John 4:23-24 - A Vision for Worship According to Scripture

Today and over the next two Sundays, we’re going to revisit the vision of our church. When Good Shepherd began, we articulated our Mission and our Vision. You can see them printed on page 6 in the WG.

Our mission expresses why we exist as a church: to join God on mission by producing mature followers of Jesus Christ for His glory and our joy. God has a plan; we want to participate in what He’s doing.

The vision is how we accomplish the mission. It’s how we aim for GS to look: to be a multi-generational congregation worshiping according to Scripture in a contemporary style, gathering as one body on Sunday mornings and in small groups throughout Florence during the week, and introducing more people to the life-giving community of the local church. By God’s grace, this is how our church has looked for about eight years now, and by His grace, we will continue to do this with even more effectiveness.

We revisit the vision so that we might gain an even greater understanding of it and a greater commitment to it. And to that end, I want to show you the thoroughly biblical basis of our vision, and our great need for it, and the wonderful blessings of God to be received in and through it. We’re starting today with the first part: a multi-generational congregation worshiping according to Scripture in a contemporary style.

The Bible pictures people of all ages in the local church. And our worship style is somewhat contemporary, as far as our music and more informal style of dress.
These things vary from one congregation to another. But the key phrase I’m going to focus on today is “worshiping according to Scripture.”

Many passages of Scripture talk about worship. Many specifically describe the public worship gathering of God’s people. We believe that worship on the Lord’s Day is the primary way in which God speaks to His church.

Of course, if you’re born again, the Lord will speak to you daily. You should pray and read the Scriptures and listen to God. What I’m about to say here doesn’t diminish that part of the Christian life, but neither should that part diminish the necessity of congregational worship or the centrality of it in the Christian life. God has prescribed it. He established it and has given a great deal of guidance for it. Scripture shows God disciplining leaders who mishandle public worship. God’s Word says preachers and leaders are held to a higher standard, obviously because of the high value God places on worship in the congregation.

What’s more, not participating in it will stunt your spiritual growth. The author of Hebrews urged the church to not give up gathering as a congregation even as they faced persecution because it was there that God spoke. And to further understand this, let’s look at these verses from John 4.

You may be familiar with this event from Jesus’ earthly ministry. There’s so much to explore and explain. But I want to turn your attention to what Jesus says in verse [23]. He tells this woman, “the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.” There is something called “worship” that is not true worship. It’s not genuine. It’s defective; it’s insufficient. To use the language of Hebrews 12, this would be the worship that is not acceptable to God.

That’s not to say that the people doing it aren’t sincere. But what they are doing — most often because it’s what they’re taught to do — is counterfeit. It’s not true worship. Therefore it’s not accomplishing what the worship established by God should accomplish in the lives of the people.

This Samaritan woman asks Jesus about the correct location for true worship. But Jesus moves her away from thinking in terms of location. He says the time has come when these locations are irrelevant. That’s enough to let us know that what He’s describing can happen in any location.

But there are qualifications. Jesus says worship must be “in spirit and truth.” Now notice in verse [24], Jesus says, “God is spirit.” Our children learn from the children’s catechism each summer. That set of questions and answers summarizes the Bible’s teaching by saying that, “God is a spirit and does not have a body as we do.” So, God’s not only on this mountain or that mountain –in this building or that one. He’s a spirit - and He’s omnipresent. He’s everywhere. So the worship of God is spiritual.

Not that our physical bodies don’t matter. We have a body, so our bodies are inevitably involved in our worship. But the essence of worship is spiritual. Therefore, it’s primarily about what we’re doing inwardly, even as we do outwardly things that God has prescribed in worship.

Now you might think, “What about the time when Jesus Christ was on the earth?” He was at a central location at any given time because He had a human body. The earthly ministry of Jesus Christ was a unique period in history. God the Son became the Lord Jesus Christ. He was then fully God and fully man. He never surrendered His divine nature. It was simply subordinate to His human nature for a time. Philippians 2 articulates this well. But now Jesus has returned to heaven, and our worship of Him is spiritual.

We must connect with the triune God spiritually, even as we listen to preaching and receive the sacraments and pray and do all the aspects of our worship service. This is why Jesus says there, “and those who worship Him must worship in spirit.” This means that you shouldn’t be focused only on the outward things — our location, and our actions and even our words. You must pay attention to your heart – to your soul. Your invisible and eternal soul composes the essence of how you are. Your body will die, but your soul will live forever. Your soul must be involved in worship.

But notice also, Jesus says “those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” When Jesus first meets the Samaritan woman, He reveals His knowledge of her immoral life. She had lived a grossly sinful life. She had been married many times and was now living with a man out of wedlock.

When Jesus points this out, she seems to quickly change the subject to worship. People have speculated why she did this. We couldn’t say for sure, though it’s probably safe to assume that she felt embarrassed, perhaps guilty or ashamed. She’s obviously talking to a religious man. In fact, she says, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.”

If she did feel guilty, it would make sense for her to say something to indicate that she knows she needs to get back into worship. And going to the temple would seem like an appropriate outward action to get her life back on the moral track. I find that many people do that when they’ve really messed – and that’s a good thing!

