True Worship
Dearly beloved of God, God is Spirit and can only truly be worshipped by spirit according to the Lord Jesus Christ. What does this mean?
According to the Scriptures God instructs us that we are to study to show ourselves approved unto Him by rightly dividing His Word. If we are to know the Will of God we must hear His Word because faith comes by hearing the Word of God.
Early in his ministry Jesus Christ taught his disciples that to see and enter the kingdom of God one must be born again.
He said that which is born of the flesh is flesh [this is the natural birth], and that which is born of the spirit is spirit [this is a birth of spirit]. To be born of the spirit is to be begotten from above.
He then said, “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.”
After God raised Jesus out from among the dead, at the end of his earthly ministry he told his disciples, “And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry you in the city of Jerusalem, until you are endued with power from on high.”
He told his disciples to wait for the promise of the Father, “which you have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but you shall be baptized with the holy spirit not many days hence.”
He said, “But you shall receive power, after that the holy spirit is come upon you: and you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
These were the last words the Lord spoke before he ascended into heaven.
Ten days later, on the Feast of Pentecost, after he was glorified, God made the same Jesus that they had crucified both Lord and Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ then sent the promise of the Father, the gift of holy spirit.
First the twelve apostles received the gift of holy spirit, which is to be born of the spirit. They manifested the proof that they had received it by speaking in tongues, the wonderful works of God.
The prophet Joel said that this would take place in the last days. From the time that Adam and Eve lost spirit life this day had been anticipated.
After they lost spirit life, God at times would put His spirit on a person so He could communicate with them, but the rest would not have it.
Due to the accomplishments of the Lord Jesus Christ, God could now fulfill the revelation He gave Joel, and anyone who confessed Jesus as Lord and believed that God raised him from the dead could be saved, and receive the spirit from God. That moment a person receives the gift of holy spirit, they are born again of God’s spirit, born of incorruptible seed that lives and abides forever.
Romans 8 teaches us that they who are in the flesh [the natural birth] cannot please God, but you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit since the spirit from God dwells in you [that is to be born of the spirit from God].
Now if any person does not have the spirit of Christ, that person is none of His, but since Christ is in you, the body [the old nature of the flesh] is dead because of sin, but spirit is life because of God’s justness.
We have received a spirit making us the sons of God! The spirit itself bears witness with our spirit [This is what occurs when we speak in tongues; it bears witness that we are born again] that we are the children of God, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ.
Jesus Christ sent the promise of the Father, and we now have the first fruits of the spirit. Now we are sealed for eternal life, and we have the proof!
When the people asked what the speaking in tongues meant, the Apostle Peter told them that it was the proof that God raised Jesus from the dead, and that He made him both Lord and Christ, “…and having received the promise of the holy spirit, he [Jesus Christ] shed forth this, which you now see and hear.”
About 3,000 people gladly received his word, and were baptized that day; not with John’s baptism of water, but with the holy spirit that the Lord Jesus Christ had made available.
Now anyone can be born of God’s spirit and manifest the proof that they are saved and have eternal life. The moment they are born again of the spirit from God they have entered the kingdom of God, and they can manifest the proof of their salvation. Rejoice!
God sent His Son into the world to fulfill the law and the prophets, and to accomplish the will of His Father so that anyone could be born again of the spirit from God.
Before Christ sent the promise of his Father all people were dead in sin and had no spirit life, but now we are made alive together with Christ; we are born of the spirit of God. We have the gift of holy spirit, which is the Comforter that the Lord promised to send.
Speaking in tongues is the true worship the Lord Jesus Christ came to make available. It is the proof that he sent the promise of his Father. Speaking by the spirit is God’s spirit witnessing to our inner being that we are the children of God. It is the proof that we have eternal life. The Comforter has come!
Rejoice, dearly beloved, the Father seeks such to worship Him, and when you speak in tongues you are speaking directly to your Heavenly Father. Rejoice forevermore.