In Spirit & Truth
For the Lord’s Day:  the 17th of October 2004 

Joshua 8: 30-35
John 4: 1-26

Introduction:  Our Old Testament passage comes after Jericho and Ai have been defeated.  The people of Israel have moved north along the King's Highway which parallels the River Jordan.  Near the Shechem gap Joshua led God's people to the two mountains there to renew the Covenant between Israel and the Lord God Almighty.  There following Moses' orders, Joshua built an altar and read the Law once again to the people of Israel.  The altar was built according to the biblical instructions for using natural materials and the people assembled to hear again the Covenant between them and their God.

 The two mountains in this natural arena were named within God's plan.  To the north was the lower mountain called Gerizim which was to be the mountain of blessing.  The higher mountain called Ebal was to be the place of warning.  This covenantal ceremony dramatically gave Israel the great object lesson.  The people were instructed that their lives in the land would depend upon whether they kept the law of God.  The people were to hear from Mount Gerizim the blessings which would come to them if they kept God's law and from Mount Ebal the curses which would fall upon them if they did not.  The people would have to choose.  It is significant that the altar was not built on Gerizim the mountain of blessing, but on Ebal, the mountain of warning.  The purpose of this fact was to remind them that their approach to God must always be through sacrifice and not through the keeping of the law or any other work man may himself do.

According to Paul, Israel should have understood their lesson.  In Romans 4: 3-5, Paul wrote "For what does the Scripture say? 'Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.'  Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted to him as a gift, but as his due.  And to the one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness."  Abraham did not try to come to God on the basis of his works because he understood that he was a sinner.  He came, rather, on the basis of what God supplied.  Paul's argument in Romans four is that the Old Testament people of God had to come to God exactly as we do, even though Christ had not yet died.  If they tried to come on the basis of humanistic works, they could never make it.

Development God is infinite; man is finite.  Man has deliberately sinned; therefore, an infinite chasm of moral guilt exists between God and man.  How can man with his good works or his worship cross the gap?  He cannot, so Abraham's return to God was not by works, but by the way God prescribed.  Yet man forever fails to grasp the simpleness of obeying God and fitting into God's plan.  Time and again the people of Israel forgot who they  were and fell away from following after God.  Of course, there were a few bright spots in the history of Israel, there were David and Hezekiah's reigns, but precious few other!

In time, God's own people were removed from Israel and the Samaritans were settled in their place.  These Samaritans set up their own worship in the land.  One of their centers was in that gap between the hills where Joshua and Israel had entered into Palestine.  The Samaritans chose to worship on the mountain of blessing as if they refused to admit the need of the mountain of warning.  They stood in the way of Cain who tried to please God in his own way.  In Genesis we would find that Cain's worship, just as the Samaritan's worship would be rejected.  Even today, the remnant of the Samaritans still offer sacrifices on Mount Gerizim each Passover season. They would still claim the blessings of God without considering His warnings.

In our own country's history, the government and laws were firmly founded upon biblical ideas and methods.  However, these commitments and ideas have been rejected and we stand in the same place of rebellion where Israel and Samaria regularly stood.  What an awful situation to be found in!  To stand in the place of the rebel wicked.  To be found in sin and without hope in this world.  Yet we are not limited to the means of this world alone.  God Himself has taken our situation into His own hands.  According to the revelation here in the Gospel of John, Jesus, Himself came into the gap between the two mountains.  And there he talked with a Samaritan woman, and there He revealed His plan of escape for all who would place their faith in Him.

This brings us to our New Covenant text for today, where we read that Jesus rested by Jacob's well near Sychar.  He found an opportunity to witness to a Samaritan woman who came for water.  In the course of the conversation she voices the ultimate question of the ages:  "Where can I find God?"  Now, she does not say it in just those words, but according to her limited understanding, she asks "Sir, give me this water so that I will not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water."

Jesus ignores the simplistic question and calls her to account, He confronts her with the reality of her sin.  In wonder she recognizes Him as a Prophet and brings up the subject of proper worship.  "Our fathers worshiped on this mountain," pointing to the Mountain of Blessing, "but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.”  Jesus informs her that all of that is about to change.  "the hour is coming when  neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.”  Yes, he will admit that the worship at Jerusalem was involved in sacrificial salvation for some in Israel, but all of that is about to change.  “But the hour is coming, and is no here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.”

Application: Jesus points the woman beyond the requirements of the old sacramental order of both Samaritan and Jew.  He points her to His Father.  It is He who is to be worshiped.  And He is to be worshiped in specific ways laid down by Himself.  The emphasis here is that He is to be worshiped in spirit and in truth.  Now what does this exactly mean?  We may state three commitments that we ought to make in our worship.

First, we must observe what Joshua did in our Old Testament passage.  In that passage Joshua had the whole law read.  In a like manner we should also use the whole law of God.  The Samaritans and Muslims both use a portion of the law: The Pentatuch which is only the first five books of the Bible.  We must avoid a false worship that selects passages here and there to reaffirm one's own viewpoint and then ignore those passages we do not care for.  Liberal Christianity uses only portions of Scripture leaving many chapters and books to be explained away.  Fundamental Christianity also uses portions of Scripture leaving aside certain passages calling for aid and mercy for those in need.  We must affirm all of Scripture.  We must be committed to the whole of God's law.

Second, Jesus says to the woman that her people worship that which they did not know.  They worshiped in ignorance.  This can never be tolerated, yet this kind of worship is very common in our age.  Christianity has appeared to fail, because so many people have failed in any serious study of the Law of God.  Humanism has apparently triumphed because God's people have not read nor obeyed their Scriptures.  Instead we have applied worldly methods to meet our financial, social and moral needs.  The proper worship of our God involves more than just a few minutes at Bible Study and in Worship each week.  More and more as we grow in grace and knowledge every thought and every action, indeed every area of life must be brought under the Lordship of Jesus Christ!

Third, we must avoid a false worship that is superstitious.  This point involves the proper spirit of our worship.  Why do you worship?  Do you give praise to the Almighty because you know that you need or desire to do so?  Some worshipers turn up in Church because they sense that it might be dangerous not to give God a few moments of their precious time.  Their worship is like FIRE INSURANCE.  One man in Florida was able for a while to sell a popular insurance policy guaranteeing that his clients would avoid the fires of Hell!  In you wanted more information, His fee was $800.00.

Now, this is not a proper motive for worship.  We must be concerned with only what God desires from us.  Real worship involves a love of God given in gratitude for what He has done for us.  The Samaritan woman knew that the Messiah was coming who would explain everything.  Jesus declared to her that "I who speak to you am he."  Like the experience of the Samaritan woman, Jesus reveals Himself to us and commands us to worship Him in Spirit and in truth.  That means we all need to recognize Him as He reveals Himself to us in the Holy Scriptures.  It also means that our worship should be given in accordance to the instructions of His Word.  Finally and most importantly, our worship must involve our whole person.  Our commitment to Him must be total involving our heart, soul and mind as well as our abilities and resources.  May such worship be yours today and always.  Amen.

Rushsylvania United Presbyterian Church (USA)  02 Mar 75 & 20 Jul 80
DeGraff & Springhills Presbyterian (USA) Charge 26 Apr 81
Trinity Presbyterian Church (PCA)  24 Jul 83 & Logan County Mission (PCA) 14 May 84
Christ Covenant Reformed (PCA) 22 Jan 89 & 25 Sep 93
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PREACHING RESOURCES
Parker, T.H.L..  Calvin’s Commentaries: The Gospel According to St John.
Schaeffer, Francis.  Joshua & The Flow of Biblical History.
The Holy Bible:  English Standard Version.

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