Well let us turn to the Word
of God, the scripture I bring before you this evening is found
in John chapter 4 verse 24. John chapter 4 verse 24. God is a spirit and they that
worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. These are the words of the Lord
Jesus Christ to the woman at the well in Samaria, whom he
came to call by his grace. We have considered the first
part of this text. It's about a month or so ago
now. We consider the first part of the text. God is a spirit. And so we come now to consider,
I trust with the Lord's help, the second part, which really
springs from the first. And they that worship Him must
worship Him in spirit and in truth. The first part, God is
a spirit, is the foundation. The second part is the inference,
it is the therefore. and they that worship him must
worship him in spirit and in truth. It follows on from the
fact that God is a spirit. And this is the pattern of instruction
which we find in so much of the Holy Scriptures, especially in
the epistles of the New Testament. There is the setting forth of
the doctrine, and then there is the therefore of the practice. It's the same method that the
Lord himself used when he said to his disciples on another occasion,
If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them. There is
the doctrine, if ye know these things, and there is the practice,
happy are ye if ye do them. and so it is here in the words
of our text this evening there is the doctrine and there is
the practice God is a spirit and they that worship him must
worship him in spirit and in truth I'm reminded of the first
psalm, psalm 1 because there we have the same pattern set
forth we read of the blessed man Blessed is the man that walketh
not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners,
nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is
in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day
and night, and he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers
of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season, His
leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The godly man, you see, is like
a tree. He has his roots in the Word of God. He imbibes, he drinks
in good doctrine, sound doctrine. And then he brings forth his
fruit in his season. A due and proper consideration
of the doctrinal truth that God is a spirit will bring forth
the fruit of true and spiritual worship. As sure as light follows
the night time, God is a spirit and they that worship him must
worship him in spirit and in truth. As we said last time,
here is theology proper. Here is the practical outworking
of the doctrine. Christ here shows us the true
nature of God and the true nature of that worship which is acceptable
to God. The first is the foundation for
the second. God is a spiritual being. Therefore,
his worship must be truly spiritual. We must know God and we must
have some conception of what God is like before we can truly
worship him. How can we worship him if we
do not know him? There must be the true knowledge
of God before there can be the true worship of God and where
there is the true knowledge of God there will be the true worship
of God. It cannot be otherwise. Where
there is the true knowledge of God, the true worship of God
is sure to follow. Let us just briefly remind ourselves
of the doctrine. God is a spirit, which means
that he is not, and has not, a body. The fact that the Scriptures
often attribute parts of a body to God is no disproof of this.
We considered last time some of the anthropomorphisms of Holy
Scripture to show us to show that all these scriptures that
refer to God as having bodily parts, these are anthropomorphisms,
they're all figurative, they're all to be understood spiritually.
And neither are the theophanies of the Old Testament, evidences
of God having a body. The theophanies were those pre-incarnate
appearances of Christ, even before he was manifest in the flesh. and the incarnation itself is
no argument for God having a body. That which was conceived in the
womb of the Virgin was the human nature, the human nature of the
Lord Jesus Christ, not his deity. Mary is not the mother of God.
Contrary to the doctrine of Antichrist, And the fact that man is made
in the image of God is no argument to prove that God is or has a
body. For the image of God in man is
inward, it's not outward. It consists of righteousness
and true holiness, as Paul says in Ephesians 4.24, and that he
put on the new man which after God, that is in God's image,
is created in righteousness and true holiness. And last time
we also considered the fact that there are certain excellent qualities
in spirits which are to be found more excellently, indeed perfectly,
in God, who is the Father of spirits. For example, spirits
are incorruptible, immortal, invisible, They are living and
active. They have understanding and the
power to will. They have affections such as
love and mercy and pity and anger and hatred. And all these qualities,
as we see from the Holy Scriptures, are to be found perfectly in
the Lord our God. And the third thing we considered
last time from this doctrine, that God is a spirit, was that
God is a pure, simple, uncompounded being. That is, he does not consist
of parts. Although there are three persons
in the Godhead, these three are one. As it is stated in the divinely
inspired scripture, 1 John 5 verse 7. And if this verse is not in
your Bible, you've not got a true Bible. You've got one of Satan's
counterfeits. If there's a question mark in
your Bible, in the margin or in the footnotes, that's the
devil's questioning of the Word of God, yea hath God said. The
divinely inspired scripture, 1 John 5, 7 says, for there are
three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the
Holy Ghost, and these three are one. They are one. They are of the same nature and
essence or substance. that which Christ declares concerning
the nature of God, that God is a spirit, is equally true of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. These three
co-equal and co-eternal persons are one living and almighty God. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our
God is one Lord, and this one God, this one Lord, or Jehovah,
is to be worshipped in spirit and in truth, as is stated in
the Athanasian Creed, so that in all things, as aforesaid,
the unity in Trinity, and the Trinity in unity, is to be worshipped. And again, I would remind you
that as the Lord, our God, is a Trinity of persons, so the
worship of God must be Trinitarian, For through him, that is through
Christ, we both, Jew and Gentile, have access by one Spirit unto
the Father. The worship of God is Trinitarian. The unity in Trinity, and the
Trinity in unity, is to be worshipped. Well, so much for the doctrine,
God is a Spirit. Let us come now to the practice.
