WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.800 Well, good morning, everyone. 00:00:04.419 --> 00:00:05.379 My name's Dave. 00:00:05.459 --> 00:00:06.679 I'm one of the pastors here. 00:00:08.460 --> 00:00:12.040 Will you please pray with me as we come to God's Word? 00:00:17.100 --> 00:00:21.500 Father, I pray that you would reveal yourself for who you are 00:00:21.500 --> 00:00:28.640 and show yourself as worthy of all that we are and all that we have. 00:00:28.640 --> 00:00:30.460 And I pray this in Jesus' name. 00:00:30.719 --> 00:00:30.960 Amen. 00:00:32.600 --> 00:00:36.700 Well, have we come to church this morning to worship? 00:00:39.420 --> 00:00:43.880 Or have we just finished worshipping and now you've got to bear with the sermon? 00:00:46.920 --> 00:00:50.380 Where do you find places of worship in Newcastle? 00:00:52.439 --> 00:00:57.380 How can the Lord say of the devout Pharisees who knew their Bibles well, 00:00:57.380 --> 00:01:02.380 these people worshipping me with their lips, but their heart is far from me? 00:01:04.680 --> 00:01:11.420 Despite anthropologists finding that no matter what culture you come across in the world, 00:01:12.299 --> 00:01:15.120 there's religious belief in activity everywhere. 00:01:15.939 --> 00:01:17.260 People seem to know. 00:01:19.040 --> 00:01:19.900 They just do it. 00:01:20.060 --> 00:01:21.740 It seems to be a human trait. 00:01:21.739 --> 00:01:29.099 But is worship suddenly stopped here in the West with the rise of secularism? 00:01:30.159 --> 00:01:31.560 I don't have a belief. 00:01:33.739 --> 00:01:39.840 Or does all this confidence in evolution to claim that there is nothing above us 00:01:39.840 --> 00:01:43.259 just give us license to worship whatever our hearts desire? 00:01:43.260 --> 00:01:51.480 There's lots of questions and each one would probably take a whole sermon, 00:01:51.600 --> 00:01:54.180 but I won't give you six different sermons. 00:01:55.260 --> 00:02:00.800 God's Word gives us an understanding of the essence of what worship is 00:02:00.800 --> 00:02:06.219 that shows that all people, all people worship all of the time. 00:02:06.219 --> 00:02:12.199 That might be a strange idea, so I hope you follow me into God's Word 00:02:12.199 --> 00:02:13.659 and let's explore that together. 00:02:16.060 --> 00:02:21.079 We need to be able to distinguish between, I think, two different types of worship 00:02:21.079 --> 00:02:23.300 that Bo helped us set up this morning. 00:02:23.960 --> 00:02:30.199 One is seeing God as useful to get some ends other than God himself, 00:02:30.199 --> 00:02:37.199 and the other is to see God as beautiful, that to worship him, you can't help it. 00:02:37.619 --> 00:02:39.119 That's just how you enjoy him. 00:02:39.399 --> 00:02:44.319 One sees worship as the way to get stuff from God, the other is how you get God. 00:02:45.979 --> 00:02:47.899 So we need Scripture to help us. 00:02:50.139 --> 00:02:54.620 So after three weeks going through Genesis 1 to 3, 00:02:54.620 --> 00:02:58.719 and then we jumped to Revelation, seeing the Christian hope, 00:02:58.719 --> 00:03:03.400 and then last week David took us into that God is a speaking God in 2 Timothy 3, 00:03:03.479 --> 00:03:05.680 you're probably thinking the elders have lost the plot. 00:03:06.419 --> 00:03:08.180 Where are we going in this series? 00:03:09.939 --> 00:03:14.379 The remainder of this series is going back and using Genesis 1 to 3 00:03:14.379 --> 00:03:20.659 as a launching point into all the Scripture to look at essential worldview truths 00:03:20.659 --> 00:03:23.159 that we find there and that Scripture develops. 00:03:23.159 --> 00:03:30.079 So the rest of this term, what we've got coming up is the Lord is triune and sovereign, 00:03:30.759 --> 00:03:33.019 that people bear God's image. 00:03:34.620 --> 00:03:37.079 We'll look at what the sinful condition is, 00:03:37.599 --> 00:03:39.280 and that people are made for community, 00:03:39.479 --> 00:03:42.300 and you've already gathered that this morning is about worship, 00:03:42.919 --> 00:03:44.500 what true worship is. 00:03:44.500 --> 00:03:52.360 Now you might wonder, where is the word worship in Genesis 1 to 3? 00:03:53.020 --> 00:03:54.879 And you're right, the word isn't there. 00:03:56.199 --> 00:03:59.219 But consider what Genesis 1 plainly teaches. 00:04:00.060 --> 00:04:05.759 There is one God who created the heavens and the earth by the power of his word. 00:04:05.759 --> 00:04:10.179 So if there is one God who created all life, 00:04:10.899 --> 00:04:15.840 it is right to look to this speaking God for all your good. 00:04:17.120 --> 00:04:18.219 It's right to do that. 00:04:18.500 --> 00:04:22.459 It's right to look to this God to bring order and light 00:04:22.459 --> 00:04:26.060 out of the darkness and chaos that you're experiencing in life. 00:04:26.699 --> 00:04:28.740 This is, there is one God to turn to. 00:04:28.740 --> 00:04:36.900 As Revelation 4, what's going on in heaven right now is angels declaring, 00:04:37.439 --> 00:04:42.280 worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power. 00:04:42.439 --> 00:04:42.699 Why? 00:04:43.540 --> 00:04:49.120 For you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created. 00:04:50.720 --> 00:04:52.139 What about Genesis 2? 00:04:53.300 --> 00:04:54.860 Where's worship in Genesis 2? 00:04:54.860 --> 00:05:01.580 I would venture to say the whole thing is a description of worship. 00:05:02.699 --> 00:05:06.680 It's how Adam and Eve engaged in the relationship. 