Life’s Greatest Privilege

What's the real reason for corporate worship? We have come to worship Him and to glorify Him.

And again, friend, no matter what you do, if you're a pencil that doesn't ride or a car that doesn't transport, you are a failure. We're to worship God in spirit and in truth. It's life's greatest privilege and highest duty to praise Him. In order to fully enjoy our salvation, we must first confirm what true worship is. If you have your Bible, turn to John chapter 4.

We'll begin in verse 23 as Adrian Rogers speaks more on life's greatest privilege. They had arranged for the honeymoon night, and they wanted it to be perfect, so they found a great hotel, found a very classic, quite expensive room, reserved it for their wedding night. When they opened the door, the room was beautiful, except there was an exception. They didn't see a bed in there. They looked, there was a couch, and so they fooled with the couch, and it was a bed folded there. They really expected more, but the rest of the room was beautiful.

So they spent the night, woke up the next day with a back pain, a hard, lumpy mattress, never quite right, you know how they are when they fold into those couches. And they got to talking about it. And Doug said, I hate to complain, but I expected more.

I thought we deserved more for what we paid. So he mentioned it to the desk clerk. The clerk said, well, didn't you open the other door? He said, what door? He said, the door. He said, I thought that was a closet.

Went up there and opened the door, and here's this gorgeous, spacious room with this incredible big bed, chocolates and flowers and everything. And they just failed to open the door. Now, you know a lot of people are that way when they get saved. All they know is, thank God I'm no longer going to hell. Thank God I am saved. My sin is forgiven. I'm heaven born.

I'm heaven bound. Friend, there's another door that needs to be opened. There is more, and so many never find it. That is the door of worship that will change your life from the monotonous to the momentous. It is life's greatest privilege. It is life's highest duty. It is life's best good. It is the maximum privilege that we have.

It is the bottom, bottom, bottom line. You were saved to worship God. That's what it's all about. I mean, why? Why did He create us to begin with?

To give Him pleasure, and how do we do that? When we worship Him. Anything that doesn't do what it was made to do, as I've told you before, is a failure.

Why? Because you're not doing what you were made to do. Now, the passage that we're going to study today from John chapter 4 is a classic passage. It's a passage on worship.

As a matter of fact, the word worship is used in some form at least 10 times in these verses, but let me just give you the background of the story. Jesus is on a journey. He chooses to go through a city called Samaria, and it was hostile territory. The Samaritans did not like the Jews. Jesus is a Jew.

The Jews returned the favor and did not like the Samaritans. Of course, Jesus was different. He had a divine appointment, and there at a well at noontime, He met a woman who'd come out to draw water. She'd been married five times, and now she's living with a man without the benefit of marriage. She was bound by sin.

She was blinded by Satan. So Jesus uses, as the master teacher, whatever's at hand to teach a great lesson. This time it was water. And Jesus began to talk to her about the water of life. A drink that satisfies. Water that springs up into everlasting life.

Water, if you drink it, you will never thirst again. Of course, He was talking about Himself, the water of life. And this woman said, Oh, sir, I want that water.

Now let's break into the story here a little bit. Take your Bibles now and look down, if you will. And look in John chapter 4. Let's begin in verse 6. In verse 16, Jesus says something to her to help her to understand her deep need greater than she hadn't yet understood it. And He said this with a purpose. In verse 16, He says, Go get your husband.

Look at it. Jesus saith unto her, Go call thy husband and come hither. And look, if you will, in verse 19, And the woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Now you would think at this point that she would want to learn more. About that living water. But she wants to get into a theological and religious argument.

Here's what she said. Our fathers worshiped in this mountain. That's the mountain that was right near that place of Samaria.

I've been there many times. And the Samaritans had a synagogue there. And she said, Our fathers worshiped in this mountain. And ye say, In Jerusalem is the place where we ought to worship. This is the proper place. Samaria or Jerusalem.

This mountain or Mount Zion. Now, the point of the whole matter is this. That religion for her was a basis of argument, not a place of blessing. Religion had become a washout to this woman. She tried religion, but it's obvious that religion had not done her any good.

May I tell you something? Religion hasn't done anybody any good. That may surprise you coming from a pulpit. Christianity is not a religion. It is a vital relationship with God through Christ.

It'll be a great day in America when people stop enduring religion and start enjoying salvation. Here this woman wanted to have an argument. Now, here was the argument. The difference between Samaria and Jerusalem. Now, let me tell you about the Samaritans. The Samaritans were very superstitious. As a matter of fact, they had rejected all of the Old Testament, all of it. And that was the Bible that was extant in that day.

They had rejected all of it, except for five books. The first five books, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Still to this day, I have been to Samaria.

I've gone up there on the mountain and seen some Samaritans. They still have an old ancient Pentateuch scroll of the first five books of the Bible. Now, they were in abject ignorance, but they worshiped with fiery zeal. What about the Jews? Well, the Jews were not ignorant.

