04-05-25 - WORSHIP IN SPIRIT AND TRUTH - John 4:16-26

MESSAGE BY  PASTOR DANIEL PARK

   FROM BETHANY BAPTIST IN RICHMOND, BC

I invite you to pray together: O Father of mercies and God of all comfort, our only help in time of need: We humbly beseech thee to behold, visit, and relieve thy sick servants for whom our prayers are desired. Look upon them with the eyes of thy mercy (Gaby P, Vicky O, Nancy R, Tere G, Liz N, Stevie A, Socrates D, Sara's mom H, Margarita G, Fega G,  Rosy Ch, Patricia L. Lina J. Manuel D. C, Yuya N. Mercedes L. )   Comfort them with a sense of thy goodness; preserve them from the temptations of the enemy; and give them patience under his affliction. In thy good time, restore them to health, and enable them to lead the residue of their life in thy fear, and to thy glory; and grant that finally they may dwell with thee in life everlasting; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

You can add names from family and friends who need prayer

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To all of you who visit this blog, I ask for a prayer for Gabriela Piña, a beloved friend who is battling cancer, she has been fighting against this disease with much positivism against this terrible disease, we have been praying for her but lately she is battling with the unpredictable, my heart is in great pain knowing this, but my great faith in our Lord remains that for Him there are no impossibles even when everything looks dark, He has a light waiting for her but I ask with my spirit and heart to give her that opportunity that He always has available for all, to know Him and be a living testimony that He is real and that He loves her infinitely as His adopted daughter, I ask for a prayer together so that He hears our plea, because I know that prayer is powerful and I humbly ask that you support me in this at this very painful time for her and for all of us, who love her as a sister in Christ Jesus. With my broken heart I thank all my brothers and sisters in Christ for your support in this. Amen!

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INTRO

There was a census in Australia in 2001, and in the lead up, there was an viral online campaign to make “Jedi” into an officially recognized religion 

• It was later debunked, but there was a rumour that if you could get 8000-10,000 people to list their religion as Jedi, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) would be forced to officially recognize and list it as a religion in the country

• More than 70,000 people wrote down Jedi as their religion - 0.37% of the population 

• The ABS eventually had to make a statement saying that any references to Jedi as their religion would be be classified as "not defined." 

• The ABS went on to say that for anything to be a religion, “there would need to be a belief system or philosophy as well as some form of institutional or organizational structure in place.”

As popular and influential Star Wars has become, to the point where a lot of people do try to live by the  “Jedi Path” and the Ways of the Force

• And some people take this very seriously 

• The truth is that everyone knows it’s only science fiction - human work of fiction 

Which becomes a great counter-point for us as Christians and believers of Jesus Christ 

• Not just Star Wars, but a lot of other things

• To which people devote themselves “RELIGIOUSLY” 

But as the Australian Bureau of Statistics pointed out, religion is not just about following a set of ideals/lifestyle/philosophy

• It also should present some form of institutional or organizational structure

• And as in our Christian faith, our form of institution and organizational structure is necessary to present the truth of Jesus as God and our faith in Him.

• Can you imagine if you only ever saw a handful of “Christians” carrying a giant cross once in a while, telling you that you need to believe in Jesus, who is a man but also God but also lives inside you and died and then came back to life and floated into space.

Having a religion is to worship in Spirit and Truth 

• And these 3 words can get trivialized and overused, as people have started to apply and practice it for anything and everything 

• But we can definitely experience and confirm all 3 in and through Jesus 

• And the Samaritan woman did

That there is only one Truth, one God who is Spirit, and the only one worth our while 

As unbelievable as it may seem, Jesus and everything the Bible says about Him is the most believable fact.

Jesus IS the Truth and knowing Him sets us free

Jesus wants us to see Him truly as who He is in order for us to understand who we should be so we can worship God truly. 

1. Firstly, the Truth helps us understand WHO I AM.

Everyone, repeat after me, “WHO I AM”

The Samaritan woman can easily be seen as representing all of us

• Our lack of understanding 

• Our morality 

• Our sins

• Our needs

• Our shame and embarrassment 

Jesus asks for some water from someone He should never be talking to from a human perspective

• but as the Son of God whom God sent as a Gift for all humanity

• Jesus offers this woman the way to eternal life

• Which is accepted readily

• But it is clear the Samaritan woman does not truly understand this gift 

  • Eternal life is described as living water

  • Or the giver of the gift, who is the real and actual gift.

So Jesus goes deeper to help her see the truth.

• In order for her to understand the truth of this gift being offered,

  • The woman needed to understand the truth of who she really is

She needed to understand herself, the world, and her place in the world

Which is why Jesus says in verse 16, 

John 4:16-18 (ESV)

16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”

• NLT:“Go and get your husband,” Jesus told her. “I don’t have a husband,” the woman replied. Jesus said, “You’re right! You don’t have a husband, for you have had five husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!”

