Eternal Answer We Will Enjoy Through True Worship (John 4:19-24) 5/26/2024
Eternal Answer of 1st 2nd 3rd RUTC:
Eternal Answer We Will Enjoy Through True Worship (John 4:19-24) 5/26/2024
A woman who was in much distress met Jesus Christ and received salvation. She is the Samaritan woman in today’s passage. She came to draw water and ran into Jesus at around 12 o’clock noon. We can assume that she tried to avoid other people.
There is something that Jesus spoke of. “You had five husbands, and even the one you are with right now isn’t your husband.” (Jn.4:18 English Standard Version) Some may criticize her life, and some may pity her fate that caused her to end up in that life. How did Jesus’ feel? Jesus went to her to save her so that she could live a new life. This is God’s love and heart. What comes from it is evangelism and missions.
That person’s past or reality does not matter. How much better are we than others, and how much cleaner are we than others? In God’s eyes, every life falls under judgment and curses (Romans 3:10, Romans 5:12). But God will save those lives to save other lives and the world by raising them as witnesses (representative example is prostitute Rahab). We are included in that.
- What must save people do?
We must rejoice, praise, and enjoy the God who desires to save us, bless us, and use us. That is worship. We exalt God, give thanks to Him, receive His strength, and enjoy his blessings during worship time. This must be the rightful response and posture of a life that saved people like us have in our hearts.
1) All we do is worship but that is what God delights in.
① Through worship we bring joy to God, but God’s joy and peace comes into our lives. Our faith also deepens.
② We call Abraham the ancestor of faith (Genesis 12:1-3). The moment he is saved, he receives the covenant of being the source of blessings and saving all nations. There is two things Abraham did well. He believed as God promised (Romans 4:3) and built an altar each time (Genesis 12:4). “Built an altar” means he was someone who rejoiced in giving worship and enjoyed the blessing of worship.
2) All we do is worship, but God gives all the answers there.
① Even after salvation, if we live on this corrupted earth, problems and pain will find us. Each time, God gives answers to those problems through worship (Psalm 107:20) and heals our deepest scars (Hebrews 4:12).
② No matter how lacking we are, through worship, God gives us answers that unbelievers will surely see (John Wanamaker’s worship). It is no longer an excuse to say we can’t worship now, that it is a virtual age. What matters is we must give true worship.
3) All we do is worship, but God gives us deep spirituality (Blessing Of Spiritual Summit).
① If we lost hold of this blessing in this age with endless corruption and disasters, then life itself will be suffering. Not only spiritually worst but this age is terribly evil and corrupted. The 4th and 5th Industrial Revolution will no longer need humans.
② The world will be filled with personality disorders, suicide, and mental illnesses. We must raise the posterity who will not only be just good at studying or will have a good job, but who will have deep spirituality.
- What kind of worship is true worship?
Jesus said so Himself in the passage. “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks” (v23).
1) Jesus said that worship given in the Spirit is true worship.
① The biggest change that took place after salvation is the fact that the Spirit of Christ is now within us (Romans 8:9). God delights in the worship given by those who possess the spirit of Christ through salvation, rather than those who possess great things of the world. Unbelievers who accept Christ will undoubtedly have His Spirit live within them and that Spirit will revive their own (John 3:5 Born Again).
② When a Spirit that is born again through Christ listens to the Word of Christ, faith will grow, and they will spiritually deepen (Romans 10:17). It is not just any word. It is the Word that proclaims Christ. At that moment, the Spirit of Christ will be at work and the darkness within us will be broken. Then, the work of the devil in our lives that tries to deceive us will crumble down (1John 3:8). On the other hand, when the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit begins to work, then the work of God’s Kingdom will begin in us and our lives (Romans 17:14).
③ From then on, the Eternal Answer and Blessing that God gives to us from God’s Kingdom’s Throne will begin. The essence of the 7,7,7 prayer is holding only what God has already given us (7 Journeys, 7 Bartizans, 7 Guide Signs). More important than that is the prayer that holds only spiritual blessings. When we yearn for spiritual blessings, God mobilizes his angels (Isaiah 62:6-7).
2) Jesus said that worship given in truth is true worship. Truth means two things.
① It is the Word that proclaims Christ who came as the truth (John 14:6). It is the basis for all things (Greek “Logos”), and the absolute answer for our lives (Greek “Rhema”). When this Word of truth is proclaimed, the dried bones of the valley in Ezekiel will become alive and form an army (Ezekiel 37:9-10). God has given us this blessing of truth through the pulpit (Acts 2:42). When we believe it as the Word of God, He will work (1Thessalonians 2:13).
② It is our hearts that holds, yearns for, and holds onto that truth (In a different translation, it says, “in spirit and true heart”). There are two keys to the “Shema” of (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). We must first love God with all our heart (heart, will, strength) and relay this covenant to our posterity.
③ When we say “Heart,” we mean “Intellect,” “Emotion,” and “Will.” The posture of wanting to know Christ deeper is “Intellect.” This is the reason we concentrate and meditate. Through “Emotion,” we can feel God’s love and shed tears (true meaning of tears). It also produces confession of gratitude (true meaning of all offering and devotion). “Will” is our resolution. It is our challenge toward holding onto the Word and renewing ourselves.
3) When this Spiritual Blessing and Blessing of the Word becomes a flow, that is true worship. It says, “living sacrifice” (Romans 12:1-2). God promised that His Word will flow out of the gates and save individuals, regions, and the world (Ezekiel 47:1-12).
① When we make true worship consistent, it will create a flow. That is why consistent worship is important (Hebrews 10:13-25). It is the same with physical health. The food we eat, the exercise, and the breathing that we make consistent becomes a flow. This flow is relayed.
② The answers and blessings we enjoy through true worship becomes connected to eternity. Those who will end up in hell live within the flow of hell on earth. Those who look upon heaven experience the flow of heaven on earth.
Conclusion – God seeks for those who worship like this (v23). May we become witnesses of Eternal Answers within True Worship.