All right, well, if you have your Bibles while you're standing, just please reach down and grab them and turn with me to John chapter four. John chapter four, and we'll be reading beginning in verse one and going all the way through verse 42. John four, one through 42. This is our second week in this exact same section of scripture, but that's just because the narrative here is a lot longer than a lot of other narratives in the Bible. And there is much to teach us here about our great savior, Jesus Christ. So we're looking again at the same text. John chapter four, beginning in verse one. This is the word of the Lord. Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John, although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples, he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. And he had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there. So Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, give me a drink. For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, how is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria? For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered her, if you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying you, give me a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water. The woman said to him, sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock. Jesus said to her, everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water, welling up to eternal life. The woman said to him, sir, give me this water so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water. 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, 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. 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. Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, what do you seek or why are you talking with her? So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, come see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ? They went out of the town and were coming to him. Meanwhile, the disciples were urging him, saying, Rabbi, eat. But he said to them, I have food to eat that you do not know about. So the disciples said to one another, has anyone brought him something to eat? Jesus said to them, my food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do you not say there are yet four months, then comes the harvest? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, one sows and another reaps. I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored and you have entered into their labor. Many Samaritans from that town believed in Him because of the woman's testimony. He told me all that I ever did. So when the Samaritans came to Him, they asked Him to stay with them, and He stayed there two days. And many more believed because of His word. They said to the woman, It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world." Let's bow our heads in prayer. God, we thank you that you are indeed the savior of the world, that you are the one who brings living water, that you are the ones who can tell us all. You are the one who can tell us all that we have ever done, Lord, and you love us still. God, we thank you for this word today from the gospel. According to John, we ask that through it, you would just reach straight down to our consciences, that your word would go to the innermost part of our being, that it would sink into our ears, Lord, that it would divide spirit and soul, that it would go straight to the core of who we are, and it would convict us, and it would strengthen us, and it would bind us up in your love. God, help me only to say that which is true, that which is in accord with your gospel. Guide my words, God, and if I'm about to say anything wrong, please, Lord, just divert me. Let me change the path that I'm on and stay true to You and what You would have us hear today. God, be with all those who are hearing, Lord, and let them hear directly from You. Draw us to You, Christ, and strengthen our faith now. In Your holy name, amen. And you may be seated. Our sermon today is going to focus on three main points. I'll go ahead and tell them so you know where we are going. First point, Jesus is the greater Israel. Jesus is the greater Israel. Second point, Jesus provides a greater salvation. Jesus provides a greater salvation. And then finally, Jesus requires a greater worship. Jesus requires a greater worship. So the first point I want us to dial into this morning is that Christ is the greater Israel. Christ is the greater Israel. We talked about this a little bit last Lord's Day when we discussed how Jesus recapitulated, and what that word means is summed up, he repictured, how Jesus summed up the life of Israel generally. Jesus in his earthly life was repicturing the life of Israel and how God had redeemed her and brought her through many trials and troubles. And he was also, Jesus was also with his life, prophesying what the new Israel, his church, would accomplish through the empowering work of his Holy Spirit. just as Jesus first cleansed the temple in Jerusalem, then He went out to baptize in the wilderness of Judea, and then He came to Samaria to meet the woman at the well, before ultimately going to Galilee to minister for some time. Well, in a very similar way, As Jesus patterned this ministry, Christ also promised his disciples that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them and they would be his witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and even to the end of the world. And of course, that promise was not only true of the original disciples who were there in that upper room on that great Pentecost morning 2000 years ago, but it is just as true for us as well. All those whom Christ has appointed to eternal life will receive his spirit and are called to be his witnesses. Now, I don't want to belabor that point too much. since we went in depth there last week, but I do want to