And the last time I spoke I spoke on John Chapter 4, most of it. Not all of it spoke on the long passage about the woman at the well.
And Like I told Ruth when she asked me Wednesday night. I said, well, there's more left, so I'm going back to the well for more.
So we will be once again bad pines. I'm a dad. I'm allowed dad jokes.
We will be back in John chapter 4, but dialing in on just a few of the verses instead of covering.
That entire passage. Concerning the woman at the well. So if you'd like to turn there. And if you're less familiar with it, I'll refresh your memory.
It's the story of Jesus. Deciding to pass through Samaria, says he had to. I think he had to because he decided to because he wanted to meet.
This particular woman. And he wanted to meet her as an entry point for reaching this village. I think he decides to go through pass through Samaria on this trip.
And I had a couple of applications at the end of that. And the last one was about the fact that he did that, about the fact that he went out of his way.
He stopped at a well. His son his disciples away so that he could meet this person. And my encouragement was Whatever your background is.
She's from a culture that's at odds with Jesus's culture. A Samaritan as opposed to Jewish.
Whatever your background is in in any kind of sinful way or whatever you think about your own worthiness.
She'd had 5 husbands and was living with somebody who wasn't her husband. And so she's got most people out done on that.
On that point. And Jesus reached out to her. Jesus made that effort. He went out of his way to reach out to you.
To her and he's reaching out to you as well. So if you have not come to Jesus.
Know that he is reaching out to you. But I had a couple of other. Points and the second the first and the second Were 4 believers.
That one obviously was for those who have not come to Christ yet. But the second application that I had last time was that if you are a believer model Christ in this.
To go to the place where unbelievers are. To reach out to them and not to worry about trying to convert them.
To, your standards of of driving skills or I don't know whatever extra thing it is right missionaries in the seventeenth and nineteenth, no, the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Can be criticized because a lot of times they spent as much time trying to make Englishmen of the tribes that they were visiting as they did trying to convert them to the Gospel.
They don't have to become Englishmen yet first or Americans first. She didn't have to become Jewish first.
She didn't have to to do any of that. Christ went to reach her where she was. He went on her turf.
And we should model Christ. And the last point was to, oh, the first point, actually, the last one I'm going to mention.
Today and then I'll springboard from that. The first application was model this woman. Because she didn't wait until she had all of her ducks in a row and understood everything.
She knew who this man was. Or at least had a pretty good idea. I think her understanding of that grows, but she knew what she did have.
She knew she had met the most important man she had ever met. And she took that back into her village and she spread the good news that she had.
She didn't she didn't say you know I've got some other questions that I need to get all straightened out That's fine.
Get them all straightened out. But you don't have to wait until you have everything perfectly figured out.
Before you take the good news that you do know. To the people who don't know it.
The if there was something she didn't understand if she went back to the village and people said well okay what about all the the Jews have some stuff about their Messiah that talks about David she could say you know what I don't know Go ask him.
He's there. Take them. Do the man. That's what she did.
And we should model her. In that. When I made that application, the particular theological point that I mentioned that she probably didn't have all worked out as.
What exactly? She didn't have to understand. What exactly does he mean? When he says worship in spirit and truth.
That sounds either kind of just fuzzy or kind of weird or. Different I haven't heard that before And she didn't wait until she had that all nailed down.
Which was good and right. But now it's somewhat later. And so we can look at that phrase.
And understand more. Of what it means to worship in spirit and truth. That's what I want to do this morning.
I want to look at that phrase. And consider what it was Jesus meant by it because I think I think it's bigger.
Then we sometimes
Then we sometimes read it as. Before we look at that passage, I'd like to open in prayer.
Father, we come to you this morning.
Opening your word. Opening the scriptures that you through the Holy Spirit have given to us. To learn more about you, to know your son.
To know the revelation of you that he brought. Father, we pray that as we Consider these words and consider their context.
Consider their meaning for us. Their meaning for all Christians since that day. Father, we pray that our ears would be open to what your spirit has to teach us.
Father, anything that I have to say that is off topic, I pray that your spirit would would take it away would would not let it be retained.
