Harrison Faith Church
One Spirit - Part 2 | Pastor Scott Brandon | June 23, 2024
Lord, I just feel like we need to hear from your word. We're going to come back to this moment or we're going to worship you again, because I know when we leave out of here today, I know what you're going to do. You're going to unpack the burdens. You're going to lift the heaviness. It's you who said I didn't ask you, it's you who said, my joke is easy and my burden is right. So God, we pray for that great exchange today. Many of us out in here need that desperately and ways we can't even begin to openly say. So I pray today, let us hear your heart, let us hear your word, and then give us God the ability to respond to. That's why you created this, and ask it in Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated. After the John, chapter 4, I know I'm going to write in service. Amen. When we think about worship, oftentimes we just think it's a moment in service. We just have a session, we reflect on our heart, we say great things about God, and then we kind of go on our way. We said last week how important worship is. That worship is your greatest purpose, it's your greatest calling, and that your purpose is attached to it, your identity is attached to it. And so it's always something that's easy to push past. It's always something that we can check and go on and say we did that, but I know that there is the ability to pray and not have said anything. You can raise your hands and sing and not worship. You can give, serve, and meet other reasons behind it. A lot of times we just lack the ability to truly worship, because we're not present in what's needed in our life. So that's why we want to stop and see how important this is. Before we get to John, I just want to remind you of a couple things. In fact, let me just let John speak. In the book of John, the gospel of John, there's three musts. Suzanne, I don't know if you can, I don't just try out your best girl, you know, thank you. I love you. I know you're great at it. John 3.7 says this, he says, "Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again." There's a must that we see in the first part of John, but also he says after that, and his Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, "So must the Son of Man be lifted up." And so we see that this is pretty important, that for us to enter the kingdom of God, we must be born again. It's a must. It's an imperative thing. And for us to have that ability to be born again, he must be lifted up. The Son of Man must be lifted up. And the other time that John uses the word must, he uses it in connection to what's the result of him being lifted up. What's the result of us being born again? He says John in 4.24, "God is spirit and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." It's not something small, it's not something we just, we oftentimes have casually approached not meaning to, but we do. And I think if we're really going to understand the power of God in our life, we must always be able to walk in the presence that he walks in with us. That he longs to, I don't know if you know the Son of God, but the Holy Spirit longs to be right there next to you. He is even here with me, now leaving me, speaking to me, saying, "God, do this, don't do this, do this, don't do this." We need that present help, that ever-present help that he provides. And for us to do that, we must know how to walk in a spirit of worship. Father, I pray now to our minds, open your words, speak to us, challenge us, correct the things that are not right, but most importantly, God, give us the strength in the mind, Lord, to be empowered to worship you. Jesus' name, amen. Jesus was taking a walk, and he got tired, he was in Galilee, and he was on his way to Galilee. As he was doing so, he could take the higher route, which was a difficult route that was through Samaria, but he chose to not go the easier route, which is around the bout. He chose to go to Samaria, as a matter of fact, the word says that he must. If you, let's just read this morning, if you don't mind, I just love the word, I just love to read it. I know I read it a bit fast for some of y'all, so I will do my best to climb through that. Verse 4, let's start there. He had to go through Samaria on the way. Eventually, he came to the Samaritan village of Saqqar near the field that Jacob gave to his son, Joseph. Jacob's will was there, and Jesus tired from the long walk, sat really beside the will about noon time. Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, "Please give me a drink." He was alone at that time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy food. The woman was surprised for Jews refused to have anything to do with Samaritans, and she said to Jesus, "You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Who are you, or why are you asking me for a drink?" And Jesus replied, "If you only knew the gift that God has for you, and you knew who was speaking, you were speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water." "But sir, you don't have a rope or a bucket," she said, "And this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water?" And besides, do you think that you're greater than our ancestors, Jacob, who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed? Jesus