All right, let's take our Bibles
and turn with me to the book of Matthew, I'm sorry, John,
John, John, the book of John, chapter 4, John chapter 4. I'd like to read one verse and
then I'll plan to look at some other verses in this fourth chapter
of John. I'd like to read verse 23, John
4, 23, and I want to be speaking this evening on the subject of
true worship, true worship. Our Lord speaking, He says in
John 4, 23, 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." Now, that God's people are commanded
to worship and only worship the Lord God of heaven is without
doubt. The scripture declares in Exodus
34, 14, for thou shalt worship no other God for the Lord, and
that's all caps, Father, Son, and Spirit, whose name is Jealous,
is a jealous God. Now, what is it We hear so much
about worship. We ought to worship. We know
we ought to worship. We understand that. But what is it to truly
worship God? The Lord said, The hour cometh
now is when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit
and truth. Now, by definition, just looking
up the word worship, It is to bow, to prostrate, to crouch
and reverence Him in heart, that is, the One who shares His glory
with none other, for there is no other God but the God that
we worship. So it is to reverence Him. Alright, I know that. But I want
to know, bring it down to the very heart. I want to know what
is it to worship God. Well, there's a requirement for
worshiping God. I know that. And God Almighty,
who is holy, demands that all who approach Him shall be too. Listen to Leviticus 19 to speak
unto all the congregation of the children of Israel and say
unto them, ye shall be holy for I the Lord your God am holy. Oh, when we begin to see or contemplate
by faith something of the holiness of God and we see something of
the unworthiness of man, surely we must be made to admit this
has got to come across our minds. Can a creature of the dust, one
who drinks iniquity like water, one that is described from the
crown of his head to the sole of his foot as nothing but an
oozing mass of sin, putrefying sores, how can one, like we are,
worship the one who is a consuming fire? who is unapproachable in
any other way than holiness, you know the answer. One way. One way. Only in God's appointed
Redeemer, Savior, the Great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ,
the One who is worthy. Now I'm going to read, hold your
place in John there, turn to Revelation 5. I'm going to read
some scriptures in this message. I want you to take your Bibles
and read with me. Revelation chapter 5. I want
to read the 14 verses in this chapter. Revelation 5, and I
saw in the right hand of him that set upon the throne a book. Let me tell you what this book
is. It's a secret book. It is the book concerning the
decrees and the hidden counsels of God according to His everlasting
covenant and will and purpose to redeem and save a people from
their sins in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a secret
book. It's a book. It's a book concerning
God's will, God's covenant of grace. And I saw in the right
hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within on the
backside seal with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming
with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the book and to loose
the seals thereof? And no man in heaven or on earth,
neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither
to look thereon. Obviously, no man born in Adam And I wept much,
because no man was found worthy to open and read the book, neither
to look thereon. And one of the elders saith unto
me, Weep not. Behold, the lion of the tribe
of Judah, the root of David, having prevailed to open the
book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld,
and lo, in the midst of the throne, and of the four beasts, in the
midst of the elders stood a lamb, as it had been slain, having
seven horns, seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God,
sent forth into all the earth. I tell you what, from that scripture
right there, we recognize and realize that in glory, the wounds
that doubting Thomas was told by the Lord, you put your hand
right here. You put your hand in my hand.
Look where these nail prints were. You put your hand, put
your finger here, put your hand right here on my side. Do you
feel that? Those wounds, will forever be found in glory. There's
the Lord, right there. He's as a lamb slain. And He came and He took the book
out of the right hand of Him that sat upon the throne. And
when He had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty
elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them hearts
and golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers of the
saints. And they sung a new song saying, thou art worthy to take
the book, open the seals thereof for thou was slain and has redeemed
us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and
people and nation and has made us unto our God kings and priests
and we shall reign on the earth. And I beheld and I heard the
voice of many angels round about the throne. and the beast and
the elders and the number of them was 10,000 times 10,000
and thousands and thousands saying with a loud voice, worthy is
the lamb that was slain to receive power, riches, wisdom, strength,
honor, glory, blessing. And every creature which is in
heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in
the sea and all that are in them heard I saying, blessing and
honor and glory and power be unto him that sitteth upon the
throne and unto the Lamb forever and ever. And the four beasts
said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders
fell down and worshipped Him that liveth forever and ever."