But Father, what is true that we would understand that? That we would take it to heart. And that we would more completely worship in spirit and truth.
In Christ's name we pray. Amen.
So like I said, Jesus had decided to travel through Samaria so that he could meet this woman.
And at the point that we're going to, you know, they, well, when he meets her.
He asks her for a drink of water and they have this conversation then about water, which we'll go back to just a little bit as we go along.
But the conversation goes on. To weightier issues. And at the point where we're breaking in, Jesus has just demonstrated his knowledge of her.
By telling her, oh yeah, I, I know you don't have a husband. I know that you've had 5 husbands.
And the one you have now is not. And by telling her all this, She is realizing that.
He's a prophet. This is This man is special. So let's break in. With that at John Chapter 4, verse 19.
I'll read down through verse 24.
The woman said to him, sir, I perceived that you were a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Y'all, we would say in the South.
But y'all say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship. Jesus said to her, woman, believe me.
The hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know.
We worship what we know. For salvation is from the Jews. 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.
God is spirit and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.
So. This is frequently read. As a hi. This is frequently read as a sort of simple statement.
That worship by the Christian. Has to be done in sincerity. And in doctrinal correctness.
We'll say something like that. And you know, I don't have a problem with that.
I think that worship should be done sincerely and I think that worship should be done sincerely and I think that worship should be done with a doctrineally correct attitude.
So I don't have a problem with that. But I don't think that it's what Jesus was talking about here.
I think that Jesus has something else going on. My problem with that interpretation has to do with how he begins in his response to her.
She's asked about this. And he says, an hour is coming. And now is here, well, I'm sorry, I've skipped down to a couple verses later.
He says, woman, believe me, the hour is later. He says, woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.
So, and then if you skip down to to verse 23, he restates that. An hour is coming and it is now here.
So if he just means that worship should be sincere. And correct. He seems to be saying that And hours now here.
An hour is coming.
Well, if he's talking about sincere and correct worship, that hour is not coming. That hour's been here for a long time.
That hour's been around. Since the beginning of worship, really. If we look back through the Old Testament.
Isaiah chapter one, he starts. With those kinds of statements. Turn to it just briefly.
Isaiah chapter one in verse 11 he says What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices, says the Lord.
I have had enough of burnt offerings and rams and the fat of well-fed beasts.
I do not delight in the blood of bulls or of lambs or of goats. When you come to appear before me who is required of you this trampling of my courts bring no more vain offerings, who is required of you this trampling of my courts, bring no more vain offerings.
Incense is an abomination offerings. Incense is an abomination to me. He hates all these, he goes on.
He hates all these things. Because they're insincere. Hosea 6 tells us the same thing that God has wanted loving kindness or, or.
The different translations. Translate that word. It's the Hebrew word has said. They translate that a variety of ways, but God has desired that, not sacrifices.
So God has always, you can go all the way back to Cain.
There's, I think, more going on with Keynes sacrifice, but at least part of it is.
That was not offered. Insincerity. I think it was offered an I can do this kind of attitude.
So you can go all the way back to Kane. God has always rejected insincere worship. Insincere sacrifice.
So that's not new. That's not coming. And so I don't think that's what the Lord's talking about.
So what is he talking about? What is What is he talking about when he says that there's a coming hour in which worship will be different in some way from how it has been before.
Think there are a few aspects I'm not going to give a number because I think I'm going to have to drop my last section.
But there are a few aspects. That I want to look at this and consider what he's talking about when he says, when he says this about worship.
First I want us to recognize that when Jesus answers her, He's not changing the subject. Sometimes he does that.
Jesus, sometimes you ask a question and it looks like He doesn't really answer the question you asked.
Maybe he answers the question you should have asked. He kind of does that here, but he stays more on point with her question.
Then we may realize, I believe. What is her question about? What is the question she asks? It's about place.
That's the first thing I want us to consider is the place of worship. She wants to know.
She says, our fathers worshiped on this mountain. She's talking about Mount Gerrazine.
Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem the place where we ought to worship.
And she wants to know the answer, right? He's a prophet. I think she has a suspicion that maybe he is a prophet like Moses.
