Nine times in the passage of
Scripture that I just read, the word worship, worshipped, or
worshipper is used. What is worship? People have so many ideas and
opinions about worship. But what is worship? I've entitled this message. Worship. Verse 19 of our text. The woman said unto him, Sir.
I perceive that thou art a prophet, and she knew that the Lord Jesus
Christ was no ordinary man. She was convinced of that. You
see, in verse 16, she found out that he knew everything about
her. Look at verse 16. 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. In that saidst thou truly. The
woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet." So
she goes on to do what everybody does when they perceive somebody
as a prophet, so to speak. She starts talking about religion
and worship. She says, Our fathers worshipped
in this mountain, and you say that in Jerusalem is the place
where men ought to worship. Now, she did all she knew to
do at that time. She began to give her opinion
about worship. You know, everybody knows, everybody knows that they ought
to worship God. Everybody knows that. But what
that means, very few know. The word worship means, by definition,
to prostrate yourself before. I mean you fall on the ground
at the feet of the object of your worship. It means, literally,
to kiss like a dog licks its master's hand. Now, that's what
the word worship means. And I know this, you will only
worship, I will only worship. And that means to fall down before,
to kiss like a dog licks its master's hand. That's strong
language. You will only worship one that
you can't manipulate. You'll only worship one that
you cannot control. If you can manipulate Him or
control Him, that's what you'll do. You won't worship Him. You'll
try to get Him to do what you want Him to do. You will only
worship that One who is absolutely sovereign, whom you have no control
over at all. Now, if you can control Him,
whatever religion you went through, it wasn't worship. You only worship
and bow before an absolute sovereign. Well, at any rate, this woman
began her religious talk. People generally do that when
they're around somebody they perceive to be a preacher. That's
why I'm always careful not to tell anybody I'm a preacher.
I know what I'm going to have to listen to. So I try to keep
that quiet. Well, she began her religious
talk. I perceive you're a prophet.
So she started giving her opinion of worship. What is the best
way to worship? What's your opinion? Our father
said in this mountain is the best place to worship, but you
do say in Jerusalem is the best place to worship. What is the
best place of worship? Where is the best place to worship?
What is the best way to worship? What's your opinion? It's kind
of reminds me of denominations. What's the best with Catholics,
Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterian, Church of Christ, Church of God,
all of them claim to worship God. And every one of them think
they have the best way of worship, the most accurate way of worship.
We got a little edge over somebody else. I mean, we all worship.
I'm not saying those other don't worship, but we worship a little
better. What's the best way to worship? What's the best place?
Man's denominations. And look how our Lord answers
in verse 24, I mean, verse 21. Jesus saith unto her, Woman,
believe me. Do you know that's the only time
our Lord uses this phrase, but it's a powerful statement, isn't
it? Woman, believe me. Listen to what I'm saying and
believe what I'm saying. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ has
the authority to say that. If He says, Believe Me, you and
I ought to believe exactly what He says. Woman, believe Me. You see, what He says is what
God says. When He says it, God is speaking
because He's God. And you and I are to believe
what He says. Now, He says, Woman, believe
Me. The hour cometh when you shall
neither in this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem worship the
Father. Place really is not the issue.
Verse 22, he says to this woman, you worship you know not what. Now is the Lord being rude? Somebody talks about worship,
you have no idea what you're talking about. You don't even
know what it is you're worshiping. You're clueless in this thing.
You're in complete ignorance. That's what our Lord says to
this woman. Was he being rude? Was he being mean-spirited? Was
he being hateful? Now, if I said it, it probably would be mean-spirited
or hateful. I'm sure somehow I'd do it that way, but not him.
Not him. He said, You don't know what
you're worshipping. You're going through some kind
of form of religion, but it's not worship. This is ignorant.
