Amen. So I'm going to continue on this evening with the sermon I started this morning. Just
another part to it really, talking about the essence of God. We've kind of been going through
a little bit of a series here about the concept of God, and we're working into the essence of God.
And again, when we meet essence, we're talking about what is God? What does He consist of,
really? And we talked a lot about that this morning, but the part I want to look at this
evening is the fact that God and His essence is a spirit. God is a spirit.
Now, you're there in 1 John. We're going to come back to that. But if you would,
go over to Colossians 1. If you remember this morning in John 4 with the Samaritan woman at
the well, where she asked Christ about where is God to be worshiped? She says,
you know, the Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place you have to worship. We say that in this
hill, okay? And when she is asked where God is to be worshiped, Jesus' response is,
well, she says, sirs, she saith unto him, sir, I perceive that thou our prophet, our Father,
is worshiped in this mountain. You say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
But Jesus' answer is not, well, it's Jerusalem, right? Or, no, you're right. It is in this
mountain, as if that's the only place that God can be worshiped. But what His answer is,
is that God is not limited. That there is no one specific place. Now, obviously,
there was a place that God at that time set up for the Old Testament ritual worship,
the sacrifices, and so on and so forth. All of that, okay? I understand that. But, you know,
prior to that, they could have worshiped God anywhere. You know, that was the way it was laid
out originally in the Old Testament. They could have made an altar of stones anywhere they wanted.
You see that often with the patriarchs. They'd have a vision. They'd set up the stones. They'd
pour oil on it. There's a lot of that. So His answer is not that, well, there's only one
specific place to worship God, but that God is not, what He's showing us is that God is not
limited to any one particular place. That there's no specific place. He said unto her,
Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh when ye shall neither worship in this
mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what?
We know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now it is,
when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth. For the Father
seeketh such to worship Him. Then He says in verse 24, God is a spirit, and they that worship Him
must worship Him in spirit and in truth. So again, as we're kind of going through this
series and trying to, you know, talk about the different ways in which we conceptualize God
with our limited understanding, we are relying heavily on what the Scripture just flat out tells
us. And it tells us here in John that God is a spirit. That's what Jesus said. He is a spirit,
and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. But He's also showing us
here that like a spirit, He is not limited to any one particular place. Now, you know, we have the
ability to travel, don't we? We can get on a plane, train, we could take cars, we can walk,
but we are limited to one specific area. We are limited to this body wherever we take it.
God is not like that. God is omniscient, right? God is, you know, He can be anywhere at any time.
In fact, He is everywhere at all times, okay? And that's something we'll talk about more when
we get into the nature of God, but the reason why that is possible is because of the fact that God
is a spirit. Now, real quick, I'm just going to mention this. You know, I know you're not in John,
but if you listen in verse 24, Jesus said in the King James Bible that God is a spirit. A lot of
the other newer translations, they take out that one little word, uh, and they say that God is
spirit. You know, and that's a significant change because when you start to say it like that, that
God is spirit, you know, that could just mean that He's some kind of ethereal force. You know,
that's when we start to go down, you know, a dark trail into, you know, about the nature of God,
and I don't want to go into all that, but He just says not only is God a spirit, but He is
a spirit specifically, okay? Again, going back to the fact that, like we talked about this morning,
that God is a person. He's a specific person, and He is a spirit. So, when we talk about the fact
that the essence of God is that He's a spirit, you know, we can look at what we know about spirits
and derive some things about the essence of God and, you know, the fact that He is a spirit.
The Bible says in Romans chapter 1 verse 20, you know, I'm just going to skip that and get it
into Colossians 1 where you are. Colossians chapter 1 verse 9, the Bible says this,
for this cause also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and to desire that
you may be filled with the knowledge of His will and all wisdom and spiritual understanding.
Jump down to verse 12, giving thanks unto the Father. Now, pay attention to the way this reads,
okay? It's important. He said, Give thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet to
be partakers of the inheritance of the saints of light, who, right, the Father,
hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear
Son, which is Jesus, right, in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness
of sins, who is, now who's the who there? The Son, who is the image of the invisible God.
