John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. This disclosure doubtless is of infinite depth; but that exquisite saying of s that Scripture has depths for an elephant to swim in and shallows in which a lamb can wade, is capable of being pushed a little further. Oftentimes the same Scripture is at once a depth for one and a shallow for another, and thus it is here. We shall do little honour to our Lord's skill in teaching, His adaptation of His words to the needs of His hearers, if, in seeking high things, we failed to find in these words some simple truth, such as that poor ignorant woman was capable of grasping, and such as at that moment she needed. "God is a Spirit"; we must not miss, assuredly she did not miss, the significant image on which this word reposes; like the wind therefore, to which He is likened, breathing and blowing where He will, penetrating everywhere, owning no circumscriptions, tied to no place, neither to Mount Zion nor to Mount Gerizim; but rather filling all space with His presence (Psalm 139:7; 1 Kings 8:27; Isaiah 66:1), in His essence and, as involved in this very title, free. On this it follows that "they who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." (Abp. Trench.) Parallel Verses KJV: God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.WEB: God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." |
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