John 4: 1-26.
The act of Worship can take many forms from the numerous religions aound the world - Satan worship, pagan and new age worship of nature - the secular worshippers of money, power, sport, fashion and show biz and the many world religions. As we look around the globe we see that human beings only intrinsically worship!
J. Horton, The General evidence is that human beings only give divine worship.
The Bible tells us many people worship in ignorance: Rom1:25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the creator who is forever praised. Amen
So what is true worship?
John.4:24 God is Spirit and His worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth.But before we look at what this means lets look at what its not!
Story lead up to passage in context
Jesus has already uncovered this womans immoral lifestyle v18 at this point she acknowledges Jesus as a prophet and switches the subject in the form of a question towards Jesus.
1. True worship is not about tradition and location. V19-20.
She has put out a smoke screen from her genuine deeper thoughts?
v20 Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place we must worship is Jerusalem.
The implication is that she is totally ignorant, confused about true worship?
V22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know: we worship what we do know, for salvation is of the Jews
Jesus reveals to her? That true worship is of the Jews and salvation will begin through the Jews and then to all.
At this point background between Samaritans(Pentateuch) and the Jews(OT)
1Kings 12:26 ¡V32.Intermarried
and inter faiths. 2 Kings.17:27 -33
The woman’s religion is void of true worship
It was solely based on the tradition of her fathers and the location mount Gerizim.
The Samaritans had set up a rival worship centre to the temple in Jerusalem. To the people it looked like they were doing the right thing following tradition and going to the right places but it was void of God!
You can be a memeber of a fan club but there is nothing like going to the real thing at the concert, they had a fan club but it was void of the concert. God wasn’t there!
The extent of their religion is based upon their particular tradition or Church attendance:eg location.
They fail to grasp the heart of worship. Many religious people are worshipping what they do not know?
Created religion void of true worship. The Moslem who worships Allah turning towards Mecca 5 times a day repeating the same prayer. At some time in his life he has to visit Mecca where he walks round the Kabba 7 times and kisses the sacred black stone. It has all the outward form the location (Mecca) the objects (sacred stone) the expectations, but it will have none of the inward reality of a true believer.
Isn’t it true today people are confused and even ignorant they think Christianity is just another Religion like Islam with all its outward form.
At a Danish Protestant Church, the congreagtion always turned and bowed before a white blank wall. Why? Custom for the local Church goers: After a restoration of interior wall; A pre reformation mural of the Virgin Mary was found. A Catholic custom of bowing to the Virgin had survived 300 years even after the reformation.
V 21 Jesus declared believe me women a time is coming when you will worship neither the Father neither on this mountain nor Jerusalem.
2. True worship is an inward reality not an outward form. v23
Once a little boy comes home from Church kneels by his bed and prayed, "We had a good time at Church today, but I wish you had been there God!"
Jesus reveals to us that inner spiritual reality has replaced geographical location for God’s worshippers neither worship upon the mountain or in the temple in Jerusalem neither are significant any longer.
For the kingdom of God has come and will be fully brought in by his death resurrection and ascension and the establishment of the NT Church.
External/internals
In the new dispensation, he reveals the externals are unimportant whether you are Jew, Samaritan, or Gentile whether you worship in this place or the other it’s unimportant what matters is the internal heart transformation.
A. Heart worship: Psl.9:1, 138:1. I will praise you with all my heart psl. 111:1. I will extol the Lord with all my heart 119:10 I seek you with all my heart.
The word spirit here is not referring to the Holy Spirit, albeit He indeed is pivotal and we cannot worship God without Him. Phil.3.3. We worship God in the Spirit of God and put no confidence in the flesh.
Jesus here is referring to the spirit of a person, that which God breathed into them Gen.2:7 giving them inner being, that part which gives rise to the intellect, conscience, the heart of the person. Rather than the material part the physical body. To worship in spirit is to pour out your heart to God.
"Lip Worship without the spirit active is hypocrisy"
In the OT the people of Israel often had the outward appearance of honoring God with their lips but inwardly their hearts were far from God. Often rebuked by the prophets, for turning away from true worship of God and embracing false worship
Isaiah.29:13.These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips but their hearts are from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.
Jesus was most critical towards the Jewish Pharisees who placed tradition before the command of God:
Matt 15.8-9 In the Sermon on the Mount: Two types of religious people one is external the other is internal Matt: 6:1-4, 5-6,16-18,
Surrendering to God all
Its not outside requirements but the inside reality of our spirit desiring God 24/7.
A.W.Tozer said, "If you do not worship God 7 days a week you cannot worship him one day a week."
Rom12:1 .I urge you brothers, in view of Gods mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship.
