Tonight, Lord willing, I'm going
to be preaching on Joseph forgiving his brethren. And I want to say
some things that I want me to hear and that I want you to hear
with regard to this thing of forgiveness. I have entitled this message,
God is Spirit. Look in our text. John chapter 4, verse 24. These are the words of the Lord
Jesus describing His Father. And He says, God is a spirit. This is what He says to this
ignorant woman. God is spirit. He cannot be confined to a place
like this mountain we're looking at or in Jerusalem. He is spirit. He does not have a body. He is not material. God is spirit. That is how he's omnipresent. He is everywhere in all of his
fullness all the time. He is spirit. He's not bound by space. We can't be two places at once. He can. God is spirit. He's not bound by time. God is
spirit. He knows all. He's the cause
of all. He is infinite. God is spirit. Hebrews 11, six says he that
cometh to God must must believe that he is. Not merely that he exists. I believe in God. That's not
what is being said in that verse of scripture. He that cometh
to God must believe that he is, that he is as he says he is in
his word. I must believe his isness. God is. I am that I am. God is spirit
and they that worship him must. This is absolutely necessary. They must worship him in spirit. and in truth. In verse 19, this dear woman
had said to the Lord, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. I see
that very clearly. You're a prophet. And that's
because of what he said unto her in verses 16 through 18,
Jesus saith 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. And that saidst thou truly, the
woman said unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art prophet. It's obvious. I've never met you and you know
everything about me. I perceive that you are a Prophet. Now she goes on to give her take
on things. Our fathers worshiped in this
mountain, this mountain in Samaria. It begins with a G. I can't remember
what the name of it is, but there was a special mountain that they
thought this is where you're supposed to offer sacrifices
on this mountain. And you say that in Jerusalem
is the place where men ought to worship. I see denominations
here, don't you? Our denomination thinks this.
Your denomination thinks that. Denominations are not in the
Bible. All this Methodist and Catholic and Baptist and Presbyterian
and whatever it is, it's foolishness. It's not in the Bible. She makes this issue though,
of these denominations. You think that it's best to worship
in Jerusalem. We think it's best to worship
at this mountain. Verse 21, Jesus saith unto her,
woman, believe me. Oh, I hope he says this to me. Don't you believe me? You know
what happens when he says, believe me, you believe he's never disobeyed
when he says in power by his spirit, believe me, we believe. And I pray that God says that
that Christ says that to me and you this morning, woman, believe
me, the hour cometh. when you shall neither in this
mountain nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father. The worship
of the Father who is spirit, who is omnipresent, who's everywhere. He can't be confined to a place. You can't say this is where you
need to worship or that's where you need to worship. The hour
comes when neither at this mountain or at Jerusalem, Will there be
worship? Now, look what he says in verse
22. You worship, you know not what. And like I said, that can just
as easily be translated. You worship you not who. We know
what we worship. We know who we worship for salvation
is of the Jews. Now, you do not know. who you worship. Your worship
is in ignorance. You know, she was making this
issue of the place. Well, according to the Old Testament,
there was one place to worship God, right? Jerusalem. If you worship somewhere else,
you weren't worshiping. In the Old Testament, you remember
the sin of Jeroboam? You remember what he did? Jeroboam
was the man who thought that if they worshiped in Jerusalem,
they'd get rid of him. Rehoboam was there and he was
the son of Solomon. And they thought if they go to
Jerusalem, they'll see Rehoboam and they'll forget me. They'll
kill me. So he reestablished worship. You can worship in Dan
or Beersheba. It's too much for you to go to
Jerusalem. I think this is the introduction
of contemporary worship. It's too much for you. hard for
you to go all the way to Jerusalem. You can go to these convenient
places. And he made new Passovers that were like the one in Jerusalem,
but they weren't the one in Jerusalem. And he said, these will do. And
we read 27 times in the scriptures of the sin of Jeroboam, that
which he did. He was saying, you see, the reason
Jerusalem was the place to worship is there's only one place God
has worshiped, Christ, the tabernacle, the temple. That's why what Jeroboam
did was so wrong. And the Jews were indeed right
in worshiping only at Jerusalem. And the Lord acknowledges that,
but he says, the time is coming where the worship of God is not
going to be confined to a place like Jerusalem or this mountain. He says, you don't know what
you worship. You're worshiping in ignorance.
