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Sermon Notes: notes.cornerstonesj.org
The Lost Art of Worship
Can we stand together and sing? Your name,
O God, your name will be revered by children yet to come.
As generations sing your wonders through and through, your strong and mighty deeds are always near.
O God most high, your name will be revered.
How great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised.
How great is the Lord our God. How great is the
Lord, and greatly to be praised.
Your gracious hand provides for all who live and breathe.
Your mercy runs to fight the helpless and the weak.
When we call out to you, you hear our cries, and all our needs are fulfilled.
Forever without end, creation will rejoice.
When works of wicked men you finally destroy, your power will proclaim till Christ descends, and you will reign forever without end.
How great is the Lord our
God. How great is the
Lord, and greatly to be praised. He is greatly to be praised this morning, isn't he?
Through the rain and through the sunshine, let's pray together. Lord, we come to you, Lord, to worship you in spirit and in truth for everything that you have done.
We come before your table in just a few minutes, Lord, knowing that it is only by the cross that you set us free.
We lift our voices to you this morning for everything that you have done. See, on a hill of Calvary, my
Savior bled for me, my Jesus set me free.
Look at the wounds that give me life, grace flowing from His side, no greater sacrifice.
What He's done, what He's done, all the glory and the honor to the
Son. My sins are forgiven, my future is heaven.
I praise God for what He's done.
Sing for the freedom He has won, even death is dead and done,
His life has overcome. Speak, say the name above all names, over every broken place,
He is risen from the grave. What He's done, what
He's done, all the glory and the honor to the
Now on a throne of majesty, the
Father's will complete, He reigns in victory.
Sing hallelujah to the King, He is worthy to receive all the worship we can bring.
I praise God for what
He's done. Lord, we are thankful for what you've done for us.
You are an amazing God, Lord Jesus. We come before you singing these songs, not just as words, but Lord, from deep inside of our hearts.
We want to introduce a new song to everyone this morning. On that day, we will see
Him shining brighter than the sun. This song is On That Day.
I believe in Christ, risen from the dead.
He now reigns victorious, His kingdom knows no end.
Through His resurrection, death has lost its hold.
I know on that final day, I'll rise as Jesus rose.
On that day, we will see You shining brighter than the sun.
On that day, we will know You as we lift our voice as one.
Till that day, we will praise You for Your never -ending grace.
And we will keep on singing on that glorious day.
What a blessed hope, the hope tired and worn.
We will spend eternity around our Savior's throne.
Though we grieve our losses, we grieve not in vain.
For we know our crown of glory waits beyond the grave.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah, what a day it will be.
For at home with You, my joy is complete. As I run into Your arms open wide,
I will see My Father who is waiting for me.
Hallelujah, what a day it will be.
My Father who is waiting for me.
We will praise You for Your never -ending grace. And we will keep on singing on that glorious day.
And we'll keep on singing on that glorious day.
You may be seated. Celebrate the
Lord's Table today, but having been here at the first service, I just was kind of taken by the fact that both the songs and the preaching, no spoilers, but the preaching that you're going to hear after this, just like so like we're together with with celebrating the
Lord's Table today. So you're in for a treat. Our God is a holy
God. Amen. But that's kind of bad news for us, isn't it? Because a holy
God can't tolerate the presence of sin. And we are a sinful people. We sin every day.
It's in our nature as sinful men. Paul says in Romans 6 .23, For the wages of sin is death.
And when I read that, I tend to read that the wages of my sin is death.
This is personal and God is serious about sin. And we should be too. This is why the sacrificial system was established to provide blood payment for sin.
In Hebrews 9 .22, it says, Indeed, under the law, almost everything is purified with blood.
And without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin. So blood was necessary.
Sacrifice was necessary. This is serious. But the sacrifice of animals was only temporary.
This was a foreshadowing of the once -for -all sacrifice for our sins that was to come.
You see, God made a plan to reconcile us to him. He loved us so much that he sent his son into the world to step into time and take the punishment that we deserve.
He knew that only a perfect, unblemished, sinless man could die for the sins of the world.
He knew that only Jesus could pay that sin. And only Jesus could live that perfect, sinless life.
Jesus came and loved us so much that he came, condescended, took on flesh, and planned to sacrifice himself for our sins.
