Review of Previous Messages

Weaver reviews the first two sermons: our duty to worship God, God's rejection of unacceptable worship, worship as divine revelation, and worship as a fruit of Christ's work. He also reviews the proper object of worship as God revealed as Father.

Now, we've been dealing with the doctrine of acceptable worship. Let me take just a few moments and review the last two messages. First of all, I pointed out in the first message that it is our duty to worship God. I told you that He needed to be worshiped not only by virtue of a creation right, but also by virtue of a providential right, by virtue of a redemption right, and by virtue of a kingly right. So it is our duty, it is our obligation, as creatures, as subjects, as redeemed ones, to worship the one true and living God. The second thing I pointed out is this, that God is not indifferent as to how we worship Him. I showed you numerous passages where God says, "I hate, I despise, I will not have that worship." Over and over God said that, so it is not up to us to try to worship God any old way that we please. The third thing I pointed out was this, that acceptable worship is a matter of divine revelation.

The same God that demands that we worship Him also tells us how we must worship Him. And then fourthly I pointed out, that acceptable worship is a fruit of the work of Jesus Christ. Now last week we looked at the proper object of worship, and we're going to actually continue that message a little further this week. But last week I pointed out the proper object of worship, of course, was the one true and the living God. But not just simply the one true and the living God, but the one true and the living God who is revealed as Father. For three times the Bible speaks in this short passage of God as Father. So last week we noticed how God was the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ in the mystery of the Godhead. All through the Scripture, when Jesus Christ called God His Father, He was identifying Himself and claiming oneness with the essence of God. Therefore, in John 5 and numerous other passages, when He called God His Father, the Jews took up stones to stone Him. And He said, "Many good works I've done; for which of these do you stone me?" And they said, "For a good work we stone thee not; but because thou, being a man, makest thyself God."

God as Father and God as Spirit

Weaver distinguishes between God's relationships (Father of Christ and believers) and His essence (Spirit). Using George W. Bush as an illustration, he explains that 'Father' is relational, while 'Spirit' describes what God is in His being.

Notice, if you would please, in verse 24. Look carefully. The Bible says, "God is Spirit." And they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. Now, I know you're going to say, "Pastor, it says 'God is a spirit,'" but the "a" there is actually in italics, and literally what that means is that it's not there in the original. Literally, the Greek is "pneuma ho theos"—Spirit is God. Now, when the Bible says God is Spirit, what does it mean? It means that we must worship the one true and living God who has revealed Himself as Father, whose essence is that of Spirit.

Now let me just tell you, in one sense of the word, the message I'm going to be bringing this morning is one of the most difficult ones. Why? Because we are lost when we begin conversing on the Godhead. How in the world can I explain to you who God is when there is absolutely nothing that I can compare God to? There is no illustration that I can give you.

But yet we've got to understand something. Jesus Christ was using the biblical doctrine of worship, and He was discussing the spirituality of God with a fallen woman, with an unsaved woman. So although you and I may not be able to comprehend everything about God, there are some things that we must understand if we're going to render acceptable worship to the One True and the Living God. And God is saying somehow we must grasp this simple fact that God is Spirit. Now, let me begin today by trying to show you the relationship between God as revealed as Father and God who is Spirit. When we talk about God as Father, that reveals to us the proper object of worship in His essential relationships. Let me say that again. When we talk about God as Father, that reveals to us the proper object of worship in His essential relationships. In that relationship, He is the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. In that relationship, He is the Father of all of those whom He adopts into His family. So when you approach God as Father, you're approaching God in a relationship. You're not approaching God as He is in His essence. Well, what is the essence of God? Well, the very essence of God is the fact that God is Spirit.

Now, let me just try to show you this, and this is by no means an endorsement of our president, but I'm just going to use him as an illustration. If we were to talk about George W. Bush this morning, we could say several things about him. We could say that he is president, that he is commander-in-chief, that he is a husband, and that he is a father. Now there's four things about him that I've just mentioned. But I want you to note that those four things are all relationships. When we say he is a president, he is the president in relationship to the United States. When we say that he is commander-in-chief, he is commander-in-chief in relationship to the armies. When we say that he is a husband, that is a relationship to his wife, Laura. When we say that he is a father, that is a relationship to his children. Now, let's look at the essence of George W. Bush. He is a man.

