Many times, in our discussion of worship, the Holy Spirit comes up. We talk about entering into the presence of the Holy Spirit, which becomes a gauge of whether our hearts and praise are in the right place. Unfortunately, many of us are scared of the Holy Spirit because we do not fully understand who He is or what He does in our lives and our worship. Today, I want to explore the role of the Holy Spirit and how that plays a part in the worship of our Savior so that we come to a deeper understanding rather than feeling unaware.
The first thing we need to understand is that in order to truly worship Jesus Christ, we must have a personal relationship with Him. Once we turn our lives over to Christ and living for Him, the Holy Spirit comes inside of us and fills us with His presence. Ephesians 5:18-20 says, “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This Scripture tells us not to be consumed by the things of this earth, but rather to be filled with the Spirit. And the command to “be filled” is for all believers. We are to constantly be filled with the Holy Spirit as a community, and through this fullness of God’s presence our worship is transformed.
So what happens when a person is filled with the Holy Spirit? Paul tells us in this passage in Ephesians that once we are filled, we should be encouraging one another through praises and music as well as glorifying our Father through worship. This truth reveals that the Spirit and worship are intricately intertwined. It is impossible to be filled with the Holy Spirit and not bring praises and honor to our Savior.
Lastly, it is important to note that this singing is not only meant to bring praise to God, but also to teach the body. Sam Storms in his article The Holy Spirit and How We Worship states, “By means of them [spiritual songs] we ‘teach’ and ‘admonish’ one another. Clearly Paul envisioned songs that were biblically grounded and theologically substantive, songs that both communicated truth and called for heartfelt consecration, repentance, and devotion to the Lord” (http://www.samstorms.com/enjoying-god-blog/post/the-holy-spirit-and-how-we-worship). The Holy Spirit dwells inside each of us who are true believers of Jesus Christ and, I believe, He guides those who are placed in leadership to teach the congregation. He places songs and Scriptures on the tablets of our hearts, sometimes only revealing the reasons why later on.
As we progress in this new year of 2018, I want to continue exploring the Holy Spirit and other topics in worship that are sometimes hard to understand. I certainly do not have all the answers, but I believe that the Scriptures teach us all that we need to know. I hope all of you will join me on this journey to a deeper understanding of the biblical role of worship.
