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you you you you you you you you you morning everyone welcome to free grace baptist church this morning we'll begin our worship with the reading of psalm 99 psalm 99 psalm 99 the lord reigns let the people tremble he dwells between the cherubim let the earth be moved the lord is great in zion and he is high above all the peoples let them praise your great and awesome name he is holy the king's strength also loves justice you have established equity you have executed justice and righteousness in jacob exalt the lord our god and worship at his footstool he is holy moses and aaron were among his priests and samuel was among those who called upon his name they called upon the lord and he answered them he spoke to them in the cloudy pillar they kept his testimonies and the ordinances he gave them you answer them o lord our god you were to them god who forgives though you took vengeance on their deeds exalt the lord our god and worship at his holy hill for the lord our god is holy amen as you're turning in your hymnals just one brief uh reminder announcement is that um on december 5th i believe that's next lord's day is that we have uh we have uh three baptisms uh noel mack and clemens and and then noah mack and stephanie and clemens will be received into membership next week so just a reminder on that um so now our our first hymn is 230 him number 230 you can stand and sing together [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] well let us go to our god in prayer our father in heaven we have just sung of your holiness we have read of your holiness and lord we are we confess with the psalmist with the hymn writer that you are holy holy holy lord and we give you much praise we give you glory we we praise you for your holiness that you are a god who is infinite infinite in all things that you are that you are other you are not like us you are not like the creature but you are creator and infinite in all your perfections and lord we praise you for that and and lord we are humbled when we think of of that you as as holy as as as sovereign that you would that you would condescend and become imminent with your creation and that you would and that you would create man in your image and that you would and in spite of our our sin lord you yet you yet offer mercy you offer forgiveness you are god who forgives we have read and lord we thank you for that we praise you for the for the gospel of our lord jesus christ we praise you for redemption that that in in him we can have our sins forgiven our sins atoned for and in him we can we can have a righteousness that comes from him a righteousness that he that he earned by keeping your law perfectly by living a sinless life on this earth so that so that eternal life could can be given to us lord and we do thank you for that we praise you lord thanks our thankfulness is is not even a uh it seems so so nothing in compared to what our savior has done for us but yet lord our hearts are humbled and our hearts are are thankful for that and we and we praise you and we lord so we come together this morning to to bless you to worship you to praise you for the great god that you are the god of our salvation and lord i pray that you would be among us this morning as we worship you that you're that you would be that you would be exalted on our praises as we sing our praises to you and and that and that you would be glorified in the preaching of your of your word that and we just pray that your spirit be among us this morning we pray that for your spirit to be on our pastor as he proclaims the word as he preaches to us from your word and lord we just ask that our that you would bless him and and and build him up and and strengthen him and encourage him as he delivers the word to us we pray that you would bless us as hearers that that our hearts would be open to receive the things of god to and that we would that we would learn more about who you are lord we we are commanded in your word to grow in in in our knowledge of god to grow in our in the grace and knowledge of our lord and savior jesus christ and i pray that this morning that it would be a means for our for our growth and that we would leave here with our hearts filled with with a love for for for you and and and and a knowledge of you that is increasing day by day and lord we do not we do not come here just simply for intellectual knowledge the lord but we know we just pray that that you would that this knowledge would would be to your honor and to your glory that our lives would be changed by it and that we would strive to bring honor and glory to your name and all that we do because of knowing who you who you are and and what you have done for us and lord we do pray for for those who among us this morning who do not know you as as a savior who have not come to to faith in christ and lord we just pray that if there are any here among us that today that that would be the day of salvation that your holy spirit would would would revive their dead hearts their you that and it would the light would dawn in their hearts as it were and they would see christ and they would understand the things of of god that the the the the things that are to the carnal mind are are not possible to understand but are but are spiritually discerned lord that you would regenerate hearts and enable them to understand these things and to to trust in the lord jesus as savior as the only way of salvation for your word tells us there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved so lord we do pray that that that your your spirit would be here powerfully lord this morning to regenerate dead hearts and do and that this the angels in heaven would be rejoicing as sinners come are saved as as they repent and are and come to faith in christ lord we do pray for her for the various needs among us in our congregation here and those who those who who worship with us on week on a weekly basis lord we just pray for for all those who are suffering lord you know our needs most perfectly and we are so thankful for that and we we just lift up each each one to you lord we pray for those who are physically suffering those who have who have physical trials we think of the elderly among us we just pray that you would that you would would grant healing we do pray for the for the widows that those who have lost husbands recently we just pray that you would you would strengthen those ladies and that you would that that they would would be encouraged and that they would that they would that you would comfort them and that they would continue to look to you and look to that to the hope of glory that they have awaiting uh waiting in their future to be within the presence of the lamb for eternity and we just pray that lord that we pray that for each one of us that as we all all go through various struggles various various difficulties that our hope would be not set on this temporal world but that our and and our minds not set on this things of this lower world and but yet but but lord that our we would look we would look to the to the to the future look to that the hope that we have as believers the hope of glory and that our hearts will be encouraged by that and and then and as we go through our trials and and that in that we would be able to greatly rejoice and be full with with joy and inexpressible and full of glory so lord we do pray that that you would would grant that lord we know we cannot conjure up these things on our own but yet we we know that we are commanded to set our minds on the things above not on things of on this earth so lord we pray that you would help us with that but we do pray for jonathan hall we just we just thank you for the um the encouraging reports regarding him and we just ask that you would continue to bless him we pray that this treatments would work and that and that he would be healed from this disease we just pray lord and lift him up before you that you would that you would cause this to happen we thank you that you are that you care for each one of us and you care for him and and his family and his his wife and his children and we just thank you we ask that you would would bless him and bless the bless the family and and and strengthen them all as they go through this lord we we also pray for those who are who are experiencing difficulties just regarding the flooding now we think of the the joneses and we just we just asked that you would protect their property if they are in a in a potentially dangerous situation there we just for with potential to flooding we just pray lord that you would that you would protect them and their in their house and their belongings and and and just encourage them and strengthen them lord if there are any others here that that we're not aware of yet we just pray for them and and again lord we just we just pray that you would would always help us to