 'Have you seen, comprehended, or understood to any degree any of God's attributes or God's character? ... you should bow and worship.'

Key Arguments

Worship without Christ is devil worship

Summary: Unless one worships the true God through Jesus Christ, their worship is actually directed to devils.

Evidence: Weaver cites 1 Corinthians 10:20-21 and says, 'unless you are worshipping the One True and Living God and worshipping the way He is revealed, you end up worshipping devils.'

Spontaneous worship is often neglected

Summary: Christians focus on public and private worship but neglect spontaneous worship, which is worship in response to God's immediate blessings.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'There is another aspect of worship which I believe that has been extremely neglected... spontaneous worship.'

Bowing symbolizes humility; stiff neck symbolizes rebellion

Summary: Physical posture in worship reflects spiritual posture; bowing shows submission, while a stiff neck shows pride and resistance to God.

Evidence: Weaver explains from Deuteronomy 31:27 and Jeremiah 17:23 that a stiff neck means refusing to hear or submit.

Every deliverance calls for worship

Summary: From the leper's healing to Israel's Passover, each act of deliverance should prompt immediate, spontaneous worship.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'I believe that each deliverance calls for a round of praise and worship.'

Revelation of truth demands worship

Summary: When God opens our eyes to see truth, especially about His character, we should bow and worship because many have not been given such sight.

Evidence: Weaver references Matthew 13:16 and says, 'when God shows you truth... it's time to bow and worship.'

Scripture References

Genesis 24:26

Context: The first occurrence of bowing and worshiping; Eliezer worships after God's providential guidance.

1 Corinthians 10:20-21

Context: Paul warns that sacrificing to idols is sacrificing to devils; worship must be through Christ.

John 4:23-24

Context: True worshipers must worship the Father in spirit and truth; God is spirit.

Psalm 103:1-5

Context: David engages his whole being—soul and mind—in worship, listing God's benefits.

Jeremiah 33:11

Context: The sacrifice of praise is brought into the house of the Lord.

Hebrews 13:15

Context: By Jesus we offer the sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips giving thanks.

1 Corinthians 14:40

Context: All things should be done decently and in order, reflecting God's character.

Hebrews 10:25

Context: Believers are commanded not to forsake assembling together.

Luke 17:11-17

Context: The grateful leper returns to bow and worship Jesus after being healed.

Exodus 15:26

Context: God reveals Himself as Jehovah-Rapha, the Lord who heals.

Genesis 24:4-27

Context: Eliezer's mission to find a wife for Isaac; he bows and worships upon success.

Deuteronomy 31:27

Context: Moses rebukes Israel for their rebellion and stiff neck.

Psalm 75:5

Context: God commands not to lift up the horn or speak with a stiff neck.

Jeremiah 17:23

Context: A stiff neck means refusing to hear or receive instruction.

Deuteronomy 10:16

Context: God tells Israel to circumcise their hearts and be no more stiffnecked.

2 Chronicles 30:8

Context: A call to yield to the Lord and not be stiffnecked like the fathers.

Acts 7:51

Context: Stephen calls the Jewish leaders stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart.

Exodus 4:29-31

Context: The Israelites bow and worship upon hearing that God will deliver them.

Exodus 12:23-27

Context: After the Passover deliverance, the people bow and worship.

1 Corinthians 5:7

Context: Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

Historical References

William Ernest Henley and his poem 'Invictus'

Context: Henley, an English poet who died of tuberculosis in 1903, wrote 'Invictus' as an expression of pride and self-reliance, which Weaver contrasts with biblical humility.

Dorothea Day and her poem 'Conquered'

Context: Day wrote a response to Henley's poem, affirming Christ as the master of her fate, exemplifying a bowed and worshipful heart.

Nebuchadnezzar's humbling

Context: Weaver references Nebuchadnezzar as an example of God humbling the proud, driving him insane for seven years.

Important Quotes

And the man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord.

Significance: This is the first biblical occurrence of bowing and worshiping, serving as the foundation for the message.

the true and acceptable worship of God is bounded on the one hand by truth and on the other hand by spirit.

Significance: Defines the biblical boundaries for worship as taught in John 4.

Worship is when the entirety of our beings are engaged in giving our Lord praise, and honor, and adoration, it is when we submit to Him and recognize Him.

Significance: Clarifies that worship involves the whole person, not just outward forms.

Spontaneous worship is that worship which is given apart from the public and the private worship. It is worship that is given in recognition of God's goodness, and God's mercy, and God's grace.

Significance: Provides the definition of spontaneous worship, the central topic.

bowing the head symbolizes humility, submission, and servitude. Refusing to bow symbolizes and indicates rebellion, and wickedness, and pride, and arrogance, and haughtiness.

Significance: Explains the spiritual symbolism behind the physical act of bowing.

I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul.

Significance: Quoted from Henley's 'Invictus' as the epitome of stiff-necked rebellion against God.

Christ is the master of my fate. Christ is the captain of my soul.

Significance: Dorothea Day's response, showing the proper posture of submission to Christ.

Spontaneous worship is often the purest and the best worship because it leaps from our hearts and mouths in grateful adulation and adoration.

Significance: Highlights the value of spontaneous worship as heartfelt and genuine.

Discussion Questions

What is the difference between the means of worship (prayer, Bible study, preaching) and worship itself, according to Weaver?

Context: Weaver argues that many confuse the means with the end; worship is the engagement of the whole being in praise and submission.

Why does Weaver say that worship not offered through Jesus Christ ends up being worship of devils?

Context: Based on 1 Corinthians 10:20-21, he asserts that all worship outside of Christ is ultimately directed to demonic forces.

How does the story of the ten lepers illustrate spontaneous worship, and why is the focus usually on the nine?

Context: Weaver notes that preachers often emphasize the ungrateful nine, but the one who returned exemplifies spontaneous worship.

In what ways does bowing the head symbolize spiritual realities, and how does a 'stiff neck' manifest in a believer's life?

Context: Weaver explains that bowing shows humility and submission, while a stiff neck indicates rebellion and refusal to hear God.

How can we cultivate a habit of spontaneous worship in our daily lives?

