True Worshippers
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· 7 views11/28/21, Morning Worship
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Introduction
Introduction
Good morning and welcome back!
This morning if you will, turn in your Bibles to John 4.
In just a few moments we will be reading 2 verses, John 4:23 and 24, and what we will be talking about this morning is being “True Worshipers.”
And the question we need to answer this morning is, are we true worshippers?
Which I think the world tries to muddy the waters on this a little bit.
The fact is we are worshippers of something or someone, but are we truly worshipping God.
And this morning we are going to go back and look a little bit at the account of when Jesus encounters the Samaritan woman at the well.
And, if you recall, Jesus was compelled by the Holy Spirit to go through Samaria on his way back to Galilee.
And the the purpose of this was so this Samaritan woman could meet Jesus and through Jesus be saved.
However, during their conversation, Jesus begins to reveal Himself as the Messiah and confirm some of the theological truths that this woman was familiar with.
And, as their conversation progresses, Jesus turns to the subject of worship and a "new" kind of worship that would now take place.
Prior to this, the worship of God was a structured, organized ordeal with a set of rules and regulations about what was "proper" and "improper" worship.
The Jews had rules for just about everything, including worship.
Really, not too different than the modern church of today.
Different denominations have different rules about what you should do in worship and what you should not.
What is the right music for worship?
Is it appropriate to raise your hands?
Is it right to shout, run the isles, speak in tongues, and on and on and on.
And some of these rules are based in Biblical theology and have a certain place, but some of them are based on tradition and what the Church had grown used to.
The modern church has begun to forget what true worship is and therefore has to invent rules to spell out what worship is!
As the Apostle Paul puts it . . .
People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.
And because of this sort of attitude, they are the ones that will . . .
They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth.
And people will confuse this because they think it is talking about their own personal houses.
But the reality is, this not only applies to our own personal houses but also the House of God!
But, why is worship so important?
Several reasons.
First and foremost we are all created to worship.
“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”
And . . .
Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the Lord:
Second, we are commanded to worship . . .
Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.
And . . .
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.
And . . .
Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
And since it is part of our essential being, this also means that we will all worship something or someone, the question for us is what will it be?
But, before we dive too deep into to the woods, let’s take a look at what Jesus said to the woman at the well in John 4.
So, John 4, starting in verse 23, Jesus says . . .
Scripture Focus
Scripture Focus
Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”
We Will All Worship Something/Someone
We Will All Worship Something/Someone
So, clear as day here Jesus is just reinforcing the very thing we have already been talking about.
But Jesus is also pointing out where many of us and the church gets itself into trouble.
Since we are created to worship, commanded to worship, and in our souls we are geared to worship.
We will worship something.
However, the problem also is that we are also created with a free will and the ability to choose who or what we will worship!
And this is not a new concept.
This is something that God’s people have struggled with for generations.
All the way back in Joshua in our Bibles he warns the people of Israel . . .
But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
And, just like the children of Israel, we all say that we will serve God . . .
Then the people answered, “Far be it from us to forsake the Lord to serve other gods!
However, this is where the problems begin.
We SAY will serve God and forsake all else, but we begin to mingle the things of the world into our worship of God.
They worshiped the Lord, but they also served their own gods in accordance with the customs of the nations from which they had been brought. To this day they persist in their former practices. They neither worship the Lord nor adhere to the decrees and ordinances, the laws and commands that the Lord gave the descendants of Jacob, whom he named Israel.
And . . .
They would not listen, however, but persisted in their former practices. Even while these people were worshiping the Lord, they were serving their idols. To this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their fathers did.
Exactly what Joshua warned them against . . .
If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after he has been good to you.”
But, they didn't listen and suffered the consequences many times over for their sin and their lack of worship toward God.
And the consequences of them chasing their own gods and creating their own objects of worship is exactly what Paul warns about in Romans 1. . .
Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
And unfortunately, this is also what the modern Christian and modern church has begun to do with the worship of God.
First, they are changing the truth of God into a lie!
And just to be clear, what is the truth of God? JESUS CHRIST.
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
They are changing the account of Jesus' life, death, burial, and resurrection into a lie.
They are changing the terms of salvation into a lie.
Instead of Jesus being the only way, they are adopting the world view that there are many paths to heaven.
And in doing so, they are losing the connection to God and the gap between man and God is growing wider and wider.
However, Satan as the great deceiver he is, knows that man is created to worship and desires to worship.
So, Satan will offer a substitute for the true worship of God.
This is what Paul is talking about in Romans 1.
Man worships the created things and forgets all about the Creator and forgets about worshipping Him, thus creating a false worship.
It Is Essential to Worship Christ
It Is Essential to Worship Christ
Worship is lost and the gathering of believers becomes a show, it becomes entertainment for the masses and has no value.
This is because Christ is essential to true worship.
Go back and look at vs 23 again . . .
Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
Two essential ingredients, SPIRIT and TRUTH.
We've already established what the truth was . . .
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Even here, Jesus reveals the truth path of worship.
You cannot come to the Father through any other means but HIM.
That is it. Jesus is THE ONLY WAY.
In other words, you can't connect to the Father in worship, except through the Son.
It can't happen.
No matter how hard you try or how much good you do.
Or what you try to convince yourself you believe.
It is through Jesus and only Jesus.
And when we accept Jesus then we are drawn—compelled to worship Jesus.
Our spirit is brought to life and connects with His Spirit.
It Is Essential to Worship the Spirit
It Is Essential to Worship the Spirit
Which leads to the second component or the second Person to be worshipped.
Because, there's another component to worship, another One involved.
The verse says in SPIRIT as well as Truth.
Therefore there has to be a Spirit present for true worship to take place.
What is that Spirit?
The Holy Spirit.
Therefore, the Holy Spirit is also essential to worship.
Why though?
Why is the Holy Spirit so important to worship?
Well, because the Holy Spirit is the means in which we connect to God.
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.
The Holy Spirit intercedes for us with God.
Even when we don't even know what we are to pray for, He will do the praying.
He is right there with us.
Standing in our place before God.
Groaning out to God on our behalf.
Revealing our true hearts to God.
That is what the Holy Spirit does.
And we worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.
Altar/Challenge
Altar/Challenge
So, where does that leave us?
The question really is, are we true worshipers of God?
Or are we trying to invent worship?
Trying to create entertainment?
Back in Romans 1, Paul says this about our objects of worship.
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
See, Paul saw that the people would forget about God.
They would fold in on their own wisdom and their own understanding and leave God.
And since man has to worship, and since they abandoned God, they made up things to worship instead.
And it continues to this day.
All because their hearts were darkened.
Well, this morning the question really is, what is our heart's condition?
Are we capable of truly worshiping God?
That’s a strange question, how do we know if we are capable or not?
Well,
(1) Is Christ your Lord and Savior?
(2) Do you love Him more than anything else?
(3) Do you come to church for any other reason, but to worship God?
The answer to these questions determine whether you can truly worship God.
If you cannot, then you can start right here.
How you worship Him, will ultimately determine your walk with Him.
Let’s pray . . .