What Does It Mean to Worship in Spirit and in Truth?

I've mentioned to you before about how I've gone to certain parts of the world and actually witnessed people that have kneeled before idols and prayed to them. And, of course, that is something that is very common in various religions. We've been talking about the Buddhists or the Hindus or other religions of the world that are like that because they are very much into idol worship. I've mentioned also about how in the Catholic Church there's a good deal of that kind of thing that takes place.

I was amazed. My friend of mine and I traveled when we went to Budapest one time down to Milan to see the Duomo, which is, I think, the second largest cathedral in the Catholic Church. And I was amazed at how many statutes to the saints are surrounding that particular rooftop of the Duomo. They have saints, in fact, about every six or seven feet clear around the perimeter of this huge, huge basilica.

Just incredible. And, of course, that's not to say what's on the inside of some of these cathedrals. Again, most of them are replete with that kind of thing. Idol worship, again, is something that's very, very common in the world. There are some people, of course, that are always looking for images of Mary or they're looking for images of Jesus Christ. And some people have seen, in fact, the face of, of course, the reputed Jesus Christ, one that, of course, has been made up by artists and so forth.

They've seen the face of Jesus Christ or Mary by lighting to this cast, a shadow to this cast on the side of a wall. I remember down in the Caribbean there was an experience where somebody actually, you know, saw a shadow cast on a wall and it looked like, of course, the traditional appearance of Jesus Christ.

Pretty soon there were hundreds and thousands of people that were flocking to this place to look at this particular situation where the shadows were just creating, again, the face of Jesus Christ. I have seen also cases where this sometimes has been in the news that, in fact, toast has had the moon and they have the face of Jesus Christ on it. Now, maybe some of you have seen that. I think they had it, they put it on eBay and I forget how much money they sold it for.

In fact, sometimes people will market on eBay and I, as an interest, decide it's going to look it up. The only images of Jesus on food is what I looked up on eBay. And I was surprised how many of these kinds of images are available on eBay right now, right now. Not that I would ever want it, but I think they were asking something like $100 for a piece of toast that had the image of Christ on it.

There was also a potato chip that they were marketing. I forget how much they were asking for that. And then also there was a can of jam, just the lid on it. Sometimes the jam will stick to the lid itself. Well, it had the image of the so-called Jesus Christ in it. And they were marketed on eBay. You can look it up yourself, if you would like. I don't know if anybody buys those kinds of things, but I know that in some cases they have.

You know, shrines have been elected, and people flock from all over the world. Sometimes they see these manifestations as many consider them. They consider them manifestations of Jesus or Mary. And like I say, currently on eBay, and I'm sure others, that you can find these things. I think one of the most striking things I saw on eBay is they were marketing a french fry. That, I don't know, it had the form of a cross, and it looked like a crucifix. I don't know how somebody would be able to produce something like that. There was another one that was kind of interesting.

They had a fish bone that, in fact, was shaped like a crucifix. It appeared again that there was a slither of a man on it, of course, and so forth. You can go look it up on eBay yourself. But it is amazing what people get enamored with and get sucked into. I mentioned to you about this before. In 1917, Mary reportedly appeared to three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal. I'm sure you've heard this story. It goes back to 1917.

Apparently, Mary appeared before them and revealed prophecies of future events. Of course, if you look at all the ideas that circulate and the conspiracies, the Vatican is hanging on to that third vision that these young children saw. By the way, all of these kids were under 10 years of age. I was amazed by this and looking it up. Do you know, brethren, that 10 million people a year, over 10 million people a year, flock to Fatima where this occurs? Every year! I guess it's turned into something of a tourist attraction.

So much so that they have erected shrines there to it. And other things are there because that's where Mary supposedly appeared. And, you know, of course, we realize too that people bow down before idols of Mary, of Jesus Christ, and even the saints. Some even pray to Mary. They pray to the saints. But the question I have, brethren, with all these things, I could go on talking about what people do, the crazy things people do. Is this what worship is?

Worship of God? Now, I know that you realize that I'm being lighthearted by saying that because I'm sure you do not believe that's worship. But some people do. They think that's worshiping God, standing in awe of God.

