Welcome to the InTouch podcast with Charles Stanley for Monday, November 10th. External elements like music style or instruments have little to do with genuine worship. Let's continue the series to get help developing an inner desire that overflows in praise toward God. In the fourth chapter of John, Jesus preached one of the most beautiful sermons he ever preached. Said some of the most encouraging words because he said these to a woman.
Who was Having a problem. She'd been having a problem most of her life.
So it's interesting how Jesus. Preach some of his greatest messages. You would think that he would have shared. The truths about worship. And about uh The everlasting well of water that he places in the human heart to a man like Nicodemus.
Which he spoke to in the third chapter, and that he would have said to the woman at the well, who was living in adultery. And who needed to be saved, you would have thought that Jesus would have chosen to talk to her about the new birth. But instead, he did the opposite.
So you know the first part of this chapter that he met this woman at the well there, Jacob's well. And they got in the conversation and he said. He asked for a drink and they got in a conversation about water and he said if you knew who you were talking to, you would ask of him, he'd give you one drink and you wouldn't ever need any more.
So they continued their conversation. Then he said to her, and here he was leading her along like he knew how to do, heading towards something. He said to her, in the middle of this beautiful conversation about water and Running water. You see, living water in that time was like a spring, like running water. And to have running water in your home.
would be one of the most unusual things you'd find.
So that's why everybody went down to Jacob's well. He said, if you knew who you were talking to, you'd ask of me, and I would place within you a well of water springing up in everlasting life.
Well, so this really excited her, and so the conversation kept going, and all of a sudden, bang, he said, go call your husband. What in the world has that got to do with water?
So She said, I have no husband. He said, You're right. You've got five. And then she did what most lost folks do when you get too close to home. If you'll look, In um verse 19.
The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. And then she wanted to change the subject immediately. And she said, Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh when you shall neither in this mountain nor yet in Jerusalem worship the Father. You worship you know not what.
We know what we worship for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit. and in true. For the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is a spirit.
And they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Now you know that the Samaritans and the Jews had a problem, and here's their problem. Back, if you recall, in the days of Nehemiah. When they were building, rebuilding the city gates and the temple wall, a man by the name of San Ballet was giving him a difficult time. He sided with the Assyrians. Or the Persians rather.
And uh as a result He sided uh with Alexander the Great. And uh He gave him the permission to build a temple in another mountain called Gerizim. And so as a result, the Samaritans worshiped there, the Jews worshiped in the Jerusalem, and that was a conflict that lasted all down through the years.
So, what she did, she took the opportunity to say to this man who seemingly was a prophet, she said to him, Maybe you can settle this for me. We worship in this mountain. You worship in Jerusalem. And what she wanted him to do was to explain and give some final word of authority. And he said to her, The time is coming when people are neither going to worship in Gerizim nor are they going to worship in Jerusalem, but worship rather is something more comprehensive than the place.
Which leads me to begin to talk about several elements of worship that I believe Jesus explained in this particular portion of the fourth chapter of John. And the first one is this matter of the place of worship. What she wanted to do is, she wanted to confine worship in one of those two places.
So when Jesus said to her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father. He was simply saying this. You can't confine genuine, true worship to a place.
Now, of course, the Jews had their particular place of worship. They had the tabernacle in the Old Testament days early. And you recall that God would visit them. There would be a cloud that came down, the Shekana Glory. And they knew when God was visiting them.
But he was saying to them, the time is coming when there'll be no worship in the temple. Nor on your mountain, because worship cannot be confined in a given place.
Now, I think Jesus would say to us, likewise, many people today feel like when they talk about worship, he either go to this church, that church, or the other church, and that's where we worship the Lord. But you just think about what is the nature of worship. It is an overflowing of something within the human heart.
Something deep down inside of us overflows. There's an abounding of God's Spirit working within the human heart, an overflowing, an abounding, an outgoing toward Him, a sense of an awareness of the presence of God. If that's what worship is, it cannot be confined to a place. And I believe the fact that we have magnified church buildings and cathedrals and all the rest, that many people, now, you see, we will never admit this. We will never admit this, but according to what we actually do, most people confine their worship to a church building.
Listen. About the first 300 years, there were no church buildings like we have today. Those people worshiped as they assembled together. Wherever they could assemble together, they met, they broke bread, they had the Lord's Supper, they preached the gospel, they shared the Word of God, they worshiped together. It was in the catacombs when the persecution started, out on the hillsides when the persecutions continued.
