The Holy Spirit and Worship
In the Scriptures, we have vivid pictures and dialogues between the Triune God and His Creation. In the book of Exodus, we see God revealing Himself to Moses as “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14) and in the Gospels we witness Jesus walking, living and teaching with His disciples. Sometimes in contrast to these more tactile pictures, the person of the Holy Spirit can seem less personal and more remote. In reality, since the establishment of the Church, the Holy Spirit is active more than ever and moving in a most personal way through the indwelling of believers. This development has major consequences throughout the Christian life, but in particular in regards to corporate worship.
When we stop to think about some of the elements of Christian worship (prayer, singing, preaching) we realize that the Spirit of Truth has a vital role and is engaged through them all.
Prayer is a foundational spiritual practice of the Christian life, but how often do we think about how our prayers relate to the Trinity? We often begin our prayers saying “Our Father” and conclude “In Jesus Name” but where does the Spirit come into the process? The Apostle Paul taught that Spirit helps us pray even when we don’t know how. “In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” (Romans 8:26).
But perhaps the greatest work of the Spirit in prayer is in uniting us to the Son. As James B. Torrance has written in “both his earthly and continuing heavenly ministry, through his Spirit, [Jesus] makes the Father known to us by sharing his unique knowledge of the Father. He teaches us to pray, draws us into eternal communion with the Father by uniting us in communion with himself, and creates a reconciled community among men and women.”[1] This is the church!
The Spirit also is at work in corporate worship by uniting the church in singing. Once again the words of Paul are instructive as he says “be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father” (Ephesians 5:18–20). With regards to being filled with the Spirit, Erickson is helpful when he explains “Being filled with the Spirit is not so much a matter of our getting more of the Spirit as it is a matter of his possessing more of our lives.”[2] In this manner, when the Church embraces the challenge to be imitators of God, the Spirit brings us more and more into conformity with Christ’s likeness. Through worship empowered by the Spirit of God, the Lord is glorified by the resulting gratitude and unity in lives of His children.
The Word of God is Spirit inspired from the first revelation of the writers to the application to the hearts of the hearers. “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). While it is widely understood that the Spirit was active in the initial writing of the Word of God, did you know that the Spirit is still operating through the teaching of the Word as we gather in corporate worship each week? Jesus said “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you” (John 14:26). Each time a Pastor opens to a passage of Scripture to preach he is aided by the Spirit of God in teaching that truth to the congregation. Erickson connects that the “ministry of illumination by the Holy Spirit was not merely for that first generation of disciples but also includes helping believers today to understand the Scripture.”[3]
Ultimately the corporate worship of the Church is the worship of the Triune God and the Spirit is a full participant as the Holy Spirit declares and glorifies the Son. Jesus taught, “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you” (John 16:13–14).
