“OUR COMMUNION – OUR WORSHIP”
SELECTED SCRIPTURES

I. Introduction
One of the choruses we often sing to open our services here at Lighthouse is “We Have Come into His House.”
“We have come into His house and gathered in His name to worship Him. We have come into His house and gathered in His name to worship Him. We have come into His house and gathered in His name to worship Christ the Lord. Wor-ship Him, Christ the Lord.”

That’s the first verse, but there’s a second verse we seldom sing. Listen to the words of that second verse.
“Let’s forget about ourselves and magnify His name and worship Him. Let’s forget about ourselves and magnify His name and worship Him. Let’s forget about ourselves and magnify His name and worship Christ the Lord. Worship Him, Christ the Lord.”

This is a worship service. We have come here this morning to worship our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. A critically important part of that process is focusing solely on the Person of Jesus, who He is, what He has done, what He is doing now, and what He will do in the future and throughout all of eternity. In other words, it’s all about Jesus. So let’s forget about ourselves and magnify His name.

We will partake of the elements that the Great Physician has prescribed for us. Thus we will commune with Jesus, and in that communion we will worship Him in a most funda-mental and beautiful way.
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II. Text
Have you noticed that many words in common usage today don’t mean what they used to mean? For example, the word “gay” used to mean “joyous, lively, and lighthearted.” Now it means something else. “Gay” just doesn’t mean what it used to mean.

When used of an individual, the word “Christian” used to mean someone who came to faith in Christ, repented of their sin, asked God’s forgiveness, and found salvation. Now it often means any nice person who goes to church…or not. “Christian” just doesn’t mean what it used to mean.

“Worship” is another one of those words whose meaning seems to be different that it once was. At least the word often means something less than it once did. Many in the Church of Jesus Christ simply fail to understand what worship – God-pleasing, God-directed, and God-honoring worship – really is. Instead there is a particular part of the church service called “the worship time” that is usually led by “the worship team.”
Both the “time” and the “team” are generally limited to upbeat music and “praise songs.” But true worship is far more than that. In the NT the Greek word most often rendered “worship” is “proskunéō.” It comes from combining two other Greek words, “pros,” meaning “towards,” and “kunéō,” meaning “to kiss.” So in its most fundamen-tal form, worship is a kiss directed at God.

Since you and I cannot literally kiss God, the practical outworking of true Christian wor-ship is seen in our reverence for Him. We adore God, we respect Him, we obey Him, and, if not literally, at least figuratively we humbly fall down prostrate before Him.
Psalm 95:6
6 Come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.

That tells us what our heart attitude is to be when it comes to worship. But what is the content of our worship? What acts of worship does God require of us? What are we to do? That word in the Greek is “latrĕuō.” It means to do the worship.

So true worship can only come from a heart that forgets about itself, is humble, contrite, and willing to bow down before the Lord. When that condition of the heart exists, a Christian can perform acts of worship that please and honor God.

This is true whether the worship is individual or corporate, or private or public. In every case it is to be offered in recognition of God’s worthiness.

Another hymn we sing here is “Worthy, You are Worthy.” Our worship is directed to the only One who is worthy to receive it. Jesus Christ, God Himself in human flesh, is that One. So there is neither anyone nor anything else that should receive our worship.

The Lord made that clear when he was tempted by Satan in the wilderness. The devil had shown Jesus the combined glory of all the kingdoms of the world.
Matthew 4:9-10
9 …and (Satan) said to (Jesus), “All these things will I give You, if You fall down and worship me.”
10 Then Jesus said to him, “Begone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’”

The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the church at Philippi, told them that the Christian’s worship is in the Holy Spirit.
Philippians 3:3
3 for we…worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh. (“Let’s forget about ourselves and magnify His name and worship Him.”)

Jesus Himself told us what the character of our worship should be when He spoke with the Samaritan woman. When they met she had no idea who He was.
Therefore she was not capable of worshipping God as He is supposed to be worshipped.
In Jesus’ encounter with her He taught her and us where, what, and how to worship. John tells us about their meeting in his gospel.
*John 4:3-6
3 (Jesus) left Judea, and departed again into Galilee.
4 And He had to pass through Samaria.
5 So He came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph;
6 and Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His jour-ney, was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour (noon).

So our sovereign God has “set the stage.” Jesus is in the right place at the right time. It has been said that He was keeping an appointment that He Himself had made before the foundation of the world.
*John 4:7-9
7 There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.”
8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.
9 The Samaritan woman therefore 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.)

In v. 7 Jesus’ request for a drink of water was socially unacceptable. It went against all social customs for at least two reasons.
• First, men did not speak with women in public – not even their wives.
• Second, Jews had nothing to with Samaritans. The Jews wouldn’t even eat food that had been prepared or handled by them.