So here's the only way that I know that a man, a woman, can worship
the Lord of glory. It is to behold and see by faith
the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ who ransomed His people, who
gave His life and secured by the shedding of His own blood
that which alone was God's good pleasure for them. But amazingly,
as wonderful as it is when we read of what happens, what John
saw happening in heaven, amazingly, There is a truth set forth by
the Lord in John 4, 23 that sets forth that right now on this
earth, men and women can and do absolutely worship God. worship the God of this Bible. And I'd like to know something
about that. I want to know. I know that we're commanded to
worship. I understand that. I know what the definition is
by definition. I know that. But I want to know
what God has to say to give me some understanding and a heart
to know something personally. about worship. I want to know,
I want to learn something about worship. Now, I want us to consider
for a minute that conversation that took place just prior to
the Lord in John 4, back in John 4, that took place between the
Lord Jesus Christ and a woman at the well, the well there in
Sychar. He had to go through Samaria
and a conversation took place. Now, the Lord had come. I'm going to read verses 7 to
18 at first. And the Lord had come to this
well. And verse 7, Then cometh the
woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus saith unto her, Give me
to drink. For his disciples were gone away
into the city to buy meat. Then saith the woman of Samaria
unto him, How is it? that thou being a Jew asketh
drink of me which am a woman of Samaria. For the Jews have
no dealings with the Samaritans. Now I want to make a statement
here and so you'll understand the point that I'm trying to
make. The Lord is at this well. He had to go there. There was
an object of his mercy there, that woman. And the Lord begins
the conversation by saying, I want you to give me something to drink.
Now, this woman, who knows how the Jews look at Samaritans,
they look at them as half-breeds, not really quite human, and she
has a very sarcastic attitude. I want you to listen to her wording
and it's almost like she's trying to Let the Lord know, I know what
you're doing. I know how you see me. I know
what your attitude is toward me. Okay, now listen to what
she says. She said, verse nine, how is
it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman
of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings
with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto
her, if thou knewest the gift of God and who it is that saith
to thee, give me to drink, thou wouldst have asked of him, and
he would have given thee living water. What a statement of mercy
and grace. Now listen to her answer of sarcasm. The woman saith unto him, sir,
thou hast nothing to draw with. The well is deep. From whence
then hast thou this living water? Art thou greater than our father
Jacob, which gave us the well and drank thereof himself and
his children and his cattle. 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. The woman saith unto him, sir,
give me this water that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. Now, the conversation is going
to change. The Lord says unto her in verse
16, Go call thy husband, and come hither. And the woman answered
and said, I have no husband. And Jesus saith unto her, Thou
hast well said, I have no husband. For thou hast had five husbands,
and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband. In that sayest
thou truly. And then this woman, now begins
to speak with another tone of voice. She says, Sir, I perceive
that thou art a prophet. Our fathers worshipped in this
mountain, and ye say that in Jerusalem is the place where
men ought to worship. And 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 this
woman, now begins to hear something of the truth of what the Lord
is saying. Up until this time, it was nothing
more than a sarcastic answer to him. But when the Lord began
to tell her something that she knew no one else could know,
she then began to speak with a different tone. Worship is
a foreign thing to an unbeliever. a distinct privilege that is
bestowed upon the vessels of God's mercy. That's when the
Lord said in verse 22, you worship you know not what, for we know
what we worship. Now listen to this, for salvation, and I'm not talking about the
act that we're talking about, I'm talking about that one when
Simeon said, Lord, would you receive your servant unto yourself?
for mine eyes has seen thy salvation." Salvation is Christ. For Christ is of the Jews, and
not meaning just the Jews, the natural Jews, but the true Jews
of God's compassion and love. True worshipers. Here again in
the definition, it is to kiss or to lick the hand like a dog
licks his master's hands. True worshipers reverence God
Almighty in His triunity of persons. That's what the Lord said. True
worshipers shall worship the Father, verse 23, in the Spirit,
is what it is, in the Spirit, and in Him who is the truth. For the Father seeketh such to
worship Him. True worship is an act of God's grace in which
that man, that woman found with a new heart bestows upon the
Lord Jesus Christ the reverence that is due unto Him. The first
mention of worship holds your place and turns to Genesis 22.
