“IN SPIRIT

AND IN
TRUTH”

Lesson 11 for September 10, 2011

 In this week’s lesson we find the answer for
three questions by studying Jesus’ life:

What
motivate us
to worship?

How must Who must

we we
worship? worship?
 WHAT MOTIVATE US TO
WORSHIP?
By the time Jesus was born, every
pious woman in Israel wanted his
son to be the Messiah.
God chose one of them, Mary,
because her character reflected the
divine ideals of motherhood with a
greater perfection than any other
daughter of David.
Through an angel, Mary knew that
she was privileged with this
mission. When her cousin Elizabeth
visited her, she was inspired by the
Holy Spirit to sing the praise we can
read in Luke, 1: 46-55.
 WHAT MOTIVATE US TO WORSHIP?
“My soul magnifies the Lord. We can see the main subjects that led Mary
And my spirit has rejoiced in God my to worship God in this worship; they are the
Savior. same that should lead us to do so.
For He has regarded the lowly state of His
maidservant;  Mary uses the Scriptures to make her
For behold, henceforth all generations will praise and worship.
call me blessed.  She gives glory to God because she has
For He who is mighty has done great things been chosen despite her humble
for me.
condition.
And holy is His name.
And His mercy is on those who fear Him  She is touched by the divine holiness and
from generation to generation. mercy.
He has shown strength with His arm;
 She knows God’s conduction in her and
He has scattered the proud in the
imagination of their hearts. His people’s lives.
He has put down the mighty from their  She exalts God’s
thrones, justice.
and exalted the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
 She praises God
and the rich He has sent away empty. because of the
He has helped His servant Israel, fulfillment of His
in remembrance of His mercy, promises that
as He spoke to our fathers, were made in
to Abraham and to his seed forever” the past.
Luke, 1: 46-55
 WHO MUST WE WORSHIP?
When Jesus began His ministry, He was tempted by Satan in the desert.
The devil offered Him all the kingdoms of this world and their glory in
the third temptation.
Jesus had come to die to rescue the world.
Then, the devil was offering it to him
without any sacrifice... only one “little”
condition: to worship him.
The answer of our Savior made who is the
only one to be worshipped clear.

“Then Jesus said to him, "Away with

you, Satan! For it is written,
`You shall worship the Lord
your God, and Him only you
shall serve.’"” (Matthew, 4: 10)
 WHO MUST WE WORSHIP?
“But if not, let it be known to you, O
king, that we do not serve your gods, nor
will we worship the gold image which you
have set up” (Daniel, 3: 18)
For those three friends, worshipping the statue
meant to serve the god it represented.
Likewise, the answer of Jesus to the devil showed
this interesting point: worship and service are
intimately related.
We serve what or who we worship. As God’s sons, we must choose everyday who we want
to serve (Matthew, 6: 24)
Serving God involves giving Him the first place in every aspect of
our life and obeying Him in all His requirements.
The most we worship God, the less we serve the “self”, the sin, or
whatever that tries to gain our service.
“But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you,
then choose for yourselves this day whom you will
serve, whether the gods your forefathers served
beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in
whose land you are living. But as for me and my
household, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua, 24: 15)
 WHO MUST WE WORSHIP?
The whole Bible is clear in one thing: We can worship only
God. Nothing and no one beside Him can be worshipped.

“As Peter was coming in,

We can see how Peter Acts, Cornelius met him and fell
didn’t let Cornelius to down at his feet and
10: 25- worshiped him. But Peter
worship him, since he 26 lifted him up, saying, "Stand
was only a man. up; I myself am also a man."”

“Now I, John, saw and heard

these things. And when I heard
Likewise, even the angel, and saw, I fell down to worship
who was greater than a before the feet of the angel who
Revela- showed me these things. Then he
man, didn’t let John to tion, 22: said to me, "See that you do not
worship him. 8-9 do that. For I am your fellow
servant, and of your brethren the
prophets, and of those who keep
the words of this book. Worship
God."”
 WHO MUST WE WORSHIP?
We have learnt that only God must be worshipped [προσκυνησεις]. Let’s study
these verses and see how Jesus agreed to be worshipped.
“And when they had come into the house, they [the wise men] saw the young Child with
Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him [προσεκυνησαν]. And when they had
opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh”
(Matthew, 2: 11)

“While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him,
[προσεκυνει] saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on
her and she will live."” (Matthew, 9: 18)

“And they [the disciples when Jesus ascended] worshiped Him

[προσκυνησαντες], and returned to Jerusalem with great joy” (Luke, 24: 52)

“Then he [a blind man] said, "Lord, I believe!" And he worshiped Him

[προσεκυνησεν]” (John, 9: 38)

“Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him [προσεκυνησαν],
saying, "Truly You are the Son of God."” (Matthew, 14: 33)

“behold, Jesus [after He resurrected] met them, saying, "Rejoice!" So they came
and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him [προσεκυνησαν]” (Matthew, 28: 9)
WHO MUST WE WORSHIP?
If only God can be worshipped, why did
Jesus accept to be worshipped?

Jesus accepted to be worshipped

because He is God, and that’s why we
must worship Him too.
Jesus must be the center and focus of
all our worship. Every song, every
prayer, every sermon, everything that
we do should, in one way or another,
ultimately direct our minds toward
Christ, the incarnate God who offered
Himself as the sacrifice for our sins.

“In Christ all the fullness of the

Deity lives in bodily form”
(Colossians, 2: 9 NIV)
 HOW MUST WE WORSHIP?
Jesus asked a Samaritan woman to give Him water next to Jacob’s well (john,
4). In that conversation, Jesus offered himself to be live water that would
spring up for eternal life for her.
When the woman faced that declaration, she changed the subject to the
controversial subject of the place where they should worship. Should they
worship in mount Gerizim like the Samaritans did or in the temple of
Jerusalem like the Jewish did?

Instead of arguing about places, traditions or

liturgy, Jesus taught here that the most
important thing in worship is not the form,
but a personal relationship with God, dying to
the self everyday and surrendering to him
with faith and humbleness.
 HOW MUST WE WORSHIP?
“But the hour is coming, and now
is, when the true worshipers will
worship the Father in spirit and IN SPIRIT IN TRUTH
truth; for the Father is seeking
such to worship Him. God is
Spirit, and those who worship
Him must worship in spirit and Sincere and
Worship
truth” (John, 4: 23-24)
deep worship
according to
that springs
the truth, the
from the heart;
In his answer to the Samaritan woman, Law and the
it’s a result of
Jesus stated the two main pillars of the true knowledge of
loving and
the divine will.
worship to God: “In spirit and in truth”. fearing God.

It’s a
It’s a rational
sentimental
worship, based
worship where
in true beliefs
our emotions
that are based
are given to
on the Bible.
God.
“Not by seeking a holy mountain or a sacred temple are men brought
into communion with heaven. Religion is not to be confined to
external forms and ceremonies. The religion that comes from God is
the only religion that will lead to God. In order to serve Him aright,
we must be born of the divine Spirit. This will purify the heart and
renew the mind, giving us a new capacity for knowing and loving
God. It will give us a willing obedience to all His requirements. This
is true worship. It is the fruit of the working of the Holy Spirit. By the
Spirit every sincere prayer is indited, and such prayer is acceptable to
God. Wherever a soul reaches out after God, there the Spirit’s working
is manifest, and God will reveal Himself to that soul. For such
worshipers He is seeking. He waits to receive them, and to make them
His sons and daughters”

E.G.W. (The Desire of Ages, cp. 19, “At Jacob’s well”, pg. 189)