WHO CAN BE WORSHIPPED?

I have had a few really interesting conversations about this recently and thought I would throw it out here for some thoughts and interaction.

The specific question is this-

Is it appropriate to directly worship The Holy Spirit.

In essence is it appropriate to offer songs of worship and praise to the Holy Spirit in our corporate services in the same way we do to The Father and Jesus?

I would appreciate some considered thoughts rather than just a knee jerk one verse response that is a proof text for a preconceived belief. I know we probably all have an initial "knee jerk" reaction in one way or the other... and may even be able to twist a single verse into a proof text for it... but I would like to see if we can pull some deeper insight out than that.

So again... the specific question is-

Is it appropriate to directly worship The Holy Spirit in our corporate services... or in a private time of worship we may engage in?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

Blessings.

Dear Brother,

Quite a question. It even touches on one of the Great Mysteries of our Faith, the interrelation of the Holy Trinity and the believer.... Makes me think...

My work once sent an email with a link to a page where we were supposed to vote on something. I clicked the link and it went to a page where the question was, "Should the company give a bonus this year?" There were two buttons below the question, one marked "YES", and the other "NO".

I thought it was a gag. However, I pressed the "YES" button anyway to see what they would say, but instead of “clicking down”, it instead immediately moved to another spot on the screen. Then I tried to press it again, and it moved again. It kept moving every time I tried to press it. So then I finally gave up and pressed the "NO" button, which worked of course, and immediately took me to another page that thanked me "for taking part in the company survey" and assuring me that "Your vote will be counted!"

When I first read your question, I thought "well, the Holy Ghost is God, so of course He can be worshipped. And by that standard, it is certainly proper. Yet I am not sure there are examples in Scripture of believers specifically worshipping the Holy Spirit of God, are there? Also, I am thinking of one of the texts I am sure you were already thinking of:

"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

He shall glorify me..." John 16:13-14

It seems to me that every time we begin worshipping the Holy Ghost, He instead points us to Christ. Like the "YES" button in that email, He dodges “the spotlight”, “the focus” of our worship, not because He isn't worthy, but rather because, (as He is revealed to us in the New Testament), He is the Divine Comforter, Whose preeminent ministry is instead always to point us to to the Lord Jesus Christ.

I would also appreciate hearing from you and others. What Scriptural Light has the Spirit given you about how we are to worship?

Do be well my Brother,
Doug

Put fingers in gear before checking with my brain.

I will add another question to Solomon's: should one pray in the name of the Holy Spirit?

When our daughter Regina was hospitalized a chaplain came in to offer spiritual comfort and he asked us if it was Ok to pray in the name of the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit. We gave permission, but had to wonder a lot since. We never before were confronted with this question/issue. We always finished our prayers 'in the name of Jesus'. We believe in the Trinity but using these terms? Or, maybe this is splitting hairs...?

What think ye?

I was about to dig out the very same verses in John 16. I raised the same topic 3 1/2 years ago.

https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=17423&forum=36&9

We pray to the father - through Jesus - in the Spirit.
There is no verse in the bible that mentions prayer and worship to the Spirit, but rather IN the Spirit. The Spirit dwells in us, if we were to pray to him, we would have to direct our worship inward. Would that not be strange?
The Spirit gives us our divine nature. He reveals and magnifies the Son and the Father.

The Spirit speaks nothing on his own but only what he hears from the father. He only passes on from the father and from us to the father.

He has the nature of a servant, and those who are filled with him have the nature of a servant, too. He does not receive worship, but facilitates worship:

John 4:23
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.

deleted duplicate

My whole Christian life, I have been uncomfortable when I hear people praying to and directly addressing the Holy Spirit apart from any vector that is beaming attention to Christ and the Father or is imploring assistance, help and comfort, it has always seemed unnatural and does not seem spiritually instinctual. I myself have never noticed such a thing exemplified or recommended in the word, which is not necessarily saying overly much. I don't even remember what I had for dinner last night. I suppose that worship of the Spirit would seem out of sorts to me as well.

I agree also that John 16 seems to confirm this truth to me.