Jesus is obviously insightful and pastoral – He’s God – so He goes with what she says. Look at verse 20. Regarding worship, the woman states that there’s disagreement over the right place to go for worship. She says, “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” By “you” she means Jewish prophets. Jews and Samaritans differed on this subject.

This kind of sounds like the skepticism of people steeped in immorality. Something like, “You say this, they say that. How can we know who’s right?” Might as well just be agnostic. Not enough info to make a decision. But Jesus replies that it’s not about a location – worship is primarily spiritual in nature.

But also, He says it must be done “in truth.” In other words, there is enough information about what to do and how to do it. It must be done according to what is true. Now in our day and age, people often refer to “their truth.” My truth, your truth. I understand that a person might mean their experiences or what they’ve been through and how they feel about it. But Jesus is referring to something different here. He’s talking about God’s truth – the truth according to what God has said.

Worship must be done according to God’s rules – His standards and guidelines. We must worship according to what will be effective for our spiritual growth – and it’s only God who has determined this. You see, this is why worship must be done according to Scripture. The OT and NT are the only reliable, infallible, inerrant record of God’s truth for the content of our congregational worship.

Of course, all truth in the world is God’s truth. He’s established all the laws of physics and the principles of science, and so on, and we discover those in the world He made. But His guidance for worship is found in His written Word.

The whole Bible stresses God’s truth for worship but and the spiritual nature of worship. Even when OT Israel had their tabernacle, and later the temple — even with all the outward trappings according to what God had prescribed for their worship, it was still primarily spiritual in nature. Worship has always been mainly about the heart. It was always mainly inward.

This is what makes it naturally difficult for us, because every human being is so inwardly influenced by sin. We’re easily misdirected without truth to guide us. We can be swayed by lies. And so Jesus says that worship isn’t only spiritual. It must be based on truth.

Many people today see worship as only spiritual. Some claim that as long as your worship is spiritual, then it’s valid. The belief is that you should worship according to your truth. But Christ refers here to a standard of truth.

And notice what He says about how important this is to God, at the end of verse 23: “for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.” God is on a mission to gather worshipers. Not just individuals everywhere doing their own thing, but gatherings – assemblies – congregations, united in public worship. That is Jesus’s commission to His disciples in Matthew 28: a great church planting commission, a great worship gathering commission. Of course we should join God on His mission.

But here’s a question to think about: if God goes out looking for those who are ready to willingly and enthusiastically worship Him through Jesus Christ in spirit and in truth, will He find anyone? Will He find anyone who wants that? Well, just two chapters later, in John 6, Jesus says, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.” God must urge us inwardly by His power. He must bring us to Himself like water drawn up from a well.

Think about it: water is passive. It must be carried up against the natural pull of gravity. This is what we needed to bring us to Christ. God is graciously taking action in the world. He’s bringing sinners to Himself so that we may then worship Him from the heart according to Scripture.

Even once we are saved, worship according to Scripture does not just come naturally. We’re drawn to man-centered ways of worship and man-centered content in worship. We’re still affected by sin, so how can we keep our worship on track? How can we deliver and receive what God has made effective for our spiritual growth?

God has said so much! Admittedly, “according to Scripture” sounds very broad. But the OT and NT actually have a very narrow focus. Hebrews 1 says, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” Worship according to Scripture is worship that is intentionally and unabashedly pointing the people to the person and work of Jesus Christ.

All that we do in worship must direct us to Jesus. All of God’s truth for worship is embodied in Jesus. The Samaritan woman apparently understood what Jesus was saying about truth, because in the next verse – which you don’t have printed there – she says, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

True worship is directed by Christ to Christ with Christ.

In Romans 11, Paul writes, “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.” This includes our worship in the church. If we do not get Christ above all else in worship, then we aren’t worshiping according to Scripture. You need – week in and week out – that good assurance of salvation for your soul that comes only from the clear proclamation of who Christ is and all He’s done.

And do you know that through that clear, weekly proclamation, all the other aspects of the church will be fueled and made to flourish. Dr. Sinclair Ferguson makes a statement about this near the end of his book The Whole Christ. He says that Scripture tells us that in the New Testament church — in the early church, as the gospel was beginning to spread — there was a joyful confidence. What spurred that joyful confidence? What produced that dynamic growth of the church? Dr. Ferguson writes, “Assurance of salvation produced boldness in witness; eagerness and intimacy in prayer; poise in character in the face of trial, danger, and opposition; and joy in worship.” It was their great assurance in Christ that made the church grow! It wasn’t clever methods or marketing or worship services tailored to what would entertain and interest non-believers. They won people to Christ with Christ! The glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ was enough!

When we worship according to Scripture – when Christ is proclaimed faithfully – the primary message is not “Be bold, be eager to pray, be poised in affliction, be faithful, be obedient, be joyful in worship!” Instead, the primary message is, “Be assured, Christ has done all of this for you.” And as that assurance grows, God will produce all of those things among us.

You need weekly assurance of your peace with God through Christ. You need assurance of God’s love, assurance of His never-ending grace, and assurance of His trustworthiness and faithfulness and justice and power. Jesus Christ stands as that everlasting, never-fading assurance for you. Believe in Him today.

Let’s bow together in prayer.