With the Lord helping me this
evening, I will direct you to John chapter 4 verse 24. Our text is found in John chapter
4 verse 24. God is a spirit and they that
worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. 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, the Son of God, to the woman, the Samaritan woman,
whom he met at the well. We read the account here in John
chapter 4 of the conversation which the Lord had with this
woman and of all that transpired as a result of that conversation. His disciples had gone away unto
the city to buy meat, we read. And Jesus sat at the well, being
wearied with his journey, and it was about the sixth hour,
that's midday. And then we read, that there
cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water. Now this woman was
a sinner. And Christ, who knows the hearts
of all men, whose eyes are as a flame of fire, discovers, in
the true sense of that word, her sin. That is, he exposes
her sin. He discloses her sin. He shows
her her sin, and he shows her that he knows all about her,
and he knows of all that she had done. Verse 16, Jesus said unto her, Go, call
thy husband, and come hither. The woman answered and said,
I have no husband. Jesus said 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 says
thou truly. Paul, in Hebrews, speaks of Christ
as the incarnate Word. For the word of God is quick
and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing
even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the
joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of
the heart. Neither is there any creature
that is not manifest in his sight. But all things are naked, and
opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. And do we
not see here the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ? Yes, we see
the true and sacred humanity of the Lord Jesus. In verse 5,
then coming into a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of grounds
that Jacob gave to his father. Now Jacob's well was there, Jesus
therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the
well. He was weary. He was a real man. He was a real man. But do we not see here, in verses
16 to 18, the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, that he is God?
In Jeremiah, Jeremiah 16 verse 17, the Lord God says, For mine
eyes are upon all their ways, they are not hid from my face,
neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes. The iniquity
of this woman was not hid from Christ's eyes, for he is Jehovah. And so Christ says here to this
woman, I that speak unto thee AM the HE is in italics if you look
at the text it's been supplied by the translators literally
it's I that speak unto thee AM that's verse 26 Christ declares
his deity it's interesting to note that at the beginning of
this narrative at verse 4 we read and he must needs go through
Samaria But why was there a must needs to go through Samaria? Well, because the Lord had a
work to do there. This woman, which was a sinner,
was to be called by grace out of darkness into his marvelous
light. And not this woman only. She
was but the first fruits there were others of the Samaritans
who were to be called by grace. As there was a must needs for
him to go through Samaria so there was a must needs for him
to come into this world. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners of whom I am chief. He came into this world,
for he had a people to redeem. He must not needs go through
Samaria, for he had a people to call by his grace. It's also
interesting to note that it was through his word that the Lord
Jesus Christ revealed himself to this woman as her saviour
from sin and from all its consequences. Verse 25. The woman saith unto him, I know
that Messiah's cometh, which is called Christ. When he is
come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that
speak unto thee, am he. I that speak unto thee, am he. Many of the Samaritans believed
the Gospel because of this woman's testimony, but then we read verse
41, and many more believed because of his own word. And said unto
the woman, 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. The Lord Jesus Christ speaks
through His Word. He addresses sinners through
the ministry of His Word. We read in the next chapter,
chapter 5, "...verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming,
and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of
God, and they that hear shall live." And this spiritual resurrection
This calling of sinners out of darkness and out of the state
of sin is but the prelude to the general resurrection of the
dead on the last day. The Lord continues therein in
John 5. Marvel not at this, for the hour
is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear
his voice. and shall come forth they that have done good unto
the resurrection of life and they that have done evil unto
the resurrection of damnation. Until that last day the gospel
is being preached and Christ is calling out his people unto
himself. My sheep hear my voice and I
know them and they follow me, he says, in chapter 10. Everyone
that is of the truth heareth my voice, he says, in chapter
18. Paul writes to a Gentile church
who had never heard Christ in the flesh. And he says to them,
if so be that ye have heard him and have been taught by him as
the truth is in Jesus. Mark those words written to Gentiles
at Ephesus. Ye have heard him and have been
taught by him. Now have you heard him? Have
you heard him? Have you been taught by him?