look more fully at what our text today, John 4, reveals about Jesus being the greater Israel. What do we learn specifically here? Well, have you ever noticed that some of the greatest stories ever told all kind of have the same basic storyline. Has anyone noticed that before? Whether they are books or movies or TV shows or plays, we tend to tell and enjoy listening to the same basic stories over and over and over. You can see it especially in children. They request the same exact book to be read over and over and over. They get a story and they like it. And with the stories that we listen to, maybe we like a little more diversity than young children. Maybe the names change, the dates change, some details change, but the flow of the story often stays pretty much the same. When I was researching for this sermon, I was reading an article in the Atlantic, which for the record is not something I normally do for kicks and giggles, but the article was actually very helpful as I was thinking through this point. The title of the Atlantic article was this, all stories are the same. All stories are the same. Here's just a little excerpt. The writer says, consider this story. A dangerous monster threatens a community. One man takes it on himself to kill the beast and restore happiness to the kingdom. That's the plot. Then the author of the article writes, it's the story of Jaws, released in 1976. But it's also the story of Beowulf, the Anglo-Saxon epic poem published sometime between the 8th and 11th centuries. And it's more familiar than that. It's the thing. It's Jurassic Park. It's Godzilla. It's the blob. And the list actually goes on and on and on. And he lists how this story just keeps popping up in our popular culture. I'm sure we could even add several stories that sound quite similar. Maybe some of you children could remember the story of brave St. George, who went out to slay the evil dragon and save the kingdom and win the beautiful princess as his bride. Or maybe some of our teenagers might think of the Lord of the Rings, where the evil Sauron threatens to take over Middle-earth yet again, and short little Frodo offers to destroy the Ring of Power in order to defeat him. Or maybe some of our adults have heard before the famous quote usually attributed to Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy, all great literature is one of two stories. Number one, a man goes on a journey, or number two, a stranger comes to town. Tolstoy was onto something there. Even the secular and left-wing publications of our day, like the Atlantic, they get it to some extent. In every great and compelling story, there is an echo, and often a very strong echo, to a greater story that has existed long before there were such things as movies or even books. And here we see an example of this truth being played out here in John chapter four, when Jesus meets the woman at the well. For those of you who may be familiar with your Bible, you may recall that this is not the first time that a man and a woman have had an important meeting at a well in the scriptures. The first instance we see is when Abraham's servant goes on a long journey to find a wife for Isaac, and he meets Rebecca at a well. And God gives him a divine sign that she is in fact the one who is to be his master, Isaac's wife. The sign was that Rebekah would offer to draw water both for the servant and for all of his camels, which would have been an enormous and likely several hours-long task, showing her character as a hospitable homemaker. She was showing herself to be a hospitable woman. Rebekah then leaves with the servant, and she and Isaac are married as soon as they return home. The next instance is when Jacob, who would become Israel, when Jacob similarly goes on a long journey to his mother's relatives to find a wife. Neither Abraham nor Isaac wanted their sons to marry pagan women. That's why these journeys had to be made back to their homeland so that they could marry someone from within the larger family. And Jacob meets Rachel and he waters the sheep she brings to the well and he kisses her and he weeps aloud because he knows when he sees her that he has found his bride and that she is beautiful. So Rebecca is hospitable and Rachel is beautiful. And then we have the story of Moses and Zipporah. Maybe less referred to than those other well meetings, but very important nonetheless. Moses is fleeing from the wrath of Pharaoh, and he stops at a well. He's tired, and he sits down. And seven young women come to get water. But some men seek to drive them away. They're bullying the young women. But Moses stands up and saves the women, and he waters their flock. And one of those women turns out to be his soon-to-be wife, Zipporah. Now, all three of these stories follow the same basic plot. The men are on journeys. They get tired. They meet a woman at a well. Water is drawn and drank. The woman hurries back to her home to tell the news of the man that she met at the well. The man spends some time with the woman and her family. Sometimes it's a brief visit. Sometimes it is a very lengthy stay, but it is never permanent. And then ultimately the woman and the man marry. Or in the case of Isaac, the servant brings the woman home to him and then they marry. Now all three of those well-meeting stories are significant. Isaac is the father of Israel, so his marriage to Rebekah is of no small consequence. Jacob, who would become Israel, meeting Rachel at the well, is incredibly important because it is through her and her sister and their servants that the twelve tribes of Israel would descend. Rachel specifically will give birth to Joseph, who God used to save the household of Israel from starvation. And Rachel also gives birth to Benjamin, who is the ancestor of the apostle Paul, the great New Testament theologian. Leah, who interestingly, Jacob married even before he married Rachel, will give birth to