And then he says, we know, we Jews, you talk about, well, us
Samaritans, we think this mountain's a place and you Jews think Jerusalem's
a place. He said, understand this, we Jews, we know what we
worship for salvation is of the Jews. Now, why does the Lord
say that? Salvation is of the Jews. Well, the Lord gave a revelation to
the Jews that he didn't give to anybody else. The Analekites
didn't have a priest or a sacrifice. The Hittites didn't have any
word from God. Egypt didn't have a Bible. Sodom
certainly didn't have a Bible. You see, you can only worship
according to truth. And the only way you can know
the truth is if God reveals it. And you Samaritans, he says,
you have no revelation from God. Salvation is of the Jews. God gave the Jews a revelation
that he did not give the rest of the world. God made a difference
between the Jews and everybody else. And Christ says salvation
is of the Jews. And the national Israel is given
to picture true Israel. true believer. Now let me give
you a scripture that backs that up. In Romans chapter 2 verse
28, Paul says, he is not a Jew which is one outwardly. Neither
is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh, but he
is a Jew which is one inwardly. You know those fellows over in
Israel? They're not Jews. He said they're not Jews. That's
what he said. He's a Jew, which is one inwardly,
whose circumcision is that of the heart. It's not a circumcision
made with hands. It's a circumcision that God
performed, the circumcision of the heart, not of the letter,
but of the spirit whose praise is not of men, but of God. Now,
that's the true Jew. Salvation is of the Jews. The Lord said very plainly to
that Syro-Phoenician woman. He said, I'm not sent, but to
the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Oh, to the only people
I came to save. Now, listen to me. Christ did
not come to save everybody. The only people He saves are
Jews. That's it. He didn't come to
save anybody else. If you're a believer, you are
a Jew. a true Jew. Paul said we are
the circumcision. We're the true Jews, which worship
God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence
in the flesh. I'm going to come back to that
in a moment. But he says salvation is of the
Jews. Now here are two things that
always go together. Salvation and worship. You cannot worship God and not
be saved. And I'm going to turn that around.
You cannot be saved and still worship. It's not going to happen.
If you're not saved, it is impossible for you to worship. What is worship? Well, it has something to do
with salvation. It's the life. It's the action of the new nature. It proceeds from the new heart.
You see, worship is beyond the capacity of the natural man.
I'm not going to say to anybody, why don't you come worship with
us? I'm just not going to say that. Natural man can't just
up and worship. You can't just up and decide
to worship. I'm going to say come and listen. Come and hear
the word of God preached. And when I say that, I'm praying
that God will give you the grace and me the grace to worship.
But I'm not just going to say to people in the scrimmage, come
worship with us. Only a believer can truly worship.
Isn't that so? Only a believer, someone with
the Spirit of God, someone who God has done something for, that's
the only person who truly worships God. That's the true Jew whose
circumcision is not outward in the flesh, but it's inner. It's
the inner man of the heart. That's the one who worships.
So worship has something to do with salvation. Worship is the
fear of God. Worship is that reverential fear
of God and that awe of God. And the natural man does not
have that fear. Now, they're afraid of punishment.
They're afraid of bad things will happen to them if they don't
line up and live right and all that kind. I'm going to straighten
up my life. I'm going to turn over a new leaf. You know, I'm going to
do all that stuff They're afraid of stuff that's going to happen
to them. But as far as a true fear, an awe, a reverential fear
of God, the natural man does not have this. Paul said there
is no fear of God before their eyes. Not a bit. Now look what our Lord says in
verse 23. He said in verse 22, you worship
you know not what. We know what we worship for salvation
is of the Jews. Look what it says here, verse
23, But the hour cometh, and now is, right now, when the true
worshipers. Man, I want to be in that crowd,
don't you? I want to be a true worshiper,
whatever that is. That's a crowd I want to be in.
He says, 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."
True worshippers. The very fact that our Lord says
this tells us that there is such a thing as a false worshipper.
