The Lost Art of Worship

Excerpts from the Sermon by Lester Roloff

Today I want to talk with you about one of the lost arts. In John 4:22 we read, “Ye worship ye know not what…” Did you know that many people sitting in church this morning have no sense of true worship? Others don’t even know what they worship. You may ask, “Brother Roloff, if I really want to worship the Lord this morning, what is necessary?” My answer is this—faith in Jesus and the leadership of the Holy Spirit.

When Jesus said, “Ye worship ye know not what,” whom was He talking to? He was talking to a poor, old woman who had been married five times and wasn’t even married to the man she was living with at the time. She came to the well because she had a water shortage. Is that why you came to church today? Do you face a water shortage? Are you thirsty today? “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6).

Here this woman was, during the heat of the day, with her old water buckets. Her scarred, marred, and charred life was empty and lonely. She had sense enough to know that the man she was living with didn’t love her, and clearly the previous five men didn’t love her too much either. It was the difficult path of sin, the way of doom and gloom, that led her to the well that day—the day she met the Savior of the world.

“Give me to drink,” He asked, breaking the silence in her soul. Not understanding why Jesus was talking to her, she tried to get into a political discussion. But Jesus said, “If thou knewest the gift of God, and Who it is that saith to thee, Give Me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of Him, and He would have given thee living water…a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”

She could just see herself with a well, right there at the house—with her thirst satisfied. No more traveling, no more bunions, no more blisters. No more sweat, just water. But Jesus was talking about a different kind of water, and that’s the water that everybody needs. We need something permanent. Everything that is temporary is just about gone. It will not be long now until everything you see and everything you can touch will be over. There is nothing that is going to last except the Word of God and what’s built on the Word of God. The Church, the home, anything—only what is built on Christ the Rock can last. God’s Word tells us in I Corinthians 3:11, “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

Jesus said to the woman at the well, “Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship…But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him.”

There are just two things that are necessary for true worship. One—is to worship in the Holy Spirit. You can’t sing unless you sing in the Spirit. I can’t preach unless I preach in the Spirit. I can’t pray unless I pray in the Spirit. Dear friends, there is no other way.

Now, what’s the other half? It’s Truth—faith in the deity of Jesus. A lost man can’t worship God until he surrenders and is saved. Only then can he come and worship in Spirit and in Truth. And then the great verse that ought to humble our hearts, “For the Father seeketh such to worship Him.” Our God—as great as He is, with angels singing all around Him by the millions—still seeks worshippers down here! Brothers and sisters, we’ll sing when we get to Heaven, but God’s people ought to sing here too. We ought to sing along the trail!

Our worship can be ruined when we sing to each other instead of to God, when we’re trying to make a splash. If somebody sings a solo and misses a note, oh, they’re so embarrassed and humiliated. They miss the blessing, and say, “I’ll never sing again.” Why listen, dear friends, God can put that note in the right place. If you’re singing for Him, it doesn’t bother Him. Now, I’ve had a lot of people tell me that they didn’t care for my singing, but that doesn’t slow me down any. If I didn’t think I could honor God with my joyful noise, I wouldn’t sing. I’d quit right now and never chirp another note. I’d rather have a song and not be able to sing it than to be able to sing it and not have a song. I know a bunch of people that I think have a good voice, but they don’t have a song. Of course, they haven’t had an experience with the Lord.

If you have not had a true experience with the Lord, I pray today that you will come to a place of surrender and reception for salvation. John 1:12 is still true, “…as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” I recommend that you read the Gospel of John, and every time you come to that little word, “believe,” just do it! There is no other way to be saved except to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent” (John 6:29). Jesus came to save a world already condemned (John 3:16-18). Those who run to Christ will be saved (John 10:9). When Paul was in the jail house, the jailer came and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Paul answered, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved…” It is a matter of life and death.

After you have been saved, you can truly worship the Lord. Worship is vital in a Christian’s life in order to maintain a right relationship with Jesus. My saving relationship with Jesus is permanent, but my fellowship is changeable. There have been times when my fellowship wasn’t working right. Oh, those were miserable days. David said, “Restore unto me the joy…” When his joy was gone, his strength was gone, his resistance was down, and he fell into sin.

My friend, if you’re not happy in Jesus, I want you to know you’re in a very dangerous place, because you may fall any second. When you’ve lost your joy, your song will be gone, and your praise will be gone. You need to praise and worship God every day, not just on Sunday morning. We had better learn from the worship seminar at Sychar and worship in Spirit and Truth. Our salvation has purchased this worship, and our fellowship depends on this worship.