Context: Weaver encourages believers to regularly drop their heads and thank God throughout the day for His blessings and character.

What does it mean to worship God 'in spirit and in truth,' and how does this boundary protect against false worship?

Context: Weaver explains that spirit and truth are the boundaries set by God in John 4, ensuring worship is acceptable.

Applications

Practice spontaneous worship daily

Summary: Believers should regularly bow their heads and thank God throughout the day for His goodness, deliverance, and revelation.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'you should learn to do that regularly, many times a day. Just drop your head and say, Thank you, Lord.'

Guard against a stiff neck

Summary: Avoid pride and rebellion by remembering who God is and who we are, and by humbling ourselves before Him.

Evidence: Weaver warns, 'we want to make sure that we do not have a stiff neck... you must remember who God is and who you are.'

Respond to deliverance with worship

Summary: Whenever God delivers us—physically, spiritually, or otherwise—we should immediately bow and worship in gratitude.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'I believe that each deliverance calls for a round of praise and worship.'

Worship in response to revealed truth

Summary: When God opens our eyes to understand His Word or His character, we should bow and worship, recognizing the privilege.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'whenever God shows us any truth out of Scripture, we should bow and worship.'

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T16:32:20Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T07:26:02Z

Clean Transcript

Spontaneous Worship - Part 1 of 2

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

Open our Bibles today to the book of Genesis chapter 24, and we're going to read verse 26. We will come back and pick up the context just a little bit later. Genesis 24 and verse 26. The title of the message, in which I will be the same title next week because it is going to take me two weeks to finish the message, is what I am going to call spontaneous worship or bowing and worship. So if you look in Genesis 24 and verse 26, the Bible just simply says, "And the man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord." Worship is a word that is frequently heard, especially among professing Christians. However, many who profess to worship the One True and the Living God really and truly do not worship Him. And those who often times profess to worship Him do not worship Him acceptably. The only way that you can actually worship the One True and the Living God in truth is through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And the amazing thing is the Scripture teaches us unless we are worshipping Him through the Lord Jesus Christ, in reality we end up worshipping devils.
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For instance, if you will hold Genesis 24 but look in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 10, 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and look at verses 20 and 21. 1 Corinthians 10 and verse 20 and 21, the Apostle Paul writes this, "But I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, that is the unsaved, they sacrifice to devils and not to God. And I would not that you should have fellowship with devils. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of the devils. You cannot be partaker of the Lord's table and of the table of devils." The Apostle Paul is saying basically unless you are worshipping the One True and Living God and worshipping the way He is revealed, you end up worshipping devils.
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I said sometimes you worship unacceptably. Unacceptable worship is a failure to worship God in spirit and in truth. One may not worship God any way that he pleases. No, you must worship God according to the order in which He is laid down. Just think of the Old Testament. No one just came running into the tabernacle and did what they wanted to, and no one just came into the temple and did what they wanted to. No, there was a stated order. And God's stated order is found in John chapter 4, and that is His boundaries in worship are spirit and truth. For He said in John 4, "But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship Him." And then when you get to verse 24 he says this, "God is spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." So the true and acceptable worship of God is bounded on the one hand by truth and on the other hand by spirit.
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Now we could say in one sense of the word that everybody worships. And they just simply do not worship the One True and the Living God, nor do they worship acceptably, but everybody worships in one sense of the word, because they either worship devils, or they worship self, or power, or money, or something. They just simply do not worship God as He is revealed in Scripture. But now as Christians we always talk about public and private worship.
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And of course the Lord demands both. We worship the Lord publicly and congregationally on Sunday, which is the day of our Lord's resurrection. And I've said this innumerable times, and I want to say it again. Easter is not just celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead on the first day of the week. Each Sunday is a fresh celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Okay? So we worship Him publicly and congregationally on Sunday, which is the day of His resurrection. But we also engage in private worship, often times in our homes, in our places of business, as we travel. However, one of the problems is so many people often times confuse the means of worship with worship itself. Now it is true that the means of worship are an integral part of worship. When we talk about the means of worship we are talking about prayer, we are talking about study of the Word of God, preaching the Word of God, expounding the Word of God.
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And yes these are means in worship and they are an integral part of it, but worship is more than that. Worship is when the entirety of our beings are engaged in giving our Lord praise, and honor, and adoration, it is when we submit to Him and recognize Him. I want you to turn in your Bibles, holding Genesis 24, we are coming back there, but look in your Bibles to Psalm 103, and let's begin reading there with verse 1. And you will get the idea what I'm talking about when I'm saying that real worship involves the entirety of our beings, especially our spirit and truth, because those are the two boundaries that God has laid down. But in Psalm 103 verse 1, look what David says, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, not just part of me, not a little bit of me, but bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name." So here we have the entirety of the being involved in God's worship, I would call it the spirit or man's spirit.
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Then he says in verse 2, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits." So now the mind is engaged in worship. And then he lists some of these benefits, "who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases, who redeemeth thy life from destruction, who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies, who satisfieth thy mouth with good things, so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's." So when David begins to worship the Lord he is engaged in his spirit. But he is also engaged in his mind.
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So he is not just sitting idly by doing nothing or dreaming about what he has got to do the coming week or what he did the past week. His mind is engaged on the goodness of God and the mercy of God and the grace of God. So it is just like when we sit here and we are saying, well we have come to worship the Lord, but we should be thinking and meditating upon the truth that is being expounded and taught.
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Now let me quote a passage and then I want you to turn to Hebrews chapter 13. In fact go ahead and turn to Hebrews 13 and I'm going to quote the passage and I want you to listen carefully. The passage is from Jeremiah 33 and verse 11. Jeremiah 33 and verse 11 the Bible says, "The voice of joy, the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, the voice of the bride, and of them that shall say, Praise the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for His mercy endureth forever, and of them shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord." So here are people who are praising the Lord. It says they are going to bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord. Now look at Hebrews 13 and verse 15, the Bible says, "By Him, that is by the Lord Jesus Christ, therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name."
