 Finally, start recording. Thank you, Google. Right, let's just pray. Father, we thank You. We acknowledge Your presence in our midst. Lord, You said where two or three are gathered in Your name. You are in their midst. We believe that You are here, Jesus. We honor You. We honor who You are. We love You. We love Your presence. Come in. Do what You do best, even as we learn from Your Word. Holy Spirit, open our eyes to the wonderful things of Your Word. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. I hope my audio is clear enough to you guys. Yeah, it's not too basic. Okay. Okay. So, we've been understanding worship in chapter 5. We started off with understanding the first point of what worship is. Worship is recognizing who God is, acknowledging and identifying who God is. The second point is worship is reverence for God. Yes. And the third point is worship is communion with God. Yeah, worship is communion with God. And the fourth point we discussed in the last class is that worship is our response to an encounter with God. So, we took a slight detour to understand what encounter is, right? And so, I hope that was helpful. Okay. Worship is not an encounter with God. Worship is our response to an encounter with God, right? Isaiah in Isaiah 6 has an encounter with God. He sees, you know, in the Yerkin Uzziah died. That's what it says in Isaiah 6. I saw the Lord lifted high and exalted and the train of His robe was filling the temple. And then he sees the seraphim crying out, Holy, Holy, Holy to one another. And then Isaiah responds. He responds by saying what? What does Isaiah respond? How many of you have read Isaiah 6? Woe unto me, for I am a man of unclean lips. Okay. Isaiah chapter 6 is a very important chapter. Okay. So, Isaiah responds by saying, after that encounter, woe unto me, for I am a man of unclean lips. Then the seraphim takes a coal from the altar, touches his lips and then says, your sins have been atoned for. Okay. So, you see how worship is a response to an encounter with God. Okay. And time after time, story after story in the Bible, we see such responses. And in your notes, if you look at it in Revelation chapter 1, Revelation chapter 1 was 12 to 17. It has a very similar response and I'll read it for us. Revelation chapter 1 was 12 to 17. It says, then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands. Okay. What is happening is an encounter right now. Okay. So, John is having an encounter. He's in the island of Atmos. Okay. This is where John is. Right. It's a prison island where all the prisoners were kept. And in the prison island, he's having this encounter. He's seeing, he saw seven gold lampstands and in the midst of the seven lampstands, one like the son of man clothed with the garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow and his eyes like flame of fire. His feet were like fine brass as if refined in a furnace and his voice as the sound of many waters. He had in his right hand seven stars out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword and his countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw him encounter, when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead response. And he laid his right hand on me saying to me, do not be afraid. I am the first and I am the last. Okay. So, you see John's response to that encounter was very simple. What was his response? He fell down as dead. Yeah. Let's read one more scripture and we'll talk about it. Revelation chapter 4, 9 to 11, it's in the notes again, Revelation 4, 9 to 11. It says, when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the 24 elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him. Okay. Listen to that one more time. Verse 9. Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, as a response to that encounter, the 24 elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever and cast their crowns before the throne saying, you are worthy, oh Lord, to receive glory and honor our for you created all things and by your will they exist and were created. Okay. And so worship requires a revelation. Okay. You can write it down if you want to and not because it's a cool line, but it's important. Okay. Worship requires a revelation. Okay. Someone, where's my Bible? Let's go to Psalm 47 for a second. Psalm 47 verse 7. Very simple. And with your other finger, other hand, go to Psalm 145. Okay. We need two different scriptures. Psalm 145. Don't lose Psalm 47. Okay. So Psalm 47 verse 7. It says, for God is the king of all the earth. Sing praises with understanding, isn't it? Okay. So you can underline that. What does understanding is? Understanding comes with if you've understood something. Right. You will understand something if it's been taught to you or if it's been shown to you, if something's been revealed to you, isn't it? Are you with me? Right. And so sing praises, that means worship with understanding. So you can only worship to the degree of the revelation that you have of God. Okay. So you can only worship according to the degree of revelation that you have of God. Okay. So as we can go much deeper in that point, but why some of them remain as Sunday Christians? You know, we'll talk about the Tabernacle of Moses a little later, but then Tabernacle of Moses has had three different parts, isn't it? The outer courts, inner courts and the holy of holies. You know that, right? The outer courts, inner courts and the holy of holies. Why are most of the Christians happy in the outer courts? When there is a clear invitation to go all the way into the holy of holies. I'm happy in the outer courts. Why should I go in? It's because they have not had the revelation or they have not made an effort to understand. Right? They have not pursued the presence of God. Let's Psalm 147 verse 7. Let's praise him with understanding. Another scripture. Let's go to Psalm 145. Psalm 145 verse 2 and 3. If you're there, say amen. Okay. If you don't know where Psalm 145 is, come forward. We'll have altar call. I'll pray