We KNOW what we worship. We know WHO we worship, for salvation
is of the Jews. Salvation is of the Jews. Now, the Lord
did reveal to the nation of Israel His Word. They had the oracles
of God. And the Gentiles were not given a word from God. They
had no revelation from God. They didn't have the Bible the
way the Jews do. They didn't have the law the
way the Jews do. But he said, salvation, don't
miss that word. Salvation is of the Jews. Now the national Jews, the nation
of Israel was just as lost as the Gentiles. Maybe more so,
but salvation is of the Jews. Now he's not talking about national
Jews when he says salvation is of the Jews. Turn with me to
Romans two, hold your finger there in John and turn with me
to Romans two. Verse 28, for he is not a Jew, which is
one outwardly. Neither is that circumcision
which is outward of the flesh but he is a Jew which is one
inwardly." Now this is the Jew of whom it said salvation is
of the Jews. Truly he is king of the Jews
isn't he? Every believer is a true Jew
inwardly. Their circumcision is that of
the heart, the new heart that He gives. While you're in Romans,
look in Romans 9. Verse 6, Not as though the word
of God is taken of none effect, for they are not all Israel,
which are of Israel. Just because someone is a physical
Israelite doesn't mean he's a true Israelite. Neither because they
are the seed of Abraham are they all children, but in Isaac shall
the seed be called. That is they, which are the children
of the flesh." These are not the children of God, but the
children of the promise are counted for the seed. Now, these are
the Jews that the Lord is talking about when he says salvation
is of the Jews. You remember when the Lord said
to the Syro-Phoenician woman, I'm not sent. but to the lost
sheep of the house of Israel, the true Jews. Salvation is of the Jews, but
verse 23. Now the national Jews were right
in looking to Jerusalem to worship. The Samaritans were wrong. But
the hour is coming when all that's going to be gone. As a matter
of fact, it's right now. It's right now. The hour cometh
and now is when the true worshipers don't miss that. I want to be
on in on that. Don't you? I want to be a true
worshiper. Look in, um, Matthew chapter
15 for just a moment. Verse seven, Matthew chapter
15. Hypocrites. You know, the Lord said some
very offensive things to religious people, didn't he? Hypocrites. Well, did Isaiah prophesy of
you saying this people draws nigh into me with their mouth.
and honors 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." Not what
God says in his word, but what men say. False. And you know, that scares
me to death all the time. I don't want to be one of these
people believing or preaching the doctrines of men. I want
to preach the word of God. Now the hour cometh and now is
when the true worshipers, I want to be in on that true worship. The hour cometh and now is when
the true worshipers shall worship the father in spirit and in truth
for the father seeketh such to worship him. God is a spirit. This is an attribute of God.
He is spirit. He's invisible. He's immortal. He's omnipresent. He's a person. He's a person. He's not a force. He's not gas or air. He's a person. He is spirit. Somebody says, well, how do you
know that? Because God says it in his word. No one would ever
figure that out. I think God is a spirit. Oh,
you don't just come up with things like that. God is spirit. This is his divine attribute. He is spirit, invisible, immortal,
eternal. You see, the Bible gives us his
character. We could not know God without this book. We can know things about God.
But we can't know God without this book. God is spirit. God is holy. Now, Drew, please
take care of that. God is holy. That means he's other. That means he's not like anything
me or you know. He is other. I think maybe a good definition
of his holiness is where it said of the Lord, thou has loved righteousness
and hated iniquity. That is holiness, a love of righteousness,
a hatred of iniquity. God is sovereign. That means
he's the first cause of everything. Can't take that too far. He's
the cause of causes. He's all-powerful. He has the
power to make sure His will always comes to pass. He's immutable. He cannot change. He's independent.
