Will you please turn to the Gospel according to John, John Chapter 4, verses 23 and 24?
But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth:
for such doth the Father seek to be His worshippers.
God is a Spirit:
and they that worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.
Let me repeat it:
But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth:
for such doth the Father seek to be His worshippers.
God is a Spirit:
and they that worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.
Let us have a word of prayer.
Dear Lord, as we continue in Thy presence, we look to Thee to speak to us through Thy Word. Thy Word is truth. Thy Word is spirit and life.
So, Lord, we just pray that this morning the Word will be living and operative in each of us. We want to enter into Thy Word. We want to enter into Thy reality. So teach us, Lord, as we wait upon Thee. We ask in Thy precious name, Lord Jesus. Amen.
Lately, the Lord seemed to put upon my heart a burden concerning this important matter of worship.
Now, brothers and sisters, we come here this morning as worshippers. We come to worship the one true and living God and His beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
But I feel that we need, from time to time, to review this whole matter of worship. Do we really know Whom we are worshipping? Do we worship in a way that is acceptable and pleasing to the One Whom we worship? Do we understand what worship really is? Are we true worshippers?
Now, if we cannot answer these questions, not only mentally but truly, then we will be just wasting our time. And even worse, it may damage our spiritual life.
So, brothers and sisters, I feel very strongly in my spirit that we need to review this whole matter of worship and see where we are.
The Gospel according to John, Chapter 4, shows us much about this matter of worship. I suppose we all know the story.
Our Lord Jesus left Jerusalem, Judea, on His way to Galilee. The Bible says He must pass through Samaria.
But we understand the custom of those days. Because the Jews had nothing to do with the Samaritans, whenever they wanted to go from Judea to Galilee, or from Galilee to Judea, they would not travel through Samaria. They would cross the River Jordan, travel on the east side of the river, and then cross back to Galilee or Jerusalem.
But the Bible says our Lord Jesus must go through Samaria. So we know that this “must” is not a matter of physical necessity, or even according to the custom of those days. This must is a spiritual must.
Our Lord Jesus felt in His spirit that He must do something against tradition and against custom in order to meet a single woman in Samaria.
So, when our Lord travelled through Samaria, He came to a city called Sychar. Outside the city was a well that Jacob had dug in times past.
Our Lord was weary with His journey, so He sat by the well of Jacob. His disciples went into the city to buy some food.
While our Lord was sitting by the well, a Samaritan woman came out. It was twelve o’clock at noon. Now, you know, according to custom, the women usually came to the well either in the morning or in the evening. They never came at noon because it was too hot.
But here was such a woman. She avoided the other women. She came at noontime to draw water, to quench her thirst.
When our Lord Jesus saw her, the Lord did something that a Jew would never do. He asked the Samaritan woman for a drink of water.
That woman was surprised. She looked at the Lord Jesus and wondered why this Jewish man should ask a Samaritan woman for water.
Our Lord Jesus said to her, “If you knew Who is asking you for water, and if you knew what He would give to you, then you would ask Him for the water that will become a fountain within you, welling up unto life.”
So that woman’s curiosity was raised. She said, “Sir, You do not have any instrument with which to draw water. The well is deep. How can You give me living water? Our forefathers all drank out of this well. Now, Who are You, to give us something better?”
Our Lord Jesus said, “The water that you drink out of this well, you will be thirsty again. But the water that I will give to you—you will never thirst again, because it will be a fountain springing forth within you.”
So the woman said, “Give me the water, that I may not come again.” And Jesus said, “Go and get your husband.”
The woman said, “I have no husband.” The Lord said, “Yes, you are right. You already have five husbands, and the one with whom you are living is not your husband.”
In other words, the Lord touched her conscience. And when the woman’s conscience was touched, she asked this question: “You must be a prophet. We Samaritans worship on that mountain, Gerizim; but You Jews worship in Jerusalem. Now, which is the right place to worship?”
Now, brothers and sisters, you may be surprised that a Samaritan woman, who perhaps had never thought much of worship, suddenly began to ask such a deep question.