B. Truth no longer shadow
Psalm.51; 6 surly you desire truth in my innermost being.
Worship in truth: means that once Christ died upon that cross, Matt.27:51 and the temple curtain was torn from top to bottom and the way into the holiest was open to all. Only then did we begin to really worship in truth, prior to that all OT sacrifices were shadows and types awaiting the truth to come (Jesus)
Jhn.14:6. I am the way the truth and the life!
Jhn.17: 17.Sanctify them by the truth your Word is truth
3. True worship is the magnifying of God V23 Rev.4:6-11.
The chief aim of man is to worship (glorify) Him
It’s not in preparation to something else but fulfilling a major purpose of the Church. In relationship to God, we are called to magnify His name
Like a magnifying glass brings the object up close, when we worship God we are drawing closer and experiencing Him in a deeper way.
It is an act that expresses how glorious He is whether an inner act of the heart, or an outward action of the body or the congregation collectively, its magnifying God.It’s our first purpose to magnify God with our whole lives!
C.S. Lewis said, "In commanding us to glorify Him, God is inviting us to enjoy him.God wants our worship to be motivated by love, thanksgiving and delight not duty."
John Piper notes, "God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in him."
The apostle Paul Phil.1:20-23.Whether by life or by death Paul’s passion was upon Christ being exalted (magnified) So his whole life is set forth as worship to God. V20 sets forth the inner experience, which exalts Christ in his body. V21 he speaks to live is Christ and death as gain.
This reveals to us the exaltation of Christ in the death of the believer when you experience Christ as gain in death you are magnifying him! It is the inner essence of worship in death. Jhn.12:23-28. Jesus glorified the Father in His life and death!
Ills: A lady visitor-museum in Paris- suddenly collapsed and lost her speech except for sayings the word bring, bring forth the royal diadem and crown him Lord of all!
4.True worshippers are found by God
V23b: for they are the kind of worshippers the father seeks.The Father seeks out
Here we see that it is the Father who actively seeks out true worshippers. Here we see the compassion of the father He doesn’t wait for others to find Him, he actively seeks out worshippers. Was it not the father who sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world? Where would many of us be today if God had not sought us?
Jesus seeks out
Luke.19:10 The son of man who came to seek and to save that which was lost
And when we turn back to the beginning of this passage we see that it was Jesus Jhn.4:4. Who had to go through Samaria. To meet this particular women!
Jesus is directing her not to worry about the externals like location and tradition and whether Samaritan or Jew are right. But to consider the internal state of her own heart before God and see Jesus as her Messiah v25-26.
The question I ask are you today in the same position as this woman?
Maybe Jesus has revealed your immoral lifestyle, and yet you still put up a smoke screen with a theological conundrum, you are still debating over externals, instead of looking internally into your own heart. And looking at Jesus acknowledging who He is!
In the end she did and accepted Christ we know that v39 V 41, and what a bright light she became.
What about you?
What is the essence of Worship?
1. It’s responding to God in humility, reverence, in service and in adoration and praise.
Worship in some ways is a little bit like a magnifying glass, it enables us to see and experience a number of things:
2. What does a magnifying glass do?
It enables us to enlarge a particular object we are looking at.
When we are worshipping God, He becomes larger and more intimate to us. We can draw near to God.
3. It also enables us to see particular characteristics of the object we are looking at:
As we worship God we begin to see His characteristics like the purity of His holiness, the depth of His Love, the righteousness of His justice His constant faithfulness.
4. But also as we look into the magnifying glass we begin to see how all the parts are put together.
When we worship God, we see the big plan of salvation and how its all placed together for our benefit this is a great cause to magnify God. And we begin to learn Gods plan for our lives!
5. Without the magnifying glass we don’t see the object as fully detailed and the object seems more distant:
Just like the magnifying glass enables us to see a whole lot more, it’s the Lord Jesus Christ who has enabled us to worship God in an acceptable way and without Him we would not be able to magnify God at all!
In the Bible there are three words which underscore worship
1.Humility. Bowing down before God.
Matt.28:9. Externally we see the women bow down and clasp his feet and worshipped him after the resurrection.
The outward posture reflects an inner attitude of Humility.
Imagine the queen coming before us today and shaking our hands when one meets the queen people generally bow their heads.
2.Reverence. The fear of God not the fear of terror but a wonder and awe at his majesty and greatness of the infinite God.
3.Service: It was only the Levite priests who could serve God in the temple but now all Christians have become priests (1Pet:2:5-9)
What acts of service could we see as worship?
Are we worshippng community, who worship in spirit and in truth? I hope so. Lets remember God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.