Judah, through whom Jesus would trace his descent according to the flesh. So this is a very important meeting too, where Jacob meets Rachel at the well. And then Moses, the mediator of the old covenant, the one to whom God spoke face to face as a man speaks to a friend, He meets Zipporah at the well, and we don't see a lot of details here. In fact, Zipporah does not come up often in our Bibles, not nearly as much as Rebecca and Rachel do, but their marriage is incredibly significant because it is Zipporah, Moses' bride, who ensures that Moses keeps covenant with God. Moses had neglected to give his son the covenant sign of circumcision. He had neglected to raise him as a true Israelite. This was a very serious offense for Moses and for his son Gershom. And God had determined to kill Moses for this great sin. And right as God was going to strike Moses down, Zipporah stepped in and saved the day by grabbing a flint knife and circumcising Gershom. This allowed Moses to live and this allowed him to lead his people out of Egypt and see the reaffirmation of God's covenant on Mount Sinai. So all three of these meetings are incredibly significant. They are just sending echoes down through redemptive history, down through the prophets, on into the New Testament times. And here we have John four and these echoes start to meet. Look specifically at how Jesus is meeting with the woman of Samaria compares to these other stories and specifically to Jacob's story, because Jacob is the patriarch primarily in view in this narrative. And I'm actually going to pull a little bit as I give you an overview of how these two compare specifically from the first three chapters of John as well. And we see how closely the stories of Jesus and Jacob are related. Like Jacob, Jesus left his father's home and embarked on a long journey. That is, he left the glories of heaven, where John tells us he was at the father's side, to become a man and to dwell among us. Jacob's brother, Esau, hated him and actually sought to kill him. Well, so also John tells us that Jesus came to his own, but he was rejected by his own people. Like Jacob who laid his head on a rock and saw a stairway to heaven because he had nowhere else to be, Jesus also had no home on his long journey. And he told some of his first disciples that he would build his church upon a rock and that they would see the angels of God ascending and descending on the son of man. And just like Jacob, Jesus left Jerusalem and Judea to travel to another land to find a bride and being wearied from his journey, he sits down on a well. Faithful first century Jews reading or hearing this account for the first time would have absolutely picked up on these similarities. They would have known what's going on here. It's another well story. And here's a man on a journey. Where's the bride? I think those early hearers of the gospel would have been very excited. They would have known what to expect next, but been eager to see how it played out. Jake had met a beautiful virgin at the well, who it seems would be desirable for any man as a bride. And since Jesus is the greater Jacob in every way, it might be easy to think, well, this bride must be even more beautiful than Jacob or than Rachel, Jacob's wife. Or imagine, imagine instead of being a first century Jew, think of this. This might sound a little strange, but imagine you're an angel in heaven. who is longing to look down at the wonder and mystery of the gospel. And you, you're looking down, you're waiting with bated breath to see who will appear at any moment. Angels are more powerful than us, of course, they are more knowledgeable in many ways than us, but we know they're not omniscient and we know they are amazed at the mystery of the gospel. They do not take part in the gospel in the same way we do. Jesus did not die for angels and they are amazed at what the Son of God is doing here. So they're looking down and they're waiting to see who would come. And then she appears. It's a woman, but she's not from Jesus's own people. She is not pure. She would ordinarily be totally undesirable to any devout Jewish man. And think of Jesus. He's a holy man, holier than any of the patriarchs, greater than our father Jacob. That's our first sermon point. He is greater than our father Jacob. And the bride he meets is totally unlovely. But this seemingly unfit match emphasizes and shows us Jesus's greatness here. See, Jacob could only love someone who was beautiful to his eyes. He despised Leah, his first wife, because she was not beautiful to him. Jesus, however, chooses to love the despised of the world. That's who he chooses. The despised, foolish, weak things of the world, he chooses to love. And by his love, he makes them lovely. Jacob provided a well of water in a hot place, but his descendants, you see, they had to keep coming back day after day. Otherwise they would run out of water and they would eventually die of thirst. Jesus here says he will provide his bride with living water and whoever drinks of it will never be thirsty again. The water that Jesus gives, in fact, will become in the drinker a spring of water, welling up to everlasting life. When Rachel tells her father Laban about the man that she met at the well, Laban sees a worldly advantage to be gained and he engages in deception and theft to get what he wants from Jacob. When the Samaritan woman, who remember she's a despised person, a person who in that culture and at that time whose testimony would have mattered almost absolutely nothing in public matters. She had no voice in public. But when she runs into the center of town to tell the people of Sychar who she has met, many in her town hear what she's saying, and they believe her, and they run to the well also, and they begin to drink from the living water, and many are converted to Christ. Jesus, you see, is far greater than our father, Jacob. Jesus is the truer and greater