Turn with me for a moment to Matthew chapter 15. Verse one. Then came to Jesus,
scribes and Pharisees. Now, these were the religious
fellows. These were seminary trained men with much religious
experience, the scribes and Pharisees. They were supposedly the guardians
of the scripture and so on. Well, they came to Jesus, which
were Jerusalem, saying, why? Why did the disciples transgress
the tradition of the elders? They don't wash their hands when
they eat. You know, it's a good practice
to wash your hands before you eat. It's a good practice, really,
to wash your hands all the time, I guess, you know, because you
get germs on. That's a good practice. But does the Bible say anything
about washing your hands? No. No. So, verse three, he answered
and said to them, why do you also transgress the commandment
of God by your tradition? For God commanded, saying, Honor
your father and mother, and he that curses his father or mother,
let him die to death. But you say, Whosoever shall
say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, that by whatsoever
thou mightest be profited by me, and honor not his father
or mother, he is free. What the Lord is saying, these
fellows said, Now, my parents are in need, but I have earmarked
this money to go to the church. I have put it in my will that
this is going to go to the church, therefore I cannot give it to
them. help them out. I've got nobler uses for my money
than my parents. I'm giving this to the church.
The Lord said, you hypocrites. That's pure hypocrisy. That's
nothing more than disobedience. But by your tradition, you're
saying, well, I don't need to honor my parents. Verse seven, he says, you hypocrites. Well, did Isaiah prophesy of
you saying this people draws nigh unto me with their mouth.
They say praise the Lord. They know all the right things
to say and they honor 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 now. There's false worship. It's just teaching the commandments
of men, but thank God. The fact that there's a counterfeit
tells us that there's also the true. True worshipers now. Make the Lord give us grace to
be in that group. Now he says true worshipers.
What you say back to our text verse 23. The hour cometh. And now is when the true worshipers.
Shall worship the father. in spirit and in truth. For the father seeketh such to
worship him. Now, here is the essence of true
worship. The true worshipers will worship
the father in spirit. And. In truth. Now, there is the element of
true worship, spirit and truth. Now, what what does the Lord
mean when he says that True worshipers will worship the Father and Spirit.
Does that mean they have more of a spiritual worship? They
don't have the high church kind of stuff, and they don't have
the big organs and the stained glass windows, and they have
more of a simple worship. It's more spiritual. They have
the little church in the wildwood, and everything's just real plain
and unadorned, and it's more spiritual. You don't have all
these helps. Well, you don't need helps to worship. Understand
that. You don't need helps to truly
worship. If you need helps, if you need the organ playing silently
in the background and softly and to set the mood and you have
all the things that set the mood, the statues and the crosses and
all the different rigmarole they have in religion, that ain't
worship. That's an exercise in the flesh
and nothing more. It's nothing more than a fleshly
feeling. And there's no truth in it. But
is that what he's talking about when he talks about worshiping
in the spirit? You need to have not such high churchy stuff,
but you need to have more. That's really not what the Lord's
talking about at all. You can't worship God without
God, the Holy Spirit. It is absolutely impossible to
worship God without God the Holy Spirit. They that worship Him
must worship Him in spirit and in truth. You see, the Holy Spirit
gives a man a nature that can worship. The natural man can't
worship. He has no affinity with God.
I must be given a spiritual nature. And I'm not talking about spiritual
the way It's used in the 21st century. I'm talking about that
which is born of the Spirit, is Spirit. When God saves a man,
here's what happens. God chooses him before time again.
That's election. God the Son redeems him on the
cross. There's redemption. God the Holy Spirit gives him
life. Through hearing the Word, He
gives him life and he has Ears to hear. He has a heart to receive. He has a nature now that actually
loves God. That sees who God is. That bows
before Him. Bows before His Gospel. Believes
His Gospel. It's a holy nature. It's not
a corrupt nature that worships God. It's a holy nature. It's what every believer is given
in the new birth. That which is born of the flesh
is what? Flesh. And it can never rise above that.
It's just flesh. And if God doesn't do something
for you, you'll never be able to worship. That's so. That which is born, that which
is birthed of the Spirit is Spirit. Scripture says we're partakers
of the divine nature. Look back a page to John chapter
3, verse 5. Jesus answered, Verily, verily,
I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water, that's talking
about the Word of God, and of the Spirit, God, the Holy Spirit,
he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of
the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is
spirit. Now, marvel not that I say of you, you must be born
again. The wind blows where it wills.
