True worship is contrasted from the past and is in a particular sense “now.” We also see here four marks of true worship. Mark 1: True worshippers actually bow themselves down before God.
John 4:22 The Savior of the World [Part 6]
John 4:19-21 The Savior of the World [Part 5]
We continue this week through the Gospel of John, with Jesus' conversation with the Samaritan woman. We cover 1) the Samaritan woman's diversion from the topic of her immorality, 2) her accusation of the Jews' ownership of the place of worship, and 3) Jesus' proclamation of the cessation of the current Jewish system of worship. Next week we will continue with 4) the clarification and 5) the spririt and truth.
The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.”
Ezekiel 36:26-27 The New Covenant
This week's sermon covers the topic of the new covenant, in the following four parts: 1) the distinction between people of faith before and after the new covenant, 2) the anticipation of the Holy Spirit, 3) the arrival of the Holy Spirit and 4) the evidence of the Holy Spirit in the new covenant.
Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.
1 John 1:5-2:2 This is the Message
Today's sermon took a temporary detour from our exposition of John, to discuss what "spiritual thirst" means, in light of Jesus' conversation with the Samaritan woman. We cover the two reasons why Christians experience spiritual thirst, 1) they conflate emotional voids with spiritual thirst, 2) they are not pursuing after God's holiness. Then we discuss the three aspects of pursuing God's holiness, 1) we fellowship with God, 2) we live in God's holiness, and 3) we confess our sins frequently.
This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.
My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.
John 4:15-18 The Savior of the World [Part 4]
Today's sermon covered 1) the Samaritan woman's request for living water, 2) Jesus' commands for her husband to come, 3) the Samaritan woman's half truth about her relationship, and 4) Jesus' confrontation about her immorality.
The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw.” He said to her, “Go, call your husband and come here.” The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have correctly said, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly.”
John 4:11-14 The Savior of the World [Part 3]
[Summary pending]
She said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?” Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”
John 4:7-10 The Savior of the World [Part 2]
In this next section, Jesus requests water from the Samaritan woman (The Request), which she refuses (The Refusal), after which Jesus offers her the gift of God (The Offer).
There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Therefore the Samaritan woman said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”