Worship in spirit and in truth

WORSHIP IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE

John 4:24
"God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship Him
in spirit and in truth."

God is a Spirit, and they that worship Hill must worship Him in spirit and in truth.
John 4:24
God is a Spirit
There are two ways of knowing and describing God — Affirmatively, which ascribes to
Him whatever is excellent; Negatively, which separates from Him whatever is imperfect.
The first is like a painting, which adds one colour to another to make a lovely picture; the
other like a carving, which cuts away what is superfluous. The latter is the easier. When we
say that God is infinite, immense, immutable, they are negatives. Spirit, too, is a negation
— not a body. We transfer the term to God because spirit is the highest excellence in our
nature. It is signified in the Divine Name (Exodus 3:14), and expressly declared in text and
Hebrews 12:9.
I. THE DOCTRINE. God is a pure spiritual being. Other-wise —
1. He could not be the Creator. Every artificer has his model first in his mind.
2. He could not be One. If He had a body He would be capable of division. Where there is
the greatest unity there is the greatest simplicity (Deuteronomy 6:4).
3. He could not be invisible (1 Timothy 1:17; John 5:37). Sometimes a representation is
made to the inward sense (1 Kings 20:19; Isaiah 6:1), but not of the Essence. Sometimes
men are said to see Him face to face (Genesis 32:30; Deuteronomy 34:10), but only in the
sense of fuller manifestation.

4. He could not be infinite (2 Chronicles 2:6). The very heavens have their limits.
5. He could not be independent. What is compounded of parts depends on those parts, and
is after them; as the parts of a watch are in time before it. But God is not so (Isaiah 44:6).
6. He would not be immutable (Malachi 3:6).
7. He could not be omnipresent (Deuteronomy 4:39; Jeremiah 23:24), since a body can not
be in two places at the same time.
8. He could not be the most perfect Being. The most perfect is the most spiritual and
simple, as gold among metals is most free from alloy (1 John 1:5).
II. THE OBJECTION. How can God be a spirit when bodily members are ascribed to
Him?
1. This is in condescension to our weakness. We arc not able to conceive a spirit but by
some physical attribute.
2. These signify the acts of God as they bear some likeness to ours. His wisdom is called His
eye; His efficiency, His hand and arm; by His face, we understand the manifestation of His
favour; by His mouth, the revelation of His will; by His heart, the sincerity of His
affections, etc.
3. Truly those members which are the instruments of the highest actions are thus
employed.
4. These may be figuratively understood with respect to the Incarnation.
5. We must conceive of them, therefore, not according to the letter but the intent. When
Christ calls Himself a Vine, Bread, Light, who understands Him literally?
III. THE USE. If God be a pure spiritual Being, then —
1. Man is not the image of God according to his external form, but in the spiritual faculties
(Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:10). It is unreasonable to form any image of Him. This was
forbidden by , undreamt of by the Romans for 170 years, and deemed wicked by the
Germans. God has absolutely prohibited it (Exodus 20:5; Deuteronomy 5:8-9; Isaiah
11:18).(1) We cannot fashion His image. Can we that of our own souls?(2) To do so would
be unworthy of God (Jeremiah 10:8, 14; Romans 1:23-25: Exodus 32:31).(3) Yet is natural
to man.
2. Our conceptions must be directed towards God as a pure, perfect spirit, than which
nothing can be conceived more perfect, pure, and spiritual. Conceive of Him as excellent
without any imperfection; a spirit without parts; great without quantity; perfect without

quality; everywhere without place; powerful without members; understanding without
ignorance; and when you have risen to the highest, consider Him as infinitely beyond.
3. No corporeal thing can defile Him, no more than the quagmire can tame the sunbeam.
4. He is active and communicative. The more anything approaches the nature of spirit, the
more diffusive it is — air, e.g. As a spirit God is —(1) Possessed with all spiritual blessings
(Ephesians 1:3);(2) Indefatigable in acting. If we be like God, the more spiritual we are, the
more active we shall be.
5. He is immortal (1 Timothy 1:17).
6. We see how to communicate with Him; by our spirits. We can only know and embrace a
spirit with our spirits (Psalm 11:17; Ephesians 4:23).
7. He only can be the true satisfaction of our spirits.
8. We must take most care of that wherein we are most like God.
9. We must take heed of those sins which are spiritual (2 Corinthians 7:1).
(S. Charnock, B. D.)

The spirituality of God
J. T. Duryea, D. D.
I. GOD IS INVISIBLE. We can only see what has form. It is no imperfection in our vision
that it cannot see what it was never made to see. A spirit can only be known by its
operations through a material body. God manifests Himself not to sense, but to experience.
II. GOD CANNOT ASSUME A MATERIAL FORM, for it would confine Him, whereas
He is everywhere. Whoever imagined the form of God. The most rapt prophet has only
seen light unapproachable as His symbol.
III. GOD HAS ASSUMED TERMS BY WHICH HE HAS MANIFES TED HIMSELF.
1. The pillar of cloud.
2. The burning bush.
3. The elements, as at Sinai.
4. A more definite form in Isaiah 6.

5. In the fiery furnace as a man.
6. As the angel of the covenant.
IV. GOD HAS REVEALED HIMSELF IN THE HUMANITY OF CHRIST. "The ima ge of
the invisible God."
(J. T. Duryea, D. D.)

Of God and His natural perfections
I. THERE IS BUT ONE GOD. We are led to this —
1. By the light of nature. There can be but one infinite and supreme; it is a contradiction to
suppose otherwise. The wiser of the heathen philosophers had their one supreme god.
2. By revelation (Deuteronomy 32:39; Isaiah 43:10; Mark 12:29).
II. THIS GOD IS A SPIRIT.
1. He is incorporeal and invisible (Colossians 1:15; 1 Timothy 6:16; John 5:37).
2. He lives and acts (John 5:26; Psalm 36:9).
3. He has understanding and will (Psalm 104:24; Ephesians 1:11; Isaiah 28:29; Daniel
4:35).
III. THIS GOD IS AN INFINITELY PERFECT SPIRIT, and is distinguished in a
transcendent manner from other spirits.
1. An infinite Spirit (Isaiah 40:15-17).
2. A self-sufficient and independent Spirit (Exodus 3:14; Isaiah 44:24; Job 22:2, 3;
Revelation 4:11).
3. An eternal Spirit (Psalm 90:2; Psalm 9:7; Psalm 102:27).
4. An unchangeable Spirit (James 1:17).
(1)In His being and perfection.
(2)In His glory.
(3)In His blessedness.
(4)In His decrees (Job 23:13; Psalm 32:11; Isaiah 46:10, 11).

(5)In His promises (Isaiah 54:10; Malachi 2:6).
5. An omnipresent Spirit (Jeremiah 23:24; Acts 17:27, 28; Psalm 139:7-10).
6. An all-knowing Spirit (Psalm 147:5; Hebrews 4:13; Job 34:21, 22). On this ground He
challenges the heathen (Isaiah 41:22, 23). All this He knows of Himself without any external
medium (Isaiah 40:14; Psalm 94:10).
7. An Almighty Spirit (Psalm 33:6; Ephesians 3:20).Application —
1. How absurd and abominable are all images of God (Jeremiah 10:8, 14; Romans 1:23-25).
2. What awful sentiments should we entertain of Him.
3. What a dreadful enemy and what a comfortable friend He must be.
4. How thankfully should we embrace a gospel revelation which makes Him accessible.
(J. Guyse, D. D.)

The nature and worship of God
R. Watson.
I. GOD IS A SPIRIT. All the substances with which we are acquainted are resolvable into
material and spiritual. Between them there is this essential difference, that no matter,
however refined, can be so organized as to be capable of originating a single feeling. Where,
therefore, there is a judgment, will, afflictions, there is the subsistence which we call spirit.
Of this kind is the spirit of man. But human and angelic spirits are finite; God is infinite.
Because God is an infinite Spirit —
1. He is present in every place, and therefore His worshippers may in every place find Him.
"Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit?"
2. From this property arises the perfection of His knowledge, His omniscience. How. ever
matter may be extended, it would possess no consciousness of any object with which it
might come in contact. But when we conceive of spiritual presence we conceive of
consciousness and knowledge too. Wherever we are present we know. Apply this to God.
He is present to mark the risings of desire. Let this admonish the sinner. But it is at the
same time most encouraging to the real worshipper, who is conscious of his own sincerity,
to know that God searcheth the heart.
3. Hence arises the consideration of His ceaseless activity. We feel conscious of something of
this in ourselves. We find no weariness in the operations even of a finite spirit; the power of

the soul is now far too mighty for the feebleness of the body. But "My Father worketh
hitherto," etc. Every faithful worshipper is absolutely sure, not only of the notice of His
eye, but of the unwearied operation of His hand.
4. We thence infer the unchangeableness of His nature. An infinite Spirit must, of necessity,
be immutable. Even we, imperfect and changeable as we are, yet, in some degree, partake
of this property. The body grows and increases in strength, and then it weakens and
decays. Not so the spirit; that remains essentially the same. There are two kinds of change
of which created spirits are capable, and which strongly mark their natural imperfection:
they may change from good to bad; and from good to better. But God fills the whole orb of
perfection at once.
II. GOD OUGHT TO BE WORSHIPPED because —
1. He ought to be acknowledged; and publicly worshipped, because publicly acknowledged.
2. It is in acts of religious worship that we acquire just views of ourselves. If we do not
regularly draw nigh to God, there will spring up within us a principle fatal to our peace
and destructive of our salvation. The acts of solemn worship always prevent our thinking of
ourselves more highly than we ought to think.
3. We have no reason to expect the slightest blessing except through the medium of His
worship. God will be inquired of by us.
4. The exalted pleasure which the soul receives from religious worship. "How amiable are
Thy tabernacles," etc.
5. It is one direct means of preparing us for heaven. A great part of the happiness of heaven
will consist in worship.
III. WE MUST WORSHIP HIM IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH.
1. "In truth."(1) In opposition to the shadowy dispensation of the law.(2) In a true manner:
that is, in the way which He has Himself appointed through the mediation of Christ.
2. "In spirit." It is possible to worship Him in truth, and not in spirit. Orthodoxy does not
necessarily produce piety. What is implied in this. It is to worship Him —(1) As a known,
and not as an unknown, God. The understanding is thus called in.(2) With a submissive
will. Where the will is in rebellion, God cannot be worshipped.(3) With the affections.
(a)Desire.
(b)Faith or trust.
(c)Gratitude.

(R. Watson.)

Christian worship a necessity
Rendall.
When Felix, the youthful martyr of Abitina, having confessed himself a Christian, was
asked whether he had attended meetings, he replied, with an explosion of scorn, "As if a
Christian could live without the Lord's ordinance."
(Rendall.)

True worship is spontaneous
R. A. Bertram.
A little girl went out to pray in the fresh snow. When she came in she said, "Mamma, I
couldn't help praying when I was out at play." "What did you pray, my dear?" "I prayed
the snow.prayer, mamma, that I once learned at the Sunday School: ' Wash me, and I shall
be whiter than snow.'" "What a beautiful prayer! And here is a sweet promise to go with
it: 'Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.'" And what can wash
them white, clean from every stain of sin? The Bible answers, "They have washed their
robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."
(R. A. Bertram.)

God is a Spirit
R. Watson.
God is a Spirit, as man is a spirit. There is no difference as to what may be termed the
popular characters of spirit, between the spirit of man, and God, considered as a Spirit; for
God made man in His own image. But there is one great and radical difference. Human
and angelic spirits are finite; God, whom we worship, is infinite.
(R. Watson.)

Spiritual worship essential

S. Charnock.
We cannot be truly said to worship God if we want sincerity; a statue upon a tomb, with
eyes and hands lifted up, offers as good and as true a service — nay, it is better, it
represents all that it can be framed to, but for us to worship without our spirits is a
presenting God with a picture, an echo, voice, and nothing else, a complement; a mere lie,
"a compassing Him about with lies."
(S. Charnock.)

What is spiritual worship
S. Charnock.
Our worship is spiritual when the door of the heart is shut against all intruders, as our
Saviour commands in closet-duties. It was not His meaning to command the shutting of the
closet door, and leaving the heart door open for every thought that would be apt to haunt
us.
(S. Charnock.)

God's spirituality a necessity
S. Charnock.
If God were an infinite body, He could not fill heaven and earth, but with the exclusion of
all creatures. Two bodies cannot be in the same space; they may be near one another, but
not in any of the same points together. A body bounded He hath not, for that would destroy
His immensity; He could not then fill heaven and earth, because a body cannot be at one
and the same time in two different spaces; but God doth not fill heaven at one time, and the
earth at another, but both at the same time. Besides, a limited body cannot be said to fill
the whole earth, but one particular space in the earth at a time. A body may fill the earth
with its virtue, as the sun, but not with its substance. Nothing can be everywhere with a
corporeal weight and mass; but God, being infinite, is not tied to any part of the world, but
penetrates all, and equally act, by His infinite power in all.
(S. Charnock.)

The spirituality of God

S. Summers.
The knowledge of God is the foundation of all true religion.
I. GOD IS A SPIRIT. In proportion as we are able to subject objects to the process of
analysis and combination, we ascertain their true properties. Hence, the material world is
more known than the immaterial.
1. We learn, that the spiritual mode of existence attributed to the Deity is essentially
different from any sensible or material mode. When our Lord, therefore, said, that God
was a Spirit, He asserted there was an infinite difference in all the essential properties of
His nature from matter in any of its possible modifications.
2. The vast superiority of a spiritual over a material or compound nature. Mind is
universally esteemed more valuable than matter in its most beautiful forms. But the
superiority of spirit is not only apparent over matter, but over a nature compounded of
matter and spirit. Once more; this compound nature is inferior to the spiritual, inasmuch
as it is necessarily liable to change: it has an inherent tendency to dissolution. Again,
spirituality of essence appears to be the condition of infinite perfection. It is that alone in
which infinite perfection can inhere. We have already seen that mind is the test of power,
wisdom, intelligene; and that none of the moral perfections of Jehovah can be predicated of
simple matter. Justice, goodness, love, and compassion, are principles that belong
exclusively to spirit. But we cannot infer, from the possession of these moral excellences,
that God is simply spirit; for these qualities may attach to a complex nature, as they
sometimes do in man. It is the infinity of His perfections that indicates the exclusive
character of His essence.
II. DRAW SOME PRACTICAL DEDUCTIONS. The first is suggested by the context.
"They that worship Him." The construction of the sentence denotes the necessary
connection that subsists between acceptable worship, and the nature of the object
worshipped. If God is a Spirit, then we must worship Him with our spirits.
2. The spirituality of the Divine essence is the foundation of an intimate union between God
and His intelligent creation, and should encourage our approach to Him. It forms a union
of nature which could not subsist were He mere matter, and which cannot be with regard
to substances that are exclusively material.
3. The spirituality of the Divine nature constitutes God an inexhaustible source of
blessedness. We are conversant in the present world with material objects; they are the
occasion of a great portion of our pleasures. But we are all conscious that they are an
unsatisfying portion. To conclude: What a character of condescension and mercy does our
subject give to the gospel of Jesus Christ: that economy of grace which makes God known
in the Person of His Son.

(S. Summers.)

The nature of acceptable worship
Jabez Burns, D. D.
I. LET US OFFER SOME GENERAL REMARKS ON PUBLIC WORSHIP.
1. All places are alike acceptable with God.
2. Public worship should be conducted according to the Word of God.
3. Public worship is the duty and privilege of all believers.
4. Public worship requires due preparation. and right feelings in entering upon it.
5. Public worship should be constant and regular.
6. Public worship should be followed by reflection and prayer.
II. THE NATURE AND IMPORTANCE OF THE DIRECTIONS CONTAINED IN THE
TEXT. "God is a Spirit," etc. That is, He is not a corporeal being, therefore not confined to
any locality, etc.
1. God is a Spirit, therefore He requires the worship Of the mind.
2. God is an invisible Spirit, and therefore He must be worshipped in the spirit of faith.
3. God is a great and glorious Spirit, and therefore we must worship Him in the spirit of
reverence and fear.
4. God is a holy Spirit, therefore we must worship Him with contrition and prayer.
5. God is a merciful and gracious Spirit, and therefore we should worship Him in the spirit
of confidence and hope.
6. God is a Spirit of infinite benevolence and love, and therefore we should worship Him in
the spirit of affection and delight.
7. God is an omniscient Spirit, and therefore we must worship Him in sincerity and
truth.Application:
1. Remember your constant unworthiness and need.
2. Christ's preciousness and merit.

3. And the Spirit's willingness to aid you, if you seek His influences.
(Jabez Burns, D. D.)

Christian worship
T. Starr King.
The spirit of adoration is as old as the records of humanity. Adam heard the voice of God
in the garden. Abel offered sacrifice to an unseen power; and the guilty Cain bowed with
his gift, though it was not accepted. From the border line of light, where authentic history
fails us, we feel our way back towards the birth of man by the ruins of temples and the
fragments of solemn tradition. Of early races and nations that have perished, we know, in
many instances, nothing more than this — they worshipped. The disposition to worship
belongs to the structure of the human soul. Religious ideas are changed by the progress and
diffusion of knowledge. Forms and theories of worship are shattered and left behind by the
enlargement and march of the intellect. Is it probable that worship itself will be outgrown?
Sometimes we hear of fears that it may be so — that the advance of science will yet
eradicate the tendency to prayer and homage. The answer is this: "Is it likely that the
progress of science will degrade human nature and extinguish one of the deepest elements
of human nobleness? "With the gain of knowledge we instinctively associate the advance of
our race. Think, for a moment, of this globe filled with inhabitants, and no spire or dome of
praise on it, no pulse or throb of adoration in all its millions! Think of this globe simply in
its physical aspect, "a crust of fossils and a core of fire," spinning in the bleak immensity,
and bearing myriads on myriads of intelligent creatures yearly around the sun, without
wonder, without awe, without any cry from brain or heart into the surrounding mystery !
Suppose that the minds of these multitudes shall be cultured far beyond the average of even
the most favoured classes now, would you account it an advance of human nature, if all this
knowledge was gained at the cost of the sense of a vast, incomprehensible power, within
whose sweep the world and all its interests is bound? Worship will cease when wonder dies
in the heart of man, and when the sense of the infinite is expunged from his soul. Is the
progress of knowledge likely to produce either of these results? How can all the light we
can collect and concentrate from finite facts release us from the conception of the infinite,
or help us to enclose it within the tiny measure of our thought? And when has science so
explained anything as to banish wonder from the mind that appreciates the explanation?
Ah! against what folly are we arguing thus? Our knowledge in this universe to dry up the
springs of awe, and deliver us from the weakness of adoration? Let the man come forward
who is ready to say, under the starry arch of night, "I know so much of nature that I blow
as a bubble from me the thought of God, and count it childish to entertain the thought of a
Sovereign Mind!" Did Newton feel like saying that? Would Herschel say that in his

observatory? If they had said it, should we think of them as greater men than now? It will
not be the progress of knowledge, but the decay of the noble elements in human nature,
that will ever banish worship from the world. Indeed the glory of knowledge is in
fellowship with the devout sentiment. There are three purposes for which we may study
truth — to obtain power over nature, to cultivate and enlarge our minds, and to discern
and acknowledge a revelation from a boundless and invisible thought. I say nothing in
disparagement of the first two. They are essential to civilization. The last is not inconsistent
with devotion to the others. But if men stop with the first two, do they not miss the highest
relations of truth? It is to refresh men with this noblest relation of truth and knowledge
that churches are built. Worship is the exercise which the Church is to sustain. And all the
aspects of truth which will bend the mind of man in humility, and exalt it in adoration, are
legitimately within the range of the pulpit, and are, indeed, a portion of its trust. I have said
that the glory, of knowledge lies in the acceptance of truth as a manifestation of an Infinite
mind. And this is a conception that cannot be outgrown. It is ultimate. We can grow in the
acknowledgment of it, in the power and blessedness which acquaintance with it brings; but
the wisest man that will ever live will never go beyond it. Civilization depends on the
continuance of faith in the personality and holiness of God. It is only through that faith that
the consciences of men will be illumined, the will of man curbed, the devotion and sacrifice
of heroes in the cause of truth inspired and confirmed. But there is still a higher conception
connected with the personality and purity of God — the word "Father." God is one, God is
holy, God is the Father — the Infinite is love; then the attraction is complete in the heavens
for all the faculties of man, and for all human faculties in every race, in every age, and in
all stages of progress and attainment. We owe this final revelation to Jesus Christ. The
sense of mystery, the sense of beauty, the will, the conscience, the affections — all are
drawn upward to that name with which, through Him, the Infinite has clothed Himself.
Adoration of the Father is the distinctively Christian worship.
(T. Starr King.)

The nature and worship of God
I. THE NATURE OF GOD.
1. Being a Spirit, He is a living substance; for though all living things be not spirits, every
spirit is a living thing. The soul and angels are spirits, therefore live, but not in themselves
(Acts 17:28). God lives in and of Himself (John 5:26; Psalm 36:9).
2. He is incorporeal, or without body (Luke 24:39). The Anthropomorphites and Audiarii
of old, and so some new heretics, have asserted that God has a body, contrary to Romans
1:23; Isaiah 40:18. Objection: God is said to have

(1)a head (Daniel 7:9);
(2)a face (Psalm 27:8; Psalm 34:6);
(3)eyes (Psalm 34:15);
(4)hands (Psalm 38:2; Acts 4:28);
(5)a mouth (Matthew 4:4);
(6)ears (Psalm 31:2);
(7)arms (Exodus 6:6; Isaiah 53:1);
(8)fingers (Exodus 31:18);
(9)Bowels (Isaiah 63:15).Answer: (1) God speaks after the manner of men and to our
capacity. We see by the eye: by that, therefore, God signifies to us His omniscience, etc.
3. He cannot be felt, because no body. Objection, Acts 17:27. Answer: We cannot feel God
Himself, but by His creatures (Romans 1:19, 20).
4. He is invisible and cannot be seen (Job 9:11; 1 John 4:12). No man can see Him (Exodus
33:20; 1 Timothy 6:16). Reason: God has no body, shape, nor colour, and we cannot see
our souls. Objection: God appeared to Abraham (Genesis 18:1), and to Israel
(Deuteronomy 5:24), and others. Answer: Only by special manifestations of His glory.
Objection: We shall see God (1 John 3:2; 1 Corinthians 13:12). Answer: With our soul, not
with our bodily eyes.
II. THE WORSHIP HE DESIRES. Not as if no external rites were to be used. Christ
Himself lifted up His eyes (John 17:1); knelt (Luke 22:41); fell on His face (Matthew
26:39); and instituted the sacrament (see also Ephesians 3:14; Acts 21:5). We are to
worship in spirit and in truth.
1. Not with the types and shadows of the Old Testament, but according to the truth of them
as exhibited in the New (John 1:17; John 17:17).
2. Not under any bodily shape, because He is a Spirit. The Samaritans worshipped Him
under the representation of a dove on Mount Gerizim; hence their worship was called"
strange worship" by the Jews. This was not to worship in truth (Romans 1:23-25). But we
are to worship God only am a Spirit, and so truly, not entertaining our gross conceits, or
making any picture of Him (Deuteronomy 4:14-16).
3. Not only with external, but with internal worship.
(1)By performing all our devotions with our minds (1 Corinthians 14:15).

(2)By preferring Him in our judgments before all else (Psalm 73:25).
(3)By submitting our wills to His (Luke 22:42).
4. By putting our trust and confidence in Him (Psalm 37:3-6).
5. By devoting ourselves wholly to His service and obedient to His commands (1 Samuel
15:22).Application:
1. This is the only worship acceptable to Him (Isaiah 1:11-12).
2. This is agreeable to His nature; He is a spirit and knows the heart (Ezekiel 33:31).
(Bp. Beveridge.)

Spiritual religion
Dean Stanley.
Our religion is true, deep, high, and broad in proportion as it grasps the fact that God is a
Spirit, and as it recognizes that that which gives life and force to natural and historical
religion is spirituality.
I. This aspect of the Divine nature CLEARS AWAY MANY PERPLEXITIES AND
DIFFICULTIES WHICH GATHER ROUND THE DOCTRINE OF GOD. The same is
true regarding man considered as a spirit.
1. The forms of expression borrowed from nature which describe God — rock, fortress,
shield, etc. — will mislead us if taken literally.
2. The same is true with regard to the anthropomorphic expressions of the ancient
covenant — hands, feet, husband, king, father.
3. And yet again with reference to the metaphysical words of a later time — procession,
generation, substance, person. Each of these taken literally leads us away from the
spiritual, essential nature of God. But —
4. There are three supreme. Biblical definitions which are all of a spiritual character: God
is "Spirit," "Light," "Love." Let us hold fast to these; they express the moral nature of
God and the very essence of the Christian faith.
II. This same aspect tells us how GOD WILLS THAT THE WORLD SHOULD BE
BROUGHT TO HIM.
1. Not by compulsion.

2. Not by the external decrees of authority.
3. Not by reproaches and curses.
4. Not by mere miracles and signs of outward power, which, although secondary means of
persuasion, are not the main instruments.
5. But by the internal evidence of the spirit of Christianity, which was the earliest method.
III. IT IS THROUGH THE INWARD SPIRIT OF THINGS, AND NOT THROUGH THE
OUTWARD FORM, THAT GOD IS APPROACHED.
1. It is not the letter of any creed or ordinance, or even of the Bible, but the meaning and
inner spirit which vivifies and explains everything. "The letter killeth, the Spirit giveth
life."
2. The signs and ordinances of religion derive all their force from the directness with which
they address our reason, conscience, and affections. The outward form may vary, but if the
inward meaning is the same the essential grace is there.
3. God can be worshipped on heath or mountain side or upper room as well as in the most
splendid cathedral; but also in the cathedral as well as on the heath, etc. And that is the
more spiritual aspect of religion which recognizes the possibility of both; which
comprehends the highest manifestations of the human spirit in architecture, music,
painting, poetry, and yet steadily subordinates them to the moral purposes of truth, justice,
and purity.
4. It is not the sublime and the grand, but the mean, ugly, and barbarous which binds itself
to idolatrous usages; not the vast aisles of a venerable abbey, hut the narrow cell; not the
awe-inspiring figures wrought by Raphael or Michael Angelo, but the hideous block
picture. Luther said, "Do not listen to those who open their mouths and call out 'Spirit,
Spirit, Spirit!' and then break down all the bridges by which the Spirit can enter." No!
Make the best of all the gifts of God. They are all bridges, but only bridges.
(Dean Stanley.)

The simplicity of Christ's sublime disclosures
J. C. Jones, D. D.
taught the maxim to his disciples and scrupulously observed it himself, "Never wear the
types of the gods upon your rings." That is to say, do not publish your highest and most
sacred truths to the ignorant and uninitiated. Jesus Christ acts here, however, on a totally

different principle; in the fulness of His heart He makes to this poor sinful woman some of
His sublimest revelations.
(J. C. Jones, D. D.)

God like the wind
Abp. Trench.
This disclosure doubtless is of infinite depth; but that exquisite saying of s that Scripture
has depths for an elephant to swim in and shallows in which a lamb can wade, is capable of
being pushed a little further. Oftentimes the same Scripture is at once a depth for one and a
shallow for another, and thus it is here. We shall do little honour to our Lord's skill in
teaching, His adaptation of His words to the needs of His hearers, if, in seeking high things,
we failed to find in these words some simple truth, such as that poor ignorant woman was
capable of grasping, and such as at that moment she needed. "God is a Spirit"; we must
not miss, assuredly she did not miss, the significant image on which this word reposes; like
the wind therefore, to which He is likened, breathing and blowing where He will,
penetrating everywhere, owning no circumscriptions, tied to no place, neither to Mount
Zion nor to Mount Gerizim; but rather filling all space with His presence (Psalm 139:7; 1
Kings 8:27; Isaiah 66:1), in His essence and, as involved in this very title, free. On this it
follows that "they who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth."
(Abp. Trench.)

Spiritual Worship
F. W. Robertson, M. A.
John 4:20-29
Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and you say, that in Jerusalem is the place where
men ought to worship.…

I. ERRORS WHICH HAVE INTERFERED WITH THE PURITY OF RELIGIOUS
WORSHIP.

1. That which arises from a tendency to localize God. "Where?" asked the woman.
"Nowhere in particular — everywhere," said Christ. We see this tendency among —

(1) The heathen, who confine a god to a district.

(2) The uneducated in their notion of a cemetery.

(3) The more refined, in the mystery which they attach to church, altar, sacrament.What is
sanctity of place? It belongs to the law of association. Worship, e.g., in a festive room would
suggest notions uncongenial with devotion. Hence the use of consecration, sitting apart.
This view said to be dangerous and unsettling. But —

(a) Consider the shock this woman received; all her little religion had clung to Gerizim and
was shattered at a blow.

(b) We are only concerned with the truth, and God's truth cannot be dangerous. The fact
is, the Church is holy if a holy congregation be in it; if not, it is bricks and mortar. The
holiest place is not where architecture and music yield their spell, but perhaps a wretched
pallet on which one of Christ's humblest ones is dying.

2. That which arises from the idea that forms are immutable — "Our fathers worshipped,"
etc. A form is the shape in which an age expresses a feeling. The sprat of religion remains
but the expression alters.

3. That which arises from ignorance, "Ye worship ye know not what." The feeling of
devoutness is inherent. But the question is, what we worship. To many there are three
deities —

(1) The heathen bent before power — God in the whirlwind, etc. This is ignorance.

(2) The philosopher is above this. He bows before wisdom. Science tells him of electricity,
etc. He looks down on warm devoutness, and admires mind in nature. He calls it rational
religion. Ignorance also.

(3) The spiritual man bows before goodness. "The true worshippers worship the Father."
We know what we worship.

4. That which mistakes the nature of reverence. The woman had reverence; veneration for
antiquity — the mountain, the prophet. But what was her life? Reverence, etc., are a class
of feelings which belong to the imagination and are neither good nor bad. Some men are
constitutionally so framed that they do not thrill at painted windows, but adore God, and
love Christ, and admire goodness and hate evil. They have bowed their souls before justice,
mercy, truth, and therefore stand erect before everything else that the world calls sublime.

II. TRUE CHARACTER OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP.

1. A right appreciation of God's character —

(1) as a Spirit. The mind and pervading life of the universe. In this, however, only a God
for the intellect, not for the heart.

(2) As a father — a word uniting —

(1) Tenderness with reverence.

(2) Discipline with kindness.

2. Spiritual character. "In Spirit and in truth. Holy character a kind of worship." Before a
material God a material knee would have to bow; before a spiritual God nothing but
prostration of spirit acceptable. Application;

1. Christ came to sweep away everything that prevented immediate contact with God.

2. Scripture insists on truth of character.

(F. W. Robertson, M. A.

Worship and Worshippers
J.R. Thomson
John 4:23, 24
But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in
spirit and in truth…

In some form worship is all but universal. Wherever on earth man is found, there he
presents to the Power above the offerings of his devotion. Doubtless there are cases without
number in which worship has degenerated into mere superstition. Yet, where worship is at
its best, it is one of the very highest manifestations and exercises of human nature. Much
has been said by philosophers, by poets, by theologians, concerning the nature and the
virtue of worship. But more light has been cast upon this subject by Jesus, in the few words
recorded to have been spoken by him to the poor Samaritan woman at the well of Sychar,
than has been yielded from every other source. Few portions of our Lord's discourses have
been more quoted or more admired than this. But the world has still much to learn from
these memorable sayings.

I. CHRIST TELLS US WHOM WE ARE TO WORSHIP. Idolaters offer their adoration,
in some cases to the great and imposing objects of nature, as the sun, the moon, etc.; in

other cases to the works of their own hands, as to images of silver, of gold, of wood, etc. The
perplexed in mind have worshipped "the Unknown God," and agnostics profess to
venerate "the Unknowable." But it is the happy privilege of Christians to worship the God
who is revealed by the Lord Jesus.

1. As the Spirit, apprehended, not by the senses, but by the soul. The Divine Being, spiritual
in nature, everywhere present, everywhere conscious, everywhere acting, is the proper
Object of human worship.

2. As the Father, who is not distant and unapproachable, but very near, to whom we owe
our being, who supplies our wants, exercises over us a constant care, and trains us for the
future by a moral discipline. Such is the affectionate relation which is sustained to us by the
great Object of our adoration.

II. CHRIST TELLS US HOW WE ARE TO WORSHIP. There have been devised by
men's ingenuity and superstition many methods by which it has been thought worship
might be acceptably offered. Bodily posture, ascetic rites, unholy ceremonial, painful
pilgrimages, and cruel sacrifices have been deemed acceptable, and have accordingly been
practised. In contradistinction from such modes of service, Christ bids his disciples
worship:

1. In spirit. Man's spirit, because created in the likeness of the heavenly Father, possesses
the power of honouring, praising, thanking, and loving the living God. The heart is the seat
of loyalty, of gratitude, of love. Not that worship is to be locked up in the secrecy of the
breast; it may and will find expression in solemn speech and joyful song. But all utterances
and forms of worship derive their value and their power from their being the manifestation
of spiritual life and spiritual aspirations.

2. In truth; i.e. with a just conception of the Being worshipped, and in sincerity and reality.
Such worship will be personal, and not merely formal or vicarious. The priest must not
arrogate the functions of the worshipper. And true worship will be of the life, as well as of
the lips; for both alike will be accepted as the revelation of deep and spiritual feeling.

III. CHRIST TELLS US WHEN AND WHERE WE ARE TO WORSHIP. Upon these
points his lessons differ from the maxims and the practices of those who follow the narrow
ordinances of superstition. For whereas men have usually set apart special places and
special seasons as peculiarly suitable for worship, as peculiarly acceptable to God, the Lord
Christ speaks on these subjects with a breadth and freedom quite superhuman.

1. At all times, irrespective of human ordinances and customs. There are special seasons
when it is well, when it is in accordance with the practice of the Church, and even with the
authority of the primitive Christians, to offer stated, solemn, and spiritual sacrifices. But
both the precepts and the example of Jesus assure us that we are not confined to such
times, but that there is no season when sincere worship is not acceptable to God.

2. In every place worship may be presented to the omnipresent Creator. No longer on the
heights of Gerizim or in the temple of Jerusalem, i.e. exclusively and specially, is the
Eternal Father worshipped. Wherever God's people meet together in a devout and lowly
attitude of mind, and under the guidance of the Spirit of God, there is a consecrated place.
Nay, the scene of retired and solitary worship is holy; for a worshipping nature and a
worshipped Deity are together there.

IV. CHRIST TELLS US WHY WE ARE TO WORSHIP.

1. One reason is to be sought in ourselves - in our own nature; we have been made capable
of this lofty exercise. This is a prerogative denied to the inferior creatures of God. We live
beneath the high possibilities of our being, if we restrain worship and draw not near unto
the Father of our spirits.

2. Another reason is to be found in God himself; his nature and character are such as to
command and to invite our worship. Our heavenly Father cannot be known by any who
are capable of right judgment and right feeling without appearing to such deserving of the
lowliest and most fervent adoration.

3. God seeks believing worshippers. An amazing proof both of condescension and
compassion! How can we withhold from God that which he, the Almighty Lord, deigns to
seek from us? - T.

Worship
W. E. Channing, D. D.
John 4:23-24
But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in
spirit and in truth…

(Church Dedication): —

I. WE OUGHT TO ENTER THIS HOUSE WITH JOY, FOR IT IS DEDIC ATED TO
WORSHIP.

1. Worship is man's highest end, for it is the employment of his highest faculties in the
sublimest object

2. Worship has been disparaged by representing it as a priestly contrivance for selfish ends.

3. But how came the priest into being, and who gave him power? Religion was earlier than
government.

4. In the earliest ages men recognized an immediate interference of the Deity in what
powerfully struck the senses. These rude notions have been dispelled by science, which
reveals fixed laws.

(1) But in these the religious principle finds confirmations of God more numerous and
powerful still.

(2) The progress of the arts, teaching us the beneficent uses to which God's works may be
applied, has furnished new testimonies to God's goodness.

(3) The progress of society has made God s creation more attractive.

(4) Human improvement has created new capacities and demands for religion.

(5) The soul, in proportion as it enlarges its capacities and refines its affections, discerns
within itself a more glorious type of the Divinity.

5. All other wants are superficial and transcient: the profoundest of all is the want of God.

6. Let us rejoice, then, in tits house. Heaven has no higher joy, the universe no higher work,
than worship.

II. When we consider THE PARTICULAR WORSHIP TO BE HERE OFFERED, IT
OUGHT TO AWAKEN PIOUS JOY.

1. Worship is of different forms — some unworthy. The idea of God has been selfishly
seized and so obscured that little of its purifying power has remained, and men have, by
pompous machinery and obsequious adulation, endeavoured to bend the Almighty to their
particular interests.

2. This house is not reared to perpetuate the superstitions of past or present. Here are none
of the idols which degraded ancient temples, none of the forms which in a rude age
Providence allowed to the Jews; none of the cumbersome ceremonies with which Christ has
been overlaid.

III. THIS HOUSE IS REARED TO ASSIST THE WORSHIP OF THE FATHER IN
SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH. For the worship —

1. Of one Infinite Person.

2. The Father. God has not always been so worshipped, but Christ has for ever revealed
Him as such. What a privilege I What does the term import? Not merely that He is Creator
— He made the mountain and the insect — but that He communicates an existence like His
own. He made us in His image and likeness, and makes us partakers of the Divine nature.
God is a Spirit, and we are spirits. In calling God Father I understand —

(1) That He loves His offspring with unbounded affection. Love is the fundamental
attribute of a father.

(2) That it is His chief purpose in creating and governing the universe to train and ennoble
the rational and moral being to whom He has given birth. Education is the great work of a
parent.

(3) That He exercises authority over His child.

(4) That He communicates Himself. It belongs to a parent to breathe into the child
whatever is loftiest in his own soul.

(5) That He destines His rational moral creature to immortality. How ardently does a
parent desire to prolong the life of his child!

3. Of the Infinite Father in spirit and in truth.

(1) Intelligently, with just and honourable conceptions of Him.

(2) With the heart as well as the intellect.

(3) With faith in a higher presence.

(4) With a filial, not a fearful, spirit.

IV. THE GREAT END OF WORSHIPPING HERE IS THAT YOU MAY WORSHIP
EVERYWHERE, that your houses and places of business may be consecrated to God.
Adore Him —

1. As He is revealed in the universe.

2. As He is revealed in His rational and moral offspring by fulfilling His purposes in regard
to Him. Reverence the human soul as His chosen sanctuary, in yourselves and in others,
and labour to carry it forward to perfection. Mercy is most acceptable worship. He who
rears one child in Christian virtue or recovers one fellow-creature to God builds a temple
more precious and enduring than Solomon's or St. Peter's.

(W. E. Channing, D. D.)

Worship

T. Jones, D. D.
John 4:23-24
But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in
spirit and in truth…

I. ITS GROUNDS OR REASONS.

1. The perfection of the Divine character. "God is a Spirit." These words are —

(1) A mystery, because spirit, like matter, is unknown to us in its essence. We are
acquainted with some of the sensible properties of matter, such as extension, figure, colour,
etc.; but what the substance is which underlies these we do not understand. So also of
spirit; we see its manifold manifestations; we feel, and therefore know, that it does exist;
but what it is in itself is a profound and inexplicable mystery.

(2) A revelation. By them our Saviour declared the personality of God. What is in the effect
must have been first in the cause. The Creator of persons must be a person.

(3) As possessing all possible perfections.

2. The nature of man. Intellectual ability, genius, and learning, which are the possessions of
the few, call forth our admiration, but there is that in us all which is greater than these,
namely, the power to worship our Creator. All men have this; but in many it exists only in
a latent state. Thousands of human souls are nothing better than the burial-places of their
own faculties. It seems as if some malignant spiritual magician had waved his terrible wand
over human nature, causing a deep sleep to fall upon its noblest instincts, and thus
preventing its development. One of the greatest dangers of the present time is the
weakening of this power in men. The heathen worship senseless idols; the ancient Greeks
worshipped beauty; in the days of chivalry men worshipped physical strength, military
dignity, valour, and courage; but the tendency of many in our own age is to worship

nothing. Even in the Church the idea of worship does not occupy the place it did in other
times. The leading con. ception appears to be preaching.

II. ITS CONSTITUENT ELEMENTS.

1. Meditation upon God. Holy and thoughtful Hebrews contemplated His character in the
works of creation, the goodness of His providence, and the words He had spoken by His
prophets. These are the three mirrors in which they beheld "the beauty of the Lord." A
greater and clearer manifestation has been given to us "in the face of Jesus Christ." It
follows that He should be set most prominently before the mind in all our acts of worship.

2. Devout contemplation produces reverence, without which there is no true worship.

(1) The science that has in it no reverence is "blind, and cannot see afar off." Philosophy
without reverence is wanting in the first element of wisdom, and when art has lost
reverence its greatest beauty is gone. There can be no great literature without reverence;
piety without reverence will not soar above the earth, and a life without reverence is not
worthy of the name. Would you paint science, philosophy, art, poetry, and literature in a
becoming manner? Then you should represent them as a sisterhood of angels in the
attitude of worship.

(2) This spirit, which ought to characterize our whole life, should become intense in our
direct acts of worship, for we enter then in a special manner into the Divine presence. "Our
God is a consuming fire," and we should therefore approach His throne "with reverence
and godly fear." What the fragrance of flowers is to the atmosphere of the summer garden,
this feeling of reverence should be to our public worship.

3. Worship is transcendent wonder. "Oh, the depth of the riches," etc. "Great and
marvellous are Thy works," etc. "Who shall not fear Thee?"

4. Worship is communion with God. "Our fellowship is with the Father."

5. A profound sense of humility and self-abasement. The angels hide their faces in His
presence. Contemplate His holiness, and sin will appear hateful. Behold His greatness, and
you will feel how humble you ought to be.
(T. Jones, D. D.) END OF BIBLEHUB.COM RESOURCES

COMMENTARIES FROM STUDYLIGHT.ORG

Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
John 4:24
"God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."
Adam Clarke Commentary
God is a Spirit - This is one of the first, the greatest, the most sublime, and necessary truths
in the compass of nature! There is a God, the cause of all things - the fountain of all
perfection - without parts or dimensions, for he is Eternal - filling the heavens and the
earth - pervading, governing, and upholding all things: for he is an infinite Spirit! This God
can be pleased only with that which resembles himself: therefore he must hate sin and
sinfulness; and can delight in those only who are made partakers of his own Divine nature.
As all creatures were made by him, so all owe him obedience and reverence; but, to be
acceptable to this infinite Spirit, the worship must be of a spiritual nature - must spring
from the heart, through the influence of the Holy Ghost: and it must be in Truth, not only
in sincerity, but performed according to that Divine revelation which he has given men of
himself. A man worships God in spirit, when, under the influence of the Holy Ghost, he
brings all his affections, appetites, and desires to the throne of God; and he worships him in
truth, when every purpose and passion of his heart, and when every act of his religious
worship, is guided and regulated by the word of God. "The enlightened part of mankind,"
says Abu'l Fazel, "knows that true righteousness is an upright heart; and believe that God
can only be worshipped in holiness of Spirit." Ayeen Akbery, vol. iii. p. 254.
"Of all worshippers," says Creeshna, "I respect him as the most devout, who hath faith in
me, and who serveth me with a soul possessed of my spirit." Geeta, p. 68.

Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Bibliography
Clarke, Adam. "Commentary on John 4:24". "The Adam Clarke Commentary".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/acc/john-4.html. 1832.
return to 'Jump List'
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible
God is A spirit - This is the second reason why men should worship him in spirit and in
truth. By this is meant that God is without a body; that he is not material or composed of
parts; that he is invisible, in every place, pure and holy. This is one of the first truths of
religion, and one of the sublimest ever presented to the mind of man. Almost all nations
have had some idea of God as gross or material, but the Bible declares that he is a pure
spirit. As he is such a spirit, he dwells not in temples made with hands Acts 7:48, neither is
worshipped with men‘s hands as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life, and
breath, and all things, Acts 17:25. A pure, a holy, a spiritual worship, therefore, is such as
he seeks - the offering of the soul rather than the formal offering of the body - the homage
of the heart rather than that of the lips.

Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Bibliography
Barnes, Albert. "Commentary on John 4:24". "Barnes' Notes on the New Testament".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bnb/john-4.html. 1870.
return to 'Jump List'
The Biblical Illustrator
John 4:24
God is a Spirit, and they that worship Hill must worship Him in spirit and in truth

God is a Spirit
There are two ways of knowing and describing God--Affirmatively, which ascribes to Him
whatever is excellent; Negatively, which separates from Him whatever is imperfect.
The first is like a painting, which adds one colour to another to make a lovely picture; the
other like a carving, which cuts away what is superfluous. The latter is the easier. When we
say that God is infinite, immense, immutable, they are negatives. Spirit, too, is a negation--
not a body. We transfer the term to God because spirit is the highest excellence in our
nature. It is signified in the Divine Name (Exodus 3:14), and expressly declared in text and
Hebrews 12:9.

I. THE DOCTRINE. God is a pure spiritual being. Other-wise
1. He could not be the Creator. Every artificer has his model first in his mind.
2. He could not be One. If He had a body He would be capable of division. Where there is
the greatest unity there is the greatest simplicity Deuteronomy 6:4).
3. He could not be invisible (1 Timothy 1:17; John 5:37). Sometimes a representation is
made to the inward sense (1Ki Isaiah 6:1), but not of the Essence. Sometimes men are said
to see Him face to face (Genesis 32:30; Deuteronomy 34:10), but only in the sense of fuller
manifestation.
4. He could not be infinite (2 Chronicles 2:6). The very heavens have their limits.
5. He could not be independent. What is compounded of parts depends on those parts, and
is after them; as the parts of a watch are in time before it. But God is not so (Isaiah 44:6).
6. He would not be immutable (Malachi 3:6).
7. He could not be omnipresent (Deuteronomy 4:39; Jeremiah 23:24), since a body can not
be in two places at the same time.
8. He could not be the most perfect Being. The most perfect is the most spiritual and
simple, as gold among metals is most free from alloy (1 John 1:5).

II. THE OBJECTION. How can God be a spirit when bodily members are ascribed to
Him?
1. This is in condescension to our weakness. We arc not able to conceive a spirit but by
some physical attribute.

2. These signify the acts of God as they bear some likeness to ours. His wisdom is called His
eye; His efficiency, His hand and arm; by His face, we understand the manifestation of His
favour; by His mouth, the revelation of His will; by His heart, the sincerity of His
affections, etc.
3. Truly those members which are the instruments of the highest actions are thus
employed.
4. These may be figuratively understood with respect to the Incarnation.
5. We must conceive of them, therefore, not according to the letter but the intent. When
Christ calls Himself a Vine, Bread, Light, who understands Him literally?

III. THE USE. If God be a pure spiritual Being, then
1. Man is not the image of God according to his external form, but in the spiritual faculties
(Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:10). It is unreasonable to form any image of Him. This was
forbidden by Pythagoras, undreamt of by the Romans for 170 years, and deemed wicked
by the Germans. God has absolutely prohibited it (Exodus 20:5; Deuteronomy 5:8-9; Isaiah
11:13).
(1) We cannot fashion His image. Can we that of our own souls?
2. Our conceptions must be directed towards God as a pure, perfect spirit, than which
nothing can be conceived more perfect, pure, and spiritual. Conceive of Him as excellent
without any imperfection; a spirit without parts; great without quantity; perfect without
quality; everywhere without place; powerful without members; understanding without
ignorance; and when you have risen to the highest, consider Him as infinitely beyond.
3. No corporeal thing can defile Him, no more than the quagmire can tame the sunbeam.
4. He is active and communicative. The more anything approaches the nature of spirit, the
more diffusive it is--air, e.g. As a spirit God is
5. He is immortal (1 Timothy 1:17).
6. We see how to communicate with Him; by our spirits. We can only know and embrace a
spirit with our spirits (Psalms 51:17; Ephesians 4:23).
7. He only can be the true satisfaction of our spirits.
8. We must take most care of that wherein we are most like God.

9. We must take heed of those sins which are spiritual (2 Corinthians 7:1). (S. Charnock, B.
D.)
The spirituality of God

I. GOD IS INVISIBLE. We can only see what has form. It is no imperfection in our vision
that it cannot see what it was never made to see. A spirit can only be known by its
operations through a material body. God manifests Himself not to sense, but to experience.

II. GOD CANNOT ASSUME A MATERIAL FORM, for it would confine Him, whereas
He is everywhere. Whoever imagined the form of God. The most rapt prophet has only
seen light unapproachable as His symbol.

III. GOD HAS ASSUMED TERMS BY WHICH HE HAS MANIF ESTED HIMSELF.
1. The pillar of cloud.
2. The burning bush.
3. The elements, as at Sinai.
4. A more definite form in Isaiah 6:1-13.
5. In the fiery furnace as a man.
6. As the angel of the covenant.

IV. GOD HAS REVEALED HIMSELF IN THE HUMANITY OF C HRIST. “The image of
the invisible God.” (J. T. Duryea, D. D.)
Of God and His natural perfections

I. THERE IS BUT ONE GOD. We are led to this
1. By the light of nature. There can be but one infinite and supreme; it is a contradiction to
suppose otherwise. The wiser of the heathen philosophers had their one supreme god.
2. By revelation (Deuteronomy 32:39; Isaiah 43:10; Mark 12:29).

II. THIS GOD IS A SPIRIT.
1. He is incorporeal and invisible (Colossians 1:15; 1 Timothy 6:16; John 5:37).
2. He lives and acts (John 5:26; Psalms 36:9).
3. He has understanding and will (Psalms 104:24; Ephesians 1:11; Isaiah 28:29; Daniel
4:35).

III. THIS GOD IS AN INFINITELY PERFECT SPIRIT, and is distinguished in a
transcendent manner from other spirits.
1. An infinite Spirit (Isaiah 40:15-17).
2. A self-sufficient and independent Spirit (Exodus 3:14; IsaJob 22:2, 3; Revelation 4:11).
3. An eternal Spirit (Psalms 90:2; Psa_9:7; Psa_102:27).
4. An unchangeable Spirit (James 1:17).
46:10, 11).
5. An omnipresent Spirit (Jeremiah 23:24; Acts 17:27-28; Psalms 139:7-10).
6. An all-knowing Spirit (Psalms 147:5; Hebrews 4:13; Job 34:21-22). On this ground He
challenges the heathen (Isaiah 41:22-23). All this He knows of Himself without any external
medium (Is Psalms 94:10).
7. An Almighty Spirit (Psalms 33:6; Ephesians 3:20).
Application
1. How absurd and abominable are all images of God (Jeremiah 10:8, Romans 1:23-25).
2. What awful sentiments should we entertain of Him.
3. What a dreadful enemy and what a comfortable friend He must be.
4. How thankfully should we embrace a gospel revelation which makes Him accessible. (J.
Guyse, D. D.)
The nature and worship of God

I. GOD IS A SPIRIT. All the substances with which we are acquainted are resolvable into
material and spiritual. Between them there is this essential difference, that no matter,
however refined, can be so organized as to be capable of originating a single feeling. Where,
therefore, there is a judgment, will, afflictions, there is the subsistence which we call spirit.
Of this kind is the spirit of man. But human and angelic spirits are finite; God is infinite.
Because God is an infinite Spirit
1. He is present in every place, and therefore His worshippers may in every place find Him.
“Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit?”
2. From this property arises the perfection of His knowledge, His omniscience. However
matter may be extended, it would possess no consciousness of any object with which it
might come in contact. But when we conceive of spiritual presence we conceive of
consciousness and knowledge too. Wherever we are present we know. Apply this to God.
He is present to mark the risings of desire. Let this admonish the sinner. But it is at the
same time most encouraging to the real worshipper, who is conscious of his own sincerity,
to know that God searcheth the heart.
3. Hence arises the consideration of His ceaseless activity. We feel conscious of something of
this in ourselves. We find no weariness in the operations even of a finite spirit; the power of
the soul is now far too mighty for the feebleness of the body. But “My Father worketh
hitherto,” etc. Every faithful worshipper is absolutely sure, not only of the notice of His eye,
but of the unwearied operation of His hand.
4. We thence infer the unchangeableness of His nature. An infinite Spirit must, of necessity,
be immutable. Even we, imperfect and changeable as we are, yet, in some degree, partake
of this property. The body grows and increases in strength, and then it weakens and
decays. Not so the spirit; that remains essentially the same. There are two kinds of change
of which created spirits are capable, and which strongly mark their natural imperfection:
they may change from good to bad; and from good to better. But God fills the whole orb of
perfection at once.

II. GOD OUGHT TO BE WORSHIPPED because
1. He ought to be acknowledged; and publicly worshipped, because publicly acknowledged.
2. It is in acts of religious worship that we acquire just views of ourselves. If we do not
regularly draw nigh to God, there will spring up within us a principle fatal to our peace
and destructive of our salvation. The acts of solemn worship always prevent our thinking of
ourselves more highly than we ought to think.

3. We have no reason to expect the slightest blessing except through the medium of His
worship. God will be inquired of by us.
4. The exalted pleasure which the soul receives from religious worship. “How amiable are
Thy tabernacles,” etc.
5. It is one direct means of preparing us for heaven. A great part of the happiness of heaven
will consist in worship.

III. WE MUST WORSHIP HIM IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH.
1. “In truth.”
2. “In spirit.” It is possible to worship Him in truth, and not in spirit. Orthodoxy does not
necessarily produce piety. What is implied in this. It is to worship Him
(a) Desire.
(b) Faith or trust.
(c) Gratitude. (R. Watson.)
Christian worship a necessity
When Felix, the youthful martyr of Abitina, having confessed himself a Christian, was
asked whether he had attended meetings, he replied, with an explosion of scorn, “As if a
Christian could live without the Lord’s ordinance.” (Rendall.)
True worship is spontaneous
A little girl went out to pray in the fresh snow. When she came in she said, “Mamma, I
couldn’t help praying when I was out at play.” “What did you pray, my dear?” “I prayed
the snow.prayer, mamma, that I once learned at the Sunday School: ‘ Wash me, and I shall
be whiter than snow.’” “What a beautiful prayer! And here is a sweet promise to go with it:
‘Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.’” And what can wash them
white, clean from every stain of sin? The Bible answers, “They have washed their robes
and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (R. A. Bertram.)
God is a Spirit
God is a Spirit, as man is a spirit. There is no difference as to what may be termed the
popular characters of spirit, between the spirit of man, and God, considered as a Spirit; for
God made man in His own image. But there is one great and radical difference. Human
and angelic spirits are finite; God, whom we worship, is infinite. (R. Watson.)

Spiritual worship essential
We cannot be truly said to worship God if we want sincerity; a statue upon a tomb, with
eyes and hands lifted up, offers as good and as true a service--nay, it is better, it represents
all that it can be framed to, but for us to worship without our spirits is a presenting God
with a picture, an echo, voice, and nothing else, a complement; a mere lie, “a compassing
Him about with lies.” (S. Charnock.)
What is spiritual worship
Our worship is spiritual when the door of the heart is shut against all intruders, as our
Saviour commands in closet-duties. It was not His meaning to command the shutting of the
closet door, and leaving the heart door open for every thought that would be apt to haunt
us. (S. Charnock.)
God’s spirituality a necessity
If God were an infinite body, He could not fill heaven and earth, but with the exclusion of
all creatures. Two bodies cannot be in the same space; they may be near one another, but
not in any of the same points together. A body bounded He hath not, for that would destroy
His immensity; He could not then fill heaven and earth, because a body cannot be at one
and the same time in two different spaces; but God doth not fill heaven at one time, and the
earth at another, but both at the same time. Besides, a limited body cannot be said to fill
the whole earth, but one particular space in the earth at a time. A body may fill the earth
with its virtue, as the sun, but not with its substance. Nothing can be everywhere with a
corporeal weight and mass; but God, being infinite, is not tied to any part of the world, but
penetrates all, and equally act, by His infinite power in all. (S. Charnock.)
The spirituality of God
The knowledge of God is the foundation of all true religion.

I. GOD IS A SPIRIT. In proportion as we are able to subject objects to the process of
analysis and combination, we ascertain their true properties. Hence, the material world is
more known than the immaterial.
1. We learn, that the spiritual mode of existence attributed to the Deity is essentially
different from any sensible or material mode. When our Lord, therefore, said, that God
was a Spirit, He asserted there was an infinite difference in all the essential properties of
His nature from matter in any of its possible modifications.
2. The vast superiority of a spiritual over a material or compound nature. Mind is
universally esteemed more valuable than matter in its most beautiful forms. But the

superiority of spirit is not only apparent over matter, but over a nature compounded of
matter and spirit. Once more; this compound nature is inferior to the spiritual, inasmuch
as it is necessarily liable to change: it has an inherent tendency to dissolution. Again,
spirituality of essence appears to be the condition of infinite perfection. It is that alone in
which infinite perfection can inhere. We have already seen that mind is the test of power,
wisdom, intelligene; and that none of the moral perfections of Jehovah can be predicated of
simple matter. Justice, goodness, love, and compassion, are principles that belong
exclusively to spirit. But we cannot infer, from the possession of these moral excellences,
that God is simply spirit; for these qualities may attach to a complex nature, as they
sometimes do in man. It is the infinity of His perfections that indicates the exclusive
character of His essence.

II. DRAW SOME PRACTICAL DEDUCTIONS. The first is suggested by the context.
“They that worship Him.” The construction of the sentence denotes the necessary
connection that subsists between acceptable worship, and the nature of the object
worshipped. If God is a Spirit, then we must worship Him with our spirits.
2. The spirituality of the Divine essence is the foundation of an intimate union between God
and His intelligent creation, and should encourage our approach to Him. It forms a union
of nature which could not subsist were He mere matter, and which cannot be with regard
to substances that are exclusively material.
3. The spirituality of the Divine nature constitutes God an inexhaustible source of
blessedness. We are conversant in the present world with material objects; they are the
occasion of a great portion of our pleasures. But we are all conscious that they are an
unsatisfying portion. To conclude: What a character of condescension and mercy does our
subject give to the gospel of Jesus Christ: that economy of grace which makes God known
in the Person of His Son. (S. Summers.)
The nature of acceptable worship

I. LET US OFFER SOME GENERAL REMARKS ON PUBLIC WORSHIP.
1. All places are alike acceptable with God.
2. Public worship should be conducted according to the Word of God.
3. Public worship is the duty and privilege of all believers.
4. Public worship requires due preparation and right feelings in entering upon it.

5. Public worship should be constant and regular.
6. Public worship should be followed by reflection and prayer.

II. THE NATURE AND IMPORTANCE OF THE DIRECTIONS CONTAINED IN THE
TEXT. “God is a Spirit,” etc. That is, He is not a corporeal being, therefore not confined to
any locality, etc.
1. God is a Spirit, therefore He requires the worship Of the mind.
2. God is an invisible Spirit, and therefore He must be worshipped in the spirit of faith.
3. God is a great and glorious Spirit, and therefore we must worship Him in the spirit of
reverence and fear.
4. God is a holy Spirit, therefore we must worship Him with contrition and prayer.
5. God is a merciful and gracious Spirit, and therefore we should worship Him in the spirit
of confidence and hope.
6. God is a Spirit of infinite benevolence and love, and therefore we should worship Him in
the spirit of affection and delight.
7. God is an omniscient Spirit, and therefore we must worship Him in sincerity and truth.
Application:
1. Remember your constant unworthiness and need.
2. Christ’s preciousness and merit.
3. And the Spirit’s willingness to aid you, if you seek His influences. (Jabez Burns, D. D.)
Christian worship
The spirit of adoration is as old as the records of humanity. Adam heard the voice of God
in the garden. Abel offered sacrifice to an unseen power; and the guilty Cain bowed with
his gift, though it was not accepted. From the border line of light, where authentic history
fails us, we feel our way back towards the birth of man by the ruins of temples and the
fragments of solemn tradition. Of early races and nations that have perished, we know, in
many instances, nothing more than this--they worshipped. The disposition to worship
belongs to the structure of the human soul. Religious ideas are changed by the progress and
diffusion of knowledge. Forms and theories of worship are shattered and left behind by the
enlargement and march of the intellect. Is it probable that worship itself will be outgrown?

Sometimes we hear of fears that it may be so--that the advance of science will yet eradicate
the tendency to prayer and homage. The answer is this: “Is it likely that the progress of
science will degrade human nature and extinguish one of the deepest elements of human
nobleness? “With the gain of knowledge we instinctively associate the advance of our race.
Think, for a moment, of this globe filled with inhabitants, and no spire or dome of praise
on it, no pulse or throb of adoration in all its millions! Think of this globe simply in its
physical aspect, “a crust of fossils and a core of fire,” spinning in the bleak immensity, and
bearing myriads on myriads of intelligent creatures yearly around the sun, without
wonder, without awe, without any cry from brain or heart into the surrounding mystery !
Suppose that the minds of these multitudes shall be cultured far beyond the average of even
the most favoured classes now, would you account it an advance of human nature, if all this
knowledge was gained at the cost of the sense of a vast, incomprehensible power, within
whose sweep the world and all its interests is bound? Worship will cease when wonder dies
in the heart of man, and when the sense of the infinite is expunged from his soul. Is the
progress of knowledge likely to produce either of these results? How can all the light we
can collect and concentrate from finite facts release us from the conception of the infinite,
or help us to enclose it within the tiny measure of our thought? And when has science so
explained anything as to banish wonder from the mind that appreciates the explanation?
Ah! against what folly are we arguing thus? Our knowledge in this universe to dry up the
springs of awe, and deliver us from the weakness of adoration? Let the man come forward
who is ready to say, under the starry arch of night, “I know so much of nature that I blow
as a bubble from me the thought of God, and count it childish to entertain the thought of a
Sovereign Mind!” Did Newton feel like saying that? Would Herschel say that in his
observatory? If they had said it, should we think of them as greater men than now? It will
not be the progress of knowledge, but the decay of the noble elements in human nature,
that will ever banish worship from the world. Indeed the glory of knowledge is in
fellowship with the devout sentiment. There are three purposes for which we may study
truth--to obtain power over nature, to cultivate and enlarge our minds, and to discern and
acknowledge a revelation from a boundless and invisible thought. I say nothing in
disparagement of the first two. They are essential to civilization. The last is not inconsistent
with devotion to the others. But if men stop with the first two, do they not miss the highest
relations of truth? It is to refresh men with this noblest relation of truth and knowledge
that churches are built. Worship is the exercise which the Church is to sustain. And all the
aspects of truth which will bend the mind of man in humility, and exalt it in adoration, are
legitimately within the range of the pulpit, and are, indeed, a portion of its trust. I have said
that the glory, of knowledge lies in the acceptance of truth as a manifestation of an Infinite
mind. And this is a conception that cannot be outgrown. It is ultimate. We can grow in the
acknowledgment of it, in the power and blessedness which acquaintance with it brings; but
the wisest man that will ever live will never go beyond it. Civilization depends on the
continuance of faith in the personality and holiness of God. It is only through that faith that

the consciences of men will be illumined, the will of man curbed, the devotion and sacrifice
of heroes in the cause of truth inspired and confirmed. But there is still a higher conception
connected with the personality and purity of God--the word “Father.” God is one, God is
holy, God is the Father--the Infinite is love; then the attraction is complete in the heavens
for allthe faculties of man, and for all human faculties in every race, in every age, and in all
stages of progress and attainment. We owe this final revelation to Jesus Christ. The sense
of mystery, the sense of beauty, the will, the conscience, the affections--all are drawn
upward to that name with which, through Him, the Infinite has clothed Himself. Adoration
of the Father is the distinctively Christian worship. (T. Starr King.)
The nature and worship of God

I. THE NATURE OF GOD.
1. Being a Spirit, He is a living substance; for though all living things be not spirits, every
spirit is a living thing. The soul and angels are spirits, therefore live, but not in themselves
(Acts 17:28). God lives in and of Himself (John 5:26; Psalms 36:9).
2. He is incorporeal, or without body (Luke 24:39). The Anthropomorphites and Audiarii
of old, and so some new heretics, have asserted that God has a body, contrary to Romans
1:23; Is
40:18. Objection: God is said to have
Answer: (1) God speaks after the manner of men and to our capacity. We see by the eye: by
that, therefore, God signifies to us His omniscience, etc.
3. He cannot be felt, because no body. Objection, Acts 17:27. Answer: We cannot feel God
Himself, but by His creatures (Romans 1:19-20).
4. He is invisible and cannot be seen (Job 9:11; 1 John 4:12). No man can see Him (Exodus
33:20; 1 Timothy 6:16). Reason: God has no body, shape, nor colour, and we cannot see
our souls. Objection: God appeared to Abraham (Genesis 18:1), and to Israel Deuteronomy
5:24), and others. Answer: Only by special manifestations of His glory. Objection: We shall
see God (1 John 3:2; 1 Corinthians 13:12). Answer: With our soul, not with our bodily eyes.