remember that this that this our our belongings in this world are but temporal and and that we do that we do not strive to build our kingdom on this earth but that we and lay up treasures on this earth but that knowing that that they they are all corruptible and and and subject to change and and decay and and destruction and but lord but but to lay up treasure in heaven as jesus said we're neither moth nor rust can corrupt and thieves do not break in and steal but so lord we again we just we just pray that you would encourage each one of us here this morning lord we do pray for our other churches as well we think of the the surrey church we thank you for pastor mike and his faithful proclamation of your word in surrey we just pray for your blessing on him this morning as he preaches we pray for your blessing on the church as a whole that you would that they would be they would be strengthened and they would grow in grace and and and through the through the faithful preaching there we pray your blessing that uh on on the group in vernon as well we just we thank you for that group lord we thank you for for the desire and the commitment to see a a biblically ordered reformed baptist church there so we just pray that in due time this would with this would come to pass lord we do pray for patience and we pray for wisdom and we pray for guidance as your that you would make your your way clear to all of us involved as we as we look to to the future with anticipation of of going to and establishing the church there we just pray your will be done and that that we would that all would be be willing to submit to your will and and that your will be done not ours and lord we just we pray for the church the in dryden as well the group there in ontario we just ask your blessing upon them we thank you that they have a building a public building where they can meet now and we pray that they would grow in number and and not only in number but they would grow in their knowledge of the scriptures and knowledge of the reformed doctrines of grace and and the reformed faith and and lord we just pray that that in due time they would also be able to have a biblically established church there so we thank you for that lord for that group there and for the work going on there lord we do pray for your church as a whole we pray for for that the gospel would be proclaimed around this around the earth today and and that many many sinners would be conquered out of the kingdom of darkness by the power of your gospel and transferred into the kingdom of the son of your love and lord we we do thank you for this truth that we that we find in your word that the the the gospel is the power of god and to salvation and that your your church will will march on conquering and and and conquering many out of the kingdom of darkness and lord that is our only hope in this world as we look around and we see so much destruction and so much chaos and so much wickedness prevailing lord our hope is not in not in man it's not in a political leader of some sort it's not in a in in any sort of of of of person but it is only in you lord that and that you through the through your church proclaiming the gospel would would revive this this this our nation or the the the world lord we need we need christ so badly and we just we and lord we just pray that that you would be glorified that you would be exalted and lord we do we know that you that you are king of kings you are lord of lords that you that you that that the battle is is done and it is and yet it is still playing out we know that that that christ is king and we thank you and we praise you for that great truth that you have revealed to us in your word and our hearts are encouraged by that and our hope is built on that and we just praise you for that lord we do pray for the persecuted church as well we just lift up our brothers and sisters around this world who suffer so much for the cause of for the name of christ and we just pray that you and that you protect them that you that you protect your people or keep them out of the out of the hands of such wicked and abominable men who in persons who had desire to do so much harm to your people and lord we just we just pray that that you would protect your people and that you would strengthen them and that and that as and as they as as they suffer that these these these trials would be a means for their growth for their for the for the testing of their faith and the and the the proofing of their faith and that their faith would be more we become more more of a more more built up more a genuine faith as peter says and and and that ultimately lord that you would be glorified in this we we know that you are glorified in all your works of of providence and as we may not see them may not see it and may not understand it as it is happening yet lord we know that we can trust in your perfect plan so we just pray that that your people all over this world would know that and know that all things really do work together for good for for your people so lord we just we ask now that you would continue to bless us as as we as we worship you we thank you that that we have one day of seven to come in among you among your people in your house on your day your lord's day the christian sabbath you have a day of rest and a day to where we can be where we can feed upon your word and that we can be fed by by the preaching of your word and we just pray that it would that we would be that we would be nourished this morning as we as we hear your word being preached and we pray that you would be glorified and sinners would be saved and your people edified we pray this all in the name of our savior your son the lord jesus amen our next hymn is uh psalm 47 a psalm 47 a you can stand and sing that together please now [Music] is [Music] me [Music] me [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] for our new testament scripture reading we are in the book of first thessalonians reading chapter three this morning first thessalonians chapter three now if you remember from last week in chapter two we saw paul's uh paul's love for the people of thessalonica he had a a great desire for their spiritual growth and their their growth in in the knowledge of of of the things of god ultimately and with his desire the the goal that that to see them in the presence of our lord jesus christ at his coming for you are our glory and joys how he you know he concludes the chapter there and then now in chapter three there's it's it's evident that he's heard of various sufferings and trials that they're going through and and for whatever circumstances he's he's not able to go visit there so he's going to send timothy to them in order for timothy to go and strengthen their faith he's worried that their faith may be shaken as they go through these through these difficulties so timothy is going to uh to go there to remind them that that they that as people of god we're not promised health wealth and prosperity we're actually in fact told that we're going to suffer and just to remind them of that and then to to strengthen their faith by means of of timothy's encouragement and his preaching so let's read first thessalonians chapter 3. therefore when we could no longer endure it we thought it good to be left in athens alone and send timothy our brother and minister of god and our faith and and our fellow laborer in the gospel of christ to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith that no one should be shaken by these afflictions for you yourselves know that we are appointed to this for in fact we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation just as it happened and you know for this reason when i could no longer endure it i sent to know your faith lest by some means the tempter had tempted you and our labor might be in vain but now that timothy has come to us from you and brought us good news of your faith and love and that you always have good remembrance of us greatly desiring to see us as we also to see you therefore brethren in all our affliction and distress we were comforted concerning you by your faith for now we live if you stand fast in the lord for what thanks can we render to god for you for all the joy with which we rejoice for your sake before our god night and day praying exceedingly that we may see your face and and perfect what is lacking in your faith now may our god and father himself and our lord jesus christ direct our way to you and may the lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all just as we do to you so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our god and father at the coming of our lord jesus christ with all his saints amen now let us pray lord we thank you for this book we thank you for your word we thank you that we have the the ins the inspired word of god that we can read and we can we can hear from from you and lord we do thank