for you. Okay. Psalm 145. Yes. I attend more short term Bible college. I learn Hindi. Okay. Psalm 145 verse 2 and 3. It says, every day I will bless you and I will praise your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised and His greatness is unsearchable. Okay. So look at that. Every day I will bless you and I will praise your name forever and ever. There's another translation that says, every day with its new reason. Okay. Listen to me. One version says, every day with its new reasons. Reason is what? It talks about fresh revelation. Right? Every day with new reasons. In other words, every day with fresh revelation, I will bless you. I will praise your name forever and ever. And then it goes on to say in verse 3, Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised and His greatness is unsearchable. His greatness is unsearchable. That means you cannot come to a point and say, I know everything about God. Okay. The Psalm is very important guys. Those words are very important. His greatness is unsearchable. That means you cannot exhaust. You can keep searching and searching and searching and you found something new one day and then the next day you will find something new. And then the next day you will find something new. Okay. There's a person called, used to be a person called Bobby Conner. He said, we've become very familiar with the God we hardly know. We become all too familiar with the God we hardly know. So these verses say that we can keep searching and searching for His greatness and every day you will keep having fresh revelation and it is out of that revelation that is an encounter that you worship as a response. Okay. So the fourth point of what worship is, worship is a response to an encounter with God. Right. Are all of you alive? Alive, no? How are you guys doing online? All good. Let's move on to the other section that talks about worship defies definition. Go to John chapter 4 verse 23 and 24. A very familiar passage. We all know that. Okay. So it starts off by saying that the hour is coming and now is when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. You know what? Let me just read some more scriptures before that. Sorry. Okay. Let's read from verse 21. Okay. I'd read it for us. John chapter 4 verse 21. It says, Jesus said to her, woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem worship the Father. Verse 22, you worship what you do not know. We know what we worship for salvation is off the Jews. But the hour is coming and now is when the true worshipper will worship the Father in spirit and truth for the Father is seeking such to worship him. God is spirit and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth. Okay. It's very interesting that in verse 22, Jesus begins by saying you worship what you do not know. That means you do not have a revelation. Because you don't have a revelation, you don't have understanding. It's in connection with the previous points. Are you following? He's telling the woman, you worship what you do not know. That means you can be worshiping and you will not know what you're worshiping. Have no understanding, no revelation of what's happening. And that's why verse 23 says, the Father is seeking, not just worshippers, he's seeking true worshippers. So if there are true worshippers, that means there are also. That means there are also. If there are true worshippers, that means there are revelations. Thank you. And so he goes on to say that worship him in spirit and in truth. So what is worshipping him in spirit mean? So we worship God in the power of the Holy Spirit that lives in us. It's as simple as that. So true worshippers, worship from their heart, from their innermost being, from the core of their being. How many of you know this verse from Ephesians chapter 5 verse 18? Ephesians 5 verse 18, do not be drunk with wine, but be filled with the Holy Spirit. Have you heard that before? Ephesians chapter 5 verse 18, in the passage of scriptures it says, do not be drunk with wine. This is a commandment by the way. It's not a suggestion. It's like, yeah. Okay. So this is a commandment. And as Christians, and I've seen from at least my life's experience, we are very good at following the first part of that commandment. Do not be drunk with wine. No, no, no, wine. I don't even smell it. I haven't no wine. Do not be drunk with wine. And so if I were to ask you that do you follow that part of the commandment, hopefully everybody would say, yes, pastor, I follow that first part of the commandment. Yeah. Now what about the second part of the commandment? It says, don't be drunk with wine, but be filled with the Holy Spirit. We can't be empty for the sake of being empty. Isn't it? So we empty ourselves to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Understood? And so it is the Holy Spirit who enables us to worship Him in the Spirit. He empowers our Spirit to worship Him. And so that's what Jesus is saying that a true worshipper will worship Him in spirit. And the second part of it is in truth. We worship Him in spirit and in truth. Okay, very quickly. What is the difference between a truth and a fact? What is the difference between a truth and a fact? Truth is eternal, pastor. Truth is? Eternal. Truth is eternal? Yes. Okay, less sophisticated definition. It's right, what you said is right, but a little simpler one. Unchangeable. Unchangeable? Okay, thank you. Sorry, Nelson. Fact is truth, but can be changed. Fact is truth, but can be changed. Fact is truth, and if it can be changed, like weather reports, it's not truth, no. Fact can be changed, but truth cannot be changed. Yeah, okay, so fact can be changed, truth cannot be changed. Did you get that? Fact can be changed, but truth cannot be changed. Okay, let's just get some more understanding on that. You said weather report. The fact is it says today evening it can rain, correct? Weather report says this evening, 5 o'clock, there will be heavy showers. That's the fact. But it can change. Something else can