Chapter 1: The Pattern of Worship. (Principle #1. Patterns are not meant to be cut, but followed)
P
atterns do matter. It does not make any difference how long we live or how many books we read and study, the pattern for true worship remains the same. When the first man was created, God’s pattern for worship was always - and will be - In Spirit and In Truth. The Bible says that God walked in the cool of the day and communicated with Adam, thus establishing a model for worship we are yet to follow today. God represented the ‘Spirit’ aspect of worship, while His instruction to Adam as to how to walk and live depicted truth. The Lord was very serious about this pattern for being in His presence - Adam and Eve knew it very well. After violating the Lord’s principles, their frayed conscience drove them to cover the naked truth with their own beliefs and plans,
WORSHIP 4 REAL
Dr. Eion A. Greaves
which was a futile attempt. God’s divine framework for worship was altered by fallen humanity that day. God then visited Moses Exodus 25:9,1, Chronicles 28:12,18,19, and during the building of the tabernacle, He mandated Moses, “Build according to the pattern I will show you and don’t deviate, don’t alter, add, or change it.” Well of course, things did not go according
to pattern, so He had to visit Amos and remind him in Amos 9:11-15 that, “I need spirit and truth. Can’t you tell that I am after your heart and not ur art?” He also indicated to Amos, “I will do it this time, I will repair and restore the tabernacle of David, as it was of old, so that no one else would miss it, and the Gentiles will seek me as a result.” In John 4:23-25, Jesus brought to the attention of a Gentile woman after a conversation on various forms of worship - that what God the Father was seeking could not be found in the flesh, where there is nothing good, but in the spirit, that reveals truth. Jesus re-established the original pattern for worship when He stated that the Father is seeking such that would worship Him in spirit and truth. The pattern must remain the same today. Nothing that God asks us to do should be seen as too hard, because He has done it before. Let me show you why He wants this pattern followed. In Genesis 1:1-3, we can see that when the creation was out of order because of violation, the Spirit of God moved. True worship began again, and God set the pace, which was done in the Spirit and by the Spirit. So, wherever or whenever the Spirit of God moved, things changed, the crooked became straight ,the empty got filled, and those in the dark saw light again. Truth then came out of His mouth and things began to come back in order. The word of God says, “they that are led by the Spirit - not the singer, not the choir director, but the Spirit - are in truth the sons of God.” Today, our lives lack miracles, signs, and wonders, because the pattern is missing. In conclusion, why do we worship in Spirit? Because the Spirit knows the heart and mind of the Father. Why in truth? Because nothing can be done without the word of God. His truth is what birthed us, and He can only recognize His truth if His Spirit is leading. Dr. Eion A. Greaves 9