you for for the apostle paul and we thank you for this encouragement that he gives to to the people in thessalonica and lord we thank you that we can we can have these encouragements for ourselves that that knowing that we will we will suffer and and but as we suffer that this is this is part of the christian life and that and that this is not happening outside of your control and lord we we and we just pray that as as paul's desire was for these for his for the people of thessalonica that that they would be encouraged and that they would be strengthened by this and that their faith would not be shaken or we pray that same thing for us here as we as we all experience our own various difficulties various sufferings that we go through that our faith would not be shaken but rather our faith would be built up and our faith would be encouraged and that we would be looking looking unto jesus and through all things as we as we go through then that we would be we would be that that our hearts would be blameless in holiness as paul says here be before before god and and before our god and father at the coming of our lord jesus christ so lord we just pray that for us and we pray that in the name of our savior amen our final hymn before the preaching is number 381 381 you can stand and sing that together please [Music] our [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] r oh [Music] [Music] john 4 our focus this morning will be verses 16-26 but i'll read verses 1 to 26 just to remind us of jesus dealing with this samaritan woman so i'll begin in verse 1. therefore when the lord knew that the pharisees had heard that jesus made and baptized more disciples than john though jesus himself did not baptize but his disciples he left judea and departed again to galilee but he needed to go through samaria so he came to a city of samaria which is called psychar near the plot of ground that jacob gave to his son joseph now jacob's well was there jesus therefore being wearied from his journey sat thus by the well it was about the sixth hour a woman of samaria came to draw water jesus said to her give me a drink for his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food then the woman of samaria said to him how is it that you being a jew ask a drink from me a samaritan woman for jews have no dealings with samaritans jesus answered and said to her if you knew the gift of god and who it is who says to you give me a drink you would have asked him and he would have given you living water the woman said to him sir you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep where then do you get that living water are you greater than our father jacob who gave us the well and drank from it himself as well as his sons and his livestock jesus answered and said to her whoever drinks of this water will thirst again but whoever drinks of the water that i shall give him will never thirst but the water that i shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life the woman said to him sir give me this water that i may not thirst nor come here to draw jesus said to her go call your husband and come here the woman answered and said i have no husband jesus said to her you have well said i have no husband for you have had five husbands and the one whom you now have is not your husband in that you spoke truly the woman said to him sir i perceive that you are a prophet our fathers worshiped on this mountain and you jews say that in jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship jesus said to her woman believe me the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain nor in jerusalem worship the father you worship what you do not know we know what we worship for salvation is of the jews but the hour is coming and now is when the true worshipers will worship the father in spirit and truth for the father is seeking such to worship him god is spirit and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth the woman said to him i know that messiah is coming who is called christ when he comes he will tell us all things jesus said to her i who speak to you am he amen well let us pray our father in heaven we thank you for your word for this wonderful account of the meeting with the samaritan woman we pray now that the holy spirit would guide our minds and hearts as we consider this glorious passage of holy scripture we ask that he would forgive us for all of our sin and everything that does darken our understanding help us to reflect upon the glory of god in the person and in the work of our lord jesus christ and may it be the case father in heaven that those who are dead in their trespasses and sins would be awakened by your sovereign grace by the power of the holy spirit that he would set forth christ in all of his offices and in all of his ability to save to the uttermost and may you save and may you as well sanctify and strengthen and encourage each of your people here and god bless the proclamation of your truth as it goes forth throughout the world today and we ask this in the name and for the glory of our lord jesus christ amen well last week we considered jesus meeting with the samaritan woman remember that there is first an emphasis on his journey to samaria in verses 1 to 6. then there is this offer of living water in verses 7 to 15 and then the section we're looking at today is the nature of true worship so from verses 16 26 the emphasis becomes the worship of the true and living god remember that this particular woman is in fact a samaritan samaritans were disdained they were looked down upon by the jews and we'll see that as we move through our particular section this morning so as i said the nature of true worship verses 16 to 26 there are four observations that i want to make first the demand by jesus in verses 16 to 18 second the observation made by the woman in verses 19 to 20 third the explanation of the hour by jesus in verses 21 to 24 and then finally the messianic hope expressed by the woman in verses 25 and 26 while the samaritans were despised while they were disdained and while they were polytheistic in some way and syncretistic with reference to their approach to worship they did imbibe or adhere to the law of moses so there were some vestiges of truth in samaritan heritage but nevertheless christ is correcting this particular woman so let's first look at the demand made by jesus remember the context woman if you knew who it was who was talking to you you would ask of him and he would give you living water jesus is offering to her eternal life of course she misses that she says that the the well is deep and you have no bucket so how will you draw from it and jesus clarifies in verse 13 whoever drinks of this water will thirst again whoever drinks of the water that i shall give him will never thirst but the water that i shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life that sounds tantalizing to her again she misses the spiritual emphasis she misses the reality that it's eternal life that's in view but nevertheless and no pun intended her her her appetite is wetted her thirst is wet it notice what she says in verse 15. the woman said to him sir give me this water that i may not thirst nor come here to draw i don't want to have to keep schlepping this bucket to this particular well each and every day so provide for me that which you speak of now notice what jesus demands according to verse 16. jesus is shifting direction jesus wants to show her or demonstrate to her or underscore for her her need for living water in other words jesus is using the law of god to expose this woman's sinfulness so that she will see her need for blood atonement through our lord jesus christ so he says to her go call your husband and come here one commentator says although she does not know or understand jesus he understands and knows her which illustrates chapter 2 and verse 25 where the apostle tells us concerning jesus that he knew what was in man he knew what was in this samaritan woman in fact this becomes the basis for her report when she reports back to the samaritans come and see a man who told me all things that i've ever done so he makes this demand upon her now notice her response in verse 17. the woman answered and said i have no husband of course jesus knowing what is in man jesus knowing this particular woman according to his divinity he knows every jot and tittle of her life because he is lord over all notice what he says you have well said i have no husband for you have had five husbands and the one whom you now have is not your husband in that you spoke truly now on the surface surface it seems pretty clear what the problem is it is some sort of sexual sin but with reference to the particulars we need to understand the woman is not a prostitute john piper is absolutely wrong when he refers to her as a when he makes the connection to a life of harlotry with this particular woman the best we