So a spirit is something that is invisible, okay? And this is an attribute that God has
as a spirit. We do not see spirits, okay? Now, that doesn't mean that they are without form.
It doesn't mean that they don't have and that they don't manifest themselves. It's just that
our eyes are blind to these things. These are things that we cannot see, okay? And notice there
that is an attribute of God. He says right there that Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible
God. Now, I'm going to take the time to explain this a little bit because this is important.
Who is the invisible God in this passage? Is it Jesus? It's the Father. Exactly. He says,
right, because again, who is it? He says, He's giving thanks unto the Father which
hath made us meet, who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and did listen to the
kingdom of His dear Son, verse 14, and whom we have redemption through His blood, that's the Son,
even the forgiveness of sins, Jesus, verse 15, who is, He is the image of the invisible God. So,
the invisible God is not the Son. It is the Father, okay? That's important going forward.
Go to 1 Timothy, chapter 6, 1 Timothy, chapter 6. So, we see in Colossians that Jesus,
He is the image. He is what we see. He is what we can behold, what we see with our eyes.
You know, there have been others who have said, no man has seen Jesus,
which is the most ridiculous statement ever made in all of Christendom.
You know, Jesus was seen by quite a few people, okay? So, when the Bible refers to the invisible
God, He's not referring to Jesus. He's referring to the Father. Go to 1 Timothy, chapter 6,
with that in mind. 1 Timothy, chapter 6, verse 13, it says, I give thee charge in the sight of
God who quickeneth all things before Christ Jesus, whom before a pointeous pilot witness
the good confession, that thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebucable,
into the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which in His times He shall show, who is the
blessed and only potentate, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, who only hath immortality,
dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto. Okay? And where is Jesus? He's dwelling at
the right hand of the Father. He is present in the glory of God. That is the light which no man can
approach unto whom no man hath seen. Okay? Now, you can't read that and say, well, no one has
seen Jesus. That is not the conclusion that you should come to when you're reading this.
You should come to the conclusion because, look, we all know people have seen Jesus.
So, it cannot be referring to Jesus. Now, could it possibly be that it's referring to the invisible
God that we just read about in Colossians? Hmm. Does that kind of line up a little bit more
than no one's seen Jesus? Doesn't that make a little bit more sense? It does. It says,
who no man hath seen nor can see to whom be honor and power and everlasting. Amen. So,
who is the invisible God who no man can see? It's the Father. And part of that is because of the
fact that God is a spirit. And we'll get into more about what that means. But one of the attributes
that God shares with spirits in general is the fact that they are invisible. There is a part of
God that, you know, we could say can't be seen or just has not been seen. Now, He's saying here,
no man hath seen nor can see. Right? No man can see God and live. Right? That's what was told
Moses. No man can see God and live. Now, there is going to come a time when we will see the Father
and when He will dwell with man after the millennium and all of that, when we have that
new creation. You know, God the Father is going to Himself dwell with man on earth.
You know, I believe at that time we will actually be able to behold the Father. But until then,
you know, we as mortal beings, we can't even handle seeing God. It would be too much
for us to even comprehend. So, you can kind of see why people might get a little mixed up and say,
well, the Bible says that God is invisible, that no man can see Him, and yet the Bible says Jesus
is God, and we know everyone has seen Him. Well, that's because the Bible teaches us this little
doctrine called the Trinity. And when we understand and believe and know the Trinity,
you know, and accept it by faith and accept the clear teaching of Scripture on that subject,
the Scripture just comes together like this and just fits hand in glove. It all makes sense. Okay?
Now, go over to 1 John chapter 1 where we started this evening. 1 John chapter 1.
The Bible says in John 1 18, no man has seen God at any time. So, again, Jesus is saying,
look, no man has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father,
He hath declared Him. So, who is it that has not been seen? You know, who is the God that has not
been seen? It's the Father whom Jesus Christ is declaring. You know, and I know this is pretty
basic and probably everybody gets it, but we're going to cover it, right? Because, you know,
this type of thing is out there. Oneness, Pentecostalism, Trinity, denying heretics exist.