Who's going to tell, she says later that that prophet's going to reveal all things.
So I think. She wants to know the answer to this question that's been a burning question between Jews and Samaritans for pretty much as long as there have been Jews and Samaritans.
She's asking about a rivalry that exists between the temple and Jerusalem. And by this point destroyed temple.
That the Samaritans had built on Mount Guerrazine. A Jewish high priest. Had had that temple destroyed.
By military force. About 100 5,100 5,160 years prior to this conversation.
And it hadn't been rebuilt or at least hadn't been rebuilt yet. Right, the Jewish temple had also been destroyed and it had been rebuilt.
So maybe she had hoped that the Samaritan temple would be rebuilt. And she's asking about This song.
This rivalry between these 2 places. And it's not about architecture. It's not about which temple is better than the other temple.
Which one? Is more honoring to God or anything like this. She's asking a real question.
And here's the thing, she's not wrong. She's not wrong to ask this question.
God had given them very good reason to believe that the place where they worshiped was important. The place mattered to him.
If you turn to Deuteronomy chapter 12. There are additional examples that we won't look at this morning.
But if we just turn to one of the earliest one, well. One of the earliest ones.
In Deuteronomy chapter 12.
I'll just read starting in verse 10. He said similar things earlier in the chapter. But for the sake of time, we'll just read verses 10 through 14.
When this is of course before Israel has crossed into the land, Moses is preaching essentially a farewell sermon in the book of Deuteronomy.
But when you go over the Jordan and live in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, and when he gives you rest from all your enemies around so that you live in safety.
Then to the place that the Lord your God will choose to make his name to dwell. There you shall bring all that I command you.
You're burnt offerings and your sacrifices. Your tides and the contribution that you present and all your finest vow offerings that you shall vow to the Lord.
You shall rejoice before the Lord your God. You and your sons and your daughters. Your male servants and your female servants and the Levite that is within your towns.
Since he has no portion or inheritance with you. Take care. Take care. This is verse 13, that you do not offer your burnt offerings at any place that you see, but at the place that the Lord will choose in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I am commanding you.
So, we all know, well, that's Jerusalem. Right? That's the place.
If you look back at the verses. He doesn't actually say Jerusalem. We know that because we know the rest of history.
The Samaritans were convinced that he was talking about Mount Gerrazine. They actually had made some some slight changes.
To their own version. Of the Pentateuch. The only part of the Old Testament that they used was the Pantatuch, the 5 books of Moses.
And there were some slight changes here and there in that. Including a declaration that that place where the Lord God would cause his name to dwell.
Was in fact on Mount Gerazine. So this is what the debate was about. Where is that place?
But what they agreed on what they were not in disagreement about. Was that there was a place. And that it mattered to God.
And it had mattered even longer than this. We won't take the time to turn to it if you want to jot it down.
Leviticus chapter 17 starting in verse 2, there's a similar command given. While Israel is in the wilderness, essentially this is once the tabernacle is built.
Essentially saying
Don't you know don't offer your offerings just on whatever altered you might build. Some rocks that you pile up, some earth that you pulled together into one.
Temporary altar. Don't offer offerings on that. Offerings must only be brought to the tabernacle.
So the temple in Jerusalem The temple referred to in Deuteronomy is just a continuation of this sort of centralizing principle that was already there.
Both of them, both the Samaritans and the Jews, in this question that the woman is asking are concerned about where is the right place.
For God to be worshiped. And they were right. To ask the question. They were not off base.
She was not off base. To ask this question. This mattered. But why did it matter?
I already said it's not because of Giography, it's not because The temple in Jerusalem had spiffier furniture or had more gold covering their altar than they had at Mount Gerizim.
I have no idea. I would assume that Solomon's temple had more gold, probably covering the alt the incense altar than was in the entire Samaritan temple.
I don't know, I've not seen pictures of it. But that isn't why it mattered.
Why does it matter so much?
They're not just for facilities. Where offerings can be brought. Christians today, rightly. Make the point that this building is not the church.
