I invite your attention to the
Gospel of John, Chapter 4. Today's message will be the sixth
in our exposition of verses 1 through 43. And let me say that I am blessed
by the opportunity to preach to you today. It's always a pleasure
to do so. Three Lord's Days ago, in the
last Lord's Day, we had two of the men in our church to preach
to us, our brothers Mitch and Sean. Two Lord's Days ago, we
had with us our brother Bruce Crabtree from Indiana preached
the whole weekend. That was quite a blessed event
for me because we heard him preach on Friday, Saturday, and the
Lord's Day. And I had a surgical procedure
done in my heart on the Wednesday before that weekend. And under
doctor's request, I sat on the back pew, did not participate
in the service, and sat back there so that I could get up
and walk from time to time. Gave me a different perspective.
Looked upon our congregation. Folks, we're a small congregation. Do you realize what the Lord
has done here? We have two, perhaps three men
who can lead a worship service from beginning to end, including
leading the singing. We have a number of men who can
read scripture to us, syllable perfect. even if it
was from the Chronicles. I believe I have now heard every
man in this church pray, leaders in prayer. We have two sisters who can play
the piano for us. We have Well, I suppose just
about every woman in the church that does a gracious job in feeding
us when we meet for fellowship downstairs. We've had, in recent weeks, two
members of our church to do solos, but I must ask you, why was I
not told Susie Dahlman sings solos? Why did I have to wait
so long to find that out? She's not with us today. She's
recovering. And in case you do not know,
Larry, her husband, Donovan, has been ill as well. It's been a lot of sickness in
that house for the past week. So be in prayer for them. We even in this small church
have our own nurse. The Lord has been so good to
us and if I have overlooked anyone, it was unintentional, I would
assure you. But I got that perspective sitting
on the back pew and realized that the Lord has been good to
us. Last Lord's Day, our brother
Chris testified of the first time he
ever attended a worship service of this church. I was so blessed by what Chris
had to say that I told him this morning he was to come up and
tell it from the pulpit so that we can have a public recorded
record of it. It's going to be recorded. This
testimony needs to be recorded. And so, Brother Chris, if you
will, come testify of the first time you attended the worship
service here. Yes, sir. I'm going to start with a bit
of a statement. The old divines would, lots of
times when you read some of their works, they start with an apology. If any of you believe you need
one, ask it from him. It's his idea. So, 38 years ago, our Lord and
Savior blessed me with bringing me to hear John Mitchell preach
one evening at a Wednesday or Thursday night meeting, I'm not
sure which it was. And at the end of that service,
I remarked, because John always asked, does anyone have anything
to say or to add? declare, what have you. And I
remarked to those who were there that evening, do you have any
idea what a precious, blessed jewel you have here in this church,
in this body, in that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is preached without
any strings whatsoever attached and no religion whatsoever to cloud up the vision that you
can see and hear here with this little group, with this little
family of believers. It's the first time ever in my
life that I heard the gospel preached without any religion
or strings attached to it. I was just beyond overjoyed. There's no way I can describe
it. It's not possible. That was 38 years ago. Many years
before that, myself and a couple of the gang
took off one evening to go to what was billed as a free rock
and roll concert. Well, we weren't going to miss
that back in those days. We wound up there. Everybody
piled out of my little Volkswagen bus. They on the curb side, me
on the driver's side, and they were immediately swarmed by a
bunch of what was referred to in those days as Jesus freaks.
And I couldn't get into the circle, so I just gave up. Went inside,
sat down. There's really good music going
on in there. But I didn't recognize any of the songs or the words.
And then somewhere along the way, one of these long-haired,
heavy types got up to the microphone and started preaching from the
book of John about Jesus Christ. And I realized, not only do I
know this man, I recognize this man, who he's talking about. And at that very moment, the
Lord Jesus Christ introduced Himself to me. as to who He was. And I've yet to recover from
that. I pray God I never do. It was
the most beautiful time that started a journey for me, looking to find someone
who was speaking from the pulpit, talking about this man, Jesus
Christ, whom I'd met. Couldn't find it. I wore myself
out. And this was in Southern California,
in Orange County, going from church to church to church. I'd
sit there and listen for a while and say, no, that's not what
the Holy Spirit's showing me in this book. That's not what
I'm reading here. I don't know where you got that
idea, mister, but I won't be back next week. That went on
literally for years. I finally got close to it with
an outfit called Pilgrim's Reformed Baptist. I didn't quite understand
what reformed meant, but for the most part, I was hearing
pretty much what I was reading. There were a few odd things there.