00:05:08.139 --> 00:05:09.819 So just a quick recap. 00:05:09.960 --> 00:05:11.420 You can go back and listen to the sermons. 00:05:12.139 --> 00:05:15.000 There's so many details of the Garden of Eden 00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:19.439 that later are described as the temple in Israel's history. 00:05:20.259 --> 00:05:24.360 So we're meant to think of the Garden of Eden as God's temple. 00:05:24.860 --> 00:05:25.220 Place. 00:05:25.379 --> 00:05:28.800 That's where he's going to establish, he's going to dwell with his people. 00:05:29.199 --> 00:05:31.560 And then what's the purpose of man? 00:05:31.680 --> 00:05:34.240 To work and keep the garden. 00:05:34.860 --> 00:05:39.300 That phrase again later on is described in terms of priestly activity. 00:05:39.900 --> 00:05:43.860 Everything Adam and Eve did was an act of worship. 00:05:45.379 --> 00:05:48.540 And what we see there is that Adam and Eve didn't worship 00:05:48.540 --> 00:05:51.100 in order to get blessings from God. 00:05:51.100 --> 00:05:54.860 They got blessings from God and then they worshipped. 00:05:55.960 --> 00:06:00.800 They loved, trusted and obeyed the Lord completely. 00:06:01.160 --> 00:06:03.360 And that was their, it fulfilled them. 00:06:03.480 --> 00:06:04.280 That was their delight. 00:06:05.160 --> 00:06:06.220 And what about Genesis 3? 00:06:06.220 --> 00:06:12.200 We see worship of the Lord turn in on itself and worship itself. 00:06:13.300 --> 00:06:16.760 We see instead of life being God-centered, 00:06:17.000 --> 00:06:21.480 it's now self-centered, self-worship. 00:06:21.480 --> 00:06:27.980 And I'm going to suggest that there's two ways that people do that today. 00:06:29.200 --> 00:06:34.160 Some turn in on themselves by trying to just push God completely out of their lives. 00:06:34.259 --> 00:06:35.420 I'm going to rule my life. 00:06:35.660 --> 00:06:39.620 And the other is to try and control the gods by being very religious. 00:06:40.180 --> 00:06:43.360 If I do this, this and this, I deserve blessing. 00:06:43.500 --> 00:06:44.340 Give me my blessing. 00:06:45.119 --> 00:06:47.279 Both are self-worship. 00:06:50.599 --> 00:06:56.799 Now this issue of worship increasingly becomes clear as the Lord creates the nation of Israel, 00:06:57.659 --> 00:07:02.039 gives his law, the Ten Commandments and all the law and speaks through the prophets. 00:07:02.159 --> 00:07:02.979 What do we find there? 00:07:03.439 --> 00:07:06.539 This is going to be a sprint walk through the Old Testament. 00:07:07.679 --> 00:07:09.120 What do we see in the Ten Commandments? 00:07:09.120 --> 00:07:15.079 Someone said, I found this helpful, that you can't break the other commandments 00:07:15.079 --> 00:07:19.240 unless you break the first two. 00:07:21.040 --> 00:07:24.959 If you break the first two, you'll break the rest. 00:07:26.259 --> 00:07:30.840 The first commandment, you shall have no other gods before me. 00:07:30.839 --> 00:07:38.000 You are to love, trust and obey the Lord alone. 00:07:38.959 --> 00:07:44.079 He will not be one God among many on the shelf of your life. 00:07:44.699 --> 00:07:47.479 He will not give his glory to idols. 00:07:50.479 --> 00:07:56.579 The word is syncretism, to mix God into our life. 00:07:56.639 --> 00:07:57.639 It's just one component. 00:07:57.639 --> 00:08:00.699 No, you have no other gods. 00:08:01.839 --> 00:08:06.359 And the second one is don't make any images of God 00:08:06.359 --> 00:08:11.479 because as soon as you imagine God in some created fashion, you limit him. 00:08:12.079 --> 00:08:13.319 You reduce him. 00:08:13.399 --> 00:08:14.379 You put him in a box. 00:08:14.639 --> 00:08:15.739 He will not be in a box. 00:08:16.919 --> 00:08:17.739 He is the creator. 00:08:21.019 --> 00:08:27.620 And yet even as Moses is getting these laws that were going to give life to Israel, 00:08:27.739 --> 00:08:28.459 what are they doing? 00:08:28.459 --> 00:08:31.419 Making the golden calf. 00:08:31.839 --> 00:08:35.539 Oh, this ball of gold brought us out of Egypt. 00:08:37.419 --> 00:08:40.679 Straight away, their hearts turned to idols. 00:08:44.259 --> 00:08:48.139 Someone memorably describes the human tendency like this. 00:08:48.840 --> 00:08:54.000 God created man in his image and man returned the favour. 00:08:54.000 --> 00:08:58.720 We make gods of our own imagining. 00:09:00.720 --> 00:09:06.080 And then in Deuteronomy 30, Moses leaves Israel with a fundamental choice. 00:09:07.220 --> 00:09:08.059 You want rest? 00:09:08.580 --> 00:09:12.399 You want safety and prosperity and peace and joy? 00:09:12.399 --> 00:09:16.079 Then love and trust the Lord. 00:09:16.199 --> 00:09:17.059 Follow his ways. 00:09:17.840 --> 00:09:20.559 But if he turned to idols, he will surely perish. 00:09:21.779 --> 00:09:23.779 And what does the history of Israel play out? 00:09:23.779 --> 00:09:31.720 I think it demonstrates what John Calvin concludes about human nature. 00:09:31.939 --> 00:09:36.559 Man's nature is a perpetual factory of idols. 00:09:36.559 --> 00:09:43.939 I sometimes think of it like, I don't know if you remember the arcade game whack-a-mole, 00:09:44.359 --> 00:09:48.759 where one idol pops up in your heart and you've got to whack it down and then three others pop up. 00:09:48.759 --> 00:09:55.799 And it's just a perpetual trusting in created things rather than their creator. 