"God is Spirit

(John 4:24)

Introduction: It has become the common practice in our churches

today that we worship the Lord in ways we believe that He would
like. Oftentimes we equate what makes us feel spiritual with what
is pleasing to Him. This is determining the worship subjectively,
that is, by what the subject desires. But God has commanded
otherwise. God takes the worship of Himself very seriously and has
commanded that He be worshiped in a particular way. This is
determining the worship objectively, in this case according to
what the object of our worship desires. And what the Spirit of God
commands us in this passage this evening is,

God is spirit, and i t is necessary for those worshiping Him

to worship in spirit and in truth.

I. God is Spirit (v. 24a).

A. Context.
1. Jesus, on His way to Galilee, had to go through
Samaria for a divinely appointed meeting with the
Samaritan woman.
2. In His conversation with her, He reveals to us
something about the nature of God and the nature of the
worship of this Being that is essential if it is to be
done rightly.
3 . This statement reveals something about the essence of
God that no other Biblical statement does.
4. In one word, God is described as Spirit.
5. So first let us look at what spirit is.

B. Spirit is Superior to Matter.

1. All reality is divided into spirit and matter.
2. Spirit is not matter.
a. Matter is inanimate, i.e., not alive.
(il Matter is a creation of God.
(iil Matter is lifeless until God breathes into it
the breath of life.
(iiil Even so Adam, being formed from lifeless dust,
had no life until God breathed on him.

b. Matter is inferior to spirit.

(il Matter is composed of many smaller parts,
called molecules, atoms, quarks, etc. [?I.
(iil They are constantly moving and changing
relationships with one another.
(iiil And they are subject to decay.

c. The gods of the heathen are made of matter only

(il Men create gods after their own likeness.
(iil Or that of the creatures.
(iiil But because they have no life, they cannot
profit anyone.
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3. What is spirit?
a. Spirit is immaterial.
(il A spirit does not occupy space.
(a) A host of demons possessed legion.
(bl An innumerable number of angels can dance
on the head of a pin.

(iil Jesus said a spirit does not have flesh and

bones; it does not have a body.
(iiil And it may not be touched by a physical being.
(ivl Yet, it is something, not nothing.

b. Secondly, spirit is invisible.

(il Invisible to the human eye.
(iil We do not have the spiritual equipment to see
that which is spiritual.
(a) We cannot see our own soul.
(bl But we are aware that it exists.
(cl Because it is that which perceives our
body and our surroundings.

c. Thirdly, spirit is alive.

(il All spirits are living.
(iil Man has the spirit of life within him.
(iiil This gives life to his otherwise lifeless body.
(ivl Man is both matter and spirit.

C. God Has All the Attributes of Spirit.

1. God is spirit.
a. He uses the same word of Himself that He uses for
man.
b. Whatever, therefore, can be predicated of spirit
as we know it in man, can be predicated of God.
c. But to an infinite degree.

2. God is infinite and pure spirit.

a. He is infinite spirit.
(il God's presence is everywhere.
(iil There is no place where He is not in His
fullness.

b. He has no body.
(il He is not composed of matter.
(iil The Bible does attribute to God various bodily
parts.
(iiil But this is either anthropomorphic.
(ivl Or theophanic.

c. And He is invisible.
(il He may not be seen <1 Tim. 1: 17; 6: 15, 16>.
(iil But we can see the results of His existence,
actions, and power.

3. God is not composed of parts "Simplicity).

a. He is not composed of different elements.
(il He is not a collection of parts.
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(iil He is pure spirit without parts.

b. Nothing can be added to or taken away from Him.

(il Even His attributes are not additions to His
Being.
(iil Rather, His attributes are His Being.
(iiil This is why we say that God is love, light,
life, righteousness, etc. [Berkhof 6 2 ) .
(ivl God is His perfections: God is love, not God
has love; light, etc.

4. God is personal with all the attributes of personality.

a. He is self-conscious.
(il He is aware of Himself.
(iil He knows that He exists.

b. He is intelligent: He thinks, He knows, He reasons.

c. He has a will.
(il He determines/plans/decrees.
(iil He works out that plan in history.

d. He is moral.
(il He is absolute morality.
(iil His own righteousness is the standard.

5. God is the living and true God.

a. He is not dead matter which bears the image of a
creature.
b. Rather, He is the living God who has life in
Himself, and who imparts to all others beings their
life.

D. Because God is S p i r i t , t h e Worship of H i m is Possible.

1. Worship would be impossible if God were simply
inanimate matter.
a. If God was simply physical matter, He could not be
worshiped.
(il This is an impossible hypothetical situation.
(iil If God as spirit didn’t exist, neither would
we or anything else.
(iiil But suppose it did: if God were matter, He
would not be conscious.

b. And there would therefore be no accountability.

(il There would be no distinction between God and
man.
(a) We would be made of god.
(bl The result of this is pantheism.

(iil There would be no purpose in life and no rule

except to enjoy life as much as possible.
(a) There would be no moral standard.
(bl You might as well sin as much as you
please.
(cl Because there is no one to hold you
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accountable.