I learned later that there were some lawyers, some law intermingled
with the grace of God there. But I didn't have the wisdom
at the time to sort that out. I just set it aside and went
with grace on that. And in God's providence, he brought
me to Shoto, Montana. And I got mixed up in another
outfit called the NRC, which was a whole lot more lawyers
involved there. And every once in a while, the
gospel showed itself, but very seldom. And then it was 38 years
ago, when I'd had enough of that, I told my wife Ginny, we're not
going there anymore. I'm not raising my children in
a church like this, and have them believe that this is it. It's not happening. So we pulled out of that church,
and then We wandered around a little bit,
went to a couple different places. And I'm not good with circuses
that call themselves churches, so we didn't stay there long
either. And then one evening, I'm not sure still how it happened. I bet you Ginny remembers better
than I do, that we were led to Mike Mitchell's house in Sun
Prairie where John was preaching that night, whether it was a
Bible study prayer meeting or all of the above. I don't know,
it doesn't matter. But I remarked to all those there,
if you have any idea what a precious jewel that you have here. And
I know I'm repeating myself, but for the first time ever in
my life, I heard the Gospel preached clearly. It's never changed. Not one time ever. in this body,
no matter who it was that was preaching from the pulpit in
this church or any of the other buildings that we've been in,
it's always been the same. Jesus Christ is Lord. He is the one and only Savior. God Almighty is provided for
all souls. And if you turn here back on
him, And the pain that you will pay
for that will be eternal. As we read in Matthew today,
the angels will be commanded and directed of Christ himself
to gather the tares from the wheat and throw them into the
furnace where they will burn eternally. There's never been anything caught
my attention more than and looking hell straight in
the face and realizing I was headed there but for the grace
of God and that I had nothing to do with turning myself away
from that. I didn't go to that concert seeking
Jesus. No, He brought me to hear Him. I never chose Jesus, ever. He chose me. I didn't go seeking
Him ever. I was a lost sheep. I was the
one out of the hundred that He went and found. I'm certainly
grateful today that He did. But the only free will out there
is God's, not man's. If your name is not written in
the book, you're going to be cast into
that fire eternally. The angels were not
allowed, given license, to exercise grace, to hear the cries of those
being thrown in. No. The angels work only at God's
command and do exactly that. That's what they live for, as
it were. Only to please God Almighty.
And so when they go about collecting grandmothers and grandfathers,
mothers and fathers, husbands, wives, children, aunts, uncles,
you name it. A lot of those we know personally
and love. The angels are not going to stop
and ask us for permission to save them when they're not in
the book. If God ever gives you the opportunity
to speak to your loved ones, shame on you if you don't. Because as blessed as we are,
and we sang it this morning, count your many blessings. Do
we not have many? It's not possible for us here
to count them all. And there are so many on this
planet our loved ones. God Almighty is almighty, perfect, and I will need eternity to give
Him thanks. And at the end of eternity, I
still will not have worshipped Him enough and as much as I ought Look around, people. We were
talking about jewels earlier. Diamonds, they're small, like
us, but they're very precious, and they shine as the sun in
God's sight. Count your many blessings, because
each and every one of us are to one another. The Gospel of John, chapter 4. I'm going to begin reading in verse
number 1. When therefore the Lord knew
how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more
disciples than John, Jesus himself baptized not but his disciples. There's an article in your bulletin
today regarding that statement. He left Judea and departed again
into Galilee, and he must needs go through Samaria. Then cometh
he to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near to the
parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son, Now, Jacob's well
was there. Jesus, therefore, being wearied
with his journey, sat thus on the well, and it was about the
sixth hour. There cometh a 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, 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 wouldest have asked of him, and
he would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him,
Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep, from
which thou hast thou that living water. Art thou greater than
our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof
himself, and his children, and his cattle? 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 may thirst
not, neither come hither to draw. Jesus saith unto her, Go call
thy husband, and come hither. The woman asked, 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 sense
thou truly." The woman said unto him, 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. Jesus said unto her, Woman, believe
me, the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain nor
yet at Jerusalem worship the Father. You worship, you 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.
