Give Him Glory | Part 2

... out of it if you came for the right reason.

You came to put something into it. When you forget about yourself and you begin to worship Him, there'll be blessings all over you when you stop trying to be blessed and start worshiping God. ANNOUNCER 1 Welcome to Love Worth Finding featuring timeless messages from pastor, teacher, and author, Adrian Rogers. Mark chapter 12 reminds us that the greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Keeping this commandment is how we find our blessing. Worshipping Him is our ultimate priority, supreme duty, and maximum privilege. In part one of today's message, Adrian Rogers began to examine Jesus' divine appointment with the woman at the well to reveal four things necessary for our worship. If you have your Bible, turn to John chapter four as Adrian Rogers concludes this powerful message, give Him glory. Now, let me give you the background for this statement that Jesus made in John chapter four and verse 24 that God is a spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.

The Lord Jesus is on a journey, and I want you to notice in verse four, the Bible says, and he must needs go through Samaria. That is, he had a divine appointment because as we're going to see in just a moment, there was a woman there who needed redemption. She needed to be saved. She needed the Savior. It was not accidental.

It was not incidental. It was a divine appointment, and Jesus begins to talk to this woman about living water, about drinking from the well of salvation himself, the fountain of living water. Now, what she did was what many people do when you start to zero in on their spiritual need. She began to argue denominations.

She said, now, wait a minute. You're a Jew. We're Samaritans. The Jews worship in Jerusalem. The Samaritans worship in Samaria.

The Jews worship on Mount Zion. We worship on Mount Gerizim. Which is the right place to worship? Now, with that as a background, I want you to look now at the scripture.

In verse 21, Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain, that is, Mount Gerizim, where they were, nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what. That is, you've got ignorant worship. We know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.

They had the truth. But now notice verse 23. But the hour cometh, and now is when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit.

That's what the Samaritans specialized in. And in truth, that's what the Jews specialized in, for the Holy Spirit cometh such to worship him. God is a spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. Now, with that in mind, I want to talk to you about worship today. What is worship in spirit and in truth?

Very quickly, I hope you get these facts down. Fact number one, we must worship the right person for it to be true worship. Look, in verse 23, the Bible says, for the Father seeketh such to worship him. You must worship the right person.

And who is the right person? The Father. Did you know that Jesus called God Father more than 70 times in the Gospels? It was his favorite term for the Almighty.

Now, that blesses me. That blesses me because I've been thinking about the nature of God. You think about his omnipotence, his mighty power.

He can do anything. You think about his omniscience. He knows everything. You think about his omnipresence. He's everywhere. Somebody said that God is a circle whose center is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere. That's a mind-boggling thought. That's his omnipresence.

Those are great, big, double-jointed words. And many of us can't understand that. Many of us can't relate to that. But Father can relate to.

Isn't that right? Father. The Father seeketh such to worship him. When I was a little guy, a little kid, my daddy sold automobiles.

He sold Buick automobiles for East Coast Motors down in West Palm Beach, Florida. And I can see it right now in my mind's eye as I'm thinking about it. See, my dad, as he would get his black leather folder that he would have with his prospects and so forth in it, put his papers in there, and he'd do what those papers were all about. But I was fascinated by that thing. It looked almost like a lady's purse. It folded over. It was black leather.

It had a snap on it. He had his papers in there. He'd put that in his hand, and he'd walk out of the house in the morning, kiss my mama goodbye. I had no earthly idea where he went, what he did, what he said.

I didn't know any of that. And when he would come back home, I would welcome him home. Folks, I didn't have to know what he did or how he did it to know him and love him.

Did I? Or experience his love for me. He was my daddy. I don't understand today where God goes when he goes to work, how he flings out the stars and scoops out the oceans and heaps up the mountains and runs this mighty universe. There are a lot of things about God I don't know, and that doesn't bother me, but you don't know either. Who has known the mind of the Lord? Who has known his counselor? You don't have to know for him to be your father.

Is that not true? You don't have to know all that your father does for him to be your father. Little children can worship him and say, father. And the Bible teaches that when we get saved, God has sent forth the spirit of his son into our hearts, crying, Abba, father. So if you worship, number one, you must worship the right person. The father seeks as such to worship him.