And when your meaningless existence was over,

(iiil
you would simply cease to be.
(ivl A majority of people today believe this.
(vl And that is why they act the way they do.
(vil But they also know they are deceiving
themselves, for God has revealed Himself to
them.
2. But God is a personal spirit, and because He is, we may
enter into relationship with Him.
a. God is not dead matter.
b. God is a living and personal Spirit.
c. By His mercy and grace we enter into relationship
with Him.
d. This relationship will have no end.
(il God is eternal Spirit.
(iil He exists forever.
(iiil He will uphold our existence forever.

11. Because God is Spirit, Those Who Would Worship Him Acceptably
Must Worship Him in Spirit and in Truth (v. 24b). (God is a
personal spirit who determines how He will be worshiped.)
A. Not Outwardly, But Inwardly.
1. The Old Testament worship was both inward and outward.
a. God instituted a place.
(il The Jews worshiped in Jerusalem.
(iil The Samaritans on Mt. Gerizim.

b. God instituted the outward circumstances.

(il The Temple.
(iil The elaborate furniture.
(iiil The ceremonial laws.

c. He also determined the condition of the heart

necessary to be acceptable.
(il It was not all outward.
(iil The worshiper must have a right heart as well.
(iiil The spiritual was the inward truth behind the
emblems.
(ivl It is the faith of the heart which produces
purity of conscience and self-denial.
(vl O.T. worship was spiritual in its substance,
but its outward form was earthly and carnal
(Calvin 17:162).

d. The Old Testament saints worshiped this way but

often substituted the outward for the reality.
(il They thought doing the outward ceremony was
sufficient.
(iil But the outward without the faith and love is
hypocr isy.

2. New Testament is much more simple and spiritual.

a. God’s presence no longer resides in a certain
locality.
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(il Messiah has come.

(iil The veil is rent.
(iiil This ended the ceremonial worship.
(ivl It put an end to the outward form.
(Vl God may no longer be approached in that
manner.
(vi1 Man now comes through Christ to the Father.
(viil The O.T. saints did as well.
(viiil But now that the reality has come, the shadows
have passed away.

b. There is less outward glory.

(il God’s presence is manifested in heaven.
(iil With the universality of the gospel comes the
universal place of worship: everywhere.
(iiil The temple of God is now within men.

c. Worship is now directed toward heaven.

d. And man is to enter into worship with his whole heart.

B. And Not by the Thoughts and Devices of Men, But in Truth.

1. Not any worship is acceptable to God.
a. The Samaritans worshiped what they did not know [v.
22).
(il They only accepted the Pentateuch.
(iil They rejected the fuller revelation of God:
the prophetic and poetic books.
(iiil God was not a stone-deity, a tree-deity, or a
mountain-deity.
(ivl But God is a personal and spiritual Being.
(vl Or this may mean that they worshiped without a
personal relationship.

b. The Jews worship what they knew [v. 2 2 ) .

(il They had the entire 0 . T.
(iil The message of God’s redemption was entrusted
to them, for, ”Salvation is from the Jews.”
(iiil They knew who God was and what He required of them.

2. But that which is in accord with His revelation.

a. Men must worship according to truth.
b. It must be in full harmony with the truth of God as
revealed in His Word.
(il The Samaritans did not worship in truth,
because it was not in accord with His Word.
(iil Unless we worship God according to knowledge,
we are worshiping a phantom or an idol.
(iiil Men can do nothing but err when they are led
by their own opinions rather than by the Word
of God (Calvin 17:1591.

c. This deals both with the who we worship and the manner
(il Who we worship is the Triune God.
(a) This needs to be stressed.
(bl We do not worship a bare name, an empty
concept.
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(cl But we worship the God who has revealed

Himself in Scripture.
(dl He is the Tri-personal God, not mono or
bi-personal.
(el He is the God who sent His Son, the
second person of the Deity to become man
to die for us.
(fl He is Spirit; He is not a god of wood,
stone, or metal.
(gl And He is infinite, not the limited god
of man’s creation.
(hl All who forsake the Word fall into
idolatry.
(il They worship what they do not know.

(iil And how we worship is how He directs.

We are not lift to our sinful
imaginations as how to worship God.
God redeemed us that we might worship
Him in truth.
He did not go to so great lengths that we
might now have a free-for-all.
No something this important requires
divine guidance, as all we do.
And we must worship Him as He tells us
that He desires to be worshiped: in
spirit and in truth.
We must have divine biblical warrant
before we presume to introduce anything
into His holy worship.

Conclusion: So God is Spirit, and it is necessary for those

worshiping Him to worship in spirit and in truth.

1. The Father seeks such to be His worshipers.

2. Are you worshiping Him in this way tonight?
3. You may not worship in spirit unless the Spirit of God
dwells in you.
4. And He does not dwell in you unless you come to Christ in
fai th.
5. Are you in Christ tonight?
6. And that worship is not acceptable to Him unless it is
according to truth.
7 . Is your God the Biblical God, and are you worshiping Him as
He commands?
8. May God grant you the grace to worship Him in spirit and in
truth, now and always. Amen!