It really is a wonderful privilege
to be here and be sharing this pulpit with so many of my friends,
so many faithful preachers of the Word of God, pastors, theologians,
spiritual leaders, Everybody on the schedule is, from my viewpoint,
a dear friend and a treasure to the Church of the Lord Jesus
Christ. So I'm really honored to be able
to share this pulpit with them. Actually, at my age, I'm glad
to be vertical, to be truthful. Normally in my life, I have a
short time for preparation. I'm preparing for Sunday, Sunday
morning message every week, very often a Sunday night message,
maybe a chapel at the Master's University, maybe chapel at the
Master's Seminary, maybe some other place that I'm going to
be speaking. So I've learned to prepare kind
of a rapid speed ramp up to preaching. And I'm actually coming off two
weeks of rest and I had way too much time to prepare. And so pray for me that the Lord
will help me edit. But I want to begin by having
you open your Bible to John chapter 4. And we're going to look at
the Bible a lot, so I want it right there where you can see
it. I want to read, begin with, the account of the woman at the
well in Samaria. And then we want to talk about
a lot of Scripture. We've been saying that Worship
is built on, based on, informed by the Word of God. And so I
want to load you up with pertinent portions of Scripture. Chapter 4 of the Gospel of John,
reading from the New American Standard. Therefore, when the
Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making
and baptizing more disciples than John, although Jesus himself
was not baptizing, but his disciples were, he left Judea and went
away again into Galilee. And he had to pass through Samaria.
So he came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the parcel
of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. And Jacob's well
was there. So Jesus, being wearied from
his journey, was sitting thus by the well. was about the sixth
hour. There came a woman of Samaria
to draw water. Jesus said to her, give me a
drink. For his disciples had gone away
into the city to buy food. Therefore, the Samaritan woman
said to him, how is it that you, being a Jew, ask me for a drink
since I am a Samaritan woman? For Jews have no dealings with
Samaritans. Jesus answered and said to her,
if you knew the gift of God and who it is who says to you, give
me a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you
living water. She said to him, sir, you have
nothing to draw with and the well is deep, where then do you
get that living water? You're not greater than our father
Jacob, are you, who gave us the well and drank of it himself
and his sons and his cattle? Jesus answered and said to her,
everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever
drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst,
but the water that I will give him will become in him a well
of water springing up to eternal life. The woman said to him,
sir, give me this water so that I will not be thirsty nor come
all the way here to draw. He said to her, go call your
husband and come here. The woman answered and said,
I have no husband. Jesus said to her, you have correctly
said, I have no husband, for you've had five husbands and
the one whom you now have is not your husband, so you have
said truly. The woman said to him, sir, I
perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped in this
mountain. And you people say that in Jerusalem is the place
where men ought to worship. Jesus said to her, woman, believe
me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem
will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know. We worship what we know for salvation
is from the Jews. 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." We'll leave the narrative
at that point. This is the first announcement
by the Lord Jesus in His ministry that He is the Messiah. He says that. Verse 26, I who
speak to you am He. He introduces Himself as the
Messiah in a discussion about worship. Even the Samaritan woman understood
how foundational worship is to any relationship to God. She defined her desire for a
relationship to God, a right relationship to God, as worship. She wanted to know where, and
now she wondered if this might answer the question who. Salvation is always a conversation
about worship. We are the true circumcision,
Philippians 3.3, who worship in the Spirit of God and have
no confidence in the flesh. We are true worshipers. Now before we say a few things
about the discussion of worship, I want to back up with you. Any
consideration of worship has to go way back. How did this
Samaritan woman, with only the Pentateuch in her religious background,
the Samaritans only accepted the Pentateuch, How did she know
that a relationship with God was defined as worship? Well, she would know that because
she would know Exodus chapter 20 and verse 7. Do you remember
this commandment? You shall not take the name of
the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished
who takes his name in vain. That's negative, but that lays
out very clearly the responsibility of any human being before God