and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in
truth. What is it to worship God in
spirit and in truth? I would suggest that the worship
of God in spirit and in truth consists of these three things.
Firstly, it is to worship God with the heart. Secondly, it
is to worship God in the way that he has appointed in his
word. And then thirdly, it is to worship God with the gracious
aid of the spirit of truth. So firstly then, we see that
to worship God in spirit and in truth is to worship God with
the heart. It's to worship God with the
heart. Not merely externally, but internally. For behold, the
kingdom of God is within you, Jesus said. And so the worship
of God must come from within. It must be in the heart and with
the heart. Many there are who have an external
form of worship, having a form of godliness, but denying the
power thereof, merely to attend a place of worship, church or
chapel. However sound that church or
chapel might be, is not to worship God in spirit and in truth. Judas
Iscariot sat under the finest ministry that ever was in this
world, but at last he went to his own place. We want more than
an external religion. Jeremiah in his lamentation says,
let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.
The lifting up of our hands signifies prayer. As you see in 1 Timothy
2 verse 8, I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting
up holy hands without wrath and doubting. The lifting up of the
hands then, or prayer, which is a part of worship, must be
with the heart. It must be the lifting up of
the heart as well as the hands in prayer. Let us lift up our
hearts with our hands unto God in the heavens. or may we ever
be delivered from that which is the mere form of godliness.
Denying the power thereof, it is entirely possible to draw
near to God with the mouth only, but to be far from Him in our
hearts. Hear the word of the Lord Jesus Christ to the Pharisees. Matthew 15 verse 7 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias
prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with
their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips, but their heart
is far from me. But in vain they do worship me,
teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. All to worship God in spirit
and in truth is to worship Him without hypocrisy. The Pharisees
are still with us to this very day. I haven't gone away, and
how applicable are those words of the Lord Jesus Christ to our
modern day Pharisees and their followers. But in vain they do
worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men, They purport to worship God,
they profess to worship God, but they have instituted their
own forms of worship which God has not appointed. Their worship
consists mainly in externals. It is altogether after the flesh. They have their consecrated places
of worship, often very pleasing to the eye, sometimes very magnificent,
designed to inspire awe, They have their holy days, and their
prayer books, and their litanies, and their liturgies. They have
their choirs, and incense, and candles. Their pretended priests
and bishops don fine robes and vestments. The rags of Antichrist,
the Puritans called them. The ritualism, of the mother
of harlots, the Roman Catholic Church, and that of her harlot
daughter, the Church of England, is external and sensual. It appeals to the flesh, to the
five senses, whereas the worship that God requires is spiritual. The Samaritans had an external
form of worship and the Jews too had an external form of worship,
a worship which was instituted by God under the law but which
was abrogated at the death of the Messiah so the law teaches
this Samaritan woman in John chapter 4 verse 21 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 worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit
and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship him. The fact that the Jewish legal
form of worship had come to an end was signified at the death
of Christ by the rending of the veil of the temple. and Jesus
cried with a loud voice and gave up the ghost and the veil of
the temple was rent entwined from the top to the bottom. But there are those nowadays
who would sew up the veil and reintroduce a carnal fleshly
religion and worship Antichrist and his followers have reintroduced
priests into the professing church. They no longer refer to the Lord's
table, but altars. And on their so-called altars,
they perform their sacrifices of the mass, in denial of Christ's
one great sacrifice, which has forever, once and for all, removed all
the sins of all God's elect. There are those even professed
Protestants today who want to see the temple in Jerusalem rebuilt. One wonders whether they would
have us all circumcised as well. Well, we are the circumcision.
