In these messages we will consider the matter of the spirit and the service in the spirit. We will see what the spirit is and what the service in the spirit is. In other words, we will consider what our service should be before God and with what and in what we should serve.
If we want to know how we should serve before God, we need to be clear about the fundamental matter of service. In John 4 the Lord Jesus referred to the fundamental matter of worship. The worship to which the Lord Jesus referred, in a narrow sense, means to bow down to God. In a broader sense, it means to serve God, including all the positive matters between God and us, such as our drawing near to God, praying to God, looking unto God, waiting on God, having fellowship with God, and working for God. Therefore, the fundamental matter of worship spoken of by the Lord Jesus is also the fundamental matter of service. Concerning this matter, the Lord Jesus mentioned two basic points.
Our service and worship have an object. We do not serve emptiness, nor do we worship nothingness. We serve and worship because we have a real object. The object of our service and worship is not a thing or a common person, nor is it a matter or a work; rather, it is God. God is the object of our service and worship. If there were no God, then we would have no worship or service, and we would have no need of worship or service. We have worship and service because there is God and because God needs our worship and service. All our service and worship are toward God. The One whom we serve and worship is God. When we mention worship and service, we should think of God and God only. This is because God, and only God, is the object of our service and worship.
If we want our service to be proper, then we need to have a proper knowledge of the object of our service. The object of our service is none other than God. God is Spirit. God is nothing other than Spirit. God is neither a material thing nor a psychological object; He is neither a doctrine nor a concept; He is neither a theory nor an “ism.” He is Spirit. God is not a material thing that can be touched by our hands or seen by our eyes. Neither is God a psychological object that can be imagined by our mind or contacted by our intellect. Rather, God is Spirit. As such, He cannot be sensed by any part of our body or be contacted by any part of our soul. Spirit is neither material nor psychological, but transcends the material and the psychological.
In contacting something, one must know what it is and what its nature is before one can have proper contact. For instance, if you know something is a sound, you contact it with your ears. If it is a color, you contact it with your eyes. If it is a smell, you contact it with your nose. If it is a concept or theory, you contact it with your mind. When you contact these various items based on your understanding of them, your contact is proper; otherwise, it is wrong.
Whenever we contact God and serve God, we must know and understand what kind of God He is and what His nature is. Then our contact with God and our service to Him will be proper and not absurd. We must know and realize that God is not a material thing or a psychological object. Rather, God is Spirit. We must also remember that since God is Spirit, He cannot be felt with our body, nor can He be contacted with our soul. In this way our service toward God will be proper.
The Lord Jesus said, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit” (John 4:24). Since God is Spirit, we who worship Him must worship with our spirit and in our spirit; otherwise, our worship is improper and absurd. Our worship and service to God must be in spirit. Whatever positive relationships we have with God must all be in our spirit and not in our body or in our mind.
The Lord Jesus said, “The true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit” (v. 23). Only those who worship and serve in spirit are true worshippers. If you merely prostrate yourself before God, or if you merely pray, praise, or invent a kind of service to God with your mind, these things do not constitute a true worship or service. They might be considered a kind of worship or service, but they do not constitute the true worship and the true service. True worship and true service are in spirit.
The Lord Jesus also said, “Neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father” (v. 21). This tells us that worship or service to God does not depend on the place. Even if you kneel in obeisance in a cathedral, this might still not be the true worship. True worship does not depend on the place or the building. It does not depend on anything physical or outward. Rather, it depends on the spirit. Only the worship, the service, that is in spirit is true. Regardless of how much piety, reverence, worship, or service there is, if it is not in spirit, it is not true and does not have much value in the eyes of God.
God is seeking after the worship and service that are in spirit. Because He is Spirit, if we want to worship and serve Him, we must do so by using our spirit. You cannot use your hands to touch or your mind to think about anything that is spirit. God is Spirit; therefore, you cannot contact Him with outward things, with material things, with your body, or with your mind. Since He is Spirit, you must contact Him with your spirit. If you try to contact Him with anything that is not spirit, it does not work. Only the spirit can contact and touch the Spirit. He is Spirit, but if you do not contact Him with your spirit, you cannot touch Him, even though He is real.
I often say that if you want to touch electricity, you must use a conductor. Metals are conductors. When you touch an electrical source with metal, electricity is transmitted. But if you touch an electrical source with a wooden stick, no electricity will be transmitted because you are using the wrong thing.
God is Spirit. Therefore, if you want to contact Him, worship Him, or serve Him, you need to use your spirit. If you use anything other than your spirit to contact Him, worship Him, or serve Him, then on the one hand, He will not be able to receive true worship and service, and on the other hand, you will not be able to receive true inspiration. Although many people often worship God, they are not moved or inspired inwardly because they do not contact God with their spirit. Consider electric fans; they keep turning because they are in contact with electricity. Once they come in contact with electricity, they begin to rotate. Whenever our spirit contacts and touches God, we are inwardly moved and inspired. If one prays to God and worships God, yet he is not inwardly moved, this does not mean that there is no God or that there is a problem with God. Rather, it means there is something wrong with the praying and worshipping one. Perhaps instead of using his spirit, he tries to use his mind or his bodily senses to contact God. Actually, neither his mind nor his body can enable him to come into contact with God or to receive inner inspiration from God.
We all know that if we insert a small piece of paper or wood in an electrical outlet, the electric fan immediately stops turning. Although the fan might be very close to the electricity, it cannot make contact with the electricity. Likewise, today many people are close to God. They acknowledge the existence of God and have the fear of God in their hearts. They often read the Bible, listen to sermons, and go to church to worship God. But they have not touched God, nor have they been moved by God. This is because they do not use their spirit to contact God. Although they are near God, there is still a problem between them and God. They use things other than the spirit to contact God. They may be sitting or kneeling properly with their body, thinking about God in their mind, and inclining toward God in their heart, yet they are not able to touch God. This is because man cannot contact God in his body, in his mind, or even in his heart. God is Spirit. Man must be in spirit in order to contact, worship, or serve God. Only by being in the spirit can man meet God and touch God.