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It has been said that "there are very few true atheists -- none in foxholes!" I don't understand atheists, and neither does God. God didn't hold back when He revealed His true feelings about those who would say that He doesn't exist:

God said "an atheist is a fool!" But that's more than just a slam or verbal insult: it's a fact. It is philosophically impossible to be an atheist. Think about it. If somebody says assuredly that they know "there is no God," then they would have to claim to be "all knowing." If they were all knowing, then they would be God, themselves, therefore they would believe in a God and know a God because they certainly believe in and know themselves.

Beyond that the Bible says that the Creation declares the glory of God (Romans 1:20) and you can see by looking around you that this world and universe has to be the result of a Master Designer. But the greatest proof against atheism is that humanity is created to worship, and even the atheist who claims that there is no god will end up devoting his life and worshipping something.

Archeologists and explorers have now circled the globe looking for exotic and primitive people and tribes. They have found all sorts of weird things: people who eat people and then shrink their skulls in boiling water and wear them as necklaces; people who eat tarantulas and maggots and such. They have found civilizations where people run around naked and where people have spent centuries building beautiful buildings and cities in remote jungles. Each exotic tribe has their own language and unique peculiarities, but we have never found a group that did not have a religion. All men and women, no matter where they are, worship something.

There is not a scripture in the Bible that says "if you choose to worship . . . !" There is not a question if you will worship or not, because it was inbred into you from the day your ancestor, Adam, was created. There was one God and there was one man, and that man was created to worship that one God. When the devil fell from heaven, the scriptures say that it was a matter of "worship." When the serpent came to the garden, it was a question of him trying to get them to change their object of worship from God to themselves. You will worship something -- you can't help yourself; you were created that way -- but the million dollar question and the oldest question dating back all the way to the Garden of Eden is "what will you choose to worship?" You will worship something, but the choice is in choosing "what you worship."

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The first thing that you need to get ingrained into your head is that it does matter what you worship. There are some today who say "worship as you choose and it doesn't matter who or what you worship as long as you worship somewhere." That's a lie from the pits of hell. The first revelation that God gave Moses is "you tell the people that Hear, Oh Israel the Lord our God is one Lord." And the first commandment of that One Lord was:

The rest of the ten commandments, and indeed all of the 613 laws of Moses spring from that first commandment. God says at first: I alone am God and don't worship any other! Then He gets more specific. Don't worship idols, that's a specific command to not worship images of any god. Don't take His name in vain, is a specific command because God knows if you don't reverence Him, you will soon not worship Him. Don't forget to keep the Sabbath day holy is a specific command because God knows that you cannot worship what you do not give time to. Honor Father and Mother is a command to honor them but not worship them. Honor your family, but only worship God. Honor means that you treat them with respect, but when you grow up and get on your own, you do what God says and not necessarily what they command. Too many people have that backwards. They obey the traditions of their family and worship as the family says despite what God's Word has said and they just "honor God." They treat Him with respect, but don't necessarily do the things that He has said to do. But God said honor your father and mother, but worship me!

Don't kill others. Why? Because God said that "they are made in my image!" It's all about worship and respect for Him! Be true to your marriage partner. God knows that your relationship with your spouse is always a mirror image of your relationship with Him. Solomon's problem with His wife was that he wasn't satisfied with only one. But that was just a reflection of Solomon's problem with God: he wasn't satisfied with only one. God knew that if you aren't happy with your spouse and you are unfaithful to them trying to fulfill your lusts, then you will be unfaithful to Him and seek fulfillment elsewhere from His presence. And God only wants you to worship Him, therefore He commanded "be true to your spouse."

Don't steal. Because God is Holy, worship is owed Him. He's worthy of it. He deserves it. All glory is His, therefore all worship belongs to Him. When you worship something else besides Him, you are stealing something from God that is rightfully His. Therefore God said "don't steal" because I don't want you to take from me what is due to me!

Don't lie. God knows that the liar will also believe the lie. Paul said that the Gentiles had "exchange the truth of God for a lie and worshiped the creation more than the Creator" (Romans 1:25). God knows that if you are to worship Him, then you must be drawn and moved only by truth.