I've read this to you before, but we'll read it again. Genesis
22. Verses 1 to 5, here's the first
mention of worship in the Bible. Genesis 22, 1. It came to pass
after these things that God did tempt Abraham and said unto him,
Abraham, and he said, behold, here am I. And he said, take
now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee
into the land of Moriah and offer him there for a burnt offering
upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. And Abraham
rose up early in the morning and saddled his ass, took two
of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and claimed the
wood for the burnt offering, rose up and went unto the place
of which God had told him. And on the third day Abraham
lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said
unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass. I and the
lad will go yonder and worship and come again unto you." The
very foundation of worship is obedience. Obedience. This thing of worship, it is
an act of submission, obedience. But the one verse of scripture,
and this is what I've come up to, the one verse of scripture,
Philippians chapter 3, verse 1 to 3, Philippians chapter 3,
The one verse of scripture that I think, for me, I'll just say
it like that, maybe different ones for different people, but
for me, this is the very heart of the understanding, to my heart,
of what is it for a human being, alive on this earth, to worship
God. What is it to worship God? Philippians chapter 3, verses
1 to 3. Finally, my brethren, rejoice
in the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ. Be glad, be glad in Christ Jesus. He said to write the same things
to you He says, to me indeed is not grievous. What he's saying
is to repeat the admonition for you to rejoice in Christ Jesus,
to rejoice in God's mercy, to rejoice in God's compassion unto
you in the person of His dear Son is not an irksome thing to
me. For me to tell you over and over
and over, be glad, be glad, be thankful, rejoice in the Lord. He said, that's not irksome for
me. For you, it's safe. It's the foundation of your comfort
and peace to realize your security before God. He said, I'm going
to give you a warning. Beware of dogs. Beware of evil
workers. Beware of the concision. Beware
of false preachers. Those who preach works as necessary
for salvation. that return to their own vomit
and are the degraders, the evil workers, those who cut down,
refute that which is holy and right. He said, for we are, verse
3, we're coming down to it right here. Here you want to know what
this is true worship. This is worship. This is worship. For we are the circumcision.
Those who have been circumcised in heart, what does that mean?
Circumcised in heart, what does that mean? It is by the grace
of God to realize that there has been a work by the Lord Jesus
Christ whereby he at Calvary has put away my sin by his substitutionary
death. That's the first part of the
circumcision of the heart. It's a work whereby I realize
that God has been gracious to me and now there's a new man. Here's the circumcision of the
heart. There's a new man within that realizes that God Almighty
has removed my love and my trust in my own self-righteous works
before God. There's been a cutting away,
a circumcision of the heart. God has removed that heart of
stone that rules and reigns, and God has done something for
me in Christ Jesus. He says, we are the circumcision
which worship God in the Spirit, by the Spirit, and we rejoice
in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. Now, we're coming
down to it. What is it to truly worship God? That we should do it, we know.
The definition, we know. Tell me, give me the bottom line. What is it to worship God? What is it to worship God in
the Spirit? What is it? First, we rejoice
in Christ Jesus. We rejoice in him who has everlastingly
stood as our surety. The one who has eternally betrothed
us unto himself as his bride. The one who in covenant mercy
was made flesh and dwelt among us who lived for us before God's
law and answered every demand for righteousness before God
by His life and then imputes that righteousness to everyone
that He gives a heart to believe. We rejoice in Christ Jesus who
willingly laid down His life being made sin, He who knew no
sin, bearing our sins in His own body and dying under the
wrath and judgment of God, thereby satisfying the law's demand for
justice on our behalf. He who ever liveth for us, His
elect, and intercedes as our great High Priest before the
Father right now, pleading His own merit and worthiness as our
Redeemer, the One who is coming back to receive us unto Himself,
that where He is, there we may be also. So what is it to worship
God? It is to rejoice in Christ Jesus
first. We rejoice. What does that mean
rejoice? We're glad as I said a while ago. I'm glad. I'm glad. I'm thankful. I'm thankful, I'm
thankful. Only a believer is thankful,
rejoices in Christ. Because the other part of that
worship is this, and have no confidence in the flesh. We have
no confidence. This world and its religion does
not rejoice in Christ Jesus because they have total confidence in
their flesh. They believe that the Lord Jesus
Christ came and made salvation to be obtainable by the works
of flesh, by exercising of a man's free will. Therefore, they do
not worship. Worship, true worship. We are
the circumcision which worship God in the Spirit, taught by
the Spirit. With the earnest of God's Spirit,
we worship God, we rejoice in Christ Jesus, and we have no
confidence in the flesh. Well, in closing, I'd like for
us to consider just a couple of examples or so of those that
were found in the scriptures that were actually here, that
walked this earth, that were living, breathing creatures just
like we are, that the scripture says, worship God. They worshipped. Turn over to
Matthew 8, Matthew chapter 8, verses 1 and 2. Matthew chapter
8, verses 1 and 2. I'll tell you what a worshipper
is. Whether he rejoices in Christ
Jesus and he has no confidence in the flesh. I can tell you
that. Look at Matthew 8, 1 and 2. When he was come down from
the mountain, a great multitude followed him, and behold, there
came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord... Listen to this
and just think of what what the Apostle Paul was moved upon by
the Spirit of God to say, he rejoiced in Christ Jesus and
he had no confidence in the flesh. Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. Lord, I rejoice in you. I know you
can. I know you can. Lord, if you will. What was he
saying? I know I can. Lord, if You will,
You can make me clean. Look over Matthew 15, verse 21-28. Matthew 15, 21-28. Again, listen. Listen to what
this woman is saying. Listen to what the Lord is saying.