II. THE WORSHIP HE DESIRES. Not as if no external rites were to be used. Christ
Himself lifted up His eyes (John 17:1); knelt (Luke 22:41); fell on His face (Matthew
26:39); and instituted the sacrament (see also Ephesians 3:14; Acts 21:5). We are to
worship in spirit and in truth.

1. Not with the types and shadows of the Old Testament, but according to the truth of them
as exhibited in the New (John 1:17; Joh_17:17).
2. Not under any bodily shape, because He is a Spirit. The Samaritans worshipped Him
under the representation of a dove on Mount Gerizim; hence their worship was called”
strange worship” by the Jews. This was not to worship in truth (Romans 1:23-25). But we
are to worship God only am a Spirit, and so truly, not entertaining our gross conceits, or
making any picture of Him (Deuteronomy 4:14-16).
3. Not only with external, but with internal worship.
4. By putting our trust and confidence in Him (Psalms 37:3-6).
5. By devoting ourselves wholly to His service and obedient to His commands (1 Samuel
15:22).
Application:
1. This is the only worship acceptable to Him (Isaiah 1:11-12).
2. This is agreeable to His nature; He is a spirit and knows the heart Ezekiel 33:31). (Bp.
Beveridge.)
Spiritual religion
Our religion is true, deep, high, and broad in proportion as it grasps the fact that God is a
Spirit, and as it recognizes that that which gives life and force to natural and historical
religion is spirituality.

I. This aspect of the Divine nature CLEARS AWAY MANY PERPLEXITIES AND
DIFFICULTIES WHICH GATHER ROUND THE DOCTRINE OF GOD. The same is
true regarding man considered as a spirit.
1. The forms of expression borrowed from nature which describe God--rock, fortress,
shield, etc.
will mislead us if taken literally.
2. The same is true with regard to the anthropomorphic expressions of the ancient
covenant--hands, feet, husband, king, father.
3. And yet again with reference to the metaphysical words of a later time--procession,
generation, substance, person. Each of these taken literallyleads us away from the spiritual,
essential nature of God. But

4. There are three supreme. Biblical definitions which are all of a spiritual character: God
is “Spirit,” “Light,” “Love.” Let us hold fast to these; they express the moral nature of God
and the very essence of the Christian faith.

II. This same aspect tells us how GOD WILLS THAT THE WORLD SHOULD BE
BROUGHT TO HIM.
1. Not by compulsion.
2. Not by the external decrees of authority.
3. Not by reproaches and curses.
4. Not by mere miracles and signs of outward power, which, although secondary means of
persuasion, are not the main instruments.
5. But by the internal evidence of the spirit of Christianity, which was the earliest method.

III. IT IS THROUGH THE INWARD SPIRIT OF THINGS, AND NOT THROUGH THE
OUTWARD FORM, THAT GOD IS APPROACHED.
1. It is not the letter of any creed or ordinance, or even of the Bible, but the meaning and
inner spirit which vivifies and explains everything. “The letter killeth, the Spirit giveth
life.”
2. The signs and ordinances of religion derive all their force from the directness with which
they address our reason, conscience, and affections. The outward form may vary, but if the
inward meaning is the same the essential grace is there.
3. God can be worshipped on heath or mountain side or upper room as well as in the most
splendid cathedral; but also in the cathedral as well as on the heath, etc. And that is the
more spiritual aspect of religion which recognizes the possibility of both; which
comprehends the highest manifestations of the human spirit in architecture, music,
painting, poetry, and yet steadily subordinates them to the moral purposes of truth, justice,
and purity.
4. It is not the sublime and the grand, but the mean, ugly, and barbarous which binds itself
to idolatrous usages; not the vast aisles of a venerable abbey, hut the narrow cell; not the
awe-inspiring figures wrought by Raphael or Michael Angelo, but the hideous block
picture. Luther said, “Do not listen to those who open their mouths and call out ‘Spirit,

Spirit, Spirit!’ and then break down all the bridges by which the Spirit can enter.” No!
Make the best of all the gifts of God. They are all bridges, but only bridges. (Dean Stanley.)
The simplicity of Christ’s sublime disclosures
Pythagoras taught the maxim to his disciples and scrupulously observed it himself, “Never
wear the types of the gods upon your rings.” That is to say, do not publish your highest and
most sacred truths to the ignorant and uninitiated. Jesus Christ acts here, however, on a
totally different principle; in the fulness of His heart He makes to this poor sinful woman
some of His sublimest revelations. (J. C. Jones, D. D.)
God like the wind
This disclosure doubtless is of infinite depth; but that exquisite saying of Gregory the
Great’s that Scripture has depths for an elephant to swim in and shallows in which a lamb
can wade, is capable of being pushed a little further. Oftentimes the same Scripture is at
once a depth for one and a shallow for another, and thus it is here. We shall do little
honour to our Lord’s skill in teaching, His adaptation of His words to the needs of His
hearers, if, in seeking high things, we failed to find in these words some simple truth, such
as that poor ignorant woman was capable of grasping, and such as at that moment she
needed. “God is a Spirit”; we must not miss, assuredly she did not miss, the significant
image on which this word reposes; like the wind therefore, to which He is likened,
breathing and blowing where He will, penetrating everywhere, owning no
circumscriptions, tied to no place, neither to Mount Zion nor to Mount Gerizim; but rather
filling all space with His presence (Psalms 139:7; 1 Kings 8:27; Isaiah 66:1), in His essence
and, as involved in this very title, free. On this it follows that “they who worship Him must
worship Him in spirit and in truth.” (Abp. Trench.)
The worship God desires
The best, the purest, the holiest and most pious worship of the gods is to worship them with
a heart and tongue always pure, upright, and untainted. (Cicero.)

Copyright Statement
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Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.

Bibliography
Exell, Joseph S. "Commentary on "John 4:24". The Biblical Illustrator.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/tbi/john-4.html. 1905-1909. New York.
return to 'Jump List'
Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible
God is a Spirit; and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth.
God is a Spirit ... The countless anthropomorphisms of the Old Testament probably caused
Jesus to set such a statement as this over against them all. God may be spoken of in terms
of the activities of men, such as walking, seeing, hearing, etc., but there is a sense in which
God is not like man at all. God is a Spirit, eternal, immortal, invisible, omniscient,
ubiquitous, omnipotent, and all-pervading. He is above all and through all and in all.
Nothing can be hidden from God. He is the First Cause, himself uncaused, the Creator and
Sustainer of everything that exists. He is nonetheless personal, hence the
anthropomorphisms of Scripture.
They that worship him ... Just what is worship? Is it the carrying out of any kind of ritual,
the observance of any days or times, or the presentation of any kind of gifts and sacrifices?
Despite the fact that worship, from the earliest times, has been associated with such things,
actual worship is spiritual.
WHAT IS WORSHIP?
A good description of worship is that of Isaiah 6:1-8, an analysis of which shows that
worship is: (1) an awareness of the presence of God, (2) a consciousness of sin and
unworthiness on the part of the worshipper, (3) a sense of cleansing and forgiveness, and
(4) a response of the soul with reference to doing God's will: "Here am I, send me!"
In the New Testament, it is evident that the worship of God involved the doing of certain
things: (1) meditating upon God's word in sermon or Scripture reading, (2) singing of
psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, (3) praying to God through Christ, (4) observance of
the Lord's supper, and (5) the giving of money, goods, and services for the propagation of
the faith and the relief of human needs. Very well, then, does the person who DOES these
things worship God? Not necessarily, because an apostle spoke of certain persons who ate
the Lord's supper in a manner unworthy of it, not discerning the Lord's body. Moreover,
the singing and praying were commanded to be done "with the spirit and with the
understanding also." From this: it is clear that the things done in the New Testament
worship were the authorized channels through which the true worship flowed, and that
worship has the same relationship to the channels that electricity has to the power line that
carries it. This, of course, does not disparage the authorized channels, nor suggest that man

may select channels of his own. See below under: "Two Ways to Worship." True worship is
the soul's adoration of the Creator functioning obediently to the divine will.
Must worship in spirit and in truth ... This speaks thunderously of the fact that the worship
of God must be done properly, the two requirements being that it must be engaged in with
utmost sincerity and as directed by the word of God. God has revealed the manner in
which he should be worshipped, and those who hope to have their worship accepted should
heed the restrictions.
PROHIBITIONS REGARDING WORSHIP
The verse before us is a powerful prohibition. Also, Jesus said, "In vain do they worship
me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men" (Mark 7:7). An apostle declared
that "God ... dwelleth not in temples made with hands; neither is worshipped with men's
hands, as though he needed anything" (Acts 17:24,25). The author of this gospel wrote,
"Testify unto every man that heareth the prophecy of this book, if any man shall add unto
these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book" (Revelation
22:18). And also, "Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath
not God" (2 John 1:1:9). Jesus said of the Pharisees, "Ye have made the commandment of
God of none effect by your tradition" (Matthew 15:6). Paul warned the Corinthians, "Now
these things, brethren, I have in a figure, transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes;
that in us ye might learn not to go beyond the things which are written" (1 Corinthians
4:6). From these specific prohibitions, as well as from the spirit and tenor of the entire
Bible, it is clearly impossible for man to approach his Creator in worship, except as God
has directed. This was true in the days of Cain and Abel, of Nadab and Abihu, of David
and Uzzah, and of the Lord Jesus Christ and ever afterward. It is true now and always.
ONLY TWO WAYS TO WORSHIP GOD
Worship is as old as the human race, but in the long history of mortal events only two ways
to worship God have ever been discovered. These are: God's revealed way, and any other
way that man might have devised himself. A glance at both is appropriate.
I. God's way to worship. People are commanded to worship God, and it is simply
inconceivable that God has not instructed men how to obey this commandment (Revelation
14:7). Of the ancient tabernacle, only a type of the worship men offer today, God said to
Moses, "See that thou make all things according to the pattern" (Hebrews 8:5), and there is
no way to avoid the application of this to Christian worship. Why else should it have been
in the book of Hebrews? And what is the New Testament pattern of Christian worship?
"The things which are written" (1 Corinthians 4:6) reveal that the New Testament
churches:

Offered prayers to God through Christ (Acts 2:46).

Observed the Lord's supper (Acts 20:7).
Gave of their means (1 Corinthians 16:2).
Taught the sacred Scriptures (Acts 2:46).
Sang certain kinds of songs (Colossians 3:16).SIZE>
No student of the Bible will deny that both precept and example for the above pattern of
worship are found in the New Testament. If this is not God's pattern of worship, what is it?
II. Man's way of worshipping. This has varied in time, place, and circumstance; but a
survey of the entire field of worship, as it has developed since the foundation of
Christianity, reveals numerous activities, ceremonies, doctrines, commandments, and
devices unknown to the Bible, as well as alterations, restrictions, additions, subtractions
and substitutions with reference to the things that are revealed. There are even examples of
incorporating elements of the old covenant, and of the acceptance of pagan elements into
the sacred arena of Christian worship. It would be nearly impossible to list all the human
changes, additives, and aberrations inflicted upon Christianity by the historical church, but
a complete list is not necessary. The partial list below will show what is meant:
Auricular confession, baptizing of images, baptizing of bells, baptizing of infants, baptism
of desire, baptism for the dead, burning of incense, canonization of saints, celibacy of the
clergy, communion under one kind, elevation of the host, extreme unction, invocation of
saints, lighting of blessed lamps and candles, Lenten fasts and ceremonies, monasticism,
orders of monks and nuns, societies of Jesus, purgatory, prayers for souls in purgatory,
paschal candles, priestly robes and vestments, holy paraphernalia, penance, redemption of
penances, pouring for baptism, sprinkling for baptism, the rosary of the Virgin Mary, the
sale of indulgences, the sacrifice of the mass, sacrifices for the dead, the sign of the cross,
the separation of clergy and laity, tradition received on a level with the word of God, the
doctrine of transubstantiation, and of consubstantiation, the sprinkling of holy water, the
stored-up merit of dead saints, works of supererogation, the use of mechanical instruments
of music, ceremonies of Ash Wednesday, the development of a hierarchical system of
earthly church government, etc., etc.
Now this writer has never met a person, throughout a lifetime of discussing Christianity,
who would deny that at least some of the above deviations from God's pattern of worship
are sinful. But, of course, the thing that makes any one of them sinful MAKES THEM ALL
SO! They were not first spoken by the Lord (Hebrews 2:3). Their authority derives not
from God but from men.

Copyright Statement
James Burton Coffman Commentaries reproduced by permission of Abilene Christian
University Press, Abilene, Texas, USA. All other rights reserved.
Bibliography
Coffman, James Burton. "Commentary on John 4:24". "Coffman Commentaries on the
Old and New Testament". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bcc/john-4.html.
Abilene Christian University Press, Abilene, Texas, USA. 1983-1999.
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John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible
God is a spirit,.... Or "the Spirit is God"; a divine person, possessed of all divine
perfections, as appears from his names, works, and worship ascribed unto him; See Gill on
John 4:23; though the Arabic and Persic versions, and others, read as we do, "God is a
spirit"; that is, God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost: for taking the words in this light, not
one of the persons is to be understood exclusive of the other; for this description, or
definition, agrees with each of them, and they are all the object of worship, and to be
worshipped in a true and spiritual manner. God is a spirit, and not a body, or a corporeal
substance: the nature and essence of God is like a spirit, simple and uncompounded, not
made up of parts; nor is it divisible; nor does it admit of any change and alteration. God, as
a spirit, is immaterial, immortal, invisible, and an intelligent, willing, and active being; but
differs from other spirits, in that he is not created, but an immense and infinite spirit, and
an eternal one, which has neither beginning nor end: he is therefore a spirit by way of
eminency, as well as effectively, he being the author and former of all spirits: whatever
excellence is in them, must be ascribed to God in the highest manner; and whatever is
imperfect in them, must be removed from him:
and they that worship him; worship is due to him on account of his nature and perfections,
both internal and external; with both the bodies and souls of men; and both private and
public; in the closet, in the family, and in the church of God; as prayer, praise, attendance
on the word and ordinances:
must worship him in spirit and in truth; in the true and spiritual manner before described,
which is suitable to his nature, and agreeably to his will.

Copyright Statement

The New John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible Modernised and adapted for the
computer by Larry Pierce of Online Bible. All Rightes Reserved, Larry Pierce,
Winterbourne, Ontario.
A printed copy of this work can be ordered from: The Baptist Standard Bearer, 1 Iron
Oaks Dr, Paris, AR, 72855
Bibliography
Gill, John. "Commentary on John 4:24". "The New John Gill Exposition of the Entire
Bible". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/geb/john-4.html. 1999.
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Geneva Study Bible
God [is] a h Spirit: and they that worship him must worship [him] in spirit and in truth.

(h) By the word "spirit" he means the nature of the Godhead, and not the third person in
the Trinity.

Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography
Beza, Theodore. "Commentary on John 4:24". "The 1599 Geneva Study Bible".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/gsb/john-4.html. 1599-1645.
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People's New Testament

God is a Spirit. Rather, "God is Spirit." This declaration is fundamental. Since he is Spirit,
he must receive spiritual worship, and is everywhere present.

Copyright Statement

These files are public domain and are a derivative of an electronic edition that is available
on the Christian Classics Ethereal Library Website.
Original work done by Ernie Stefanik. First published online in 1996 at The Restoration
Movement Pages.
Bibliography
Johnson, Barton W. "Commentary on John 4:24". "People's New Testament".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/pnt/john-4.html. 1891.
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Robertson's Word Pictures in the New Testament
God is a Spirit (πνευμα ο τεος — pneuma ho theos). More precisely, “God is Spirit” as
“God is Light” (1 John 1:5), “God is Love” (1 John 4:8). In neither case can we read Spirit
is God, Light is God, Love is God. The non-corporeality of God is clearly stated and the
personality of God also. All this is put in three words for the first time.
Must (δει — dei). Here is the real necessity (δει — dei), not the one used by the woman
about the right place of worship (John 4:20).

Copyright Statement
The Robertson's Word Pictures of the New Testament. Copyright � Broadman Press
1932,33, Renewal 1960. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Broadman Press
(Southern Baptist Sunday School Board)
Bibliography
Robertson, A.T. "Commentary on John 4:24". "Robertson's Word Pictures of the New
Testament". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/rwp/john-4.html. Broadman
Press 1932,33. Renewal 1960.
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Vincent's Word Studies
God is a Spirit ( πνεῦμα ὁ Θεός )

Or, as Rev., in margins, God is spirit. Spirit is the emphatic word; Spirit is God. The
phrase describes the nature, not the personality of God. Compare the expressions, God is
light; God is love (1 John 1:5; 1 John 4:8).

Copyright Statement
The text of this work is public domain.
Bibliography
Vincent, Marvin R. DD. "Commentary on John 4:24". "Vincent's Word Studies in the New
Testament". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/vnt/john-4.html. Charles
Schribner's Sons. New York, USA. 1887.
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Wesley's Explanatory Notes
God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
God is a Spirit — Not only remote from the body, and all the properties of it, but likewise
full of all spiritual perfections, power, wisdom, love, holiness. And our worship should be
suitable to his nature. We should worship him with the truly spiritual worship of faith,
love, and holiness, animating all our tempers, thoughts, words, and actions.

Copyright Statement
These files are public domain and are a derivative of an electronic edition that is available
on the Christian Classics Ethereal Library Website.
Bibliography
Wesley, John. "Commentary on John 4:24". "John Wesley's Explanatory Notes on the
Whole Bible". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/wen/john-4.html. 1765.
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The Fourfold Gospel
God is a Spirit1: and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth2.

God is a Spirit. These words contain one of the most simple, yet most profound, truths
which ever fell upon mortal ear. Their truth is one of the great glories of revelation, and
corrects the mistaken conclusion of human reason. They show that (1) God is absolutely
free from all limitations of space and time, and is therefore not to be localized in temples
(Acts 7:48); (2) that God is not material, as idolaters contend; (3) that he is not an abstract
force, as scientists think, but a Being; (4) that he is lifted above all need of temples,
sacrifices, etc., which are a benefit to man, but not to God (Acts 17:25). Spiritual excellence
raises man above the beast, and spiritual excellence in turn raises God above man (Isaiah
31:3).

And they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth. That is, men must offer a
worship corresponding with the nature and attributes of God.

Copyright Statement
These files are public domain and are a derivative of an electronic edition that is available
on the Christian Classics Ethereal Library Website. These files were made available by Mr.
Ernie Stefanik. First published online in 1996 at The Restoration Movement Pages.
Bibliography
J. W. McGarvey and Philip Y. Pendleton. "Commentary on John 4:24". "The Fourfold
Gospel". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/tfg/john-4.html. Standard
Publishing Company, Cincinnati, Ohio. 1914.
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Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

24.God is a Spirit. This is a confirmation drawn from the very nature of God. Since men
are flesh, we ought not to wonder, if they take delight in those things which correspond to
their own disposition. Hence it arises, that they contrive many things in the worship of God
which are full of display, but have no solidity. But they ought first of all to consider that
they have to do with God, who can no more agree with the flesh than fire with water. This

single consideration, when the inquiry relates to the worship of God, ought to be sufficient
for restraining the wantonness of our mind, that God is so far from being like us, that those
things which please us most are the objects of his loathing and abhorrence. And if
hypocrites are so blinded by their own pride, that they are not afraid to subject God to
their opinion, or rather to their unlawful desires, let us know that this modesty does not
hold the lowest place in the true worship of God, to regard with suspicion whatever is
gratifying according to the flesh. Besides, as we cannot ascend to the height of God, let us
remember that we ought to seek from His word the rule by which we are governed. This
passage is frequently quoted by the Fathers against the Arians, to prove the Divinity of the
Holy Spirit, but it is improper to strain it for such a purpose; for Christ simply declares
here that his Father is of a spiritual nature, and, therefore, is not moved by frivolous
matters, as men, through the lightness and unsteadiness of their character, are wont to be.

Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Bibliography
Calvin, John. "Commentary on John 4:24". "Calvin's Commentary on the Bible".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/cal/john-4.html. 1840-57.
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Scofield's Reference Notes
God
Cf. (See Scofield "John 1:18")

Copyright Statement
These files are considered public domain and are a derivative of an electronic edition that
is available in the Online Bible Software Library.
Bibliography

Scofield, C. I. "Scofield Reference Notes on John 4:24". "Scofield Reference Notes (1917
Edition)". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/srn/john-4.html. 1917.
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James Nisbet's Church Pulpit Commentary
WORSHIP
‘God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.’
John 4:24
It is impossible to imagine a subject that more intimately affects the daily life of every one
of us. I think we shall best get hold of it if we first study on general principles the sacred
office of the Holy Spirit in all true worship.
I. Let us begin, then, with the office of the Holy Spirit in all Scriptural worship.—In order
to see this clearly, we must bear in mind three most important truths.
(a) True worship is the worship of the living God, of Him of Whom our Lord declares,
‘God is a Spirit.’
(b) A second great principle is that true worship is the act of the inner man.
(c) A third essential to spiritual worship is that it must be through our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ.
II. Now let us turn to the application of these general principles to public and private
worship.—In one respect there is a great difference between the two, viz. in this, that in our
private devotions we can have much greater liberty than we can in our public worship. But
in public worship we must have a form. Whether that form is carefully prepared
beforehand, or constructed at the time by any one individual, it is equally a form, and
without some such form it is perfectly impossible that a thousand persons should unite in
worship.
(a) The use of form, arrangement, or order, is not necessarily opposed to the movement of
the Spirit.
(b) But we may go a step further, and we shall find that order or arrangement may not
only not hinder but may greatly help the soul in the reception of the work of the Holy
Spirit.
(c) But though it is clear that external arrangements may greatly assist our spiritual
worship, it is of the utmost importance that we should never for one moment forget that

they are utterly powerless in producing it, and that the Holy Ghost is the author of all
acceptable worship in public and in private.
—Rev. Canon Edward Hoare.
Illustration
‘We all seek to have our worship, both public and private, full of faith, full of love, full of
deep humiliation, full of praise, and full of thanksgiving; and in order to have this, let us
earnestly resolve never to be satisfied with any mere animal impression, but seek rather to
be full of the Holy Ghost and power. Let us take good care that everything shall be in
beautiful order: the church clean and in good repair; the music good, though not too
elaborate; the singing spirited; and the prayers intelligently prayed. But when we have
done all, let us remember that the fire must come from God; let our prayer be, “Breathe,
oh! breathe upon us that we may live”; and let us look for such a manifestation of the Holy
Spirit’s mighty power, that man, and all that man can do, may disappear and be forgotten
in the all-absorbing presence of the invisible God.’
(SECOND OUTLINE)
SPIRITUAL RELIGION
Our religion is a true religion, a deep religion, a high religion, a wide religion, in proportion
as it grasps more and more firmly the spiritual aspect of religion—as it recognises more
fully that the highest revelation, the revelation which gives light and force to natural
religion, and to historical religion, is spiritual religion.
Let me illustrate the value of this truth by taking a few obvious instances.
I. Let any one who may be perplexed by thinking of the Divine Nature, observe how many
difficulties are cleared away by dwelling on this aspect of it.—As when we ask, What is a
man? The answer is, not his body, but his spirit; not his outward form, but his inward
affections; so when we ask, What is God? Whilst there is much that we cannot answer, yet,
when we think of Him as a Spirit, we are taught to believe that it is in His Spirit that we can
best understand Him—that is, in those attributes of goodness, love, and wisdom which are
most the same attributes in man.
II. The same truth places in their proper light all the words or phrases which either in the
Bible or elsewhere have been used to describe the nature of God.—Forms of expression
which describe Him by physical or metaphysical analogies, if taken literally, lead us away
from the spiritual—that is, the essential—nature of God. ‘God is Spirit,’ ‘God is Light,’
‘God is Love.’ Let us hold fast to those three definitions, which all express to us the
spiritual and the moral nature of God, and which, therefore, express to us the very essence
of the Christian faith.

III. This same aspect of the Divine nature tells us by what means it is that He wills that the
world should be brought towards Him.—Not by compulsion, not by fire and sword, not by
external decrees of authority, not by reproaches or curses, but by the ready assent of the
spirit of man seeking and finding its communion with the Spirit of God. The blasphemy
which shall not be forgiven is not that against the Son of Man (that is, mistakes a man
makes concerning the outward form in which the Divine truth is manifested), but that
against the Holy Ghost (that is, hatred of goodness, because it is goodness).
IV. It is through the inward spirit of all things, not through their outward form, that God is
to be approached.—God can be worshipped anywhere—in Jerusalem as well as in Gerizim,
in Gerizim as well as in Jerusalem—if He be worshipped in spirit and in truth. The plainest
worship becomes unspiritual if we have lost the meaning of it. The most elaborate worship
is spiritual if it helps us to do our duty, to be more loving to men, and more devoted to God.
V. This value of the spiritual aspect of religion is yet more visible in proportion as we apply
it to the whole history of the human race, or of the human being.—There has never failed
altogether a succession of those good men who have seen the spirit beneath the letter, the
meaning beneath the form, the sense beneath the nonsense, the moral beyond the material;
and these have been the true backbone of Christendom. What would the early Church have
been without such men as Clement of Alexandria, and Chrysostom of Constantinople?
How much power would the mediaeval Church have been without Thomas à Kempis; the
Church of the Reformation without Erasmus; the Church of England without Hooker,
Jeremy Taylor, and Butler; or the Church of Scotland without the apostolic name of
Leighton? It is the perception of this universal and far-reaching element which forms the
connecting thread of those articles at the close of the Creed common to all Western
Churches (‘the holy Catholic Church,’ ‘the communion of saints,’ ‘the forgiveness of sins,’
‘the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting’), which, as if by a natural instinct,
have gradually fastened themselves to the single article of the primitive Church, which
says, ‘I believe in the Holy Spirit.’
—Dean Stanley.

Copyright Statement
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Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.

Bibliography
Nisbet, James. "Commentary on John 4:24". Church Pulpit Commentary.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/cpc/john-4.html. 1876.
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John Trapp Complete Commentary

24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Ver. 24. God is a Spirit] Omnes nominis Iehovae literae sunt spirituales ut denotetur Deum
esse spiritum. (Alsted.) Though, to speak properly, God is not a spirit. For, first, spirit
signifies breath, which indeed is a body, but because it is the finest body, the most subtle
and most invisible, therefore immaterial substances, which we are not able to conceive, are
represented unto us under this name. Secondly, God is above all notion, all name. Afri
dicunt Deum ignotum Anon, i.e. Heus tu, quis es? One being asked what God is, answered,
Si scirem, Deus essem, {a} That which Augustine saith concerning time (the measure of all
our motions) may much more be said concerning God, in whose hands are all our times
and motions; Si nemo ex me quaerat, scio: si quaerenti explicare velim, nescio. When I am
not asked, methinks I know somewhat of him; but let me go about to say what he is, and I
find I know nothing at all. Confess. xi. 14.

In spirit and truth] As opposed to formality and hypocrisy.

{a} Plut. lib. de Isid. et Osiride.

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Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography

Trapp, John. "Commentary on John 4:24". John Trapp Complete Commentary.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/jtc/john-4.html. 1865-1868.
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Sermon Bible Commentary
John 4:24
The Worship of God, the Personal Spirit
It is when we get into the midst of practical life, out of abstractions of thought, that we
realize our need of a heavenly Father, that we turn to Christ as the revealer of that Divine
and blessed truth. And of how we are led to do that I shall illustrate from the cases of those
whom I have already dwelt on as needing to conceive God as impersonal.
I. The idealist, who contemplates and worships God as Thought, and sees Him as essential
Truth, Love, Justice, and Beauty, is satisfied with that idea as long as he can live apart in
his study and separate himself from the strifes of the world. But when such a man, at some
great crisis of human history, is thrilled with the excitement of humanity, and, going forth
to take his part with men in fighting for freedom or his fatherland, or for any of those
truths which are the saving ideas of mankind, finds himself one of a great company, all
moving with one thought, all breathing the same passionate air; yet, though united, each
having their own personal inner life, their own separate way of feeling the same emotion,
their own especial worship in the words of their own heart, their own personal need of One
on whom beyond man's help they may rely—think you that then his conception of a God
who is infinite Intelligence, essential Love and Truth, impersonally conceived, will be
sufficient? No; when Fichte, idealist of idealists, left the classroom as the drum went by,
and marched with his soldiers to the War of Independence, he did not abandon his ideal
conception of the great "I Am," whom he abstained in general from clothing with the
attributes of personality; but he added to it the conception of a Father and Lover of men,
who went with each of them hand in hand, as man with man to battle. In such hours the
idealist worships the personal Fatherhood of God.
II. And the natural philosopher, one who loves and honours God as the living energy of the
universe, and worships Him as such honestly and rightly, though he conceive Him as
impersonal, when one of the great sorrows of life besets him, and the sorrow makes him
feel the absolute personalty he himself has, and which he had almost lost in ceaseless
contemplation of an absolute Force—does he then only see the Impersonal bending above
him? Is not the passionate longing of his heart for One who can be his Father, a Friend—a
human God to him, grasping his hand, and saying, "Be of good cheer, for I am thine, and
those thou hast lost on earth are Mine for ever"? Many may resist these things, but they

are there—vital, powerful, impassioned desires. Whence do they come? What do they say?
They come from, and they tell us of, our need of the personalty of God.
III. How shall we worship God as the personal Father of the race in spirit and in truth?
Why, in that truth, your life must become a worship of love—spirit being that it is—of love
of men, and God, because He loves men. Love of man is easy when we believe in that idea of
God. We cannot help loving that which God loves so well; we cannot help being proud of
our fellowmen, for are not all ennobled in His love? We cannot help loving that which is
destined to be so beautiful; for we see men not as they are, but as they will be. We look not
at the poor worm that crawls from birth to death, nor at the chrysalis that seems to die. We
see the beautiful creature that is to be, the winged Psyche of humanity; and every soul
grows precious as beauty in the vision. To hasten the coming of that day we put this
spiritual love into a spiritual life of active righteousness.
S. A. Brooke, Sermons, 2nd series, p. 406.

It was not an utterance unknown to the heathen world before the coming of Christ, that
God was Spirit. The Greeks, the philosophic Hindus, the later Platonists of Alexandria, and
many others in many nations had said it, and said it well. Then what was there new in it on
the lips of Christ? How was He more remarkable when He said it than the teachers who
had gone before him? It is a question often on the lips of the opponents of Christianity, and
it arises from their ignorance of that which they oppose. For where do they find that Christ
put Himself forward as giving especially new truths? A new method He did give; new
commandments, new inferences from ancient truths. A new centre for them He did give;
but He was far too profoundly convinced of the consistent and continuous development of
religious truth to dream of creating anything absolutely new in truth.
I. Consider now the truth here taught, "God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must
worship Him in spirit and in truth." I approach one part of it, or God as a Spirit in all men,
by dwelling on Christ's act in giving this truth to the Samaritan woman as a representative
act. In giving it to her He gave to all in her state of intellect and heart. He proclaimed, in
giving it to her, that it was not only for learned and civilised people, but for all people,
however ignorant, savage, and poor; and if for all, then the spiritual life, or the indwelling
of God, was possible to all. But if it was possible for all, it could only be so by a previous
kinship between all human spirits and God the source of spirit. To give it to all was, then,
to proclaim that God as Spirit moved in all.
II. Believing this, what should be the result on our life? We should (1) ourselves worship
God in this truth, and (2) in its spirit live among men. For ourselves, to worship God in this
truth is to live one's whole spiritual life in it and by it, believing that God is in it. We may
have been reckless, godless, because we heard our nature pronounced to be corrupt in all

its ways; we now turn with a thrill of joy and recognise, led by the light of a new faith, the
very Spirit of God in us—speaking, living, impelling, working with us for our perfection.
Secondly, worship God not only in yourselves in this truth, but live in it and in its spirit
among men, and your outward life will then be it—worship of God in spirit and truth.
S. A. Brooke, Sermons, 2nd series, p. 339.

I. Consider what we mean when we say "God is Spirit." We mean by it that He is the
essential Being of all those things invisible, immaterial, impossible for ever to be subjected
to the senses, which we therefore call spiritual ideas, such as truth, love, righteousness,
wisdom; and that He is their source in us, or rather their very Being in us, that in having
them we have God. Take any one of these ideas—trace it through its various forms at
different times, under different circumstances; it will always preserve certain external
elements that will enable you to collect all its forms into one expression—truth, or justice,
or love. The natural philosopher does similar kind of work when he collects all the
phenomena which belong to any one form of force, and unites them under one expression—
heat, light, or electricity. And just as he finally takes all these separate forces, and, seeing
that they are correlated and pass into one another, declares that they are different modes of
one constant force—that they are all motion, dynamic or potential—that the source of their
motion is always one and the same; so do we, contemplating the spiritual ideas, and
knowing that they are spiritual forces, recognise that they are correlated and
interchangeable—that Truth is Justice, and Justice Love—and finally reach the conception
that there is one spiritual force of which all these are but modes—the force of the spiritual
will. That is God—God as Spirit. God is Truth, Love, Justice, Purity, and the rest; and all
these are one in Him.
II. We are to worship these ideas as God, in spirit and in truth; to give a life reverence and
devotion to them; to be true in every thought, word, and deed; to be pure in the deepest
centre of our being; to be loving as Christ was loving, in our national, social, and private
life; to be just in thought in our relations with men, in behalf of the weak against the
oppressor. To do these things is to worship God. (1) First, then, we must do this worship in
spirit. To worship in spirit in this case is to have perfect freedom in the matter of forms for
our ideas, keeping our love for the ideas as the first thing. If that is the case—if we love
these ideas of God—then the life which is in love will freely make its own form—first for
the thoughts, secondly for their worship—as best suits its needs; worshipping now in the
church, now on the lake or in the crowded street; now praying as we walk, now kneeling to
pray; now keeping a Sabbath, now abstaining; now following no observances, now
sedulously keeping them up—exactly as we feel that the Divine spiritual life in us needs
expression. Always at perfect freedom, always in the spirit, because, through the ever-felt
presence of God, all times, all places, all things are holy unto us. (2) Secondly, the worship

of spiritual ideas must be in truth. Christ used that phrase in opposition to a worship of
them through doctrines, opinions, creeds, confessions, and the like things which veil the
truth. To be able to live spirit to spirit, heart to heart, without any need of formulating, in
intellectual propositions, the ideas that appeal to the heart—that would be the highest life.
To worship in truth is to care more for truth than creeds; to harmonise our spiritual life
and thought, not with doctrinal symbols, but with the very light and truth of Divine ideas;
to hold oneself free to take from all religions and forms of faith thoughts which may extend
the range of our ideas, and give us a greater and nobler view of God;—in one word, to keep
ourselves in the worship of the living things themselves that are in the spirit, and not of
their intellectual forms that are in the letter. This it is to worship God as Spirit in truth.
S. A. Brooke, Sermons, 2nd series, p. 354.

God in Spirit: Personal and Impersonal
I. To represent God as the essential Truth, Love, and Righteousness is to give, so far as it
goes, a just idea of Him. But it would be, taken alone, a wholly inadequate idea. We should
have to connect with it the ideas which we possess of absolute Being, of Absolute Power and
Knowledge, of Infinity and Eternity. But these are also spiritual ideas; and even when they
are added, the idea of God still remains inadequate for us, because it can be still conceived
as apart from the Personal Man. If we were pure intellect or pure spirit, the conception of
God as absolute Truth, or absolute Knowledge, might be sufficient for us; we might then,
abiding in truth or knowledge, conceive of them as perfect and infinite, and call the
conception God. But we are not pure intellect or spirit: we are limited on every side of our
nature, and in realizing our limitations we find ourselves possessed of that which we call
Personality. Having an intense conviction of personality, we find, when we come to conceive
of God, that it is one of the strongest tendencies of our thought to bestow on our idea of
Him a personality similar in kind to our own. We impute to Him will, character, affections,
self-consciousness. We make Him a Person; we say, He is, and knows that He is. He wills,
thinks, and makes will and thought into form and action.
II. Again, supposing the reality of God and that we are His offspring. It stands to reason
that He would wish to give some tidings of His nature to us. He would then give a revelation
of Himself, as we were able to receive it. And we should say, à priori, arguing from our
wants and our nature, that such a revelation ought to be a personal one. And it is so from
beginning to end—revelation assumes that we want a personal God, and satisfies that want.
As revelation went on, the idea of God as a personal God was expanded and strengthened.
In elder times He had not been brought very near, as a Person, to the heart of man. That
work was fulfilled by Christ. He called God our Father, and the word established the
Christian idea of God, as a Being who has personal relations and dealings with us, as a

father has with a son; and in thus likening Him to us in the common round of our
affections, it made the whole conception of God's personality infinitely stronger.
III. When the notion of God's personality was strengthened in Christianity, even then
(though it was combined with the other thought that He was Spirit) the human personal
element became too strong, and often extinguished the other. There are two results which
follow. (1) God is less and less conceived as the spiritual essence of Truth and Love and
Justice, and the purity of our conception of these spiritual ideas in Him is violated at every
step by this exaggerated dwelling on His personality. (2) The idea of God as an all-
pervading life in mind and in nature, an idea which goes with the conception of Him as
Spirit, fades away also, and is replaced by a vast Personality outside of man, not in every
man; outside of nature, and leaving it to the action of blind laws, not in nature as its living
spirit. Because God had been conceived of as too personal, men drifted into conceiving Him
as impersonal. But it chiefly arose out of man's necessity for such a conception. And here
we answer the question whether it is enough for our wants to conceive of God as personal?
I answer that it is not, and that the theory of Pantheism ought to be taken up into our idea
of God. The conception of God must share in the personal and the impersonal; Pantheism
is true, but not true by itself. Personal Theism is true, but not by itself. It is only when they
are both rolled together and both brought into our idea of God, that they lose their several
evils, and that we possess an adequate conception of His nature, fitted for the whole of our
lives, fitted for the different characters of men.
S. A. Brooke, Sermons, 2nd series, p. 372.

The Worship of the Impersonal Spirit
I. The man who possesses that poetic feeling for beauty in nature, and that intense sense of
a life in nature, which, combined without the formative power, cause him the same
pleasure as the artist has—what is his state of mind when he looks, in the stillness of the
hills, or lost in some woodland, or by the solitary banks of the sea, upon the infinite beauty
of the world? He feels a thrill of emotion so intense that he forgets the whole of his life, and
is lost in the moment in which he lives. Having lost the consciousness of his personality,
there is nothing that touches him from that landscape that he does not become, and become
in ceaseless change of his indwelling. He has become impersonal. Now if the man be
religious, or wishes to worship, is it possible for him to connect a personal God with that?
He has himself lost for the time that sharp self-consciousness which leads him at other
times to claim and need a personal Father in heaven. He cannot worship a personal God as
long as he feels thus, and no modern poet when speaking of nature can make God in it
personal to his feeling. Now what these men feel is precisely that which, modified by
different capacities for emotional pleasure in beauty, and for emotional perception of life,

all men who have anything of the artist character feel in contact with nature. We cling with
all the power of men who are utterly desolate without it to the idea of God as personal
Fatherhood when we live in our own hearts or in those of our fellowmen; but when we live
alone with nature, and humanity has died out of our field of thought and feeling, we cling
equally to the idea I have given above—to the infinite impersonality of God.
II. Now, what is the true and spiritual worship of God, as impersonal, in the work of art
and science when they are at work on nature? In the first it is this—adding to our
conception of God the thoughts of unlimited life, beauty, and harmony—to adore these in
nature as the all-pervading God, with all the life, sense of beauty, truth, and melody of
nature that we ourselves possess. It is to see in all things universal love as their living but
not necessarily self-conscious essence, and to love it in them with all our strength of
emotion, and to hold, and rejoice in holding, that in doing so we are worshipping God in
spirit. (2) As the natural philosopher looks at nature he becomes face to face at last with
Force alone, active or latent, and the characteristic of it is intense impersonality. What is
this force? Say it is only motion in matter, and the philosopher has no God, or only a God
divided from the universe—a conception becoming more and more impossible in our
present stage of thought. But let him say that matter is nothing but Force—a perfectly
legitimate theory in natural science—and he may answer the question, What is Force? in a
way which will enable him to find God in the universe. He may say that force is really will,
active as thought, a universal will, a will free, resembling that which we possess, but which
in us is limited by the bounds which constitute our personality. Remove those bounds of
which he is conscious, abstract from it the confining elements of personality, and he has the
conception of an infinite omnipotent will in which he may find God as He manifests
Himself in nature. He will not find the impersonal God whom we worship as personal, but
an impersonal God seen in Force as Will, in Action as Thought. It is, indeed, not matter,
but spirit, that he touches, and his worship is the worship of a spiritual life, conceived of an
ever-acting will.
S. A. Brooke, Sermons, 2nd series, p. 391.

This text gives us the sum of the whole matter; the grand principle of all true worship. The
law of acceptable Christian worship is briefly this: that it must be the worship of the heart.
The text leaves to men, in the exercise of the faculties God has given them, and through
experience of the working of their own minds and of the minds of others, to find out what
kind of worship is likeliest to be so. It does not follow, of necessity, that a very simple
worship is to be the most spiritual and hearty. To some minds it may be so, while others
may find that it is easier to worship in spirit and in truth with the help of a stately worship
and a noble church. And each, as before God, must find what suits him best. Outward

variations in form are of infinitely little importance, if only the soul as before God is
worshipping Him in spirit and in truth.
I. And yet, looking to the whole teaching of Holy Scripture, and weighing the matter in our
own best judgment, we may, perhaps, arrive at certain principles for our guidance as to the
external circumstances most favourable to true and spiritual worship. Probably all
intelligent Christian people would be agreed to go as far as this: that we are doing only
what is right when we remove, as far as we can, all distracting circumstances, all outward
hindrances to spiritual worship. Little outward annoyances, notwithstanding the most
earnest prayer for the presence of the Blessed Spirit, may greatly abate spiritual
enjoyment, and neglect of external decency and order is to very many a great hindrance in
the way of worshipping in spirit and in truth. Surely then it may be accepted as certain,
that it is fair and right to carefully remove whatever may hinder and distract us in our
worship of God.
II. How can we think on the question of helps in worship? The enjoyment of noble
architecture and music is not worship, and may be mistaken for it. The rest which falls on
us, walking the aisles of a church of eight hundred years, the thrill of nerves and heart as
the glorious praise begins, whose echoes fall amid fretted vaults and clustered shafts,—all
that feeling, solemn as it is, has no necessary connection with worshipping God in spirit and
in truth. On this question of aids in devotion I can say no further than that each Christian
must, as before God, judge for himself. Only remember, that here you are on dangerous
ground. You may fancy you are worshipping in spirit and in truth when you are doing no
more than enjoying a sentimental excitement, fruitless and unprofitable.
A. K. H. B., From a Quiet Place, p. 73.

References: John 4:24.—A. P. Stanley, Christian World Pulpit, vol. x., p. 129; Ibid., vol.
xvii., p. 82; W. G. Horder, Ibid., vol. xxxi., p. 131; J. M. Wilson, Ibid., vol. xxxiii., p. 124; G.
Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 18; S. Clarke, Church of England Pulpit, vol. ii., p. 163;
Ibid., vol. xiii., p. 37; Ibid., vol. xviii., p. 156.

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Bibliography

Nicoll, William R. "Commentary on John 4:24". "Sermon Bible Commentary".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/sbc/john-4.html.
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Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible
John 4:24. God is a Spirit, &c.— As a further answer to the woman's question, our great
Teacher delivered a doctrine which may justly be called his own, as it exhibits an idea of
the Supreme Being, and of the worship due to him, far more sublime than the best things
which the philosophers have said on that subject. God is a Spirit, &c. "God is the supreme
mind or intelligence, who by one act sees the thoughts of all other intelligences, and
therefore may be worshipped in every place. And the worship of God must partake of his
nature: his nature is spiritual; his worship should be so likewise. Faith and love, therefore,
constitute the true spiritual worship which we owe to the Supreme Being, and which cannot
but be acceptable to him, wherever offered."

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Coke, Thomas. "Commentary on John 4:24". Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy
Bible. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/tcc/john-4.html. 1801-1803.
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Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
God is a Spirit; that is, he hath no body, nor bodily parts; he is not a bare spiritual
substance: but a pure and perfect Spirit: and therefore his worshippers must worship him
in spirit and in truth; where spirit is opposed to the legal ceremonies, and truth to the
Jewish rites, not to hypocritical services: for the old patriarchs did worship God in spirit
and in truth. As truth is taken for sincerity, they served him with a sincere conscience, and
with a single heart. But our Saviour's business is to shew, that a worship without legal rites
and Jewish ceremonies, is proper to the times of the gospel.
In these words, observe, 1. The nature of God declared; God is a Spirit.
2. The duty of man inferred; therefore they that worship him, must worship him in spirit
and in truth.

From the whole, note, 1. That God is a pure spiritual being. When bodily parts, hands, and
eyes, &c. are ascribed to him, it is only in condescension to our weakness, and to signify
those acts in God, which such members do perform in us.
Note, 2. That the worship due from the creature to God is spiritual worship, and ought to
be spiritually performed; that is, we must worship him from spiritual principles, sincere
love, and filial reverence; for spiritual ends, that we may please him, and promote his
glory; and after a spiritual manner, with the whole heart, soul, and mind, and with a
fervency of spirit. We must have awful apprehensions of him, suitable to the nature of his
being; but above all we must endeavour to resemble him: then is God best worshipped by
us, when we are most like to him.
The Jewsish ceremonial worship was abolished, to promote the spirituality of divine
worshp; yet must not this be so understood, as if God rejected bodily worship, because he
requires spiritual under the gospel: for Jesus Christ, the most spiritual worshipper,
worshipped God with his body. Besides, God has created the body as well as the soul; and
he will glorify the body as well as the soul: therefore it is our duty to worship and glorify
God with our bodies, and with our spirits, which are his.

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Bibliography
Burkitt, William. "Commentary on John 4:24". Expository Notes with Practical
Observations on the New Testament.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/wbc/john-4.html. 1700-1703.
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Greek Testament Critical Exegetical Commentary
24.] πνεῦμα ὁ θεός was the great Truth of Judaism, whereby the Jews were distinguished
from the idolatrous people around them. And the Samaritans held even more strongly than
the Jews the pure monotheistic view. Traces of this, remarks Lücke (from Gesenius), i. 599
note, are found in the alterations made by them in their Pentateuch, long before the time of
this history. This may perhaps be partly the reason why our Lord, as Bengel remarks,
“Discipulis non tradidit sublimiora,” than to this Samaritan woman.

God being pure spirit (perhaps better not ‘a Spirit,’ since it is His Essence, not His
Personality, which is here spoken of), cannot dwell in particular spots or temples (see Acts
7:48; Acts 17:24-25); cannot require, nor be pleased with, earthly material offerings nor
ceremonies, as such: on the other hand, is only to be approached in that part of our being,
which is spirit,—and even there, inasmuch as He is pure and holy, with no by-ends nor
hypocritical regards, but in truth and earnestness. But here comes in the deeper sense
alluded to above. How is the spirit of man to be brought into communion with God? “In
templo vis orare; in te ora. Sed prius esto templum Dei.” Aug(65) (Stier, iv. 137, edn. 2.)
And how is this to be? Man cannot make himself the temple of God. So that here comes in
the gift of God, with which the discourse began,—the gift of the Holy Spirit, which Christ
should give to them that believe on Him: thus we have ‘praying ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ,’ Jude
1:20. So beautifully does the expression ὁ πατήρ here bring with it the new birth by the
Spirit,—and for us, the readers of the Gospel, does the discourse of ch. 3 reflect light on
this. And so wonderfully do these words form the conclusion to the great subject of these
first chapters: ‘GOD IS BECOME ONE FLESH WITH US, THAT WE MIGHT
BECOME ONE SPIRIT WITH HIM.’

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Bibliography
Alford, Henry. "Commentary on John 4:24". Greek Testament Critical Exegetical
Commentary. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/hac/john-4.html. 1863-1878.
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Charles Simeon's Horae Homileticae
DISCOURSE: 1618
THE WORSHIP WHICH GOD REQUIRES
John 4:24. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in
truth.
BRETHREN, you are all upon the brink of eternity. You are all sinners. As sinners, you
stand in need of mercy at the hands of God: and God is willing to bestow mercy upon every
one of you, without exception. But he must be inquired of, in order that he may do this for
you: and he must be inquired of, not in a cold and formal manner, but in sincerity of heart;

for “He is a Spirit; and all who worship him, must,” as my text informs you, “worship him
in spirit and in truth.”
Let this declaration sink down into your ears; and let it operate strongly on your minds,
whilst we contemplate it;
I. As an answer to a particular inquiry—
Our Lord was conversing with a woman of Samaria, and had shewn to her that he was
perfectly acquainted with all the evils she had committed in her former life, and with those
in the indulgence of which she was still living. She, not wishing to hear any thing further
upon a subject so painful to her mind, sought to turn the conversation into another
channel; and for that purpose inquired what his sentiments were on a point that was at
issue between the Jews and the Samaritans, namely, whether God was to be worshipped at
Jerusalem, or at Mount Gerizim in Samaria? Our Lord, in reply to her question, tells her,
that the time was now come, when the Father was no longer to be worshipped in any one
place more than another; but that in every place under heaven, those, and those only,
should have access to him, who “worshipped him in spirit and in truth.”
This directly met the inquiry which had been made—
[Till that time “bodily exercise” had certainly prevailed in the services of God’s people,
whose access to him was chiefly in the use of prescribed forms, which were shadowy and
typical, and were confined to one city, and to one particular building in that city. The
directions which God had given in relation to this matter, even before his people came into
possession of the promised land, were very specific: “Unto the place which the Lord your
God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall
ye seek, and thither shall thou come; and thither ye shall bring your burnt-offerings, &c.
&c and there ye shall eat before the Lord your God [Note: Deuteronomy 12:5-7.].” At the
time when the temple of Solomon was consecrated, the people were instructed, that, if they
should go out to battle, or be carried captives to a foreign land, they must turn towards
that place, when they made their supplications to the Lord for help or mercy: and an
intimation was given, that, even if they should “return to God with all their heart and all
their soul,” it would not suffice, unless they also “directed their prayers towards that place
[Note: 1 Kings 8:44; 1 Kings 8:48.].” From hence, as well as from the examples of their
holiest prophets [Note: Psalms 28:2. Daniel 6:10.], they were led to suppose, that no prayer
would be accepted, but such as should be offered in that precise manner. There was indeed
under that very dispensation ample evidence that that conclusion was erroneous: for God
had said, “The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that
ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? To this man will I look, even to him
that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at my word [Note: Isaiah 66:1-2.].”
Still, however, this matter was not generally understood, till our blessed Lord proclaimed,

that Jehovah was a Spirit, and therefore not confined to any place, but pervading all space,
and accessible to all who desired to draw nigh unto him. He no longer now was to be
approached with mere bodily service, or in carnal ordinances, but “in spirit,” as opposed to
the one, and “in truth,” as opposed to the other: and they who so approached to him should
never be permitted to “seek his face in vain.”]
In this view it is of importance to us also—
[We are apt to lay an undue stress on externals; and to imagine, that a peculiar measure of
acceptance is to be found at the table of the Lord, more than at any other time or place.
(Let me not be here misunderstood, as though I would undervalue the ordinance of the
Lord’s Supper: for it is our bounden duty to commemorate our Lord’s death in that
ordinance; and from a spiritual and believing participation of the bread and wine, we may
undoubtedly expect the richest benefits.) But from a mere formal attendance on that
ordinance we receive no more good, than from a similar attendance on the common
services of the Church. It is to the heart alone that God looks: if that be not right towards
him, no service whatever can be “acceptable in his sight:” but, if that be under the
influence of penitence and faith, its offerings, under whatever circumstances they be
presented, shall surely come up with acceptance before him.]
That this truth may be more fully brought before you, I shall consider the text,
II. As an instruction suited to all times and circumstances—
The thing which God expects, is, that there be a correspondence between the feelings of our
heart, and the offerings of our lips—
[If, for instance, we confess our sins before him, it is not sufficient that our words be
humble; our spirit must be humble too, and a holy penitential sorrow must fill our hearts.
If we present our petitions before him, it is not sufficient that we ask for such things as are
good and desirable, but we must feel an ardent desire after them in our souls, and plead for
them with an importunity suited to the importance of them. So also, if we return thanks to
God, we must not rest in unmeaning compliments, but adore and magnify our God from
our inmost souls. If there he not this correspondence between our feelings and our words,
what “truth” is there in us? Our services are no better than a solemn mockery, that must
offend, rather than please, the Majesty of heaven.]
Such sincerity the very nature of God requires—
[“He is a Spirit,” that pervades all space. He is equally present with all his creatures; nor is
there a thought in the heart of any person in the universe, that is not “naked and open
before him.” Were he able to behold our actions only, he might be pleased with our
services, though unaccompanied with any devout affection: but when “he searcheth the

heart, and trieth the reins,” and “weigheth” with infallible accuracy “our very spirits,” how
can he listen to our heartless addresses with any satisfaction? Verily such prayers must be,
as he declares they are, an utter “abomination unto him.” When some under the Jewish
dispensation brought to him “the blind, and the lame, and the sick, for sacrifice,” he
appealed to them, “Whether it was not evil?” “ Go,” says he, “offer these now unto your
Governor; will he be pleased with you, or accept your persons [Note: Malachi 1:8.]?” What
then must he say to those who think to impose upon him by prayers which proceed “from
the lips only, whilst the heart is far from him [Note: Matthew 15:7-9.]?” Assuredly he will
say, “Bring no more such vain oblations,” ye hypocrites, for “in vain do ye worship me:”
“your most solemn services are an iniquity” which I utterly abhor, and “I am weary to
bear them [Note: Isaiah 1:11-14.].”]
Unite with me then, whilst I make your prayers a subject of strict inquiry—
[It is to be feared that many of you, who would yet wish to be thought good Christians, live
without even the form of prayer. Look back only to this very morning; look back to the
past week; look back throughout your whole lives; and see, whether you have ever spent
one single hour in secret prayer to God? Ah! does not conscience condemn the greater part
of you? Have not many of you, as far as prayer is concerned, lived rather like brute beasts,
than as rational and immortal beings? — — — Or, supposing you have kept up a form of
prayer, has it not been a mere form? You who teach your children to repeat some form of
prayer in your presence, know very well that theirs is not prayer: and what is yours better
than theirs? Your heavenly Father, in whose presence you read or repeat your forms,
knows how to estimate them, whilst they are offered without any suitable emotions. The
way for you to judge of them is this: set before your eyes a person perishing in the sea, and
supplicating deliverance from his perils; and then compare your feelings with his. His
feelings you can easily conceive: and if yours have no correspondence with them, no such
sense of danger, no such desire of help, no such thankfulness for the efforts used in your
behalf, you have yet to learn the nature of prayer, and yet to begin that work, without
which you must perish in your sins — — —]
But let me not conclude without adding a few words of encouragement—
[It is not improbable that some may be ready to write bitter things against themselves,
because they find sot fluency in prayer. But it is not by our fluency in utterance that God
judges of our prayers, but by the humility of our minds, and the fervour of our desires. A
sigh, or groan, proceeding from a broken and contrite heart, is of more value in his sight,
than the richest effusions of eloquence that ever proceeded from the lips of man. Never was
there a more acceptable prayer offered by mortal man than that of the Publican, “God be
merciful to me a sinner!” Take courage then, ye who are dejected because ye find not such
utterance as ye could wish. “God knoweth the mind of the Spirit:” and it is in sighs and
groans chiefly that “his Spirit maketh intercession in us.” Only let there be a sincerity of

heart before him, and. your very breathings shall be heard, and descend in blessings on
your souls; for “he seeketh such to worship him,” and will fulfil the desire of them that so
approach him. If only you “look to him, you shall be lightened;” and if you hope in him,
you shall assuredly be made partakers of his kingdom and glory.”].

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Bibliography
Simeon, Charles. "Commentary on John 4:24". Charles Simeon's Horae Homileticae.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/shh/john-4.html. 1832.
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Johann Albrecht Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament
John 4:24. πνεῦμα, a Spirit) When God is called a Spirit, we must not merely think of a
Being separate from body and place, but also one having spiritual qualities, truth, wisdom,
holiness, power, etc. To this nature of God ought to correspond our worship: and to the
living God living gifts ought to be offered: Hebrews 9:14, “How much more shall the blood
of Christ, etc., purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” Romans
12:1, “I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” He holds a
profound and striking conversation with an ordinary woman, whom He had scarcely seen.
He did not commit to His disciples more lofty truths.

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Bibliography

Bengel, Johann Albrecht. "Commentary on John 4:24". Johann Albrecht Bengel's
Gnomon of the New Testament. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/jab/john-
4.html. 1897.
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Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible
God is not a corporeal being, made up of blood, and flesh, and bones, having senses as
bodies have, to be pleased with sensible things; but he is a spiritual Being, the Father of
spirits, and requireth a spiritual service proportioned to his being; and therefore those that
pay a religious homage to him, must do it with their spirits, and according to the rule that
he hath prescribed, in truth and reality. This is now the will of God; and though he
required of his people under the law a more ritual, figurative service, yet that is now to
cease; and therefore the woman of Samaria need not trouble herself which was the truest
worship, that at Mount Gerizim, or at Mount Zion, for both of them were very suddenly to
determine, and a new and more substantial spiritual worship was to succeed, to the
learning of the way and method of which she was more to attend, and not to spend her
thoughts about these things which were of no significance, and tended only to minister
questions of no use.

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Poole, Matthew, "Commentary on John 4:24". Matthew Poole's English Annotations on
the Holy Bible. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/mpc/john-4.html. 1685.
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Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges
24. God is spirit (not ‘a spirit’), and must be approached in that part of us which is spirit,
in the true temple of God, ‘which temple ye are.’ The premise was old (1 Kings 8:27); it is
the deduction from it which though necessary (δεῖ) is new. Even to the chosen three Christ
imparts no truths more profound than these. He admits this poor schismatic to the very
fountain-head of religion.

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"Commentary on John 4:24". "Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/cgt/john-4.html. 1896.
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Whedon's Commentary on the Bible
24. God is a Spirit—Herein God and incorporeal man agree—that both are mind,
personality, or spirit. And being of the same nature, they are able to blend and commune,
spirit with spirit, the inferior in worship of the Superior.
In spirit and in truth—No bodily kneelings are sufficient; no ritual, no praying by
machinery; nothing suffices unless our soul by strong grasp apprehends God; unless our
inmost spirit commune with the divine Spirit.
Father seeketh such—As the spirit of the devout worshipper thirsteth after God, so God’s
Spirit thirsteth after, and seeks through all the earth for, the true devout spirit.

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Bibliography
Whedon, Daniel. "Commentary on John 4:24". "Whedon's Commentary on the Bible".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/whe/john-4.html. 1874-1909.
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Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable

The AV has Jesus saying, "God is a spirit." One could infer that He is one spirit among
many. The NASB and NIV have, "God is spirit." The Greek text has no indefinite article

("a"), but it is legitimate to supply one, as is often true in similar anarthrous (without the
article) constructions. However the absence of the article often deliberately stresses the
character to the noun (cf. 1 John 1:5; 1 John 4:8). That seems to have been Jesus" intention
here.

The sense of the passage is that God is spirit as opposed to flesh. He is invisible, divine, and
essentially unknowable. Nevertheless He has chosen to reveal Himself ( John 1:1-18). Since
He is a spiritual rather than a corporeal being, those who worship Him must do so in a
spiritual rather than a material way. A spiritual birth ( John 3:5) is prerequisite for
spiritual worship.

The essential reason worship of God must be spiritual is that God is a spiritual being, not a
physical idol. Worship of a spiritual God requires spiritual worship, not just going through
certain acts of worship at special places of worship. Furthermore, people cannot worship
God in any manner that may seem attractive to them. They must worship Him as He by the
Spirit has revealed we should.

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Constable, Thomas. DD. "Commentary on John 4:24". "Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas
Constable". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/dcc/john-4.html. 2012.
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Schaff's Popular Commentary on the New Testament
John 4:24. God is spirit: and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth. Such
worship as is described in the last verse is the only real worship that can be conceived. This
verse does not say what men must do, in the sense of what men ought to do. It is the nature
of worship in itself that is described. No other worship than that which is offered in spirit

and truth can possibly be actual worship of God (the same idea is here expressed as in the
last clause of John 4:23), because ‘God is spirit.’ We must not render these words ‘God is a
spirit,’ for it is not personality that is spoken of, but abstract being, the nature of the Divine
essence. Since the spiritual presence of God is everywhere, Gerizim and Jerusalem lose all
claim to be the special places for His worship. Not the outward action of the worshipper,
not the forms he uses or the gifts he brings, but his spirit alone can be brought to meet the
spiritual presence of God. Where this is done, God Himself meets the spirit which He has
sought and prepared, and to which He has made known the truth lying at the foundation of
all worship, the truth which reveals Himself. In this wonderful passage are concentrated
many of the most essential truths of New Testament teaching. The historical development
of God’s plan, the preparation for Christianity made by Judaism, the idea of progress from
the outward to the inward, from the sensuous to the spiritual (comp. 1 Corinthians 15:46),
the independence of forms which marks the essence of religion, and yet its freedom to
clothe itself in form so long as the spirit is not lost,—these are the lessons taught here; and
however special the form in which they are presented, they are in perfect accord with the
whole course of New Testament doctrine.—The main principles of these verses would be
understood by the woman to whom our Lord was speaking. But a day in which such
principles should be realised must surely be that for which Samaria as well as Judea was
waiting,—the ‘latter days’ of Messiah’s advent?

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Bibliography
Schaff, Philip. "Commentary on John 4:24". "Schaff's Popular Commentary on the New
Testament". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/scn/john-4.html. 1879-90.
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The Expositor's Greek Testament
John 4:24. The reason of all this is found in the determining statement πνεῦμα ὁ θεός, God
is Spirit. Cf. God is Light; God is Love. The predication involves much; that God is
personal, and much else. But primarily it here indicates that God is not corporeal, and
therefore needs no temple. Rarely is the fundamental fact of God’s spirituality carried to
all its conclusions. Cf. James 1:27; Romans 12:1.