You hear the sound thereof. You can't not tell whence it
comes or where it goes. So is everyone that's born. of
the Spirit. Now, it is only by God, the Holy
Spirit, that I have this spiritual worship. Now, in the Old Testament,
and you can't understand the New Testament without the Old
Testament. In the Old Testament, there were three things that
were absolutely necessary for worship, and they were material
things. By material, I mean things you can touch, feel, smell, see. Material things. The three things
that were absolutely necessary for a man to worship God. First,
he had to have a sacrifice. That lamb. And next, he had to
have an altar to place that lamb upon. And third, he had to have
a priest to present that for him before God. He couldn't offer
up the sacrifice. He had to have a priest do it
for him. These physical things, these
material things were all absolutely necessary. And there wasn't any
worship without them. I had to have a sacrifice. I
had to have an altar. And what's interesting about
this altar, You read in Exodus chapter 24, when God gives instructions
regarding the altar, He said, you make sure no human tool has
touched it. If a human tool has touched it,
it's polluted. It's no good. If your works enter
into this thing, it's no good. He said you can't have steps
go into the altar. There's not steps to God like
a seven step program. There's not steps to God. Not
at all. You had to have sacrifice. You
had to have an altar to place that sacrifice upon, you had
to have a priest to present that for you. Now, all of those things,
those physical, material things, have been abolished. Completely abolished. And here's why. Christ Jesus
is my sacrifice. He's the Lamb of God that takes
away the sin of the world. Christ Jesus is my altar. Christ Jesus is my priest. He, as my priest, offers up the
sacrifice of His deity on the altar of His humanity, and He
presents it to the Father. And I'm saved by what He does.
Now, faith, understand this, faith in Christ is a purely spiritual
act. I'm looking to Him whom I cannot
see. And I'm trusting Him who I cannot
see to have already done for me that which I can't see. What
do you mean by that? Well, let me tell you exactly
what I mean by that. I am holy in God's sight. Can you see that? No, I can't. Do you believe it? Yes, I do. I'm trusting Christ
as my holiness before God. I'm holy in God's sight. And
faith is a purely spiritual act. It's looking to Christ as my
priest. It's looking to Christ as my altar. It's looking to
Christ as my sacrifice. Turn with me to Philippians 3.
I've already quoted this, but I want you to see this. Philippians
chapter 3. Verse 3, For we are the circumcision. And here's what we do who are
truly circumcised. He's talking about that circumcision
made without hands. We are the circumcision. which
worship God in the Spirit, in God the Holy Spirit. We rejoice
in Christ Jesus. We have confidence in Christ
and we have no confidence, no confidence in the flesh. You
know what? I don't, I don't have any confidence in the flesh.
I don't have any confidence in mine. I don't have any confidence
in yours. I got confidence in Christ Jesus the Lord. I really
believe that he is salvation. Now, that's the true circumcision.
Now, we are the circumcision which worship God in the spirit. Now, the Lord said they that
worship him must worship him in spirit. And what do you say
next? In truth. We worship him in spirit and
in truth, we worship him in the spirit and in the truth of God,
where men worship in the spirit, you know, it's always there.
Always, without any exceptions to that, the truth. The truth. Paul said in 2 Thessalonians
2 verse 13, but we're bound to thank God always for you, brethren,
beloved of the Lord, because God has from the beginning chosen
you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and Belief of the
truth. Wherever there is the work of
God, the Holy Spirit, you know what the one evidence of it is
the belief of the truth. And when there is no belief of
the truth, God's spirit is not at work. It's always that way. Now for the big question, Pilate's
question. When the Lord said, I came to
bear witness to the truth, he said, what is truth? Well, isn't that the question
of questions? What is truth? Now, if I'm going to worship
God, I'm going to have to have the Holy Spirit. I'm going to
have to have the truth. What is truth? What did Pilate
mean when he asked that question? I think he meant several things. Is there such a thing as absolute
truth? Is it out there somewhere? Is there really even such a thing
as the truth? I mean, the absolute truth. Is there such a thing? And if
there is such a thing, can we even know it? I mean, isn't it
almost presumptuous and proud to say, you know, I got the truth
and can we even know the truth? And is it really worth all this? Is the truth worth dying for?