come. Okay, you're following, right? So why is this important for us to understand is the difference between a fact and a truth? The fact is that Lazarus had died. That's the fact, but Jesus can raise him from the dead. Okay, the fact is that women had the issue of blood for 12 years. That is the fact. But the truth is Jesus can heal her. Jesus healed her. That is the truth, isn't it? John chapter 17 verse 17 says your word is truth. Okay? I hope it's, yeah. John 17, 17 says sanctify them by your truth and your word is truth. Okay? And then finally we know what Jesus said about himself. I am the way, the truth and the life. Okay? So he's the unchanging one as we know, right? He's the same yesterday, today and for ever. In Joshua chapter 1 verse 5 he says as I was with Moses, I will be with you to Joshua, right? The fact is Moses has died. The leader of Israel who led them for 40 years is dead. That is the fact. But the truth is God is eternal. And that's why he says as I was with Moses, I will be with you, right? And so that is the truth. His word never changes. And so let's look at one more scripture if we can, please. Let's go to Psalm 119. Yeah, thank you Lucy. Truth is constant. Yes. Psalm 119. Which verse do you want to go to? Out of the 176. Okay, let's go to Psalm, sorry, verse 169. 169. Psalm 119. You got it? You got it? Okay? Verse 169 to 172. It says, may my cry from before you, oh Lord, give me understanding. Okay, listen to those words. Give me understanding. In other words, give me revelation. Help me understand according to your word. May my supplication come before you. Deliver me according to your promise. That is again referring to the word of God. May my lips overflow with praise for because you teach me your decrees. May my tongue sting off your word for all your commands are righteous. It's the beautiful passage of scripture. It talks about Psalm 119, where his word is important for every aspect of life, especially when it comes to the context of worship. Okay? Any questions you guys have so far? Okay, let's quickly go to first Samuel chapter 15. I hope you're okay with that. First Samuel chapter 15 verse 24 to 31. It says then, Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me that I may worship the Lord. But Samuel said to Saul, I will not return with you for you have rejected the word of the Lord. And the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel. And as Samuel turned around to go away, Saul seized the edge of his robe and it tore. So Samuel said to him, the Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and the neighbor of yours who is better than you. And also the strength of Israel will not lie nor relent for he is not a man that he should relent. Verse 30, then he said, I have sinned, yet honor me now, please, before the elders of my people and before Israel and return with me that I may worship the Lord your God. Verse 31, so Samuel turned back after Saul and Saul worshiped the Lord. Saul worshiped the Lord. One more scripture, let's go to Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 29. Isaiah chapter 29 verse 13. It says, therefore the Lord said, inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths and honor me with their lips but have removed their hearts far from me and their fear toward me is taught by the commandment of men. Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths and honor me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far away from me. Okay, so we understood that if there are true worshipers, that means there are false worshipers. False worshipers is what Isaiah 29 and 13 is talking about. They just give me a lip service. They honor God with their lips, with their tongue, but they don't really, their heart is far away from the Lord, from his commandments. And the scripture says, be aware. Be aware of hypocritical worship. Okay, we'll study more about this in the next class about false worship. But yeah, I just want to emphasize the importance of true worship because when you worship the Father in spirit and in truth with the revelation and the understanding of who he is, if you worship without the revelation you are just wasting your energy because God is not bothered by it by what you can say and do. If you don't know who you are worshiping, what is the point? Are you with me? The very first point in understanding what worship is is recognizing who God is, isn't it? There has to be a revelation of who he is so you can identify and acknowledge for your respond with worship. And so if you don't have that revelation what are you doing? What are we doing? Right? It's just noise. Thank you, Lord, thank you, Lord, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. Praise you, praise you, praise you, praise you. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. Right? Just making noise without any real impact or revelation of what worship is. So what happens when we worship God in spirit and in truth? From your notes again. When you worship God in spirit and in truth worship transforms us. It changes us. I just hear a few more points and I'm really close today, okay? Worship transforms or changes us. Let's go to Psalm 115. Psalm 115, 115. Okay? I hope everyone's there. Psalm 115. Let's read from verse 4 to 8. Psalm 115 verse 4 to 8. It says, So is everyone who trusts in them. Okay? That last verse is very important. Verse 8. Those who make them are like them. In other words, you become like the one you worship. Okay? You become like the one you worship. What God is saying in verse 8 is that, okay, people who make these idols just give eyes and nose and you know what not. It's dead. It's lifeless. It has no life. It can look like it has eyes but there's no sight. It can look like this idol has hands but it cannot lift or hold anything. It can look like it has legs and feet but it cannot walk. It looks like it can have a nose but it cannot smell. It looks like it has a mouth but it cannot speak. That means it's dead. So if you worship something