Can you say with the hymn writer. I heard
the voice of Jesus say come unto me and rest. Oh Christ speaks
and he still speaks today. I that speak unto thee am he. It's in the present tense. I
that speak unto thee am he. Now as we come to the words of
our text we see that these words of the Lord Jesus Christ form
part of the answer which the Lord gives to a theological question
of the woman at the well woman being awakened is brought to
inquire after the things of God which is surely a mark of the
new birth verse 19 the woman saith unto him sir i perceive
that thou art a prophet Our fathers worshipped in this mountain,
and she is saying that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought
to worship. And then we have the Lord's full
answer in verses 21 to 24. 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 not 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. God is a spirit, and they that
worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. in these words of our text we
have theology proper as it's termed and they god is a spirit
that's the theology we are taught here something about god god
is a spirit and then we have the practical outworking of the
doctrine and they that worship him must worship him in spirit
and in truth in these words of the lord jesus christ we are
shown the nature of God and the nature of that worship which
he requires and which is acceptable to him. The first is the foundation
of the second. God is a spiritual being and
therefore his worship must be truly spiritual. We must know
God and we must have some conception of what he is like before we
can truly worship him. There must be the true knowledge
of God before there can be the true worship of God. This evening
we shall consider the first part of the verse and then if the
Lord will we shall come back to it at a later date. I think
I'm due to preach here again next month. But this evening our subject
is the spirituality of God. God is a spirit. This is theology proper. A consideration
of the spiritual nature of the being of God will teach us two
things, which will be as preservatives, as it were, to keep us from error
in the worship of God. Firstly, that God is not a body. A consideration of this truth
will keep us from the error of idolatry. and then secondly,
that there are certain excellent qualities in spirits which are
to be found super abundantly in God, who is the father of
spirits. A consideration of this truth
will keep us from the delusion that God is merely an impersonal
force or energy, as many seem to believe today. And there's
a third truth. which we are taught in the words
of our text, a consideration of which should act as a stimulus
to provoke us and to excite us, as it were, to the true and pure
worship of God, and that is that God is a most pure, simple, uncompounded
being not consisting of parts. Well, these then are the three
things that we should consider this evening. Trust with the
Lord's gracious help and enabling and blessing. God is a spirit. God is a spirit. Firstly then,
God is not a body. God is not a body. Spirit and
body are two very different things. Spirit and matter are two very
different things. God is a spirit, he is not a
body, neither is he physical matter. And yet there are many
who hold to the view that all creation is an emanation of deity. God is in the trees and the plants,
in the mountains and in the stars, in the air and in the water and
so on. The natural order is, as it were, an emanation of God
himself. This is the doctrine of pantheism.
And with the rise of the so-called Green Agenda, we are now witnessing
the virtual deification of planet Earth. Earth must be worshipped. Man must serve Earth, not vice
versa. It's actually the inversion of
reality. God is a spirit. Mere matter
has no consciousness. It does not think. It has no
wisdom, knowledge, or understanding. It cannot act or perform the
least work of its own volition. let alone perform such wonderful
works as the works of creation and providence or indeed of salvation. If God were mere matter then
he could not be the creator and the governor of the world. If
he were a body and there are some who would blasphemously
portray God as having a body usually a grave old man with
a long beard Well then he could not be omnipresent. You see,
a body is localised. It cannot be in two places at
once. Whereas the Lord our God fills heaven and earth. Am I
a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can any
hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him, saith
the Lord? Do not I fill heaven and earth,
saith the Lord? If he were one huge body, then
there would be no room for other bodies. And if God were a body,
then he would not be invisible. Because a body, and all physical
matter of course, can be seen and felt. You can handle it.
But God, because he is a spirit, is invisible. No man has seen
God at any time, Jesus said. And Paul writes, now unto the
King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour
and glory for ever and ever. Amen. If God were a body, he
would not be the first and best of beings. For the souls of men,
which are their spirits, are more excellent than their bodies. Though of course those who live
after the flesh do not think so. Now it's true that the scriptures
do attribute parts of a body to God, but this is to be understood
figuratively. God, by his word, condescends
to our finite understanding in order to show us something of
his attributes. So, for example, we read of his
face. This may be speaking of his holy
sight and of his holy presence. as in Genesis 19 verse 13, for
we will destroy this place because the cry of them is waxen great
before the face of the Lord. It may be speaking of the manifestation
of his wrath against the wicked, as in Psalm 34 verse 16, the
face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the
remembrance of them from the earth. or it may be speaking
of the manifestation of His grace and favour, as in Psalm 80, verse
3, Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine, and
we shall be saved. We read of His eyes. This is
speaking of His omniscience. The eyes of the Lord are in every
place, beholding the evil and the good. It speaks of His all-seeing
providence, which is engaged for good towards those who are
good. For the eyes of the Lord run
to and fro throughout the whole earth to show himself strong
and the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.