Israel. And that brings us right to our next point of our sermon today. Jesus is the greater Israel who brings us a greater salvation. He brings us a greater salvation. The covenant made with Abraham, of which covenant Jacob was a member, is the same gracious covenant that Jesus draws us into. We are not saved in a different way than the ancient Israelites were saved. Sometimes there is a prevailing notion in some of the American church that while the Israelites were saved one way, maybe it was by keeping the Ten Commandments, And we know we're saved another way. We are saved by faith in Christ. But church, this is not true at all. We are not saved by a different sacrifice than they were saved by. We are not saved by a different God than they were saved by. We are not saved by a different means than they were saved by. And yet, The Bible's clear, we still enjoy a greater salvation. Now, how is that? How could those things be true? The book of Hebrews tells us that it was through faith in Christ that our Old Testament brothers and sisters were redeemed and justified. Same as us. But Hebrews also tells us that all of these brothers and sisters of ours, all of them died in faith. They were all commended through their faith. They all through their faith received a good report from God. But none of them received the things promised to them. They died believing the promises. but they did not die receiving the promises. Now, why is that? It's not because God was unfaithful, but because as God's word tells us, God had provided something better for us that apart from us, they should not be made perfect. Abraham and Isaac and Jacob all died in faith in the promises of God. And they went to Sheol, to the grave, and they were there with their people. They were in a happy place. but they did not receive the promises because Christ had not yet come. Christ had not yet lived a perfect life in their place. Christ had not yet died a perfect death in their place. Christ had not yet raised again from the grave in their place. And Christ had not yet ascended into heaven in their place. But now, now on this side of the cross and the resurrection, Christ has done all those things for us. Now their souls are no longer in Sheol. It's not like we go to heaven, but the Old Testament saints are waiting down in a grave somewhere. Now Abraham and Isaac and Jacob are with Jesus Christ in heaven. Jesus has come. He is greater than Jacob. And his salvation that he brings is greater. Or think of the sacrificial system instituted in the Old Covenant. This is a good system. It was given by God. It is godly. But think about it. Every single day, the priest stood at the altar offering up bulls and goats to God as sacrifices to cover the sins of the people and to make them ceremonially clean. Every single day. Just like how every single day the people had to go back to Jacob's well to get water. Every day. But Christ, you see, Christ offers a once for all sacrifice on the cross. And that once for all sacrifice covered all the sins of all of his people for all of time. And once we have drunk freely of the well of Christ's love, we will never thirst again. We don't need a perpetually offered sacrifice. We don't believe here, as the Roman Catholic Church teaches, that we have to keep receiving the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist as a continual sacrifice for our sins. We don't believe that Christ must be re-offered to the Father over and over and over, otherwise we fall from grace, because that is exactly contrary to what the Bible teaches. No. We know for certain that just as one drop of living water from the well of Christ and his righteousness and grace will save us, it will become in us that well springing up to everlasting life. And everlasting means it's not going to run out. The book of Hebrews again tells us that Christ was offered up once for all. And as Paul tells us in Romans, he will never die again. His one sacrifice was more than sufficient and it was abundant. It was everlasting. It will always continue to flow. It will always be more than enough. Though Jacob could only love the beautiful Rachel, Jesus's love makes even the harlot and the adulterer beautiful. He has met us at the well and he is washing us with the water of the word so that in time we will be pure and spotless without any wrinkles or blemishes, just as if we had never sinned. Jesus is the greater Jacob and he provides a greater salvation. And not only is Christ's blood more powerful than the blood of bulls and goats, which could never take away sins, but our experience of his salvation is a greater experience than that of our Old Testament brothers and sisters. In the Old Covenant, you were required to go to the temple in Jerusalem to worship God. And God's Spirit dwelt there, in the temple, in the Holy of Holies. But no one could just walk right in to the Holy of Holies. You couldn't just have direct access to God's Spirit whenever you wanted it. The only person who could go into the Holy of Holies was the high priest, and he could only go once per year, and only when covered with the blood of a perfect, spotless sacrifice. But in the new covenant, Christ amazingly is both the high priest and the perfect sacrifice. And he has opened up the Holy of Holies to all of God's children. So now we don't have to go to this mountain or that mountain to worship God. Now in Christ, we worship the Father in spirit and in truth. And the Spirit of God now dwells in each and every believer in Christ. And we, the church, are the temple of the living God. So wherever we go, that's where the Spirit of God is. Direct access with God in his throne room is available to every single person covered with Christ's blood at any time of the day and at any place in the world. So we're in the same covenant, we're in the same solemn bond with God that Abraham was in, but now the promise of salvation made to our fathers is fulfilled in Christ. The rosebud of the covenant in the time of Jacob is now a glorious rose in bloom. The mystery of Christ being revealed to us and the Spirit of God being poured out on all flesh. Our gifts from the Spirit, they're greater gifts. Our knowledge of Christ is a greater knowledge. Our salvation, therefore, is a greater salvation. So we've already run into, I think now, our last point of the day. Jesus is the greater Israel who brings us a greater salvation and who empowers us and requires us to render greater worship to him. Greater worship to him. He empowers us and requires us to render greater worship to him. So if you still have your Bible open, look back with me at verse 19 of John chapter four. John 4 and 19, God's word says 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 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. 