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What comes to your mind when you think about heaven? Do you think about clouds and angels and harps? Do you think about a place of perfect peace and contentment? Maybe when you think about heaven, you think about a lost loved one. Maybe you think about a street of gold and gates made of great pearl. Can you picture it? Of course you can’t picture it. You can’t picture it, because you’re trying to imagine something that our brains can’t comprehend. We don’t have words to describe what we’ll see there. When Jesus gave John a glimpse into heaven and told him to write down what he saw, John had to use figurative words. He had to paint a picture of a place that words can’t describe. That’s why, when we see his words in Revelation, sometimes they can be unclear. But even though John’s description of what we will see in heaven is unclear, his description of what we’ll be doing there isn’t. From the time in Revelation 4:1 when John was told to “come up here,” the activity of heaven was clear to him. From beginning to end, the activity of heaven is constant, continual worship. No matter how much you like to fish here, you won’t be fishing in heaven. No matter how much you like to throw a baseball here, you won’t be throwing a baseball in heaven. We will be all-consumed in our worship and adoration of Jesus. When we see Him face to face, we won’t be able to take our eyes off Him. Our eternity will be spent fulfilling our joy by lifting up our voice with all of heaven and saying, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. Blessing and honor and glory and power be unto him that sits on the throne and unto the Lamb forever and ever.” That’s what we know about heaven. Heaven will be a place of ultimate joy because we will be in continual worship. So you know what that tells me? It tells me that if you don’t like praise and worship and singing now, you’d better start getting used to it. Because if you’re saved, that’s what you’re going to be doing for a long, long time. For the past couple of weeks we’ve been talking about worship. Two weeks ago, we talked about worshipping in spirit. Last week we talked about worshipping in truth. This morning we’re putting the two together. Jesus didn’t just say that we are to worship God in spirit. He didn’t just say that we are to worship God in truth. We are to worship the Father in spirit and truth. We can look all around us at different churches this morning and see how this is missed. I don’t say that as a source of pride, I say it as a source of warning. The tendency of the church throughout history is to emphasize one and neglect the other. If worship is a narrow road, there are ditches on both sides. One side there is the ditch of worshipping only in spirit. On the other side of the road is the ditch of worshipping only in truth. Jesus calls us to worship God on the road between those two ditches. I’m not going to say that we’re supposed to balance the two. Balance means that two things are on opposite sides and are always in tension against one another. Worshipping in spirit and truth are not in tension with each other. Worshipping Jesus who is truth… worshipping a Jesus whose content is defined by the Bible… that is worshipping in truth. And when that happens, you can’t help but have deep feelings. Worship includes both thinking clearly and feeling deeply. It is when we focus on one without the other that we run into problems. If we move off of the road Jesus calls us to be on, we will fall into a ditch. Either the ditch of truthless spirit. Or the ditch of spiritless truth. To put it in other words, when we fail to worship in spirit AND truth, we leave the church and enter either the carnival or the crematorium. The danger in preaching this text the way I have is that if you only came two weeks ago, you might want to focus only on worshipping in spirit. And if that is all you focus on, you will be headed to the carnival. If you only came last week, you might want to focus only on worshipping in truth. And if that is all you focus on, you will be headed to the crematorium. The two must be put together. You cannot be the kind of worshipper God is seeking without both spirit and truth. The evidence of one without the other is all around us. Spirit without truth is liberalism. All the emphasis is on feelings and emotions. It quickly becomes froth with no substance. Throughout the years, this kind of worship has been mistakenly called revival. It’s not anything new. It was the one of the problems with the church at Corinth. They were caught up in the sign gifts. They were captivated by the show. So much so that they allowed brazen immorality in their midst. When Paul brought unvarnished truth to them, they didn’t want to tolerate it. In that kind of environment, the first thing to go is a commitment to the Bible as the inerrant, infallible Word of God. It is the essence of liberalism and