Study the Bible

"Are You Able to Worship"
John 4:16-26
Theme: They who worship God, must do so on His terms.

From the earliest days of men’s relationship to God, we observe a powerful truth – God is interested in the heart condition of those who come to Him in worship.
The woman had indicated a softened heart in the previous verse – indicating that if Christ had such water to offer her, that she would be interested in it.
However, she was completely missing the spiritual element of Christ’s point – therefore, in order for spiritual water to be applied to the parched heart of a sinner, there must be a spiritual thirst.
The only way a "spiritual thirst" is developed in a person is through a sense of guilt or a consciousness of sin.
In order to remind this woman of her immoral life, Jesus "said to her, ‘Go call your husband and come here’."
He appeals to her conscience – focusing on the condition of her heart since sin separates between men & God – cp. Isaiah 59:2; Psalm 24:3-4.
Jesus confronts this woman’s sin directly – showing that He knows all the secrets of our hearts – and when we deny our sin, doesn’t "take our word for it," but drives home: "You have well said, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly."

However, most of the time, when God confronts us for our sin – we resist and seek to deflect the conviction that results.
Her initial response to the prodding of Jesus was: "I have no husband."
There was a complete denial of wrongdoing – or even the presence of sin.
In essence, she is throwing up her guard against the "encroachment" into her life by this stranger – refusing to be exposed or unmasked.

At this point, it would have been appropriate to have confessed her sin and come clean – Isaiah 1:16-18.
When God’s children know the convicting power of God’s Spirit – it is always for the purpose of bringing us back into fellowship with Him – cp. 1 John 1:9
We must not think of God as a reluctant forgiver – One who begrudgingly complies with our request to seek his favor – but rather He must be viewed as He really is – eager to dispense forgiveness and grace – cp. Isaiah 30:15-18

Instead of coming clean before a gracious God and confessing our sin, often we attempt to deal with the conviction of our sin by avoiding it or deflecting it.
Two of the most common ways of avoiding the conviction of our sin are found in these verses:

We often deflect conviction by honoring God with our lips – in the form of platitudes: "The woman said to Him, ‘Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet’" – v. 19

It is probable that she was truly astounded at Jesus’ ability to know her and that she felt conviction of sin.
She acknowledges that Jesus is probably a prophet as a concession – showing that her heart is softening.
Often instead of repentance of sin, we respond to the convicting power of God’s Spirit by offering God worship and praise – hoping to drown out the voices of guilt and shame by focusing on God.

We often deflect conviction by intensifying our interest in "spiritual things": "Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship." – v. 20

She raises the question of where worship must occur – as an effort to do two things: change the subject and satisfy a question that is plaguing her.
If she were to be desiring to get right with God, she may have been wondering where she would have to go to do it,

In response to the woman’s expressions, Jesus addresses the issues she raised carefully – bringing the point back to her personal need.
He "said to her, Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father’." – indicating that worship was not about some physical act that was dependent on being in the right place.

God cannot be confined to a place – as though it is necessary to worship God only when in the place where He can be found – cp. Jeremiah 23:23-24
He is saying to her that soon (when He completed the atonement) men would be able to enter a relationship with God through Christ that will enable them to worship God right in their hearts – not merely in some geographical location.
This was proven when the veil of the temple was torn – indicating the way was now opened for men to directly approach God – cp. Matthew 27:50-51.

In addition, we see that worship is not merely an intellectual exercise either – "You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know,"

The Samaritans were worshipping a God that was of their own invention – they had rejected the truths of all of the Old Testament except for the Pentateuch.
Their worship then was enthusiastic, devout, faithful, and may have even been exciting, but it was worship that was generated by something other than truth.

However, the Jews knew the full picture – having received the entire Old Testament revelation.
However, their worship was cold, legalistic, and hypocritical – cp. Matthew 6:1-8.
Their hearts just weren’t in it – cp. Matthew 15:8-9.

" . . . for salvation is from the Jews." – an indictment of the abuse of worship by the Jews – they have greater responsibility because they had all the privileges needed to know God – yet their hearts had grown cold.

Clearly the single means by which men can be reconciled to God would be through the work of the Jewish Messiah – the Son of God, Jesus Christ – cp. Acts 4:12.
This insight is something that the Jewish people possessed as a special privilege by the grace of God – cp. Romans 3:2.

Therefore, we find Christ providing a clear expression of what genuine worship is all about – "But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth"

In this first phrase, Jesus anticipates the work of redemption that will make what He is describing possible – a transition from the old to the new covenant.
He qualifies that there are classifications of worshipers: "true worshipers" and "false worshipers."
In addition, the object of worship is "the Father" – not an emotional rush or some man, but God the Father.

The "true worshipers" are characterized by worshipping "in spirit and truth"

"In spirit" – indicating that it wasn’t a merely physical routine but is rendering such homage to God that the entire heart enters into the act; emphasizing the intensity of worship.
"truth" – indicates that "true" worship is in full harmony with the doctrinal truth about God revealed in His word.

We are told that this kind of worship is the only worship received by God: "for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers." – that is, God saves men in order to make them into such worshipers.
The reason is because only this kind of worship corresponds to the kind of God we have: "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."