He is an image-bearer. He is a creature. He is a sinner, a fallen son of Adam. Now you see, on the one hand, you had His relationships. On the other hand, you had His essence. That is what He actually is. He is a creature. He is a sinner. When you talk about God as Father, that is a relationship. When you say that God is Spirit, that is what He is in His essence. That is what He is in His being. So He's the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ

The Meaning of 'God is Spirit'

God is a spiritual being—pure, infinite, eternal, uncreated, invisible, without body, parts, or passions. This is drawn from John 4:24 and historical confessions.

in the mystery of the Godhead. He's the Father of believers in the marvels of His grace. Those are relationships. But in and of Himself, He is Spirit. Now let's look just for a moment at this truth that God is Spirit. What does that mean? It means first and foremost that He is a spiritual being. That He is pure, infinite, eternal, and an uncreated being. We must grasp this in some degree in order to worship God acceptably. Let me read to you, first of all, the Philadelphia Confession of Faith and just partial of the first paragraph. And this is just a statement on the doctrine of God taken from the Philadelphia Baptist Confession of Faith. And if you read it, you will notice it's all Scripture. There's Scripture behind everything that is said here. And without me reading the Scriptures right now, just listen if you would just to the first sentence: "The Lord our God is but one, only living and true God, whose subsistence is in and of himself, infinite in being and perfection, whose essence cannot be comprehended by any but himself, a most pure spirit,

invisible, without body, parts, or passions, who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto, who is eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, every way infinite, most holy, most wise, most free, most absolute," and then it keeps going. Now, note if you would, "a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions." Now, the Westminster Confession of Faith is almost similar to that, and it just simply says this, that God is spirit, infinite, eternal, unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. Now, each of those historical confessions of faith say that God is spirit. Now, notice if you would what the Bible says very pointedly in verse 24, "God is Spirit. And they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." So our Lord is teaching this unsaved fallen woman on the essence of God.

The Woman's Concern vs. Christ's Concern

The Samaritan woman was concerned about where and when to worship (Gerizim vs. Jerusalem), but Jesus focused on who and how to worship, emphasizing God's spiritual nature.

Now she said, "Our fathers worshipped in this mountain," that is Mount Gerizim, "and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship." Now let me show you what our Lord said. Verse 21, "Jesus said unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain," that is Gerizim, "nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father." Then He goes on down and He says in verse 24, "God is Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." Now, I want you to note what the woman was concerned about. The woman says, "We Samaritans," and I told you who those Samaritans were in the first message, "we Samaritans worship at Gerizim. You Judahites, you worship down in Jerusalem." "Now, sir, I perceive you're a prophet. If you are a prophet, then you can settle this age-old dispute between the Samaritans and the Judahites. Where is the proper place to worship? Should we worship in Mount Gerizim or should we worship in Jerusalem which is known as Mount Zion?"

Now I want you to note something. The woman was concerned about where to worship and when to worship. Our Lord was concerned about who to worship, and how to worship. Have you ever noticed what we do? We'll ask someone, "Where do you go to church? What time do you start?"

Now, certainly you have to know those facts in order to attend some assembly of believers. I understand that. But you know, we never ask, "Who do you worship? And how do you worship?" So this woman was concerned about where and when, and our Lord was concerned about who and how. And our Lord is saying, "Look, if you're going to worship God, you must not only worship God who has revealed Himself as Father, but you must worship God who is in and of Himself Spirit." Now, what's that mean? It means that God is an immaterial or incorporeal being.

God's Omnipresence and Spirituality

Because God is Spirit, He is omnipresent—everywhere at once in His totality. The Syrians' defeat in 1 Kings 20 illustrates the error of limiting God to a location.

Let me put that a little more plainly. God does not have a body. He does not have bodily parts. He does not have bodily passions. Because God is Spirit. Since God is Spirit, there is no such thing as physical limitations to God. I'm going to develop this for you a little bit later, but let me explain. Once you begin to see that God is Spirit, then you understand a little more of the omnipresence of God. When we talk about the omnipresence of God, we're just saying that God is everywhere at once in the totality of His being. Now, there are many people who are really confused on the omnipresence of God.

And what they try to do is this. They'll say, "Now look, here is a part of God over in China. We know God is everywhere. So God is here in China. God is here in Russia. God is here in America. God is here in Cuba. God is over here. God is over here."

Now, if we take all these parts and put them together, then you've got a whole God. No, that's not true. That's heresy. That's blasphemy. You cannot divide God. The doctrine of God's omnipresence, which I'll show you just in a few moments, is that God is everywhere at one time in the totality of His being. Now listen to me. Since God is everywhere at one time in the totality of His being, He cannot be conceived of as just being in one place or limited to one place.

Look in your Bibles, hold John 4, but look in your Bibles to 1 Kings 20. Let me show you some people who were defeated in battle because of their unbiblical concept of God. 1 Kings 20, the Syrians had attacked Israel, and God had told Israel that they were going to defeat the Syrians, and certainly they did. Well, look what happens in 1 Kings 20, and verse 23, watch carefully. "And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him, Their gods are gods of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we; but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they."

Now, I want you to understand why the Syrians believed they lost the battle. Because they fought the Israelites in the hills. And they said the logical answer is this: "Their God happens to be the God of the hills. Let's fight against them down in the plain and surely we will overcome them because their God is the God of the hills and therefore He cannot be the God of the plains." I want you to understand the pagans had a limited concept of God because the pagans always located God in their temple or in their shrine, and they never understood that God was omnipresent. Notice, if you would please, look in verse 28. "And there came a man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the Lord, Because the Syrians have said, The Lord is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the Lord." God said, "They are going to find out I am not just the God of the hills, I am the God of the valleys, I am everywhere

in the totality of my being at one time." Now, you say, "But Brother Weaver, in the Old Testament, God was located in the tabernacle and in the temple." No. I'll explain that before I finish this series. It is true that God specifically revealed Himself in the tabernacle, and He specifically revealed Himself in the temple, but God was not located in the tabernacle, and God was not located in the temple. I want you to understand that even the Old Testament taught the spirituality of God.

