01.10. Spirit for Worship and Witnessing (Stearns)

X. THE SPIRIT FOR WORSHIP AND WITNESSING. BY D. M. STEARNS, SCRANTON, PA. AS we consider the lack of real spiritual worship of God on the part of such multitudes of his professed people, and the " no worship at all " of the greater multitudes outside the church, the true worshipper is led to ask:" Will the time ever come when in all the world God shall be worshipped in spirit and in truth? " Assurance of success is to many a great inspiration, and if we can become fully persuaded that this time shall surely come, and that we shall see it, it may nerve us to seek more whole-heartedly for ourselves and others to be filled with the Spirit, that in this present time we may earnestly contend for true spiritual worship and testimony, standing resolutely apart from all dead forms and ceremonies^ while we wait for, and seek to hasten, the dawn of a better dispensation than that in which we now live. If Abraham was enabled to wait more patiently by looking for the city which hath foundations; if Moses was enabled to turn away from all the attractions of Egypt’s glory by getting his eyes and heart fixed on the recompense of the reward; if our Lord Jesus himself, " for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross;" we have the best of precedents to encourage ourselves by contemplating the grand consummation which is sure to come. Let us listen then for a few moments to the Spirit’s own testimony as to what he will yet accomplish on our earth. "All the ends of the world shall remember, and turn unto the Lord; and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship- before thee: for the kingdom is the Lord’s, and he is the governor among the nations." "All the earth shall worship thee, and shall sing unto thee; they shall sing to thy name." " Yea, all kings shall fall down before him; all nations shall serve him." "All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name." "And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord." "And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to keep the feast of Tabernacles." " Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy Name? for thou only art holy; for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest " (Psalms 22:27-28; Psalms 66:4; Psalms 72:11; Psalms 86:9; Isaiah 66:23; Zechariah 14:16; Revelation 15:4). If the question be asked "When shall these things be?" the Spirit, through Joel, plainly says that it will be after Jehovah has returned to dwell in the midst of Israel, that they may never again be ashamed, then will he pour out his Spirit upon all flesh; and that which had a germinant fulfilment at Pentecost shall have a complete and worldwide fulfilment when the kingdom shall be the Lord’s. If it be asked "Who shall live when God doeth this?" the answer is " You who now hear these words if by faith in Christ Jesus and in the power of the Spirit you are a true worshipper of the Father."

It will help us in our worship now if we can form some idea of what worship will be in those days, and it we can get some light upon what true worship really is. Listen then to Seraphim and Cherubim, types of the most exalted portion of our redeemed humanity, the Church, the Body of Christ. " I saw the Lord sitting upon a Throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the Temple. Above it stood the Seraphim; each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another and said, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts; the whole earth is full of his Glory." "And the four living creatures had each of them six wings about him, and they were full of eyes within:and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, which was and is, and is to come. And when those living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, the four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power:for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." (Isaiah 6:1-3; Revelation 4:8-11.) In these visions of Isaiah and John we see and hear true worship. The object of worship is a person, not a principle, or a creed, or a sect; not even an angel or an archangel; but the Lord himself whom alone they exalt. The ground of worship is, " 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." The consummation is, "And we shall reign on the earth." The Power is seen in the seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God, or the Spirit in his sevenfold fulness. (Revelation 5:9-10; Revelation 4:5.) As to the worshippers, they do not boast of what they are, but cover their faces (indicating their characters) with their wings; they do not boast of what they have done, their Christian conduct or walk (indicated by the feet) but cover their feet also with their wings; and with one accord they vie with each other, as they cast their crowns before him, in extolling the Lord of Hosts, the Lord God Almighty, whose glory is the fulness of the whole earth.

