Sermon
Where and How Shall I Worship?
November 18-19, 2000
Pastor Donald Sheley

I'm going to ask you to take from your bulletins our notes, our sermon notes. And if you're new with us today, we've been involved in observing the conversation that Jesus had with this little woman of Samaria, as recorded in John's Gospel chapter 4. Now here's what we've learned: Palestine is a very small country. It's only in the middle about 70 miles wide. That would be from here to Tracy. It's only about 120 miles long, so that would be from here to about Sacramento. But somewhere around Vacaville was a place known as Samaria, and that place was unique in that 450 years before Christ, or even earlier than that, it was about 700 years, invaders had come in from Assyria. And when an invasion took place and you conquered a land, you took all the people that lived there and you took them back to where your land was and you made slaves out of them, and then you brought people from other lands and repopulated the nation that you conquered. And this is what happened in this little area of Samaria. It's a small area. What had happened is people had come in from other nations, intermarried with Jewish people, and thus you had a mixed race. Jewish people were very precise in wanting purity of race, and so they didn't want to do anything and had no fellowship with the Samaritans. They just had this little island of land and that was their place.

Now Jewish people didn't really like to go through Samaria, and as the result they'd always go around may be down to Jericho and cross the Jordan River and up the east side and then come back up near the sea of Galilee. That way you bypassed this land, this little part of the land, that you didn't want to visit. Jesus chose to go through Samaria. He wants a drink of water. He's at the well and He strikes up a conversation with a lady. Let's read the notes. Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem and He's tired and thirsty. He stops by a well in an area known as Samaria to get a drink. A woman approaches the well, and Jesus asks her for a drink. She is perplexed! A Jew, a rabbi, a man, asking a woman of Samaria, people who had for centuries been mutual enemies. Strange.

Then He proceeds in His conversation with her to talk about living water, something to her that suggested this Stranger knew where there was a stream or a river somewhere near. In other words, to use the word 'living' implied that that was a river vs. being a well or a stagnant pool. And so Jesus speaks of living water and she's wondering where does this river exist. Something no one else knew existed, not even her ancient ancestor, Jacob. Then Jesus said something that really got her attention. He said he said, "but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst." Her response, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw." Now her heart is open and she is ready to proceed with whatever this Stranger had to offer. But Jesus says, "Go, call your husband, and come here." Now that was like an arrow shot directly into her soul! Because her response was, I don't have a husband. And Jesus answers and says, You have well said, I have no husband, for you have had five, and the one whom you now have is not your husband. You spoke very truly. It's as if Jesus had said to her, "If you really want this LIVING WATER (He was speaking of His Holy Spirit that comes to live within a believing heart), you must deal with the sin that is in your life." We talked about this last Sunday. "Go call your husband" or "Let's deal with this whole issue of sin."

Remember, repent was the very first word of His message. It's also the same word that John the Baptist used, and it's right at the heart of the Gospel. Last Lord's Day I gave you the definition out of Kittel's New Testament Theology Dictionary, but here I think is the best definition for repent. If it's very first word that Jesus used in His sermon, if it's the very first word that Peter uses (and were going to check those in just a moment) then it must be a very important thing. What does it mean to repent? It's a radical conversion, a transformation of nature, it's a definitive turning from evil, it's a resolute turning to God in total obedience. It affects the whole man, first and basically the center of his personal life, then logically his conduct at all times in all situations, his thoughts, words and acts. It calls for total surrender, total commitment to the will of God. The whole proclamation of Jesus is a proclamation of unconditional turning to God, of unconditional turning from all that is against God. That's what's involved in this issue of repentance, and it's right at the heart of the Christian gospel message.

It was the message of John. Look at John the Baptist - comes from the wilderness and his message is repent. Jesus began to preach and He preaches repent. Peter, on the day of Pentecost, preaches and he says repent. Paul preaches his sermon in Athens and he says, Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent! And in that I serve as a servant of Jesus Christ, I'm under the mandate of the great commission of Christ, and here's what that mandate is. And He said to them, Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. A preacher that doesn't talk about repentance is not preaching the Gospel of the Bible.

Salvation is for those who are willing to forsake everything, and for the woman by the well in Samaria, it was her life-style of adultery. Repentance. It's not incidental to the gospel. It is an extremely important aspect of it. If we are not willing to repent and turn from our sins, we are not ready to become a disciple of Jesus Christ and to benefit from His salvation. Page 3. Paul tells Titus, the young preacher, For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that. Now notice, the grace teaches us these things. It's included in God's grace. That we are to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and that we're to live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ." What's Paul saying to Titus? Titus, when you preach, the gospel that you preach is the gospel of grace. But grace, a part of it, is denying sin and leaving it.

