Jesus Describes Acceptable Worship
Acceptable Worship

Jesus Describes Acceptable Worship

19 The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. 20 "Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship." 21 Jesus said* to her, "Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 "You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 "But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. 24 "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. 
John 4:19-24 (NASB)
  • The Definition: The WHAT of Worship
  • The Scope: The WHERE of Worship
  • The Practice: The HOW of Worship
  • The Motive: The WHY of Worship

The Definition: The WHAT of Worship

To worship God is to so recognize His worth, that we prostrate our hearts and souls in reverent submission and adoration for Who God is and to live a life of service to Him.

The Scope: The WHERE of Worship

20 "Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship." 21 Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 23 "But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. 24 "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." 
John 4:20-21, 23-24 (NASB)
O Lord, You have searched me and known me. 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. 3 You scrutinize my path and my lying down and are intimately acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O Lord, You know it all. 5 You have enclosed me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it. 7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. 9 If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, 10 Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me. 
Psalm 139:1-10 (NASB)

Worship of God is ALL of life (Everywhere and at ALL times).

The Practice: The HOW of Worship

"But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people, the Father seeks to be His worshipers.” 
John 4:23

“When we believe that we should be satisfied rather than God glorified in our worship, then we put God below ourselves as though He had been made for us rather than that we had been made for Him.” –

Stephen Charnock
“For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you...” 
Romans 1:9

What people do with their bodies may be observed and reported by their fellows, but what one does in one’s own spirit is known certainly only to God; and that accounts for Paul’s appeal to God as a witness of his inner sincerity and devotion to the gospel of Christ”

James Burton Coffman

It is through the Word and ONLY through the Word that we grow.

I should think myself in the way of my duty to raise the affections [emotions] of my hearers as high as possibly I can, provided that they are affected with nothing but truth”

Jonathan Edwards

The Motive: The WHY of Worship

“But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people, the Father seeks to be His worshipers.” 
John 4:23
Then he called for Moses and Aaron at night and said, “Rise up, get out from among my people, both you and the sons of Israel; and go, worship the LORD, as you have said. 
Exodus 12:31

Our ultimate motivation for worshipping God is that we were saved to Worship Him.

Nothing can be more consistent with reason than that the work of God should glorify its Author. We are not our own, we are the property of the Lord, by the right of creation and redemption; and it would be as unreasonable as it would be wicked not to live to his glory, in strict obedience to his will”

Adam Clarke
  • The Definition: The WHAT of Worship
  • The Scope: The WHERE of Worship
  • The Practice: The HOW of Worship
  • The Motive: The WHY of Worship

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