Right? This building is basically a facility. I don't even Yeah, I sometimes fall into it because a Christian ease uses the language that way, but I don't even like to call this room a sanctuary.
It's a habit that we get into, we've adopted it. From other people, but this room is not a sanctuary.
This rim is an auditorium or. The old brethren would call it a hall. That's what this room is.
This is just a room. This is a facility where we come together.
The temple, the tavern, and and so we could meet across the street in the in the parking lot, right?
Not the parking lot, sorry. The playground, boy, wouldn't it be nice if there were a parking lot across the street?
We could meet across the street in the playground. We could have a sunrise service over there, one Easter, and it wouldn't affect anything that this room was at that this building was empty.
But that's not true in the Old Testament. That's not true for this woman. And the reason is that the temple and the tabernacle We're not just facilities.
I mean, they were. You could accomplish a whole bunch of important stuff there, but they were not just facilities.
That was the place. Where God lived. That was where he dwelt among his people. That was the special place.
Where you could go to experience and encounter the presence of God, unlike anywhere else. The closest you got anywhere else was if you happened to see the high priest.
And he was outfitted. To to remind you of all those things. He was outfitted to represent God.
To the nation. He was also outfitted to represent the nation to God. But that's a whole rabbit trail that I'm not going to go back down.
The temple and before the tabernacle were the place where God's presence was. And the people knew it, they could.
They could even see it when the cloud descended into the tabernacle and then later the temple. So that's why They were so important and that's why when the woman says Okay, you're a prophet.
So where should we worship on mountain? At your little temple in Jerusalem. Because one of them is right and the other is wrong and if you're going to the wrong one you're not encountering the special presence of God.
So she's right.
And Jesus goes to that. It doesn't look like it at first. Other than to shoot it down, it doesn't look like it, but he stays on that.
His answer. He says, believe me. This is verse 21. An hour is coming when neither.
On this mountain. Nor in Jerusalem.
Throw out both geographies, both places. When neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.
Skip down to 23 but the hour is coming and is now here when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.
In spirit and truth doesn't sound like a place, does it?
But it is. But it is. John's already and engaged in what scholars call a temple polemic.
I think that's strong. Temple polemic basically means a fight against the temple. Like I say, I think that's a little bit of a strong statement, but there's definitely been a theme.
It's not anti temple. But there's been a temple theme going through John. If you just flip back a couple of chapters to chapter 2
This is maybe the most obvious and the most famous of his Temple polemics.
Jesus answered them. Did I already say verse 19? Verse 19 if I didn't. Jesus answered them, destroy this temple and in 3 days I will raise it up.
So there's a little bit of anti-temple, if you want to call it anti.
Continuing on. The Jews then said it has taken 46 years to build this temple and will you raise it up in 3 days?
But he was speaking about the temple of his body.
Flip back another page, one page from me. If you're in a study Bible, it might be more pages.
But chapter one.
And there's one that in English And then I think in any translation that I know of. It gets a little bit clouded.
But this is there too. Look at verse 14 and I'm going to Translate it. King James may actually keep it. I don't know.
Somebody can tell me later. And the word became flesh and dwelt among us.
The word became flesh. And tabernacleed among us, right? It tabernockled among us.
Because what's a tabernacle? A tabernacle is a dwelling. The tabernacle was the place where God dwelt with Israel in the wilderness and in the early years of the land.
And here in verse 14, John doesn't use some other word. To talk about our Lord. Living among us on earth.
He uses this word tabernacled because he wants us to think back. And recognize that here in John chapter one verse 14 Jesus is that same role as the tabernacle.
In John 2 verse 19. Jesus body. Is given that same role as the temple. What is that role?
It is the place. Where God dwells among his people. So yeah, he's staying on topic.
When he says Sorry, got it turn again. When he says, an hour is coming and is now here when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth because those places that he threw out in verse 19.
They are no longer going to be. And in verse 21, he says, and now is. They're no longer the place where God dwells among his people.
He is the place where God dwells among his people. Whether temple, tabernacle, Jerusalem, Guerrazine, God no longer dwells in some man-made building on earth.