Old Testament Teaching on God's Spirituality

Isaiah 40 and Jeremiah 23 teach that God cannot be compared to creation or confined to a place. Idolatry is foolish because God is greater than all He made.

Look in your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 40. Isaiah chapter 40. And let's begin reading there with verse 15. This is a rather lengthy passage, so I want you to look at it. Watch carefully what God says. Isaiah chapter 40, verse 15. Isaiah 40, verse 15. The Bible says, "Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing." So what are the nations in comparison to God? A drop in the bucket.

that is, all the wood of Lebanon is not sufficient for an offering to God,

Now watch this question.

Now watch.

in other words, the poor man doesn't use gold and silver. He gets him a good cedar tree. Okay?

Now look what God asks.

Now, I want you to look at what God is saying. God is saying, "To whom will you liken me? And what likeness will you compare me unto?" God said,

Now if God says, "How silly are you, how stupid are you, if you think that you're going to take My creation and make something to resemble Me when I created everything, how could My creation be less than Me? How could you take everything in creation and make it like unto Me? I am greater than My creation. I sit upon the circle of the earth." What is the Bible teaching? The Bible is teaching the spirituality of God. You start trying to make an image of God, you're going to run out of silver and gold because God created all of that. You try to make out of wood, you'll run out of wood. God created all of that. Look in your Bibles to the book of Jeremiah, chapter 23. Jeremiah 23. Notice verses 23 and 24. Jeremiah 23, verse 23. Look what God asks. "Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off?" Now watch verse 24. "Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord." Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord. What is God? God is Spirit. God cannot be limited to physical places. God is Spirit. And since God is Spirit, it is absolutely foolish to try to conceive of God in physical expressions. That's why He said in Exodus 20, and we read it last week I believe, "I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt.

The Invisible God and Anthropomorphisms

God is invisible (Colossians 1:15, 1 Timothy 1:17, 6:16). Biblical references to God's eyes, hand, or feet are anthropomorphisms—human-form language to convey His attributes.

Now, look in your Bibles. Let me show you, first of all, in Colossians chapter 1 in the New Testament, Colossians chapter 1. Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Colossians chapter 1. Notice, if you would please, verse 15. Colossians 1 verse 15. You want to know what God is like. Let me just put it to you like this. If God were to manifest Himself on earth physically, what would He look like? Well, here's the answer. Let's read verse 14.

We're talking about Jesus Christ,

That's why Jesus Christ said to Thomas in John 14, "Thomas, he that hath seen me hath seen the Father." For Jesus Christ is God manifested in the flesh. But note the Bible says that God is the invisible God. Turn over in your Bibles, if you would, to 1 Timothy chapter 1. 1 Timothy 1. Look in verse 17. 1 Timothy 1, verse 17. Watch carefully. 1 Timothy 1, verse 17. Paul says, "Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen." When I say that God is Spirit, it means He is immaterial. He is incorporeal.

He does not have a body. He does not have bodily parts. He does not have bodily passions. He is pure Spirit. Look in 1 Timothy 6, beginning there with verse 15. 1 Timothy 6, verse 15. Here we're still referring to Jesus Christ. Notice verse 14, so you can see that in the context. "That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting."

So God is the invisible God. But you're going to say, "Wait a minute, Brother Weaver. Wait just a minute. I read my Bible, and I know there are certain things in the Bible that indicate something otherwise than what you're trying to teach today. Because the Bible says, in Proverbs, chapter 15, I believe, that the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, beholding the evil and the good." The Bible does say that. The Bible also says that God brought Israel out of Egypt by His right hand. The Bible also says His feet walk upon the clouds.

Well, let me ask you a question. If God is Spirit, does God have eyes? No. If God is Spirit, does God have a right hand? Not physically, no. Does God have physical feet? No. Well, how do you explain those passages? Those are what are known as anthropomorphisms. Let me explain that. Sometimes we say anthropomorphically speaking. "Anthropos" is the Greek word for man. "Morphe" is the Greek word for form. Anthropomorphic just simply means "man-form speaking." What does it mean? It means God is speaking in language which you and I can understand. When we read about the eye of God, we understand He's referring to His omniscience, that He sees all, that He knows all. When we read about God's right hand, we know that He's referring to His power. When we read about His feet, we understand His omnipresence, that God is everywhere. If God did not use that kind of language for you and I, we would never be able to comprehend anything about God. If I explain anything to you, I have to use language that you understand.

The Sin of Idolatry and Mental Images

Romans 1 shows that idolatry materializes the immaterial God. Weaver warns against physical images and mental pictures of Christ, citing Deuteronomy 4 and Numbers 33.