it comes from trying to worship God in spirit alone. It is the carnival—all screams, no substance. But that is not the only extreme that is evident around us. It’s just that the other extreme is much more subtle. It is much more subtle, but it is every bit as destructive. Even as spirit without truth is liberalism, truth without spirit is legalism. All the emphasis is on truth and teaching and doctrine and theology. Everything is directed at the head and things of the heart are frowned upon. This kind of worship quickly becomes cold. It quickly becomes dead. The emphasis is on outward reform—don’t drink, don’t smoke, don’t chew, don’t go with the girls that do. The focus is on thou shalts and thou shalt nots. The people in this kind of church are solid. They’re solid just like cement—cold and dead. That came to be the problem with the church at Ephesus. It had started out to be a wonderful church. Paul preached there for three years. Then Timothy did. Then John did. They had some of the best teaching you can imagine. Anytime false teaching came on the scene, they put a stop to it. But by the time John was exiled to the island of Patmos, the church took their emphasis on truth to the extreme. They fell in the ditch. They forgot about worshipping in spirit altogether. So much so, that when Jesus told John to write them in Revelation 2, He accused them of losing their first love. They had lost their passion. To quote those great theologians the Righteous Brothers, “They lost that loving feeling, now it’s gone, gone, gone.” God is not to be worshipped by turning the church into a carnival. Neither is He to be worshipped by allowing the church to become a crematorium. The church is not Carowinds. Neither is it Craven-Shires. The only way to avoid that is to worship the way that Jesus tells us to in this passage. Jesus gives us instruction as to how to combine what we’ve looked at for the past two weeks. He tells us how to worship in spirit AND truth. And when we begin to do that, it will be the closest we can come to experiencing a little bit of heaven on earth. So, do you want to experience a little bit of heaven here this morning? Then we need to practice real worship. The first way we need to practice real worship is to understand that real worship is sought by God.
Real worship is sought by God. In verse 23, Jesus says that the Father seeks those who will worship Him in spirit and truth. What a mistaken concept we have of worship. We think that somehow we’re offering God some sort of favor when we worship Him. Well guess what. Worship is not something that we originate. Let’s take it back to the context of our passage. Remember that Jesus is talking to the woman at the well. It’s not just a casual conversation. Jesus has met with her for one reason and one reason only. He has met with her to present the Gospel to her. He has met with her to introduce her to Himself. Now, take a step back with me. Who arranged that meeting? Jesus did. Remember back at the beginning of this chapter, the Bible says that Jesus and His disciples left Judea and headed to Galilee. All good Jews of the day went around Samaria when they traveled that way. But not Jesus. Verse 4 says that “He must needs go through Samaria.” Jesus needed to go through Samaria. He needed to go through the Samaritan city of Sychar. He needed to stop at a well with no bucket at a time when no one else would typically be there. Why? Because He had an appointment with a woman there. Did she set the appointment? No, as a matter of fact, had she know the nature of the appointment, she would have probably cancelled. Jesus set the appointment. He knew that particular woman was going to be at that particular well at that particular time. And He was there. He was there because He was seeking her. Jesus was seeking that woman just like He is seeking you. Romans 3:10-12 says, “There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” Because of the sin we are born into and the sin we willingly commit, it is not possible for us to seek after God. There is none that seeks after God. Thank God that He seeks after us. Romans 5:8-10 says, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” Real worship… not the kind of worship that is just a ginned up emotional event… not the kind of worship that is a holier-than-thou legalistic event. Real worship is sought by God. The Lord takes you as you are in your wretched state of rebellion and sin. He pursues you and prompts you and places His gospel in front of you. He shows you His goodness in the creation around you. He blesses you with life and family and breath and existence which you don’t deserve. He does all that to draw you to a worshipping relationship with Him. Just like Jesus set an appointment with that woman, He has set an appointment with you. He is seeking you to worship Him. Real worship is sought by God. Not only is real worship sought by God, real worship is demanded by God.
