Encountering Jesus In Worship # 4 He Dwells Among Us John 4:19-26 Introduction Story: Read John 4 * Central teaching = Living Water - but another important issue is raised. What does it mean to worship? Vs 3 Had to Vs 7 - draw water - Thirsty - women had reputation came when no one else would be there vs 10 LIVING WATER - spring of eternal life Give me this water vs 15 vs 15-18 Jesus exposes her sinfulness - He is Messiah vs 19 Women seeks to change subject Where is the right place to Worship * Discussion on Where To Worship - Jesus zeros in on TRUE WORSHIP - makes it clear the Samaritans are wrong and Jews right - truth of God is revealed through the Jewish nation in the sacred scriptures. Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (John 4:13-14) 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 4:21) God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth (John 4:24) Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am he. (John 4:26) He is not in the Greek I AM I. Worship Is About God Why this confusion and tragic failure regarding worship? The answer lies in another question: Why do we worship is it for God or for man? - The unspoken and increasingly common assumption of today s Christendom is that worship is primarily for us to meet our needs. - Such worship services are entertainment focused and the worshippers are uncommitted spectators who are silently grading the performance.... The telltale sign of this kind of thinking is the common post-worship question: What did you think of the service today? (Kent Huges - Disciplines of a Godly Man - pg 110) * The real question is What did God think of it and those who worshipped, and did I give to God?
- It is so easy to forget that in going to worship our main concern should be to worship in spirit and in truth. * CRITIQUE SERVICE - I didn t get anything our of the service.! - Folks I want you to go home inspired. I want you to be blessed by the service. One of the signs of a Healthy Church is inspiring worship services. BUT - It s not about what you get out of the service it s what you put into the service that makes it inspiring. - The quality of our worship is not determined by the worship band or the people on the platform or what we might get out of the service, but what we bring to the service. WORSHIP - in the early formation of the English language between Geoffrey Chaucer and William Shakespear we would have used the word WORTH-SHIP * Assigning God His Worth - praising - glorifying His Name * Worship is not about us and what we get out of it It s about us coming to give God His Worth. Grk Proskuneo (pros-koo-neh-o) = to kiss the hand - comes from a word that literally means to kiss, like a dog licking his master s hand to bow in homage Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, (Ps 115:1) Blessed are the people who know the festal shout, who walk, O Lord, in the light of your face, 16 who exult in your name all the day and in your righteousness are exalted. 17 For you are the glory of their strength; by your favour our horn is exalted. (Ps 89:15-17) * Worship Is About Seeking The Face Of God And Giving Him The Glory Due His Name WORSHIP IS ABOUT WHAT WE BRING TO GOD 3 Marks Of A Follower Of Christ. For we are the real circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh (Phil 3:3) - Worship God in Spirit - Rejoice or Glory In Christ Jesus - Put no confidence in the flesh 3 Musts Of John s Gospel - 3:7 = you must be born again - 3:14 = the Son of Man must be lifted up - 4:24 = must worship in spirit and in truth * Here s a question When you came to church this morning, did you come to get, or did you come to give. - if you came to get - you may well go home empty - if you came to give - you may well go home full
- When come prepare to meet with God, to seek His face, and pour your heart out in worship to him, having been in His presence through Worship your heart is filled and transformed. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil 2:9-11) * The ultimate result of God s salvation plan is God s glory. Jesus came, lived, loved, served, sacrificed, died and rose again for God s glory. II. Worship Is To Be Done Right God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. (John 4:24) - Worship not just any old way will do. - In O.T. very detailed worship instructions - In N.T. Jesus says Spirit and in Truth * Women wanted to discuss where to worship - Jesus points out that there are more important issues. In the Kingdom He is inaugurating by His death and resurrection, the place of worship doesn t matter. Worship is not about being in the right place but it is a matter of the heart (spirit). (This does not negate the teaching of assembling together - but points to a far higher concept) 1. Worship Is Spiritual * Worship doesn t happen just because you are in church. Worship Has To Do With Where Your Heart Is. - are you prepared to give God His Worth * True Worship Happens when your spirit actually meets God and finds itself praising Him for all that He is and does. 1. You Need To Know The One You Are Worshipping - must be saved to worship 2. Don t Confuse Worship With Something You Do On Sunday - haven t worshipped just because you ve been to church - been in the right place and go through the motions. can sing etc. And still not worship. Illustrate: Kids at camp. Soon as music started - they started jumping up and down in beat. Someone said, Oh look at those kids worshipping. - May not have been worship at all. * Just because you come to church - sing the songs - bow in prayer - give offering etc. doesn t mean you ve worshipped. 3. Don t Confuse Emotion With Worship - often emotions are stirred by real worship tears of joy repentance etc. * Possible to be moved by a song or a sermon yet not come to genuine worship of God and a fuller praise of His ways and Nature. * Just because the music got your heart pumping doesn t mean you have worshipped.
