God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth.
12 sermons cite this verse
… hand. I say figuratively, because when it talks about God having a hand, it is an accommodation to our way of thinking. Because we know that God is spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. So when it says he is able to hold them in the hollow of his hand, you ought not to think of a hand that would be big enough to hold all of the oceans in the world, because that'll make you giggle a little or it'll mess you up. You won't be able to conceive of a big enough hand. The point is that the principle is there. God is powerful in this way. Who, with the breadth of his hand, marks off the heavens. The people come around your house and they measure things. Some of them are good. They can do it by eyesight. Others pace it off every so often. Some do this thing where they know from their wrist to their elbow is so far, I don't know how they do it all. And sometimes they'll say, Well, I think that's about X inches, and so if we do that and that and that and that. And some use these gigantic big tape measures that go FOREVER. …
… matter what mountain you worship on, whether here or in Jerusalem, the father is looking for true worshipers. And those are the ones that will worship him in spirit and in truth. So I'm struck with that, that it's not where I worship is the issue. Should I go to Calvary and worship today? Or should I go to that church that's close to my home? Doesn't matter where it matters that you worship. It matters how you worship. How you worship? Yeah. Do you worship in spirit and in truth from the heart, from the core of who you are, embraced by your spirit? And according to God's truth, is it biblical worship based on scripture? True worshipers in spirit and in truth. So I apply that to my life. I further ask the question, what changes do I need to make in my life, and I could write those things down. I mentioned writing things down. Next to a Bible, I'm going to recommend you get a notebook. I make a practice of carrying with me a notebook. I write things in it during the week. When I go to church and listen to a sermon, I always have a notebook and a pencil. I do it in our own church when I have a guest speaker. …
… 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. Father, help us now as we look to the Bible. May the Spirit of God control my lips and our minds and our hearts as we think about what an immense privilege it is that we, the children of man, should be able to bring our lives into your presence and declare your glory. We want to know how to do this and how to do it well. And we seek your help in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, my reason for turning to each of these passages, I hope, will become understandable and hopefully prove useful. We begin in John chapter 4, almost inevitably. It's familiar material to all of us in a conversation with a woman at the well. We have what we might refer to here, or what we might regard as Jesus' basic biblical instruction on worship. Indeed, I can't think of another place where we have such a categorical statement made by the Lord Jesus himself. He addresses the lady, woman, and I've been thinking about it coming down here to Texas because the commentators always wonder, why does he say that? John chapter 2, he says it to his mother. Once again, three years later, he addresses his mother in the same way. I have a sneaking suspicion it's like in the South, ma'am, ma'am, ma'am, believe me. I'm telling you, I'm telling …
… for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. Father, help us now as we look to the Bible. May the Spirit of God control my lips and our minds and our hearts as we think about what an immense privilege it is that we, the children of man, should be able to bring our lives into your presence and declare your glory. We want to know how to do this and how to do it well, and we seek your help in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, my reason for turning to each of these passages, I hope, will become understandable and hopefully prove useful. We begin in John chapter 4, almost inevitably. It's familiar material to all of us in a conversation with a woman at the well, we have what we might refer to here, or what we might regard as Jesus' basic biblical instruction on worship. Indeed, I can't think of another place where we have such a categorical statement made by the Lord Jesus himself. He addresses the lady, woman, and I've been thinking about it coming down here to Texas because the commentators always wonder, why does he say that? John chapter 2, he says it to his mother. Once again, three years later, he addresses his mother in the same way. I have a sneaking suspicion. It's like in the South, ma'am, ma'am, ma'am, believe me. I'm telling you, I'm telling you the truth, ma'am. The hour is coming when the question you're asking will prove to be …
… but the hour is coming and now is when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth for the Father seeketh such to worship him and then it says God is spirit and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth you say PT I get that okay So worship is a spiritual thing. I get that. He's seeking, and it must be worship. Okay. Okay. So let's go more practical. Colossians chapter 3. Colossians chapter 3. This is one of the most revelatory passages about worship, in my estimation, that I've ever seen. So watch this. So Paul says, believer, he's talking to believers. He says, if then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above. Stop right there. As a believer, we are now seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Right? Now, watch this. That means that we exist in two places because you're also seated here at the potter's house. but he says, as a believer, you are seated in heavenly places. I have a natural seat, and I have a spiritual seat. So he says, so if then you were raised with Christ, this is worship, seek those things which are above. That's why Jesus said, don't worry about what you're going to eat, what you want to drink? He says, don't do that. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. So the supposition is that there is a kingdom to seek. So I don't start looking to see if there is a kingdom. I start understanding that the kingdom is there. …
