Sue J Love
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- Joined
- Mar 27, 2015
- Messages
- 4,677
John 4:21-26 NASB1995: Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. 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 (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”
If you have not read this story before, I encourage you to read it in its full context (John 4:1-42), but I will try to summarize it for you here:
Jesus was on his way to Galilee, and he had to pass through Samaria. Now, traditionally Jews had no dealings with Samaritans who were a mixed race of Jews and Gentiles. The Jews traditionally despised the Samaritans, and often they would go around Samaria rather than to walk through it, from what I understand. So for Jesus to walk through Samaria, and then to have a conversation with a Samaritan woman at a well was highly unusual. But he asked her for a drink of water, and then they talked for a little while.
And Jesus used this opportunity to share with her the message of the gospel, essentially. And he used the subject of water as a catalyst to speak to her of living water which has to do with our salvation from sin and our eternal life with God and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in our lives via biblical faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives, in death to sin and in walks of obedience to our Lord’s commands, all in the power of God. This water refreshes us spiritually and it makes us new in Christ Jesus.
Then Jesus told the woman to go call her husband, fully knowing that she had no husband, that she had had five husbands, and the man she was living with presently was not her husband. And after she confessed to him that she had no husband, Jesus declared to her what he knew of her history. So she perceived that he must be a prophet. And following that she stated that her people’s fathers worshipped in the mountain where she was located, but the Jews claimed that only in Jerusalem was the place of worship of God.
What Jesus said to her next is very relevant to our lives today and to the church today. For, when Jesus Christ died on that cross, and he rose from the dead, and he ascended back to his Father in heaven, and he sent his Holy Spirit to indwell his followers, the physical Jewish temple of God was no longer the holy temple of God. Now God, by his Spirit, lives within all who believe in Jesus Christ, and we now are the temple of God. Absolutely no physical building is “the church,” but we who believe in Jesus are the church.
So, we do not have to go to any specific location to worship God. We now worship him in spirit and in truth in any location or day of the week or time of day. For he dwells within us, his body. So no building called “church” is “the house of God.” We who believe in Jesus Christ are the house of God. No room in those physical buildings called “church” is the sanctuary of God, and we are not standing on holy ground when we enter into a physical building or into a particular room in that building, which is not of God, but of man.
So please understand that the church is not a place you go to and then you leave until you go back the next week. The church is the body of Christ who by faith in Jesus Christ were crucified with Christ in death to sin, and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as servants of righteousness in walks of obedience to our Lord, by his grace and in his power. And we can meet together anywhere, even on the internet, or via a phone call, or via a video chat. Meeting is what matters.
But not just the fact that we meet together, but with what purpose we gather together, whether or not our purpose is biblical. For the Scriptures teach that we are all ministers, and that we all are to minister to one another, and we all are to be teaching, counseling, exhorting, and encouraging one another in our walks of faith in obedience to our Lord and away from all that is worldly and fleshly and sinful. And we are to be warning each other against all that is false so we can follow after the truth.
[Acts 2:14-18,42-47; Romans 12:1-8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; 1 Corinthians 14:1-5; Galatians 6:1; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:1-16; Ephesians 5:15-21; Ephesians 6:10-20; Philippians 2:1-8; Colossians 3:12-16; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:13; Hebrews 10:23-25; James 5:19-20]
As the Deer
By Martin J. Nystrom
Based off Psalm 42:1
As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after You
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You
You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You
Caution: This link may contain ads
In Spirit and In Truth
An Original Work / January 28, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
If you have not read this story before, I encourage you to read it in its full context (John 4:1-42), but I will try to summarize it for you here:
Jesus was on his way to Galilee, and he had to pass through Samaria. Now, traditionally Jews had no dealings with Samaritans who were a mixed race of Jews and Gentiles. The Jews traditionally despised the Samaritans, and often they would go around Samaria rather than to walk through it, from what I understand. So for Jesus to walk through Samaria, and then to have a conversation with a Samaritan woman at a well was highly unusual. But he asked her for a drink of water, and then they talked for a little while.
And Jesus used this opportunity to share with her the message of the gospel, essentially. And he used the subject of water as a catalyst to speak to her of living water which has to do with our salvation from sin and our eternal life with God and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in our lives via biblical faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives, in death to sin and in walks of obedience to our Lord’s commands, all in the power of God. This water refreshes us spiritually and it makes us new in Christ Jesus.
Then Jesus told the woman to go call her husband, fully knowing that she had no husband, that she had had five husbands, and the man she was living with presently was not her husband. And after she confessed to him that she had no husband, Jesus declared to her what he knew of her history. So she perceived that he must be a prophet. And following that she stated that her people’s fathers worshipped in the mountain where she was located, but the Jews claimed that only in Jerusalem was the place of worship of God.
What Jesus said to her next is very relevant to our lives today and to the church today. For, when Jesus Christ died on that cross, and he rose from the dead, and he ascended back to his Father in heaven, and he sent his Holy Spirit to indwell his followers, the physical Jewish temple of God was no longer the holy temple of God. Now God, by his Spirit, lives within all who believe in Jesus Christ, and we now are the temple of God. Absolutely no physical building is “the church,” but we who believe in Jesus are the church.
So, we do not have to go to any specific location to worship God. We now worship him in spirit and in truth in any location or day of the week or time of day. For he dwells within us, his body. So no building called “church” is “the house of God.” We who believe in Jesus Christ are the house of God. No room in those physical buildings called “church” is the sanctuary of God, and we are not standing on holy ground when we enter into a physical building or into a particular room in that building, which is not of God, but of man.
So please understand that the church is not a place you go to and then you leave until you go back the next week. The church is the body of Christ who by faith in Jesus Christ were crucified with Christ in death to sin, and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as servants of righteousness in walks of obedience to our Lord, by his grace and in his power. And we can meet together anywhere, even on the internet, or via a phone call, or via a video chat. Meeting is what matters.
But not just the fact that we meet together, but with what purpose we gather together, whether or not our purpose is biblical. For the Scriptures teach that we are all ministers, and that we all are to minister to one another, and we all are to be teaching, counseling, exhorting, and encouraging one another in our walks of faith in obedience to our Lord and away from all that is worldly and fleshly and sinful. And we are to be warning each other against all that is false so we can follow after the truth.
[Acts 2:14-18,42-47; Romans 12:1-8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; 1 Corinthians 14:1-5; Galatians 6:1; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:1-16; Ephesians 5:15-21; Ephesians 6:10-20; Philippians 2:1-8; Colossians 3:12-16; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:13; Hebrews 10:23-25; James 5:19-20]
As the Deer
By Martin J. Nystrom
Based off Psalm 42:1
As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after You
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You
You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You
Caution: This link may contain ads
In Spirit and In Truth
An Original Work / January 28, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
