Title: True Worship/John 4:23-24
Content: True worship / John 4:23-24
"The hour is coming, and now, when the true worshipers of the Father will worship in spirit and truth, and the Father is looking for those who worship Him like this. God is a Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:23-24)
One day, Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at a well in Sychar. Jesus tells us that worship is the task of life that needs to be truly restored through the encounter with the Samaritan woman.
First, God is looking for worshipers. Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at a well and asks for water, and introduces eternal living water with this material. “Whoever drinks the water that I will give him will never thirst… ” (4:14) The reason the Samaritan woman longed for this living water, but could not experience it, was because of her sinful life. So Jesus tells the woman who wants this living water to bring her husband. But the Samaritan woman had no husband because she had changed husbands by five for her own satisfaction. Jesus now turns her attention to worship. The woman who met the Messiah left her water jar and went to the village to testify of the Messiah to the people. God is looking for worshipers. True worship can only be offered through faith in Jesus Christ.
Second, worshipers must worship in spirit and truth. That means we must worship “in the Spirit” and “in the truth.” It is not an emphasis on human devotion or effort. It tells us that we must worship according to the teachings of the truth, following the guidance of the Holy Spirit. In order for worship to be offered in the presence of our Lord, we must be led by the Holy Spirit. Because the Holy Spirit leads us to Christ by the Spirit of Christ. To worship in the presence of our Lord, we must worship according to the word of truth. Finally, the heart of worship is the presence of our Lord.
Third, therefore, those who have met Jesus can truly worship. Even the Samaritan woman had her own religious life. Because it was not true worship, I could not be satisfied and I was thirsty. The woman who came to the well to satisfy her thirst left her water jar and went to the town and cried out, "Come and see a man who told me all that I have done, is this not the Christ?" (4:29).
Saints! God is looking for worshipers. Those who have met the Lord are those who have restored their relationship with God, and therefore those whose worship has been restored. I hope that you will become capable Christians who worship in the presence of the Lord.