Why is this so? Because man is created to worship.
When one’s conscience is awakened, this primary, basic question of worship will come before him or before her. Deep down in our being, there is an instinct to worship.
Worship is the most basic and primary duty of man. Brothers and sisters, what is worship?
The word worship in Hebrew means to bow down and do homage. The same word in Greek means to go forward and kiss His hand.
So the meaning is this: you acknowledge the supremacy of the One Whom you worship. You bow down. You kiss His hand. You surrender your life to Him. You look to Him for everything. That is worship.
Worship is putting God in His rightful place and placing yourself in your proper position. That is worship.
Worship is the acknowledgment of God—of His nature, of His attributes, of His ways, and of His claims—whether by the outpouring of your heart in praise and thanksgiving or by doing deeds in acknowledgment of God.
Worship is knowing our limitation and knowing the unlimitedness of God; knowing that we are insufficient and God is all-sufficient. Worship is going to Him, looking to Him, giving to Him, and taking Him as our all. That is worship.
When one’s conscience is aroused, the first question that comes will be worship. That is the reason why you find in this world, from the most primitive tribe to the most civilised people, they all worship.
Unfortunately, there is a conflict over worship. It is an age-long conflict.
God, our Maker, our Creator, should be the only One Whom we worship. We worship our Maker, our Creator. But we understand that Satan tries to rob God of worship. He tries to redirect our worship to himself through many false gods and through many idols.
But thank God, we know Whom we worship. Even the Samaritan woman, though she was deep in sin, knew that the Lord God is the only God. The Samaritans worshipped the same God as the Jews.
So the question for her was not Whom to worship. That was settled, and it is very important that it should be settled. Her question was where and when to worship.
In Old Testament times, our Lord Jesus had not yet come into this world to accomplish the work of redemption, and the Holy Spirit had not yet come. Therefore, you find that man’s relationship with God was remote, distant, outward, and physical.
God is in the third heaven, and man is on earth. God needs to be worshipped, but how? You find that it was basically physical. You needed a place to worship.
The Jewish people worshipped in Jerusalem because that was the place God had appointed. The Samaritans, in rebellion against the Jews, set up another place, Mount Gerizim, because Mount Gerizim was where blessing was pronounced.
Worship was limited not only by space but also by time. There were set times to worship. The Jewish people went to Jerusalem three times a year to worship God. On the Sabbath they worshipped; during the feasts they worshipped.
So, brothers and sisters, you find that in Old Testament times worship was more a physical thing than a spiritual thing. It was limited by time and space. God was worshipped afar off.
Even with the tabernacle and with the temple, people still worshipped at a distance. God is so holy that man could not approach God except at a distance and indirectly.
But that does not mean that God’s purpose for worship is physical. Again and again, you find in Old Testament times that God said we must worship Him with our heart.
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
The prophet Isaiah, in Isaiah 29:13, says:
This people draweth nigh unto Me with their mouth,
and with their lips do honour Me,
but have removed their heart far from Me,
and their fear of Me is a commandment of men which hath been taught them.
So, brothers and sisters, even in Old Testament times, because of the limitation of man, men could only worship God at a distance and within the limits of time and space. Yet God’s desire for worship was that the heart must be there. There must be something deeper than merely the physical, because God looks upon the heart, not upon the outward appearance.
But, dear brothers and sisters, our Lord Jesus said, “The hour is coming, and now is.” You know, the time has changed. Why? Because our Lord Jesus has already come into this world.
He would accomplish the work of redemption, and by the work of redemption and the coming of the Holy Spirit, the whole situation of worship has changed.
It has changed from something quite outward into something intensely inward.
So, brothers and sisters, we are now in New Testament times. We are not in Old Testament times. Our worship is no longer a matter of where and when. It is no longer an outward form. Our worship has now come to reality.
That is to say, our worship is intensely spiritual. It must come from the very depths of our being.
In the conversation of our Lord with the Samaritan woman, He said, “The hour is coming, and now is.”
You do not worship God at a distance. You are now worshipping the Father. This God—the transcendent God, God Who dwells in glory—He is now your Father.