The Bible says, "Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Now watch carefully. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things." So what did they do in their ignorance, in their wickedness, in their rebellion? They made them an idol. They materialized the immaterial God.

Now, why is that so important? Because once you get your God materialized, you may live comfortably in your sins. Because now you have your God in a specific location, a specific place, He is materialized and He can't be everywhere at once so that you may then go over here and do whatever you want to do. Well, listen, that was the pagan concept of a God or their God. And unhappily, it has also been adopted by the church. I'll explain that a little bit later in the applications. But we've lost the understanding of the fact that God is Spirit. And since God is Spirit, He is omnipresent. He is everywhere at one time in the totality of His being, and He is omniscient. Mel Trotter, who has been dead a number of years, but Mel Trotter was a drunk. He was such a sot, a drunk, that he stole the shoes off his baby, and was going to pawn those shoes to get a drink.

And on his way, he passed a gospel meeting, and people were singing. And he heard the music, and it attracted him, and he stood there for a few minutes, and he listened to the singing, and a preacher got up and preached, and he stayed and listened, and God saved him. Well, Mel Trotter then began one of the missions to salvage drunks and harlots and everybody else. He turned into a great preacher and a great Christian.

But there was an area that was known as Lovers' Lane, where all kinds of immorality took place. And Mel Trotter would go down there with the cars parked and start preaching. Well, some would leave and some wouldn't leave and some would laugh and some would make fun. Well, then Mel Trotter got an idea. And he had a neon sign made. And he erected it in Lovers' Lane. And all it was, was a giant eye that blinked. And in the middle of that eye, it had, "Thou God seest me." Lovers' Lane was cleared out, cleaned out, and folks never came back. Why? Because of the omniscience and omnipresence of God. You see, since God is Spirit, He cannot be confined to a local place. You could say it like this: God's center is everywhere. His circumference is nowhere.

Look in your Bibles, before I go further, look in your Bibles to Psalm 139. I cannot think of Psalm 139 without thinking of Don Thomason, because this was his favorite passage. And it should be the favorite passage of a lot of people. When you talk about a passage that teaches the omniscience, the omnipresence, and the spirituality of God, here it is. Look in Psalm 139, beginning with verse 1. David said,

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it. Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me." What is he saying? "God, I cannot get away from your presence. You are everywhere."

"You know my downsitting. You know my uprising. You understand my thought afar off. God, I cannot escape you." Why? Because God is Spirit. And our Lord is telling this fallen woman, "If you worship God acceptably, you must worship God not only as revealed as the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Father of believers, you must grasp to some extent that God is Spirit."

Now, let me make some applications and show you how important this doctrine is. First of all, I want you to understand that since God is Spirit, He cannot be confined to special places or structures. Since God is Spirit, He cannot be confined to special places or structures. The woman said, "Our fathers worshipped in this mountain, Gerizim. But you say that Jerusalem is the place to worship. Where is God really?" She's asking him. And our Lord says, "God is Spirit."

Now, look in your Bibles. I read this last week, but let me show you again in light of what I'm preaching. Look in Acts chapter 17, Acts 17. And notice verses 24 and 25. Paul is preaching on Mars Hill. And he's teaching the spirituality of God to these pagans. Acts 17, verse 24. He says,

Note, he says,

You cannot confine God to a temple, or to a shrine, or to a building. Even Solomon, when he dedicated the temple in 1 Kings chapter 8 and verse 27, said, "Behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have built?" Solomon knew that the temple could not contain God.

God could not be located, imprisoned in that building. Look in your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 66. Isaiah 66 at verses 1 and 2. Isaiah 66, verses 1 and 2. Isaiah 66. And look, if you would, at verses 1 and 2. I like this passage. "Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me?

and where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word." Now watch what he asks. "Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?" God said, "If the earth is nothing more than my footstool, and the heaven is my throne, how could you ever hope to contain me or put me in a building?"

Now, you go to Japan, they have their shrines. You go to China, they have their temples. You go to the ancient Greece, to the Parthenon, they had all their gods materialized, located in that Parthenon. Now, the point being is this: The One True Living God is not confined, nor can He be confined to a special building.

Now how has the church become pagan? Well, through what is known as the reduction of Christianity, or I could say the heresy of churchism. You know what most Christians have done? Most Christians have never understood that God is Spirit, and therefore that God cannot be confined to buildings and temples and shrines. And so what are most Christians concerned about? Oh, they're concerned about where to go to church, what time they should be there, what they should wear, who they will meet. And once they come and sing their songs and hear the little sermonette, they go out then and do what? Live how they please. Totally disobeying God, violating His law, refusing to hear His word. Why? Because somehow they've gotten the idea that God is in the church building. And when they come in the church building, they must put on this little pious front, this air of sanctification. And they sit there like perfectly good, obedient little children. And then they go out and live like the devil. Why? Because they left God in their little palace, in their little temple, in their little church building. That's called the reduction of Christianity to the church. God is Spirit. It is true we may worship Him in this building, but God is not confined to this building.