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Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography
Nicol, W. Robertson, M.A., L.L.D. "Commentary on John 4:24". The Expositor's Greek
Testament. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/egt/john-4.html. 1897-1910.
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Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments
John 4:24. God is a Spirit. &c. — “As a further answer to the woman’s question, our Lord
delivered a doctrine which may justly be called his own, as it exhibits an idea of God, and
of the worship which is due to him, far more sublime than the best things said by the
philosophers on that subject.” Christ came to declare God to us, and this he has declared
concerning him, that he is a Spirit, and he declared it to this poor Samaritan woman, for
the meanest are concerned to know God; and with this design, to rectify her mistakes
concerning religious worship, to which nothing could contribute more than the right
knowledge of God. 1st, God is a Spirit, for he is an infinite and eternal mind; an intelligent
being, yea, the supreme Intelligence, who by one act sees the thoughts of all other
intelligences whatever, and so may be worshipped in every place; he is incorporeal,
immaterial, invisible, and incorruptible: for it is easier to say what he is not than what he
is. If God were not a Spirit, he could not be perfect, nor infinite, nor eternal, nor
independent, nor the Father of spirits. Now, 2d, on this spirituality of the divine nature is
founded the necessity of the spirituality of divine worship; for the worship of God must
partake of his nature: as his nature is spiritual, his worship, to be acceptable, must be so
likewise. If we do not worship God, who is a Spirit, in spirit, we neither give him the glory
due to his name, and so do not perform a real and proper act of worship, nor can we hope
to attain his favour, and acceptance with him, and so we miss the end of worship. The
exercise of faith and love, therefore, and of other graces, must constitute the true spiritual
worship which we owe to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and which cannot
but be acceptable to him, wherever it is offered, in whatever place, and by whatever
person.

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Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.

Bibliography
Benson, Joseph. "Commentary on John 4:24". Joseph Benson's Commentary.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/rbc/john-4.html. 1857.
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E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes
God. See App-98., with Art. Contrast John 1:1.
a Spirit = spirit: i.e. not flesh, or material substance. Not "a" Spirit.
must. Note this absolute condition. Compare John 4:4; John 3:7, John 3:14, John 3:30;
John 9:4; John 10:16; John 12:34; John 20:9, &c.

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Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography
Bullinger, Ethelbert William. "Commentary on John 4:24". "E.W. Bullinger's Companion
bible Notes". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bul/john-4.html. 1909-1922.
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Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Unabridged
God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
God is a spirit: and they that worship him must worship [him] in spirit and [in] truth. 'As
God is a Spirit, so He both invites and demands a spiritual worship, and already all is in
preparation for a spiritual economy, more in harmony with the true nature of acceptable
service than the ceremonial worship by consecrated persons, places, and times, which God
for a time has seen meet to keep up until the fullness of the time should come.'

Copyright Statement
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Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.

Bibliography
Jamieson, Robert, D.D.; Fausset, A. R.; Brown, David. "Commentary on John 4:24".
"Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Unabridged".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/jfu/john-4.html. 1871-8.
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The Bible Study New Testament
God is Spirit. Not "a" spirit, but Spirit! God is not material, therefore needs no temple
constructed by human hands.

Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Bibliography
Ice, Rhoderick D. "Commentary on John 4:24". "The Bible Study New Testament".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/ice/john-4.html. College Press, Joplin, MO.
1974.
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Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(24) God is a Spirit.—Better, God is spirit. His will has been expressed in the seeking. But
His very nature and essence is spirit, and it follows from this that all true worship must be
spiritual. The appeal is here made to a doctrine of special prominence in the Samaritan
theology. They had altered a number of passages in the Pentateuch, which seemed to them
to speak of God in language properly applicable to man, and to ascribe to Him human
form and feelings. But to believe in the spiritual essence of God contained its own answer
both as to place and mode of worship.
The second “Him” (“they that worship Him”) should be omitted, as the italics show.

Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.

Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography
Ellicott, Charles John. "Commentary on John 4:24". "Ellicott's Commentary for English
Readers". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/ebc/john-4.html. 1905.
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Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

a Spirit
2 Corinthians 3:17; 1 Timothy 1:17
must
1 Samuel 16:7; Psalms 50:13-15,23; 51:17; 66:18; Isaiah 57:15; Matthew 15:8,9; 2
Corinthians 1:12

Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography
Torrey, R. A. "Commentary on John 4:24". "The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/tsk/john-4.html.
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Ver. 24. "God is Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in
truth."
The most direct Old Testament parallel to "God is Spirit," is Isaiah 31:3, "The Egyptians
are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit." Here, to be God, and to be
spirit (not a spirit, though the thought is not essentially altered by this translation), appear
to be inseparably connected. Quesnel remarks: "A spirit and a heart which are consecrated

to God by a living faith, a sincere worship and humiliation before His greatness, an
absolute subjection to and dependence on His will, a lively gratitude for His goodness and
His benefits, and a burning zeal for His honour: this is the sacrifice which is worthy (so far
as a creature can be worthy) of this eternal and infinite Spirit, and this absolutely holy and
immutable will, which is God Himself. Without this sacrifice of the spirit and the heart by
love, the outward offering which should be its sign, the effect and copy of it, is an empty
sign, a deceitful image, a Jewish sacrifice."
It scarcely needs remark, that the present declaration of Christ is directed against the
externals of worship, only in so far as these lay claim to an independent significance. If we
should extend it farther, we should not promote, but destroy the worship of God in spirit
and in truth; for man, as a corporeal as well as spiritual being, needs the external to lead
him to the spiritual, and the spiritual life must be stunted if this support be withdrawn. Yet
from the declaration of our text we derive the rule, that all accumulation of externals in
worship, which so easily overmaster instead of stimulating the spirit, are to be avoided."

PRECEPTAUSTIN.ORG RESOURCES

BARCLAY
"In a false worship we may detect three faults.
(i) A false worship is a selective worship. It chooses what it wishes to know about God and
omits the rest. The Samaritans took as much of scripture as they wished and paid no
attention to the rest. One of the most dangerous things in the world is a one-sided religion.
It is very easy for a man to accept and hold such parts of God's truth as suit him and to
disregard the remainder. We have seen, for instance, how certain thinkers and churchmen
and politicians justify apartheid and racial segregation by appeal to certain parts of
scripture, while they conveniently forget the far greater parts which forbid it.
A minister in a great city organized a petition to help a man who had been condemned for a
certain crime. It seemed to him that this was a case where Christian mercy ought to
operate. His telephone bell rang, and a woman's voice said to him: "I am astonished that
you, a minister, should be lending your weight to this petition for mercy." "Why should
you be surprised?" he asked. The voice said: "I suppose you know your Bible ... .. I hope
so," he said. "Then," said the voice, "are you not aware that the Bible says, 'An eye for an

eye and a tooth for a tooth'?" Here was a woman who took the part of the Bible which
suited her argument and forgot the great merciful teaching of Jesus in the Sermon on the
Mount.
We would do well to remember that, although no man will ever grasp the whole orb of
truth, it is total truth that we should aim at, not the snatching at fragments which happen
to suit ourselves and our own position.
(ii) A false worship is an ignorant worship. Worship ought to be the approach to God of the
whole man. A man has a mind and he has a duty to exercise it. Religion may begin with an
emotional response; but the time comes when that emotional response has to be thought
out. E. F. Scott said that religion is far more than merely the strenuous exercise of the
intellect, but that nonetheless a very great part of religious failure is due to nothing other
than intellectual sloth. To fail to think things out is in itself a sin. In the last analysis,
religion is never safe until a man can tell, not only what he believes, but why he believes it.
Religion is hope, but it is hope with reason behind it (1 Peter 3:15).
(iii) A false worship is a superstitious worship. It is a worship given, not out of a sense of
need nor out of any real desire, but basically because a man feels that it might be
dangerous not to give it. Many a person will refuse to walk beneath a ladder; many a
person will have a pleased feeling when a black cat crosses his path; many a person will
pick up a pin with the idea that good luck will follow; many a person will have an
uncomfortable feeling when he is one of thirteen sitting at a table. He does not believe in
these superstitions, but he has the feeling that there might be something in them and he had
better play safe. There are many people whose religion is founded on a kind of vague fear
of what might happen if they leave God out of the reckoning. But real religion is founded
not on fear but on the love of God and gratitude for what God has done. Too much religion
is a kind of superstitious ritual to avert the possible wrath of the unpredictable gods.
Jesus pointed to the true worship. God, he said, is spirit. Immediately a man grasps that, a
new flood-light breaks over him. If God is spirit, God is not confined to things; and
therefore idol worship is not only an irrelevancy, it is an insult to the very nature of God. If
God is spirit, God is not confined to places; and therefore to limit the worship of God to
Jerusalem or to any other spot is to set a limit to that which by its nature overpasses all
limits. If God is spirit, a man's gifts to God must be gifts of the spirit. Animal sacrifices and
all man-made things become inadequate. The only gifts that befit the nature of God are the
gifts of the spirit--love, loyalty, obedience, devotion.
A man's spirit is the highest part of him. That is the part which lasts when the physical part
has vanished. That is the part which dreams the dreams and sees the visions which, because
of the weakness and faultiness of the body, may never be carried out. It is the spirit of a
man which is the source of his highest dreams and thoughts and ideals and desires. The

true worship is when man, through his spirit, attains to friendship and intimacy with God.
Genuine worship does not consist in coming to a certain place nor in going through a
certain ritual or liturgy nor even in bringing certain gifts. True worship is when the spirit,
the immortal and invisible part of man, speaks to and meets with God, himself immortal
and invisible."

CHRIS BENFIELD
Worship in Spirit and in Truth
John 4: 19-24
This is a portion of a very familiar passage of Scripture. I’m sure that most of us have
heard the account of the woman at the well many times. She was a woman that was
shunned and rejected by those who knew her. She was an outcast of society due to the
promiscuous lifestyle that she lived. But her destiny was about to change as she met Jesus
who gave her living water that she might never thirst again. Every time I read this passage,
I rejoice for the day that Jesus must needs come by my way. I too was thirsty for the water
that only Jesus could give.
There is a beautiful lesson regarding salvation in the text, but we can also learn much
about worship. Jesus taught the Samaritan woman much concerning worship as He talked
with her by the well. Jesus spoke of two different and very distinct types of worship. I want
to preach on the thought: Worship in Spirit and in Truth. Let’s consider the two types of
worship Jesus spoke of.

I. Religious Worship – This is a type of worship that was very prevalent in Jesus’ day and it
remains prevalent in our day as well. Much of the worship in our day falls under this
category. Let’s look at what it consists of. It is:

A. Worship that is Earnest (20) – Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say,
that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. The Samaritan woman revealed
that their fathers had worshipped upon a particular mountain. They had been very sincere
in their worship. They had been faithful to worship God in a particular place. She seemed
to have a sense of pride in the fact that generations of Samaritans had been faithful unto
worshipping God.

rship and
are deeply committed to that worship. There are a lot of people who are sincere in their
worship. They clearly possess a form of religion that they take great pride in. It is a very
important part of their lives.

with sincerely religious people, those who were earnest in their
religion and all of its traditions. Religious worship cannot save. You could attend a
religious service every day you live and still die lost in sin.

B. Worship that is Established (20) – She was not involved in some new age movement. She
was influenced and involved by worship that had been established for generations. She was
worshipping the same way that her fathers had for generations. There was no doubt in her
mind that she was right in her approach to worship. The Samaritans had an established
form of religion, one that she had embraced and held to.
the world. There are those who are worshipping the same way that their fathers have for
thousands of years. They hold firmly to the same traditions and rituals that their worship
has always demanded. They have not deviated from it in the least.

has been established and has endured for
hundreds or thousands of years does not make it right in the eyes of God. Men can be
sincere in their worship and yet be sincerely wrong. Just because generations have
embraced a form of religion does not guarantee that it is approved of God.

biblical basis. Often these traditions are harder to move away from than fundamental
doctrine. Folks are often unwilling to change in their worship simply because that is the
way they have always done it. What if it has been done wrong for years? We must not
become slaves to tradition and man-made rituals or formalities. Our worship should be
dictated of God.

C. Worship that is Empty (22a) – Ye worship ye know not what. Jesus revealed that all she
possessed was an empty form of vain religion. She was faithful to go through the motions

and attend a religious service, but she had no idea why she did those things. She
worshipped simply because of tradition. It was of no benefit to her spiritually.
faithful to a form of worship, but there is no help for their souls. They attend service after
service and leave as empty as they came. Worship to them is an exercise rather than an
experience.

going through the motions. I want to know that I have been in the presence of God. I want
to find nourishment and help for my soul. Genuine worship unto the true and living God is
the only worship that can supply that. If your worship is empty, it isn’t the Lord’s fault.

I. Religious Worship

II. Righteous Worship – After Jesus spoke of religious worship, He then turned His
attention to genuine worship, righteous worship. This is the type of worship that we need to
engage in. Let’s look at its elements.

A. The Place of Worship (20-21) – V.21 – Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the
hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the
Father. The Samaritan woman was focused on the mountain as the only place of worship.
She believed that if she did not worship there, then she couldn’t worship. Jesus revealed
that there was coming a time when men would neither worship in that mountain or in
Jerusalem. He was eluding to the cross and the sacrifice that would be made for the sins of
mankind.
, the veil of separation was rent in twain. Men no longer
have to go to the temple in order to seek the presence of the Lord and worship Him. Our
worship is not defined by a particular place, but rather the condition of the heart. It is good
to worship at the house of God, but this is not the only place we can worship!

B. The Person of Worship (21) – Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour
cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
She had spoken much of the mountain, her fathers, the differences in Jews and Samaritans,
and even worship, but she had not mentioned the object of her worship. Jesus wanted her
to realize that her perception of worship was a distorted one. All of the things she placed
emphasis on were actually her idols. These were not the things that deserved her worship.
Worship is reserved for God and Him alone.
church whom it is we worship, I know that the answer would be overwhelmingly that we
worship Jesus. But, do we really worship Him? Is Jesus the object of our worship services?
Have we come today to honor and worship Him as the Lord and Savior of our lives?

to worship? Men often worship traditions, buildings, programs, and even people rather
than the Lord. Jesus is why we are here!

C. The Principle of Worship (22) – Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we
worship: for salvation is of the Jews. Here Jesus revealed a sad truth to this woman. She
didn’t even know what it was that she worshipped. The only reason that she had religion
was because of her fathers and their traditions. She thought she was worshipping God, but
there can be no real worship apart from salvation.
to all through the Jews. He was simply saying to her that one must know Him if they are to
worship.

worship. The principle that Jesus spoke of has not changed; it never has and it never will.
If we are not born again, we cannot worship God. You may come and sit on a pew in a
Baptist church all your life, but if you are not saved then you cannot worship the Lord.
There must be a personal relationship with Jesus if we are to worship Him.
of folks never achieve worship. They can’t. They have
never been saved. Just being a church member and attending a worship service does not
make you right with God and able to worship Him.

D. The Provision of Worship (23a) – But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true
worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth:
This was very early in Jesus’ ministry and He was already looking to the cross. He was
looking forward to the time when He would give Himself as a sacrifice for man’s sin. That
is why He came to this earth.
atone. Jesus had come to fulfill the law and bring salvation to humanity. He would rid the
veil of separation; through His blood the saved have access to the throne of God.

He is the only way to God. All who were ever saved have come by and through the blood.
The OT saints were saved by His blood; they looked forward to Calvary. We are saved by
His blood, looking back to Calvary. Had Jesus not died for our sin, we would still be dead
in that sin. I can worship because I belong to Him.

E. The Presence of Worship (23-24) – 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. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in
truth. Here Jesus further confirms that worship is not reserved to a particular place; it is
not achieved through rituals, formalities, or genealogies. Those who worship the Lord must
worship in spirit and in truth. We must worship the Lord with a pure spirit, a heart that is
right toward Him.
We must see ourselves as worthless and undone without Him. Worship can’t be achieved
without the proper presence.

truth. They live their lives as they
please, never dealing with sin. They go throughout each week and never give any thought
to the Lord. There is resentment and discord with others. Their hearts are not right with
God and yet they come to the house of God and expect to worship just because they are
here.

Our hearts must be right with God. Worship is not based on the outward actions; it is
achieved through an inward devotion to the Lord.

F. The Passion of Worship (23b) – for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. Isn’t that a
blessing and a challenge to our hearts? God seeks those who will worship Him. Jesus
desired this Samaritan woman to worship and He desires that we worship also. The Lord is
seeking those right now who will worship Him.
return? There is no way that we could work out or earn our salvation, but we can return
our praise and worship to the Lord who saved us. We can live holy lives so that we are able
to worship when we gather in His house. I stand amazed that the Lord desires anything
from me, but I want to be in a position to give Him what He desires!

This has been a challenge concerning our worship. We need to be reminded of the
dangers of religious worship. We need to learn to achieve and offer righteous worship. How
is it with you today? Is all well with your soul? Can you worship the Lord in spirit and in
truth? Do you know Him as your personal Savior? If not you can. Why not come before
Him today?

ALAN CARR
EXPERIENCING GOD THROUGH PRIVATE WORSHIP
Intro: Ill. The context of this story. As Jesus ministers to this woman, she finds herself
under deep conviction of her sins. She realizes that she has a desperate need to get right
with the Lord and that she needs a time of personal worship in her life. She perceives that
Jesus is a prophet and supposes that He might be able to help her understand when, where
and how she should approach God. Although her intentions were admirable, her concept of
worship was flawed. She, like millions of other, thought that worship had to take place in a
certain place, at a certain time and in a certain manner. However, Jesus clears up her
misunderstanding and at the same time shares one of his greatest truths with her. He
teaches her that genuine worship cannot be relegated and isolated to a single place or to
some process or the other.

Many people have that idea about worship. Some people feel that worship is something you
do in church and that it can only be done there. Some think that worship is going to a
church and sitting quietly while religious exercises are conducted. That concept is about a
million miles from the truth! Others see worship as a time of good singing, preaching,
testifying and shouting. You hear statements like, "Man, we really worshiped last Sunday!
Why, our preacher didn't even get to preach!" They may have had a great time, but was
there genuine worship that took place? Someone else may remark, "Our service Sunday
was so sublime. The Minster's words were so touching, everyone left the service uplifted
and encouraged." Again, they may have been blessed, but was there genuine worship?
Let me remind you today that everyone worships! It is as natural for man to worship as it
is for him to breath. Mankind will find an object to direct his worship toward. Even the
atheist worships, he just directs his adoration toward himself. For the Christian, worship is
vitally important. Worship is to the believer what an engine is to a car or what a
mainspring in to a watch. Worship is an absolutely indispensable part of the Christian
experience.
Our great need then, is to discover what genuine personal worship involves, so that we
might be able to experience God and His fullness in our lives. To do this, we must try and
get a handle on this thing called worship.
What is worship? That is a good question to ask, but if 100 people were asked what
worship is, there would be just about as many answers. Ask a Pentecostal, a Roman
Catholic and a Baptist and you will get three distinct answers. William Temple defines
worship this way, "To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed
the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the
heart to the love of God, and to devote the will to the purpose of God." That is a good
working definition of worship.
The word worship comes from the old Anglo-Saxon word "worthship". It literally mens to
attribute or ascribe worth to some one. It carries the idea of declaring the object of worship
as being worthy of honor. The Greek word in the New Testament that is most often
translated "worship" in the word "proskuneo." This word means to "kiss the hand to one
in a token of reverence, also by kneeling or prostration to pay homage." The second most
common word is "sebomai", this word means "to revere". Other words are used, but these
are sufficient to teach us that the Bible sees worship as an act of honoring God because of
His great worthiness to be honored.
With these thoughts in mind, let's spend some time in this passage as our Lord reveals
some great, fundamental truths about this matter of worship. Because, in the end, it will
not matter what we think about genuine worship, all that will matter is what the Lord says
in His Word.

I. V. 24 GENUINE WORSHIP MUST COINCIDE WITH THE NATURE OF GOD
A. In this verse, Jesus reveals the truth that God is Spirit. That is, God does not have a
physical substance as we perceive it. He is a Being Who transcends the physical world with
all of its limitations. God is Spirit. As a result, any worship that is to reach God must
therefore be spiritual in nature. The rituals and practices of the flesh will not suffice to
produce spiritual worship that is acceptable in the sight o the Lord.
B. We can find several instances of worship in the Bible that were spiritual in nature.
1. There is the Worship of Repentance - 2 Sam. 12:20. David lost his son as chastisement
for his sin with Bathsheba. Instead of rebelling against the hand of the Lord in his life,
David repented un der the lash and worshiped the Lord. He wasn't angry with God, but it
would seem that his heart was repentant and his life changed. Perhaps this event was the
catalyst that brought Psalms 51 ans 32 into existence. This is a worship that is consistent
with the omnipotent nature of God, 2 Sam. 12:23. This is a true example of genuine
spiritual worship.
2. There is the Worship of Submission - Job 1:20. Job has just received word that his
children, along with all his earthly possessions and wealth are gone. Instead of fighting
against the Lord in rebellion, Job displays all the classic signs of mourning, but he also falls
down before the Lord and worships him. He submits to God's plan for his life even though
he doesn't like it or understand it. Yet, his is a worship that is conformed to the nature of
God. Job knew Rom. 8:28 in his heart. This is spiritual worship at its highest plain. This
kind of worship does not come from some fleshly ritual, but from a heart overflowing with
love for the Lord.
3. There is the Worship of Devotion - Gen. 22:1-18, esp. v. 5. Abraham has been asked by
God to take his beloved son Isaac to Mt. Moriah and offer him up as a sacrifice to the Lord.
Abraham does not question God's command, but willingly goes to do as the Lord has said.
It is worthy to note that verse 5 shows Abraham as a man on the way to worship not, not a
man who is about to slay his son. Abraham pictures for us the great truth that personal
worship may be a costly thing, but that genuine devotion to the Lord overshadows that and
produces a willingness in the worshiper to pay the price to participate in worship of such a
great God.
C. These are merely three instances. Others could be mentioned, but these are sufficient to
teach us the truth that genuine worship of God must be an absolutely spiritual practice.
Did you note that in each of these three events, the flesh and its desires were placed on the
back burner? The worshiper was more interested in doing the will of the Lord from the
heart than in gratifying the flesh. And that, is the true essence of spiritual worship. It
comes from the spirit of man and ascends to God. It ascribes worth to in spite of personal
feelings, fleshly ambitions, or personal desires. It has the glory of God as its highest aim.

I. Genuine Worship Must Coincide With The Nature Of God
II. V. 24 GENUINE WORSHIP MUST BE CENTERED IN THE SPIRIT
A. In conversing with this woman, Jesus tells her that those who worship God must do so in
"spirit." Genuine worship of God is not the fleshly displays we sometimes call worship.
Though worship may indeed manifest itself in vocal and visible forms. (Ill. David - He
worshiped the Lord in two distinct manners, and both were perfectly acceptable to the
Lord. First, he danced before the Lord with passionate zeal, 2 Sam. 6:14-16, then he sat
before the Lord in humbled amazement, 2 Sam. 7:18. Simply stated, you can't tell how
much gas in the tank by how loud the horn honks!) Essentially, worship is a spiritual
matter. Worship, instead of being an event that happens externally, always begins
internally, within the spirit of man.
(Ill. Genuine worship from the spirit can be said to be:
1. Worshiping God with the entire spiritual drive and ability of the soul, seeking the most
intimate fellowship and communion with Him.
2. Worshiping God with the spiritual core of one's being, trusting and resting on God's
love, acceptance and care.)
B. How then, can a person develop a worshiping spirit? What is required for us to enter
into this kind of spiritual realm where we are actively seeking God in fellowship and
worship? There are 5 great realties that must be in place for you and me to be able to
worship in spirit.
1. We Must Be Born Again - Authentic worship of God can only be found in a relationship
with the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is the first step in developing a worshipful spirit. The
only access that any person has to the Father is through the Son - 1 Tim. 2:5.
2. We Must Be Yielded To The Holy Spirit - All genuine worship of God is the work of the
Holy Spirit is the spirit of the believer. Who knows Lord better than His Holy Ghost - 1
Cor. 2:11? Therefore, as the believer yields to the influence of the Spirit of God in his life,
worship will be the result. Worship that is not motivated and directed by the Holy Spirit
will be flawed at best and blasphemous at worst. The Holy Spirit must lead in worship!
3. Our Thoughts Must Be Centered On God - Worship is the natural outflow of a mind
filled with and renewed by God's truth. We call this process of centering one's thoughts on
the Lord meditation. Now, there is a lot of confusion as to what meditation is. To meditate
is to simply focus the entire mind on one subject, concentrating reason, imagination and
emotion on one reality. The heart and goal of meditation is the discovery of truth. As we
meditate on the Word of God we will discover more about Him. As our mind is filled with

His glory as revealed in His Word, this will naturally overflow in genuine worship of the
Lord God.
(Ill. I am not promoting some metaphysical, mystical kind of meditation. What I am
promoting is old fashioned prayer and study of the Word of God. You may call it a quiet
time or you may refer to it as devotions, but the goal should be the same. We must all have
a time set aside when we get alone with God to meditate on His truth and talk to him in
prayer.)
(Ill. Spurgeon said this about the matter of a private devotional time, "Why is it that some
are often in the place of worship and yet they are not holy? It is because they neglect their
closets. They love the wheat, but they do not grind it; they would have the corn but they
will not go forth into the field to gather it; the fruit hangs on the tree but they will not pluck
it; and the water flows at their feet but they'll not stoop to drink it.")
(Ill. Sounds like us doesn't it? We get so busy doing the things that we see as being urgent
and we take no time for the one thing that is really important. That thing is spending time
at the Savior's feet - Luke 10:42. If it was necessary for Jesus to take time to be alone with
the Father, how much more do you and I need those times of meditative solitude? Mark
1:35; Mark 6:46; Luke 4:42; Luke 6:12; Luke 22:39-46. It is virtually impossible to center
the thoughts on the Lord unless we are willing to fill our minds with His thoughts on a
regular basis. David hit the nail on the head when he described the desire he possessed in
his heart to be near the Lord, Psa.42:1. This is the all consuming love that should fill every
heart today. There must be nothing that is allowed to eclipse the Lord in our lives. Do you
have a regular, structured time set aside to meet with the Lord? If not, I would suggest that
you make that a priority in your life when you return home. It is good to come apart and
meet with the Lord in a retreat setting, but you need to remember that when you return
home, the arrows will still be flying, the valleys will still be wide and the canyons dark and
gloomy. You will need the Lord and the way to have Him draw closer is to draw closer
yourself!)
(Ill. Peter Wagner surveyed 572 pastors across America to find out about their prayer life.
The average amount of time these pastors spent in prayer each day is 22 minutes. (This is
actual prayer--not studying the Scriptures, reading devotional books, or listening to
worship tapes.) He found that 57% pray less than 20 minutes daily. One in three (34%)
spend between 20 minutes and one hour in prayer, but only 9% pray for an hour or longer
every day. -Ministries Today, Nov/Dec 1992 )
(Ill. He only way to overcome this is by a system of "Planned Neglect". By that, I mean that
we need to place our private time with the Lord above everything else and then do what is
left after we have met with the Lord. He must come first!)

4. We Must Have An Undivided Heart - God, and God alone must be the focal point of our
worship. We must ever guard against the temptation to allow the Lord to be crowded out
by thoughts of a million other things.
(Ill. It is easy to allow the mind to wander, but we must learn to have a heart that is as
David said "fixed", Psa. 108:1.)
5. We Must Have A Repentant Heart - Just as worship involves all these other things, it
also involves the concepts of cleansing, purging, purifying, confession and repenting. The
only person who can enter into the presence of a thrice holy God is that person who's sins
have been taken care of. It is absolutely essential for the child of God to allow the Holy
Spirit to shine the spotlight of God's truth into all the deep, dark and hidden recesses of the
heart. We all have dark spots and hidden sins and areas of impurity. We all have
deficiencies about which only God knows. Only when every nook and cranny of our lives
has been cleansed and the sin done away with can we there be a closeness with the Lord. He
promised that He would draw night to us when we drew nigh to Him, James 4:8. This
cannot happen until the sin has been purged. Sin hinders the flow of spiritual things
between God and man, Psa. 66:18, and therefore must be dealt with.
C. When all these things are in place in our lives, then we can enjoy the depths of genuine
spiritual worship. By the way, our public worship is absolutely dependent upon what we
are and do in private. Until we learn to experience God through private, spiritual worship,
we can never hope to worship Him in a corporate sense.
(Ill. "Public worship is only the manifestation of private worship. The reason our public
services are dead is that our private devotional life is dead. The `quick fix' of injecting
more upbeat music into our services may seem to solve the problem, but we have ignored
the disease that will destroy us, unless we seek God's cure. Our church congregations fail to
sing with conviction because the song isn't in their hearts before they come to the service."-
-Tim Fisher)
I. Genuine Worship Must Coincide With The Nature Of God
II. Genuine Worship Must Be Centered In The Spirit
III. V. 24 GENUINE WORSHIP MUST BE CONSTITUTED UPON THE REALITY OF
WHO GOD IS
A. Just as Jesus told this woman that true worship arises out of the spirit, He also said that
true worship must be practiced in truth. This tells us that our worship of God must be built
upon a knowledge of Who He is, and that He must be approached through the true path
and that He must be worshiped from a true heart.

B. As time is spent in the Word of God meditating and learning more about God, the spirit
is filled to overflowing. The truth about Him wells up in the spirit of the believer and
worship then ensues. You see, the spirit is the subjective factor in worship, while truth is
the objective factor. Truth is the catalyst for all genuine worship.
(Ill. We cannot ascribe true honor to one about whom we know nothing! It is only as we
learn more about the Lord and about His greatness, about His grace, about His mercy and
His love, etc. that we can truly lift up genuine worship unto Him. Therefore, a systematic
exposition of the Word of God is necessary to uncover the truth about God thereby
prompting the spirit to burst out in worship. As important as this is in the assembly of the
church, its importance can never be over stated in the private worship life of the believer.
As we experience God in His Word and learn more about Him, we find ever increasing
reason to bow before Him in worship.)
C. To put is very simply, worship is an expression of praise from the heart, toward a God
Who is understood as He is truly revealed. Worship is receiving revelation about God and
then rendering back homage for His greatness and His glory. The essential nature of
worship is to offer God adoration from our inner beings in praise, prayer, song, giving and
living always based upon His revealed truth.
(If there is a doubt as to the worthiness of the Lord to receive worship, consider all the
wonderful things He has done for us. Think of salvation, grace, love, mercy, His Son, the
Spirit of God, the Church, the Bible and so on. God has given us plenty of good reasons to
worship and adore Him.)
I. Genuine Worship Must Coincide With The Nature Of God
II. Genuine Worship Must Be Centered In The Spirit
III. Genuine Worship Must Be Constituted Upon The Reality Of Who God Is
IV. V. 23 GENUINE WORSHIP MUST BE CONCERNED WITH THE GLORY OF GOD
A. The Lord tells the Samaritan woman that God the Father is actively looking for those
who will worship Him. The word "seeketh" is present tense and comes from a word that
can mean "to crave." It is my conviction that we cannot give the Lord very many things
that will be acceptable to Him, but genuine worship that is in spirit and in truth is one of
those things that God desires, and yes, even craves. Therefore, when God gets what He
wants, then He is glorified!
B. That, my friends, is the chief end of man and ought to be the desire of every child of God
this morning, 1 Cor. 10:31. How does our private worship glorify God? Because a life that
is totally and absolutely devoted to the Lord and His glory.

(Ill. As I prayed and thought about what I would say down here today, I began to wonder
just how much I actually knew about this matter of private worship. So, I began to read the
Bible and to meditate on this matter and the Lord taught me something that you may or
may not agree with, but it is something nonetheless that I think is true and relevant. What
do think is the highest form of worship that can be rendered to the Lord? Certainly it
would be that act which would bring Him the most glory, right? OK, if that is true, then
what can you and I do personally and privately as an act of worship that will glorify God in
a big way? I think the answer can be found in John 15:1-11. In these verses, Jesus talks
about the relationship between Himself and His children. He tells us that without Him, we
are totally helpless, but with Him, we are strong in the Lord. Now, to me, the highest form
of worship I can render to God is to simply abide in Him. That's right! When we just cease
from self and totally yield every aspect of life to the control of the Lord, then we are in a
position to glorify Him. I think our highest worship is found in abiding in the Lord. How do
we abide? By spending time with Him in His Word and in prayer. We abide by worshiping!
You see, worship is not something we do, it is what we are! Worship is all that we are
reacting to all that He is! Worship is to be the main activity of every believer's life - Col.
3:17. What I am trying to say is that you don't go to worship, you are to be worship. Every
facet of you life is to exude worship to the glory of God. Every second we live in this world
is to be an act of sublime worship before the Lord. When we are truly abiding in the Vine,
when we are drawing every ounce of strength from Him, when we are totally dependent
upon Him for everything we do, have, are and ever hope to be, then we are in a position to
glorify the Lord. It is my contention that our lives ought to summed up in one word -
WORSHIP! I think that was Paul's Idea when he told us that we were to present our bodies
a living sacrifice, Rom. 12:1.)
C. When this is true in your life and mine, God will be glorified, we will be true worshipers
of the Lord Jesus Christ and even our public worship will be profoundly affected. You see,
whether we realize it or not, we are responsible to the church to maintain a lifestyle of
consistent, acceptable worship before the Lord. When we do, God will be glorified in some
very profound ways. His church will be edified, believers will be purified, and the lost will
be evangelized. Private worship, when it is practiced in a manner consistent with the Word
of God, has the power to change all of life!
(Ill. Everything about us should communicate the truth that we have been with Him! Dr.
Charles Weigle composed many lovely hymns and gospel songs, among them the favorite
"No One Ever Cared for Me Like Jesus." One day he visited Pasadena, California. Early
that morning he had an opportunity to walk through some of the famous rose gardens
when the full fragrance of the flowers filled the air. Later in the day he arrived at the hotel
where a Bible conference was being held. As he took his seat a man turned to him and said,
"Dr. Weigle, I know where you've been. You toured one of our lovely gardens, for I can
smell the pleasing aroma on your clothing." Weigle replied, "Yes, that's right. Several

others have told me the same thing. Their comments reminded me of Acts 4:13. My prayer
is that I may walk so closely with the Lord that the fragrance of His grace will pervade my
being. I want them to know by my words, actions, and songs that I have been with Jesus." )
Conclusion: As I try to bring the thoughts together, I feel as though I have given a
dissertation on worship rather than just the private aspect of it. However, worship, even in
the public arena is something between an individual and the Lord. Therefore, all worship is
in essence private! Now with that in mind, I would like to conclude with a checklist of sorts
whereby one can gage his readiness to worship.
This list was given to us by the writer of Hebrews and is found in Hebrews 10:22. There are
four basic conditions that stand as a litmus test of our readiness for worship. They are:
1. Sincerity - A mind and a life given over totally to the Lord.
2. Fidelity - Worshiping according to the truth that faith alone is the ground for acceptance
by the Lord.
3. Humility - We can come before the Lord confidently, in full assurance of faith, Heb.
4:14-16, but we must also some humbly, knowing that we have no right to worship Him
apart from the power of the cleansing blood of Jesus.
4. Purity - Not a literal bath, but a consistent lifestyle of confession and repentance.
On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the lowest and 10 the highest, how would you honestly
rate your private worship? Do you need work in this area? I know I do! I would suggest
that all those who feel lead of the Lord should come forward just now and let's seek His
face. Let's take a few minutes to reflect on everything we have heard and let's rediscover
the value of personal, private worship."

ALAN CARR
We talk about worship in our churches. We encourage worship in our churches. We
believe we worship when we come into our churches. Sometimes we actually do!
We want to try and determine what biblical worship is and what it is not. Things like
singing, preaching, going to church and praying are not by themselves worship. They may
serve to stimulate worship, and they may be carried out in a spirit of worship, but they are
not worship in and of themselves. So, if these things that we all believe to be worship are
not really worship, then what is it? That is a good question, and that is the question I hope
to answer with this series of sermons.

We are going to spend the next several Sunday evenings studying the important topic
of biblical worship. I want to share with you a series of messages I have entitled Biblical
Worship: What It Is And Why It Matters. I would like for us to get a handle on the true
nature of biblical worship. I want us to come to understand the nature true biblical
worship. I want us to see why true biblical worship matters. I want us to understand how
we can become involved in true biblical worship.

John 4:20-30
THE SYNOPSIS OF
BIBLICAL WORSHIP
Intro: This is a familiar text. Ill. The Context. We looked at it in detail a few weeks ago.
There is no way that we can adequately preach on a topic like worship in one or two
sermons. So, I want to begin our journey with a message I am calling The Synopsis Of
Biblical Worship. Rather than park in one place and preach from one text as is my usual
habit, I want to call your attention to several passages that speak to the matter of worship.
I want to give you a synopsis, a general summary, of what worship is.
In our text, I want to call your attention to the Word “worship”. It appears in this text,
in some form, eight times. Each time it appears in this passage, it translates the Greek word
“proskuneo”. This word literally means “to kiss toward”.
It is used of the ancient tradition of a person kissing the hand of a superior. A person
would bow to the ground, bow the head and kiss the hand of one who was superior to him.
It was also used in the sense of “bowing down, or prostrating oneself.” A person would
bow before a superior with a sense of honor, respect, awe, reverence and homage.
It is also used to speak of a dog licking his master’s hand. That is an image of trust,
respect and honor.
Our English word “worship” comes from the old Anglo-Saxon word “weorthscipe”. It
refers to giving someone their “worth”. When it comes to God, it means that we ascribe to
God His worth. It means that we state and affirm His supreme value and glory.
When we apply these images to our relationship with God, it simply means that we
humble ourselves and give glory, honor, reverence, awe, respect and homage to God. It
means that we recognize His vastly superior standing and we humble ourselves before Him
and give glory to Him.

Thus, worship is giving. Essentially, it is giving honor and respect to God. Hopefully,
that is the reason we have gathered in this place. We are not here to honor the preacher,
the singers, the church or our traditions. We are here to humble ourselves before our great
God and give Him the glory He deserves. So, we should not come to church “to get a
blessing”. We should come before God daily, whether it is here, at home or wherever, to
give glory, honor, respect, and reverence to the Lord God Almighty.
There are over 87 Hebrew and Greek words that are used to describe the concepts of
praise and worship. There are over 600 references to praise and worship in the Bible.
Obviously, we will not have the time to consider all of them, but we will try to hit the high
spots as we move along.
Worship literally fills the pages of Scripture. In the book of Genesis, Adam and Eve
fell into sin because they worshiped self instead of God. The book of Revelation pulls back
the curtain between earth and Heaven and gives us a glimpse of pure worship in glory. All
the way through the Bible, you see scenes of worship recorded for our help in
understanding what worship is and what it is not.
Worship is the absolute non-negotiable of the Christian life. The Christian must
worship. I will go so far as to say that the truly redeemed child of God can’t not worship.
Worship to the believer is like the engine in your automobile. It is like the mainspring in a
watch. Worship is, to our spiritual lives, the most important and essential element.
It is as natural for a Christian to worship as it is for a person to breathe. For a
Christian to live without true worship is like a fish trying to live without water. It is like a
bird trying to fly without wings. It is like a house trying to stand without a foundation.
Worship is essential to everything we are and do as believers. That is why understanding
what worship is, is so vital and so important.
I want to give you some possible definitions of worship. Worship is a concept that
defies adequate definition. We just have to take a stab at it and hope that we come close.
For instance, how do you adequately describe a sight of rare beauty? How do you tell
someone else about a pleasant fragrance or an amazing flavor? How do you explain time?
Worship is something that is better experienced than it is defined.
Still, I want to try and do the impossible. I want to try to define worship. One of the
best definitions I have ever read was written by a man named William Temple. Temple was
the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1942-1944. Here is how he defined worship.

Worship is the submission of all of our nature to God.
To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God,

To feed the mind
with the truth of God,
To purge the imagination by the beauty of God,
To open the heart to the love of God,
To devote the will
to the purpose of God.
And all this gathered up in adoration is the greatest of human expressions of which we are
capable.

Warren Wiersbe defines worship as, “the believers response of all that they are –
mind, emotions, will and body – to all that God is and says and does.”[i]
Today, I want to quote a few more authors and their attempts at a definition.[ii] As we
consider their words, we will look at their definitions in light of the Word of God. What
they have to say about worship, along with what the Word of God say about worship, can
help us understand the matter of worship a little more clearly.
1. Worship is “The overflow of a grateful heart, under a sense of Divine favor.” This
write is teaching us that worship is a spontaneous event. True worship does not have to be
pumped and primed; it is the outpouring of a heart that is filled a sense of God’s goodness,
greatness and glory.
In Psalm 45:1, David said it this way, “My heart is indicting a good matter…” The
word “indicting” means “to keep moving”. It was used to speak of a boiling pot of water. It
has the idea of “boiling over, or bubbling up”. As David reflected on the glory and majesty
of God as it is revealed in His creation, His Word and His salvation, his heart boiled over
with love and praise for His God. When his full heart overflowed, worship ascended to
God. We find this same picture in Psa. 23:5.
So worship is the overflow of a heart filled with the glory of Who God is and what He
has done. When we stop to reflect on Him, His power, His grace, His love, His mercy, His
salvation, His Word, and a host of other things, our hearts are filled to overflowing with
love and adoration for Him. When that heart boils over, worship is the result. Worship is
my entire being giving honor, adoration and glory to all that God is.
2. Worship is “the outpouring of a soul at rest in the presence of God.” In this
definition, a emphasis is on the spiritual condition of the worshiper. The believer is at

perfect peace with God. He or she is conscience of the fact that they are in a right
relationship with God. They are assured that they have been accepted by God because of
their relationship with Jesus Christ, Eph. 1:6.
The believer has come to realize that, in Jesus, God sees him as sanctified, justified,
redeemed, regenerated and blessed with all spiritual blessings, Eph. 1:3. As the believer
considers who he is in Jesus, his heart is filled with adoration, love and praise for the God
Who made it possible. He reaches heavenward with His praises directed toward the God
Who loved, saved and blessed him. This is the idea expressed by the woman for her beloved
in Song of Solomon 2:3-4, “As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved
among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to
my taste. He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.”
3. Worship is “the occupation of the heart, not with its needs, or even with its blessings,
but with God Himself.” Too often our praying and our thinking are occupied with self.
Is it not true that we come to church “to get a blessing”? It is not true that we go to
God in prayer because we have a need? It is not true that we often engage in what we call
worship because of what we want to get out of it? In truth, genuine biblical worship is not
about us getting anything. It is about us being lost in the wonder of Who God is.
When David was told by Nathan that God would establish David’s throne and
kingdom forever, David simply sat down in the presence of God, 2 Sam. 7:18-22. As David
sat there and basked in the glory and goodness of God, he was overcome with wonder and
praise. That is the essence of true worship.
This image is made clear by a couple of glimpses at Heaven’s worship. Consider Rev.
4:11 and Rev. 5:9-14. In these verses, not a single petition is made, not a single request is
made, all that we find is pure, unadulterated worship of the Person and glory of God,
4. Worship is “the upspring of a heart that has known the Father as a Giver, the Son as
Saviour, and the Holy Spirit as the Indwelling Guest.” While anyone in the world, even an
unbeliever, can recognize that God exists and that He is Supreme and the Creator, not
everyone has the capacity for worship. The lost man can understand the reality of God, but
he cannot appreciate the truths about God that can only be revealed by the Spirit of God, 1
Cor. 2:14-15.
Believers, on the other hand, enjoy a special relationship with God. We enjoy a “living
water” experience with Him. When Jesus spoke to the woman at the well, He said, “Jesus
answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But
whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I
shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life,” John 4:13-
14.

This is a picture of what happens to us when we are saved. The Spirit of God takes up
residence in our hearts. He fills us with the wonder of Who God is and He flows out of us in
worship and service to God, John 7:37-39.
Worship is really the “living water” returning to its source. In Eccl. 1:7, Solomon
wrote these words, “All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place
from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.”
In this verse, Solomon is talking about the hydrological cycle. The water comes down
from the sky in the form of rain, snow and ice. This water fills the river and they flow down
to the seas. The water is evaporated by the sun and goes back into the clouds. Then, it is
dropped on the earth once more.
Worship operates the same way. The Spirit on the inside, Who was sent from Heaven
to our hearts, bubbles up and fills us with the wonder and glory of our God. When He does
this the praise in our hearts flows out and is offered up to God in the form of worship. It
goes back to the source. Thus, all true worship begins with God; it flows to and through us;
and ascends back to God. It is a divine cycle.

Conc: Those are enough definitions for one service. As we move through our study, we will
encounter more words that are used for worship and we will consider them.
Let me close today by making a statement: Everybody worships someone or
something. John MacArthur tells the story of an article he read in the Chicago Tribune. It
seems that a woman from New Mexico noticed that the skillet burns on one of her tortillas
she was frying resembled the face of Jesus. She showed it to her husband and neighbors
who agreed the marks on the tortilla looked like a face and it truly bore a resemblance to
their idea of what Jesus looked like.
At any rate, she took her tortilla to her priest to have it blessed. And she testified that
the tortilla had changed her life. Now her husband once again agreed. He said that his wife
had been a more peaceful, happy, submissive wife since the tortilla had arrived in their
home. So the priest, not accustomed to blessing tortillas was somewhat reluctant, but he
agreed to do it. She took the tortilla home, put it in a glass case with piles of cotton to make
it look like it was floating on a cloud. She built a special altar for it and opened the little
shrine to visitors.
And within a few months, more than 8,000 people came to the shrine of the Jesus of
the tortilla. And all of them agreed that the face in the burn marks on the tortilla, well, that
it was the face of Jesus. Except, that is, for one reporter. He thought it looked like former
heavyweight boxing champion Leon Spinks. Well, John MacArthur then comments, “It

seems incredible that so many people would worship a tortilla. But such a distorted concept
of worship is not really unusual in contemporary society.”[iii]
So, some people worship a tortilla. Some bow down to rocks, statues and animals.
Others give their worship to themselves, or their families or their possessions. Some
worship their church, their favorite preacher or their old, moldy traditions.
The truth is, everybody gives honor, respect and adoration to someone or something.
To whom or to what do you give your worship? Is your worship God focused, God-directed
and God-centered? Is your worship self-focused, self-directed and self-centered? Or, is
your worship religion-focused, religion-directed and religion-centered? I want to challenge
you to learn to worship correctly.
Has the Lord spoken to your heart about this matter of worship?
· If you worship is not what you want it to be and if it is not worship that is pleasing to
the Lord, come to Him and let Him help you with your worship.
· If you are like me and you want to deepen your worship experience, come before the
Lord and ask Him to help you with that.
· If you just want to let out the worship that resides in your heart, you should kneel
before Him and worship Him today.
Do what He tells you and He will bless your worship!

STEVEN COLE
The Priority of True Worship (John 4:23-24)
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August 11, 2013
Years ago when the billionaire Howard Hughes died, his company’s public relations
director asked the casinos in Las Vegas, where Hughes owned multiple casinos, to show
him respect by giving him a minute of silence. For an uncomfortable sixty seconds, the

casinos fell eerily silent. Then a pit boss looked at his watch, leaned forward, and
whispered, “Okay, roll the dice. He’s had his minute.” (From the book, Howard Hughes:
The Hidden Years, cited in “Our Daily Bread,” 11/77.)
I wonder if sometimes we treat God as those gamblers in Las Vegas treated Howard
Hughes. We interrupt our busy schedules once a week, rush into church, give God “His
hour,” and then forget about Him and get back to what we’d rather be doing.
John MacArthur was certainly correct to title his book on worship, The Ultimate Priority
[Moody Press, 1983]. God created us for the ultimate priority of worshiping Him. As the
Westminster Shorter Catechism puts it, “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy
Him forever.” Or, as John Piper modifies it, our chief end is “to glorify God by enjoying
Him forever” (Desiring God [Multnomah Books], 1996 edition, p. 15).
It’s no accident that the longest book in the Bible, Psalms, is all about praising and
worshiping God. When we get to the end of the Bible, we see the saints and angels in
heaven falling on their faces and worshiping God (Rev. 4:10-11; 5:8-14; 7:9-11). Since
worship will be our ceaseless activity and greatest joy in heaven, we ought to be practicing
it now.
Here are a few definitions of worship:
John MacArthur: “Worship is our innermost being responding with praise for all that God
is, through our attitudes, actions, thoughts, and words, based on the truth of God as He has
revealed Himself” (The Ultimate Priority [Moody Press], p. 127). Or, he gives a simpler
definition: “Worship is all that we are, reacting rightly to all that He is” (ibid., p. 147).
William Temple: “To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed
the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the
heart to the love of God, and to devote the will to the purpose of God” (cited in MacArthur,
ibid., p. 147).
My definition is not so eloquent: Worship is an inner attitude and feeling of awe, reverence,
gratitude, and love toward God resulting from a realization of who He is and who we are.
Also, John MacArthur gives this helpful clarification (on gty.org, “Messiah: The Living
Water,” part 2): “Worship, by the way, is not music. Worship is loving God. Worship is
honoring God. Worship is knowing God for who He is, adoring Him, obeying Him,
proclaiming Him as a way of life. Music is one way we express that adoration.” As Paul
states (1 Cor. 10:31), “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the
glory of God.” Thus all of life is to be oriented “God-ward,” permeated with a sense of His
majesty and glory.

Jesus’ words about worship to this unnamed Samaritan woman occur in the context of His
witness to bring this woman to saving faith. We might not think that witnessing is the right
context to talk about the priority of worship. But Jesus takes her implicit question (4:20)
about whether Samaritan worship or Jewish worship is correct and uses it to zero in on the
aim of the gospel: to turn sinners into true worshipers of God. We learn:
Since God is seeking true worshipers who worship Him in spirit and truth, we should make
it our priority to become such worshipers.
Jesus tells this woman that a significant transition is about to take place (4:23), “But an
hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and
truth.” Jesus’ presence began this change from the old covenant to the new. Under the old
way of worship, place was significant: all Jewish males had to appear before God in
Jerusalem for the three annual feasts (Deut. 16:16). But in the new way which Jesus
inaugurated, He is the new temple (John 2:19-21). Believers are being built into a holy
temple in the Lord (Eph. 2:21; 1 Pet. 2:5). Thus where we gather to worship is secondary.
How and whom we worship is primary.
Unbelievers, such as the Samaritan woman at this point, often mistakenly think that if they
go through the proper externals of “worship,” then things are okay between them and God.
As long as they go to a church building and go through the weekly rituals, they figure that
everything is fine. But they haven’t dealt with God on the heart level. They haven’t
repented of their sins of thought, word, and deed. So Jesus tells her that it’s not the
externals that matter as much as the internal. We must make it our priority to become true
worshipers of God in spirit and truth. Note three truths from these important verses:
1. God is seeking true worshipers.
As Jonathan Edwards argued, God created the world for His own glory (see John Piper,
God’s Passion for His Glory [Crossway Books]). Everything, including the salvation of His
elect and even the damnation of the wicked, will result in glory to God. So God now is
seeking worshipers who will bring Him glory, not just for an hour on Sunday, but every
day through all their activities. We can’t properly worship God on Sundays if we’re not
worshiping Him throughout the week. You begin that process by repenting of your sins and
trusting in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. You grow in that process as you bring
every thought, word, and deed under His lordship. Note two things:
A. The fact that God seeks true worshipers implies that there are false worshipers.
False worshipers either worship something other than God or they may attempt to worship
the true God, but do it in ways that actually dishonor Him. But either way, sincerity is not
the only criterion for measuring true worship. All true worshipers are sincere, but all
sincere worshipers are not true. For example, there are devout, sincere worshipers of Allah

or Krishna or Buddha or the Mormon god or the Jehovah’s Witness god. But they are
sincerely wrong, because they are not worshiping the only living and true God, who has
revealed Himself in the Bible.
There are also Christians who are sincere, but their worship is man-centered. Sometimes
it’s patterned more after the entertainment world than after the Bible. It draws attention to
the performers, but not to the Lord. Or, on the other end of the Christian spectrum, some
go through ancient liturgies week after week, but their hearts are not in submission to God.
They mistakenly think that because they went through the rituals, they’re good for another
week. They’re like the Jewish leaders of whom Jesus said (Matt. 15:8, citing Isaiah 29:13),
“This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me.” So we need to
be careful not to fall into the category of false worshipers.
B. The fact that God is seeking true worshipers means that this is of utmost importance: it
is our priority.
In verse 24, Jesus says that these true worshipers “must worship in spirit and truth” (italics
mine). It’s a necessity. It isn’t optional; it’s essential. A. W. Pink (Exposition of John, online
at monergism.com) points out that there are three musts in John: “You must be born
again” (3:7); the Son of Man must be lifted up (3:14); and “those who worship Him must
worship in spirit and truth” (4:24). The first concerns the Spirit, who imparts the new
birth. The second concerns the Son, who was lifted up on the cross as the atonement for our
sins. And the third concerns the Father, the object of our worship. And the order is
important. First, you must be born again by trusting in Christ’s death for you. Only then
can you worship God properly.
So the first point is that God is seeking you as a true worshiper. If you haven’t yet put your
trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, start there. If you have trusted in Christ and
perhaps have drifted off course, come back to this as your priority: God wants you to
become a true worshiper.
2. The true worshipers that the Father seeks worship Him in spirit and truth.
Jesus repeats this twice so that we don’t miss it (4:23-24): “But an hour is coming, and now
is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the
Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship
in spirit and truth.” To be true worshipers, we must worship both in spirit and in truth. To
worship in spirit without truth is to worship false gods. To worship in truth without spirit
is to fall into dead orthodoxy. We may be doctrinally correct, but we’re lifeless. And, the
Father must be the focus of our worship.
A. We should worship the Father, who is spirit.

Jesus emphasizes three times to this Samaritan woman that it is the Father that we are to
worship (4:21, 23 [2x]). And, He explains to her that God is spirit. This is His essential
nature. We looked at this last time. It means that God does not have a material body. He is
invisible to human eyes (John 1:18; 1 Tim. 1:17; 6:16). The fact that He is spirit means that
He is not confined to one locale at a time. He is omnipresent. He has existed as spirit for all
eternity, before He created the material universe. When we’re born again, we possess
human spirits (John 3:6), which can worship Him. Because He is the only omnipresent
spirit, we can worship Him anywhere and know that He is there.
Through Jesus, we come to know God as our Father, whom we worship. John Piper (“Not
in This or That Mount, but in Spirit and Truth,” at desiringGod.org) suggests three
reasons that Jesus emphasizes the Father to this Samaritan woman: First, God is the
Father of the Samaritans. This woman mentions “our father Jacob” (4:12) and “our
fathers worshiped in this mountain” (4:20). So Jesus shifts the focus from these human
fathers to the Father, who alone is to be worshiped.
Second, Jesus is pointing out that the Father has spiritual children. Having children is what
makes one a father. We become God’s children through believing in Jesus and being born
of the Spirit (1:12-13; 3:5-7). Being children of the Father implies that we have a personal
relationship with Him.
Third, God is the Father of His unique Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. This does not mean that
Jesus became the Son at a point in time. There never was a time when He was not God’s
Son. The relationship of God as the Father of Jesus the Son points to Jesus’ sharing the
same essential nature as the Father. Jesus is God. John 5:18 states, “For this reason
therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking
the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.” In
John 10:30, Jesus stated, “I and the Father are one.” In John 17:5, Jesus prays, “Now,
Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the
world was.” God the Father and God the Son have always been equal as God.
I’m not suggesting that Jesus intended for the Samaritan woman to grasp the mystery of
the trinity in this first encounter! But the Holy Spirit inspired these words so that we would
come to worship God in His triune nature. As Jesus says (John 5:23), the Father has given
all judgment to the Son “so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He
who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.” True worship
worships the Father and the Son through the Holy Spirit (Phil. 3:3).
B. We should worship the Father in spirit.
To worship in spirit is to worship from the heart or from within. It’s opposed to formal,
ceremonial, external worship by those whose hearts are not right with God (Matt. 15:8).
Thus the most important factor in becoming a worshiper is to guard and cultivate your

heart for God. John Calvin (Calvin’s Commentaries [Baker], p. 161) says that worship in
the spirit is the inward faith of the heart which produces prayer, purity of conscience, and
self-denial, leading to obedience.
I believe that worship in spirit is, in part, emotional or felt. This is not to say that we should
pump up our emotions with music or crowd fervor. Genuine emotions for God stem from
focusing our minds on the truth of who He is and what He has done for us at the cross. But
if your worship never touches your emotions, something is wrong. It’s like my love for my
wife. My relationship with her is not built on my feelings, but rather on my commitment to
her. But when I think about all that she means to me, I feel love for her and I ought to
express that love in some outward manner that shows her that I love her.
C. We should worship the Father in truth.
God has revealed Himself to us in His Word of truth and supremely in His Son, who is the
truth (John 1:18; 14:6; 17:17). To worship God in truth means that we worship Him for all
that He is in the majesty of His attributes as revealed in all of Scripture. We worship Him
for His love, but also for His justice and righteousness. We worship Him for His kindness,
but also for His severity (Rom. 11:22). We worship Him for His sovereignty and for His
grace. We worship Him when He gives, but also when He takes away (Job 1:20-21). We
worship Him for all His ways. The Bible is our only guide for worshiping in truth. As I
said, worship in spirit flows out of worship in truth. Feeding your mind on the truth of God
moves your spirit to praise and love God.
Since God is seeking true worshipers who worship Him in spirit and truth …
3. Make it your priority to become a true worshiper of God.
This applies in three directions:
A. If I’m not growing as a true worshiper, I’m not in line with what God is seeking to do in
my life.
As we’ve seen, personal worship is not restricted to a few minutes on Sunday mornings. In
the context of 1 Corinthians 10:31, where Paul mentions glorifying God through eating and
drinking, he is talking about relationships that do not cause offense to others, whether to
unbelievers or believers (10:32). So how we treat others should be a matter of worship.
Evangelistic or missionary efforts are a matter of worship (Rom. 15:16). Giving to support
Christian workers or to help fellow believers is a matter of worship (Phil. 4:18; Heb. 13:16).
Godly behavior is a matter of worship (Eph. 5:10; Phil. 1:11). An attitude of praise and
thanksgiving is a matter of worship (Heb. 13:15). The point is, you can’t live a self-
centered, worldly life all week long and then come to church on Sunday and worship.

B. If we’re not growing as a worshiping church, we’re not in line with what God is seeking
to do in this body.
Why do you come to church? If your focus is to get something out of the church service,
you’ve got it wrong. Your focus should be to give praise and honor and thanks with all the
saints to the God who gave His Son for you. Soren Kierkegaard pointed out that often a
congregation views itself as an audience, watching the worship leaders and the pastor give
their presentation or performance. But the truth is that the congregation is actually the
cast of actors, with the worship leaders and the pastor acting as prompters, giving cues
from the wings. The real audience is God and the entire presentation is offered to Him, for
His pleasure and glory. So the issue when you come to church is not, “Did I get anything
out of it?” but, “Did I give God the heartfelt praise and thanks and glory that He
deserves?” That’s our aim as a church.
C. If we’re not seeking to help others locally and globally become worshipers, we’re not in
line with God’s purpose.
John Piper wrote (Let the Nations be Glad [Baker], p. 17), “Missions is not the ultimate
goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is
ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man.” His words apply not only to
missions in other countries, but also to our efforts to reach the lost in Flagstaff. Our aim is
to turn sinners into worshipers. That was Jesus’ aim with this sinful Samaritan woman.
Conclusion
Here are seven practical suggestions on how to grow as a true worshiper of the Father:
1. Make sure that you truly believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord.
You don’t worship to gain eternal life; you worship because God has given you eternal life.
Worship is your response after you have believed in God’s grace through Christ’s death on
your behalf.
2. Establish a daily time alone with God in the Word and prayer.
I cannot over-emphasize this. Worship is your response to the truth that God has revealed
in His Word. Prayer is a response to the truth of the Word. Without spending consistent
time alone with the Lord, your soul will shrivel up. You won’t worship.
3. Eliminate all of the garbage from the world that hinders your growth in worshiping God.
The world is constantly competing for our worship. It bombards us daily through the
media. If a TV show or movie defiles you or crowds out your daily time with the Lord, cut
it out. If the computer gobbles up your time, you’ve got to restrict it. If you’re yielding to
the temptation to view porn on your computer, you’re in serious spiritual trouble (Matt.

5:27-30)! You cannot glorify God with your body unless you flee from immorality (1 Cor.
6:18-20). You’ve got to discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness (1 Tim. 4:7), because
true worship is inseparable from godliness.
4. Prepare your heart Saturday night for corporate worship on Sunday morning.
I have an advantage on you, in that to survive in the pulpit on Sundays, I have to prepare
my heart Saturday evenings. I don’t go to social events on Saturday evenings. I’m not
suggesting that you do as I do in that regard, but I am suggesting that you should get home
early enough to spend some time before the Lord, making sure that your heart is right with
Him and praying that He would be honored by our worship as we gather on Sunday.
5. Put away distractions on Sunday mornings and don’t be a distraction to other
worshipers.
Don’t read the bulletin during singing or the sermon. If you have a medical condition that
requires you to use the restroom during the worship service, sit near the back and on an
aisle so you don’t disturb others. If you’re thirsty, you can wait until the service is over to
get a drink. If your child is a distraction to others, take him to the nursery or out of the
service.
6. Ignore others around you and remember that God is the audience.
There is a balance here. We should feel free to express our love to God outwardly without
worrying about what others think of us. David danced before the Lord even though it
embarrassed his wife, but God sided with David (2 Sam. 6:14-23). On the other hand, if
you’re so demonstrative that you’re distracting others and calling attention to yourself,
you’re out of balance. “All things must be done properly and in an orderly manner” (1
Cor. 14:40).
7. Spend time worshiping God in His creation.
If you live in a big city, you’ll have to work harder at this than we who live in beautiful
Flagstaff do. But wherever you are, pay attention to what God has made: the night sky with
its stars; the sun to warm the day and give light (Ps. 19:1-6); the flowers, the birds, the
butterflies, and even the bugs; your body, which is fearfully and wonderfully made (Ps.
139:14). In Romans 1:18-21, Paul indicts ungodly people who have ignored the evidence of
the Creator that is all around them in His creation. Their sin was that they did not honor
God or give thanks. In other words, they didn’t worship the Creator. But that’s our
ultimate priority!
Application Questions

What are some ways in which evangelical Christians may worship God falsely? How much
cultural freedom is there in true worship?
Since true worship is in part a matter of our feelings, how can a Christian who has lost
such feelings reignite them?
What are some worldly influences that choke out worship in your life? How should you
deal with them?
Complete this sentence: If truly worshiping God is my priority, my daily schedule must
change by ….
Copyright, Steven J. Cole, 2013, All Rights Reserved.

CRISWELL
WHAT GOD IS LIKE
Dr. W. A. Criswell
John 4:24
2-23-64 8:15 a.m.

The sermon this morning is entitled What God is Like. Out of the writings of the apostle
John, I have chosen three comprehensive, all descriptive designations of God. The first is
John 4:24: “God is spirit.” The second is 1 John 1:5: “God is light.” And the third one is 1
John 4:8: “God is love.” Not God is a spirit, or God is a light, or God is a love, but in all
three instances John has written in the same grammatical construction: “God is spirit”;
“God is light.” “God is love.”
We shall address ourselves to the first comprehensive description. “God is Spirit” [John
4:24]. Then God is not matter. Matter is not spirit. And spirit is not matter. The ancient
Greek philosophers such as the Epicureans believed that everything was made out of atoms
and that coarser atoms collocated, made matter, and refined atoms assembled made spirit

and soul. God has no relationship in His being to corporeality, or to substance, or to
physical matter.
Spirit is immaterial, indivisible, uncompounded, and indestructible. And God is spirit
[John 4:24]. And the being of God has no relationship to organism or to matter. Laplace,
the famous French mathematician and astronomer, swept the heavens with his telescope
and announced that he could find in no place a God. He might as well have swept his
kitchen with a broom. God is not found in matter or corporeality.
Recently, the Russian astronaut, who sailed around this earth in a capsule just a few miles
above us, came back and landed and said, “I have been around the heavens, and I never
saw any God.” A quack replied, “All he needed to do was step out of his capsule, and he
would have met Him in a few minutes.”
The idea of seeing God in physical matter and form is inconceivable. God is spirit [John
4:24]. The Lord said to Moses, “No man shall see My face, and live” [Exodus 33:20]. “For
no man shall see God at any time” [Exodus 33:23]. And that was repeated by John in the
eighteenth verse of his first chapter. “No man hath seen God at any time” [John 1:18].
The theophanies that we read in the Old Testament, such as in the sixth chapter of Isaiah,
when Isaiah says, “I saw the Lord high and lifted up” [Isaiah 6:1], those theophanies are
pre-incarnate visitations and revelations of the Word of God, Jesus Christ. God cannot be
seen by physical eyes. No man hath seen God at any time [John 1:18]. A man cannot see
God, and live [Exodus 33:20].
God is these three things and then these three other things. God is spirit; in the spirit, God
is omnipotent. As the Lord said in the nineteenth chapter of Matthew, “With God all
things are possible” [Matthew 19:26]. There is no limit to the mightiness of His power. He
is called the Lord God pantokrator, the Lord God Almighty [Revelation 21:22].
He cannot contradict Himself. That is why God cannot lie. God cannot sin. For that
would not be power but impotence. And the Lord God is omnipotent, all powerful
[Revelation 19:6]. God is omniscient, all knowing [Psalm 147:5]. As the sixteenth chapter
of 2 Chronicles describes Him, “The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the earth”
[2 Chronicles 16:9]. Or as Hebrews 4:13 says, “For all things are naked and opened unto
the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” Or as Isaiah writes quoting God, “I am the
Lord God, and there is none else . . . Declaring the end from the beginning, and from
ancient times things that are not done as yet” [Isaiah 46:9-10].
If God is not omniscient, then this world is like an express train without headlights and
without engineer and may at any moment plunge into the abyss. But God knows, and God
sees, and God wills, and God rules and God directs.

