Worship.

WE can only offer spiritual worship on the ground of the shed blood of Jesus. The unregenerate know not what they worship (John 4:2222Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. (John 4:22)): their thought is about places of worship, so called, rather than either how or who they worship. Not so the believer. He knows that God is a Spirit, and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Son of the Father, crucified and risen, is his Saviour; and he instinctively, as it were, responds to our Lord’s declaration, that “the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father seeketh such to worship Him.” (John 4:2323But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. (John 4:23).) He looks back with shame on the time of his “dead works” when he ignorantly worshipped; when custom and formality only impelled him, because he knew not the Father nor the Son. Or, he may have to charge himself with folly at a later period, at discovering that his thoughts of God had been so stunted and imperfect, and that he had apprehended so little of the infinite glory and power of His counsel and grace, in his approaches to God. His soul now, however, truly worships: he draws nigh by the blood of the Son; and thus, by the Spirit, finds access unto the Father.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the perfect pattern of a worshipper. In that moat awful hour, when His soul was made an offering for sin, when He had to grapple with death and hell, and was forsaken of God, He worshipped― “Thou art holy, O Thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.... Thou art He that took Me out of the womb; Thou didst make Me hope when I was upon My mother’s breasts,” &c.
It is not human attainment, but God’s manifestation of Himself in His own Son, realized with power on our hearts and consciences, that enables us to be “true worshippers.” As long as our thoughts are occupied about doing great things for God, we shall be cold, listless, and formal; but when our souls apprehend the amazing greatness of His grace, wisdom, and power to us-ward in Christ, we are constrained to worship and serve with reverence and godly fear. May we be strong in the grace which is in Christ Jesus!
There was, doubtless, much of the spirit of worship in the earliest ages of the world. Who can think that Adam experienced the suitability of the clothing which the Lord God in His grace put upon him and his helpmeet, covering over all the guilt and shame they had so deeply felt, and that he could at this time have called his wife “the mother of all living,” without feelings of adoration and praise? Or, can we suppose that righteous Abel could present to God a figure of Christ bearing sin, which the bleeding sacrifice represented, without deep emotions of admiring gratitude? Or, could Enoch walk with God for three hundred years, having the testimony that he pleased God, without oft-repeated adoration and thanksgiving? Could the patriarch Noah, when the smoke of the clean beasts ascended up to heaven, and he remembered the wonderful salvation that God had wrought for him, and the grace that he had found, fail in blessing and praising the God of mercy and truth?
But it was reserved for the days of Abraham and Isaac for the subject of worship to be more distinctly introduced to us, when he said to the young men, “Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship.” (Gen. 22:55And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. (Genesis 22:5).) The father of the faithful was before the Lord, with the sacrifice that He had appointed. His thoughts were of the grace, and wisdom, and power of God― “God,” said he, “will provide Himself a Lamb;” and he presented, in a figure, that offering, “accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead.” (Heb. 11:1919Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure. (Hebrews 11:19).) Blessed elements of worship indeed! God just and yet a Saviour, the Provider of the Lamb, the Raiser of the dead, calling forth the deepest tone of self-denial, and most fervent utterances of adoration. Would, beloved, that we could catch more of the same fervency of spirit, and believing perceptions of the God of all grace, who “quickeneth all things,” so that joy and gratitude might fill and overflow our souls. “Abraham,” said Jesus, “rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.”
In the instructive and mystic scene of Abraham’s servant seeking a wife for Isaac, the man of faith is twice presented to us as worshipping the Lord. But as we have seen before, it was not the effort of the creature that was the moving cause, but the goodness and tender mercy of Jehovah. He recognized God as standing in covenant relation with Abraham― “O Lord God of my master Abraham.” (Gen. 24:1212And 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. (Genesis 24:12).) When he found that the invisible God had so graciously listened to his prayer, and so faithfully guided his steps, he could not forbear bowing his head, and giving unto Jehovah the glory due unto His name.
The instances we have looked at present us with examples of individual worshippers, not a company of persons unitedly worshipping, but solitary individuals so realizing their personal obligations to God, and feeling the power of His mercy and goodness in their souls, as constrains them to adore and praise. They serve to teach us some of the principles of worship, and of course they remain unaltered by any number of saints being similarly and unitedly engaged. The question should not be with us as to the place or quantity of worship so much as to the quality. Is it acceptable to God? Am I worshipping the Father in spirit and in truth? should be the questions by which we should test our spiritual sacrifices. There is no busy effort in true worship; it is the natural result of faith. If faith is not in exercise on the grace of God in Christ, we are not offering up spiritual sacrifices. When the eyes of the blind man were opened, he believed first, then worshipped (John 9:3838And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him. (John 9:38)); and so when the people of Israel believed, and heard that the Lord had visited them, and that He had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped. (Ex. 4:3131And the people believed: and when they 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. (Exodus 4:31).) Again, when the glorious news of redemption from Egypt, and all its bondage, by the slain Lamb, was proclaimed to them, then, we are told, “the people bowed their heads and worshipped.” (Ex. 12:2727That ye 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. (Exodus 12:27).) And in that memorable manifestation the Lord God made of Himself to Moses, when He hid His servant in the cleft of the rock, we are told that Moses “bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.” (Ex. 34:88And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped. (Exodus 34:8).)
