The Identification Of Worship Series

The Identification of Worship

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 who 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 came 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. As we conclude our study on worship, I want to preach on the thought: The Identification of Worship.

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. We discover it is:

A. Worship that is Earnest (20) – The Samaritan woman revealed their fathers had worshiped 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 worshiping God.

In our day, many are earnest in their worship. They are faithful to worship and deeply committed to that worship. A lot of people are sincere in their worship. Sadly, hell will be filled with sincerely religious people, those who were earnest in their religion and all of its traditions. Religious worship cannot save.

B. Worship that is Established (20) – She was not involved in some new age movement. She was influenced and involved in worship that had been established 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 she had embraced and endorsed.

We continue to see that in our day as well. There is a lot of established religion around the world. There are those who are worshipping the same way their fathers have for thousands of years. They hold firmly to the same traditions and rituals their worship has always demanded.

A form of religion that has been established and endured for hundreds or thousands of years does not necessarily make it right in the eyes of God. Men can be sincere in their worship and yet be sincerely wrong. There is much even in Baptist churches that is held to because of tradition rather than a biblical basis. Often these traditions are harder to change than fundamental doctrine. Folks are often unwilling to change their worship simply because that is the way they have always done it. We must not become slaves to tradition and man-made rituals or formalities. Our worship should be dictated of God.

C. Worship that is Exclusive (20) – Often this goes hand in hand with established religion. The Samaritan woman was quick to notice that Jesus was a Jew. There had been a long running feud between Samaritans and Jews. She pointed out that the Jews worshiped only in Jerusalem, and they worshiped only upon the mountain, Mt. Gerizim. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain. She was not interested in hearing from a Jew about worship. She felt as if the Samaritans were worshiping in the only place that God dwelt.

I am in no way implying that we ought to allow the world or other religious groups to dictate how we worship. I am not saying that we ought to abandon the fundamental truths of the Bible. In fact, our worship ought to be exclusive, exclusively founded and built upon the Word of God. However, if we are to worship exclusively by what the Bible dictates, then we must be willing to conform our worship to the Word of God.

D. 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 worshiped simply because of tradition. It was of no benefit to her spiritually.

There are a lot of religious people who are 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 is an exercise rather than an experience. Genuine worship unto the true and living God is the only way to experience real communion with Him.