A God that is not like that is inconceivable, and certainly not the Lord revealed in the
Bible. For example, the Lord Christ is described as, “The Lamb slain before the
foundation of the world” [Revelation 13:8]. Do you see what that would mean if God is not
all-knowing, and all omniscient, and all-sovereign, and almighty? It would mean this. He
is the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the earth, providing Adam falls [Genesis
3:1-6]; providing Judas betrays Christ [Matthew 26:14-16, 47-50]; providing Pontius Pilate
delivers Him to crucifixion [Matthew 27:24-26], providing the Roman soldiers nail Him to
a tree [Matthew 26:32-35]. God not knowing whether Adam would fall or not, whether
Judas would betray Him or not, whether the Jews would deliver Him or not, whether
Pontius Pilate would crucify Him or not, whether the Roman soldiers would nail Him to a
tree or not; these conceptions when related to God are inconceivable! God is all knowing,
and all powerful, and all sovereign! [Isaiah 46:9-10].
God is omnipresent. God is spirit, and the presence of God, the whole presence of God is
everywhere at the same time. When Solomon dedicated his temple, he said, “The heaven
and the heaven of the heavens cannot contain Thee” [1 Kings 8:27]. And in one of the most
beautiful and meaningful of all David’s psalms, the sweet singer of Israel said:
Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit? And whither shall I flee from Thy presence?
If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, Thou art there.
If I ride on the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
Even there shall Thy hand lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold me.
If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night is light about me.
Yea, the darkness hideth not from Thee; but the night shineth as the day: for the darkness
and the light are both alike to Thee.
[Psalms 139:7-12]

The omnipresence of God, the whole presence of God everywhere, anywhere at the
same time, that is why Jesus could say, “For wherever two or three of you are gathered
together, there am I in the midst of you” [Matthew 18:20], of them. Anywhere we have the
whole Christ here, we have the whole Christ yonder. There is the whole Christ wherever in
this earth God’s people meet. This is the omnipresence of the Lord.
Spurgeon one time said, “To go from nature up to nature’s God is to go uphill, and
that is hard.” He said, “Let us go from God down to nature, for to those that love Him and
adore Him He can be seen everywhere; in the music of the waves of the sea, in the songs of

the whispering of the wind, and the goodness and presence of God in everything.” This is
God in the spirit.
God is spirit [John 4:24]. He is eternal. There is no beginning. There is no ending.
As the psalm, the only one written by Moses, said, “O Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling
place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, wherever Thou hast
formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting unto everlasting, Thou art God”
[Psalm 90:1-2].
The great Lord God is self-existent, self-caused. His being had no beginning and no
ending. He is forever to the forevers, from the eternity to the eternities, from everlasting to
everlasting. Everything else has been created by His omnipotent hands [Isaiah 40:28]. He
Himself alone is uncreated and uncaused [Colossians 1:16]. The Lord God is one. The most
famous I suppose of all the repeated sayings in Hebrew is Deuteronomy 6:4, “Hear, O
Israel: The Lord our God is one God,” eternal, indivisible, eternally and numerically one.
Polytheism, tritheism, three gods, dualism, two gods, are inconceivable because it is
inconceivable that you could have more than one omnipotent, almighty, eternal Lord God.
The most significant of all of the underlying facts of Scripture is this; that God is one and
that He subsists in three Persons [Matthew 28:19].
I had to divide this sermon. I wanted to put it all together and speak of the Trinity
in this message. I couldn’t do it. So I have divided the message. “God is one”
[Deuteronomy 6:4], and that is the message today. God is spirit [John 4:24], light [1 John
1:5], love [1 John 4:8], one, but He subsists. We know Him in experience as three persons.
And that shall be the sermon next Lord’s day. The Mystery of the Trinity.
God is eternal [Revelation 21:6, 22:13]. God is one. God is personal. God is not
eternity. God is not infinitude, but God is the eternal and infinite being. When He
appeared, when He spoke to Moses out of the burning bush, He did not say, “My name is
IT IS” or “My name is I WAS,” but He said, “My name is I AM” [Exodus 3:14], the great
infinite, eternal being, presence, “I AM.”
In the twenty-sixth verse of the first chapter of Genesis, it is written, “And God said,
Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness” [Genesis 1:26]. So God created man in
the image of God, in the image of God, in the likeness of God created He him [Genesis
1:27].
Then God is like man, and man is like God. They differ in degree but not in kind. A man
differs from God not in the sense that mind differs from matter, or darkness differs from
light, but man differs from God only in the sense that a little piece of space differs from all
space, or a little piece of time differs from all time; for the man is created in the image of
God, and he reflects God, and he is like God. That is, a man has moral sensitivity. God
distinguishes between right and wrong, and a man can distinguish between right and

wrong. God can think. God is an intellectual being. God is mind, and thought, and will,
and purpose, and choice, and volition, and emotion, and feeling. All of these things are in a
man. A man can think God’s thoughts after Him. A man can understand somewhat of the
marvelous mysteries of God. A man can love. A man can be grieved. A man can will. A
man can choose.
In all things wherein God is, a man is, only they differ in degree. Sometimes as you read
you will find men who violently object to the anthropomorphisms of the Bible, that is they
will speak of God’s hands, of God’s eyes, of God’s heart, of God’s walking—
anthropomorphisms, making God like a man.
I have never understood why the objection to those descriptions. For God to reveal
Himself at all, He had to descend to our capacities. He had to reach down in language we
could understand. And is it not the truth that the highest conceptions of which we are
capable are always personal? They belong to soul, and heart, and mind, and thought, and
will, and understanding. These are the highest conceptions of which man is capable.
Therefore in these highest conceptions, we seek to understand God, and God is thus
revealed to us.
Isn’t it far better to have it anthropomorphic than to have it zoomorphic, or to have it
cosmomorphic? God is like a man, and a man is like God; and a man is a personality, and
God is a person. If this is not true, then we are forced to pantheism or atheism. It doesn’t
matter which. And the whole earth is a result of a blind force, and existence has no reason
or meaning whatsoever. God is Spirit [John 4:24]. God is a person.
Now may I review it, what I have said? God is spirit [John 4:24]. He is invisible,
immaterial, un-corporeal; He is not related to matter. The being of God is not matter. It is
spirit. God is spirit. In those first three characterizations, God as spirit is omnipotent, all
powerful [Revelation 19:6]. He is omniscient; all knowing [Hebrews 4:13]. He is
omnipresent; we have all of God everywhere [Jeremiah 23:24]. Then the other triads: He is
eternal, uncaused; He is one, indivisible, eternally, numerically one; He is personal, God is
spirit.
Now the second characterization of the Lord God: “God is light” [1 John 1:5]. And to me
when God is described as being light, that means to me two things. One: God is truth, like
a man will “see the light”; God is truth, wisdom, understanding. And then second, light:
God is pure, and holy, and undefiled, and separate from sin, from darkness and aberration
[Isaiah 6:3]. First, God as light: God is truth. All truth, all truth has its basis in the
character of Almighty God. All truth, whether it is mathematical truth, astronomical
truth, religious truth, moral truth, ecclesiastical truth, Christological truth, anthropological
truth, geological truth, all truth, all truth, is grounded in the character of Almighty God.

And one piece of truth is just a piece of the marvelous, all inclusiveness of the vast truth
that God is light, and wisdom, and understanding.
Two plus two equals four: vice is condemnable, virtue is commendable. These have their
ground and support in the character of Almighty God. And as such they are eternal and
unchangeable.
One of the most hurtful of all of the aberrations of modern philosophy has been that of
relativism. Relativism, that is, a thing maybe true yesterday but it doesn’t necessarily be
true today. A thing may be actual, and substantive, and foundational, and primary
yesterday, but today it may be something else altogether. And they take the whole
framework of morality and life, and they adjust it according to the spirit of the times and
the necessities and exigencies of the hour. That is a lie from its beginning to its ending!
Truth is immortal and eternal, and what was right yesterday is right today and shall be
right forever. And what is foundational and primary yesterday, shall be today and forever,
for God does not change! [Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:8].
God is light, truth, understanding, and forever wisdom. Second part of that; God is
holiness, God is purity, God is removed from sin, high and elevated above iniquity and evil
[Revelation 4:8]. God is holy. In my reading the incomparable Baptist systematic
theologian, Augustus H. Strong, says, “The primary and fundamental attribute of
Almighty God is His holiness.” From that primary and fundamental attribute all of the
others take their places as we describe God.
Now whether that is true or not, certainly this: in the Scriptures God is always presented as
being holy, holy, holy. Jesus in the high priestly prayer in the seventeenth chapter of John,
Jesus says, “Holy Father” [John 17:11]. When the angel Gabriel made the announcement
to Mary, he said, “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall
overshadow thee: wherefore also that Holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called
the Son of God” [Luke 1:35]; holy Father, holy Son, holy Child, holy Jesus.
And, of course, the Spirit of God is called the Holy Spirit. It is not without inspiration, and
I tell you I think a man anywhere, any time could argue for the inspiration, of the King
James Version of the Bible. The men of God who translated this Book wrote on the outside
of the Bible, “Holy Bible.”
In the first chapter of 1 Peter, the apostle quotes that famous injunction of the Lord
Jehovah in the Old Testament. “Ye shall be holy; for I am holy” [1 Peter 1:16]. And in the
Book of the Hebrews, the author says, “Follow after holiness, without which no man shall
see God” [Hebrews 12:14].

God is light [1 John 1:5]: holiness, purity, separate from sin [Psalm 92:15], of purer eyes
than to look upon evil [Habakkuk 1:13]. Now we have time this morning to consider that
for a moment. What kind of holiness is God? Is He like a faultless, marble statue? Is that
the holiness of God? Is His holiness a dead, white purity? No! No! “For our God,” said
the author of Hebrews, “Is a consuming fire” [Hebrews 12:29]. The holiness of God
incorporates the entire energies of God for righteousness.
For example, when the Lord Jehovah came down in the Old Testament and delivered to the
hands of Moses the moral law [Exodus 20:1-17], the Scriptures say that the mountain
quaked, and shook, and flamed, and burned in the presence of Almighty God [Exodus
19:17-18]. On the road to Damascus, when Saul was breathing out threatening and
slaughter against the disciples of Jesus, that light that appeared to him from heaven was so
bright above the fury of a midday Syrian sun that it struck him to the ground and blinded
his eyes [Acts 9:1, 3-4; Acts 22:6-7, 11]. This is the purity and the holiness of God. It is
implemented. It moves with the momentum of all of God’s being. The entire strength of
God’s arm is in this world to uphold and to implement and to enforce His moral and
sovereign government.
That’s why in the Book of the Revelation, for example, in the fifteenth chapter when John
sees the saints of God standing before the throne, he says, “And they stood on a glassy sea.”
But more, “They stood on a glassy sea,” not dead, immovable, “They stood on a glassy sea
that burned with fire” [Revelation 15:2].
That’s why in the fourteenth chapter, the previous chapter, when John describes the one
hundred forty-four thousand who stand faultless on Mt. Zion with the Lamb of God, it
says, “These are they that follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth” [Revelation 14:4]. The
holiness of God is a fire, a flame, it moves with the energy of the Almighty, upholding
God’s sovereign government in the world.
“God is light” [1 John 1:5]. Now to review that with you for a second: God is light, which,
to me, means truth, light, understanding, wisdom—God is truth, light. And God is holy,
pure, separate from sinners [Psalm 5:4; Isaiah 6:3], with a motivating righteousness, a
moving impetus for government.
Now the third: “God is love” [1 John 4:8]. Oh, how grateful! How infinitely glad! God is
love. God is love, and law is the way He loves us. Or turn it around. God is law, and love is
the way that He rules us. God is love. The holiness of God, the purity of God, the sanctity
of God is grieved, is grieved as He sees men in the earth.
In the sixth chapter of the Book of Genesis, when the Genesis account describes the sin and
iniquity of men, it adds this significant word. “And it grieved God at His heart [Genesis
6:6].” God is love [1 John 4:8], and God grieves over the ineptitudes, and the derelictions,
and the faults, and the failures of men.

If God were just holiness, if God were just righteousness, the consuming fire that is the
Lord God would burn to the uttermost parts of the earth, and sinners would be consumed
and destroyed [Hebrews 12:29]. But God is something else besides Judge, besides sovereign
righteousness. God is mercy, and grace, and kindness, and understanding. “As the heavens
are higher than the earth, so great is Thy mercy toward them that fear Him” [Psalm
103:11]. “For He remembereth our frame; He knoweth that we are dust” [Psalm 103:14].
“And like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord looks down and pities them that fear
Him” [Psalm 103:13].
Did you ever have a child sick? You’d rather be sick yourself. Ever hear a child cry for
illness? It will tear your heart out. Ever see a child crippled and hurt? Die? “As a father
pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them, for He knoweth our frame. He remembereth
that we are dust” [Psalm 103:13-14].
At the heart of God is atonement. His moral government must be upheld. Did I not say
truth never changes? God is immutable. Every sin must be paid for, and “the wages of sin
is death” [Romans 6:23].
God provided the sacrifice. God took in His own heart our judgment and the penalty for
our sins. As Isaiah says, “In all our affliction He was afflicted” [Isaiah 63:9]. He has been
hungry wherever men have hungered. God has suffered wherever men have suffered, and
God has been immolated wherever men have offered their lives in death. He is a suffering
God [Isaiah 53:4]. He is a God of love [1 John 4:8], who can be grieved [Genesis 6:6;
Ephesians 4:30], and hurt, who can sympathize [Hebrews 4:15], who can understand, and
whose own arms brought salvation when men were helpless and unable to save themselves
[Romans 5:6-8].
I heard somebody pray, it’s been this week but I can’t recreate the situation. It was a
mother, and she was praying before her little boy; must have been in my study. A mother
brought her little boy to me. And she was praying, “O God, O God, may this little boy’s
father be such a man, such a man that when the preacher describes God as being our
Father the little boy will love God, because God is like his father.” God is love, like a good
father loves his child [Psalm 103:13].

The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen could ever tell.
It goes beyond the highest star
And reachest to the lowest hell.

The guilty pair bowed down with care
God gave His Son to win.
His erring child He reconciled
And pardoned from his sin.

Could we with ink the ocean fill
And were the skies of parchment made
Were every stalk on earth a quill
And every man a scribe by trade
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry
Nor could the scroll contain the whole
Though stretched from sky to sky.

Oh, love of God, how rich and pure,
How measureless and strong.
It shall forever more endure
The saints’ and angels’ song.
[“The Love of God,” F.M.Lehman]

Amazing grace
How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost but now I’m found
Was blind but now I see.

[“Amazing Grace,” John Newton]

God is love [1 John 4:8], atoning mercy [Titus 3:5], Himself took our sins and bare
our iniquities [Isaiah 53:5; 1 Peter 2:24].
I conclude. The love of God is unchanging. I guess I ought to make another sermon out of
this. Whatever God does, He never changes in His purpose for good for us. However the
sovereign will of the Lord shall direct in our lives, always, always it is that unchanging
purpose for good. Ah, Lord, to bow in Thy presence, to call upon Thy name, to seek Thy
face, to ask strength and help from Thy gracious hands, this is the highest prerogative and
privilege of a man made of the dust of the ground [Genesis 2:7], yet in the image of the
Lord [Genesis 1:27].
While we sing our song of appeal, somebody you, give his heart to Jesus [Romans
10:9-10], somebody you, put his life in the fellowship of the church. While we sing the song
of appeal, on the first note of the first stanza, would you come? Would you come, while we
stand and while we sing?

GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE
Great Texts of the Bible
True Worship

God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth.—John 4:24.

1. The conversation between Christ and the woman of Samaria began on common topics.
By and by it became more deep and interesting. He to whom all things here were types
could not converse without a Divine meaning in all He said. A draught of water connected
itself with the mystery of life.

As soon as she discovered His spiritual character she put the question of her day about “the
place where men ought to worship.” Christ took the opportunity of defining spiritual
worship. He spoke of a new worship essentially different from the old. He made religion
spiritual, He pointed out the difference between religion and theology, and He revealed the
foundation on which true worship must rest. A new time was coming for a new worship:
“The hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in
spirit and truth.”

2. It was to a very lowly soul that Jesus thus revealed Himself. She was a poor and
unenlightened peasant, a woman, a Samaritan. It had been, too, a frail and erring life, that
must have fallen into many mistakes, known many contumelies, endured slights and
disheartenments untold. “Thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not
thy husband: this hast thou said truly.” How chequered and spotted an experience is there
disclosed, one full of tragedies and unstanched wounds! But just to such an one Jesus
Christ elects to make the revelation that the true tie between God and man lies deeper than
externals, that it is an interior life which transcends all accidental differences of birth and
nationality, of station and sex, even of creed and worship; that alike to Jew and to
Samaritan, man and woman, saint or sinner, worshipper on Mount Zion or worshipper on
Mount Gerizim, it is “a gift,” a gift of God, a personal relation established between the
individual soul and the Divine life-giving source of all. It is a secret between ourselves and
God. “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Christ tells us here all that we need to know about the worship that is acceptable to God.
He tells us—

I. The Foundation of true Worship.

II. The Nature of true Worship.

I

Its Foundation

The first essential of true worship is a true appreciation of God’s character. The
foundation on which the new worship rests is a revelation made by Christ respecting the
character of God.

1. God is spirit. We should greatly mistake the meaning of this if we took it as a theological
definition of the Being of God. It is not theological, but practical. It is chiefly negative. It
says what God is not. He is not matter. He has not a form. “A spirit hath not flesh and
bones.”

(1) What is meant by spirit? There are false notions which regard it as attenuated gas, a
wreath of air or vapour. This is only subtle materialism. Consider the universe, with the
sun and stars, the harmony of the planets—all this force, order, harmony is from God. The
spring season, with bursting vegetation—its life is God. Our own minds, their thought and
feeling—that is spirit. God, therefore, is the Mind of the universe. This, then, was the great
truth, that God is Mind, not separated by conditions of space and time from His creatures.

(2) It is difficult for us to conceive of an absolutely spiritual being, without body, parts, or
form; of One who is eternal as regards time, without beginning and without end; and
infinite as regards space, everywhere present, filling all things, or rather containing all
within Himself. It is this idea, baffling to our imagination, of the infinite Being of God that
is the foundation of spiritual worship. It is because God’s Being is infinite that He is
present alike to all, and takes cognizance of all persons and their concerns, the least as well
as those which seem to us the greatest.

(3) The ordinary objector reasons thus: All the persons I know are visible, subject to the
scrutiny of eye and ear and touch. I can well understand expressions of love, thanksgivings,
cries for help, addressed to a being thus accessible to ordinary sense. But these people call
when there is no one visible to hear and answer; they address themselves to vacancy, and
throw out their vain cries to the thin air. It is true they profess to be addressing a Spirit;
but that means something which is not seen, heard, touched, handled,—an influence wholly
beyond the scope of my senses. What evidence is there that such an impalpable Being hears
and sees, knows, and wills, and acts? How can I be sure that it exists at all?

(4) Yet the facts of the universe are not altered by our incredulity, our unwillingness or
incapacity to perceive them. The realm of Spirit is a reality, spiritual laws govern
everything, though we ignore both. To vulgar scepticism it might suffice to reply that its
argument confuses Personality with the sensible signs of its presence. Wedded to
materialist ideas it mistakes the visible, the audible, the tangible, for that which manifests
its own reality and activity through these, but is not itself identical with one or all of them.
It confounds the outward form with the inward essence; the symbol with the thing
signified; the shell with the substance. It grossly identifies the body with the man himself. It
argues as if the eye were identical with seeing, or the ear with hearing. It confounds the
organ and instrument with that which acts through it. If it is true, as St. John has written,
that “No man hath seen God at any time,” it is also true that no man hath at any time seen
a person. Strictly speaking, persons are not visible, tangible, subject to the scrutiny of
sense. For a person is surely not the group of related impressions present at a given
moment to my sensorium; a man is not a certain outline or coloured surface stamped upon
my retina, combined perhaps with certain vibrations of my auditory nerve and certain
impulses conveyed through my nerves of touch. When we speak of a man or a person, we
mean not these, but rather the unseen, unheard, unfelt reality which is the cause of them
all, and which reveals its own existence to our perception through such mediating effects.
Understand the terms of this statement, and it is impossible for us to deny its truth.

(5) In our conceptions of God let us have no images of the fancy, no material realization.
Stop every attempt to give any kind of embodiment to the Father. Leave it all
indeterminate; put anything else away as a trespass and a presumption. The willingness to
do this, the power to do this, is part of the discipline of the present life; it is the faith of our
worship. All that we can safely have before us is quality, attributes. God is wisdom, God is
power, God is greatness, God is holiness, God is love. Enshrined in those, as in a deep
sanctuary, is the Infinite, the Unsearchable,—that is God. But we can see the enshrining
only, the rest is hidden. It is there, and we speak to it, and we hear it, and we deal with it,
and we feel it; but it is far above all sense, it is a name, it is a mystery, it is a Spirit, it is
God.

God is a Spirit. This relates to the nature of God; and as a spirit is the most excellent of
beings that we have any notions of, God is represented under this character to heighten our
thoughts of Him. We indeed know but little of the nature of spirits; the most of our
acquaintance with them lies in the consciousness we have of our own souls, which all allow
to be the noblest part of the man. And the most natural, obvious thought that arises in our
minds about a spirit is that it is an incorporeal and invisible being, with life and action,
understanding and will.1 [Note: Guyse.]

Observe yon concave blue,

That seems to close around our human view,

And ends by sun and star

Our keenest survey of those heavens afar.

And yet we know full well,

False is the specious tale our senses tell;

That is no azure sky,

Or solid vault, that meets our lifted eye.

What curtains round our gaze,

The background of the sun or starry maze,

Is but blue-tinted light

That veils from us the aërial infinite.

And so, when we define

Great heaven’s immensity by verbal sign,

We act as though our bent

Were here again to feign a firmament.

Words in array we place,

And deem therewith we see God face to face.

Poor fools, and blind; not seeing

Our words but mask and hide His unsearched Being.1 [Note: John Owen.]

2. The great truth that God is a Spirit, purely held, would be the best corrective of false
doctrines in religion, the richest spring of peace, the most constant inspiration of duty.
Examine a narrow creed, and it will not be difficult to point out where it forgets that God is
a Spirit. A heart not at rest is a heart that does not know the indwelling of the Holy Spirit,
the Comforter. A dishonoured conscience, a violated sentiment, a rebellious will, are only
other names for a broken fellowship with the Father of our spirits. A soul cleansed from
unspiritual thoughts of God, and in daily communion with Him, however far it might be
from the fulness of objective Truth, would have in it no springs of error, of trouble, or of
sin.

(1) The first error that arises from an unspiritual conception of God is a tendency to
localize God. The woman’s question was, in fact, “Where?” Christ’s reply was, “Nowhere
in particular—everywhere.” This question lies at the root of all superstition. It is

observable among the heathen, who confine the agency of a god to a certain district; among
the uneducated poor of our own country, in their notions of a cemetery; and among the
more refined, in the clinging mysterious idea which they attach to a church, an altar, and
the elements of the sacrament. Let us define what we mean by sanctity of place. It is a thing
merely subjective, not objective; it is relative to us. It belongs to that law of association by
which a train of ideas returns more easily by suggestion in some one place than in another.
Worship in a festive room or over a shop, would suggest notions uncongenial with devotion.
Hence the use of setting apart or consecrating places for worship. There is no other sanctity
of place. We hear an objection to this. It is said to be dangerous to say this: it will unsettle
people’s minds; a little of this illusion is wholesome, especially for the poor. Christ did not
so reason. Consider how unsettling this was to the woman. The little religion she had clung
to Gerizim. The shock of being told that it was not holy might have unsettled all her
religion. Did Christ hesitate one moment? He was concerned only with truth. And we are
concerned only with truth. Some people are afraid of truth. As if God’s truth could be
dangerous! The straight road is ever the nearest. People must bear, and shall, what an
earnest mind dares to say. Is God there or not? If not, at our peril we say He is.1 [Note: F.
W. Robertson.]

(2) A second error is the idea that forms are immutable. “Our fathers worshipped in this
mountain,” therefore so must we. How much of the mischief of the separation of sects, with
all the bitterness and mistrust that have come with it, has arisen from the fact that the form
of worship has been mistaken for the worship itself.

It was about one o’clock in the morning. I was the only white man then on the island, and
all the natives had been fast asleep for hours! Yet I literally pitched my hat into the air, and
danced like a schoolboy round and round that printing-press; till I began to think, Am I
losing my reason? Would it not be liker a missionary to be upon my knees, adoring God for
this first portion of His blessed Word ever printed in this new language? Friend, bear with
me, and believe me, that was as true worship as ever was David’s dancing before the Ark of
his God!2 [Note: John G. Paton, i. 202.]

(3) A third error is to mistake the object of worship. There is a feeling of devoutness
inherent in the human mind. We hear the solemn tones of a child when repeating his
prayer or hymn. Before what is greater, wiser, better than himself man bows instinctively.
But the question is, what will he worship? The heathen bent before Power. To him the
Universe was alive with Deity; he saw God in the whirlwind, in the lightning, and the
thunder. But the forces of Nature are not God. The philosopher bows before Wisdom.

Science tells him of electricity, gravitation, force. He looks down on warm devoutness; for
he sees only contrivance and mind in Nature. He admires all calmly, without enthusiasm.
He calls it Rational Religion. This also is ignorance. The spiritual man bows before
Goodness, “The true worshippers worship the Father,” “We know what we worship: for
salvation is of the Jews,” that is, God is intelligible in Christ as Love, Goodness, Purity.

God is a Spirit in nature; but He is a Father in character. This was part of Christ’s
revelation of God to the woman of Samaria. “The hour cometh, and now is, when the true
worshippers shall worship the Father.” Jesus was the herald of the Golden Age, and of the
common worship of the universal Father. On that very day the Golden Age was dawning,
for He, rising above the limits of a national religion, was seeking one outside its fold. True,
as He declared to this woman, salvation was of the Jews. Unto the Jews God had revealed
Himself by prophet and priest, and by means of ritual. Unto them had been granted special
revelation; yet, notwithstanding all their privileges, the Jewish people had not yet learned
the full glory of the Divine character. To them, God was Jehovah, the High and Mighty
One inhabiting eternity; He was infinite, all-powerful, the God of Israel; but the coming of
Jesus unveiled Deity, and revealed Him as the one Father of all humanity. Before His
coming, men had dreaded Deity; but He, leading the children of men into the presence of
the Infinite, said, “When ye pray, say, Our Father.” Thus He revealed the character of God
to be that of infinite love.1 [Note: G. E. Walters, The Deserted Christ, 78.]

(4) A fourth error is a mistake about the nature of reverence. This Samaritan woman had
what is often called reverence—veneration for antiquity, zeal for her Church, lingering
recollections of the old mountain, respect for a prophet. But what was her life? He with
whom she then lived was not her husband. In other words, reverence, veneration, awe, are
feelings which belong to the imagination and are neither good nor bad: they may go along
with religion, but also they may not. A man may kneel to sublime things, yet never have
bent his heart to goodness and purity. A man may be reverential and yet impure. Next
examine a man who is called irreverent. Constitutionally so framed that he does not
happen to thrill at painted windows, Gothic architecture, and solemn music, is he,
therefore, without veneration? Take him out into God’s grand universe, or put before him
Christ’s character: is there no adoration, no deep intense love? Tell him of a self-denying
action: is there no moisture in his eye? Tempt him to meanness: is there no indignant
scorn? The man has bowed his soul before Justice, Mercy, Truth, and therefore stands
erect before everything else that this world calls sublime.

The enjoyment of noble architecture and music is not worship, and may be mistaken for it.
The hush which falls on us, walking the aisles of a church of eight hundred years; the thrill
of nerves and heart as the glorious praise begins, whose echoes fail amid fretted vaults and
clustered shafts; all that feeling, solemn as it is, has no necessary connection with
worshipping God in spirit and in truth. And we may delude ourselves with the belief that
we are offering spiritual worship when it is all a mere matter of natural emotion, which the
most godless man could share.1 [Note: A. K. H. Boyd, Sunday Afternoons in a University
City, 87.]

(5) A fifth error is the failure to distinguish between interest in theology and interest in
religion. Here was a woman living in sin, and yet deeply interested in a religious
controversy. She found, doubtless, a kind of safeguard to rest on in the perception of this
keen interest. Her religion was almost nothing, her theology most orthodox. Theological
controversy sharpens our disputative faculties and wakens our speculative ones. Religion is
love to God and man. We do not always distinguish between theology and religion. We
make skill in controversy a test of spirituality. It is but a poor test. The way the woman
questioned Christ is a specimen of a common feeling. The moment Christ appeared she
examined His views. She did not ask whether the Man before her was pure and spotless, or
whether His life was spent in doing good; but was He sound upon the vital question of the
Temple?

An elderly minister was asked to take the catechizing of the congregation in a parish in the
pastoral uplands of the South of Scotland. He was warned against the danger of putting
questions to a certain shepherd, who had made himself master of more divinity than some
of his clerical contemporaries could boast, and who enjoyed nothing better than, out of the
question put to him, to engage in an argument with the minister on some of the deepest
problems of theology. The day of the ordeal at last came, the old doctor ascended the
pulpit, and after the preliminary service put on his spectacles and unfolded the roll of the
congregation. To the utter amazement of everybody, he began with the theological
shepherd, John Scott. Up started the man, a tall, gaunt, sunburnt figure, with his maud
over his shoulder, his broad blue bonnet on the board in front of him, and such a look of
grim determination on his face as showed how sure he felt of the issue of the logical
encounter to which he believed he had been challenged from the pulpit. The minister, who
had clearly made up his mind as to the line of examination to be followed with this
pugnacious theologian, looked at him calmly for a few moments, and then in a gentle voice
asked, “Who made you, John?” The shepherd, prepared for questions on some of the most
difficult points of our faith, was taken aback by being asked what every child in the parish
could answer. He replied in a loud and astonished tone, “Wha made me?” “It was the Lord

God that made you, John,” quietly interposed the minister. “Who redeemed you, John?”
Anger now mingled with indignation as the man shouted, “Wha redeemed me?” The old
divine, still in the same mild way, reminded him “It was the Lord Jesus that redeemed you,
John,” and then asked further, “Who sanctified you, John?” Scott, now thoroughly
aroused, roared out, “Wha sanctified ME?” The clergyman paused, looked at him calmly,
and said, “It was the Holy Ghost that sanctified you, John Scott, if, indeed, ye be sanctified.
Sit ye doon, my man, and learn your questions better the next time you come to the
catechizing.” The shepherd was never able to hold his head up in the parish thereafter.1
[Note: Sir Archibald Geikie, Scottish Reminiscences, 72.]

3. Now see how great this truth is. That God is a Spirit comes nearer to the business and
the bosoms of men, to our real interests, to our belief in progress, to our feeling of God’s
Fatherhood, to our sense of man’s brotherhood, than any other truth. Is there a Church
laying down dogmatic terms of salvation? This rebukes it: God is a Spirit, and the spirits
that desire Him He makes His own. Is there a merely conventional worship, a merely
authoritative religion, a merely ceremonial, ecclesiastical way of approaching God? This
disowns it: only those who are in personal communion with Him know Him at all, and they
may know Him to their full content. Is there an upright man, a devout heart,
misunderstood or forsaken by the world? This sustains him: God is a Spirit, and brings all
things to light. Is there a conscience that would hide itself from the light? This disables it:
“Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?” “The
darkness and the light are both alike to thee.”

Is there a troubled mind, a spirit that cannot find peace? What will quiet it? Nothing but
some sense of the Infinite as very near to us; it may be from a glance at the unfathomable
depths of Nature, with awe and shame at the contrast between our fretful selfishness and
the silent realities of God in which we feel we have a part. To gaze upon the face of Nature
is sometimes to be brought under the power of a calm and cleansing spirit then present to
us; and what is religion but a quickening of the soul under the sense that a Spirit of Purity
and Love is acting and looking upon us? And if ever the solemnity and beauty which man’s
workmanship can produce does in its highest examples, in a cathedral, or in the Angel of
the Resurrection from the great sculptor’s hand, contribute something to religious emotion,
how much more may the sense of the Infinite come upon us from the spiritual aspects of the
Temple not made with hands; still more if with understanding hearts we could gaze into
the majestic face of Christ; still more if, led by Christ up to the Throne, into the real
Presence, we could bring ourselves to look intently, with a full trust, into the fatherly face
of God!1 [Note: J. H. Thom, A Spiritual Faith, 12.]

He who worships the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, must, in all the qualities of
his soul, in all the relations of his life, be a better man than the atheist, than the man who
denies the existence of God. The man who worships a stone is a better man than he who
worships nothing. The man who falls down before carven wood, or worships the beasts of
the field, is a grander nature than he who never bows his head in prayer, and never lifts up
his heart in aspiration and religious desire. The tendency of worship is to elevate our
nature. He who worships sincerely, however ignorantly, is the better for his worship; he is
enlarged in his nature, his outlook upon things is widened, he is led away from self-trust,
and is taught to depend upon a power, not lower, but higher, and in his estimation better,
than his own.2 [Note: J. Parker.]

II

Its Nature

To worship is man’s highest glory. He was created for fellowship with God: of that
fellowship worship is the sublimest expression. All the exercises of the religious life—
meditation and prayer, love and faith, surrender and obedience, all culminate in worship.
Recognizing what God is in His holiness, His glory, and His love, realizing what we are as
sinful creatures, and as the Father’s redeemed children, in worship we gather up our whole
being and present ourselves to our God to offer Him the adoration and the glory which are
His due. The truest and fullest and nearest approach to God is worship. Every sentiment
and every service of the religious life is included in it: to worship is man’s highest destiny,
because in it God is all.

1. “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” It is not a
question of place. “Neither in this mountain nor yet in Jerusalem is the place.” It is no
question of cathedral, or church, or chapel, or hall. Wherever a heart yearns for God and
pours itself forth, there is God’s House, there is God’s blessing. Every sick-room can be a
House of God; every hospital ward a House of God; every lonely heart away in the deepest
solitude in seeking Him can find His House. It is not a question of time. If this true idea of
worship be once grasped, that it is not an outward form, not outward ceremony, not at set
times, but ever, always, the going out of hearts towards and after Him, it will mean that our
worship will find expression in our home life, in our factory life, in our shop life, in our

dock life, in our so-called secular life, and everywhere, always, all things, sacred and
secular, will be blended in one lifelong act of worship, our heart going out to God in spirit
and in truth.

The Lord is in His Holy Place

In all things near and far!

Shekinah of the snowflake, He,

And Glory of the star,

And Secret of the April land

That stirs the field to flowers,

Whose little tabernacles rise

To hold Him through the hours.

He hides Himself within the love

Of those whom we love best;

The smiles and tones that make our homes

Are shrines by Him possessed;

He tents within the lonely heart

And shepherds every thought;

We find Him not by seeking far,—

We lose Him not, unsought.

Our art may build its Holy Place,

Our feet on Sinai stand,

But Holiest of Holies knows

No tread, no touch of hand;

The listening soul makes Sinai still

Wherever we may be,

And in the vow, “Thy will be done!”

Lies all Gethsemane.1 [Note: William C. Gannett.]

2. We cannot read these words and not feel that the very genius and essence of the
Christian religion is an exceeding simplicity. Had Christ reckoned externals of great
importance, He certainly would have said so here. Those externals may be convenient, and
they are helpful; and therefore the Church may justly, and with great propriety and
benefit, ordain them. But if Christ’s words are to be taken in their plainest signification,
God does not now require or command them. They are not a part of the new legislation;
rather, they are decidedly and studiously omitted. For in this matter, it is clear that a
contrast is drawn between the Samaritan and the Jewish ritual—which were both of them
highly addressed to the senses—and that which Christ was introducing. He declares such
things to be passed away. And nothing is laid down as the will of God respecting public
worship, but this only—it must be spiritual and true.

In our approaches to God, the frame of mind is everything. Like worships like. God is
mystery, worship is faith; God is wisdom, worship is thought; God is love, worship is
affection; God is truth, worship is sincerity; God is holiness, worship is purity; God is
omnipresence, worship is everywhere; God is eternity, worship is always. Words are good,
because words react on the mind, and clear and fix it; but words are not worship. Forms
are good, because forms are stays and helps to our infirmities; but forms are not worship.
Holy places, holy things, holy persons are good, because in such a defiled world as this,
what is sacred must be isolated; but no places, no things, no persons are worship.
Sacraments are good, because the sacraments are the very incorporations and the essences
of our salvation; but sacraments are not worship. “God is a Spirit and they that worship
him must worship in spirit and truth.”1 [Note: James Vaughan.]

I sit within my room, and joy to find

That Thou who always lov’st art with me here,

That I am never left by Thee behind,

But by Thyself Thou keep’st me ever near;

The fire burns brighter when with Thee I look,

And seems a kinder servant sent to me;

With gladder heart I read Thy holy book,

Because Thou art the eyes by which I see;

This aged chair, that table, watch, and door

Around in ready service ever wait;

Nor can I ask of Thee a menial more

To fill the measure of my large estate,

For Thou Thyself, with all a Father’s care,

Where’er I turn, art ever with me there.2 [Note: Jones Very.]

i. Worship in Spirit

1. God is Spirit, and what He reveals to man must be made through the medium of Spirit.
If He were possessed of a material form, the way of recognition would be through the
senses, but Spirit can only be spiritually discerned. God cannot be seen in the Bible, He
cannot be seen in Nature, except through the exercise of the spiritual vision. Our worship,
therefore, must consist in the effort of the human spirit to identify itself with the Divine, not

in a mystic, self-destroying unity, but in the direction of its aspirations and its will. We seek
to bring our souls into a state of conformity with God’s all-perfect will.

The true worship is not the prostration of the body in kneeling, nor even the prostration of
the soul in distant adoration, but the yielding of our living powers willingly and gladly to
the Divine influence within us. There is an expression of the great Stoic emperor, Marcus
Aurelius, who perhaps came nearer than any other non-Christian of the West to the
Christian life and spirit: “I reverence the God who is within.” That God has been fully
made known to us in Jesus Christ, and we can give a grander significance to this
expression. Our God is within us. Let us allow our thoughts to be enlightened and our
energies quickened by the spirit of holiness—the unseen, constraining power of
righteousness—and we are practising the true worship.1 [Note: Dean Fremantle, The
Gospel of the Secular Life, 209.]

2. Before the Incarnation, man dared approach God only through priest and altar, and in
an earthly temple. Jesus came to erect one altar—His Cross,—and to offer one sacrifice—
Himself. He was born that He might die; and over all His pathway there fell the shadow of
the Cross. The Cross was interwoven into all His life. Galilee would have made Him King;
the whole region of the North went after Him. He said, “I go to Jerusalem.” He deliberately
journeyed thither, everything in His journey pointing to His doom. The broken bread in
the supper represented His broken body; the red wine His spilt blood. They nailed Him to
His Cross, and there He was wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our
iniquities. “It is finished,” He cried; “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” Then
the veil of the Temple was rent asunder. The Holy of Holies was open to mortal gaze. There
was no longer any need for earthly priest or altar. The world had become a temple, the
human heart the shrine of the Holy Ghost.

Christ came to bring man’s spirit into immediate contact with God’s Spirit; to sweep away
everything intermediate. In lonely union, face to face, man’s spirit and God’s Spirit must
come together. It is a grand thought! Let us aspire to this, to greatness, goodness! So will
our spirits mingle with the Spirit of the Everlasting.2 [Note: F. W. Robertson.]

3. The law of acceptable Christian worship is briefly this: it must be the worship of “the
heart,” that is, of the will. Not of the voice merely; not of the hands merely; not of the
bended knees merely; not of the decorously and comprehensively expressed prayer merely;

not of the sweet incense merely; not of the lamb slain and burnt on the altar merely; not of
the gorgeously-arrayed High Priest, nor yet of the simply-robed Scotch minister merely;
not of feelings touched by old memories of our own departed days, and of those who used
to worship with us long ago, but who will worship with us on earth no more; not of any or
all of these things merely—but of the will.

If our worship is of “the heart,” it follows that to be real we must have a real religious
experience. Experience is the very soul or religion. Properly speaking, we do not begin to be
religious until God and the soul have somehow come face to face. It is true that as children
we are taught religious truth, but we have not experienced it, we are taught it; and there is
a sense in which, if we receive that truth as little children, humbly, trustfully, teachably, we
are truly religious and belong to the Kingdom of God. To very few is God more real than
He is to the little child. But when that has been said, it needs to be repeated that there can
be no real religion without a real religious experience. Religion is not in word alone; it is
not in the hearing of the Word, it is not in the explanation of certain truths, but it is
profoundly and most practically in spirit, in experience. God is not real to us until we have
made our own discovery of Him in our life.

This Pearl of Eternity is the Church or Temple of God within thee, the consecrated Place of
Divine Worship, where alone thou canst worship God in Spirit and in Truth. In Spirit,
because thy spirit is that alone in thee which can unite and cleave unto God, and receive the
workings of His Divine Spirit upon thee. In Truth, because this Adoration in the Spirit is
that Truth and Reality of which all outward Forms and Rites, though instituted by God,
are only the Figure for a Time, but this Worship is Eternal. Accustom thyself to the Holy
Service of this inward Temple. In the midst of it is the Fountain of Living Water, of which
thou mayest drink and live for ever. There the Mysteries of thy Redemption are celebrated,
or rather opened in Life and Power. There the Supper of the Lamb is kept; the Bread that
came down from Heaven, that giveth life unto the world, is thy true nourishment: all is
done, and known in real Experience, in a living sensibility of the Work of God on the Soul.
There the Birth, the Life, the Sufferings, the Death, the Resurrection and Ascension of
Christ, are not merely remembered, but inwardly found and enjoyed as the real states of
thy soul, which has followed Christ in the Regeneration.1 [Note: William Law.]

ii. Worship in Truth

Our worship must be “in truth”; truth as regards God Himself, and truth as regards our
own state.

1. We need to have a true conception of God, as far as we know Him, as He is revealed to us
through Christ. The Samaritans had not a true knowledge; the Jews knew more, they knew
Him through the Prophets, though their knowledge was incomplete. They knew that
Messiah should come. To worship the true God and not idols, that was the elementary
teaching, the preliminary idea. But to us it is given beyond this to conceive aright of the
living and unseen God. The Father is revealed to us in and through the Son—on whom
human eyes have dwelt. And prayer becomes a different thing when it is a child’s cry to a
Father’s heart, a child clinging to Him in His paternal character; and it is through this
sense of filial relationship that we approach that inner embrace of the Father’s heart. The
Son sympathizes with us in our hardness and pain. He has tasted all our trial, only without
the sin, and our prayer through Him reaches the Father’s Heart through the sympathetic
agency of the Son, the Spirit helping our infirmities and giving force to our prayer.

Recent researches into the origins of the Old Testament have proved that the factor in the
extraordinary development of moral and religious truth, which is so discernible in the
history of Israel and in their gradual ascent to the loftiest heights of spiritual knowledge,
from the low levels of life which they had once occupied with their Semitic neighbours, was
the impression upon the people as a whole through the wonderful deeds of their history and
the experience of their greatest minds, of the character of God.1 [Note: George Adam
Smith, The Life of Henry Drummond, 244.]

Our worship must conform to our best intellectual conceptions about God and His will.
Our Lord Himself once drew a powerful contrast between the influence of a higher and a
lower estimate of God’s character on the actions of men. He told His disciples that the time
would come when “Whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. And these
things will they do unto you,” said He, “because they have not known the Father.” That is,
although they believed in God, they yet ignored the special revelation made by Jesus Christ
of the Fatherhood of God. Ignorance of this revelation has been the origin of some of the
most terrible crimes against humanity that have ever disgraced the world. Hundreds of
men and women have been roasted to death by order of Inquisitors, who, veiling their
cruelty under the term auto-da-fé, witnessed that they did it in the name of what they
believed to be God. On the throne of the universe they saw nothing but an angry and
despotic Tyrant, who so hated heterodoxy, that He had prepared for all heretics a
pandemonium of everlasting fire, and hence, quite honestly, they sought to deter men by

torture from such an awful fate.1 [Note: G. F. Terry, The Old Theology in the New Age,
52.]

2. We must also have truth in ourselves. Holy character is a kind of worship. All true life is
worship: “Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness”; “Lo, I come to do thy will, O God.”
Before a material God a material knee would have to bow. Before a spiritual God, nothing
but the prostration of the spirit can be acceptable.

He prayeth well, who loveth well

Both man and bird and beast.

Love is a kind of prayer—the truest lifting up of the soul. God is a real God. The
worshipper is to be a real character. The Christian must be a true man—transparent, who
can bear to be looked through and through. There must be no pretence; no gilded tinsel—
true gold all through.

Let us take care that all our relations to God, and all our communications with Him, are
honest relations, “in truth.” If our body is on its knees, let us be sure that our heart is also
on its knees. If we close our eyes, let us see that we close our fancies. If we say words, let us
beware that they are the exact representatives of our thoughts. If we ask anything, let it be
the thing we want. If we promise, let us be sure that we mean it. If we confess with our lips,
let us stop, if our mind is not confessing with its inward convictions. If we praise, let us
hush our soul, if it is not in tune. Let worship be worship,—a beggar knocking at the door;
a sinner prostrate for mercy; a servant looking to his Master’s eye; a child speaking to his
Father; a pardoned man resting; a saved man thanking; a saint rejoicing.2 [Note: James
Vaughan.]

Thy house hath gracious freedom, like the air

Of open fields; its silence hath a speech

Of royal welcome to the friends who reach

Its threshold, and its upper chambers bear,

Above their doors, such spells that, entering there,

And laying off the dusty garments, each

Soul whispers to herself: “Twere like a breach

Of reverence in a temple could I dare

Here speak untruth, here wrong my inmost thought.

Here I grow strong and pure; here I may yield,

Without shamefacedness, the little brought

From out my poorer life, and stand revealed,

And glad, and trusting, in the sweet and rare

And tender presence which hath filled this air.”1 [Note: Helen H. Jackson.]

JOHN MACARTHUR
True Worship, Part 1
Sermons John 4:20–24 2004 Jan 3, 1982

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Let’s bow in prayer. Father, as we come now to the study of the Word of God, we pray
that the Spirit of God might give us entrance into the truth that we might see and hear and
understand, that we might respond with obedient hearts, for Christ’s sake. Amen.
I would like you to take your Bible and look with me for a moment at John’s gospel,
chapter 4. John’s gospel, chapter 4. And I would like to read verses 20 through 24. And
this text is going to be the touchstone for our study of worship. We’ll be coming back to it
intermittently and then finally in a very in depth study, because I believe John 4:20 to 24 is
the most significant New Testament passage on worship, and we must understand its truths
if we are to understand our subject at all. The conversation is between the woman of
Samaria and our Lord Jesus Christ. And she says: “Our fathers worshipped in this
mountain; and Ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus
saith unto her, ‘Woman, believe Me, the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this
mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we
know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 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. God is a spirit: and they that worship Him must worship
Him in spirit and in truth.’” The word worship appears in one form or another eight times
in that passage. It is essential that we understand what our Lord is saying here, and we
will, I trust, by the time our series is finished.
Now, when you came here this morning you came to what we call “The Fellowship of
Worship.” And you came into a building that we call “The Worship Center.” Four years
ago, or so, when we were building this building, and had finished it, and I was trying to
decide what could we call it? All kinds of options were presented. We could call it an

auditorium, but that has no distinction at all. We could call it the sanctuary, but that
doesn’t make sense because God doesn’t live here. We had other suggestions which I’ll
leave unsaid as to what we could call it. But I felt that the best possible name would be the
Worship Center, because when you come here you come for the primary purpose of
worshipping God. And you not only come to the worship center, but you come to the
fellowship of worship. And when the choir sings, and the musicians play, and the sermon is
preached, it is not that those are an end in themselves; those are but stimuli. And their
design and intention is to cause you to worship God. And if you have any less than that in
your mind, you’ve missed the point.
I’m afraid that most people come to church for what they can get. There are some people,
you know, who just check the church page and see who’s playing where on a given Sunday
and go for what they think will appeal to them, or quote-unquote, “Bless them.” If you
come to church for what you can get out of the music, or what you can get out of the
sermon; if you come to church for the fact that you’d like to get blessed, you’ve missed the
point. You really have, you know. Because we’re here to worship God, and that’s giving,
not getting. We come to offer to Him something, not to receive. Granted, if we offer to
Him the praise due His name, we will receive at His hand. For the Bible says in the words
of our Lord Jesus Christ, “It is more blessed to,” what? “Give than to receive.” So, there
is blessing in giving, much more than if you just come to receive. If you came just to
analyze the music, or just to analyze the sermon, and if your response is, well, I’ve heard
better, and I’m sure you have, at least in the case of the sermon, you’ve missed it. All we
are doing is prodding your heart to worship God. And if your heart is in tune with God,
frankly, it should take very little prodding, very little.
Worship. Do you do it when you come? I mean, is that what you have in mind? Do you
prepare your heart for worship? When you’re getting dressed and getting in your car and
proceeding on your way to this place on Sunday, is it that your heart is eager to worship
God? Have you ever asked yourself that question? Well, you’re going to have to ask
yourself that question in this series. And I’m going to tell you right in the very beginning
what my purpose is: I want to really back you into a corner and force you to make a
decision about whether you’re going to worship God or not. And that’s really what a
preacher is for, you know. Force people to make decisions.
There are all kinds of views of the preacher, and I’ll confess which one I take of myself in
the process of explaining this. The first one is the ritualist. Some of you come maybe from
a background of a more ritualistic church where the preacher’s role is just another ten
minutes in the liturgy. He does his thing like everybody else. And then, there’s the role of
the preacher as the foreman. He just comes in and browbeats everybody and intimidates
everyone. And then there’s the huckster, who uses the pulpit to sell his latest enterprise, or
to promote his latest cause. And then, there’s the professor who just dumps information
unrelated to life.

But, I would like to think of myself as a persuader. And the objective of this series is to
make you think, first of all, about what worship is; secondly, whether you’re doing it or
not; and thirdly, if you’re not, will you? And if you won’t, then you’re going to have to
deny what the Bible says. That’s the objective of preaching: to force you to the corner
where you have no other alternative than to do what God says, or not do what He says, and
know clearly what you’ve done. So, worship is incumbent upon us and I believe we’re
going to see some things that perhaps we’ve never seen as clearly before.
Now, what is worship? Let me give you a definition, to start with, now that I’ve gotten
your attention, I hope. What is worship? Very simple definition, are you ready for this?
Honor paid to a superior being. Honor paid to a superior being. That’s worship. A very
simple word to define. It means to give homage, honor, reverence, respect, adoration,
praise, glory to a superior being. Frankly, the word in the Scripture is used
indiscriminately; it’s used of people who gave that kind of homage to idols. It’s used of
people who gave that kind of homage to material things as well as to the true God. So, the
word in itself is not a holy word as such. It only describes honor given to a superior being.
The common New Testament word, and there are several that have implied in them the
idea of worship, but the most common one is the word proskune, which means to kiss
toward, and it came from that ancient custom of kissing the hand of a superior, a person
bow down on the ground, bow his head and kiss the hand. It also is used to convey the idea
of bowing down, or prostrating oneself. And it is the idea that you prostrate yourself
before a superior being with a sense of respect and awe and reverence and honor and
homage.
And in a Christian context we simply apply that to God. We bow before God. We
prostrate ourselves before God. We kiss the hand, as it were, as the Psalmist says, “Kiss
the Son.” We bow in respect and honor before God, paying Him the glory due His superior
character.
Essentially then, worship is giving. It is giving honor and respect to God and that is why
we gather here. We don’t gather here to give respect to the preacher, or even the people
who participate in the music, although it is fine that we should hold one another in respect.
At this point in our experience as Christians, all of us fade and we are here for one purpose
and that is to give honor to God. And through all that occurs, there is to be the stimulating
of that desire in our hearts to honor God. So, if you come for what you can get, or if you
come to quote-unquote, “get a blessing,” you’ve missed it. You have come to give, not get.
And worship is a consuming desire to give to God. And it first begins with the giving of
ourselves, and then of our heart attitudes, and then of our possessions.
Let me see if I can’t illustrate a couple of places in the Scripture of this thought. Exodus
chapter 30 provides a graphic illustration, I think, of worship. In Exodus chapter 30, we
are hearing the instruction given by God for the worship of the tabernacle. And God had

given them clear instruction about how worship was to be carried on in the tabernacle, and
there were many things that were a part of that instruction that had great symbolic value,
they were great teaching tools. They were Visual aids. One of them is described in the 30th
chapter and verse 34, and I think this is a wonderful, wonderful insight. “The Lord said to
Moses; Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, onycha, galbanum.” And those were available
elements in that part of the world. “These sweet spices with pure frankincense: and of each
there shall be a like weight.” Four components in equal part. “And make a perfume, a
perfume after the art of the perfumer.” Use all of the skills that it takes to take those spices
and make them into a perfume, “Tempered together, pure and holy.” Holy being unique,
separate, untouched by any other element. “And thou shalt beat this very small and put it
before the testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation where I will meet with thee.”
Now, God says, get this perfume all put together and put it in the tabernacle where I’ll
meet with thee. “It shall be unto you most holy.” Now, here is a concoction, a perfume, a
sweet smelling incense is what it really is, it’s incense. And it is to be holy. That is, it is to
be only used for this purpose in the tabernacle. Look at verse 37, “And as for the perfume
which thou shalt make, ye shall not make to yourselves according to the composition
thereof: it shall be unto thee holy for the Lord.” You can’t make any for your own use.
You can’t have any personal perfume of this particular recipe. And, verse 38 says if you do
make it for yourself, to smell it for yourself, “You will be cut off from God’s people.”
Now, did you know there was a perfume recipe in Bible? And did you know that it was
probably the most lovely fragrance imaginable? And that God said it could cost you your
life if you ever made any of this for yourself? You say, well, what in the world is the point?
The point is this: here was a fragrance designed to be only for God and when this incense
rose to God’s nostrils, it was unique to Him. You say, well, what does it picture? It
pictures worship. That unique gift, that fragrance that rises out of the heart to the living
and glorious God, and it is something that is to be offered to no other person. It is to be
used for no other purpose. It is to be a unique, separated, sanctified, holy act that rises out
of the heart of the person to the very nostrils of God. It is symbolic of worship. “When you
come to meet Me there, let there rise from you something that is holy and only Mine.”
Now, believe me, beloved, there are many things that go on that people think are worship,
but they’re not. There is certain kind of music that makes us feel like we are worshipping,
because of the lilt of it, and because of the style of it. And it gives us a feeling of peace and
maybe a few goose bumps. But the fact is that it may well be that that same style of music,
that same mood of music with words that were totally without God could affect the same
emotion in us. That’s not worship. Worship is that which is distinctly and only for God,
and which while capturing the most profound of our emotions does so by the most
profound divine truth. We are to worship God as a sweet smelling offering, and that was to
be the expression in symbol in the worshipping place, the tabernacle.

Now, in the New Testament, I would like you to look at John chapter 12 verse 1. And I
want to show you a similar thought. As the incense fragrance rose to the nostrils of God, it
signified worship. And here we have another fragrant gift offered in worship. This time,
to the living God in human form, the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 1 of John 12: “Jesus six
days before the Passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was,” who had been dead, whom
He raised from the dead. “And there they made Him supper; and Martha served: but
Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with Him. Then took Mary a pound of
ointment of spikenard, very costly.” How costly? Probably a year’s wages for just that
amount. “And she took it and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair:
and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment.”
First Corinthians chapter 11 says: “The glory of a woman is her hair.” And so, she uses
her glory for the lowliest task imaginable. Anybody in that part of the world who washed
people’s feet would have been thought of as the most menial slave. She uses that which is
her glory to wash the dusty, dirty feet of Jesus. And doesn’t just use water, but pours out
the costliest fragrance. Now, that’s the essence of worship. Worship is self-humiliating,
and worship is profuse in its giving. And you remember that Mary and Martha were
different. Martha was always serving and Mary was sitting at the feet of Jesus and Jesus
said, Mary has chosen the what? The better part. And Judas said, wait a minute, that’s
300 denarii worth of ointment and we could have given to the poor. He didn’t really care
about the poor; he held the bag and wanted as much as he could get out. But Jesus said,
“Let her alone.” Let her alone. It is better to worship than to give welfare. That’s right.
What you give God is infinitely more important than what you give man, any man. That is
not to say it’s not important to give to men; it is to say it is important more so to give to
God. And we tend to be so pragmatic. We are the generation of the Marthas, aren’t we? I
mean, I’ve got the church fine tuned to a system, and we’ve got the programs and the
whole shot. We are the busy ones. We are not the generation of the Marys.
And we are very careful that we don’t waste our substance and we tend to mark out very
carefully, even what we give God, rather than to pour out that which is a year’s wages, and
stoop in humility to wipe His feet with our hair. That’s worship. And rising out of that
fragrance was the essence of a worshipping heart. That’s what God’s after. True worship
is better than welfare. True worship is better than religious activity, though it be good.
And welfare is necessary, and so is activity, but worship is better.
And yet I fear that many of us don’t even know what worship is. I suppose we could
compare worship with ministry and help to distinguish it a little. We are very ministry
oriented, aren’t we? We talk about ministry. We function in ministry. We’re very busy
and active. In fact, we were talking the other day about why it seems that as our church
has grown, and we continue to grow, and 60 or 70 new members are added to the church
every month and more and more people keep coming. But it seems as though while we’ve
been growing numerically, we have many more people than we’ve ever had, we don’t

necessarily have more people here on Sunday. And the answer is inevitably, well, you see,
they’re so active, they’ve got home Bible studies, and they’ve got this, and they’ve got that,
and so, yeah, you know, we’ve got a whole bunch of Marthas. But where are those sitting
at the feet of Jesus, where are the worshippers?
It’s so easy to say, Well, I came the last three weeks in a row, you know, I’ve got enough
and I’ll get what I need to get out of the tape. Oh? Is that what you’re here for, to get?
Are you here to get from John MacArthur? Then, John MacArthur’s failed, because I’m
here to give to God the glory. This is the time to worship in His assembly. And you can’t
get that out of a tape recorder. Maybe you can be stimulated there, but not as in the
corporate assembly of the believing people. We are so busy that we don’t worship as we
ought. And I think it is not just that we are so busy, it’s that we are so careless and
indifferent to the true character of worship. And we’ll see that as we go through our study.
But let’s compare that ministry concept with worship. Ministry is very important. We
have to have that. But ministry can be looked at in this way: ministry is that which comes
down to us from the Father through the Son, in the power of the Spirit, to one another.
God, through Christ, by the Spirit, gives to us spiritual gifts to minister to one another.
Worship is the opposite. Worship starts from us, by the Holy Spirit, through the Son, to
the Father. And both are in perfect balance. There must be worship. God seeks
acceptable, true spiritual worship. Did you get that sentence? God seeks acceptable, true
spiritual worship. Every one of those words is critical, and you’re going to understand, I
hope, each word by the time we’re done in its fullness. God seeks acceptable true spiritual
worship.
In John 4, the text we read at the beginning, verse 23: “The hour cometh and now is when
the true worshippers,” underline that, “true worshippers,” that’s the theme of this text,
“shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth for the Father seeketh such to worship
Him.” For the Father seeketh such. God seeks acceptable true spiritual worship. Now, if
we’re going to give Him that, we have to know what it is, and we ask ourselves the
question: what is acceptable, true spiritual worship? And I want you to ask yourself that
question, do I worship God? Is that a priority for me? Do I come faithfully, regularly with
a deep heart commitment to worship God? Not to hear a sermon, you can buy a tape, stay
home; but to worship God. Am I so consumed with that hungering desire to worship God
that I hurry myself into the assembly of His people? For the expression of worship?
And I know you come. I know your bodies are here. I see them, and a fine group of bodies
they are. And I don’t depreciate that. Your bodies are here, but I wonder if your souls are
here in true worship.
It reminds me of the story I was reading about a missionary who was in the upper Amazon
jungle. And this particular missionary was just consumed with this desire to reach another

tribe in another area. And so, he got a group of natives to transport all of his goods and
materials to this new area. And in his zeal, he was just pushing them beyond what they
could sustain. Two days he drove them through that upper Amazon jungle, just in a fury.
And they slept a few hours, and awoke the third morning, and not one native moved. And
he said, “We’ve got to go, we have to move. Get up, we’re on our way.” And they never
budged. And he went to the chief and he said, “Chief, you have to do something. We have
to get them moving.” The chief in his simple way said to the missionary, “My friend, they
are simply waiting for their souls to catch up to their bodies.” And maybe God has been
waiting a long time for your soul to catch up to your body. Your body’s here. Is your soul
here? Are you worshipping in spirit?
In Psalm 45 verse 1 there is a most interesting statement. You don’t need to look it up; it’s
just a simple statement I can quote to you. It says: “My heart is bubbling over with a good
matter.” And that’s a Psalm of praise, you go all the way down to verses 10 and 11 in that
Psalm, and it’s a great praise. And the Psalmist is saying, “My heart is bubbling over,”
and the Hebrew is the idea of something boiling over. And that is really, I think, in a
wonderful way what captures the thought of worship. Listen, worship is a heart so
warmed by the truth of God that eventually it boils over in praise. You see? It is the heart
so warmed by the truth about God that it boils over in praise. That’s the real stuff of
worship. Well, I hope that’s a definition you can comprehend. And you’ll find it further
defined as we go through.
Now, I want to come to a one major point, and I’m going to give you several major points
through this series. This is the first one: the importance of worship. The importance of
worship. We’ll talk about the object of worship, the nature of worship, the effect of
worship, and so forth. But to begin with, the importance of worship. And I want to talk
about that this morning and then again tonight. I want you to understand how important
it is, and I want to lay it on your conscience so you cannot be indifferent to it without being
directly in defiance of God.
Now, worship is important for four reasons, four reasons. Reason number one: Scripture
demands it, Scripture calls for it by the very volume of Scripture. You might even use the
phrase Scripture is filled with it. Worship is important because Scripture is filled with it.
Secondly, all of life is affected by it. All of life is affected by it. Thirdly, it is the major
theme of redemptive history. It is the major theme of redemptive history. And fourthly, it
is commanded. It is commanded. And that’s a more explicit way of saying number one.
Let’s look at number one, and tonight we’ll go through the rest. The first reason that we
say that worship is important is because Scripture speaks so frequently of it. The Word of
God literally repeats, hundreds and hundreds of times, the emphasis on worship. And we
can pick out a few select portions, and these are simply selections out of a mass of biblical
material. Now, the entire book of the Psalms would be a good starting place.