can say is that she has some sort of a checkered marital history the old testament provided provided for divorce deuteronomy chapter 24 verses 1 to 4. now at the time of jesus and even preceding jesus a bit there were two significant rabbis in israel that interpreted deuteronomy chapter 24. there was one by the name of hillel and hillel was very liberal when it came came to the grounds for divorce the other was a conservative rabbi and his name was shamai and he was much more conservative conservative and he said that the only reason the only lawful reason to pursue or sue out for divorce was because of unchastity so as we look at the text again it is clear that there's something wrong because jesus is indicting her for her sinfulness but in terms of the specifics we don't know he says for you have had five husbands and the one whom you now have is not your husband in that you spoke truly now the commentators are divided john calvin blames her calvin says being a fro-word and disobedient wife she constrained her husbands to divorce her that's certainly one way to look at the text others are more sympathetic to her particular plight and say that she was the victim of an abusive situation where certificates of divorce were passed out willy-nilly and so she had gone through five husbands but we could also interpret the text as if in this manner she had five husbands who all died but the point is clear that what is underscored by our lord is some sort of infidelity some sort of unchastity some sort of sexual sin notice the use of language in verse 18. for you have had five husbands and the one whom you now have that's what tips us off to see that whatever her background is her present situation is a violation of the law of god it's not accidental that he uses the same language for you have had five husbands and the one whom you now have in a husbandly sort of way is not your husband so this is the issue with this particular woman again whatever the background we can suggest that it was checkered but with reference to her current situation with her present relationship the lord brings that to bear upon her as something being sinful and again he's using the law lawfully to underscore to her her need for this living water that jesus brings to sinners now notice the observation made by the woman again john piper is crucially wrong at this point he says if jesus wants to teach about worship he uses a that's not what's happening in this instance some suggest that her recognition of his prophetic ministry which is grounded not only in what he knows about her intimately but as well in the expectation from the uh the book of deuteronomy chapter 18 verses 15 to 88 there would be a prophet like moses who would come and who would bring redemption to israel he would be the messiah but then notice with reference to her question in verse 20 our fathers worshiped on this mountain and you jews say that in jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship so piper suggests that this woman having been found out in her sin now tries to change the subject she's sort of like that fox whose leg is in the trap and so he chews off the leg in order to be untrapped that's not what's happening she perceives him to be a prophet who better to ask your question concerning religion with reference to the disparity between the samaritans and the jews than this particular prophet i don't think she's trying to change the subject i think she's capitalizing on providence and using the opportunity to ask our lord notice that when she makes this statement concerning the difference in worship between samaritans and jews jesus doesn't say wait a minute lady you're trying to evade the clear teaching i brought you under conviction of sin i want you to stay right there no jesus is more than happy to pursue that line of theological discourse so notice the woman recognizes the fact that he is a prophet and then she makes this observation concerning worship verse 20 our fathers worshipped on this mountain this doesn't mean they were on the mountain of gerizim it means they were in the presence of mount gerazzi and you jews say that in jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship she's not ignorant she's not foolish she's missing the illusion metaphorically to the living water which is eternal life but she knows something of her own background she knows something of her own theological history i mentioned last time that second kings chapter 17 shows us how samaria got so messed up at the time of the northern captivity at the time when the northern tribes were led into exile by assyria the assyrians put other people in samaria and those assyrians that were replaced or other peoples rather that were placed into that region of samaria started to worship their gods they started to engage in their idolatry and so yahweh of israel sends lions in terms of judgment and so they then cry out to a priest from bethel to help them and so what ends up happening is that they marry their gods along with yahweh as a methodology to keep from getting eaten by lions so that sowed the seeds of abomination and apostasy and idolatry in samaria now later on they do adopt they do build a temple a rival temple to what you have in jerusalem at mount gerizim now in terms of the jews prior to the to to to deuteronomy chapter 12 or rather the consolidation of jerusalem as the religious capital the jews were worshiping in various places but by the time of deuteronomy chapter 12 god demands a central sanctuary i mentioned this on wednesday night he didn't want the israelites to just engage in worship whenever they had a hankering for it no there had to be a central sanctuary such that they would maintain orthodoxy and fidelity to israel's god so as we move on in redemptive history it's jerusalem that becomes the place where the temple is to be built and so they had biblical warrant again deuteronomy 12 emphasizes that they were to gather there they were to meet there they were to worship there to protect them theologically from the ravages of the idolaters that they lived around or rather lived around them notice what this woman does our fathers worshiped on this mountain you do say that in jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship now jesus gives this explanation so in verses 21 to 24 the explanation of the hour by jesus two things we're going to spend our time on here first is old covenant worship of god in verses 21 and 22 and then secondly new covenant worship of god in verses 23 and 24. notice in the first place the lord's command of the woman verse 21 woman believe me now it's easy for us to gloss over those two words woman or three words woman believe me he is not just saying believe me with reference to my teaching now on orthodox worship if we understand the gospel of john rightly those two words should come to us powerfully believe me is what christ is saying the one who proffers everlasting life the one who has the living water the one who teaches concerning the true nature of biblical worship we need to believe him he is the prophet spoken of by moses in deuteronomy 18. he is the one set apart by yahweh to function as messiah in israel we are to believe him if you're not a believer here this morning listen to him he says believe me john ends his gospel on that crescendo in john 20 at verses 30 and 31 he says jesus did many other things but these things are written so that you might believe that jesus is the son of the living god and that believing in his name you might have everlasting life so when he says believe me here it's not just woman i want to set you straight in terms of biblical worship no he says believe me as the giver the bringer the offerer the one who provides the living water unto everlasting life now notice the lord explains to the woman the nature of true worship in the first place he refers to the hour that is coming notice in verse 21 woman believe me the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain nor in jerusalem worship the father now as we go through john's gospel there are several emphasis or several references rather to the hour and oftentimes it's connected to the death of jesus so we look at his life death resurrection as the hour in terms of transition from old covenant to new covenant i don't think that's a stretch and i hope to underscore that as we move through this bit of teaching calvin makes this observation notice that jesus refers to the worship of the father more on that later but notice what calvin says by calling god father he seems indirectly to contrast him with the fathers whom the woman had mentioned and to convey this instruction that god will be a common father to all so that he will be generally worshiped without distinction of places or nations not father of all in terms of all men without exception but a father of all in terms of all men without distinction jews gentiles samaritans