Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life Chapter 5 - Cameron Jungels - Wed, October 1, 2014

Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life

by Donald Whitney

 

Worship…for the purpose of godliness: Chapter 5

 

The Expectation of Worship

 

“It is the duty (and privilege) of all people to worship their Creator.” – Whitney, 102

“Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;” (Psalm 95:6)

 

WLC # 1

What is the chief and highest end of man?

Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God and fully to enjoy him forever.

 

Worship Is…

Ø  Focusing on & Responding to God

ü  “My Lord and my God!” (Jn 20:28)

ü  “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty” (Rev 4:8)

ü  “Worthy are you, our Lord and God…” (while falling before him) (Rev 4:11) 

Worship Is…

“To worship God means to ascribe the proper worth to God, to magnify his worthiness, or better, to approach and address God as He is worthy.” – Whitney, 103-4

ü  Fully acknowledging the glory and majesty of God and responding with our total being. 

Questions:

Ø  In what ways is God revealed to us, so that we might respond appropriately in worship to him?

Ø  How do the other spiritual disciplines lead us to worship?

Ø  How is worship itself a discipline? 

Worship Is…

Ø  Done in Spirit and Truth

ü  Before we can worship in spirit & truth we must have within us the One who is the “Spirit of Truth” (John 14:17).

ü  Spirit’s regenerating and illuminating work leads us to worship the Triune God.

ü  To worship in spirit is to worship from the inside out with sincerity in our acts of worship.

ü  Worship in truth is worship in accordance and agreement with the truth of Scripture and in the means Scripture prescribes. 

Questions:

Ø  How do we engage our spirits in worship and not just go through the motions?

Ø  How do we keep worship anchored to the truth?

Ø  How do worshiping in spirit and truth balance each other? 

Worship Is…

Ø  Expected both Publicly and Privately

ü  Public worship is to corporately and physically gather with God’s people as his church.

ü  Private worship is individual or family worship apart from the gathered church. 

Worship Is…

Ø  A Discipline to Be Cultivated

ü  Worship is both an end and a means.

ü  We emulate what we think about. To think often about God is to become more and more like God. 

Final Applications:

Ø  Will you commit yourself to the discipline of daily private worship and regular corporate worship?

Ø  Will you put actual worship into your acts of worship?