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So it's by Jesus Christ that we're to offer the sacrifice of praise to God the Father continually. And he tells you specifically what the sacrifice of praise is. That is the fruit of our lips giving thanks unto his name.
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Now, when we talk about public and private worship, we have stated seasons for worshiping God public and usually worshiping God privately as well. And that is good because God is a God of order. We could not worship publicly and congregationally if we did not have an order, if we did not agree to meet at a certain time in a certain place. If everybody just came and went as they pleased then there would not be any congregational worship, it might be individual. You can also have stated seasons at home. But the Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 14 and verse 40, let everything be done decently and in order. Why? Because God is a God of order.
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But we are also commanded in Hebrews 10 and verse 25, "not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but so much the more exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching." So God commands us to assemble ourselves together to praise Him and to exhort each other.
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Now we are talking about public worship and we are talking about private worship. There is another aspect of worship which I believe that has been extremely neglected not only by preachers but by Christians in general. And that is what I am going to call either spontaneous worship or just simply bowing and worshiping. Spontaneous worship is that worship which is given apart from the public and the private worship. It is worship that is given in recognition of God's goodness, and God's mercy, and God's grace. Now in one sense of the word it could be included as an aspect of private worship because you are doing it privately. But on the other hand there are no necessarily stated times for it, so therefore it can be spontaneous worship as well, or what I would just simply call bowing and worship. So let me give you what I'm going to call the classic illustration of spontaneous worship, or bowing and worship.
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I want you to look in your Bible, so Luke chapter 17, Luke chapter 17, and let's begin reading there with verse 11. Luke 17 and verse 11, and we will read through verse 17. Luke 17, verse 11, "And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off."
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"And they lifted up their voices and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy upon us. And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go, show yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass that as they went they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks."
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"And he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?"
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Now usually when this passage is preached upon the focus is upon the nine who were ungrateful, unthankful, and unappreciative. And I might add probably rightly so because most people take all of God's blessings and all of God's benefits and never think one thing about Him and just assume that God owes us all of these things. Seldom do we focus upon this one who turned back and gave the Lord spontaneous worship.
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Remember he fell on his face and he praised Him, and he thanked Him. Now leprosy was a disease that cut men off from their families, from society, and from worship. You remember they had to have something over their mouths, over their lips, and if they saw anyone coming they had to cry, "Unclean, unclean," and just stay away. You remember the four lepers there in Samaria, how did they live? They lived off the garbage that was thrown over the wall.
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They could not go into the city. So leprosy was nothing more than a slow agonizing death is what it amounted to. And so when this man was cleansed, when he was miraculously and marvelously healed, he turned around and went back and fell on his face and worshiped and gave him thanks and praise.
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Now, let me mention something to you. I've heard people ask me, "Do you believe in healing?" And I say, "Yes, because everybody has been sick and has gotten well." And then they say, "But I mean, do you believe in divine healing?" And I say, "Yes, because all healing is divine." Now, when I say that, let me explain. What I mean by this is I know that God can sovereignly and powerfully and miraculously heal someone just like He did this leper. I understand that. But do you realize when you and I get sick and we take herbs, or vitamins, or home remedies, or alternative medicine, or even prescription medicine, if we get well it is only because God has blessed the means. If God did not bless the means then we would not be healed at all.
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Jesus Christ is indeed the Great Physician. He is the Great Healer. And how many times have you and I been healed and we've never thanked God at all. We've been healed of the flu, of viruses, of colds, sinus infections, other maladies, and very seldom do we bow our head and worship. And I would like to say, how dare we take all of the blessings of God and never thank Him, and never acknowledge that it is all from Him.
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I'm not sure that you're aware of this, but I'm going to tell you that one of the names of God in Scripture is Jehovah-Rapha, and it literally means the Lord that heals you. You will find that in Exodus chapter 15 and verse 26, the Lord that heals. So yes, all healing comes from the Lord.
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Now when we are talking about bowing in worship, that is exactly what this Samaritan did in Luke chapter 17. But the very first time it occurs in the Bible is back in Genesis 24 and verse 26.
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Now let me just read it again, "And the man bowed down his head and worshiped the Lord." Bowing and worshiping or spontaneous worship is revealed many times in Scripture. We are going to look at four of those passages today and the rest of them next Lord's Day, Lord willing. But the very first occurrence of it takes place here in Genesis chapter 24. In Genesis 24 Abraham sends his servant Eliezer to get a wife for his son Isaac. And the interesting thing is when you read Genesis chapter 24 Eliezer identifies himself like this, "I am Abraham's servant." He never even calls his own name, he just says, "I am Abraham's servant." You say, "Well how do you know his name?" Well because back in Genesis chapter 15 and verse 2, Abram said to the Lord, he said, "Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus." So the steward was the man who was in control of everything and his name was Eliezer.
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So if you look in Genesis 24 beginning there with verse 4, I want you to understand that Abraham gives him a charge and puts him under an oath that he would never bring Isaac back to where he came from, he had to stay in the land. So Genesis 24 notice verse 4, he says, "But thou shalt go into my country, into my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac. And the servant said unto him, Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me into this land, must I needs bring thy son again into the land from which thou camest? And Abraham said unto him, Beware that thou bring not my son thither again. The Lord God of heaven, which took me from my father's house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that sware unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land. He shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence. And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath: only bring not my son thither again."
#25 | 17:46 to 18:56 | cleaned
So Eliezer now has been given this charge. And so since he is the steward of the house and in control of everything, he takes ten camels and loads them down with goods to make the trip into Mesopotamia. So look in verse 10, "And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master and departed, for all the goods of his master were in his hands. And he arose and went to Mesopotamia into the city of Nahor. And he made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well of water at the time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw water."