It's a thing that's out there and it's even crept into Baptist churches and, you know,
in times past it's even attempted to creep into our own church. So, we take the time to explain
it and to shore ourselves up on these things and to understand these things so we don't get
deceived. Look, no man has seen God at any time, but the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom
of the Father, He hath declared Him. Okay? The Son is the image of the invisible God, which is
the Father. Okay? Because the Bible teaches the Trinity and you can't be both. You can't also,
you know, if Jesus and the Father were both the same person, then you can't say that no man can
see God. You know what I mean? You'd have to say, well, then no man can see Jesus. There has to be
another option. You follow what I'm saying there? There has to be another option. They can't be the
same person, but we understand that they're not. That the Father and the Son are two separate
people. They're the same God, in essence, but they are two separate people. Then it all makes sense.
Well, no man has seen the Father, the only begotten Son, He hath declared Him. Okay?
1 John chapter 1. He said in John 4, 1 John 4, no man hath seen God at any time. No man
has seen God at any time. So either the Trinity is true or Jesus isn't God. Those are your options.
Right? 1 John chapter 1. Look at verse 1. That which was from the beginning, which we have heard
and which we have seen with our eyes. Well, which is it, John? That which we have heard,
which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the
Word of life. Now, who is the Word of life? Who's the Word? That's Jesus Christ. He is the Word of
life. He is the Word of God. Okay? In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God. Okay? That's Jesus Christ. But John is telling us, look, no man has
seen God at any time. But three chapters prior, he's saying, look, we have seen Him with our eyes,
and we've handled Him, and we have looked upon Him. We've looked upon the Word of life.
So which is it? Is Jesus God, or is it the Trinity? Well, we know it's the Trinity.
So I took a minute to kind of explain all that because that's something that we need to stay
short up on. That's something we need to stay on top of. We don't want to let that slip,
and there's going to be more about the Trinity as we get into the nature of God. I don't want to
spend the whole evening on that, but God is a Spirit, and that is because part of God, or some
aspects of the Lord are invisible. There's, in fact, many things. For us, we haven't seen Jesus.
We haven't seen Him. All we have is the Word of God. We have the Bible. That's all we've seen of
God. Many of God's attributes, like a Spirit, are invisible to us. They are believed by faith.
But also, like a Spirit, God, He is unlimited by space. He cannot be contained. Spirits,
and we can cite several different examples, but go to Luke 24. Luke 24.
Spirits, you know, they're not limited by physical space. If you remember in Matthew 8,
when Jesus cast the devils out of the demoniac of Gadara, you know, they were in a man,
and He said, and He's asked them what His name was. He says, Legion, because we are many. There
was many unclean spirits in this man, and then they besought Him, and they said unto Him,
they said unto Him, Suffer us to go away into the herd of swine. So, they're able to inhabit a man.
They're able to inhabit, you know, an animal. In other parables, Jesus said that when they're cast
out of man, they wander about in desert places, and finding no place to rest, they return unto
man. I'm paraphrasing, you know, and the first date of that man brings seven devils with them
with them that are worse, and the first date of that man is worse than when He began, right?
But again, they're able to inhabit men. They're able to wander about. They're able to
go into heaven. You know, we see spirits are not limited by physical space like we are,
you know, and that is, you know, an attribute that the Lord has, that He is not limited by
physical space. If you remember Jesus, you know, He just appeared with the disciples,
right? He appeared and just was there suddenly. Now, it doesn't say He walked through a wall. A
lot of people read that and think, oh, that means you get to just move through space. You know,
He just appeared, right, and just kind of teleported. So, He doesn't have a lot of the
limitations that we do as physical beings. You know, that's what it means when God is a spirit,
and again, this is the essence of God. This is what God is. This is who God is.
This is what makes up Him, but not only that, you know, God is also not composed of matter.