Number two, not only must you worship the right person, but you must worship in the right place. The right place. Now, where is the place? Well, is the place Mount Gerizim? Not necessarily.

Is the place Mount Gerizim? Not necessarily. It could be, but what Jesus is now teaching is that God does not dwell in temples made with hands. That's what the apostle Paul said in Acts chapter 17, verse 24. God that made the world and all things therein, seeing he is the Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands. Now, it's very important that you understand folks, you don't have to be inside this building to worship God.

Did you hear that? As a matter of fact, we make a big mistake when we call a church a temple or when we call a church a sanctuary. Now, I guess I say it's a big mistake. I guess if we accept it in the common parlance of today, it may not be an egregious mistake, but technically this is not a temple and technically this is not a sanctuary. A sanctuary is a holy place. Now you say, isn't this place holy?

Well, yes, but you're still missing what I'm saying. When you get saved, every place is holy. Every day is sacred. When I was a little boy, I used to go to a very wonderful church, a church I got saved, baptized in, married in, ordained in, the church building and as you walked in the door of that very small auditorium, there was a sign over the door and it said this, the Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before him. Boy, when I walked in there, I mean, I've come in to the holy place.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not putting down that place. I am grateful for that place. That's where I got saved and I'm not putting down this place. It has been given over and dedicated to the worship of God and the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It belongs to Jesus. Don't get me wrong now, but folks, you want to know where the sanctuary now is? Right here. That's what Paul said in I Corinthians chapter 6 verse 19.

What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which you have of God? God lives in me.

God lives in you. You know, there are people who wouldn't think of defiling this place to defile this place. I mean, some of you would not smoke in here, but as soon as you get out, you light up. You say, I wouldn't smoke in there. That's the church. Well, friend, you're the sanctuary. Some of you would not use language in here that you would use out there.

Why is that? If you had to defile either one, and I pray God you'll not defile either one, it'd be far better to defile this than to defile this, wouldn't it? See, you're the temple of God. So this woman said, where are we going to worship? Are we going to worship here in Mount Gerizim? Are we going to worship down there in Jerusalem? Jesus says, here's where you worship right here. God is a spirit. God is spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. And so where do we worship? Any place, any time.

What a privilege we have. I want you to put your bookmark there in John chapter 4 and turn, if you will, to Hebrews chapter 10 with me for just a moment. Look at verse 19, if you will, please. And the Bible says, having therefore, brethren, boldness, to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he had consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh.

Pastor, what does that mean? Well, when he says the holiest, he's talking about the Holy of Holies in the temple or in an ankle. Nobody would dare go in there unless they were the high priest.

And the high priest could only go in once a year. And when he went in, he went in with a basin of blood and fear and trembling lest he do something wrong and God strike him dead. That's where the kind of glory of God dwelled. That's where the Ark of the Covenant was, and that was the most holy place in the temple and is called the holiest.

But now he talks to us, brothers and sisters in Christ, having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest, how do you say? Not with a basin of blood, but with the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he had consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh. Everything in that Old Testament temple was just a picture of our Lord, and the veil pictured our Lord. The holy place, the Holy of Holies, there was the holy place and the holiest place, or the Holy of Holies, was separated by a veil. That veil was about six inches from the temple, and the veil had four colors.

It was white, and it was blue, and it was scarlet, and it was royal purple. It must have been a beautiful thing. And you remember the Bible says that when Jesus was crucified, you read about it there in Matthew chapter 27, there was an earthquake, and that veil was torn from the top to the bottom.

You remember that? It was torn asunder. People who could never look before could now look right into the Holy of Holies. But this was done when Jesus shed his blood to make a way into that holy place.

Now, listen to this very carefully. That veil pictured the Lord Jesus Christ. Even the colors pictured the Lord Jesus Christ.

White spoke of his sinlessness. The blue spoke of the fact that he's the Son of God from heaven. The red spoke of the fact that he would shed his blood upon this earth, the man as well as God. But if you take the scarlet red and the blue and blend them together, you get purple, which shows his royalty. When you look at the purple, you can't tell where the blue ends and the red begins. And when you look at the Lord Jesus, you can't tell where his deity ends and his humanity begins. He's the God man. That veil was a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It was a picture of his body. And just as his body was torn on that cross, that veil was torn and made a way into the Holy of Holies. Now, folks, listen. You and I have that privilege to go into the holy place that the Old Testament Jews never had, not at Jerusalem, not at Mount Gerizim.