And we begin our exposition today at verse 24. God is a spirit. And they that worship him must
worship him in spirit and in truth. God is a spirit. If you will,
remove the indefinite article from that first line. The teaching
here is not that God is a spirit, as though he is one of many spirits,
though he is. Angels are spirits, ministering
spirits sent to the heirs of salvation. Satan the devil is
a spirit. Demons are spirits. When Jesus
here says that God is spirit, he's not saying he's one of many
spirits. He's speaking of his essence,
God's essence. It is interesting that John records
ten statements made by Jesus Christ as to whom and what He
is. I am the door, the living bread,
the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus made ten statements. Only
John recorded them. Ten of them. But also we find
that John has made three statements or recorded three statements
that identify what God is. Here in John chapter 4, in verse
24, God is Spirit. In his first epistle, he will
identify two other things that God is said to be. God is Light
and God is Love. John makes those three statements
regarding whom and what God is. God is Spirit, God is Light,
God is Love. In all three instances There
is a consequence to God being what he is said to be. I want
you to look at these. Go to 1 John chapter 1. The first epistle of John, chapter
1. Verse number 5. This then is the message which
we have heard of him and declare unto you that God is light. That's his nature. It's his very
being. What does it mean God is light?
Read the next line. is no darkness at all. God is light. There's a consequence
to God being light. If we say that we have fellowship
with Him and walk in darkness, we lie. If you claim to be in fellowship
with God, but in practice you are in fellowship with the devil,
John says you're a liar because you cannot Be in fellowship with
darkness. If you are in the light, your
fellowship must be in the light. Your works must be in the light.
You must be a light as one that is on a hill and is not hidden
under a bushel. John says if we walk in the light,
as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another.
So, therefore, consider that God is light. That is His nature. There is no darkness in Him.
The next statement, God is love. Go to the fourth chapter of John's
first epistle, 1 John chapter 4. Verse number 8. He that loveth not knoweth not
God. Here it is. God is love. That's His character. He is love
in His very person. In God, it's all love. John does not
say God is loving, though He is. God is loving because He
is love itself. In God, there is nothing malevolent,
nothing nefarious, nothing cruel, nothing wicked, and this distinguishes
Jehovah from every other God in the universe. The gods of
the ancient Greeks and Romans Almost all of them had a mischievous
side of them. In fact, some of them had an
angry side and a malevolent side, for which reason the ancient
Romans and the Greeks and others who worshiped such non-entities
were so afraid of their gods. What of how God is today? How
is he going to treat me today? We do not worry about that with
worshiping Jehovah. His love, there's nothing malevolent,
nothing nefarious, nothing wicked in Him. This statement is going
to be made another time in verse number 16. And we have known
and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love. Now there's a consequence to
this. What is it? Verse 7, Beloved, let us love
one another, for love is of God, and everyone that loveth is born
of God, and knoweth God. God is love in His very character. There should be no one on this
earth showing more love to fellow men than us, Christians. who claim to love God. We love
Him because He is love and He first loved us. And we prove we love Him by our
love to each other. Let me say, I have been blessed
by the love, the fellowship, the unity, the harmony that has
been here in this church. But then again, It has to be that way if you
love God. I have heard horror stories of
feuds and spats and squabbles in other churches. Never let
such conduct be found in a church of Christ. We walk in the light
and we love one another because God is light And God is love. And now back to John's gospel,
God is spirit. Now what's the meaning of that?
It means God is incorporeal. Nothing physical about him. He has no flesh. He has no bone. No sinew. Nothing physical about
him. You may say, well now, preacher,
I believe I have read in the scriptures that God has an arm. Oh yeah, that's a strong one.