to make certain that he or she never takes the name of the Lord
in vain. In Deuteronomy chapter 6, familiar
portion, verses 4 through 6, We read this, Hear, O Israel,
the Lord is our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord
your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with
all your might. These words I am commanding you today shall be
on your heart. Pentateuch is clear. On the negative
side, do not take the name of the Lord in vain, or you will
not be guiltless. You will not be unpunished. Positive side, love the Lord
your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. So
this woman knew that a relationship with God is defined in how that
individual looks at the divine being. I don't know that evangelical
Christianity today defines salvation as worship. Fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom, Proverbs 9, 10. I don't know that there's a lot
of fear of the Lord, nor am I convinced that there's a great occupation
with loving the Lord, your God, with all your heart and soul
and mind and strength. We know what it means to love
the Lord, but what does it mean to take His name in vain? The name Yahweh appears 7,000
times in the Old Testament. Everybody knew that that was
the name. And since God was so explicit
to say, do not take the name in vain, That name, which was
so familiar and so often on their lips, even if coded in a different
direction for the sake of honoring His holiness, was to be used
only in the most serious ways. What do you mean, don't take
the name of the Lord in vain? Well, let's talk about some possible
significance that that could have. First, listen to Leviticus
24, 15, and 16. If anyone curses God, then he
shall bear his sin. Moreover, the one who blasphemes
the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death. Stone him, the
alien as well as the native. When he blasphemes the name,
shall be put to death. So one way of taking the Lord's
name in vain is to blaspheme the name. What does that mean?
That means to accuse God of any evil, any ignorance, any incompetence,
any impotence, or anything that is less than who He truly is. to declare that God is not who
he reveals himself to be. That is a form of cursing God. And that is normally done because
people are bothered by the biblical revelation of God. So they would like to determine
that God is not nearly as harsh about sins and immorality as
some things in the Bible may appear to make Him sound. So
they want to say that God is more tolerant of sin. Or they
want to say that God really can't possibly know the future because
if He knew the future, He'd do something about it before we
get into this mess. So He either doesn't know the future, He doesn't
have the power to change the future, all these are forms of blaspheming
God, not overtly, but covertly. Leviticus 19 adds another way
that the name of the Lord can be taken in vain. You shall not
swear falsely by my name as to profane the name of the Lord
your God. I am holy. So you don't, in trying
to convince someone of something that is false, Swear by the name
of God so they think you're telling the truth because you wouldn't
put yourself in such a position before God. It's like telling a lie and then
saying, this is true, so help me God. That is taking the Lord's
name in vain. There's another way that the
Lord's name is taken in vain. There are many more than I'll
give you, but I'm suggesting a few. And that is to make the
false claim that you have heard from God and speak for Him when
you haven't and you don't. Turn to Jeremiah 23. Jeremiah
23. Some familiar words, I know. Starting at verse 15, Jeremiah
23, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the
prophets, behold, I'm going to feed them wormwood, make them
drink poisonous water, for from the prophets of Jerusalem, pollution
has gone forth into all the land. Thus says the Lord of hosts,
do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying
to you. They are leading you into futility. They speak a vision
of their own imagination, not from the mouth of the Lord. They
keep saying to those who despise me, the Lord has said, you will
have peace. And as for everyone who walks
in the stubbornness of his own heart, they say calamity will
not come upon you. But who has stood in the counsel
of the Lord that he should see and hear his word? Who has given
heed to his word and listened? Behold, the storm of the Lord
has gone forth in wrath, even a whirling tempest that will
swirl down on the head of the wicked. The anger of the Lord
will not turn back until he has performed and carried out the
purposes of his heart. In the last days you will clearly
understand it. I did not send these prophets,
but they ran. I did not speak to them, but
they prophesied. If they had stood in my counsel,
then they would have announced my words to my people and would
have turned them back from their evil way and from the evil of
their deeds. Am I a God who is near, declares the Lord, and
not a God far off? They're saying they heard from
me and I said certain things. They didn't hear from me and
I didn't say those things. They're offering a peaceful message.