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By the way, it just dawned on me when I read this passage earlier today, I told Alice it is scriptural for her to go out and water the cattle. So that's what it says. It was the time that the women go out and draw water. So when it's raining and cold from now on it's her time. All right. Watch if you would verse 12, and so Eliezer prays and he said, "O Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee send me good speed this day and show kindness unto my master Abraham. Behold, I stand here by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water. And let it come to pass that the damsel to whom I say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink, and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also. Let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac, and thereby shall I know that thou hast showed kindness unto my master."
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Now, I want you to note what he asks. He says, "There's going to be a lot of women coming. But the one that you've ordained, I'm going to ask her for a drink of water, and she's going to take the pitcher down and say, 'Drink, my lord.'" What Eliezer was looking for was not just a beautiful woman, but a compassionate, willing, and gracious woman. And that's not all. He was also looking for a hard working woman.
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Now I don't know how many gallons of water it takes to water a camel, or ten of them, but drawing water for camels could be quite an exercise. Especially when you're having to drop a bucket in the well and pull it up, and you keep doing that until those camels are full. Wow. So he said, "Let this be the woman that you have ordained. She gives me water, she waters my camels."
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Now watch verse 15, "And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder. And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her. And she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up. And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher. And she said, Drink, my lord. And she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink. And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking. And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again into the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels. And the man wondering at her held his peace, to wit whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not."
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"And it came to pass, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden earring of a half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold, and said, Whose daughter art thou? Tell me, I pray thee. Is there room in thy father's house for us to lodge in? And she said unto him, I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, which she bare unto Nahor. She said moreover unto him, We have both straw and provender enough, and room to lodge in. And the man bowed down his head and worshipped the Lord. And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth, I being in the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master's brethren."
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Now here is an absolute remarkable incident of divine providence. Can you imagine this in your mind? Abraham in the land of Canaan, this servant takes ten camels and evidently others accompany him as well. And he travels all the way to Mesopotamia to get a wife for Isaac. There was no GPS. There were no road maps. There were no inns along the way, especially Holiday Inns. Just stop and think. He went into this country without an address, without a city, and God led him directly to Abraham's brother's house.
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And when the man saw this the Bible says he bowed his head and worshiped. In other words God had protected him, God had preserved him. I'm sure that there were robbers and thieves along the way looking for caravans. I understand that. Yet when he got there he bowed his head and worshipped. And if you look in verse 48 he is giving testimony to Bethuel and to Laban and to his family and he says this, "And I bowed down my head and worshipped the Lord and blessed the Lord God of my master Abraham which had led me in the right way to take my master's brother's daughter unto his son." So again he says, "I bowed down and worshipped."
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So again he says, "I bowed down and worshipped."
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Now here is the application, just stop and think. How many times has God providentially protected us, and preserved us, answered our prayers in a timely fashion, and in a loving and gracious way, and we fail to bow and worship. We fail to acknowledge Him. I could give illustration after illustration of how God has done things in my life, but you remember last week when the tornadoes were everywhere? And we did not have the meeting down here because of tornadoes. Do you realize just the time that I would have been going back through Adel, Georgia, after this meeting, is when a tornado went through Adel.
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It wiped out an entire trailer park in 15 seconds. It destroyed innumerable homes. A number of people were killed. Tornadoes also hit Albany, Georgia. One went right over one of our daughter's houses. The only thing that she suffered was there was a tree down in her road. But the other daughter, every tree in her yard almost was gone. A neighbor's tree fell on the corner of their house, took out the roof. Another tree fell on their neighbor's house. Had they been in bed, they would have been dead because a tree went right through the bedroom and put all the rafters down on the bed.
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So Alice and I, this was Sunday afternoon, so Alice and I Monday morning got up. I took my chainsaws and we got things together and went over there. I was absolutely astounded. You will not believe me, but it looked like an atomic bomb had gone off. Here, on Hill Street, for miles, practically every tree was turned over, snapped in two, every telephone pole, every light pole, all the lines were down.
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They've already been without electricity now for a week. They say it's probably going to be nine more days before they have electricity again. And when I say trees down, I'm talking about trees in my daughter's yard, pine trees this big around. That doesn't count the oaks. It's not a tree that you can go up and cut and say, "Well, I'll use this firewood." No, you have to have a tractor just to pull the section that you cut away. And I got to thinking as I looked at all that, I said, "Lord, thank you, not just for preserving Alice and I and the house that we live in. I mean, we got a lot of rain, but that was it. But I got to thinking, Lord even if you had spared my house and took down all the trees around it I would not have had the energy or the ability to cut up everything. I mean I would have had to have help immensely."
#38 | 27:45 to 28:42 | cleaned
So I'm just saying stop and imagine how many times God has sovereignly protected us and we take the attitude, "Wow, that was my lucky day," instead of giving God the honor and glory. When this man realized God's providence he bowed and worshiped.
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Now let me ask you a question, why do we bow our heads when we pray? Why often times do we bow and worship? We may drop our head or we may bend over like the Orientals do sometimes and almost kiss the ground. But why do we do that? Let me give you a biblical answer. Because bowing the head symbolizes humility, submission, and servitude. Refusing to bow symbolizes and indicates rebellion, and wickedness, and pride, and arrogance, and haughtiness. Let me show you. Look in your Bibles.
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Deuteronomy chapter 31, 5th book in the Old Testament. Deuteronomy chapter 31, look in verse 27 at what Moses is saying to the Israelites. Deuteronomy chapter 31 verse 27, Moses said, "For I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck. Behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, you have been rebellious against the Lord. How much more after my death?" But notice if you would, he said, "Behold, I know thy rebellion and thy stiff neck." I want you to turn to Jeremiah chapter 17. And as you are turning, by the way just hold Deuteronomy, but turn to Jeremiah 17 and as you are turning there let me quote Psalm 75 and verse 5. Psalm 75 and verse 5 God says, "Lift not up your horn on high, speak not with a stiff neck."