But let’s go back to the 20th chapter of Exodus, and let’s see when God began to lay down
some standards and some principles and some guidelines, some commandments, statutes,
ordinances, laws, propositions. What was it that was most important to Him? God gives
the Ten Commandments, the Decalogue, the priority of His desire for man’s obedience and
here it starts. God said, verse 2 Exodus 20: “I am the Lord thy God, who have brought
thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods
before Me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any carved image, or any likeness of anything
that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the
earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God
am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and
fourth generations of them that hate Me: And showing mercy unto thousands of them that
love Me, and keep My commandments.”
Now, the first commandment is to worship God and God alone. That is it. In the 34th
chapter of Exodus and verse 14, this is even more explicitly stated. And here it says: “For
thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.”
Worship then is the first commandment. That becomes for us the priority then. In
Matthew 22:37 where the young man came to Jesus and said, “What is the first and great
commandment?” The Lord said this, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
soul, mind and strength.” This is the first commandment. What is the first
commandment? Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind and
strength. That is simply the positive side of the negative in Exodus 20. The negative in
Exodus 20 says, “Thou shalt not have any other gods.” The positive in Matthew 22 say,
“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind, strength.” That’s the
priority for man’s existence. Man is made to worship God.
Now, when God called out His people, He established in the midst of their life a
worshipping place so that they might focus on that. Look at the 25th chapter of Exodus for
just a moment. And God gave them all of those instructions, you know, to build that place.
Have you ever studied the instructions of the tabernacle? Just really amazing. As they
moved out of Egypt and they began to wander in the wilderness, God was calling them to
worship. And so, God put in the middle of the camp this tabernacle, this tent. It takes
seven chapters in the Bible, 243 verses, for God to give all of the standards, and all of the
measurements, and all of the furnishings that were to be a part of that place. 243 verses.
It’s kind of interesting when you think that God gives the whole creation of the universe in
just 31. God really is concerned with worship.
And in giving that whole prescription for worship, the whole intent of it was that they
might focus on God. The tabernacle itself was ugly. It was ugly. I mean, it was not pretty
to look at. But inside the tabernacle was a holy place, and inside the holy place was a holy
of holies, which was a perfect cube. And inside the holy of holies was the Ark of the
Covenant. And on top of the Ark of the Covenant was what was called the mercy seat

where the high priest once a year sprinkled blood as an atonement for the sins of the
people. And on the mercy seat dwelt the Shekinah glory of God. And so, really, the
tabernacle was called that because it was where the glory of God dwelt: tabernacle. And
the camp of Israel was all around it, and their whole life was looking in in focus on that
tabernacle. In fact, when the tabernacle was completed, the glory of God came out of the
sky and came right down and dwelt there so that the people would know that the glory of
God was there.
Now, in Exodus 25:22 we read this: “And there I will meet with you, and I will commune
with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the
ark of the testimony, of all things, which I will give thee in commandment unto the children
of Israel.” God gave them a worshipping place. Did you know that in the tabernacle there
were no seats? You didn’t go there for a service. You didn’t go there for a concert. You
didn’t go there for anything other than to worship God. If you had a meeting, you had it
somewhere else. That was a worshipping place. And it was more important to have a
worshipping place as a focus than a meeting place. And in the middle of that worshipping
place was God, revealed in His presence in the Shekinah glory on the mercy seat between
the wings of the cherubim and God says, I’ll meet you there. Worship was the priority.
God met His people there.
And if you read the book of Numbers in the first, at the end of the first chapter, the
beginning of the second chapter, and you read how God laid out the people around the
tabernacle, it’s most fascinating. The Bible tells us, I think it’s Numbers 1 about 52 or 53
verse, that right outside the tabernacle, nearest to the tabernacle were the priests. This is
the camp, the encampment of Israel for all the 40 years they wandered, that the priests
were the nearest, and then just beyond the priests were the Levites. Now, the priests were
in charge of what? Worship, and the rest of the Levites were in charge of the service, the
caring for the tabernacle. And so, the priests were next to it and then the Levites, and then
on the outer ring, outside, came all the 12 tribes of Israel. The whole focus of their
existence was in regard to the matter of worship. That was the greatest proclamation God
made in their midst. I am to be worshipped.
Even the age of the priests, according to Numbers chapter 1 verse 3, a soldier was to be 20
years of age. When a young man reached the age of 20, he could serve as a soldier. In
Numbers 8:24 it tells us that a Levite could begin to serve the tabernacle and the temple
when he reached the age of 25. But, in Numbers 4 verse 3 it says that a priest had to be at
the age of 30. A soldier at 20, a server at 25, a priest at 30. Why? Very simple: because
worship was the priority and demanded the highest level of spiritual maturity, because it
was the greatest responsibility. Lots of people involved in the activity, a lot of people out
there fighting the battle. Another level for those who served, the highest level for those who
brought the people to worship God.

I think there’s another thing that supports the importance of worship in regard to the
Scripture, and that is the offerings. Do you remember back in Leviticus how God laid out
early in the book the various offerings the people were to bring to Him? And the first
offering of all the offerings was the burnt offering, the burnt offering. In fact, the very
altar itself, the brazen altar, became known as the altar of the burnt offering, according to
Exodus 30 verse 28. So, it gave it its name. There were all kinds: sin offering, trespass
offering, and there were the grain offerings and so forth. But the first offering mentioned
is the burnt offering. And what is so wonderful about that is simply this: when a Jew
brought his offering to God, in the rest of the offerings, part would go on the altar and part
would be eaten. But with the burnt offering, every bit of it was burned up because it was
totally to the Lord. The priest didn’t share in it, and the sinner or the penitent didn’t share
in it either. And I think the reason the burnt offering is put first is because the priority
activity is always worship, where all is offered to God. That is the essence of worship; it is
devoted singly and only to God. And when the temple was built, the permanent temple in
Jerusalem was built, that whole aspect of worship was carried right into that facility. And
the focus again was to be worship.
Deuteronomy chapter 12 verse 5. What does God say? “Unto the place which the Lord
your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put His name there, even unto His habitation
shall ye seek and there shalt thou come.” Come to the place of worship. That’s what He
says. Come to the place where God has put His name, and that, of course, is Jerusalem and
even more specifically, that holy of holies. And then, verse 6, “And there ye shall bring
your burnt offerings.” That’s first, then the other sacrifices, and tithes, and offerings of
your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and
flocks. And there, you shall eat before the Lord your God, and rejoice and all you put your
hand unto you and your households, wherein the Lord your God has blessed you. Come to
the temple, He says. Come with all of the fulfillment of all these ceremonial prescriptions,
but start it all with the burnt offering.
You remember Isaiah chapter 6 where Isaiah says: “In the year that King Uzziah died, I
saw also the Lord high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple,” and so forth? And
you remember that he saw above the throne of God the cherubim? The angels? Seraphim.
And he saw them there, and it says that they had six wings, “With two they covered their
face, with two they covered their feet, with two they did fly.” How interesting that they had
four wings related to worship and two related to service.
Worship is the priority. They covered their feet because it was a holy presence. They
covered their faces because they couldn’t look upon His holy glory. With just two, they
took care of the activities. Worship is the priority. No wonder the Psalmist says in Psalm
95: “O come let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our maker. For
He is our God.” And that just triggers your thoughts into Psalm after Psalm after Psalm.

You say, but John, that’s all the Old Testament. Okay, let’s go to the New Testament.
Romans chapter 12, and let’s see what Scripture in the New Testament relates to worship
as a priority. Romans 12:1 and 2 are very familiar Scripture. Paul has given 11 chapters
of the marvelous gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, His redemptive purpose and plan for the
world, the mercy He has had on sinful men. And then he says in verse 1 of chapter 12: “I
beseech you therefore, brethren, based on these mercies of God, I beg you.” Here’s what I
want you to do, based on all of the truth of the first 11 chapters, what is God going to ask?
“Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your,” listen to
this, “spiritual worship” – logikn latreian – spiritual worship. You can write that right in
your margin.
Now, listen to me very carefully, 11 chapters of doctrine. Paul has been defining the
Christian and all of his benefits. And now he says, in response, what does God want?
What is it that God wants from you? This is what He’s done, what does He want? What
He wants is spiritual worship. See it there? That is acceptable unto Him. And that word
acceptable is a very important word. It is a word of sacrifice. It is a word of worship.
Anyone who ever worships any god seeks to bring to him that which is acceptable. It is in
the vein of worship. And the word appears again at the end of verse 2, “The acceptable,
perfect will of God.” What does God want out of a believer? He wants acceptable,
spiritual worship. And it begins with the presentation of the body as a living sacrifice. It
begins with a presentation of the, and I think implied in the body is the whole person, a
living sacrifice because if it’s, people say, well, that’s just a physical body; it can’t be
because giving the physical body is not an act of spiritual worship. The body here is all of
us; it is that body containing that true self.
So, because of God’s great mercy to us, God calls on us to present ourselves in an act of
worship coming to an altar, putting ourselves there in an act of spiritual worship. Now, let
me say it simply: the reason God saved you and me was in order that we might truly
acceptably worship Him. That’s the point. Now, let’s go to another passage, 1 Peter 2:5.
And you have a similar setting here. In chapter 1, you have the wonders of redemptive
grace. You have the great statement in verse 19 of the precious blood of Christ, a lamb
without blemish, without spot. Verse 18 talks about our redemption. Verse 23 talks about
our new birth, being born again. Verse 2 of chapter 2 talks about newborn babes who have
tasted that the Lord is gracious. Now, we have been saved, is what he is saying, and as
saved individuals verse 5 says, “We have become living stones making a spiritual house.”
We have become the living house in which God dwells. God doesn’t live in a house made
with hands. God doesn’t live in a building made of bricks and mortar. He lives in the
living stones of His people. So, we have become the house of God, a holy priesthood. And
what is our call? We as holy priests are to offer up, here it comes, spiritual sacrifices. That
is an act of worship acceptable to God. And again, the term acceptable has inherent in it

the concept of an offering; spiritual worship, acceptable, true spiritual worship is offered
on the basis of God’s transforming work in Christ.
So, you can see, and that’s just a look in a brief way that worship is important. Number
one, because Scripture speaks so often of it. Number two, and I’m just going to introduce
this second one. The second reason that it’s important to worship is because all of life both
now and forever depends on it. Worship is not an addendum to life; worship is at the core
of life. You see, the people who worship God acceptably enter into eternal life. The people
who do not worship God acceptably enter into eternal death. So, worship then becomes the
crux. Worship then becomes the core. Time and eternity are determined by the nature of
a person’s worship. How you worship is reflective and determinative in your destiny.
Now, there are only two kinds of worship you can offer, really. You can either offer
acceptable worship or what? Unacceptable worship. And the mass of the world offers
unacceptable worship. God will not accept it. The Bible is explicit on this. And there are
people today who want to tell us that ultimately everybody is going to get saved. Ultimately
everybody is going to be acceptable to God. That is not true. That is not true. The Bible
does not say that. The Bible says there is acceptable worship and there is unacceptable
worship.
Now, let’s talk about unacceptable worship. There are four kinds. I’m just going to talk
about one this morning, and I’ll give you the rest tonight. First, the first kind of
unacceptable worship is the worship of false gods, the worship of false gods. That is
unacceptable. People say, well, all those poor people over there worshipping their gods.
They’ll be all right in the end because they were sincere. No, they won’t. It is unacceptable
to God to worship a non-god because there is no other God, and God is a jealous God. And
He will not tolerate the worship of another. He says, “My glory will I not give to another.”
And yet, the world worships false gods.
Look at Romans 1 and remind yourself of what we’ve learned in our study of Romans.
Verse 21: “When they knew God,” speaking of the human race, “When they knew God
they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful.” Now, frankly, that just means they
wouldn’t worship Him. They wouldn’t give Him glory. They wouldn’t give Him praise.
They wouldn’t give Him thanks. They wouldn’t give Him homage and adoration. They
refused to worship God. And God said, “That is unacceptable.” So, in verse 24: “God gave
them up to their uncleanness and their vileness and their sinfulness.” It was unacceptable.
In fact, what happened? “When they refused to worship God,” it says in verse 23, “they
began to make images like corruptible man and birds, and four footed beasts and creeping
things.” They turned to idols. Now listen, everybody worships somebody. Everybody
worships somewhere. Even an atheist worships. Who does an atheist worship? Himself.
He is ultimate. Everybody worships.

And when men reject God, they then, very often, will worship false gods. They’ll concoct
gods. And of course, this is that which God forbad in the first commandment, that there
should be any other gods, but men do that. And basically there are several kinds, two
kinds. The first is what you’d call material gods, or earthly gods. They are not specifically
thought of as deities; men just worship the material world. I think this is wonderfully
illustrated in the book of Job, in verse 24 of chapter 31. And it says this: “If I have made
gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, ‘Thou art mine confidence.’” Now, here’s a
man who worships gold. He worships money. He worships his material wealth. “If I
rejoice because my wealth was great, and because mine hand had gotten much, if I beheld
the sun when it shined or the moon walking in brightness, and my heart hath been secretly
enticed, or my mouth has kissed my hand, this also was an iniquity to be punished by the
judge for I should have denied the God who was above.” If I worship what I possess, if I
worship my little world, if I go around kissing my own hand, I’ve denied God. But men do
that. They worship the gods of their own makings, the gods of the material world.
In Habakkuk, you know, it tells about the wicked Chaldeans and it says, this is interesting,
Habakkuk 1:16: “They sacrifice unto their net, and they burn incense unto their drag.”
What in the world is that? Well, earlier he says they make men like fish of the sea, and
they go out with their armies, and they catch men in their net, and they catch them in their
drag and pull them in, and they worship their net. In other words, they worship the god of
the armed power. They worship the god of power. So, men may make gods out of power.
They may make gods out of gold or wealth. They may make themselves god and just go
around kissing their hand all the time, paying homage to themselves. Those are the gods of
the earth, the material gods. But when men reject the true God, they’ll worship another
god.
And then, some of them will formulate supernatural gods, deities, supposed deities. And
God has said, “This is unacceptable.” In Deuteronomy 4:14: “And the Lord commanded
me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances,” says Moses. “You might do them in
the land which you go over to possess.” God told me what to tell you. “Take ye therefore
good heed unto yourselves.” He says, now, I want you to be warned about one thing.
Listen to this, most interesting. “For you saw no manner of similitude on the day the Lord
spoke to you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire.” Now, you remember the day that God
spoke out of the midst of the fire on the mount Horeb? You saw no similitude. In other
words, you saw no form for God. You saw no representation of God. You saw no image of
God, none at all. Why? Because God does not ever wish to be reduced to any image,
never. And he says when God appeared, He did not appear in any manner of similitude
because He didn’t want you to perceive Him in that way.
Now, if in your mind you think of God as an old man with a beard sitting in a chair, that’s
bad. Somebody said, “Idolatry does not begin with a hammer, it begins with the mind.”
And as you begin to conceive of God in improper terms, you will ultimately cause God to be

made in improper terms. And the idolater who takes his hammer and his chisel and forms
a god out of wood, forms the god that’s in his mind to begin with. When I think of God I
do not think of Him in any image; I have no mental image of God. People have asked me
that. When you think of God, what is it you visualize? Absolutely nothing. I do not have
any mental image of God whatsoever. I have no visual conception of what God is. And I
say that by the grace of God, that I should not reduce God to some image.
And so, he says, don’t allow yourselves to think of God in those terms. Verse 16, “Lest you
corrupt and make a carved image.” And that is exactly what they did. Some image out of
a male or female likeness, or a beast, or a winged fowl, or a creeping thing, or a fish. And
you know all the nations around have had these kind of gods. Did you know that the
Philistines had a god that was half-man, half-fish? It was a mermaid in reverse. Very
typical. Don’t do that, lest you should lift up your eyes unto heaven, and when you see the
sun and the moon and the stars and the hosts of heaven, you should be driven to worship
them. And they did that. They worshipped the sun and the stars and the angels and, he
says don’t do it.
So, there was no place for that. In the New Testament it says that the things the Gentiles
sacrificed, 1 Corinthians 10, they sacrificed unto demons. If you make those kind of gods,
you’re going to wind up worshipping the demons that impersonate those gods you think
exist.
So, there is unacceptable worship to God. And the first kind of unacceptable worship is the
worship of false gods. And throughout the Old Testament this is condemned. I just want
to draw our thoughts to conclusion by having you turn to Isaiah chapter 2 verse 6. And
here is Isaiah’s commentary on what was happening among his people. They had forsaken
the people, the house of Jacob. They had become, verse 6 of Isaiah 2, “Filled with customs
from the east.” They had allowed the false philosophies and religions of the east to come in.
“And they were involved in soothsaying,” like the Philistines, mediums and consulting
familiar spirits, and all that, “and they pleased themselves in the children of foreigners.”
Instead of staying isolated and pure, they had allowed all the foreigners with all their
foreign gods to invade their thinking and their worship. “Their land is full of silver and
gold, neither is there any end to their treasures. Their land is full of horses, neither is there
any end to their chariots.” It isn’t because they weren’t blessed by God; it isn’t because
they were prosperous. “Their land is also full of idols, and they worshipped the work of
their own hands, that which their own fingers have made. And the common man bows
down, and the great man humbles himself, therefore forgive them not.” Then, he warns
them: you’d better crawl on a rock and hide in the dirt for fear of the Lord and the glory of
His majesty.
They were idolatrous. Ezekiel 8 says they worshipped the sun. That’s the people of God.
The pagans, they worshipped anything they could think of. Gods proliferated everywhere.

And it’s true today. Every single religion that doesn’t rightly discern God worships false
gods. And every materialist, every irreligious atheist, agnostic who wouldn’t darken the
door of any religion, worships some material god of his own invention, even if it is himself.
It’s unacceptable to God. It damns the soul.
You read in the book of Acts, that marvelous statement by Paul in chapter 17 verse 29. He
says, how could you possibly think that God is made of silver, and stone, and wood, when
you are from God? You’re not silver, stone, and wood are you? How could you think that
your originator would be such? Don’t you know that like produces like? It seems basic to
philosophy. And then, in chapter 19 verse 27 he says, “The whole world worshipped
Diana,” that ugly gross black cow-looking beast that they worshipped. It supposedly fell
from heaven, from whom’s paps that hung low, the whole world was supposed to suck its
life. And you can read in Revelation chapter 13 about how they will worship the beast and
the false prophet, and later on they’ll worship the great whore riding on the beast. And
later on, they’ll worship the false economic system called Babylon. They’ll worship their
economy, and their money, and their politics, and it will all come crashing down.
So, how you worship affects your eternity. And the first unacceptable kind of worship is
the kind of worship of false gods. The second kind of unacceptable worship is the worship
of the true God in a wrong way, the worship of the true God in a wrong way. And we’re
going to see that tonight, and a lot of other things. And I hope you’ll be here, because I
believe God is speaking to us in a special way in these truths. Let’s pray.
Our Father, we know that You are to be worshipped, and You are to be worshipped as a
priority of our life. This is not an option. This is not something we can pick and choose.
You have called us to worship You. And Lord, we ask Your forgiveness for those so many
times when we have come here and not worshipped, or when we have not even come at all,
when we have been so indifferent. Those times when we have sought only that which would
bless us, feed us, fill us, and not sought that which would glorify You. When we have
sought our own joy and not Your glory. When we have sought our own pleasure and not
Your majesty. When we have, in our little Christian way, worshipped ourselves rather
than You. Help us to know the importance of true, acceptable spiritual worship which You
seek, and we pray that as we look ahead to the rest of these messages they might be life-
changing for us. And if there are, Lord, here some who have not known Christ and thus
have no capacity to worship You at all, those who have been worshipping false gods, or
worshipping the right God in the wrong way, or any other unacceptable form, we pray that
today they would come to Jesus Christ, and be cleansed and purged, and made true
worshippers such as the Father seeks to worship Him. For Christ’s sake, amen.

True Worship, Part 2
Sermons John 4:20–24 2005 Jan 3, 1982

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We return tonight in our study to the theme of worship. And I would draw your attention
to John’s gospel again, chapter 4, and I want to read again verses 20 through 24 as the
setting for our message. John’s gospel, chapter 4 verse 20. The Holy Spirit, writing
through John, says: “Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in
Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, ‘Woman, believe
Me, the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship
the Father. Ye worship ye know not what; we know what we worship: for salvation is of
the Jews. 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. God is a Spirit:
and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.’” Now, in that passage
there are eight uses of one form or another of the term worship. It is the key passage, I
believe, in the New Testament on the subject and we’ll be going back to it again and again.
I was reading this afternoon that in the United States alone, churches have about $80
billion dollars’ worth of buildings, $80 billion dollars’ worth of church buildings. I wonder
with all of that facility with the intention of worshipping God, how much actual worship
occurs. It’s important for us to understand what the Bible teaches about worshipping God.
Now, this morning we began our study by examining a text in John 4 as a substance and a
basis. And then, by moving to a definition. And we said that worship, the term used so
frequently in this passage, simply means honor, or homage, or reverence, or adoration, or
praise, or respect given to God. A very simple definition. Our Lord instructs here that we
must worship God in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. And
so, essentially, worship then is giving respect or honor to God. And we are called to that
end.
Now, we discussed a little bit about the definition, what that means to lift up our hearts in
worship to God. And then, we introduced to you the first major point in our study, the
importance of worship. And I want to go back to that point tonight. And we want to talk
about the importance of worship. We’re going to talk about the object of worship. We’re

going to talk about the nature, or the essence of worship, and some other things. But to
begin with, we must talk about the importance of worship. We have to lay that foundation.
And if you remember this morning, I suggested to you that there are four reasons why
worship is essential, four reasons why it is important. Reason number one is because
Scripture so repeatedly speaks of worship. It is a major emphasis in Scripture, and I
suggested to you several passages. We looked, first of all, at the Ten Commandments and
saw that the very first one of those is indicative of worship. We saw that in Matthew 22,
where the Lord is asked: what is the first and great commandment? He replies that it is, in
effect, worship, loving the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. We
saw that when God ordained a nation and brought them out of Egypt, He set in their midst
a tabernacle which was a focal point of worship. When they came into the land, He gave
them a temple which was a focal point of worship. He gave them a system of offerings,
which began with one which was centrally emphasizing worship. We saw the facet of
angelic worship, the occupation of the seraphim in the sixth chapter of Isaiah being
primarily that of worship. And then, we looked into the New Testament and we saw that
based on Romans 12:1 and 2 and 1 Peter 2:5, we are called to offer God spiritual worship
which is acceptable to Him.
Now, worship is important then, first of all because it is such a major emphasis in
Scripture. Then, secondly, and we just got started on this this morning: worship is
important because all of time and eternity depends on it. Destiny is determined by
worship. Who you worship and what you worship and how you worship is determinative
and reflective of your destiny. And we suggested to you that there are only two ways to
worship really that will reflect your destiny: one is unacceptable, and the other is
acceptable. If Your worship is unacceptable to God, then you will be excluded from His
eternal Kingdom. If your worship is acceptable to God, you will be included.
Now, to begin with we began looking at the thought of unacceptable worship, which is a
determiner of the destiny of an individual. And I asked you to think with me for a moment
through four kinds of unacceptable worship. So, I hope you can keep that outline all in
mind. There are four kinds of unacceptable worship. We just talked about one this
morning. The first one is the worship of false gods. The Bible is very clear that God does
not accept the worship of false gods. God will not accept people into His kingdom, into His
eternity, into His presence who worship other deities, whether they are deities of a religious
nature or whether they are supernatural idols such as gold, and silver, and power, and
prestige, and self. Anyone who worships false gods is excluded from entering into God’s
presence because that is unacceptable worship. He will not accept that, and thus will not
accept the one who offers it.
Now, the second kind of unacceptable worship is where we want to pick up tonight. And
that is this: worship is unacceptable when it is the worship of the true God in the wrong

way. God will not accept the worship of the false god, and He will not accept the worship
of the true God if offered in the wrong way. Worship of the true God is very specifically
established in Scripture, and its mode and manner is equally specifically established. God
will not accept worship offered to Him that is offered in an unacceptable manner. And an
unacceptable manner is to reduce God to an image, to reduce God to a material
representation, to reduce God to an idol, or to reduce God to anything that is the result and
product of your own thinking. I very often hear people say, “Well, God as I perceive Him
to be is such and such, and such and such.” And if your definition of God does not square
with the Word of God, then your worship is unacceptable even though you may identify it
with the true God.
Now, that leads me to a third kind of unacceptable worship. The first one is worshipping a
false god, the second one is worshipping the true God in an unacceptable manner, and the
third one is worship of the true God in a self-styled manner. Not just reducing Him to an
idol, not just reducing Him to an image, but reducing His worship or the activity of His
worship to some personal definition.
Now, what do I mean by that? Look back with me in your Bible at Leviticus chapter 10.
Now, this records for us a great event. Aaron was the high priest and Aaron had two sons.
And they, of course, would be entering into the priesthood. It was a great and wonderful
day because this was their ordination day. They had been allowed to accompany Moses to
the holy mountain. They had been prepared to be ordained, to function as those who
represented God. They had been part of that ordination of the priesthood. This was their
first day, really, to be considered as those who would lead in the worship of God. And it
says in verse 1: “Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer.” And
the censer was that which was filled with incense which was emblematic and symbolic of
worship as it rose in its fragrance, as it were, to the nostrils of God it was like their worship
pleasing to Him. “They took their censers and put fire therein and put incense thereon and
offered strange fire before the Lord which He commanded them not.”
Strange fire. Believe it or not, it may well be true that they were drunk. If you look down
at verse 9 there is a warning immediately following that the Lord gives to Aaron which
suggests this possibility because He says, “Don’t drink wine or strong drink, thou or thy
sons with thee when you go into the tabernacle of the congregation lest ye die.” Now, it
may well have been that they got a little bit inebriated and when they went in they began to
fool around in there and do things that were not according to God’s law for the priesthood,
and it says in verse 2, “There went out fire from the Lord and devoured them and they
died.” Kind of a sad way to start your ministry. No start at all. God will not accept self-
styled, self-invented modes of worship. We do not worship God on our terms but
according to the terms of Scripture.

Then, there are lots of people in our society who think they worship God, and they have
some self-invented way to do that. I always think about the lady in New Mexico who baked
tortillas, Mrs. Rubio. And the Chicago Tribune recorded the story some years back, and
one day she was frying a tortilla, and she took the tortilla out of the pan and she said with a
great amount of shock, “It is the face of Jesus.” Because burned on that tortilla were skillet
burns that she said looked like Jesus. And so, she was so thrilled she showed it to her
husband who agreed that it must be Jesus. And she showed it to her family and they
agreed, and a neighbor and she agreed. And she went to her priest to have the tortilla
blessed. And the priest, who had not really been accustomed to blessing tortillas, was
somewhat reluctant to do so, but nevertheless he did it. And she took the tortilla home and
she built an altar in her house. She put the tortilla in glass and put piles of cotton around it
so it looked like Jesus floating on a cloud. And within a matter of months, Mrs. Rubio had
over 8,000 people come to the shrine of the Jesus of the Tortilla. And everyone
unanimously agreed that it looked like Jesus except one reporter who said it looked to him
like Leon Spinks. I really don’t know where he was coming from, but that was his
viewpoint. And so, she worshipped the tortilla and she wrote her testimony which is
recorded in the Chicago Tribune, and said the tortilla had changed her life. And her
husband agreed she’d been a more peaceful, happy, submissive wife ever since the tortilla
had arrived.
Now, that is a stupid bizarre illustration. Little different honestly, little different than
Nadab and Abihu. You don’t worship God taking liberties, doing things your own way.
You follow the instruction of Scripture.
In 1 Samuel, let me draw you to chapter 13, and we find in 1 Samuel chapter 13 that Saul
the king does a fearful thing. Verse 8 “He tarried seven days according to the set time that
Samuel had appointed: and Samuel came not to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from
him.” It was in a battle situation. “And Saul said, ‘Bring here a burnt offering to me, and
peace offerings.’ And he offered the burnt offering.” Now, you say, Is that any big deal? It
sure is. And verse 10 says: “It came to pass as soon as he had ceased offering the burnt
offering, behold Samuel came and Saul went out to meet him, that he might bless him. And
Samuel said, ‘What hast thou done?’ And Saul said, ‘Because I saw that the people were
scattered from me, and that thou camest not within the days appointed, and that the
Philistines gathered themselves together at Michmash; therefore said I, The Philistines will
come down now upon me to Gilgal and I have not made supplication to the Lord: I forced
myself therefore, and offered a burnt offering.’”
Pretty lame excuse. “And Samuel said to Saul, ‘Thou hast done foolishly, thou hast not
kept the commandment of the Lord thy God which He commanded thee: for now would
the Lord have established thy kingdom upon Israel forever. But now thy kingdom shall
not continue: the Lord hath sought Him a man after His own heart.’” God will be
worshipped by one who is after God’s own heart. And listen, one who’s after God’s own

heart obeys God’s Word. And there wouldn’t be anybody in Saul’s line ever on that
throne. David would step in and take his place.
You do not worship God, even the true God, by reducing Him to some image. And you do
not worship Him in some self-styled way. I always think of that illustration in 2 Samuel
chapter 6, and I would just call your attention to that for a moment. There are many that
we could use. But in 2 Samuel chapter 6, the story of Uzzah and Uzzah was transporting
the ark of God, verse 3, in a cart. And Uzzah was a member of a group known as the
Kohathites. And the Kohathites were the ones who transported the Ark of the Covenant.
And from the time they were small, according to Numbers chapter 4, from the time they
were raised, they were raised to know nothing but how to transport the Ark of the
Covenant. And it was always to be done without anyone ever touching it. It had big rings
on the side, and you slid poles through and carried it on your shoulders, and you never
touched it. And that was what a Kohathite was raised to do, was to transport the ark. And
Uzzah took the liberty to put it on a new cart, which he never should have done. God will
not be handled at the whim of man. He will not be handled in a self-styled, manufactured
way that comes out of man’s own mind, no matter how good his intentions are. And so, the
ark is put on a cart, it should never have been on the cart. And it’s being transported.
“And as it comes,” in verse 6, “to Nachon’s threshing floor,” which is simply a geographical
location, it bounced along and looked like it might fall off so, “Uzzah put his hand to the
ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen shook it. And the anger of the Lord was
kindled against Uzzah and God smote him there for his error; and he died by the ark of
God.”
He knew better. He had been trained all his life that you do not touch the ark. But, in his
own confident way, he thought he could intrude into God’s commandments. You cannot
worship the true God in a self-styled way. You cannot worship the true God by reducing
Him to some material representation. And you must not worship a false god.
Now, this is little different than the New Testament. And if you will look with me at
Matthew for a moment, I’ll show you chapter 15. This is exactly what the Pharisees did.
They tried to worship the true God with their own self-styled system. Not according to His
commandments, not according to His standards, but according to their own inventions.
And, of course, the Pharisees had developed this very sophisticated system of worship
which was totally man-made. And in the first nine verses of Matthew 15, you have a very
interesting situation. The Pharisees say to Jesus: Verse 2, “Why do Your disciples
transgress the tradition of the elders?” Why are You breaking our rules? Our standards?
“Because they’re not washing their hands when they eat bread.” It didn’t mean that they
weren’t washing them for the sake of cleanliness, but that they were not ceremonially
washing. They were not going through some ritual.

“And He answered, ‘Why do you transgress the commandment of God by your
traditions?’” That’s the issue. They said, “You don’t worship by our traditions.” And
Jesus said, “You don’t worship by God’s commands. You’ve invented your own system.”
And then, He gives them an illustration of it. And then down in verse 7 He says, you
hypocrites. “You hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you saying, ‘This people draweth
near unto Me with their mouth and honoreth Me with their lips but their heart is far from
Me for in vain do they worship Me.’” It is useless, fruitless, pointless worship because they
have substituted the commandments of men for the truth of God. And every time I see all
the holy hocus-pocus that goes on in so many, many so-called Christian churches, I see the
substitution of the tradition of men for the commandments of God. God says, I will be
worshipped in spirit and in truth, not through images, or through rituals, or through
liturgies, but in spirit and in truth.
In chapter 23, the Lord further indicts the Pharisees, in Matthew. And it goes all through a
whole list of things. But as one classic illustration of the folly of their kind of worship,
verse 23 of Matthew chapter 23 says: “Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites.
For you pay your tithe of mint, and anise, and cumin.” That’s herbs and plants and seeds.
If they had ten seeds, they’d count out one, you know, and give it. “But you have omitted
the weightier issues of the law, justice, mercy and faith: these ought you to have done, not
to have left the other undone.” And so, they had missed the whole point of true worship.
They were straining at gnats and swallowing camels, and they were hypocrites. “Cleaning
the outside,” verse 25, “while inside they were full of extortion and excess. And painted
white, but inside full of dead men’s bones.”
So, what I’m trying to show you is there is a category of unacceptable worship. You cannot
worship false gods. You cannot worship the true God by reducing Him to imagery,
reducing Him to an idol, reducing Him to an icon in any way. And you cannot worship the
true God in a self-styled manner. It must be according to the prescription of holy
Scripture.
And fourthly, and I think this could kind of sum it up. The fourth kind of unacceptable
worship is to worship the true God with a wrong attitude. You cannot worship Him with a
materializing of Him into some image. You cannot truly worship Him with a self-styled
way, and you cannot worship Him, even though you don’t have an image, and even though
you try to follow the Scripture, if your attitude isn’t right, if your heart isn’t right.
So, now we’ve really funneled it right down, haven’t we? True worship, we eliminate all
the false gods. We eliminate all the images of the true God. We eliminate all the self-styled
modes of worship. We come down to the biblically revealed kind of worship of the true
God, but it must be with a true heart attitude. And now, we really get down to where we
live. All of you can say, “Amen,” to the other things; you don’t worship false gods, and you
don’t worship the true God in an image. We don’t have some kind of statue up here, or

some kind of replica that we all bow down to like the golden calf, and we don’t even invent
our own ways to worship God. We pretty much try to stay by Scripture. So, we funnel all
the way down to the last element of unacceptable worship: do you have the right attitude?
Because if you don’t, God will find that unacceptable just as well.
Now, I want to take a minute to develop this, so turn in your Bible to the Old Testament,
the book of Malachi, the last book in the Old Testament, and we’ll work our way from
there back deeper into the Old Testament to see this truth. And I really believe this
provides a death blow to all legalism and all ritualism, all formalism. Malachi the prophet
indicting the people of God, indicting them because of their sin, and he does so in many
ways in this marvelous prophecy, he points up at least seven sins which are monumental
sins of which they’re guilty. But one that stands out and dominates all is that they were
involved in worshipping God with the wrong attitude. They were going through it as a
functionary, they were just going through the motions and their hearts weren’t in it. They
were just like the Pharisees, really, whose heart was far from God.
But just watch. Begin in verse 6 of chapter 1 and Malachi speaks to Israel. “A son honors
his father, and a servant his master.” Now, that’s a truism, isn’t it? That’s an established
fact. Nobody is going to argue with that. A son normally honors his father, a servant
honors his master. That’s the basic principle. “If then I be a father,” and they couldn’t
argue with that either, he was their father. “Where is my honor? And if I be a master,
where is my reverence? Saith the Lord of hosts unto you, O priests that despise my name.”
Now, wait a minute. The priests despised His name? Where is My honor? Where is My
worship? And what do the priest’s say? “In what way have we despised Thy name?”
What are you saying? How did we do that? We’ve been carrying out our function. We’ve
been doing it all just the way the prescription says.
The prophet takes it a step further in verse 7. “Ye offer polluted flesh upon Mine altar,
and ye say, ‘In what way have we polluted Thee?’” You know how? Listen to this, “In that
ye say, ‘The altar of the Lord,’” that’s what it means. The table of the Lord refers to that
altar. “The altar of the Lord is contemptible.” What in the world were they doing? They
were treating their worship with contempt. It was strictly a function. It was strictly a
routine. It was strictly a ritual. There was no heart. And they were actually bringing to
God that which was the least rather than that which was the best. They had contempt for
worship.
Before you pounce on them with both feet, and before I do, may I remind you that having
contempt for worship is coming to worship with any kind of a wrong attitude, any kind.
And what were they doing? Verse 8, “They were offering the blind for sacrifice, is that not
evil?” What does that mean? Well, when they would want to bring an animal to sacrifice
to God, they’d bring a blind one because a blind one was useless to them, a blind one would
probably die anyway because it couldn’t find its way to the food. And they would just get

rid of the blind animal that way. And it may reflect the fact also that the blindness was due
to some disease, and so they brought a diseased animal. That was the kind of worship they
offered God. Just give God what you can’t use anyhow. “And if you offer,” it says in verse
8, “The lame and the sick, is it not evil? Offer it now unto the governor,” try that when you
go to pay your taxes, “and see if the governor will be pleased with thee and accept that?”
You give Me what you wouldn’t even give the government. “And now, I pray you, beseech
God that He will be gracious unto us, this has been by your means: will He regard your
persons? Saith the Lord of hosts.” If this is how you treat God, how do you think God’s
going to treat you? You think He’s going to regard you any different than you regarded
Him?
He says in verse 10: “You kindle fire on My altar for nothing.” There’s no heart. There’s
no spirit. “And I have no pleasure in you,” saith the Lord of hosts, now watch this,
“neither will I,” watch the next word, what is it? “Accept an offering at your hand.”
There’s some things God won’t accept. He will not accept worship offered in a
materialized way. He will not accept worship offered in a self-styled way. And He will not
accept worship offered halfheartedly. “For from the rising of the sun to the going down of
the same, My name shall be great among the nations; and in every place incense shall be
offered unto My name and a pure offering.” I do not want your impure. You know, when
God told them to bring a lamb, what kind of lamb were they to bring? Without spot,
without blemish, the best in the flock. They weren’t doing it.
And verse 12 says: “You have profaned it.” In other words, you have treated it as an
unworthy thing. You’ve treated it as a useless thing. “And you have said, ‘The table of the
Lord is polluted.’” It’s contemptible. They were treating the table of God with contempt.
And then, verse 13, just a really sad statement, “And you have also said, ‘Behold what a
weariness,’ and you sniffed at it, and you brought that which was torn, and the lame, and
the sick, and thus you brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? Cursed be
the deceiver, who has in his flock a male, and vows,” makes a big vow to God, plays
spiritual, “and sacrifices unto the Lord a corrupt thing, for I am a great King, saith the
Lord of hosts, and My name is terrible among the nations.”
So, He says look, and here, by the way if you go all the way back see to verse 6, He’s
indicting the priests. The priests were the leaders in the sin, and it filtered all the way
down to the people. The whole system was rotten from top to bottom. They had contempt
to the table of the Lord. In verse 13, I think, is the key, it says, “Behold what a weariness.”
To them the whole exercise of worship was just a big pain in the neck. What a drag, what a
boring deal, what a pain. We have to go down there and do that deal again. Well, just get
rid of that blind lamb, or that lame one. And they went through the function, and they
went through the form, but their hearts weren’t in it. There was no reality there.

And in chapter 3, they even went further. Verse 13, they got so sick of doing this that they
finally began to just badmouth God. “‘Your words have been stout against Me,’ saith the
Lord. Yet ye say,” and they always come back with this phony attitude “What have we
spoken against thee? What do You mean? Why, we’re doing all of the things the Scripture
says.” “But you have said, ‘It is vain to serve God’ and what profit is it that we have kept
His ordinance and walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts?’” In other words, you’ve
decided that you don’t make enough money doing that. There’s no profit in it. Boy, what a
terrible, terrible attitude.
And there was result for that. Chapter 4 says: “The day comes that it will burn like an
oven; and the proud and all that do wickedly shall be stubble. And the day comes that God
shall burn them up, leaving neither root nor branch. He will tread down,” verse 3, “the
wicked; there will be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I do this, says the
Lord of hosts.” And then, verse 5 and 6 talks about the terrible day of the Lord, and the
smiting of the earth with a curse.
You see, the people of God had come to the place where they were worshipping the true
God, in the true way, with the wrong attitude. Their hearts weren’t in it. Now, just kind of
look in your own heart. You say, I don’t worship false gods. That’s good. I worship the
true God. And I haven’t really reduced Him to some idol, some image, some statue. And I
haven’t sort of invented my own way of worship. I’m not sitting on a mountain
contemplating my navel. I’m trying to do it by the book, do it by the Word of God. Then,
ask yourself if your heart’s in it. Ask do yourself if, when it comes time to give, do you give
the best, the best of all you have. When it comes time to make your vows and your
promises to God, do You make Him the promise that is the most reflective of magnanimity
and generosity? Is your heart filled with awe and reverence? Because if it isn’t, the stuff
you’re going through is pointless and unacceptable.
Look at Amos, the prophet Amos, and you’ll find the same message and the prophecies of
God to His people. But listen to what it says in chapter 5 verse 21, and this is really
amazing. Imagine God saying this: “I hate, I despise your feast days. I will not take
delight in your solemn assemblies.” I can’t stand your worship is what He says. I can’t
stand your services; I can’t stand your worship activities. “Though you offer me burnt
offerings.” Now, there we are back to that burnt offering again, that first offering which
was totally consumed, emblematic of the priority of worship. “You give Me your worship,
and you bring Me your meal offerings, I will not,” what’s that word again? “Accept
them.” They are not acceptable. I will not accept them. “I will not take the peace offerings
of your fat beasts.” Now, they’re even giving the good animals here. They’re giving the fat
animals here. And they’re doing it in the right way externally but He will not take it. And
He says in verse 23: “Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I do not like your
singing, I will not listen to the melody of your harps.” Why? “Let justice run down like

waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.” Your hearts aren’t right, do you see?
There’s no justice and equity; there’s no righteousness.
While you’re making all these offerings to Me, verse 26, “‘You have borne the tabernacle
of your Moloch and Chiun, your images, the star of your god, which you made to
yourselves. Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus,’ says the
Lord whose name is The God of hosts.” God says I’m through with you. Because while on
the one hand you come and you offer to Me and you go through all of this performance of
worship, you turn right around and worship false gods. You’re so engrained and engulfed
and involved in the system of the world that this is hypocrisy and unacceptable.
Backing up even further, look at Hosea, chapter 6 verse 4. Ephraim is synonymous with
Israel, and Judah is mentioned here as well. “O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O
Judah, what shall I do unto thee?” It’s almost melancholy on the part of God. What am I
going to do with you two? “Your goodness is like a morning cloud, and like the early dew
it goes away.” Your goodness doesn’t stay. “Therefore I have hewed them,” or cut them
down, “slain them by the word of My mouth, the judgments are as the light that goes
forth.” Why? Listen, here it is: “I desired mercy, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God
more than,” what? “Burnt offerings.” There we are back to burnt offerings again, the act
of worship. I want more than just a burnt offering; I want you to know Me, and I want
you to reflect My heart and My attitude of mercy. “But they like men have transgressed
the covenant; there have they dealt treacherously against Me.” It goes on to talk about
their iniquity and their pollution.
Go back a little further to Isaiah chapter 1. Isaiah chapter 1. And again God indicts
Judah in a similar way to Amos. “Hear the word of the Lord,” verse 10. Then in verse 11,
“To what,” watch this, “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto Me?”
What good are they? “Saith the Lord, ‘I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat
of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of the goats.’” I’ve
had it. And again, we see the burnt offerings there. I’m through with it. “When you come
to appear before Me, who hath required this at your hand to tread My courts? Bring no
more empty offerings, your incense is an abomination unto Me, the new moons and
Sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot bear, it is iniquity, even the solemn meetings.”
And God had ordained all of these things. “Your new moons and your appointed feasts My
soul hateth. They are a trouble unto Me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread
forth your hands, I’ll hide My eyes from you. Yea, when you make many prayers, I’ll not
hear; your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean, put away the
evil of your doings from before Mine eyes and cease to do evil. Learn to do well; seek
justice, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.”
And then, the Lord gives that wonderful, wonderful statement through the prophet: “Come
now let us reason together, says the Lord, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as

white as snow, and though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing
and obedient, ye shall eat of the good of the land. But if you refuse and rebel, ye shall be
devoured with the sword, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” And they did rebel,
and they did refuse the invitation to salvation. But the point here, whether you’re talking
about Malachi, or Amos, or Hosea, or Isaiah, is all the same. They were doing the right
thing, to the right God, in the right way, with the wrong attitude, and God doesn’t accept
that.
Now, just one Scripture in this regard in the New Testament, the seventh chapter of Mark,
and I’m going to wrap this point up. Mark 7 verse 6, and this is similar to what I saw
earlier in Matthew 15, but I just want to point it out to you ‘cause I think it sums it up.
“He answered and said to them, ‘Well hath Isaiah prophesied of you hypocrites,’ as it is
written, ‘This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.’” Their
heart is far from Me. That is unacceptable. And may I tell you this, people? Listen, if you
worship false gods, if you worship the true God reduced to some kind of image, if you
worship the true God in a self-styled, self-defined way, or if you worship the true God in
the right way with the wrong attitude it’s unacceptable, unacceptable, and it will affect
your destiny, it will affect your soul because God cannot accept one who is unacceptable.
Now, that is the first kind of worship which affects your destiny. Let me tell you about the
second: acceptable worship. And I’m just going to hurry through this, but not without
your understanding, because I think it’s so important. When you come to God with
acceptable worship, it affects your destiny. It manifests the life of God within you.
Now, I think just as a beginning point let me read to you what I think is maybe a very
significant definition of a true acceptable worshipper: Psalm 24:3. Just listen to it, write it
down, Psalm 24:3 to 6 says this: “Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall
stand in His holy place?” Now, what does that mean? That means who is going to be
what? Accepted. When they approach God, and they want to come into His hill, when
they want to stand in His holy place, who will He accept? He will not accept the one who
worships a false god, the one who worships the true God in a wrong manner, in a self-styled
way, or with a wrong attitude.
Who will He accept? Here it is, verse 4: “He who hath clean hands, and a pure heart, who
hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing
from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is the generation of
them who seek Him, who seek Thy face.” Those who are acceptable are the ones who have
clean hands. That is, they are in obedience to God, purified and made clean. Who have
pure hearts; their motive, their desire is right. They’re blessed, and they are the generation
who truly seek God. The fact is that if you come to God on your own terms, man-made
terms, you’re not seeking God; you’re seeking only to pacify your own imagination.

Now, stay with me, here comes really the heart and soul of our whole study, so get your
brains screwed down tight and don’t miss anything. Acceptable worship is really a key to
understanding the whole matter of salvation. Hang on to this thought, the goal of salvation
is to produce acceptable worshippers. Did you get that? The goal of salvation is to produce
acceptable worshippers. So, if you’re truly saved, you’re an acceptable worshipper. If
you’re an acceptable worshipper, you’ve truly come into God’s presence. And thus, as we
look at your worship, as you examine your worship, you can understand whether or not
you’re saved.
Now, let me show you some Scripture to help you understand this. Back to our text, John
4. John 4, and get your Bible handy because I’m going to show you several. John 4 verse
23, “The hour cometh and now is, when the true worshippers.” Now, beloved, that is a
term to describe a Christian, a saint, a true believer. We could as well be called true
worshippers as we are called Christians. We could as well be called true worshippers as we
are called believers, or saints, or children of God, or any other term to describe our identity
and our union with Christ. We are true worshippers who worship the Father in spirit and
in truth. Now, we don’t always do it as fully as we ought, but look at the end of verse 23:
“For the Father seeketh such to worship Him.” You know why the Father sent the Son into
the world? Very clear. Jesus said, “I am come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
For what purpose? For what purpose? Why did God send Christ to seek sinners and save
them? It says it right here, “Because the Father seeks such to do,” what? To do what?
“To worship Him.” That’s the reason you’re redeemed, you understand that? You were
not redeemed primarily to keep you out of hell.
If God wanted to keep you out of hell He could have not just created you, it would have
accomplished the same thing, and you wouldn’t have missed it. You wouldn’t have missed
heaven because you wouldn’t have known about it, you wouldn’t be. No. You see, the
reason you’re saved is not to make you happy, as nice as it is and as happy as it may make
you. The reason you are saved is to worship God. You were redeemed because the Father
seeks some to worship Him. That is the sole reason why God created man, and set out to
redeem him because God sought such to worship. So, worshipping God is synonymous
with Christian existence, with being a believer.
In Acts chapter 18, we can build our case further. Verse 7, it says: “And Paul,” of course,
from his missionary journey, “departed from Athens,” verse 1, “and came to Corinth.”
And verse 7 says: “Departed from there, entered into a certain man’s house, named Titus
Justus.” Now, he departed from the synagogue because he ran into such flak with the
Jews, and he went into the house of a man named Titus Justus. Listen, “One who,” what?
“Worshipped God.” What does that mean? That’s just another way of saying he was a
believer. He was a believer. He was a believer; he worshipped God. That is what a
believer is, one who worships God. And if that is what we are, then don’t you see how
important it is that we truly worship as fully as we ought?

Verse 13, the Jews attack Paul and they bring him into the judgment seat, to Gallio, and
this is their accusation: “This fellow persuadeth men to worship God.” You know what
Paul’s ministry was? You know what he was doing in his ministry? He was persuading
men to do what? Worship God. That’s synonymous with salvation. Do you see what I’m
trying to point out? That’s what the view of his ministry was. You see, why I’m in the
ministry is to bring people to the point where they can worship God because it is right. We
do not evangelize in order that you might be kept from hell; that is secondary. We do not
primarily evangelize in order that you may be quote-unquote, “Blessed.” We evangelize in
order that you might worship God, who is worthy. Because for you to live apart from
worshipping God is affront to His holy nature, and you are a rebel in His world.
Paul was accused of persuading men to worship God, only they thought it was contrary to
the right system. But how interesting. By the way, do you realize that when Jesus gave in
John 4 that tremendous speech on how to worship, do you realize who He gave that to? He
did not give that to a theologian. He did not give that to an erudite Pharisee. He did not
give that to a Cornelius who was a God-fearing Jew, He gave it to a prostitute. That’s
right. He preached worship to a prostitute who had a whole handful of husbands and was
living with a man who wasn’t her husband. He gave it to a woman who was a prostitute,
who could have cared less. She wasn’t even one with an awakened heart and she didn’t
even seek God. She wasn’t even interested. She doesn’t even show any curiosity. He just
walked up, flat, cold-turkey to a harlot and told her how to worship God. Why? Because
that’s the heart and soul of evangelism. We are calling men to worship because God is
worthy of worship.
Now, when you understand that you will understand how tragic it is then for the Christian
who understands that he is called and redeemed to worship God, to not worship God as
fully as God ought to be worshipped. And that was the thrust of Paul’s ministry.
In Acts 24:14 when Paul discusses with Felix his perspective, his theology, if you will, I love
what he says in verse 14: “But this I confess unto thee.” I’ll just confess, here’s where I’m
at, “After the way which they call heresy,” the way, you can put quotes around it; the way
was a term for the Christian faith. “After the way which they call heresy, so worship I the
God of my fathers.” Now, when Paul gives his testimony, he says, “I worship the God of
my fathers after the Christian faith called the way.” So, Paul called people to worship God.
And when he gave his own testimony he said, ‘I worship God.’” We say that too little, you
know that? When’s the last time you evangelized somebody in that manner? Said, I
worship God? After the manner of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Now, the gospel record supports this concept. Go back with me to Matthew and I’ll show
you something very interesting. I don’t think I ever really fully understood this until I got
so deeply involved in it in the last couple of weeks. But as you trace, and just take
Matthew, and we won’t go into Mark or Luke or John, but I just want to take Matthew.

And let me show you that the gospel record supports the fact that people are redeemed for
the purpose of worship. People who see the truth of Christ have an immediate response of
worship. And that means to give honor, and homage, and respect, and reverence, and
adoration, and praise to one who is above you, to God Himself.
Let’s begin in Matthew 2, and I’ll just run you through maybe six, seven, or eight passages
and you’ll see it. Matthew 2:11, we come to the birth of Christ and the arrival of the king
makers of the east, “And when they were come into the house,” verse 11 says, “they saw the
young child with Mary His mother, and they fell down and,” what? “Worshipped Him.”
That was the first thing they did. They fell down and worshipped. Why? Because that is
the initial response to the reality of Christ. Go to chapter 8 verse 2. Jesus came down from
the mountain, a great multitude followed Him, “And, behold, there came a leper,” and
what did the leper do? What did he do? He worshipped Him, and said, “Lord.” You see,
he knew who He was, and he worshipped Him. Go to chapter 9 verse 18: “While He spoke
these things unto them, behold, there came a certain ruler,” and what did he do? “He
worshipped Him.”
Go to chapter 14, Jesus walks on the water. He not only had to control the sea but He had
to control the disciples as well. Got back to the boat. The wind ceased, verse 32. Then,
verse 33, and that’s Matthew 14:33, and now they see who He is, “And they that were in the
boat came and worshipped Him saying, ‘Of a truth Thou art the Son of God.’” You see,
whoever it is, whenever it is, wherever it is, the instantaneous, spontaneous immediate
response to Christ is to worship.
Chapter 15 verse 25. A woman of Canaan, and it says in verse 25: “Then, came she and
worshipped Him saying, Lord, help me.” She worshipped Him. Same attitude, same
response. Well, go all the way to the end of Matthew, chapter 28 verse 9: “And as they
went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held
Him by the feet, and worshipped Him.” Those dear women, just like everybody else, they
worshipped Him. Verse 16: “Then, the 11 disciples went away into Galilee, into a
mountain where Jesus had appeared,” or appointed them rather, “and when they saw
Him,” what? They worshipped Him, but some doubted.”
Now, just think through this for a minute. The sum of all of that is this: believers are first
and foremost what? Worshippers. You see that? I mean, that’s the essence of the whole
thing. That is the essence of what it means when it says the Father seeketh such to worship
Him. We have been redeemed to worship. It’s so important.
In 9:31 of John, I just can’t resist one out of John, too good. Jesus heals a man that was
born blind, and here this man born blind makes our case for us because he says this, he
makes a contrast: “We know that God does not hear,” what? “Sinners.” So, on the one
hand, God doesn’t hear sinners. On the other hand, “But if any man be a worshipper of

God, even doing His will, him He hears.” Now, the man says there are only two options:
God either hears you or He doesn’t hear you. And so, there are only two kinds of people:
the people God hears and the people He doesn’t hear. The people He doesn’t hear are
sinners, and the people He hears are worshippers. So, the contrast is between a sinner and
a worshipper. And so, the whole of the world can be divided into the sinners and the
worshippers. Therefore, to be saved means to be a worshipper. And that becomes then the
heart and soul of what we do, you see.
When God called Israel, when God called Israel as a nation, did you know that that was
His purpose? He called that nation for one express purpose. Deuteronomy 26:10, “And
now, behold, I have brought the first fruits of the land which thou, O Lord, hast given me,
and thou shalt set it before the Lord thy God and worship before the Lord thy God.” They
were called to worship. That’s why the tabernacle was there. That’s why the temple was
there. That’s why the priesthood was there. The whole focus was on worship.
Now, follow the thought, Deuteronomy 26, verse 10 is worship, but you know what gives
rise to worship? Go back to verse 5, Deuteronomy 26:5, “Thou shalt speak and say before
the Lord thy God. A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt,
and sojourned there with a few, and became a nation, great, mighty and populous.”
Remember the story? Remember the story how Joseph accepted his brothers down into
Egypt and they came down, were about to perish in the famine, and Joseph gave them food,
and they wound up staying in Egypt all those years. And by the time they left, they were a
great nation. “And the Egyptians badly treated us,” verse 6, “afflicted us, laid us on as
hard bondage. And we cried to the Lord God of our fathers, the Lord heard our voice,
looked on our affliction, our labor, and our oppression. And the Lord brought us forth out
of Egypt with a mighty hand, and an outstretched arm, and with awe inspiring terror and
signs and wonders, and He brought us into this place and given us this land, the land that
flows with milk and honey, therefore,” he says, “worship the Lord thy God.” What are we
saying? Worship is the direct response to redemption. And the Old Testament picture of
redemption was the deliverance from Egypt, wasn’t it?
And then, in verse 11 he says: “And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the Lord
thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the
sojourner who is among you.” Rejoicing. Starts with redemption, and redemption gives
rise to worship and rejoicing. I really believe that’s what Paul is saying in Ephesians 1:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who’s blessed us with all
spiritual blessing.” That’s an act of worship. That’s a benediction, isn’t it? Blessed be the
God and, that’s worship. Blessed be the God. Why are you saying that? ‘Cause He has
chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without
blame before Him. In love He has predestinated us unto the adoption of sons by Jesus
Christ to Himself. In whom we have redemption through His blood. And that’s why we

say, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” You see, worship is the
result of redemption.
And so, beloved, I submit to you that we’re called to worship. Without question, we are
called to worship, to render acceptable true spiritual worship. And this becomes for us,
now mark it, a way of life, a way of life. It is not a sometime thing; it is an all the time
thing.
I’m going to close with one other Scripture, Hebrews 12. Boy, the time flies. Hebrews 12
verse 28 and 29. I’m not even getting started. This is going to be a three month series. I
can feel it coming on. Now, we have been saved to worship, have you gotten that picture?
Look at Hebrews 12:28: “Wherefore,” listen to this, “receiving a kingdom which cannot be
moved.” Now, stop right there. If you’re a Christian you have received a kingdom which
cannot be moved. Right? I mean, you have entered into the eternal kingdom of the living
Lord Jesus Christ. You have a kingdom which cannot be moved. And when God comes
along in the future and shakes the earth, and He’ll shake it, won’t He? I mean, He’ll shake
it so good that the stars fall out of the sky, and the whole earth will be turned in turmoil
over again and recreated in the new heaven and the new earth. God is going to shake it,
but we will belong to a kingdom which cannot be shaken, cannot be moved. This is talking
then about believers.
Now, if we are believers, now follow, then, “Let us have grace by which we may serve God
acceptably with reverence and godly fear.” Now, may I help you to make one small
alteration in the terms used in the Authorized Version? And would you change the word
serve to worship. For the same Greek word translated serve in that verse, back in chapter
10 verse 2 is translated worship, latreu. It is worship. Since we have received the kingdom
which cannot be moved, since we have become worshippers of God then let us have the
graciousness to respond to God who has made us worshippers by worshipping God
acceptably. If we want to put it in Pauline terms it comes out like this: present your bodies
as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God which is your spiritual worship.
And notice what it says at the end of verse 28, “With reverence and godly fear: For our
God is a what? Consuming fire.” You better worship God or else. Acceptable worship is
the result of salvation, first of all. But really filling out that worship and living up to its
fullness is the result of the graciousness of the believer who willingly offers his body in an
act of spiritual service, whereby he worships God acceptably with reverence and godly
fear. Because God’s a consuming fire and you need to be worried about the consequence if
you don’t worship properly.
Can I apply this for a minute? If you have trouble in your life, problems in your life, and
you go through a checklist as to why these things may be occurring in your life. Put at the
top of that checklist: perhaps I’m not worshipping God with a true heart and a true spirit.

Perhaps I do not have the grace to worship God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.
And the consequences are His chastening’s.
Well, next time. I can’t wait. We’re going to find out how this touches every area of life.
And then, we’re going to get into the corporate praise and worship of the assembly and see
how that is to work. And by the time we’re done, I pray God we’ll be worshipping in ways
we’ve never worshipped before.

