The exclusiveness of true worship

“God is Spirit; and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). This “must” is final; there is no alternative, no choice in the matter. It is not the first time that we have this very emphatic word in John’s Gospel. There are two notable verses where it occurs previously. “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again” (John 3:7). “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up” (John 3:14). Each of these three “musts” is equally important and unequivocal. The first has reference to God the Spirit, for He it is who regenerates. The second refers to the work of God the Son, for He it is who made atonement for sin. The third has reference to God the Father, for He it is that seeketh worshippers (John 4:23). This order cannot be changed; it is only those who have been born of the Spirit, and who are resting upon the atoning work of Christ, that can worship the Father.

To quote again the words of Christ to the religionists in His day, “This people honoreth Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. Howbeit in vain do they worship Me.” Ah, my reader the worldling maybe a generous philanthropist, a sincere religionist, a zealous denominationalist, a devout churchman, a regular communicant, yet is he no more capable of worshipping God than a dumb man is of singing. Cain tried it, and failed. He was not irreligious, He “brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord”

(Gen 4:3). But “unto Cain and his offering He had not respect.” Why? Because he refused to own his undone condition and his need of an atoning sacrifice.

In order to worship God, God must be known : and He cannot be known apart from Christ. Much may be predicated and believed about a theoretical or a theological “God”, but He cannot be known apart from the Lord Jesus. Said he, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me” (John 14:6). Therefore it is a sinful make-believe, a fatal delusion, a wicked farce, to cause unregenerate people to imagine that they can worship God. While the sinner remains away from Christ, he is the “enemy” of God, a child of wrath. How then can he worship God? While he remains in his unregenerate state he is “dead in trespasses and sins”; How then can he worship God.

What has just been said above is almost universally repudiated today, and repudiated in the name of Religion. And, we repeat, religion is the principal instrument used by the devil in deceiving souls, for it insists—whether it be the “Buddhist religion,” or the “Christian religion”—that man, yet in his sins, can have dealings with and approach unto the thrice holy God. To deny this is to stir up the enmity and call down upon one so doing the opposition of all mere religionists. Yes, it was that very thing which brought down upon Christ the merciless hatred of the religionists of His day. He refuted their claims, exposed their hypocrisy, and so incurred their wrath.

To the “chief priests and the elders of the people” (Matt 21:23), Christ said, “The publicans and harlots go into the kingdom of God before you” (Matt 21:31), and at the close of his discourse it is added, “They sought to lay hands on Him” (v 46). They attended to outward things, but their inward state was neglected.

And why was it that the “publicans and harlots” entered the kingdom of God before them? Because no

religious pretentions stood in their way; they had no self-righteous profession to maintain at all costs, no pious reputation to keep up. Under the preaching of the Word they were convicted of their lost condition, so took their true place before God and were saved. Only such can be worshippers.