Our Father and our God, we now come to that central part of our life and our worship, that is the hearing of the preaching of your word. This is your word. It is holy, it is infallible, and it is profitable for your people. So tonight, as we open our ears, to hear your voice through the proclamation of your word. We ask you to enlighten and illumine our hearts and our minds to the understanding of your word. Help us to be not only the hearers of your word, but also those who apply it in their own life. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Maybe some of you, you know this story. It is a story of two brothers, young, they were very young, and one was five years old and the other one was four years old. And after being in Sunday school class on Sunday, they met and they were discussing the the nature of God, the being of God. They were discussing about who God is. And the older brother asked his brother, did you know that God is a ghost? Actually, God is the Holy Ghost. And his four years old brother with a great theological insight, he answered to his brother by saying, yes, I know he is a ghost, but he is the friendly ghost. What do you think about when you think of God? Do you try to visualize God in your mind? Do you form some sort of mental picture in your mind or for your worship of God? What about our children, our covenant children, whom we are bringing up and raising in the instruction and admonition of the word of God? Do we help them with their concept of who God is? You see the Samaritan woman with whom our Lord Jesus Christ was having a conversation here in chapter 4, John chapter 4, had a wrong concept of God. And because this woman had a wrong concept of God, her wrong knowledge of God affected her true worship of God. in verse 19. We read this, 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 out to worship. Now listen to the response that Jesus gave to the woman. And Jesus said to her, 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. That was where the problem was. That was where the crisis of this woman existed in her life. She had a wrong knowledge and wrong concept of God and her whole worship of God was affected by that wrong concept of God that she had in her life. And the reason why Her worship was not true and it was not acceptable before the true God was because she didn't know who God is. She didn't understand the nature of God, the being of God that has been told in the scriptures. So Jesus told this woman, because you don't know who God is, because you have a wrong concept of God, let me tell you who God is. And in verse 24, Jesus said to the woman, God is spirit. And those who worship God, they must worship him in spirit and in truth. So what do you learn from this, brothers and sisters in Christ? What is that one lesson that you would take with you tonight? The lesson that we learn from what Jesus just said to the Samaritan woman is this. The spirituality of God. God being spirit. requires true worship from the worshipers of God. Jesus told the Samaritan woman, God is spirit. Now we need to know that when Jesus said God is spirit, He does not mean that God is spiritual in the same way that someone would call himself, I am a spiritual person. A person goes to church, he sings, and he says prayers, and when he talks about himself, he tells other people, I am a spiritual person. or I'm a religious person. That's not what our Lord Jesus Christ meant by God is a spirit. It means that God is a spiritual being. The Bible always refers to God as God, the light, God, God love, God is love, God is light. And in the same way now Jesus is saying God is spirit. And by this we mean two things. When Jesus said God is spirit, we can understand two things. One is God is immaterial. And secondly, God is invisible. When Jesus told the Samaritan woman that God is spirit, he was calling this woman to the true knowledge of God so that she would worship God truly, that she would worship God in spirit and in truth. So the first thing that I would like to show you tonight is God is immaterial. The English word immaterial means not important or insignificant. Something that is not going to make any difference. Something that is nothing is immaterial. That's not who God is. And that's not what Jesus is saying. When Jesus said God is spirit, when we say God is immaterial, what we mean is God does not have a physical body. Or he does not take any form, any kind of form, so that people would worship him having that form or that picture of God before them. You see the truth that our Lord Jesus Christ spoke to the Samaritan woman was embodied in the second commandment in Exodus chapter 20. The second commandment says this, you shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make yourself a craved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them. Think about the second commandment and what Jesus is telling the Samaritan woman. The second commandment forbids for anyone to make any kind of image to represent God, so that that person would worship God. If we go to countries where Eastern Orthodox Church is big in its existence. Places like Eritrea, Ethiopia, and