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Have you ever had a conversation with someone, especially if you were sharing the gospel or a biblical truth, and the person deflects the topic to another safer discussion? One of the greatest deflection attempts is in John 4:16-24.
John 4:16–24 (ESV)
We should appreciate the woman at the well because if we didn’t have her deflection away from her personal life to the area of worship we wouldn’t have this description from Jesus of what true worship is — that which is in spirit and truth. It’s not recorded anywhere else in Scripture. True worship leads us into the presence of God which is our topic tonight. Entering, experiencing and enjoying the presence of God is one of the biggest blessings of being God’s people.
The real crisis of worship today is…that people have no sense of the presence of God, and if they have no sense of His presence, how can they be moved to express the deepest feelings of their souls to honor, revere, worship, and glorify God?
— R.C. Sproul
So how can we experience the presence of the Lord whether it be in our individual lives and devotion to the Lord or in encountering God in worship when the church gathers together? First I want to discuss God’s omnipresence and his manifest presence. Then briefly discuss the presence of God in the Old and New Covenants. Then we will discuss how worshipping in spirit and truth ties into experiencing God’s presence.
God is omnipresent which means God is everywhere present.
God is unlimited with respect to space. He is present at every point of space with his being, yet God acts differently in different places.
— Wayne Grudem
So in a very general sense all people experience God’s presence all the time because He is everywhere present. It doesn’t matter that we often don’t feel his presence, or are aware of his presence or even that he is present. He is.
Jeremiah 23:23–24 (ESV) — “Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the LORD.
Psalm 139:7–10 (ESV) — Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.
Remember Jonah tried to run from the presence of the Lord and yet even in the belly of a whale in the depths of the sea he could not hide from God’s presence. You can run but you cannot hide. God is everywhere present and one of the ways that we can experience God’s presence is to actively be aware of his omnipresence.
Proverbs 5:21 (ESV) — For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and he ponders all his paths.
Psalm 11:4 (ESV) — The LORD is in his holy temple; the LORD’s throne is in heaven; his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man.
In his glorious power and understanding he not only is everywhere present, he also knows all things. So this should help us to live Coram Deo, continually aware that we live before the eyes of the Lord. And that we cannot hide from him. Our life (thoughts, words and deeds) are an open book to him.
However, when the Bible speaks of the presence of the Lord it most often refers to what is called the manifest (dynamic or active) presence of the Lord. God in his sovereignty manifests or makes more clear or discernible his presence at certain times and in certain ways. When we experience the manifest presence of the Lord it is palpable which means capable of being touched or felt. For the Christian it is a heightened awareness of the love and goodness and wisdom and holiness of God, of the reality of the Living God. That he is Immanuel, God with us. that he is really among you.
We see the manifest presence of God in Genesis three when Adam and Eve were trying to hide from the Lord.
Genesis 3:8 (ESV) — And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
It seemed as if Job experienced the manifest presence of God at the very end of the book of Job. Chapter 42 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you. Experiencing the presence of God in a deeper way is similar. We may know of his glory and majesty and tenderness and nearness at a certain level. But when we experience his manifest presence we are much more aware of those things — there is a certain visceral experience of God. In him we live and move and have our being.
And this is a wonderful thing. We are called to be a people of God’s presence. However, this does not mean that his presence is to be equated with always feeling a certain emotion concerning the Lord. But it is an active or manifest presence that we are called to experience. We are not just to believe in or hope in it but also to seek after it.
Psalm 105:4 (ESV) — Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually!
In other Psalms we are told to seek the face of God. The Hebrew word for face is sometimes translated presence. So Coram Deo means to live before the face of God, that is to be aware of his presence. But going beyond that we are to seek the face or the presence of God. The book of Psalms is very much a book which calls us to do so.