Let’s look in our Scriptures this morning to John chapter 4. I wish to read again our text
for this brief series on worship, chapter 4 verses 20 through 24. The section is found in a
conversation between Jesus Christ and a Samaritan woman. She speaks in verse 20: “Our
fathers worshipped in this mountain: and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men
ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, ‘Woman, believe Me, the hour cometh when ye
shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye
know not what; we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 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. God is a Spirit: and they that worship
Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.’“
Someone has said that worship is to Christian living what the mainspring is to a watch. To
worship God is the very core of a Christian’s response; the very heart of a Christian’s
activity. And to worship is simply to recognize the worth, and the value, and the majesty,
and the honor, and the glory of God. In fact, it comes from an old Anglo Saxon word
worthship. The chief duty of every believer is to see the worth of God and to give Him the
honor and the glory that is due His name. And as we saw in Psalm 45 verse 1, the word
there referring to worship is one that means to boil over. And we saw that as our hearts
are warmed with the knowledge of God, they become hot, they become impassioned, and
the boiling over is worship.
Now, as we have called our attention to John chapter 4, we have focused on the most
important passage in the New Testament on worship. And to begin with we’ve just been
highlighting one major point and that is the importance of worship. That point is not
extraneous to this text; it is, in fact, inherent in it. If you’ll notice the end of verse 23 it
says; “The Father seeketh such to worship Him.” Worship is so important that it is that
for which God seeks. God makes an effort to gain worshippers. In fact, it is the most
important activity that man can be involved in: the worship of God.
Now, we’ve been talking already about the importance of worship. I’ve suggested to you
that there are four reasons why it’s important. And I want to review the ones we’ve

covered and then go on. First of all, worship is important because Scripture is so
dominated by it. No matter where you turn in the Scripture, you find that worship is
enjoined, worship is instructed. It’s all over the Scripture. And in our last Lord’s Day we
examined, for example, Exodus chapter 20 where the first of all the Ten Commandments to
reflect the law of God is a call to worship. In Matthew 22, where the Lord Jesus Christ was
confronted about what is the first commandment, He responded with a commandment of
worship. We talked about the tabernacle and the temple being symbols to identify the
importance of worship in the midst of God’s people. We talked about the patriarchs who
built altars to worship God. And that goes as far back as even Cain and Abel.
And then, we went to the New Testament and we examined Romans 12: 1 and 2, and 1
Peter 2:5. And in looking at those two Scriptures we saw that we are as Christians called to
spiritual worship which is acceptable to God. Spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God. So, all
the way from Cain to the church, anybody who has ever identified himself with the saints
of God has been called to worship, has been made a worshipper.
So, first of all, then, we say worship is important because of the fact that it so dominates the
life and times of Scripture. Secondly, worship is important because destiny is marked by
worship. It is not only a scriptural issue; it is an issue of destiny. How a person worships is
indicative of their eternal destiny. And you’ll remember that we said there are two kinds
of worship: unacceptable and acceptable. And one who worships unacceptably is rejected
by God. One who worships acceptably is received by God.
Now, I also told you that there are four kinds of unacceptable worship. We looked at that
first. There is the worship of false gods, unacceptable. There is the worship of the true
God in the wrong form, reducing God to an idol. And then, there is the worship of the true
God in a self-styled manner. And then, there is the worship of the true God in a wrong
attitude. All of those are unacceptable. To worship a false god, to worship the true God in
a wrong form, to worship the true God in a self-styled manner, or to worship the true God
in a wrong attitude. All of those are wrong.
Cain worshipped the true God but he had been told to bring an animal sacrifice. And
when he brought the fruit of the ground he was working toward worship in a wrong, self-
styled manner and it was unacceptable. And then, as we saw last time, in Malachi chapter
1, and Amos chapter 5, and Hosea chapter 6, and Isaiah chapter 1, the people of Israel very
often worshipped God in the right form and the right manner but with the wrong attitude,
and that was equally unacceptable. Unacceptable worship reflects a destiny apart from
God.
Now, I thought about it this week, as to how I could illustrate to you unacceptable worship.
And there are many illustrations that I could use but I chose this one because I think it’s
important to the issue today. In 1717 there was a group that began, for all intents and

purposes, known as the Masonic Lodge, or the Masons. While they do not wish to be
known as a religion, they are, in fact, by definition, clearly a religion. And they are, I
think, a classic illustration of unacceptable worship. The Iowa Quarterly Bulletin, way
back in April of 1917, says this, and this is their own publication, quote: “Masonry is a
divinely appointed institution, designed to draw men nearer to God, to give them a clearer
conception of their proper relationship to God as their Heavenly Father, to men as their
brethren and the ultimate destiny of the human soul.” End quote.
Now, that is a religion. Anything that says it’s a divinely appointed institution, designed to
draw men nearer to God, to give them a clear conception of their proper relationship to
God, to men and the ultimate destiny of their human soul, that’s a religion. Masonry is a
religion even though they don’t want to admit it.
Now, do they worship God? They say they do. They say they worship God, they say they
worship the true God in the true form, in the true manner, and with a true attitude. Albert
Pike, who has been called by fellow Masons one of the most distinguished Masons the
Western World has ever produced, has written one of their very important books called
“Morals and Dogmas.” It’s so important that it appears in their edition of the Bible. They
have their own Bible known as the Hertel’s Bible. And this is what he has written:
“Masonry reverences all the great reformers. It sees in Moses, the Lawgiver of the Jews; in
Confucius and Zoroaster, in Jesus of Nazareth, and in the Arabian Iconoclast, great
teachers of morality, and eminent reformers, if no more, and allows every brother of the
Order to assign to each such higher and even divine character as his creed and truth
require. We do not undervalue the importance of any Truth. We utter no word that can
be deemed irreverent by anyone of any faith. We do not tell the Moslem that it is only
important for him to believe that there is but one God, and wholly unessential whether
Mahomet was His prophet. We do not tell the Hebrew that the Messiah whom he expects
was born in Bethlehem nearly 2,000 ago; and he is a heretic because he will not so believe.
And as little do we tell the sincere Christian that Jesus of Nazareth was but a man like us,
or His history, but the unreal revival of an older legend. To do either is beyond our
jurisdiction. Masonry, of no one age, belongs to all time; of no one religion, it finds its
great truths in all. To every Mason, there is a God; One Supreme, Infinite in Goodness,
Wisdom, Foresight, Justice, and Benevolence; Creator, Disposer, and Preserver of all
things. How, or by what intermediates He creates and acts, and in what way He unfolds
and manifests Himself, Masonry leaves to creeds and religions to inquire.” End quote.
In other words, they say they believe in God, but you can decide who He is, what He wants,
and how to get to Him. And then, they claim all these secret words and they are told that
when they come into Masonry they’re not allowed to speak certain words. And if you’ve
known a Mason you may have known the fact that he would not reveal those words but I
would like to reveal them this morning. The most sacred word that is given to the Master
Mason when he stands at what they call the “five points of fellowship,” he stands with the

one who is initiating him into the Master’s class, stands toe to toe, knee to knee, chest to
chest, cheek to cheek, and mouth to ear, and is whispered into his ear, Ma-ha-bone. And
that sacred word is supposed to be the name of God. In a different order of the Masons,
they have another word, the Knights Templar, it is the word Jahbulon, and they say it is
the divine Trinity. Jah, from Jehovah; Bul, from Baal; and On, from the name of the
Egyptian sun god. Pike, in his “Morals and Dogmas,” further says, “To achieve salvation
the Mason must first attain a solid conviction founded upon reason, that he has within
himself a spiritual nature, a soul that is not to die when the body is dissolved, but is to
continue to exist and advance toward perfection through all the ages of eternity, and to see
more and more clearly, as it draws nearer unto God, the light of the divine presence.” End
quote.
That’s hocus-pocus meaning nothing, frankly. In the Mason’s Bible it says: “In the
opening of the lodge, the Great Architect of the Universe must be worshipped.” That’s
what they say. The Great Architect of the Universe must be worshipped. And then, Pike
says: “At the Masonic altar, the Christian, the Hebrew, the Moslem, the Brahmin, and the
followers of Confucius and Zoroaster, can assemble as brethren and unite in prayer to the
one God. The chaplain of the Masonic Lodge who prays as the voice of the lodge, does not
pray in the name of the Carpenter of Nazareth, or the name of Jehovah, or the name of
Allah. He prays to the Grand Artificer or the Great Architect of the Universe. Under that
title, men of all faiths may find each other his own deity. Failure to mention any deity by
name is not denial but merely the practice of a gracious courtesy, so that each man for
whom prayer is offered can hear the name of his own deity in the all-inclusive title of Great
Architect.” End quote.
Well, I think you understand, that’s enough, frankly, to sicken anyone because that’s a
Satanic false religion. It is unacceptable. And there are myriads of such unacceptable
kinds of worship. And destiny is determined by that. You may think you’re worshipping
God, but you’re not.
Acts 17, Mars Hill is a classic illustration, classic. They had an idol to the “unknown god.”
And Paul says, “You’ve got the right idea, but you don’t know what you’re doing. You are
worshipping in,” what? “Ignorance.” Now, let me tell you about Him. It does no good at
all to worship God as you imagine Him to be. It’s like they tell them in Alcoholics
Anonymous, that you have to have a relationship with God as you perceive Him to be.
Listen, how you perceive Him to be doesn’t mean anything, only how He is in reality.
Unacceptable worship. It may be the flagrant, violent worship of money. It may be the
creation of false deities, or it may be your worshipping supposedly the true God, but in an
unacceptable manner, and thus you’re not worshipping Him at all.
Now, let me talk about acceptable worship. And this is what I want you to think with me
on especially. Your destiny is determined by acceptable worship. You’re marked out as a

believer by acceptable worship. The goal of salvation is to create true worshippers. And I
think as I alluded to in one of my earlier messages, that Psalm 24 verse 3 to 6 is perhaps the
most lovely Old Testament picture of an acceptable worshipper. It says: “Who shall
ascend into the hill of the Lord, or who shall stand in His holy place?” Who has a right to
go into God’s presence? Who has a right to come to God? Who has a right to draw near?
“He who hath clean hands and a pure heart.” You can’t go there unless you’re washed.
“And he who has not lifted up his soul unto vanity, or sworn deceitfully. He shall receive
the blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is the
generation of them that seek Him.” The true seekers are those with pure hearts, clean
hands, honest motives, the pure, the righteous and the holy. Now, how can you become like
that? You have to be redeemed. So, redemption then is to create true worshippers who
worship acceptably to God.
Now, go back to the Scripture with which we ended last time, Hebrews 12:28, and I want to
pick it up from there. Hebrews 12:28. The writer of Hebrews says that we receive a
kingdom which cannot be moved, unlike the earth which was shaken. The illustration in
point here is the shaking of Mount Sinai, but he says we have a kingdom that can’t be
moved, or shaken. “Therefore let us have grace by which we may serve God.” And the
word serve is latreu from which we get liturgy; it means to worship. So, let us have grace
by which we may worship God acceptably, mark that word. That’s the word we’re after,
acceptable worship. Let us have grace by which we may serve, or worship, God
acceptably. And then, he lists two key things: with reverence and godly fear, for our God is
a consuming fire. If you are to worship God, there will be deep in your heart a balance
between reverence and fear. Reverence is positive, in a sense; it affirms the value and the
worth of God. Fear is negative; it affirms the judgment, chastening, punishing, consuming
fire of verse 29.
And so, the true worshipper worships out of reverence for God and out of fear of God.
And those are essential. We are then to worship God acceptably; that is the command of
verse 28. If we have been redeemed, we are the true worshippers. And as true
worshippers, we must worship acceptably.
Now, let me say at this point, I believe that if you’re a true worshipper, you will, but not all
the time, and not always as fully as you ought to, because there’s still that sin that is in us.
Right? But a true Christian is a true worshipper, but we don’t always worship as truly as
we ought to worship, or as consistently. And so, we are called here to worship God
acceptably with positive affirmation of who He is and all His glory and a negative
affirmation of the fact that He’s a consuming fire, and we have reason to fear if we don’t
worship Him acceptably. So, acceptable worship is what He asks of His people.
Now, what does it mean? What does that mean? Now, follow because I’m going to show
you what it means. Turn in your Bible to Romans 14, and I want you to stay clearly in

mind with what we are saying now for the next five or ten minutes because it’s all going to
wrap up in a couple of statements that are going to make a big difference. So, follow along
carefully in your Scriptures. If you can’t turn fast enough, listen, write them down.
Romans 14:18 says this: “For he that in these things serves Christ is acceptable to God.”
What things? Well, this whole chapter is all about not making a weaker brother stumble,
not grieving a brother, not destroying a brother, not using your liberty to cause him to
stumble, and he says this: if you serve Christ in these areas, that’s acceptable worship. So,
worship, first of all, is a matter of how we treat our fellow believers. Did you get that?
How we treat our fellow believers. That’s a matter of worship. That’s a matter of worship.
That’s a matter of glorifying God and honoring God.
Now, look at chapter 15 verse 16, Romans 15:16. And Paul is thanking God, of course, for
the grace that called him into the ministry, and then he makes an amazing statement, he
says that, I’ve been ministering the gospel of God. Why, Paul? “In order that,” watch this,
“the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable.” Now, that is the language of
sacrifice. That is the language of worship. And he says, “I am offering up the Gentiles as
an offering to God that is acceptable.” What do you mean? This: winning someone to
Jesus Christ is acceptable worship. Paul saw his converts as offerings given to God which
were acceptable to God. Isn’t that a beautiful way to see evangelism? You’re gaining a
soul that you can offer to God as an act of holy, acceptable worship. So, worship is how
you treat Christians. And worship is winning non-Christians.
Philippians 4:18. Philippians 4:18, and Paul writes Philippians in part to thank the
Philippians for a gift of money which they sent him. He was so glad they sent it because it
was such an act of love. But he says in verse 18: “I have everything. I abound, I am full, I
have received from Epaphroditus the things that were sent from you. And when they came
to me they were an odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God.” I
love that. He says, “Your gift of money, your gift to meet my need was before God a
sacrifice acceptable that brought to His nostrils a sweet smell.” Listen, worship is giving
money to meet needs. That’s worship. That’s right. It’s giving your resources to others,
supporting the saints, and the work of the church, and the ministry of Christ. That’s
worship.
Now, listen carefully. Romans 14, how you treat fellow Christians. Romans 15, the
winning of non-Christians. Philippians 4, giving to meet needs. Worship, listen now,
worship is sharing. That’s the sum of those three things. Worship is sharing with others,
sharing with others you love, sharing with others the gospel, sharing with others your
resources. That’s worship. Did you get that? That’s worship. That exalts God. That
honors God. That glorifies God because it puts Him on display through your life, and it
shows you’re obedient to Him. And it shows you love what He loves, He loves the saints,
and He loves the lost, and He loves the needy in a special way. That’s worship.

Now, listen, go to Ephesians 5:10. Ephesians 5:10. And here’s another very, very
important text. It says this: “Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.” Now, here again
we have the language of sacrifice, we have the language of offerings, we have the language
of worship. And what is the issue here? Verse 8, “Walk as children of light so that there
may be the fruit of light,” watch this, “goodness, righteousness, truth manifesting what is
acceptable.” And that’s what he’s saying: when your life has goodness, righteousness, and
truth, then you are acceptable. So, worship, a true offering to God, is righteousness,
goodness, truth. That’s personal holiness, personal virtue.
Now, turn again to Philippians chapter 1 verse 11 and let me show you another Scripture.
Philippians 1:11: “Being filled with the fruits of righteousness,” there we are with the same
concept again, righteousness and the fruits of righteousness, “through Christ which are
unto the glory and praise of God.” And again, we see the same thing we saw in Ephesians
5:10, that righteousness, holiness, goodness, godliness, is worship that is acceptable. That is
acceptable. And just to sum it up, 1 Timothy 2:3, 1 Timothy 2:3, which says, “For this is
good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior.” What is? The end of verse 2: “A
quiet, peaceable life lived in all godliness and honesty.” Did you see that? Godliness and
honesty. Righteousness, goodness, truth, holiness. That’s worship.
Now, listen to me, I gave you three Scriptures that showed worship as sharing with others.
I just gave you three Scriptures that showed worship as related to our own holiness, our
own righteousness, our own goodness. That’s worship. That’s worship. It is how you live
every day of your life. Worship is a way of living. A way of living that not only manifests a
personal holiness and a personal righteousness, but extends that in the love of the brethren,
in the proclamation to the lost, and in the freeing of all of our resources to meet needs.
That’s worship.
But, let me give you the summum bonum, where it all finally climaxes in Hebrews 13,
Hebrews 13, verse 15. And it says, “By Him,” oh, I love that, that’s by Jesus Christ,
mentioned in verse 12. “By Jesus Christ let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God
continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name.” Now, that is really the
climax, isn’t it? That is praising and glorifying with our lips, and thanking God
continually. That is worship. And that’s what we do when we come together. We sing,
and we praise God with our hearts, and our lips and we say thanks.
But look at verse 16: “But to do good and to share forget not; for with such sacrifices God
is,” what? “Well-pleased.” Did you get that? Listen to me. God wants you to come here
and worship. He wants you to be here to praise His name, to glorify His name, to say
thanks to Him. But He does not want you to forget that worship is a way of life in which
you do good, and in which you share with others. You see it? These two verses sum up all
that I’ve been saying to you. And listen very carefully to what I say. If you think that you
can live any way you want, and walk in here on a Sunday morning and worship, you’re

dead wrong. You can’t do that because worship does not occur in a vacuum. Worship is
not stimulated by gimmicks. I’ve had people say to me we should have signs around that
say, “This is a holy place,” or, “Quiet. Keep silence in the temple.” Or we should tell
people not to talk when they come in. Or, I should have bells on my suit so that when I
come, like the priest of old, you hear the tinkle. You know it’s time to get holy. Listen,
worship is not something stimulated by artificial gimmickry. And if you’ve got to have
that, or certain kind of mood music to worship, what you do isn’t worship. You don’t need
gimmicks. I can worship God on a freeway, traffic hour. So can you, if your heart’s right.
You see, when you come together in the assembly of the saints to worship God, if it isn’t the
extension of a worshipping life you can’t get it going. That’s why it says, yes, we must
assemble collectively and let us offer the sacrifice of praise with the fruit of our lips giving
thanks to His name, but we can’t forget to do good and to share as a way of life, or we’ll
never generate the worship we think we want on Sunday. It’s a way of life.
May I add this? You also need Sunday to stimulate the rest of the week. That’s right. It
says in Hebrews chapter 10: “Let us draw near unto God.” And then, it says, listen
carefully: “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together.” Why? Because we can
come together to stimulate one another to what? Love. That’s sharing and good works.
That’s righteousness. You have to have them out there in the world in order to worship,
and you have to be stimulated to them in the worship in order to live them out there in the
world. Do you see the cycle? You see, one feeds the other. One feeds the other. Listen to
me. You must be here in the fellowship of His saints. You must be here in the
congregation of the righteous, in the living temple, where God dwells among His people. It
isn’t the building; it’s His people in whom He dwells. Because it is here that you are
stimulated to love and good works. And as that stimulation affects your soul, you go out
and you do good, and you share, and when you come back, the overflow is praise and a
continual heart of worshipping thanksgiving.
Now, if you’re not in the cycle somewhere, you better get in. You say, how do you get in?
Confess you sins; start right now. People say, “Well, I’ve got so many problems in my
Christian life, I seem to be,” and you know what I think? I think it’s all basically comes
down to two things: one, they’re not worshipping six days a week with a worshipping life,
or they’re not worshipping one day a week with the assembling of the saints. You need
both. If you just come when it’s convenient, you’re never going to get your act together.
Because you can’t do it on your own. You’ve got to have that faithful consistent
stimulation to love and good works, that a body of people brings to bear on your life. And
we live in such an easy-come, easy-go, casual, flippant society that people don’t make those
kinds of consistent faithful commitments. And then, they wonder why they can’t get their
act together. You need it. You need to come and join with the worshipping assembly. I’m
not saying you have to come to Grace Church. But I’ll tell you, there are an awful lot of
churches around that have a Sunday morning service but there’s no worship there. And

some of them are even evangelical. They spend so much time promoting their latest
activity that you couldn’t even find God in the midst of the program. But you need
worship because worship becomes a stimulation to doing good and sharing and doing good
and sharing means that when you come in here on Sunday you don’t have to say, “Boy, I’m
getting my act together. Put on a different suit of clothes so I feel spiritual.” Turn the
tables and come in and worship. You can’t do it. It isn’t going to happen.
And if you find it difficult to worship God as you come to this place, it’s not because we
haven’t stimulated; it’s not because you need different gimmicks, it’s because you haven’t
been doing it out there and this isn’t what it ought to be in the flow, see, of a worshipping
life. Well, worship is essential. It’s essential, as I said, first of all, because the way it
dominates Scripture. And secondly, because it’s a matter of destiny.
Let me give you a third reason. Worship is essential because it is the major theme of the
universe. It’s the major theme of the universe. It’s the major theme of the ages. It’s the
major theme of eternity. When Adam and Eve were created and put on this world they
worshipped God, they walked and talked with God in the cool of the day. They
worshipped Him, they glorified His holy name. And the fall came because they wouldn’t
worship anymore. That’s right. Eve chose to worship whom? Whom did she worship?
Satan. Adam chose to worship whom? Eve. And as soon as they ceased worshipping God,
they fell.
The first division among men came between Cain and Abel. Why? The division came over
the way they worshipped. One brought an acceptable; one an unacceptable offering.
When the patriarchs worshipped God properly, they were blessed. When they worshipped
God unacceptably, they were chastened. The nation Israel was taken out of Egypt in the
book of Exodus. They wandered for forty years in the Sinai desert until a whole generation
died. And the Bible says it simply, and only, they wandered in the desert and lost their
lives without entering the Promised Land because they failed to worship God properly.
Even Moses failed to do that, and never entered the Promised Land. When they finally got
into the land, according in 1 Chronicles 29, when they worshipped God as He wanted to be
worshipped, they were blessed. And in Acts 7:42 and 43, it says when they did not worship
God properly they were punished and ultimately scattered and splattered all over the
world.
When Jesus came and He was born, they came and worshipped Him. The first thing He
did when His ministry began was to go to Jerusalem and the first act that He had when He
went in Jerusalem, John chapter 2, He walked right into the place of worship, and He took
a whip, and cleaned the place out. And after Held got it all straightened out and dealt with
the corrupt worshippers in chapter 2, in chapter 4 He called for true worshippers.
Worship was always the issue. It is the central theme of redemptive history.

When the church was born, look at Philippians 3:3, a verse you probably never even read
with this in mind, one of the greatest statements on worship in the Bible. Philippians 3:3,
we find a definition of the church, here it is: “For we are the circumcision, who worship
God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.” Oh,
what a statement. That is an absolutely marvelous statement of the identity of the church.
I can’t think of a greater one than that. What is a church? It is the circumcision. In other
words, it is those uniquely identified as God’s people, but it is not a physical circumcision.
They worshipped God in their spirits, and they rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no
confidence in the flesh.
What is the church? The church is those who worship God in their spirit and rejoice in
Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. That’s a Christian. That’s a Christian, a
God worshipper. So, the church is to be a worshipping people. And all through the years
of the church, God is calling out those who will worship Him in the spirit, having no
confidence in the flesh.
And if you look at the future, look at Revelation chapter 4, you will find that history
consummates in worship. Revelation 4:10, here you get a glimpse of the future, the glory of
the Lord coming to set up His Kingdom. “The four and twenty elders fell down before Him
that is seated on the throne and worship Him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their
crowns before the throne saying, thou art worthy, O Lord.” See, worship is the theme of
heaven. Chapter 5 verse 14: “And the four living creatures said, Amen. And the four and
twenty elders fell down and worshipped Him that liveth forever and ever.” Chapter 11
verse 16: “When the kingdom of this world becomes the kingdom of our Lord and of His
Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever. Then, the four and twenty elders who sat
before God on their thrones fell upon their faces and worshipped God, saying, we give
thanks, O Lord God Almighty.” Chapter 14 verse 7: “And here comes the angel with the
everlasting gospel, preaches to them that dwell on the earth, every nation, kindred, tongue,
and people. Saying with a loud voice, fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His
judgment is come: and worship Him that made heaven and earth and the sea and the
fountains of waters.” Now, note it: this angel said this having the everlasting gospel. What
is the eternal message? The eternal message is: worship God. That’s the message of the
everlasting gospel. Chapter 15 verse 4: “Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy
name? For Thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before Thee.”
Chapter 19 verse 4: “And the four and twenty elders and the four living creatures fell down
and worshipped God that sat on the throne saying, Amen; hallelujah.”
Now, listen to the last two, verse 10 of chapter 19: “And I fell at his feet,” the feet of an
angel, an angel who spoke to John, “I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me,
‘See thou do it not: I am thy fellow-servant, of thy brethren who have the testimony of
Jesus: worship God.’” Would you underline those two? Worship God. Chapter 22 verse
8, John again in his vision, was so amazed, and he fell down in verse 8 to worship the angel

again, and the same thing happened. The angel says, “See thou do it not: I am thy fellow
servant of thy brethren the prophets, and of them who keep the words of this book.
Worship God.” Underline it again. That, beloved, is the everlasting gospel. That is the
message from eternity to eternity that God has to give. Worship Me. Worship Me. That is
the theme of eternity, the theme of redemptive history, to worship the true and living and
glorious God.
So, Scripture calls us to worship. Destiny calls us to worship. Eternity calls us to worship.
And just in case somebody might fall through the cracks and think you don’t need to
worship, can I give you one more? The fourth reason why it’s important to worship, Christ
commanded it. Christ commanded it. In Matthew 4:10 He said this and summed it all up.
“Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and Him only shalt thou serve.” And He said it to
Satan. And in so saying, swept into that command every being ever created. All are
responsible to worship God.
Do you worship God? As a way of life? That’s what He’s asking. If you find it difficult to
worship the Lord when you come on Sunday, it isn’t because the music isn’t right, it isn’t
because there’s too much noise in the auditorium when you come in. It isn’t because you
had to hassle for a parking place. No, if you can’t worship it isn’t because you got
distracted; if you can’t worship it’s because you’re not in the flow, you see? Everything
there is calls for worship. Everything, everything. Scripture calls for worship, destiny calls
for worship, eternity calls for worship, Christ calls for worship, the angels have said,
worship God, worship God. But it can’t happen once a week. It’s a way of life. But when
the assembly comes together once a week, there will be a bursting out, a boiling over of true
praise and ownership of the heart. Because what you have enjoyed of worship individually,
when brought into the joy of the assembly, is enriched and enhanced. And our worship
becomes all the more glorious. Let’s pray.
Listen, while your heads bowed for just a moment. In Hebrews chapter 11, there’s a great
list of the heroes of faith. It says, by faith so-and-so, by faith so-and-so, by faith so-and-so,
by faith so-and-so, you know the chapter. It begins with Abel, and it says regarding Abel,
that by faith, Abel offered the right sacrifice. He worshipped. And after Abel in the list
comes Enoch, and it says Enoch walked with God. Abel worshipped and then Enoch
walked. And then, comes Noah, and it says Noah worked for 120 years to build a boat.
And I think there’s a marvelous analogy in that. First Abel and worship, then Enoch and
walk, then Noah and work. And I really believe that’s the way the Christian life has to be
seen: first we worship, then we walk, and then we work. And that’s the sequence. That’s
the divine sequence. You’ve got to get in the flow somewhere so that your life is a
worshipping life.
Father, we ask at this time, this morning, that You would do a work in our hearts. The text
always says we are to worship but the true worship comes by Jesus Christ. If there are

some in our midst this morning who have never worshipped, ‘cause they’ve never even
gotten involved in the cycle at all, may they step in through faith in Christ and become true
worshippers. Speak to their hearts, O God. For those of us who are Christians who find
ourselves unable to worship, unwilling to worship, struggling to worship, help us to get into
the flow somewhere, to not forsake the stimulating assembly, the living temple, a dwelling
place of God among the living stones of His people, nor to forsake the day to day life of
worship that does good and shares. For with such sacrifices Thou art well pleased. Be
pleased with our worship, and make our times together but extensions, but the bubbling
over of a life of worship. Teach us to be faithful every Lord’s Day. Teach us to be faithful
every waking day to worship. And may we in response know that fullness of blessing that
comes to the one with clean hands and a pure heart who is of the generation that seeks after
God.

Shall we bow together in a word of prayer as we approach the Scripture tonight? Gracious
Father, we would ask that this very moment You would cause us to look deeply into our
hearts. And if there is anything in us that is not pleasing to Thee, that you might point it
out, that we might know wherein we have offended, that we might cleanse our hands and
our hearts; so that we might hear with hearing ears, see with seeing eyes, and understand
what it is that You would teach us tonight. Knowing full well that the Scripture says that
we are to lay aside all evil and then to desire the Word as a babe desires milk. So, Father,
we would begin by laying aside all sin, confessing to You that we are sinners, and asking
that You would wash us clean that nothing would stand in the way of our comprehension
and commitment to Your truth. And we thank You for what You will teach us tonight and
do in us by Your Holy Spirit, in Christ’s name. Amen.
We’re involved in a very essential study of acceptable true spiritual worship. There’s
nothing that is more important in the life of a believer. There’s nothing more important in
the life of any man or woman than that his life or her life be oriented toward worshipping
God. To worship God is the supreme activity of the universe. And so, we’re considering
some of the very important elements involved in true worship. Now, already we have noted
several times that our text is John chapter 4, and particularly verses 20 through 24. And as
we have read them again and again, we have noted, first of all, the statement particularly at
the end of verse 23 that the Father seeketh such, that is true worshippers, to worship Him.
The Father seeketh true worshippers.
And with that Scripture in mind, we have discussed quite at length, the idea of the
importance of worship. And I have told you that basically there are four reasons why
worship is important. First of all, because Scripture is literally filled with the truth about

worship. Secondly, because destiny is marked by worship. Thirdly, because the major
theme of eternity and redemptive history included is worship. And fourthly, because
Christ commanded us to worship. Scripture, destiny, eternity, and the very command of
Christ tell us the importance of worship.
And in order to try to sum up our thinking and draw what we have said together before we
go on to the next major point in the text, I would again have you note verse 23. That God
seeks true worshippers. That’s the thrust of that most important verse. And what it tells
us is the very important truth that the goal of salvation is worship. You need to write that
down somewhere. The goal of salvation is worship. The reason God redeems people is so
that they may be worshippers. In 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 15 Paul says: “All
things are for your sakes,” that is all the things that he goes through to get the gospel out.
“That through the abundant grace might, through the thanksgiving of many redound to
the glory of God.” In other words, everything we do we do that you might receive the grace
of God so that in response you might give thanks and glory to God. Everything ultimately
is geared to produce worship. Such does the Father seek, according to verse 23. And just
as a note for you theologians, I believe that the Father’s seeking is efficacious and indicates
His sovereign eternal purpose to save.
Now, acceptable worship then becomes a very important theme. It is the essential and
direct result of Christ’s saving work. And if you remember that the Lord said He had
come into the world to seek and to save that which was lost, and you tie it in with verse 23,
you get the whole picture of Christ’s coming. The Father seeks true worshippers; the Son
comes to seek and to salve. The seeking of the Father for true worshippers, and the seeking
of the Son to save brings the two together. God seeks true worshippers and the only way
they can become that is through salvation. Failure to worship God is the violation of
Romans 1 that designates the whole world of Christ rejecters.
Now, let me illustrate this to you by having you turn in your Bible to Psalm 22. It may
seem a strange place to go in regard to this but I think you’ll see how important it really is.
Psalm 22 is a prophetic picture of the death of Christ. It is not vague, it is not symbolic; it
is explicit, it is prophetic in a very dramatic way. And many of the things that are said in
Psalm 22 were directly fulfilled on the cross. For example, verse 1: “My God, My God,
why hast Thou forsaken Me?” That anticipation of the Messiah’s reaction to His death
was indeed fulfilled by Christ who uttered those very words.
And then, through verse 21 you find a description of the crucifixion interwoven with that
which relates, of course, to David the Psalmist himself. For example, in verse 13 you have a
very apparent indication of the crucifixion, “They gaped upon Me with their mouths, like a
ravening and roaring lion.” And you’ll remember that in Matthew 27, the crowd gaped at
Him indeed like a roaring and ravening lion screaming, “Crucify Him.” In verse 14 it talks
about being poured out like water and all My bones are out of joint. And that is exactly

what happened in crucifixion from the suspension by the four great wounds; there was a
disjointing of the body. “My strength is dried up; My tongue cleaves to My jaws.” You
remember how well John 19:28 where Jesus said, “I thirst.” And then, verse 16 talks about
piercing His and hands and His feet. It talks about being compassed about by dogs, a
reference to the savage soldiers. Verse 18 about the parting of the garments of Christ, the
casting lots for His vesture.
All of those things, very explicit. That Christ would go to the cross and He would suffer
those things indeed came to pass. But for what? That begins in verse 22 and I think it
most interesting. “I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the
congregation will I praise Thee. Ye who fear the Lord, praise Him all ye the seed of Jacob,
glorify Him, and fear Him, all ye the seed of Israel. For he hath not despised nor abhorred
the affliction of the afflicted: neither hath he hidden his face from him, but when he cried
unto him, he heard.” In other words, the immediate response to the work of Christ is
what? Praise, isn’t it? Praise. The meek shall eat and be satisfied. They shall praise the
Lord that seek Him. And your heart shall live forever. That’s everlasting life that comes
through the death of Christ.
Now, watch verse 27. “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn unto the Lord
and all the kindreds of the nations shall,” what? “Worship.” That’s the climax. That is
the ultimate as you enter the kingdom. And so, you have in that marvelous Psalm a rather
explicit indication that the goal of redemption is worship. Worship.
Look at Exodus chapter 19 for a moment, Exodus chapter 19 verse 7. “And Moses came
and called for the elders of the people and laid before their faces all these words which the
Lord commanded him.” When Moses received the covenant from God he told it to the
people, told them everything God had said. “And the people answered together and said,”
and this is the greatest illustration of wishful thinking in all the world, “All that the Lord
hath spoken we will do.” Nice thought. All that the Lord hath spoken we will do.
You know something? God didn’t believe that for one minute. God knew they wouldn’t do
it. He knew they would never be able to approach Him on the basis of their law-keeping.
He knew they would never be able to approach Him on the basis of their self-righteousness.
He knew they would never be able to draw nigh unto Him with clean hands and a pure
heart because they themselves had cleaned their hands and purified their heart. He knew
that. And so, immediately on the heels of that you look at chapter 20. And after He has
given them the specifics of that marvelous Mosaic covenant, in verse 22 the Lord said to
Moses: “Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, ‘You have seen that I have talked
with you from heaven. You shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall you make
unto you gods of gold. An altar of earth thou shalt make unto Me, and shalt sacrifice
thereon thy burnt offerings and thy peace offerings, thy sheep and thine oxen: in all places
where I record My name I will come unto thee and I will bless thee. And if thou wilt make

Me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon
it, thou hast polluted it.’” He did not want it to be the mark of man’s craftsmanship; rough
stones were enough. “Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto Mine altar that thy nakedness
be not exposed thereon.” He didn’t want it elevated in the air so that when people went up
people could look up the back of their clothing, and they would be exposed.
It was to be humble; it was to be on the earth. You say, what’s the point? The point is this.
God knew that men had no place, and no right, and no access on their own to worship Him
because they could not keep His law no matter what they thought they could do. And so,
God established an altar as the basis of worship. And the implication was that you had to
bring to that altar sacrifices: sheep and oxen, peace offerings, burnt offerings. So that the
ground or the basis of true worship became sacrifice. You see? Sacrifice made possible
communion between man and God. If that’s true, then ultimate sacrifice made possible
ultimate communion. And so, we say then that the death of Christ was to provide God with
the fulfillment of His seeking after true worshippers. And as we meet at the cross, and our
sin is dealt with, and we are purified by the blood of Jesus Christ, we then become
acceptable worshippers of the Father. So, worship is always an issue of salvation. The
basis of worship is sacrifice.
Now, to look at it from another angle, look with me at the end of the prophecy of Isaiah,
chapter 66, the last chapter, the last chapter. And just the last paragraph of that last
chapter. And Isaiah has swept through redemptive history in a marvelous way, talked
about judgment in the first half of the book, first 39 chapters, talked about God’s
punishing of the nations as well as the people of God. And then, he is moved into the great
future. He’s talked about the coming of the Messiah. He’s talking about the coming of the
kingdom now in chapter 66, about the wonderful marvelous future that God has, the
millennial kingdom that is to come. And we read this in verse 22: “For as the new heavens
and the new earth,” and now he’s gone beyond the kingdom, and now he is into the eternal
kingdom, the eternal state. And God says, I’ll make a new heaven and a new earth, “And
as that remains before Me saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it
shall come to pass,” and here you are ultimately, “that from one new moon to another, and
from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, saith the Lord.”
And you can stop right there.
What’s the point of this? You start out in the book of Isaiah with judgment. Then, you
come to great truths about the Messiah and His work. In chapter 52 and 53 we find out
about the suffering Messiah who pays the price for sin, who dies on the cross. Why? In
order that He might produce a generation of eternal worshippers, it says right here. So,
Isaiah’s flow tells us that the Messiah will come to produce in eternity worshippers who can
truly worship the true and living God.

Look with me at I Corinthians chapter 14, a chapter that most of us associate with the issue
of speaking in tongues, and indeed that’s correct. But I would like to draw you to verse 23
of 1 Corinthians 14. And he is talking about the meeting together of the church and what
goes on, the church in Corinth. And he says in verse 23: “If therefore the whole church be
come together unto one place and all speak with tongues, and there come in unlearned or
unbelievers, will they not say you are mad?” You’re out of your mind, you’re insane?
“But if all prophesy,” that is, speak the truth of God in the language understood, “and
there come in one that believes not, or is unlearned, he is convicted by all and judged by
all.”
Now, note carefully verse 25: “And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest.” Now,
if you want to really crack open somebody’s heart, don’t speak in tongues. Speak so he can
understand. If you really want to open somebody’s heart, then speak that which will
convict him, which will condemn him, which will reveal his heart to him. That’s how to
reach him. And when he is convicted, and when he is judged, and when he is reached,
here’s his response: “Falling down on his face he will,” what? “Worship God.”
Beloved, you know what I believe? I believe you have in that verse the very initial response
to salvation. That is Paul’s way of indicating the man has been brought to conversion.
He’ll worship God and report that God is truly in your midst. So, that you see here
evangelism with the result of what? Worship. That is the goal of evangelism. That is the
goal of salvation. And we see it in all of these passages. And I think, as I mentioned this
morning, I’ll just, elude to Philippians 3:3 where Paul defines a Christian this way: “One
who worships God in the spirit, who rejoices in Christ Jesus, and has no confidence in the
flesh.” A Christian is one who worships God in the spirit.
So, worship is that which God seeks, and the ground of worship, or the basis for worship,
or the key that unlocks the door and makes worship possible, or what takes you from an
unacceptable worshipper to an acceptable worshipper, is salvation. Salvation in Jesus
Christ.
Robert Midlane wrote this: “The perfect righteousness of God is witnessed in the Savior’s
blood. Tis in the cross of Christ we trace, His righteousness, yet wondrous grace. God
could not pass the sinner by, His sin demands that he must die; But in the cross of Christ
we see, How God can save us righteously. The sin is on the Savior laid, Tis by His blood the
debt is paid. Stern justice can demand no more, and mercy can dispense her store. The
sinner who believes is free, And says, ‘The Savior died for me.’” And that, my friend, is the
basis of worship: that we who are sinners should be redeemed by the worthy Christ.
I think you understand then, that worship is important. It is that which the Father seeks
through redemption. If you’re a redeemed person and you don’t worship right, you deny

that very thing for which you were redeemed. You see? That’s the core. You’re not
talking about something peripheral.
Now, let’s return to John 4, John chapter 4. When Jesus arrived on the scene, people were
worshipping. In fact, in verse 20 she said, “We worship in this mountain.” And she made
reference to Mount Gerizim. And the Jews were worshipping, verse 20 says, in Jerusalem.
They were worshipping. But it was over against this unacceptable worship. They were
worshipping the right God but in the wrong way and with the wrong attitude. It was over
against that that our Lord postulates what is true acceptable worship. And that tells us
that theirs was not. If Jesus were to arrive on the scene today and to look at the big picture
of Christianity, I wonder what kind of things He have to say about quote-unquote
“Christian worship” today.
One writer says, “Much of so-called public worship in Christendom is merely a form of
Christianized Judaism, and in many cases it is thinly veiled paganism. For example, in
Judaism, there was a separate priestly caste who alone could conduct the worship of Israel.
Whereas in Christendom a man-made priesthood called the clergy, is essential to its
worship in spite of the plain teaching of the New Testament that all believers are priests.
These priests of Judaism wore a distinctive dress, as also does the clergy. Judaism
emphasized an earthly sanctuary, or building. In like manner, Christendom makes much
of its consecrated ‘places of worship,’ and miscalls the edifice, ‘the house of God.’ Jewish
priests had an altar on which were offered sacrifices to God. And Christendom has erected
altars in these ornate buildings, before which candles burn and incense is offered and, in
many cases, on which a wafer is kept, which is looked upon as if it were the body of Christ.
It is hardly necessary to say that all this copying of Judaism is absolutely foreign to the
teaching of the New Testament. Thus, Christendom has initiated its own specially educated
and ordained priesthood, whose presence is indispensable to quote, ‘administer the
sacraments.’ These men, robed in gorgeous vestments, from within a roped off sanctuary
stand before a bloodless altar, with a background of burning candles, crosses and smoking
incense, and conduct the worship for the laity. With the use of an elaborate prepared
ritual, with stereotyped prayers, responses from the audience, the whole service proceeds
smoothly and with mechanical precision. It is a marvel of human invention and ingenuity,
with an undoubted appeal to the esthetic, but a tragic and sorry substitute for the spiritual
worship which our Lord declared His Father sought from His redeemed children.” End
quote.
If our Lord came today, that’s what He might do; He might indict that kind of worship.
Or, and that would equate the Judaism. Or, He might also indict the worship of the more
traditional Protestant church which may be a little more like Samaritan worship: not quite
as elaborate, not quite as ornate, not quite as sophisticated. In fact, the Samaritans of the
time that Jesus spoke to, this woman didn’t even have a building; it had been long ago
destroyed. But it was shallow worship, it was indifferent worship, it was not according to

the prescriptions of Scripture, and it needed to be corrected. In fact, both the worship of
its Judaistic period, as well as its Samaritan period were to be eliminated totally, totally, in
favor of the true worship.
Now, let me see if I can set the scene for you. Chapter 4 verse 4. And this is really the key
as to why He went there: “He must needs go through Samaria.” There was a divine
appointment with a special woman. This was a woman God was seeking to be a true
worshipper. And as I said, God’s seeking is efficacious, and He sought her out, sending
Jesus out of the normal route to go through Samaria. “To a place called Sychar, near the
plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore,
being wearied with His journey sat by the well, and it was about the sixth hour.” By
Roman time that would 6:00 in the evening. “There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw
water: Jesus said unto her, ‘Give Me to drink.’ For His disciples had gone away to the city
to buy food. Then, saith the woman of Samaria unto Him, ‘How is it that Thou, being a
Jew, askest drink of me who am a woman of Samaria? For, literally, the Jews don’t use the
same vessels as the Samaritans.’” Jews don’t drink out of our cups. We don’t have any
relations with Jews. How did this happen? Well, the people of that land had once been
united under Saul, and David, and Solomon. When the kingdom split, the northern
kingdom Israel, the southern kingdom Judah became independent. As time went on, the
northern kingdom, because of its terrifying wickedness, was judged. And in 722 BC, the
northern kingdom of Israel was taken by Sargon. And most of the people were taken
captive, and they were hauled off to Assyria, several other places, the city of the Medes.
You can read it in 2 Kings chapter 17. They were deported to become the slaves and
servile people of the Assyrians.
The only people allowed to remain in the land were the poor. They were a liability; there’s
no sense in hauling off all the welfare cases, so they left them there. And foreigners from
surrounding areas, particularly from Babylon, begin to move in. And as they moved in,
these Gentile foreigners intermarried with the remaining poor Jews. And the half-breed
race that came as a result of this was known as the Samaritans, named for the city of
Samaria which was their capital city. And they had, therefore, a combination of Judaism
and paganism mixed, a syncretistic religion. These people wanted to maintain their Jewish
heritage; they even begged for an Israelite priest who would teach them to worship the true
God, but they were rejected in their request. And when the remnant, you’ll remember,
that was taken captive from the southern kingdom Judah into Babylon and stayed 70 years
came back, do you remember that when they came back they started immediately to
rebuild the walls and to rebuild the city? And who was it that came down and wanted to
help them? Some Samaritans. And they were again rejected in terms of their assistance
because of their half-breed nature, and so they really did everything they could to stop the
building process.

They had said, “Let us build with you: for we seek God, as you do.” And the Jew said:
“You have nothing to do with us in building a house unto our God.” And so, they were left
in their sort of syncretistic religion. And they had only one alternative, and that was to
establish their own place of worship, so they went to Mount Gerizim and they built their
own temple and began to worship in their own way.
This lasted for quite a while. Till in 128 BC, 128 years before the year of our Lord begins,
one of the Maccabean rulers by the name of John Hyrcanus destroyed their temple. And
it’s never been rebuilt. But do you know, to this day, although there are under, I think,
under 200 Samaritans left on the face of the earth, they still gather on that vacant
mountain and carry out their worship, independent of Jerusalem? The basic difference is
that they accept only the first five books of the Old Testament, only the Pentateuch. They
do not accept the rest of the Old Testament. And that was their relationship in the time of
Jesus. They were despised, looked down on, hated by the Jews, and they had no dealings at
all.
Now, that issue then becomes the key to understanding verse 20. Look at it. The woman
then says to Him, “Our fathers, the Samaritans, worshipped in this mountain, Mount
Gerizim. And ye say, you Jews, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to
worship.” And the implication is: who’s right? Where do we worship? You say, why is
she asking that question? I’ll tell you why she is asking the question, because of what just
went on. Go back to verse 10. “Jesus said unto her, ‘If you knew the gift of God and who it
is that saith to thee, give Me a drink, you would have asked of Him and He would have
given you living water.’” Lady, if you knew who was talking to you, and what He could give
you, you’d have asked for it. “And the woman said to Him, ‘Sir, Thou hast nothing to
draw with and the well is deep, from where then hast Thou that living water?’” Where are
You going to get it? “Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and
drank from it himself, and his sons and his cattle?” In other words, if You’ve got some
kind of water that’s better than this water, are you greater than Jacob? “And Jesus
answered and said unto her, ‘Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again; but
whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst. But the water that
I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.’” Eternal.
“And the woman said, ‘Give me this water that I thirst not, neither come here to draw.’”
And then, He went to the heart of the matter. I could give you this, but you’ve got a
problem. And here’s how He brought the problem up. Go call your husband. “And the
woman said, I’ve no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You said it, you have no husband. You
said it well. For you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your
husband.” You really said it, lady. The woman said unto Him, “Sir, I perceive that You
are a prophet.” Good thinking. Why she’d perceive that? Two reasons; number one, He
spoke of supernatural truth. That’s why I believe, although she appears to be answering
Him in the literal sense. I think she understood what He was saying to some extent. He is

speaking about eternal things. He is speaking about spiritual things. Secondly, because He
went right to the core and indicted her for her sin. And you could even add a third,
because He knew secrets that only God could reveal. Here’s a man who speaks of spiritual
realities. Here is a man who deals with sin. And here is a man who knows things that only
God can reveal. That, my friend, is a prophet.
Her first reaction was, I’ve got to get my life right. That’s what I believe. The implication
is here. I think she may have even felt deep, profound conviction at this point. Because I
think when Jesus said something to someone on a one to one basis, it would be a little tough
to evade it. He had a totally commanding presence. And I think her response was, I want
to get my life right. I want to worship. But I’ve got to ask you a basic question: I don’t
know where to go. Right? I don’t know where to go. I don’t know where to go to worship.
I mean, my people say to go up here, and your people say to go down there. Where do I
worship? And He says, “Lady, in just a little while there isn’t going to be an up here and a
down there. So, that is not the issue. The issue is that you worship the Father in spirit and
in what? Truth. And that is the picture that sweeps us in to this marvelous teaching on
true spiritual worship. Her conscience was pricked. Her soul was pierced. And she had to
acknowledge her sin. And she wanted to deal with it, but she didn’t know where to go. She
believed like the rest of the people in that shallow religious day that worship is something
you do, someplace, at some time, in a prescribed place and a set time. And she wasn’t sure
what place was the right place. And so, He launches into this great statement.
Now, the first thing I want you to note as we look at verses 20 to 24 is the object of worship.
Watch carefully what the text says. Verse 21, at the end of the verse, three words:
“Worship the Father.” The middle of verse 23, three words, “Worship the Father.” Verse
24, middle of the verse, “Worship Him.” Who are we to worship? The Father, the Father,
worship Him. But it says more than that. It tells us in verse 24 who He is, “God is a
Spirit.”
Now, beloved, that gives us two aspects to the object of worship: one, God as Spirit; two,
God as Father. Got those two? We worship God as Spirit. We worship God as Father.
Now, listen very carefully. One speaks of His essential nature; one speaks of His essential
relationship. His essential nature is that He is what? Spirit. His essential relationship is
that He is what? Father. And both of those are basic to true worship.
Let’s start out with the first one, God as Spirit in His essential nature. And I think you’ll
find this tremendously exciting. And, believe me, when you start to try to describe God as
Spirit, you really find yourself without words. I’m going to take a wild stab and see what
we can do. We worship then, first of all, God as Spirit, God as Spirit, the one glorious
Spirit. Look at verse 24 again. The literal Greek in this verse is very interesting. This is
what it says, Spirit the God. Spirit the God. It just melts those two together. Spirit the
God, God the Spirit, making one equal to the other. God is Spirit, Spirit the God, one

glorious Spirit. What is a spirit? Well, Jesus said, “A spirit hath not,” what? “Flesh and
bones.” A spirit hath not flesh and bones.
Look with me for a moment at Isaiah chapter 40, Isaiah chapter 40 verse 18, and I think
this will help us to understand what we’re talking about with God as Spirit. Verse 18: “To
whom then will ye liken God?” In other words, if you can’t deal with God as Spirit, and
you’re going to reduce God into something else, what are you going to make it that’s going
to be like Him? Can you draw a picture of a spirit? Can you carve an image of a spirit?
Can you melt down silver and make it into a formation of a spirit? What are you going to
make it like? What likeness are you going to compare it to? “The workman melts and
casts an image, and the goldsmith spreads it over with gold and casts silver chains. He that
is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot, seeketh a
skillful workman to prepare a carved image that shall not be moved.” Takes a tree and
tries to carvethe tree. “Have you not known? Have you not heard? Hath it not been told
you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is
he that sits on the circle of the earth.” I mean, you’re trying to reduce the eternal God.
“And the inhabitants of the earth are like grasshoppers, who stretcheth out the heavens
like a curtain and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.” This is the God of the universe,
and you’re pouring a little deal in a pot, and carving a little piece of wood.
“He maketh,” verse 23, “the princes to become nothing; He maketh the judges of the earth
as vanity. Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown; yea, their stock shall
not take root in the earth. And He shall also blow upon them and they shall wither, and the
whirlwind shall take them away like stubble.” In other words, he says that the princes, or
the chief people, or the most important people, or the most powerful people in the world,
are nothing when compared to God.
So, verse 25: “To whom then will you liken Me, or shall I be equal? Saith the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, who bringeth out
their host by number, He calleth them all by names by the greatness of His might, for He is
strong in power and not one faileth.” And then, He goes on to talk about how God doesn’t
faint, gets weary never and so forth. In other words, when you conceive of and you draw in
your mind’s eye, or in theological terms, or biblical terms, the concept of God, you cannot
reduce Him to an image. He cannot be reduced to a building. He cannot be reduced to a
statue, to anything. He is Spirit and He must be worshipped in the fullness of the infinity of
His eternal Spirit.
What does that do immediately? That immediately says you don’t have to go to a place at a
time to draw nigh unto God. The shorter catechism says, “God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal
and unchangeable in His being.” Some of the cults teach that God is a man. That’s a lie
right out of a pit. God is not a man. God is a Spirit. In Jeremiah 23:23: “Am I a God at
hand? Saith the Lord. And not a God far off?” In other words, what He’s saying is, listen

to this: am I a God someplace? No. God is not a God someplace, He is a God, what?
Everyplace. You cannot confine Me. “Can any hide himself in secret places and I’ll not see
him?” And I love this. “Do not I fill heaven and earth? Saith the Lord.” Now, listen to
this, God is not an idol confined to a place. God is the infinite place. He cannot be confined
to a specific place or a specific time. Now, see how important that is in worship? We don’t
go somewhere because God is there and we’re going there to worship Him.
Now, the heathen believed that God was someplace, and 1 Samuel chapter 5, you know, the
Philistines had a temple and they had their god Dagon in there. And when they stole the
Ark of the Covenant, they thought that was the representation of the God of the Israelites.
They took the Ark of the Covenant and they stuck it in the temple of Dagon. And they
figured that’s where gods live, over in that place, so they stuck him there. Remember the
next morning? They came back their god, Dagon, who was that fish god, was dumped
over, bowing down to the Ark of the Covenant. So, they put him back up. The next day
they came back he was dumped over again, only this time his hands and his head were cut
off. God had performed some supernatural surgery on that idol. But the point was they
associated that god with that place. That was the whole point. But God is a Spirit. And
what He’s saying to the woman is, hey, the issue isn’t here or there because God isn’t here
or there. He’s a Spirit. He’s a Spirit.
Now, go back to John chapter 4 for a moment, and let’s see how He’s specifically
responding to this lady. Verse 21: “Our fathers worship in this mountain, she says. And
you say in Jerusalem.” I mean, where is God? Is God up here or is He down there? I
mean, I want to get my life straight, so where do I go? And then, in verse 21, “Jesus saith
unto her, ‘Woman, believe Me,’” I’m telling you the truth, “‘the hour comes when you
shall neither in this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father.’” Now, that
statement is so loaded you can interpret it with a sort of a telescopic thought. If you take it
individually, if you take it individually, it could be saying, “Lady, you’re about to enter into
a relationship with God through Me that’s going to make it so you don’t even worship God
in either place, but in your heart.” It could be saying historically: the time is coming when
the destruction of Jerusalem will wipe out that place, and you’ve got nothing up on that
mountain anyway. It could be taken in its widest possible significance that He is saying: I
will bring about redemptive work on the cross of Calvary that will eliminate all that is even
anyway associated with the old covenant true or false. And you can interpret it all those
ways.
Now, I really think what He’s saying is, lady, there is an end to those systems coming very,
very fast. In a very real sense Jesus says in verse 23: “The hour comes, and now is.”
That’s a fascinating statement. It’s future and yet present. What did He mean it comes
and yet it now is? He was saying, I’m standing in the transition and in one hand I’ve got
the old covenant and in the other hand I’ve got the new covenant. The hour’s coming, and
it’s already here because here I am, when this is gone and the new covenant is here. And in

that place, or rather, in that new covenant, there’s no place, there’s no Jerusalem. And to
make sure nobody got confused in 70 AD, God just wiped out Jerusalem, just wiped it out.
And so, worship is the worship of God as Spirit; and as a Spirit, He is everywhere. He is
everywhere. And, listen to this: He is everywhere available to a true worshipper,
everywhere. He is predicting the end of the ceremonial system, and I think He dramatized
it so marvelously with one great climatic event that occurred when Jesus died on the cross.
What was it? What happened to the veil of the temple? It rent from the top to the bottom,
and the whole system was over. The holy of holies was exposed. The ceremonial system
was ended. And that, I think, was what our Lord really had in mind when He talked to this
woman.
In Hebrews 10 verse 19, in the language of this marvelous book, it is because of what Christ
has done that we have a new kind of worship. This is so beautiful. The tenth chapter talks
about verse 4: “It’s not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin.” The
sacrificial system couldn’t do it. No way it could do it. But I love this, verse 12: “But this
man,” see, verse 11 says, “Those priests, over and over the same sacrifice, never take away
sin. But this man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right
hand of God.” What does it mean that He sat down? It means that He sat down because
His work was what? Finished. And verse 14: “For by one offering He perfected forever
them that are sanctified. And this is the new covenant,” verse 16 says, “this is the covenant
that God said I will write on their hearts. Their sins and iniquities will I remember no
more. And where there is this kind of total remission, there is no more need for any other
offering.” Right? So, the sacrificial system was over when Christ died. He perfected
everything.
Verse 19: “Having therefore,” therefore? What’s the therefore there for? To make the
transition. Because of what Christ has done. “Brethren, have boldness to enter into the
holiest,” oh man, a Jew wouldn’t go near the holiest, be afraid he’d be dead. He says, go
right on in. Now, watch this, verse 20, “By a new and living way.” Not the dead way of
dead animals, not the old way of ceremonies, but a new and living way, “which He
consecrated for us through the veil that is to say, His flesh. And having a high priest over
the house of God: let us draw near.” Isn’t that great? Let us draw near.
You see, it’s because, again, of the work of Christ on the cross that we become a
worshipping people. It isn’t in Mount Gerizim. It isn’t at Jerusalem. Those old
ceremonial systems are gone, and there is no place today for a special elite priesthood. And
there’s no place today for altars, and sacrificial masses, and burning candles, and smoking
incense. That’s Judaism and paganism dragged across, ignoring the new and living way,
and the priesthood of all believers. That system is over.

So, our Lord says, look, it isn’t the place of worship, lady. It isn’t the place of worship. It’s
who you worship that is the issue. Right? It’s who you worship. And, first of all, you
worship God as Spirit. He is a Spirit.
And people always say, well, what about when the Bible says the arm of the Lord is not
shortened that it cannot heal, His eyes go to and fro throughout the earth, the Lord is not
deaf that He cannot hear, He stretches out His right arm, and all this? That’s what’s called
anthropomorphism; that’s speaking of God in humanly; physical terms or we could never
understand what He was talking about, because the only thing we can perceive is if
somebody sees, they’ve got to have eyes. Right? I mean, if the Scripture said, “God looks
over the earth with His burgess.” You see, you wouldn’t know what it was talking about.
So, it says eyes because you understand eyes see. People think God is a man because of
that. They’re wrong. You know, the Bible says He also covers us with His feathers. Some
people might conclude that He is a bird. And if you carry it far enough, they’re going to
get confused because sometimes He’s a lion, and sometimes He’s a lamb. And sometimes
He’s a lily. Those are just anthropomorphic terms.
You say, well John, I mean, how can you say that God was to be worshipped in spirit
everywhere when they had the temple? Listen to me: the temple was only a resident
present symbol and location to stimulate worship as a way of life. Do you understand that?
If you don’t understand that, you miss the whole point of the temple. Temples are symbols,
not realities. Well, you say, didn’t the Shekinah glory of God dwell between the wings of
the cherubim and at the top of the mercy seat, and the Ark of the Covenant and the holy of
holies? Sure. But do you think God was only there and that was all He was? Was right in
there? Just staying in that little tent? No. That was a symbol of His presence. And only
the ignorant Jews really confined God to the temple alone.
The Assyrians called the God of Israel the God of the hills because their gods were the gods
of the valleys. And they thought the God of the Israelites lived in the hill, and their gods
lived in the valleys. And some of the pagans thought their gods lived in groves, especially
for them. Our God always has been a Spirit everyplace. And the only reason there was a
temple was to stimulate worship to Him in everyplace. He may express Himself in a place.
He may reveal Himself in a place. For example, very often God would meet one of the
patriarchs in a unique place, and the patriarch would build an altar there, wouldn’t he?
But just because God was in one place, at one time, for one special reason, doesn’t mean He
wasn’t everywhere else at the same time. No, the temple was just to stimulate a life of
worship to Him. So, it isn’t where you worship. It isn’t even when you worship. In fact,
the apostle Paul says, I just want to tell you, you don’t need any more new moons, and feast
days, and Sabbath days, and all of that, Galatians 4:10, Colossians 2:16, that’s not the
issue. God is a Spirit, and He is to be worshipped in a spiritual way.

And so, beloved, we just go back through those basic things, and I’m going to stop at this
point. But I think so many of us feel that all we’re really responsible for is to worship God
when we come here. That isn’t it. And I think we hit that this morning, hopefully,
sufficiently. But, worship isn’t something that happens just because you’re in this place.
Now, we try to emphasize that by not having a bunch of holy hardware hanging all over the
place, a bunch of symbols of everything: stained glass windows, and all of that stuff, so you
think this is the place where God lives. He doesn’t live here. You can’t confine your
worship here. Yes, God is uniquely present in the midst of His people, and we’ll get into
that as we continue, and I’ll show you some things that I think are really exciting. Two
weeks, after a couple of weeks from now. But we don’t just come here because God is here
and we worship God here. God is everywhere, and we must worship Him everywhere.
That’s why I said this morning that you have to live a life of worship, and then when you
come together gathered with His assembled people, praise becomes the overflow of a life of
worship. God is Spirit, and we must worship Him as Spirit. Let’s bow together in prayer.
Lord, these are such great truths and seem so far beyond our tiny minds to perceive. And
Lord, we don’t seem to be able to always to cover the things that are in our hearts to cover,
but thank You for showing us what You did show us. We do want to worship You. We
don’t want to focus on symbols, but on a reality, the living God, the living Spirit. We want
to worship the Spirit glorious, the living eternal God. And may we remember that You are
everywhere. You’re unavoidable. It isn’t as convenient as if we could put You in a place so
that we could come and be in Your presence when we wanted to and leave it when we
didn’t care to be. But we’re always in Your presence. May we truly worship You. Our
worship then, God, is exclusive. As our Lord said, “We worship You and only You.” And
it is in a sense, inclusive; that is, it occurs everyplace, at all times, as we are ever and always
in Your presence. As Paul said, “You are the one in whom we live and move and have our
very being.” And so, Father, may we worship You, not confined to times and places, but as
the living eternal Spirit, knowing that we have been redeemed to worship, and not denying
that for which Christ died to make us true worshippers, for such the Father seeks. Amen.

Our text for this morning again is John chapter 4, and I would like to read verses 20 to 24,
a wonderful conversation between the woman of Samaria and our Lord involving the
subject of worship. She speaks in verse 20.
“Our fathers worshiped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where
men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe Me, the hour cometh, when ye
shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye
know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour

cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in
truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship
Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”
Now, as we have noted in our past studies of the theme of worship, this passage opens up to
us perhaps the greatest New Testament teaching on the subject. In one form or another the
term “worship” appears ten times in those brief verses. And it is very essential to
understand the nuances, the interpretations, the meanings of its uses in this passage. Not
only because it is in the Word of God, which should be enough reason; not only because it
is spoken by our Lord, which also should be enough; but because I think it focuses on a
very serious problem in the church today.
As I’ve tried to point out to you and to others recently as I’ve traveled around, I really
believe that in the church of Jesus Christ today there is a very lack of centrality given to the
matter of worship. The church does not focus itself on worship as such in so many, many
cases. And Tozer of a past generation said, “Worship is the missing jewel in the evangelical
church.”
And if that was true in his time, it is equally or even more true in our time. As I’ve shared
the thought that we do not know how to worship in the 20th century church in America
with others with whom I’ve spent time in the last couple of weeks, it’s been wonderfully
confirming to hear their affirmation that they agree, as well.
And so we are calling our church and calling the people of God to a proper commitment to
worship. In so doing, we’ve chosen this as a basic text, but if you remember where we
began our study, we went all through the Scripture to try to point out how very commonly
worship is spoken of in God’s Word.
It can be all summed up, I think, by the words of our Lord Jesus in Matthew 4:10 where
He says, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.” Jesus
Christ calls for man to worship. We saw in Romans chapter 1 that the basic definition of a
non-believer, of a pagan, of an unregenerate person, of a godless person is he is one who
refuses to worship God. We also saw in Philippians 3:3 that the basic definition of a
Christian is one who worships God. So, worship is the issue.
We live in a world of people who will not worship God. And we who know Jesus Christ are
the “true worshipers.” And it says in verse 23, “It is such that the Father seeks.” So that
worship, in reality, is the goal of redemption. Worship is not some kind of a sidelight. It is
the very purpose of God’s redemptive act in Christ. God was bringing men from being
non-worshipers to being true worshipers. And if then, we who are redeemed are the true
worshipers, how true should be our worship? And yet we have missed so much of the
meaning of real worship. And that’s why we’ve been sharing these days on the subject.

Now the first point that we wanted to look at he text is the importance of worship, the
importance of worship. And we saw that from verse 23. “The Father seeks true
worshipers.” That makes it important. That makes it the most important thing in human
existence, to worship God. And we went through all kinds of biblical information in order
to get a clear perception of how really important worship is. It is commanded of us. We
saw that. It is the theme of redemptive history from eternity to eternity. The destiny of
every human being is related to worship. Scripture is loaded with references to worship.
And we are convinced of its absolute importance.
In fact, if you read Isaiah 66:23 that closes out that great prophecy, you will find that
everything resolves itself in a worshiping community. It says there in the new heaven and
the new earth, “all will worship God.” And that’s where history is going. It started that
way when God created man to worship Him. Man fell, and the recovery process is on to
gain a remnant out of human society who will for all eternity with the holy angels, worship
God.
And we, read in Hebrews 10, of course, that the Lord Jesus Christ has redeemed us, and in
so redeeming us has opened up a way of access whereby we may enter into the presence of
God to worship Him. We are to come nigh, boldly, and worship. Who is
Who is it that we worship? Worship, you see, itself is not enough. As important as it is, it
is not enough to just worship. The object of worship must be very clearly understood.
There are people across the world, and have been through all of human history, who
worship. They do not, however, worship the right object. And as we looked at these verses,
we were very clearly instructed that there’s only one object of worship. Repeatedly it says,
“Worship the Father, worship the Father, worship the Father. Worship Him.” And then it
says in verse 24, “God is a Spirit.”
The one we are to worship, then, is defined to us in two terms: Spirit and Father. “Spirit”
speaks of His essential nature. He is a Spirit as to His essential nature. “Father” speaks of
His essential relationship. And we’ll get into that at a later time. But this morning I want
to talk a little more about worshiping God as Spirit.
The Shorter Catechism - some of you will remember if you had catechism when you were
young - says, “God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable in His being.” And the
Bible teaches us that “God is a Spirit.” God is not a person in the sense of being a person
like we are, confined to a place, or confined to a form. God is without a form as we know
it, a corporeal, human, physical, limiting form. God is an eternal omnipresent Spirit. He is
not confined to any place or any time.
So that all the gods of the nations in which they represent deity as a rock, or a carved
image, or something out of silver, or gold, or a tree, or a river, or a mountain, or a star, or
the moon, or the sun is not God, because God is not limited or confined to any of His

created elements. God is Spirit. And, beloved, that is the basis of all understanding of
worship.
What it tells us is that if God is a Spirit and is everywhere at all times, then we must
worship Him at every place and every time. Do you understand that? We cannot allow
ourselves to perceive of God as a being who dwells in a building to whom we come to
worship on Sunday, and Sunday alone. God is a Spirit being. He is not to be confined or
conformed to any imagery.
In fact, that was the first commandment we saw, wasn’t it? No graven image. No likeness
of God. He is to be perceived as Spirit. Now, you say, “Well, John, what about the temple?
And what about the holy of holies where the Shekinah glory dwelt between the wings of the
cherubim? Isn’t that saying that God lived in the temple, and God lived in the tabernacle,
and wasn’t it called the house of God?” Well, in a very unique sense, God’s presence was
there. That is true. But not in a limiting sense.
He was everywhere as well as He was there, but He was there uniquely, and I’ll show you
why. The temple, and the tabernacle, and the holy place, and the holy of holies, and all of
those things are symbols. The whole ceremonial system is symbolic. It was a symbol to
speak of a greater reality. It was there in order that men might perceive God in the
symbol, not as the ending, but the beginning of their perception.
For example, we come to the Lord’s Table, and we say the Lord is present with His people
at His Table, and we say that as we partake of the cup, it is the blood of Christ with which
we commune; as we partake of the bread, it is the flesh of Christ with which we commune.
And there’s a real sense in which those symbols are elements which draw us to worship.
But their purpose is not to be the beginning and the ending of worship, but to be the
stimulation of a life of worship. So that we see beyond the symbol to the reality of the living
God.
Perhaps we can illustrate this clearly from Acts chapter 7. Stephen is preaching a great
sermon here in which he recites much of the history of the people of God. And he comes in
verse 46 to a discussion of the house that was built for God, and he says in verse 47,
“Solomon built God a house.” Now the fact that Solomon built God a great temple did not
mean that God was therefore confined to that temple as you and I might be confined to a
house.
Because verse 48 says just because there was a temple, and as marvelous and wonderful as
it was, “the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands.” In fact, in verse 49 the
prophet says, “Heaven is His throne, and earth is His footstool: and what house could you
build to contain that kind of God?” Where can you put a place for that kind of God to sit
down and rest? He is too vast, too infinite to be contained in any house. In fact, He made
everything and He fills everything.