Don't desire things that aren't yours where they be your neighbors house, wife, or bass boat. Because God knew that you will eventually worship what you desire and so you must guard your desires very carefully. If you desire Him, then you will worship only Him!

And so we call it the "ten commandments" but really it should be "the one great commandment and the nine backing it up." The commandment is "worship the one, true God only" and the rest is saying "don't worship anything else!" It's not enough to worship, but we must worship the true God of Israel and Him alone! And so He commanded "take heed" because you are going to worship something, make sure that what you worship is worthy of your worship. And the only object that is worthy is God alone!

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We read as our text in John, the familiar account of Jesus' discussion with the woman at the well in Samaria. Where we picked up the account in verse 19, the woman has just changed the subject quickly because Jesus has just identified her issue -- that she has been trying to use relationships to fulfill the void in her life that only worship of the one, true God can fill. She has been married five times and is currently living with a man to whom she is not married to and when Jesus points this out, she quickly changes the subject:

The Samaritans and the Jews had long had a debate on the proper way to worship. The Jews had Jerusalem and the temple, but the Samaritans had their own mountain, their own temple, and even their own version of the scriptures from which they worshipped. Jesus answered the question in a somewhat unexpected way:

Jesus said "the issue is not your location on earth, because there is coming a time and even now is that it will not matter your location or what mountain you are own when you worship." "But the real issue is that you Samaritans worship, and you don't know what you worship." And then He makes this statement:

God is seeking "true worshippers." In context, what is a true worshipper? Someone who worships Him in spirit and in truth. In other words, someone who "knows who they worship." And that the one whom they worship is "God Almighty." It's not enough just to worship, but to be a true worshipper, you must "know whom you worship." And if you know that you worship God, then you realize that God is a Spirit and God is truth, therefore you must worship Him in both.

How many people worship God, but don't worship Him in truth. They worship God how they want to do so, but not as He has commanded them to do so. Both Cain and Abel worshipped God, but only one worshipped God has He had commanded. Both worshipped, but only one was a true worshipper. God is not just seeking "worship" but "true worship." How many people worship God but not as God has commanded? They give God an hour of their life each week, but not part of every day. They will throw a few bucks in the offering plate, but they refuse to pay 10% of their income tithing to God as He has commanded. They will praise God when things are going well, but on bad days, they are no longer willing to bless His name. They will bow in reverence but do so to an idol, a forbidden graven image. That's not what God is looking for. He's not looking for worship like you think it should be, He is looking for worship as He has commanded. True worshippers will worship Him in truth.

How many people worship God, but don't worship Him in spirit? If the Holy Ghost were to move in many churches like it did in the Bible as a "rushing mighty wind," it wouldn't be welcome because it would upset their religious customs. If a lame man was healed and he entered service leaping and praising God, then in many churches today, he would be sat down for such behavior. How many churches claim to teach about God and yet nobody ever gets the Holy Spirit in their church? They go through a religious ritual that is dry and God can't be felt because they suppress praise and genuine, heart-felt response to God's Word and Spirit! That's not what God is looking for. He's looking for people who will worship Him in spirit!

And then you have those who worship God in spirit, but yet refuse the truth of the doctrines of scripture. Have you ever been in a church where the worship part of the service was lively and you could feel God, but then the preaching that went forth did not tell the truth? That is not what God is looking for. We must have spirit AND truth.

And then there are those dried up folks who have truth, but they've let the fire go out and so they worship God in truth, and yet not in spirit. That's not what God is looking for, either. God is looking for true worshippers: those who will worship Him in spirit and in truth!

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And all of that's good and great, but if you don't know what you worship, then it's not for you. A true worshipper must first determine "what they are worshipping" so that they can make sure it's the right thing. Notice Jesus didn't look at the lady and say "who you worship," but rather "what you worship" because the object of worship is not necessarily always a person. In fact, most people worship things or objects rather than people or a person. The woman at the well may have gone to the temple in Samaria, but she was worshipping an idea: "relationships." If you had asked her, what she worshipped, she would have said "God," but really it was not the true God that she was worshipping and putting her faith, but rather the "next relationship." And before Jesus could get her worshipping Him, He had to get her to see what it was that she had truly been worshipping.