We are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands. We have a
temple made without hands. We do not need your circumcision.
We do not need your third temple. And we do not need your altars
or your priests. We have Christ. We have Christ. Beware of dogs. Beware of evil
workers. Beware of the concision, for
we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit and
rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. To worship God in the spirit
is to worship God with the heart. internally, not merely externally,
but we must note that this does not preclude or exclude the use
of our bodies in worship. Romans chapter 12 verse 1. I beseech you therefore brethren
by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable
service. Our bodies as well as our souls
are redeemed by Christ, for ye are bought with a price. Therefore
glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.
We remember that our Lord Jesus Christ kneeled in prayer in the
garden of Gethsemane. And he was withdrawn from them,
that is, from the disciples, about a stone's cast, and kneeled
down and prayed. You read in Luke's Gospel. The
apostle Paul kneeled in prayer when he took his leave of the
Ephesian elders. Acts 20 verse 36. And when he
had thus spoken, he kneeled down and prayed with them all. Our
tongues, our lips, our mouths are to be employed in the praise
of the God of our salvation. Psalm 51 verse 14. Deliver me from blood guiltiness,
O God, Thou God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud
of thy righteousness. O Lord, help and open thou my
lips, and my mouth shall show forth thy praise. And again we read of the lifting
up of the hands. There in 1 Timothy chapter 2
verse 8. I will therefore that men pray
everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting. The
motions of the body are, or should be, expressive of the motions
of the heart. And where there is the former
without the latter, there is nothing but hypocrisy and mere
formalism. Again, to quote the prophet Jeremiah
in his Lamentations, let us lift up our heart with our hands unto
God in the heavens. This is what it is to worship
God in spirit and in truth. and we see in the second place
that it is to worship God in the way that He has appointed
in His Word. Thy Word is truth, Jesus declares
in prayer to the Father. The Holy Bible is the Word of
God. It is given by inspiration of
God the Holy Ghost. The Lord Jesus Christ refers
to the Holy Ghost three times in his gospel sorry in the gospel
of john as the spirit of truth the spirit of truth and the word
which the holy spirit the spirit of truth has inspired is truth all scripture is given by inspiration
of god and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction,
for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect,
throughly furnished unto all good works." Throughly furnished unto all
good works, those good works which Paul speaks of, there in
2 Timothy 3, verse 17, surely must include the worship of God.
Indeed, is this not the best of all works? the highest act
that any creature can perform, the worship of Almighty God. The Spirit of God himself teaches
us how we are to worship God and he teaches us by means of
the divine word which he has inspired, the Holy Scriptures.
And so, for example, the Holy Scriptures show us the prominence
which is to be given to public reading and the preaching of
the word of God. Besides the examples of Christ
and his apostles preaching in the Gospels and in the book of
Acts, Paul writes to the Romans, so then faith cometh by hearing
and hearing by the word of God. to the Corinthians, he writes,
for after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew
not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save
them that believe. He wrote two epistles to Timothy,
in both of which he instructs Timothy regarding the New Testament
church and its worship. In the first epistle he says,
till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to
doctrine, And in his second epistle he solemnly writes, I charge
thee, therefore, before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall
judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom,
preach the word, be instant, in season, out of season, reprove,
rebuke, exalt, with all longsuffering and doctrine. And of course, where God is to
be worshipped in spirit and in truth, there must be the holding
to sound doctrine, that doctrine which is in accordance with the
Word of God, the Scripture of Truth. How can God be worshipped in
spirit and in truth where there is not the receiving of the truth,
the belief of the truth, the acknowledging of the truth, the
declaration of the truth? The Spirit of God shows us too
the importance of prayer in the public or corporate worship of
God. 1 Timothy 2 We read, I sought therefore that
first of all supplications, prayers, intercessions and giving of thanks
be made for all men, for kings and for all that are in authority,
that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness
and honesty. It is the men who are to lead
in prayer. Again, 1 Timothy 2 verse 8, I
will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands
without wrath and doubting. Women are not to lead in prayer,
and neither are they to teach or preach. 1 Timothy 2 verse
11, let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer
not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man,
but to be in silence. And this is not something that
can be dismissed or ignored as being merely cultural, belonging
to the 1st century but not to the 21st century. Because Paul
goes on to give the reason for this. For Adam was first formed,
then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but
the woman being deceived was in the transgression. A doctrine or a spiritual reason
is given. Women-led worship, then, cannot
be worshipping God in spirit and in truth. It is contrary
to the Word of God and to the Spirit of God. And we are shown, too, in the
Holy Scriptures, the place of singing in the worship of God.