You know, King David set an example of worshiping God. Over in Psalm 29, verse 1 through 2, it says, Give unto the Lord. And so David says we should be giving unto the Lord. Give unto the Lord glory and strength. Ascribed to God, David is saying the strength that he has, the power that he has, the glory that he possesses. He goes on to say, Give unto the eternal, the glory due to his name. And then it says, Worship the eternal in the beauty of holiness. Worship the eternal in the beauty of holiness. You've ever wondered, Brethren, what is worship anyway? What is worship? I think that's a good question, isn't it? What is worship? What does God expect us to do as His people? Are you worshiping God right now? Are you here worshiping God? Well, the word worship in the Hebrew comes from the Hebrew word saka. Saka. Let me tell you what it means, brethren. It means to depress. Depress. In other words, press yourself down. To depress. It means, as well, to prostrate. In other words, we bow down before God, we humble ourselves before God, we prostrate ourselves before we turn God, the great God. And this is what is quite interesting, expressively, reflexively. You know what it means to do by reflex? In other words, you see the king by reflex. You bow your head. Of course, that was ancient times, a way that royalty was created. But it says, expressively, reflexively, to royalty or to God, bow down to dual basis, to crouch, to crouch down. In other words, to be humble before God and to have as a reflex before God, to be that humble servant of God, recognizing God's greatness. So, brethren, what is worship of God besides that? Is worship of God definable? Can we know what worship of God is? You know, what kind of worship actually pleases God? But it really does please Him when it comes to worship. You know, the Bible actually talks about how the people in the world falsely worship God. So people can actually falsely worship God, and certainly that does not please God. So we really need to know, don't we, how to worship God. Do you feel secure, brethren, that you are worshiping God in your life? So what kind of worship pleases God? You know, some people think no one can tell in another person how to worship. They can do that. Everyone has that ability to worship God as they so please. That there is no right way to worship God. And of course, I guess that's why we have about, you know, what, 12 or 1500 different denominations in the world. And every other kind of religion in the world, because no one has a right to tell anybody else how to worship God. Well, let's go over to John 4 over here. I want to touch upon this here. Christ journeyed up to Samaria. Now remember, Samaria was located to the north of Jerusalem. Anciently, Jeroboam had taken people away from God. They had rejected the feast in the seventh month and started observing it in the eighth month. We believe then also they began to observe Sunday rather than the Sabbath. And of course, over a course of time, Israel, as it was also called, Israel or Samaria, because they got so far away from God, they went into captivity. And later, people were brought in by the Assyrians to replace the Samarians. And you may remember that they placed over the people, the lowest of the priests, basically. And they put people in responsibility. The priesthood, frankly, did not have the credentials to be in the priesthood. And so, Samaria drifted further and further away from God. And consequently, the Jews considered the Samarians to be dogs.

At the same time, the Samarians believed that you should worship at Mount Gerizim. And so anyway, Jesus was journeying in Samaria. He came to the city of Sychar. This was where Jacob's well was. God then, in fact, did Jacob's well and drank the water from there. But still a very active well. Probably the oldest well that is in the world is Jacob's well. You could still go there. I don't know if you can drink the water now. But when I was there, my wife and I were able to go down into...it is actually underground. You've got to go down steps and go down because, of course, the buildup of silt and soil and so forth. So that the well is much further down. But we were able to go down and, again, drink the water from the well. So this is the well that Jesus visited here. And he was thirsty. After the heat of the day...let's go here to John 4, verse 9. John 4, verse 9. Then the woman of Samaria said to him, How is it that you, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman? For Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Again, like you say, consider them basically dogs. And it says, And Jesus answered and said to her, If you move the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, give me drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.

And the woman said to him, Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do you get the living water? Are you greater than our Father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from him himself, as well as his sons and his livestock? Of course, you see again the discourse that Jesus Christ had with her there. But after a while, when Christ had revealed to her secrets, even about her marriages, and the man she was shackled up with there, she said in verse 19, verse 19 of John 4, The woman said to him, Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.

But notice what she says here. She's asking the question really that we have today. And that is, what is worship? What is worship? She said, our Father's worship on this mountain, this was, of course, Mount Gerizim, which is true. Anciently, remember, when they came out of the wilderness into Israel, they came to Mount Ebal and Gerizim. I remember getting your Bible study about that. But since our Father's worship on this mountain, and you just say that in Gerizim is the place where we ought to worship. Here's that word again, worship. Now, by the way, understand again the history of this area, because you wasn't really speaking fully the truth here. You know, not the Fathers, because there have been people transplanted there from the Babylonians, and they just took up the religion, you know, partially, at least the religion of the Jews. Remember, the Samaria got into calf worship and all kinds of things up there. And they were involved in a lot of pagan things. And Jesus said to her, Believe me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain nor in Gerizim worship the Father. You worship what you do not know. Though they were certainly ignorant of what the truth was, we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now it is, when the true worshippers... Now, notice here, Jesus says the true worshippers. So, if they are true worshippers, then there are false worshippers of God. He says the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth.