Psalm 95 tells us to enter his presence with thanksgiving. Psalm 100 instructs us to come into his presence with singing. In the New Testament we are exhorted to draw near to God, and he will draw near to us. We are instructed to draw near to the throne of grace to find help in time of need. We don’t ask from afar, we ask as we draw near to God (seek). As believers, we are called to engage God, seek his presence and not be passive and just wait for something to happen.
Under the Old Covenant God’s manifest presence was often connected to a certain physical place. At one point it was Shiloh but most often it was in Jerusalem, the city of God. It was also connected to the Levitical priesthood and the temple and even certain mountains. This is what the woman at the well was referring to in her deflection of Jesus’ examination of her life. She was asking if the right worship should be done at Mount Gerizim or in Jerusalem. His presence in the Old Testament was typically associated with a physical site or entity.
Jesus, in his response to the woman in John 4 introduces a very different orientation to worship. He tells her that the hour is coming and now is, that true worship is not located at a certain sacred physical place but in spirit and truth.
So what does it mean to worship in spirit and truth, and what can help us in our private and public worship to worship this way? Let’s first look at what it means to worship in Spirit. The first question that might come to your mind is, does it mean my spirit or the Holy Spirit. Well, the answer to that is yes.
I think Jesus meant to emphasize what he said in the previous chapter of John.
John 3:5–6 (ESV) — Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
No longer are the people of God marked primarily by their physical or geographic heritage but by being born again of the Spirit of God. When one is born again, he has what it takes to worship God at any time and anywhere. Here is a wonderful truth of conversion: When we are converted we “gain” the presence of God within us! Jesus tells us in John 14 if anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
Paul tells us “Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? “ This is true both individually as believers and together with the body of Christ: In Ephesians 2 we are told: In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. Every Christian has the Spirit, and so they can worship God by the indwelling Holy Spirit.
Another important element in what it means to worship in the Spirit is connected to the baptism or filling (and re-filling) of the Spirit. Being born again of the Spirit and being baptized or filled with the Spirit are two different “operations” or works of God. I want to review this quickly by looking at a definition from Daniel Baker on the baptism of the Spirit:
The baptism in the Holy Spirit is a special giving of the Spirit by Jesus to the Christian either at conversion or afterwards. It is separate from regeneration and sanctification, though it’s the same Holy Spirit at work. It is an encounter with God that is undeniable and evident to others and accompanied by such things as new boldness, new assurance of God’s love, new fruitfulness, new displays of spiritual gifts, a new awareness of God, or even new joy. It is like a personal revival that enables someone to fulfill their callings with much greater spiritual power.
— Daniel Baker
To be filled with the Spirit is to be filled with the immediate presence of God himself, and it therefore will result in feeling what God feels, desiring what God desires, doing what God wants, speaking by God’s power, praying and ministering in God’s strength and knowing with the knowledge which God himself gives.
— Wayne Grudem
Grudem is not just connecting this to worship but all of life. Martyn Lloyd Jones (Westminster Chapel) also connects this baptism of the Spirit with God’s presence.
Filled with the spirit of glory. A sense of the glory of God, an unusual sense of the presence of God. The Holy Spirit making real to us spiritual truth. A sense of awe.
— Martyn Lloyd Jones, Joy Unspeakable
Many of our older saints here at Cornerstone came to faith in the Charismatic Revival of the 1960s and 1970s. And for many of us being baptized in the Spirit was a very formative experience (similar to conversion) It marked us for the rest of our lives. No, it was not a panacea for all spiritual ills and yes, we needed (and need) to be filled again with the Spirit, but it changed us and has left an indelible mark on our lives. And part of that is connected to what I would call Spirit filled worship.
Spirit filled worship I think is one of the many positive aspects of the Charismatic movement. It includes what Lloyd Jones described: A sense of glory, an unusual sense of the presence of God, the Holy Spirit making real to us spiritual truth. Sensing the nearness of God (the goodness of God—at times being almost drunk in the Holy Spirit). Experiencing this type of worship, I believe, is one of the fruits of being baptized in the Holy Spirit. I’m not saying being baptized with the Holy Spirit is the only component of this type of worship, but I believe it's a big influencer to entering in and enjoying the presence of the Lord.
