John 4:20-24
Biblical Worship • Sermon • Submitted
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God’s True Worshipers
Last week Matt preached on John 7:37-39
Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’ ” But this He said in reference to the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
And since John 5 we have witnessed the growing following after Jesus Christ, by those who would hear and see and want miracles and signs, by those who would repent, believe and put their faith and trust in Him as Lord and the Son of God, and by those who would be threatened by Him, seeking to find ways to disrupt, persecute, and even kill Him. All of this following John’s account of Christ meeting the Samaritan woman at the well. In fact we can recall very similar words being spoken by Christ to the woman which He spoke at the Feast of booths in Chapter 11.
Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never be thirsty; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.”
I find this context quite appropriate to bring us back to revisit John chapter four.
In discussion with Matt, we elected that in those moments and times I may enter the pulpit in his absence, I will preach on worship, fitting for the role I serve.
So, we bridge back to John chapter 4 under the common theme that those who put their faith and trust in Christ will receive a fountain of living water springing up to eternal life. A quick turn to Ephesians 1 or to John 7 reveals that this spring of living water is the Holy Spirit.
In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of the promise, who is a first installment of our inheritance, in regard to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.
Later in John 14 and 16 we learn from Christ who the Holy Spirit is and His role in the Trinity as it pertains to His installment as our inheritance.
“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, so that He may be with you forever; the Helper is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him; but you know Him because He remains with you and will be in you.
The context of this passage is Christ revealing special truth to His disciples about how He must fulfill the gospel. How he must depart their company soon to suffer and die on the cross, to make the propitiated atonement sacrifice as the Lamb of God, for all who would repent from their sin, believe in Him as the Son of God, submit to Him as Lord, and profess their faith in Him, they would be saved from the wrath of God against all unrighteousness, ungodliness and against those who suppress the truth.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written: “But the righteous one will live by faith.”
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, being understood by what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
These who believe in Christ receive His imputed righteousness before God and are declared righteous by God, saving them from their sin debt, and are firmly planted in God’s grace, having access and peace with God through the resurrected power of Christ.
But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, but it is the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in God’s merciful restraint He let the sins previously committed go unpunished; for the demonstration, that is, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we also have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we celebrate in hope of the glory of God.
So - this what Christ is going away to do in John 14, and we pick back up at verse 25 to learn more about the Holy Spirit.
“These things I have spoken to you while remaining with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and remind you of all that I said to you.
Again in Chapter 16:
“But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ But because I have said these things to you, grief has filled your heart. But I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I am leaving; for if I do not leave, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. And He, when He comes, will convict the world regarding sin, and righteousness, and judgment: regarding sin, because they do not believe in Me; and regarding righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you no longer are going to see Me; and regarding judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.
“I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them at the present time. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take from Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; this is why I said that He takes from Mine and will disclose it to you.
And while this sermon is not to be fully centered on The Holy Spirit, we cannot ignore the role of the Spirit promised Who provides this abundance of living water that springs up to eternal life.
From this context in John 14 and 16 we learn the the Holy Spirit is God the Spirit, sent by God the Father in the name of God the Son to be our Helper. He will teach us in all things Christ has spoken - the word of God. He convicts the world regarding sin, regarding righteousness, and regarding judgement. He is the Spirit of truth and guides us in the truth. And in the truth, He speaks and reveals the will of God within the context of His word.
There are many who have taken these statements out of context to set apart the Spirit speaking as an audible voice, telling them what to do beyond what the word of God says. This is false and dangerous teaching, used to justify their own personal wants and gains.
See John 17. In Christ's High Priestly prayer in the garden, before being taken prisoner and suffering all the way to and through the cross, He prays for all those who believe in Him as Lord and Savior.
“But now I am coming to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I am not asking You to take them out of the world, but to keep them away from the evil one.
I am not asking You to take them out of the world, but to keep them away from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. Just as You sent Me into the world, I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, so that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.
“I am not asking on behalf of these alone, but also for those who believe in Me through their word, that they may all be one; just as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.
So important not to mis this. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth…and for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. This sanctification begins in salvation, and through the installed Holy Spirit, continues to guide us into truth, not just in knowledge alone, but in obedience also.
Why am I taking so much time to make this point?