Most of here would say "we worship God" but for many of us our everyday actions speak otherwise. Let's look at how to identify what it is we really worship. Before we are to truly worship Him in spirit and in truth, we must first be willing to identify what it is we are worshipping currently.

What is it that you think would make you happy? What is it that you are always saying "if I just had that then I would be content," or "if this was here, then my life would be complete?" When you are looking forward in hope of something bringing joy in your life, then you are putting your faith in that hope. You can always tell what you truly worship by what it is that makes you happy.

The woman at the well was putting her trust in "one day I'll find the right man and have the perfect relationship and then I'll be happy." So she had got married, and then divorced and repeated that five times! Now she was just living with somebody hoping that the change in the pattern would bring what she was looking for. She thought true happiness would come in the perfect relationship with a life partner.

Some people likewise worship relationships. "What's missing in my life is that I haven't found the perfect person." No, what's missing in your life is that you haven't fallen in love with Jesus Christ. If you would worship Him and devote your life to Him, then you wouldn't have to worry about finding somebody because God would put the right person in your path. And the reason that none of your relationships haven't gone right is because no relationship can go right until you relationship with God is right. Your relationship with others will be a reflection of your relationship with Him, remember? It takes three to make a relationship go right: you, the other, and Jesus! If you would worship Jesus rather than devoting your hopes and your actions and your mind to relationships, you would find that everything would fall into place!

Some people worship money. If they have it, they are happy; if they are broke, they are broken. Paul said "I have learned to be content in whatsoever state I find myself." Money doesn't bring happiness, but rather just creates a desire to have more. There's nothing wrong with having money and things, but if the desire to be rich or to have more "stuff" is the driving force behind all of your life's decisions and what you are counting on to make you happy, then you are bowing down at the feet of the god "materialism." Jesus said it like this:

Seek God's kingdom first and worship Him in spirit and in truth, and you will find that all these "things" that you want will be added in His timing. But worship materialism and you will find that even when you obtained what you have desired, you will still not be fulfilled or happy. Only serving God makes you happy. Money and power and authority and things and relationships and artificial highs cannot fill the god-sized hole in your life! Only worshipping Him will! But you can tell what you worship by what you are trusting in to make you happy.

In Matthew chapter 2, we find that the wise men had come a long, long way following the star to Bethlehem. We find that when they finally came to the house where Jesus lay, they worshipped Him. They had come for no other reason to worship Jesus Christ. But before they had reached the house, they had stopped by the palace to ask of King Herod about this savior's birth. The king's Jewish advisors were able to exactly tell them where the scriptures said that Jesus would be born, and yet we never find them at Bethlehem, bowing before the King of Kings. They had a greater revelation of His coming than these wise men who had traveled so far, and yet they had become bored with it and had stopped "thirsting after righteousness" so that it no longer moved them to act in worship.

True Godly worship springs from revelation of God. If you really know Him and know who He is, then worship will be the natural result. Show me someone who does not truly worship Him, and you have shown me someone who does not really have a true revelation of who He is. Or that has ceased to thirst after the revelation and allow the revelation to excite them. Whatever excites you with it's knowledge will be what you worship. The wise men were excited about the star, so much that when it reappeared to them outside of the palace, they "rejoiced with exceedingly great joy." They didn't have all the revelation that those Bible scholars in the palace did, but what they did know, they were excited about. And that excitement led to true worship!

What gets you excited? What is it that when you find out about it, it puts a spring in your step and a smile on your face and makes you want to tell everybody else? Is it the things of God? Is it going to church to learn more about Him? Is it a sermon where you understood more than you ever have before? Is it a simple revelation of something that you never noticed before in your daily reading? Is it being used of God to encourage someone or tell them of what God can do for them? Is it seeing somebody get the Holy Ghost or blessed in a Spirit-filled service? Is it working for the kingdom of God? Is it a red-hot worship service? Is that what makes you excited?