Ephesians 5:18–20 (ESV) — And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
How does one continue or live a Spirit filled life? I think part of the answer to that is to continue both individually and corporately in Spirit filled worship.
The fundamental meaning of being filled with the Spirit is being filled with joy that comes from God and overflows in song.
— John Piper
Remember in Old Covenant worship or God’s presence was equated with Jerusalem or the temple. In the New Covenant God’s manifest presence is often experienced when the corporate church comes together. (colleague of John Owens)
Solitary Christians enjoy a steady stream of God's presence. But when these several streams are united and meet in one … the presence of God becomes a river, a river that makes glad the city of God.
— David Clarkson
That sounds very similar to Philip’s description of worship happening on Sundays as each member brings the fire of his own walk with God (their zeal, spiritual gifts and their worship in spirit and truth). Jesus said where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them. And that often happens powerfully when the church gathers for worship.
Next week Daniel will be teaching on the worship that goes on forever, the worship in the new heavens and new earth. Our corporate worship is a foretaste of that (Kelly Kapic) Yes, for the individual believer there is much joy and glory in knowing the Lord in one’s personal life. But God’s will is for a people, a church, a Body of believers, and therefore he often manifests his presence in a special way when his people come together — especially when they come together for worship and prayer and ministry. .
So we want to worship in Spirit, but that’s only half of what Jesus told the woman at the well that makes up true worship. The other half is to worship in truth. This fits very much into the regulative principle that Daniel taught last week. Worship must be in truth or according to the Word of God.
Psalm 119:160 (ESV) — The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.
John 17:17 (ESV) — Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.
So much of the Christian life involves the Spirit and the Word. We need both in our lives. The Spirit always is in line with the Word. And the Word is always in line with the Holy Spirit. I John 5:6 tells us that the Spirit is the one who testifies because the Spirit is the truth. These two components make up true worship. So let’s look at worshiping in truth and how it connects us to experiencing the presence of God — both in our individual lives and our corporate life as a church.
In the first class of this series John told us that acceptable worship has the right object. We are to worship the Lord our God. Our worship must be centered on the truth of Scripture about who God is and not who we might want him to be — or who the world says he is. We worship the God of the Bible. He is holy, loving, merciful, just, faithful, glorious. He is both a consuming fire and a God who doesn’t break a bruised reed.
The apex of glorifying God is enjoying Him with the heart. But this is empty emotionalism where that joy is not awakened and sustained by true views of God for who He really is.
— John Piper
We are blessed in our worship to sing both historical hymns and contemporary hymns which are full of beautiful declarations of who our great God is. Daniel mentioned that when it comes to historical or older hymns, there are some really good ones and some that are not good. We are to delight in the Lord, delight in his many attributes.
The spirit that has been born again soars when it hears of and sings of the greatness of God and all his wonderful attributes. Our focus is to be on the many titles, names, attributes, descriptions of the Father, Son and Spirit.
The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy, which can ever engage the attention of a child of God, is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings, and the existence of the great God whom he calls his Father.
— Charles Spurgeon
Why do certain songs seem to catapult us into the presence of God? Because of how they so beautifully present the Lord of glory. When we sing them, we are declaring the greatness and beauty of God, and we are renewing our minds and our hearts to who he truly is. Now one of the many challenges of being a fallen person is that we forget.
We forget or become accustomed/tired of his great glory. But when we sing of his greatness, our heart and mind and spirit are refreshed and renewed, and we are often ushered into a greater awareness of the glory and presence of God. His word is our meat and our drink, our nourishment and our delight. Besides singing hymns and songs that exalt God’s greatness I encourage you to fill your heart and mind with his titles, his attributes, and the descriptions that Scripture is filled with. Sing them, pray them, meditate on them. Delight in them for in doing so you are delighting in God. Though it is so easy to pull out your phone when you are out and about, learn to replace that with meditating on the attributes of God.