00:09:58.559 --> 00:10:02.059 I thought of the prophet Elijah as just one example of this. 00:10:02.480 --> 00:10:06.779 Do you remember that scene where he's challenging the prophets of Baal? 00:10:07.460 --> 00:10:11.679 They've got two altars and the prophets of Baal, and they're going, let's see who's God. 00:10:12.019 --> 00:10:13.659 Let's see who can bring fire from heaven. 00:10:13.659 --> 00:10:18.459 And the prophets of Baal are crying out all day, cutting themselves to get Baal's attention. 00:10:18.639 --> 00:10:18.919 Nothing. 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:23.139 Elijah soaks the wood with water. 00:10:23.240 --> 00:10:24.039 It is drenched. 00:10:24.360 --> 00:10:28.439 He prays and then whoosh, engulfed in fire. 00:10:28.740 --> 00:10:29.480 And what happens? 00:10:29.679 --> 00:10:32.439 The whole nation repents and turns back to God, 00:10:32.600 --> 00:10:37.279 and they enjoy a time of prosperity in the presence of God again, worshipping him. 00:10:37.699 --> 00:10:38.000 No. 00:10:39.659 --> 00:10:41.480 They cling to Baal. 00:10:41.480 --> 00:10:42.459 Nothing changes. 00:10:42.460 --> 00:10:45.519 And it sends Elijah into deep depression. 00:10:46.680 --> 00:10:50.519 They cling to their idols until they're sent into exile. 00:10:55.480 --> 00:11:00.720 The prophet Jeremiah sums up the people's sin, 00:11:01.440 --> 00:11:04.440 not first and foremost in terms of law-breaking, 00:11:04.660 --> 00:11:08.019 but in terms of the heart, which leads to law-breaking. 00:11:08.019 --> 00:11:11.580 And this is the Lord speaking, remember, through Jeremiah. 00:11:12.460 --> 00:11:16.160 Jeremiah 2, 11 to 13. 00:11:16.159 --> 00:11:22.600 Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? 00:11:23.879 --> 00:11:29.360 But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit. 00:11:29.360 --> 00:11:34.200 Be appalled, O heavens, be shocked. 00:11:34.200 --> 00:11:38.779 Be utterly desolate, declares the Lord, for my people have committed two evils. 00:11:39.379 --> 00:11:43.060 They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, 00:11:43.680 --> 00:11:49.279 and had hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water. 00:11:49.279 --> 00:11:54.539 That's a description of idolatry. 00:11:54.539 --> 00:12:02.000 Turning away from the fountain of life, entrusted in created things to satisfy your thirst. 00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:10.039 So enter the woman of Samaria who comes to draw water. 00:12:10.720 --> 00:12:16.139 We're going to spend the rest of our time in John chapter 4 if you want to open your Bibles there. 00:12:16.139 --> 00:12:27.360 Well, women would usually back then apparently come early or late in the day, 00:12:27.439 --> 00:12:31.439 in the cool of the day, to draw water, and usually in groups, 00:12:31.600 --> 00:12:37.299 which probably suggests that this woman coming to draw water on her own 00:12:37.299 --> 00:12:42.439 is a bit of a social, not quite fitting into her community. 00:12:43.399 --> 00:12:46.099 And we get a hint as to why soon. 00:12:48.120 --> 00:12:53.620 And I think it's hard for us to fully appreciate the hatred between Jew and Gentile. 00:12:54.740 --> 00:12:58.219 Samaritans were descendants of the Northern tribes who were, 00:12:59.139 --> 00:13:02.219 basically Jews saw them as intermixed blood. 00:13:02.779 --> 00:13:06.219 They'd compromised so much with the world around them. 00:13:06.220 --> 00:13:11.840 And they only held to the first five books as scripture, the Pentateuch, Moses' writings, 00:13:12.240 --> 00:13:14.139 and disregarded Joshua to Malachi. 00:13:15.420 --> 00:13:17.160 Or some people call it Malachi. 00:13:18.060 --> 00:13:18.320 Anyway. 00:13:19.660 --> 00:13:22.120 They disregarded the scriptures, what God had said, 00:13:22.759 --> 00:13:29.139 and they didn't worship in Jerusalem, God's chosen place where he put his name. 00:13:30.920 --> 00:13:34.580 And Jesus breaks all political correctness. 00:13:34.580 --> 00:13:40.879 His disciples are shocked when they come back, but they don't say anything. 00:13:41.000 --> 00:13:44.220 He breaks all political correctness to speak to her. 00:13:44.960 --> 00:13:49.480 And he invites and pursues this woman into a discussion about her thirst. 00:13:51.600 --> 00:13:53.340 And she keeps deflecting. 00:13:55.000 --> 00:13:57.420 But Jesus won't let the issue go. 00:13:57.419 --> 00:14:04.299 He makes his offer more clear in verse 13. 00:14:04.299 --> 00:14:09.479 Jesus said to everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 00:14:09.559 --> 00:14:14.039 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. 00:14:14.879 --> 00:14:22.179 The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. 00:14:24.799 --> 00:14:27.039 He's talking of a spiritual kind. 00:14:27.039 --> 00:14:32.159 He's offering her access to the Lord, the fountain of living water again. 00:14:32.839 --> 00:14:34.379 And she tries to deflect. 00:14:35.039 --> 00:14:37.559 She wants to keep the conversation superficial. 00:14:39.219 --> 00:14:41.799 And then he asks a question that gets to her heart. 00:14:43.259 --> 00:14:43.579 Go. 00:14:44.059 --> 00:14:44.799 Call your husband. 00:14:45.799 --> 00:14:46.459 And come here. 00:14:46.460 --> 00:14:49.379 I have no husband. 00:14:50.879 --> 00:14:55.600 And his next comment sounds ruthlessly honest. 00:14:56.519 --> 00:15:00.320 But I think it's the cut of a surgeon's knife. 00:15:01.180 --> 00:15:03.060 Yeah, you've had five husbands. 00:15:04.139 --> 00:15:06.800 And the one you now have is not your husband. 