So again, brethren, what is worship? Is it definable? And what worship pleases God? What does it mean? If somebody were to ask you, brethren, the question, what does it mean to worship in spirit and truth? What would your answer be? What does that mean? What does it really mean? Can you wrap your mind around that?

Again, this topic, I think, fits very much into laboring in the word theme that we just had with the general conference of elders in Cincinnati. And it also leads up to our discussion on what we're going to be talking about the next, probably, couple weeks as we go up to the piece de Pentecost. So brethren, what does it mean to worship in spirit and in truth? In the Bible, there are various means of worshipping God that we see. You can go throughout the Bible, and you can see many occasions where individuals express the right spirit, and they walk in the truth of God in ancient times. And, of course, during Jesus' day, though, there was a very erudite group of men, the Pharisees and the scribes, though that Jesus Christ called white enseplikas, full of dead men's bones. He talked about how they were full of pretense. You know, they prayed basically to be heard and to be considered holy. There was an outward-type demonstration, and they were more after the praise of men than the praise of God. Let's go to Matthew chapter 23 over here, just to show one scripture over here about this. In Matthew 23, verse 27, if you had wanted to have an example to follow, you're in the early time of the church, you would not have very many examples. They would not be in the priesthood of the Jews. They just wouldn't be there. Generally speaking, they just would not be there. But let's notice here, in Matthew 23, down to verse 27, Woe do you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! So Christ called them hypocrites. For you are like white-washed tombs, which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so, you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you're full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. They were breaking the law of God all over the place. Woe do you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets. They killed the prophets and adored the monuments of the righteous. So this is what Christ thought about the leadership of that day. Going all the way up to the high priest. Of course, there were those that were righteous, as five to walk in righteousness. We know Nicodemus was one of those. That, no doubt, was a different kind of an individual. But there were others, no doubt, as well. But rather than understand this, that true religion, true worship of God, is not from the teeth out. It emanates from within. And the Pharisees worshipped and priest-hanced as an outward show. And they had no spiritual depth about them. And yet they were supposed to be the experts in the laws of God.

There was no spiritual depth in spirit, nor an understanding of God's Word. Remember, Jesus kept saying, every time He would talk to one of the scribes of the Pharisees, He would say, Have you not read? By the way, that was an insult to a Pharisee. I don't know if any of you have ever talked to a rabbi, what they have to go through to become a rabbi. And I'm sure it wasn't a piece of cake to become a rabbi, to ask a rabbi, Have you not read? Or be a great sign of disrespect? And the fact of the matter is, they may have read, but they never understood. They never grasped or comprehended what the Scriptures said. But we see where the Pharisees, a wrong form of worship, a false worship, that was there. Even though they had the laws of God, they were lacking many things. Christ said in fact that they lacked in judgment, mercy, and faith. They were good about the letter of the law, but not so good when it came from the inside. It's pretty easy to keep the letter of law, isn't it? You know, you tithe, you give God 90 pennies, you keep 90 pennies, you give God 10 pennies. They were good with that. They could tithe men and anus when coming, one for God and nine for me. One for God and nine for me. But they had no understanding of what the spirit of the law is. They did not grasp that at all.

But like you say, the Bible is full of forms of expression of worship. I'm not going to go to it, but over in Exodus 15, Miriam, remember, after they had come across the Red Sea, over there you can read, they were singing Moses' song. And Miriam began to sing herself and dance. She danced. And she played the timbre, and she apparently was leading the women. You know, since she herself was a prophetess, she was singing and dancing and leading the women about the camp of Israel. After God had delivered them from Egypt and the armies of Pharaoh. Over in the New Testament in Acts chapter 3, you may remember the story about how Peter and John had come to the gate that was called Beautiful, and there was a man that was lame. You know, that Ask Alms of Peter and John, they said, Silver and Gold, we don't have, have, but such as we have, we give it to you. Stand up and walk. It was immediately healed, and it says that the man, you know, after he was healed, he leaped and he walked and he went into the temple and he praised God. So, that was his form of worship that we find recorded within the Scriptures of what he did. Let's notice over here in 2 Samuel chapter 6. 2 Samuel chapter 6, another expression of worship over here.

Over in 2 Samuel chapter 6, chapter 6 on down here, you know the story about how they were longing to bring the ark up to Jerusalem. And the ark had been, in fact, displaced from Jerusalem for quite some time, and David was very desirous of getting it there. But notice here, verse 12, we'll break into the thought here.

