The true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth

John 4:1-26

When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”

The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans. 

Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.

“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”

“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.

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 worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.

Jesus chooses the short route from Jerusalem to Galilee which takes him through Samaria - normally avoided by Jews, since over 700 years of religious and racial prejudice separated the Jew from the Samaritan. Add to this the Jewish prayer. 'Blessed are thou, O Lord... who has not made me a woman', and the Samaritan woman's surprise when Jesus talks to her is understandable.

Tired and thirsty though he is. Jesus never ignores human needs. As the conversation develops it becomes clear that the woman's need is not physical but spiritual, that she has a moral problem which she side-steps with a theological question.

Why?

Jesus is tired and thirsty, but when he saw the need of this woman, he told her the truth and how to get the water of life. 

Worship the Lord is not limited in any place but with the Spirit and in truth.

Jesus gives us the water of life, let us away from the sins, we may enjoy the water of spirit when we trust in Jesus as our master of life.

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高牧師：20220212

主旨： 心靈與誠實的敬拜

In truth: 方法、地點、都沒有用。叫妳丈夫來

基督徒今天最大的危機是重視外表。

耶穌指出一條道路，指出要撒馬利亞婦人帶她丈夫來，指出她內裏的罪，她立即承認了。她是卑賤的身份。

耶穌說我就是道路、真理、生命。敬拜神要用靈和誠實，即真理。真理中沒有虛假。敬拜神不在乎地點、方法。我們卻常常太在乎方法、形式。參加特會以為自己比其他弟兄姊妹高一等。

對付你自己，心要敞開

Chap 6 :15耶穌既知道眾人要來強逼他作王，就獨自又退到山上去了。這些跟隨耶穌的人不是真的跟從耶穌，而是因為耶穌有好處，有神蹟，可以吃飽！

經歷恩典三部曲

1.領受祝福 詩34:7,8 耶和華的使者在敬畏他的人四圍安營，搭救他們。你們要嘗嘗主恩的滋味，便知道他是美善；投靠他的人有福了！

2.長大成熟 彼前2:2,3 就要愛慕那純淨的靈奶，像才生的嬰孩愛慕奶一樣，叫你們因此漸長，以致得救。你們若嘗過主恩的滋味，就必如此。

3. 合乎主用 來6:4 論到那些已經蒙了光照、嘗過天恩的滋味、又於聖靈有分

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How?

Worship the Lord in the Spirit and in truth.