They're stripping out the offensive part of the message. They're
saying everything is going to be fine. Calamity will not come
on you. We hear this so commonly today. God loves you. He just wants
you to be happy and successful and fulfilled. And this is supposed
to be the message from God. That is taking the Lord's name
in vain. Another way you take the Lord's
name in vain is to worship the Lord in any way that diminishes
His glory. Listen to Leviticus 22. Then
the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Tell Aaron and his sons to be
careful with the holy things which they dedicate to me so
as not to profane my holy name. I am the Lord, that person shall
be cut off." A warning to Aaron, to the priests, that how they
handled the holy things that were part and parcel of God's
prescribed worship was a serious issue. How they
handled holy things was a serious enough issue that if they profaned
His holy name by deviating from the prescription that He gave
them, they would be executed. This is Old Testament priests
handling physical things. How much more frightening would
be the indictment on one who handled the Word of God. In Isaiah chapter 1, the prophet Isaiah speaks to
the issue of Israel's sinful worship. What are your multiplied sacrifices
to me? Verse 11 says the Lord. I've
had enough of burnt offering of rams and the fat of fed cattle.
I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.
When you come to appear before me, who requires of you this
trampling of my courts? Bring your worthless offerings
no longer. Incense is an abomination to
me, new moon and Sabbath, the calling of assemblies. I cannot
endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. I hate your new moon
festivals and your appointed feasts. They have become a burden
to me. I am weary of bearing them."
Now remember, God had prescribed them all and told the people
of Israel to observe them. And yet they became a burden
to him. He was weary of bearing them. So when you spread out
your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you. Yes, even
though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands
are covered with blood. Wash yourselves. Make yourselves
clean. Remove the evil of your deeds
from my sight. Cease to do evil. Learn to do
good. Seek justice. Reprove the ruthless. Defend
the orphan. Plead for the widow. Come now. "'And let us reason
together,' says the Lord, "'though your sins are as scarlet, "'they
will be as white as snow. "'Though they are red like crimson,
"'they will be like wool. "'If you consent and obey, "'you
will eat the best of the land, "'but if you refuse and rebel,
"'you'll be devoured by the sword. "'Truly the mouth of the Lord
has spoken.'" I don't think you wanna call
somebody into worship who hasn't been washed. who hasn't
been cleansed. Even if they're following a certain
prescription from Scripture, if their hands are covered with
blood, speaking of sin, they need to be washed. They need salvation. I don't
think it does. Any favor to welcome them into
worship. They cannot worship a God they
do not know, do not love. Prophet Amos in chapter five
said, stop your songs. Your hearts aren't right. Stop
your songs. I don't want to see your festivals. I don't want your prayers. I
don't want your offerings. I don't want the animal sacrifices.
I don't even want your music. Your hearts aren't right. The
Old Testament ends in the book of Malachi with indictment chapter
1 of Malachi that is biting. into the apostasy of Israel again,
as Malachi says these familiar words, you are presenting defiled
food upon my altar, but you say, how have we defiled you in that
you say the table of the Lord is to be despised? You're bringing
an offering that is less than the best. And later in that chapter, he
says, you offer not the best of your lambs or the best of
your animals, but the least. You take the name of the Lord
in vain any time you diminish his holy glory, and particularly
in an act of supposed worship. What does in vain mean? Well,
basically, it means for nothing, right? For nothing. So to take
the Lord's name in vain would be to cheapen it. to reduce it
to insignificance, to reduce it to nothing, to make it frivolous,
to make it shallow, to make it superficial, to empty it of its
glory. Don't ever do anything that diminishes
the glory of God while naming Him. Of course you don't blaspheme
and curse Him. Of course you don't use His name
to swear falsely. Of course you don't make false
claims to having heard from God, now speak for Him when that's
not true. But neither do you in your worship
do anything that diminishes His glory. Don't speak of Him or
sing of Him. or think of Him in any way that
robs Him of His glory. Don't empty His name. Don't use
His name in cheap forms of entertainment and emotional manipulation. Anyone who empties His glorious
name in any way by having a divided heart, should
remember the words of Psalm 24, if you want to enter the holy