It’s right here at the start Jesus that makes it clear He will not be bound by the traditions of men or the legalism of the strictest Jews. But the woman is more than a little shocked and surprised that this Jewish man would address her at all.

When John says “…Jews have no dealings with Samaritans,” the word “dealings” actu-ally means “to use the same utensils.” Jews would not touch a Samaritan water jug, let alone drink from one. The bottom line is that the Jews hated the Samaritans and, for the most part, the Samaritans were happy to “return the favor.” So this woman’s surprise and her question, “How is it that You…ask me for a drink…?” is understandable.
*John 4:10-15
10 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.”
11 She said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw (water) with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water?
12 “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?”
13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water shall thirst again;
14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”
15 The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty, nor come all the way here to draw (water).”

Jesus’ reply in v. 10 turns the tables on the woman. In the beginning He was thirsty and the woman had the water. Yet He speaks to her as if she is thirsty and He has the water. At this point the woman naturally assumes Jesus is talking about physical water. She has no concept of the idea that He is talking about spiritual water. The “living water” Jesus is offering her in v. 10 is nothing less than forgiveness of sin and eternal salvation.

In the OT water is often used as a symbol of salvation. Here are just two examples.
Jeremiah 17:13 (speaking of those who refuse salvation)
13 O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who forsake You will be put to shame. Those who turn away on earth will be written down, because they have forsaken the fountain of living water, even the LORD.
Isaiah 55:1 (an invitation to receive the free gift of salvation)
1 “Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.”

How important is this theme of using water as a symbol of salvation? Jesus uses it Him-self later in John’s gospel.
*John 7:37b-38
37b (Jesus said), “If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.
38 “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.’”

Finally, the Bible ends using water a symbol in God’s final call to receive the free gift of eternal life in Revelation.
*Revelation 21:6; 22:17
6 And He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the begin-ning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.”

17 And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost. (back to John 4)

The Samaritan woman’s skepticism is obvious. In John 4:11 her comment that Jesus can’t give her water because He has nothing with which to draw the water shows that she is thinking only of the physical water down in the well. And besides that, it’s clear to her that this Jewish man can’t be greater than Jacob. Little does she know that Jesus is infin-itely greater than Jacob.

In vv. 13-14 Jesus says, in so many words, “Dear lady, you are completely missing the point.” While it’s true that Jacob was honored by both Jews and Samaritans, it was also true that no matter how much a person might drink from his well, he or she would sooner or later be thirsty again. Jesus is telling her that if she drinks the water He gives, her thirst will forever be quenched. In fact, He says, referring back to Isaiah 12:3, “…you will joyously draw water from the springs of salvation.”

In v. 15 it’s almost as if the woman is trying to humor Jesus. I suspect there are notes of sarcasm and condescension as well. “Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty, nor come all the way here to draw.” But the Lord knows she isn’t ready to receive the truth and so He turns the conversation again.
*John 4:16-18
16 He said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”
17 The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have well said, I have no husband’;
18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly.”

With this Jesus really gets her attention. How could this stranger know these things? But there is something else as well. Not only does Jesus receive instant credibility in her eyes, He exposes the one thing that is the greatest obstacle to salvation – sin. It is the reality of sin in our lives. If we do not face it, acknowledge it, and repent from it, we can never be saved out of it.

Do you see what Jesus is doing here? He is opening the door for her to recognize her sin, admit to it, and turn to Him. But she isn’t ready to do that. Look again at v. 16. She does something that we have all become very good at throughout the course of our lives. She doesn’t tell an outright lie. In fact, what she says, as far as it goes, is true. “I have no husband.” The problem is that that isn’t the whole truth. And while you and I can often fool each other with such “truths,” we cannot fool God. The Samaritan woman is about to learn this.

This is an important lesson for us. As we confess our sins and prepare our hearts to receive the Lord’s Supper this morning, we need to remember this one thing. God knows us and our sin even better than we do. So it’s incumbent upon all of us to “come clean” before Him. Tell Him the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth about your sin. He already knows every sordid and dark detail, but He wants us to face the reality of it.
He wants us to deal forthrightly and honestly with it as we come to His table. Listen, He wants us to see our sin as He sees it. When we do, and when we confess, we have this promise from the One who cannot lie.
1 John 1:9
9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (back to the Samaritan woman)

The woman’s attempt to conceal her sin is hopeless. In John 4:17 Jesus commends her for the truth she has told, but then He exposes the sin she has not admitted.

Just an aside here – notice that Jesus doesn’t call the man she’s living with her husband. Cohabitation does not constitute marriage in God’s sight. It never has and it never will!

*John 4:19-20
19 The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.
20 “Our fathers worshipped in this mountain, and you people (you Jews) say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.”

