Peter Barnes: How is GOD to be Worshipped, John 4:20-24 (Sunday 16 August 2020 Evening Service, 6.00 p.m.)
‘O for a heart to praise my God / a heart from sin set free’ – Charles Wesley. The Samaritan woman has just been brought face to face with her sins and Jesus’ supernatural knowledge of her past. She confesses that He must be a prophet – 4:19. She then raises the subject of worship – 4:20. Jesus treats it as a genuine question and answers it.
1. God revealed His truth to the Jews. – 4:20; the Samaritan woman has in mind two possibilities: Jerusalem or Mount Gerizim. Note Deut. 12:5. – 4:22; We are not at liberty to make worship up, to worship the god of our imaginations however we please. Note Num.16 and Acts 17:23. – God spoke to Israel – Psalm 147:19-20. This does not mean He did not call in some Gentiles even in the Old Testament period, nor does it mean that all Israelites were saved. Read Phil. 3:3 for true worship.
2. This is fulfilled in the New Testament. – 4:21-23. The issue of Jerusalem or Mount Gerizim is not our issue. Jerusalem would be destroyed – Luke 21:20, 24. – Matt.12:6 fulfills Daniel 6:10. Pray in Jesus’ name – John 14:13-14.
3. Worship God as spirit in spirit and truth. – 4:23-24. God’s nature is spirit. He is not the Force, or a kind or pick me up if you don’t do yoga. Hence Ps.115:4-8; Acts 7:48-50. – ‘It is necessary,’ says Jesus. To worship God in spirit is to worship Him spiritually and inwardly from our hearts, and ultimately points to the work of the Holy Spirit in us. To worship in truth means we worship Him as He has directed us in His word. This will become world-wide – Mal.1:11.