It speaks of his all-seeing providence frowardly, working towards those
who are froward. Behold, the eyes of the Lord
are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off
the face of the earth. Oh, are you listening, benighted
kingdom? Behold, the eyes of the Lord
God are upon the sinful kingdom and I will destroy it from off
the face of the earth. What solemn words. We read of his ears which speak
of the Lord's readiness to hear his people's prayers. Psalm 34
verse 15. The eyes of the Lord are upon
the righteous and his ears are open unto their cry. Oh God will
hear us when we cry to him. Then we read of God's nose, don't
we, or of his nostrils. This is speaking of the acceptableness
or otherwise of men and of their sacrifices or their worship. We read of Noah after the flood
that he offered burnt offerings on the altar and the Lord smelled
a sweet savour and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again
curse the ground anymore for man's sake. Isaiah speaks of Israel and Judah
and their offerings and says, these are a smoke in my nose,
a fire that burneth all the day. There is, you see, a worship
which is acceptable to God and there is a worship which is not
acceptable to God. A worship which is at a stench
in his nostrils. Oh how careful we must be then
in the worship of this God. And how important are the words
of our text this evening. God is a spirit and they that
worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. When
we read of God's mouth, it signifies his commandments, his threatenings,
his promises, and so on. Again, we read in Isaiah, if
ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land,
but if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword,
for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. His arms, his hands,
they speak of his great power. and the putting forth of that
power. For example, in Psalm 89, verse 13, thou hast a mighty
arm, strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand. Psalm 102, verse 25, of old hast
thou laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the
work of thy hands. Moses reminded the children of
Israel of their deliverance from the afflictions and labour and
oppression of Egypt. And the Lord brought us forth
out of Egypt with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm
and with great terribleness and with signs and with wonders.
And so I repeat the attributing of bodily parts to God in the
scriptures is to be understood figuratively, spiritually. The
Lord in his word condescends to our finite understanding that
we might be able to understand something of his attributes.
The pre-incarnate appearances of Christ, before he actually
took to himself a real human nature, which we call a theophanies
or christophanies, they do not mean that God has a body. Remember
there were those occasions when the Lord revealed himself to
men in the form of a man, in the appearance of a man, even
before the incarnation of the Son of God. In this manner he
revealed himself to Abraham, to Jacob, to Joshua, to Manoah
and his wife, to Ezekiel and Daniel he revealed himself in
this manner in vision as a man. these theophanies, they do not
mean that God is or has a body. They were to prepare the minds
of men for the actual manifestation of Christ in human flesh, the
incarnation. They were, as it were, a promise
of what the Lord would do when the fullness of the time was
come. Thus the faith of God's elect
under the Old Testament was encouraged and strengthened as they waited
for the coming of the Messiah. and neither is the incarnation
itself a proof that God is a body. God is a spirit, and he, the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, eternally existed before
the human body and human soul of Jesus was formed in the womb
of the Virgin. Mary is not the mother of God. As the Romanists teach in their
error, She was the mother of the human nature of the Lord
Jesus. Yes, of his body and of his soul, but she is not the
mother of his deity. She is not the mother of God.
Oh, how we need good theology, proper theology, how we need
the teaching of Christ and not the false doctrines of Antichrist. God is a spirit, Jesus said. And the fact that man was made
in the image of God does not mean that God is or has a body.
We see in Ephesians 4.24 of what that image of God consists. And
that he put on the new man which after God, that is after his
image, is created in righteousness and true holiness. That's the
image of God in man. God is not a body. God is a spirit. And this leads us on secondly
to see that there are certain excellent qualities in spirits
which are to be found perfectly in God and the consideration
of this doctrine of this doctrinal truth will help us in our understanding
of the very nature and being of God and a theological understanding
of this truth, a true spiritual understanding of this true theology
will deliver us from the notion that God is merely an impersonal
force or energy. What is the nature of spirits?