He is no longer distant or remote. He is near. He is dear. He is intimate. He is now your Father. You are worshipping God now as your Father, not as a distant Creator.
Therefore, you shall worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to be His worshippers. You who worship God must worship Him in spirit and truth.
Now, I hope these words of our Lord will sink very deeply into our being. We are no longer living in Old Testament times.
In Old Testament times, to worship God in the way that God is really looking for was impossible. Why? Because man fell into sin.
Our spirit—the only organ within us that can commune with God—was dead. That is what sin had done to us.
You know how, when Adam sinned, God said, “In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” But we know Adam lived hundreds of years physically speaking, and had sons and daughters in great abundance.
What was dead on the day that he ate the forbidden tree? His spirit. The spirit within him, the only organ in man that could communicate with God, was cut off. That communication was cut off—dead.
Because the spirit was dead, intimate communion was impossible. Man could only worship God at a distance, knowing that there must be God somewhere. He could worship God in his soul and worship God with his body, but his spirit was dead.
But thank God, our Lord Jesus came into this world to recover and restore us back to God.
So the first thing that happens when we believe in the Lord Jesus—do you know, brothers and sisters, what happens? Our dead spirit is quickened into new life.
That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
He that is born of the Holy Spirit receives the new spirit of man. With this new spirit, the Holy Spirit also comes and dwells in our new spirit.
The Bible says that the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. We cry out, “Abba, Father.” That is new birth.
So, dear brothers and sisters, do you know what happened when you believed in the Lord Jesus? A new creation, a new birth. Your dead spirit was quickened into new life, and the Holy Spirit came to dwell in your spirit. Jointly, they testify that you are children of God. You cry out, “Abba, Father.” Communion with God is restored.
That is what happened. And because this has happened, true worship becomes possible. What was humanly impossible is now divinely possible.
That is why our Lord Jesus said, “The hour is coming, and now is. He who worships the Father shall worship in spirit.”
You know, in the Greek text all the letters are the same, either all capitals or all small letters. That is the reason why, when people translate the Bible, they find it difficult to determine whether the word spirit refers to the Holy Spirit, which should be capitalised, or to the human spirit, which should be a small letter.
You have to look into the context to understand it. Yet, on the other hand, the Holy Spirit and our new spirit should not be separated. They should be one; they should be together.
In John 4:23-24, how are we going to worship God today? We must worship.
Now, brothers and sisters, underline the word must. We shall worship, because the possibility is available now. And then we must worship, because God is Spirit.
How can you contact spirit with your soul—with your mind, your will, or your emotion? How can you contact spirit with your body? You cannot.
The only way to contact God, to commune with God, to worship God, is through your new spirit. Thank God, we have a new spirit.
In this spirit, as we are touched by the Holy Spirit and led by the Holy Spirit, we can draw near to God, be in touch with Him, and worship Him. That is the only way.
We cannot worship God if we do not exercise our spirit, because God is Spirit.
So, brothers and sisters, there is something very fundamental that we have to learn.
You remember that song of praise by Mary, the mother of Jesus. She said:
My soul doth magnify the Lord,
and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
Here you find that her soul magnifies the Lord. In other words, in her feeling, in her thought, and in her volition, she was magnifying the Lord.
But do not forget: where does it originate? Not from the soul. She said, “My spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.”
In other words, worship comes first in our spirit, because our spirit has rejoiced in God our Saviour. Then this begins to touch our soul, so our soul begins to magnify the Lord. Then we raise our voice in praise and worship physically.
So, brothers and sisters, the work of God always begins from the centre to the circumference, never from outside trying to reach inside.
This is something we need to understand. Today, unfortunately, God’s people forget that worship is predominantly, primarily, basically a matter of spiritual exercise.
Therefore, you find people who do not know how to exercise their spirit to worship, and they try to substitute physical, mental, emotional, or volitional power for it.
But we know, unfortunately, that even with all these stirrings and activities, the spirit is not touched. And if the spirit is not touched, there is no worship. God is not worshipped.