other places in Africa, you will see people bowing down before images and worshiping God. And you, when you share the gospel with them, and when you ask them, why are you doing this? The second commandment forbids you. God is spirit. their initial response, their usual response to anyone who will try to challenge them with that is so that this image that I have for my worship helps me to be more closer to God. They might even tell you, this is not my God, but this image helps me to approach and to be closer to God. When anyone makes an image to represent God, he is trying to be wiser than God. Because God forbids the making of any image in representation of Him. In many African countries, it's common for you to see a moon god, a sun god, a river god, even a cow being the god of many people, and they come and they worship the cow. But Jesus is telling this Samaritan woman and all of us tonight that God is spirit. After His resurrection, our Lord Jesus Christ reaffirmed this truth to His disciples. When they saw Him, they were terrified. They were afraid. And Jesus told His disciples this in Luke chapter 24. And He said to them, Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? See My hands and My feet. That is I, myself. Touch me and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones. And a flesh and bones, as you see, I have. Jesus was affirming to his disciples that God is spirit. He doesn't have physical bodies. He doesn't take any kind of form. God is spirit. Moses told the people of Israel in Deuteronomy chapter four, then the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but you did not see any form. It was only a voice. You see, Moses was telling the people of Israel, the voice that you heard comes from God, the maker of heaven and earth. This voice comes from your God, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And this God is spirit. The only thing that you heard was his voice. You didn't see any form. God is spirit. Paul understood this in 2 Corinthians 3 verse 17. He calls God the Lord who is the Spirit. You see my friends, the God whom we worship is Spirit. And this seems to present a problem to many Christians, to many believers. Because in the word of God, we see the scriptures referring to God as if God has physical body. In Isaiah 59, he talks about the arm of God. The Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save. In 2 Chronicles chapter 16, the Bible refers to the eyes of God. For the eyes of the Lord will go to and fro throughout whole earth. And in Matthew chapter 4, the Word of God talks about the mouth of God. The Word of God that proceeds from the mouth of God. And people might think, God must have physical bodies. Because the Bible is talking about his hand, his eyes, and his mouth. You see, God's word refers to God as if God has a hand, eyes, or ears, or mouth. Because God wants to reveal himself to us by coming down to our level. and he talks to us like a baby talk, so that we would comprehend, we would conceive who God is. Simply because the Bible talks about his hand, his eyes, and his mouth, it doesn't mean that God has a physical body. When the Bible talks about his hand, it refers to his power. to that God is powerful, eyes that God is omniscient. God sees everything. Nothing is hidden from God. And what the Bible refers to the mouth of God. It's the confirmation for us that God indeed speaks to his people. He speaks to us through his word. But God is spirit. He is a spiritual being, and He is a pure spirit. And because He is spiritual, you see, He is omnipresent. There is no place where you cannot find God, where God is not present. And especially when you think about worshipping God, people coming together to worship God, this should bring a great comfort to us as God's children, because you can worship your God anywhere. I remember worshipping God being in prison. You can worship God being in a hospital. You can worship God being in a very difficult place and moment of your life. God is omnipresent. He is everywhere. He is not bound by time and in space. God is infinite. He is limitless. There is no limit for God. Time will not limit him and space cannot limit God. The psalmist in Psalm 139, he said this about this very nature of God. Where shall I go from your spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. Which means God is everywhere. It also means, you see, God can see everything about you. Nothing about you is hidden from God. God is omniscient. God is omnipresent. Right now, He can see your true spiritual condition. He can see your sin. He can see your struggles. You cannot hide anything from God. He's omniscient. He's omnipresent. But also, He's always present with you wherever you are. God is present with you to help you and to intervene in your circumstances and bring about the help that you are seeking from Him. You see, when we think about the spirituality of God, God being immaterial, we need to know this. Knowing the immaterial God, delivers you from the bondage of material things. You see, we tend to worship material things in our life, don't you? Some of us, we might worship our