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Worship: The End for which God's Word is given

We know that the end for which we were made is to worship and glorify God. It's surprising then that within Christianity, worship is a topic often surrounded today by much confusion. It's a key concern for Pentecostalism, as it should be among all true religion in the world. What is true religious worship and therefore what is true religion?

1. Foundation of true worship: God in himself

The reason for our worship is not merely what God has done for us, or what God is to us; but the reason our worship of God is an absolute duty is what God is in himself.

John Owen explains that it is the nature of God, his very being, that is the foundation of all true worship:
Because he is; that is, because he is an infinitely glorious, good, wise, holy, powerful, righteous, self-subsisting, self-sufficient, and all-sufficient being; the fountain and author of all being and good; the first cause, last end, and sovereign Lord of all; therefore, he is to be worshipped: therefore, are we to admire, adore, and love him; to praise, to trust and to fear him. [1]
Of course we worship God because of what he has done for us and is to us, but the principle reason for that worship, and what makes it true worship, is who and what God is. God is the great I AM; that name by which we are to know him. We worship him because he is I AM WHO I AM.

2. Rule of true worship: God's word about himself

And so our worship of God, owed him because of his divine nature, must be directed according to the revelation he has made of his being and nature to us. That is, if our worship is not ruled by God's revelation, if it does not conform to his word about himself, it is rebellion and wickedness.

The end for which the revelation of God is given through the Scriptures is that it would direct us to worship God; that is, the purpose of God's word to us is that we would respond to the true God with the obedience of faith in his word.

Our worship must therefore be a faith response of obedience to the Gospel, God's revelation of himself in the Scriptures. Otherwise we fail to worship under his rule: such worship dishonours the true and living God, is false religion, dead spirituality and idolatry.

Pentecostalism and true worship

Pentecostals may know that the end for which we were made is to worship and glorify God. But do you know that the end for which God's word is given is that it would direct your worship so that it does actually glorify God? The true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth (John 4:23).

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Owen, John. The Holy Spirit--His Gifts and Power. Christian Focus Publications 2004, p. 61-62.

[1] Ibid.

What is Holy Spirit: Who is he? - I

What does the name ‘Spirit’ signify? The words translating Spirit from the original languages in the Bible are ambiguous, signifying a movement of air (wind, breath, breeze).

John Owen in The Holy Spirit answers:

“…It is sufficiently evident that there is in the Scripture, a full and complete revelation of the Spirit of God, as one singular, and every way distinct from every thing else denoted by that name; and that whatever is affirmed of this Holy Spirit, relates either to his person or operations.” (p. 55).

Though often simply called “the Spirit” in the Bible, in regard to his properties he is named the Spirit of truth, the Spirit of holiness and the Spirit of grace. And regarding his relations he is called the Spirit of God and the Spirit of the Son. And in regard to his person he is called the Holy Spirit.

His Relations: Persons of the Godhead

Throughout Scripture the Spirit is called either the Spirit of God or Spirit of the LORD (including in reference to God, “your good Spirit” or the “Spirit of your Father”), speaking of his relation to God the Father.

In the New Testament the Spirit is also called the Spirit of God’s Son, the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of Jesus and the Spirit of the Lord, speaking of his relation to God the Son.

Just as the Son is called the Son of God, the Spirit is the Spirit of God. And just as the Spirit has eternally been God’s own Spirit, the Spirit has eternally been the Spirit of the Son who himself has eternally been one with the Father. Speaking of the Prophets in the Old Testament, before the coming of Christ, the Apostle Peter refers to the “Spirit of Christ in them” because the Holy Spirit has eternally existed as both the ‘Spirit of the Son’ and the ‘Spirit of God’ (1 Peter 1:10-11).

His Person: Name and Nature

The Spirit is also called the Holy Spirit, not only because his work relates to sanctification, but also more eminently, because his nature is holy. Just as God is himself ‘holy’ and is called the ‘Holy One’, so too God’s Spirit is called the Holy Spirit. Since he is God’s own Spirit he has God’s own nature, God’s own holiness.

