N EW D URHAM B APTIST C HURCH P ASTOR F RANK C UOZZO L ESSON 8 “T RUE W ORSHIP IN THE F IRST C ENTURY C HURCH ”

We have been looking at: Becoming A First Century Church We’ve already looked at several things,  The Formation of the First Century Church  The Measure of the First Century Church  The Power of the First Century Church  The Authority of the First Century Church  The Doctrine of the First Century Church  The Structure of the First Century Church  The Prayer Life of the First Century Church Today we will look at: True Worship in the First Century Church L ESSON 8: T RUE W ORSHIP IN THE F IRST C ENTURY C HURCH

Read John 4:1-26 John 4:23-24 says, “But 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. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” The First Century Church came together and worshipped the Lord Jesus as they prayed to Him, preached His Word, and praised God in the assembly. Acts 2:42-47 says, “ And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.”

Let’s Look at three things here today: #1) God the Son Seeks. Jesus said in John 4:4 that He, “Must needs go through Samaria.” She didn’t know it but she had a divine appointment to meet the Son of God. Jesus sought her. Jesus told her in John 4:10, “If thou knewest the gift of God.” -First, this verse speaks of salvation through God’s Son. We are to tell a lost and dying world of God’s unspeakable gift of eternal life through His Son! -Second, the Lord Jesus said in John 4:10 that she did not know, “Who it is that saith unto thee, give me to drink.” In other words, she did not know the Lord Jesus Christ. He was working to help this woman know the gift of God and to know Who He was!

-Lastly, Jesus made the Samaritan woman aware of her great need. John 4:17-18 says, “The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.” In these verses Jesus asked her about her husband and with that statement, He brought up the subject of her sin. People cannot be saved until they know their need of a Savior! And so we see that the Lord Jesus indeed sought after this Samaritan woman and He still seeks the lost today. The Bible says in Luke 19:10, “The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

We said that God the Son seeks, #2) God the Father Seeks. This Samaritan woman told Jesus in John 4:19, “Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.” She began to talk about worship. In John 4: the subject of worship came up again where it says, “Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But 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.” Verse 23 is an amazing verse in that it says that God the Father is seeking a people to worship Him! He desires our worship. The fact is that only redeemed people can truly worship the Lord!

Worship is the activity of the spirit of the redeemed. It is the action of a redeemed group of people to worship the Lord. Everything that we do for God should come out of our worship of God. We should do what we do for God because of what God has done for us, He’s redeemed us from an eternity in Hell! Many churches have what they call worship services with worship teams that are designed to attract the unsaved. Worldly music and the entire so-called worship service is what the lost world is accustomed to hearing and seeing. They have the mistaken idea that this is what the lost will respond to and so they make the church worldly to attract the lost into the church. The problem is that you cannot truly worship the Lord unless you have been redeemed or saved! Philippians 3:3 says, “For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.”

We said that God the Son seeks and God the Father seeks, #3) God the Holy Spirit Seeks. The purpose of God’s Spirit in the life of a believer is to worship and exalt the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus speaking about the coming Holy Spirit said in John 16:13- 14, “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.” The fact is that God the Holy Spirit is seeking to adore and worship the Lord Jesus Christ. John 4:24 says again that, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”

The Samaritan woman began to open her heart and was ready to receive Christ when she said in John 4:25, “I know that Messias cometh, which is called the Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.” Jesus answered her in John 4:26 and said, “I that speak unto thee am he.” Notice that the exact moment that she was ready to receive Him, Christ revealed Himself to her. When we speak to an unsaved person, we try to help him or her understand the gift of God and who it is that gives this gift. The moment that this person is ready to have Christ revealed unto them, God reveals Himself to them. This is a work of the Holy Spirit to draw a person to Christ.

Once that person is saved and God’s Holy Spirit comes to live within, the Spirit seeks to exalt, adore and worship the Lord Jesus in that person’s life. This is not worship in soul, but in spirit! When God made man, He made him spirit, soul and body. In our spirit we have a conscience. The Bible calls my spirit on Proverbs 20:27, “The Candle of the Lord.” When we trust Christ as our Savior, Jesus comes to live in our spirits. This is where God dwells. We must worship God in spirit! The Bible also says that we are to worship God in truth. Truth is communicated in words. Jesus said in John 17:17, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” This is why we must saturate our minds and hearts with the Word of God.

This is also why only familiar hymns and songs should be played in the church services so that the listener’s can hear and know the words in the hymns so that the spiritual truth’s can be understood. Without an understanding of the words, there is no truth communicated and it is merely a “performance.” We must worship God in spirit and in truth. A great biblical example of true worship is found in Revelation chapter five when God removes the veil and lets us look into Heaven and see the Lord worshipped. Revelation 5:9-14 says, “And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast 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: and we shall reign on the earth.”

“And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever.” All eyes were on the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ! Eyes were not on the choir, a soloist, or a preacher. All eyes were on Him! This is true worship!