money. Some of us, we might worship our health or the good job that God has given us. We might worship our children, we might worship our wives, or our husbands. These all are material possessions. And if you compare them with the immaterial God who is holy, who is perfect, who is eternal, who is almighty, who is your redeemer, they are nothing. And God doesn't want you to worship material things because He is immaterial God. And He deserves your worship. Because He is your Creator. He is your Redeemer. You see, your knowledge of God shapes your worship. Your knowledge of God, especially the fact that you know that God is a spiritual being. brings you to the true worship of God. And secondly, you see God is invisible. Because he is immaterial, because he is pure spiritual being, that makes him to be invisible. It means God is not seen. God cannot be seen. And God will never be seen. That is what we mean by God is invisible. It's about in the past, in the present, in the future. No one has seen God in the past. And no one can see God now. And no one is going to see God. the future. He is invisible. Moses in Exodus chapter 3, he asked of God, he asked from God one thing, show me your glory. You see Moses was saying, was asking God, let me see you. I want to see you. I want to embrace you. You are my God. Show me your glory. I lead these people. They belong to you. I am the leader. You have appointed me to be the leader of your people. So do me this one thing. Show me yourself. Let me see you. And God told Moses, you can't see me. No one would see me and leave. You see, God is a pure spirit and we are sinful. We are sinful creatures who have been redeemed by the grace of God, by faith in Jesus Christ alone. But God is pure spirit. God is holy. God is beyond us. He is over us. Can you see at the sun directly on a bright day without bringing damage to yourself? You can't see the son directly. And it's the same with God. He's too holy. He's perfect. He's pure spirit. If you see God, you cannot leave. Job, in Job 9, 11, he said, behold, he passes by me and I see him not. He can hear God speaking to him. He can feel the presence of God in his life and around his life, but he cannot see God. He passes by me and I see him not. And Paul in 1 Timothy 6, 16, he said, who alone has immortality, who dwells in an approachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. It's not only about the past and the present, but even in the future. Because we are creatures, because we are sinful people, we cannot see God. God is invisible. Isaiah 6-5, Woe is me! I am lost, saith the prophet, for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Isaiah never saw God, but he saw the glimpse of God's glory, and he fell on the ground. He couldn't stand. And he thought he was lost because he saw the glory of God. But the good news, Christians, is this. The good news is Christ came to show us God. Christ came to show us the Father. You can see God in the person of his son Jesus Christ. John in John chapter 1 verse 18 said no one has ever seen God for the only God who is his son Jesus Christ who is at the right At the right hand of the Father, He has made Him known. You see, you can see God in the person and in the work of His Son, Jesus Christ. But you cannot see God directly. You see, Christ explained who the Father is to us. Christ showed us who God is. Christ became the Radiant of the Father. the exact expression, the exact image of God for us. You can see your God in His Son, Jesus Christ. Are we going to see God in heaven? Many Christians ask this question. When we get to heaven, are we going to see God? We will see Jesus, the Son of God. And Jesus said, whoever sees me has seen the father. I and the father are one. When you get to heaven and when you see Jesus, the son of God, that will be enough for you. You will be satisfied. You will see God in his son, Jesus Christ. And you will not ask for more. You will be satisfied. So our Lord Jesus Christ told the Samaritan women, God is spirit, God is immaterial, God is invisible. But imagine if our Lord Jesus Christ left the women there. Just by telling her God is spirit. Just by telling her who God is, the nature of God, the being of God. And he just left the women there. You see, the reason why Jesus told the Samaritan woman about God, about the nature of God, about the being of God, that God is spirit, is for the purpose of bringing the Samaritan woman to the true worship of God. It was a divine plan. for our Lord Jesus Christ to come to Samaria and meet with this Samaritan woman, so that this woman and many other Samaritans will come to the true worship of God. So Jesus told this woman, this spiritual God, this God who is spirit, requires a spiritual worship. In verse 24, Jesus said to the woman, God is spirit and those who worship God, they must worship God in spirit and in truth. Now notice carefully, that is a command. That's a command for worship. Knowing who God is, Knowing that God is eternal, God is spirit, God is limitless, God is almighty. Knowing that God is the one whose greatness far exceeds our capacity of human understanding. All this knowledge