the hour is coming woman when god most high is going to fulfill all of the promises made to the through the prophets those promises find their yay and amen in the very men that this woman is speaking to at the well notice the ignorance notice that he points out the ignorance of the the samaritans with reference to worship verse 22 he says you worship what you do not know again calvin last time but i think he's good here he says this is a sentence worthy of being remembered and teaches us that we not ought not to attempt anything in religion rashly or at random because unless there be knowledge it is not god that we worship but a phantom or an idol so notice jesus is underscoring that the samaritans are wrong jesus would be walked out of any tenured professor's professorship today in any university or you can't tell somebody that they're wrong but if they are wrong it doesn't matter you get to be wrong in america you get to be wrong in canada and not only is it a bad thing we're going to give you a raise and promotions and we're going to let you write books and sell you know multitudes of that jesus tells this woman you worship what you do not know you're faulty you're ignorant you've come up short he's not lambasting the particular woman he's highlighting something though about her religious pedigree she's off she's ignorant she's not on board again brethren there seems to be an unwillingness in the christian pulpit today to ever denounce false religion well our truck then is not with jesus because he had no problem denouncing false religion in matthew's gospel in matthew 23 how does he treat the pharisees and the scribes does he say oh you just have a difference of opinion and it's okay because all religions go to heaven now he says woe to you scribes and pharisees hypocrites he calls them a brood of vipers the apostle paul speaks of hymenaeus and philip philitus who had caused the shipwreck of the faith of those who adhered to their teaching paul condemned such things he says in second timothy chapter four alexander the coppersmith did me much hard harm may the lord repay him i don't think that alexander the coppersmith shorted paul in some sort of a business transaction alexander the coppersmith opposed paul and his gospel and the apostle says may the lord repay him there is this unwillingness under the guise this pseudo-tolerance that is in play today where the christian pulpit is silent on the enemies of the cross that cannot hold brethren that cannot cannot obtain i remember being younger and hearing of a man who said you know i spent the whole life and time and ministry that i was engaged in telling people my people what they should believe but i never told them what they shouldn't believe i think that's imperative on us today now that doesn't mean we denounce everybody from dan to beersheba in every single sermon but if we're not willing to sit step up with jesus and say what you are you worship what you do not know but then notice what he goes on to say he underscores the orthodoxy of the jews verse 22 you worship what you do not know we know what we worship for salvation is of the jews so the samaritans are wrong and the jews are right in terms of old covenant religion everybody get that we're going somewhere you need to pay attention because this is most important i think every sermon ever preached is most important and this is one of them notice what the lord says you worship what you do not know we know what we worship for salvation is of or salvation is from the jews how is it of how is it from the jews well in the first place the messiah was promised to have come from israel the old testament tells us that from the line of david god would raise one up as a messiah to send to israel not only for the redemption of the lost tribes of jacob but also as a light unto the gentiles but as well the truth was given to israel the samaritans received the old uh the law they received the uh the five books of moses but they rejected the prophets and the prophets simply expound and amplify it and explain more in detail what the old testament law stipulated what it promised what it afforded what it said concerning yahweh so jesus can say we know what we worship for salvation is of the jews psalm 76 1 in judah god is known his name is great in israel isaiah 2 3 prophesying of the messianic age many people shall come and say come and let us go up to the mountain of the lord to the house of the god of jacob he will teach us his ways and we shall walk in his paths for out of zion shall go forth the law and the word of the lord from jerusalem see if jesus says you're wrong but he affords no basis or there's no corroboration for that that's not good we can't just tell people you're messed up you're all wrong you don't know what you're doing we better be able to pony up and we better be able to explain why it is they're wrong and why it is that we're right romans 3 the apostle asks the question what advantage then has the jew or what is the prophet of circumcision much in every way chiefly because to them we're committed the oracles of god see why jesus can condemn samaritan worship and why jesus can affirm jewish worship old covenant israel worship romans 9 1-5 the apostle says i tell the truth in christ i am not lying my conscience also bearing me witness in the holy spirit that i have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart for i could wish that i myself were accursed from christ for my brethren my countrymen according to the flesh who are israelites to whom pertain the adoption the glory the covenants the giving of the law the service of god and the promises of whom are the fathers and from whom according to the flesh christ came who is over all the eternally blessed god amen that's why jesus can say you worship what you don't know we worship what we do know because salvation is of or salvation comes from the jews in terms of the messiah of israel and in terms of the truth communicated by yahweh to israel which we call the old testament scriptures now notice he moves on to the new covenant worship of god so look at verse 21 woman believe me the hour is coming and here in verse 23 but the hour is coming and now is there's been a shift there's been i i don't like shift i don't like replacement i like realization and fulfillment christ comes to do what was prophesied in the old testament so when he refers to the hour now is he is specifying the new covenant this shouldn't surprise us if we've paid attention to john's gospel up until this point what does john say in the prologue at 117 for the law was given through moses but grace and truth came through our lord jesus christ again he's not condemning moses he's not saying moses bad old covenant bad but in the old covenant it was always prophesied that there would be a new covenant when jesus makes that water into wine we made the observation this shows the superiority of the new covenant over the old when jesus condemns the the worship of old covenant israel that that had bastardized worship in their approach to god in john 2 jesus says destroy this temple and in three days i will raise it up again we have realization fulfillment what solomon's temple stood for what herod's temple stood for pointed to the lord jesus christ and now that he's come those things are no longer to be imbibed but also when he speaks to nicodemus certainly there were old covenant believers that were regenerate certainly there were old covenant believers that had their hearts changed but that wasn't an essential feature of old covenant religion like it is in the new covenant and when it comes to the serpent the serpent type in numbers chapter 21 the anti-type is the lord jesus he doesn't simply heal you from a snake bite he heals you from sin he heals you from damnation he heals you from captivation to the devil you have the testimony of john the baptist he must increase but i must decrease i think this is what jesus is pointing to in verse 23 the hour is coming and now is not only will the the jews be participants but so will samaritans so will gentiles so will the uttermost parts of the earth jesus is preaching new covenant blessing to this woman now notice that jesus preaches new covenant worship to this woman as well it's been said that if you're a hammer everything looks like a nail i'm going to propose to you that we understand verses 23 and 24 as a reference to our triune god now i have been studying the trinity for a few years i really find it very enjoyable and very edifying and very encouraging so there might be those that say well he's a hammer and there's a nail and he's going to beat the trinity into this particular passage i hope to show you that when jesus refers to the father and the spirit and the truth he is referring to the father the son and the spirit he's referring to the approach of the new covenant believers to our blessed and triune god now