replied, "Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water that I give will never be thirsty again." It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life. She says, "Please, sir, give me this water, then I'll never be thirsty again. And I won't have to come here to get water." Jesus told her, "Go ahead and go get your husband. I don't have a husband," the woman replied. Jesus said, "You're right. You don't have a husband, but you have had five husbands, and you aren't even married to the man you're with right now." You certainly spoke the truth. "Sir," the woman said, "You must be a prophet, so tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is in the only place of worship while we Samaritans claim it here at Mount Gerezim, where our ancestors worshiped." Jesus replied, "Believe me dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem." You Samaritans know very little about the one you worshiped. While we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews. But the time is coming. Indeed, it is here now. When true worshipers worship the Father in spirit and in truth, the Father is looking for those who will worship him that way, for God is spirit. So those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth. I think that the thing that intrigues me the most is that Jesus says it's not where, it's not even so much the reasons you're worshiping. You need to know two major things. All these things are secondary issues. But the major issue is simply this, is that you must worship, you must worship in spirit and in truth. So what does that mean to us? Is it possible that you and I are worshiping and that not be in spirit and not be valid? Is it possible that you and I are not worshiping in truth and we've thrown away our worship to what we thought was great? So what we want to know what this means, when God says we need to worship him in spirit and in truth. And that is important because the great thing here that I see that encourages me in verse 23, he says this, "For the Father is seeking such people." I don't know if you've ever been in a season in your life where you're praying and it just, that prayer just don't, it just hits the ceiling and it comes back down. I don't feel the Lord. I don't know where he's at. I believe and read my word that he's here with me, but there is this disconnect. There's this distance that I don't understand and I've been at dry season, some desert seasons in life and I don't know how to get back to that place where I can sense him again. But Jesus says you don't got to sense him, he's seeking for you. For the Father is seeking such people. If you know how to worship in spirit and truth, he is looking for you. He will find you. You cannot hide from him. And so I want to be the kind of person that worships in spirit and in truth so that way I am never lost, nor am I ever disconnected from what I sent him to be close by. What you need to know about worship is simply this worship is an external response to an inward attitude. It's what we do on the outside that really reflects how we feel on the inside. I've heard it said this way, when we worship all of who we are, response to all of who God is. And if we do not know who he is in his truth, how he's revealed himself, then how is it that you and I can respond to who he is? And it cannot be all of who we are if we're not worshiping in our spirit because the very core, the very thing that makes us up who we are is our spirit. If your spirit is gone, we'll be having a funeral for you because you are not here. You are gone. What makes you who you are is the spirit that's within you. And so all of who we are, that is our spirit, response of all of who he is, that's the truth. That's what happens in these moments when we just worship. That's why it's so important for us to understand what worship is because when we go through hard times and we go through our times, we still need to understand that regardless of my situation, all of who I am is responding to all of who you are. And that doesn't matter what's going on over here, Lord, because who I am is not changing because you call me who I am, your words do not change for me, your words do not change day to day. I may perceive them to be different, I may feel more this day and less this day but who you call me to be does not change. And so I am not changing in that regard and I know you're not changing in your regard that no situation has any effect on this one thing. This is the objective, it does never change. All these other things are subject to change. So we walk into the sanctuary, we got to understand. We may bring some things that are subject to change but we need to make sure and remind ourselves that we worship from the things that are objective, you and who he's called you to be and who he's always been, he'll never change and then we'll help us bring those situations into alignment and help us to understand those things rightly. So when we say we're worshiping in spirit, what does that really mean? What does that plainly mean? I would tell you that if you're not worshiping in this spirit, you cannot be satisfied in life because the only thing that satisfies you is your spirit. You can ask people who have everything they've ever wanted. I'd love to read the stories of people who had all the relationships, all