True Worship In Spirit and Truth – Part 2

David W Palmer

(John 4:23–24 NKJV) “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. (24) God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

B. Worship in Truth

The Father seeks those who will worship him in spirit. Jesus also said that God seeks those who will worship him in “truth.” This has a twofold application:

1. Honesty

(John 14:6 CSB) Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Jesus (God’s Living Word) said that he is “The way, the Truth, and the Life.” Relating to Jesus, therefore, is relating to the truth. To do this fully, we need to be completely ethical; we need absolute honesty and transparency to relate authentically to Jesus. In other words, we must entertain no deception and no denial.

Confirming this, our Lord said that only those with an “honest and good heart” would hear his word and bring forth fruit. God’s true worshippers should “bear fruit unto God,” as the following verses show; so they need an honest and good heart:

(Luke 8:15 KJV) “But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.”

(Romans 7:4 NKJV) “Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another; to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.”

These passages give us two pictures of fruit that God can generate through an honest and good heart: the harvest that comes from seeds sown in good soil—speaking of bringing to life the word that God sows into our hearts; children are the fruit of a married man and woman, who generate a loving family.

Further to this, Scripture teaches that only the person who “speaks the truth in his heart” will abide in God’s “tabernacle,” and dwell in his “Holy hill.” Please read the following very watchfully, noting everything that the upright person does, and does not, do.

(Psalm 15:1–3 NKJV) “LORD, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your Holy hill? {2} He who walks uprightly, and works righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart; {3} He who does not backbite with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbour, nor does he take up a reproach against his friend.”

Without this transparent intimacy, no conception by God’s word will take place, and therefore no eternal fruit will be borne. We need humble honesty and pure integrity to be a worshipper in truth.

2. God’s Word.

(John 17:17 CSB) “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.”

Now we come to the second aspect of worshipping God in truth. Jesus said that God’s “word is truth.” To worship in truth, therefore, we must have an intimate and yielded relationship with his word—we must read it, meditate it, confess it, believe it, ingest it into our hearts, be transformed by it, and obediently act on it through his grace. Our vision and goal must be to renew our minds to the truth of God’s word, until we see ourselves exactly as God says we are in Christ. What’s more, our confession—all of our words, everything we say—must reflect exactly what he says about us.

Today, I have some very simple questions for you. It hits the “bull’s eye” when dealing with the subject of true worship in truth: “How is your relationship with the truth?” Do you speak it in your own heart to yourself and God? Are you open and brutally honest with yourself about where you are at in your attitudes, prejudices, ingratitude, or judgments? Are your self-estimates of your accomplishments, abilities, and God-given gifts accurate? Do you see yourself, and say about yourself what God sees and says? Yes, how is your relationship with The Truth? After all, this is identical to your relationship with Jesus; he is “The Truth” to whom we relate (John 14:6).

Secondly, I have to ask, how is your relationship with the truth of God’s word? Do you read the word, or do you let it read you? Can God speak to you through his word; do you allow him to pinpoint issues, attitudes, actions, and beliefs that he wants to correct?

You see, worship in truth is about relating to God, Jesus, his word, and his truth with humble, accurate honesty and openness. May God shine his light into your heart today to help you take off another layer of hindrance to your worshipful relationship with Truth himself.