Because church buildings are filled with people who view the Holy Spirit as a sign of God’s power, given to us to wield on our own account, to justify buying a specific house, speaking it into their life. Or they use it to justify a divorce, an abortion, or entitlement to greedy gains in wealth. These are false conceptions and twisted in creative and imaginative thoughts instead of being gleaned from God’s word of truth. If these folks truly had the Spirit installed, they would not only know these thoughts to be false, but would be convicted of their sin, and their need to repent.
So this abundance of living water in the Holy Spirit is an abundance of sanctification in the truth, grace beyond measure in the righteous covering over our sin, and sealed redemption in eternal life in our inheritance in the King, the Lord, Jesus Christ!
From here we will transition to our main text and consider the question: does God care about how we worship?
Question: Does God care about how we worship?
Question: Does God care about how we worship?
Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and yet you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one must worship.” Jesus said to her, “Believe Me, woman, that a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews.
But a time is coming, and even now has arrived, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Main Point: God Seeks His True Worshipers
Main Point: God Seeks His True Worshipers
The term true worshipers suggests that there is such a thing as a false worshiper. So we might as the question within the text, what is a false worshiper?
Consequently, we must also explore and seek to understand what is a true worshiper. In this we will study the word and seek wisdom and council from the Holy Spirit to guide us.
Let’s pray:
People have many expectations of pastors of Christian churches. One of those expectations is that pastors possess a philosophy of life that largely reflects biblical principles, a perspective commonly called a biblical worldview. But a 2022 nationwide survey among a representative sample of America’s Christian pastors shows that a large majority of those pastors do not possess a biblical worldview. In fact, just slightly more than a third (37%) have a biblical worldview and the majority—62%—possess a hybrid worldview known as Syncretism.
syncretism - the amalgamation or attempted amalgamation of different religions, cultures, or schools of thought.
syncretism - the amalgamation or attempted amalgamation of different religions, cultures, or schools of thought.
amalgamation - the action, process, or result of combining or uniting
amalgamation - the action, process, or result of combining or uniting
of 1,000 Christian pastors surveyed, one out of every three (37%) possesses a biblical worldview.
The proportion varies by the pastoral position held. Among Senior Pastors, four out of 10 (41%) have a biblical worldview—the highest incidence among any of the five pastoral positions studied.
Next highest was the 28% among Associate Pastors.
Less than half as many Teaching Pastors (13%) and Children’s and Youth Pastors (12%) have a biblical worldview.
The lowest level of biblical worldview was among Executive Pastors—only 4% have consistently biblical beliefs and behaviors.
More than six out of 10 pastors (62%) have a predominantly syncretistic worldview.
George Barna, veteran researcher and author of the AWVI studies, lamented the statistics regarding the prevailing worldview of pastors. “This is another strong piece of evidence that the culture is influencing the American church more than Christian churches are influencing the culture.”
39% of “evangelical” pastors they asked said there is no absolute moral truth & that “each individual must determine their own truth.”
At least a third of those surveyed also said they believe “socialism is preferable to capitalism and that allowing property ownership facilitates economic injustice,” which researchers say could point to the “increase of cultural and political influence into the church.”
Researchers found that in addition to believing that people can merit salvation based solely on their good works, one-third or more of senior pastors surveyed also believe the Holy Spirit is not a person but rather “a symbol of God’s power." Others said that moral truth is subjective; sexual relations between two unmarried people who love each other is “morally acceptable" and biblical teaching on abortion is “ambiguous.”
Perhaps most startlingly, three in 10 Evangelical pastors (30%) didn't answer in the affirmative if their salvation is based on having confessed their sins and accepting Jesus Christ as their savior.
“While studying the spiritual behavioral patterns of pastors, it became evident that a large share of them do not have a regular spiritual routine,” Barna said. “There was a correlation between possessing biblical beliefs and a consistent regimen of Bible reading, prayer, worship and confession.
“In some of the denominational groupings, a majority of pastors do not engage in those foundational spiritual practices on a regular basis,” he added. “Yet, among the pastors who have the most consistently biblical beliefs, there is also a daily routine that incorporates all of those disciplines.”
“God is in the transformation business. This transformation is the work of the Holy Spirit in sanctification. Pastors who are willing to allow Him to transform their thinking and behavior can emerge from that process as a powerful example of what can happen when one’s heart, mind and soul are surrendered to God,” Barna said.
What is worship?
What is worship?