the possessions and all the experiences and they come to a place they gave up. In fact, I was reading about a guy the day and he said, he committed suicide and a suicide note, he says this, I've done all that life has afforded me and I'm bored. Best of luck. He quit life because in his understanding, he's done everything he would want to do. Whether he was a great mathematician, he was married to some reputable celebrity women, he had the greatest experiences of broad and worldwide countries and he felt for some reason that those things were shallow and did not satisfy him. That's because you cannot be satisfied in life unless you are satisfied in Christ. There is no other way. There is no other way. You can try and it will feel good for a moment. I promise you it would feel good for a moment. The effort feels good but there's never any true payout. You always find yourself wanting more, longing for more and such a sin because sin will bring you to a place where you are no longer satisfied with what it promises you. It says, we have to go a little bit deeper, we have to try a bit more and we find ourselves becoming people. We hate because we are still searching for something to satisfy and we don't mind allowing it to alter us to find something that satisfies us. If you will just let Jesus alter you, you will always find what satisfies you. We find this in the light of worship. In fact, Jesus spoke to this directly in John 14, John 14, and Jesus said to her, everyone who drinks at this water will be thirsty again but whoever drinks at the water that I will give them will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give them will become a spring water willing up to eternal life. I got three fast points this morning. Why is Jesus like water because one, Jesus is satisfying like water? Just like our spirit makes up who we are, do you know that two thirds of your body is made up of water? And when you get thirsty, there's nothing that satisfies you until you drink. We either die or we drink. There are no other options. There are no other options. Even if they run an IV in you, you still know you're still drinking. It ain't just through the mouth. Your body demands water. I think it's of no coincidence that all these things point to Christ. This is why we see Jesus is like water because you will never find satisfaction until you find it in Jesus. I just need you to hear that this morning. Maybe you figured everything else I say, but just hear it. There's no such thing as a career. There's no such thing as a wife. There's no such thing as children. There's no such thing as accolades. There's no such things as experience or possessions or any of those things that you could possibly name. None of those things ultimately bring you satisfaction. It just won't hurt. We're still so busy trying to go after those things. When really if you're just find Christ first, allow him to satisfy you, he'll make all those things so much better. Your house ain't got to be a great house. If you're satisfied in Jesus, everything you own you're content with. Because you know that when you leave this world, this is just momentary stuff. But one of these days, I'll have a true treasure, an everlasting treasure, an everlasting richness, an everlasting contentment. But here's the thing, you can have it now. You can have it now so long as you don't allow those things to distract you and they do. And we'll distract you, they may not be sin, but they distract you. Jesus will always, he'll always satisfy you. In fact, show me that screen up here real fast. Jesus satisfies our need for about everything, but here's a few things he satisfies our need for. He satisfies our need for spiritual nourishment and sustenance, for peace and rest amidst life burdens, amen, yes he does. He completes me and gives me abiding joy and he gives me a life abundant, a rich with purpose life and a life free from destruction. I don't know what you're looking for, but even if you just gave him four of those things, if you got four of the things he's offering today, I don't know what else you would need. And yet God gives you so much more this morning. He's not just a water that satisfies you, Jesus is also a water that sanctifies you. The word says in Ephesians 5, 26, that he might sanctify her, being the bride, having cleans her by the washing of water with the word. And Titus 3, 5, it says he's saying this, not because of words, not because of what you did, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is a drink that satisfies us on the inside and sanctifies us on the outside. What do you mean, Patrick Scott? I don't even know what the word sanctify means, clearly it means this. One, it sets you apart under God. You were born in this world and we did things in this world because we had the world in us. But when Jesus saves us, he sanctifies us, he takes us from this domain and he puts us in this domain and he causes us to live under God. And as he changes us, he is also changing us in all the things that he cleanses from all of our field. So that person who is sanctified no longer is set apart to live for himself in this world. He is now set apart to live under God. But the problem is he sees all the dirt, he sees all the problems, he sees all the struggles. And he says, how am I an