But 2 Samuel chapter 6 and verse 12, And I was told, King David, saying, The eternal has blessed the house of Obed-Edom, in all that belongs him because of the ark of God. He had the ark there, and God was just giving him all kinds of blessings because he had the ark there. Like I said, David wanted it in Jerusalem for the benefit of all in Israel. But it says, So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the city of David with gladness. He was just related for this to happen. And so it was when those very ark of the Lord had gone six spaces, that he sacrificed oxen and fatted sheep. So again, he was worshipping God here. And then David danced before the Lord with all his might. You can imagine, here's a man dancing around. And it says, Now, we don't know what that necessarily appeared like. Perhaps there are pictures depicting this, but you get the picture, basically, of a king out here dancing around. He's got something wrapped around his way, you know, his private parts and so forth. But he's dancing with all of his might as the ark is being brought up. And so David, in all the house of Israel, brought up the ark of the eternal, was shouting over the shout of the trumpet. And it says, Now, as the ark of God came into the city of David, Michael, Saul's daughter, looked through window and saw King David leaping and whirling before the eternal, and she despised him in her heart. I mean, her father, remember, was Saul, King Saul. And they did things differently in King Saul's way. And with this becoming, she thought of a king to be out here twirling and dancing and being excited about the ark brought up. But, you know, that day, when David was bringing the ark up, he was not concerned about what other people thought. His concern was what God thought. Apparently, God was pleased with him because he blessed him abundantly and blessed Israel abundantly. But, you know, sometimes what we may be doing may appear to be undignified to other people. I'm sure the world doesn't really like the way we worship God as God's people. But there are reasons why we do it the way we do it. First of all, we look in the Scriptures and see what the New Testament Church did. We don't see a lot of dancing in the New Testament, by the way. We don't see that kind of thing. If we did, we would do it. So we don't see a lot of these kinds of things. But one of the things that David realized, and one of the reasons why he magnified God and glorified God in this way, is he knew how great God was. There's a Scripture in Psalm 46 and verse 10 that says this. Be still and know that I am God. And God says, I will be exalted above the nations. I will be exalted above the earth.

Paul told Timothy that he wanted men everywhere to pray, and that he would now pull his hands without wrath or doubting. I want you to think about those two words, wrath or doubting. Wrath has to do with what, brethren? What emanates from within us? Without it. Now, God wants us to worship him without wrath emanating from within. And when it says also, doubting, in other words, we are doing it in truth, that we have a profound belief that motivates us in our lives based upon the truth of God. Man has lost, frankly, what it means to worship God. He doesn't have a clue as to how to worship God. I think today people, frankly, treat Hollywood stars a whole lot better than they do treat God.

Often fans worship the idols of Hollywood. But, you know, God desires those who worship him in a right attitude, in a right spirit, and He also desires that we worship Him in truth, which the world has lost.

Why does God want us to do this, brethren? Because God detests something that's false. And God, again, detests something that's from the teeth out. It's not really sincere. So, brethren, what does it mean to worship in spirit and in truth? You notice, brethren, when Christ says, worship in spirit, it doesn't say worship in the spirit. I had an experience, by the way, one time where someone was trying to tear down the spirit. I guess that was their perception of what worshiping in spirit is all about. Well, brethren, tearing down the spirit is not worshiping in spirit. And I would think that you don't need to tear down the spirit if you have it. If you have the spirit of God in you, why would you need to tear it down? And basically, the word, cherry, by the way, doesn't mean to have a kind of a, you know, rip-shortened prayer meeting where you repeat yourself in prayers over and over again and the Holy Spirit, you know, comes down. The word, cherry, means wait. This means wait. I guess some people may think, wait till the spirit comes. Well, let me tell you, if you do it that way, the spirit is not going to come. There will be a spirit, by the way, but it won't be the spirit of God. It will be a false spirit that will come down. And this is what happens very often. People get the spirit, quote-unquote, they think it's God's spirit, but it turns out to be a wrong spirit, a false spirit. And, you know, it's interesting how that, you know, I used to have an aunt, by the way, that could leap over of, you know, she was over and she could leap over a pew, which you got the spirit. So, you don't want that spirit, by the way. It's interesting when people are slain in the spirit, what do they do? They fall backwards. All examples of worship of God is falling forward, prostrate before God, not backward. Remember when Jesus met, you know, those who came to arrest Him in the garden? You know, in Christ identify themselves as the I Am, what did they do? They fell backwards, didn't they? That's what happens when people are confronted with God's spirit, if they're not there to worship Him's spirit, in the right spirit. So, worshiping in spirit, brethren, is not the way the world perceives of it's not worshiping in THE spirit. To worship in spirit. The word spirit, by the way, in the Greek is from the Greek word numa. And basically it means breath, which is the essence of life. And when Christ said, you know, to worship in spirit, it does not have to do with form, it does not have to do with method, but it is an expression of what we truly feel about God from within.