Or is it a day off at the lake? Is it a raise at the job? Is it a Spurs game or a Dallas Cowboys playoff game? Is it a hobby? Is it the opening day of deer season? Is it a shopping trip and new clothes? Is it a new toy? Is it a new relationship? What is it that makes you giddy with excitement? What makes you move upon the revelation of what you just heard?

There's nothing wrong with any of the stuff that I just named in the second group, but when we get more excited over those things than you do the things of God, you ought to step back and look at what you are truly worshipping! And you truly worship what causes you to move with excitement at it's revelation!

And since we are here, let me say this. God gave the Apostle John great and wonderful revelations through visions and such. Those revelations moved and excited John. They consumed him. And yet in the end of the book of Revelation, we find that twice John was so overwhelmed by the revelation of God that he twice bowed down and started to worship the angel who had delivered the knowledge. Both times the angel stopped him and said "worship God" not me!" We can get so overwhelmed by the revelation of God through a messenger that we can begin to worship the messenger rather than God who gave the revelation. I've known people who were so caught up with hearing a certain preacher, that just the mention of his name would get them all excited and giddy and cause them to go to great extremes to hear him speak. And yet if someone that they did not know or if it was just "so and so" preaching, they would come to church without any enthusiasm or excitement or real expectations. Is the word of God different? Can not God use a donkey to speak if He has too? If you base your attitude toward the service on who will be delivering the message, you'd better be careful that you don't get caught up in worshipping the messenger rather than the One who gave the revelation in the first place! How many people are going to a church because "such and such personality" preachers there? That's not of God! You should go to church where you are pointed to Jesus!

People who are excited about God praise God. Clapping your hands, leaping for joy, dancing around, shouting and raising your hands: those are all scriptural manifestations of praise. And when people get excited, the natural response is to praise. If you don't believe me, go to a Spurs game and look at somebody who's excited that the Spurs are winning. They will raise their hands. They will scream and holler. They will jump up and down. They will respond to the message being played before them with emotion. They will stay glued in their seats for three hours on end. They will get upset if somebody is distracting them from their purpose. When people get excited, they praise what they are excited about.

And yet most of those people will stay up late at night to watch those late away games and if they are sleepy at work the next day so be it. But they can't come to mid-week church service or Sunday night service because it would "keep them up too late -- you know, preacher, I have to work in the morning." And then when they do come to church, they don't praise God with near the intensity that they did at the game, or on the golf course, or after the big promotion. Praise? It really all depends upon what you are excited about!

The reason that God commands us to praise Him, is that God knows that what you praise, you will eventually worship. What excites you to action will become the object of worship in your life. And what you worship will become what you serve. And we are to only serve God in our life, therefore we must be careful of what we worship, and since we are to worship only God in our life, then we must be careful of what we praise, and since we praise what makes us excited, we must guard carefully our excitement and zeal of the things of God. I cannot lose my thirst for the revelation of Him! His things must excite me!

Funny thing about true worship: it always costs something. But a true worshipper never minds the price, for if you truly worship something, then you are excited to sacrifice for it.

In Genesis chapter 22, we find the story of God testing Abraham to see if he truly was faithful. As a test, God asked an unthinkable thing: for Abraham to sacrifice his only son as an offering to God Almighty. Abraham didn't understand why God would request such a thing and he loved his son dearly more than anything in the world. Except God. And so we find Abraham willingly packs up his bags and servants and gathers wood and fire and his son and heads to the mountain of God to obey. At the end, when Abraham has tied his son to the altar and is raising the knife to kill him, God sends an angel to stop him saying "now I know that you love me." Abraham had passed the test of worship, and the test of worship is if you love God enough that you will sacrifice anything in order to please Him. Anything: even the most precious things of your life.

