What is The True Worshiper?

This lesson is about God – about worship – about life – about death . . . and most important of all -  about eternity.

Ephesians 4: 4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;

5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,

6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

Now what these three verses tell us is that there is ONE body (one type) of true worshiper . . . It is normally understood that there is only ONE

salvation – but the concept of ONE type of worship is almost universally MISUNDERSTOOD.  Salvation and worship are NOT interchangeable concepts.  

 Salvation refers to how our spirits are “saved” from hell after we die - while worship refers to how “those who have been saved” live a life of thanks toward the God who “saved us”.

Yes there is only ONE salvation – for by grace are ye “saved” through faith . . . Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.  

 And to follow up on this thought – there is only ONE body of true worshipers - which refers to how there is really only “one way” to please the God that has saved our soul from hell by way of His grace (which is technically defined for us as "kindness that we do not deserve").

John 4: 22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.

23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

It has always been interesting to me - to hear people who have such “varied” religious views express their belief  - "that even though we sometimes teach opposing doctrine" – it is common to hear the phrase 

“we are all working for the SAME place” which seems to indicate that God does not really prefer one type of worship over any other type (as long as we are all sincere in our efforts) God will look upon all of us as 

“true worshipers” no matter what we “teach” in our churches and no matter what type of worship we “practice” in our churches.

Religion “in and of itself” is not the definition of Truth.  It is possible to practice The Truth through religious observances . . . but adhering to religious principles will only guide us in the way of GOD’s Truth IF 

“the religion” that we have adopted is actually "based" upon God’s Truth . . . and if we just look about us – we can easily see that not every religion even recognizes the same God . . . So I guess my point to this - is that 

“religion” is not the answer – but TRUTH is the answer.  If there is more than one truth – or if there is more than one God then what-ever we believe really doesn’t matter –because this would mean that there is  

more than one correct answer to "the question of life" – but if on the other hand there IS only ONE Truth – and if there really IS only ONE God . . . then it quickly becomes apparent – that the most important thing we can 

do in this life is to find The Truth – and to then serve The ONE God who gave us that truth.

Deuteronomy chapter 4: talks about offering worship to false gods and how The True God of heaven does not want us (as His children) to be guilty of such a thing . . . He is speaking to the nation of Israel not long after He 

had delivered her from Egyptian bondage . . . He had already given the Ten Commandments – the first being, thou shalt have no other gods before me . . . another one of these commandments being a simple warning not to make images of false gods for the purpose of worship . . . God explains

Deuteronomy 4: 16 Lest ye corrupt (spoil or ruin) yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female (for the purpose of worshiping such an image)

17 The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air,

18 The likeness of anything that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth (for the purpose of having “a god” to worship)

19 And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven (do not make images of these to worship unless you) shouldest be driven to worship them, (the image) and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.   

20 But the LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day . . . 

You see it mattered “who and how” the nation of Israel (God’s people in the Old Testament) worshiped . . . and it matters “who and how” the church (God’s people in the New Testament) worship today.

Remember "that worship" is not HOW we gain God’s salvation – worship is how we gain God’s favor AFTER we have already "gained" His salvation.

God never threatened to send the nation of Israel back to Egypt if they served idol gods, but He did promise to punish them if they did not worship properly. 

As we return our focus back to John chapter 4 . . . Did you notice what Jesus told this lady at the well . . . He told her “you don’t really know what you are worshipping – salvation is of the Jews . . . and the 

God that you should be giving thanks to through your worship – is the God that has made this salvation possible (not for the Jews only – but) for all men.” 

24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him (if they want God to accept their worship then they) MUST worship him in spirit and in truth.

In the Old Testament – God required His people to worship Him a certain way (there were rules to follow in the Law of Moses) – in the case of the

graven images – God would not accept their worship if they bowed down to these images . . . Notice how God did not accept the worship of His people just because they were sincere . . .

Eze 20: 13 But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness (they turned away from The Truth) they walked not in my statutes (according to the rules) and they despised my judgments (God says that 

they did not like HIS definition of right and wrong) which if a man do (if a man does accept God's definition of right and wrong then) he shall even live in them (according to God's Word) and My Sabbaths they greatly 

polluted: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them.