He has no needs. He's absolutely just. I love
this. God is love. God is love, not
here's love and God fits that description. God is love. Turn with me for a moment to
Exodus chapter 20. God is spirit. Exodus chapter 20, this is the
commandment concerning idolatry. God is spirit. Verse four, thou shalt not make
unto thee any graven image or any likeness of anything that's
in heaven above. whether it's in the earth beneath,
whether it's in the water under the earth. Don't try to make
a likeness of God. God is spirit. Any likeness I
make will only be bringing him down to a human level. It's debasing
him. Any likeness at all. God is spirit. Verse five. Regarding these images
men make thou shall not bow down thyself to them nor serve them
for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God I'm jealous of my honor and
my glory Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children
under the third and fourth generation of them that what? Hate me Hate
me You know why men make false images of God and have false
ideas of God? Because they hate God as he is. All likenesses are forbidden
because there's no likeness like him. He said, there's none like
me. God is spirit. 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." He's seeking such to worship
Him. I want to be one of these people,
don't you? God is a spirit. They that worship Him must worship
Him in spirit and in truth. Now, what does it mean to worship
God in spirit? What does it mean to worship
God in truth? There is no worship apart from
worshiping Him in spirit. And there is no way of worshiping
Him apart from truth. God is spirit. They that worship
him must worship him in spirit and in truth. What is meant by
worshiping God in spirit? Does that mean in a spiritual
manner? Without the trappings of religion,
the smoke and mirrors of religion, the phoniness of, I can't think
of anything more phony than a man with a big robot. showing his
piety. You need to listen to me. I've
got a robe on. I've got religion. I'm making myself. The trappings
of wild emotional Charismatic, speaking
in tongues, it's an appeal to the flesh. That's all it is.
Religion, the appeal to the flesh, you can feel. I remember, I was
in Notre Dame in Paris, and I remember somebody saying, you can feel
God here. Oh? You think God's confined
to a place? I can feel God here. I don't
know what you were feeling, it wasn't God. God is Spirit. What does it mean to worship
Him in Spirit without the trappings of physical religion? Well, in
Genesis chapter 2, verse 17, God said to Adam, In the day
you eat thereof, Talking about the tree of good and evil. He said, don't eat of it when
you do. Not if you do, when you do. In the day you eat thereof, you
shall surely die. Now, when he ate of the fruit,
he didn't die physically. He was still alive. His soul
was still alive. But he died spiritually. His spirit did die. And you hath he quickened who
were dead, dead in trespasses and sins. In John chapter three, you're
in John chapter four. Look back in John chapter three,
verse five. Jesus answered, Verily, verily,
I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit,
he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." Now, let me say, when
he says, except a man be born of water, that doesn't mean he's
born again by being baptized. The water is the Word. The washing
of water by the Word. When God the Holy Spirit gives
somebody birth, births him into the kingdom of heaven, he does
so by the Word of God. Now look in verse 6, that which
is born of the flesh is flesh. It'll never rise above its nature.
It'll never rise above its source. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh. That which is born of the spirit
is spirit. When one is born again, they
now have a spirit. partakers of the divine nature.