God may command his holy ones (angels) to execute his commands, whether in mercy or in righteous judgment. But also in his righteous judgment there are some actions brought about by God’s decree that are not brought about by him directly; that is, they are not brought about by God’s own Spirit, but by evil spirits.

By God’s permission these actions are opposed to the Holy Spirit and are carried out by evil spirits acting upon persons or things, often decreed by God as punishment for wickedness, though not always (cf. Job 1). A famous example is in 1 Samuel 16:14-15, 19:9; an evil spirit is appointed and commissioned by God to punish Saul (cf. 1 Samuel 10:6, 9). This is explained more in God, Evil and Sovereignty.

But there is no good that God works that is not done by God directly; that is, God does it by the Holy Spirit. All spiritual benefits come through the Spirit. Whether mercy or grace, whatever good God works in us is by his Spirit, the Holy Spirit.

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Owen, John. The Holy Spirit--His Gifts and Power. Christian Focus Publications 2004, p. 55-60.

Gifts of the Holy Spirit: 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 and Pentecostals

The Apostle Paul gives the ignorant Corinthians one criteria to determine genuine Christian spirituality: Holy spirituality looks like people confessing Jesus as Lord. Formerly they had been led and influenced by speechless idols. Now the power of the Spirit had led them to confess Jesus as their Lord. (v 1-3). This is the first thing they need to realize because it is the mark of what is actually genuinely spiritual.

Spirituality begins and ends with the Lordship of Jesus. His Lordship is what spiritual gifts are all about. In v 4-6 it is this same Spirit, the same Lord, this same God, who gives the diversity of the different gifts and service and workings in all of us. And all given for the good of us all, his church.

God is not only the author of spiritual gifts (and not us), they are also his working (not ours). And not only that, he uses the gifts he has given us to serve the good of others (not of ourselves directly).

What is Pentecostal spirituality? Whether or not we speak in tongues? Why are spiritual gifts so important to Pentecostals? Do spiritual gifts increase our own experience of spirituality? Are they given by God to esteem us? Do we become more and more spiritual, the more work we do in the church?

What is repeated and emphasised by Paul throughout the list of gifts in 1 Corinthians 12 is the sovereignty of the Spirit; the Lordship of Jesus. To one is given this gift, to another that. But all are the work of the one and same Spirit: the Spirit who led us to confess Jesus as Lord.

And now he leads us to serve others with what he has given us. And he gives as he determines. He is Lord.

Why the Holy Spirit matters: Pentecostalism and true spirituality

Authenticity is naturally of importance whenever anything may be of significant worth. Purchasing an item of gold may be gain only if the gold is genuine. Otherwise you suffer a loss, having traded your money for fool’s gold. Worse still, the dealer is a deceiver and a fraud.

Beginning Book I of The Holy Spirit, John Owen shows why this subject matters so greatly by pointing to, not only the absolute dependance of our salvation on the person and work of the Spirit (along with genuine Christianity, the gospel, Christian growth, and condemnation), but also to the many false claims of the Spirit’s work.

1. False spirituality

No area exists with greater levels of deceit than in the realm of spirituality: things pretend be God, or of God, but are not. And the reason is no mystery: The greater the value of a thing (and there is nothing of greater worth that God’s own Spirit), the more often false attempts will be made to represent it. And so the Holy Spirit’s work is often counterfeited. And the greater something’s value the more horrible its abuse. Consequently there is nothing more horrible than false spirituality.

The most visible gift of the Holy Spirit under the Old Covenant was prophecy. But throughout the Old Testament there were more false prophets than true. On the one hand were those who openly served other gods (Deuteronomy 18:20; 1 Kings 18:26); but on the other hand were those who spoke in the name of the Lord, and declared falsely to be inspired by God’s Spirit (Jeremiah 28:2; 1 Kings 22:26; Ezekiel 13:14).

Under the New Covenant it was the gospel that was given by immediate revelation from the Spirit (and declared by his enabling, made effectual by his power and often attested to by miraculous signs from him). Unsurprisingly, false teachers competed by pretending to the very same source of authority. And so the Apostles likened false teachers in this new age to the false prophets of old (2 Peter 2:1) who also claimed divine inspiration.

