True Worship

As we are being challenged to read and study the book of John, I wanted to share some of my personal sermon notes with you to help you understand the book. I preached through the entire book over the course of 1 year when I pastored First Baptist Church Del Rio. Enjoy!

Introduction—Do you wish your worship life to be better than it is? Do you want it to be? I am so glad you came today because I believe that this particular passage of Scripture that we will be looking at is geared specifically toward a True Worship lifestyle. Could you imagine 2014 being the year that you finally get it right in your worship? God has shown us and given us all that we need in order for that to happen.What happens is we get in such routines and habits that prevent us from having a True Worship experience. You have heard this saying before, but it merits repeating. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, yet expecting a different result. How is it possible for anything to change when the routine hasn’t changed? Let’s look into our Scripture text this morning and ask God to speak to us about True Worship.

Read: John 4:16-26

He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” 17 “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” 19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” 25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” 26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”

God knows your circumstance. He can reveal to you what know else can see.
You cannot lie to God. He will expose your sin.
John 8:32 says, “you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
If you are living a lifestyle that cannot honor God, then True Worship cannot exist.
When God by His Holy Spirit confronts you about your sin, and gives you an opportunity to make it right, take the opportunity.
True Worship honors God and He is able to receive it.
True Worship is possible when you acknowledge your sins before God.
The Samaritan woman tells Jesus, you have figured me out. It sounds like you are a prophet.
She is admitting her sin and she realizes Jesus is someone special. For her to call Jesus a prophet must mean she believed he had superhuman strengths.
She was very perceptive, wasn’t she? You see even in a place where you there is an unawareness of God, people are still seeking the truth.
We may not know it, but people are created with an innateness toward God. Innate means processed at birth, inborn, or an inherent characteristic or trait. You are created to know there is a God.
He shows Himself to us even in the most Godless place like Samaria.
If you want True Worship, you can’t continue in your current circumstance.
Jesus lifts the veil on our past to expose the situation for what it is.
True Worship requires us to deal with our past in order us to be free for the future.

Application—Do you want True Worship to come to your life? Start by allowing God to help you deal with your sins.

God has a desire to be worshipped
He has made provisions for us to part in a True Worship
But, as we have already talked about there is a specific way for that to happen. We must believe that God is looking for us.
He isn’t just looking for us, He is searching for us, He is longing to spend time with us. He loves us that he allows Himself to be worshipped. He will be worshipped, either by you or someone else. He desire is for you to do it.
God says the only way we can experience a True Worship is in a way that is open and honest with God. We cannot play mind games with God.
I have tried it, you have tried it, and it doesn’t work, does it? He is way to smart for that trick.
Jesus says in verse 21 that worship will neither take place on this mountain or in Jerusalem. What Jesus is saying is that He is not bound by places or buildings. True Worship will take place around the globe even in Del Rio.
Do you believe that?
Here is the main ingredient of True Worship from this text. You must worship God in Spirit and in Truth.
In order to worship God in Spirit, one must know who Jesus Christ is. Knowing Christ can be by invitation only. You must RSVP to Him by asking Jesus to be you Lord and Savior. In this text Jesus is asking us to be open and honest with Him and allow Jesus to sift us and expose our sinfulness.
You should be thankful that you are aware of your sins because that means you are open to the Holy Spirit. If you think you have not sinned is when you are to be very careful. Your heart has become hardened and needs restoration. Ask God to soften your heart so you can receive His forgiveness
Worshiping God in Spirit is the only way for true Worship to happen.
If you are a Christian and you want to worship God in Spirit, begin with repentance. Repentance is turning 180 degrees away from the sinful direction you are headed.
Since God is Spirit, He will show you how to worship Him in Spirit. As Jesus has confronted this Samaritan woman about her past, He is confronting us about ours.
The cleanliness of a repentant life allows room for the Spirit of God to take residence in our lives so that our worship experience is one of genuineness and truthfulness.
Don’t be afraid of the Truth of God. Embrace it. It will change your life.
I believe that is what is missing more than anything in our churches today. An openness to repentance. We don’t need more programs, more ministries, or more stuff in order for us to try and create an atmosphere of worship. We need to get right before the throne of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords for Him to receive our worship.

Application—Do you want True Worship? Ask God to forgive you of your sins and welcome Him to lead you by His Spirit.

In the last 2 verses of our text the Samaritan woman says she knows the Messiah is coming. She is well aware of the Christ. People know there is a God.
She even knows that God is all knowing. She says that the Messiah will explain everything to us when he comes. And He has. It is all in the Word of God.
Jesus did explain it to her by stating that He was the Messiah she was looking for. Jesus is the basis of our True Worship.
True Worship must have Jesus and Him alone as the center of it all. Without Christ we are not worshiping, we are meeting, singing, and listening. Our time together must be more that a meeting.

Illustration—True Worship doesn’t wait. Jesus has reveled Himself to us and has made True Worship available to all. He has gone into all the earth as an example to mankind. Worship Him this morning in Spirit and in Truth!