notice the old covenant worship service was until the time of reformation there is a distinction between old covenant worship and new covenant worship you'll notice we don't have sacrifices you'll notice that we don't have incense you'll notice that i don't have robes you'll notice that i don't have a hat you'll notice that i don't have all those things that were mandated in old covenant worship our puritan and reformed heritage explains this well the jews were more carnal and by carnal don't understand necessarily sinful but they needed more connection to the physical around them hence temple worship was well suited for them but the time of reformation has come not the 16th century reformation but that's spoken of by the apostle in hebrews chapter 9. when jesus comes that carnal worship gives way to a lot more simple worship reformed worship is simple for a reason because we don't have all those things that we need to invoke in order to walk we walk by faith and not by sight so there's no doubt a contrast between those things in terms of old covenant carnal worship versus this new covenant more spiritual worship situation but notice what he says in verse 23 but the hour is coming and now is when the true worshipers will worship the father in spirit and truth for the father is seeking such to worship him god is spirit and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth now here's how i suggest we understand this particular passage notice the specific reference of worship directed to the father the specific object of worship directed to the father in verses 21 and 23 not that the not that god was never called father in the old testament but not as profusely as he is in the new testament and typically in redemptive or covenantal context and again we're not talking about a plethora we're talking about six passages where god or yahweh reveals himself as father to the nation of israel so she doesn't really have that framework in terms of our own religious pedigree as well notice the emphasis on the worship of the father in spirit and truth now if we capitalize the s there and we capitalize the t there it would be more obvious the spirit is obviously in my mind the holy spirit and jesus is truth john 14 6 i am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the father except through me now the typical reading of this text goes this way the uh uh verse 23 the hour is coming and now is when the true worshipers will worship the father in spirit and truth spirit reflects the heart disposition necessary and truth reflects the head disposition necessary so what jesus is saying to this this samaritan woman is that you need to have both heart and head as you approach the father well brethren in the old covenant the true worshiper had to have the heart and the head as well that's not new christ is showing the contours of redemptive history the super superiority of the new covenant and he is underscoring spirit and truth not head and heart as well that dichotomy between head and heart comes from us it doesn't come from the bible the bible speaks of head and heart synonymously the bible uses those categories interchangeably it's not the case that we can sort of come to church and our our mind is here but our hearts are far no that just means you're messed up and you need to repent we want to sort of blame something in our psyche no just blame you you don't have to have some dichotomy that affords you the opportunity to be lazy with some sort of an excuse no it's always been the case that the true worshiper of god comes with both heart and head now with reference to the triune god of the bible he is the only true and living god he's the same god in the old testament but in this new covenant setting we're getting more light shown upon him and his glory and his majesty and his excellence so when jesus says that the true worshipers come to the father he means they do throw do so in the mediation of the son in the power of the holy spirit and if we've read john effectively up until this point john's already told us that jesus is god john's prologue chapter 1 verses 1 to 18. he's told us the holy spirit is god because in chapter 1 at verse 12 he says that those who receive jesus are born of god and in john 3 8 we read that it's the spirit of god that is the one appropriated in terms of the new birth so this is a reading that we should come to expect at this particular juncture notice over in john chapter 5 what jesus is going to say at the end of ver in verse 23 that all should honor the son just as they honor the father he who does not honor the son does not honor the father who sent him and then look at john 6 at verse 27 do not labor for the food which perishes but for the food which endures to everlasting life which the son of man will give you because notice god the father has set his seal on him yes because there's god the son god the spirit not three gods but in this divine and infinite being there are three persons or three subsistences so what's one of john's point throughout his gospel narrative it's not only to shine the light upon the economy of salvation but it's to shine the light upon the god of our salvation so you've got to consider this that jesus uses the opportunity with this samaritan woman a person twice no three times disenfranchised she's a woman she's a samaritan and she's got some sort of a checkered situation in terms of her own sexual ethics and jesus comes to her not only to offer to her this living water but to teach her about the triune god we come to the father through the son in the spirit and this reflects what we have in new covenant worship ephesians chapter 2 you can turn there you the apostle paul shows us that this is what christian worship looks like in this new covenant setting for those who are blood-bought and those who have the spirit notice in ephesians 2 at verse 18 for through him christ we both have access to gentile by one spirit to the father that's christian worship so i think at times we don't understand that we come to church and we we know it's a religious exercise and we sing a few hymns we listen to us and pray and we we participate uh participate and pray and then we have some sermon and then we just kind of go our way we're coming to the father through the sun in and through the power of the holy spirit today in other words it's a sublime and blessed reality of the christian faith notice what paul goes on in with verse 19. now therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners again he's writing to gentiles but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of god having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets jesus christ himself being the chief cornerstone in whom the whole building being fitted together grows into a holy temple in the lord in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of god in the spirit brethren this isn't isolated to one or two places in the new testament but rather it is scattered throughout the new testament so going back to john's gospel john chapter 4 whether the woman would have understood all of this in the same way or not she would have went once the light went on but the reference to the father in verse 21 the reference to coming to the father in spirit and truth in verse 23 shouldn't shock john's readers no one has seen god at any time john 1 18 but the only begotten son who is in the bosom of what the father has declared him john 3 16 for god so loved the world that he gave what his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life so now when jesus embarks on these categories when he's discussing biblical worship or true worship with this samaritan woman you're supposed to follow along you're supposed to get it you're supposed to understand yeah the samaritans were wrong the jews were right in so far as it goes but christianity is the highest expression of the worship of our blessed and triune god most high that's jesus point with this samaritan woman at jacob's well gregory of nazionsen not on this passage but in general he says this then and parents listen to this this then is my position with regard to these things and i hate i hope it may be always my position and that of whosoever is dear to me not just parents all of us have some sort of connection familially or uh friend wise listen what he says i hope it's always my position and i hope it's always the position of everybody that i know and love and hold there to worship god the father god the son and god the holy holy ghost three persons one godhead undivided in honor and glory and substance and kingdom i don't know about you brethren but as we proceed in the 21st century with increased opposition not just in myanmar but in north america as well if it comes to the day when they outlaw jesus christ may god raise up outlaws for jesus christ those who confess those who profess and those who will live and die for this triune