Worshipping in Spirit and Truth
John 4:24 says “God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in
spirit and truth”. When Jesus arrived on the scene, He proclaimed that He
Himself was the temple of God (John 2:19-21) “Jesus answered and said to them,
destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, forty
and six years was this temple in building, and will You rear it up in three days?
But He spoke of the temple of His body”; in resurrection, He would provide the
spiritual dwelling where God the Holy Spirit and people, in spirit, could have
spiritual communion. In other words, worship would no longer be in a place, but in
a person through Jesus Christ and His Spirit, the worshippers could come directly
to God (John 14:6) “Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth and the life, no man
comes to the Father, but by Me”; and (Hebrews 10:19-20) “having therefore,
brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. By a new and
living way, which He has consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say His
flesh”.
God said in Isaiah 29:13 “forasmuch as this people draw near Me with their
mouth, and with their lips do honor Me, but have removed their heart far from Me,
and their reverence toward Me is taught by the precept of men”. Jesus refers to
this verse in Matthew 15:8 and Mark 7:6. Our worship should not be what we say,
but what we do.
The shift in worship from physical to spiritual is the theme of John 4, a chapter
that recounts Jesus’ visit to the Samaritans. After Jesus encounter with the
Samaritan woman, she acknowledged that He must be a prophet, and then she
launched into a discussion concerning the religious debate between the Jews and
the Samaritans over which place of worship was the right one. Jesus told her that
a new age had come in which the issue no longer concerned a physical site (John
4:23) “but the hour comes and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship
the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeks such to worship Him”.
God was worshipped in Jerusalem, but now the true Jerusalem would be in His
people’s spirit. Indeed, the church is called “the habitation of God in spirit” in
(Ephesians 2:22). True worship required His people to contact God, the Spirit, in
their spirit (Romans 8:11) “but if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the
dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead, shall also quicken your
mortal bodies by His Spirit, that dwells in you”; and (Galatians 5:16) “this I say
then, walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh”.
As well as people who knew truth (John 8:31-32) says “then said Jesus to those
Jews which believed on Him, if you continue in My word, then are you My disciples
indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free”. He is
speaking to those who believed on Him.
Human beings possess a human spirit, which is born again when they come to
Jesus; the nature of which corresponds to God’s nature, which is spirit. Therefore
people can have fellowship with God and worship God.
In a sense John chapter 4 anticipates Revelation 21 and 22, where God provides
the river of the water of life to all the believers and where the Lamb and God are
the temple in the New Jerusalem. Hebrews 12:22 tells us we are come mount
Zion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.
The believers receive life from God (I Corinthians 12:13) “for by one Spirit, are we
all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews of Gentiles, whether we be bond
or free, and have been all made to drink into one Spirit”; and are able to worship
God in the spirit.
This is also described in Ezekiel 47:1, which pictures the river flowing from God’s
temple as a symbol of God’s never ending supply. In John 4, Jesus provides the
living waters to all who receive the gift of God, and He directs people to a new
temple, a spiritual one, where God is worshiped in spirit.
Worshipping in the spirit is worshipping in the position of who you are in the
Spirit. We have to see ourselves as God sees us. God sees us in Christ,
complete, redeemed, justified, sanctified, with no condemnation “for the law of the
Spirit of life, in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death”
(Romans 8:2). Psalms 107:2 says “let the redeemed of the Lord Yahweh say so,
which He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy”. We have to see ourselves
as “the righteousness of God in Christ”. And repent when we fall short.
We also have to see others as God sees them, the same way that He sees us;
you can’t accept your forgiveness for sin and then judge others for their sin, we
are to know no man after the flesh, it tells us in (II Corinthians 5:16); verse 17
says “therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, old things are
passed away, behold, all things are become new”.
Remember just as we are a work in progress, other people are too. Jesus
explains this in Matthew 7:1-5 which says “judge not, that you be not judged. For
with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged and with what measure you
mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why behold you the mote that is in
your brother’s eye, but consider not the beam that is in your own eye? Or how will
you say to your brother, let me pull out the mote out of your eye, and behold, a
beam is in your own eye. You hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of your own
eye, and then shall you see clearly to cast out the mote out of your brother’s eye”.
Instead if you think they are doing something wrong, pray for them, to come to the
knowledge of the truth. If you are keeping your focus on Jesus, you wouldn’t see
what others are doing. Many people worship differently, some are quiet and still,
some shout, some run, all these are ways to praise and worship.
True worship should be from your heart, keeping your focus on God. Worship is
reverent devotion and allegiance pledged to God. True worship is occurred
under the inspiration of God’s Spirit. As the fruit of the Spirit flows through you,
love, joy and peace will draw you into God. It requires a relationship with Him, as
you worship talk to your heavenly Father straight from your heart. Moses talked
with God face to face, and we too can meditate and see God in our spirit.
Hebrews 12:28-29 says “wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be
moved, let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence
and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire”. God is the only one that can
judge, because He knows the heart.