And he has a hand. Yes, and it delivers. And he
has feet. Yes, and they're swift. Yes,
he has ears that hear and a mouth that speaks. But not really. He cannot because he's spirit. In theological terms, we speak
of this as an anthropomorphism. Simply means in the form of man. God condescends to speak of himself
in such a physical way so that we physical creatures can understand
him. But just bear in mind, God does
not really have an arm. nor a hand, not a physical one. He's Spirit. There is nothing
physical about Him. How will you make an image of
Him? You have no idea what He looks like, because He does not
look like anything. He has no body, no form. He's Spirit. Now, there's a consequence
to this. Remember, there is a consequence
to everything that God is. God is light, you must walk in
the light. God is love, you must love one
another. God is Spirit, and Jesus says,
they that worship Him, must worship Him. No way of announcing much
about it. They that worship Him, must worship
Him in spirit and in truth. You have to worship God according
to whom and what He is. He is spirit. You must worship Him in spirit
and in truth. Now, what does this mean, in
spirit and in truth? Well, to worship God in spirit
means to worship Him as led by the Spirit and to worship Him
in Christ who is the truth. You cannot separate worshiping
God from being led of the Spirit and being in Christ. They that
worship Him, which implies that not everyone does, but some do,
They that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. I'd have you to look at about
three different truths concerning that, and then we'll make an
application. First, if worship appeals to the physical
senses of unregenerate men, it is unacceptable to God. I
repeat, if worship appeals to the physical, sensible senses of men, it's not acceptable
to God. There is nothing about our worship
that appeals to physical senses. Now when I say appealing to physical
senses, there is something sensual or
if you will, sensuous about it. Worship appeals to men's eyes. They love beautiful buildings
and ornate cathedrals. They love beautiful sounds. They love that which pleases
their senses, even in their worship. One of the foremost examples
I know of this was sometime around, well, it was in the mid-90s,
I relocated from the British Virgin Islands to Louisville,
Kentucky in 93. had lived in the West End days
as a missionary for almost 15 years, and I recall watching
some television programs of some churches in Louisville, you know,
find out what's going on in some of these churches. So, turned
on the television in one of the larger churches in the city,
a so-called Christian church, Christian in the Campbellite
sense of that term, they were to have the Lord's Supper according to
them, the communion according to them. So, you know, a good-sized
building and a big row of pews in the middle, two aisles and
then rows of pews against the walls. And I'm watching on the
television, somebody, the cameras toward the back of the building
aimed toward the front. There are men standing between
the pulpit and the communion table, but there's no trays on
the table. And they were to have the Lord's
Supper. And I'm wondering, okay, where
are the elements? Oh, here they come. The door
at the back of the building opened and out stepped into the auditorium
a beautiful shapely young woman in a long flowing white robe
with a tray and a bread there before her. And she comes sashaying
down the aisle, twirling around, holding up the bread. And yeah, that's different. And everybody sitting in the
pew turned around and looking. They're not looking at that tray
she's carrying. They're looking at her. And it appeals to the sensual
nature of man. I suppose some time later another
girl came out with the wine. I turned it off. I knew God was
not pleased with it. I better not be. If worship appeals
to the sensual nature of man, it's not pleasant to God. Just
bear that in mind. Our worship is not intended to
please our five senses, nor anything else about us. It is not to be
sensual. The ancient Greeks and the ancient
Romans and some of the other ancients even had prostitutes
in their temples Not in ours. Not in ours. There is nothing
that is sensual about the worship of God. Furthermore, if worship
springs from a regenerated heart indwelt by Christ the truth,
it is acceptable to God. Your worship may not be perfect. You may not understand every
truth about the one you worship, but if your worship comes from
a regenerated heart, one in which Christ dwells, one that is led
by the Spirit, God's pleased with it. God is pleased with
it. You may not be the best singer,
in the congregation, but even your raspy voice pleases God. He's satisfied with it. Your
prayer may not be eloquent, but if it comes from a regenerated
heart, God hears it, and it is sweet incense to Him. Our praise
and everything I am not the best preacher on
this earth, but I do not know of anyone who preaches a better
gospel. And God is not concerned about
the eloquence of the preacher, but about the message that is
preached, and it pleases him. It may be with trembling lips,
as Paul the apostle had, quivering knees. But if that worship, if
that preaching, if that singing, if that prayer, whatever it is,
if it comes from a regenerated heart, God is pleased. And if worship is acceptable
to God, the world will find it unappealing. You may invite them to the service
and they come. Well, all you folks do is sing
hymns, pray prayers, read scripture,
and hear the same old gospel every time you come. Yeah, that's
what we do. That just about describes what
it is. Oh, we need something more. We need something more. We need something that appeals
to our senses a bit more, the world will say, not us. If your
worship appeals to God, the world will probably find it unappealing. Furthermore, worshiping the Father
in spirit and truth has in many churches today been replaced
with amusing one another in the flesh and in the air, not worshipping
God in spirit and in truth, but worshipping Him in the flesh
and in error. But what do we mean by this?
