Wanted: True Worshipers
From:
SERMON OUTLINES
ON THE GOSPELSBy Mark Scott
16. He said to her, "Go, call your husband and come here."
17. The woman answered and said, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You have correctly said, 'I have no husband';
18. for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly."
19. The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.
20. "Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you [people] say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship."
21. Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.
22. "You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.
23. "But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.
24. "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."
25. The woman said to Him, "I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us."
26. Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am [He]."
John 4:16-26
IntroductionMission statements are everywhere. Schools have them, hospitals have them, restaurants have them, and even the license bureau has one. It might not be wide of the mark to suggest that the chief mission of the Christian is to worship God. We see this stressed throughout the Bible:
1. In the garden we saw the test of worship.
2. Moses received 10 famous words from God which functioned as commandments of worship.
3. The Israelites were to set up the tabernacle in the middle of their encampment, no doubt showing the centrality of worship.
4. The temple was filled with smells and smoke indicating the sacrifices of worship.
5. The psalms and other works functioned as books of worship.
6. The post-exilic prophets had to try to re-institute proper worship.
7. When Christ came He showed us how important worship was by attending it regularly.
8. The early church found reason to change the day of worship.
9. The epistles functioned partly as a liturgy of worship.
10. And, Revelation ends with the rejoinder, “Worship God!”
In the encounter that Jesus had with the woman at the well we see more “worship talk” per square inch than anywhere else in the Bible.
I. Notice Who Is Talking About Worship.A. It is not a theologian, not a Bible College professor, not a preacher, not an elder, not a Bible school teacher.
B. It is a morally wounded woman. That doesn’t sound right. But maybe that is the point. The only people who will worship will be the people who sense their need to worship. At least this woman does that.
C. This morally wounded woman is undone as she talks about worship. She is the one who brings up the topic. But she is stopped in her tracks when Jesus says, “Go call your husband.” Worship will never be popular, because we have to face God, and when we do that we have to face ourselves in light of God. That will undo the best of us.
II. Notice What Worship Is Not.A. While we may want to know what worship is Jesus only defines it by the power of negation. Maybe He is more interested in us doing worship than merely defining it. In fact, one way to kill some things is to say, “Webster says…”
B. Worship is not:
1. Geography … it can be done anywhere.
2. Race … the woman was a Samaritan.
3. Anything and everything … Jesus said, “You worship what you do not know.” There is such a thing as wrong worship.
4. Terminology … the main word here means to “bow down,” but we dare not get lost in mere lexical studies.
5. Enthusiasm … ”inspirit” means something different than “clap your hands.”
III. Notice How Worship Is Done.A. In spirit, i.e. In sincerity of heart and attitude. While true worshipers worship God in Spirit (Philippians 3 ), here it is referring to a state of the heart.
B. In truth, i.e. In genuineness. Of course we want to worship God according to the Bible, but Jesus is talking about a state of the heart.
IV. Notice What Worship Leads to.A. It leads to a further disclosure of God. The point of John 4 is not to give us a manual of personal evangelism. As the woman talks about worship with Jesus, He is revealed. This fits the Gospel’s purpose (20:30-31). First she sees Him to be just a man, then a prophet, then the Messiah, and finally the Savior of the world.
B. It leads to world evangelism. Worship should always drive us into the fields of harvest. If we know Him, then we must seek to make Him known.
ConclusionSomeone once said, “A Christian should be hallelujah from head to toe.” As our perception of Christ grows the only appropriate response is worship.