Let us now descend from these glorious heights, this far-reaching mount of Transfiguration, and consider how we may worship and witness while we contend with the world, the flesh and the devil. Let us listen to the weary, lonely man, the God-man, God manifest in the flesh, the revealer of the Father, as he sits on Jacob’s well and talks with the woman of Samaria. She being convinced of sin by the Spirit in him, seeks to evade the issue by bringing up the question of the place of worship; as if to-day one should say, well, it may be all true, but I do not believe as you do, I am a Catholic, or I am a Methodist, or a Baptist, or a Presbyterian, or an Episcopalian, you worship in your way and I’ll worship in mine. Jesus replied that place or externals was nothing, but the heart everything; for the Father seeketh true worshippers, who shall worship in Spirit and in Truth. The woman had spoken of " Jacob our father " and of " our fathers," but Jesus speaks of " The Fattier" who alone is to be worshipped. While God is spoken of as " Father," a few times in the Old Testament, as in Psalms 89:26; Isaiah 63:16; Isaiah 64:8, it remained for Jesus to reveal him as such, that as such we might worship him. It is the name by which we were first taught to address him, but how little we know of the fulness of the meaning of this beautiful name, and therefore how poor our worship. It is the name found in the first and last recorded utterances of Jesus, " Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?" " Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit " (Luke 2:49; Luke 23:46); and it is the name first on his lips after his resurrection, when he says to Mary " Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God." (John 20:17.) In his discourse and prayer on the night of his betrayal and arrest he uses the name about fifty times, saying among other things " He that hath seen me hath seen the Father I am in the Father and the Father in me at that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you." If we more fully realized our relationship to God as his children by faith in Christ Jesus, and his relationship to us as our Father who art in Heaven, then would our worship, both in public and private, be more real and more acceptable to him. This can be brought about only by the Holy Spirit. " For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God ... ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." (Romans 8:14-15.) In over fifty of the 170 places where the Hebrew word for " worship " is found in the Old Testament, it is translated as " bow self down," and in this we have the whole hindrance to salvation, or life and service, or true worship. In the matter of the salvation of a sinner what is so great a hindrance as the mind of the flesh which is enmity against God; is not subject to the law of God, neither, indeed, can be: but takes pride in its own fancied righteousness, all of which is in God’s sight only as filthy rags (Romans 8:7; Titus 3:5; Isaiah 64:6). When the sinner has been enabled by the enlightening Spirit to see his filthiness and to renounce it, accepting in its place the spotless robe of the righteousness of God in Christ, what hinders the abundant life and service which every Christian ought to manifest, so much as this same self or flesh which remaining in the believer seeks to be pitied and pampered: and the believer instead of denying self, and mortifying the deeds of the body, putting off the old man, is, alas, too oft inclined to pity self (Matthew 16:22 marg.) instead of reckoning it dead (Romans 6:11; Romans 8:13; Matthew 16:24; 2 Corinthians 4:11). Then as to worship, the difficulty is, confidence in the flesh, which is directly opposed to worshipping God in the Spirit and rejoicing in Christ Jesus (Php 3:3). They that are in the flesh cannot please God. No flesh shall glory in his presence. He that glorieth must glory in the Lord (Romans 8:8; 1 Corinthians 1:29-31).