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In other words don't become an arrogant, proud, haughty, hard headed, stubborn individual. Speak not with a stiff neck. Look in Jeremiah 17 and verse 23, you want to see what it symbolizes? Here it is. He said, "But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction." So what is a stiff necked individual? He is someone that won't listen. He is someone that will not submit. He is someone that is hard headed and simply does that which is wicked and wrong. If you will go back to Deuteronomy chapter 10 and notice if you would please verse 16 here is what God tells Israel. He calls them a stiff necked people. In Deuteronomy chapter 10 and verse 16 he says this, "Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart and be no more stiffnecked." Lord, don't act like that. In 2 Chronicles chapter 30 and verse 8 here is what he said, "Now be ye not stiffnecked as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the Lord, and enter into the sanctuary which he has sanctified forever, and serve the Lord your God."
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Notice what he said, "Be not stiffnecked like your fathers were, but yield yourselves." So bowing indicates submission and yielding, where being stiffnecked indicates rebellion and hardheadedness. You remember when Stephen was about to be stoned in Acts chapter 7. He was giving a history lesson of those people who were about to kill him. And finally in verse 51 he said to those people, "Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye." So he called them stiffnecked in heart and in ears.
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Now, most of you probably have never heard of a man by the name of William Ernest Henley. Henley was an English poet that died from tuberculosis. In fact he had actually wrestled and struggled with TB most all of his life because he contracted it as a young man. And while he was in the hospital suffering from tuberculosis, he wrote his poem, "Invictus." "Invictus" is the epitome of arrogance, pride, rebellion, and a stiff neck.
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I want you to listen. Here is his poem. Remember this is a man that is dying of TB. He finally died in 1903, but here is what he wrote. "Out of the night that covers me, black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be for my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance, I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance, my head is bloody but unbowed."
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"Beyond this place of wrath and tears looms but the horror of the shade, and yet the menace of the years finds and shall find me unafraid." Now listen, "It matters not how strait the gate, how charged with punishments the scroll. I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul." Wow! Here is a prime example of one who refused to bow in worship. And that poem exhibits everything that the Word of God speaks against and condemns.
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It is the cry of the infidel, the atheist, and the rebel. In the early part of the 20th century Dorothea Day wrote a poem in response to Henley's poem. Hers is just called, "Conquered." Here is her poem. "Out of the light that dazzles me, bright as the sun from pole to pole, I thank the God that I know to be, for Jesus Christ, the conqueror of my soul. Since His the sway of circumstance, I would not wince nor cry aloud."
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"Under the rule which men call chance, my head with joy is humbly bowed. Beyond this place of sin and tears, that life with Him and His the aid, that spite the menace of the years keeps, and will keep me unafraid. I have no fear how strait the gate. He cleared from punishment the scroll. Christ is the master of my fate. Christ is the captain of my soul."
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And yes, with Dorothea Day, I'd rather bow and worship. I prefer to be conquered by Jesus Christ than to sail my ship as the captain of my own fate, because without Jesus Christ I know what my own fate would be. So yes, there are plenty of reasons to bow and worship. And we bow the head because it speaks of submission, yielding, servitude, humility. I want you to look in your Bibles to Exodus chapter 4. Here is the second occurrence of bowing in worship. Exodus chapter 4, notice if you would please verse 29-31, Exodus chapter 4, here the children of Israel hear that God is going to deliver them. Exodus 4 verse 29, "And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel. And Aaron spake all these words which the Lord had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people. And the people believed. And when they had heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel, and that He had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped."
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Deliverance is a wonderful word. News of deliverance is even better. When the children of Israel just heard that God had sent Moses and Aaron, and they just heard that God had looked upon their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshipped. They were acknowledging the goodness and the kindness and the faithfulness of God. So let me ask you this. How often has God delivered you? Just stop and think how He's delivered us physically, mentally, emotionally, financially, and above all, spiritually. So have you bowed your head and worshipped? I believe that each deliverance calls for a round of praise and worship. Even news. When you hear... I've had people come to me and say, "I have good news for you." You know, the very fact, just like the news that came that God was going to deliver them, they bowed their head in worship. I'd much rather have good news than I had bad news. I've got good news.
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And you don't need to stand there and say, "Wow, this is my lucky day." No, it's not lucky. It's God's sovereign providence. And when the news comes to you, you bow and worship. How many times have we failed to give God His glory, and the glory that is due unto His name. The Bible says in Psalm 29 verse 2, "Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name. Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness." Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name. So the second time people bowed in worship was when they just heard that God was going to visit them. Wow. I want you to turn in your Bible to Exodus chapter 12. Here is the third instance of bowing in worship and it involves the Passover. And everybody understands the Passover, Exodus chapter 12 beginning there with verse 23, Exodus 12 verse 23, notice "For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians, and when He seeth the blood upon the lintel and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come into your houses to smite you."
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"And you shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever. And it shall come to pass when you become to the land which the Lord will give you, according as He hath promised, that you shall keep this service. And it shall come to pass when your children shall say unto you, What mean you by this service? That you shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when He smote the Egyptians and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped."
#52 | 40:11 to 40:50 | cleaned
Now let me tell you something, news of deliverance is one thing. The promise of deliverance is even better, but neither one of them are as good as actual deliverance itself. When you are delivered and you see your enemies either destroyed and or rendered completely helpless, it's time to bow and worship. So when God passed over the Israelites, and they were spared, they bowed their head and worshipped.
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Now the Passover is a type. The anti-type or the fulfillment is Jesus Christ. The Passover was delivering the children of Israel out of Egypt. The anti-type, the Lord Jesus, 1 Corinthians 5 verse 7, "For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us," is our deliverance not from Egypt but from the flesh, the world, the sin, and the Devil. So we have now the anti-type in Jesus Christ. So when you think about the Passover you automatically think of redemption.
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Because that's what it was. He redeemed his people out of the land of Egypt. So now we have redemption in Jesus Christ. I want you to think about this. I don't know how often you think about redemption. It crosses my mind fairly regularly. But the Bible tells you in 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 30, "But of him, that is God the Father, but of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption." Jesus Christ is our redemption. And when you get to Ephesians 1 and verse 7, the Bible says, "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace."
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So here's what I'm pointing out. The very thought of redemption should cause us to bow and worship. You say, "But I love the Heavenly Father." Really? Well, let me ask you, why do you love Him? Because He first loved you. Herein is love, not that we loved Him, but He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. So, how often do you thank the Heavenly Father for sending His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to be our redemption and our salvation and our propitiation.
