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THE K I NG ’S BUS I NES S teacher. The woman sees a prophet. To th e man Jesus tells w h at he must be. Of the woman Jesus asks a favor. The man is convicted by tru th , the woman by grace. In th e case of the man it is w hat th e Son does and is about doctrine. W ith the woman it is w h at th e F a th e r does and is all about Himself. The man has ligh t to judge and believes for life. The woman has th e sp irit to worship and d rink s for satisfaction. Nicodemus saw only a man. The woman recognized th e Mes siah. Nicodemus had faith in miracles. The woman believed H is word. The man waited th re e and one-half years before coming and th en received a dead Saviour. John 19:39. The woman came a t once and accepted th e living person. The end of all Gospel m inistry is to exalt the Lord Jesus Christ. Sinners are saved and saints are edified when th is is done. The first four words in th e invitation of the woman of Samaria to her fellow townsmen constitute an ideal text and suggest the essential evangelistic appeal. “Come see a m an.” W hat th is man has done brings ,us sal vation. W hat he is to us, determ ines oiir, sta tu s in the sp iritu al life. “ Since my eyes were fixed on Jesu s • I’ve lost sigh t of all beside; So exclaimed my sp irit’s vision Looking a t th e crucified.” God who is the object of worship, m ust prescribe, both th e method of approach and th e kind of service to be rendered. In th e Old Testam ent the book of Leviticus is the m anual of wor ship. The en tire book m ight almost be placed in quotation marks. No other book of Scripture contains so many wnrds directly spoken by God. The worship of a fallen being retu rn in g to God m ust have its beginning in an atonem ent provided by God and accepted by men. Nothing is left to hum an preference or device.; Every p a rt and detail is arrang ed by God. Throughout the New T estam ent em phasis is laid on th e sp iritu ality of wor ship. Since God is spirit, He m ust be worshiped .in sp irit an d ;in tru th . Christ is the ground of it and the Holy Spirit is the power of it. God is known to us bjr th e S p irit and th rough th e Word. Three th ing s are'n ecessary in tru e wor s h ip :! ,:,T h e .Divine, n atu re , T.he flesh WEDNESDAY, July 30. John 4:19-26. Christian Worship.
675 can not please God. The sacrifice of th e wicked iS an abom ination unto Him., 2. The Holy Spirit for power. A dead man can no t pray. 3. The Word of God for our rule. Human wisdom can' never discover God. ' Worship is not going to church bu t going up into th e heavenlies. I t is independent of artistic accompaniments and esthetic accessor ies. A rchitecture, oratory, music, elab o rate ceremonials may be a distraction and a hindrance, if they become an end in themselyes and fill the m ind and h e a rt of the worshiper. The adoration of the sp irit and th e homage of th e h ea rt are acceptable to God irrespec tive of locality or ceremony. No out ward p ro stration or litu rg ic genuflex ion can atone for th e ir absence. Spiritual worship m ust be intelligent. It is th e conscious act of a responsible moral being. P ray er and praise are to be offered w ith the understanding as well as w ith the spirit. We m ust have clear though t in o rd er to have intelli gen t feeling and vivid though t in order to have profound feeling. This is ah intellectual process. God respects and even appeals to the reason of bo th the unsaved and saved man. Is. 1 :18 ; Rom. 12:1. There is no S criptural au th o rity or precedent for offering to God any kind of service save th a t which is conscious and rational. The rhapsodic autom atic u tteran ce of the sub-conscious m ind is not only unintelli gent b u t unedifyi.ng and is disparaged by th e Apostle Paul, i Cor. 14:19. ■ I t seems th a t God H imself can n o t deal w ith a prophet while th e conscious m ind is in abeyance. He w aits un til th e conscious faculties re-assert them selves and regain th e ir norm al exercisei. Ezek. 2 :1 ; Dan. 10:11. Moreover it is a g ratu itou s assumption th a t it fs always the Holy Spirit who is speaking in unconscious u tterance. When the will is relaxed, when intelligence has abdicated th e throne, ,the bars are down, so to speak. W hat is th e re to hinder any Vagrant Spirit from en tering th e open door and usurping th e person ality? It is not safe, to tr y experiments in the sp irit world and to .give any .pos sible ground to. S^tan. God always subm its to th e te st Of reason and before any worship can be acceptable to Him, ;it m ust be th e ; conscious, in telligen t an d vo luntary service of a. m o ral being. THURSDAY, July 31. 1 Cor. 14:10-19. Intelligent Worship.
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