Repent. A word not too frequently heard from the pulpit today. And why? Because there is another message that is very popular. And it goes like this. Now ladies and gentlemen when I put these quotes, and these four quotes come out of current books written by what are called evangelical preachers, this is what really bothers me. Look at what they're saying now. Number one: repentance is a change of mind about Christ. In the context of the gospel invitation, repentance is just a synonym for faith. No turning from sin is required for salvation. You can believe in Jesus as your Lord, but you do not need to make Him the Lord of your life! That may, or may not, follow at some other time in your life of faith. That's strange, isn't it?

Two: submission to Christ's supreme authority, that is, His Lordship over your life, as Lord is not germane to the saving transaction. Neither dedication nor willingness to be dedicated to Christ are issues of salvation. The news that Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead is the complete gospel. Nothing else must be believed for salvation.

Three: repentance is not essential to the gospel message. In no sense is repentance related to saving faith.

Four: to believe unto salvation is to believe the facts about the gospel. "Trusting Jesus" means believing the "saving facts" about Him, and to believe those facts is to appropriate the gift of eternal life. Those who add any suggestion of commitment have departed from the New Testament idea of salvation.

Well, we can only conclude from the above statements that even Jesus Christ Himself was wrong about this matter of repentance and commitment. But was He? Listen to the words of Jesus, Then Jesus said to his disciples, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Now that sounds like obedience, doesn't it? That's commitment, and those are the words of Jesus. And whosoever will save his life shall lose it; and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find. That suggests complete abandonment to God, doesn't it? What else did Jesus say? Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven. That sounds like obedience, doesn't it? That sounds like turning from sin to God in total submission. He said, Many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in the Thy name? and in Thy name we've cast out demons? I mean, we've really been religious. In Thy name we've done wonderful works. And then I will profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me.

In the next one I almost feel a pathos in this Luke passage. Listen to Jesus as He says, why, why, why do you call Me Lord and don't even obey Me? So likewise, whoever he be of you that forsaketh not some, no, forsaketh all, he cannot be my disciple. Pretty clear, isn't it? What does Jesus say? I want all of you or none of you. No halfway about this Christian matter, and my deep conviction, ladies and gentlemen, is because we've preached a cheap grace we've got a very, very weak Christian church in the world today. I'm at the next page. Jesus Christ was not wrong and the Scriptures are true, and those who preach the teachings which we've just mentioned on the previous page, are false prophets. Let God be true, Paul said, and every man a liar. Jesus requires that we leave our life of sin and genuinely seek to follow in the paths of righteousness if we are going to be His disciple. That's why He said, that's the point in the text of our lesson, He said to the little lady, do you want eternal life? Now, let's do something about your sin.

You know, I have a book in my library that I brought along today. It's a little tiny book called "The Cost Of Discipleship". It's written by a man whose name is Bonhoeffer. It's one of the great classics to this decade. Dr. Bonhoeffer was pastor in Germany during the Nazi regime, and in 1943 they came to his church and they hauled him off to prison because he would not heil Hitler. He would not bow to Hitler and he preached the gospel. He spent his two years in prison going around helping people that were sick, and giving what he was given to eat, and he helped those in prison. And just a few days before, in April of 1945, when the allies freed Germany and World War II was over, just a few days before, they took Bonhoeffer put him up against a wall and shot him for his faith. He spent his time in prison writing great books. He opens his very first chapter, 'Costly Grace', here's what he says, cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our church. We are fighting today for costly grace. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance. And his book covers the subject of lessening the requirements of Jesus and making religion easy believisim. Ladies and gentlemen, in the story that's before us Jesus says to the little lady, yes, you want this living water, but if you're going to enjoy it you've got to get rid of your sin. It's that simple.

Back to our notes. Now in our text in verse 19, I'm on page 4, she admits that Jesus is a prophet. What Jesus has just said has forced on the woman the realization that He is no ordinary being. And she gives expression to this conviction by calling Him a "prophet." Now the word that's used here does not denote one who foretells future events, but one who knows your heart and life, and who must therefore come from God. She did not yet suppose Him to be the Messiah. In the acknowledgment that Jesus is a prophet, she is really admitting her guilt. We would say it this way, the little lady says, Sir, you are right. Do you notice how gracious Jesus dealt with this lady? He said, you know, I appreciate it, you've been very honest. You haven't beat around the bush. It's true; you don't have a husband. You've been honest. He really graciously handles sinners. I wish we Christians would be more gracious to sinners. Jesus had no time for hypocrites, but I'll tell you, He was as gentle as gentle could be with sinners. Little lady, thank you for being honest.