One of the answers to the question that was asked to me this morning by Allison is this: Why are we in the mess that we're in? Because of this heresy. Because we have failed to occupy. We have failed to do business. We have failed to subdue the world to Jesus Christ in our occupations. Because we think when we're at work, that's totally different from being in church. No, it is not.

There is no division between the secular and the sacred for the Christian. For the child of God, everything is sacred. My work is sacred. My worship is sacred. My family is sacred. Everything is sacred. And I'm to do my job as unto the Lord, just like I am to worship as unto the Lord. Do you understand that? When you begin to think that God is confined to a building, then you've located your God. You've basically materialized Him, whether or not you have a literal idol. And most Christians want to just leave God in the church building and then go out and live however they like to.

And then next Sunday, they'll come back and put on their little sanctimonious airs again, and feel all pious and happy. God says no. That's not the way to worship Him. As I pointed out last week and the week before, if there's no righteousness, God is not pleased. Whatever we do, we do it as unto the Lord, if we understand that God is Spirit. Secondly, God must not be conceived of either by literal physical images or by physical images of the mind. Hang on. Cars do not begin in Detroit. They begin in the mind of some engineer. You know what we've done? We've made physical images and mental images of Christ or of God. I was preaching in North Carolina. It was right before service. And I noticed this woman came up in her car. And here is this little statue right in the center of her dashboard. And I noticed it was kind of moving a little bit.

And I wondered what in the world is that? And I got closer. It was a statue of Jesus. I said, "Ma'am, what is that statue doing on your dashboard?" She said, "Oh, that's my statue of Jesus." She said, "I wouldn't think of going anywhere without my Jesus." I said, "Ma'am, neither would I. But He lives in my heart, not on my dashboard." You follow me? I pastored a church not too far from here. And when I went into that church building, they had pictures of Jesus everywhere.

You know, with the long hair. You know what I'm talking about. I got the biggest, strongest deacon that I could find, and I said, "Follow me." And he walked behind me and I took every picture off the wall and I handed them to him. He said, "What do you want me to do with these?" I said, "Well, I want you to tear up the pictures. You can save the frames if you can use them. I don't care." You said, "Why did you do that?" Well, let me show you why. Look in your Bibles, first of all, to Deuteronomy chapter 4. Deuteronomy chapter 4. Notice if you would be getting there in verse 12. And by the way, I hope everybody here knows that Jesus Christ did not have long hair. Okay, not only was the Caesar's cut the style in His day, which was short hair, but the Bible said, "Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?"

It's a shame for a man. If it's a shame for a man, our Lord never had long hair. That's all there is to it. And if you ever noticed, if a Flemish artist paints a picture of Christ, then Christ looks Flemish. If a Dutchman painted, then He looks Dutch. If a Frenchman painted, then He looks French. Have you ever noticed that? But watch this. Deuteronomy 4, note if you would please, beginning of verse 12. "And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice.

And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone. And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it. Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire: lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air, the likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth: and lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the Lord thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven." God says, "Don't make you any pictures or any images of Me."

Look in your Bibles to the book of Numbers. Back a few pages. Numbers chapter 33 and look at verse 52. Numbers 33 verse 52. Watch carefully. Numbers 33 verse 52. God says, "Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places."

Now, let me tell you something. There is a difference, I believe, between religious art and trying to use art as a medium of worship. Unhappily, most people cannot make that distinction. And when they pray to Jesus, I've had them tell me, "Well, I like to imagine the picture of Jesus in my mind." Well, what picture do you imagine in your mind? I'll tell you which picture you imagine. The one that you've always seen, but instead of there looking with the long hair. That's mental idolatry. Jesus Christ did not look like that, nor does He look like that. No one even knows what He looks like. And when you try to imagine in your mind some mental picture of a faceless man standing there, just the light shining from the... That's still idolatry. Jesus Christ was a literal man and He had a literal face. You just don't know what He looks like.

Applications: God Cannot Be Confined or Sensed

God cannot be confined to buildings (Acts 17:24-25, Isaiah 66:1-2). The 'heresy of churchism' reduces Christianity to a location. Also, God cannot be sensed with the five senses; we perceive Him by faith through His Word.

Now, let me make some applications and show you how important this doctrine is. First of all, I want you to understand that since God is Spirit, He cannot be confined to special places or structures. Since God is Spirit, He cannot be confined to special places or structures. The woman said, "Our fathers worshipped in this mountain, Gerizim. But you say that Jerusalem is the place to worship. Where is God really?" She's asking him. And our Lord says, "God is Spirit."

Now, look in your Bibles. I read this last week, but let me show you again in light of what I'm preaching. Look in Acts chapter 17, Acts 17. And notice verses 24 and 25. Paul is preaching on Mars Hill. And he's teaching the spirituality of God to these pagans. Acts 17, verse 24. He says,

Note, he says,

You cannot confine God to a temple, or to a shrine, or to a building. Even Solomon, when he dedicated the temple in 1 Kings chapter 8 and verse 27, said, "Behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have built?" Solomon knew that the temple could not contain God.