Plain houses of worship had been replaced with ornate cathedrals,
many of them adorned with idolatrous images and pictures. How did
our Apostolic fathers meet for worship. How did they worship
in apostolic days? You read about the church in
someone's house. Probably some member of the church
was wealthy enough to have a room that could be used by the saints.
That's where they met. In times of persecution, They
met in the catacombs, in the caves, under the city of Rome.
When our Waldensian forefathers were being hunted down in the
Crusades, during the Dark Ages, they fled into caves and into
forests and into arbors, trying to find some place to worship.
God met with them. God is pleased with that kind
of worship. And then, Men who wanted to worship according to
their senses decided to build ornate cathedrals, imposing buildings. I was stationed
two and a half years in Germany in the early 1970s and an organization,
I believe it was the USO, but they provided tours for us. especially us single first-term
airmen. But we took buses and roads to
some of the major cities in Germany. And remember, there are church
buildings in Germany that have been there for over a thousand
years. And I got to see some of them,
imposing. What's so grand about them? Well,
it's usually, or at least in those days, was the biggest building
in the city. It had a steeple that was probably
the highest point in the city. God deserves that, they say. And so they give to God what
they think He deserves, an ornate building. Some of these church
buildings took over a hundred years to complete. Cathedrals,
ornate, and you'd walk in and the beautiful stained glass windows
with all the biblical scenes that are in them and the shining
altars, the statues, the Madonnas, the candles, One walks into such
a building as this and he looks around in awe and behold what
my eyes here see. It's beautiful and it is. It
most certainly is. It appeals to man but God does
not go there. Jesus Christ does not go there. But this is what physical men
have done. Plain, simple buildings had been
replaced with ornate cathedrals. Even in Reformed circles, there
was a certain Reformed preacher not long ago made an imposing
building called a glass cathedral. Oh, it was a beautiful building,
beautiful building, glass. Which means I suppose you should
not throw rocks if you live in a glass house. But it was, it
was beautiful. People would drive for miles
just to attend a worship service in a cathedral made of glass.