You know, He is not a material being. Now, we know Jesus Christ, you know, God was manifest
in the flesh, you know, and that's a great mystery. We understand that. He came down and
did take on a material physical body, but there's also the aspect of God that is immaterial. It is,
you know, it is without a material existence. It's not something that
has a physical substance to it, and again, if you're in Luke 24, verse 36, I was just,
you know, paraphrasing this, but He said, and as they spake thus, Jesus Himself stood in the
midst of them, right? He just appears and saith unto them, peace be unto you, but they were
terrified and affrighted and supposed that they had seen a spirit, because He just manifests in
the midst of them. They think this is a spirit, right? The doors were locked, and He's just there
suddenly, and they're terrified, and He says in verse 38, and they said unto Him, and He said
unto them, why are you troubled, and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands
and my feet, and remember this is the resurrected Christ, that it is myself. Handle me and see,
for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as you see me to have. He's saying, look, you think I'm a
spirit, but I'm not, okay? He's saying, and what does He say about a spirit? That a spirit has not
flesh and bones, right? So there's an aspect of spirit that does not have a material existence,
and remember, God is a spirit, so there's some aspect of God within the Trinity that is immaterial.
Now, that's not to say that that immaterial part of God, you know, God's spirit
is not distinguishable, that it doesn't have a form, okay? Go over to Mark chapter 10. Mark
chapter 10. So He's saying here, look, a spirit hath not flesh and bones. It doesn't have a
material substance, but that doesn't mean that it is not distinguishable, that it's not something
you, I mean, it is something that can be seen, right? But they are typically something invisible.
When we do see a spirit, you know, it's typically a miracle or demonic, you know, if it's an unclean
spirit. And you see an example of this in Mark. Did I have you go to Mark? Mark chapter 1, verse
10. This is the baptism of Jesus in John. It says in verse 10, and straight away coming up out of
the water, He, John, saw the heavens open. So this is, you know, don't expect this to happen at any
baptisms we do. This is a miracle, okay? He saw the heavens opened and the spirit like a dove
descending upon Him. Now, people can debate about whether or not it was an actual form of a dove or
not. That's not really the point I'm making here, but He's saying, look, He saw, but the point that
I'm making is that He saw the spirit, right? So though a spirit is, you know, immaterial,
and it can't be handled necessarily, it doesn't mean it's not distinguishable. It's not
that it can't be seen. Though it is invisible, it is typically hid from our eyes,
there are times when miraculously we can behold it. It can, it is something that can be seen,
okay? And this is a great example of that. He's seeing the spirit descending like a dove
and lighting upon Him. Go over to Luke 24, Luke chapter number 24.
In Luke chapter 24, I'm going to begin reading in verse 36, and He said,
And as He spake thus, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto
you. But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.
So we just read this, but again, why is it that they were affrighted? Because they thought they
had seen a spirit, and they're beholding Christ. So why would they be afraid of something that,
you know, can never, the fact that they could see it, is what made them afraid,
is the point I'm getting at. You know, yes, spirits are invisible, but that doesn't mean
that they can't be seen. It's just that we can't see them. And, you know, not only that,
but it's something that is distinguishable. It's something that they saw His form, and they didn't
instantly go, oh, this is the Lord. They said this is a spirit. It had a form that frightened them.
So again, God is a spirit. This is His essence, okay? And you can kind of see why I separated this
from this morning's sermon, because this kind of needs to be its own topic, all right? And that's,
you know, He is invisible like a spirit, but that doesn't mean we can't. There aren't times we can't
see Him, and that doesn't mean that He does not have a distinguishable form. That aspect of God.
We know Jesus is God. We know He had a body. We know He was distinguishable, and that we saw Him,
okay? So this is an aspect of God's essence. This is not all that God is.
You know, He's also a spirit. He's also other things too, and not only that, but He has a
distinguishable form, and God even is ascribed human features, okay? If you would, go over to,
we'll go over to John. Well, I'll have you go to,
I'll just read these to you, because these are pretty common. God has human features. We're
not going to spend a lot of time on this, but because, and this is important, because again,
people will go into, well, God's a spirit, and they'll start to make objections like,
they'll get confused, and say, well, how can God be a spirit, and yet have physical form,
you know? But He does, okay? God does have features, right? And they're human features.