Now only an ignorant Jew would have perceived that God was limited to the temple. An
understanding Jew knew that was only a symbol in the midst of the people as a reminder of
the eternal presence of the eternal omnipresent God. In fact, they knew from the very
beginning, didn’t they, in Deuteronomy 6 when they were told that most basic truth of all
their religion, “The Lord our God is one God.” And then God said to them, “You say that
and you speak about that when you sit down, stand up, lie down and walk in the way.” In
other words, no matter where you are or what you do, you be cognizant and aware of the
eternal living one holy God.
The temple was only a reminder. The sacrificial system, the ceremonial system was only a
prodder of the conscience, to cause them to turn their heart toward the living and the true
God so that from that symbol there might come a reality of life commitment in worshiping
God. It was never intended to be the end, but only the means.
In Acts 17:24 as Paul speaks to the philosophers in Athens, he says, “God who made the
world and all things in it, seeing that He is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in
temples made with hands; Neither is worshiped with men’s hands.” In other words, you
can’t confine Him. You can’t limit Him. He is Spirit, the God, who extends through all of
time, and all of space, and all of infinity, and all of eternity. And therefore is to be
worshiped at all times and all places by all people.
The Assyrians called the God of Israel “the God of the hills.” And it reflected their own
idolatrous perspective, because their gods were the gods of the valleys. They had built
groves for their gods in the valleys, and they felt their gods were confined to those groves,
and so their gods were the gods of the valleys, and the gods of Israel, were the gods - or the
God of the hills. But that reflects a pagan perspective. And it may have been that even the
Samaritans were a little confused about that because they had isolated their worship to
Mount Gerizim, thinking that maybe that’s where God was. But God is a Spirit and He
always wanted to be worshiped in the fullness of His spiritual presence.
In Jeremiah 7, as Jeremiah speaks to that sinful people, the Lord gives him a message, and
it’s in 7:21. “Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Put your burnt offerings unto
your sacrifices, and eat flesh. For I spoke not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in
the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings and
sacrifices.” In other words, He says, “Put that away. That wasn’t what I was after. That
was only a symbol of the reality. “This is what I commanded, Obey My voice, and I’ll be
your God, and you shall be My people: walk in all the ways that I’ve commanded you, that
it may be well with you.” God says, “It wasn’t that in and of itself. That was only a symbol
to make you remember My presence, a visible reminder.”
But in the new covenant, in the maturing of the new covenant, even that is set aside. And
we find in John 4:21 the Lord Jesus saying something very important. He says, “Woman,

believe Me, the hour is coming, when you shall neither in this mountain, or at Jerusalem,
worship the Father.” In the new covenant, it was the end of the ceremonial symbols. It
was the end of the temple symbol. It was the end of that physical identification. And the
new temple became the believer in whom the living Spirit of God dwelt. And that Spirit of
God became the prodder of true worship. No longer an outward symbol, but an inward
reality.
And we of the new covenant possessing the Spirit of God, and being together the living
temple in which dwells the Spirit of God find internally the prompting to true worship that
they found externally as they camped about the tabernacle. And so God is to be worshiped
as a living Spirit: anywhere, and everywhere, at all times and all places, by all people.
And so, when we say that the basic feature of Christian living is a worshiping life, that’s
exactly what we mean. Worship is the bottom line. “We are those who worship God,” says
Paul. And rejoice in Christ, and have no confidence in the flesh. We are the true
worshipers.
Now, if we are to worship God as Spirit - and I want to dwell on this just in one other
aspect - if we are to worship God as Spirit, then we must define His nature to begin with.
We could say, “Well, I worship God, and I think God is – well, let’s see – I think He’s sort
of a nice guy up there, and He is just like this or that.” And somebody else might say,
“Well, no, I think He’s sort of a benign philosopher.” Somebody else might say, “Well, no.
I think He’s this sort of God.” And you could all invent what ever form you wanted.
So it’s important for us to worship the God who is Spirit in terms of how He is revealed in
Scripture. And I think we can sum it up in one word - in one word - and I think that is the
word which most sums up the nature of God: He is holy. He is holy. And God to be
worshiped must be worshiped as holy. That is His unique otherness. That is His
unlikeness to the human creature. He is holy, flawless, without error, without sin, without
mistake, fully righteous, utterly holy.
And, beloved, let me just suggest to you that that’s the basic comprehension for true
worship, that God is holy. And there’s a lot of, I think, well meaning effort today, and a lot
of supposed worship going on which does not really regard God as holy, and thus falls
short. A lot of nice songs being sung, and nice feelings being felt, and nice thoughts being
thought, and nice emotions being expressed, but not in terms of God as holy. And so it may
be little more than an emotional exercise that makes you feel good. God must be regarded
as holy.
Now, that can best, I think, be summed up in the words of Psalm 96, one of the great
Psalms that calls us to worship. And it is, in many ways, very parallel to 1 Chronicles
chapter 16. But it says that we are to “sing unto the Lord.” We are to “bless His name.”
We are to “show forth His salvation.” We are to “declare His glory among the nations, His

wonders among the people. He is great, greatly to be praised: He is to be feared above all
gods. Honour and majesty are before Him: strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.”
And then verse 7, “Give unto the Lord glory and strength. Give Him glory: bring an
offering, come into His courts.” It’s all worship.
Then a come to this very key statement in verse 9, and here we qualify the attitude or
perspective of worship. “O worship the Lord in the beauty of - ” what? “ - holiness.” And
then is tacked on, “Fear before Him.” You can never perceive holiness apart from fear.
Because if you perceive God as utterly holy, the consequence is you will see yourself as
utterly unholy, and there will be a sense of fear. Because a holy God has a right to a holy
reaction against a unholy creation. So that the true spirit of worship is an overwhelming
sense of unholiness in the presence of a holy God.
Now, I want to reinforce this in your thinking by taking you back through some familiar
ground, but I cannot teach this series and leave this out, so look at Isaiah chapter 6. The
concept of worshiping God with holiness and fear is what we’re after. It’s not just Old
Testament. Hebrews 12:28 says worship God “acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
For our God is a consuming fire.” So, it’s New Testament, as well.
But in Isaiah 6, Isaiah goes to worship the Lord, and he goes into the temple. King Uzziah
has died after 52 years on the throne. It’s about 740 B.C., just a few years before the
northern kingdom is going into captivity as a judgment for their sin. He sees the demise of
his people. He senses the problem in his nation, and he rushes into the presence of God to
worship.
And he has a vision of God in verse 1 in which God is majestically lifted up, surrounded by
seraphim, who are the guardians of the holiness of God. Two of their wings are used for
service, and four of them are used for worship, giving us an insight into the priority of
worship. Even they worship God. They cry back and forth, and this is what they say.
“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory.”
And there we find again that most magnificent definition of God’s otherness, God’s
uniqueness. He is holy. He is holy. And as Isaiah is worshiping God, he perceives holiness.
And that is the right perspective; that God has a holiness that causes Him to react against
sin.
And what is Isaiah’s response? Verse 5, “Then said I, Woe is me! I am disintegrating; - ” I
am falling apart, I am going to pieces. And the word “woe” means “curse.” “Curse me.”
He is overwhelmed with his sinfulness. He says, “I am a man with a dirty mouth, and I
dwell in the midst of a people with dirty mouths.” All he can see is his sin, and he has the
best mouth of all of them, but he cannot see any goodness in himself in comparison with
God. And the reason it’s so stark is the end of verse 5, because he has “seen the King, the
Lord of hosts.”

Now, you may not have a vision like this, nor may I. But nonetheless, the lesson is true that
when we enter into the presence of God, if we truly see God, we see Him as “holy, holy,
holy.” And so, we are then faced with a sense of our utter unholiness.
If you have never worshiped God with a broken and a contrite spirit, then you’ve really
never worshiped God. Because that is the right response to entering the presence of holy
God. Holiness inspires fear. He was afraid. Why was he afraid? Because he knew that a
holy God had every right to react against an unholy sinner. He knew that God had every
right to judge him. God had every right to take his life on the spot.
And I guess my heart is concerned that there’s a lot of flippancy in entering into the
presence of God in our society today, that God has become so casual in our thinking. God
has become so human, so buddy-buddy that we don’t understand the whole perspective of
God’s utter holiness, that He is a consuming fire, that He has a holy indignance against sin.
And if we flippantly rush into His presence with lives unattended to by repentance, and
confession, and cleansing by the Spirit, then we are vulnerable to that holy reaction. It is
only by His grace that we breathe another breath, is it not? For He has every reason to
take our life, for the wages of sin is death.
And so Isaiah has the only reaction that a true worshiper could ever have in true worship:
and that is humble, broken, contrition. He sees himself as a sinner. And in the midst of his
repentance, in the midst of his confession, the angel comes with a coal, purges him, and
God says, “You’re the one I’ll send in My place.” And there is a marvelous communion.
There is a marvelous camaraderie. There’s a marvelous union between God and the true
worshiper through the confession of sin and the purging of his lips. And so, that’s really
the spirit of true worship. You see the holiness of God, are overwhelmed with your own
unholiness.
Now look with me for a moment at one passage that I think has been sort of lost in the
shuffle, 2 Timothy 2:22. Paul is writing to Timothy and, of course, he’s instructing him
about being a godly man, a faithful servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he tells him all
the things that are necessary to guard his life for usefulness, and talks to him about being
“a vessel unto honour, sanctified, fit for the Master’s use, prepared unto every good work,”
in 2 Timothy 2:21.
And then in 2 Timothy 2:22 he says, “Flee youthful lusts: and follow righteousness, faith,
love, peace - ” and then this statement “ - with them that call on the Lord out of a pure
heart.” There is a marvelous insight into true worship. It is calling upon the Lord out of a
pure heart. And it is not that our heart is pure by our own design, or by our own device, it
is that our heart is pure in the confession and the repentance that Isaiah experienced in
facing a holy God.

So a true worshiper is primarily aware of his unholiness. And if you go through the Old
Testament as we did earlier in Matthew, I’ll just jog your memory. Whenever the people
of God encountered God, there was a terrifying reaction. They felt afraid. They felt
intimidated. They felt their life was in danger because they knew they were sinners in the
presence of a holy God.
And Job, who thought he knew God, who probably thought he worshiped God the way
God wanted to be worshiped, when he had gone through that amazing pilgrimage and
came to the end of it and really saw God as the sovereign holy Lord of the universe, he said,
“Now, I see Thee with mine eye, and I repent in dust and ashes.” Again, overwhelmed with
sinfulness. Manoah the father of Samson, in Judges 13:22 cries out, “We shall surely die,”
because he had seen the holiness of God.
There was Habakkuk, who when really discerning God’s presence, began to shake so that
his legs smashed against each other. And there was the restored remnant, who when they
heard the holy word of God spoken by Haggai, came to terror in their hearts.
Look with me for just another illustration, at the ninth chapter of Ezra. And Ezra comes
before the Lord, and you see the spirit of a broken contrite heart, which is the spirit of a
true worshiper. Verse 5, “And at the evening sacrifice - ” so it’s time for worship. It’s the
official time for worship. It’s time to come before God in the evening sacrifice. “And he
rose up - ” he says “ - from his heaviness; and tore his garment and tore his cloak, and fell
on his knees, and spread out his hands to the Lord.”
Now here is a man of God in an act of worship: prostrate, tearing his garments, burdened;
and here is the attitude of his worship. “I said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift
up my fact to Thee, my God.” That’s reminiscent, isn’t it, of the publican who beat on his
breast and would not lift up his eyes so much as to heaven? “For our iniquities are
increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens.” We know that it
reaches You. We know that You know we are sinful.
And then he goes on to describe the sin. And then he talks about God’s grace. Verse 8 he
says, “For a little moment, grace has been shown from the Lord our God, and You’ve given
us a tent-peg.” You’ve given us life. You’ve given us a place to put up a tent. You’ve let us
survive in spite of what we’ve done.
And the end, in verse 15, “O Lord God of Israel, Thou art righteous: for we remain yet
escaped, as it is this day: behold, we are before Thee in our trespasses: for we cannot stand
before Thee because of this.” He just is broken over sin. And he prays in verse 1 of 10, and
confessed, and wept, and cast himself down before the house of God. And the people came
around him and they poured out their tears of penitence.

Now, that is the heart of a true worshiper. Coming in the presence of God afraid. Coming
in the presence of God knowing that God has a right to take your life, even if you have been
His child, even if you have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, there’s a sense in
which God still has the right to punish for sin. And He says in the New Testament to those
who are His own, every son He chastens, and scourges.
When our Lord walked on the earth people were afraid of Him. I always think of the
disciples, who were terrified when they knew He was God in their boat. You know, He
calmed the storm in Mark 4, and it says “they were exceedingly terrified.” It’s far worse to
have God in your boat then to have a storm outside your boat because you have to face the
holiness of God displayed in the power that had been displayed. And they said, “What
kind of man is this, that the wind and the waves obey His voice?”
And when Jesus sent the demons into the herd of pigs and they went into the lake and
drowned, the people ran out and pleaded with Him to leave their country. He terrified
them. He panicked them. They were afraid.
And Peter, when in Luke 5 was fishing and couldn’t catch anything and the Lord said,
“Now let your nets down, and they’ll be there.” And he did, and they were all there, and
Peter looked at the Lord and said, “Go away; - ” leave “ - for I am a sinful man.” All he
could see was his own sinfulness when confronted with the reality of a holy God.
Jesus had that affect on people. He traumatized people. He scared people. I believe the
Pharisees were so afraid of Him that’s really why they killed Him. They were astonished,
the Bible says, at what He taught. They were astonished at what He did. They panicked
when they saw His power and they heard His wisdom. Jesus traumatized people. He let
them know that God was in their midst, and they immediately were confronted with the
evil of their hearts.
Now the true worshiper, then, is going to come in that vein, is going to come in that spirit.
He is going to be broken over his sinfulness. And that’s the attitude that you use when you
come to God who is the eternal Spirit, who is the omnipresent Spirit. If I’m going to have a
true worshiping life, then it is a life of brokenness. It is a life of contrition. It is a life which
sees sin and confesses continually. That’s a worshiping life. You can’t just sin and sin and
sin and then enter into the church on Sunday and think you’re going to worship the Lord.
I talked to a man on this trip, came to see me. And he said, “You know, I listen to your
tapes. I get them all. I study with you and I really love I, and you’re my teacher, and I'd
love to have you as my friend,” and so forth. And we got to talking and spent a couple of
hours with him - Patricia and I did.
And he said, “You know,” he said, “I have a situation in my life which is very sinful.” And
he went on to describe a horrifying thing. And he said, “And I just stay in this sin all the

time.” And I said, “Well, doesn’t it bother you?” And he said, “Yeah, it bothers me. But
not enough to quit.” And then you study the Word of God all along with it, at the same
time, and you probably think you’re worshiping God, well you’re not. And I said, “I can’t
fellowship with you. I can’t be your friend. I have to separate myself.” And he said,
“Well, I would die if I couldn’t think you were my friend.” “Well,” I said, “I can’t be.
Because that life doesn’t honor God.”
You can’t do that. If God is a Spirit and is everywhere at all times, He is to be worshiped
that way, and if He is holy as Spirit, then He is to be worshiped in the beauty of holiness.
And that means you live your life with a sense of fear because you know that God has every
right to chasten your unholiness.
At the same time, to keep the balance, you live a life of thanksgiving, don’t you? Because
He doesn’t give you what you deserve. He has not rendered unto us according to our sins.
But you know, even that, in a sense, causes a problem. As we saw in Romans, remember
when we studied the second chapter of Romans? Where it says, “The goodness of God is
meant to bring you to repentance?” But what happens is we get so used to sinning and
getting away with it, sinning and being forgiven, that we just keep sinning. You see, this
guy was so used to doing the sin and God hadn’t done anything yet, that he just kept doing
it.
And we’re all like that. You know, we are so used to mercy, we are so used to grace, we are
so use to God forgiving us that we just trade on that, we abuse it. And God is gracious.
You know, a holy God, if He really wanted to enforce His holiness, said in the Bible, “The
wages of sin is death.” Said to Adam, “The day you sin, you die.” Anytime we sin we’d be
dead. And that would be true to His holy character. But God is so merciful, every sin was
a capital offense in the beginning. The day you sin you die. It didn’t say what sin, you just
- you know, really you can just - I’ve only given you one deal. You do it and you die. And
then as time when on God, of course, didn’t even take Adam and Eve’s life. He spared
them by grace.
And then as you come down to the Mosaic covenant, there are about 35 sins that have a
capital punishment assigned to them, but even that God acted graciously toward, and there
were many times - for example, just take David, he committed the sins that had been given
the death penalty over and over and over and over and God was gracious and merciful and
forgave him. There were consequences, but not death. God was gracious.
And so God has shown Himself gracious, but that doesn’t mean that God doesn’t care
about your sin. That doesn’t mean you can run into God’s presence with sin in your life.
That doesn’t mean you can abuse that mercy, because the day may come when He acts in
righteous indignation against you, and He has every right to do that, and me as well. You

see, we get so used to mercy - as we pointed out in our study in Romans - we get so use to
mercy that when God does what is just, we think He is unjust.
Somebody dies. Well, how could God let that happen? Well, how can the Lord allow all
these problems? Listen, how can He not allow those to come when we are sinful? You see,
we look at it backwards. People look at the Old Testament and say, “What kind of a God is
it that lets forty little boys yell, ‘Baldy, baldy,’ and the prophet and a bear comes out and
rips him into shreds? What kind of God lets that happen? What kind of God slays two
young men, Nadab and Abihu, on the day of their ordination just because they got a little
drunk and fooled around with the incense in the temple and God slew them?
“What kind of God slays a man that touches the ark to try to keep it from falling off a cart?
What kind of man gives a man leprosy and makes him a victim of leprosy when he’s been a
faithful king for 52 years, just because he got a little proud? Why does God do it? And
why this guy and not that guy? And why so much mercy, and then wham? And why did
Ananias and Sapphira die? After all, they gave a gift to the Lord. It just wasn’t what
they’d said they give? I mean, why did they have to die for that?”
That’s not the question. The question is why when you did that, and promised the Lord
something and didn’t do it, why did you live? That’s the question. You see? The question
isn’t why did God take the life of an adulterer over there? The question is when you
committed adultery why didn’t God take your life? It is never a question of God being
unjust, it’s only an issue of God being merciful. And sometimes when He does do what is
just, He does it as an illustration.
You see, you’ve got to have a signpost somewhere along the line. And that’s what 1
Corinthians 10 says. These things have happened as examples to us. And as you look
through Scripture and you see the times when God acted in a holy way against unholiness,
that’s to show you that God will do that. And the question is not how can God be unjust?
The question is how can God be merciful when His holiness is violated? That’s the issue.
People say, “Isn’t it awful in Corinth? Some people actually died because they were
coming to the Lord’s Table sinful?” That isn’t the issue. The issue is how come we’re alive
and we’ve come that way so many times? It’s just God’s grace. It’s His grace. People say,
“How could He turn Lot’s wife into a pillar of salt?” That isn’t the question. The question
is why didn’t He turn us into pillars of salt when we acted in a worldly fashion as she did
and lusted after the things of the flesh? “How could He swallow up Korah, Dathan and
Abiram in the ground for being disobedient?” No, that isn’t the question. How could He
not swallow us up when we were disobedient?
You see, you have to see things from the side of God’s holiness. And that’s so important.
God is gracious, but He’s holy, and don’t let His grace sell short His holiness.

You see, what I’m trying to say is we must worship God acceptably with reverence and
godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire. And you must worship God in the beauty of
holiness. You must understand that He is a Spirit. He is everywhere at all times, to be
worshiped everywhere at all times, and in the beauty of holiness.
And what this says, beloved, is so important. This says that when I live my life, I am to live
a holy life before God. I am to live a life where I confess, repent, turn from my sin, so that
my worship to God is that which pleases God. And I do not want to go rushing into His
presence in an act of worship with unholiness, lest I receive my just desserts at His hand.
And so, while we are thankful for His grace, and we understand His love, we have somehow
in our 20th century Christianity missed His holiness. And that’s the heart of our worship.
God is a living, eternal, glorious, holy, merciful Spirit, the object of our worship. And we
must come in the contrition, and the humility, and the brokenness of sinners, who see
ourselves against the backdrop of His utter holiness.
F.W. Faber, who has written so many very, very beautiful words wrote this. Listen
carefully. It is a hymn of praise.
“My God, how wonderful Thou art, Thy majesty how bright! How beautiful Thy mercy-
seat in depths of burning light! How dread are Thine eternal years, O everlasting Lord!
By prostrate spirits, day and night, incessantly adored. How wonderful, how beautiful the
sight of Thee must be, Thine endless wisdom, boundless power and awful purity!”
Listen to this. “And how I fear Thee, living God, with deepest, tenderest fears; And
worship Thee with trembling heart, and penitential tears! Yet I may love Thee, too, O
Lord, Almighty as Thou art; For Thou hast stooped to ask of me the love of my poor heart!
No earthly father loves like Thee; no mother e'er so mild, Bears and forbears as Thou hast
done with me, Thy sinful child.” Let’s bow in prayer.
Our Lord, we come to worship this morning the God who is Spirit, who is not confined to
temples made with hands, who is not bound by the images of men, the God who is infinite,
eternal, everywhere, everyplace at all times. And we have come to worship the God who is
holy, who can only be worshiped in the beauty of holiness, in the reverence and godly fear
that a sinner must have who enters into such holy presence.
And so, Lord God, may we see as the men of old saw Your holiness, and like Isaiah may we
cry, “Woe is me. I am undone.” And in that confession, may we be touched with the coal
from off the altar, our lips purged, and may we be acceptable.
We thank You that Jesus Christ has made the provision for that, that He has made the way
possible, that He has opened up unto us access whereby we can rush into Your presence,

come boldly there, without fear, knowing that we stand in Christ’s place, a place of honor
and acceptability.
But Lord may we, too, be aware that as we come into Your presence in the blood of Christ,
as we come having been washed from head to feet, we do gather the dust of the earth, and
we need that daily preparation of heart, that daily confession and cleansing that is so basic
to a worshiping life.
We pray, too, Lord, for those who may be here who do not know Jesus Christ as Savior, in
whom there is no fear of God before their eyes, who with the godless world will not worship
You. We pray that today Your Spirit would break through the wall of resistance and open
the heart as a flower to the dawning sun, and may Jesus Christ come and turn that person
into a true worshiper.
And for those who love you, Lord, for those who are Your children, may our worship be
acceptable, that of a broken and a contrite heart, that in which there is the beauty of true
holiness. Not that we in ourselves can be holy, but that we in repentance are made so by
the cleansing of Christ.
We thank You that You’ve given us the positional holiness. You’ve given us the reality of
eternal holiness in Christ. Now help us in our practice, in our daily walk, to walk the walk
that fits the calling to which we’re called. May we truly worship, Lord, and out of the flow
of a worshiping life and a responding God know the tremendous blessing and usefulness
that Isaiah knew, that Your kingdom might be advanced in this day. And we’ll thank You
in Christ’s name. Amen.

Open your Bible, if you will, with me this morning to the fourth chapter of John’s gospel as
we continue our series in worship, looking at this marvelous passage, and drawing out of it
the Spirit of God would teach us, that we might worship God as He would be pleased to be
worshiped.
Jesus is in conversation with the woman of Samaria in the fourth chapter of John. And we
pick up the conversation in verse 20 as the woman speaks. “Our fathers worshipped in this
mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus
saith unto her, Woman, believe Me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this
mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we
know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 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. God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship
Him in spirit and in truth.”
Now the clear word that comes out of this text is that God seeks true worshipers. God
seeks those who will worship Him in a manner that is acceptable to Him. And we’ve been
noting in our study that worship is the theme of history. Worship is the great theme that
runs from Genesis through the end of Revelation. Worship is at the very heart and the soul
and the core of all of the plan of the ages. God created all of the creatures that He ever
created to worship Him. Man rebelled, and God seeks to bring man back to the point of
true worship. That is the purpose for the redemptive plan.
Now in understanding worship, it is important that we have a definition. And so we began
our series with a simple definition. Worship is giving honor to God, giving honor to God.
That’s a very simple definition, but that really says it.
Several key points come out of that definition. The first one is that worship is giving.
Worship is giving. We are so oriented toward receiving that it’s hard for us, I think, to
understand that. We live in such a consumptive, selfish, ego-centered society, where
everything is for us, for me, that it’s hard for us to understand that God wants us to give to
Him.
And when we come together as God’s redeemed people in the congregation of fellowship, as
we are this morning, and we come for the purpose of worship, it is not to receive, it is to
give. It is not to get a blessing or to gain something as much as it is to worship, and that is
to give to God. When a Jew in the old covenant came to worship, he did not come to take
anything, he came to give. He would give an offering. He would give not only money as
was prescribed, but he would offer a sacrifice upon the altar. Everything was geared
around giving to God. And that is the essence of worship. It is giving to God, not
receiving, that we are concerned with.
Worship then, also, we noted in our definition, is in contrast to ministry. Ministry is that
which flows down from God to us. Worship is that which flows up from us to God. And
they provide for us a very beautiful balance. As in the Old Testament, there was a prophet
who spoke down to us from God, there was a priest also, who spoke up to God on the
behalf of man. And those two things are always held in balance.
So, there must be ministry. There must be worship. We noted, I think last time also, that
the priority is always in worship. Though there is balance between ministry and worship,
worship is the priority. The angels that we saw in Isaiah 6 had six wings; four related to
worship, two related to service. Martha was serving and Mary was worshiping. And Jesus
said Mary had chosen the better part.

Worship is the priority. It is what we give to God. That’s why in Romans 12 when Paul
just begins to open the responsibility of the believer, the first thing he says is to “present
your bodies a living sacrifice.” Worship precedes anything else. We are called, then, to be
a worshiping people, to give to God. Yes, we are eager to receive from Him and to minister
to one another, but prior to that to give to God.
Having given a definition, we then talked about the first major point, the importance of
worship. Why is it important? It is important, we noted from verse 23, because true
worshipers are those whom the Father seeks. God seeks true worshipers. Now if God
seeks true worshipers, then true worship is important. God seeks true worshipers. This,
then, is the priority.
In fact, I’m convinced as we’ve been seeing all along, that you as a Christian have as a
single primary reason to live the fact that you are to worship God. That is what you are: a
true worshiper. That is what you are to do, truly worship. That is the very core of the
meaning of the existence of a redeemed person. So you are called to be a true worshiper. It
is important. It is the very most important thing you do, to worship God. Because that’s
what God seeks you to do. And even when you serve God, in a very real sense that is a
form of worship, isn’t it? Because you are honoring Him by obeying His commands
relative to service.
The second major point that we looked at was the source of worship. And the source of
worship, again, in the same thought, “the Father seeketh such to worship Him.” The
source, then, is the seeking of the Father. And I believe it is an efficacious seeking. It is a
redemptive seeking. It is, if you will, to use the old theological term, an irresistible seeking.
God is drawing into His kingdom true worshipers. And when an individual is redeemed,
that is the transformation that makes him a true worshiper.
In the New Testament we are redeemed to worship. We are made into true worshipers.
That’s why we said that maybe the best definition of a Christian is found in Philippians 3:3,
where it says there that we are they who “worship God in the spirit.” That’s a classic
definition of a Christian: a worshiper of God, a true worshiper. And Hebrews 10 says since
Christ has redeemed us, since His sacrifice has perfected us, since we have been brought
into God’s presence through a new and living way, “let us draw near.”
In other words, the response to redemption is worship. Come near God and offer Him the
praise that is due His name. We are redeemed to worship. Therefore, the ground, or the
basis, or the source of worship is our salvation, our redemption. So, the importance is seen
in God’s seeking worshipers. The source of worship is seen in God redeeming and saving
us to that end.
Now the third point that we looked at is the object of worship, the object. And we saw that,
didn’t we, in several verses. First of all, verse 21 says “worship the Father.” Verse 23,

again, twice, “worship the Father.” And then verse 24, “God is a Spirit.” We are, then, to
worship God. And God is defined to us in two terms: first as “Spirit,” and secondly as
“Father.” First as “Spirit,” secondly as “Father.”
Now we’ve already discussed God as Spirit, but it’s very important that I refresh your
memory, so listen very closely. God is, first of all, Spirit. That is, God cannot be confined
to a building. He cannot be confined to a temple. He cannot be confined to a grove, as the
pagans thought their gods were. He could not be confined to a mountain somewhere. He
could not be confined to an image made with hands out of wood, or brass, or gold, or silver,
or any other substance.
God cannot be confined to temples made with hands, it says in Acts 7, and also in Acts 17.
God is beyond that kind of confinement because He is an ever-living, ever-present, eternal
Spirit. He has no flesh and bones. He is a Spirit who is everywhere at all times, pervading
the full universe, and on into endless eternity with His conscious presence. God is
everywhere at all times. He is the eternal living Spirit.
So, God, then, is to be worshiped as an ever-present Spirit. He is alive at all times. He is
everywhere at all times. Therefore, worship becomes a way of life, doesn’t it? Every living,
breathing moment of life we live in the presence of God. In Acts 17 it says it’s “in Him we
live, and move, and have our being.” We move in the midst of His spiritual presence.
Therefore, at all times worship is fitting, and worship is proper because we are in the
presence of God. We don’t wait to worship to walk into a church. We don’t wait to
worship to bow our heads and draw our conscious mind into God’s throne room, as it
were, in prayer. God is everywhere at all times, and therefore to be worshiped everywhere
at all times.
And we who have been redeemed are able to fulfill the seeking Father’s wish that we
worship Him everywhere and at all times.
And so, then, first of all, we worship God, who is the eternal omnipresent Spirit. But we
can’t stop there. Because three times in the text it says we also “worship the Father,” the
Father. And that is a further qualification of the object of our worship. Now I want you to
listen to what I say because I think most people have misunderstood this concept.
When you think of the term “the Father,” you think of God as Father. And I know this
because this is the way I thought for many years. You immediately think of God as our
loving Father. We worship God as a loving Father. We are His children and He is our
Father, and as we worship Him we not only worship Him as this vast, omnipresent, eternal
Spirit, but as this intimate, loving, personal Father. And that is true. But that is not what
is being discussed in John chapter 4. That is not the issue here. It is not talking about our
Father, the Father of believers. That is not the emphasis made here.

The emphasis here is that the Father - now watch this - is the Father in the Trinitarian
sense. God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, right? Three in one, the triangle, the trinity:
Father, Son, Holy Spirit. It is in that Trinitarian sense that God is designated here as “the
Father.” It is not primarily in relation to us as His children. It is His essential relationship
within the trinity.
Now, He is, then, presented here - now watch this very carefully - as the Father of the Son,
and the Son is the Lord Jesus Christ. This is very important. So that when you worship
God as Spirit, you worship Him also as Father, not just the Father in a vague sense of all
mankind, as the liberals might say, but as the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. And you
cannot worship God apart from that designation.
Now, you say, “What does all this mean?” Stay with me and you’ll see. First and foremost
in the New Testament whenever God is discussed as Father, it is as Father of Jesus Christ.
I think about 70 times Jesus speaks to God, and every time He comes before God He says,
“Father,” except one when He was separated on the cross and said, “My God, My God,
why hast Thou forsaken Me?” Every other time He calls Him “Father.” It is unique
within the trinity that God is the Father and the Son and then the Holy Spirit. And this is
an inter-Trinitarian designation.
Now let me show you what it means. It is not that when Jesus says “Father,” the emphasis
is not that He is a Son in submission as a son might submit to his father, although that’s
true. The emphasis is not that He is a Son in sameness of essence as a son is with his father.
Did you get that? It is talking about the sameness of essence. He is the Son and God is the
Father, meaning they both are the same essence. If I am a man, if I am a man from the
race, and the tribe, and the people, and the generation, and all of the genetics that have
gone into me, and I have a son, my son will be what I am. It is sameness of essence.
And that, people, is the heart and soul of the relationship that Jesus constantly expresses
with the Father. He is emphasizing the sameness of essence, the oneness of nature. So that
God can never be worshiped unless He is worshiped as one and the same with Jesus Christ.
So that Jesus says, “No man comes unto God but - ” what? “ - by Me.” You can never
worship God at all unless you worship God as the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is
one with Jesus Christ. It is a statement of deity, of equality.
Now let me show you. You say, “How in the world can you see all of that in those verses
when it just says ‘Worship the Father’?” Because I know how John uses the term, follow
it. Chapter 5 verse 17, and this is a great truth, profound truth, John 5:17. “Jesus
answered - ” answered the Jews who were persecuting Him for what He did on the Sabbath
day. He “ - answered them, My Father works hitherto, and I work.” And there He is
calling the first person of the trinity His Father. And He says, “We work together. My
Father and I.”

Now what did they think He meant by that? Verse 18. “They sought even the more to kill
Him, because He had not only broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was His Father,
making Himself - ” what? “ - equal with God.” Right on target, folks. That’s exactly what
He was saying. When Jesus said, “He is the Father and I am the Son,” He was speaking of
their equality of essential being, of essence, of nature, of deity. He is God, a very God; as
God the Father is God, a very God. They were right on. That’s exactly what He was
saying.
Look at chapter 10 in John’s gospel. And Jesus says in verse 29, “My Father, who gave
them to Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father’s
hand.” And now He goes one step further. “I and My Father are one.” Again, the Father
and the Son, the same essence.
And “the Jews took up stones to stone Him. And He answered them, Many good works
have I shown you from My Father; for which of those works do you stone Me? The Jews
answered Him, saying, For a good work we stone Thee not; but for blasphemy; and
because that Thou, being a man, makest Thyself God.” You see, when He said He was the
Son of God, and God was His Father, they knew He meant the sameness of essence, deity,
equal to God the Father.
The 18th chapter, and Jesus prays to the Father. In verse 1 He says, “Father, the hour is
come; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee: As Thou hast given Him power
over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him. And this
is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou
sent.” He equates Himself with the Father, and that eternal life is through knowing Him as
much as it is knowing God.
And in verse 5 He says, “Glorify Me with Thine own self with the glory I had with Thee
before the world began.” Give Me back that prior full glory that I knew before the
incarnation, that which is deserving. He was equal with God, and the Father and the Son is
the statement of their equality.
In Matthew chapter 11 I just would note one other verse - and there are more that I could
show you, but these are samples - Matthew 11:27. Jesus said, “All things are delivered
unto Me by My Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any
man the Father, except the Son; and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him.” And here
in that marvelous passage, the Lord is again presenting the unique essential oneness of the
Father and the Son. There is an intimacy of knowledge between the Father and the Son
that is not available to any human perception. They are one. They are one.
Now listen, you can go back to John 4 if you want. When Jesus calls God “Father,” it’s not
our Father that He has in mind, it’s His Father. And it is a blatant, outright statement of
His deity, His equality. And that’s why He said in John 14, which I didn’t read to you, but

just will quote. “If you have seen Me, you have seen - ” whom? “ - the Father.” The Father
and the Son are one.
Well, why are you doing all of this, John? Just for this. Now listen very carefully. There
are people who say they worship God, and to affirm that God is the eternal living Spirit
everywhere present, and they are worshiping Him, and they may be saying that He is their
Father, and they worship Him as their Father, but if they deny that Jesus Christ is
essentially the same as God the Father, their worship is unacceptable. You understand
that?
So no one, no time, worships God as Spirit who does not worship God as the Father of the
Lord Jesus Christ. God cannot be defined in any other term. God is not just God up there.
He is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and there’s no other way to define Him
or worship Him.
So, when you have the Jehovah’s Witnesses, or the liberals who would deny the deity of
Jesus Christ yet claim to worship God, it is a lie, because God is non other than the One
who is the same with Jesus Christ. And that is the message of the epistles.
Now let me show you how they understood it even if we don’t. Look at Ephesians chapter 1
and let’s just see some samples of their worship. In Ephesians 1, you have one of the great
paeans of praise ever given in the Bible, one of the great benedictions, one of the great
statements of glory offered to God. In fact, from verse 3-14 is one sentence without a
period. Its just a long list of praise phrases. But it begins this way in verse 3, Ephesians
1:3. “Blessed be the God - ” what God? What God? “ - the God and Father - ” The Father
of whom? “ - of our Lord Jesus Christ.” You see? That is how God is known, and is not
known apart from that.
In verse 17 of the same chapter, in Paul’s great prayer, he prays that the God - what God?
- “The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory.” And again, God is qualified as
the God who is identified with the Lord Jesus Christ.
In 2 Corinthians 1:3 another illustration. “Blessed be God, - ” what God? What God are
you worshiping? “ - even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” And again you see God is
known as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In Philippians chapter 2:9, that great passage, “God is highly exalted.” Christ “given Him
a name above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,” and so
forth. And then in verse 11, “And every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to
the glory of God - ” what God? “ - the Father.” The Father of whom? Of the Lord Jesus
Christ. That’s the only way God can be known.

In Romans 15:6, next to the last chapter, the apostle Paul says, “That ye may with one
mind and one mouth glorify God, - ” what God? “ - even the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ.” You see, beloved, you cannot worship God apart from a recognition that Jesus
Christ His Son is equal to God. That’s His deity.
You say, “Well, that’s all Paul. Did everybody agree with that?” Well, I’ll just give you a
sample. Peter sure did. First Peter 1:3. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ.”
How about the apostle John? He did, too. Second John verse 3, listen to this. “Grace be
with you, mercy, and peace, from God - ” what God? “ - the Father, and from the Lord
Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father.” Isn’t that great?
You see, God is not just some floating Spirit going through space and anybody can sort of
plug in anywhere they want with any particular form they want. God is eternal. God is
vast, filling all of eternity, ever present, everywhere to be worshiped at all times, by all
people, but the only way you ever come to God is as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ. And now you know why He had to say, “No man comes unto the Father but by
Me.”
So, I just tell you that because you can’t worship God apart from Jesus Christ. Now look
at John 5:23, and I want to give you one other verse. And this is so important. This is the
logical conclusion to what I’ve just said. John 5:23 says, “That all men should honor the
Son, - ” that’s another word for worship “ - even as they honor the Father. He that
honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father who hath sent Him.” Did you get that?
We’re not only to worship the Father, then, we’re to worship whom? The Son.
And that is bound up in John 4 in the fact that God is the Father of the Son. So who’s the
object of our worship? God the Father, and God the Son. God the Father, God the Son.
Somebody came to me this last week and said, “I’ve been taught that it’s blasphemous to
pray to anyone except the Father, is that true?” I said, “No. That’s not true.” I said, “It
sounds like somebody has just gotten a little bit of knowledge, and twisted a few Scriptures,
and trying to pass themselves off as a Bible teacher.” You can’t even worship God the
Father unless you worship the Son. You can’t even come before God the Father unless you
come in the name of the Son. If you’re going to pray to the Father, you’re praying to the
Son. They’re one and the same.
If you’re going to honor the Father, you’re going to honor the Son. If you’re going to ask
of the Father, you’re asking of the Son. If you’re going to praise the Father, you’re
praising the Son. They come together. there’s no way to isolate the two. Therefore,
without Jesus Christ, no one worships God at all. And if we do worship God, we worship

God as Father and as Son. And you have every right to go to the Son, to praise the Son, to
petition the Son as you would the Father. We are called upon to worship the Son.
Nothing wrong with that. And I think that’s bound up in John 4. And Jesus says it in a
way that so fits His humiliation. He doesn’t say, “Hey, worship Me.” He just affirms
worship God as Spirit, who is My Father, of whom I am of the same essence. Therefore
you must be worshiping Me. But He doesn’t say it. It is that He is true to His humiliation.
And yet the conclusion is the same.
And the church knew it. From the earliest years of the church, He was worshiped as Lord.
He was confessed as Lord in baptism. He is invoked as Lord in the Christian assembly. He
is worshiped as Lord when knees bow before Him. He is petitioned as Lord when we need
help and strength. Jesus Christ is Lord. That is the bottom line in all worship. That is the
fundamental doctrine. We come to God through Christ. And we come to Christ in coming
to God.
You see, when Thomas fell on his knees after the resurrection, looking at Jesus and said,
“My Lord and my - ” what? “ - God,” he knew exactly that he was fulfilling the proper
perspective of worship. God is to be worshiped, but only can be as He is perceived to be
one and the same with His Son, who is also to receive the same honor the Father receives.
So, who do we worship when we gather? We worship the Father and we worship the Son.
You say, “What about the Holy Spirit?” Well, there’s nothing in Scripture that directly
tells us to worship the Holy Spirit, but all worship is energized in the power of the Spirit,
isn’t it? It is the Spirit that allows us to come into God’s presence, Galatians 4 and Romans
8 says. The Spirit allows us to come into God’s presence and cry, “Abba Father.” It is in
the Spirit’s power and presence that we have access to worship God.
And so, the Spirit is a part of worship. The Spirit is the driving energy and power in all of
true worship. And we would not set that aside. We would not deny that reality that the
Spirit is the energy of worship. And we would also as a corollary have to say that if the
Spirit is equal to the Son and equal to the Father, He’s worthy to be worshiped, also, right?
Although the Scripture does not point that out to us as such, it’s a necessary observation.
The Holy Spirit is called “the Spirit of God” in many passages. In Romans 8, He is called
“the Spirit of Christ.” He is simply the radiation of God the Father, the radiation of God
the Son, and is worthy of worship as such. So don’t hesitate to worship the Spirit as well as
the Son and the Father.
But in he uniqueness of the Spirit’s ministry, as we see it defined in the church age, the
Holy Spirit calls us to the Son, the Son calls us to the Father. And so there’s a sense in
which the Spirit wants us to worship the Son, and the Son wants us to worship the Father,
and yet all are worthy to be worshiped.

And so what is it saying in John 4? Who is the object of worship? God. But not some
vague Spirit, some floating God undefined or called by any name you want to call Him, but
the God who is the Father. The Father of whom? The Father of all mankind? No. No.
The Father of the Lord Jesus Christ; one in essence with Him. And as we worship Him, we
worship the Son, as well. It is fitting, beloved, that our hearts go out in worship to Jesus
Christ as well as the Father.
In the 14th chapter of Revelation I want to show you a great scene. Revelation 14:1. “And
I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on Mount Zion - ” and of course, Mount Zion for the Jew is
most likely a symbol of heaven. And so this is kind of a vision of heaven that John has.
And he sees the “Lamb,” and the Lamb is Christ, “the Lamb that was slain from before the
foundation of the world,” “the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world.” He
sees the Lamb. And the Lamb is Christ.
“And with Him 144,000, having His Father’s name written in their foreheads. And a voice
from heaven, like a voice of many waters, and like the voice of a great thunder: and the
voice of harpers harping with their harps: and they sang as it were a new song before the
throne, and before the four living creatures, - ” who are angels “ - and the elders: - ” who I
believe represent the church “ - and no man could learn that song but the 144,000, who
were redeemed from the earth.”
Now here you have a picture of worship. You have these redeemed special emissaries of
God used for the proclamation of the gospel during the time of the tribulation. And they’re
pouring out praise to the Lamb, to the Lamb, and that is none other than Christ.
Worshiping Jesus Christ is fitting. It is right. It is proper. And even though in His
humiliation in John 4, He doesn’t come right out and say, “Worship Me,” it’s bound up in
the concept that He is one with the Father, and no man comes to the Father but through
Him, but through Him.
And so we have every reason, and every right, in fact, we have every command to come to
the Father through the Son in the Spirit. True Trinitarian worship. And I don’t know
about you, but when I think of what the Spirit of God does in my life, in bringing me to
God, in empowering me for service, in energizing me for worship, I cannot help but
respond to give glory and adoration to the Spirit, as well as the Son, as well as the Father.
That’s the focus of worship.
That’s why I’m concerned about people who just vaguely worship God. And I’m also
concerned about the kind of people whose worship seems to terminate at the Son. It just
goes to Christ. It’s sort of the Jesus approach, and never gets beyond that. And I also
worry about that which inordinately and incessantly focuses only on the Holy Spirit. We
are to worship God, but God as the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the energy and the
power of the blessed Holy Spirit.

Now, I want to give you a fourth point this morning, and I’ll save the final one for next
time. We’ve talked about the importance of worship. We’ve talked about the source of
worship, our redemption. We’ve talked about the object of worship, the trinity. And now I
want to talk about the sphere of worship, the sphere of worship. We could call it the place.
Where do we worship? Where do we worship?
Clearly in the Old Testament they worshiped in temples, tabernacles, very specified
geographical locations. But notice verse 21, the woman has said, “We Samaritans worship
in Mount Gerizim,” which is up in the north. “You Jews worship in Jerusalem,” Mount
Moriah. And she’s sort of saying, “Which is the right place?” And Jesus says, “Woman,
believe Me, the hour cometh, when she shall neither in this mountain, - ” that is Mount
Gerizim “ - or at Jerusalem, worship the Father.” Neither one. In other words, He says,
“Very soon, neither one will be the place.” They’re both going to be eliminated.
Now that is not to deny the place of the Old Testament temple and tabernacle. That is not
to deny the reality of the ceremonial system or the sacrificial system. That is not to deny all
of the emblems, and pictures, and so forth that God gave them. But what it’s saying is this.
There’s coming a time when those symbols will pass away. There won’t need to be a
physical tabernacle or a physical temple anymore. There won’t need to be any more
sacrifices, any more priests. Why? Because the time is coming when every individual will
be a living temple. Every individual will be a living priest. And the sacrifice that Christ
offers will be the one full final permanent sacrifice that ends all sacrifices, right?
Now, there was nothing wrong with those symbols, but they were only symbols. God never
did just confine Himself to the temple or the tabernacle. God was never limited to that.
They were just prodders of the mind. They were just symbols. They weren’t the reality.
They were just the symbols.
But God says, Christ says, “in the new covenant, even the symbols are going to go inside,”
as it were. Even the things that you focus on will be internal, rather than external. And so
there will come to an end, these things that have identified themselves with the places of
worship.
And you know, when Jesus died, the temple was rent from the top to the bottom, split open,
everybody could walk right into the holy of holies. And in 70 A.D., the whole temple was
destroyed and wiped out. The Samaritan temple was destroyed before Christ. That whole
system has come to an end. Now there are still some Samaritans who worship up there, but
they’re not worshiping God because that isn’t the way you do it. That system ended.
You say, “Well, then, if it isn’t in a temple, and it isn’t in a special physical building, and all
of that, where do we worship God? Where is the sphere?” All right, let’s establish this to
begin with. You’re a temple yourself. First Corinthians 6. “What? know ye not that your
body is the temple of the Holy Spirit?” Right? You’re the living temple of the Holy Spirit.

You say, “You mean I can worship Him right here?” That’s right. Everywhere you go,
God goes, in a very living residential presence. You mean, “I can worship Him anywhere?”
That’s right.
You can worship Him at the beach. You can worship Him in the mountains. You can
worship Him driving down the road. You can sit under a tree. You can take a walk in the
woods. You can go in the country. You can worship God in your living room. You can
worship the Lord sitting on your porch looking at the stars, or smelling the fresh flowers in
the morning. You can worship God anywhere you are, under any kind of circumstance or
condition, because you are a living breathing temple in which God dwells. The sphere is
unlimited.
You say, “Now, does that mean I don’t need to come to church?” Yes, in one sense, it
means that you don’t need to come to church to worship God. But let me see if I can’t give
you another dimension.
There is a place today. There is a building today - maybe you don’t know about this
building - but there is a building today where God does uniquely meet with His people
apart from the individuals. There is a very special building where He meets with His
people. I’d like you to see what building it is, so turn to Ephesians 2:19. Now here Paul
describes the Christian in some very graphic terms. He describes them - now watch this
word - collectively. He sees the Christians not as individual temples, sort of running
around disconnected, but he sees them collectively.
And first of all, he says in verse 19, “You are no more strangers and sojourners, but
fellowcitizens with the saints.” He sees them all linked together as fellow citizens in the
kingdom of light. We’re all fellow citizens. We have that in common. We have common
citizenship.
Then he says we also belong to “the household of God.” Now it’s getting more intimate.
We’re a family. We’re a family. So there is something to be said for our coming together,
isn’t there? We are linked by common citizenship. We are linked by common blood as
family. But then look at verse 20. “And we are built - ” and now all of a sudden we are a
building. “And we are built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, with Jesus
Christ the chief corner stone; - ” and we are “ - the building fitly framed together that
grows up to be a holy temple in the Lord: In whom we collectively are built together for a
house of God through the Spirit.”
God has a building. You know what that building is? It is the visible 1iving assembly of
the redeemed saints. When we come together like this, beloved, we constitute the temple of
God in a unique way. We are not only individual temples, but collectively we are one great
temple in which God dwells.

In 1 Peter 2:5 it says, “Ye are living stones, built up spiritual house.” Living stones. And
when we come together like this, we constitute a place of worship where God manifests
Himself in ways unique to our assembly that He cannot manifest Himself when we are
alone. For He moves to us through others.
In 2 Corinthians 6:16 Paul says, “Ye are - ” collectively again “ - the temple of the living
God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them.” God moves in our midst,
beloved, when we come together. God moves with His wonderful presence.
In 1 Corinthians 3:9 it says, “Ye are God’s building.” Ye are God’s building. In verse 16,
“Ye are the temple of God.”
And in Hebrews chapter 10 it says that since “a new and living way” has been made, and
since we are to “draw near” and worship, let us “not forsake the assembling of ourselves - ”
what’s the next word? “ - together.” Why? Because when we come together in a
marvelous, unique way, we become the living temple of God.
And so when you come into this place on the Lord’s Day with a heart set to worship, and
you gather with others of like precious faith, God is here in a marvelous and real way to
accept our worship. We are not a building made with stone. We are a building made with
living flesh.
Yes, you can worship God any place. You can worship God out in the isolation of privacy
all alone. But you must also worship God in the assembly of His redeemed people, so that
you can, as it says in Hebrews 10:24, stimulate “one another to love and good works.” You
won’t survive out there by yourself. We need the collective assembly. We need the living
stones piled one upon the other which constitute the habitation of the living God.
So, worshiping God is not really a geographical issue, but that doesn’t mean there’s no
congregation. That doesn’t mean there’s no special building. That doesn’t mean there’s
no special place. You must come together with God’s redeemed people. We don’t need
special priests, and we don’t need sacrifices, and we don’t need masses. that’s the error of
the Roman Catholic system. We are living priests. The sacrifice has once for all been
offered. We have immediate access to God on our own. We are His living temple. That’s
why it says that Peter says that the church is the house of God. And he doesn’t mean the
building, he means the living stones, the people.
And so I say this to you. You need to be here on the Lord’s Day. That’s right. You need to
be here on the Lord’s Day. When God instituted His worship to take place on the first day
of the week, He did it so that we’d be faithful to it. If there’s anything in your life that you
need to be faithful to, it’s this. You will not survive out there alone. Besides, you’re flying
in the face of the demand of God to forsake not the assembling of yourselves together. That
stimulation is critical in your life.

That affirmation that comes when you’re in the presence of God’s redeemed people, that
unique and wondrous ministry that the Spirit of God accomplishes, which He cannot
accomplish in your isolation, is something that you must respond to. Each Lord’s Day,
each first day of the week, should find you in the place of worshiping God with His
redeemed people. To forsake that is to put yourself outside.
I always remember the man who didn’t attend church very faithfully. And the pastor went
to see him, and he was sitting before a fire that was being warmed by the coals. The coals
were red hot, and the fire was warm, and it was a cold winter day. And he said to him,
“My friend, I don’t see you at the church on the Lord’s Day. You come only when it’s
convenient for you, only when you feel like you need to, and you miss so very often. I just
wish you’d come all the time.” And the man didn’t seem to be getting the message.
So, he said, “Let me show you something.” He took the tongs beside the fireplace, pulled
open the screen, and reached in and began to separate all the coals, separated them so that
none was touching the others. And in a matter of moments, they were all died out. He
said, “My friend, that’s what’s happening in your life. As soon as you isolate yourself from
the rest, the fire goes out.”
It’s really important not only that we worship God everywhere at all time, but that we
come together in the assembly of His redeemed people to stimulate one another to love and
good works, and to honor and worship God. I don’t like to allow a week to go by in my life
when I haven’t set aside a special time to worship God with His people. Neither should
you. Be faithful. Let’s bow in prayer.
Some of you may be saying to yourself, “You know, this is all very interesting but I came
this morning with a broken heart because my marriage is on the rocks, or I’ve got children
that are a problem, or I just lost my job, or I just found out I have cancer, Or I’m not
feeling well, or I’m lonely, or I can’t pay my bills. What does all this have to do with that?”
And I would suggest to you that it has everything to do with that because the Bible says if
you “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, all these things shall be added
unto you.”
I think that very often the reason everything else seems to be falling apart is because we’re
not the worshipers that God seeks. And if we would worship God in spirit and in truth,
everything else would fall into the special care of the Lord, who is pleased with our
worship. Get the perspective right. Abandon yourself. Offer yourself as a living sacrifice,
holy and acceptable unto God, which is an act of spiritual worship, and let God take care of
the rest.
For some of us Christians, this means a fresh and new commitment, not only to worship the
Lord everywhere and at all times, but in the assembly of His redeemed people and to be

faithful about it. That just grieves my heart so much when people don’t understand how
utterly important it is to worship God with His people faithfully.
Father, bring into the prayer room those that You would have to come. Minister to all of
our hearts as we meditate on the fact that You call us to worship, to true worship. May we
renew our covenant to worship You at everywhere and all times, and as well to be faithful
to the assembly of that living temple where You meet us in such a special way.
Thank You for all that we’ve been able to offer You, for our songs, our words of praise, our
thoughts, our hearts, for the confession. We thank You that You have opened Your Word
and helped us to understand how better to worship You. And so accept our worship from
this hour, Lord, and as we go from this place may it leave its mark on all that we say and
do and think, that Jesus may be glorified. We pray in His blessed name. Amen.

True Worship, Part 7
Sermons John 4:20–24 2010 Feb 21, 1982

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Again, if you will, I’d like to ask you to open your Bible this morning to the fourth chapter
of John. The gospel of John 4:20-14, our text. This is our seventh message in looking at the
subject of worship through the window of this passage. And I believe the Lord has yet
some things to teach us.
I really didn’t know when we first began how long this would go on, and I admit to you
that I’m in the process of learning. And as the Lord continues to open my heart and mind
to things week by week and day by day, I just feel pressed to extend the series until I have a
sense of having accomplished that which He sees for us.
Jesus here is in conversation with the woman of Samaria, the woman that He met at the
well. And in the middle of their conversation, the matter of worship comes up. She desires
to worship God rightly. She has had her sin exposed. The Lord has unmasked her many
adulteries. And I believe that in the perception that He is a prophet from God, and later on

that He even may be the Messiah, she feels a great sense of sinfulness and desires to
worship God, desires to come before God and set her life right.
And the question that comes into her mind is where does she go to do that? As a
Samaritan, she has worshipped God on Mount Gerizim. As a Jew, they worship God in
Jerusalem. And because she wants to do it right, she seeks an answer as to which is the
proper place. And so she speaks in verse 20.
“Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where
men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe Me, the hour cometh, when ye
shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye
know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 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. God is a Spirit: and they that worship
Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”
Now this morning we are going to come to the real heart teaching of this passage. All the
other six weeks is really a prologue to this because this is the heart of the text. In verse 21,
Jesus says the time is going to come when it won’t be at Gerizim and it won’t be at
Jerusalem. And we’ve already discussed that, the abolishing of the ceremonial system and
the fact that we’re called upon to worship God everywhere and at all times, and so forth,
and particularly in the assembly of His redeemed people.
But then in verse 22, the Lord becomes very specific in defining the nature of worship.
And that’s what I want you to begin to see this morning, the nature of worship, the essence,
what worship really is at its very heart.
William Temple, years ago, defined worship this way. “To worship is to quicken the
conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the
imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, and to devote the
will to the purpose of God.”
It is all of us in response to all of Him. It is all that we are, reacting rightly to all that He is.
Now we’ve talked about the importance of worship, haven’t we? We’ve said that the
Father seeks true worshippers, verse 23. And that makes worship very important. That is
the end of God’s redemptive plan. God seeks people to worship Him. That’s why you’re
saved, to worship God. That’s why its the most important. More important than service,
more important than ministry is worship. And we’ve tried to see the importance of
worship as God sees it. Worship is not what we receive, but it is what we give.
Evelyn Underhill, writing in 1928 to a Conference of Clergy in the Church of England said
this. “We are drifting toward a religion which, consciously or unconsciously, keeps its eye
on humanity, rather than deity.” It’s a great statement. “We are drifting toward a religion

which, consciously or unconsciously, keeps its eye on humanity, rather than deity.” That
was stated in 1928, and in 1982 I think it’s pretty much true.
Even the church of Jesus Christ, even the evangelical church finds itself prone to be man-
centered. We are such a consumptive society, such a pragmatic society, such a man-
centered society that we tend to turn everything on ourselves. We talk of men. We talk of
the needs of men, the problems of men. We think and talk about our own needs and our
own problems. We talk about the programs of men, the methods of men, the efforts of
men, the sermons of men, the songs of men, the books of men, the churches of men, the
organizations of men. And somehow in all of that talk, we very often lose sight of the fact
that we are to be conscious of God far more than of men. And so we talked about how
important it is that we worship as a way of life.
We talked about the source of worship, didn’t we? And we said the source of worship is
salvation. The seeking of the Father in verse 23 is efficacious. In other words, He seeks
and redeems those He seeks. And He seeks and redeems them to worship, so that when you
were redeemed you became a worshipper.
As one writer said, “You awakened from your moral slumber in the morning of your
regeneration to begin to worship God.” And that’s what a Christian is, Philippians 3:3, a
worshipper of God.
We talked about the object of worship, the fact that when we come together it is to focus on
God and to worship Him and Him alone, and He is to be worshipped as Spirit and as the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, right? We worship God, then, in His Trinitarian fullness.
We do not evaluate worship on the basis of what it does for us. We do not come to get a
blessing. We do not come to receive something. We do not come asking ho is it going to lift
me up? How is it going to meet my need? How is it going to give me a good feeling? How
is it going to inspire me? How is it going to bless me? To do that is to substitute subjective
affection for objective trust. We come to give to God, to worship Him. He’s the object.
And now i want to talk today about the sphere of worship just for a brief moment. We just
need to clear this up in our minds as a brief review. The sphere of worship, Jesus
indicated, it’s not going to be in Jerusalem. It’s not going to be in Mount Gerizim. And
then in verse 24 He says, “God is a Spirit.” Therefore worship is not restricted to any
location but it is to be done where? Everywhere, everywhere.
And yet we said there is still a temple where God meets His people, and what is it? It’s the
corporate assembly of the living church, right? So while we worship God everywhere and
at all times, there is still the uniqueness of the living stones that come together to be an
inhabitation for the Spirit. And that’s why in 1 Corinthians 11:20 Paul says they “met
together in one place.” That’s for that latreu, that leitourge, that special unified formal
worship when God’s redeemed people come together. You need to worship God

everywhere and at all times, but also in the corporate assembly of His redeemed people and
forsake not that assembling of yourselves together.
Now, let’s look at the nature of worship, the nature of worship. And it’s simply stated in
this passage. Verse 22, let’s start there. “Ye worship ye know not what.” Now what does
He mean by that? He says to a Samaritan woman, “You don’t know what you worship.”
Now, first of all, it is acknowledging that she worships, right? You worship, you just don’t
know what you’re worshipping.
And that is characteristic of the Samaritans. Why? Listen now, because they only
accepted the first five books of the Old Testament, that’s all. They only accepted the
Pentateuch as from God. And so their knowledge was limited. So the Lord says to them,
“You don’t know what you worship.” I mean, you have the Pentateuch, and that tells you
some things about God, but not enough to have the full salvation revelation, right? So you
really don’t know the fullness of what you’re worshipping.
And here’s what we have with the Samaritans. We have enthusiastic worship without
proper information. You have the aggressive, enthusiastic, excited, faithful worship of
these people, but they don’t necessarily have the right content. So we would say to begin
with that they worship in spirit, that they’re into it, right?
In fact, here we are several thousand years later, and would you like to know that in 1982
the Samaritans will be up on Mount Gerizim doing their thing? They dipped down to
about 170 of them a couple of years ago, and now they’ve started reproducing again, and so
there are 400 Samaritans in the world. And if you were to go to Mount Gerizim on their
holy days, you would see them slicing up animals just exactly as in the Mosaic economy.
They’re still at it. And they will not give it up. They are enthusiastic about it.
But, they don’t have the right information. They’re very limited in terms of what they
understand, limited to the first five books of the Old Testament, and that leaves them 61
books they haven’t considered in the Bible.
Now they do have enough information to know about the Messiah because He appears in
Genesis, doesn’t He? The seed of the woman, the scepter. So they have some information,
but it isn’t enough, and so the Lord says to them, “You worship in spirit, but you lack the
truth,” right? You lack the information, or the content, that’s necessary.
Look back at verse 22. Now speaking of the Jews. “We know what we worship: for
salvation is of the Jews.” Now the Jews had the very opposite situation. They accepted all
of the Old Testament books, all 39 books. They accepted all of the revelation of God. They
had the truth but lacked what? The spirit.

I mean, you read Matthew 6 and it says that when the Pharisees prayed, and when they
gave alms, and when they fasted their hearts weren’t in it. Jesus says, “You are hypocrites.
You are phonies. Your hearts aren’t involved in it.” How many times did Jesus say to the
people what was an Old Testament truth, you follow after Me with the forms, but your
hearts aren’t in it? What did Paul say? You have left out the basic truths and you’re going
through religious motions. He indicted the Jews again and again for that.
Now there were some Jews who had a zeal for God. There were some Jews who really were
zealous inside. But the basic existing religion of Jerusalem, the stuff that was going on up
there on Moriah, was truth based on what the Bible said, but the hearts were empty. They
had even pumped it full of the traditions of men.
So, the Lord says Jerusalem has the truth, but not the spirit. Gerizim has the spirit, but
not the truth. Now here are the two poles of worship. On the one hand you have Mount
Gerizim, which is enthusiastic heresy. On the other hand, you have Jerusalem, which is
barren, lifeless orthodoxy. And that’s what Jesus sees as He talks to the woman.
And may I add that that’s what we see today. You can see those same two extremes in the
church today. On the one hand you’ve got over here the sort of charismatic Pentecostal
people who are just really going at it. I mean, they worship maybe for hours, maybe all
night long. They’re holding hands, and swaying back and forth, and singing songs, and
speaking in ecstatic language, and doing whatever they’re doing. And we look at them and
we say, “Oh, oh, heresy, heresy.” But we can’t mock their enthusiasm. I mean, some of
them are even falling over and rolling around and all kinds of things, singing songs.
On the other hand, we’ve got barren orthodoxy, which is closer to where we are. We’ve got
all of the truth in the right compartments, we just can’t get turned on about it. We just
don’t get that excited about it. In fact, we get bored in about 30 minutes during the service,
and we’re looking at our watch or counting the Es in the bulletin or - that’s what I used to
do when I was little - or checking out the spots on our dress, or looking at our husband and
saying, “I’ve been with the guy for 20 years and he still doesn’t polish his shoes.” I mean,
there are so many, so many, many distractions. And we’ve got all of the content and we
don’t know how to turn loose the heart. Those are the two poles. Truth is the balance.
And so He says, “Look. The hour is coming when the true worshippers are going to
worship God in both ways, in spirit and in truth,” right? With the truth and the heart,
that’s what He’s after.
The Jews had all the accurate data and no heart. They killed the Messiah. The Samaritans
had all the data - I mean, all the heart and none of the data - didn’t know the Messiah. The
truth and the spirit, both must be there.

