Worship in Spirit and in Truth                    John 4:21-24        John Chapman

 

Read John 4:7-24

 

21Jesus replied, “Believe me, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father here or in Jerusalem. 22You Samaritans know so little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews. 23But the time is coming and is already here when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for anyone who will worship him that way. 24For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”

 

Worship – Everything we do, say and think in response to God’s greatness.  It must be sincere (true) and in the “right” spirit.

 

spirit – What you think….What’s in your heart…understanding, emotions, attitudes, intentions…

          Blessed are the pure in heart (Matt 5:8)

          Lust=Adultery – heart (matt 5:28)

          Where your treasure is there will your heart be also (Matt 6:21)

SIN

5Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.   Gen. 6:5

  “The heart is more deceitful than all else

    And is desperately sick;

    Who can understand it?                  Jeremiah 17:9

 

THE LORD KNOWS

…the LORD searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever. 

1 Chronicles 28:9

 

WORSHIP IN SPIRIT…

 

BORN OF THE SPIRIT……JOHN 3:6-7

          6“That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7“Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’  

  • Jesus’ words are spirit and life (John 6:63)…WE MUST READ THEM!!
  • 9… if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;    Romans 10:9
  • If we are born again and have God’s Spirit living in us….we can know the thoughts of God!  (READ: 1 Corinthians 2:11-13)

 

SURRENDERED to the SPIRIT…..Romans 8:5-6 (read through 11)

5For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace,

  • His plans or yours?  (TESTIMONY: LETTER OF SURRENDER)
  • White knuckle driving…
  • What are you hanging on to so tightly that the Spirit can’t lead???
  • Galatians 5:16…..16But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. 

 

How do we let the Spirit lead us?  You’ve heard it said before:

19This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger;   James 1:19

Be quick to listen and slow (S.L.O.W.) to act

 

Seek Him (Ask) …

Listen to His voice (prayer & the Word)….

Obey His voice

                   Worship Him

 

WORSHIP IN SPIRIT…

EXHIBITING the FRUIT of the SPIRIT……GALATIANS 5:22-24

22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.   

Joy or ?  What do people see in your face, joy or “Mr. or Miss. Grumpy?

Patience or ?  How are you acting towards others?

 

That’s part of your worship of God.  If He says love each other and we don’t, we are sinning!

 

TRUE WORSHIP ONLY HAPPENS “IN THE SPIRIT”

spirit – not flesh (see Galatians 5:19-21)

Our response to or worship of God can be physical but only as subject to His Spirit.  (raising of hands, bowing, service, etc. )

1Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.  Rom 12:1

Not self-fulfilling but Spirit-honoring

Not pleasing self but pleasing God

It’s usually easy to spot “flesh” stuff…it’s always more self-oriented.

 

Look at our best example…Jesus: He asked the Father “if it’s possible, take this cup from me.”  But he didn’t do what he wanted….he did what the father wanted.  In Phil. 2:5 we read

Have this mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus….He gave up “self-rights” and was obedient even unto death on a cross.

 

Truth-

What is your real motive for serving, singing, etc. Or even being in church for that matter!

 

We read earlier in 1 Chronicles 28:9,

…the LORD searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts.

He knows if we’re doing something because we feel we have to or if we’re doing it because we really want to…

 

1    Let the godly sing with joy to the LORD,

    for it is fitting to praise him.

2    Praise the LORD with melodies on the lyre;

    make music for him on the ten-stringed harp.

3    Sing new songs of praise to him;

    play skillfully on the harp and sing with joy.

Psalm 33:1-3

 

Yet we say, “I don’t like that song so I won’t sing.”   WAIT A MINUTE…

          WHO ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO BE PLEASING, YOURSELF OR GOD?

Sing to HIM a new song

NOT sing for US a new song if we like it!

 

Motive: the reason behind what you do…..motivation or intent.

          Go back and look at the fruit of the Spirit….

          Remember the word JOY?  Here it says “Let the godly sing with JOY…”

Therefore if we do not we are not in His Spirit…we are in ours!!!

He doesn’t say “if it’s easy!”

 

Let’s look at what’s “easy”

The opposite of truth is “falsehood” or true vs. false

 

In regards to religion…

          CEREMONY is easy.  Ritual, rite or “what we’ve always done.” 