We also worship in truth when we sing of gospel truths — the glories of who Christ is and what he has done for us at the Cross and how we can confidently approach the Lord because of the work of Christ. I believe that the gospel of Christ is the greatest means—the greatest foundation—for experiencing the presence of God. Justification by faith alone in Christ alone is the sweetest truth that one could ever hear. That’s because it tells us that we are right with God through Christ period. There’s nothing added to it. We never have to ask ourselves, “is there something more that I have to do to be right with God or to be able to draw near to him?” (Justice smiles and asks no more).
One of if not the greatest joy of the Christian life is to draw near to God at any time and know that we will have a loving audience with our heavenly Father. Please don’t say yes, but, but, but. There are no buts. If you are a genuine believer in Jesus Christ you can approach him, draw near to him at any time. In the midst of sorrow, in joyful times, in despondent times, in times of sin and failure, in times of depression and discouragement, during times of blah, when your soul feels carnal and far from God when you hear the voices that rail against you (world, flesh, devil) You may draw near — it does not matter.
King David knew all about those voices. In Psalm 3
Psalm 3:1–2 (ESV) — O LORD, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me; many are saying of my soul, “There is no salvation for him in God.” Selah
I’m sure David was tempted to agree with them. That he was being disciplined or judged because of his moral failures and/or his failures as a father and therefore that God would not accept him or hear his prayers. But David understood justification by faith alone.
Psalm 3:3–4 (ESV) — But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. I cried aloud to the LORD, and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah
Romans 4:7–8 (ESV) — “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”
Remember the woman at the well — the woman that had been married five times and was living with a man who was not her husband? In verse 21 Jesus says to her that it’s not on this mountain or in Jerusalem that you will worship the Father. I believe Jesus was including her in that “you”. It does not matter of our sinful background or our struggle against sin. We have been called to worship the Father in Spirit and truth and that begins with being accepted by him by the work of another.
Make it a practice to run to God (both in individual prayer/corporate/at any time). In your heart and mind see yourself running to the Father knowing you are accepted in Christ. Don’t let anything deter you. Don’t be like Adam and Eve when they sinned and ran from God. Run to him, confess any sin to him, humble yourself before him, repent of your wrongdoing. But do not buy the lie that you are not welcome and accepted and loved. Christ loved the woman at the well just as he loves us.
Do not buy the lie that he is a hard task master. Oh, he may discipline you or allow you to go through difficult trials (for your good), but do not allow yourself to think that he does not love and accept you in Christ. This acceptance is the greatest healing your heart and mind and soul will ever know. Do you want to “feel” the love of God? That is the presence of a loving God. Believe the gospel.
We can be tempted to think that when difficult things happen to us (or when we do not feel a certain feeling) it means that God doesn’t love us. Or that we’re not accepted by him. If we want to experience and enjoy the love and presence of God we must stand on God’s word, his truth and believe it.
We must guard against being rooted in emotion and feelings. That’s important to say because when we experience the presence of God we often “feel” things (love, joy, awe). Emotions are good when they follow truth. Don’t allow yourself to follow your emotions separate from truth. Keep focused on the truth not on the emotions. Truth is wonderful even when we don’t “feel” a certain emotion or when God seems quiet or distant. Begin to warm your heart by filling your mind with gospel truth.
There is a reality beyond our emotions, and that reality is stated in John 6:29. “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” Faith is an active thing. We are called to live a life of faith, of believing his promises.
Trust is not a passive state of mind. It is a vigorous act of the soul by which we choose to lay hold on the promises of God and cling to them despite the adversity that at times seeks to overwhelm us.
— Jerry Bridges
So as we now go back to singing and worshiping the Lord let us do so with an assurance that we can not only enter his gates with thanksgiving and come into his presence with singing but also with an assurance that in Christ we are welcomed and loved. The Father is actually seeking worshipers to worship him in spirit and truth.
Here are some other recent messages.
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