And it is only that person that's born of the spirit that can worship
God in spirit and in truth. A natural man cannot worship
God. And that is why I never say,
come worship with us. Come hear the gospel. I want
everybody to hear the gospel. But the only way someone can
worship is if they're born of the Spirit. They that worship
Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. A spiritual nature. Listen to what is said about
the natural man in Romans chapter 8 verse 7, the carnal mind. The
carnal mind, the fleshly mind, the mind you were born with,
the way I was born when I, September 9th, 1959, the day I was born,
that carnal mind I had is enmity against God. It's not subject
to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are
in the flesh cannot please God. They cannot worship God. They that worship God must worship
him in spirit. They that worship God must worship
him in truth. Now, what does worshiping God
in the spirit and in truth look like? That's a good question, isn't
it? I want to be in on this. I want to be somebody who worships
God in spirit and in truth. And you can't, you don't have
one without the other. You don't have worshiping him in spirit
without worshiping him in truth. That's impossible. What in the
world does that look like? I want you to turn here with
me to Philippians chapter three. Philippians chapter three. Finally, my brethren, rejoice
in the Lord, and to write the same things to you. To me indeed
is not grievous, it's not irksome, but for you it's safe. If I ever preach something different,
it's time for y'all either to get rid of me or you go somewhere
else. For you, it's safe. It's not grievous to me to preach
the same message every time I preach. It's fresh, it's new, it's powerful,
it's glorious. It's not grievous. And this is
the only safe thing for you. Beware of dogs. He's not talking about canines
there. You know that, don't you? This is what he's calling false
prophets. Dogs. Dogs. Beware of evil workers. He's not really talking about
people who break the law and do wicked crimes and so on. Beware
of them. I don't want to be around them.
You don't either, but he is talking about preachers. I know that
because of what he says next, beware of the concision. This
is a play on words. Paul invented a word. He says,
they call themselves the circumcision. What they are is mutilators.
That's what the word means. Now, what a, what a warning with
regard to preachers. You know, I hate religion. I really do. I hate it. And Paul did too. This is what he had to say for
first three. We are the circumcision. We're
the true Jews. which worship God in the Spirit. They that worship Him must worship
Him in spirit and in truth. We are the Jew, we are the circumcision,
which worship God in the Spirit. Now, somebody's thinking, okay,
but what's that mean? How does one go about worshiping
God in the Spirit? Tell me what that means, something
that I can understand and grasp and experience. What does it
mean to worship God in the Spirit? He tells us, for we are the circumcision
which worship God in the Spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus.
Now here's what it is to worship God in the Spirit. Now that word
rejoice. It's the same word that Paul used in Galatians 6.14 when
he said, God forbid that I should glory, that I should rejoice,
that I should have confidence in. God forbid that I should
glory. I remember who's speaking. This is Paul. God took him into
the third heavens. Can you imagine if God did that
with you? God used him to write scripture. What a blessing. What if there was the epistle
of Todd? Oh, I'd be, yeah, look at me. God used Paul as the greatest,
the chiefest of the apostles. He used Paul more than anybody
else to expound the gospel. Paul called himself, in humility,
a wise master builder. He knew how God had blessed him.
And he knew why. It wasn't because of him. He
said, God forbid that I should glory this man that's taken into
the third heavens. God forbid that I should glory,
saving the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. My only confidence
is who Jesus Christ is and what he did. The only reason I would
be accepted by God is because of the cross of the Lord, Jesus
Christ. The cross of Christ is the most
glorious. That's why Paul said, I determined
not to know anything among you, say Jesus Christ in the name
crucified. Do you understand that? Really, you believe that
the only message is Jesus Christ and Him crucified, who He is
and what He accomplished by His death. My only hope of being
saved is that Christ died for me. That's it. That's the only hope. Jesus Christ
paid for my sins. He gave me His righteousness.