Wherever they met, they met together to worship. No worship could be confined to a place. Probably the truth is known. One of the greatest detriments to the evangelization of the world and the spreading of the gospel of Jesus Christ is for us to have built church buildings and say, here's where the church meets. As long as there were no church buildings, people were worshiping and sharing their faith everywhere.
But when they began to build church buildings, somehow people began to confine their worship. One of the most exciting things happening today is that God is ripping asunder all denominational lines. But listen, when we get to heaven, there's no doubt about it. There are not going to be any Baptists in heaven, no Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Catholics. We're going to be saints of God, believers, who were brought there by the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, His shed blood on Calvary, plus nothing.
And it makes no difference what tag you've got on you. God isn't interested in tags. And you see, if we're going to be able to accomplish anything in this nation, we had better forget the tags and remember that we've all got one single tag on us, and it's red and it's called the blood of Jesus Christ our Lord. That's the tag that makes the difference.
So you see, it isn't the place that matters. The second thing I want you to notice here is the object of worship. Notice what Jesus said to her. He said in verse 22, you worship you know not what. We know what we worship for salvation is of the Jews.
Now, of course, this rubbed her the wrong way, being a Samaritan. He said, Salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeketh such as to worship him.
Now, in the Old Testament view, here's what they thought of. You recall when Moses went to the mountain, the cloud that came on the mountain, the fire, the smoke, the darkness, the separation. And that was their concept of God: that God was this holy, righteous being, this personal being who watched over and who cared for the nation of Israel.
Now when Jesus came, many things he said upset the Jews because they could not possibly conceive how he could talk about he and the Father being one. That was absolutely and totally blasphemy to them. That here's a man, a carpenter's son, and a carpenter himself, an itinerant preacher, walking around talking about he and Elohim, Yahweh, Jehovah, Adoniah being the same person. Absolute, total blasphemy to them. But you see, the problem was they didn't know God to begin with.
And the more you and I know him, here's what happens to us. The more we open our heart, The more tenderness we feel, The more forgiveness we feel, the more loving, the more. The more warmth we feel. You do you recall when you Slip into your father's arms and he put his arms around you and the warmth of protection You could forget about your worries and your cares because your dad had you all wrapped up in his big old loving arms. We see many, many Christians, I feel, today.
or walking around emotionally empty. Frustrated. Don't know why they can't get any victory, and somehow they've never felt God, the Father, the loving Father, put His arms around them and worship Him not out of fear. But out of pure devotion, adoration, praise, worship, and love, and thanksgiving to a Father who understands us. Jesus was saying to her, The Father seeketh those to worship him.
You see, worship can't be confined to a place because what you're doing, you are praising the Heavenly Father. The third thing I want you to notice here, and that is the character of this worship that he speaks of. He said, those who worship the Father in verse 23 must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Now, what does he mean by spirit and in truth? He's simply saying. Contrasting the difference here. In the Old Testament, with all the regalia of the priests and their robes and all that went with that. And the sacrifices, all of this was material and physical.
Most of this was in the hand, much of it was not in the heart. He said, I want you to worship me in spirit and in truth. That is, the worship must be sincere. Not with the hands necessarily, but with the hearts. You see, we can stand and sing, we can give as the offering plate comes our way.
We can pray, we can do a lot of things, and never worship God one time. The Father is looking for those to worship Him who will worship Him in spirit and in truth. What does that mean? It requires something. A man cannot worship God if it's only as deep as his lips.
He can't worship God if it's only his hands he's using. The only way to worship God is to worship holy God with your spirit. And if the Spirit is not in it, there is no way to worship God. Those who worship him must worship him in spirit. And in truth, So How do you love somebody?
You don't love somebody with your hands. You may express love with your hands, or express love with your lips, or express love with your eyes. Where does genuine love spring from? Genuine love springs from what? From the Spirit within you.
You see? The reason most people don't worship is because you cannot come to the presence of a loving, holy, righteous God with deliberate, known rebellion in your heart against God. And say I've worshiped the Lord. You can't worship God. Think about him.
Give yourself to him. Listen. And your spirit. lift you into the presence of God and you sing with joy and praise Him. and join in the prayer.
And have oneness of spirit with what is being said in the sermon, you can't do that. If in your heart you are You are rebelling against God. About something else. You can't do it. You see, that's why there are many, many people who go to church who never.