That's what has happened. When people no longer believe
that God is spirit, you can expect that. And then praise to God
has been replaced by praise to men. God is the only one who's
been praised in our worship service. All our praise goes to Him. There
is no praise given to men. Number three, the equality of
all believers in Christ has been replaced by clergymen exalting
themselves over the laity. dressing themselves in fancy
robes, occupying elevated seats and requiring lordly titles,
clergy and laity. Oh, what a difference there can
be between those, the clergy and the laity. The laity or the
clergy wearing special garments, requiring special titles, Years
ago, back again when I was pastoring in Louisville, Kentucky, remember,
this was a day when I suppose there might have been cell phones,
but not many people had them. But there was a man who attended
a worship service. He was from Africa, and he did
not have a cell phone. But as I recall, I did not have
one then. But anyway, He said that he needed
to get some information to a certain pastor in the city, and he asked
if I would be so kind as to contact that pastor. He knew her name,
and he knew the library in which she was a librarian, and so I
said, sure, I'll get a hold of her. I called the library and
asked to speak to Ms. Such-and-Such, and she answered
the phone, and I said, Ms. Such-and-Such, I'm Daniel Parks,
a man who attended the worship service of the church I pastor,
and he has some information that he says you need, and he wanted
me to give the information to you. And she stopped me, and
she said, You must address me as reverend. So I suppose I was as ornery
then as I am now. So I just, you know, said, yes,
ma'am. And I continued my conversation,
but I did not call her by her title. And, you know, I have
this information from this gentleman who says you need this information
about a project being done in Africa. And she stopped me again
and she said, you must address me as reverend. Yes, ma'am. And so I continued my conversation,
did not address her as reverend. And, you know, tried again, explained
to her, you know, what she needed to know. And she stopped me the
third time and she says, If you will not address me as reverend,
I will not speak with you." So, I hung up the phone. Think about it. They demand the
lordly titles. They want the distinction. Paul the apostle, arguably the greatest of the
apostles, and others considered themselves servants of men. We preach not ourselves, but
Christ Jesus the Lord, and we are your bond servants for Jesus'
sake. Then furthermore, a preacher's
calling sinners to Christ for salvation has been replaced with
preachers calling sinners to an altar, to a baptistry, to
a Sabbath, or some other physical object or sacrament. Consider
the worship service you're hearing right now. I'm calling you to Christ. Have
been from the moment I stepped into the pulpit, setting forth
the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to you. In many churches, in most churches,
men will stand up, men and women will stand up to preach. They
preach their message on this subject or that. And then at
the end, there comes a separate part of the service. It's called
the invitation. It's separate from the message.
It is the invitation. They preach a message on this
subject or that and then call men down to the altar. if they
want to get saved, or call them into the baptistry if they want
to get saved, or call them to the Sabbath if they want to get
saved. I've had preachers ask, why do
you not give an invitation? Well, in the first place, I do
not divide my service, my preaching, into two different parts, a message
and an invitation, and furthermore, My message is an invitation,
if you will, though the better term would be a call. We're calling
sinners to Christ, and He does not have to wait until the end
of the message in order to bring sinners to Him. I preached in
a conference in Crossfield, Tennessee some years ago. The building
was full, and as I'm preaching, There's a woman sitting on my
left side, and I can see that she's weeping. She's wiping her
eyes, weeping as I preach, and I thought, you know, this is
good. The Lord is blessing the heart of some dear saint. I knew
the woman. She was a member of a church
and had been a Christian for many years, She was weeping silently,
and as I preached, she began to weep a little louder, and
the tears began to flow a bit more copiously. And then, at
the end of the message, after the message, she told me
that she had been a professional believer for many years, but
while I was preaching, The Lord saved her. I had no idea what was going
on. I thought some saint was being
blessed. No, no, no. During the preaching
of the gospel, that's how God saves sinners. He calls them
through the preaching of the gospel. And it's such a mystery,
I had no, I'm the one preaching the gospel and I got no idea
what's going on. It's God who's doing this. And
I did not have to wait until the end of the message to give
an invitation. God called her before I could
complete the message. That's how God works. And we
do not call men to an altar, to a Baptist priest, some physical
this or that or the other. We call men to Jesus Christ and
That is what it is to worship God in spirit and in truth. Furthermore,
worshiping decently and in order has been replaced with indecency
and disorder. Worshipping decently, that's
what Paul is talking about when he writes to the Corinthians.
Let all things be done decently and in order. There's an order
to our worship service. It's rather evident, is there
not? There's a decency to our worship service. I spoke to you
earlier about the indecency of the woman sashaying down the
aisle with the elements of the Lord's Supper. Not here. Not here. Decently. In my Pentecostal days, we would call upon someone to
pray. You know, there's such and such
leaders in prayer. He begins praying and everybody
prays at the same time, out loud. Out loud, all right? They're
all going. And then sometime later, somebody
starts speaking in tongues. Next thing you know, there's
half a dozen of us speaking in tongues all at one time. None
of us know what we're saying, and no one else does either.