He's ascribed human features throughout Scripture. I'm going to read a few verses. He said in Hebrews
1, and thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth. The heavens are the work
of thine hands, right? That God is, it's His hands that made it. When I consider the heavens the work
of thy fingers, right? They're ascribing these human body parts to the Lord. He said in Isaiah,
behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, right? And there's just, there's a multitude of
Scripture. When you read through your Bible, you'll notice that God is often given these human
features. These are ascribed to Him throughout Scripture, and some people will look at that,
and say, well, you know, the fact, we understand that God is a spirit, and, you know, but we also
understand that, you know, God also is given these human features, and the only reason that
is is because God is expressing Himself in a way that we can understand. Now, I don't believe that.
They're putting the chicken before the egg, okay? They're saying, what they're saying is that God
is given human features because that's, you know, the big fancy term is the anthropomorphic
expression of God, okay? It's the anthropomorphic, you know, the anthropological, the study of man,
morphic, the form that it takes. He's taking the form of human, of a human being,
of mankind as an expression of Himself so that we could behold Him and understand what we're
looking at. I don't believe that because the Bible very clearly teaches that we are made
in God's image and in His likeness. So what they're doing is they're putting the chicken
before the egg. They're saying, well, God has given human attributes just so we can understand
who God is. He's just, you know, He's coming down to our level, but the Bible says that when God
made man, He said, let us make Him in our image and our likeness, and the Lord formed God. The
Lord got four men out of the dust of the ground and breathed in His nostrils the breath of life,
and He became a living soul. So God said, look, I'm going to make Him after. He says,
let us make Him after our image, and then He made Him, right? That's the process. That's the,
you know, the timetable there. That's how that played out. So I'm going to make man,
and then He forms them out of the dust, and He makes them in His own image, right?
So when we see God-given human, you know, features in Scripture, that's not God just trying to,
you know, pat us on the head and say, you know, I know I'm too big for you to understand,
and we know that He is, right, to fully comprehend God, and to say, I'm just going to express myself
in a way that you understand, okay? That's totally backwards. The fact is that we were
actually made after what God looks like. God made us in a way that He already had. You know,
He already had this distinguishable form, though He is a spirit. So we're made in God's image.
We're made in His likeness. So that means, you know, that yes, God is a spirit, but again,
let's not get confused and think that He's this, you know, again, this ethereal, this solvent kind
of just light, airy form that just, you know, doesn't occupy any particular place or, you know,
time. God does occupy a specific place. You know, His throne is in a literal place. He doesn't have
GPS coordinates. I don't know how to get there, right, other than dying, right? But there, you
know, God, though a spirit, you know, has a form, has shape, has a distinguishable being.
So you say, wow, this is really blowing my mind. What do I do with this, though, right? What do I
do with this knowledge? Well, you know, God, what we need to understand is that, you know,
God is not somebody that we understand through our physical senses. You know, God is not somebody
that we're going to get an understanding of just through feeling or seeing or hearing. You know,
He's somebody that we have to get to know on a spiritual level. You know, you have, obviously,
we have the Word of God, and we read that, but the Spirit of God speaks to us. You know, God is not
something, you know, God is a spirit, meaning you have to be spiritual to get to know God. You have
to have a spiritual walk with God. You can't just, you know, it's not just some physical
transaction that you're going to have with the Lord. You have to put the time in, you know,
spiritually speaking, to get to know the Lord. He said in John 4, verse 21,
Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain nor
yet at Jerusalem worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what. We know what we worship for
salvation is of the Jews, but the hour cometh it now is when the true worshipers of God shall
worship the Father in spirit and in truth. So saying, look, and why is that? For the Father
seeketh such to worship Him, God is a spirit. So because God is a spirit, you know, in order to
worship Him, you have to worship Him in spirit. You're not going to get to know God just through
some physical, you know, our physical senses. It's a spiritual relationship that we have with the
Lord. We worship Him, you know, as a spirit, in the spirit. Meaning this, you know, that God is
distinguishable from a material, physical form. Now, I know this isn't a real big deal here other
than with Catholics, but in other parts of the world, it's a very big deal. Don't people like
to take God and put Him into a distinguishable physical form and say this is what God looks like?