of God should bring you to awe and amazement and worship of God. But as a Christian, you need to ask this. Why did God, why does God command us to worship him? Some people, they think God commands us to worship him because he is a needy God. And some people, they think, you see, worship is degrading. Anyone who worships someone else, he loses his respect. So people say God should not demand worship from anyone. But he commands us to worship him because he is needy. Remember what we discovered from God's eternality. We said God doesn't need us. even for worship, God doesn't need you. God doesn't demand us to worship him so that we might come to the church and add glory upon the glory that he already has. God is already glorified. God is self-sufficient. There is nothing that you can add upon God. God doesn't need anything from us. So why did God command us to worship him? The reason my brothers and sisters in Christ is this. It's not because he's a needy God. It's not because he is a tyrant who wants people to come to him and give him a confirmation that he's good, he's powerful. That's not who God is, that's not why he commands us to worship him. Remember in Psalm 50, he saw God, his own people, thinking that he really needs their sacrifice. And God saw their heart, the intention of their heart. And he was sad about his people and their conception of God. And in Psalm 50, God came to the people of Israel to correct them about their conception of God. And he told them this in Psalm 50, 8 to 13. Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you. Your burnt offerings are continually before me. I will not accept a bull from your house or goats from your folds. For every beast of the forest is mine. The cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills and all that moves in the field is mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you. For the world and its fullness are mine. Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of gods? See, God was saying, no, I need nothing from you. Because everything in the universe is mine. So why does God command you to worship Him? You see, my brothers and sisters in Christ, worship is the first, the number one response to your redemption. Anyone who is redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, anyone who have tested the goodness of God in his life, especially his redemption. His first response to God is praise and worship. In Psalm 50, after God told the people of Israel, I don't need anything from you. I don't command you because I am in need of your sacrifice. But in verse 14, he tells them, but offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving. Worship is praising God. Worship is thanking God. And your first response as a Christian, your first response to God is worship. In Ephesians chapter 5, the Apostle Paul commands us not to be drunk by wine, but to be filled by the Holy Spirit. And in the first Duty that he calls from those Christians who are filled by the Holy Spirit the redeemed is melody Song of praise and worship and thanksgiving to God Paul said if you are redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ make melody to your God and Sing songs of praise and thanksgiving to your God because you are redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ. God commands us to worship Him because we are a people who have received salvation and redemption from our God. You worship God for your own benefit, so that your knowledge of God, your joy, the joy of the Holy Spirit in your life would increase. Even in our confession, we say, my chief end in this life is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. You see, that is worship. But the people of God, you also need to remember that worship is a matter of the heart. Jesus told the Samaritan woman, a place is not going to make you a worshiper. This place is not going to make you a worshiper. The fact that you are sitting in the sanctuary worshipping God is not going to make you a true worshipper. Jesus said, my father, God is seeking true worshippers, which means there are false worshippers. God forbid, even in the church of Jesus Christ, it is always possible for false worshippers to be part of the church of Jesus Christ. That's the reason why Jesus is referring to true worshipers, who worship God in spirit and in truth. And what does it mean for you to worship God in spirit? Many people think it means by the Holy Spirit, or by the guidance and the leading of the Holy Spirit. In this context, it's not the Holy Spirit. Yes, our worship should be done. being in the Spirit of God, being led by the Holy Spirit, we cannot worship God without the leading of the Holy Spirit. That's the reason why whenever we open our worship service, we pray to the Triune God, including God the Holy Spirit. But here in this context, Jesus is commanding us to worship in a spirit. And Jesus is referring to our heart. Worship comes from inside. The psalmist in Psalm 103, he said, bless the Lord of my soul and all that is within me. So when you come to church, You don't worship God by the flesh or with the desires of this world. You give your whole