Sermon by: Harriet Bond
Date: February 15, 2009
John 4:24 says “God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in
spirit and truth”. When Jesus arrived on the scene, He proclaimed that He
Himself was the temple of God (John 2:19-21) “Jesus answered and said to them,
destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, forty
and six years was this temple in building, and will You rear it up in three days?
But He spoke of the temple of His body”; in resurrection, He would provide the
spiritual dwelling where God the Holy Spirit and people, in spirit, could have
spiritual communion. In other words, worship would no longer be in a place, but in
a person through Jesus Christ and His Spirit, the worshippers could come directly
to God (John 14:6) “Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth and the life, no man
comes to the Father, but by Me”; and (Hebrews 10:19-20) “having therefore,
brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. By a new and
living way, which He has consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say His
flesh”.
God said in Isaiah 29:13 “forasmuch as this people draw near Me with their
mouth, and with their lips do honor Me, but have removed their heart far from Me,
and their reverence toward Me is taught by the precept of men”. Jesus refers to
this verse in Matthew 15:8 and Mark 7:6. Our worship should not be what we say,
but what we do.
The shift in worship from physical to spiritual is the theme of John 4, a chapter
that recounts Jesus’ visit to the Samaritans. After Jesus encounter with the
Samaritan woman, she acknowledged that He must be a prophet, and then she
launched into a discussion concerning the religious debate between the Jews and
the Samaritans over which place of worship was the right one. Jesus told her that
a new age had come in which the issue no longer concerned a physical site (John
4:23) “but the hour comes and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship
the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeks such to worship Him”.
God was worshipped in Jerusalem, but now the true Jerusalem would be in His
people’s spirit. Indeed, the church is called “the habitation of God in spirit” in
(Ephesians 2:22). True worship required His people to contact God, the Spirit, in
their spirit (Romans 8:11) “but if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the
dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead, shall also quicken your
mortal bodies by His Spirit, that dwells in you”; and (Galatians 5:16) “this I say
then, walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh”.
As well as people who knew truth (John 8:31-32) says “then said Jesus to those
Jews which believed on Him, if you continue in My word, then are you My disciples
indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free”. He is
speaking to those who believed on Him.
Human beings possess a human spirit, which is born again when they come to
Jesus; the nature of which corresponds to God’s nature, which is spirit. Therefore
people can have fellowship with God and worship God.
In a sense John chapter 4 anticipates Revelation 21 and 22, where God provides
the river of the water of life to all the believers and where the Lamb and God are
the temple in the New Jerusalem. Hebrews 12:22 tells us we are come mount
Zion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.
The believers receive life from God (I Corinthians 12:13) “for by one Spirit, are we
all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews of Gentiles, whether we be bond
or free, and have been all made to drink into one Spirit”; and are able to worship
God in the spirit.
This is also described in Ezekiel 47:1, which pictures the river flowing from God’s
temple as a symbol of God’s never ending supply. In John 4, Jesus provides the
living waters to all who receive the gift of God, and He directs people to a new
temple, a spiritual one, where God is worshiped in spirit.
Worshipping in the spirit is worshipping in the position of who you are in the
Spirit. We have to see ourselves as God sees us. God sees us in Christ,
complete, redeemed, justified, sanctified, with no condemnation “for the law of the
Spirit of life, in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death”
(Romans 8:2). Psalms 107:2 says “let the redeemed of the Lord Yahweh say so,
which He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy”. We have to see ourselves
as “the righteousness of God in Christ”. And repent when we fall short.
We also have to see others as God sees them, the same way that He sees us;
you can’t accept your forgiveness for sin and then judge others for their sin, we
are to know no man after the flesh, it tells us in (II Corinthians 5:16); verse 17
says “therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, old things are
passed away, behold, all things are become new”.
Remember just as we are a work in progress, other people are too. Jesus
explains this in Matthew 7:1-5 which says “judge not, that you be not judged. For
with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged and with what measure you
mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why behold you the mote that is in
your brother’s eye, but consider not the beam that is in your own eye? Or how will
you say to your brother, let me pull out the mote out of your eye, and behold, a
beam is in your own eye. You hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of your own
eye, and then shall you see clearly to cast out the mote out of your brother’s eye”.
Instead if you think they are doing something wrong, pray for them, to come to the
knowledge of the truth. If you are keeping your focus on Jesus, you wouldn’t see
what others are doing. Many people worship differently, some are quiet and still,
some shout, some run, all these are ways to praise and worship.
True worship should be from your heart, keeping your focus on God. Worship is
reverent devotion and allegiance pledged to God. True worship is occurred
under the inspiration of God’s Spirit. As the fruit of the Spirit flows through you,
love, joy and peace will draw you into God. It requires a relationship with Him, as
you worship talk to your heavenly Father straight from your heart. Moses talked
with God face to face, and we too can meditate and see God in our spirit.
Hebrews 12:28-29 says “wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be
moved, let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence
and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire”. God is the only one that can
judge, because He knows the heart.
Sermon by: Harriet Bond
Date: February 15, 2009