god father son and holy spirit the lord christ is telling this woman something that the church needs to grab hold of our god is triune the church not just as individuals but collectively or corporately comes to the father through the mediation of the son in the power of the holy spirit and john the apostle wants you to understand not only the gift that has been given to you but he wants you to know the giver who has given that gift to you he not only wants you to receive that full and abundant free grace and salvation but he wants you to look beyond that to the god who's granted it to the father who chose us in him before the foundation of the world to the son in whom we have redemption through his blood and to the spirit by which we are sealed and guaranteed unto a unto our final inheritance this is how paul proceeds in ephesians 1. it is praise to the triune god blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing he then rehearses the the father's role in election and predestination the son's role and blood atonement and the spirit's role and applying that accomplished redemption by the savior in other words brethren we are trinitarian through and through our god the living and true god is father son and holy spirit back to our text notice what jesus says to this woman verse 23 but the hour is coming and now is when the true worshipers will worship the father in spirit and truth and to notice for the father is seeking such to worship him see there are theological traditions that have a problem at least practically with this passage they don't teach or preach that god is actually seeking worshipers if a few happen to stumble into the camp that's okay he'll accept them but in terms of an active program an active mission of propagation an active collection of sinners because we're not devoid of john chapters one to three it's not the case that there's actually pure people out there seeking god in this fashion right god seeks such so what does god do god by his grace creates such he does so according to jesus in john 3 v via the new birth he causes sinners to be born again and when they're born again the reflex action is that they look to the enthroned christ not enthroned on his throne but on the cross for god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that in the context of just as moses lifted the serpent in the wilderness so must the son of man be lifted up so god is seeking such to worship him and that there is none that are such god undertakes salvation is of the lord and if you want a good clear description of what those wretches look like prior to the new birth prior to their faith in jesus that's john 3 19 to 21. so we don't interpret john 4 verse 23 as if you know all we got to do is go out there and canvas the neighborhood and find those people that really want to worship god the father through the mediation of the son in the power of the holy spirit once we find them we welcome them to the christian church that's not what it means in terms of god seeking but the fact that god is seeking and thus god is making through the preaching of the gospel through the granting of the graces of faith and repentance through the new birth the fact that god is doing that gives the church today great impetus to go out on his behalf and to proclaim the gospel in other words what is the reason for which the world has been created god's glory for of him and through him and to him are all things to whom be glory forever amen he's glorified in creation he's glorified in providence he's glorified in redemption as well and so for us as the people of god who know their triune god it is incumbent upon us to go there for and to preach this truth that the lord jesus expresses in this passage so the father is seeking such to worship him and this idea of a seeking god shouldn't surprise anyone should it i mean it does unfortunately surprise some but it shouldn't surprise anybody who has an inkling of familiarity with the holy scripture what happens after adam and eve sin they run and they hide they hide amongst the trees that god had made they hide their their private parts with with leaves god finds them god covenants with them god promises messiah to them god kills animals and clothes them with the skin god then responding not the way that we respond i speak in the manner of men but responding to the tower at babel in chapter 11 of genesis makes this covenant with abraham in genesis chapter 12. you see we serve a seeking god jesus makes this same observation with zacchaeus remember that we little man who wanted to get a glimpse of jesus but he was too short for as the the book by lindell says he was too little so he shimmies up into that sycamore tree and he gets a vision of the messiah and jesus stops at the base of the tree and jesus says come down i must eat at your house today. so zacchaeus comes down the tree that's a good lesson for all other would-be zacchaei when jesus commands obey when jesus says come down the tree come down the tree when jesus says believe me believe him when jesus says if you knew who it was who is speaking to you you would have asked him and he would have given you living water listen to him obey him understand him but one zakiyah shimmies down that tree what's the response of the fellows they're upset that's typical isn't it man gets upset at the display of god's grace zacchaeus was rich zacchaeus was a bad man zacchaeus was a tax collector zacchaeus was a horrible specimen of a human being what does jesus say to all of the detractors there he says that the son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost in the calling of matthew in matthew chapter nine the pharisees are all all up at arms because jesus is hanging out with the sinners and the tax collectors what's he saying i didn't come to call the righteous but i came to call the sinners to repentance so that is what we find in this passage god is a seeking god and then jesus summarizes with verse 24 god is spirit notice not the father father is the object of worship according to verses 21-23 now he moves to god and he says god is spirit and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth in this divine and infinite being there are three substances spirit is singular essence is singular substance is singular the simple essence of god most high and yet three subsistences or persons father word or son and the spirit christ says god is spirit and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth notice the mustness there this isn't open for your interpretation well you know i i kind of like the gods of the the the the hittites i kind of like no there's one true and living god and guess what that one true and living god specifies demands dictates and commands how we're supposed to approach him i know it seems odd that a universally glorious wonderful unparalleled sovereign bank wouldn't consult us on how to worship him but that's how it goes he calls us to be obedient he calls us to come to him through the sun in the spirit he calls us to exercise that privileged access we have in a distinctly and robustly trinitarian way our worship is of the true and living god god is spirit and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth now notice finally and quickly the messianic hope expressed by the woman verse 25 the woman said to him i know that messiah is coming say well pastor butler you said she only believed the first five books of moses she rejected the prophets there's enough in the first five books of moses the firs the five books of moses to promise messiah genesis chapter three although the language of messiah is not present the concept of messiah is present the whole topology of genesis chapter 22 when abraham takes isaac up to mount moriah take the son the son that you love your only son and offer him up as a sacrifice isaac is bright enough to realize we've got the wood we've got the fire we got everything but the sacrifice what's abraham say he says the lord will provide when the angel stays abraham's hand what do they see they find a a ram in the thicket and that suffers under the knife instead of isaac you have the promise of the prophet in deuteronomy chapter 18 verses 15 to 18. that woman had a messianic expectation now think about the irony think about the irony is speaking to the messiah about the messiah himself she says it in this way the woman said to him i know that messiah is coming the next phrase who is called christ that's not her she's not interpreting for jesus that's john interpreting for us when he comes he will tell us all things that's her expectation that's her hope that's her understanding in terms of her approach to the five books of moses there is a man that will come that will explain all things how does jesus respond i who speak to you am he i who speak to you am he there's a fellow that pretends to be a christian preacher notice i didn't say pretends to be a