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You remember what the Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 9 and verse 15? Talking about Jesus Christ, he said, "Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift." In other words, words cannot even put together the value of Jesus Christ. But when it came to actual redemption, they bowed their head and worshiped. As we go along our way and we think about what God has done for us in Jesus Christ, we need to spontaneously just bow our heads and worship and thank Him for the redemption that's in Jesus Christ.
#57 | 44:19 to 45:07 | cleaned
If you will look in your Bibles to Exodus 34, here's the fourth and final passage I'm going to show you today. I'll finish, Lord willing, next Sunday. But look in Exodus chapter 34 and verses 4 through 8. God commands Moses to hew him two tablets, he broke the first two, and come back up into the mount. Verse 4, "And he hewed two tablets of stone like unto the first. And Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up into Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him. And he took in his hand the two tables of stone. And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. Wow!"
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"And the Lord passed by before him and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the children's children unto the third and to the fourth generation."
#59 | 45:58 to 46:23 | cleaned
Now in one instance Moses had asked to see God's glory and God put him in the cleft of the rock and he said you can't see my face but I'll cover so I pass by and you can see the rear part of me but still at the same time it was his glory, it was his mercy, it was his grace that he saw. Now watch this. Here's my question. Have you seen, comprehended, or understood to any degree any of God's attributes or God's character? What about God's sovereignty? God is absolutely, totally sovereign.
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He's in control of everything. If God shows you His Godhood, if God shows you His deity, if God shows you His sovereignty, and you perceive it and you grasp it, then you can't grasp Him fully because only God can understand God, but you can see a part of it. What should you do? The answer is you should bow and worship, just like Moses. Moses here bowed and worshiped verse 8, "And Moses made haste and bowed his head to the earth and worshipped." What if God shows you His omniscience? Any part of it. That is, He knows everything. Known unto God are all of His works from the beginning. God knows the end from the beginning. What if God shows you His omnipresence? That He's everywhere at once in the totality of His being. And you understand that in some degree.
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What about God's omnipotence, His all-powerfulness? What about His immutability, His unchangeableness, His infinity, His veracity, His truth, His love, His grace, His mercy? When you see these things, even to the slightest degree, you should bow your head in worship when you think about them. And I've got news for you. You stop and think about people that are our age, younger, who not only are already dead, but many have such physical, mental, and emotional difficulties.
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I saw a woman today at dinner. She could not even straighten her head up. She was like this. And you could tell she had some kind of real physical problem. And in my mind, I said, "Lord, help her, and Lord, thank you that you've protected me." You know what that is? That is understanding in some sense of the word God's love to us.
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Now, God loved her as well, undoubtedly, because she's still alive. But I'm just simply saying we have seen things and we know things that other people do not know and see. Let me show you. Look in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 13. Matthew chapter 13. And let's begin there with verse 16. Matthew 13 verse 16. Watch carefully what our Lord says. He is talking to His disciples. Matthew 13 verse 16. Watch. He tells His disciples, "But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear. For verily I say unto you that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which you see and have not seen them, and to hear those things which you hear and have not heard them." Do you realize when God shows you truth, any truth, in His Word, and especially in relationship to his character and his attributes, it's time to bow and worship because multitudes have never seen and never heard. And you've been blessed to hear and to see. If you would turn right over to Luke chapter 10 and look at verse 21.
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Luke 10 verse 21. Look at what our Lord says. Luke 10, verse 21. "In that hour, Jesus rejoiced in spirit and said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Thy sight." Do you realize, as a believer in Jesus Christ, and understanding truths from God's Word, you know more than many philosophers. You know more than a lot of men with earned PhDs behind their names.
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Because God has enlightened you. He's illuminated your mind. He's opened your eyes so that you could see and understand. And whenever God shows us any truth out of Scripture, we should bow and worship. And by the way, the truth that he's showing you today is bowing and worship, and you should learn to do that regularly, many times a day. Just drop your head and say, "Thank you, Lord. Praise you, Lord. I give you grace, and I give you praise, and I give thee honor and glory because you're God." Now, let me make just two applications.
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The first one is this. Spontaneous worship is often the purest and the best worship because it leaps from our hearts and mouths in grateful adulation and adoration. We may be overwhelmed with any thought of God's mercy, of God's love, of God's grace, and without hesitation we find ourselves mentally, emotionally, even vocally giving praise and honor to the Lord Jesus Christ. And there's nothing wrong with that. There are many times I'll just say, "Praise the Lord." I think of something. Alice will hear me and she'll say, "What did you say?" I'll say, "I was just praising the Lord, that's okay." That's what we need to do.
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And the second application is this, whatever our circumstance, whatever our situation, we want to make sure that we do not have a stiff neck, and that's spiritually speaking. That would include our attitude, our actions, our words, our mental, our emotional state. In order to make sure that you do not have a stiff neck, and that you lift not up your horn on high and speak with a stiff neck, you must remember who God is and who you are. You have to remember He is the Lord, we are the subjects.
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He is the master, we are the servants. He is the head, we are the body. He is the creator, we are the creatures. He is the shepherd, we are the sheep. He is God and we are the dust of the earth. Moreover, we must remember Luke 14 and verse 11. Listen. "For whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased, but whosoever humbleth himself shall be exalted." So if we do not want God to put us down, do not exalt yourself with a stiff neck. Because God is able to humble those that exalt themselves.
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And if you don't believe me, just ask Nebuchadnezzar. Because that's exactly what he said. He's able to humble those. Drove him insane for seven years. Made him eat grass like an oxen for seven years. The way up is down. So if we do not wish to be put down, we better not lift ourselves up. And if we want to be lifted up by God, as our Lord said, "Behold, I'm among you as he that serveth."
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We must take the position of humility and servitude, and especially by bowing and worshiping. Let's pray. Father, help us today Lord, teach us and speak to our hearts. And help us, Father, to bow and worship before Thee. You've been so good, so gracious, so kind, so beneficent. Thank You, Father, for Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank You for His so great salvation. Thank You, Father, for the Holy Spirit in His ministry. Thank You for the Word of God. Thank You for the ministry and the saints of God. And help us, Father, to love Thee and to live for Thee, and to bow in worship. In Thy name we ask and pray, amen.
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so so
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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T16:32:20Z