I don’t know about you, but to me, this sounds VERY direct - to the point of being bad mannered and maybe even mean!

But Jesus wasn’t trying to condemn or judge her

• Or to shame her.

Jesus went straight to the point of the woman’s greatest sin, hopelessness, guilt, despair and need

• To help her understand

  • The truth of who she is

  • So that she can later understand who HE really is

One commentator described and summarized the woman’s life as:

• “a broken series of false beginnings and shattered hopes” 

• Some of us might feel this way right now…

But the woman is unwilling to admit this... 

• “I don’t have a husband” she says

• Technically, this is true, 

• She is right, as even Jesus points out, 

• But misleading and defensive

• I think she was deliberately

•  trying to deflect from the truth of the matter

We like the idea of putting our best foot forward

• Christians are familiar with the idea of bringing our best to God

• But we often conveniently forget our worst

A long time ago, I studied for 1 year at a Bible College in Sydney, and I remember being forced to write a response paper to the statement,

• Who we are at our worst is who we truly are.” 

• I disagreed

• I preferred to think that who I am at my best is who I truly am

• I, just like the woman, misunderstood who I truly am.

Have a look at verses 16-18

• The word, “Husband,” is mentioned 5 times in 3 verses.

You can tell this was something that was a big deal to who this woman is at the core

• Before she could have eternal life, which is the living water, which is the gift of God, which is Jesus

• The Samaritan woman needed to understand her true self

  • The joyful and painful experiences that have formed her till now

  • Where and how she derived meaning and sought love.

This is something we all need to understand.

We easily misunderstand/Mistake

who we truly are, that we are often defined by our:

• Relationships

• Wealth/materials 

• Politics

• Culture/tradition

• History

• Experiences

• Knowledge

• Language/ethnicity 

• Family/lineage 

• Education

• Status

• Job

• Title

• Recognition/Fame/status

• Achievements/accomplishments 

• Abilities

• Passions

• Uniqueness

This misunderstanding can trap us

Do we understand what these earthly things really mean to us?

• How much it mean to us?

So here’s a thought: What/who would Jesus ask you to go and get?

He’s asking you this now, not to shame you, but to help you understand the truth of who you are.

2. Because then, you can understand the Truth of Who He Is, which is our second point.

The Samaritan woman’s misunderstanding of who she is extended to a misunderstanding of God and her worship of God. 

The woman’s understanding of herself is portrayed in and overshadowed her understanding of Jesus.

Notice how she addresses Jesus up to verse 19

• Jew

• Sir

• Prophet

Though her regard for Jesus progresses positively, that first image of Jesus-as a Jew-stays.

• It went to the background for a bit, but came back to the fore when she started talking about God and worship 

• “You might be a prophet, but you’re a Jewish prophet.”

• YOUR people worship in Jerusalem, and OUR people worship here - therefore, we have little in common.

I could imagine her thinking,

• OHHH THAT’S why you’re here

• Why you asked me for water out of no where

• You don’t want or need my help, you want to judge me

• Condemn me

• Tell me to repent or that I’m going to hell

The woman gets hyper-defensive and gets argumentative 

But Jesus gently replies, NLT 21 Jesus replied, “Believe me, dear woman, the time (hour) is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem.

The idea and theme of “THE COMING” and the “HOUR” is huge in John

• 24 instances of the “hour” in John

• 14 used by Jesus

• The last time Jesus uses it is in John 17:1 NLT.

John 2:4 

4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”

John 4:21 

21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.

John 4:23

But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.

John 17:1

When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has

The hour, is the time of His glorification 

• When Jesus dies on the cross of all creation.

• 
  

From the moment Jesus came to this earth, he was counting down the time to His final hour on the cross 

• To die for the sins of the world

• Because he is the Messiah  

The fruit of this hour is worship

This true worship has only 1 object: Christ, the Messiah, the one who saves humanity 

But notice when the woman is talking about worship, there is no object of worship

John 4:20 (ESV Strong's)

Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.”

John 4:20 (NLT)

So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshiped?”

It’s almost like the mountain or the place is the object of worship

• And the subjects of worship - the worshippers - is really weighing on her mind - you Jews and we Samaritans 

To that, Jesus insists, 

• Worship is focused on God the Father

• V21, 23

And here’s why Jesus had to correct the woman

John 4:22 (ESV Strong's)

You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.

John 4:22 (NLT)

You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews.

The Samaritans literally didn’t fully know who to worship

The Samaritans did believe the same God as the Jews, but only the God in the 5 books of the Pentateuch:

• Genesis

• Exodus

• Leviticus

• Numbers

• Deuteronomy 

But 39 books in the OT all talk about God

• And the Samaritans only believed in and read 5 of them 

• They literally knew very little about the one they “worshipped.” 