Now, let's put our notes aside because my time's all gone and I'll finish it up for you. What she is saying is Jesus, or Sir, You've exposed me as a sinner, now what do I do about my sin? Verse 20, she says, there's been a controversy, Sir, about where you're supposed to worship. We believe here in Samaria that we're supposed to worship in our own area at Mount Gerizim, and you Jews teach that the only place to worship is down at Jerusalem. And what she is really saying is, now that I'm a sinner and I want to do something about that sin, and the only thing she related forgiveness to was to sacrifice. That's in those days when you wanted forgiveness you went and gave a sacrifice. So what she's really saying is, Sir, I am a sinner, but now where do I go and take care of this problem of my sin? You disagree with us Samaritans and where do I worship? Where do I offer my sacrifice?

You know, when you read the commentaries many of them suggest that what she was trying to do was to divert the conversation because Jesus is on a very touchy subject talking about her sin. I don't agree with those commentators. I'm suggesting that with this little lady has been in the presence of Jesus and all of a sudden she realizes that He's a man from God. She's sensitive. Her heart is open, and what she wants is to worship, but she's confused. Where do I? I'm a Samaritan. You folks won't admit, and you're a Jew, where do I get rid of this sin? Where do I give my sacrifice? And Jesus said something very interesting, He said, little lady, you Samaritans worship what you do not know. That's interesting. Why do you say that? Because the Samaritans had a very interesting religion. They just took Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, and they threw away the rest of the Bible. That's all the religion they had. The books of Moses and some teaching from the gods of these other people that had come in and inhabited their nation. Jesus was right. I mean, you throw away the prophets, you throw away the Psalms, you throw away the law, you throw away everything that talks about the coming of the Messiah, and you worship in ignorance. And He says, little lady, you don't know anything about worship.

You know, that haunts me, because I live in a world and I live in a city where people worship in ignorance. And Jesus said something in Matthew 6, He said, if the light that's within you is darkness, how great is that darkness. If what I think is right and then I wake up when I face God in eternity and it was all wrong, I spend my life thinking that I was right and all the time I was in ignorance. And looked at the millions who will stand there on that eternal day, they followed these cults and these religions that have no Christian base whatsoever, and they'll stand there, and He'll say, depart from me; I never knew you. Little lady, salvation is of the Jews. Now that's fascinating. Paul's says, go with me to the bottom of page 7, and we'll finish. On to page 7 in our notes, Paul explains his whole phrase 'salvation is of the Jews.' Look at what he says, I tell the truth, Romans 9, in Christ, I'm not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. Here's Paul's deep concern being expressed for his nation that's rejected Jesus as the Messiah. He said, I have just great sorrow. He said, I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ. He said, I'd go to hell for you, my nation, if I could. For my countrymen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises, of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternal blessed God. Amen.

Here's what Paul is saying. Paul's is saying we as a nation of Israelites have been so richly blessed. We were divinely adopted as God comes to Abraham and says, Abraham I want to make a nation out of you. We were given marvelous promises. God marched us across the Red Sea on dry land. He wrote the moral law for us with His Own finger in stone on Mount Sinai. He gave us His covenants. He gave us the beauty of temple worship, and it must have been a glorious worship. Old Josephus, the great historian, says that in one day in Jerusalem there were 40,000 people playing harps and 20,000 playing trumpets. Now that must have made the hills of Palestine rumble. What he is saying is that God gave them such glorious worship. It was absolutely awesome and it came from the heart of God. And he said, not only did God give us all of these things, but through our lineage, through David, comes Christ who died on the cross, who's the savior of the world. We're a blessed people. Little lady, you don't know what you worship. You've thrown away most of your Bible. We know what we worship. We know God's planned from the beginning.

Little lady, I'm at verse 24, it's not where you worship. It's how you worship. It can be anywhere, mounts don't make any difference. If you worship the Lord with your true heart of hearts, and you do it intelligently as based upon His word, you're worshiping. Now one last thought then we'll go home. If we lived in the days of William Shakespeare and Chaucer, we would not use the word worship. It's a new word in our English language. The word that was used was worth-ship from which we get worship. And a person was honored, reverenced, and obeyed as you recognized their worth. And thus, what Jesus is saying is when you and I recognize the worth of Almighty God in all of His majesty, in all of His glory, in all of His greatness, in all of His wonder, in all of His splendor--when I recognize His worth then I will want to serve Him and follow Him. And you folks come here Sunday after Sunday and the musicians, we try to prepare the service so somehow we come to that moment when we're bowing in His presence and recognizing His worth, His love, His mercy, His grace, His patience with us, and when I recognize His worth then I can worship.

Lord Jesus, we do love You today and it really doesn't make any difference where we are, it's just that in our heart of hearts we genuinely bow at Your worth-ship. Thank you Jesus. Amen. God bless you folks. God bless you.