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. So Jesus has already told the woman at the well about the living water that he gives to all of his children. And she's confused at first. I think probably as all of us would be if we were there at that meeting. She doesn't understand what Jesus is saying, but she likes the sound of not having returned to Jacob's well to draw water over and over, only to keep running out and keep getting thirsty again and again. She likes the sound of not being reminded of her shame as she walks every day at noon to the well alone, trying to avoid the stares of all the other women. But she doesn't quite get what Jesus is saying. How do I get? this water. So Jesus very patiently leads her into further understanding. He reveals to her that He knows exactly who she is. He knows all of her sin and all of her shame. And He doesn't excuse it. He doesn't say, well, don't worry about that. But He also shows her that all of her sins mounded up to heaven would not be a high enough barrier to impede him from seeking and finding and redeeming her. At this point, the Samaritan woman becomes confident that this man is not just an interesting stranger. He's not just a better than average Jewish rabbi. He is a kind and loving prophet sent from God. And so she says, look, I can tell that you speak for God, but your people say one thing about how we are to worship and my people say this other thing. And I think the implied question here is, what do you say if you speak for God? And also still, how can I drink of this water? How can I render proper worship to this true and merciful God that you were telling me about? And Jesus, speaking prophetically about the end of the old covenant era, says pretty soon it won't matter where you worship, but what will matter is that you worship according to the truth that I am revealing to you right now, and that you worship from the innermost depths of your being by the power of my Holy Spirit. And at this moment, the woman thinks, this is big news. It doesn't matter which mountain I worship on. So she says, well, I know that Messiah is coming. And when Messiah, the anointed one sent from heaven comes, he could reveal mysteries this great. But not even a prophet could speak in this way. Not even a prophet could say, don't worry about going to the temple in Jerusalem. Don't we need to wait on the Christ before we have information like you're giving me right now? And then Jesus, I mean, she's getting it to some extent. She still doesn't connect that this is the Christ who she's talking to, but she is picking up on what he's saying to some degree. And Jesus in a way much clearer than he reveals to most people, he says in no uncertain terms, I who speak to you am he. The one that you're thinking about, that's me, I'm the Messiah. And then at that moment, she doesn't doubt anymore. She doesn't ask further questions. She sees him for who he is. He opens her eyes and she sees this is the Messiah. He's not just a strange Jewish man that wanted to get water from me like I first thought. He's not just a teacher or even a very kind prophet. This man offering me living water is the Messiah himself. And at that moment, the thing which she thought she was coming to the well for is forgotten. She drops her water bucket. She never got water from the well. She just drops the bucket there. And what do we see so often in these first chapters of John when someone realizes that Christ is the Messiah? They drop everything they're doing and they go tell their friends and family that they have found Christ. And that's what she does. She drops what she's doing. She runs to tell the other villagers that Jesus is here. And he's revealing the mysteries of God and he's offering everlasting life to people even as shamed and downtrodden as her. Now, what does that interchange tell us about the type of worship that God is requiring of us? So often when people today are looking for a local church, to which they should belong, they end up making their decisions based on where their friends go, or where there are well-resourced children's programs, or what the style of worship is. Well, this church, they sing only hymns, but this church sings some more contemporary songs. Or this church over here, they observe communion every week, and this church, they do it quarterly. Or this church, they say the Lord's Prayer every service. And this other church, I don't think I've ever heard them say the Lord's Prayer. And the temptation is to end up deciding which church to join based on what we like best, or what feels right, or what we're used to. And there's nothing wrong with letting those things inform our decisions. There's nothing wrong with going to a church you feel happy to be at. I certainly hope that everyone's happy to be at their church. But ultimately what must drive our decisions on how we worship is this promise of Christ here in our text. Is the worship guided by, regulated by, and informed by God's word? And is it fueled by and carried out in the power