Our word for worship comes from the combination of the words “worth” and “ship.” Worth - significant, valuable, appreciated, highly thought of, deserving, meriting, honorable
ship - word forming element meaning “quality, condition, act, power, relation between
προσκυνέω, I go down on my knees to; I do obeisance to; I worship - listed 10 times between vs 20 and vs 24
Not only is this passage clearly about worship, but it also shows just how important worship is to the Lord. He is the one speaking. Just a mention from the woman, reaching to try to have a spiritual plane conversation with Christ.
obeisance - mentioned in the definition of worship, the fact of obeying or respecting someone, or something you do that expresses this
Demonstration of an obedient attitude, especially by bowing deeply;
the vow of homage or fealty to a king on the part of a subject;
prostrate posture of the worshipper in the presence of Deity, and is generally rendered, "to worship"
Most appropriate synonym to obeisance is homage
a. a ceremony by which a man acknowledges himself a vowed servant of a lord
b. expression of highest regard or respect
c. attest to the worth or influence of another by tribute
True Worship is not “do as you please.”
True Worship is not “do as you please.”
The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.
John 4:20 (NASB 2020)
Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and yet you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one must worship.”
So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord from the fruit of the ground. Abel, on his part also brought an offering, from the firstborn of his flock and from their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering; but for Cain and his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his face was gloomy. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why is your face gloomy?
True Worship is not “do as others do.”
True Worship is not “do as others do.”
John 4:20 (NASB 2020)
Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and yet you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one must worship.”
New American Standard Bible Chapter 16
Levi, with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men, 2 and they stood before Moses, together with some of the sons of Israel, 250 leaders of the congregation achosen in the assembly, men of renown. 3 They assembled together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “bYou have gone far enough! For all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?”
4 When Moses heard this, he fell on his face; 5 and he spoke to Korah and all his group, saying, “Tomorrow morning the LORD will make known who is His, and who is holy, and will bring that one near to Himself; indeed, the one whom He will choose, He will bring near to Himself.
So they took, each one his own censer, and put fire on it, and placed incense on it; and they stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting, with Moses and Aaron. So Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And the glory of the Lord appeared to all the congregation.
Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, “Separate yourselves from among this congregation, so that I may consume them instantly.” But they fell on their faces and said, “God, the God of the spirits of humanity, when one person sins, will You be angry with the entire congregation?”
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the congregation, saying, ‘Get away from the areas around the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.’ ”
False worship is man centered.
What can I get out of this worship service? What is the church doing for me? These are the types of songs I like to sing in worship. I can call on God in Jesus name to get what I want for me. He’s never failed me yet. My way of understanding creation is evolution. I can have my best life now with Jesus Christ. He wants for me to be happy. I can earn my way to heaven through good works. This is how I feel I worship God.
False worship is externally motivated.
In Galatians 3:3, Paul poses to his readers a rhetorical question: Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?
Emotions are of the flesh. Worship doesn’t feed your flesh. You came to Christ and to do that, you had to repent, die to self. Crucified with Christ - now a new creation, living for Christ and His kingdom objectives, not your own. It’s not about how you feel. And we don’t lead worship to draw on peoples emotions. Biblical worship is not about the external, and we don’t use external things to try to motivate people internally. You know the bright lights, and the fog, and the glitter, and singing worldly music or open up with Q&A to get people interacting. If you’re not coming intrinsically to the Lord to bring Him praise and honor, to edify the saints in love and service, to confess your sin and hear His word, your are missing worship. It’s not acceptable worship to God. It’s just not.
False worship is ignorant of who God is and His supreme authority and rule over the cosmos.
You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews.
Listen - the world doesn’t know how to worship God. It’s like a fish out of water. Bring it into the church - it’s still a fish out of water.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
Fools despise wisdom and instruction.
False worship is ignorant of and opposed to God’s truth.
Critical race theory and intersectionality, social justice, egalitarianism, LGBTQA+, justification of abortion all masqueraded as showing love to others and protecting their right to choose or promoting their right to happiness. Many of these ideas are being embraced by churches and these so called pastors previously mentioned, while they are directly opposed to God’s word, rooted in fleshly / emotional desire and appetite.
True Worship is surrendered to the Lord in truth.
ἀληθινός - alethinos - true, real, genuine (literally “made of truth”)
ἀλήθεια alētheia truth; truth, but not merely truth as spoken; truth of idea, reality, sincerity, truth in the moral sphere, as according to the Divine Nature of God
God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Let’s review John 5:31-33
“If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not true. There is another who testifies about Me, and I know that the testimony which He gives about Me is true.
“You have sent messengers to John, and he has testified to the truth.