unholy, wretched person like me going to worship a holy righteous God? And Jesus says, be patient, I am just washing you, I am just washing you, I am just cleansing you. So hear me today, I don't know what you are at in your life. Sometimes it is real hard to worship with an addiction in your life. Sometimes it is real hard to worship with a struggle in your life and it is hard to worship with unforgiveness in your life. In fact, I would say the reason why you don't want to worship is because you are more okay with those things that cause you not to worship than the thing that is asking you to worship. Worship is something that you are built to do, you are created to do. So why don't you do it? Why don't you desire it if we were to be technical, the word of God would say because there is no life of Christ in you. The spirit man only does what the spirit has been called to do, the flesh does not worship God. He cannot do that. And so if we are not worshiping, we got to sit back and say, Lord, I am having a problem worshiping. If my heart is right with you, then what is it that keeps me from worshiping you? And it could be the condemnation that you carry that you are not supposed to carry because there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus. I don't care what you did, I don't care how long you did it. You know what? I love Me and Claw. We are talking about this the day. I love Paul says I am the cheapest sinners and he says, God saved me. I was the worst there was. Why? So you would know that there is nothing that he cannot clean cleanse from. Paul says, I don't care how bad your life is, you are nowhere near what I was doing. You are nowhere near who I am. And he says, I wonder at this thing and Paul says, the reason why he saved me was so that you would have no excuse that he could cleanse you from it, he could save you from it. And man, if he can cleanse you, if he can save you and cleanse you and then call you like Paul, the apostle Paul, who else has been called to that type of ministry? And Paul is saying, if he can use me, this kind of person like this and call me to this level of ministry, then there is nothing to hold you back except on the excuse or ignorance because we believe the lives of the enemy and so we can't worship, we can't serve, we can't give, we can't give you the praises you desire, do you see who I am? Do you see what I don't have? These are all lives. In fact, Paul addresses this right away. He says in 1 Corinthians, he says, don't you realize that those who do wrong would not inherit the kingdom of God, don't fool yourselves, those who indulge in sexual sin, worship idols, commit adultery, male prostitutes, practice, homosexuality, our thieves, greedy people, drunkards, abusive, cheap people, none of these will inherit the kingdom of God. And then he says, some of you were once like that, but you were cleansed, you were sanctified, you were made holy, you were set apart, you were made right with God by calling the name of the Lord Jesus Christ by the spirit of our God. I want you to hear me today, you can't worship regardless of what you've went through, what you've done and what you've been because the same God that desires to forgive you is the same God that desires to cleanse you. He desires, he desires, he desires to make you new. But he's not just a water that satisfies, he's not just a water that sanctifies. He's also a springing water. What does that mean? Verse 14 says, but whoever drinks the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will be coming him a spring of water, welling up to eternal life. You don't have to understand what it was like during those days to have water. We just didn't go turn the tap on, right? They had two types of water basically and that was one water that you caught or water that you came from a flowing stream and so here's Jesus at the will and he's talking to this woman and she's at Jacob's will, Jacob's will has been there up to that date when they're talking around 1800 years. It's been a faithful will. It's been a will who's watered many flocks and many people and they've built a civilization and a culture and a town around this will. They've depended on this will. This will has given them life, the thing is this will has no life in it because the water is stagnant. That's what cisterns do. Wells are. In fact, if there's been droughts in the land, there's no water in the will and if it's not been good rain, guess what, you're dipping into the water in a will that has contaminants at the bottom. For a will to be really good, you have to have it to be real tall and long for the water to go up high so that way all the contaminants are on the bottom. If the water gets too low, guess what you're dipping into? Jesus says, "I'm not that type of will. I'm a will that's springing forth life. I'm a will that I'm a top of water you can come to and it's always fresh. It's always cool. It's always cleaning and it's always, always, always, always. Most importantly, when we find a stream like he's talking about, springing water, it's a life-giving thing. Jesus said, "If you'll take of me, I'll not just give you life, but from you, will life also flow?" We see that as he spoke to the last day of the feast in John chapter 7. He says, "If anyone thirst, let him come to me and drink and