But Paul says, if there is a visitor to your service, and he sees
all this prophesying going on, three or four different men preaching
at once, speaking in tongues at once, a dozen people praying
at once, Paul says he'll think you're out of your mind. Yeah,
that's logical, is it not? We worship God decently and in
order. There's an order to our worship.
It's not mandated. We sing hymns. We have Scripture
read. We have prayer. Sometimes the
prayer comes before the Scripture. Sometimes the prayer before the
singing. It doesn't matter. There's an
order to it. We worship God decently and in
order. I'm not going to be calling people
down to the front and walk up to you and tap you on the forehead
so you can faint and swoon backwards. Whoever came up with this, is
that decent? Is that decent? Holy rollers. Yeah, I've been in a few of those
services, rolling around because you've got in the spirit I've seen spiritual giants who were such spiritual giants
that they could run not up and down the aisles, they could run
underneath the pews and never bump their heads. But that's
not what we're about, is it? There's a decency here, there's
order to this. There's none of the that which pleases the eyes of
men." I recall one of my Pentecostal
pastors telling us, look at the people at the football game,
aren't they having fun? Well, we should have fun. And so, you know, we just had
a worship service like we were at a football game. I was a song
leader. in a Pentecostal church. And
it was my job to get everybody excited until the pastor, who
always sat behind me, I'd get everybody excited. We would jump
up and down. We would march around for Jesus.
We'd give the devil a black eye. When we had gotten everybody
worked up, he'd get up and say, well, thank you, Brother Moose,
and tell me to have my seat. And he would preach. I could get them worked up, but it's not worshiping God in
spirit and truth, is it? They that worship Him must worship
Him in spirit and in truth. Congregational singing of hymns
to God has been replaced by performing musicians, singers, and even
dancers giving to fellow men what they want to see and hear,
even with choreographed moves. We have congregational singing. The Scriptures speak about it.
Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. We have no entertainers. We have
no amusement. Well, we even sing the same hymns
out of the same hymn every week. I mean, not every hymn the same
every week, but yeah, a few hundred of these hymns and that's what
we sing. Worshipping God in spirit and
in truth. Congregants desiring to hear
God's messenger preach the truth have been replaced with congregants
desiring false teachers to scratch their ears, the term Paul uses. Tim James told me about a preacher
who once told him, I could build a church if I can
find the right issue. Most churches are built around
issues, an issue of this or an issue of that. You can find conservative churches
and liberal churches, you can find churches for this or that
or the other. They find an issue and preach
the issue and it gets people who are issue-oriented into the
service. We have come here hoping for three things. I told
you on a different occasion, every Lord's Day when Sam and
I leave our house to come to the church building, we pray
a prayer, the same prayer every time. Lord, enable us to worship
your Son. fellowship with your people,
and to hear your gospel. If we can but do that here, is
that not what we want? We want to worship God's Son. We want to fellowship with His
people. We want to hear His gospel. And
I'll close with this. Preachers with the message from
God have been replaced with preachers of themselves. Again, referring
to Paul the Apostle, he says, we preach not ourselves but Christ
Jesus the Lord. Our brother Chris made reference
to John Mitchell a little earlier. God sent John Mitchell from Indiana almost in the Bible belt, sent him up here to be like Moses
someplace behind God's back in the back side of the wilderness,
sent him up here to preach the gospel. He did for 40 years. And look what God has done. John Mitchell had a message.
It was about Jesus Christ. John Mitchell preached that same
message 40 years here in Great Falls. Well, let's see. Somebody here
wanted to hear it. Why are you here? You heard what
Chris said this morning. I think about all of you could
say the same. By the way, we've got to have
Mitch give his testimony. And perhaps others about what
you learned from this man, John Mitchell. He preached the gospel,
didn't he? And look what God has done. I consider myself blessed to
have succeeded him. The boots are too big, but it's
the same gospel. We're coming to you week by week
with this message that God is Spirit. And if you're going to
worship Jehovah, You'll have to worship Him in spirit and
in truth. No other way. In spirit and in
truth. And may He enable us to do so.
O God, our Father, be pleased, we pray, to bless this Word to
the glory of Your Son, in whose name we pray. Amen.