being, your inmost to God. You put everything aside. before you come to the church to worship God, and you put your whole focus on God, who is the object of your worship. Which means you don't think about your plans for tomorrow. You don't think about the person who is sitting beside you. You make a focus on God. You worship Him from your heart. and through Jesus Christ in the Old Testament, you see the physical temple, you see the physical sacrifices, and you come to Hebrews chapter 9, you see Jesus Christ redeeming his people, washing his people by his blood, and you also see him ascending to heaven, and entering the holy of holies in heaven, and bringing you with Him in communion with God. You see, when you sit in the sanctuary every Sunday, you are not just sitting in a building, but you are sitting with Christ in the heavenly places. You are here physically, but you are in communion with the true God, through true worship, through His Son, Jesus Christ. Because you are united with Christ by faith. In worship, you see, you are in communion with God through His Son, Jesus Christ, and with the help of His Holy Spirit. And Christ becomes your temple. Yes, we are the temple of God. The Spirit of God dwells in us. But because we are in Christ, you see, Christ becomes our temple. We have access to the Father through His Son, Jesus Christ. You see, worshiping God in His Spirit is also an act of worship by a born-again Christian. You cannot worship God without believing in His Son, Jesus Christ. You cannot worship in God without your heart and your mind being renewed by the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul said, do not be confirmed with the things of this world, but be renewed with your mind and in your heart by the power of the Holy Spirit. And Paul said, once you are renewed your heart and your mind is renewed by the power of the Holy Spirit, your worship will be acceptable before God. You see in Romans chapter 12 verse 1, where Paul commands you to worship God with presenting your whole bodies to God. He doesn't talk about offering. He doesn't talk about prayer. He doesn't talk about singing. But He talks about a renewed heart and mind. And your offering, your singing, your prayers flows from a renewed heart. Without that renewed heart, everything that we do in the worship service is in vain. It's not true worship. Jesus said, the Father seeks. true worshipers who worship is God in spirit, but also Jesus said in truth. Remember John, Jesus in John 14 said, I am the truth. I am the truth, which means we must worship God through his son, Jesus Christ. No one can worship God, the father without being in his son, Jesus Christ. A person can only worship God through his son, Jesus Christ. It is through believing in his son, Jesus Christ, depending on his son, Jesus Christ, and his righteousness, that you can worship God. And in truth means according to the truth of the word of God. Anything that God forbids you in worship, you must not do it. because it's not the will of God. God is spirit, so we should not worship God by making images to represent God. God seeks true worship, a worshiper who worships him in spirit and in truth. My question to all of you tonight is this. Is this how you know and worship God? This is a time for you to evaluate your own worship life. Is this how you worship God? Every time you come to church, do you worship God in spirit and in truth? Do you worship God from the bottom of your heart? Do you worship God as a renewed person? Do you worship God in truth, the truth of His Word, but above all, the truth who is His Son, Jesus Christ? And if you wonder, how do I obtain hope? How do I get help so that I would worship God in spirit and in truth? You need to come to God in prayer and ask Him to make you a believer who would worship Him in spirit and in truth. We don't produce through worship by our own strength or through the order of our worship service. But true worship is a gift of God. True worship is the product of the work of the Holy Spirit in us. Come to Christ, depend on the Holy Spirit, and pray to God that God would make you a true worshiper. And God will give you His grace and His Spirit to worship Him in His Spirit and in truth. Let's pray. Our gracious and heavenly Father, even tonight we want to remember those times that we were not truthful in our worship, times that we haven't worshipped you in spirit and in truth, times in our life where we have forgotten that you are pure spirit, You are invisible. You are omnipresent. Even those times that we try to visualize you in our own mind, in our own heart, even the times that we have attempted to worship you by making images as a representation of you, our God, we ask you to forgive our sins, the sin that we have committed in the worship of you. And tonight we ask you to grant us your Holy Spirit to help your people, to be a people who worships God in spirit and in truth. Fill Covenant Community Presbyterian Church. with men and women, with covenant children, not only who loves God, but also who worships God in spirit and in truth. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.