whoever believes in me as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." What I love about this thing is simply this, is that I need, I need, I need water. I need God to meet my needs, but can I be honest? I can't be entirely selfish here. A wife needs her husband to have a life-flowing stream out of him. His kids need a father who has a life-flowing stream out of them. They need mama to have a life-flowing stream around them. Have you ever gone up with a dad or a mom and all they did was take life from you? You remember how you felt? Jesus is saying, "I can make you unlike your mom and dad. I can give you a stream of life that will not only nurse you, but nourish the people around you. I can make you a spouse. I can make you a friend. I can make you a brother and a sister. I can make you a co-worker. I can make you an employee that makes your employer who all they do is take and take and take and take and take and don't appreciate and don't value and don't call worth and don't say anything about how awesome you are, your faithfulness, your sacrifice and still yet God says, "I can put a stream in you that says, 'I don't look to that to satisfy me. I have something that could actually be life imparting. That's what makes us who we are. That I don't need this world to satisfy me. I don't need this world to impart into me. I have His Word and I have His Spirit and what else could I ask for? What are the challenges there in my way? What marital issue? What financial issue? What issue of unforgiveness is so hard and so strong that I can't forgive and receive all God has for me. There's nothing. If nothing can separate from the love of God, then nothing can separate us from the life that He gives. Jesus is a satisfying water. Jesus is a sanctifying water. And Jesus is a life-giving, overflowing, springing up water unto eternal life. To worship in the Spirit is to engage that that which fully satisfies every longing of your heart through Jesus. To worship in the Spirit is to exalt Jesus celebrating Him as the one who's transformed who you were and who you are becoming. And to worship in the Spirit is to tap into the life-giving stream that not only nourishes your soul but also transform you into a source of life for others. As the worship team comes back, I just want to mention this last part, I'll have to come back to it some other time. What is it to worship in truth? It's important to worship in truth because if we don't worship in truth, we're not really worshiping. True worship is when we worship in accordance to what God has revealed about Himself. If we have not understood what God has said about Himself then what are we responding to? I'm responding to the love of God because He showed me His love. I'm responding to the grace of God because He showed me His grace. And so you and I can only truly worship based on what we've seen God reveal to us. That's what true worship is. True worship is not worshipping God in some way that is not of Him or about Him. We see that evident in Romans chapter 1 and verse 21. It talks about Paul talking to the church there and he says these people knew God. For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, as God, they ordered something less than that. Or give thanks to Him but they became futile, futile in their thinking and their fullest hearts were dark and clamming to the wise they became fools and they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man birds, animals and creeping things. Wrong thinking about God is in fact idolatry because an idolatrous heart assumes God is other than He actually is. See, it's easy for us to say there's no such thing as idolatry anymore. We don't bow down the images no more but an idolatrous heart says I assume God to be something other than He is. That's what idolatry is. We worship a form of God. In fact, I would say in the 20th and 21st century there's been this idea that Jesus is your pal, you know, he's your buddy. He helps you out when the rent's low, you know, and gives you a few words to encourage your spouse. He's just a good old buddy of yours, there's no such thing. He is a holy righteous God and the idea that we live in today is that He is some cosmic slot machine and He doesn't accept porters but He will take scriptures and so long as we pay enough scriptures into this cosmet slot machine, we don't get what we need. Can I tell you, that's the great thing about God, is that God doesn't have to give you anything you want, and he's still just as good as if he gave every bit of it to you. That's who God is. He's revealed himself to be unchanging in his goodness, unchanging in his love, unchanging in his forgiveness, unchanging in his grace, unchanging in his mercy. He is unchanging. He is sovereign in that way, because God is so good and he loves you so much that he may not give you what you desire the most, because he knows that he does it will kill you. And no amount of scriptures is going to change his mind. But somehow we've fallen into that idea that I just got to pray enough, and I got to, I got to quote enough scriptures. That's not who God is. Today, I want us to answer the question that Jesus was imposed. He says in John 422, "You worship what you do not know. You worship what we know." Church, when we come in here on Sundays, are we worshiping