00:15:06.980 --> 00:15:07.600 That's true. 00:15:10.320 --> 00:15:11.920 That's what God's word does. 00:15:12.019 --> 00:15:13.620 It lays our hearts bare. 00:15:13.620 --> 00:15:25.779 She seems to be trusting in the security and sense of value as a person in what a man could give her. 00:15:27.320 --> 00:15:29.840 Her well-being revolved around men. 00:15:31.500 --> 00:15:36.379 But again and again, we're not told how, whether through death or through divorce, 00:15:37.700 --> 00:15:40.299 these broken cisterns failed her. 00:15:40.299 --> 00:15:43.679 Her idols failed her. 00:15:43.779 --> 00:15:45.000 That's what idols do. 00:15:45.579 --> 00:15:46.759 Because they're empty promises. 00:15:51.399 --> 00:15:54.959 So can I pause at this moment and ask, what about you? 00:15:56.479 --> 00:16:01.839 What do you trust in to satisfy your thirst? 00:16:01.840 --> 00:16:08.540 Your sense of safety and value as a person? 00:16:09.100 --> 00:16:10.220 Your sense of purpose? 00:16:10.420 --> 00:16:11.519 What do you look to? 00:16:12.759 --> 00:16:16.460 Now I'm going to give a few different definitions of what an idol is today, 00:16:16.580 --> 00:16:18.780 just in the hope that one of them clicks with you, 00:16:19.200 --> 00:16:22.340 or maybe a few of them will help us grasp this. 00:16:22.540 --> 00:16:27.220 I'm going to quote the bulletin article, which was written by a small group this week. 00:16:27.220 --> 00:16:32.820 And if you see me stealing some things from there, that's exactly what's happened. 00:16:32.940 --> 00:16:35.820 I've stolen some ideas from this article. 00:16:36.920 --> 00:16:38.220 I really like this definition. 00:16:38.680 --> 00:16:43.660 In all worship, there is an attempt to find lasting good, 00:16:44.620 --> 00:16:46.740 security in a world out of control, 00:16:47.800 --> 00:16:48.820 comfort in struggle, 00:16:49.660 --> 00:16:50.920 and confidence for the future. 00:16:50.919 --> 00:16:58.319 This other person, I don't know how to pronounce his name, 00:16:58.559 --> 00:17:01.399 DeTocqueville, there you go, 00:17:02.360 --> 00:17:04.279 he describes it as, 00:17:04.819 --> 00:17:09.139 an idol is taking some incomplete joy of this world 00:17:09.139 --> 00:17:13.159 and building your entire life upon it. 00:17:14.180 --> 00:17:15.779 Take an incomplete joy. 00:17:15.920 --> 00:17:17.619 So it's not necessarily an evil thing. 00:17:18.339 --> 00:17:20.079 It could be a very good thing in life, 00:17:20.079 --> 00:17:23.779 but it's incomplete and you build your entire life on it. 00:17:27.740 --> 00:17:30.939 Tim Keller gives this illustration of a woman he knew, 00:17:31.480 --> 00:17:33.639 and I just found this really helpful. 00:17:33.819 --> 00:17:35.779 It clarified it in my mind, so let me share it. 00:17:36.519 --> 00:17:38.839 This woman he knew, she was in her 40s. 00:17:39.599 --> 00:17:40.559 She was beautiful, 00:17:41.659 --> 00:17:46.559 and she got involved with men who committed crimes. 00:17:46.559 --> 00:17:50.339 Anyway, the point is, she hit rock bottom in life, 00:17:50.839 --> 00:17:54.339 and she decided to go see a counsellor and attend a church, 00:17:54.720 --> 00:17:57.679 and the non-Christian counsellor identified her problem, 00:17:57.879 --> 00:17:59.639 what we would call an idol. 00:18:00.059 --> 00:18:00.359 She said, 00:18:00.359 --> 00:18:02.139 when you see a guy, you think, 00:18:02.399 --> 00:18:04.059 a man's got to love me, 00:18:04.319 --> 00:18:05.259 otherwise I'm nothing. 00:18:06.079 --> 00:18:09.939 You mustn't base your self-worth and identity and significance in men. 00:18:10.779 --> 00:18:12.119 And then she offers this solution. 00:18:13.059 --> 00:18:14.159 Finish your education, 00:18:15.019 --> 00:18:15.559 get a job, 00:18:16.279 --> 00:18:18.459 and become a financially independent woman. 00:18:18.460 --> 00:18:24.319 And this woman apparently said to her counsellor, 00:18:25.059 --> 00:18:29.660 so you want me to get rid of a female idolatry 00:18:29.660 --> 00:18:32.400 and adopt a male idolatry. 00:18:32.860 --> 00:18:35.519 You want me to stop being so fragile 00:18:35.519 --> 00:18:38.079 by basing my salvation, as it were, on men, 00:18:38.559 --> 00:18:40.460 so if a man drops me, I fall apart. 00:18:40.779 --> 00:18:43.620 Instead, you want me to base my salvation on my career 00:18:43.620 --> 00:18:44.279 and making money, 00:18:44.360 --> 00:18:46.380 so that if anything goes wrong with my business, 00:18:46.960 --> 00:18:47.840 I fall apart. 00:18:48.460 --> 00:18:49.680 Is that it? 00:18:50.759 --> 00:18:54.019 You want me to fall apart over different things. 00:18:57.579 --> 00:19:00.819 And she preached Colossians 3 to herself, 00:19:01.640 --> 00:19:04.940 and she found freedom to explore men more healthily, 00:19:05.440 --> 00:19:08.519 because she kept preaching it to herself, apparently. 00:19:08.700 --> 00:19:12.000 Your life is hidden with Christ in God. 00:19:12.460 --> 00:19:14.519 When Christ, who is your life, appears, 00:19:14.940 --> 00:19:17.059 then you will appear with him in glory. 00:19:18.460 --> 00:19:22.140 Man, I'd love to be married, 00:19:23.019 --> 00:19:25.680 but you're not my life. 00:19:26.799 --> 00:19:28.000 Jesus is my life. 00:19:28.000 --> 00:19:31.160 So what about you? 00:19:34.460 --> 00:19:35.519 We all worship. 00:19:35.700 --> 00:19:38.000 We all love and trust and obey something, 00:19:38.140 --> 00:19:38.779 many things, 00:19:38.920 --> 00:19:40.759 clinging to them as essential to life. 00:19:42.420 --> 00:19:43.880 The only question is what it is. 00:19:43.880 --> 00:19:49.600 So if you think worship is primarily about religious expression, 00:19:49.600 --> 00:19:53.020 you're going to view people as either religious or not religious. 