TRUE WORSHIP

TRUE WORSHIP

John 4: 21-24

“John 4:21: Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.John 4:22: Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.John 4:23: But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.John 4:24: God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth”.

                                                                                                                                                         

Every Saturday or Sunday, millions of people dress nicely and go to a building and do what we call ‘worship’. Yet I wonder, if most of those million people are asked ‘what worship is’, they can define. I believe most of these ‘church-goers’ are sincere. I believe there is something within us which drives us to worship.

So I stop to ask- ‘What is true worship’. Let’s read the text ‘John 4:21-24:

What is Worship

In short, Worship is reverence (deep respect) and respect (honour of high regard) paid to God.

Overview of John 4:1-26

From the Scripture, Jesus met a Samaritan woman at a well and a conversation ensued between them:

·       Jesus, before revealing himself to the woman, found out the woman’s understanding of ‘true worship’.

·       The woman’s view was about how the Samaritans worshipped at a mountain and the Jews at Jerusalem. This statement was a contention between the Jews and Samaritans because one felt the others was false worship.

When we look at our worships these days, it has become a ‘mountain’ of our traditions rather than ‘true worship’.

True worship is not about Place or time; style or speed of worship; worship leader or instruments; beautiful chapels or pews; special clothing; burning incense, rites or ordinances. All these appeal to the physical senses (see Hebrew 9).

What then is true worship?

From the scripture (Jn 4), there is worship and there is true worship. Jesus told the woman in V23:

John 4:23: But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

• What is Jesus saying?

He is saying that, true worship begins with ‘Who is being worshipped’. It is not of a place, of traditions, of your way, will or wants but of God and beside Him there is no other god or person.

How is true worship expressed?

How do we know that our worship is true and our expressions of worships are right?

Jesus went on to say that ‘true worshippers’ will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. These are the only two qualifiers. There is nothing in these two qualifiers that say which type or style of Christian music is appropriate or about the building or denomination. But in two simple words- Spirit and Truth.

Without true worship, we cease to be a true church and our form and works mean nothing. We must worship God in Spirit and in Truth.

So what did Jesus mean by these two words- Spirit and Truth?

True Worship “in Spirit”.

Jesus is saying that:

• Worship is a spiritual act, where the spirit of man is to commune with the God who is a spirit- not physical mould.
• Worship in the spirit is where the flesh of man is in the background and the spirit of man comes to the foreground to experience and honour God.
• True worship moves beyond the sound of music, building, and personality on stage or time on the clock- but God- centered!
• True worship in the spirit is also about walking in the spirit- living right with God. 1Corinthians 3:16 says ‘our bodies are the temple of God, where the Holy Spirit lives. Do you present a Holy temple before God as a Christians? Is your body a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God (Romans 12:11). Don’t forget that as Christians we are priests, offering spiritual sacrifices (1Peter 2:5; Hosea 14:2)
• Is your prayer a sweet fragrance/ incense (Rev. 5:18); Is your singing or music making melody with the heart or vain (Eph. 5:19)?
• Hebrew 9:9-10, reminds us that a time of reformation has come through Jesus Christ, which is about spiritual worship and not physical as in the Old Testament.

What is worship in ‘Truth?’

In John 14:6, Jesus says ‘I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father except through me’.

• For our worship to be true, we must come boldly to the throne of grace through Jesus Christ only and no other name or way.
• It is truth that we cannot save ourselves; it is truth that we need a savior; it is truth that Jesus is the only way; the truth that will set us free; it is the truth of the gospel which will liberate our spirits from darkness so that we will have liberty to worship God.

Do you have Jesus as your personal Saviour? Are you practicing Christianity or Churchianity?

Results of True Worship

When we worship in spirit and in truth:

• Our worship is in the right place, with the right God at the right time and for the right purpose.
• True worship liberates us and changes us and brings us closer to the one whose image we bear.
• The place we stand becomes a Holy ground and truth becomes a person; lives in our hearts and setting us free from loneliness.

Conclusion

• God is looking for true worshippers, who will worship Him in spirit and truth.
• Are you empty? Has worshipping become a burden? Is religious activity wearing you out?
• Are you like the Samaritan woman at the well, coming to fill the water pots only to find the pots empty at the end of the day?
•  Jesus told her that, If she could become a true worshipper, she could have ‘a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life’ (John 4:14).

Trade your water pot for a fountain, so you can worship God in Spirit and in Truth. Amen!