what we know? Do you know what you're worshiped? Or have we disfigured him to be whatever we need him to be, to make sense of our disappointment, to make sense of our discouragement, to make sense when we felt like he should have been there to protect us and he did not. But we have to change him. We have to justify his inaction. We have to justify his lack. Can I tell you, you do not have to? Regardless of what you're going through, regardless of what you bring into those doors, regardless of what you go through, when you go back home, regardless of what you go through, when you walk into your bedroom, when you wake from the middle of the night and it's heavy upon you, regardless of all those things, you need to know that God is just as good. He's just as faithful. And he is not pulling out your list to see if you've been good enough for him to respond to you. All God desires of you is that you realize who he is and that you respond to him with all that you are in spirit with all you are and in truth. All he's revealed himself to be. Let me just say a few things before we get ready to take communion. He says, you don't worship what you know. We worship what we know. Let me tell you what I know about Jesus. Jesus is the Word who was with God in the beginning and his God himself. He is the maker and sustainer of all things, everything. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. He is the creator of heaven and earth, thrones and dominions, rulers and authorities, employers and expouses, both visible and invisible life. He is the form of God who took the form of a servant and was born in the likeness of me and you. He is the radiance of the glory of God who took on that form, who is the exact imprint of God's nature. He says, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father and he opposed the universe by the word of his power. He is the one who has all authority in heaven, on earth, in your finances and in your house. He is the mystery of godliness, for he was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world and taken up in glory. And he is the alpha in Omega, who is and was and is to come and he is my annual blessed hope in whom we wait for his great appearing. And because of all of who he is, he has given us the opportunity to have redemption, regeneration, justification, reconciliation, sanctification, salvation, wisdom, no condemnation, but completeness. Freedom from our simple nations, passions and desires, perfect standing before the Father, perfect standing before the Father, holy and blameless before the Father, access to the Father, citizenship in heaven through Christ, unlimited spiritual power. We've been made members of God's family, a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation to name just a few. That's who we worship. That's who you are when you worship Him. So to this morning, as we get ready to take communion, you'll go ahead and stand with me. I want you to prepare your hearts. Say, Lord, I want to see you much more simpler, much more plain than what I have been. I've got all this convolution in my life. I've got all these difficult situations in my life. I've got these money relationships in my life. I've got these wrong teachings in my life. I've got these wrong understandings in my life. And I can't see you for who you are. And that keeps me from responding to all of who you are. Lord, teach us to worship. If you've not been with us before in communion, we're going to have the gods to come on down. If you're on this side, you're going to exit out to my right. If you're on this side, you'll exit out to your left. You'll return back to the middle aisle. These two sections you guys will exit out in the middle, return back to the middle aisle. We're going to pray. And as we pray, I want you to search your heart. It's important for us to know that we're right when we come before God. I want to be... I just want one thing for the Lord to say about me. I could care less about anything else. But there's something about the idea that when the Lord looks at me, I envision him holding my shoulders and looking in my soul. And I only want to hear one word from his mouth. And to me, it's the word of obedient. You are obedient. You were faithful. You did what I asked you to do. And so if there's anything in my life that keeps you from doing that, I pray that it just makes me wrestle. I pray that it makes you wrestle. So as we pray, would you ask the Lord, Lord, is there anything in my life that's causing me to be disobedient? Because I'm about to worship. I'm about to remember who you are. And I want to do it in truth. I want to do it in spirit. Father in heaven. Lord, search us. We know that nothing knows our heart like the spirit does. You search us. I pray, God, you find the things that we're camouflaging. Find the things, God, that we're masquerading around. Trying to act like it's not in our life. Reveal those things, God, that keep us from being like you. They may not be sin, but they are things that drive separation between us. I pray today, God, that we worship, that we're able to worship in spirit and truth, knowing that every issue of our life has been exposed and atoned for by your son's blood, and that we're able to worship truly in spirit and in truth. We ask it in Jesus name. Amen. Would you come?