Spontaneous Worship - Part 1 of 2

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

Pastor John Weaver introduces the concept of spontaneous worship, defined as worship given apart from stated public or private times, in recognition of God's goodness, mercy, and grace. Using Genesis 24:26 as the first biblical occurrence, he examines four Old Testament examples where individuals bowed and worshiped in response to God's providence, deliverance, and revelation of His character. He emphasizes that true worship must be in spirit and truth, through Jesus Christ, and that bowing symbolizes humility and submission, contrasting with the stiff neck of rebellion. Applications include cultivating a habit of spontaneous praise and maintaining a humble posture before God.

Introduction to Spontaneous Worship

Weaver introduces the message title and reads Genesis 24:26, defining spontaneous worship as bowing and worshiping apart from public or private stated times.

Scripture Reading — Genesis 24:26

"And the man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord."

The Necessity of Worship in Spirit and Truth

Worship must be through Jesus Christ and bounded by spirit and truth; otherwise, it is unacceptable and may even be worship of devils.

Scripture Reading — John 4:23-24

"But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship Him."

And then when you get to verse 24 he says this,

Scripture Reading — John 4:23-24

"God is spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth."

So the true and acceptable worship of God is bounded on the one hand by truth and on the other hand by spirit.

Public, Private, and Spontaneous Worship

God commands both public and private worship, but spontaneous worship is often neglected. It is worship that arises from recognizing God's goodness.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 103:1-5

"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, not just part of me, not a little bit of me, but bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name."

So here we have the entirety of the being involved in God's worship, I would call it the spirit or man's spirit.

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 33:11

"The voice of joy, the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, the voice of the bride, and of them that shall say, Praise the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for His mercy endureth forever, and of them shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord."

So here are people who are praising the Lord. It says they are going to bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord. Now look at Hebrews 13 and verse 15, the Bible says,

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 33:11

"By Him, that is by the Lord Jesus Christ, therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name."

The Classic Illustration: The Grateful Leper

In Luke 17, one leper out of ten returned to bow and worship Jesus after being healed, exemplifying spontaneous worship in response to deliverance.

I want you to look in your Bible, so Luke chapter 17, Luke chapter 17, and let's begin reading there with verse 11. Luke 17 and verse 11, and we will read through verse 17. Luke 17, verse 11,

Scripture Reading — Luke 17:11-17

"And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off." "And they lifted up their voices and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy upon us. And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go, show yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass that as they went they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks."

First Occurrence: Eliezer's Worship (Genesis 24)

Eliezer bowed and worshiped when he saw God's providential guidance in finding Rebekah for Isaac, demonstrating worship for divine providence.

Scripture Reading — Genesis 24:4-27

"But thou shalt go into my country, into my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac. And the servant said unto him, Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me into this land, must I needs bring thy son again into the land from which thou camest? And Abraham said unto him, Beware that thou bring not my son thither again. The Lord God of heaven, which took me from my father's house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that sware unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land. He shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence. And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath: only bring not my son thither again."

Second Occurrence: Israel's Worship at News of Deliverance (Exodus 4)

The Israelites bowed and worshiped upon hearing that God had visited them and would deliver them from affliction.

Third Occurrence: Worship at the Passover (Exodus 12)

After the actual deliverance from the destroyer, the people bowed and worshiped, a type of redemption in Christ that should prompt our worship.

Now the Passover is a type. The anti-type or the fulfillment is Jesus Christ. The Passover was delivering the children of Israel out of Egypt. The anti-type, the Lord Jesus, 1 Corinthians 5 verse 7,

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 5:7

"For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us,"

Fourth Occurrence: Moses' Worship at God's Revelation (Exodus 34)

When God proclaimed His name and attributes, Moses bowed and worshiped, teaching that any glimpse of God's character should lead to worship.

The Symbolism of Bowing and the Danger of a Stiff Neck

Bowing symbolizes humility and submission; a stiff neck symbolizes rebellion. Believers must avoid pride and remember their position before God.

Deuteronomy chapter 31, 5th book in the Old Testament. Deuteronomy chapter 31, look in verse 27 at what Moses is saying to the Israelites. Deuteronomy chapter 31 verse 27, Moses said,

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 31:27

"For I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck. Behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, you have been rebellious against the Lord. How much more after my death?"

But notice if you would, he said,

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 31:27

"Behold, I know thy rebellion and thy stiff neck."

Applications: Cultivating Spontaneous Worship and Humility

Spontaneous worship is often the purest worship; we must guard against a stiff neck by remembering who God is and who we are, and by humbling ourselves.

Spontaneous Worship - Part 1 of 2

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	u3FQYMOld3s
Subject	Old Testament Studies
Course	Exodus: Bondage, Deliverance, and Passover: As Yet
Genre	Sermon
Date	2017-02-15
Dictation Name
Book	Book 183: Spontaneous Worship — Chapter 1
Source Timed Segments	72

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction to Spontaneous Worship: Weaver introduces the message title and reads Genesis 24:26, defining spontaneous worship as bowing and worshiping apart from public or private stated times.
The Necessity of Worship in Spirit and Truth: Worship must be through Jesus Christ and bounded by spirit and truth; otherwise, it is unacceptable and may even be worship of devils.
Public, Private, and Spontaneous Worship: God commands both public and private worship, but spontaneous worship is often neglected. It is worship that arises from recognizing God's goodness.
The Classic Illustration: The Grateful Leper: In Luke 17, one leper out of ten returned to bow and worship Jesus after being healed, exemplifying spontaneous worship in response to deliverance.
First Occurrence: Eliezer's Worship (Genesis 24): Eliezer bowed and worshiped when he saw God's providential guidance in finding Rebekah for Isaac, demonstrating worship for divine providence.
Second Occurrence: Israel's Worship at News of Deliverance (Exodus 4): The Israelites bowed and worshiped upon hearing that God had visited them and would deliver them from affliction.
Third Occurrence: Worship at the Passover (Exodus 12): After the actual deliverance from the destroyer, the people bowed and worshiped, a type of redemption in Christ that should prompt our worship.
Fourth Occurrence: Moses' Worship at God's Revelation (Exodus 34): When God proclaimed His name and attributes, Moses bowed and worshiped, teaching that any glimpse of God's character should lead to worship.
The Symbolism of Bowing and the Danger of a Stiff Neck: Bowing symbolizes humility and submission; a stiff neck symbolizes rebellion. Believers must avoid pride and remember their position before God.
Applications: Cultivating Spontaneous Worship and Humility: Spontaneous worship is often the purest worship; we must guard against a stiff neck by remembering who God is and who we are, and by humbling ourselves.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

Worship without Christ is devil worship

Unless one worships the true God through Jesus Christ, their worship is actually directed to devils.