The Jews believed the whole of Scripture - which is why they know all about Him, and why salvation comes through the Jews 

BUT

The time is coming, and has now come, when that is no longer the determinant of true worship,

• When the 39 books of Scripture the Jews have are the only revelation of God

  • Because the WORD of God has come into the world for people to know Him personally

Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life

• He is the one who defines our lives and gives us meaning

• Verse 23 [READ]

But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.

What’s this oxymoron about the hour that is coming and here now at the same time?

• I think Jesus is telling us of the BODY of believers  - the Body of Christ - who will know how to truly worship

• As a fruit of His death on the cross, 

• But it is already possible at this point in time in John 4 - because the Word

  • who is the Light, son of Man, Son of God, Messiah

• CAME/has COME

• It has already begun.

I think it’s very safe to say the Samaritan woman was searching

• Some might say a 6th husband - snidely. Maybe, but ultimately, she was searching for her true self - for joy and abundant life 

Likewise, we all search for meaning in our lives

• We all worship something or someone

• We all believe something

  • Even atheists who believe there is no God

One of my previous pastors used to say that We have a God-shaped hole or emptiness within us

• Our true self

• And the Bible tells us that we find ourself in Jesus who is the Truth

With the proper and true understanding of who you are and who Jesus is, we can come to the Truth of Who We are - which is our third and final point

John 4:23 ESV

But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.

Worship in spirit and truth

• It sounds like a WAY to worship, doesn’t it?

• Which means it could look a certain way... 

• Worship in this way, or that way

  • Worship in songs

  • Worship in silence 

  • Worship in a crowd

  • Worship loudly

Anyway, is that kind of thing what Jesus is talking about?

• I think a lot of Christians want to believe that.... 

• But before we talk about what “worship in spirit and truth” means and looks like

  • We need to look at the rest of what Jesus said.

John 4:24 (ESV)

God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

“God is spirit” describes God

• One way to describe what God is like

God is a spirit

• means God is unimaginable 

• Indescribable in physicality 

• Because he has no physicality 

There’s a show I used to watch... 

• And it “showed” God one time... 

• It was a big climax...

• But it was the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen

• Just silly.... 

• And I was offended at first.... 

• But I got to thinking... and I think that WAS the point. 

  • What else could they have done that wasn’t cliché like an old guy in a white robe or Morgan Freeman

• Then it hit me, who knows what God looks like at all?? 

  • So then why not that?…

Paul in 1 Timothy 1:17  describes God as (ESV)

To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

1 Timothy 1:17 (NLT)

All honour and glory to God forever and ever! He is the eternal King, the unseen one who never dies; he alone is God. Amen.

God is a spirit

• Invisible

• Extraordinary

• Supernatural

• i.e. Divine

And He deserves to be recognized and treated as such

• I realized this is the meaning behind the second commandment in Exodus 20:4 (ESV).

• “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

And why Paul says in Acts 17:29 (NLT)

And since this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone.

God is not meant to be imagined by humans - it’s just not possible 

• If He was imaginable by people then He can be produced 

• Which means he is not divine

We need to worship God according to the truth of His divine nature 

• The whole revelation as we have received it

• God the Father who is the focus of our worship

• God the Son who is the originator of our worship in revealing the Father

• God the Spirit who embodies His nature

Jesus is telling the woman and us today, to stop making worship about things... 

• Or make God into a thing

• Or place 

• Or method

  • Make it all about all of God 

To do that, we need to engage the entirety of ourselves to connect with God on the same spiritual level

1 Corinthians 2:10-12 (NLT).

But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us.

True worship that is in spirit and truth isn’t so much about the HOW of worship,

- As much as the WHO we worship. 

The Samaritan woman does get to the truth of the matter

• John 4:29 (ESV) “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?”

• Not a place

• Not to do something a certain way or a program

• Not to a “JEWISH” prophet

• But the person who must be the messiah, the Christ 

Jesus asked her to bring the man who is not her husband 

• She brings an entire town 

• Including that man living with her I would imagine 

This is worship in spirit and truth

• This obsession on God that gives new life

• As opposed to living obsessed with WORSHIPPING things and people.

  

  My paraphrase summary of worshipping in spirit and truth is:

• Being obsessed with Jesus, the Son of God

We, as the church, the body of Christ, the community of believers, are worshippers 

• And when we worship Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God

• There is nothing more spiritual, absolutely right, nothing greater or more powerful 

I want to take you back to our first point. 

• The truth of who you are

  • The truth is that you may be hiding some huge misunderstandings of who you are

    • Lies even. Where/who/what you really rely on for meaning 

    • Jesus says go and get it

    • See how it compares to me

    • Be confronted by the Truth

    
    

    Don’t be like the Samaritans, ignorant but proud

    
    

    Don’t be like the Jews, knowing but not believing 

    
    

    Don’t come HERE to worship in “A” way

    
    

    In the revelation of truth, there are 2 immediate responses

    one after the other…

    only then can there be true worship

    I’m sorry 

    And thank you

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