Spirits are immaterial. They have no bodily parts, they're
not flesh and blood. For a spirit hath not flesh and
bones as ye see me have, Jesus said to his disciples after he
had risen from the dead. God, as we have seen, has no
body or bodily parts. God is a spirit. For a spirit
hath not flesh and bones. Spirits are incorruptible. That
is, they never wear out, they never grow old. And when I say
that spirits are incorruptible, I'm not speaking of moral corruption. We read of the Angels that sinned,
it is plainly evident that spirits can be subject, may be subject
to moral corruption. The angels that sin, we read
of the total depravity of the human heart, the heart of man,
since the fall. But spirits are not subject to
corruption in the sense that they do not wear out as the body
wears out. And of course God is not subject
to any corruption in any sense whatsoever. Paul writes in Romans
of the glory of the uncorruptible God. The uncorruptible God. Spirits are immortal. Angels
cannot die. Jesus speaks of the resurrection
of the just. Neither can they die anymore
for they are equal unto the angels. Angels cannot die, the souls
of men cannot die. And fear not them which kill
the body, but are not able to kill the soul, Jesus said. And
so it is with God, God is immortal. Now unto the King, eternal, immortal,
invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory forever and
ever. Amen. Spirits are invisible,
or so is God. And this is a great mercy that
God is invisible. We cannot gaze at the midday
sun without being blinded. How could we ever gaze on him
whose glory infinitely excels a thousand suns? Remember what
the Lord said to Moses, thou canst not see my face, for there
shall no man see me and live. Oh, it's a great mercy that God
is invisible. dwelling in the light which no
man can approach unto, whom no man hath seen nor can see, to
whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen. But you know it's an even greater
mercy that God can be seen in the person of his only begotten
Son. He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father, Jesus said. Spirits are living beings, Adam
and his creation was a lifeless lump of clay until the Lord God
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became
a living soul. The Lord our God is the living
God and he is the source and the fountain of all life for
in him we live and move and have our being. Jeremiah says but
the Lord is the true God he is the living God Paul writes to
the Thessalonians reminding them how he turned to God from idols
to serve the living and true God. And as he is the living
God, so he is the God of the living. As Jesus said to the
Sadducees, he is not the God of the dead, but the God of the
living. Spirits have understanding, or
at least they have the capacity to understand. They have the
capacity to understand natural things and spiritual things.
Now, since the fall, of course, man has lost the capacity to
understand anything spiritually, because he's spiritually dead.
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. And so Paul says again, there
is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. It is in the new birth, it's
in the new birth that a spiritual understanding is restored. The
eyes of your understanding being enlightened. Now, The understanding of the
creature, whether of unregenerate men or devils, is finite. Whether of regenerate men or
angels, their understanding is finite. But the understanding
of our Creator is infinite. Great is our Lord and of great
power. His understanding is infinite,
says the psalmist. And Isaiah says, hast thou not
heard that the everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the
ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary, there is no
searching of his understanding. And it is God who gives the measure
of understanding to his creatures. Consider what I say, Paul writes
to Timothy, and the Lord give thee understanding in all things. Spirits have affections and feelings. They can love, they can show
mercy, they can have pity. Well, God is love. We read twice in John's first
epistle. But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting
upon them that fear him, we read in Psalm 103. And again in that
Psalm, Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth
them that fear him. Spirits can feel such things
as anger and hatred too, of course. And we read of God's anger many
times throughout the Scriptures. And God is angry with the wicked
every day. We also read of his hatred, including
his hatred of idolatry. Neither shalt thou set thee up
any image which the Lord thy God hateth. And we read of his hatred of
the wicked too. The foolish shall not stand in
thy sight, thou hatest all workers of iniquity. Spirits have the power to will,
Now, of course, the will of all created beings is limited and
controllable, being subject to the greater will of God, which
is boundless and free and uncontrollable and sovereign. And all the inhabitants of the
earth are reputed as nothing. And He doeth according to His
will. in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the
earth, and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest
thou? Spirits have the power to will
and they have the power to do, they're active. So it is with
God. He doeth according to his will.