***Edit*** By the way, insightful analogy "Dietolive"

narrowpath,

Appreciate your answer. This was my sentiment as well...But did think it very strange to be asked such a question - praying in the name of the Holy Spirit...

Thanks, narrowpath...

If you wish to pray to the Holy Spirit, then by all means go ahead.

He is God.

I suppose it is only my personal experience in prayer, and not doctrine, but when my own thoughts are crowding in my head, the Holy Spirit says at times "come up higher".

Straight away I am there with the Father and His precious Son in glory, and worship.

At the same time, I find myself full of thanks to the Holy Spirit and (perhaps old fashioned), call Him the precious one.

Is this worship? I believe so.

David

The only person who can be truly worshipped, I believe, is Jesus Christ, God the Father, and God the Holy Spirit alone and nobody else. If we worship anybody or anything else other than Jesus Christ, we have idols in our life and are worshipping them and not the One and True God. In Exodus, we are told not have any other graven image before God.

GaryJr. First off, Hello. :-)

I am wondering how you can call worship to the Father (God) or the Holy Spirit (God) idol worship?

Do you subscribe to the "Jesus only" crowd?

Thanks!

I'm not saying that. What I'm saying is anything else other than God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit worshipped is an idol. Sorry about not being clear on that.

No problem my friend. Be blessed.

My original question was basically - should we directly worship The Holy Spirit?

A few thoughts and question to help spur the discussion along-

By "worship" I am speaking directly to ascribing praise and worship. Examples might be corporately singing hymns TO (not just about) and exalting Him. Prayer sent toward and spoken directly TO The Holy Spirit.

It is clear that very, very few... as in virtually zero...churches engage in the direct worship of The Holy Spirit.

Why ? Is it "wrong"? Does scripture say not to do it?

Is it "correct" but we have largely been ignorant of the fact that we should?

Is it because we can so easily "visualize" Jesus because of His works on earth... and The Father because we have all seen Fathers and can gain at least some clarity in our minds about what that is.... but the Holy Spirit clearly confounds many peoples thinking. Perhaps most simply can not get a grip on worshipping one they don't really "get"?

What about this - when we read in Revelation 22:8-9 , " I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. 9 But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your fellow prophets and with all who keep the words of this scroll. WORSHIP GOD!
NIV, Caps mine

What do you make of that? WHO EXACTLY did the angel mean for John to worship. Your first initial response to that actually reveals a great deal about your belief in God. Do you first envision The Father? Jesus? The Holy Spirit? Did you immediately think that the angel meant for John to worship the 3 in 1

VERY FEW think of The Holy Spirit in that, or similar verses. WHY? Because He is largely ignored in our churches it seems.

What about this....from the Doxology...

Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

If a person holds to the idea that we should not worship the Holy Spirit should that line about..praise the Holy Ghost be thrown out?

Or on the other hand... in the Doxology we worship the triune Godhead. However, we also have myriads of songs praising and worshipping the Father and Son individually....as we should. However, should we have a body of worship material that worships and praises the Holy Spirit on the same individual level as The Father and Son? If not..specifically why not.

Or perhaps, should we recognize that when the scripture says to "Praise God" it is emphatically a command to worship the Holy Spirit as well as The Father and Son.

Take a good long look at the hymnal you use, or the song list if your fellowship uses all choruses. How many actually WORSHIP the Holy Spirit. No, not just have a line of doctrine ABOUT Him.. but actually praise Him directly. I am sure there are many that praise Jesus, and the Father...but The Holy Spirit seems virtually ignored in terms of offered praise.

Another round of thoughts...if The Holy Spirit is God and to be worshipped as such... and if we have been negligent on this front... then what might we expect to be the result of a people who begin to ascribe glory, honor, praise, open worship and adoration to The Holy Spirit in exactly the same measure as is given to the rest of the Godhead?

What do you think friends. I have found this a wonderful growth period for me over the last year or so as I have personally dug into this issue with some Godly friends that are excellent exegetes of The Word.

What are you thoughts at this point?

I will ask some further questions that have been helpful for us after these have had a chance to be mulled upon for a bit.