Worship in Spirit and Truth
3. How Can I Worship In Truth?
John 4:20-24
Let’s turn to John 4. If you need a Bible, go ahead and raise your hand and we will bring one to you. John 4 is on page 889 in the Bibles we are passing out.
Today we wrap up our series on worship. Two weeks ago we saw that worship is so important – because God’s purpose is to create men and women who worship Him – and the reason this is His purpose is because the most loving thing God can do for us is to make us into worshipers – because worship is our highest joy. Then last week we saw that true worship must be in spirit – which means it must involve Spirit-given, heart-felt desire for God.
And here’s an example of worship that’s in spirit. Sarah Edwards was the wife of Jonathan Edwards – one of the most powerful preachers and theologians in church history – who lived in New England in the 1700’s. Here’s what she said happened –
When I was alone … I took the Bible and read [verses from Romans 8]. They were impressed upon my heart with great power and sweetness. They appeared to me with undoubted certainty as the words of God, and as words which God did pronounce concerning me.
… I had it strongly impressed on me, how impossible it was for anything in heaven or on earth, in this world or in the future, ever to separate me from the love of God which was in Christ Jesus. My safety, and happiness, and eternal enjoyment of God’s love, seemed as durable and unchangeable as God Himself.
Melted and overcome by the sweetness of this assurance, I fell into a great flow of tears, and could not stop weeping aloud. It appeared certain to me that God was my Father, and Christ my Lord and Savior, that He was mine and I His. The presence of God was so near, and so real, that I seemed scarcely conscious of anything else.
This was worship in spirit – full of Spirit-given, heartfelt desire for God. But notice in the first line what created this powerful worship -- she was reading Romans 8 – the truth of God’s Word. And what I hope to show you this morning is that if you want to worship in spirit – if you want to have powerful experience of God in worship – you must worship in truth. True worship must be in both spirit and truth.
That’s what Jesus taught in John 4:20-24. Here Jesus is talking with a Samaritan woman. The Samaritans were Israelites who had intermarried with Assyrians and mixed Old Testament worship with idol worship and the idol worship took over. So they had stopped bringing offerings to Jerusalem to worship the True God, and worshiped idols on Mt. Gerizim.
And so in v.20 she asks Jesus a question --
20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain [Mt. Gerizim in Samaria], but you [Jews] say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship."
Then Jesus answers --
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.
22 You [Samaritans] worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.
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.
24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."
For worship to be true – it must be in both spirit and truth. To worship in spirit means there’s Spirit-given, heart-felt desire for God. That’s essential. But it’s not enough. For worship to be true it also must be in truth. So what does it mean to worship in truth?
In v.22 Jesus tells the woman her worship is NOT in truth. Look again at what he says in v.22 --
22 You [Samaritans] worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.
In other words – you worship [at some level you think you are worshiping the One True God] but you don’t know who He is. So your worship on Mt. Gerizim is wrong because you do not know the true God – because you have rejected what God taught about Himself through Israel.
So for worship to be true it must be directed towards the One True God. But in today’s culture that sounds arrogant. How can anyone claim to be are worshiping the One True God? After all, Hindus worship Brahmin and Muslims worship Allah and Christians worship Jesus – how could anyone know who is the One True God?
Jesus answers that in v.22 --
22 You [Samaritans] worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.
Jesus is not saying Jews are racially superior to Samaritans. What Jesus is saying is that God has revealed the truth of who He is to everyone through the Jewish people.
Let this sink in. We don’t need to wonder who God is – God has revealed Himself to us through Israel – in history – here on the earth!
4,000 years ago God promised that through Abraham’s seed every people group in the earth would be blessed.
Then 500 years later God showed His power by freeing Israel from Egypt and bringing them into the Promised Land.
Then God had the Jewish people bring animal sacrifices to show how people from all nations could be forgiven by God for their sins – because those sacrifices pointed to Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross.
And in the Old Testament God promised that He Himself would come to earth as Messiah born of a baby – the supreme revelation of who God is and how we can be saved by God’s grace alone through faith alone in the Messiah alone.
And then in Jesus all those promises were fulfilled – Jesus was God in the flesh, the Messiah, who showed us what God is like, who died on the Cross to pay for our sins, and rose from the dead victorious Savior.
And we hold all of that revelation in our hands in the Bible – the word of God.
So we do not have to wonder who God is. God has revealed Himself to us. And for worship to be true – it must be in sync with this revelation – it must be directed toward the true God as He has revealed Himself through Israel, supremely through Jesus Christ – all as recorded in God’s Word the Bible.
So let’s say someone at work tomorrow tells you about a powerful worship experience they had – where they were swept up in God’s love – and felt His warmth and light and peace. Then they heard Him say there’s many ways to God – Krishna, Buddha, Mohammed, Jesus – lots of ways to God. And they tell you that it was awesome!
