In John 4:2l-23, Jesus said in effect, that under the New Covenant worship would not be conducted in a place like the mountain where the Samaritans worshipped nor in Jerusalem where the Jews worshipped. But, in contrast, worship would be "in spirit and truth", removed from a place setting. Under the New Covenant worship was going to be different. It would no longer be characterized by the prescribed priestly sacrificial acts. It would be different, even as the New Covenant was to be different from the Old Covenant with its meticulous patterns. Instead, it would be a more excellent way. It would be "in spirit and truth".

Yes, there is sufficient information in the New Testament writings for us to know what Jesus meant when He made this very profound statement. We shall examine this information shortly. But first, can you imagine the impact this statement must have had on the self-righteous Jews and the Samaritans who were also worshipping according to their handed down traditions? Jesus is telling them that their kind of worship is inadequate and that it was to be replaced. I suspect that this bitter pill did not go down easy. And neither will it go down easy in todays' religious world. When sacred cows are challenged, now as then, their owners rise up in righteous indignation to wage holy war on the challengers.

There seems to be an effort on the part of most denominated religious organizations to pattern their "worship services" after the sacrificial, priestly worship of the Old Testament. This results in the structured and regimented spectator type "worship services" so common in most Sunday church assemblies. This poses several questions: Were "worship services", as we know them, ever conducted by the early Christians?; Is there scriptural evidence anywhere that early Christians "went to church" to worship?; Is there reference anywhere to prescribed "acts" of worship?; Did Jesus intend, in His profound statement, for there to be "five prescribed church acts of worship"?; And, are these "five acts" the worship in spirit and truth to which He was referring in John chapter four?

Am I trying to say that praying, singing, eating the Lord's Supper, having spiritual discourses, and giving are not worship in spirit and truth? Certainly not! I am, however, saying that Jesus did not have specific "acts" of worship in mind (such as the so-called "five acts") when He made the statement. He was speaking in a much more far reaching sense, as we shall see.

That Christians assembled is not questioned. They did. And Paul, by the Spirit, admonished them to "forsake not the assembling of yourselves together". God saw a need for His children to get together and He provided for it in this passage. But, it is the kind and purpose of those assemblies that is under consideration here. Is this where the worship in spirit and truth that Jesus spoke of takes place? They sang, they prayed, they ate the Lord's Supper, and participated in the performance of certain Spiritual gifts. They discussed problems in view of carrying one another's burdens. On some occasions they engaged in Spiritual discourses. On other occasions they took up collections. But, is this what our Lord was referring to when He said, "worship in spirit and truth"? Is this where the five prescribed and regimented "acts" were performed? If so, why did Paul tell them, in the very same passage, to use their own minds to "think of ways to build up one another"?

Todays' church rulers must maintain their hold on their subjects in order to keep the money coming in to support the system with its paid pulpit ministers and ornate, barely used cathedrals. This hold demands attendance at their "church services". They maintain that it is at these "church services" where worship in spirit and truth takes place. These rulers make every effort to convince their subjects that if they do not attend at least one of their Sunday services and observe the five church prescribed acts of worship, they have not worshipped in spirit and truth. It is very significant that "giving money to the Lord" is one of the essential five acts.

Now, let us focus on the question, and that is: What is worship in spirit and truth? Let the Bible speak! Paul, by the Spirit, answers it beautifully in Romans l2:l-2: "So, brothers, with God's tender feelings, I beg you to offer your bodies as a living, holy sacrifice to God. This is true worship from you. Don't act like people of this world. Instead, be changed inside by letting your mind be made new again. Then you can determine what is good, pleasing, and perfect-what God wants". Can we handle this? Or, are our preconceived, regimented notions about "worship services" too rooted to let the light of God's Word come in? Please note that, in this passage, no mention is made of compulsory attendance at any denominated church "worship service". Assembling with other Christians is stretched out of context by denominated church rulers to mean attendance at their particular church "worship services". The passage states very clearly that true worship is offering your bodies as living sacrifices. Now, if one cannot worship in spirit and truth without attending a denominated church "worship service", isn't it logical that such information would have been included in this passage, since this is the passage which defines true worship? The assemblies that I read about in the New Testament were not the structured, regimented "worship services" that are conducted by the denominated religious organizations of today. The assemblies of the Bible were participatory. They involved the participants in building up one another to love and good works. In fact, if you consider the contextual setting of John 4:2l-23, it is perfectly clear that the worship in spirit and truth, to which Jesus referred, would not be offered up at a designated place. Todays' religious rulers say otherwise. Whom shall we believe?

And in this very same vein of thought, isn't it interesting that James, by the Spirit, explaining what true religion is, in James l:27, made no mention of a regimented "worship service" as is conducted by the denominated churches of our day. But rather, he referred to things that Christians do in the every day courses of their lives. Which things are, "to care for widows and orphans and to keep themselves unspotted from the world". This is what is involved in "offering your bodies as living sacrifices". This is what worship "in spirit and truth" is all about. This is Bible talk. You can trust it. True worship is not the Sunday observance of religious rituals. It is the everyday, every hour, every minute observance of the principles of Jesus the Christ. It involves letting Christ live in us.

Please consider these thoughts. I believe them to be true to the Word.

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