hill and worship, you come before God, you must have clean hands
and a pure heart. And if you don't, you are in
grave danger. I think it's safe to say nothing
is more glorious than the worship of God's people and nothing is
more dangerous than false worship. Everyone who cheapens, empties,
diminishes the holy name of God, everyone who expresses only external,
ceremonial, formal, or informal forms of worship without having
been washed and sanctified, and without having clean hands and
a pure heart, has taken the name of the Lord in vain and is not
guiltless. 1563, the Heidelberg Confession said,
we must see the holy name of God only with fear and reverence
so that we may rightly confess Him, call on Him, and praise
Him in all our words and works, end quote. This is what is missing
today, sadly, tragically missing, is this rich, deep, thorough truth concerning God. We take our Lord's name in vain
when we think less of Him. When we know less of Him, when we love Him less, we take His name in vain. Reality is, folks, we all fall
short, don't we? I know Jesus clarified the Ten
Commandments by saying, if you've committed adultery in your heart, just the same as breaking the
commandment. If you hate, it's just the same
as breaking the commandment to murder. And we have all, honestly,
we have all violated the command, do not take the name of the Lord
in vain. You will not be guiltless. Can
I say it this way? You can thank the Lord that Jesus
died on the cross and paid the penalty for all our corrupt worship. When you come into the New Testament,
in Matthew chapter 15, Jesus indicts that generation's leader, leadership
in Israel. It's a familiar portion of Scripture. Matthew chapter 15 and verse
7. You hypocrites. Rightly did Isaiah
prophesy of you. This people honors me with their
lips, but their heart is far from me. That's Isaiah 29. Verse
9, in vain do they worship me. Oh, there it is. Do not take
the name of the Lord in vain, but in vain they worship me. teaching as doctrines the precepts
of men. Whoa! Substituting any human
knowledge for the Word of God is taking the Lord's name in
vain in worship. This was such an awesome burden
to bear. for the reformers that they came
up with a term that you should be familiar with. It's the regulative
principle. You've heard of that. The regulative
principle. I'll just give you John Calvin's
definition of that. God disapproves of all modes
of worship not explicitly sanctioned in Scripture. John Calvin, let me say it again.
God disapproves of all modes of worship not explicitly sanctioned
in Scripture. Therefore, true worship rises out of a knowledge
of Scripture, right? The regulative principle simply
says, worship the way God wants to be worshipped. Scripture is
the revealed will of God. He has told us in His word how
He wants to be worshipped, how He deserves to be worshipped.
Worship Him that way. So then what becomes so compelling
is, look, if worship is dangerous when it's false, if we're all
living in some kind of sin, if we're diminishing the glory of
God in some kind of superficial worship, if we're in danger of,
even as believers, chastisement, and we can remedy that by doing
what God wants us to do in worship, then all we would ask is, where
do I find that? And it's revealed in Scripture. That's why I said earlier in
the Q&A today that people playing instruments are not the worship
leader. The worship leader is the preacher. because he is giving
people the revelation of God and understanding of the revelation
of God so that they know how God desires to be worshiped. I couldn't care less what an
unbeliever wants in a church service. That is the last thing that I
could care about. Do you remember I did an interview
with Ben Shapiro? He said to me, does it bother
you that you offend people? I said, no, I offend people on
purpose. I don't want to personally offend
them by a lack of love or care or kindness or compassion. But
I'm sorry, this word from God is offensive. Worship me correctly
or die. Romans 1 basically consigns the
human race to hell because when they knew God, they failed to
worship Him. That brings about damnation. The history of the church has
corrupted worship in a formal way, the external ceremonial
emptying God of the love of the heart that He deserves. Contemporary
church has taken the name of the Lord in
vain with its often informal worship, more psychological,
sociological, and put itself in jeopardy, I
think. A lot of fake worship. I will give
you just a definition. True worship is any and every
expression of obedience, praise, honor, adoration, and gratitude
offered to the true God by a regenerate soul who knows the truth about
God and loves Him. The Psalms are the hymns of the redeemed.
They're not the hymns of the unredeemed. They're the hymns
of the redeemed. Psalm 45.1 expresses worship
as my heart bubbling over. And as Vody pointed out to us
in the last session, in the New Testament, we speak to ourselves.
