‘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’ (John 4:23)
How much truth are you willing to give up for the sake of unity and peace? While such a question seems ridiculous, yet it is being asked of many people today, for the sake of bringing churches together. Unity at any price is the modern-day battle-cry.
Is God in such attempts? Is there any example in all of Scripture where God ever put aside his truth and justice in order to bring people together to save them? Such a thought is unthinkable and blasphemous. He spared not his own Son, that he might be just in justifying the ungodly (Romans 3:26). Why would he require any less of us than the absolute truth?
We are to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). The most loving thing you can do for someone is to tell them the truth. Can you build a relationship by trying to cover up the truth? Those who have died and are suffering in hell have but one desire: to tell their living loved ones the TRUTH (Luke 16:27- 28).
God’s true people worship him in spirit and in truth. A. W. Pink wrote, ‘To worship in spirit is to worship spiritually; to worship in truth is to worship truly.’ These are two aspects of the same worship. We worship spiritually in opposition to any external rituals that appeal only to the flesh. We come to God through a heart that his Spirit has made alive by regeneration. We worship him truly, in accord with the truth (God’s sovereignty; Christ’s effectual atonement; irresistible grace). This is the only manner suited to the revelation he has made of himself in his word (Ephesians 1:1-14). We worship him sincerely and without pretense. We do not flaunt our will. We glorify his sovereign will and grace. We come to him by Jesus’ blood and righteousness alone, as he is pleased to draw us. If the words of Scripture mean anything, such alone are the true worshippers of God.