The Lord our God is continually active. is active in providence
and he is active in salvation for god is my king of all working
salvation in the midst of the earth and jesus said my father
worketh he the two and i work what god has purposed from all
eternity that will he do What God has promised, that will He
perform. The Father has eternally purposed
the salvation of an elect people. The Son has accomplished the
salvation of that elect people by dying for them upon the cross,
redeeming them, making atonement for all their sins, and rising
again for their justification. And the Holy Spirit applies that
redeeming work of the Son to the hearts of all the blessed
elect, working faith in their hearts, the faith of the operation
of God, and working in them true repentance too. Well, there are
then these excellent qualities found in spirits which are to
be found more excellently in God. God is a spirit. Well, as
God is a spirit, so in a third place, God is a most pure, simple,
uncompounded being, not consisting of parts. And a consideration
of this truth should encourage and provoke us to the true and
pure worship of God, to worship him in spirit and in truth. He
does not consist of parts. Man has two parts, body and soul. God is a pure and perfect unity. Here, O Israel, the Lord our
God is one Lord. One Lord. But does not this doctrine
contradict the doctrine of the Trinity? No, it does not. for although there are three
distinct persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Ghost, yet they are of the same divine nature and essence. This is the plain testimony of
the holy scriptures, for there are three that bear record in
heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these
three are one. And if that verse is not in your
Bible, then you have not got a real Bible, a true Bible. You've
got a satanic counterfeit. The words of our text then, these
words of our Lord Jesus Christ, God is a spirit, are to be understood
of each of the persons of the Godhead, the Father, the Son
and the Holy Ghost. This one God is to be worshipped,
as the Athanasian Creed states, so that in all things as aforesaid
the unity in Trinity and the Trinity in unity is to be worshipped and our worship of this one true
and living God must be Trinitarian if it is to be true worship for
through him says the Apostle, that is, through Christ, we both,
both Jew and Gentile, have access by one Spirit unto the Father. You see it's Trinitarian, for
through Him, through Christ, we both have access by one Spirit
unto the Father. We worship one God. the unity
in trinity and the trinity in unity for the lord our god is
a most pure simple uncompounded being not consisting of parts
the lord our god is one lord and as we draw to a conclusion
we have to acknowledge don't we that the nature and being
of god cannot be fully comprehended by us Canst thou by searching
find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty
unto perfection? The answer of course has to be
no. But then, writes the learned
Dr Gill, This does not forbid us searching and inquiring after
him, though we cannot have adequate ideas of God, yet we should endeavour
to get the best we can and frame the best conceptions of him we
are able, and so we may serve and worship him, honour and glorify
him in the best manner. There is a revelation of God
in the creation and therefore revelation of God which may be
known by the light of nature because that which may be known
of God is manifest in them for God hath showed it unto them
for the invisible things of him from the creation of the world
are clearly seen being under even His eternal power and Godhead,
so that they are without excuse. There is no excuse for not seeking
after God, your Creator. No excuse whatsoever. There is a revelation of Him
even in the creation. But there is a clearer and a
fuller manifestation of the nature and the being of God in the holy
scriptures and in the gospel which is now made known and was
preached by Christ and his apostles. As Paul claimed to the Greeks
on Mars Hill, whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare
I unto you. And as the Lord Jesus said to
the Samaritan woman at the well, ye worship ye know not one. Then he goes on to speak to her
of the nature of God and of the true nature of his worship. God
is a spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit
and in truth. And then he goes on to reveal
himself to her as the Messiah, God incarnate. The woman saith unto him, I know
that Messiah's cometh, which is called Christ, when he is
come. he will tell us all things. Jesus
saith unto her, I that speak unto thee, am he. Who better
qualified to declare unto us and to reveal to us the true
nature and being of God than he who is the brightness of his
glory and the express image of his person? As John says again,
In chapter 1 of his Gospel, the only begotten Son, which is in
the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. There can be no
true saving knowledge of God without Christ. All things are
delivered unto me of my Father, he said. And no man knoweth the
Son but the Father, neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son,
and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. and that true
knowledge of God which Christ gives us is indeed saving and
this is life eternal that they might know thee the only true
God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent what matchless grace this is
that the Lord Jesus Christ reveals himself to sinners sinners such
as this Samaritan woman, sinners such as you and me. Oh may God then bless his word
to us, may we be taught