A New Location for True Worship

 Jesus replied, “Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. ²² You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews. ²³ But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. ²⁴ For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”  John 4:21-24 NLT


Here in John 4 we see comparisons of places of worship.  The scene is Jacobs well.  It is the place where Jacob met Rachel and was considered a holy place.  Sacred wells were common place in ancient Mediterranean, and Jewish tradition reports various miracles performed at Jacobs well. 1

This well is also in view of Mount Gerizim.  Mount Gerizim was a holy place for Samaritans.  Jesus also addresses the temple in Jerusalem.  True worshipers won't need to go to Jerusalem or Mount Gerazim.  True worshipers will need to worship in Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is the key to true worship not a physical location.

Sources
1 The Spirit in the Gospel and Acts, Craig Keener p 153,154

7:38

rivers of living water

Genesis 2:10, John 4:14, Rev 22:1,2

The rivers shall flow from him (the man that believes). So it is God's nature to pour out.

The rivers are a natural correlation to a supernatural one. The rivers represent the Holy Spirit. It is Gods nature to pour out his Holy Spirit upon people and then for them to pour it out to others.

A principle: Give and it shall be given unto you. Translation from this verse: allow the Holy Spirit to pour out of you in giving and then the Holy Spirit will be poured back into to you to give. So you could say outflow is the secret of inflow. If you go a step further you could say belief is the initiator of inflow. Belief in what Jesus says leads our to giving out according to the commandments or the word, then in turn leads to more inflow.

You can see the fruit of this pouring out in the life it gives. This water is living water. It is a life giving substance. It is the life of God, of Christ be poured forth. The Holy Spirits pouring out on a body of believers or through an individual believer is seen in the vitality of that body or believers. the proof of this truth is not in a rational. It is not something arguable. Vitality is not something you convince somebody of. It is seen in the life that is there. So the effect of truth is life. These two go hand in hand. You can not have one without the other.

These thoughts were generated by reading of :
Rivers of Living Water: The Works of T. Austin Sparks