Strong definition of numa means, by implication, your middle disposition. Those that worship Me with a right mental disposition. That's why I say, Paul said, I pray that all men pray always, especially with wrath. They would get rid of the wrong attitudes, the hatred, the venomous hatred that is in the world. So the word spirit has to do with mental disposition. Then her wife comes to her husband, and she's starved for her husband's affection, and she asks, why don't you say you love Me? And he responds, I did when we got married, and if that changes, I'll let you know. Something wrong here, right? From within. From within. This is a man, by the way, that practices the letter of the law, I suppose, you would say. David discovered a long time ago that that will not cut it with God. Just going through the motions and actually doing the right things is not enough. There has to be heart involved. There has to be being involved on a part of the individual. Let's go to Psalm 51. Psalm 51 over here. Psalm 51.

In verse 15, this is after David committed that horrible sin with Bathsheba. He feared God would remove His Spirit from him, and it terrified David. That that would be the possibility to imagine to have God's incredible favor and to be on the brink of feeling that God was going to take it away. It would be gone. But David, of course, in Psalm 51, is praying here. But in verse 15, it says, Oh, Lord, open my lips and my mouth, so forth Your praise.

For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it. I feel like David did when they were bringing the Ark up. You do not delight in burnt offerings. You know, that's not what God necessarily is looking for. He's looking for something from within us. The sacrifices of God, he said, are a broken spirit, somebody that is conquered of God, who is surrendered to God. That's why we say when somebody needs to be baptized, we say that you need to surrender to God. You need to surrender to Jesus Christ.

And it says, These, O God, You will not despise. So that's what God wants, you know, a humble heart, a right spirit, a right mental disposition.

Formality without feeling, brethren, is not pleasing to God. You know, we can come to church every Sabbath. And if we don't have, again, the right feeling within, and I'm talking about, you know, not that we all feel like, you know, every Sabbath we come, we feel like we're on the top of the world, physically speaking. But we are glad to be at services in the presence of God on the Sabbath. A contrite and humble attitude is very pleasing to God in our worship.

You know, over in Isaiah 66, verse 2, God was talking about His creation and all that He had done, all the things that God had brought into existence. But in Isaiah 66, verse 2, but on this one, on this person, He said, I will look on Him who is poor, on a contrite or humble spirit, who trembles at My word. We don't look down on this book. It's like Thomas Jefferson, by the way, at one particular point, actually took a razor blade and cut, you know, all of the words that God had done. That said that Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary. And He kept all the rest. There was a Jefferson Bible that He published, in fact. But, you know, again, the wrong attitude, wrong spirit that was there. Now, Thomas Jefferson, of course, served a purpose as the third president of this country. And I'm sure that his form of worship of God was more sincere than in the modern day that we're living in today. People, again, much more dedicated in those days to spiritual principles. Let's go to Matthew, Chapter 7. There are some people that go through the motions, brethren, in fact, and they could do very great works in the world. But still not be worshiping God. Over here in verse 21 of Luke, under Matthew 7, Matthew, Chapter 7, He says, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. May they all say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name, and then I will declare to them, I never knew you, depart from me, you who practiced lawlessness.

So, again, obeying God is from the heart of an individual, and God could say, I don't know you, I'm sorry.

Because we don't have the right attitude. A proof of attitude toward God is expressed in our obedience to God, in all that it entails, by the way.

You know, we can say we love God, you know, year after year after year, but if we don't do what God commands us to do, well, faith without works is dead, right? Even as James said. Luke 7. Let's go to Luke 7 here.

You know, this again shows the attitude that one should have over here. Certainly, all of us, if we went through a real repentance, we had this kind of an attitude. When it moved against the dawn on you. When the emotions began to stir.

You know, those moments happen in your life in different ways, in different manifestations. When you begin to perceive something, you see something.

When it may happen with the loss of a loved one, sometimes you begin to think about them, and it dawns on you that you won't see them for a thousand years. It can be emotional from within. It happens within, right? All of us have been there with that kind of thing. But our relationship with God can change in the same manner that we see things from within. Here in Luke 7, Luke 7, down in verse 37, Christ was eating at a particular Pharisee's house. And behold a woman, verse 37 of Luke 7, and behold a woman in the city who was a sinner. When she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil. This was very valuable oil, by the way. This woman was possibly a prostitute. And stood at his feet behind him weeping. And she began to wash his feet with her tears and to wipe them with a hair of her head. And she kissed his feet and anointed them with a fragrant oil. And when the Pharisees who had invited him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, this very few were a prophet would know who and what man a woman this is who was touching him, for she's a sinner. And Jesus answered and said to him, Simon, I have something to say to you. So he said, teachers, say it. He said, there was a certain creditor who had two letters, one owed 500 than I, and the other 50. And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them. Both. He said, tell me, therefore, which of them will love him more? And Simon answered and said, I suppose the one who forgave. He forgave more. And he said, Tim, you have rightly judged. Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, do you see this woman? I entered your house. You gave me no water for my feet, but she has washed my feet with her tears and wiped them with a hair of her head. Now, that's devotion, isn't it? You gave me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss my feet since the time I came in. You did not annoy my head with oil, but this woman has annoyed my feet with fragrant oil. Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven. For she loved much, but to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little. You see, this woman understood how much she was being forgiven.