Worship God. They cannot. Because worship is a thing of the Spirit. It is an act and an expression of the Spirit of the Lord. He said to her, Those who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Which brings me to the last thing, and that is the power. How do you and I have the power to worship God? You say, well. It looks like to me, if you come to church and you sit down and you join in what's going on, that you have the power to worship, not really. You see, this is why he said to those apostles: it is expedient for you that I go away.
If I go not away, the comforter will not come. But if I go, I will send him. He will be in you, with you, and upon you. Then he gave them a long list in different passages of Scriptures of all the things the Holy Spirit will help them do. One of the works of the Spirit is what?
One of the works of the Spirit is to give me the capacity to worship God.
Now, think about it for a moment. Let's go back to this matter of sin. We have the capacity to sin at any moment. We choose to be disobedient to God. But he has likewise given us the Holy Spirit to indwell us.
The Spirit of the Lord, now watch this, the Spirit of the Lord. When you and I are willing to call for a clean heart, confession, and genuine repentance of our sin. And we ask the Spirit of the Lord to control our life. We yield ourselves to Him. We say, walking in the Spirit, living that abiding life.
Then the Holy Spirit who's within us does what? He is able to lift our petitions, our expressions, our emotions, and He is the one who enables us to worship God. That's why genuine worship can be done all alone. Just you and God the Father. But you see, it's never alone.
It is you. The Spirit of God who is within you, the Lord Jesus Christ sitting at the Father's right hand, and the Heavenly Father who's there to receive all the worship you give to Him. Unless you say there is no Holy Spirit. No Holy Spirit, there is no worship. Because man cannot lift his ugly, sinful, wicked spirit in the presence of a holy God.
And I want to ask you, have you ever worshipped God? God Have you ever been so awed and enraptured by His presence that nothing else really mattered? All by yourself, everything else, the further out you looked, the hazier and the foggier it became until there was nothing out there. And the only thing that mattered is that you knew God the Father was listening to what you were saying. A loving Heavenly Father.
Is always willing to accept the worship of his children. When it's done in the spirit of sincerity, And truthfulness, and honesty, and openness, and cleanness. And I want to ask you again: have you ever worshipped the Lord? Let's be real honest for a minute. Just stop and think, and don't think of anybody else.
Can you point back at a time in your life? Why you can say It may have been today. Or last week, or last month, or maybe you can't say it. Can you point back at some time in your life when you can say, I know that there or there are there. I just was so enraptured with the presence of God.
Just the Lord and myself. I know that I have worshipped the Lord. Privately.
Now, many of us can look at times when we've just been caught up with Him together in an assembly of God's people and just lifted up and praising Him. And you see, one of the most beautiful things that's happened, I believe, in the last few years is that more of God's people have been willing to vocally. express their praise and their feelings to God. As long as he says it is done in the spirit of truthfulness. Honesty, sincerity, Without show without desire to be seen, but because you see, listen.
When a man or woman's heart is caught up in true worship, they don't lift their arms to the Lord or. close their hands beneath their chin. or simply drop their head and say, I wonder who's looking now. You can't worship like that. And I want to see God create within us.
the kind of freedom and liberty to worship him. That when you and I are singing and praising and honoring and adoring Him. that we get caught up in him. Not him and each other. Not him plus somebody else's attitude, him and him alone.
They that worship him must worship him in spirit. out of the innermost being of their heart. And in truth, That is I know him. I love him. I honor him.
I adore him. And for all of that to be true, there's one other thing we must be able to say. I owe They Yeah. No obedience. No worship.
They that worship him Must worship Him in the out of the Spirit. and in truthfulness. Then you and I will know how How to worship Him. Let's pray it again. Father, we thank you for loving us, and you are so patient to put up with us.
There's so little we know about worship. And so much to learn. Teach us how. that is not confined in a place, That you're the object of our worship. That it must be done.
In sincerity, and in truthfulness. In the Spirit. By the power of the Holy Spirit. Who lives? our innermost being into your presence.
and have those warm Powerful, mighty, loving, forgiving, abundant, all-providing arms. A grace. Oh. Wrap us up. There was some.
Um Satisfy the longing of your heart. And this we ask in Jesus' name. Uh Thank you for listening to Worship, Its Many Facets. For more inspirational messages like this one, visit our 24-7 online station. And if you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or InTouch Ministries, stop by intouch.org.
This podcast is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.