Colossians 3, 16. Let the Word of Christ dwell
in you richly in all wisdom. teaching and admonishing one
another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing with
grace in your hearts to the Lord singing with grace in your hearts
to the Lord again we know that it is to be done with grace in
the heart to the Lord we know it also that in the worship of
God men are to have their heads uncovered 1 Corinthians 11 verse
4 every man praying or prophesying having his head covered dishonoureth
his head that is he dishonours Christ because we read in the
verse before that that the head of every man is Christ every
man praying or prophesying having his head covered dishonoureth
his head he's dishonouring Christ if he covers his head But what of the prophesying there?
Well, the prophesying that's spoken of here by Paul is singing. It's singing. In 1 Chronicles
25, we read of the singers who should prophesy with harps, with
sorteries, and with cymbals, and which prophesied according
to the order of the king. These were not directed by the
Spirit of God, you see, this prophesying. It could be done
by order of the king. The king commanded them to sing.
We see that this prophesying was indeed the singing of God's
praises. Again there in 1 Chronicles 25
verse 3, who prophesied with a harp to give thanks and to
praise the Lord. And so here in 1 Corinthians
11 we see that in the churches of the New Testament, men are
to pray and to sing with their heads uncovered, And conversely,
women are to pray and praise with their heads covered. 1 Corinthians
11 5. But every woman that prayeth
or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoreth her head. For that is even all one is as
if she were shaven. For if the woman be not covered,
let her also be shorn. But if it be a shame for a woman
to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered. For a man indeed
ought not to cover his head, for as much as he is the image
and glory of God, but the woman is the glory of the man. For
the man is not of the woman, but the woman of the man. Neither
was the man created for the woman, but the woman for the man. For
this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because
of the angel. Again we see that a doctrinal,
a spiritual reason is given. It is nothing to do with culture. It is because of creation. And
it is because of the angels. And of course it should go without
saying, but God is worshipped in the assembling together of
the saints. In 1 Corinthians chapters 11 through to 14, where
the apostle is dealing with the church and its worship, Paul
speaks of the church coming together for worship six times throughout
those chapters. When ye come together, he says,
when ye come together. James speaks of your assembly. In his epistle, Paul writes to
the Hebrews, and let us consider one another to provoke unto love
and to good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together
as the manner of some is. And we note this, that no king,
parliament, or prime minister has the right before God to order,
for whatever reason, Christians not to worship or to assemble
together for worship. If they do so, the believer is
under a divine obligation to refuse to obey or comply with
such a diktat. We must, in the fear of God, respond after the example of
the apostles. We ought to obey God rather than
men. And we note this too, that when
the Lord's people meet together in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ for the worship of God, there is to be reverence. Sadly
lacking in so many places in contemporary worship these days.
There is to be the fear of the Lord, a holy awe of God. God
is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to
be had in reverence of all them that are about him. This is what it is then, to worship
God in spirit and in truth. It is to worship Him with the
heart, and it is to worship Him in accordance with His revealed
truth, that is, in accordance with His Word, the Word of Truth. And thirdly, it is to worship
God with the gracious aid of the Spirit of truth. And be not
drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit,
speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving
thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Again, Paul says, likewise, the
Spirit helpeth our infirmities, for we know not what we should
pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession
for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Oh, the Spirit helps
us in prayer and in praises. We've spoken of the doctrine
and of the practice. But if there is to be the true
worship of God, there must also be experience. Verily, verily,
I say unto thee, Jesus said, except a man be born again, he
cannot see the kingdom of God. A man that is not born again
of the Spirit cannot see the kingdom of God. He cannot comprehend
spiritual things. but the natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness
unto him neither can he know them because they are spiritually
discerned. Such a one cannot and will not
worship God in spirit and in truth. If a man is to worship
God in spirit and in truth he must be made spiritual. That
which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born
of the spirit is spirit marvel not that I said unto thee ye
must be born again it is only when and where there is a spiritual
rebirth that there can be true spiritual worship with the new birth comes the
realization that God is a spirit that his law is spiritual and
that we are carnal. As Paul says in Romans 7, for
we know that the law is spiritual but I am carnal, sold under sin. What does the law of God require
regarding the worship of God? Thou shalt worship the Lord thy
God and him only shalt thou serve. And again, Thou shalt love the
Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with
all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. Being born of the Spirit, we