Consequently, Jesus and the Apostles warned of ‘lying spirits’ and urged Christians ‘not to believe every spirit’, not to give credit to doctrine simply because of an appeal to immediate revelation, but to ‘test the spirits’ because Satan’s work is disguised as the Holy Spirit’s (cf. Matthew 24:24).

And in the very place where we are commanded to this type of proactive caution regarding ‘every spirit’, we are given one very simple means. The Apostle John writes:

We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood. (1 John 4:6).
With definitive clarity the Apostle puts himself and his fellow Apostles up as the litmus test, whereby we can know who and what is from God, or not: “whoever is not from God does not listen to us;” that is, does not listen to the Apostles whose word we have now in New Testament Scriptures. Whoever is from God or knows God, listens to the Apostles: that is how we recognize the Spirit of truth. Everything else is the spirit of falsehood. Or to put it another way, the Spirit without the word is false spirituality.

2. Dead spirituality

Owen’s work also provided an apologetic against those who practice a form of Christianity while all the time denying the supernatural: this is “hostility to the Spirit of God”, and since it is a “sin of despising his person, and rejecting his work now, [it] is of the same nature with the idolatry of old, and the Jews’ rejection of the person of the Son”.

“The doctrine of the Spirit, and his work on the souls of men, in conviction of sin; in godly sorrow and humiliation; in regeneration and sanctification; the supplies of this grace, and his assistance in prayer, have been preached in the world. Men have been taught that the great concerns of their peace, comfort, and assurance, depend on his sacred influences. They have been urged to examine themselves as to their personal experience of these things; and they have been solemnly assured, that if there be not an effectual work of the Spirit on their hearts, ‘they cannot enter into the kingdom of God.’ Multitudes in every age have received these as sacred truths and are well persuaded, that they have found them realised in their experience: but all these things are called in question by some; they look upon them as ‘cunningly devised fables’, as incredible, irrational, and unintelligible notions.” [1]
The Jews had the word of God, and inspired tradition, and reason and sense. They diligently studied their Old Testament Scriptures. And yet the Spirit of God rejected them. So too we who have the New Testament, but if only the letter, if we only philosophise about it, without the Holy Spirit bringing us to obedience to the Lord Jesus of whom the Scriptures testify (John 5:39-40), we are no better than them, who though “they call themselves Jews, and are not, are a synagogue of Satan.” (Revelation 2:9; 3:9) Or to put it another way, the word without the Spirit is dead spirituality.

Pentecostalism and false spirituality

The subject of the Spirit matters so enormously because there are so many conflicting messages about the work of the Spirit. The world itself is full of differing views about ‘spirituality’ and unfortunately, so is the church. And we are told to take warning. There is only one true and living Spirit, God's holy Spirit. Consequently, there is only one true gospel, one message in Christianity, one teaching from God. But in the church today we see multiple conflicting teachings about the Spirit, so that as foretold, faithful Christians need to hold their leaders to the test.

The Pentecostal movement boasts of living and vibrant spirituality, but runs head long into the risk of false spirituality. It was the Holy Spirit speaking to the church of Sardis who said, “you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead” (Revelation 3:1). Pentecostals and charismatic Christians should take care not to ignore this warning, because confidence in an emphasis on the Spirit’s work is misplaced confidence. The more the claim to the Spirit’s work, the more careful testing required. The only thing that counts for true spirituality is “listening to” the Apostles (1 John 4:6): “This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.”

A Pentecostal may happily affirm that the ‘word without the Spirit’ is dead spirituality, but equally so the ‘Spirit without the word’ is false spirituality. The charismatic emphasis on direct and immediate revelation from the Holy Spirit in separation from and in isolation to the word of the Scriptural gospel puts Pentecostalism into this very camp.

Many Pentecostal 'prophets' speak in the name of the Lord, claiming to be inspired by God’s Spirit. But much of their teaching fails to listen to the Apostolic doctrine of the New Testament Scriptures. They are therefore, loathed as I am to admit it, false teachers. The 'full gospel' of 'divine healing' teachers and the 'prosperity gospel' of the 'Word of Faith' movement are obvious and stark examples.