They had the law. They had the Word of God, but they had no zeal. Now, notice how Jesus described it in John chapter 4, verse 22. You, the Samaritans, worshiped.

You know not what. It was ignorant worship. We know what we worship for salvation is of the Jews. Now, but what was wrong with the Jews? The Jews had dead orthodoxy. Jesus said, dead orthodoxy, dead as a wedge, dry as old King Tut. Now, that's the choice that many people have today. I mean, in the world today, that's just about your two options if you leave true worship out of it. That people either want to fry in fanaticism or freeze in formalism.

Either they have heat with no light, or they have light with no heat. That's what the argument was about in this day. And they missed the point of true worship, worshiping God in spirit and in truth. Now, let's notice some things about true worship.

Are you ready? First of all, listen. Let's think about the what, W-H-A-T, of true worship. Notice what Jesus said now in verse 23. But the hour cometh, and now is when the true worshipers, underscore that, the true worshipers. Not all worship is true worship.

The true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth. Now, what is worship? What is worship? Let me tell you what I think worship is. Worship is all that I am responding to. It is a church service, yes.

It is music, yes. It is prayer, yes. But it goes beyond that, all that I am responding to all that He is. And brothers and sisters, it includes all of life. Now, let's move from the what, and let's think a little bit about the who of worship. Who do we worship?

Well, look again in verse 23. But the hour cometh, and now is when the true worshipers shall worship the Father. Worship the Father, not a Father, or not something, but the Father. Now, Father is not what God is like. Father is what God is. It was Jesus' favorite term for the Almighty. Jesus called him Father over 70 times in the Bible. Now, man is incurably religious.

All anthropologists will tell you this. People everywhere worship. And if you don't worship the Father, it's not that you will not worship. You'll worship something else.

And friend, I'm telling you, there is no image that substitutes for Almighty God. You are to worship Him in spirit and in truth. We worship the Father. He is the Father.

Now, let's move to the third thing. Why do we worship? Why do we worship?

Look again in John chapter 4, verse 23. The last part, the Father seeketh such to worship Him. Now, why does God seek worshipers?

Well, first of all, God seeks worshipers for what worship does for us. We become like what we worship. That's the reason that idolatry is so hideous. Do you know what an idol is? An idol is a magnified sinner. Look at the carved idols that the pagans worship. They are grotesque. They are ferocious. They are cruel.

Or they're indolent or lazy. Well, you say, we don't have those kind of images today. Well, anything that a man loves more, fears more, serves more, honors more, then Jehovah is an idol. We have idols of sports and pleasure and money and sex and hedonism and pleasure.

And the more you participate in these things, the more you become like them. But the same is true of true worship. The more you worship God, the more God-like you become. God wants us to worship for what worship will do for us. I'll tell you another reason God wants us to worship, for what worship does for God. You say, can I do anything for God?

Yes, you can. You can give God pleasure. What is the nature of God?

I refer back to it again. The Father seeketh such to worship Him. Now, think of God as a Father.

That's the way God wants us to think of Him. Take it from me. I'll tell you what a Father wants. I am a Father and I am an industrial strength grandfather. And I'll tell you what a Father wants. Love.

Love! That's what I want. I want my children to love me and respect me and honor me in and say, thank you for what you've done.

Thank you for your sacrifice. I want love. Now, when Father's Day comes or I just had a birthday, they're always, what are we going to get Papa?

You know, then they worry about it. What does he need? What does he want? The trinkets don't really matter. What he wants is love. I'm going to give you some good news.

Here's the good news. There are others who might offer to God more expensive presents. There are others who can sing better or preach better.

There are others who are more free to travel. There are others who have more intellectual firepower between their ears. There are others who are artistically gifted, who can do this and do that, and thank God for them.

But no one has cornered the market on love. Now, there is no one who can love God better than you can. Isn't that great?

Did you hear that? There's no one who can love God better than you can, and that above all things pleases him. What is the great commandment? Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength.

This is the first and great commandment. Now, that's why we worship him. Did you know that the word worship is actually a combination of words that means worth-ship? Worth-ship. You show me how you worship, and I'll tell you what God is worth to you.

It's that simple. I'll tell you what God is worth to you. Our worship is his worth-ship. Number four, let's think a little bit about the way of true worship. Not all worship is accepted. The worship of the Samaritans and their zeal, ignorant zeal, that wasn't accepted. The worship of the Jews and their dead orthodoxy, that wasn't accepted. What is the way of true worship? Well, look, if you will, in verses 23 and 24, Jesus says, But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers, again, underscore that, the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a spirit. Literally, in the Greek language, God is spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. Now, remember the dichotomy, the contest there between the Samaritans and the Jews.

