02-13-2026 PART 3: Worship in Spirit and Truth and the Promise of Now and Later

Section 1

John 4:19–22 captures a powerful moment between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. After Jesus reveals knowledge of her past, she recognizes that He is a prophet and quickly shifts the conversation to a long-standing debate about the proper location of worship. Samaritans worshiped on Mount Gerizim, while the Jews insisted on Jerusalem. Jesus’ response cuts through the rivalry entirely. He declares that a time is coming when worship will not be confined to a mountain or a city. The issue is not geography but authenticity. Salvation is from the Jews in the sense that God revealed Himself through the Scriptures and through the lineage that brought forth the Messiah. Yet worship itself is no longer tied to sacred sites. True worshipers worship the Father in spirit and in truth. Spirit speaks to the inner engagement of the heart, not mechanical ritual. Truth speaks to alignment with God’s revealed Word. Worship is not about walls, shrines, or performance. It is about a person responding to the living God wherever they stand.

Section 2

This teaching emphasizes that people inevitably worship something—location, tradition, theology, culture, or self—but Jesus redirects worship toward the Father as He has revealed Himself. Scripture forms the framework for knowing who God truly is. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob worshiped before Jerusalem existed. Paul reasoned from the Old Testament Scriptures in Acts because they already testified to Christ. Jesus Himself answered Satan by quoting Deuteronomy. The pattern is unmistakable: God reveals Himself through His Word, and worship flows from knowing that revelation. Slick presentation, emotional atmosphere, or architectural grandeur do not create true worship. Engagement with biblical truth does. When two or more gather in His name, He is present. The worshiper becomes the temple because the Spirit indwells the believer. Location becomes secondary; truth becomes central.

Section 3

Luke 18:28–30 adds a deeply personal encouragement. Peter honestly reminds Jesus that the disciples left homes and livelihoods to follow Him. Jesus affirms that no sacrifice made for the kingdom goes unnoticed. Those who leave houses, family, property, or position for the sake of God’s kingdom will receive many times more—both now and in the age to come. The promise carries a “now and later” principle. There are blessings in the present—Psalm 27 speaks of seeing the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living—and there is eternal life with reward in the age to come. Nothing surrendered in obedience is forgotten. God keeps record of every forfeiture made for His name. The message closes with assurance: you cannot outgive God. What is yielded for the kingdom returns in ways both visible and eternal, proving once again that faithful worship and faithful sacrifice never go unseen before Him.