 

1The Pharisees and some of the scribes gathered around Him when they had come from Jerusalem, 2and had seen that some of His disciples were eating their bread with impure hands, that is, unwashed. 3(For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they carefully wash their hands, thus observing the traditions of the elders; 4and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they cleanse themselves; and there are many other things which they have received in order to observe, such as the washing of cups and pitchers and copper pots.) 5The Pharisees and the scribes asked* Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with impure hands?” 6And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:

    ‘This people honors Me with their lips,

    But their heart is far away from Me.

7    ‘But in vain do they worship Me,

    Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’                     Mark 7:1-7

Do we do the same thing day after day, week after week, month after month and year after year OR are we SEEKING THE SPIRIT’S LEADING?

 

          LEGALISM is easy.  We can follow a bunch or rules if we really try.  The Pharisees told Jesus He was wrong for healing on the Sabaath and that His disciples were wrong for picking grain to eat on the Sabaath…..

 

27Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. 28“So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”                Mark 2:24

 

11And there was a woman who for eighteen years had had a sickness caused by a spirit; and she was bent double, and could not straighten up at all. 12When Jesus saw her, He called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your sickness.” 13And He laid His hands on her; and immediately she was made erect again and began glorifying God. 14But the synagogue official, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, began saying to the crowd in response, “There are six days in which work should be done; so come during them and get healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” 15But the Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites, does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the stall and lead him away to water him? 16“And this woman, a daughter of Abraham as she is, whom Satan has bound for eighteen long years, should she not have been released from this bond on the Sabbath day?” 17As He said this, all His opponents were being humiliated; and the entire crowd was rejoicing over all the glorious things being done by Him.                                             Luke 13:11-17

 

There was an event this summer where there was a lot of “don’ts”…Don’t wear this, don’t wear that, etc.  Don’t sing anything but this or we’ll ask you to leave.  BUT, then they said “our primary goal is to reach the lost for Jesus!”

 

IF ONLY GOD’S CHILDREN HEAR HIS VOICE HOW CAN WE EXPECT NON-CHRISTIANS TO ACT LIKE CHRISTIANS!!!!

 

Willcox Youth Connection: Our summer Teen Music Outreach to the community….was called “kids playing Satan music” by a church in town, despite the fact that 6 young people gave their lives to the Lord Jesus!

 

          FALSE PROFESSION is easy.  I can say I believe in Jesus.

Matt 7:12 Many will say to me Lord, Lord….

 

          SANCTIMONY is easy.  I’m holier than you ‘cause I read my Bible and pray every day!

 

Come on, you now you’ve met them…And one day, maybe you’ll be good enough to be in their church!  (sounds a lot like works, doesn’t it?)

 

On the other side of all that is Christ.

Jesus said,

          I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.  No man cometh unto the Father but by me.   John 14:6

 

True Worship is described in Deuteronomy 10:12-17,

12So now Israel, what do you think God expects from you? Just this: Live in his presence in holy reverence, follow the road he sets out for you, love him, serve God, your God, with everything you have in you, 13obey the commandments and regulations of God that I’m commanding you today—live a good life.

 

Then he gives them their motivation

14Look around you: Everything you see is God’s—the heavens above and beyond, the Earth, and everything on it. 15But it was your ancestors that God fell in love with; he picked their children—that’s you!—out of all the other peoples. That’s where we are right now. 16So cut away the thick calluses from your heart and stop being so willfully hardheaded. 17God, your God, is the God of all gods, he’s the Master of all masters, a God immense and powerful and awesome.      

 

You might say, well that’s Old Testament, he was talking to Israel…

We are “spiritual Israel.”  We read in Romans 2:28-29,

28For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the Jewish ceremony of circumcision. 29No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not a cutting of the body but a change of heart produced by God’s Spirit. Whoever has that kind of change seeks praise from God, not from people.

 

Worship

17Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.    Colossians 3:17

 

in Spirit

         3for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh,      Phil 3:3

 

and in Truth

22let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.  Heb. 10:22-25

 

and don’t forget to be S.L.O.W.

Seek Him (Ask) …Listen to His voice (prayer & the Word)….Obey His voice….Worship Him