That's all my salvation. My hope isn't in me being a preacher
or me knowing anything. My hope is that Jesus Christ
looked down in mercy on me and represented me and put away my
sins and gave me his righteousness and he presents me before the
Father holy and unblameable and unreprovable. All my hope is
in Christ. Nowhere else. That's what spiritual
worship is. Anything short of that is fleshly,
carnal worship. False worship. Of Him are you in Christ Jesus,
who of God has made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption, that according as it is written, he that glorieth,
let him glory in the Lord, as is wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. Now look at verse three, Philippians
three. For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit,
and rejoice in Christ Jesus. And here's what happens when
someone does rejoice in Christ Jesus. They have no confidence
in the flesh. None at all. You know what that
means? If my fingerprint is on it, away
with it. I have no confidence in my flesh. I have no confidence in your
flesh. I have confidence only in Christ and His cross. What's that mean, to have no
confidence in the flesh? Well, Paul tells us. Look in verse
4. Though I might also have confidence in the flesh, if any man thinks
that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more. Circumcised
the eighth day, the stock of Israel, the tribe of Benjamin,
Hebrew of the Hebrews, and touching the law of Pharisee. Concerning
zeal, persecuting the church, touching the righteousness which
is in the law, blameless. But what things were gained to
me, I thought these counted for good. Those I count as loss for
Christ. Yea, doubtless, I count all things
but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus,
my Lord, for whom I've suffered the loss of all things and do
count them but done. Strong language, isn't it? That
I may win Christ and be found in him not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law. that has my fingerprints on it,
but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness,
which is of God by faith. That's to have no confidence
in the flesh. They that worship him, our Lord
said, must worship him in spirit and in truth. There is no worship
of God apart from the truth. John chapter 17, verse 17, the
Lord says, thy word is truth. I love what the Lord said in
John 14, six, I am the truth. He said in John 18, 37, I came
to bear witness to the truth. And when he went to the cross,
he bore witness to the truth, didn't he? The truth of the true
character of God, every attribute of God is made known in the cross.
The truth of the true character of man. Somebody says, I'm not
that bad. Yeah, you are. You killed God's son. I wasn't even alive when it happened.
You would have done it. You were in Adam. You killed
God's son. That's the true reality of man's
sinfulness. Not, well, I haven't done this.
No, you killed God's son. The truth regarding salvation
by the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the truth. His cross is
the truth. They that worship him must worship
him in spirit and in truth. Now the scripture that came to
my mind when I was thinking about this, of worshiping God and the
truth, Paul, somehow he was with Peter in Antioch. Peter, an apostle, very special
man. He was sitting at the table of
the Gentiles, eating, fellowshipping with them, having a good time.
And all of a sudden, some of the fellows from Jerusalem came
who were Jewish. Peter didn't say anything. You
know what he did? He got up from that table, very
silently, and walked over and sat at the table of the Jews,
fearing them, Scripture says, of the circumcision. And you know what Paul did? Paul rebuked him publicly. He didn't say anything, but he
said, I rebuke Peter to his face in front of everybody that the
truth of the gospel might remain. Now what was Peter saying? He
was saying, while these Gentiles are saved, you're more pleasing
to God by being over here with the Jews. That's what he was
saying without saying it. That's what his action said.
You know what that is? That is a denial that Jesus Christ
is all in salvation. And I'm sure people thought,
Paul, you're being too much of a hard nose. You ought to be
more inclusive, embarrassing him like that. But he did this
that the truth of the gospel might remain. They that worship
him must worship him in spirit and in truth according to the
truth of the gospel. Verse 25. This woman still didn't know
what he was talking about. I understand that. That's the
way it is with me and you, unless God makes himself known. The woman saith unto him, and
I can almost feel the defeat in her voice, I know the Messiah
cometh, which is called Christ. When he has come, he'll tell
us all things. I don't know anything. Jesus saith unto her, I that
speak unto thee, am he. What is spiritual worship? Knowing the Christ. I that speak unto thee am he. Faith in Christ is worship in
spirit and worship in truth. That is spiritual worship. So
here's the question. What do you think of Christ?
What do you think of his person? Do you believe he's God? The
God-man, the creator, the sovereign of the universe, the one who
controls everybody and everything? What do you think of his offices
as prophet, priest, king? What think ye of Christ? That is spiritual worship. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for who
you are. We thank you that you are spirit.
We thank you that God, the son took upon flesh in order to keep
the law for us and to pay for our sins. We thank you for God,
the Holy Spirit that births us and gives us the grace and the
life to worship you in spirit and in truth. We thank you for
the truth, the truth of the gospel that lets us know that everything
you require of us, you look to your son for. And Lord, enable
us to know that we look to him for everything you require of
us. We look to him only. Oh, that we might win Christ
and be found in him not having our own righteousness, which
is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Jesus
Christ, the righteousness, which is of God by faith. Lord, enable each person in this
room for Christ's sake to worship you in spirit and in truth. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.