00:19:53.420 --> 00:19:57.040 You're going to view worship as either starting when we do religious things 00:19:57.040 --> 00:20:01.000 and stopping when you do ordinary things like eating and drinking. 00:20:01.000 --> 00:20:05.819 But if you see worship as primarily a matter of the heart, 00:20:06.819 --> 00:20:10.859 where you go to satisfy the thirst of your soul, 00:20:11.380 --> 00:20:17.680 then you'll see that all people are constantly worshipping something, 00:20:18.480 --> 00:20:19.119 lots of things. 00:20:19.119 --> 00:20:30.199 I want to give two areas where this view of worship really helps us directly in life. 00:20:30.439 --> 00:20:33.039 The first one, I think, is in relational conflict. 00:20:35.599 --> 00:20:40.339 People often fighting over something someone said or money, 00:20:40.679 --> 00:20:43.819 a resource that you can't equally do the same things with, 00:20:43.819 --> 00:20:46.220 and we think the argument is on that level. 00:20:47.519 --> 00:20:54.519 But how many conflicts would be resolved if we actually looked in on our hearts 00:20:54.519 --> 00:20:57.720 to see what it was we were fearing letting go of 00:20:57.720 --> 00:21:00.139 because we think it's essential to my life? 00:21:00.359 --> 00:21:01.859 Do I need your respect? 00:21:03.139 --> 00:21:04.159 Is that essential? 00:21:05.759 --> 00:21:08.379 Because I might kill to get it if I think it is. 00:21:09.899 --> 00:21:10.939 Imagine how many conflicts. 00:21:10.940 --> 00:21:13.940 I'm not saying it's just going to magically solve the whole argument, 00:21:14.279 --> 00:21:16.519 but I'm going to say it's going to be a great help if we do. 00:21:17.720 --> 00:21:19.400 I think it's what Jesus is talking about 00:21:19.400 --> 00:21:22.000 when we've got to take the log out of our eye first. 00:21:23.539 --> 00:21:26.000 When we look to the fountain of living water, 00:21:27.620 --> 00:21:30.519 that will really help in relational conflict. 00:21:32.120 --> 00:21:35.220 A second area, I think, is changing sinful habits. 00:21:35.640 --> 00:21:38.080 If you just lay down the law on yourself going, 00:21:38.079 --> 00:21:41.299 I must be better, I must do better, I must change. 00:21:44.259 --> 00:21:47.399 Well, my experience is it doesn't work. 00:21:47.960 --> 00:21:48.960 It works for a time. 00:21:52.539 --> 00:21:57.339 We have to change what we love if we want lasting change. 00:21:58.099 --> 00:21:59.859 So Thomas Chalmers, he's got a book. 00:22:00.619 --> 00:22:04.899 I haven't read the book, but the title itself is Helpful Winning of Itself. 00:22:04.900 --> 00:22:10.240 The Expulsive Power of a New Affection. 00:22:10.880 --> 00:22:14.320 In other words, you've got an affection for something that's damaging your life. 00:22:14.360 --> 00:22:15.040 You want to get rid of that? 00:22:15.660 --> 00:22:20.480 You get rid of it by a new affection that is greater than that one, 00:22:21.060 --> 00:22:22.519 which is found in Christ. 00:22:24.880 --> 00:22:27.660 It's not saying that it's going to happen straight away, 00:22:27.980 --> 00:22:33.840 but lasting change comes from turning from idols to the fountain of living waters. 00:22:33.839 --> 00:22:38.699 So this passage teaches us more. 00:22:38.859 --> 00:22:44.059 What is true worship today, now that Christ has come? 00:22:45.459 --> 00:22:46.399 Verse 21. 00:22:47.839 --> 00:22:51.559 Woman, believe me, and calling a woman is, 00:22:52.220 --> 00:22:54.519 there's nothing disrespectful, by the way, in that. 00:22:54.919 --> 00:22:58.740 Believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain 00:22:58.740 --> 00:23:01.839 nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 00:23:01.839 --> 00:23:05.959 You Samaritans worship what you do not know. 00:23:07.019 --> 00:23:11.579 We worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 00:23:13.059 --> 00:23:15.959 Now, again, this is not politically correct. 00:23:16.139 --> 00:23:16.919 Do you hear what he's saying? 00:23:18.939 --> 00:23:20.539 You don't know God. 00:23:22.119 --> 00:23:25.759 You're doing a lot of religious things, but you don't know God. 00:23:25.759 --> 00:23:27.980 Why? 00:23:29.420 --> 00:23:31.519 Because salvation is from the Jews. 00:23:32.420 --> 00:23:33.160 What does that mean? 00:23:33.720 --> 00:23:36.960 I've come across two answers to that, and I like both of them. 00:23:37.039 --> 00:23:39.319 I don't see why you have to choose between them. 00:23:39.460 --> 00:23:46.799 But one answer is that because the Samaritans only held to the first five books of the Bible, 00:23:47.500 --> 00:23:51.440 they've disregarded the rest of God's revelation about who he is. 00:23:51.440 --> 00:23:59.460 It's the Jewish writings, all they are, with their temple, with their land, with their people, with their king, 00:23:59.980 --> 00:24:03.340 all of that shows us what God is like. 00:24:05.519 --> 00:24:07.519 So salvation comes from the Jews. 00:24:08.519 --> 00:24:11.180 You can only know God by what he has said. 00:24:11.180 --> 00:24:15.039 So Jesus is affirming the Jewish Old Testament. 00:24:15.400 --> 00:24:21.620 You know God through the Old Testament, which I think, again, just jumping to us today, 00:24:21.759 --> 00:24:24.360 we need to know our Old Testament if we want to know God. 00:24:25.740 --> 00:24:29.200 There's plenty of evangelical churches that just focus on the New Testament. 