Man may be satisfied. Our emotion may be satisfied. Our volition and our mind may be satisfied. But God is not worshipped. It has to come from our spirit.
Do you know you have a spirit? You are not merely your soul and body. Do you know you have something so precious, divinely given by God? The Holy Spirit dwells in your spirit, and there is such a potential there. With this, God is worshipped.
You must worship in spirit.
Because it is worship in spirit, it surpasses time and space. It is unlimited. We must worship in spirit, as led by the Spirit of God.
Then we must worship in truth. Now, what is truth?
You know, Pilate asked that question, but he never waited for the answer. Because of this, he did the wrong thing, condemning our Lord Jesus to be crucified.
In John 17:17, our Lord Jesus, speaking in His high-priestly prayer, says:
Sanctify them in the truth: Thy word is truth.
In other words, the Word of God is truth. We must worship according to the Word of God, not according to the tradition of man.
What is truth? Our Lord Jesus said in John 14:6:
I am the way, and the truth, and the life:
no one cometh unto the Father, but by Me.
He is the truth. In other words, we must worship in Christ—that is, in His life, by His life—not by the Adamic life, not by our flesh, but by the life of Christ in Christ. That is truth.
What is truth? The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. He will bring us into all truth. In other words, we must be led by the Holy Spirit. When we are led by the Spirit of God, then there is worship.
Brothers and sisters, the Bible says we must worship in spirit and truth. Otherwise, we are not true worshippers.
I believe we all want to be true worshippers. We do not want to just go through the motions in our life, or even merely through the Lord’s Day. We want to be true worshippers of God, because that is what the Father is seeking.
Our Father does not seek in us anything else but true worshippers. Are we true worshippers? I think this is a very, very serious and solemn matter, and we really need to be serious before God.
We do not want to play Christianity. We want to be real with God.
So, brothers and sisters, we need to ask ourselves again and again: Are we true worshippers? Are we those whom our Father is seeking?
Our heavenly Father does not seek in us anything else but true worshippers. Are we giving Him the worship that is His due? That is our responsibility.
Now, having said this, we want to be practical, because spiritual things are most practical.
Worship has two aspects. There is a personal aspect and a corporate aspect. First of all, we want to apply this principle of worship to our personal life.
We want to answer the question: if worship is in spirit and truth, if it is not a matter of time and space—if it is unlimited by time or space—then what is our worship?
Worship is basically our life. Our whole life ought to be worship.
God does not want us to be worshippers only at a certain time, and then, during the rest of the time, whom do we worship? Do we worship the world? Do we worship money? Do we worship our family? Do we worship ourselves? Do we worship our career? What do we worship? Whom do we worship?
Worship is not a matter of time or of place. Do we only worship when we come to so-called church?
But when we are in our office, at our home, or at our school, are we not worshipping God? What are we worshipping?
Do we separate this whole matter of worship as a matter of time and space, physical outward appearance? Are we going back to Old Testament times? Are we Old Testament saints, or are we New Testament saints?
What is worship, so far as we, the Lord’s people, are concerned? Romans 12:1 says:
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,
to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God,
which is your spiritual service.
What is worship? Worship is a consecrated life: a life that has been given over to God, a life that has surrendered to God, a life that lives for God, lives by His life, lives for Him and for Him alone. That is worship.
Do not confine worship to a certain time and a certain place. That is not the spiritual reality of worship.
Worship is your whole life. Is your life wholly given for God, surrendered to Him?
Are you doing the will of God in your daily life? Do you exercise your spirit in your daily life as a Christian? Are you allowing your spirit to govern you, or do you go to sleep and live by your soul, or even by your body?
People of this world—the high-class people—live by their soul. The low-class people live by their body. The high-class people live by their mind, their feelings, and their will. The low-class people live by the passions and lusts of their body.
But we, as Christians, how do we live our daily life? Do we exercise our spirit in living our daily life?
Is our so-called spiritual life limited to that short period of devotion, when we read a little of the Word and say a few prayers? Is that our spiritual life, while the rest of our life we live on our own, in our flesh?