The two enemies of true worship are Gerizim and Jerusalem. You can’t have one without
the other or there’s imbalance. Sincerity, that’s great. Enthusiasm, that’s great.
Aggressive worship, that’s great. But it must be based on truth. Truth, that’s great. But if
it doesn’t issue in an eager, anxious, thrilled, and filled heart, it’s missing. You so often
have light without heat, or heat without light. Jesus says the Father seeks both, both.
There’s a pastor on the east coast by the name of Al Martin. He has a good statement. I
think it speaks to my heart, and I’m sure to yours. He said this. “Men have worshipped
with open Bibles, and with the name of Christ, and the Bible on their lips, while whole
congregations before them have been held in the grip of barrenness, and lifelessness, and
powerlessness. Where it has been weeks, and months, and years, since hearts have been
ravished with the sight of the glory of God on the face of Jesus Christ. Years since any
hymn has been sung with abandonment. Years since a tear has trickled down the face of a
worshipper. Years since a hallelujah flowed out of a bursting heart.”
He’s right. And we are guilty on that barren orthodox side of sitting here with our Bibles
open, with all of the theology known, and indifferent to the spirit of worship. And I want to
take these two: today the spirit, next week the truth. Let’s talk about spirit.
In verse 23 and 24, it says we must “worship the Father in spirit.” Now if Jesus said we
need to do this, then we need to do it. And if we’re going to do it, we need to know what it
means. How do you worship the Lord in spirit? And, you know, it’s hard for me this week
to speak about the spirit and next week to speak about the truth because I can’t keep them
separate because they’re totally interrelated, totally mingled. It makes it very difficult.
And that’s the way the Lord meant it to be. You can’t talk about one without the other,
and yet we’ll try to emphasize one this time and the other next time.
But what does it mean to “worship in spirit”? This refers to the human spirit. It basically
refers to the inner person. You are to worship from the inside out, from the inside out. It
is not a matter of being someplace in the right place, and the right time, the right words,
the right demeanor, the right clothes, the right formalities, the right activity, the right
music, the right mood. No. It is the inside, the spirit. In Romans 1:9 Paul says a very
important statement. He says, “God is my witness - ” and listen to this “ - whom I worship
with my spirit.” Latreu, he worships God with his spirit.
And then I love Psalm 103, you know it well. It says, “Bless the Lord, O my - ” what? “ -
soul: and all that is - ” where? “ - within me, bless His holy name.” That’s what it is talking
about. It’s talking about glorifying God from within, from within.
Now let me give you what I think is a very beautiful illustration of this in the 51st Psalm.
You can just listen to it. Write it down for reference. In Psalm 51, David comes with what
I’ll call in later weeks, when we look at it, the worship of repentance. But he says in verse
15, and I just think this is so wonderful, “O Lord, open Thou my lips; and my mouth will

show forth Thy praise. For Thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest
not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite
heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.”
David says, “I know you don’t want the external stuff. I know that’s not the issue. That
was just a symbol of the fact that You want the heart. And so I ask You this. ‘Open my
lips; and my mouth will show forth Thy praise.’ ” Now you know what that says to me?
That pictures to me a man whose heart is filled with praise, and all he needs is to get his
mouth open and it will come out.
And that’s the worship of the spirit. That’s when it’s inside. And David says, “My
circumstances are such that I just don’t have the strength to open my mouth. If You’ll just
open my mouth, it will all come out.” What a great picture. That’s what it means to
worship in spirit, to have a heart that is literally overflowing, Psalm 45:1, bubbling over
with a good thing. And when the mouth is pried open, it just gushes out. Worship and
praise.
Now I want to get practical. How can we do this? How can we have that in us? And how
can we let it out of us so that we worship in spirit? So that we’re not like the Jews, who
have all the facts, and all the data, and cold hearts, bored, indifferent. How can we do
that? Here it comes. Number one - and I’ll give you several principles - first of all, You
must possess the Holy Spirit. You must possess the Holy Spirit. Before you can worship
God in your spirit, the Holy Spirit has to be there to prompt that. “For no man - ” 1
Corinthians 2 says “ - knoweth the things of God, except the Spirit of God.”
And if you don’t have the Spirit of God within you, prompting your heart, motivating your
heart, cleansing your heart, instructing your heart, it is not going to happen. You cannot
worship God without God energizing in His Spirit that worship. And that’s just basic.
That’s the bottom line, obviously. You have to be redeemed. You have to be saved. And
when you’re saved, the Holy Spirit comes to live in your heart. And the Holy Spirit points
you to God, points you to God, prods you, pokes you, pushes you, instructs you, purges you,
so that you may worship. That’s His ministry. So it all begins then with the resident Holy
Spirit.
In fact, in Philippians 3:3 where it says we “worship God in the spirit,” some of the
manuscripts indicate we worship God in the Holy Spirit. You could go either way. We
worship God in the human spirit because we are prompted by the Holy Spirit.
You see, no one can say “Jesus is Lord - ” 1 Corinthians 12 “ - except by - ” what? “ - the
Spirit of God.” You can’t affirm the Lordship of Christ. You can’t worship Him as
sovereign except prodded by the Holy Spirit. And you receive the Holy Spirit upon the
reception of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. So, you begin there.

Look at your heart. If you have trouble worshiping, maybe you’re not saved. I mean,
maybe the reason you get bored in church, and maybe the reason you’re ready to leave in a
half an hour, maybe the reason you’d just soon miss church all together is because you just
can’t get into the thing, and the reason you can’t get into it is because the Holy Spirit isn’t
in you prompting your heart. It’s a fair question, isn’t it? And you need to ask it of
yourself.
Let’s go to a second one. The second principle, and I think this is so important, is that
thoughts must be centered on God, thoughts must be centered on God. And that’s very
simple but it’s a very profound thing. Worship is an overflow of a mind renewed by the
truth of God. Contemplating God is the trigger that sets off worship. It’s the motor that
turns the flywheel that energizes the emotion. You must be thinking thoughts of God.
Now I can translate it into a very familiar word, and that’s the word “meditation.” True
worship comes forth out of meditation, meditation. Now forget everything you ever heard
from the world about meditation - transcendental or any other kind. Let me tell you what
meditation means. Are you ready for this? It’s focusing your whole mind on one subject.
That’s basically it. Focusing your whole mind on one subject. That’s a MacArthur
definition, but I think it works.
To meditate is to focus your whole mind on one subject. Now if you find that hard, it’s
fairly normal. It’s hard to do that, isn’t it? Boy, we live in a distracted world, a distracted
world. You know, we have today, just because of our exposure to media and everything,
more stuff in our brain than I think any civilization ever had. I mean, we are exposed to so
much stuff, the thing is so cluttered up that our attention span is very limited, very limited.
But to meditate is to concentrate your whole mind on one subject. And let me tell you
something. That is the key to effective worship. Without question, your reason, your
imagination, your emotion are all concentrating on one reality.
If we go back from that one step, maybe you’ll get even a deeper insight. Now are you
ready? Meditation is based on information. If you’re going to be thinking on one subject,
you’ve got to have a subject to think on, right? That seems basic to me. You’ve got to have
something to think on. So listen, I’m going to give you a word and it’s a word you ought to
write down somewhere right in the front of your mind so you never forget it.
The best, the purest, the truest, the most wonderful and blessed meditation is based on
discovery, discovery, discovery. In other words, you discover a great truth about God, and
then you begin to meditate on that truth until it captivates every element of your whole
thinking process. And what it does is begin to build into you this worship, and when
somebody gives you an opportunity, and you gather with God’s redeemed saints, and they
pry your lips open, it just comes out. But it doesn’t come out if it isn’t in there when you
arrive, or when you begin to seek to worship.

So we can go back a step before that. Worship is a response to meditation. Meditation is
based on discovery. And discovery is based upon - are you ready for this? - time spent with
God. Time spent with God, in prayer and in the Word, in prayer and in the Word.
Feeding, feeding, feeding. Sadly, we see prayer as a way to get things, and we have long
ago, I think, lost its communion element of just living in the consciousness of God’s
wonderful presence and communing with Him there.
You see, Jesus chided His disciples. He attacked His disciples in this way. He said, “You
have eyes, but you do not see; and you have ears, but you do not hear.” In other words,
your thinking is so shallow that you’re dull. I mean, if you come here and are bored, may I
suggest to you that that is not a commentary on the sermon, or the music, that’s a
commentary on your heart. I mean, if you had nothing else, if I was totally not worth
listening to - which may be the case - if nothing here was worth listening to, for you just to
pick up the truths about God that come through and meditate on them should be the most
exhilarating time of your life. See?
You see how far we are from that? That hits us right out of left field like something we
never thought of. See, if you come here and you’re uninterested, or indifferent, that’s not a
commentary on us. That’s a commentary on you.
Now, we want to do all we can to present the Word of God in a way that is meaningful. I
mean, the worse sacrilege you can do is bore people with the Bible. If you’re going to do
that, then don’t teach the Bible, teach Mother Goose and bore them with that. But don’t
bore them with the Bible. That’s a sacrilege. It’s amazing how many people can do that,
how many teachers and preachers can bore people with the Bible. What a horrible thing to
do to the Bible. It’s the most fabulous thing in the world.
I mean, I get excited about it, as you well know. I don’t understand how people can
prevent themselves from having that excitement. But the excitement comes to me in the
process of discovery, discovery. And when I go to the Word of God, and I spend time
talking to the Lord, and I open my heart to Him, and I start to look at a passage, and look
deeper, and show me, Lord, what You want me to see, and go into there, and you begin to
meditate, and you begin to think about that, and all of a sudden you discover some
tremendous truth that saturates your mind. Then out of that comes the overflowing of joy
and praise to God.
Spurgeon says, “Why is it that some people are often in a place of worship and yet they’re
not holy? It is because they neglect their closets. They love the wheat, but they do not
grind it. They would have the corn, but they will not go forth into the field to gather it.
The fruit hangs on the tree, but they will not pluck it. And the water flows at their feet, but
they’ll not stoop to drink it.”

I mean, if you come here saying, “I hope John MacArthur’s got some stuff to say that will
get me into a worship mode,” you’ve missed it. I just want to be the little topping on the
top. I want you to come here with a heart so eager to worship, you can hardly wait to get
into the place and get started. Because you’ve been in the process of meditation over what
you’ve discovered in the Word of God. That’s the joy.
As I open the Word of God and discover things, as I commune with God in my spirit and
He teaches me things, and the discovery becomes meditation, then comes the joy. I think
on Friday of this week, I had this - I was kind of just studying around the text. I call it
going around and around the text. And I never was really getting the core of it. I had
interruptions and everything. And finally, I just locked my brain in, and locked the door,
and sat down, and I said, “O Lord, teach me what You want me to see in this passage.”
And in the next hour and a half, I saw one great reality that just dawned on me, and I
began to trace that reality through my mind, and through the Scripture, and to meditate,
and to mediate. And the result of it was a heart filled with praise that was still there, so
that when I came this morning, and I had my lips pried open, all that was in my heart just
came out. See?
Worship for me is not self contained in this hour. This is merely a way to get the thing out.
And I’m not restricted to this for that either, but this in a special way. You see, we’ve been
rooted and grounded in Christ, but how deep our roots grow and how beautiful our fruit
appears has to do with how we meditate in the process of discovery of God’s wonderful
truth. That’s the joy.
It’s hard for us to meditate, isn’t it? You know, one of the things you learn as a preacher is
that people don’t listen to everything you say. They tune in and out. Some of you just
came back. Welcome. I mean, you’re redecorating your living room, or walking through
the aisles at May Company, seeing what you want to wear, or you’re figuring out how to
make that big business deal next week, or you’re thinking about the trip you’re going to
take, or you’re fishing somewhere, or playing golf, or you’re just doing all kinds of things
in your imagination, and every once in a while something hits you.
Either your wife pokes you in the ribs, or something comes out that startles you, or you sort
of tune back in, or maybe I’ve said something that’s tracked you onto a thought, and the
Holy Spirit sort of chased you down a little thought, and you’re thinking that thing, and
then all of a sudden you come back and you plug in again. That’s why I repeat myself
because I have to keep you up to speed. See? I just keep welcoming people back in the
whole time I’m speaking. See, it’s very difficult for us to meditate.
It’s very difficult for us to isolate our minds on a subject. And it’s a discipline you have to
train yourself to be able to do that. And I think about these screwballs that learn how to sit
in the middle of a teeming mass of humanity in India and contemplate their navel for days

at a time, in an undistracted fashion, and I wonder why Christians can’t think on God
without being distracted.
So it all begins, then, with the resident Holy Spirit. Thoughts centered on God, which come
out of prayer, and Bible study, and discovery, and out of that discovery comes mediation,
and out of that meditation, worship. And may I make it very simple? No discovery, no
meditation. No meditation, no worship. And if you come here with a heart filled with
discovery that you’ve got in your own study, or you’ve learned it from somebody, and
you’ve meditated, and you’ve made it your own, you’re going to find that when your mouth
is pried open, it will gush with praise.
Now there’s one other principle. You start with the Holy Spirit in your life, your thoughts
centered on God, and then you must learn to have an undivided heart, an undistracted
heart. Psalm 86. I want to take a moment to have you look at Psalm 86.
It’s just a beautiful insight into a principle. In verse 5, David begins to worship God. And
he says in Psalm 86:5, “For Thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive.” And that’s so
good because it doesn’t mean He’ll just forgive, it means He’s eager to do it. It’s not
reluctant, but eager. “You’re ready to forgive; plenteous in mercy.” He doesn’t just have
mercy, He’s got plenty of it.
He’s really just extolling the virtues of God. “For all who call upon Your name.” You’re
good. You not only forgive, You’re eager to forgive. You not only have mercy, You have
plenty. And You’ve got it for everybody. “So, Lord, would You listen to me?” Verse 6,
“Give ear to my prayer; attend to the voice of my supplications. In the day of my trouble I
will call upon Thee for Thou wilt answer me.” He says, “I know You’ll hear me.”
“Among the gods, there is none like unto Thee, O Lord; neither are there any works like
Thy works.” And there you have the heart of worship, glorifying God for who He is, and
what He has done, for who He is, and what He’s done. O, there’s no one like You. And no
done has ever one anything like You’ve done. “All nations whom Thou hast made shall
come and worship before Thee, O Lord; and shall glorify Thy name. For Thou art great,
and doest wondrous things: Thou art God alone.”
Now David’s into a definite worship expression here, pouring out his heart to God. He’s
just extolling the wonder and the virtues of God. And we all can identify with that. We
want to do that. We long to do that. But David faces a problem in his humanness that we
face too, and it comes in verse 11. First of all, he says, “Lord, I have a basic problem. My
worship is hindered because I am lacking the truth.” “So teach me Thy way, O Lord; I will
walk in Thy truth.” You see, the missing ingredient, David says, is I want to discover, and I
want the thrill of discovery, and I want to know what Your Word is saying, and I want to
see You.

And sometimes discovery isn’t discovering something you never knew before, it’s
discovering something you knew before and forgot, or it’s discovering something you knew
before and remembered but never saw with the same clarity. But he’s saying, “I want to
know Your way, and I want to understand it, but I’m ignorant and You have to teach me.”
And so I would just suggest to you that when you find it difficult to worship, when you find
it difficult to meditate in the Word of God, to go through the process of discovery and let
God open His Word to touch your life and your heart and bring out praise, you need to
stop and ask the Holy Spirit to be your teacher, because we all have that problem.
I get distracted just like anybody else. And I struggle. Sometimes I say, I look at a passage
again and I say, “Lord, I’m over and over and over this thing and I still - it’s not coming
through. Teach me.” And that’s where you can claim the promise of 1 John that we have
an anointing from God in the Holy Spirit who teaches us all things so that we don’t need to
depend on human wisdom, right? Because He’s our teacher.
That’s what Jesus said when He said He’s going to send His Spirit who would teach you all
things in John’s gospel. What a promise. The resident Spirit is there. And so David says,
“Teach me the truth, Lord. Let me see it. Let me discover it. Let me meditate on it.” And
so the first problem you have in worship is you’ve got to know the truth. And we’ll get into
that more next time. And in order to be able to see that, you depend on the Holy Spirit.
I know you’ve said, “Well, you know, I’m going to go to the Bible. Boy, I’m going to start
my Bible study.” And all of us have made those commitments, right? I’m going to get into
the Word. And you read a little bit and you say, “This isn’t very exciting. I mean, I’m
trying to discover but I’m not discovering anything, except that I don’t understand this. It
doesn’t seem to hit me. I better get a book or a tape.”
And people will often say to me, “You know, when you do it, it’s so exciting.” Well, it can
be that way for you. The Word of God can touch your life, too. You may not have all of
the tools that I do, and I hope there’s a place for me in the kingdom somewhere that I can
feel a need in that regard, but you can discover the truth of God because the Spirit will be
your teacher if you’ll ask Him.
There’s a second thing in verse 11, and this is the thing I really want you to see. At the end
of verse 11 he says, “I have another problem. I need You to unite my heart to fear Thy
name. Now “fear Thy name” would be a euphemism for worship. “I want to worship You,
but I need You to unite my heart.”
Now what is the opposite of a united heart? Very simply, what is it? A divided heart. The
first problem you have in worship is you don’t know the truth. You can’t discover it. You
don’t have the thing you need to meditate on. So, Holy Spirit, teach me the truth.

The second problem in worship is you’re distracted, right? And you tend to have a divided
heart, and you maybe sit down sometime, and you know, you say, “I’m going to pray. I’m
just going to spend time with the Lord.” And you sit down and you pray for about a
minute and stuff floods your mind – junk. You know. Where’s Alice? It’s after so-and-so
time. She’s supposed to have delivered the - you know. And the kids come blasting in the
door at the moment of your greatest discovery and interrupt your meditation. And then we
just are - it’s so difficult for us to concentrate.
And so David knew that. I mean, after all he was a king. And wouldn’t you think a king
had a little responsibility? I mean, he had a few things to worry about. And he worried
about them. And they weren’t only the things going on in his kingdom, they were a lot of
the things going on in his own life that weren’t right.
And so he was diverted and he said, “God, I need two things. I need the truth and the
spirit. I need the undivided heart to go along with the right instruction. I want to discover
and I want to be able to meditate without being distracted.”
That’s really the heart of what our Lord is saying in John 4. We must be able to set our
heart on God and on His truth. And I’ve asked the Holy Spirit many, many times, for that
same thing that David is asking for right here. Lord, teach me, teach me, teach me. In
fact, on one day this week I was studying and I found a passage, and I’ll share it with you
in a few weeks, hard not to share it today because it’s so good, it’s so exciting.
But I found a passage in Jeremiah and I never understood the phrase there, the phrase says
in effect, “Moab has not been poured from vessel to vessel.” And I thought, “What in the
world does that mean?” So I started to try to find out what that meant and I did. And I
got so blessed. I’m going to tell you what it means in a few weeks.
I got so blessed that I went out my door and I grabbed Bill Rogers and I said, “You’ve got
to hear this.” And you know what? He got blessed just like I got blessed. Are you going to
use that Sunday? I might. But I’m not now. It’s in a later point. But that was discovery
for me and I went home, got in my car, all I could think about going home was that great
truth. Oh what a great truth that I’ve discovered. Began to meditate on it and my heart
became filled with praise.
I don’t know how you do, but I find myself singing when I do that. I turn the radio off, and
sing in the car. I don’t - try not to move my lips too much because people, you know, think
I’m arguing with my wife when she isn’t there so I can win, you know. But I really believe
that discovery is the key, and it demands time with God, time with God, communion with
Him, in His Word and in prayer. And then the wonderful joy of an undivided heart.
I want to close with a thought. There will be a hindrance to this when you try to focus your
spirit on worship. In fact, somebody said to me this week, “You’ve covered the importance

of worship, the source of worship, the sphere of worship, the nature of worship, and all this
stuff. Have you thought about doing the hindrances to worship, and list all the hindrances
to worship?” I thought, “Boy, that would be great.” So, I sat down, I got my pencil and
my piece of paper, and I thought, and I thought, I got ’em. And I wrote down one word:
self. And then I began to think, “Now what would be number two?” And I couldn’t think
of anything. And I sat there for a long time and never thought of anything else.
There’s only one hindrance to worship. That’s when you get in front of God. That’s all. I
mean, you can come in all kinds of packages, but what hinders your worship is when you
get in front of God. You see, when you come here to get what you need for you, or when
you have got to do what you want to do to fulfill your desires, and that’s why you don’t
have time for discovery, or time for prayer, or time for meditation, or time for worship,
and you can’t really have an undivided heart because you’re always thinking about your
projects and your activities and your needs. You see, it’s always self, isn’t it?
There’s only two - you’re only dealing with two things. You’re either dealing with God or
you, that’s all. And you can’t really free yourself up to worship God until you can kill
yourself, slay yourself.
Oh, you just have to get rid of self in the process and be lost in worshiping God. Self is
always in the way. And I think maybe the biggest problem that we have with ourself is that
so very often, we who are committed to the right things, like here at Grace Church, it really
comes down to the fact that we just are too lazy to make the effort. We’re so self-indulgent
at our ease that we won’t expend ourselves to dig deep, “to scoop up the water,” as
Spurgeon said, “to pluck the grain.” And that’s why we lose.
One of the great experiences of my brief life has been to read Stephen Charnock’s book
called The Existence And Attributes Of God. It’s a book of about 700 or 800 pages. It
takes you a whole lifetime to digest it. All it is is all of his thoughts about God; rich,
profound insights. And at one point he says in that book, “To pretend homage to God and
intend only the advantage to myself is rather to mock God than to worship Him. When we
believe we ought to be satisfied rather than God glorified, we set God below ourselves and
imagine that He should submit His own honor to our advantage.”
And that’s the hindrance to worship. You set yourself, and your needs, and your
advantages, and your blessings, and whatever, above God. Beloved, let’s be free to come
and worship God. And when we come together in the assembly of His redeemed people,
and our mouths are open, may the gushing of praise come out because of the meditation
and the discovery, so that our inner spirit offers worship to Him.
Now next time we’re going to talk about the place of the truth, and how it lays the
foundation for right worship. Let’s pray.

We’ve faced some practical thoughts this morning, our Lord, and we know that You never
reveal us Your Word to keep at arm’s length, or to muse about, or to contemplate, but
always to act upon.
And so we pray, Lord, that approaching this from a practical viewpoint might help us to
refresh the commitment, to find ourselves in the closet, closet of prayer and study, the
closet of meditation and discovery, that the praise might rush from our filled lives, boiling
over, bubbling up, that the Lord’s Day fellowship may be only the bursting forth of all that
is there. We pray in Christ’s name. Amen.

True Worship, Part 8
Sermons John 4:20–24 2011 Feb 28, 1982

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I’d like you to turn again, if you will, in your Bible to John’s gospel, chapter 4, as we come
to the last in our series on worship. This is our eighth message, and perhaps of all of the
messages this one will be the most profound, I trust.
And I would like to remind you of the text in which we’re dealing by reading just verses 23
and 24. Jesus says, “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. God
is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”
I have been, as you well know, greatly concerned about the matter of worship. And
wondering whether this is unique to my own era, I have for the last week or so, read some
more ancient scriptural commentators, some more ancient saints of God, to see if they, too,
faced similar periods of time when the church had lost its perspective on worship. And I
found that to be the case.
In fact, throughout church history there seemed to be a rather constant cry calling the
people of God to a worshiping life. For example, St. Anselm of Canterbury, years ago, said
this. “Up, slight man. Flee for a little while thy occupations. Hide thyself for a time from

thy disturbing thoughts. Pass away now thy toilsome cares and put aside thy burdensome
business. Yield room for some little time with God and rest a little while in Him. In the
inner chamber shut out all thoughts save those of God, and such as can aid thee in
worshiping Him. Speak now to God, and say, ‘I seek Thy face, Thy face, Lord, do I seek.’ ”
And thus did he call his people to worship.
I was reading on the airplane coming back from Dallas on Wednesday The Diary Of
Andrew Bonar, a great 19th century saint of God. He wrote down the musings, the
thoughts, the lessons the Lord taught him, the impressions he had each day. And I started
at the beginning of the book, and I went all the way through the book and read each of his
entries written on the Lord’s Day, Sunday. Many of them revolved around the theme of
worship. One of them that particularly struck me, he wrote on the 26th Lord’s Day of
1881. “During the whole day and every service I felt myself strengthened and upheld by
the Lord’s presence in Spirit, more than usual. There were moments of great nearness.”
And I stopped at that point, “moments of great nearness.” And I said to myself, “I long to
know those kind of moments. Moments in which there’s an overwhelming sense of the
nearness of God.” I wonder whether most Christians ever really experience that? I
wonder whether you can reach back into your memory and find moments of great
nearness? Moments when you have drawn nigh unto God and as James 4:8 says, He has in
response “drawn nigh unto you.” Moments in which you have sense profoundly the
presence of God. Moments when the divine nearness has been like your own hands and
feet, your own breath. That intimate.
And all through this series, this has been really the purpose and goal of it, that we might so
draw nigh unto God that we are literally overcome by His presence. And I have been
preaching to myself before I have been preaching to you, I have been speaking to my own
heart. How can I expect that you should have such nearness to God unless I have that?
The great desire of my heart is to come forth to speak to you, to preach to you, to teach
you, and bearing in that preaching and teaching the very power of God that comes only to
those who are in His presence. Because I know what happens in this pulpit will either aid
your worship or destroy it.
Richard Foster many years ago said, “Preaching that is without divine power will fall like
frost on worship. Heart preaching,” he said, “inflames the spirit to worship. Head
preaching smothers the glowing embers.”
And so, I have a great responsibility. I suppose all of us could experience and have
preaching that was biblical, where all of the interpretation may have been correct and the
Bible was the text. But somehow it was chilling, cold, icy, fell like frost on our worship.
And on the other hand, we have all been exposed to that profound power of God that
anoints the servant of God and those times when he speaks as if he has come from the very

throne room itself. And so, while the series has been directed in many ways to all of you, it
has been directed particularly to me.
Now in our look at worship, we’ve tried, of course, not to exhaust the theme, but just to
touch, as it were, the edges of it, that the Spirit of God might begin to teach us. And we’ve
looked at a definition of worship. We’ve talked about the importance of worship. And we
know it’s important because it is God’s priority. He seeks true worshipers, it says in this
passage. We’ve talked about the source of worship, and that is salvation. We were
redeemed to worship. We’ve talked about the object of worship, and the object is God as
Spirit and as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. We’ve talked about the sphere of
worship. We are to worship everywhere and at all times, and yet uniquely in the assembled
presence of God’s redeemed people. And now we are looking at the nature, or the essence,
of worship. What it is.
And that’s why I read verses 23 and 24, where it says twice we are to worship “in spirit and
in truth.” We are to worship in spirit and in truth, the perfect balance. Not just spirit -
that is not just enthusiasm - but truth. Not just truth, but enthusiasm. From the deep part
of our soul we worship, we express ourselves based on God’s revealed truth.
And you’ll remember that I showed you the Samaritans had the spirit and not the truth,
and the Jews had the truth and not the spirit, and so Jesus says, “It isn’t here in Gerizim,
and it isn’t there in Jerusalem. God is to be worshiped in spirit and in truth.” And true
worship brings both of those together. You cannot have enthusiastic heresy on the one
hand, and barren orthodoxy on the other and really worship God. There must be a
mingling. You cannot have heat without light, and you can’t have light without heat. The
two must be in balance.
And remember last time we looked at the concept of spirit. And we said that to worship
God in spirit means to worship God from your inner being. It isn’t superficial, it isn’t
external, it isn’t formal, it isn’t liturgical, it’s the heart. And that’s what the Psalmist
meant in Psalm 103 when he said, “Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me,
bless His holy name.” And what Paul meant in Romans 1:9 when he said, “I worship God
in my spirit.”
And we suggested to you that there are several necessary elements to worshiping God in
spirit. First, spiritual life. We have to be alive spiritually, alive to God. We have to be
those who possess the Holy Spirit, which comes by salvation. And to begin with, then, to
worship in Spirit, we must have had a transformed inner person and the indwelling of the
Holy Spirit of God.
Secondly, we must focus our thoughts on God. Worship comes out of the heart that is
thinking on God.

Thirdly, our thoughts on God are dependent on discovery and meditation out of the Word
of God. And as we look at the Word of God, and as we discover its truths and meditate on
its truths we find ourselves worshiping.
And then fourthly, we must have an undivided heart, an undivided heart. As I read at the
beginning of our worship this morning from Psalm 9, the Psalmist says, “I will praise Thee
with my whole heart.” I will praise Thee with my whole heart.
To worship in spirit, then, is to have a spirit transformed by regeneration, to think on God,
to concentrate all of our faculties on Him and His work. And those thoughts rise from the
discovery and the meditation on the Word of God and flow back to God through an
undivided heart.
You know, many times in the Old Testament, you can read it in Isaiah. You can read it in
Jeremiah and Ezekiel. You can see it in the New Testament in Matthew’s gospel. The
Lord indicts people for worshiping Him externally while their heart is far from Him.
That’s a rather common phrase. These people worship Me with their form, but their heart
is far from Me. That’s the very antithesis of what God desires. He desires the heart to be
nigh unto Him.
And that’s why, for example, true worship is expressed in very clear terms in Psalm 108,
and it goes like this, basically, at the very beginning of the chapter, “O God, my heart is
fixed; I will sing and give praise.” And then in verse 2, “Awake, psaltery and harp: I
myself will awake early. I will praise Thee, O Lord, among the people.” In other words,
the music of praise rises out of a fixed heart, an undivided heart, a settled heart focusing
singularly and only on God.
In Psalm 112 we find a Psalm of praise. It begins, “Praise ye the Lord.” And it follows
along the line of praise. And how is it that the heart can praise? It comes in verse 7, it
says, “His heart is fixed.” And then in verse 8, “His heart is established.” You see, it is a
fixed heart and an established heart, totally focusing on the wonder of God out of which
arises praise.
In Psalm 57 we find again the same thought. Verse 7, “My heart is fixed, O God, my heart
is fixed: I will sing and give praise. Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I
myself will awake early. I will praise Thee, O Lord, among the peoples: I will sing unto
Thee among the nations. For Thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and Thy truth unto the
clouds. Be Thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: let Thy glory be above all the earth.”
You see, again it is a fixed heart, it is a resolute heart, it is a determined heart, a heart
focused totally on God. So you begin, then, with a resident Spirit, and a transformed heart,
thoughts centered on God, being in the Word of God with discovery and meditation, and
then an undivided and fixed heart.

And we ask ourselves the question are we really there when we come to worship the Lord?
And there are many times when we may think we are and we’re not, and that’s where
Psalm 139 comes in. I think it’s most interesting. You know the verse. Just listen to it.
Psalm 139:23-24 says, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my
thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
Now David says, “Search me, O God, and know my heart. And if you find anything, deal
with it.” And that is an admission that even David couldn’t fully understand his own heart.
He may have felt that he dealt with everything, and so he says, “God, there may be some
things that I don’t see.” And it may be that in our hearts and in our lives the reason we
have difficulty really abandoning ourself in worship to God, the reason we don’t experience
the nearness of God that we would like to experience is because we have areas of our life
that are not dealt with and maybe areas that we are blind to and only God knows. And so
as we approach this matter of worship to have an undivided heart, we must come with an
open and repentant spirit. That would be the fifth in those elements of true worship in the
spirit.
There must be an openness. There must be a willingness to say, “God, turn on the
searchlight and whatever you find in the corner, expose it.” And if you have found it very
difficult to worship, if you come here and go home and there’s little change in your life, and
there’s little sense of the nearness of God, there’s little sense of entering into divine
presence, it may well be that there are areas in your life which you have long overlooked
that only God knows about, and you must plead with Him to search them out and expose
them and willingly confess them in a broken and a contrite spirit.
You see, those things must be dealt with. Every time in the Scripture we talk about
worship we must talk about cleansing, purging, purifying, confessing, repenting, because
the only person who can utterly and fully enter into communion with an utterly holy God is
one whose sin is utterly dealt with. And we don’t want to go rushing into God’s presence in
our impurity, thinking that all is well. We, like Isaiah, must confess before God our sin and
allow God to touch that living, burning coal to our lips, if need be, to purge us.
And so we worship in spirit. When the Spirit of God resides within us and when we are
willing to follow our thought line so it’s consumed by God, when we’re in His Word
discovering, meditating, an undivided heart to which we have given God full access to
uncover anything that stands between us and Him. That is worshiping in spirit.
Now Charnock wrote many years ago these words. “Without the heart it is no worship; it
is a stage play. It is an acting a part without being that person really. It is playing the
hypocrite.” Listen to this. “We may truly be said to worship God though we lack
perfection, but we cannot be said to worship God if we lack sincerity.”

That’s very true. We may worship imperfectly, but we cannot worship insincerely. And so
as we come to worship God, it must be from the depth of what is within us, a sincere
worship of God. So we yield our spirits to the Holy Spirit, who fills us with His presence
and power. We ask Him to cleanse out every corner of our lives and then the flow of
worship can occur. Nothing superficial about it.
Now let’s look at the second and balancing element. We worship in truth. We worship in
truth. And we touched on it last time in our discussion of the idea of discovery and
meditation on the Word. But let me just expand it, if I might. All worship is in response to
truth. All worship is in response to truth. There is no worship that is not linked
inseparably to truth. Worship is not an emotional exercise with God-words, inducing
feelings. Worship is a response built upon truth.
Now Pilate asked the very important question, “What is truth?” And Jesus answered it in
John 17:17 when He said, “Thy word is truth.” Or Psalm 119, “The testimonies of the
Lord are true.”
Now if we are to worship in truth, and the Word of God is truth, then we must worship out
of an understanding of the Word of God. If we’re going to worship God truly, we must
understand who He is, and the only place He revealed Himself is in His Word.
In Romans 1:18 it tells us that “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all
ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth.” Now there is the truth in
terms of conscience, the truth in terms of what is called “general revelation.” And then
verse 19, “That which may be known of God is manifest in them.”
God, first of all, disclosed Himself in general terms in conscience and in creation. And men
hold that truth about God. But verse 25 says, “They exchanged the truth about God for
the lie, and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator.” Now, God’s whole
purpose was to reveal Himself. He revealed Himself, first of all, in creation and conscience,
and then He revealed Himself crystal clear in the pages of the Word of God. If we are to
worship in truth, then we are to worship truly as God is to be worshiped.
And the only place we’ll find God truly defined is in the Bible. It is the Bible that explains
the God of creation and the God of conscience. Everything we know about God is in the
Word of God. And to worship in truth, then, means to worship from out of an
understanding of the Word of God. You cannot worship God in a vacuum. You cannot
worship God apart from His revelation.
An illustration of this comes to mind in the eighth chapter of Nehemiah, where it tells us
that “Ezra opened the book in sight of all the people,” that is the Word of God, and he
opened it up standing “above the people” on a platform and immediately “all the people
stood up” at the presentation of God’s Word. “And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God.

And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, lifting up their hands: and they bowed their
heads, and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground.” The Word of God, just its
very holy presence, threw them all to their knees in an act of worship.
All worship, listen now, is in response to truth about God. And all truth about God is
revealed in His Word. If we are called to worship God, then we want to worship God as
God is. If we want to know how He is, we have to look at His self revelation. The Bible
discloses the truth about God, which guides our worship.
And truth is the objective factor in worship as spirit is the subjective. But both must come
together. In Psalm 47:7 there’s a very interesting statement. It says, “Sing ye praises with
understanding.” Sing ye praises with understanding. All worship must be based on truth.
Worship is not simply holding hands and swaying back and forth, or having ecstatic
experiences, having experiences that have no meaning or no content. That is not worship.
Worship is not even a good feeling, as good as good feelings are.
Worship is an expression of praise from the depth of the heart toward a God who is
understood as He is truly revealed. “Sing ye praises with understanding.” There’s no
virtue in saying you’re worshiping God in something which you don’t, nor does anybody
else, comprehend. There’s no true worship apart from a true understanding of God. Any
group that does not understand truth about God does not worship God, cannot worship
God, for He is worshiped in spirit and according to truth.
In 2 Corinthians 4:2 Paul says “we have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty - ” we
don’t do things that manipulate “ - and we don’t walk in craftiness, we don’t handle the
Word of God deceitfully; - ” in other words, we don’t use it to induce certain experiences,
or certain results or responses “ - but by manifestation of the truth we commend ourselves
to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” Paul says, “I will never use the Bible. I will
never deceive anybody. I will never try to be dishonest with anybody to gain my own ends.
All I desire to do is to manifest the truth, and therefore to commend myself in the sight of
God.” All response in worship is a response to the Word of God.
And it’s amazing how many people don’t understand this. As I mentioned some time
earlier, people very often ask me, “How can you have a worship service when you preach
such a long time? When do your people have time to worship?” And the answer is you
cannot worship God apart from an understanding of who He is. That’s why I’m so
committed to expository preaching. That’s why I’m so committed to the systematic
teaching of the Word of God, week in, week out. There is no other thing to do.
I could give you clever sermons that would move your emotions, and they would move your
attitudes, and I could maybe make you cry by filling in a whole lot of stories and other
things. I could make it interesting, and fun, and exciting. But when it was all said and
done you might say, “Boy, John MacArthur can preach,” but you wouldn’t worship God.

It is a far greater challenge for me to teach the Word of God and let it commend you to
respond to God as God is revealed in this, His self-revelation.
That’s why I think that any young person going into the ministry who is not committed to
expository preaching is cutting his own throat, ultimately. Because people must respond in
life at every dimension to the truth of the Word of God. We have to worship in truth. And
truth is revealed in this Word. And that’s our source. And that’s why I’m so totally
committed to the fact that we must teach the Word of God.
When the early church met together, they met to discuss the apostle’s doctrine, to be taught
the apostle’s doctrine, the teachings of the apostles. What were they? They were the
revelations of God about Himself, the self disclosure of God made manifest through their
writings and their teachings. And they were the substance of the truth on which those
people worshiped. That’s why Paul said to Timothy, “Until I come, read the text, explain
the text, and apply the text. Stay in the text. Teach sound doctrine.” What’s that? Truth
about God.
We’re not here to create an emotional experience. We’re here to teach you about God out
of this book, and out of that foundation of knowledge comes worship.
You know, if you want to see an illustration of this, look at 1 Corinthians 14, and this might
serve as a good illustration. People in the Corinthian church had pretty well flipped out to
the extreme of enthusiastic content-less activity. I mean, they were going through all kinds
of ecstatic gibberish and the rather upfront, showy kind of demonstrations that had come
out of their pagan background had been dragged into the church, and they were setting
content and truth aside for the sake of their ecstasies, and they were unintelligible, non-
understandable, emotional experiences.
And Paul indicts them in verse 14 by saying, “If I pray in a tongue - ” or language “ - my
spirit prays but my understanding is unfruitful.” And that’s to limp because God wants to
be worshiped not only “in spirit but in - ” what? “ - in truth.” And an unfruitful
understanding is not what God wants. And so he says, “I will pray with the spirit, and I
will pray with the understanding also: - ” and when I sing “ - I will sing with the spirit, and
I will sing with the understanding also.” I mean, because people must understand what
they see, it says in verse 16.
Now go to verse 23. And he says, as an illustration, “If the whole church comes together to
one place, and everybody speaks these unintelligible languages, and somebody comes in
who is unlearned, and unbelieving, they’re going to say you’re mad.” The result is they’re
going to just say these people are out of their minds. “But if you preach - ” and that’s what
“prophesy” means, “to speak forth,” “ - if you preach - ” the Word of God “ - and one
comes in who believes not, or is unlearned, he will be convicted and judged. And the

secrets of his heart will be made manifest; and he will fall down on his face and worship
God.”
You see, the effect of a purely emotional thing is that people get a good feeling. The effect
of the truth is that they worship God. And don’t ever confuse an ecstatic feeling with
worshiping God. Truth is at the heart of worship. We’re not denying the enthusiasm and
the feeling, it just must be inseparably linked to the truth. It has to be.
In the early church they worshiped, and they used songs, and they used hymns, and they
used spiritual songs, they made melodies. They had times of praise and times of thanks.
And all of those are listed in Colossians 3:16-17. But it says in 16 before that, “Let the
word of Christ dwell in you - ” plousis abundantly, fully, “ - richly.” So that when the
Word dominates you, then your praise is regulated, and your worship is conformed to the
divine standard.
So the nature of worship, the essence of worship, what is it? It’s to offer God worship from
depths of our inner being in praise, and prayer, and song, and giving, and living, but
always based upon His revealed truth. And it’s so difficult to keep the church conformed
to that because the church tends on the one hand to get cold, and lifeless, and dead, and icy;
and on the other hand to get emotional, and fanatical, and feeling-oriented; and there must
be a balance. And we who tend to be on the icy, unemotional end get intimidated by the
feelers over there, don’t we? But that’s not where it belongs either. It’s both in balance.
We must know the truth.
You know, when Paul went to Mars Hill in Athens in chapter 17 of Acts. But their worship
was unacceptable, and his indictment is most telling, most telling. He says a very simple
thing to them, just listen, verse 23. “As I passed by, and behold your devotions, I found an
altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye worship in
ignorance.” There was the indictment. “You worship in an ignorance.” And that’s
unacceptable. You cannot worship God in ignorance.
And may I say that even on the cold and sort of orthodox end, where ritual, and formality,
and routine, and tradition has become a mindless, meaningless activity, there’s just as
much a loss of true worship as in the ecstasies of the other extreme. And so I submit to you
that if you’re going to worship God, there must be faithful commitment to the Word of
God. It isn’t going to happen by some zap out of heaven. You worship as the overflow of
your understanding of God’s self-revelation. And it’s here in this book.
And if you’re running around waiting to get zapped with some thunderbolt out of the blue,
and fall into some glorious ecstasy and worship God, it is not going to happen legitimately.
As you study the Word of God, and discover its truths, and meditate on its truths, and
focus on God, and have an undivided heart, and a repentant heart that’s pure and clean,
you’re going to find the flow out of that heart as one of worship.

Over and over in the New Testament you read this phrase, “Brethren, I would not have you
to be - ” what? “ - ignorant.” There’s no premium in the Bible on ignorance. “Be diligent
to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly
dividing the word of truth.” “Be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” Truth, truth, truth.
And so we have been given the command to “worship in spirit and in truth.”
Now, I trust and pray that the Spirit of God will tie those things deep within us. The
essence of worship, so simple and yet so profound in its perfect balance, can only be
accomplished by the power of the Holy Spirit. But you must come along with a willingness
to dig into the Word of God so that your worship will be a flowing over of that discovery
and meditation.
Now the results of worship, the results. We know we are to worship because we’ve been
commanded to do that. But all of us are result-oriented and we naturally ask the question
if we really begin to worship what will happen? And I believe this will happen in our lives
and in our church. What are the results of worship? And they’re so simple and yet so far
reaching.
Number one, God will be glorified. God will be glorified. You see, He will be glorified
when He is worshiped. Psalm 50:23, “Who so offereth praise glorifieth Me.” When we
praise God, when we worship God, He is glorified. In Leviticus 10:3 He says, “I will be
sanctified in them that come near Me, and before all the people I will be glorified.” God
wants to be set apart, and as we come to Him He is glorified among His people. The
supreme purpose of life is to glorify God. And if that’s all there was that would be enough.
When we worship, beloved, when we worship God as God is to be worshiped, He is
glorified. And that’s the reason we exist. That’s enough, that God should be glorified.
But secondly, I believe that when we worship God as He desires to be worshiped,
Christians are purified. Christians are purified. There’s no question about it in my mind.
When you approach God to worship God, immediately you are faced with this reality -
Psalm 24 - that He that cometh into My presence must come with “clean hands, and a - ”
what? “ - pure heart.” So that a worshiping church is a pure church. It demands that.
As we enter into God’s presence, there is a recognition of our sinfulness and there is a
willingness to abandon that sinfulness. There is a consuming desire to be pure, and to be
clean. The closer we draw to God, the nearer we come to God, the more overwhelmed we
become with our sinfulness and cry with David, “Search me, O God, and know my heart.
See if there be any wicked way in me.”
And so, I believe that God is glorified in worship. And that’s enough. I also believe
Christians are purified. And I believe that the key to the sanctity of the church is the
worship of the church. That’s why you need to be here. In worshiping God in the
assembly of His redeemed people, as you are drawn into the presence of God by the music,

and by the message of the Word of God, and the truth that you hear, as you are drawn into
His presence, there is an immediate facing of the reality of your sinfulness.
That’s the reason the Lord’s Table is so very, very important. And that’s the reason the
early church so frequently engaged in the Lord’s Table, even daily. And maybe reason
enough for you in your family, in your fellowship groups, to come to the Lord’s Table that
you might come face to face with the need to be pure.
Thirdly, I believe where true worship occurs, not only is God glorified and Christians
purified, but the church is edified. The church is edified. The church is built up. The
church is transformed.
You know, you read the book of Acts, and it’s so marvelous that when the church was
worshiping, they found favor with God, they found favor with everybody. And the Lord
added to the church daily, such as should be saved. They filled the city with their doctrine.
They turned the world upside down. They were winsome. They were attractive. They
were dynamic. I believe that a worshiping church is a church that is built up. And may I
hasten to add this, please? By “edified” I don’t mean we feel better, I mean we live better.
We live better. That’s the issue. We live better. The Lord purges, purifies, builds up the
church.
And it says in 1 Corinthians 14:26, “Let everything be done to edifying.” Let everything be
done to build the church. A church is built up in its worship. As you come together to
worship the Lord, you become strong, you become transformed. Let me just say this
another way. Worship changes people, true worship. And if you have come a long time
and you’re unchanged, then you’re not really worshiping. If worship does not change us, it
has not been worship. I mean, when you draw nigh into the presence of God, there must be
change. You can’t come back the same any more than Paul could when he was caught into
the third heaven. You can’t.
If worship does not propel us into greater obedience, call it what we will, it isn’t worship.
It isn’t worship unless we come out of it with a greater commitment to obedience. As
worship begins in holy expectancy, it ends in holy obedience or it isn’t worship. It can’t be.
It has to change us.
In Exodus 33:11 it says this incredible statement. “And the Lord spoke unto Moses face to
face, as a man speaketh unto his friend.” Now there’s worship. Moses and God, face to
face. I mean, in that same chapter God lets His glory pass before Moses and sees a glimpse
of the Shekinah of God. I mean, they’re close. They’re close.
And you know what happens out of a face to face intimacy with God? I’ll tell you what
happens. Worship does. 34:8, “And Moses went fast, and bowed his head toward the
earth, and worshipped.” I mean, that is the response to intimacy with God, worship. And

then you know his next response was? Verse 9. He said, “If now I have found grace in Thy
sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray Thee, go among us; for it is a stiffnecked people; and
pardon our iniquity and our sin.”
And there we see again the same thing, don’t we? Face to face with God, in the intimacy of
worship, he is immediately overwhelmed with his own what? Sin, and the sin of his people.
And there’s a broken and contrite heart. And immediately God responds so wonderfully in
verse 10 and says, “I’ll make you a promise: before all the people I will do marvels, as have
not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation: and all the people among whom thou art
shall see the work of the Lord: for it is an awe-inspiring thing that I will do with thee.”
God says, “Moses, I’m going to bless you. I’m going to do things through your life that are
awesome.”
You should start out face to face with the living God. And in that face-to-face
confrontation, you bow in worship, overwhelmed by your sin, and God’s response is
forgiveness and restoration, and the covenant of promise to bless you and to pour His
awesomeness through you. And the result is you’re changed.
Chapter 34, later in verse 29 says when Moses came down the mountain, “his face shone.”
He face was so brilliantly lit that he was unrecognizable. He was so different that he wasn’t
the man he was when he went up there. And that’s worship. Worship transforms people.
Holy intimacy face to face, you come here and you come face to face with God, or you get in
your closet at home and your time in the Word, and you come face to face with God, and
you see God, and you’re forced to fall if your vision is clear, and if your heart is undivided,
and if you’re meditating, and discovering, and focusing, and it the Spirit of God is in your
life working on you, you’ll be brought to your knees, and you’ll be seeing your sin, and
you’ll cry out to God for cleansing for that which you can see, and for what you can’t see
you’ll say, “Search me and know my heart.” And out of that kind of confession of sin, God
will give you sweet promises of His power to flow through you, and you’ll come out of that
place of worship a transformed person. Has to be. I mean, you cannot be with God and
come out and not have your face shine.
And so, the result is not only that God is glorified, Christians are purified, but the church is
edified. Not better feelings, better living.
There’s a fourth result. The lost are evangelized. The lost are evangelized. The profound
testimony of a worshiping community has a greater impact probably than any single
sermon does. Did you hear that? Has a greater impact than any single sermon.
I’ll never forget the Jewish lady who went down to the temple down the street to get
counsel. Her marriage was breaking up. And they told her if she didn’t pay - hadn’t paid
her dues - and so they couldn’t counsel her until she paid up her dues. And she was very
upset. And she came out. And it happened to be on a Sunday, and she got on to the

sidewalk, and got caught in the crowd, and wound up in Grace Church during the worship
service.
I baptized her a few weeks after that. And she said, “I don’t remember anything you said.
In fact, I couldn’t even tell you what the sermon was about. But,” she says, “I was
absolutely in awe of the joy, and the peace, and the love that was going on among the
people as they worshiped. I had never seen anything to come close to that.” As a result she
became a Christian, just seeing the worshiping people.
And this has happened again and again, and it is really the first attraction. Many of you
folks that are here perhaps visiting for the first time, are more curious about what’s going
on out there than you are about what’s going on up here. And you have a right to be. I
believe that where there’s a worshiping group of people who lift their hearts to God and
know His infinite blessing, and whose faces shine because they’re in His presence, there is
going to be an impact that’s utterly devastating on the world.
In 1 Corinthians he says, “If you shape your worship up - ” I read it to you earlier, 14:23
and 25. “If you’ll just get your worship shaped up, and do it the way it ought to be done,
the unbelievers are going to come in there, and they’re going to fall on their face and
worship God.” Great impact on the lost through a worshiping people.
The results of worship: God is glorified, Christians are purified, the church is edified, and
the lost are evangelized.
Now, I want to give you a test right here. And I want you to stay with it. Don’t leave me
for the next ten minutes. This is the crux of pulling it all together. Some of you are saying
to yourself, “John, I understand worship now. I understand the importance of it. God
seeks worshipers. I understand the source of it, my salvation. I understand the object is
God. I understand the sphere is everywhere and at all times, especially in the corporate
assembly of the redeemed people. I understand the essence of worship. It must be
perfectly balanced between spirit and truth, the Word of God and the heart. And I’m
ready. And you’ve got me slammed against the wall now. What do I do? How do I really
prepare myself to worship?”
You’re going to get up on Sunday. You’re going to come here. What are you going to do?
How are you going to prepare yourself to worship? How can it happen? One verse can be
your text. You ought to write this verse in the front of your Bible, and these four little
points I’m going to give you, and use it as a worship preparation.
Hebrews 10:22. To me it is the greatest summation of preparation. The issue here, people -
listen now - the issue when you come here to worship is not how well prepared the choir is.
The issue is not how well prepared the preacher is. The issue is how well prepared are you

to worship God? Now begin with verse 22, it says, “Let us draw near,” and you can stop
there.
This is a call to worship. Draw near. To whom? To God. Come on, it’s time to worship.
Let’s draw near. Let’s move toward God. You say, “That’s what I want to do, John. I
understand it now. I see it. I want to draw near.” But there are some conditions, four
checkpoints.
First one, “with a true heart.” I call that “sincerity.” That’s the first test, sincerity. Are
you really sincere? Is your heart fixed? Are you worshiping with your whole heart? Are
you praying with David, “Unite my heart, O Lord”? Are you really sincere and undivided?
Second, “draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.” Now that’s what I call
“fidelity.” You see, he’s writing to the Hebrews, and they were very use to the Old
Testament. They were very use to the old covenant. The new covenant had come, the New
Testament had come. The new revelation in Jesus Christ, the mysteries were unfolding.
And in order for them to worship God, they had to say no to the old covenant, right? No
more ceremonies, no more sacrifices, no more symbols, pictures, types, and the old was
gone. It was set aside. It was over.
A new and better covenant had come, and they had to be willing to say, “I am coming to
God in full confidence of the revealed faith in the New Testament. In full assurance that it
isn’t a works system. It isn’t a ceremony system. It is that which is revealed in the faith of
the new covenant.” You have to come fully by faith in that revealed in Jesus Christ. That’s
fidelity.
So, you worship not only with sincerity, but you worship according to the truth. That’s
what “fidelity” means. The truth revealed in the New Testament, in full assurance that it is
saving truth, that you don’t have to hang on to any of your own works, any of your own
worthiness, any of your own self-righteousness, any of your own rituals. You’re fully
assured that you can come to God simply and only through faith as revealed in the new
covenant.
Thirdly, “Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience.” This is humility. You
come to God knowing you have no business being there because your heart is filled with an
evil conscience and you’ve got to be sprinkled from that. And it was the blood of Jesus
Christ on the cross that took care of our sin.
So you come to God knowing that you’re unworthy, and that in order to even be there, you
had to have your evil heart cleansed. That’s humility. So as we worship, there’s a sense of
unworthiness, a sense of the cross making provision for our sin. Knowing, Lord, I have no
business being here except that You washed me. You sprinkled me clean from the evil that
was in me.

And so, to worship God, you must pass the test of sincerity. You must pass the test of
fidelity. You must come strictly and only on the terms that God’s revealed in the new
covenant, with none of your own goodness, and none of your own worth at all. You come
strictly by faith in full assurance that that’s all that’s needed. Thirdly, you come knowing
you have no right to be there, that’s humility, and you’re there only because you’ve been
washed.
And fourthly, “And our bodies washed with pure water.” I call this one “purity.”
Sincerity, fidelity, humility, and purity, and this is not the same as the prior one. This is
that daily washing, you know? This is where before you come to worship, you’ve got to
deal with the sin in your life: sin confessed, sin purged. Yes, your heart has been cleansed
at the cross. But your feet picked up the dust of the world, didn’t they? And there must be
a confession of sin.
Every time you worship, beloved, I suggest that this is the test you have to go through. Am
I sincere? Is my heart fixed? Is my whole heart devoted to God? Am I focusing on Him?
Am I seeing Him in the Word in discovery and meditation, so that my hungering desire in
totality is to draw nigh unto Him? Am I assured that I can come simply and only on faith,
and have the full assurance that it is sufficient as revealed in the new covenant? That we
are saved by faith and we have a new and living way by faith?
And am I coming knowing that I have no reason to be there except for Christ? Coming in
humility. And am I coming in purity, having dealt with any sin in my life? I dare say that
if you would just take an extra little time in the morning on the Lord’s Day, and open your
Bible to that verse, and just check your way through, you would do more to prepare your
heart for worship than any other thing I know. “And then you can come unto Me,” He
says, “by the new and living way, through Jesus Christ.”
Are you sincere? Are you committed to the truth of the new covenant? Are you placing all
of your right to access on the finished work of Christ? And are you pure, having dealt with
the sin in your life? If you are, you can say, “Let us draw nigh unto God and He will - ”
what? “ - draw nigh unto us.”
Now all this will work in your life. All this will change your life. I believe that. Unless
you’re hindered. And I want to close with this, and listen very carefully. Some of you have
been coming to church for years but you’ve never really drawn nigh unto God. You don’t
have the sense of the nearness of God. Even in your life, in your own private devotion and
prayer, and so forth, you don’t have it in it. Maybe that there are some things you need to
do to prepare your heart for worship.
There are all kinds of worship modes, but I’m going to suggest three barriers that will
prevent this from working in your life, and this is where I’m going to finish. And I want
you to listen very carefully.

You’ve got to start somewhere, and you can’t just Walk in here, and open your mouth, and
let the praise pour out if you’ve got some things in your life you haven’t dealt with. The
first one is what I’ll call “the worship of repentance,” the worship of repentance. If there is
sin in your life that’s not been dealt with, you’ve got to deal with it. And you’ve got to
accept the responsibility for it and confess it.
In 2 Samuel 12, we find David. David had sinned a great sin. Oh, what a great sin. He’d
sinned with Bathsheba, committed adultery, and then had her husband murdered. And
then David, who had sinned so greatly against God, saw the little child born of that union
dying and he knew God was punishing him. And this is what he said. This is what the
Scripture says. “David arose from the earth, washed, anointed himself, changed his
clothes, came into the house of the Lord, and worshipped.”
You know what that is? That is the worship of repentance. You say, “What do you mean
by that?” I mean that here he was in the midst of the saddest tragic situation, the loss of
his little baby son, and yet he worshiped God because he knew he was receiving what he
deserved. In the midst of his chastening, he worshiped. In repentance the soul says, “I
have sinned and I deserve these calamities. I have erred against the truth. And I have,
most of all, sinned against God.” The worship of repentance means that right in the midst
of chastening, you pour out your heart to God, and you confess your sin, and you say I’m
getting what I deserve.
Some of you can’t get the praise part because you’ve never dealt with your sin, you’ve
never poured out your heart in repentance to God. You may even be angry or bitter over
some of the things that you’ve been chastened by. It’s going to have to start for some of
you with the worship of repentance over your sin. David did. It says he “went into the
house of the Lord, and worshiped.” He could worship God even while God was smiting
him, so committed was he to worship.
Secondly, I call this “the worship of acceptance,” the worship of acceptance. In the
familiar words of Job, when Job heard the news that everything he loved was gone: his
possessions, his animals, his children, all gone. You know what the Bible says? “Job arose,
rent his clothes, shaved his head, fell down on the ground - ” and listen to this “ - and
worshipped.” Did you think he might have cursed God? He just lost everything: all of his
children, all of his crops, his animals, everything. And he worshiped. I call that “the
worship of acceptance.”
He hadn’t sinned like David. God was just doing this for His own purposes. And Job said,
“Look, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return: the Lord gave,
and the Lord hath taken away - ” what? “ - blessed be the name of the Lord.” That is the
worship of an unquestioning acceptance. And some of you people have never been able to
worship God because you’re still unable to accept some circumstances God has brought

into your life, and they’ve made you bitter, and you can’t worship. And until you get to the
point of acceptance, you’re never going to be able to worship God.
You see, George Mueller put it this way. He said, “There came a day when I died. I died to
the praise and the criticism of men. I died to everything but the will of God.” And may I
suggest that that was the day he began to live?
Job said, “He knoweth the way that I take, and when He has tried me, I shall come forth as
gold.” It’s the worship of acceptance. To be willing to accept your circumstances, to be
willing to accept your place in life, your job, your career, your partner, your children, your
whole circumstance, and say, “God, You knew all of this;” the loss of your loved one, the
loss of your child, the loss of your job, the pain of illness, and say, “I can worship You in
the midst of it all.”
You see, sin will hold you from worship, and so will bitterness, and an inability to accept
what God has brought. And keep in mind that when God does bring those things into your
life He has a purpose, doesn’t He?
I was reading a verse that just fascinated me, in the 48th chapter of Jeremiah. You don’t
need to turn to it. I just want to comment on it very briefly. In Jeremiah 48:11 it says this -
God’s about to judge Moab - it says, this is why, “Moab hath been at ease from his youth.”
In other words, he’d invariably get into trouble when you don’t have problems because you
don’t really grow. Has had it so easy and so smooth, “that he hath settled on his dregs, and
has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, therefore his taste remained in him, and his
scent is not changed.”
Now I read that and I thought, “That’s a very obscure statement.” “Moab has settled in
his dregs, has not been poured from vessel to vessel, and therefore the scent is in him.”
What in the world is that talking about? You know what it’s talking about? It’s talking
about making wine. And what they did was they had a container, and they put the grapes
that were prepared for the wine in there, and they let them sit for a while. And eventually
the bitterness and the sediment would fall out of it and settle into the bottom, and that’s
what we call “the dregs.”
And then after a while, when that had done, they would pour it into another vessel, and the
remaining bitterness would settle into the bottom in sediment called “dregs” again. And
then they would pour to another container, and another vessel, and another, and another,
and another, and over a period of a long time, just keep pouring it from vessel to vessel to
vessel to vessel to vessel, till finally all of that sediment would be in the bottle, all of that
bitterness would - in the bottom, rather - all of that bitterness would be gone, and the wine
coming out of that final vessel would have the aroma of sweetness that the winemaker
wanted it to have.

And you know what the prophet is saying about Moab? You see, Moab has never lost its
bitterness. It’s never been poured from difficult situation to difficult situation, where the
bitterness has been taken out. By the way, the dregs in the bottom of all those containers
are what vinegar is made of, because of its bitterness.
Listen, you’re better off in life if God pours you from vessel to vessel to vessel to vessel to
vessel, and each time you’re poured into a different trial, each time you’re confined in a
different circumstance, a little of the bitterness of life is gone. And finally, one day He’ll
pour you out of that last vessel and all that will be there is the sweet aroma that He was
after all the time, and the bitter scent will be gone. And the sooner you learn the worship
of acceptance, the freer you’re going to be to lift your heart in praise to God. Paul said,
“The last drops of my life are poured out as a sweet savor to God.” He’d gone from vessel
to vessel to vessel.
And then lastly, the worship of devotion, or commitment. And it just hits me that in
Genesis 22, Abraham went up to Mount Moriah and he had Isaac. And this is so amazing.
God had said, “You go up there and you slay Isaac. You kill him as an offering.” And you
know what it says in Genesis 22? “Abraham came to the place that the Lord had spoken to
him of, and Abraham said to his young men - ” the ones traveling with him “ - Abide ye
here with the ass; I and the lad will go yonder and we will worship.” Incredible. To me
that’s incredible. The fact that he could see that as worship to God, when it was going to
take the life of his own son. You see, that’s devoting yourself to worship no matter what
the cost is. You see?
I mean, seeing beyond the pain, seeing beyond the difficulty. Some people can’t worship
God because they can’t bother to get out of bed. How far is that from being willing to stick
a knife in the chest of your own beloved son? And calling it worship, if that’s what God
said?
“Let’s go,” he says, “and worship.” He didn’t use the word “sacrifice.” Why? He saw
past that. He saw beyond that. He saw beyond the giving and the offering. He saw beyond
the price and the cost to the worship.
Some people, as I say, can’t come here and be free to worship because they’ve got to start
with the worship of repentance, or the worship of acceptance, or the worship of devotion.
And they’re not willing to deal with their sin. They’re not willing to deal with their
circumstances, and they’re not willing to pay the price. But, may I suggest to you that if
you worship, you’ll receive the promise of God that through your life He’ll pour His
awesomeness. I close with this.
A.W. Tozer asked an interesting question, he said this. “Are we losing our oh? - ” Are we
losing our oh? “When the heart on its knees moves into the awesome presence and hears
with fear and wonder things not lawful to utter. The mind falls flat and words previously

its faithful servants become weak and totally incapable of telling what the heart hears and
sees. In that awful moment the worshiper can only cry, ‘Oh!’ ” Are we losing our oh? I
pray not.
Father, thank You for our time this morning. We pray that You will meet us at our need,
make us true worshipers, for Christ’s sake. Amen.

Worship in spirit and in truth

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Worship in spirit and in truth

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