God could not be located, imprisoned in that building. Look in your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 66. Isaiah 66 at verses 1 and 2. Isaiah 66, verses 1 and 2. Isaiah 66. And look, if you would, at verses 1 and 2. I like this passage. "Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me?

and where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word." Now watch what he asks. "Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?" God said, "If the earth is nothing more than my footstool, and the heaven is my throne, how could you ever hope to contain me or put me in a building?"

Now, you go to Japan, they have their shrines. You go to China, they have their temples. You go to the ancient Greece, to the Parthenon, they had all their gods materialized, located in that Parthenon. Now, the point being is this: The One True Living God is not confined, nor can He be confined to a special building.

Now how has the church become pagan? Well, through what is known as the reduction of Christianity, or I could say the heresy of churchism. You know what most Christians have done? Most Christians have never understood that God is Spirit, and therefore that God cannot be confined to buildings and temples and shrines. And so what are most Christians concerned about? Oh, they're concerned about where to go to church, what time they should be there, what they should wear, who they will meet. And once they come and sing their songs and hear the little sermonette, they go out then and do what? Live how they please. Totally disobeying God, violating His law, refusing to hear His word. Why? Because somehow they've gotten the idea that God is in the church building. And when they come in the church building, they must put on this little pious front, this air of sanctification. And they sit there like perfectly good, obedient little children. And then they go out and live like the devil. Why? Because they left God in their little palace, in their little temple, in their little church building. That's called the reduction of Christianity to the church. God is Spirit. It is true we may worship Him in this building, but God is not confined to this building.

One of the answers to the question that was asked to me this morning by Allison is this: Why are we in the mess that we're in? Because of this heresy. Because we have failed to occupy. We have failed to do business. We have failed to subdue the world to Jesus Christ in our occupations. Because we think when we're at work, that's totally different from being in church. No, it is not.

There is no division between the secular and the sacred for the Christian. For the child of God, everything is sacred. My work is sacred. My worship is sacred. My family is sacred. Everything is sacred. And I'm to do my job as unto the Lord, just like I am to worship as unto the Lord. Do you understand that? When you begin to think that God is confined to a building, then you've located your God. You've basically materialized Him, whether or not you have a literal idol. And most Christians want to just leave God in the church building and then go out and live however they like to.

And then next Sunday, they'll come back and put on their little sanctimonious airs again, and feel all pious and happy. God says no. That's not the way to worship Him. As I pointed out last week and the week before, if there's no righteousness, God is not pleased. Whatever we do, we do it as unto the Lord, if we understand that God is Spirit. Secondly, God must not be conceived of either by literal physical images or by physical images of the mind. Hang on. Cars do not begin in Detroit. They begin in the mind of some engineer. You know what we've done? We've made physical images and mental images of Christ or of God. I was preaching in North Carolina. It was right before service. And I noticed this woman came up in her car. And here is this little statue right in the center of her dashboard. And I noticed it was kind of moving a little bit.

And I wondered what in the world is that? And I got closer. It was a statue of Jesus. I said, "Ma'am, what is that statue doing on your dashboard?" She said, "Oh, that's my statue of Jesus." She said, "I wouldn't think of going anywhere without my Jesus." I said, "Ma'am, neither would I. But He lives in my heart, not on my dashboard." You follow me? I pastored a church not too far from here. And when I went into that church building, they had pictures of Jesus everywhere.

You know, with the long hair. You know what I'm talking about. I got the biggest, strongest deacon that I could find, and I said, "Follow me." And he walked behind me and I took every picture off the wall and I handed them to him. He said, "What do you want me to do with these?" I said, "Well, I want you to tear up the pictures. You can save the frames if you can use them. I don't care." You said, "Why did you do that?" Well, let me show you why. Look in your Bibles, first of all, to Deuteronomy chapter 4. Deuteronomy chapter 4. Notice if you would be getting there in verse 12. And by the way, I hope everybody here knows that Jesus Christ did not have long hair. Okay, not only was the Caesar's cut the style in His day, which was short hair, but the Bible said, "Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?"

It's a shame for a man. If it's a shame for a man, our Lord never had long hair. That's all there is to it. And if you ever noticed, if a Flemish artist paints a picture of Christ, then Christ looks Flemish. If a Dutchman painted, then He looks Dutch. If a Frenchman painted, then He looks French. Have you ever noticed that? But watch this. Deuteronomy 4, note if you would please, beginning of verse 12. "And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice.

And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone. And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it. Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire: lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air, the likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth: and lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the Lord thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven." God says, "Don't make you any pictures or any images of Me."

Look in your Bibles to the book of Numbers. Back a few pages. Numbers chapter 33 and look at verse 52. Numbers 33 verse 52. Watch carefully. Numbers 33 verse 52. God says, "Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places."