Same word truth - same context
So true worship requires an intimate knowledge and practice of God’s truth (truth of a divine nature). The Bible. Bible centered.
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us; and we saw His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
To know Christ is to love Christ and to love Christ is to obey His commands. To love Christ is to love His word.
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves the child born of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and follow His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. For whoever has been born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith.
This is our worship in truth - plain and simple.
True worship is God centered, surrendered and dependent upon salvation through Christ.
You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews. But a time is coming, and even now has arrived, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.
σωτηρία
soteria - salvation; deliverance
God requires perfect holiness in order to enter heaven. We do not have that in ourselves, but in His grace Christ has provided that holiness for us. That is God’s grace for our salvation. God also wants us to live a holy life on earth (1 Peter 1:15–16). We certainly can’t do that ourselves, but God has promised to help those who are in Christ in that quest; that is God’s grace for our sanctification.
Ron Man, “Jesus, Our True Worship Leader,” Artistic Theologian 2 (2013): 5.
For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous person; though perhaps for the good person someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also celebrate in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
True worship is intrinsically motivated. This is worship in the spirit.
is the rational part of man, the power of perceiving and grasping divine and eternal things, and upon which the Spirit of God exerts its influence; (πνεῦμα, says Luther, "is the highest and noblest part of man, which qualifies him to lay hold of incomprehensible, invisible, eternal things; in short, it is the house where Faith and God's word are at home
It is filled with prayer, filled with reading God’s word, filled with meditation, fueled by obedience, full of the desire to take on the character of Christ as supplied from Christ through the Holy Spirit
People here to day, do you possess an intrinsic desire to take on the character of Christ in His perfect righteousness through the Spirit?
Does your life reflect it? Are you spending time in the word daily, prayerfully seeking the wisdom from above as if it were your life source? Or are you more inclined to say “I’ll just wait for the Spirit to tell me God’s will for my life” without hardly lifting a finger to turn a page in the bible throughout your day to day? Dear friends, God is not your genie in a bottle. You don’’t get three magic wishes to know His will for your life. He has sacrificially given you His word in which Timothy tells us: 2 Tim 2:15-16
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a worker who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness,
All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man or woman of God may be fully capable, equipped for every good work.
True worship longs to know and honor the One True God.
But whatever things were gain to me, these things I have counted as loss because of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them mere rubbish, so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; if somehow I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Not that I have already grasped it all or have already become perfect, but I press on if I may also take hold of that for which I was even taken hold of by Christ Jesus.
Do you know Him? Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you long to know Him more in an eternal relationship as Your King and Master, as a loyal subject in your worship?
Sing Jesus Oh Jesus
Do you know Him today?
Do not turn Him away!
Oh Jesus, My Jesus - oh without Him oh so lost I would be
Conclusion:
if our worship is inspired, shaped, and guided by Who God is, what God does and what God says—if the primary content and form of our worship services is derived from the Scriptures— if we are intrinsically motivated to bring glory and honor to God - denying ourselves, we can be sure that our worship will be acceptable to God.
“The real agent in all true worship is Jesus Christ.”
He is not an observer—He is the leader of our worship. And we follow and commune with Him in spirit and in truth. It’s disciplined and full of order. It’s not chaotic. It’s selfless, not self seeking. It’s a whole hearted followership, dying to self and taking up our cross daily in spirit and truth.
As Thomas Torrance explains: The Church on earth lives and acts only as it is directed by its heavenly Lord, and only in such a way that His Ministry is reflected in the midst of its ministry and worship. Therefore from first to last the worship and ministry of the Church on earth must be governed by the fact that Christ substitutes himself in our place, and that our humanity with its own acts of worship, is displaced by his, so that we appear before God not in our own name, not in our own significance, not in virtue of our own acts of confession, contrition, worship, and thanksgiving, but solely in the name of Christ and solely in virtue of what He has done in our name and on our behalf, and in our stead.
Justification by Christ alone means that from first to last in the worship of God and in the ministry of the Gospel Christ himself is central, and that we draw near in worship and service only through letting Him take our place.
He only is Priest.
He only represents humanity.
He only has an offering with which to appear before God and with which God is well-pleased.
He only presents our prayers before God, and He only is our praise and thanksgiving and worship as we appear before the face of the Father.
I have asked John Nease to come forward to receive anyone who’s spirit is stirred to come to Christ, or move forward in obedience, whatever the case. Come as we sing our response to the Lord.