Was that true worship? No. That was not the true God. That was Satanic deception. Now you would need a lot of wisdom to know how to communicate this to them. But that worship was not true worship – it was not in truth – because true worship must be directed towards God as He has revealed Himself through Israel, supremely through Jesus – all as recorded in God’s Word the Bible.
That’s what it means to worship in truth.
But now I want to have us dig a little deeper – by asking – How does truth help our worship? We live at a time when people are not excited about truth. And this can seep into the church – so people are more excited about experiencing God than about the truth of God.
But we cannot have experiential worship of God without truth. And – the more truth we have about God – the more powerful our worship will be. Paul says this in Galatians 3:5 –
Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith--
Notice that God supplies the Holy Spirit to us. Among other things – this means God works in our hearts by the Spirit to make Himself real to us in our worship – so we really feel Him and experience Him.
But how does God do that? Not as we do the works of the Law – like not eating bacon. But as we hear with faith – as with faith we hear the truth of God’s Word. If you want more of the Spirit in worship – you need more of God’s Word in worship.
Let me give you one example from Scripture. Look at Psalm 95:1-5 –
1 Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
So the psalmist is inviting us to join him in a powerful experience of worshiping God with joy and thanksgiving and praise. But you can’t just turn joy and thanksgiving and praise on like a switch – you need the Holy Spirit to change your heart. But if God is going to provide the Spirit in our hearts – we need to hear with faith.
So in vv.3-5 the psalmist gives us truth to hear with faith --
3 For [here’s truth about God] the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also.
5 The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.
If we want the powerful experience of worship described in vv.1-2 we need the truth of God as revealed in vv.3-5.
Remember last week I said worship was like travelling through that tunnel which brings you into Yosemite Valley and there before you is the green valley and massive white granite El Capitan and Cathedral Rock and Half Dome. And as you see Yosemite Valley before you your heart is filled with joy and awe and pleasure. But think about it. Where did that joy and awe and pleasure come from? It came from seeing the truth of Yosemite Valley.
That’s how it is with worshiping God. We start with the truth of God – like Gal 2:20 – that Jesus “loves me and gave Himself up for me.” As you behold Jesus’ love on the Cross – your heart will well up with joy and awe and pleasure and you will have powerful worship.
But too often believers try to experience powerful worship without beholding the truth of God in the Scriptures. We ask for God to meet us. We cry out for God to meet us. We plead with God to change our hearts. But we feel nothing. Why not? In many cases it’s because we have not set our minds on the truth of God in the Word.
It’s like we want to be captured by the beauty of Yosemite Valley – but we stay back in the tunnel and never come out and look!
But too many people think that too much truth can quench worship. But that’s like saying seeing too much of Yosemite – will quench your experience of enjoying Yosemite.
And think of David. David danced before the Lord with all his might, he experienced fullness of joy in God’s presence, he experienced intense, Spirit-filled worship.
So is it a coincidence that David meditated on God’s Law day and night, and memorized God’s Word, and loved God’s Word more than thousands of gold and silver pieces? I think not!
So not only will truth NOT quench our experience of worship – the more we know the truth of God as revealed in Scripture – the more powerfully we will experience worship of God.
Picture it like this. To worship we need both spirit – Spirit-given, heartfelt desire – and we need truth – the truth of God as revealed in His Word. Truth is like a ladder which can take you high into the joy of beholding God’s glory. Spirit is like the energy in your body by which you will climb that ladder.
To go high into the joy of worshiping God you need both spirit and truth. If all you have is a ladder – the truth – but no spirit – no heartfelt desire – you’re not going anywhere. No worship. But if all you have is spirit – energy to climb – but no ladder – no truth – you won’t climb anywhere.
Notice also that the more you know the truth of God as revealed in His Word – the more rungs you will have on your ladder – and the higher you will be able to go in worshiping God. All else being equal – if your ladder only has two rungs – that’s as high as you will be able to go. But if your ladder has 10 rungs – wow.
So that’s how truth helps us with worship. So how can we worship in truth? Let me give you three suggestions –
First – study God’s Word on your own. Do you know more truth about God than you did a year ago? If so – all else being equal – your experience of God in worship will be more powerful than it was a year ago.
Second – as you worship, pray for the Spirit to give you wisdom and heart-revelation. Like we said last week – there can be a fog of worry or pride or sin or tiredness keeping us from seeing Yosemite Valley. But the Holy Spirit can blow away that fog so we can see – so pray for this precious work of the Spirit.
Third – as you worship, set your heart on the truth of who God is. Look at Yosemite Valley. Look at the truth of God in the lyrics of the songs, in the prayers that are prayed, in the Scriptures that are preached. Don’t focus on what you are feeling, or on how cool the music is. Set your heart on the truth of who God is – and your worship will be in truth – and the Holy Spirit will work so you are filled with praise and joy and longing and confession and awe and wonder.
So let’s do that now.