Being God, he knew that he would suffer unimaginable pain.
Being a man, he wasn't exempted from that pain. But being God, he knew ahead of time that that was what he would suffer.
We know he knew this because in the Garden of Gethsemane, he asked
God if there was any other way, God the Father, if there was any other way that this could be done.
He sweat drops of blood. He was in agony over what was to come. But knowing what awaited him, he still submitted to the
Father's will and went to the cross willingly. I left out the second part of Romans 6 .23,
which says, For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord. So this is good news. We have a hope. This is why we celebrate the
Lord's table. This is why we remember what he did for us. We remember the love of our Savior, but we also remember the price of our salvation.
The weight of that. And so we come to this table confessing our sins to God.
Why don't we bow our heads and do that now? We come to this table remembering your sacrifice.
Remembering that you loved us so much that you sent your son to die on the cross for us. And we thank you for doing that,
God. For stepping into time, for providing us a way to be reconciled to you. We come today,
God, to remember that sacrifice. In Christ's name, amen. If the guys could come down.
When Jesus was in the upper room with his disciples, he said, this is my body broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me.
Likewise, Jesus took the cup and he said, this is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.
Lord, we thank you so much again for the sacrifice that you paid, God. That we have a way to be reconciled to you, to be washed clean of our sins.
And we just ask that you would continue to point us to you in our day -to -day lives,
God. That we would continually confess our sins to you and be washed clean. In Christ's name
I pray, amen. Let's pray.
Thank you, God, for the indescribable gift. God, that you would give your one and only son.
And not for the sake of those who were worthy, but for enemies whom you loved.
For us, Lord, thank you so much for the gift of Jesus Christ on the cross.
His body broken and his blood shed. So that we could be forgiven and have eternal life.
Thank you, God, for this gift. Lord, thank you for your word to us this morning.
And we pray that you would open this word to us like bread and feed our souls. And Lord, teach us to bring an offering to you.
Teach us to worship you in spirit and in truth. Lord, we see the culture around us.
Descending deeper and deeper into darkness and vile hatred for you.
And yet, God, you have called us out into this place to be worshipers. Teach us how to worship you,
Lord. Come and join us in this place by your Holy Spirit. That we would know you.
And worship you from the heart. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. A very unique thing happened in Northampton, Massachusetts.
At the end of the year 1734 and into 1735, all the way through the summer of that year.
There was a church in Northampton, pastored by Jonathan Edwards, that had about 600 members.
But not all of those who gathered there on a Sunday were saved. Even as I would suspect that there are people here today, in this place that is
Cornerstone Church, that have not yet experienced a new birth. But that winter, and then through the summer of 1735, there was a great revival.
And the Spirit came and moved in the hearts of the people and in the town, such that 300 people came to Saving Faith in a six -month period of time.
This was the first fire of the Great Awakening. Jonathan Edwards, the pastor, wrote a letter about it to a friend.
And it's not published, but now since has been published. May 30th, 1735.
He wrote these words about what he was seeing. And as you hear these words, think about them.
Is this something you would love to see right here? Right in Mount Laurel, New Jersey. He said,
And experimental religion. And those that had the greatest conceit of their own reason.
The highest families in the town, and the oldest persons in the town. And many little children were affected remarkably.
No one family that I know of, and scarcely a person, has been exempt.
He describes the Great Awakening as touching everyone in the town.
Now, the church totally different for this six -month period. Well, he wrote a book about this that was published in 1737.
Puritans are known for long titles, so brace yourself. It was entitled, A Faithful Narrative of the
Surprising Work of God in the Conversion of Many Hundreds of Souls in Northampton and the
Neighboring Towns and Villages of New Hampshire in New England. It's come to be known as A Faithful Narrative, and it's never been out of print since Edwards wrote the book.
He sent it to Isaac Watts in England. Maybe some of you know him from the hymns that he wrote, like When I Survey the
Wondrous Cross. Isaac Watts then published it, and because of this example that they had in Northampton, there were similar revivals that popped up in England, and then all throughout
America. Did you know that it even touched New Jersey? In 1737, a great revival broke out in what is now
Lawrenceville. It used to be called Maidenhead. Anybody know where it is? About 30 minutes from here near Princeton, there was a massive revival under the preaching of one
Gilbert Tennant in 1737, and also in other parts of this area under Pastor Cross and William Tennant and another one whose name escapes me.