I mean, here you are, your own people delivered you up to me
and you're standing before me getting ready to be convinced.
Is it worth all this? Well, the answer to that question, yes,
there is such a thing as the truth. Yes, it can be known,
it is known, and yes, it is worth all of this. Now, what is truth? Turn with me to John 17. There's
two scriptures I want you to look at. Verse 17. And that word means make them holy. Declare them
to be holy. Set them apart to be holy. Sanctify
them through thy truth. Thy word is truth. Look in verse 19. And for their
sakes I sanctify myself. I set myself apart that they
also might be sanctified Through the truth, now this being made
holy, this being declared to be holy by God comes through
the truth. Now turn with me to Hebrews 10. Hebrews 10. And remember, he
said, sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth, they're
sanctified through the truth. Now look at this scripture in
Hebrews 10. By the witch will, by God's will,
we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once for all. That's something that doesn't
ever need to be repeated. It's completed. We are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Now think of these two statements. One statement says we're sanctified
by the truth. And the other says we're sanctified
by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ, by His death on
the cross. Now, does that mean 50% of our
sanctification is the truth and the other 50% is the death of
Christ? Part of one and part of the other? No, you know better
than that. Here's what this means. What is truth? The cross is the
truth. The offering of the body of Jesus
Christ is the truth. You want to know the truth? You
want to know the truth about yourself? People go on journeys to find
out, I want to find out who I really am. Well, I can save you the
journey. I can tell you who you are. The one time that men are left
to themselves and they do what they want to do, they nail God
to a cross. The one time holiness walked
upon this earth, men cleared their throats and spit in His
face, and the fact of the matter is, my friend, that that's me
and you. That's what you're guilty of.
You want to know the truth about yourself? There it is. All the
other stuff's a lie. That's the absolute truth about
you and me. You want to know the truth about
God? You want to know the truth concerning God? He's only known
through the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. That one hanging
on a cross, that's the truth concerning the character of God.
You want to know who He is and what He's really like? You want
to see His hatred for sin? You want to see His holiness?
You want to see His wisdom, how He's made a way to be just and
justify the ungodly? You want to see His mercy and
grace? You want to see His power to put away sin? You want to
see His sovereignty? The truth regarding God is seen in the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's the truth. You want to
know the truth regarding salvation? Look, you're there in Hebrews
10. Let's begin reading in verse
5. Wherefore, when he cometh into
the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not,
but a body hast thou prepared me. In burnt offerings and sacrifice
for sin, thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come in the
volume of the book. It is written of me to do thy
will, O God. Above, when he said sacrifice
and offering and burnt offering and offering for sin, thou wouldst
not. Neither has pleasure therein, which are offered by the law.
Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away
the first, that old covenant, that he may establish the second.
By the witch will, by God's will, we are sanctified through the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Now let
me tell you the truth regarding salvation. This is the truth. Bless God, this is the truth.
When Jesus Christ died on Calvary's tree, all my sins were paid for,
and God said regarding me, He is holy. By that one offering. Now that's
the proof. Back to our text in John chapter
4. Verse 24, God is a spirit. I've never seen a spirit of you.
Spirit doesn't have a material physical body like us. God is
spirit. And they that worship him must. I mean, this is absolutely necessary. It's not worship. They that worship
him must worship him in spirit and in truth. Now, I want to close by looking
at two scriptures, one in the Old Testament, one in the New
Testament. The first scripture we're going to look at is the
first time we read the word worship in the scriptures, which you
turn with me in Genesis 22. First time this word pops up. If you would understand what
worship is, we must understand this. Now look in verse 5. And Abraham said unto his young
men, Abide ye here with the ass, and I and the lad will go yonder
and worship and come again to you. That's
the first time the word's used. Look up in verse 1. It came to
pass after these things that God did tempt Abraham, and said
unto him, Abraham, and he said, Behold, here I am. And he said,
Take now thy son, thine only son, Isaac, whom thou lovest,
and get thee into the land of Moriah, and offer him up there
for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains, which I will
tell thee. And everybody that ever reads that passage in Scripture,
you know what they say? They say, I just couldn't do that.