Brothers and sisters, what is worship? Are we true worshippers? May the Lord show each of us ourselves.
Is God really worshipped by us? Is the only thing God is looking for in us the very thing we fail to give Him?
Are we taking up our cross and following Him, or do we just go after our old flesh—I, my, my?
Brothers and sisters, what is worship? Are we truly a worshipping people?
I feel there is much that I need to repent of before God. Where are you? Where am I? What am I doing? Am I wasting my life in doing my own will, or am I a true worshipper?
The word worship in the Bible is first used in Genesis 22:5. Abraham took his only son, Isaac, when he was asked of God to offer his son—his heir, his only son, born when he was one hundred years old, his only hope.
When God challenged him, Abraham took his son Isaac on a three-day journey to Mount Moriah. When he saw Moriah, he left the servants behind, lest they interfere. He took his son and said, “We will go up to the mountain to worship, and we will come back.”
That is worship: not withholding anything from God, acknowledging God as supreme and as all.
Historically speaking, the first use of the word worship is in Job 1. Satan took away all the wealth of Job and all his sons. Job shaved his head, fell down, and worshipped, saying:
The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away;
blessed be the name of the Lord.
That is worship.
Our Lord Jesus laboured day and night in Chorazin, Capernaum, and Bethsaida, yet the people rejected Him. He lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank Thee, for this is Thy will.” That is worship.
Brothers and sisters, in our individual life, do we worship? Are we worshippers? Where is worship?
It is something that we need to think very deeply about before God and to repent before Him.
Do we live in the spirit and walk by the Spirit? Do we live a surrendered life?
Every moment of the day, every step of the way, do we uplift Him, obey Him, listen to Him, and honour Him? That is worship.
No wonder A. W. Tozer said worship is a missing jewel. People do not know what worship is. Worship today has become a religious thing, not a spiritual reality.
Then, brothers and sisters, worship is more than personal. There is a personal side—important and basic. Each one of us has to answer that question. But there is also a corporate side.
Why? Because we are called to be the Body of Christ.
The word church, ekklesia, means called-out ones gathered together. We are called out of the world to be gathered together unto the blessed name of our Lord Jesus.
We gather together to do what? To worship Him.
There is a blessing when God’s people come together. There is an additional portion of the Spirit of God, of the presence of Christ, in the midst of His people. Not only is He in every one of us; He is in our midst.
Therefore, the Bible says:
Not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is,
but exhorting one another;
and so much the more, as ye see the day drawing nigh.
Brothers and sisters, we come together, whether it is what we call the worship time in the breaking of bread, or whether it is listening to the Word of God, coming together to pray, to read the Bible, or to have fellowship. Basically, it is worship. We are worshipping God together.
Of all the gatherings of God’s people, the most important and the best occasion to worship together is the breaking of bread.
Brothers and sisters, when we come to the breaking of bread, have we prepared ourselves for this sacred time together? Do we come casually, with no preparation of our heart?
On the night of His betrayal, it was a solemn night. Our Lord gathered with His own for the Passover feast. That was the last Passover feast with our Lord, and spiritually speaking, with us.
At the end of the Passover feast, our Lord Jesus took the loaf, blessed it, and gave it to His disciples: “Take, eat all of it, in remembrance of Me.”
Afterwards, He took the cup, blessed it, and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is the cup of the new covenant, sealed by My blood. Do this in remembrance of Me.”
Our Lord Jesus is the Passover Lamb. The Lamb of God was to be slain. The blood was shed. The body was broken. The Passover was over. No more Passover.
What remains is the Lord’s table, the breaking of bread.
You know, the Jews still keep the Passover, as if the work of redemption is still unfinished. The Catholic Church still has the Mass. Do you know what Mass is? It is the re-crucifixion of Christ, as if it is not finished.
But we know it is finished. No more crucifixion. It is done. It is finished. He is now in glory.
Brothers and sisters, our Lord loves us so much. He is afraid we may forget Him. That is why He wants us to remember Him.
It is a time that we come together to remember Him, not to remember our sins, but to remember Him.