begin to see the spirituality of the law, and we feel our own
natural carnality, and our own natural and native inability
to perform anything that is truly spiritual. For we know that the
law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. The psalmist
says, Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised. Oh, but
how little do I really praise Him. Great is the Lord, and greatly
to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of His
holiness. Oh, I attend a place of worship,
but my heart is so cold and carnal, sold under sin. I do not worship God as he ought
to be worshipped. The law shows us our carnality
and brings us to sorrow of heart. And this is the beginning of
true spiritual worship. The sacrifices of God are a broken
spirit, a broken and a contrite heart, O God, that would not
despise. The psalmist was convinced of
his sin and of the carnality of his fallen nature, and he
knew that a mere conformity to the external ordinances of the
Lord's house, even in worship, was not enough. For thou desirest
not sacrifice, else would I give it. Thou delightest not in burnt
offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken a broken and a contrite
heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. For it is then, when we bring
those sacrifices, of a broken and a contrite heart, with a
humble dependence on the grace of God, that all our outward
acts of worship are acceptable to Him. The sacrifices of God
are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart, O God,
thou wilt not despise. Do good in thy good pleasure
unto Zion, build thou the walls of Jerusalem, then shall thou
be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt
offering and whole burnt offering, then shall they offer bullets
upon thine altar. Oh, there must be repentance,
there must be repentance of godly sorrow for sin, and there must
be faith too, both of which are the product of the new birth. the work of the Spirit in the
heart. Indeed, without faith, it is
impossible to please him. We read in Hebrews, for he that
cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder
of them that diligently seek him. Again, Paul says, whatsoever
is not of faith is sin. Whatsoever is not of faith is
sin. We cannot then, and we must not,
rest in our convictions of sin under the law. The law was our
schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ. This is the principal
purpose of the law, to convince us of our sin and to lead us
to Jesus' blood and righteousness. It is only in the person and
in the work of the only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, that
the weary soul, the convinced and convicted sinner, finds rest. Come unto me, all ye that labour
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon
you, And learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and
ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and
my burden is light. It is his blood alone which cleanseth
us from all sin. And where there is the apprehension
by faith of the forgiveness of sins through the Redeemer's blood,
Oh, there will be true worship. But there is forgiveness with
thee that thou mayest be feared, says the psalmist, thou mayest
be worshipped. Or have you been brought to an
end of yourself and your works, your law-keeping, to rest only
in Christ and in his finished work? Ah, then there will be
true and spiritual Worship. Worship from the heart. Bless
the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless his
holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and
forget not all his benefits, who forgiveth all thy iniquities,
who healeth all thy diseases, who redeemeth thy life from destruction. far as the East is from the West,
so far hath He removed our transgressions from us." Oh, this is good news
indeed, is it not? This is the gospel of the forgiveness
of sins, the forgiveness of every sin, the forgiveness of the finest
of sins, through Jesus' precious blood. Where there is the apprehension
of that by faith, there will be worship. There cannot but
be worship and thanksgiving and praise. We note in conclusion that it
is all of grace. It's all of grace, free, sovereign,
unadulterated grace. But the hour cometh, and now
is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit
and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship him. The Father seeketh such to worship
him. Of his dear elect, whom he irresistibly
and effectually calls out of darkness into his marvellous
light, By his gospel, he says, this people have I formed for
my praise. This people have I formed for
my praise. They shall show forth my praise. This people have I formed for
myself, the scripture actually reads. Isaiah 43 verse 21, this
people have I formed for myself. The Lord has set apart him that
is godly to himself, you see. They shall show forth my praise. So it was with the woman of Samaria,
and so it was with the other Samaritans who heard Christ themselves,
and who declared, Now we believe, not because of thy saying, for
we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed
the Christ, the Saviour of the world. Oh, the Lord will have
a people of all nations to worship Him as long as this world endures. And those whose worship begins
on earth will go on to worship God throughout all
eternity when this world is over. As the psalmist says again, every
day will I bless thee and I will praise thy name forever and ever. yes throughout all time and throughout
all eternity God will have a people to worship him God will be worshipped
by his blood-bought people well may the Lord bless his word to
each of our souls and being sort of God sought
out by God and taught of God, the truth of this doctrine, may
we be brought by his grace and by a gracious experience to the
practice, that is to true and spiritual worship. The Lord bless his word to us,
God is a spirit and they that worship him must worship him
in spirit and in truth. Amen.