We have been redeemed with the precious blood of Christ that we may yield ourselves fully unto him for his service, that by true worship and faithful testimony we may glorify God and win people to him as he has revealed himself in Jesus Christ. This we cannot do; we are not sufficient for these things, but our sufficiency is of God who gives unto us the Holy Spirit to this end. He says, " Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" " What! know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own; for ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s? " " Ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people" (1 Corinthians 3:16; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 2 Corinthians 6:16). Then he adds, " Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." This is the only place in the New Testament outside the book of Revelation where we find the name " Almighty; " and its use here is most interesting and instructive, and right in the line of our subject. The name " Almighty " signifies literally " the breasted one " (Shaddai); and reveals God to us as the all-sufficient pourer forth of all temporal and spiritual blessings. It is first found in Genesis 17:1, after a blank in Abram’s history of thirteen years because of his reliance on the flesh instead of on the all-sufficient Jehovah. Then Jehovah comes to him saying, " I am the Almighty God, walk before me, and be thou perfect (or upright, or sincere)." Then is his name changed from Abram (exalted father) to Abraham (father of a multitude). The middle letter of Elohim, and the principal letter of Jehovah, God’s great name, is inserted in Abram’s name, as if to indicate that God in him would now cause him to be fruitful. Of the less than sixty times that the name " Almighty " is found in the whole Bible, it is found more than half the number (31 times) in the book of Job; where we have the history of a servant of God, thoroughly emptied of himself; and thus ceasing to think anything of himself, and leaning on the sufficiency of the Almighty pourer forth, everything is literally doubled to him. Oh, how fruitful our worship and testimony would be, and how glorifying to God, if we would only separate ourselves from all filthiuess of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God (2 Corinthians 7:1); and thus allowing our Almighty Father to prove himself our sufficiency, how gloriously he would show to the world that such Christians are indeed his sons and daughters; and how he would delight to show forth his power in them and on their behalf.

We must remember that there can be no acceptable worship or testimony apart from the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus, or the sacrifices which, before he came, pointed forward to his; for " without shedding of blood is no remission " (Hebrews 9:22), and the unsaved cannot worship God. In the offerings of Cain and Abel there was a foreshadowing of all future worshippers and their methods. Those who do not see their guilt and their need of a substitute come as Cain came, bringing the best they have, well satisfied with themselves; but there is no worship, for there is no atonement, and their offerings, however beautiful, are not accepted by God. Those who like Abel see their guilt, and come in humble reliance upon the Lamb slain for them, rejoicing in the blood that’ was shed for their sins, as they sing, "Nothing in my hands I bring, Simply to thy cross I cling."