This is not an evangelistic tool. We speak to ourselves in psalms,
hymns, spiritual songs, singing melody in our heart to the Lord.
Our music is to the Lord. It's not music from the stage
to the audience. It's music from the saints to
the Lord. The New Testament is full of doxology,
and when you get to the book of Revelation, you get a glimpse
of heaven. Chapter 4, 5, 11, 14, 15, 19, 22 in Revelation,
heaven is just exploding with praise and worship. I think we
need to remind this contemporary church that music is not worship.
Music is poetry with melody. Music is music. In and of itself, it is not worship.
And it's a little bit disturbing to hear people say, well, you
preach so long, how is there any time for worship? And my answer would be, your
sermons are so short, how does anybody know what worship is? But I don't want to say things
like that or I'll get in trouble on the internet. So that was just a few thoughts,
and now I'll get to my text. So turn to John 4. Obviously, we just can't dig
down into this, but I do want to... I'll show you a few things
from this incredible text. You know the story, woman at
the well. And in these verses from verse
20 to 24, we have some of the key elements of worship. Number
one, the author and initiator of worship. The author and initiator
of worship, so important. This is the heart of everything.
Verse 23, an hour is coming, now is, when the true worshipers
will worship the Father in spirit and truth. Listen to this. For
such people, true worshipers, true worshipers, who worship
in spirit and truth, the Father seeks to be his worshiper. Who is the source and initiator
of worship? Such people the Father seeks
to be his worshipers. John 6, 44, Jesus said, no one
comes to me unless the Father, what? Draws him. The Father. Cody said some things
about that great reality. It doesn't say, for such people,
the Creator seeks to be his worshipers. God is the Creator, but that
doesn't come across with near the richness that identifying
him as a father does. And by the way, he's identified
his father three times in those few verses there. This is the
foundation of all truth regarding God. all truth regarding God. This is the heart of all understanding
of salvation. This is the heart of the gospel.
It is that God is a Father. That is, God is eternally in
a love relationship with other persons. This is not Allah. In attempting to strike a blow
against Christianity, Islam says, Allah is One, He neither begets
nor is He begotten. Thank you very much. Therefore,
Allah is not the true God. The true God begets and is begotten. The true God can love because
the true God is three persons in one. There cannot be an attribute
of love in a single deity. who eternally has only lived
with himself. He may at some point create,
but he cannot create for a relationship because there's nothing in his
nature that requires that. And that is why in Islam there
is no such thing as love from God. We have a God who is first and
foremost the Father. A Father who loves His Son and
is loved by His Son. A Father who loved the nation,
Israel. A Father who, out of love, chose
Israel. A Father who, out of love, continues
to choose His own eternal family. The true God is set apart from
every other false deity. That is why it's so foundational
for us in the New Testament to hear that God so loved the world. That's what's behind everything.
God's love for the world, but not just His love for the world,
His love for His own Son. We see this magnificently in
the Gospel of John where you are. If you look just a couple
of things quickly over to chapter 14, And verse 21, he who has my commandments
and keeps them is the one who loves me. And he who loves me
will be loved by my father, and I will love him and will disclose
myself to him. Judas, not Iscariot, said to
him, Lord, what then has happened? that you're going to disclose
yourself to us and not to the world. Jesus answered and said
to him, if anyone loves me, he will keep my word and my father
will love him and we will come to him and make our abode with
him. He who does not love me does not keep my words and the
word which you hear is not mine, but the father's who sent me.
The whole plan of salvation is based on the father loving the
son and through the Son and the Spirit, loving a redeemed humanity
that He brings to glory so that forever He can lavish them with
His own love and be loved by them." 17th chapter of John,
verse 23. Well, verse 22, the glory which
you have given me I have given to them that they may be one
as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be perfected
in unity. Isn't that amazing? This is a
picture of the Trinity. There is oneness, there is unity,
and yet there are persons. I in them and you in me that
they may be perfected in unity so the world may know that you
sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire
that they also whom you have given me be with me where I am
so that they may see my glory which you have given me for you
loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father,
although the world has not known you yet, I have known you, and
these have known that you sent me. And I have made your name
known to them and will make it known so that the love with which
you loved me may be in them and I in them." Is that incredible?