Now, let me tell you something. There is a difference, I believe, between religious art and trying to use art as a medium of worship. Unhappily, most people cannot make that distinction. And when they pray to Jesus, I've had them tell me, "Well, I like to imagine the picture of Jesus in my mind." Well, what picture do you imagine in your mind? I'll tell you which picture you imagine. The one that you've always seen, but instead of there looking with the long hair. That's mental idolatry. Jesus Christ did not look like that, nor does He look like that. No one even knows what He looks like. And when you try to imagine in your mind some mental picture of a faceless man standing there, just the light shining from the... That's still idolatry. Jesus Christ was a literal man and He had a literal face. You just don't know what He looks like.

Now, the point I'm trying to make is this, folks. Whenever you begin to try to conceive of God in any physical image, even a mental image, it is idolatry. What we must do is conceive of God as He has revealed Himself in the Bible, not as how we imagine Him. So, there can be no physical image of God, and therefore we should not have some mental image of some face that we're familiar with and put that on Christ. No, we don't know what Christ looked like. Here's the third thing. Listen carefully. Since God is Spirit, God will never be pleased with the mere physical aspects of worship. Since God is Spirit, God will never be pleased with the mere physical aspects of worship. Are you listening?

Plopping yourself down in a chair, shouting or singing as loud as you can, does not necessarily please God. That's all physical. God is not interested in pomp, but rather in purity. God is not interested in sacrifice, but a broken spirit. He's not interested in holy water, but penitent tears. He's not interested in ceremonies, but reality. What did David say in Psalm 51? He said, "Sacrifice and burnt offering thou wouldest not; else would I give it thee. But a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise."

I get so tickled at people.

There are people today who still worship Elvis Presley. You know that, don't you? And I go to their home and they say, "Oh, I want you to listen to Elvis sing this hymn." I don't want to hear Elvis sing that hymn. I'd rather hear someone sing a hymn who had a heart for God but had no voice, than I had here the most beautiful voice in the world who had no heart for God. Do you understand what I'm saying? We put the emphasis on the external. God places it on the internal. So what I'm trying to tell you is this, folks. God says, "Keep thy heart with all diligence." Why? "For out of it are the issues of life." God wants our heartfelt worship. I'm going to be dealing with this when I deal with what is worshipping in spirit, and I think that's coming up next. But let me point out the fact, folks.

It's not the physical aspect. It's not the singing. It's not the shouting. It's not the loud voice. It's not anything physical that satisfies God. It's that which is spiritual, as He is.

Now, I want you to listen carefully what I'm about to tell you next. All right. Oh, this is going to upset some folks. But here we go. Since God is Spirit, He cannot be sensed with our five senses. You cannot taste God. You cannot touch God. You cannot smell God. You cannot hear God, that is, physically. And what's the other one? See, you cannot see God physically. You cannot sense God with your five senses.

Now you say, "Wait a minute, brother, wait a minute. Man, there have been times that I've sensed the presence of God, and boy, I've wept and I've shouted," now hold on now. You know what that is? That is a physical or an emotional response for when we perceive something by faith. Just because you had a physical response or an emotional response does not mean that you felt God. Am I coming through? I can't taste Him. I can't touch Him. I can't feel Him. Why? God is Spirit.

Now, when God moves on my soul, when God moves on my heart, I might laugh. I might cry. But I'm not literally feeling God. I perceive God by faith. In fact, that's what the Bible says. We perceive Him by faith. And whenever we do perceive Him by faith, usually there's an emotional response, or usually there may be even a physical response, but that does not mean that I'm feeling Him with my five senses. It is faith and not feelings.

I've been around people as, "Whoo! I just felt the Lord." No, you didn't feel the Lord. You may have by faith perceived Him, and you may have had an emotional response. You see the difference? God is Spirit. And since God is Spirit, He cannot be perceived with the five senses. We perceive Him by faith, we may have a response emotionally, or we may have a response of that perception physically, but we're not experiencing Him with our five senses. And by the way, when God does speak to us, it is through His Word.

We do not hear Him audibly as such. We hear Him in our souls, in our hearts, in our spirits, in our mind, through His Word. But we're not hearing Him with our ears as such. God is Spirit. That means, which I'm going to deal with next week, since God is Spirit, we must worship Him in spirit. You say, "What is involved in that?" Well, Lord willing, I'll explain next week. But listen to this. The Scripture tells us, "Walk in the Spirit, and not in the flesh." Since God is Spirit, we must walk in spirit.

Now, how many of you have had spiritual legs to get up and walk somewhere? No. You walk with your physical legs, don't you? But there is a walking in the spirit. And that walking in the spirit, of course, which I'll deal with next week, is walking in conformity to the Word of God. You and I have got to understand some degree what it means to worship God in spirit and in truth. And we've got to understand in order to do that, that God is Spirit.

Worship Must Be Internal, Not Merely External

Since God is Spirit, He desires heartfelt, internal worship, not mere physical acts. Hebrews 12:9 calls God the 'Father of spirits,' requiring inner submission, not just outward conformity.