In any of those places. So then what does it mean? When he says to worship in spirit and truth, I'm saying that he's staying on that topic.
And I believe that he is.
Jesus has talked about some of these things before and And the gospel writer has set up a contrast.
In chapter 3 and chapter 4. Between Jesus's conversation with Nicodemus. And Jesus is conversation with this woman.
So, I think that makes it fair. For us to look there and. And see a little bit.
Even more so than the rest of the gospel to see a little bit about what John, what Jesus is saying.
So if we look back to John chapter 3. Verse 34.
John says, for he whom God has sent utters the words of God. Now who is it whom God has sent?
That's Jesus. This whole passage. He whom God has sent is Jesus. And he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure.
And if we look. There are other references also to. To Jesus giving the spirit. In the Gospel of John.
The John 6 63 and John 1526 you can write them down. I'm running out of time, so we won't look at them, but they're saying essentially the same thing.
It is Christ who gives the Spirit. And Jesus has even alluded to this, I think. In this passage.
When he talks about giving living water. That will spring up within the person who receives it. Spring up to eternal life.
That living water is usually, and I think rightly, understood as a symbol of the spirit.
Not least, and I. Yeah, not least because that word springing or leaping or welling up.
The reference is. Chapter 4 verse 14. You want to look at it. But where it says that it's springing up or welling up or leaping up.
I don't think any of the translations use leap, but man they should. Because this verb usually gets used of animals, right?
It's horses or calves or something like that that's leaping.
In the Old Testament, there are a couple of times When it's used of the spirit.
Oh, better keep this. It's used of the spirit when it says that the spirit came upon Saul and first time you will turn.
It's used of the spirit. When it says that the spirit came upon Samson. In chapters 14 and 15 several times.
The spirit leaps upon Samson, or it leaps upon Saul, and saw prophesize.
This isn't the evil spirit that comes to Saul. This is the spirit that leaps upon Saul and in response he prophesies.
So that word. Is frequently, well, frequently, is also. Used of the spirit.
And so I think that water that he's talking about, yeah, I think that's symbol of the spirit and Jesus is the source of that spirit.
For those who follow him. So he told the woman that the water he was offering would leap up within her, leading to eternal life.
Now he tells her that this spirit that brings eternal life is also the ground for worship. We worship in the Spirit.
And it's the Holy Spirit. That he's talking about. This isn't about our spirit and the leaping and the springing is not about what we're going to do, right?
That's fine. If you are led to jump up and raise your arms in worship, I don't have a problem with that.
Just don't hit your neighbor. But I don't have a problem with that, but don't point to this.
What this is saying, notice that it's the spirit who's leaping. It's not necessarily the worshipper who's sleeping.
We worship in that spirit. And it doesn't just leap upon us. It leaps up within us when we have eternal life.
So true worship is worship that's based on the position of the worshipper. As a person who has eternal life.
Who has the gift of the Holy Spirit within them. And and is worshipping in that spirit. I'm not saying that just because You're saved and you have the Holy Spirit.
That your worship is necessarily in the spirit. You can be quenching the spirit. You can be resisting the spirit.
But if you are worshiping in the spirit. That is true worship.
But that's only half of what he says, right? He doesn't just say in spirit.
He says, in spirit and truth, so what's he talking about there? A lot of people.
And they have a decent argument. Treat this phrase as if it's just different wording for what he will say later in his farewell discourse.
Referring to the spirit of truth. That this is just a slightly different. Phraseology for that but I don't think that's the best way.
They're good grammatical arguments for it. It can be right and I don't think that
I think that the spirit that's referred to is the spirit of truth that's referred to at the end of the book.
But I don't think that's why he brings truth in here. There are some different statements from that same discourse.
That I think are more enlightening here. John Chapter 14 verse 6, you don't bother turning there, most of you know it.
I am the way. The what? The truth. I am the way, the truth and the life.
John won 14 again. And John chapter 17, a few verses. Also, John connects Jesus to the truth.
I think that this is what he's talking about in that second part. He's pulling out that you worship.
In spirit. In the power of the Holy Spirit. You worship in truth. Because your position, your standing?