I mean, even Christians do that. They'll have the long-haired Jesus on the wall and say,
that's the Lord. No, it isn't, you know, for a number of reasons. One,
1 Corinthians 11, it is a shame for a man to have long hair. That's what the Bible teaches.
So if Jesus had long hair, He's a hypocrite, okay, which we know He didn't. That's another
sermon, but He does not have this. We can't just put this distinguishable form upon God and say,
this is what God looks like. This object is what God is, you know, and this is obviously,
this would have more impact in a society where idolatry is more commonplace, but it is out there
in large parts of the world. This would be a very hot topic. You guys start talking about, hey,
your idol over there is not God. You know, people would have an issue with that. He is distinguishable
from a material, physical form. He is a spirit, and if you're going to worship Him, you have to
worship Him in spirit. You don't get to just carve some statue and be spiritual now. You know,
and look, people do that even here. You know, you go to some of these restaurants that are
owned by people who worship. I don't know what God they're worshiping, Buddha or whoever,
but I mean, one of my favorite Thai restaurants up in Phoenix, Chan Pen, you know, tell them I sent
you, down there in Southern and 48th, because they'll give me a free meal if enough people
come in and mention my name, right? But when I walk in, there's always a little, you know,
I don't know what it is they're serving him. I think it's the pad thai. You know, if I were
at a false idol, that's probably what I'd want. I like the panning chicken, though. Number two
spicy. It's really good. That's what I recommend, okay? But every time I go in there, there's this
little bowl of pad thai sitting next to their little idol. And you know what? The person that
goes out there, and it's usually been there for like days. I mean, come on. It tells you what
they think of their little idol, right? And I've been in donut shops up on 35th Avenue and Bell
in Northern Phoenix. You'll look down on the bottom shelf, there's their little statue,
and it's got a donut and coffee. I kid you not. And the coffee's been, you know when coffee
evaporates, it leaves that little stain in the styrofoam cup? That's how long it's been. There's
like a half inch of like evaporated coffee along the side. It's like, man, you must not think much
of your idol if you're not giving them a fresh cup, you know? I mean, I'm upset if my cup gets
cold, let alone evaporates, you know what I mean? So do people, but isn't this what people do? They
like to take God, who is a spirit, who cannot be contained, who is, you know, though He has a
distinguishable form. You know, I was kind of laying all that groundwork. Yes, we know He can
be distinguished, though He is a spirit. He's given human attributes, but He cannot be contained
and put into this little tiny statue and say, this is God. And if you want a relationship with God,
you're going to have to worship Him in spirit and in truth. And you don't get to just make Him
however you want and put your little donut and your pad thai and your little thing next to it.
Now, do the people that do that, that guy comes out there, you know, once a week or whatever it is
and puts the pad thai there, comes out there and puts the little donut there,
you know, that guy walks away and he feels like, I'm spiritual. I did my duty. You know,
I have a walk with God because I fed God today as if God needs you to feed Him.
But that's exactly what they're thinking, isn't it? That's exactly their mentality.
Let me go feed God. You know, God needs me, right? And, you know, Jesus, He cuts through all that and
says, look, God seeks those that are going to worship Him in spirit and in truth. God is a
spirit. He cannot be contained and put in a place, whether it's Jerusalem or this mountain,
He can't be contained and put in some little statue for us to just have God at our convenience.
God is not about your convenience. And so many people, they want to worship or live for God,
you know, at their caprice as it suits them. You know, if it's convenient for them, yeah,
I'll serve God or I'll worship God if it's convenient for me, if it's going to be the way
I like it. That's not God. That's not the God of the Bible. That's what Jesus is getting at here.
And He seeks such to worship Him. You know, God's not looking for the person who just wants, you
know, as long as it's going to be easy, as long as, you know, worshiping and living for the Lord is
going to come to me easy, then I'll go ahead and do it. God's not interested in that person.
Isn't that what He said? I know I have you somewhere else. You probably didn't turn there,
but we're in John 4. He said, the hour cometh and now is when the true worshiper shall worship the
Father in its spirit and in truth. You know, and who establishes what the truth is? It's God.