Weaver cites 1 Corinthians 10:20-21 and says, 'unless you are worshipping the One True and Living God and worshipping the way He is revealed, you end up worshipping devils.'

Spontaneous worship is often neglected

Christians focus on public and private worship but neglect spontaneous worship, which is worship in response to God's immediate blessings.

Weaver states, 'There is another aspect of worship which I believe that has been extremely neglected... spontaneous worship.'

Bowing symbolizes humility; stiff neck symbolizes rebellion

Physical posture in worship reflects spiritual posture; bowing shows submission, while a stiff neck shows pride and resistance to God.

Weaver explains from Deuteronomy 31:27 and Jeremiah 17:23 that a stiff neck means refusing to hear or submit.

Every deliverance calls for worship

From the leper's healing to Israel's Passover, each act of deliverance should prompt immediate, spontaneous worship.

Weaver says, 'I believe that each deliverance calls for a round of praise and worship.'

Revelation of truth demands worship

When God opens our eyes to see truth, especially about His character, we should bow and worship because many have not been given such sight.

Weaver references Matthew 13:16 and says, 'when God shows you truth... it's time to bow and worship.'

Scripture References

Genesis 24:26: The first occurrence of bowing and worshiping; Eliezer worships after God's providential guidance.
1 Corinthians 10:20-21: Paul warns that sacrificing to idols is sacrificing to devils; worship must be through Christ.
John 4:23-24: True worshipers must worship the Father in spirit and truth; God is spirit.
Psalm 103:1-5: David engages his whole being—soul and mind—in worship, listing God's benefits.
Jeremiah 33:11: The sacrifice of praise is brought into the house of the Lord.
Hebrews 13:15: By Jesus we offer the sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips giving thanks.
1 Corinthians 14:40: All things should be done decently and in order, reflecting God's character.
Hebrews 10:25: Believers are commanded not to forsake assembling together.
Luke 17:11-17: The grateful leper returns to bow and worship Jesus after being healed.
Exodus 15:26: God reveals Himself as Jehovah-Rapha, the Lord who heals.
Genesis 24:4-27: Eliezer's mission to find a wife for Isaac; he bows and worships upon success.
Deuteronomy 31:27: Moses rebukes Israel for their rebellion and stiff neck.
Psalm 75:5: God commands not to lift up the horn or speak with a stiff neck.
Jeremiah 17:23: A stiff neck means refusing to hear or receive instruction.
Deuteronomy 10:16: God tells Israel to circumcise their hearts and be no more stiffnecked.
2 Chronicles 30:8: A call to yield to the Lord and not be stiffnecked like the fathers.
Acts 7:51: Stephen calls the Jewish leaders stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart.
Exodus 4:29-31: The Israelites bow and worship upon hearing that God will deliver them.
Exodus 12:23-27: After the Passover deliverance, the people bow and worship.
1 Corinthians 5:7: Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

Historical References

William Ernest Henley and his poem 'Invictus': Henley, an English poet who died of tuberculosis in 1903, wrote 'Invictus' as an expression of pride and self-reliance, which Weaver contrasts with biblical humility.
Dorothea Day and her poem 'Conquered': Day wrote a response to Henley's poem, affirming Christ as the master of her fate, exemplifying a bowed and worshipful heart.
Nebuchadnezzar's humbling: Weaver references Nebuchadnezzar as an example of God humbling the proud, driving him insane for seven years.

Important Quotes

And the man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord.

This is the first biblical occurrence of bowing and worshiping, serving as the foundation for the message.

the true and acceptable worship of God is bounded on the one hand by truth and on the other hand by spirit.

Defines the biblical boundaries for worship as taught in John 4.

Worship is when the entirety of our beings are engaged in giving our Lord praise, and honor, and adoration, it is when we submit to Him and recognize Him.

Clarifies that worship involves the whole person, not just outward forms.

Spontaneous worship is that worship which is given apart from the public and the private worship. It is worship that is given in recognition of God's goodness, and God's mercy, and God's grace.

Provides the definition of spontaneous worship, the central topic.

bowing the head symbolizes humility, submission, and servitude. Refusing to bow symbolizes and indicates rebellion, and wickedness, and pride, and arrogance, and haughtiness.

Explains the spiritual symbolism behind the physical act of bowing.

I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul.

Quoted from Henley's 'Invictus' as the epitome of stiff-necked rebellion against God.

Christ is the master of my fate. Christ is the captain of my soul.

Dorothea Day's response, showing the proper posture of submission to Christ.

Spontaneous worship is often the purest and the best worship because it leaps from our hearts and mouths in grateful adulation and adoration.

Highlights the value of spontaneous worship as heartfelt and genuine.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

What is the difference between the means of worship (prayer, Bible study, preaching) and worship itself, according to Weaver?

[Context]

Weaver argues that many confuse the means with the end; worship is the engagement of the whole being in praise and submission.

[Question]

Why does Weaver say that worship not offered through Jesus Christ ends up being worship of devils?

[Context]

Based on 1 Corinthians 10:20-21, he asserts that all worship outside of Christ is ultimately directed to demonic forces.

[Question]

How does the story of the ten lepers illustrate spontaneous worship, and why is the focus usually on the nine?

[Context]

Weaver notes that preachers often emphasize the ungrateful nine, but the one who returned exemplifies spontaneous worship.

[Question]

In what ways does bowing the head symbolize spiritual realities, and how does a 'stiff neck' manifest in a believer's life?

[Context]

Weaver explains that bowing shows humility and submission, while a stiff neck indicates rebellion and refusal to hear God.

[Question]

How can we cultivate a habit of spontaneous worship in our daily lives?

[Context]

Weaver encourages believers to regularly drop their heads and thank God throughout the day for His blessings and character.

[Question]

What does it mean to worship God 'in spirit and in truth,' and how does this boundary protect against false worship?

[Context]

Weaver explains that spirit and truth are the boundaries set by God in John 4, ensuring worship is acceptable.

Applications

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T07:26:02Z