** True worship happens when our Spirit actually meets with God and finds itself praising Him for His nature - love - beauty - truth - holiness - compassion - majesty - mercy - grace - power etc. The true, the genuine worship is when man, through his spirit, attains to friendship and intimacy with God. True and genuine worship is not to come to a certain place; it is not to go through a certain ritual or liturgy; it is not even to bring certain gifts. True worship is when the spirit, the immortal and invisible part of man, speaks to and meets with God, who is immortal and invisible. (William Barclay - The Gospel of John) * That being the case - how you judge the worship service is not whether you liked the songs or any other part of the service but whether or not you turned your heart towards God. 2. Worship Is Rooted In Truth 1. Truthful * Honestly and wholeheartedly This people honours me with their lips, but their heart is far from me (Matt 15:8) open and exposing our hearts to God. ready to let God in * If you re not fully engaged - allowing yourself to be distracted (texting - doing something else), you re not fully engaged not worshipping in truth. * According to Jesus - there is no worship unless there is an honest heart Must be prepared to Worship Hearts an open book before God 2. Biblical in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. (Matt 15:9) - goes on to condemn those who substituted the commandments of men for the doctrines of scripture. - That was the problem with Samaritan worship. * Worship must be consistent with the truth as revealed by God Himself. IE. Prior to Reformation - traditions of men had replaced scripture. Calvin had the Altars removed and the Pulpit with a Bible on it in the Centre of the Sanctuary - not to the side of the room Word - Salvation - Spiritual Direction Were At The Centre. 3. Christocentric - Christ Centred In Christ * Tabernacle - picture of Christ was at the centre of the camp. - Tab. Taught the way to God through Christ I am the way, the truth and the life Altar = Cross Laver = daily cleansing provided by Christ Table of Shewbread = bread of life Altar of Incense = prayer Lampstand = Christ the light of the world Holy of Holies - Ark, mercy seat - very presence of God. * No other way to come to God but by Christ. * Why do we worship? - Not about us not about what we get out of it Not man centred but God centred.
In worship - our hearts and minds are turned to Christ - not ourselves - not our needs - but Christ and In worship and as we pour out our praise and adoration, our hearts are blessed. III. Worship Requires Preparation 1. Spiritual Preparation 1. Know Christ 2. Confess Your Sin He who has clean hands and a pure heart, ( Ps 24:4) 3. Restore Relationships So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. (Matt 5:23-24) 4. Desire God O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. (Ps 63:1) - Come to church thirsty for God. 5. Be Ready To Give God His Worth Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created. (Rev 4:11) 2. Practical Preparation Prepare Saturday Night - have cloths and everything you need - all laid out Old Days Sat. Night Bath - decide what you having for breakfast - have your Bible ready - agree on what time to get up and what time you will leave - pray for the worship service. Prepare to meet thy God, O Christian! Betake thyself to thy chamber on the Saturday night... The oven of thine heart thus baked, as it were, overnight, would be easily heated the next morning; the fire so well raked up when thou wentest to bed, would be the sooner kindled when thou shouldst rise. If thou wouldst thus leave thy heart with God on the Saturday night, thou shoulds find it with Him in the Lord s Day morning. (Puritan Prayer) Prepare Your Heart - part of the purpose for preparing your heart is that you might have something to offer. As You Enter The Sanctuary - take few moments to be still - prepare to give God praise - right now God is the focus - not your friends - not the person next to you - not your social life - not the coffee time - GOD is your focus. - lots of time to talk afterward ** Quiet your heart and prepare to worship
Look Over The Service - notice the various elements ask God to help you be fully engaged and that you will truly worship Him. Direct Your Children - quietly explain each part of the service - what will happen - why is it important etc. Conclusion 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 4:23) * God desires our worship above all else Worship Is Our Very Purpose. It is the ultimate purpose of every person who calls themselves a follower of Jesus Christ. It is the ultimate priority of our lives. And in particular God calls us to collective worship. True biblical worship so satisfies our total personality that we don t have to shop around for man-made substitutes. William Temple made this clear in his masterful definition of worship: For worship is the submission of all our nature to God. It is the quickening of conscience by His holiness; the nourishment of mind with His truth; the purifying of imagination by His beauty; the opening of the heart to His love; the surrender of will to His purpose and all of this gathered up in adoration, the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable and therefore the chief remedy for that self-centeredness which is our original sin and the source of all actual sin. Warren W. Wiersbe, The Integrity Crisis, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1991, p. 119.