In John 4:23,24 Jesus makes a statement that must be understood in order to inherit salvation.  He states that, because God is a spirit, true saints must worship Him “in spirit and in Truth” (vs 24).  In the previous verse He said that God seeks those who will worship Him “in Spirit and in Truth.”  One must have the Holy Spirit in order to worship God “in Spirit.”  It is the Holy Spirit living within the saint that enables him/her to converse with God the Father–to hear His “voice” and respond to Him.  The Holy Spirit does not inhabit the heart of sinners.  As the Apostle Paul said, only he/she who obeys the Holy Spirit (which relays God’s voice to the saint) are His sons–true Christians.  Contrary to the theology of sinners save by grace, the Spirit of God does not tell them to sin.  He/she who sins and claims to be a Christian is hearing the voice of Satan.  This is a lesson the Apostle Peter had to learn.

In Matthew 16:21-13 we find Jesus telling the disciples that He had to die.  Peter rebuked Jesus because He had said what Peter did not want to hear, what he “knew” was not true.  The death of the Messiah did not fit into his plans, therefore the Messiah was wrong.  Jesus told him that he had heard the “voice” of Satan.  Read All That Glitters.  Use “Glitters” as the key word.  I have heard the “voice” of Satan and, being ignorant of God’s Word, have obeyed it to my peril.  Satan can sound exactly like the Lord.  There is only one way to determine the source of the inner “voice” one is “hearing.”  God’s Word–every Word of it (Mat. 4:4)–is the determining factor.  Peter was ignoring Isaiah 53:21-23 when he corrected Jesus.  Jesus tells us that Satan had taken over Peter’s mind.  NEVER UNDERESTIMATE SATAN’S POWER.  Over two billion false Christians are living proof of his ability to deceive religious people (Rev. 12:9).  Many, Jesus said, would follow the devil thinking that they were saved, born again and rapture-ready.  Only a few would ignore him, search out God’s Truth, believe and obey it unto righteousness leading to salvation (Mat. 7:13,14/ Rom. 5:20; 6:21).  Now back to John 4.

To worship God in spirit means to connect with Him directly.  Jesus died so that man could have that direct connection through the Holy Spirit–the spiritual “conduit”–that makes such communication possible.  As stated earlier, the Holy Spirit is the “gift”–the “promise” God made to those who would totally commit themselves to learning, believing and obeying His Word through the Spirit’s leadership and power.  As the Almighty said, “Not by (man’s) might, not by (man’s) power, but BY MY SPIRIT” (Zec. 4:6).  The Holy Spirit is the power behind obedience.  No Spirit–no conversion–no holiness–no salvation.  THUS SAITH THE LORD.  Read “God’s Good Pleasure” and the War of the Wills.  Key word– “Pleasure.”

At this point the woman at the well makes another statement that seems totally out of place for a heathen.  She said: “I know that Messiah will come, Who is called Christ.  When He comes He will tell us all things” (vs 25).  Here is a heathen woman talking about the Messiah Who would come to her and her people and would tell them all things that they need to know in order to receive salvation.  How she knew about the Lord, the Messiah, His return, the Temple, etc. will be explained in the following series.  Earlier in their conversation Jesus had given us a glimpse into what is coming.  In verse 20 the woman had said that she and her people worshiped the true God.  In verse 22 Jesus corrected her when He said, “You do not know what you worship.  We (Jews) know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.”  Here He connected proper worship of the true God to salvation.  He told her that she was worshiping a false god, that the Jews worshiped the true God, and that the Jews’ God was the source of eternal life.  After her statement that the coming Messiah would tell them all things, Jesus confessed that He was the Messiah for whom the Samaritans had been waiting.

When the disciples returned with food, the woman returned to the city where she told everyone that their Messiah had come and was at the well, that He had told her things only He could know.  This had to be the Christ.  Note that they called Him “the Christ”–the anointed one.

The disciples, upon seeing Jesus talking with the woman, wondered aloud what was going on and told Him to eat for they knew He was hungry.  Jesus replied that He had “meat to eat that you (disciples) know not of.”  He was reminding them that they would not be spending much time in the Promised Land in the future.  For a few minutes He talked to them about their work among the scattered Israelites.  They would be helping Him “… do the will of God and finish His work” (vs 34).  I will finish this final posting by telling you about that work, which in the final analysis, would include both Israelites and Gentiles.  But first, the disciples would become apostles (“sent ones”) and would follow Christ’s command to ignore the Gentiles for the time being and concentrate on God’s chosen people.  He had earlier (Mat. 10:6) told them: “Go not unto the Gentiles, nor unto the Samaritans, but go rather to the LOST SHEEP OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL ….”  Read Who and Where is Israel Today? and White Fields.  Use “Today” and “White” as your key words respectively.

In summary, the teaching concerning the woman at the well revolves around the fact that she “knew” that the Samaritans were right with God, that they worshiped the true God, that their Messiah/Christ would return to earth, etc.  Does this sound familiar?  It should, for the heathen Samaritans believed exactly what modern day church people believe.  In His Word God tells the church: “You do not know what you are worshiping.”  Like the woman at the well, the church has not learned, believed and obeyed God’s Word.   Jesus describes modern day church worship in Matthew 15:9: “In vain do they WORSHIP ME ….” by substituting their own commandments for His doctrines.  Worshiping Him “in Spirit and in Truth” means to worship Him through His Spirit after having obeyed His Truth–His Word (Jn. 17:17).  He declares to those who  do not obey His Word/Truth that He has made their heaven as iron, meaning that He does not hear their prayers (Lev. 26:19).  I will end with one of the most quoted passages in the Bible–2 Chronicles 7:14: “If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves, pray, seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, THEN I will hear from heaven, forgive their sins and heal their land.”  He is addressing HIS PEOPLE who are called by HIS NAME, telling them that they MUST STOP SINNING, HUMBLE THEMSELVES AND SEEK HIS FACE IN ORDER TO HAVE THEIR PRAYERS ANSWERED.  Could this explain why 99.99% of church prayers go unanswered?  L.J.