christian i don't know the man's heart i cannot judge the inward being but he pretends to be a christian preacher or teacher who claims that jesus never claimed to be the messiah when he was in his earthly ministry yeah he does right here abs absolutely positively but it's intriguing that the language jesus employs here you've probably heard the name of god as yahweh yahweh refers to exodus chapter 3 and verse 14. god reveals himself from the bush as yahweh i am who i am you see this emphasis in the prophet isaiah in instances where he underscores the god of israel with reference to this i am guess who else does that in the gospel of john he does it matthew as well but he does it profusely in john's gospel he uses the same language if you're using the new king james notice that the he is in italics that means it's supplied by the translators jesus literally says to this woman i am again did she understand the full significance of this she should have she on she had the book of exodus but we'll give her a break for just a moment but in terms of that emphasis throughout john's gospel it comes up over and over again look at john 6 and verse 20. some commentators don't like this one being invoked but jesus is walking on water so i think it's fair notice in john 6 20 but he said to them it is i literally i am do not be afraid look at john 8. and if you're not a believer here this morning i i would imagine that's uncomfortable whenever you hear me say that oh he's picking on us again i wasn't always a believer i didn't seek god i wasn't hey lord take me here i am no that's not it god who seeks worshipers who worship him in spirit and truth by grace makes them by grace produces them but the point of this little statement if you're not a believer here this morning feel the weight of verse 24 in john 8. he says therefore i said to you that you will die in your sins for if you do not believe that i am you will die in your sins christ says to reject him as the bible sets him forth is to choose damnation it is to choose hell notice he repeats this in verse 28 then jesus said to them when you lift up the son of man then you will know that what is it i am when you lift him up what in crucifixion because the crucifixion leads to the resurrection which is the vindication of jesus christ the son of god by the power of the holy spirit and then notice in john 8 at verse 52 i'm sorry verse 58 jesus said to them most assuredly i say to you before abraham was i am notice the response then they took up stones to throw at him but jesus hid himself and went out of the temple going through the midst of them and so passed by now as bad as the religious leaders in the first century were they didn't typically just stone somebody who had a different opinion religiously they did however stone somebody who claimed to be i am who claimed to be god most high and then one other intriguing passage is that the arrest of our lord jesus notice in chapter 18 at verse 4 jesus therefore knowing all things that would come upon him went forward and said to them whom are you seeking they answered him jesus of nazareth jesus said to them i am and judas who betrayed him also stood with them now when he had said or when he said to them i am they drew back and notice fell to the ground did they have all the understanding no but they were in the presence of god most high and persons in the presence of god most high don't put their arms around his shoulder and treat him like a fellow or an equal they fall down as dead man before him in his holiness and in his glory and in his blazing majesty so christ answers this woman in the affirmative and he uses the language of divinity i who speak to you am i am now in conclusion we'll end quickly first let's not forget the provision of living water we didn't spend much time on the first half of this section this time around but that's the context the provision of living water remember verse 4 tells us that jesus had to pass through samaria that's true according to his humanity you don't get from judea to galilee without going through samaria but he had to go through samaria according to his divinity there was divine necessity he had to meet this woman he had to speak to this woman he had to direct this woman unto the father through the son by the power of the holy spirit he had to do this why because he's a seeking god the son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost the provision of living water is a real offer it is a real blessing it is a real promise of god most high it's not empty it's not hollow it's not fake it's not some sort of a play on the part of deity to try and mock his creatures no if you would have known him who speaks to you you would have asked him and he would have given you this living water you see how easy that is this is why we talk about the simplicity of the gospel it wasn't simple for jesus the lord jesus was a man of sorrows and he was acquainted with grief the lord jesus obeyed the law of god perfectly the lord jesus went to the to the cross he suffered shame and curse and judgment and punishment all of that for us men and for our salvation but in terms of us what is it take the living water that you've been offered take the living water that you've been offered receive the gift that god provides to needy sinners why will you tarry why will you wait why will you reject why will you say oh no i don't want the living water i much prefer hell and damnation and satan and sin give me all the bad things that you could possibly come up with god give that to me the fact that you're in a christian church this morning underscores in my mind at least some semblance of an appreciation of who jesus christ is and if jesus christ is the offerer of living water and if jesus christ says to persons believe me then may i say believe him look to him in faith look to him and according to john 3 14 to 16 that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life as well with reference to worship the true worship of the living god the lord christ specifies it's triune i don't think it's a stretch to say that jesus is teaching this woman what our confession of faith puts in chapter two in paragraph three in this divine and infinite being there are three subsistences the father the word or son and holy spirit of one substance power and eternity each having the whole divine essence yet the essence undivided again it's not spelled out that way and the technical jargon but where do you think the divines got it they got it from encounters like this they got it from teaching like this they got it from asking the bible what does the bible say about the true and living god the bible says this true and living god is one divine essence and in this one divine and infinite essence there is three subsistences there are three subsistences the father the son and the holy spirit that's what they calculate or articulate in the confession but it rightly reflects what our lord jesus says to this samaritan woman who had a huge sin issue and ultimately comes now to the water of everlasting life god most high is seeking god most high is glorious god most high has sent the son of his love believe in him and you shall be saved well let us pray our father in heaven we thank you but the hour has come the life and the death and the resurrection of our lord jesus christ has has occurred and we know that brings the superior new covenant and this isn't just conjecture the apostle says it in hebrews 7. it's a new covenant built on better promises that affords a better hope and is in fact a better covenant because jesus is the surety of this covenant god we pray for the blessing of the holy spirit upon the preaching of the word of god today that wherever sinners hear of christ they by grace would believe on him and would have everlasting life do that for your glory do that to magnify your power and display your sovereignty do that in our own midst so that we would respond with praise and worship and adoration and gratitude to our great god who has brought salvation to people lord we thank you for this opportunity to gather together we thank you for the great privilege that is ours of worshiping the true and the living god and we pray in the name of the lord jesus christ amen well let's close by saying a doxology of praise to that god on page 568. [Music] oh oh [Music] [Music] is [Music] the grace of the lord jesus christ and the love of god and the communion of the holy spirit be with you all amen father in heaven we thank you for your word we thank you for this day for the house of worship for the church of christ we thank you for the people of god and we pray that you would bless this day and cause us to reflect upon your goodness and your kindness and may we enjoy the sweet fellowship of the saints and may you be glorified and we ask this through jesus christ our lord amen we may be seated for a brief time of meditation you