that is dead, the scripture says you become like the one you worship. That means even you will become lifeless. And so true worship changes and transforms us. So if you know the one you are worshiping, we have this revelation that our God is alive. Isn't it? He is ever present, only present. Isn't it? He is the Alpha and the Omega. And so when we worship Him with the revelation of who He is, we are conformed into His image. So true worship, worship in spirit and in truth has to change you. You cannot say that you have worshiped God in spirit and in truth if you are not changed. I'll say that again. You cannot say that you have worshiped God in spirit and in truth if it has not changed or transformed you. The question next arises if you are not changed, okay, then who are you worshiping? Or what are you worshiping? Okay, so the first point is very simple. Worship transforms and changes us. And then the second point, in worship we experience God's presence. In worship we experience God's presence. James chapter 4 verse 8, it says, draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts. You double-minded. I'm just reading the scriptures from your notes, by the way. Deuteronomy 4, 29, it says, but if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. So it says, when we draw near to Him He draws near to us. That means His presence is experienced. Okay, so in true worship we experience the presence of God. In the next chapter we learn more about His presence but I just want to highlight that for now. Okay, time and time again in the scriptures, God has said I will be with you. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Why? Why? Because you are with me. That means His presence is with us. That He is with me. And because He is with me I will fear no evil. And that is again a result of worship. In worship we experience God's presence. And finally, in worship, worship empowers us to rule and to reign. Worship empowers us to rule and to reign. Okay, I just one scripture I'd like to read. 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 9. It says, you are a chosen generation a royal priesthood, a holy nation His own special people. Okay, let's stop. The word called royal priesthood must be underlined in your notes, right? Already, if it is not. Is it? So, what was the responsibility of a priest? What does the priest do? That's a very simple answer. Don't just say worship. What does the priest do? Minister to God. Okay, how does he minister to God? By worship, by sacrifice. He offers up sacrifices? Yeah, okay. He intercedes? Alright. Okay, how many of you have seen a temple? Okay, we've all seen a pujari. Yes or no? They call him also a priest, no? Yeah, so what does he do? Okay, so I've seen some of my Hindu friends. What they do is, yeah, thank you. So, you go with a bowl? Yeah, flowers, fruits, whatever. And then you go to the priest. The priest takes the bowl, right? And then he goes to the altar. He does something. He comes back at the prasadam. Right? And you take it back. Okay, so that's the priestly duties. Okay, Biblical, let's come back now. Okay, so he's offering sacrifices. He's interceding, like Akhil said. Then one day a year on the day of the atonement, he takes the blood of the sacrifice and puts it on the mercy seat. All of that. Yes or no? So those are all the duties of a priest. Now, what do you understand by the word called royalty? What is royalty? Whom do you say is royal? Oh, he's from a royal family. Who's royal? King and princess. Yeah, kings, prince and princess. Kings are royal? Yes or no? Okay, Queen Elizabeth. The late Queen Elizabeth is royalty, isn't it? She's the queen. The king is royalty. I'm from a royal lineage. Right? My ancestors are from, say, royalty. Now, does royalty and priesthood go hand in hand? How many of you have seen kings go as level? Come, let me do offer sacrifices. Let me intercede for you. Let me take the blood and put them. Have you seen any kings or queens do that? But yet, here in this verse, we see that we are called, told in generation, a royal priesthood. A royal priesthood. God is saying something. We need to think about it. More the anointing, the more we need to serve. John chapter 13, a very famous chapter where Jesus washes the feet of his disciples. Jesus, Jesus Christ. Christ means the anointed one. Right? What does he do? He is the ultimate. He is the anointed one. There can be no one better than him in terms of anointing. He stooped down, took a bucket of water, clothed a towel, and washed the feet of his disciples. He is the king of all kings. He is the Lord of all lords. He is proper royalty. Yet, he was performing the duties of a priest. Hebrews talks about how Jesus is our great high priest. He is our intercessor, who is interceding right now with us for us in the heavens. You see, Jesus is our offering and the offerer. He is our offering and the offerer. He is our sacrifice and the high priest. Worship empowers us to rule and reign. It empowers us to be royal priesthood. I hope you got the significance. It's quite serious. I'll just stop there. I want to encourage you to go through those scriptures, those notes. One thing is very important in a day and age where worship is spoken of more than prayer. In the last 20 years, the topic of praise and worship has become more famous than the topic of prayer. That's a sad reality. Yes, understanding praise and worship is very important. That's why we have this course. But understanding true praise and true worship is more important. When you have the time, go back and meditate because you guard your heart from false worship. If Father is seeking true worshipers, that means there are false worshipers and there are ways you can worship Him in the false way. Be aware of all of that and meditate on the Word of God because His Word teaches us how to worship Him in truth. All right? We'll pause here. Thank you for joining. I'll see you all on Thursday again. God bless you. I hope you had a good session. See you, guys.