There is a new and a living way in spirit and in truth through the Lord Jesus Christ. We go right into the Holy of Holies. And I'm going to let you in on a secret. I've already been in there this morning.

And I hope that you have. I hope that you know the joy, the privilege of going into that holy place. Now, worship is any time, any place that you go into the holy place by the blood of Jesus Christ. Now, you must worship the right person. You must worship in the right place. Every day is a holy day. Every place is a sacred place. You say, well, then, pastor, does that mean that we're not to come here anymore to worship?

Oh, no. If you continue to read in Hebrews chapter 10 in verse 24, it says we're not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together. Don't ever forsake this. If you do that, you will sin against God, for God has commanded you not to forsake the assembling. As a matter of fact, if you forsake the assembly, if you don't come to the assembly in the Bible, it is a mark that you're not saved, that you never really believe, that you've gone back to perdition. Now, coming to church doesn't save you. Billy Sunday used to say, going to church won't make you a Christian any more than going into a garage will make you an automobile.

I agree with that. Coming to church doesn't save you. But people willingly, definitely, deliberately, carelessly, callously neglect the house, the place of the assembly. In the New Testament days, it was a sign that they'd never, ever truly been saved.

They went out from us, but they were not of us. So, where's the place of worship? Any time, any place, but there is something significant also about our coming together to worship.

But now listen very carefully. The significance of coming here is not primarily that we come to worship, but that we bring our worship to church. We bring our worship. In other words, we have been with the Lord all week long. And so, when we come together, all of us full of God, we don't come here to get filled up.

We're already full of God. We come here to celebrate together. Why do we come together?

Why do we come to corporate worship? Do you know what you're saying when you're here today, and I'm so glad you are saying two things. Number one, you're saying God is important to me, and you're saying you people are important to me. My brothers and sisters in Christ are important to me. That's why we forsake not the assembling of ourselves together, but we exhort one another. It fires me up to meet this man.

I hope it fires him up to meet me. You bless me today as we worship, as I look out there and look at your face, and those of you who are smiling and nodding and saying amen. That is a blessing to me. The Bible says we exhort one another. Now, you must worship the right person. You worship in the right place. Every day is a holy day. Every ground is sacred ground, but we still assemble together as brothers and sisters in Christ, bringing our worship to our Lord.

Now, here's the next thing I want you to see. We worship with the right procedure. We worship our Lord in spirit and in truth. Now, what does it mean to worship in spirit? He's talking about the human spirit here. He's talking about your spirit. You don't serve God with your hands and your knees and your eyes and your mouth.

That's involved, but it's got to come from within. You've got to serve God with your spirit. That's what the apostle Paul said in Romans 1, verse 9. God is my witness whom I serve with my spirit. That's the reason the psalmist said, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me.

Bless his holy name. Now, if you don't enjoy a worship service like this, and very frankly, I know that some of you are here because somebody asked you to come. Some of you are passing and some of you are reading. Listen, I couldn't be around this long without knowing that. I know what you're doing. Some of you are planning your menu. You're out to lunch already. I know that. I know that. Hey, I wasn't born yesterday, but I'm going to tell you a problem.

I'm going to tell you a problem. It's not primarily with the preaching. You remember I said, Have you ever been to a boring worship service? One woman said, I've never seen my pastor's eyes. When he prays, he closes his mind, and when he preaches, he closes his mind. Hey, listen, let me tell you something, folks. The problem is in your heart if worship seems boring to you.

If a service like this seems boring to you, you just don't have the right stuff. You see, you have to worship God in spirit, and to worship God in spirit, the Holy Spirit has to be in your spirit because it's the Holy Spirit. God has sent forth his spirit into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. And if you don't enjoy coming to church, if it's tedious and tasteless to you and a bore to you and a drag to you, and nothing wrong with you, then old-fashioned revival or a good dose of salvation wouldn't cure.

That's right. Worship in spirit, and then you'll worship in truth, in truth. Now, you don't choose the Samaritan way. You don't choose the Jerusalem way. You choose the Jesus way, which is worship in spirit and in truth.