These are acceptable worshippers. In our public worship our services consist of Praise, Prayer, Preaching and an Offering, and the Spirit has not left us without guidance in reference to each part. " I will pray with the Spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also; I will sing with the Spirit and I will sing with the understanding also. ... I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue." " They read in the book, in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading" (1 Corinthians 14:15, 1 Corinthians 14:19; Nehemiah 8:8). Here are the Spirit’s own directions for the worship of God, and if we are to worship in Spirit it must be in submission to the Spirit’s guidance. All must be done that all may be benefited and all take part in the worship. We will suppose that those who lead the praise of the congregation are Christian men and women, for otherwise they have no right to any such place, inasmuch as the unsaved cannot worship:" They that are in the flesh cannot please God " (Romans 8:8) now if they sing that which the congregation cannot take part in, where is the worship on the part of the congregation? Then when the minister prays, if the congregation do not in their hearts endorse every petition, where is the prayer on their part? And as to the preaching, if it is not simple enough for the most unlearned to receive, where is the benefit? When we sing let us sing only what we mean with our whole hearts, for is it not as sinful to sing a lie as to tell a lie? When we pray let us ask for what we really want for God’s glory, and expect to receive it. And when we speak let us hear the word at God’s mouth and give them warning from him; or when we hear let us desire to hear only what God has to say to us and not the opinions of men. As to the offering, which is as much a part of the worship as the prayer or praise or preaching, here is the Spirit’s guidance. " Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.’ " Of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart shall ye take my offering " (2 Corinthians 9:7; Exodus 25:2). Let me think of myself as an individual worshipper, whether in pulpit or pew, what is my aim, what my motive? The only proper aim is to glorify God, to exalt him, to make him known; the motive, the love of Christ constraining; the motto, "Unto him who loved me and washed me from my sins in his own blood " (Revelation 1:5); the power, his Spirit who dwelleth in me. I go to the house of God, persistently shutting out the world and worldly things, that I may praise him, talk with him, hear him talk to me, and thus commune with him. Is it time to sing? then I am to sing with my whole heart unto the Lord. Is it time to pray? then I am to make my soul’s desire known to him with thanksgiving. Is it time to speak or hear? then I am to speak his word, or watch to see what he (not the speaker) will say unto me or in me. Is it time for the offering? then I am to give unto him with a willing and grateful heart, such an offering as I would not be ashamed to place in his own hand; he knowing what he has given to me, how much I am reserving for myself, and how much* I ought cheerfully to give unto him. In all this there is not the slightest room for the flesh, or for the praise of man; it is from beginning to end, " Unto him," because of his love to me, and in the power of his Spirit. This, and nothing less than this, is, as far as I can learn from the Scriptures, worshipping the Father in Spirit and in Truth. In reference to witnessing, we must look unto him who is " the Amen, the faithful and true witness " (Revelation 3:14), whose life was the light of men. He who was the Light of the world says to us who believe in him, " Ye are the light of the world." We are to walk as he walked, to reproduce his life in these mortal bodies. As there can be no life or light without something being consumed, so we must be willing to present our bodies a living sacrifice that the Spirit may consume us with earnest desire for the glory of God. Not our own will or pleasure or glory, but in all things the will, the pleasure, the glory of God. With such lives we shall be qualified to speak of him, and be bearers of the glad tidings of the kingdom to others who have not yet heard the gospel. A witness must be able to say, " J know," " I am fully persuaded," " I speak that which I know and testify that which I have seen " (2 Timothy 1:12; Romans 4:21; John 3:11; 1 John 1:1-3), and he must be ready also to lay down his life for the truth, to be a u martyr," for such is the word for " witness " (Revelation 2:13). Jesus testified of the necessity of being born from above; the necessity of being willing to forsake all for him; the necessity of being willing to suffer with him, denying self and bearing the cross daily; the ’ necessity of living here for the sake of the good we may do in his Name, separating ourselves from the world. He taught that at death the believer goes out into conscious happiness, the unbeliever into conscious torment, and that there is no possibility of exchanging places after death, that the ungodly dying in their sins cannot reach the place of the blest. He taught that we are not rewarded for our works at death, but at the resurrection of the just. He taught that he will come again in power and great glory, and that then will be the restoration and redemption of Israel. He taught us to watch constantly for his return, expecting him any hour. If we are to be his witnesses, filled with his Spirit, we must continue to reiterate all that he taught, not omitting a single truth. He did not teach that his coming meant death, or that the kingdom is the church, and that the kingdom has come: but he did teach that his coming meant " not to die," and that the kingdom is postponed till his return (John 21:22-23; Luke 19:11-15). From all this we can see that to worship God in Spirit and Truth, and to be a faithful witness, requires more power than mortal man was ever possessed of, and were it not that the power for this life and testimony is placed by God within reach of all we might well despair of ever attaining to it. " Tarry until ye be endued with power from on high:" " Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me" (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8), were some of his last words to those who had been with him for three years; and if they needed this power who had seen him face to face and had already wrought miracles in his name, how much more do we? To show how ready he is to bestow this gift he has said, " If ye then being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? "(Luke 11:13).

If any should still ask, " How may I obtain it? " I should say, Importunately seek it with your whole heart for his glory, and not for any selfish end; be willing to be emptied and cleansed that he may fill you, and if you fear you are not willing, ask him to make you willing:remember that it is written, " We who live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh" (2 Corinthians 4:11), and therefore take delight in every opportunity to mortify the flesh. Cling in helplessness as Jacob with his thigh out of joint clung to the mighty One. Watch as intently as Elisha watched Elijah before they were separated. When any one thus seeks with the whole heart to be filled with the Holy Spirit for the Glory of God they shall surely be filled; learn to worship God in Spirit and Truth, and become faithful witnesses.

Let no one say, It is not for me, or It will cost too much; you are not your own, and you are commanded to be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18); if you refuse, you are disobedient and the loss you will never know till it is too late to regain it. Let each one say, " I am thine, Lord." " I yield fully unto thee." " Make me a vessel meet for thy service." Take the blessing by faith and go forth in his Name.