00:24:29.960 --> 00:24:32.019 That is an incomplete picture of God. 00:24:33.720 --> 00:24:38.740 The second thing this could mean is that the Messiah comes from the Jews. 00:24:38.740 --> 00:24:45.859 So the promised descendant of Abraham and son of David who would restore blessing to the entire world, 00:24:46.339 --> 00:24:48.039 where will that Messiah come from? 00:24:48.220 --> 00:24:49.059 The Jews. 00:24:54.180 --> 00:24:56.220 I think here's the bottom line. 00:24:56.519 --> 00:25:00.400 Real relationship with God is on God's terms. 00:25:01.779 --> 00:25:05.279 You can't make God into whatever you imagine him to be. 00:25:05.279 --> 00:25:10.539 It's got to be according to truth, who he has revealed himself to be in his word. 00:25:11.660 --> 00:25:14.700 You can't relate to God however you want. 00:25:19.920 --> 00:25:24.779 If Jesus was politically incorrect, let me be politically incorrect. 00:25:24.779 --> 00:25:32.579 The Buddhist, I've got a missionary person that I get newsletters from, 00:25:32.759 --> 00:25:38.599 and this latest one, he's got a picture of this Buddhist temple where people are spread out, 00:25:39.139 --> 00:25:47.579 meditating all day by themselves, sitting under these mosquito nets, literally blindfolded. 00:25:47.579 --> 00:25:51.199 That is a lot. 00:25:52.079 --> 00:25:56.179 That's a devotion that outstrips my devotion, I think. 00:25:56.319 --> 00:26:01.539 But all that spirituality is nothing. 00:26:05.960 --> 00:26:07.559 It gives them nothing. 00:26:08.819 --> 00:26:09.919 It's false. 00:26:09.920 --> 00:26:15.180 Because they're not responding to who God has revealed himself to be. 00:26:17.600 --> 00:26:19.000 It's terribly sad. 00:26:21.420 --> 00:26:23.120 All the Hindu shrines. 00:26:24.100 --> 00:26:26.000 It's nothing what they're doing. 00:26:27.759 --> 00:26:29.720 The Muslim pilgrimages. 00:26:30.720 --> 00:26:36.120 I find the thought of over a billion people bowing down at the same time towards Mecca. 00:26:36.200 --> 00:26:37.259 That's a powerful thought. 00:26:37.720 --> 00:26:38.300 It's nothing. 00:26:39.920 --> 00:26:44.039 Because it's not based on who God has revealed himself to be. 00:26:45.400 --> 00:26:53.340 All the humanism that elevates man, that we are basically good and we can create a paradise on earth, 00:26:54.300 --> 00:27:01.000 worshipping self, all the distorted views of Christianity, of self-atonement. 00:27:02.980 --> 00:27:04.500 It's not spiritual. 00:27:04.840 --> 00:27:05.380 It's nothing. 00:27:05.380 --> 00:27:11.360 There's lots of forms of worship, but it's not true. 00:27:11.560 --> 00:27:12.420 It's not spiritual. 00:27:14.120 --> 00:27:21.600 Because the true God, the Father has revealed himself in his Son, Jesus Christ. 00:27:21.599 --> 00:27:32.859 And it's important to stress at this point, it's not just knowledge of Scripture that gives you knowledge of God. 00:27:33.819 --> 00:27:39.159 Jesus says to the Pharisees in John 8, 19, who knew their Bibles very well, 00:27:39.160 --> 00:27:55.279 So Jerusalem used to be the place of true worship because that's what God had said. 00:27:55.279 --> 00:27:58.420 This is where you will meet with me. 00:27:58.420 --> 00:28:02.259 But an hour had come where that completely changed. 00:28:02.759 --> 00:28:04.759 There's a new place to meet God. 00:28:04.759 --> 00:28:14.119 So the phrase, the hour, in John's Gospel is talking about Jesus' death and resurrection and ascension as King. 00:28:14.700 --> 00:28:17.500 This hour changes everything. 00:28:19.240 --> 00:28:25.119 He's already said in John 2, I'm going to destroy this temple and raise it in three days. 00:28:25.119 --> 00:28:28.199 And we're told the temple is his body. 00:28:29.719 --> 00:28:32.259 You want to know the place where you encounter God? 00:28:32.419 --> 00:28:33.359 It's not geographical. 00:28:34.019 --> 00:28:35.619 It's not merely intellectual. 00:28:36.379 --> 00:28:37.899 It's not within yourself. 00:28:38.419 --> 00:28:42.859 It's not in emotions and out-of-body encounters. 00:28:43.299 --> 00:28:44.179 It's in a person. 00:28:44.599 --> 00:28:50.819 Because the true God has revealed himself in a person, in his Son. 00:28:52.579 --> 00:28:54.319 That's where you meet God. 00:28:54.319 --> 00:28:56.919 That's the only place you meet God. 00:29:00.059 --> 00:29:02.099 Verse 23, Jesus says to the woman, 00:29:02.240 --> 00:29:04.619 But the hour is coming and is now here, 00:29:05.220 --> 00:29:08.919 when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, 00:29:09.039 --> 00:29:12.339 for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 00:29:12.819 --> 00:29:19.059 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. 00:29:19.179 --> 00:29:22.220 This is an optional, worshipping in spirit and truth. 00:29:22.220 --> 00:29:23.379 You must worship. 00:29:24.319 --> 00:29:26.159 In spirit and truth. 00:29:27.359 --> 00:29:28.419 What does that mean? 00:29:30.879 --> 00:29:31.899 This is tricky. 00:29:31.900 --> 00:29:40.140 This passage comes, I'm going to suggest, well, let's go to Nicodemus. 00:29:40.280 --> 00:29:42.960 This comes just after Jesus talks to Nicodemus. 00:29:43.460 --> 00:29:48.480 That, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the spirit, the Holy Spirit, 00:29:48.820 --> 00:29:50.940 he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 00:29:52.000 --> 00:29:54.500 That which is born of flesh is flesh. 00:29:54.500 --> 00:29:58.680 That which is born of flesh is spirit. 00:29:58.680 --> 00:30:05.019 So I think this context helps us understand what it means that God is spirit. 