Our focus is upon Him, not upon us. We may express our love to Him, but this is not our focus. Our focus is His love for us and what He has done for us.
It is a time when we do not enjoy ourselves, but we allow Him to enjoy us. We remember Him. We remember His love.
It is a public testimony to exhibit His death. What has His death done for us? His death has conquered sin, conquered death, conquered the flesh, conquered the world, conquered the enemy—conquered everything. This is our testimony.
As we take the Lord’s table, we look forward to His return—our expectation, our hope—knowing that He is coming back.
It is a communion.
Even though the bread remains bread and the fruit of the vine remains fruit of the vine, they have not been transubstantiated. Yet, in our spirit, we are in communion with His blood, knowing the value of His blood.
We are in communion with His body, His life. We live by the strength of His life. We are in communion with all the saints, the Body of Christ.
Brothers and sisters, we need to come here in a worthy manner. That is to say, we need to come knowing what we are doing, examining ourselves, lest we be judged.
It is serious, sacred, important, and real. It is not a ritual. It is not a formality. It is heart-worship to the One—the only One—Who is so worthy. We owe Him everything.
It is a time to open our hearts to Him, to pour forth our worship to Him, and to say, “Thank You, Lord. We appreciate You.”
Brothers and sisters, our time together is not a formality, merely going through the motions.
We need to prepare before we come, to examine ourselves before we come, whether we have any controversy with Him that has to be settled. If we have any controversy with our brothers and sisters in our heart, it needs to be settled.
We need to come with an open heart and an open spirit. The young as well as the old are all the same before God. There is no more experienced or less experienced person; everyone is before Him to worship.
Brothers and sisters, according to the Word of God, in this time of the breaking of bread, there are no rules or regulations. The Bible never tells us exactly how to prepare together.
Very simply, all we are told is that the Lord took the loaf, blessed it, gave it to us, and said, “This is My body, broken for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” The same is true with the cup. That is all.
Why? Because the Holy Spirit is here, leading us to worship. Our spirit needs to be opened. Let the Holy Spirit lead our spirit, that we will worship Him in spirit and truth.
That is why, in 1 Corinthians 14:40:
But let all things be done decently and in order.
You know, when the Holy Spirit is moving, there is an order there—a divine order. It is not merely a mass or a chaos. There is an order there. The Spirit moves in a certain way, and it is beautiful, not ugly; not jarring, but harmonious.
Brothers and sisters, have you ever experienced when the people of God are really moved by the Holy Spirit, and with our spirit open to Him, there is such beauty and such order?
There is a liberty of the Spirit, but not the freedom of the flesh.
When we sing to Him, we do not choose the hymn that we want to sing and force everybody to sing with us. As you are led by the Spirit to magnify Him, it is that we all may sing together unto the Lord.
We should not try to hide ourselves behind songs and choruses, but learn to open your heart in prayer and worship. A few words are enough. It is the outpouring of the heart.
Brothers and sisters, is your spirit ready to break the bread and to drink the cup?
Why is it that, before the partaking of the bread and the cup, there is singing and there are prayers? To prepare us, that our spirit may be ready to receive Him.
Oh, brothers and sisters, there is much that we need to learn yet. Are we willing to learn this heart of worship?
By heart, I do not mean something that we act out hypocritically. It means the secret of worship.
So may the Lord help us. May we all go to the Lord and review the whole thing before Him. Do not allow anything in the past to stand in our way. Be willing to lay down everything and ask the Spirit of God to teach us how to worship, to be true worshippers of the only true God and His Son, Jesus Christ.
Let us pray.
Dear heavenly Father, Thou art the only One Who is worthy to be worshipped, and Thou art seeking true worshippers.
How few they are. We repent before Thee.
We spend time. We try to worship. But, Lord, we confess that very little of our worship reaches Thee. Forgive us.
As Thy people, Lord, have mercy upon us and teach us anew. Even from the very beginning, Lord, teach us to worship.
We want to be true worshippers, to worship Thee in spirit and truth. In Thy precious name we pray. Amen.