“A Spirit of Sincerity” (Ready to Worship S10E9)

October 25, 2019

Ready to Worship Season 10, Episode 9 for Friday, October 25, 2019

This season on Ready to Worship, we are examining the attitude that we are to have in worship. In this study, we are considering a spirit of sincerity.

To the saints at Corinth, Paul wrote, “Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Cor. 5:8). The feast that Paul had in mind was not the Passover. Christ, the final Passover lamb, had been slain (1 Cor. 5:7). The Old Law had been removed (Eph. 2:15; Col. 2:14). Paul was not encouraging Christians to keep the Passover feast. The feast that Paul had in mind was the Lord’s Supper. Just as Old Testament worshippers had to remove all leaven from their homes in observing the feast, we have remove all impurity from our hearts in observing the Lord’s Supper. Insincerity and impurity are leaven. They render worship vain. We must never forget that God looks on the heart (1 Sam. 16:7). We cannot fool Him. He knows when we are just going through the motions. He knows when we give lip service, but not life service. To those of His day, Jesus declared, “Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Mt. 15:7-9). The worship of those addressed in this context was deficient in both aspects of true worship (John 4:24). It was lacking in truth. They were teaching the commandments of men. It was lacking in spirit. Their hearts were not in it. They were hypocrites. They were religious actors, not true worshippers. They were not drawing near to God with a true heart. In the book of Hebrews, we read, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water” (Heb. 10:22). The Greek word translated as true in this verse means sincere. It refers to “that which has not only the name and resemblance, but the real nature corresponding to the name…real, true, genuine.” What about us? Are our hearts sincere or genuine? Are we merely going through the motions? Be assured that God knows! As we get ready to worship this week, let’s make sure that we gather with sincerity. Let’s remove all leaven or impurity from our hearts.