of God's spirit? Are people worshiping with their hearts? Is the spring of living water within them overflowing in the prayers and praises? Are they seeking to understand, embrace and proclaim what the Bible says, even when it's challenging? Or are they deciding how to fashion their service based on market research? How well they think certain approaches will draw and please a crowd? I can tell you that here at King's Cross, we certainly don't have it all figured out. We are figuring it out Lord's Day by Lord's Day. We are an imperfect church full of imperfect people. But I can assure you that we are seeking to base our worship on the truth of God's Word. In our elders' meetings, we have long conversations about how to make sure the way we're handling certain elements in the service are guided by the truth of Scripture and the Spirit of Christ, not just by whatever we felt like doing this Lord's Day. And of course, this claim that God is seeking worshipers who will worship Him in spirit and truth, it's not only about the church or a corporate body of Christians, it's also largely about individuals. When you kneel in confession, whether it's here in church or by your bed at night, is your heart in a posture of submission or is only your body? When you lift your hands in praise, is your spirit rising up within you to sing of your lovely savior? When you make decisions about how to conduct your business, are you being guided by the principles and commands laid down in God's word or merely by earthly wisdom? When you are raising your children, are you most concerned with their external obedience or with the tenderness of their hearts to God's law and gospel? In his ministry, Jesus condemns God's very own covenant people for honoring him with their lips while their hearts remain far from him. God is very uninterested in religious show. God's word tells us that he is neither delighted in nor required sacrifices and burnt offering. He doesn't want his people to just be going through the motions, which is what so much of old covenant worship had become. Instead of trusting in the Lord and responding to his great salvation by offering these sacrifices and repentance and faith, The Jews began to think that the animal sacrifices themselves were what God was after, when all along he was after his people's hearts. First and foremost, God requires what only he can give, a clean and renewed heart that loves God and loves our neighbor. And if we can't give this to ourselves, if we can't generate a clean heart within us, if we can't remove the stain of sin on our own, how can we ever expect to approach God? That's probably something like the Samaritan woman was saying, what she was thinking in her mind. She was going in the middle of the day. She was a disgraced woman. She had had five husbands and was now living with a pretend husband who lived there with her. How could she ever clean herself up enough to make her lovely in the sight of a perfect God? But we all can be made new in His sight. simply by trusting that Jesus is who he says he is. Just like that Samaritan woman who believed him when he said, I am the Messiah. Remember that all great stories that we tell today echo something older and more meaningful. That's not an accident. All stories that seem good to us echo the greatest story ever told. With some books and some movies, it's a stronger echo than others, but we are all made in the image of God. And humans the world over from every culture and every time, and especially those of us who are called by God to salvation, we have something within us that is drawn to a particular type of story. In great stories, things start out happy. God saw everything that he had made and behold, it was very good. But then very soon a monster comes and threatens the happiness and peace of the community. That's sin and Satan, who through the disobedience of Adam brought death to all creation. But then, at this point in the story, a hero arises. That's Jesus. And though the kingdom seems to be crumbling all around, and the bride who was promised to the hero has defiled herself over and over, the hero does not get discouraged. Rather, he takes it upon himself to slay the monster. And he does so by living the perfect sinless life that we were called to live, and by dying in our place on the cross, and thus paying the penalty for our sins. He crushes the head of the wicked monster who had enslaved us. And as his reward, Jesus receives his bride, who though he finds her lost and dirty and filled with shame, he cleanses with living water, making her spotless and beautiful. And not only does he receive this bride who becomes radiant, but in fact, he inherits the entire kingdom that he had come to save. And then how did the best stories end? Children, how does a good story end? Say it with me if you know how it ends. And they lived happily ever after. And that's how our story ends. We will live happily ever after in the everlasting kingdom of the new heavens and new earth, where we will glorify God and enjoy him forever. Let's go to our greater Jacob now in prayer. God, we thank you for redeeming us. Lord, we know on our own we are far worse off even than a woman who has been married five times and is living with a man who is not her husband. God, all of our righteousness, even on our best of days, is nothing but filthy rags when you require a perfect spotless white garment. But God, we thank you that you have gone out to the well, that you have gone to the ends of the earth, that you have gone to the highways and hedges, God, and you have offered your robes of righteousness to all who would call upon you. Lord, we thank you for the promise that all who call upon the Lord Jesus will be saved. And God, we ask now today that you would strengthen our faith, renew in us a desire to worship you truly in spirit and truth. and sanctify us now by your word, in Christ's name, amen.