But whose Freelinghauser, that was a strange name. But there were great revivals happening here in New Jersey.
When Edwards wrote the book A Faithful Narrative, he gives two examples of what this looked like in real lives.
The first was of a young adult named Abigail Hutchison. She had always been sickly, and she kind of blamed
God about it. Kind of bitter about how she couldn't participate with her friends and a number of things.
But in the revival, her heart came so to rest in sovereignty that she delighted in whatever
God would give her. And during that year of the revival, she slowly wasted away and died. But most of the town met with her and saw that she maintained a perfect peace and joy, even in death as a young person.
The second example that Edwards gives was of Phoebe Bartlett. All of four years old.
This four -year -old girl began to become very troubled in her soul about the state of her salvation, and she worried about going to hell.
And so daily she would go into her prayer closet and begin to cry out to God and confess sin, but still she felt the weight of her sinfulness, and she feared going to hell.
Her parents became very concerned because their daughter was so disturbed. One day she came out of that closet where she had been praying, and she was weeping hysterically, and her mother tried to comfort her, but she could not be consoled.
She was so disturbed by the weight of her own sin. The very next day, she went back into that prayer closet and emerged a different person, a four -year -old.
And yet the weight of her sin had been lifted off of her, and she came to rest in grace that Jesus died, not just for the sins of the world, but for her,
Phoebe Bartlett. And this four -year -old was transformed, and the entire town noticed it.
She became so joyful, and she loved the things of God. And she wasn't looking to get out of church so she could make it to the
Eagles game. She was eager to hear the pastor preach at four years old.
This is recounted in A Faithful Narrative. It's a short book. You can just Google it and read it online. It is encouraging to see what
God can do through revival. Now my question to you, church, why would we need revival?
It's because we are prone to wander, prone to leave the
God we love. Even those who have known Christ and worshipped Him for years are prone to grow tired and weary and maybe dry and stale in worship.
And worship can become like going through the motions, rather than heartfelt rejoicing.
But true worship has two elements. It comes,
I should say, from two places. One is having felt the weight of your sin.
When you have felt the burden of sin, and known yourself to be a sinner in the hands of an angry
God. And then to be relieved of that burden. Like Christian in the
Pilgrim's Progress, who on a journey always wore a backpack that weighed him down until he saw the cross and climbing that mountain, he felt the backpack fall off of his back.
The weight released and he was free. And he ran to the cross. And he was free.
So having felt the burden of sin, and then the release from judgment, the grace of God washing over, this is what inspires worship.
Here's how Edwards described it in a faithful narrative. Commonly, the first thing that appears is a conviction of the justice of God in condemnation.
In a sense of their own exceeding sinfulness and the vileness of their performances.
That's the first thing. Conviction. The second thing. There is in them a holy repose of soul in God through Christ.
And a secret disposition to fear and love him. The hope of blessing from him.
It was very wonderful to see after what manner person's affections were sometimes moved.
And moved upon when God did, as it were, suddenly open their eyes and let it into their minds a sense of the greatness of his grace and the fullness of Christ and his readiness to save who were before broken with apprehensions of divine wrath and sunk into an abyss under a sense of guilt which they were ready to think was beyond the mercy of God.
Their joyful surprise has caused their hearts so to leap so that they have been ready to break forth into laughter.
See, this is worship now. Having known the weight, the conviction of sin and then to have that lifted off of their back to feel grace.
It says they laughed and tears often at the same time issuing like a flood and intermingling, weeping.
Sometimes they haven't been able to forbear crying out with a loud voice expressing their great admiration.
Some with a view of the glory of God's sovereignty and the exercises of his grace as surprised the soul with such sweetness as to produce the same effects.
Jonathan Edwards in a faithful narrative. What he saw during the great awakening were hearts transformed alive from the inside.
Emotion on the face and crying out. It came from having encountered the risen
Christ. Revival is necessary because we drift from our first love.
Gone are the tears. Silent is the laughter. No loud cries of joy.
Singing is the moving of lips. Worship has dried up.
We have lost our first love. This is why revival is necessary when a
Christian who has been forgiven of sin no longer feels the weight of that sin or the release of grace.
We lose our first love and revival is necessary. Turn with me if you will to John chapter 4.
Here we study 16 through 26. And here we have a people, the Samaritans who once knew true worship under King Solomon but lost genuine worship.
Here we have a Samaritan, one woman, an individual soul who encounters the
Messiah and learns to worship and goes forth with a heart filled with living water and telling everyone that she knows.
Let's read it. John chapter 4 verses 16 to 26.
This is the revival of one which will lead to the revival of an entire town.
We'll see that next week. Jesus said to her, Go, call your husband and come here.
The woman answered him, I have no husband. Jesus said to her, You are right in saying
I have no husband for you have had five husbands and the one you now have is not your husband.
What you have said is true. The woman said to him,
Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.
Jesus said to her, Believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the father.
You worship what you do not know. We worship what we know for salvation is from the
Jews. But the hour is coming and is now here when the true worshipers will worship the father in spirit and truth for the father is seeking such people to worship him.
God is spirit and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. The woman said to him,
I know that Messiah is coming he who is called Christ. When he comes, he will tell us all things.
Jesus said to her, I who speak to you am he. Now you'll notice in the passage that we read the word worship or worshiped plural,
I mean what is that past tense or worshiper the one who worships this occurs 10 times from verses 19 to 24.
The word in the Greek is proskuneo and it means to prostrate oneself and then it comes to the idea of worshiping that one would surrender or lay down before and adore another.
This is the humble submission the posture of being prostrate before God. The term worship and so our text today teaches us the lost art of worship.
The Samaritans had lost worship as we will see but this one woman is shown the way.
So what is the way to genuine worship? I know that no one here would want to be content to come and go through the motions and do what we do every
Sunday morning to come to a place and sing and listen and go home and have checked the box to go about our day.
I'm sure no genuine believer desires that. We want something more. So what is the real thing?
What is worship? What does God require of us to bring to him?
The first thing is confession. Confession in the
English means speak with con with fashion speak. In the
Greek it's homo legoon. Homo means same and to speak come from lego to speak.
It means to say the same thing to agree. The entry point of worship is to agree with the
God who speaks. And listen, a worshiper cannot come into the presence of a holy
God in sin. He must be cleansed.
He must be forgiven. This is not something we can do for ourselves. It is something that God alone can do to offer us forgiveness.
Our part and the starting point of worship is to come in agreement with God about our sin.
Now look at the text in chapter 4 verse 16. The woman at the well has been told that Jesus has living water.
And she's been confused by this because she only knows physical water. How would you get living water?
You don't even have anything to draw water from Jacob's well. And Jesus explains that he has a living water that's different than this.
And so she in verse 15 says, Sir, give me the water. Now everybody here that's thirsty for a drink of water.
Where do you get it? The first place is confession. It seems abrupt. Look at verse 16.
Jesus said to her, Go call your husband and come here.
It's kind of a non sequitur from what's been said before. Why does he tell her go get your husband?
Well the what unfolds from here explains the issue and that is what?
She's had five husbands and the man that she is now sleeping with is not her husband.
Sexual sin. The woman will agree. Notice she does not protest but she agrees because in verse 19 the woman said to him,
Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. You are speaking for God.
I'm speaking with you. I'm agreeing with you. I do not deny. I own this.
I confess it and she moves on from there. But this is the starting point to agree with God about our sin.
Confession. Confession. So here we have the confession of the
Samaritan woman. Corrie ten Boom was just a wonderful woman of God.
A Christian that rescued Jewish people in the Holocaust. But when she was young she had an encounter with her father that she tells about in the book where he handled a question from her very well.
She writes in The Hiding Place which is her book about rescuing the
Jews. She says sex I was pretty sure meant whether you were a boy or a girl.
Even that is not so common knowledge nowadays is it? But Corrie ten
Boom said well sex is whether you're a boy or girl and sin made
God very angry. But what the two together meant I could not imagine. And so seated next to father in the train compartment
I suddenly asked father what is sex sin? He turned to look at me as he always did when answering a question but to my surprise he said nothing.
At last he stood up lifted his traveling case from the rack over our heads and set it on the floor.
Will you carry it off the train Corrie? He said. I stood up and tugged it.
It was crammed with watches and spare parts he had purchased that morning. It is too heavy
I said. Yes he said. And it would be a pretty poor father who would ask this little girl to ask his little girl to carry such a load.
It's the same way Corrie with knowledge. Some knowledge is too heavy for children.
When you are older and stronger you can bear it for now you must trust me to carry it for you.
That's the wisdom of a Christian father but we live in a perverted culture without wisdom and more and more it is the cultures idea to introduce children as young as kindergarten to sexual sin.
And even to bring that into public schools where they are able to do. And not only in the school system but on the television the commercials that we see on the internet the images that are available to children and adults.
It is too heavy to bear. Samaria had become like America is now.
Having departed from the law of God following after idols it was a culture washed in sexual perversion and sexual sin.
And this woman this dear Samaritan woman had been caught up in sexual sin for the course of her life.
Jesus had living water for her but she could not experience that life that joy that inner worship until she brought her sin to him.
And the first step of that is agreeing and so it is with you there are some here today who have been caught up in sexual sin and maybe even still genuine worship requires agreeing with God not with the culture about sin.
Our culture will say every individual in this place is free to define morality for themselves.
Each person is their own moral judge defining right and wrong. But the truth is that God's prophetic word gives us the definition of morality.
Christian ethics and of what is right and what is wrong. The starting point of genuine worship is to finally agree with God about what is true.
What does God say about sexual sin? He defines sex as a gift from him from the father of lights like all good gifts.
That he gives for a man and a woman in marriage. And this is his design and everything outside of that boundary is sexual sin.
Corrie Ten Boom was too young to understand that as a child. And she shouldn't even be exposed to it as her father understood.
But we live in a culture that has moved so far from the mark so far from the standard that it is a wash in sexual sin.
And so we wonder why churches are dead. We wonder why there's no power in pulpits.
There's no ability to live and worship and to feel to enjoy to have a heart that feels
God and knows him and sings in spirit and truth. It must begin with confession.
When the church when the individual like this Samaritan woman agrees with God that is the entryway to worship.
Now the second thing is dedication. Worship is what we bring to God.
And we must bring him our body and our heart and our mind and our strength and our time.
When you gathered here this morning you made the decision to come. But it is not a vain or meaningless decision.
It is the bringing of yourself to worship God. To sing to him and to hear.
Listening to the word is an act of worship. Taking communion is worship. Singing to him is worship.
It is what we dedicate to him. So notice in the text chapter 4 verses 19 and following.
The woman said to him Sir I perceive that you are a prophet.
Our fathers worshipped on this mountain but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.
Jesus said to her Woman believe me the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the father.
Now understand that Jesus' comment here is a drastic change from the way things were.
There is a massive change in the dispensations as some would say. From one era or one economy of how
God was dealing with people to something completely different. Turn with me in your Bibles to 2 Chronicles chapter 5.
We're going to spend about 5 or 10 minutes in Chronicles here to set the background for the worship of the
North and the South in Israel. 2
Chronicles chapter 5 will pick up in verses 13 and 14
David had in his heart to build a temple in Jerusalem but because he was a man of bloodshed
God said no it will be your son. And so Solomon comes along and he builds a temple for God.
It was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It was a marvelous structure. And in chapter 5 2
Chronicles verses 13 and 14 we learn about what worship looked like in that pure place being dedicated.
Now understand Solomon would kneel on a five foot high platform in front of all of Israel and call to God and offer this temple to him.
It was a dedication of the temple. Verses 13 And it was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the
Lord. And when the song was raised with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments in praise to the
Lord pause right there worship should involve drums and electric guitar and all kinds of musical instruments and singers who focus on the glory of God I love that when
Michael picks songs he chooses songs that are focused on the glory of God and on the
Son of God who shines brighter than the sun as we sang this morning.
This is what's happening here. A group is leading worship but all of Israel is singing and what do they sing?
Verse 13 For he is good for his steadfast love endures forever.
Now when genuine worship like this takes place what happens? The house the house of the
Lord was filled with a cloud so that the priest could not stand to minister because of the cloud for the glory of the
Lord filled the house of God. Wouldn't that have been awesome to have been there? Well the glory of God can come into the individual soul.
We're not going to see a physical manifestation like that contra the dust in the vents coming from Bethel Church.
We're not looking for the same physical manifestation but we're looking for glory in the heart as we're about to learn.
Look at 2 Chronicles chapter 6 verse 20.
I want you to see the point that this place this temple that Solomon built was consecrated and dedicated as a unique and special place of worship.
Now did Solomon think that God could be contained in a temple? 2
Chronicles 6 verse 18 But will God indeed dwell with man on the earth? Behold heaven in the highest heaven cannot contain you how much less this house that I have built.
Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea O Lord my God listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you that your eyes may be opened day and night toward this house the place where you have promised to set your name that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers towards this place and listen to the pleas of your servant and of your people
Israel when they pray toward this place and listen from heaven your dwelling place and when you hear forgive.
So the temple is uniquely dedicated and consecrated as the place where Israel goes to meet with God.
Turn with me to chapter 7 verse 14 This is a place of revival.
When Israel begins to fall away from genuine worship this is where you go to get back.
Somebody here has been drifting from their first love and you want to know where to get back? It's not going to be the temple but there is a place.
It says in verse 14 If my people who are called by my name humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then
I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Look at verse 15 of chapter 7
Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made where?
In this place. When Israel would come and repent and humble themselves and repent of their sin and pray and seek his face at the temple he would meet with them.
Chapter 8 verse 11 We're almost done. Now notice that Solomon began to attach too much weight to the physical location without paying due regard to his own heart.
2 Chronicles 8 verse 11 Solomon brought Pharaoh's daughter time out sexual sin marrying a pagan princess in order to make peace with Egypt.
Trusting in man rather than trusting in God. Adding wives to himself rather than as God designed in the garden.
Genesis 2 verse 21 to 25 One man and one woman one flesh. So in chapter 8 verses 11
Solomon brought Pharaoh's daughter up from the city of David to the house that he had built for her.
For he said what? Listen. He thinks it's all about the place.
My wife shall not live in the house of David king of Israel. For the places to which the ark of the
Lord has come are holy. So his reasoning is hey
I can bring this wife from Egypt build her her own house away from the holy things of Israel and on the side have a
Egyptian wife but keep the place holy. We would never do such a thing would we?
Consecrate a certain part of our lives a compartment as holy unto the Lord on Sunday morning to come consecrate a place for him and at other times on the side engage in sexual sin.
It says in verse 11 My wife shall not live in the house of David king of Israel for the places to which the ark of the
Lord has come are holy. Solomon was beginning to miss the point.
Holiness is not so much a place. Holiness is the dedication of his heart when he was kneeling before God and worshiping
God and in awe of God and dedicating the temple. That was what pleased
God. Chapter 7 verse 14 it was the humbling the seeking the praying and so we see this unravel.
In chapter 9 things are looking great. The queen of Sheba comes and Israel because they have the temple and all of the favor of God they're the envy of the nations.
Chapter 10 though Solomon dies and Rehoboam comes in the place of his father.
And the old men give him wise counsel. Guys you should listen to people older than yourselves. The old men give counsel to say you need to be gracious in how you deal with the people.
You're a new king. But his young buddies said you need to be tough and you need to come down harder than Solomon.
And so Rehoboam introduces himself to Israel and he says my little finger is thicker than my father's thighs.
Whoa. And so he goes on to say whereas my father laid on you a heavy yoke
I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips
I will discipline you with scorpions. How do you think that worked out? The northern kingdom said we out.
They were gone. The north said we're done. And Benjamin and Judah stayed with Rehoboam but the kingdom was divided north from south.
Now here's what comes from that and I told you we're almost done. Chapter 11 verses 13 to 16 and we'll go back to John after that.
After this breaking apart of the kingdom I want you to see that the north embraced pagan idolatry but the south stayed with genuine worship of Yahweh.
The true worship was in Jerusalem at the temple but the north created an idolatry.
Here's what it says. 2 Chronicles 11 13 to 16 And the priests and the
Levites who were in all Israel presented themselves to him from all places where they lived.
For the Levites left their common lands and their holdings and came to Judah and Jerusalem because Jeroboam that's the guy who led the north and his sons cast them out from serving as priests of the
Lord. Verse 15 And he appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat idols that sounds bad and for the calves that he had made and those who had set their hearts to seek the
Lord God of Israel came after them from all the tribes of Israel to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the
Lord the God of their fathers. Now we need to understand this as we go back now to John chapter 4.
We need to understand that the north had abandoned Yahweh and the true worship in favor of goat idols and calves.
They were making golden calves just like in the days of Moses when they made a golden calf and Moses came down from the mountain and smashed the tablets.
What are you doing? They were always making goat idols. Why? Because that was the idol of the nations.
They were mimicking other nations around them. So it was standard idolatry up on the high places.
This was happening on Mount Gerizim and all the mountains of the north. Look again
John chapter 4 verse 20. So this is why
Jesus says our fathers worshipped on this mountain no this is a woman sorry our fathers worshipped on this mountain but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.
Time out. I keep saying time out. Is this objective truth or is this just subjectivity?
Hey if you want to worship on this mountain you could be a Muslim and worship in Mecca you could be a
Jew in Jerusalem you could be a Buddhist in India you could be a
Christian in America it's all subjectivity. You worship wherever you worship and all roads lead to God.
What does Jesus say? Verse 21 Woman believe me the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the
Father. You worship what you do not know we worship what we know for salvation is from the
Jews. The true worship was in Jerusalem so what's so earth shattering about what
Jesus says? He's changing everything. You used to have to go to Jerusalem and all true
Israelites would do that even if they're from the north. Go to Jerusalem to worship God but it says here in my
Bible chapter 4 verse 21 Woman believe me the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem did you catch that?
Nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. Jesus foretold in Matthew 24 that not one stone would be left upon the other the temple would be thrown down.
Where then do you go to worship God? Where do you go to worship?
The answer comes in the text. You go in spirit in truth.
You go to the Son himself who is the truth and going he makes you alive.
When you call on him to save you let's read it verse 23 The hour is coming and is now here when the true worshipers this is true worship will worship the
Father in spirit and truth for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.
God is spirit and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.
This is huge. This changes everything. What did
Jesus tell Nicodemus the teacher of Israel who did not understand these things? He said you must be born again.
What that means is that you were spiritually dead. You do not relate to God.
Your spirit the most inner most part of your body and life is dead and cut off from God.
You must be born. What did he tell the woman at the well? You need to drink living water.
Water that makes you alive. You see the teaching Ephesians 2 .1 is you are dead in your trespasses and sins.
To worship God you must come alive. I think the translation in the ESV verse 23 where spirit is not capitalized is correct.
Spirit here does not refer to the Holy Spirit it refers to the spirit of the man coming alive as God is spirit a worshiper must spiritually worship.
It's not enough to come to this place. You can come to this place like the temple and not worship
God. You can miss him here. Genuine worship has to come from a spirit made alive.
Born again receiving the living water. In truth through the son the woman will go on verse 25 and 26
I know Messiah is coming who is called Christ when he comes he will tell us all things.
Jesus said to her I who speak to you am he. Here's how the woman the
Samaritan woman and likewise you can come. Humbly confessing your sin offering your body and believing the truth.
Jesus is the truth and he is the one way to the father. When you believe that Jesus is the
Messiah the son of the living God who died on the cross for your sins and you confess that that is called the good confession.
Paul teaches Timothy in 1 Timothy 6 that Jesus before Pontius Pilate made the good confession.
What did he say? Pilate said are you the Christ? He said you say that I am.
Which was a Hebraic term which means yes I am and you should even acknowledge it. You say that I am.
He here to the Samaritan woman claims to be the Christ and the son of God.
That is what is called the good confession. Paul tells Timothy you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
You've come here this morning but have you confessed that Jesus is the
Christ. When you come confessing your own sin your need for a savior and then you confess and his name is
Jesus he died for me. That is the good confession. That is true. And it is the only way to the father.
Your spirit comes alive and you begin to worship. So what is worship in spirit and truth?
Ephesians 3 .16 talks about the inner man. Likewise let me read a couple verses you don't have to turn here.
Psalm 51 .6 Behold you delight in truth in the inward being and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
You man, woman made in the image of God you have a secret heart.
You have an inner man. That spiritual center of who you are is dead before you come to Christ.
But when the inner man comes alive 1 Peter 3 .4 Let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart.
The spirit, the heart. Ephesians 3 .16 Your inner being. True worship in spirit and truth is the responsive engagement of your whole person.
It is the body Romans 12 .1 and 2 when you come and you offer your body a living sacrifice it is your lips the fruit of your confession.
