Worship in Spirit and in Truth - Part 1

Worship is ingrained in the heart of every person, so much so that when given no opportunity to know the truth, people from every culture and age of human existence have focused our worship on something. Flying serpents, multi-limbed demons, golden calves, and even insects and house cats have been the object of adoration and worship by the ancient cultures. Much like the Greeks, our contemporaries worship science, knowledge, the arts, sports, and even humanity and independence. Yes, even those who claim to believe in no higher powers, grand architects, or in the afterlife worship something, and that is their own perceived intellect, insisting that their refusal to believe in something else is proof of their higher power of intelligence.

What sets Christians apart from everyone else is our worship of the One true God. He goes by many names that speak of His attributes. El Shaddai: Almighty God. El Elyon: Most High God. El Olam: The Everlasting God. Jehovah-Rohi: The Lord our Shepherd. The one name He self-declared is “Yahweh: The Self-Existent One” or I AM. He warned Moses and His chosen nation Israel to never make an image of Him to worship, because no image is worthy of the image of God. He has allowed no man to see Him, because His very holiness is enough to strike us down in instant death should we behold it. God is not a man (Numbers 23:19), although He often does and allows us to give Him anthropomorphic attributes so that we may somewhat understand the acts and presence of the Almighty God.

If all Christians worship Him, would it be safe to assume we all understand how to worship Him? To take it a step further, do we all worship Him properly and according to His decree? As much as I wish the answer to both questions were a resounding “YES!,” I’m afraid it may not be so. One does not have to look much further than pop culture to see Christians imitating the world and calling it worship, and this is done to the detriment of the church, and I think the biggest reason is because we don’t even realize we’re doing it wrong. But it’s not enough for me to say we’re doing it wrong; we need to look at the Scripture and see what it says so we will know that we are worshipping Him correctly. We will see some examples of those who worshipped Him incorrectly, and those who did not. Their stories turn out very different, and serve as a warning and a blueprint for us.

READ THE TEXT

God is a Spirit

The word “spirit” is the Greek pneuma from which we get the English words “pneumatic” and “pneumonia,” which refer to air.

The context is referred to by Thayer in his Greek lexicon as “a simple essence, devoid of all or at least all grosser matter, and possessed of the power of knowing, desiring, deciding, and acting;”

In other words, the spirit is not made up of matter, but does possess the ability to make decisions and to act upon them

For those of us who have to see and feel to believe, this is a difficult concept to grapple with, because it is not tangible.

Yet we know this is the essence of God because scripture teaches us this over and over.

In our text, it says simply “God is a Spirit”

Other translations say “God is spirit”

Essentially, God is THE spirit, and all others come from Him

Because God is spirit, that is why He has forbidden us from making images of Him, because He is image-less. Anything, whether something we see or something we imagine, that depicts God is a false depiction. We should not believe anything about God that is false

Any teaching that presents God in a false way is blasphemy, and any image that depicts God is idolatry, even if it is done ignorantly or well-intentioned

In Exodus 32, when Aaron made for the Hebrews a golden calf, he said “‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,'”

Exodus 32 KJV 1900

And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the Lord. And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play. And the Lord said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves: They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people: Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation. And Moses besought the Lord his God, and said, Lord, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand? Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever. And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people. And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables. And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp. And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear. And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount. And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it. And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them? And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief. For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf. And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:) Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the Lord’s side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. And he said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour. And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. For Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves to day to the Lord, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day. And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the Lord; peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin. And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin—; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written. And the Lord said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. Therefore now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee: behold, mine Angel shall go before thee: nevertheless in the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them. And the Lord plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.

He was telling them to worship the idol as Yahweh because he was depicting Yahweh as this golden calf. This was, of course, idolatry in it’s simplest form

It is very important for us to remember this when we see God depicted in cartoons, television shows, and even art: to create an image of God is to tread dangerously on the 2nd Commandment: Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image

Worship Him in spirit

When God created man, Genesis 2:7 tells us He breathed into man the “breath of life.” This is a spirit, and it is something every man possesses from the moment of creation, i.e. conception

Genesis 2:7 KJV 1900

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Even though He had created all of the animals, including the air-breathing land creatures, it is never said God personally breathed into them the breath of life

Only man was given this spirit, and it was for a specific purpose: to be able to commune with God and to live in the presence of God

Because a spirit is formless and intangible, it cannot die like the body does, but it will die apart from the power of God sustaining it

We are given this command to worship God in spirit, but what does it mean?