The whole purpose of salvation is so that this Father, who by
nature is love and has eternally expressed that love in the Trinity,
is able to extend that love beyond the persons of the Trinity to
unworthy sinners. That love is so lavish that if
he loses a coin, like in Luke 15, he goes to find the coin. Symbolizing a lost and found
soul and there's a party in heaven. He loses a sheep and finds a
sheep, there's a party in heaven. In the story of the prodigal,
the father running, throwing his arms around the pig stinking
head of that wretched son, kissing him all over the place and loving
him into his wealth. John 5.23, so that all will honor
the Son as they honor the Father. He who doesn't honor the Son
doesn't honor the Father. When we talk about God and when
we worship God, we go to Him as our Father. not a distant
Creator, but our Father. And not only that, the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is one with His Son. This
is salvation. You have been brought into a
loving relationship with God the Father through the work of
the Son redemptively and through the work of the Spirit in regeneration. Look at that word, seeks, in
John 4. The Father seeks. Luke 19.10, the Son comes to
seek and to save that which is lost. the father seeks, Zetao,
to crave, to strive after. This is that efficacious seeking
as God craves the fellowship of the elect, redeemed humanity,
not only for the fulfillment of His own love, but for the
love of the Son to whom He gives those He loves as love gifts. John 17, Jesus says, all that
the Father gives to me will come to me. Thank you, Father, for
the ones you give to me. The whole redemptive plan is
the Father loving the Son and seeking a bride for the Son who
can love the Son everlastingly. That's the reason for redemption.
It's not that we're so impressive, we're not. Redemption is not
essentially for us. It is for us to be transformed
into the bride of Christ so the Father can express His love lavishly
to the Son by giving the Son an eternal
worshiping bride. It's all about relationships. The Father is gathering us. In Ephesians 1, you might not
have thought of it in this sense, but listen now to these words.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places
in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation
of the world. that we should be holy and blameless
before Him. Then this, in love He predestined
us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according
to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory
of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through
His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to
the riches of His grace, which He lavished on us in all wisdom
and insight. The whole point is that God loves. God is love. That love existed eternally in the Trinity
and was extended through the work of redemption to unworthy
sinners who were given to the Son as a bride, who will forever
praise and glorify Him. That's the source of worship. The initiator is the Father.
Quickly, the object of worship. Oh, same. You worship the Father,
verse 21. The woman says, where is it? This mountain or Jerusalem where
you worship the Father? Verse 24 talks about worshiping
Him. Verse 23, the Father seeks to
be worshipers of Him. God has drawn us to Himself to
worship Him. He is not only a Father, just
quickly, He is the Spirit, verse 24. Really important, Colossians
115, He's the invisible God. As Stephen said in Acts 7, the
Most High doesn't dwell in Houses made by human hands as the prophet
said heaven is my throne and the earth the footstool of my
feet What kind of house will you build for me says the Lord
or what place is there for my repose? Was it not my hand that
made all these things? Verse 20 our fathers worshipped
in this mountain the woman says I Mount Gerizim. You people, the Jews, say in
Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Back in 722, of course, when
the northern kingdom was conquered by Sargon the Assyrian and all
those people were taken away and only ones left in the north
were the poor, and then they intermarried with pagans and
idolatrous people, and they constituted the mixed hybrid group known
as the Samaritans. They developed their own kind
of worship. They developed it at Mount Gerizim. And they did that essentially
because that was close to the place of Shechem. They developed
a kind of simple approach to worship based on what they knew
from the Pentateuch and that alone. None of the history books
or the books of literature or prophets. They had their own
kind of worship. It was ignorant. And so, she
says, our fathers worshiped in this mountain, Mount Gerizim.
You say that in Jerusalem is the place for men not to worship?
Jesus said to her, woman, believe me, an hour is coming when neither
in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.