14 But I wrought for my name's sake, that it (that my name) should not be polluted before the heathen, in whose sight I brought them out (God was angry that His people had “poisoned” the concept of proper worship in 

front of “the heathen” that He had previously judged because they had turned to idols and chosen not to accept His Truth . . He had punished the heathen for this and now

15 Yet also I lifted up my hand unto them (My people) in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands (referring to how the 

forty years of wandering in the wilderness before finally being allowed to enter into the Promised land  - was all because of how God’s people had polluted True Worship)  God punished them . . .

16 Because they despised my judgments, and walked not in my statutes, but polluted my Sabbaths (or the holy days that were to be set aside for worship -- and He punished them because) for their heart went after their idol instead of after God and His Truth

In religious circles – it is commonly understood that Jesus is the ONE and only way to salvation –

Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

But what is not commonly understood “in religious circles” is the concept of ONE type of worship – or true worship as opposed to false worship.

John 4:24 seems to clarify the concept of ONE type of worship – it tells us that "IF we worship" that we “must worship in spirit and in truth” just as 

Acts 4:12 also seems to clarify the concept of ONE way of salvation as “faith in the name of Jesus Christ”. 

We are often eager to accept Acts 4:12 – but if we would be just as eager to accept John 4:24 – then this would usually necessitate a change in the type of church that we attended - as we would have to admit that those  

narrow minded churches “fill-in-the-blank with a denomination of your choice”– are actually no more narrow in their way of thinking than what we find taught in John 4:24 which is a quote from Jesus Himself.

In our reference to the Old Testament and the worship of ancient Israel – God was fairly specific about how He wanted His people to worship Him

– if they “changed the rules” God said that they were guilty of polluting His Sabbath and rebelling against His statutes . . . which resulted in their punishment as a people . . . 

You see it is just not possible to get away from the concept of ONE as it refers to either The Truth or to the Worship of God.

"The ONE spirit" of Eph 4 - refers to THE TRUTH and how that we are only able to properly honor God when we allow “His Spirit of Truth” to guide our worship.

"The ONE hope of your calling" refers to how (as children of God) that we have confidence not in ourselves, but in The Truth.  The hope of our calling is how we view ourselves as having (been called) by The Truth 

to do the following things 1) the truth has called us to live a certain way 2) the truth has called us to seek God with our whole heart – and 3) the truth has called us to worship God “in a very particular way” . . and that is in the way of Truth   

-- Referring to Jesus we see that Titus 2:14 (tells us that He was the one) Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

Now there are four words that I want to focus on in this verse – they are redeem which refers to setting a person free from their sins or giving thema pardon – 

the next word we see is iniquity which refers to wickedness or unrighteousness . . . the idea is that Jesus died in order to purchase the right to give the sinner a pardon – or to set us free from the consequences of our sins.  

The phrase “Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity” describes for us “the salvation” that the cross has made available to us as a sinner– while the remainder of this verse describes 

what Jesus WANTS TO DO with us after He saves us . . . “and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” 

What this last phrase literally means is this – referring to those that have been redeemed (or purchased) from iniquity (or sin) refers directly to

those of us who have been saved – The third word that I want us to notice is the word purify and how God wants to purify (cleanse or wash the lives of) these that He has redeemed unto Himself as a peculiar (or as an out of 

the ordinary type of) people who are zealous (or anxious and enthusiastic) of good works (or to perform service that is virtuous or valuable to God). 

The forth word is peculiar - which we have seen simply means "out of the ordinary" . . . To have a life that is virtuous or valuable in the eyes of God begins with OBEDIENCE . . . So think about what we should

specifically be obedient to –  and exactly what is it that God want us to obey . . . Generally speaking – God wants us to obey The Truth . . . and the first truth that He wants us to obey is The Truth regarding salvation

and the next thing that He wants us to obey is The Truth in regard to worship . . . John 3: 16  describes for us The Truth about salvation . . . we

read here - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son (to die on the cross so) that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Have we obeyed The Truth of God’s salvation – or have we rebelled against His promise to give salvation to all who believe and put their trust in

Him . . and then what of Eph chapter 4 and John chapter 4 regarding this concept of True Worship . . . God seeketh such to worship Him . . .

God is a Spirit and they that worship him MUST worship him in spirit AND in truth because the result of God’s people rebelling against 

The Truth of proper worship – is that God’s Word – God’s way – and God’s will "for the lives of His people" becomes dirty and polluted . . . this is

what happened to the nation of Israel on their way to the Promised land . . . and this very same thing can happen to you and I on our way the “Promised land” of being set aside by God as He seeks to purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.