Plopping yourself down in a chair, shouting or singing as loud as you can, does not necessarily please God. That's all physical. God is not interested in pomp, but rather in purity. God is not interested in sacrifice, but a broken spirit. He's not interested in holy water, but penitent tears. He's not interested in ceremonies, but reality. What did David say in Psalm 51? He said, "Sacrifice and burnt offering thou wouldest not; else would I give it thee. But a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise."

I get so tickled at people.

There are people today who still worship Elvis Presley. You know that, don't you? And I go to their home and they say, "Oh, I want you to listen to Elvis sing this hymn." I don't want to hear Elvis sing that hymn. I'd rather hear someone sing a hymn who had a heart for God but had no voice, than I had here the most beautiful voice in the world who had no heart for God. Do you understand what I'm saying? We put the emphasis on the external. God places it on the internal. So what I'm trying to tell you is this, folks. God says, "Keep thy heart with all diligence." Why? "For out of it are the issues of life." God wants our heartfelt worship. I'm going to be dealing with this when I deal with what is worshipping in spirit, and I think that's coming up next. But let me point out the fact, folks.

It's not the physical aspect. It's not the singing. It's not the shouting. It's not the loud voice. It's not anything physical that satisfies God. It's that which is spiritual, as He is.

Now, I want you to listen carefully what I'm about to tell you next. All right. Oh, this is going to upset some folks. But here we go. Since God is Spirit, He cannot be sensed with our five senses. You cannot taste God. You cannot touch God. You cannot smell God. You cannot hear God, that is, physically. And what's the other one? See, you cannot see God physically. You cannot sense God with your five senses.

Now you say, "Wait a minute, brother, wait a minute. Man, there have been times that I've sensed the presence of God, and boy, I've wept and I've shouted," now hold on now. You know what that is? That is a physical or an emotional response for when we perceive something by faith. Just because you had a physical response or an emotional response does not mean that you felt God. Am I coming through? I can't taste Him. I can't touch Him. I can't feel Him. Why? God is Spirit.

Now, when God moves on my soul, when God moves on my heart, I might laugh. I might cry. But I'm not literally feeling God. I perceive God by faith. In fact, that's what the Bible says. We perceive Him by faith. And whenever we do perceive Him by faith, usually there's an emotional response, or usually there may be even a physical response, but that does not mean that I'm feeling Him with my five senses. It is faith and not feelings.

I've been around people as, "Whoo! I just felt the Lord." No, you didn't feel the Lord. You may have by faith perceived Him, and you may have had an emotional response. You see the difference? God is Spirit. And since God is Spirit, He cannot be perceived with the five senses. We perceive Him by faith, we may have a response emotionally, or we may have a response of that perception physically, but we're not experiencing Him with our five senses. And by the way, when God does speak to us, it is through His Word.

We do not hear Him audibly as such. We hear Him in our souls, in our hearts, in our spirits, in our mind, through His Word. But we're not hearing Him with our ears as such. God is Spirit. That means, which I'm going to deal with next week, since God is Spirit, we must worship Him in spirit. You say, "What is involved in that?" Well, Lord willing, I'll explain next week. But listen to this. The Scripture tells us, "Walk in the Spirit, and not in the flesh." Since God is Spirit, we must walk in spirit.

Now, how many of you have had spiritual legs to get up and walk somewhere? No. You walk with your physical legs, don't you? But there is a walking in the spirit. And that walking in the spirit, of course, which I'll deal with next week, is walking in conformity to the Word of God. You and I have got to understand some degree what it means to worship God in spirit and in truth. And we've got to understand in order to do that, that God is Spirit.

Let me just show you one quick application. Look in Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12. Here's what I'm talking about, and I think every one of you can identify with this. Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews 12. Look at verse 9. "Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?" Now God is here called the Father of Spirits.

Now, how many of you parents have ever had your child or children do something wrong and you whip them? And then that child straightened up. Stopped doing what you did not want him to do. But you could tell that kid was seething on the inside. And just let him get out of your presence, and he's going to start back doing it again. And what did you do? You got the outside straightened up. But you didn't get the inside straightened out.

Now, if we're going to be in subjection to the Father of spirits, what does that mean? We can't just have the external right. We must have the internal right. Everybody's heard the old story about the mother who was driving her car. She kept pulling her daughter down. Her daughter kept standing up in the seat. She kept telling her to sit down. And finally, she reached up and she jerked the daughter down in the seat and she said, "If you stand up again, I'm going to whip you until you can't walk." The little girl sat there for a few moments and said, "Mama, I may be sitting here on my fanny, but I'm standing up on the inside." What was she saying? She's in rebellion. Now, what God is saying is if we understand God is Spirit, there can be no rebellion on the inside. And we must be in submission to Him in our spirits, for He is Spirit. Let's pray. Father, we ask in the name of Jesus Christ today that You help us, build us up in the most holy faith, and Lord, that You grant to us a grasp of the wonderful, gracious truth that Thou art the God who is Spirit, pure, infinite, eternal, immortal, omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent.