SPIRITUAL WORSHIP
by Thomas Spurgeon, 1896
John 4:20-24 "Our fathers worshiped on this
mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in
Jerusalem." Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you
will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You
Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for
salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the
true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are
the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers
must worship in spirit and in truth."
I. First, as to the PLACE of Worship. You will
notice that the woman's remark on this matter is evidently a subterfuge. The
Lord had brought her life before her very plainly, and had unrolled in her
presence the blurred and blotted scroll of her past history. Like a skillful
surgeon, he had taken the lancet in His hand and with promptness and
precision had employed it to eradicate the evil which was destroying her.
Shrinking from the surgeon's touch, she flies off at a tangent from personal
dealing to the consideration of something else, having, it is true, a
religious tone and tenor, but much more palatable because not so personal
and heart-searching.
Is it not a very remarkable thing that religious
discussion always has been, and still is, united with profligacy? We are
told that while the pirates of Spain, and Italy, and Greece, feel no
compunction in robbing and slaying, they are very particular as to the
saying of their daily prayers, and observing the so-called sacred seasons of
their churches. And certain it is, in the experience of all of us, that a
good many can talk glibly enough about religion and religious affairs whose
lives will not bear even the glance of respectable people, let alone the
searching scrutiny of Him who sees and knows all things.
You have often noticed, no doubt, how, when it comes to
personal dealing with men and women about their souls, and about their sins,
they prefer to talk about the new Chapel, or the preacher, or some of the
rites and ceremonies of the Church, or the order of the services, or the
style of the singing--anything, in short, rather than that hand-to-hand
engagement which involves home-thrusts and heart-wounds, but is most likely
to secure the well-being of their immortal souls. How glad the sin-stained
Samaritan was to refer to her religious relations--"Our father, Jacob, gave
us this well;" "Our fathers worshiped in this mountain," and so on. The
spirit that prompted these references still flourishes. Talk to some people
about their own religion, about their personal standing before a personal
God, and as regards a personal Redeemer, and they will quote the piety of
their grandfathers and grandmothers, or the religious tenets of their
cousins--rather than return the honest answer of their own hearts and
consciences.
But the woman attached still greater importance to the
place of worship. Everything, to her mind, seemed to hinge upon that matter.
Should it be Jerusalem or Gerizim? Now Christ's treatment of the woman is
rather remarkable and worthy of imitation. He deals with her very TENDERLY.
He addresses her as "Woman." Woman! I like that word. He might have called
her by a far less honorable title, as I fear some so-called Christians would
have done. But says He, "Woman." He gives to her the title of respect which
He had already applied publicly to her who gave Him birth, and which He was
reserving for His last utterance to that mother when at the cross-foot the
sword was piercing her own heart also.
She was a Samaritan woman, but he does not remind her of
that. He sank his nationality and called her "woman," without reference
either to her sins or her Samaritanism. This gracious Teacher is the same
yesterday, today, and forever. I think I hear Him saying to some here,
"Woman, woman!" speaking with that accent of love which ought to captivate
your heart and persuade you that He is "waiting to be gracious." What a
merciful Savior is ours! I do not wonder that Bernard of Clairvaux should
sing of Him-
"O hope of every contrite heart,
O joy of all the meek;
To those who fall how kind You are!
How good to those who seek!"
While He spoke very tenderly to this sinner, did He not
speak PERSUASIVELY, too? for says He, "Woman, believe me." On no
other occasion did Christ use that expression "believe me." He was preparing
her for the tremendous shock which was to follow. Knowing that His
announcement will fairly stagger her, He endeavors to enlist her confidence
beforehand. "Believe me," as if He said, "I am worthy to be trusted. You
know not who it is that speaks to you. You have no conception that I am the
Messiah, who, as you say, when He comes, will tell you all things. But,
believe me, the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, they are
life. Let me have your hearty confidence and implicit faith, then you will
not stumble at my doctrine." Does not Christ speak in just such loving style
to some of you today? "Woman, believe me. Believe that I, your Savior, died
for you, and I have risen for you, too. Now, whatever happens, if you will
trust me, I will plead your cause, and send salvation down."
But these kind words are only preparatory to the
startling announcement now to be made. It is as follows--"The hour comes,
when you shall neither in this mountain"--for Gerizim towered to heaven just
nearby--"nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father." Imagine, if you can, her
surprise at this intelligence. "What!" she doubtless thought, "are all our
traditions to go for nothing, and the teaching and example of our fathers to
be discredited, and all our sacred spots to be profaned?" The verdict had
gone forth. From it there was no appeal, and Gerizim seemed doomed. The word
was short, but it was weighty. In effect the great Teacher said, "I know
that your traditions teach you that Paradise was on your lovely mount, and
that the father of us all was made from its dust, and reared his first altar
there. You dream that the deluge did not cover it, and you do not forget to
boast that here Abraham met Melchizedek, and that the bones of the
king-priest are laid beneath your soil. You persist that Isaac was offered
here, and Jacob's connection with this place gives to it a peculiar sanctity
in your eyes, but, 'woman, believe me,' all these prized traditions, and
sacred associations, and tender ties, go for nothing. Right or wrong, their
day is done."
A still greater surprise was yet in store for her.
"Nor yet at Jerusalem." His clothing and his countenance declared him to
be a Jew, she could not doubt his nationality. Is it possible that a Jew
speaks so disparagingly of Jerusalem, she thought? Of course he would
condemn our worship and our ruined Temple, but surely Judea's city is the
place to every Jew most dear. Do they not call it beautiful for situation,
and the joy of the whole earth? What can this prophet mean? Will he reform
his own religion and prove the Jews as well as us in error? The statement
was certainly novel and astounding. In yonder Temple the bright glory of the
Lord appeared. There, too, the constant sacrifices were being offered as God
himself desired. There in all the glory and the grandeur of the Jewish
ritual was the worship of the living God maintained. Yet, says the Master,
"The hour comes, when you shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at
Jerusalem, worship the Father."
Probably his pupil did not understand what the Savior
meant by such a startling announcement. We know that He was declaring the
dawn of the Gospel era. The worship of the Samaritans, which was a sheer
invention, and the worship of the Jews, which was fixed by God's
appointment, were both about to breathe their last. He whose coming meant
their death, classed them together as weak and exhausted because a better
day had already cast its earliest sunbeams on Gerizim and Zion alike. This
better day is ours in all its fullness, Christ himself being at once our
Priest, our Temple, and our Sacrifice.
In heralding this day at Sychar's well Christ does not
compare the claims of rival Temples. It is as if He said, "No need to
question which is right." "Behold, I make all things new." "Lo, I come (in
the volume of the Book it is written of Me) I delight to do Your will, O
God." He takes away the first that He may establish the second. Behold the
daybreak of the new dispensation! the first bright streaks of glory from the
Sun of Righteousness! Thank God, we are now in the meridian splendor of this
better covenant, for now are the words of the prophet Malachi at least in
part fulfilled. "From the rising of the sun to the going down of the same,
shall My name be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense
shall be offered unto My name, and a pure offering, for My name shall be
great among the heathen, says the Lord of Hosts." All the world is our
temple now, for the Infinity of God assures us that the worship may be
offered in any and in every place. Every city to a devout heart is a
Jerusalem.
"Not now on Zion's height alone,
The favored worshiper may dwell;
Nor where at sultry noon, God's Son
Sat weary by Samaria's well."
Yet some there are who would gladly return to beggarly
elements and to the yoke of bondage. Away with your shrines and sacred
churches! Away with the special sanctity of your temples and cathedrals. Let
it be understood that the true heart finds its Father God at all times and
in all places. Seek Him in your closet and upon your bed. Cry to Him upon
the crowded pathway and amid your ledgers. In these later and happier days
we need neither prepare a holy place, nor employ holy persons to find our
ever present God. We may dismiss that subject, then, as forever settled. Our
Master's verdict concerning it is all we need.
II. Our second point of consideration--the OBJECT
of Worship--is of more importance. Christ directs the thoughts of His
interrogator to this matter, as if He understood that her object was not
sincere religious enquiry. He takes her by the hand, as it were, and gently
turns her in the right direction. The woman had altogether omitted the most
important matter--the object of worship. It is very noticeable that she
talked about her worshiping fathers and concerning worshiping Jews, but
never once so much as mentioned the Deity to whom their vows were paid. Do
you think it possible that she had the same idea which many people in these
days possess, that is, that it does not much matter whom you worship, and
how you worship, provided you are, as they say, sincere. Sincerity is
no excuse for idolatry. That worship is pagan and profane which is not paid
to Him who is the Living and true God.
Making much of the place, the Samaritan concerned herself
very little with the object. And I am bound to admit that nowadays those who
attach special importance to places, seasons, persons, and rituals, of
necessity give the less attention to the all-important matter of the purpose
and object of such exercises. They are so taken up with the fitting of the
arrow that they forget the mark at which it should be directed. Accordingly,
Christ said, "You worship you know not what." The God He now proclaimed to
her was the unknown before. The Samaritans many years previously had adopted
a mongrel religion, if I may be allowed the expression, for we read that
they feared the Lord and yet served their own gods, and worshiped engraved
images. It is very evident that they did not then know the Lord whom
they pretended to worship, for He will not brook a rival. Jehovah will not
divide the spoil of men's hearts with the gods of Sepharvaim.
Or, perhaps, He would have her understand that He had
come to her in order to declare the God whom she ignorantly worshiped, in
the new relationship of Father. She worshiped Him as the Creator and
Provider of all things. The Samaritans accepted and believed the Pentateuch.
They knew, therefore, the story of the Creation, and believed it; they were
familiar with the story of Israel's wanderings, and rejoiced in it. "But,"
says her wise Preceptor, "He is something more than a great Creator and a
universal Provider. I would have you know Him as a Father whom you have
never seen, but of whose love I am the embodiment and proof." He who reigns
supreme--the King of kings and Lord of lords--is also the loving Father of
all who trust in His dear Son. "The hour comes when you shall neither in
this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father."
If I mistake not, Christ is with us here, beloved
friends, to introduce us to the FATHER. To the Father! What! Can I know
Christ's Father as my Father? Let me enquire--do you know God as your
Father? Can you pray what is called the Lord's Prayer, but which is really
the prayer of the Lord's people--"Our Father, which art in heaven"? Have you
passed from among the children of wrath into the holy family of which God is
the Father and Christ the elder Brother? This new birth is yours if you will
unreservedly accept the Savior. "He came unto His own, and His own received
Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He power," privilege,
right--"to become the sons of God, even to those who believe on His name,
who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will
of man, but of God."
Christ's next endeavor was to impress the truth that this
God, this Father of whom he spoke, was a SPIRIT. How shall I speak of
Him, who being spirit, must be worshiped "in the spirit and in truth"?
Augustine has said, "When I am not asked what God is, I think I know, but
when I try to answer that question I discover that I know nothing." Let the
truth remain as God has put it, it is too full for explanation--"God is a
Spirit." The very term suggests vitality, overflowing energy, life, mind,
will, truth, wisdom, holiness, power, mercy, perfection. It suggests
invisibility, immateriality, omnipresence, omniscience, omnipotence,
eternity, immutability. If this be so, you can surely understand that place
and posture are as nothing to God.
III. This brings me to the third matter--the
NATURE of the Worship. "Those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit
and in truth." Christ had already corrected the mistake of the woman. He had
already supplied her omission. It now only remained that He should set her
feet on this new road, and get her to walk in the way so lately discovered
to her. And what a change this information must have wrought in her notions
and fancies of religious life. The revelation must have produced a
revolution. Previously, what she worshiped was nothing to her, but
the place was everything. Now the tables are so completely turned, that
what she worships becomes everything; and how she worships is
therefore something; but where she worships is virtually nothing.
The all-important point of the object of adoration being
settled, the next enquiry is, "What homage ought to be rendered, and what
service offered to such a God?" Her adoration hitherto had been directed to
little better than a material God. So place and position seemed
all-important, but with a Father God who is a Spirit, she must offer
spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. She must indeed
worship "in spirit and in truth." What means the phrase? I have not time to
analyze it closely. It must suffice to say that the sentence stands as the
antithesis of all the externals of place, of time, and of circumstance. It
stands opposed to Ceremonialism, Symbolism, Ritualism, and Materialism. "God
is a Spirit."
Then dream not of offering Him anything that does not
accord with His nature and with His essence. "Render unto God the things
that are God's." If He were a material deity, I might bring Him fruits, and
flowers, and music, and so on. If He were a God of ritual, I might deck
myself with crosses, burn candles to Him, and waft incense in His honor. But
our God is a Spirit who rejoices more in the falling tear, the upheaved
sigh, the heart prayer and the heart praise which "the common people" render
unto Him, than in all the decorations and symphonies and temples of a
man-made ritual. What does the Spirit care for your painted windows, your
snow-white altars, and your glittering brasses, and I know not what else
besides? To Him they must be playthings and toys. If He takes any notice of
them at all, it must be to laugh at them, and to have them in derision.
Man's traditions and inventions must pale before the
appointment Christ has made, that is, that in every place true worshipers
may offer up their praises and prayers without the gestures and genuflexions,
the rituals and paraphernalia of Romanism and Ritualism. "I will, therefore,
that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands." We must not omit to note
again, that the Temple worship, as well as the Samaritan, was thus
superseded and surpassed. Now, the ritual observed at Jerusalem was of God's
own appointment. He had been most particular in ordaining its every detail.
He had stamped it with the seal of His approval. Yet even it was to be done
away with, and soon would be forever past. The veil that hung between the
golden pillars--the veil of leather and cloth embroidered with cherub
work--was about to be rent in twain from the top to the bottom. Now, if
God's own appointed ritual was thus removed and set aside like a worn-out
vesture, it stands to reason that the Samaritans' could no longer live, and
that any of a later sort has no right to be.
The New Testament announces that sacrifices are no longer
of any avail in the saving of man's soul. The fruit of the body cannot be
given for the sin of the soul. All the pageantry of piety is of no avail.
Every rite is a wrong, unless it has a "Thus says the Lord" to back it up.
Some may say, "Do you deem it impossible to worship the Spirit-God through
the medium of these material things?" In reply, I simply tell you what
Christ has said. He plainly puts the spiritual in contradistinction to the
material, and what God has put asunder, let no man join together! To my
mind, it seems to stand to reason there can be no medium between my heart
and God's heart, except the Mediator, Christ Jesus. Gladly would I commit
all these inventions of man to the flames, that they may perish like
Manoah's feast which he offered to the Angel of the Lord.
In closing, I can only hint at some necessary CONDITIONS
for the rendering of true and spiritual worship. The woman's answer to
Christ's last words showed that she had some knowledge of the Messiah. Says
she, "I know that Messiah is coming, who is called Christ; when He comes, He
will tell us all things. Jesus said unto her, I that speak unto you, am He."
Now, that woman could not worship God in spirit and in truth, until she came
into personal contact with, and had personal acquaintance with the Messiah.
Head knowledge was not enough. He granted her, as we have reason to believe,
the recognition of faith, and she worshiped God through the Son. She had
come into contact with Him whom to know is life eternal. Christ still says,
"No man comes unto the Father, but by me." In connection with this knowledge
of the Messiah, it was absolutely necessary that she should have a
knowledge of her sinful heart. Accordingly, Christ's first act was to
tear away the cloak of religiousness and lay bare the life of profligacy,
which was naked and open to His sight. He gave her no miracle to prove his
Messiahship, except the unfolding of her past dark history; at the same
time, doubtless, causing her to loathe and repent it.
It was necessary also that she should have a draught of
the living water before spiritual worship could be possible to her. She must
receive that living water, the emblem of divine love and life, which only
they can understand who have drunk of the refreshing stream. Among
Orientals, to drink water from one's well is to be one's disciple; so,
before we can worship the Father truly, we must learn from Christ, accept
His doctrine, and rejoice in His atonement.
One other matter, and I have done. Brethren, there are
multitudes of worshipers up and down this world of ours. But only a small
proportion, alas! alas! of that great host, are true worshipers. There are
worshipers and worshipers. "The Father seeks such"--whose worship is
not encumbered with ceremonial--whose minds are not fastened upon ritual and
fettered by ceremony, but who truly worship the Father through the Son. Now,
the Father seeks such to worship Him. On that same mission was Christ
engaged at Samaria's well. He was obliged to go through the place in order
to get to Galilee--it was the direct road there, but there was another needs
be, for He was there on the Father's behalf, to seek yet another true
worshiper. Does it not seem most astonishing that God the Father should send
His own dear Son from realms of light to seek true worshipers? The angels
crowded round Him and they were true, though some had fallen; yet He was not
content. Foes must be changed into friends, and sinners into saints. From
rebel ranks he must obtain love and loyalty. The Son of Man is here on just
such an errand. He has come to say, "My son, give me your heart." He says by
the preacher, "Be reconciled to God." The Father longs for devout and
faithful children, and He is seeking such to worship Him. Sing no hymn, the
words of which you do not mean, join in no prayer unless that prayer wells
up from an earnest heart. Seek not for symbols of worship, or the frames and
feelings which they may foster. Desire rather to possess the contrite heart
which He despises not, and the faith without which it is impossible to
please God, and the joy and peace which spring of trust in the complete
atonement of our Lord.
God grant that the worship in this place may ever be of
the true and spiritual sort. Amen.