I mean, if God told me to offer up my child, I just, how did
he do that? Well, let's go and read him.
And Abraham rose up early in the morning and saddled his ass.
Now, let me remind you that this child that God told Abraham,
you go kill it, offer him up as a burnt offering to me. This
is the child that God had promised the Messiah to come through.
He said, in thee, in this seed, shall all the nations of the
earth be blessed. Now that one that I promised
I'm going to raise the Messiah up, I want you to go kill him.
And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and he saddled his
ass, and he took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son,
and claimed the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up and
went into the place which God had told him. What do you reckon
he felt as he was cutting that wood? Then on the third day of
this journey, I wonder if Abraham even spoke to Isaac during that
time. It must have been so gut-wrenching. And on the third day, Abraham
lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said
unto his young men, abide ye here with the ass, and I and
the lad will go yonder and worship and come to you again. Now, there's
two things that strike me about that. First thing is, obedience
to the Word of God. There is no worship without obedience
to the Word of God. We really had a worship service.
Well, I don't know if you did or not. I don't know. If there's obedience to the Word
of God, there was. But the next thing that I would notice about
this is there was faith. Did you notice how he said, me
and the lad are going to go and worship and we're going to come
back to you? Remember that promise God made the Messiah is going
to come through him. He believed God, and Hebrews
11, 19 tells us that he believed that God would raise him from
the dead. He knew God was going to be good to his word. He believed
God. And so there was faith. So I
see there, I see obedience. I see faith, which are one and
the same thing. Can't separate the two. Now let's look at the
New Testament scripture, Matthew chapter eight. Verse 1, when he was come down from the
mountain, great multitudes followed him, and behold, there came a
leper and worshipped him. Now, if you want to know what
worship is, here it is. Now, I know that this fellow
really did worship God. Inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
He worshipped Him. Like I said, you know, people
talk about, well, worship. We worshipped. We had this thing
going and that thing going. Well, I don't know if you did
or not, but I know this fellow worshipped. I'm sure he did. He came and
he worshipped Him. Well, what did he have to say?
And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying...
Now, here's the element of worship. He knew Jesus Christ was Lord. He's the dictator. He's the control. That's what
Lord means. He's the one who has absolute
control. That means I'm in His hands.
You're in His hands. It's not what will you do with
Him. It's what will He do with you. It's up to Him. Your eternal
destiny is up to the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the Lord. What did He see when He saw Him
on the cross? What did He say? Lord. Remember me. You're surely going
to return as an almighty, victorious prince and a king. Remember me
when you come back in your glorious kingdom. He's the Lord. What's he say next? If thou wilt. What if he would have said, Lord,
I will that you make me clean? Wouldn't work, would it? Not
for a second. He didn't come that way. He knew
that his salvation was up to the will of Jesus Christ. Lord,
if you will, it's totally up to you. I don't have any control
of this thing. There's nothing I can do to get you to do it.
It's just up to you. He realized that this is worship. Lord, if you will. What's he say next? You can. You're able. Question. Is the Lord Jesus Christ able
to make you clean? I mean clean before God. Do you
believe that? Lord, if you will, you can, make
me clean. Now, as someone that worships,
this is what they know they need before God. I need to be clean.
I need to be clean before God. And the only way I can be clean
before God is if He makes me clean. That's up to Him. And
I don't get apathetic about it. I don't say, well, if it's up
to the Lord for me to be clean, I will. If not, I won't. No,
it's, Lord, if You will, You can make me clean. I'm not going
to give Him any rest Make me clean. That's my continual
prayer. Make me clean. And Jesus put
forth his hand, verse 3, and touched him, saying, I will be
thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was
cleansed. That, my dear friends, is worship. Let's pray.