00:30:05.019 --> 00:30:11.119 It's not that he's in our realm of flesh. 00:30:11.660 --> 00:30:15.559 We have bodies in time and space. 00:30:15.700 --> 00:30:17.879 We're confined to this world of flesh. 00:30:18.819 --> 00:30:20.019 But God is spirit. 00:30:20.019 --> 00:30:23.559 I don't think that's describing his metaphysics. 00:30:23.559 --> 00:30:26.839 It's not that he's some spiritual substance. 00:30:28.559 --> 00:30:34.940 I think it's saying, and I'm going to suggest the definition that avoids reducing what this means, 00:30:35.359 --> 00:30:40.579 is that God is on a totally different realm of existence to creatures. 00:30:40.579 --> 00:30:45.579 Idols are created things. 00:30:46.779 --> 00:30:47.500 God is spirit. 00:30:47.639 --> 00:30:51.859 He's on a just totally different realm, a divine realm of existence. 00:30:54.980 --> 00:31:00.919 So true worship, true connection with God must be on a different realm. 00:31:01.779 --> 00:31:02.980 He's got to be divine. 00:31:05.379 --> 00:31:09.199 Which I think makes the Christian gospel incredible news. 00:31:10.579 --> 00:31:15.220 It's not just possible that we can do this now. 00:31:16.139 --> 00:31:22.359 The Lord is commanding us, come to this, come connect with me in this divine realm. 00:31:23.299 --> 00:31:25.220 And worship me in spirit and truth. 00:31:26.799 --> 00:31:30.099 This isn't two different ways of approaching God. 00:31:30.199 --> 00:31:31.379 You can choose spirit or truth. 00:31:31.480 --> 00:31:31.639 No. 00:31:31.939 --> 00:31:33.319 Either you've got both or none. 00:31:35.199 --> 00:31:36.139 This is in spirit. 00:31:36.259 --> 00:31:39.599 The same word in is for both words. 00:31:39.599 --> 00:31:41.480 In spirit and truth. 00:31:45.159 --> 00:31:52.899 So, I think this is saying that true worship is by the gift of the Holy Spirit, 00:31:53.659 --> 00:31:57.839 where it is focused entirely on the Son. 00:31:58.619 --> 00:32:03.699 Because the Son is the fullest revelation of who the Father is. 00:32:03.700 --> 00:32:09.360 I found James Torrance, his definition really helpful. 00:32:09.359 --> 00:32:12.699 Worship, it is the gift. 00:32:12.699 --> 00:32:23.099 It is the gift of participating through the Holy Spirit in the incarnate Son's communion, 00:32:23.359 --> 00:32:24.759 relationship with the Father. 00:32:26.919 --> 00:32:28.359 I'm going to repeat that. 00:32:28.359 --> 00:32:47.740 True worship is to know God as Father because you know the Son. 00:32:47.740 --> 00:32:55.200 Because the life-giving Holy Spirit, as we saw in Genesis 1, 00:32:56.359 --> 00:33:02.720 recreates you and enables you to participate in the life of God. 00:33:02.720 --> 00:33:10.539 So, I'm going to give a few clarifications here. 00:33:13.600 --> 00:33:15.220 Or implications, I suppose. 00:33:17.880 --> 00:33:20.220 Supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit. 00:33:21.860 --> 00:33:23.180 I'm just going to... 00:33:23.180 --> 00:33:24.839 That deserves a whole sermon in itself. 00:33:24.839 --> 00:33:28.619 But I'm just going to simply say, if it's not focused on knowing Christ 00:33:28.619 --> 00:33:31.959 and listening to what he says in Scripture, it's nothing. 00:33:32.179 --> 00:33:33.500 It's not true worship. 00:33:38.399 --> 00:33:40.740 What about do we come here to worship? 00:33:42.119 --> 00:33:43.059 Well, of course. 00:33:43.199 --> 00:33:44.459 We are worshipping here together. 00:33:45.720 --> 00:33:49.079 If we're listening and if we're engaging, if we're singing, 00:33:49.079 --> 00:33:53.859 and if our hearts and minds are engaged, then yes, we are worshipping. 00:33:54.819 --> 00:33:57.599 But it didn't start when Bo started the service. 00:33:58.419 --> 00:34:02.919 It's not going to end, or shouldn't, when we sing the final song. 00:34:04.779 --> 00:34:08.779 Participating in this divine life, drinking from the fountain of living water, 00:34:08.880 --> 00:34:11.239 is what we always should be doing, whatever we're doing. 00:34:11.440 --> 00:34:14.019 Whether you eat or drink, do it for the glory of God, 00:34:14.099 --> 00:34:17.139 giving thanks to God the Father through the Son. 00:34:19.079 --> 00:34:25.299 We all worship, always participating in this divine life. 00:34:27.779 --> 00:34:32.900 Third clarification, does spirit and truth mean that this is somehow disembodied, 00:34:33.460 --> 00:34:35.299 a matter of the mind, of the emotions? 00:34:35.880 --> 00:34:39.940 And I think this is where Romans 12, 1-3 is really, really helpful. 00:34:40.900 --> 00:34:45.299 What's our response to being saved from idols and the death they bring 00:34:45.300 --> 00:34:49.519 to being brought into communion with Father, Son and Holy Spirit? 00:34:50.340 --> 00:34:53.019 Here's how we respond to amazing grace. 00:34:53.900 --> 00:34:57.600 I appeal to you, therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, 00:34:58.060 --> 00:35:01.380 to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, 00:35:01.580 --> 00:35:06.940 holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 00:35:06.940 --> 00:35:12.679 All that you are, your emotions, your mind, everything you do, 00:35:13.519 --> 00:35:15.500 it's all spiritual worship. 00:35:15.639 --> 00:35:18.940 It's participating in this divine life. 00:35:21.360 --> 00:35:27.700 We worship now by faith, but when Christ returns, we will worship by sight. 