Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of Morsels for Zion's Poor. The Lord told the Samaritan
woman that the true worship of God was not carried out according
to some long-standing custom or accepted ritual. Rather, it
can only be manifested as the Lord, in His grace and mercy,
saw fit to seek out a people and to meet with them in power
and truth. The word used for spirit is pneuma, which literally
means breath or the very substance of life. It is noteworthy that
this is the same word the Lord used in speaking to Nicodemus
when he said, The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest
the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and
whither it goeth. So is every one that is born
of the Spirit. Apart from the new birth wrought
in a man by the Spirit of God, no true worship can exist. When
the Lord is pleased to make a new creature, there begins to beat
in his bosom a heart that delights in this worship. It manifests
itself in the Declaration, which again dropped from the pen of
the Apostle Paul. But God forbid that I should
glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the
world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. The elect sons
of God are the only true worshippers of God. All others shall continue
on in their religion and learn piety, often with great devotion
and dedication, but devoid of the one characteristic which
defines true worship, the indwelling power of the Holy Ghost. A man
cannot be born into this tradition of worship by natural birth.
Neither can its practices be handed down from one generation
to the other, as the Jews thought. It cannot be taught in any school,
regardless of the abilities of the teacher or the pupils. Neither
can it be perpetuated by the institutions of religion, regardless
of how orthodox they may appear, or even in reality be. The sons
of God need to be reminded of this fact from time to time,
lest we grow too fond of our religious practices and tests
of orthodoxy. Even those who see the errors
of denominationalism can sometimes become mired in trying to build
institutions which will carry on certain rules of decorum and
customs, as if these things could somehow define true worship.
Our definitions of true worship must always come from that which
is revealed in the Word of God by the Holy Ghost to every generation. Spiritual worship will be the
same in every age. If the early Christians happened
upon one of our meetings, regardless of where, I am sure they would
find many oddities in our practices compared to their own. Yet the
essence of our worship would be no different than theirs if
we were both led by the same Spirit. Some believe that a certain
type of singing is spiritual, while others have a completely
different notion or musical taste. Both may use the scripture to
bolster their position, equally sure of their orthodoxy. Some
are convinced that the singing of only one or two songs is more
spiritual than those who think more is better. Some feel the
chanting of the Psalms quietly is the mark of spiritual worship,
while yet others believe loud exuberance of hymns and choruses
fit the bill. Some feel the worship of the
Lord is carried out best when there is a prescribed program
that is followed, while others believe in a more spontaneous
form of meeting. The fact is that none of these
things have anything to do with spiritual worship, which can
be carried on in the midst of falling bombs during wartime
or the quietude of the stillest night. It is not defined by the
setting in which it takes place. David said, let the words of
my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing before you,
O Jehovah, my rock and my redeemer. Our practices and accepted rituals
may not be the same from congregation to congregation, but the true
worship of the sons of God is the same in all of them who love
Jesus Christ. Spiritual worship is not concerned
with rituals or the lack thereof. It is not concerned with locations,
times, and seasons, will worship, nor shows of piety. It is not
concerned with meat and drink, nor any of the things which would
be of concern to the flesh, such as comforts and convenience.
Spiritual worship is concerned with magnifying the Lord Jesus
Christ. It confesses thou art the Christ, the Son of the living
God. Those who are true worshipers
of Christ desire to worship Him in a way that is pleasing unto
Him and in accordance with the Word of God. They are open to
instruction and do not esteem their way to be correct just
because they prefer certain things or that they have traditionally
held to certain practices. They desire the proclamation
of the truth of God, regardless of how it may cause them discomfort
or vex their flesh. They know that in their flesh
dwelleth no good thing, and lament the weakness thereof. They cannot
find any sort of pleasure in the exaltation of man, but have
their chief delight in the proclamation of Jesus Christ as Lord. Do you
worship him in spirit and truth? For a free CD containing 15 of
these radio broadcasts, send an email to forthepoor at windstream.net