One had ignorant zeal, and the other had dead orthodoxy. And what I like about the Lord is saying it's not either or. It is both and you need the zeal, and you need the truth. When the Bible says we're to worship God in spirit, now listen to me carefully. He's not talking here about the Holy Spirit. He's talking about the human spirit. Now, we're not opposed to the Holy Spirit.

As a matter of fact, you can't worship apart from the Holy Spirit. But the Holy Spirit of God works in your human spirit. You see, the innermost part of your nature is spirit.

I pray God, your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. You have spirit. You are a spirit.

That's what makes you different from animals. You're a spirit being. And that speaks of your innermost being, your spirit. That's what worships. The reason that people can come to church like this on Sunday morning and be bored or be confused or be turned off is basically a spiritual problem.

Basically a spiritual problem. If your spirit is dead or your spirit is warped, you can't worship because worship has to come from your innermost being. It has to come from your spirit. You worship in spirit. In order to do that, you've got to be saved. But you also worship in truth. You have to sing praise choruses. It's not just enough to pray.

It's not just enough to cry. There must be an intelligent worship. Listen to this Psalm. Psalm 145 and verse 18. The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him. To all that call upon him in truth. Your worship will never rise higher than your knowledge of God. That's why, folks, we must continually expound the Word of God. That's why we have this pulpit. That's why this church has been built solidly upon the Word of God. There is the subjective worship in spirit. There is the objective worship in truth.

And both go together. Listen to a great verse that puts them together. Colossians 3, 16. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you.

That's the truth. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you, richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. Do you see the balance? Songs, hymns, spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord. But the Word of God dwelling in you. Worship the Father in spirit and in truth.

Listen. If you worship only in spirit, you'll blow up. If you worship only in truth, you'll dry up. If you worship in spirit and in truth, you'll grow up.

You'll be what you ought to be. There has to be the Holy Spirit and the human spirit combined with the truth of God's Word. And that is the way of true worship. Here's what our Lord said again in Mark 12, verse 30. And thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart. That's passionate worship. With all thy soul, that's selfless worship. With all thy mind, that's intelligent worship. And with all thy strength, that's practical worship.

That is, whatever we do, it includes the totality of the human being. Now, so many of us are so self-centered. Have you ever heard a person say, well, I went to church, but I didn't get anything out of it.

Are you listening? It's not about you. The question is, did God get anything out of it? Did you praise Him? Did you give Him glory?

What if somebody came to my birthday party the other day and said, well, I didn't get anything out of it. It's not about you. It's about Him. We have come to worship Him and to glorify Him.

And again, friend, no matter what you do, if you're a pencil that doesn't write or a car that doesn't transport, you are a failure. We're to worship God in spirit and in truth. Hallelujah for that. Some of you say, well, I'm glad that a wicked old shady lady of Samaria got saved. She sure needed to be saved.

Well, so do you. You see, look, in the fourth chapter of John, hey, just because I came down, I'm not finished yet. Look, in the fourth chapter of John is this woman from Samaria who gets saved, and she needed to be.

In the third chapter of John, there was Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, a religious leader. He got saved. What's the lesson? There is no one so good they need not be saved and no one so bad they can't be saved.

That's the lesson. Friend, your life belongs to Jesus Christ, and no one else is worthy of it. He is the master. And only in His hands can you ever be what you were created to be. We want to offer you an insightful resource on our website called our Discover Jesus page. You'll find answers there that you may need about your faith.

There's a response section as well. Tell us your testimony. Share how this message has affected you today. Simply go to lwf.org slash radio and click the tab at the top that says Discover Jesus.

We can't wait to hear from you today. Now, if you'd like to order a copy of this message, request one by the title Life's Greatest Privilege and call us to order at 1-877-LOVEGOD. 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 go online to order at lwf.org slash radio. Or write us at LOVEGOD.

Or write us at Love Worth Finding, Box 38600, Memphis, Tennessee 38183. Have you discovered life's greatest privilege of worshiping God? Remember these words from Pastor If you worship only in spirit, you'll blow up. If you worship only in truth, you'll dry up.

If you worship in spirit and truth, you'll grow up. We're so glad you studied in God's word with us today. Tune in next time for more real truth that never changes, right here on Love Worth Finding. Well, you know, at this ministry, we are overjoyed about the new things God is doing through Love Worth Finding. And we are so blessed to share free resources through the Love Worth Finding app. This app is free, it's easy to navigate, and you can find timeless messages and devotionals there. The app also has exclusive content, including our brand new audio theater series, Voices of Easter. Hear the story of Jesus' final earthly days, his death, his resurrection, through the eyes of those who witnessed it all unfold. Featuring the creatively crafted testimonies of Peter, Pilate's wife, John the Beloved, and more. This series is a wonderful tool to refresh your understanding of the Easter story and share it with others. Search for Love Worth Finding in your app store to download it onto your mobile device, tablet, or TV. And thank you for your continued support of Love Worth Finding.