Do not all these instances teach us, beloved, that we must have our souls much exercised with the person and work of our most glorious Emmanuel, if we would be found by our God in a worshipping state of heart? We must, by faith, be drawing water from the wells of salvation, and often eating the flesh and blood of the Lamb of God; in short, be not only deeply sensible that we have nothing but what we have received, but increasingly apprehending the breadth, and length, and depth, and height of the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, and in conscious helplessness and unworthiness, waiting on God through His Spirit, to work in us those “fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.” (Phil. 1:1111Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:11).)
It is in the New Testament of the “grace and truth which came by Jesus Christ,” that the true light shineth concerning principles of worship as well as everything else. The Prince of Life Himself, who most truly said, “He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father,” is there seen living and walking with men; but still, without doubt, it is only the more plainly revealed, that worship is not the laborious effort of the creature bringing something to commend himself to God, but the infinite grace and kindness of the Father of mercies and God of all comfort so blessing the creature, as to call forth all that is within him to bless His holy name. In Matt. 14. we see an example of this. The disciples were in a ship in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves and the wind contrary. Jesus went unto them walking on the sea, and said, “Be of good cheer,” &c. Peter walked on the water, and when the Lord and Peter were come into the ship the wind ceased―a great deliverance was wrought for them. Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped Him, saying, “Of a truth Thou art the SON of God.” How simple, yet how melodious, this vibration of the chords of their hearts to God’s testimony of Him, “This is My beloved Son!” Personal advantage seems forgotten, because the eye of faith is wholly resting on the infinite glory of the great mystery of godliness―God manifest in the flesh.
But a day came when the same disciples ceased to worship. Ignorance and unbelief clouded their spiritual vision, and the heart, no longer in tune to the melody of worship, grew despondent and doubting. “We trusted that it had been He which should have redeemed Israel,” &c. (Luke 24:13,13And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. (Luke 24:13) &c.) It reads us a solemn and instructive lesson, and shows us what we are when our souls are not believingly and intelligently occupied with the Son of God crucified, risen, and glorified. Christ must make such feel their folly, and slowness of heart to believe the testimony of the Scriptures concerning Himself. The heart must be in peace with God through Christ, to constitute us true and happy worshippers. We must know that we have ready access to the Father by the blood of Jesus. At the close of this same chapter, we again see the blessed Lord opening the understanding of the eleven, that they might understand the Scriptures. He testifies to them what is written of His own sufferings, and death, and resurrection, the gospel of remission of sins that should be preached in His name: He leads them out as far as Bethany and blesses them; and then we are told “they worshipped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God.” Those who learn of, and are led by Jesus, will be surely blest by Him; and therefore will be true and happy worshippers.
Further, we might notice that worship in the coming glory is grounded on the same principle of mercy given and received. Hence, the new song is, “Thou art worthy.... for Thou wart slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests,” &c.
Fleshly confidence and indulgences are mighty enemies to the spirit of true worship. The priests of old washed their hands and feet when they went into the tabernacle to accomplish the service of God (Ex. 30:18-2018Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and his foot also of brass, to wash withal: and thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and thou shalt put water therein. 19For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat: 20When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire unto the Lord: (Exodus 30:18‑20)); and very needful it is for us to feel keenly that in us, that is in our flesh, dwelleth no good thing, if we would realize boldness in entering into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, and liberty in worshipping the Father in spirit and in truth. In proportion as we rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh, we are able to worship God in the spirit.
The more the sufferings and glory of the Lamb of God are occupying our souls, the more we aball feel the presence of the Father and the Son with us. (John 14:2323Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. (John 14:23).) By the blood of Jesus alone, shall we be guided, by the Spirit, into the holiest of all (Heb. 10:19, 2019Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; (Hebrews 10:19‑20)): we then “bring an offering, and come into His courts,” we sing “unto the Lord”― “to the Rock of our salvation;” we come before His presence with thanksgiving, and bless His name; we worship and bow down, and kneel before the Lord our Maker, our Redeemer, our Shepherd, our God; because we realize that “it is He that hath made us, and not we our; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.” The more we praise, the more we shall desire to praise. It is a healthful and fruitful exercise indeed. God so graciously condescends to accept our thanksgivings, that He says,” Whoso offereth praise glorifieth Me; “and in Psalms 67, though a millennial psalm, the principle is seen of God’s blessing being connected with the people’s thanksgiving.” Let all the people praise Thee, O God; let all the people praise Thee. Then shall the earth yield her increase, and God, even our own God, shall bless us. God shall bless us,” &c.
May we, beloved, have more faith in the riches of the grace of God, that we may more truly give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name, and worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. Amen and amen.
Let us not expect to realize the presence of Christ in our meetings, unless we honestly come together in His name―Christ “in the midst” being the heartfelt object of attraction. Such sit before Him, and yield to His sovereign rule and guidance.