Is she now facing her sin and dealing with it? I don’t know. Do vv. 19-20 reflect this woman’s recognition of the truth and her readiness to repent? Or do they expose her as still trying to dodge and evade the issue. Is she doing what so many people do when con-fronted with their sin? That is, say nice things about Jesus and talk about their religion?

In either case, the light is beginning to come on. She is amazed at what she is hearing, shocked at what Jesus knows about her. Nothing is hidden from His sight. To say that Jesus has her attention would be a gross understatement.

If the Samaritan woman is truly repentant, it seems that she wants to know where she can go to worship since Jerusalem is “off-limits” to Samaritans. If she’s still trying to turn Jesus from what has become very uncomfortable for her, then she’s using a controversial religious issue to divert attention from her sin. Might it be a little like those who say things like, “I’m a good person and I go to church regularly.” Or, “There are so many religions. Who is to say which one is right?” So Jesus gives her a direct answer.
*John 4:21-24
21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall you worship the Father.
22 “You worship that which you do not know; we worship that which we (do) know, for salvation is from the Jews.
23 “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers shall wor-ship the Father in spirit and (in) truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshippers.
24 “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and (in) truth.”

Jesus tells the woman that whether Jew or Samaritan, the times, places, and all of their ceremonies and rituals would soon be irrelevant. That’s because, in 70 AD, barely forty years hence, the Jewish temple in Jerusalem would be destroyed, and on Mount Gerizim, the very place where the Samaritans worshipped, most of them would be slaughtered.

When it comes to true worship, the real issue is not about times and places. But more than that, the New Covenant in Christ’s blood has rendered all external rituals and cere-monies obsolete anyway.

In v. 22 Jesus is quite blunt with the woman. He tells her that because the Jews believe the prophecies of the OT, at least they know that the Messiah will be a Jew. But since the Samaritans reject most of the OT, they don’t even believe that. That’s why Jesus says, “You worship that which you do not know; we worship that which we (do) know, for sal-vation is from the Jews.”

So it’s clear that where someone worships is not important. But what someone worships is critically important. It is in v. 23 that Jesus goes to the heart of the matter. “An hour is coming…” speaks of His pending death, resurrection, and ascension. Then the New Covenant will have been established and be in effect. Then our redemption will be com-plete – bought and paid for by the blood of the Lamb. And then, time, place, ceremony, ritual, and every man-made religious activity will be made utterly worthless.

Then (now), “…true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and (in) truth…” Then (now), true worshippers are identified by their worship of God through their con-nection to Jesus Christ. There is no other “true worship!”

The word “spirit” in v. 23 is the human spirit, not the Holy Spirit. True worship must come from the heart of the true believer. The word “truth” in v. 23 simply means that our worship must conform to and be consistent with what the Scripture teaches.
John 14:6
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

If we do not worship the Father through the Son, our worship, no matter how sincere it may be, is man-made and false worship. In fact, any so-called worship other than what God has prescribed in the Bible is false worship. It is false worship based on false reli-gion taught by false teachers and practiced by false Christians.

Again in John 4:24 the word “spirit” does not refer to the Holy Spirit at all. Jesus is not talking about the Holy Trinity; He is talking about the nature of God. He is invisible to the human eye. We can’t comprehend the truth of God with any of our physical senses. He can only be seen and understood in our spirits, because He is a spirit. Thus true wor-ship can only be “…in spirit and (in) truth.”

*John 4:25-26
25 The woman said to Him, I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.”
26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”

Here the Samaritan woman, though still somewhat confused and not yet fully compre-hending all that Jesus is saying, nevertheless expresses her belief (or at least her hope) that someday the Messiah will come. When Jesus says, “I who speak to you am He,” He drives home the reality of who she has been talking to.

Does she come to saving faith? Later in John’s gospel (vv. 39-42) we see that she not only believed Him, but she went back to her city, told others, and they believed as well. “…we heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world (v. 42).”
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III. Conclusion
Discarding man-made religious ceremonies and rituals, remembering that true worship is not determined by the country, city, or building you happen to be in, but is a matter of the heart, and worshipping Christ and Christ alone – these are the prerequisites for the wor-ship of God in spirit and in truth.

Yes, the Lord’s Supper, our communion service, is a ceremony of sorts. But the great distinction is this: It isn’t man-made. You and I didn’t invent it or institute it, did we?
Luke 22:17-20
17 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves;
18 for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.”
19 And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
20 And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.”

Is your heart right with God this morning? Have you put your faith and trust in Christ alone for your salvation? Have you confessed your sin and asked His forgiveness? Have you done all that? Then you are worshipping God in spirit and in truth, and I invite you to join me at the table. And for the next few minutes, “Let’s forget about ourselves and magnify His name and worship Him. Worship Him, Christ the Lord.”