And if you understand that, I mean, from the depths of your being, you don't forget that. But then this is what the heart and core of worshiping in spirit is all about. Never forget him. She realized he needed much forgiveness. And worship in spirit is expressed when we generally realize what God has done for us. You know, when we really do respect someone, this is a great difference in how we treat them, isn't it? You've been around people, I'm sure, that maybe didn't know you from Adam. Did they treat you with respect? Generally not. But if someone really knows you and they come to appreciate you, they treat you with a great deal of respect as she did this for Jesus Christ. Sometimes, in fact, people, even on a physical level, we can have such regard for them, we worship the ground they walk on. That's an expression.

And, you know, if they ever get a chink of armor, that is, of course, something that can dash that feeling we may have. But how, brethren, does this kind of an attitude come to us? I would dare to say any of us, before we were baptized, this is the kind of attitude most go through.

If we don't, we need to go, we need to repent again. We come to realize how much we need God's forgiveness. And I remember when I was in the hospital, frankly, there was a time when I didn't know if I was going to be alive in six months or a year or whatever it would be. It does tend to change your perspective.

And when you really begin to think in that way, there have been predicaments in my life that, you know, I realized that I had God to thank for. Any blessing I had in my life, more intimately than ever before. And when I was laying in the hospital room, that I must say, I had it there, just as I had it when I was first baptized.

I don't know if I've ever read this to you, but there's a poem that I think illustrates what I'm talking about when a man comes to himself or when a woman comes to herself and how it can happen. It's The Prayer of Cyrus Brown by Sam Walter Foss. It was written in 1858 or so, you know, around that time.

And so the title of it is, Glenn, The Prayer of Cyrus Brown. It goes this way, The Proper Way for a Man to Pray, said Deacon Lemuel Keyes, and the only proper attitude is down upon his knees. No, I should say, The Way to Pray, said Reverend Dr. Wise, is standing straight, with outstretched arms and wrapped and upturned eyes. Oh, no, no, no, said Elder Snow. Such posture is too proud. A man should pray with eyes fastened, close, and his head contritely bowed.

It seems to me his hands should be a sierry clasp in front, with both thumbs pulling toward the ground, said Reverend Dr. Blunt. Last year, Cyrus Brown said, I fell in Hoskins well.

At first, said Cyrus Brown, with both my heels a-stickin' up, my head a-pointin' down. And I made a prayer like this and there. This prayer I ever prayed, the prayerless prayer I ever prayed, a-standing on my head. See, when you're in a crisis, that's when a man or a woman can come to themselves. And, you know, that, somehow we have to retain, we have to keep within us, as God's people, to never lose that.

Here's one of the thoughts I remember asking God when I went through my trial. Why, God? You know, what did I do differently than other people do? He would always do that, don't we? Why me, God? Why am I going through this? And God put it in my mind, I'm sure, by His Spirit. But don't think it's strange. You go through a fiery trial. And I've told people ever since that all of us are going to go through fiery trials.

And I think the reason why, brethren, is to get back to this thing of worshiping God in Spirit, from within. It's sincere. It's from the depths of our being and our soul. And so Christ said, you have to worship in spirit and in truth. Well, what does worshiping in truth have to do with? Well, it involves the pure teachings of God. You know, Christ said that the Samaritans worshiped what they did not know. You know, God wants us to worship Him in truth. What is right? You know, many people, by the way, think that, you know, the truth is not really important. All that is necessary is sincerity. Well, you know, have you ever heard the expression, people are sincerely wrong?

And I already pulled out to you, brethren, how people can falsely worship God. They worship false idols. Well, God's law, brethren, defines the pure teachings that God has given to mankind. God's laws. And God doesn't change. We're told in Hebrews 13, verse 8, that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. God doesn't change. And His laws that He gave to Moses atop Mount Sinai and to the children of Israel are the same laws as He gave to Abraham.

Because it says that Abraham obeyed the commandments, statutes, and judgments of God. So that God was able to bring upon Him all the promises that He had made back in the book of Genesis, 26.5. In fact, He talks about that. So God's law, brethren, defines the truth for us. And God is consistent. You go from the Old Testament into the New Testament.