… For the Spirit searcheth and seeketh for such that will worship Him. And the hour has come when they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. Praise is a serious Bible subject. it's not a cheap shallow something that is to be made fun of and to be made light of and for it you know the more knowledge it seems like the more people get uh knowledge of the bible you know i graduated from this and that and phd this and that if you know more than i know about god you ought to be the craziest worshiper in the whole place you sit there all the way through the service with your PhD in theology can speak it Hebrew, Greek, and any other language that you need. And you know all that stuff. In the Hebrew, it means this, and it means halal, it means da-da-da-da. And you never do it. What is wrong with you? And you make fun of anybody who does. Praise is not man's idea. It's God's idea and he likes a happy atmosphere. …
… He said, your fathers worshiped in this mountain, but the hour cometh when the spirit seeketh them that will worship him. For God is a spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and truth. It goes back to what I was saying. The hinge to the ancient door of this mighty presence and supernatural power and signs and wonders. The hinge is praise. That door hangs on. And that's why he's teaching her about worship. And in that moment, she stepped into another world. And when she did, her heart melted. Her sin suddenly was cleansed. And she runs to the city and she says, come see the man who told me all things which ever I ever have done. Come see him. I'm going to tell you something. If you start slipping into that other world when you're praying for your lost loved ones, God knows how to reach them. God knows how to touch them. God knows how to change them. I heard a story not too long ago. …
… But the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. Indeed, the Father seeks such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth. The woman said to him, I know that the Messiah is coming, the one called the Christ. When he comes, he will tell us everything. Jesus said to her, I am he, the one speaking with you. At that moment, his disciples returned and were amazed that he was talking to a woman. But still no one had said, what are you looking for? Or why are you talking with her? The woman left her water jar and went into town and said to the people, come see a man who told me everything I have done. Could he possibly be the Christ? They went out of the town and came to him. Meanwhile, his disciples urged him, Rabbi, eat. But he said to them, I have food to eat of which you do not know. …
… Nothing. The Bible says in John chapter 4 verse 24 that God is spirit and his worshipers must worship him in spirit and in truth. So God is spirit and the material cannot and should not ever replace the spiritual. We keep God as God. We put God on the throne of our lives and allow him to rule and to reign. And I'm going to tell you something, parents. Let me talk to the families just straight up. the greatest gift you can give your kids is to show them and teach them how to worship. That's it. And this text talks about it. This text talks about it. It says, 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. You shall not bow down to them or serve them. Again, a lot of us are like, oh, that's irrelevant. That does not apply to me. …
… and enables you to worship God and know God. For God is a spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. Your soul is the emotional, volitional part of you, mind, emotion, and will. That's your soul. That's your sense of humor, your personality, your intelligence, your likes, your dislikes. That's what makes you, you, and me, me, that we have a soul, a psyche. That's the emotional part of us. And then we have a body. Our bodies are not evil. We're to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable service. We are spirit, soul, and body. 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 23. Now, what are we to do as a church? We're to minister to the whole man, minister to the spirit. That's our worship and our praise, and enabling us to know and love the Lord Jesus Christ. Minister to the soul. That's the fellowship aspect of the church. That's the educational aspect of the church. …
… And so we're told that He came to this city called Sychar, near that piece of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. When Jacob gave his patriarchal blessing to all of the sons, it is mentioned at the end of the book of Genesis that this parcel of real estate was given to Joseph. And this was a very important piece of land because it contained this ancient site, this well that had been dug by Jacob so many years before. Now keep in mind that when Jesus meets this woman now by Jacob's well, almost 2,000 years have transpired from the time that that well was dug by Jacob, and now this woman is there at that same well still drinking from it 2,000 years later. If that's not exciting, if you've ever been over there to Israel, maybe you've gone to that same site as I have that is right at the base of Mount Gerizim, and that same well is still there today, and the water still flows freely in it. So that well has been meeting the needs of people for 4,000 years. And so after the first 2,000 of those 4,000 years, it was considered something of a sacred site by people who trace their roots back to the Old Testament patriarchs. …
… the hour is coming, in fact it's already here, that the true worshiper will neither worship in Samaria or in Jerusalem, for God is a spirit, and those that worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth. And so because Jesus pronounces the end of Jerusalem as the central sanctuary for Samaria, and cryptically pronounces the end of Jerusalem, anticipating its destruction in just a few years thence. Some say, well, okay, it doesn't matter, except that He declared that this woman was an agnostic. What is an agnostic? The word agnostic comes from the Greek agonosis and its corresponding Latin term you may be familiar with. And if you know no other Latin, I'm sure you've heard the word ignoramus in your life, because those who are agonosis are ignorant, that is, they are without knowledge. And so Jesus said, you worship what you don't know, being a Samaritan. It is your worship is a worship that is done in ignorance. But we know what we worship for salvation is of the Jews. …