The True Essence and Worth of Worship

The woman said to him, Sir, I see that you are my prophet. My ancestors worshipped on this mountain. But you say that the place where peeple must worship... in Jerusalem. Jesus said to her, woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 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 in truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. [01:01:56] (58 seconds)


There is a certain quality of worship, a superior status of it that that has been determined and detailed by God himself that he is looking for and hear me church, God will not lower the standards on what he wants because that would reduce the value of it. But the hour is coming. And now is here when the true worshipers will worship the father in spirit and truth for the father. Here it is. He's looking for that kind. He seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit. Those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. [01:06:31] (59 seconds)


Jesus outlines very clear distinctions between life in God and life outside of God when you have life in God through your faith in Jesus Christ God offers you a deeper well of blessings God offers you a better supply of water that satisfies the whole of life and these things lead to the final distinction of life in God hear it don't miss it God expects God to find a higher quality of worship from those who have tapped into his well and have tasted his water y 'all miss what I just said let me say it this way God gives us too many high class blessings in Jesus Christ for us to return to him low grade worship [01:08:48] (66 seconds)


that as a worshiper if you desire to have a real connection with God in your life of worship Jesus' worship is not just about worship but it's not just about worship but it's also about worship because Jesus teaches that you can't truly worship God with just a set of principles that you believe about God but there also has to be a spiritual posture that your inner life embraces that worship to God as Jesus defines it has the right confession in terms of who God is but it also exudes a certain kind of character a certain kind of quality that makes it different and distinctive from worship that is offered to any other object that the worth of worship to God beloved is in the quality of worship that we offer to God in God's name [01:13:18] (56 seconds)


Worship is about what God wants, not what you prefer. Worship is about how God wants it, not how you prefer to do it. Now, if it's your worship, you do whatever you want to do. But since it's God's worship, we have to worship. We have to worship the way that God has demanded for us to worship and worship the way that God is seeking us to worship. It's not about us. It's about God. So there's a challenge for us then. And it is for us to inspect both the virtue and the value of our worship to make sure it is of the best quality for God to take pleasure in. [01:16:43] (58 seconds)


If you want to gauge an appraisal of the worship that you give to God, Jesus says that a good way to do that is to assess your awareness of God's activity in your life. that when you are a person who lives each day within the active grace of God there's never a reason or season in which your worship should become stale or shrivel in to traditionalism because God listen to me is always doing something fresh in you and around you [01:18:24] (47 seconds)


and not by experience the church let me say this you can worship God and not really know that God you worship in that that's a worship God based on what you've been told and taught about god that ain't something that doesn't matter but there's a different quality of worship that emanates from you there's a different aroma that arises from the altar of your heart as you give god the sacrifice of your praise when you've had your own experiences with god that when you accumulate your own testimonies of deliverance your own testimonies of being rescued being released being restored being saved the worship that you give to god with a testimony with the evidence of god's goodness it comes from a different place and a different a different posture because of what god has brought you through [01:24:31] (64 seconds)


I'm done with the sermon. But Jesus said, verse number 24, the Father is seeking worshipers to worship him in spirit and in truth. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth. Jesus came to the woman, Dr. Bingham. He gave to her a new theology of worship, that if worship is to have any real worth, then the worship we attribute to God must be a reflection of God's attributes, that God is spirit. And God is truth. [01:35:46] (46 seconds)


That God's truth saved you. And right now, God's spirit is on the inside of you, sanctifying you, trying to make you a better temple for God's worship every day of your life. I'm out of here, y 'all, but don't you miss what I just said. That authentic worship, real worship, genuine worship, valuable worship has to be done in spirit and in truth. Tell us why, Pastor. Because one day, there won't be a Mount Zion. One day, there won't be a Mount Gerizim. One day, there won't be a Bella Vista. One day, there won't be a sanctuary. One day, there won't be a temple. But God is still going to be worthy to be praised. So what temple will the worship come from? [01:38:19] (68 seconds)


We live lives of worship, which mean as we live, leave out, we go out into the world to be the living sanctuaries that God has called us to be. Let your worship be attractive to God this week. But let it also be attractive to other people around you. And when people are in your vicinity, they there's a different aroma that comes from your life because of the life of worship that you seek to live. [01:56:47] (29 seconds)