Real worship is demanded by God. So often when we think of God seeking the lost, we get the wrong picture. When we hear Jesus say that He came the first time to seek and to save that which was lost, we get sort of a pitiful picture in our mind. When we see the pictures that have been painted of Revelation 3:20 of Jesus standing at the door and knocking, why does Jesus always have such a pitiful look on His face? It’s like He’s this weakling who is begging and pleading people to be His friend. Make no mistake about it, Jesus seeks. But He seeks out of His great love—not out of His great need. Jesus is God and as God, Jesus needs nothing. The reason He seeks sinners to save is to display His majestic love and glory… not to fulfill a need. God doesn’t seek worship because He somehow needs it. He seeks worship because He demands it. Verse 24 is a command. If you write in your Bible, you might want to place a big, bold circle around the word “must”. They that worship Him MUST worship in spirit and in truth. Worship is not an option. You might get home from church this afternoon and be able to say, “I really didn’t feel like worshipping today.” But even if you feel that way today, you need to realize that worship is not an option. God demands worship. In the eternal councils of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, God purposed to reveal Himself in a creative act. He created the heavens and the earth and all they contain. Why did He do it? To put His glory on display. Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.” When God placed human beings in the middle of that creation, He gave us a special place. Psalm 8:5-6 says, “For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet.” And why did God do all that? He did it to proclaim His majesty. He did it to put His glory on display. He did it to be worshipped. And make no mistake about it, He will be worshipped. When Jesus was making His triumphal entry into Jerusalem before He was to be crucified… do you remember what happened? He was riding on a donkey colt and the people were worshipping Him. They were shouting hosannas and praising Him as their King. When the Pharisees heard this, they were appalled. When they saw the people pouring out their worship to Jesus, they told Him, “Tell your people to quit worshipping you like that.” Do you remember what Jesus told them? In Luke 19:40, Jesus told the Pharisees, “I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.” Make no mistake about it, Jesus will be worshipped. Either He will be worshipped by you in spirit and truth on this side of the grave… or He will be worshipped in weeping and gnashing of teeth on the other side of the grave. Real worship is demanded by God. But if real worship is sought by God and real worship is demanded by God, how can it happen? God demands real worship of what He’s created because of who He is—that’s clear. And God seeks real worship, because we’re dead in our trespasses and sins. If God didn’t first seek us to worship Him, we would never seek Him to worship. It seems that God is demanding and seeking worship from people who simply can’t do anything about it. And we can’t. We are helpless to do what God is seeking from us. We are helpless to do what God demands of us. That’s why He had to provide a way for us. Real worship is not only sought by God and demanded by God. Real worship is provided by God.
Real worship is provided by God. After Jesus explained all this to the woman, it didn’t make sense to her. Spiritual worship—her people practiced an extreme form of that. Truthful worship—the Jews practiced an extreme form of that. Her people had spirit without truth and were full-blown liberals. The Jews had truth without spirit and had become rock-ribbed legalists. But then Jesus told her that worship was not either one of those. It wasn’t either one, it was both. Worship was in spirit and in truth and it wasn’t an option. Jesus sought her and demanded of her. And she was not capable of responding. She knew she needed someone to bridge the gap for her. In verse 25, she said, “I know that Christ the Messiah is coming. When He comes, He’ll straighten it all out for me.” “He’ll provide all the things that I can’t provide for myself.” And what did Jesus say in verse 26? “I that speak unto thee am He.” The fact is, this woman knew she was a sinner. Jesus had shown her her sin. She knew she was a sinner and she knew that a sinner couldn’t worship in the way that Jesus demanded. She could throw up her hands in an emotional event. Or she could figure out how to reform her life and live by a Pharisaical set of rules. She could do either one of those in her own strength. But she couldn’t worship in the way that Jesus was demanding. She couldn’t worship in spirit and truth together. So Jesus had to provide a way. He provided a way to take away her sin so she would no longer be an offense to God. He provided a way to give her His righteousness so she would be able to stand in the presence of a holy God. And when she saw the provision that Jesus made for her, she believed. And when she believed, she was saved. And when she was saved, she worshipped Jesus in spirit and truth.
This morning, Jesus is seeking you to worship Him in spirit and truth. He has set an appointment to meet you here in this place at this time. He is seeking you and He has provided the way. He has provided the way for you to worship Him in spirit and truth when He died for your sins. He has provided the way for you when He rose again and lives to clothe you in His righteousness. You will worship Him—either willingly in this life or painfully in the next. Will you accept the provision He’s made for you and worship Him willingly today?