And God desires those who face the truth, brethren, even if it's contrary to what the world is doing. And if you embrace the Sabbath, you know you got up today, and people were not thinking about the Sabbath. You passed people that were going about their business on this day, which is the day of the Lord, actually, that the book of Mark tells us. Jesus Christ said He was the Lord of the Sabbath. This is the day, and there's no question about it. Most religionists, frankly, knowing anything about the Bible, realize that Saturday is the Sabbath. And even the Catholics say, again, the Sabbath has never been changed. It was them who changed the Sabbath to Sunday. They began to observe it. In fact, we believe that, anciently, during the days of Jeroboam, they did the same thing. But over in Deuteronomy chapter 30, let's go to Deuteronomy chapter 30 over here.

So, we talked about worshiping in spirit. It comes from within a person. It has to do with sincerity. It has to do with right humility, humble attitude. In Deuteronomy 30, verse 8, here God was talking to Israel, telling them a second time, and you will again obey the voice of the etern and do all His commandments, which I command you today. You do all of His commandments. Now, in verse 11, for this commandment, which I command you today, is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off.

So, the commandments of God are not mysterious. You don't have to have a PhD to understand the Ten Commandments. It's not rocket science, as they say. It is not in heaven that you should say, who will ascend in heaven for us, and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it. Nor is it beyond the sea that you should say, who will go over the sea for us, and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it. But the Word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart, and you may do it.

See, I've said before you today, life and good, death, he says, and evil. But he says, and that I command you, verse 16, today, to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply. And that ye shall go to possess it. And he talked about that we shouldn't be drawn away to worship other gods and serve them.

Of course, that's what ancient Israel did, and Judah as well. But God's law, brethren, are expressed in the Ten Commandments. You know, over in Exodus 20, of course, we have God thundering the Ten Commandments there to Israel, so much so that they were afraid, and they wanted Moses to talk to them.

They were afraid when God spoke and thundered the commandments there. They wanted, in fact, Moses to be the one that would teach them. So it's the same law that, in fact, was given to Abraham, was given to Moses and the children of Israel. There's no difference. And when Jesus Christ came along and started teaching, what did He teach? He taught to take commandments. Remember, the young man who came to Christ and said, You know, what good things should I do to have eternal life? What did Jesus tell him? He didn't say, Go climb this high mountain. He basically pointed out the Ten Commandments.

And the young man said, Well, I've done that for my youth up. Then Christ said, Okay, if you've done that since your youth up, then go sell everything you have and come follow me. You know what Christ was testing him on? His attitude, His spirit, from within, His willingness. And it says He went away very sorrowful because He had much possessions. He was able to tear away from the physical wealth that He had. Over in Matthew 5, again, brethren, we're looking at worshiping God in truth. And that truth, brethren, we worship God in, is the law of God, God's way of life.

You don't have to advocate on it. You don't have to wonder about it. What real worship is, frankly, brethren, you're worshiping God by keeping the Sabbath, by being here on the convocation. You're worshiping God. You're pleasing God by doing that. In Matthew 5, verse 16, Jesus said, Okay, what light? What example? Well, He goes on. He proceeds in verse 17 to tell us, Do not think.

You get it far from the remind, Jesus, saying, That it came to destroy the law or the prophets. I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill. As we understand, it means to magnify. And He explains what it means by fulfill. Some people actually think that all Jesus Christ did is He came to fulfill the law, and then He did to do away with it. Then they toss it out. As a perfect man who kept the law of God. Well, we know He never sinned, but that's not really enough. The word fulfill means to magnify.

We're still here. Pinch yourself. Heaven and earth has not passed away. So you've got the brick in your lap. And so that's what we should live by. Whoever, therefore, breaks one of these least commandments and teaches no-so. There are a lot of people who've got a lot of explaining to do. You know, in the world, claim to be ministers, saying the law of God has done away with. You don't have to keep that old Sabbath. Those are the holy days. But notice it says, and teaches no-so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Now, Mr. Stigley was talking about these expressions, called least in the kingdom. Does that mean they're going to be in the kingdom? If they maintain that attitude, the figure of speech actually has a meaning that, no, they won't be in the kingdom.

But this is, again, one of the things that Mr. Stigley talked about in his segment at the workshop, that we had labor in the Word. It says, for I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes of the Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Unless you can do better, brethren, than one for God and nine for me. One for God and nine for me. Unless you can do better than that, you're not going to be in the kingdom. Those that worship God must worship in spirit and in truth.