00:35:27.699 --> 00:35:34.439 This is where I wonder if you find God useful or beautiful, 00:35:34.599 --> 00:35:36.899 because the picture of heaven, our hope, 00:35:39.219 --> 00:35:43.659 Revelation describes it as, I'm not sure if this is literal or not, 00:35:43.739 --> 00:35:46.039 but as just constant singing. 00:35:46.039 --> 00:35:54.199 You're going to be purified so that you can enjoy God's presence. 00:35:54.360 --> 00:35:59.380 Your body is going to be made whole so that you can rejoice in God properly. 00:35:59.599 --> 00:36:03.579 Nothing will get in the way of you enjoying Jesus because he's there. 00:36:04.000 --> 00:36:05.420 Nothing will get in the way of it. 00:36:06.099 --> 00:36:07.099 It's a picture of worship. 00:36:10.420 --> 00:36:12.119 Everyone thinks they hope in heaven, 00:36:12.119 --> 00:36:16.659 but they're just hoping in no more sickness and stuff. 00:36:17.259 --> 00:36:18.699 But if you see heaven as worship, 00:36:19.699 --> 00:36:20.920 does that excite you? 00:36:27.960 --> 00:36:29.599 Let me finish by asking this question. 00:36:29.739 --> 00:36:32.619 How can you and I become a true worshipper? 00:36:35.059 --> 00:36:39.559 Because scripture is saying that you can't worship God on your own 00:36:39.559 --> 00:36:41.619 because our hearts are idol factories, 00:36:41.799 --> 00:36:43.559 as we saw in the history of Israel. 00:36:45.759 --> 00:36:51.079 Even though the Samaritan woman tried to avoid Jesus speaking into her heart, 00:36:51.219 --> 00:36:52.519 he kept pursuing her. 00:36:53.559 --> 00:36:55.759 And so too does the Father in verse 23. 00:36:56.519 --> 00:36:59.019 The Father is seeking such people. 00:37:00.880 --> 00:37:03.320 And she seems to yield to his pursuit. 00:37:04.440 --> 00:37:06.019 I know when the Messiah comes, 00:37:06.599 --> 00:37:07.840 he will tell us all things. 00:37:07.840 --> 00:37:15.300 I who speak to you am he. 00:37:20.740 --> 00:37:25.920 What a personal invitation. 00:37:29.920 --> 00:37:33.980 Their words, I can't quite grasp why they're so significant. 00:37:34.640 --> 00:37:37.420 But I who speak to you am he. 00:37:37.840 --> 00:37:42.519 How can the Lord accept a shame-filled, 00:37:43.820 --> 00:37:47.280 idolatrous, ignorant woman? 00:37:48.720 --> 00:37:52.220 How can the Lord accept a self-righteous, 00:37:53.000 --> 00:37:55.380 idolatrous man named Nicodemus? 00:37:55.380 --> 00:37:58.960 Because the one who speaks, 00:38:00.180 --> 00:38:02.760 he perfectly represents the Father. 00:38:02.760 --> 00:38:06.920 He lived that life of worship that you and I haven't lived. 00:38:07.780 --> 00:38:10.619 Fully loving and trusting and obeying the Father, 00:38:10.720 --> 00:38:11.780 even through death. 00:38:12.740 --> 00:38:14.440 And he died for our idolatry, 00:38:14.840 --> 00:38:19.000 and he is personally inviting us into his divine life. 00:38:19.000 --> 00:38:19.619 Are you hearing him? 00:38:19.619 --> 00:38:21.619 Are you hearing him? 00:38:21.699 --> 00:38:23.679 Like, I don't care if you hear me or not, 00:38:23.880 --> 00:38:26.500 but are you hearing him in his word? 00:38:28.699 --> 00:38:32.000 I who speak to you am he. 00:38:32.239 --> 00:38:34.340 I am the fountain of living water. 00:38:34.340 --> 00:38:40.960 If you evaluate Jesus according to his usefulness, 00:38:41.480 --> 00:38:42.280 some other good, 00:38:44.220 --> 00:38:48.760 either you'll dive into religious things to get blessings from him, 00:38:49.180 --> 00:38:49.940 or you'll go, 00:38:50.140 --> 00:38:51.059 not useful. 00:38:52.300 --> 00:38:55.340 I can get on with life and worship other things. 00:38:55.340 --> 00:38:56.140 Thank you very much. 00:38:57.460 --> 00:38:58.960 Both are empty cisterns. 00:39:00.720 --> 00:39:01.140 But, 00:39:01.380 --> 00:39:05.820 if you hear his offer of entering his divine life, 00:39:05.920 --> 00:39:06.620 knowing the Father, 00:39:07.660 --> 00:39:08.980 by focusing on the Son, 00:39:09.720 --> 00:39:11.480 being made new by the Spirit, 00:39:13.120 --> 00:39:14.640 then you will see him as beautiful. 00:39:15.700 --> 00:39:17.780 Worship isn't a means to some other ends. 00:39:18.500 --> 00:39:19.559 Worship is the goal. 00:39:20.740 --> 00:39:22.860 It's how you enjoy him. 00:39:25.340 --> 00:39:26.760 He is your life. 00:39:30.680 --> 00:39:31.840 We all worship. 00:39:32.800 --> 00:39:35.120 We all look to something for our thirst, 00:39:35.220 --> 00:39:36.100 and the question is, 00:39:37.059 --> 00:39:41.600 will you drink deeply from this fountain of living water? 00:39:42.539 --> 00:39:43.140 Let me pray. 00:39:43.140 --> 00:39:43.900 Let me pray. 00:39:55.340 --> 00:39:58.180 Lord, 00:39:58.240 --> 00:40:04.079 for those of us who are satisfied in created things right now, 00:40:04.160 --> 00:40:09.000 I pray that you would break our idols, 00:40:09.220 --> 00:40:12.500 so that you might fill in us our thirst again, 00:40:13.180 --> 00:40:17.019 so that we would come to you for eternal life. 00:40:17.019 --> 00:40:24.880 And I pray that you would fill us with yourself. 00:40:25.179 --> 00:40:31.780 I pray that you would help us have a view of worship as enjoying you 00:40:31.780 --> 00:40:34.780 and not just using you to get at other things. 00:40:34.780 --> 00:40:40.060 And I pray that for those of us who know you, 00:40:40.300 --> 00:40:52.720 that you would give us such a high view of being able to worship divinely, 00:40:53.360 --> 00:40:56.320 knowing Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all the time. 00:40:56.320 --> 00:41:01.800 Please help us come to you again and again and again constantly. 00:41:02.600 --> 00:41:03.780 In Jesus' name I pray. 00:41:04.039 --> 00:41:04.280 Amen.