John iv. 24. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
BRETHREN, you are all upon the brink of eter- nity. You are all sinners. As sinners, you stand in need of mercy at the hands of God : and God is willing to bestow mercy upon every one of you, without exception. But he must be inquired of, in order that he may do this for you : and he must be inquired of, not in a cold and formal manner, but in sincerity of
heart ; for " He is a Spirit ; and all who worship him, must," as my text informs you, " worship him in spirit and in truth."
Let this declaration sink down into your ears; and let it operate strongly on your minds, whilst we con- template it ;
I. As an answer to a particular inquiry —
Our Lord was conversing with a woman of Samaria, and had shewn to her that he was perfectly acquainted with all the evils she had committed in her former life, and with those in the indulgence of which she was still living. She, not wishing to hear any thing further upon a subject so painful to her mind, sought to turn the conversation into another channel ; and for that purpose inquired what his sentiments were on a point that was at issue between the Jews and the Samaritans, namely, whether God was to be worshipped at Jerusalem, or at Mount Gerizim in Samaria? Our Lord, in reply to her question, tells her, that the time was now come, when the Father was no longer to be worshipped in any one place more than another ; but that in every place under heaven, those, and those only, should have access to him, who " worshipped him in spirit and in truth."
This directly met the inquiry which had been made —
[Till that time " bodily exercise" had certainly prevailed in the services of God's people, whose access to him was chiefly in the use of prescribed forms, which were shadowy and typical, and were confined to one city, and to one particular building in that city. The directions which God had given in relation to this matter, even before his people came into possession of the promised land, were very specific : " Unto the place which the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither shalt thou come ; and thither ye shall bring your burnt- offerings, &c. &c. and there ye shall eat before the Lord your Goda." At the time when the temple of Solomon was con- secrated, the people were instructed, that, if they should go out to battle, or be carried captives to a foreign land, they must turn towards that place, when they made their supplications
a Deut. xii. 5 — 7.