And it's not just going to be some vain oblation. It's not just going to be some vain,
empty, hollow, you know, religious act that God is interested in. He wants you to worship in spirit.
It's going to take an actual spiritual walk with God. He is a spiritual. He is distinguishable from
material and physical form, which blows idolatry right out of the water. You know, people can't.
And that's why God was so adamant throughout the Old Testament about idolatry. I mean, there's just
Old Testament about idolatry. I mean, there's just whole chapters where He's just,
I mean, it's the second commandment. You know, you shan't make any graven image
or bow thyself down to it. You know, He's saying, look, you're not going to worship
some graven image. You're not going to make some image and say, that's who I am. That's not who I
am. I'm a spirit. I'm limitless. I'm, you know, omniscient. I can't be contained. And that's why
He said in Deuteronomy, take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God
which He made with you and make you a graven image or the likeness of anything which the Lord
thy God hath forbidden me. Look, we can't, that's not how you get to worship God. You don't get to
worship Him and serve Him at your caprice as it fits your fancy, right? You have to worship Him
in spirit. You know, it's not limited. And it's not limited to a particular place, which a lot
of people struggle with today too, isn't it? A lot of people say, oh, you got to go rock back
and forth at that wall. You got to go kiss the wall. You got to put a doily on your head and
go stand in front of this wall and mourn over it. That's where we worship God. Well, God's not
limited to some wall somewhere. He's not limited to any particular place. And He said that in Acts
7, right? When Stephen was preaching, He said, howbeit the Most High dwelleth not in temples
made with hands. You know, God's not impressed with buildings. I mean, it's always boggled my
mind. People, they, you know, man wants to worship God, so they make it about the building that they
do it in. And look, even Baptists are guilty of this. You know, you might think, oh, you know,
the Catholics, right? And look, do they get pretty ornate with their buildings?
Yeah, they do. They get, all the false religions do, right? Because here's the thing, that's easy.
The construction of it might, you know, the physical labor, the ornateness of it,
it's expensive. It's, you know, the actual work is difficult. But when it comes to just worshiping
God, you know, that's actually kind of easy when you think about it. Because all that's required
for me is to walk into some building. And it's such, it's so, it just smacks of pride to sit there and
think that God is impressed with anything that man makes. I mean, we're talking about God who created
everything. Well, God, look at what we built. He's like, yeah, the stuff I made. All those sticks and
all those stones and all that plaster, all that paint. He's like, I made the stuff that you use
to make that. And I'm supposed to be impressed? He's not impressed with any of it. He said,
heaven is, howbeit the most high dwelt, not in temples, made with hands. And look, Baptists get
just as, sometimes they can get just as caught up in this. They'll build their giant facilities,
huge parking lots, and say, well, we're spiritual now because we have a big building. And you know,
people will come in and look at a church like this, these very meager space that we occupy.
And I'm taking the time because, you know, I think sometimes even those of us that are here,
we might struggle with this from time to time and say, what are we, are we really doing it? Are we,
are we really serving God? I mean, look at the building we're in. It's so tiny. It's,
you know, the carpet, it's just, it's, well, the carpet is what it is, folks. You know,
I could get new carpet, but the same thing's going to happen to it. All right. You know, we'll just,
we'll be getting carpet every other month if we wanted to make sure it was always shiny and new,
and always look that way. But people can walk in here, you know, and if they're not spiritual,
they don't have a walk with God, they could get discouraged and say, well, you know, is God really
with that church? I mean, look where they're meeting. But, you know, God wants people to
worship them in spirit and in truth. You know, I know God is meeting with us and God is here
because we have the right Bible. We have the King James Bible. We believe salvation is by grace
through faith. We have the right gospel. Is God more impressed with our building or the work that
we're accomplishing here? You know, and even that, I mean, we say is God impressed, but is God, I
mean, we're just doing what God told us to do, right? He's the one that did all the hard work.
