TEXT:
JOHN 4:3-24
The
topic will be considered under the following sub-headings:
Meaning
Forewords
Jesus
in the passage
Features
of worship in the spirit
Wrong
perceptions about worship
Meaning
Sacha
in Hebrew means worship
Ruach
in same language means spirit
When
put together it means worship spirit /spirit worship better still worship that
is done in the spirit.
Foreword
Ø We were created for worship: Rev 4:11
says thou art worthy O Lord to receive glory and honour and power for thou hast
created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
We were created to worship God, our ushering, teaching, singing, pastoring are
all activities that should be geared towards the worship of God. Anything
outside the worship of God is living out of radar and scope/essence.
Ø God calls for our worship: Psalm
150:6 says let everything that has breadth praise the Lord! Praise ye the Lord.
God did not only create us for worship but demands we worship Him, little He
said in Luke 19:40 which says And He
answered and said unto them I tell you that if these(talking to some human
beings) should hold their peace the stone would cry out. One only looks for
alternatives for what one needs hence the speech and Jesus indirectly telling
the woman at the well GIVE ME A DRINK and He is telling us same today.
Ø Only God is worthy of our worship: Act
14:14-15a says which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of( a plot to
have sacrifice done unto them for God raising a man who had been cripple from
birth) they rent their clothes and ran in among the people crying out and
saying Sirs why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you. Only
God deserves and commands our worship, humans deserves courtesy not worship.
God does not share His glory neither His praise
Ø Not all worship are in the spirit: if
this were not so the statement of Christ would have been invalid John 4:24 which says God is spirit and
they that will worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth. Here are
some of the worship that are not in the spirit:
(a)
Worship that is just on the lips Matt
15:8, Is 29:13 which says this people
draw unto me with their mouth and honoureth me with their lips but their heart
is far from me.
(b) Worship
that doesn’t have Jesus at the Centre.
(c) Worship
by the gentiles: Prov. 15:8 says the
sacrifices (physical sacrifice being Old Testament way of worship) of the wicked is an abomination unto the
Lord. 2 Tim 2:19 says nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having
this seal the Lord KNOWETH THEM THAT ARE HIS. John 10:27 says my sheep hear my
voice and I know them. Any worship from someone not saved and broken is
just showmanship, can’t be in the spirit because the spirit is given to those
who belong to the family of Jesus not strangers.
Jesus
in the passage
Ø He
was in transit: verse 3 left Judea enroute Galilee but wasn’t only concerned
about His journey or the assignments attached to His destination He wasn’t too
busy for others, He was led and submitted to the Spirit of God.
Ø He
didn’t discriminate: even as God the all-knowing, knowing the past of the
woman, He interacted (as against the norm) and presented the gospel to her
verse 7 & 10.
Ø He
was wearied and hungry: verse 6, 31 even in this state He was still focused on
His father’s business, the scriptures in tandem with this says 2 Cor 12:9a says and he said unto me my
grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.
He practically placed the flesh under control
Ø He
ministered to her: verse 10 & 16.
Features
of worship done in the spirit
Ø It
starts with the knowledge of God: verse 10, John 4:24 says God is spirit…. we can’t worship well what we do not
know or in the spirit if we do not know God.
Ø A
thirst /yielding and submission is required :verse 15
Ø It
is the only form of worship that is acceptable by God: verse 24.
Ø It
is powered by God. Verse 24.
Ø It
is the birthplace of miracles. 4:14.
Perceptions
about worship
Ø Well
is deep: verse 11 some are of the opinion that worship that is in the spirit is
for angels and beyond human comprehension or capacity. a line in CACGHB 76 in
the Yoruba language corrects this stance where it says be lawa eda re niwon
talase ao ma juba re ao ma yin o meaning also we human within our capacity we
will worship and praise you.
Ø Nothing
to draw: like the Samaritan woman thinking Living water can come out of
physical well in verse 11 some are also of the opinion that sophisticated
temple, musical notations or instrumentation or specially made robe are
required for a worship in the spirit, A broken heart based on the knowledge of
both who God is, what He has done and a connected spirit even in the lowest of
places can worship in the spirit.
Ø Art
thou greater than our fathers: verse 12, the kind of worship that is our
concern which deals with eulogizing God with songs, especially that which is
done in the spirit is a spiritual exercise and not subjected to our man made
process and proceedings which some of us uphold even above the Spirit which is
God and even the word of God which is God himself. God is clearly not an author
of confusion but His Spirit is at the helms of the affairs that concerns
worship in the spirit and not our laws.
SHALOM.
### 1 Cor 13:9 for we know in part
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