The interesting point to me about the whole story is when Abraham reached the mountain, he commanded his servants to stay behind and only he and his son would make the final climb. I believe that Abraham did not want any body around that mighty stop him from obeying God completely. But the greatest lesson of all is found in the words of Abraham to his servants, because in them we find his attitude toward this great sacrifice:

Abraham is about to sacrifice his only, precious son that is his life and yet he does not say "stay here while I go do what this mean, cruel God is demanding." He does not say "I'll go alone and do this great and horrible bloody sacrifice." What he says is "I will go and worship." What to others would seem a great sacrifice, Abraham considered worship. What you truly worship, you are willing to sacrifice for.

Can we truly worship God without it costing us something? I heard a Christian counselor one time say that you can tell what's important to you by keeping record of what you spend your money on. It may be quiet, but Jesus said this:

You will spend money on what is important to you. And say what you will, money is a good indicator of what you worship, because you only truly worship what you are willing to sacrifice for, and nowhere are we more stingy than when it comes to our monetary income. I'm not preaching today to try to get more money for my television ministry. I'm not preaching today because I'm building a nice home and want to put better carpet in it. I rarely mention money because so many preachers use the church as a tool to be wealthy. I'm mentioning money, simply because it reveals your true desires.

I've known people who "could not afford" to pay their tithing and offering and yet would do whatever it took to have name brand clothes, a new car, a bigger house, another boat, or whatever. Some people will spend $100 a month on cigarettes, beer, or entertainment and yet won't commit to a $25 or 30 monthly pledge to a missionary or a building fund. What are you willing to sacrifice for? Identify that and you've got a fairly clear picture of what you worship.

And I haven't even got on time and energy. What are you willing to sacrifice your time and energy for? All of us can say what we will, but we make time for the things that are important to us. We are willing to sacrifice whatever it takes, if we truly desire something. Figure out what you are willing to sacrifice for and you've got your god identified. You gladly and willingly sacrifice for what you worship. May we be like the wise men who brought nothing to the earthly king and yet presented the finest gifts to Jesus Christ. They had a true revelation of who He is and so they made up their mind that they would worship and serve and sacrifice to someone who is worthy of their efforts!

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I close with this:

Before the first miracle and before the first healing and the wondrous ministry began, Jesus Christ was tempted and tested by Satan in the wilderness. Satan waited until Jesus' body was weak from fasting 40 days before he tried to come in and attack. The attack was timed to try to exploit the weakness of the body of Christ.

The real issue at stake was "worship." The devil wasn't completely sure of who this "Jesus" was. And so after tempting Him with physical temptation and then wreckless faith, we find that final and ultimate test was thus:

When Jesus would not misplace His worship, the devil left Him alone, because he knew that the only way to cause a human being to be lost is to get them to misplace their worship. If they will carefully identify what they worship and let only God have preeminence, then there is no way for the devil to destroy them.

The point I want to bring up is what Luke records in his version of this temptation. The entire episode in Luke concludes with these words:

The devil departed "for a season." My question is "when did the devil ever come back to tempt Christ?" Not in Gethsemane, because that was a battle over fleshly desires versus the will of the Spirit. In every other account where Jesus came around a devil, the devils were wanting out of there as quick as possible. There is no more visible Satanic attacks. Especially of Satan trying to get Jesus to worship Him.

The scriptures say that the church is now the "body of Christ." We are His hands and His feet and His representation on this earth. We are having to live our lives in this wilderness of sin that we call this earth and everyday this wilderness experience seeks to drain us of energy and power. And Satan has come back to try to exploit the weakness of the body of Christ and the temptation is still the same: misplaced worship. Satan doesn't care if you worship him or not, but rather that you just worship something else than God Almighty. Satan doesn't care if you never join the occult or wicca or something, only if you will not sell out to the kingdom of God and make His plan priority in your life. It's not an issue of whether we worship, but of what we worship. The devil wants you to worship something other than Jesus Christ!

But somebody make up in your mind, to resist the devil! Somebody make up in your mind to worship only God and to worship Him in spirit and in truth! Let's know whom we worship, and let's worship Him with our heart, soul, mind, and strength! The Father is seeking such worshippers!