Listen to her answers back to Him. This woman is rejoicing
in Christ Jesus and she has absolutely no confidence in her flesh. Matthew
21. Then Jesus went thence and departed
into the coast of Tyre and Sidon. Behold, a woman of Canaan came
out of the same coast and cried unto Him, saying, Have mercy
on me, O Lord, Thou Son of David. When she said, Thou Son of David,
Lord, Thou Son of David, here's what she said, You are the Messiah. I know who You are. You're the
Christ. You're the Christ. The Promised
One came into this world. I know who you are. My daughter
is grievously vexed with the devil. Well, why would she tell
the Lord this? Because she had no confidence
in her flesh. What could she do? But He answered
her, not a word. And the disciples came and besought
Him, saying, Send her away, for she crieth after us. But He answered
and said, I'm not sent, but unto the lost sheep of the house of
Israel. Then came she and worshipped Him, saying, Help me. But he answered and he said,
it's not meat. Take the children's bread, cast it to the dogs. He's
just telling them, he said, now this is the way it is. This is
the truth of it. And she said, truth, Lord. Yet
the dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their master's table. Jesus answered and said to her,
old woman, Great is thy faith, be it unto thee even as thou
wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour. That woman was rejoicing in Christ
Jesus. Here's what she said. If you
don't help me, I don't have any help. There's nowhere else to
go. Where else am I going? Jesus,
Lord, thou Son of David, you're God in human flesh. Oh, brethren. God is to be worshiped. And the only worship is done
by those who are found to be in Christ. The one in whom His
people rejoice. Concerning themselves, they don't
have any confidence in the flesh, they worship the Father in the
Spirit and in the truth Himself. And the Father, the Scripture
says, the Lord speaking back in 423 John, He says, the Father
seeketh such to worship for Him. It's not that He's hoping that
somebody will come. The Father's looking for somebody
to worship. He seeks them out. The Father seeketh such. If He
didn't seek them, they wouldn't be found. The Father, by the
Holy Spirit, by His Spirit, is seeking out those chosen in Christ
He sent His only begotten Son, the Shepherd of the sheep, the
Lamb, to live for and die for those. He's seeking them out,
providing for them the satisfaction to Himself in the person of His
blessed Son. And when He's found the ones
that He's everlastingly loved and calls them out of darkness,
then He reveals to them, Isaiah 62.12, that they were the sought
out. seeketh such to worship." He's
going to be worshipped. And He's going to call them,
He's going to reveal to them Himself, the Father who chose
them. He's going to reveal to them
the Son who redeemed them. He's going to reveal to them
by His Spirit, the One that regenerated them, sealed them, taught them,
and kept them. The very foundation. That which is absolutely essential. The very foundation of true worship.
Now here's where it is. Let me tell you something. Let
me tell you where it is. And I base my statement on this statement
that was made by the Father. The Father spoke concerning the
Lord Jesus Christ. This is my beloved Son. He said
this at His baptism. He said this while the Lord was
on the Mount of Transfiguration. This is my beloved Son. in whom
I am well pleased. You hear Him. You hear Him. I said at the beginning of this
message that the very heart of worship is obedience. Obedience. Obedience. This is
my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. You hear Him. What are we doing here this evening?
We're hearing His voice. The hearing of the Gospel. The hearing of the Gospel and
the believing on the Lord Jesus Christ is obedience unto the
Father's command. This is my beloved Son whom I
will please. You hear Him. God's people come
together to worship by hearing the message of the glory of God
in the face, in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the
hearing of the gospel is the very foundation of worship. Hearing the gospel, that which
is the power of God unto salvation. It is to rejoice in Christ Jesus
because that's who you're going to hear in the preaching of the
gospel. And you have no confidence whatsoever
in the flesh, which is the result of seeing the glory of God and
seeing something of who we are. I pray that the Lord be pleased
to bless this message to our heart for Christ's sake.