And by the way, 125 BC, John Hyrcanus had completely
obliterated the Samaritan temple on Gerizim. It had already had
a death blow. 70 AD, the temple of Jerusalem
would be crushed and smashed. So where do we go? Jerusalem's
still standing. Ours is in ruins. I want to worship. I know a relationship with God
is about worship. Where do I go to worship? And
with that, we are introduced to the location of worship. Oh,
is it in this mountain or Jerusalem? Jesus said to her, woman, believe
me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem
will you worship the Father. Even the legitimate Old Testament
worship that was associated with the temple, now apostatized,
was going to disappear in favor of a kind of spiritual worship
that had always been God's will throughout the whole Old Testament.
But there were reasons to have the convocations in Jerusalem
around the great temple there if it was treated the way God
had intended it to be treated as a symbol of His glory and
His presence. But the time was fast coming,
he says, when you're not gonna worship in this mountain or in
Jerusalem. Go down to verse 24. Why? God
is a spirit. God is a spirit. That's important because that
means he's everywhere, right? God is the spirit. He is the
invisible spirit. This is not a geographical issue.
Worship is not tied to a place. In fact, in the New Testament,
just quickly, The new temple is the living temple of the church,
right? We are a holy priesthood, 1 Peter
2, 5. We are the temple of the living
God, Ephesians tells us. God in His Spirit lives within
us, and the new temple is any gathering of the people of God.
When we come together, we constitute the true new covenant temple. In verse 22, he says, you worship
what you do not know. You have zeal, you lack the full
revelation. We worship what we know. We have
the revelation, we don't have the zeal. It's as if he said
to them, you have the heat without the light, we have the light
without the heat. that God wants to be worshipped.
Verse 23, here's the nature of worship. Final point, the nature
of worship in spirit and truth. And I think simply stated, that
would be to say in the human soul from the heart and with
the truth, the knowledge of the true revelation that God has
given in scripture. Verse 24, those who worship Him
must worship in spirit and truth. Let's go back to where we started.
It's wholehearted, whole-souled, loving worship of God in the
fullness of the revelation that gives Him all the glory He deserves. One of the greatest legacies
that's been given to us in the musical part of our worship,
which is just one aspect, is hymns. The more mature people are, the
deeper they are in their knowledge of God, the deeper they are in
their knowledge of scripture, the more insistent they are on
singing hymns. because they are so theologically
rich and theologically nuanced to say nothing about being melodically
beautiful, formidable, memorable. As your knowledge of God grows,
as the deep knowledge of God begins to captivate your heart,
trivial things fade away. And you will find that any church
with a deep and rich, long-lasting understanding of the glory of
God is going to sing that glory in the most rich, full manner possible. And that's inevitably going to
lead them to hymns because they're not content, although occasionally
it's good to reinforce, they're not content to just repeat something
because it feels good. They have to give expression
to the range of their understanding. It needs to be that the hymn
writer is saying things that I understand, but he's saying
them in a way that I could never say myself. I'm carried away,
not by the experience of the music, but by the reality of
its content. Jesus had a conversation with
a Samaritan woman, and even she knew that her relationship to God
could be defined only by worship. God is the source. He seeks the
worshipers. He is the object, the one who
is Father, the one who is the eternal Spirit. And while there are places where
we assemble, the sphere of worship is life itself, because God is
everywhere with us and in us. And the nature of worship, from
the human spirit, empowered by the Holy Spirit, pouring forth
the love of the truth. That's the worship the Father
seeks. Father, thank you for seeking us. Thank you for craving a redeemed
humanity whom you chose before the foundation of the world. In love, you predestined us. In love, you sent Christ to die
for us. In love, you gave us your spirit
so that he might shed love abroad in our hearts. And we might be
marked by the fruit of the spirit, which is love. Thank you that you have revealed
yourself to us. And the purpose and point of
knowing about you is so that we might love you with all our
heart, soul, mind, and strength. Even when we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us because you loved us. You loved us. You love us still in our unworthiness.
We want to love you in your worthiness. Make us true worshipers. Forgive
us for our sinful emptying of your glory when we have diminished it in
any way. in how we have spoken or thought or acted with relationship
to you. May we ever live and speak and
think to the praise of your glory. By the power of the Holy Spirit,
in the name of Jesus, we ask these things. Amen.