But of more broad relevance is the two-tiered Christianity of everyday Pentecostalism. This comes from 'second-blessing' teachers, who insist on the importance of a subsequent step in Christian experience from conversion/sanctification (in order to receive the full work of the Spirit in power). This teaching puts mainstream Pentecostal preachers squarely into the realm of false teaching because this is a different doctrine(and indeed a different gospel) from what we are given by the Apostles as inspired by God through the pages of the New Testament. All Christians today should take great care to ‘test' this spirit to find out whether or not this is really from the Lord, who said "I will pour out my Spirit on all..." (Joel 2:28; Acts 2:17).

Again I quote the Apostle John:
We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood. (1 John 4:6).
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Owen, John. The Holy Spirit--His Gifts and Power. Christian Focus Publications 2004, p. 47-54.

[1] Ibid, p. 54.

Why the Holy Spirit matters: Christianity and the importance of the Spirit

In a passage made famous for its teaching about spiritual gifts, Paul begins by stating emphatically, 'No one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.' (1 Corinthians 12:3). Today, the Holy Spirit is well known for his role as author and distributor of gifts. But to begin with, our very faith in Jesus and our profession of faith in Jesus (the two always go together if our Christianity is sincere) is a change that is effected in us by the Holy Spirit: to come under the subjection of the Lordship of Jesus is a work of the Spirit of God that no one is sufficient for themselves.

In Book I of The Holy Spirit, John Owen outlines what he calls 'General principles concerning the Holy Spirit and his work'. And he begins with something of an outline as to why the subject of the Spirit really does matter so very much. And I've tried to summarise the first part of that outline here with five reasons why the Holy Spirit matters:

1. Our salvation depends on the Holy Spirit

God gives his Spirit to save sinners. Two promises run throughout the Scriptures in salvation history from the beginning of sin: 1. God's Son would take on our nature and suffer for us, and 2. God's Spirit would make effectual to us his obedience and suffering for us. These 'two great means of recovering fallen man' are: 1. God gave his Son for us and 2. God gives his Spirit to us.

2. Genuine Christianity depends on the Holy Spirit

The reception of the Holy Spirit is the mark of genuine Christianity. Jesus promised to send the Spirit, not only to the Apostles and first Christians, but also to 'all who would believe in him through their word' (John 17:20). Christ sends the Spirit to supply his own absence, and ultimately to bring us to himself. 'If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ' (Romans 8:9).

3. The work of the gospel depends on the Holy Spirit

The effectiveness of the gospel depends on the Spirit. The gospel is itself called the 'ministry of the Spirit' (2 Corinthians 3:6-8). Without the Spirit the gospel would be dead and ineffectual. And to separate the gospel from the Spirit is to reject it, and to kill it. (Isaiah 59:21).

4. The Christian life depends on the Holy Spirit

Whatever God works in us, God works by his Spirit. And there is nothing done by us that is acceptable to God but that which is an effect of the Spirit's operation.

5. Condemnation depends on the Holy Spirit

The only unforgivable sin is against the Holy Spirit, because -- as God has no other Son to offer for our sins if he be rejected -- God has no other Spirit to make Christ's work effectual to us if the Holy Spirit is despised.

The importance of the Spirit

Today Pentecostals continue to emphasise the importance of the person and work of the Holy Spirit. Pentecostalism emerged as a movement, now over a century ago, intent on bringing the role of the Spirit back into focus, primarily because it felt that his work had been neglected in the Church largely since 'early times'. And to be sure, the Pentecostal desire has got something unequivocally right.

The importance of the subject is immeasurable because the necessity of the Holy Spirit's work is absolute: Our salvation, Christianity itself, the gospel, Christian growth and the condemnation of the unforgiven, all depend critically on the Holy Spirit, both his person and operation. The Spirit matters because God gives the Spirit to save us.

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Owen, John. The Holy Spirit--His Gifts and Power. Christian Focus Publications 2004, p. 39-47.