So, again, very clear within the Scriptures what the Bible says. Jesus came. When He came, He came to add the spirit to the law. It's no longer just the letter of the law. Again, no longer one for God, nine for me. No, being generous. This looks like a tithe or whatever it would be. Show Him judgment, mercy, and faith from the heart. Jesus Christ said, no longer is it a sin for you to commit adultery, but if you look upon a woman to lust after her, you've committed adultery in your heart. So that's much more binding than just going out and committing the physical act.

No, you shouldn't just refrain from murdering somebody. You should refrain from hating somebody. You see, that's the spiritual. And it's right here in Matthew 5. You read on down through here. So the law of God, brethren, defines for us the worship that God is pleased with. His laws. You don't, again, have to wonder, is God going to be pleased with what I'm doing if I'm keeping the laws of God? Over in 1 John 2. 1 John 2 over here. 1 John 2.

In verse 4, it says, It says, You know, here John says is a liar. And the truth. The truth is in him. You see? So there's no truth in such a person if they are not keeping the commandments of God. Over in chapter 5. Chapter 5 in verse 3 through 5 here. It says, So you really know what God's love is. When we keep the laws of God, we are practicing God's form of love. Again, not just the letter, but the Spirit as well. And his commandments are not burdensome. Yet, you know, how many times do ministers from the pulpits across this country say, in different churches, that that old law, that burdensome law, that we've escaped from the bondage of the law. And label anybody that keeps the Sabbath as a legalist. But it says, For whosoever, verse 4, is born of God, has God's Spirit resident within them, overcomes the world. Yes, you run against the current of the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? Again, stands in awe of who Jesus Christ is, and believes that Jesus is the Son of God. Not just a man, as many people have believed, not just a righteous man who did many miracles, but is the Son of God. And we know he's at the right hand of the Father, right now. So those brethren who walk in the laws of God will be the ones who will overcome the world. They will be the ones who will be given eternal life in a better world. And their prayers are heard and answered. John says elsewhere, In whatever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and we do those things that are pleasing in his sight.

So brethren, we should be worshiping God and spirit, and in truth is God's people. Let's go over to Mark 12 over here. Mark 12. Mark 12. Mark 12. John 30.

Mark 12 and verse 30. Mark 12.

Jesus Christ, again, was often tested by the scribes, who were supposed to be the lawyers, you might say, of the law. The Pharisees were to be themselves very acquainted with the law. But notice here, in verse 28, And Jesus answered him, So you see, brethren, this is what it means. Right here. This verse right here is what it means to worship God in spirit and in truth. Then we embrace what God says, that we, in fact, worship God by following His commandments. And when Jesus Christ came along, remember, in His ministry, toward the end of His ministry, in John 17, 17, He said, God was praying to the Father, and He said, sanctify them by your truth. Then He said, Your Word is truth. And so, we ought to, brethren, if we are loving God with all of our heart, and our soul, and our mind, you know, be fully convinced that God knows, again, the way that we should walk. He's the one that should define it for us. We don't look to man, we look to what God says in His Word. And we have a humble attitude toward God as well. And that, of course, is worshiping in the right spirit. And God desires that from you and me, brethren. As we near the end of this age, brethren, I hope that we are closer to God. We grow closer to God, and more in tune with not only the Father in Heaven, but more in tune with one another. When we really worship God, as God desires, there are four things that are going to happen to us. Number one, we're going to sincerely exalt and glorify God, the Father in Jesus Christ, in our words and our actions. Number two, we're going to purify our lives by following God's ways, God's laws, in spirit and in the letter as well. In fact, John says, everyone who has this hope, talking about the hope of one day being in God's Kingdom, purifies himself even as He, even as Jesus Christ is pure. And number three, brethren, we encourage one another, and we edify one another, and thus the whole church is edified. And number four, we are alike to others in the world and others in the church, in word and deed, what Paul calls his ambassadors for Jesus Christ, of God's coming Kingdom. God's true people, brethren, worship Him in spirit and in truth. And each of us, brethren, must be tested on those two vital points in our lives. I'm convinced that a major trial that took place for us in 1995, when our former association rejected the Sabbath, and the Holy Days was a test of whether or not you will obey the truth. And I think we've had numerous examples between 1995 and today, where our attitude has been tested. Our attitude has been tested. And if yours has not been tested, brethren, let me promise you, it will be. And we may, in fact, find ourselves tested on truth and the right spirit, the right attitude in the future as well. Brethren, we're not only striving to get it right, but we must have the right attitude toward one another and our God, our Creator God. So, brethren, God is seeking people that worship Him in spirit and in truth, and I'm convinced it is you. God's people and all those that God chooses to call in this age we're living in.