Sermon series 2: WORSHIP IN THE TRUTH (second sermon) John 4 :22-26

 WORSHIP IN THE TRUTH (second sermon) John 4 :22-26

Intro:

Last week we saw that worship is a response of Gods revelation to us. That it is God who initiates worship by revealing who He is to us. We also saw that to worship in the truth we must reject strongholds; whether they are places, people, our ego, etc. The question I ask myself is how was worship before the time of Moses?

·         First, no one needed a priest to worship God

·         Secondly, there aren’t many commands about the worship that the patriarchs did

·         Third, not much is said about method – the people could pour out wine or oil, totally incinerate an animal, or roast it and eat part of it.

One thing was important – probably the greatest commandment about worship: You shall worship no other gods. All allegiance and all worship go to Him alone. From our text we see that true worship must recognise the saviour.

1.    True worship erupts in the soul of one who understands that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away sin. (Jn4: 26)

2.    True worship comes out from a heart that repents of sins. (Jn4:16-18)

Our sinfulness becomes grossly obvious upon the recognition of Christ's holiness

Worship before the time of Moses

Before Moses we read of several forms of worship that the patriarch exercised. In Genesis 4 we here that Cain and Abel brought an offering to the Lord. We are not told why they did. Few chapters ahead we read that Noah build an altar to the Lord and sacrificed an animal on it after the flood.

Abraham made sacrifices where he built an altar in Shechem, another at Bethel, then at Hebron, and at Mount Moriah. As part of his worship, Abraham also prayed, circumcised and tithed. Isaac built an altar at Beersheba and he prayed. Jacob set up a stone pillar at Bethel and poured a drink offering on it, and he poured oil on it as some sort of worship. He built an altar at Shechem, and one at Bethel. He vowed to tithe and he prayed. What conclusions can we draw from this?

• First, no one needed a priest. Everyone built their own altars, sacrificed their own animals and did their own worship. The head of the household acted as the religious leader for the family. We see that in the book of Job, too: Job made sacrifices on behalf of his children. There was no special priesthood. Each person could worship without a priest.
• Second, there aren’t many commands about the worship that the patriarchs did. God sometimes told his people where to build an altar and what to offer, but for the most part, the altars and offerings seem to have been initiated by the people. There’s no mention of special times or special days or special seasons. There doesn’t seem to be any restriction on place, either. The patriarchs stayed away from Baal worship, but other than that, they worshiped the true God wherever and whenever and however they wanted. Before Moses came!
• Third, not much is said about method – the people could pour out wine or oil, totally incinerate an animal, or roast it and eat part of it. Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were not limited by time, location or method. The key word is flexibility. The detailed rules that God gave through Moses did not apply to the patriarchs. They were not restricted by rules about special places, people, rituals and days.

One thing was important – probably the greatest commandment about worship: You shall worship no other gods.

When God dealt with Jacob, he was not concerned about how he was worshiped – his primary concern was that Jacob worship the true God and no other gods. God demands exclusive worship, 100 percent allegiance. Only that can do justice to his worth. There’s no room for loving any other gods even 1 percent. We cannot allow anything to get in the way of our worship relationship with God. We cannot let money, self-consciousness, busyness or anything else get in the way. Worship is to be our highest priority.

During the time of Moses; You just can’t walk up on God every day. You had to be a very holy person on a very holy day in order to walk into the Holy of Holies, and you had to go through special rituals in order to do it.

There was a priesthood between the people and God. For many acts of worship, the priests had to perform the actions. There were also holy animals and holy plants. Every firstborn animal was holy, dedicated to the Lord. The first-ripe fruits were holy, set apart for worship. There was a holy incense formula, too, and if anyone made the same formula, they were supposed to be expelled from the nation. It was that special. It was reserved for worship. It was holy.

There were holy times. Every week, one day was holy. Every year, some extra days were holy. Every seven years and every 50 years, a whole year was set apart for special use.

Most of those details are obsolete, but the most important principle carries over into today’s worship, too. Only God should be worshiped. It’s not that he should be worshiped more than other gods are. It’s that he is the only God worthy of worship. He is so great, nothing else is even close. There is no god like our God. Nothing can compare with him, so we give him exclusive worship. We do not divide our loyalties between him and Baal, or between him and Mammon, or between him and self. All allegiance and all worship go to him alone.

II. Recognize the Savior (John 4:26)

After Jesus exposes the false assumptions of worship, He guides the Samaritan woman into an amazing recognition of His glory and His mission to save people from their sins. True worship erupts in the soul of one who understands that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away sin. He is the living water that cleanses and quenches the deepest thirst of one's soul. Using water as the metaphor for eternal life, Jesus opens her eyes to see Him as the promised Messiah and Savior.

III. Repent of sin (4:16-18)

Another principle of true worship surfaces in Jesus' instruction for the woman to "Go tell your husband" (v.17). The Lord Jesus, who knows all things, did not assume that she was married. Jesus guides her to confess and repent of sin. Our sinfulness becomes grossly obvious upon the recognition of Christ's holiness. Once this woman recognized Jesus, she humbly acknowledges her sinful past. The prophet Isaiah had a similar experience. When he saw the Lord high and lifted up, he fell down in confession of personal and national sin (Is. 6:5).