It is your hands it is your heart. Spirit and truth means you must be born again you must be alive and you must know the weight of your sin and believe in the one who is true the
Christ. And he makes you alive you're spiritually born you have living water and now there is a fountain a fountain in you that springs out in worship.
True worship is the born again saint speaking from the heart. Nothing else is real.
Many people offer fake worship in churches all across the United States of America. Even as they offer fake worship in mosques and to the idols of Hinduism and still the pagan idols that are reviving in our day.
None of those things are worship. No matter how sincere the person is because there is one mediator between God and man the man
Christ Jesus. He is the way he is the truth he is the resurrection and the life.
When you come to him your heart comes alive and you begin to overflow and worship. So what does true worship look like?
Does it mean I need to raise my hands when I worship and sing? Psalm 134 verse 2 says lift your hands and praise him.
But it's possible for me to lift my hands because I want somebody in the building to see how spiritual
I am. So you can worship him with hands lifted or you can worship him with your hands at your sides or even in your pockets.
What matters is the inner man of the heart. What is going on as you sing?
Somebody might be seated and they might be worshiping more sincerely than the person who's running the aisles with the flag.
That's spirit and truth. It is the genuineness of the heart that's been made alive begins with the good confession
Jesus is Lord and it revolves around that good confession. That's why when
Michael sings about the sun shining brighter than the sun it revolves around that confession.
We sing about who Christ is and what he's done. So when you come to worship you're dedicating your time your body everything you are and he is worthy of our hearts.
He's worthy of the fruit of our lips and our hands everything that we are our strength that is worship in spirit and truth.
Let's close in a word of prayer. So father you have brought us to this place and in the new covenant according to Ephesians 3 the church houses the glory of God and according to Ephesians 3 10 we even display the glory of God to unsentient beings in the universe namely angels and demons see the church gathered.
This is the place this morning where your church is gathered. Not these walls not the building but the people those who have the new birth who worship in spirit and in truth.
So God we pray that you would fill this place like a cloud fill every heart with faith.
Lord I pray for those who come maybe they come week after week they've never been born again.
Lord lay upon them the weight of their sin eternal condemnation the realization that they deserve the wrath of God and then lift that weight off of their shoulders
Lord in the bright light and sun of grace that they would see
Jesus crucified for them even them and they would believe that he rose from the dead and they would confess their sin make the good confession that Jesus is the
Christ the son of the living God and so have life in his name.
Give them the new birth Lord give them living water Lord this morning
I pray for myself that you would bring me back to my first love. I pray for every
Christian born of the spirit confessing the truth in this building this morning and listening online
Lord that you would return us to our first love revive us remind us of what you've saved us from and the grace you've given us and the blessings that flow day after day and help us to worship like people who were bought with a price the precious blood of the lamb help us to value that gift and worship as you deserve in spirit and in truth and so come now
Lord as we sing fill this place with glory fill it with the cloud of your presence in our hearts help us from this day forward to worship you in spirit and in truth not going through the motions not coming to a place but meeting with you in the secret place of the heart the inner man in Jesus name we pray
Amen let's stand and sing We won't fear the battle
We won't fear the night We will walk the valley You will go before us
You will lead the way We have found a refuge Only you can save Sing with joy now
Our God is for us The Father's love Is a strong and mighty fortress
Raise your voice now No love is greater Who can stand against us
Our God is for us Even when
I stumble Even when I fall Even when I turn back
Still your love is sure You will not abandon You will not forsake
You will cheer me on With never ending praise Sing with joy now
Our God is for us Height nor depth
Can separate us Hell and death Cannot defeat us
He who gave His son to free us Hold me in His love
Neither height nor depth Can separate us Hell and death
Will not defeat us He who gave His son to free us
Joy now Our God is for us The Father's love
Is a strong and mighty fortress Raise your voice now No love is greater
Who can stand against us Our God is for us Sing with joy now
Our God is for us For this reason
I bow my knees Before the Father From whom every family in heaven and on earth is named
That according to the riches of His glory He may grant you To be strengthened with power
Through His Spirit In your inner being So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith
That you, being rooted and grounded in love May have strength to comprehend
With all the saints What is the breadth And length and height and depth
And to know the love of Christ That surpasses knowledge That you may be filled