Psalm 145, verse 18. The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, all that worship him in truth. That's why we always here at Bellevue have an exposition of the Word of God. Some will say, oh, I just want to worship.

I just want to sing and pray and praise and da-da-da-da-da-da. And you don't worship in truth. Real worship has a theological base, and your worship rises no higher than your concept of God. And you worship in spirit, but you must worship in truth.

People are coming by the thousands to look at a plate glass window in an automobile dealer where some water from a sprinkler make a chemical image of the Virgin Mary, so they say, and they're coming by thousands to worship water on plate glass. That's right. Hey, folks, pardon me, but that's not too right.

I used to use another word, and my wife said, don't use that word anymore. Listen, listen. We worship God in spirit from our hearts and in truth based on the Word of God, the right person.

Listen to me, folks. You worship in the right place anywhere, anytime because you're a temple of God. Then you worship in the right procedure in spirit and in truth.

And here's the final thing, and listen very carefully. You worship for the right purpose. And what is the right purpose? For the Father seeketh such to worship him. I'm sick and tired of people saying, well, I didn't get anything out of it. Well, you didn't come to get anything out of it if you came for the right reason.

You came to put something into it. I want to get a blessing. You read the Bible and find out how many times the Bible says we are to bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless his holy name. Here's a secret, folks. When you forget about yourself and you begin to worship him, there'll be blessings all over you when you stop trying to be blessed and start worshiping God. There's a chorus that we sing, forget about yourself and worship him.

That's the purpose of it. And this poor woman who had a thirsty soul finally found what she was thirsty for. Friends all around me are trying to find what the heart yearns for by sin undermined. I have the secret.

I know where it is found. True pleasures only in Jesus abound. Friend, there was a thirsty woman so long ago, and she met the Savior, and he satisfied her deepest longing.

I know right now that there's a thirst in your heart if you don't know Jesus. And if you're not saved right now, this moment, you can give your heart to Jesus and be saved. I want you to pray this prayer.

Dear God, just pray it right now. Dear God, I know that you love me. I know that you want to save me. Jesus, you died to save me, and you promised to save me if I would only trust you. I do trust you, Jesus. Would you pray that prayer?

I do trust you, Jesus. Right now, this moment, come into my heart, forgive my sin, save me, Lord Jesus. Pray that from the depth of your being. Save me, Lord Jesus.

Say it in meanness. Save me, Lord Jesus. Now thank him for doing it. Pray this way, Lord, I don't look for a sign.

I don't ask for a feeling. I just stand on your word. Thank you for saving me. And help me never to be ashamed of you. In your name I pray.

Amen. If you prayed to receive Jesus just now, we want to celebrate with you and invite you to our Discover Jesus page at the website. You'll find answers there that you may need about your newfound faith.

There's a response section as well. Go there and share your testimony with us or how this message has affected you. The website lwf.org slash radio and click the tab at the top that says Discover Jesus. Again, lwf.org slash radio and click Discover Jesus. Welcome to God's forever family. Let us hear from you today. Now, if you'd like to order a copy of today's message in its entirety, call us at 1-877-LOVEGOD.

Mention the title, Give Him Glory. This message is also part of the powerful and convicting series Exalting Your Savior. For the complete collection, all seven powerful messages. Call that number 1-877-LOVEGOD or order online at lwf.org slash radio.

Or you can write us at Love Worth Finding, Box 38600, Memphis, Tennessee 38183. Do you worship the one true God every day in spirit and in truth for the right purpose? Examine your heart today and begin giving him glory for what he has done in your life. And thanks for studying in his word with us today.

Tune in next time for more from Adrian Rogers right here on Love Worth Finding. Let me read a message to you that was attached to a gift from a kind listener. She writes this, thank you so much for your ministry. It reminds me to think about God's grace and goodness and convicts me to spread God's word. May my donation help this ministry continue to grow and spread God's work. We are so grateful for your encouragement for the gifts that make this ministry possible. And when you donate to Love Worth Finding right now, we want to send you the book by Adrian Rogers, The Passion of Christ and the Purpose of Life. Pastor Rogers' reflections on Christ's passion will deepen your love for God this Easter season as he explores some of the deepest questions about God's saving work through Jesus. Request your copy of this book when you call with a gift right now at 1-877- LOVE-GOD or give online at lwf.org-slash-radio.