FOUNDATIONS OF WORSHIP PART 5

  There is a lot of debate about what it means to worship God in spirit. Understanding it comes with different levels of maturity. Many people turn to what John the Revelator said: “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day” (Revelation 1:10), and try to unpack what he meant.

Jewish priest washing his face in the Bronze Laver. Image by ChatGPT

Some believe “the Lord’s Day” refers to the Sabbath, which would be Saturday, while others believe it refers to Sunday, since the calendar and practice of worship had changed by that point. This argument, however, can become a distraction because it gets us no closer to understanding what John meant when he said, “I was in the Spirit.”

The bigger issue is really what it means to be in the Spirit. Jesus gives us an important starting point in John 4:23: “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.”

In Part 4, we explored how worshipping in truth involves obedience, faith, repentance and being conformed to the image of Christ. When we praise God and give thanks, we are worshipping Him. But many times, praise and thanksgiving simply open the door to the temple and prepare us to meet with Him. The flesh wars against the spirit, and when a believer begins to experience the presence of God, they can be quick to leave.

Apostle Tobi Arayomi calls it “roll call.” After the first hour, people begin to feel the presence of God—and then they leave. That is, if they can even make it to an hour. It is like dropping by a friend’s house, honking the car horn for them to come outside, and then, as soon as they open the door, simply waving and driving away.

We enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. A lot of times, that is where believers remain. They are unable to enter the inner courts. Worse yet, many believers do not even know that they can go further or deeper.

WORSHIP IN REVELATION

We worship according to the revelation we have of God. God reveals Himself. He is not an abstract or distant God who remains unknown to us. He is known by those who belong to Him. Jesus said that His sheep know His voice (John 10:27). There is a relationship between revelation and knowing God.

We see a similar principle in Jesus’ prayer in John 17:1–5, where He speaks about those whom the Father has given Him: 

“Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”

In Revelation 1:1, Christ is revealed to us through what the Father reveals to Him and what He, in turn, makes known to us. Revelation is not simply about predicting the future, as many people understand prophecy. It is the revelation of Jesus Christ and of what happens with or without Jesus.

Revelation is centred on Jesus. Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy, and He fulfils prophecy. To worship God in spirit, therefore, is to worship Him according to the revelation we have of who He is.

In my early walk with Christ, I gravitated toward the Father. One day, I realised that although I was using the name of Jesus, singing about Jesus and speaking Scripture, I did not have the same relationship with Jesus that I had with God the Father. I also recognised that my relationship with the Holy Spirit was not what it should be. I prayed for a deeper relationship with each Person of the Godhead, and I have been working on that relationship ever since.

Each Person of the Godhead has personality and function. In a very basic way, we can say that the Holy Spirit points us to Jesus, and Jesus points us to the Father.

Worshipping God in spirit, therefore, involves worshipping Him according to the revelation we have received of Him. Why? Two reasons immediately come to mind:

1. We can only worship what we know.
2. The pattern as established in Scripture.

As we read the Bible, we see the ways in which God revealed Himself to the prophets and to His people: as Healer, Banner, Deliverer, Redeemer, Provider and in many other ways.

But worshipping in spirit also means acknowledging that there is a spiritual realm and that we have a spirit.

WORSHIP THROUGH US

When we are in the outer courts, we encounter the laver, a basin used by the priests for ceremonial washing. According to Exodus 38:8, the Bronze Laver was constructed using the bronze mirrors donated by the women who served at the entrance of the Tabernacle. These were not mirrors as we know them today. They were made from highly polished bronze, brass or copper. The metal was melted or hammered into the shape of the basin and its base.

Combined with the still water inside it, the polished bronze would have created a reflective surface. As the priests leaned over the basin to wash their hands and feet, they would have seen their own faces reflected in the water and polished metal.

There is spiritual symbolism in this. Before a priest could look upon the holiness of God, he had to look at himself. The laver served as a reminder for self-examination. The priest had to approach God with purity, honesty and humility.

This concept carries into the New Testament, where James compares the Word of God to a mirror that reveals our true spiritual condition:

“For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.” — James 1:23–24

We must have the image, manifestation or reflection of Christ because Jesus is the way. We reflect Jesus  when we become a doer of the word.

At the time of the Tabernacle and the temple, there was a physical place where people approached God. But the meeting place with God is no longer confined to a tent or a physical temple. Through Jesus, we have become the temple.

To worship God in spirit is, in part, to go inward—to recognise the spirit within us and the spiritual realm in which we encounter God. The New Age followers understand what it means to look inward. Spiritists understand something about the spiritual realm. Yet, sometimes, the children of God shrink back from these concepts because of fear or because they see it as heresy.

But Scripture tells us that it is “deep calling unto deep” (Psalm 42:7). We are spiritual beings. Our spirit responds to God. Spirit to Spirit.

We must understand something important about worship: when it comes to worship, we are the ones who initiate it. James 4:8 says, "draw close to me and I will draw close to you".

Worship in spirit and truth changes our appearance until we begin to look like Jesus. It allows us to move beyond the outer courts and enter the presence of God. We can enter in the Spirit. Worship in spirit is dimensional. We worship God in our spirit, in the spiritual realm and through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit guides us in worship and leads us deeper into the revelation of God.