Intangible

Our worship is not reliant on things we can see and hold

Rituals, relics, light shows, dancing, smoke, loud music, and other outward displays of showmanship are not pleasing to the Lord, nor are they evidence of a spiritual worship.

In the Old Covenant, God gave a blueprint to Moses on how He should be worshipped

Sacrifices

Incenses

Purification

Spotlessness

Perfection

This is because the Spirit of God was not present in all of the worshippers…in fact, He was not present IN any of them. The Spirit was present in the Holy of Holies, and occasionally would move upon certain men for the purpose of revelation, but God commanded men to worship Him and gave them very specific guidelines because if they were to go off of what we are prone to do, it would have quickly become idolatry

The context of our text today is Jesus’ conversation with the woman at the well.

The Jews and Samaritans had many disputes, not the least of which was where was the acceptable place to worship God

The Jews maintained that location was the temple in Jerusalem whereas the Samaritans insisted Mount Gerazim was appropriate

Jesus steps in to tell the Samaritan woman that the location and the rituals are no longer appropriate, but that we worship in Spirit and in Truth, wherever we are

Internal

True, spirit-filled worship comes from within ourselves

This is not because we come up with it on our own

But because the Spirit of God dwells in the heart of the believer and gives our spirit the understanding and life that is necessary to worship him

It is not man-centered, but is merely uttered from our own spirits and offered up to the Holy Spirit

We cannot worship what we do not know

In Jeremiah 31:33, God promises to put His law on the hearts of His people, so they will know how to worship and obey Him

Jeremiah 31:33 KJV 1900

But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, And write it in their hearts; And will be their God, And they shall be my people.

We are able to worship Him in spirit because our spirits now connected with Him through Jesus’ atonement

In chapter 2 of his book, Joel prophesied God’s words that He would pour out His spirit on His people in the last days, and Peter declared in Acts chapter 2 that this has been fulfilled

So because the Spirit and the Law have been given to us, we are able to worship Him in Spirit

We must love God if we are to worship Him

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” - Matthew 6:24 (ESV)

We have to love God and Him alone

It is not acceptable to divide our love between Him and ANYTHING else

Our worship is tied to our love: if we love God part-time, we will worship Him part-time, which means we do not worship Him at all

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” - Matthew 22:37 (ESV)

We have to love God entirely; He demands full, undivided love for Him

This does not mean we cannot love others

We are actually commanded to love others

Enemies

Neighbors

Brothers and sisters

Parents

But we are to love God above all others

If we love the Lord entirely and undivided, our spirit will be in tune with His Spirit, and only then can we worship Him in Spirit

Until this happens, we are worshipping Him to the best of our knowledge and ability, which is sadly insufficient

To see an example of this is to look back in Genesis 4 at Cain

Genesis 4 KJV 1900

And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord. And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper? And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground. And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand; When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. And Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me. And the Lord said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch. And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech. And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle. And his brother’s name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ. And Zillah, she also bare Tubal-cain, an instructer of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah. And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; Ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: For I have slain a man to my wounding, And a young man to my hurt. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, Truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold. And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the Lord.

We know he offered a sacrifice that was not accepted

What we do not know is why it was not accepted

But what we also do know is that his spirit was not in communion with the Lord

The Lord did not find favor with Cain or his sacrifice

The issue seems to be two-fold: Cain’s spirit was wrong and his method was wrong

We have looked at the first part of worship, in spirit and next week we will focus on the second part, in truth. The reason both of these are mentioned by Jesus is because while we must commune and worship Him in our spirit and by His Spirit, there are still practical truthful actions and applications that we should utilize when we worship.

In closing, I want to share this word of wisdom from Charles Spurgeon. “The best worship that we ever render to God is far from perfect. Our praises, how faint and feeble they are! Our prayers, how wandering, how wavering they are! When we get nearest to God, how far off we are! When we are most like Him, how greatly unlike Him we are!”

Although it is important that we worship Him in truth, we must start by worshipping Him in spirit, however imperfect it may be. If our spirit - our heart, as it commonly is called - is coming before Him in the right attitude, that is to say, humbly and reverently, He will be patient to teach us how to worship in truth.

“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” - Micah 6:8