We're just going out and telling people about it, right? So is it about the building or is it about
the work that's being done, right? God is not impressed with the places that man makes. He's
not impressed with, He does not dwell in temples made with hands as sayeth the prophet heaven is my
throne and the earth is my footstool. You know, that's, think about that. Every time man gets
impressed about some, you know, edifice he builds in the name of God on earth, which is God's
footstool. God looks at it and says, oh, really? You're playing with my footstool again, right? Let
me just put my foot on that. He says, heaven's my throne. What will you build me, sayeth the
Lord? And what is the place of my rest? Hath not my hand made all these things?
You know, God is a spirit, and He seeks such to worship Him in spirit and in truth.
God's more interested in us having an actual walk with God, being spiritual people,
and that's who He's going to meet with, right? He said, where two or three are gathered together
in my name, there I am in the midst of them. Well, whether it's in, you know,
a little office complex off the ten, whether it's in some back two-track road in some, you know,
run-down little building, whether it's out walking down some, you know, road in some ghetto trying
to preach the gospel, you know, wherever we're gathered in Christ's name to do His work,
He is there present with us. The Spirit of God is there, okay?
If we worship Him in spirit, and if we worship Him in truth. So, look, you know, He wants us to
worship in spirit, and He wants us to worship in truth, and again, this is going back to what I'm
saying here. This is the application is that we can't worship God with false conceptions about
who He is. You know, we can't sit here and say, well, this is the way I think God is, and look,
people do this all the time. You know, if you go out so many and talk to people, they do it all the
time, or you tell them something about the Bible, what the Bible says about the Bible. You know,
the Bible says, well, I just don't think God is like that. Well, what does the Bible say, though?
You know, either God is who He is, or He isn't. You know, the Bible is true, or it's not,
and God's not looking for people who are just going to, you know, worship Him on their terms,
or where He's going to have to change who He is to make them happy. That's not how it works with God.
That's not how it works with God. We worship Him in truth. We just take God as He is,
and that's important to understand because when you start to really read the Bible and hear the
preaching of God's Word, and when you have somebody who's going to get up and actually preach the whole
counsel of God, and as you start to, look, if you've never read the Bible through yourself,
and you do that, you're going to read some things in here that are going to blow your mind.
You're going to be like, God said that? God did that? What? Gnarly stuff in there. I mean,
there's just stuff in there. It's like, wow, that's who God is. You know, and here's the
question, though. When you hear that, when you read that, are you just going to say,
well, that's not for me. I don't like that. Well, then you know what? You don't want to worship God
in truth. You're no different than idolater. You might not make a physical statue that you give
donuts and pad thai to, but in your mind, you have formed this little, you know, your conception of
God in your mind is idolatrous because you're going to make God into something that He isn't.
You're not going to worship Him in truth. You're going to say, well, I just don't think God is that
way. You know, that's not how God, that's not the roles that God has for men and women. I don't
believe God would say that. People do that all the time. Well, God wouldn't feel that way about
a certain group of people in the LGBT community. Well, God would never send anybody to hell.
God just wouldn't do that. But that's exactly what God says in the Bible. That's exactly what
the Bible says about God. That is the truth about God, that God does feel that way about those
people, that God does have roles for us as men and women, as wives and husbands. You know, that God
does have opinions, that God does have standards, you know, and that's the truth. And if we're going
to worship God, we have to come to that truth and accept it. That's how it works with God.
That's who seeks, God seeks to worship Him. Not people who just want to have a religious show
and play pretend. Well, I'm in this place and I'm in this building and I made this statue.
So now I'm religious. Now God's pleased with me. That's not who God's looking for.
God wants people that are going to worship Him in spirit. It doesn't matter where they are. They're
about the work. They're about, you know, loving the Lord. And He wants people that are going to
worship Him in truth. People that are going to accept Him for who He is without any false
conceptions. He said, Thy word is truth. So hopefully, you know, I know this, again,
was kind of one of those little bit more different sermons, kind of maybe a little philosophical or
whatever, but hopefully this sermon is going to help us to, you know, worship God with the
understanding that though He is invisible and though He is hidden from our eyes, you know,
He is always present and He is all powerful and He's always there. And, you know, He wants us to
worship Him, but we have to understand and God wants us to serve Him, but we have to come to
God on His terms. It's not the other way around. That's not who God's looking for. Let's go ahead
and pray.