How you come is in Christ.
I also like this. Because it gives us a really potent Trinitarian statement. Here, notice how he starts.
He throws something in. That she didn't specifically ask about. Verse 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?
She didn't ask about the father. Now partly I think maybe he's being Playful is not right because I think there's way too much theology loaded into it to say that he's being playful.
But I think it was convenient that she does have a concern with the father, right? Our fathers said, we should worship on this mountain.
And he's saying, yeah, let me tell you something about the Father. ? But it also gives us this.
Compact Trinitarian statement. About worship. What is true worship?
True worship. Is in the power of the Holy Spirit. Is because of your standing in Christ. And it is only because of your standing in Christ, if you are a believer.
If you have put your faith in him. If you have accepted his salvation, If you have placed yourself in Christ, It is only because of that.
That you can call him Father.
He's not your father?
He's the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit, and you are in the sun.
And in the sun. Now you can worship him as Father.
We can't approach him any other way.
Israel brought offerings and sacrifices. And all these things and they were tempted and they were for a time.
But we can't approach him any other way. There are handful of greek words that get used for worship.
Get translated as worship. In English and and so we get sort of different definitions of what worship is.
Sometimes we say worship is service. Well, yeah, it is. That's because La Truro words.
Get translated as worship and that refers to service either service to God or it can even talk about service to your earthly masters.
But that is a form of worship. And we also talk about particular well. Some churches we describe as liturgical and we don't tend to describe ourselves as liturgical, but all it means is that there's an order and we do things in a particular way.
Up and didn't even change it much when they brought it into English. But that's not what he's talking about here.
That's not what he describes. This is the Greek word prosc10. And it means to bow down.
To prostrate yourself. To bow before someone who's greater, in this case, God. To kiss the hem of his robe or to kiss his feet or to kiss the ground before someone.
That's where this word comes from. That's the word that the woman uses. And that's or at least that John uses to represent her question and that he uses to represent what Christ talks about.
When we come. To bow before God, whether we do that individually and hopefully only metaphorically in our cars driving around.
Or whether we do that here, gathered together.
Part of what we do is we bow down before God.
Because of his greatness. And we do that. We bow before the Father. In his son.
It's the only way we can.
That is the new thing. That's the thing that's coming. It's coming. The end and that's the the last point that I'm going to have to to basically leave off.
But it's coming in the end. We're joining in. A worship that looks ahead. Were not just coming and worshiping now.
We're looking ahead. To the final day and to eternity. And we're joining into that worship already.
Because it's coming and it now is. Because we are given the spirit. If we are in Christ, We are given the spirit.
And if you go all the way back to my first point. About that place. The right place. For worship to be offered because it was the place where God was manifest among his people where he dwelt among his people.
Here in the Gospel of John Where is God? Present among his people in the person of Jesus Christ.
And if you are in him Where is the place? Where you encounter God.
If you have the spirit God is present with you. When we come together. God is present in all of us.
That place. Travels around with us. That's why it doesn't depend on geography anymore.
That's why it depends on our position. Making us the place. Where we encounter God. And where we can then worship in spirit and truth.
Let's look to him in prayer.
Father, we thank you for this gift. We thank you that you did send your son. And that the one that you sent gives the spirit without measure.
Father, we thank you that those of us who have who have looked to you. And looked upon your son.
Slain and his bloodshed for us. We thank you that he now dwells within us. That your spirit dwells within us and empowers us.
And allows us to offer worship. That is glorifying to you. Father, we pray that that when we come together, our our hearts would be filled with the spirit and that Our eyes would look to you and that we would rejoice.
In that and bring glory to you and offer worship through your son. And Father, we pray that as we as we go out into the community.
As we go out into the world. That we know that we don't only have that opportunity when we come together, but that that your spirit goes with us.
And allow all of those different things that we do, whether they're Latourgia or Service.
Let them all be worshipful to you and let us be mindful of that. Let us be mindful of our position.
Let us be mindful that that we are the place where God is present. God is present to us.
Directly. And we can worship him in spirit and truth because of it. And your son's precious name we pray.
Amen.