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The Desire of Ages
to the fact that the faith of the Samaritans was corrupted with idolatry,
He declared that the great truths of redemption had been committed to
the Jews, and that from among them the Messiah was to appear. In the
Sacred Writings they had a clear presentation of the character of God
and the principles of His government. Jesus classed Himself with the
Jews as those to whom God had given a knowledge of Himself.
He desired to lift the thoughts of His hearer above matters of form
and ceremony, and questions of controversy. “The hour cometh,” He
said, “and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father
in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God
is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and
in truth.”
Here is declared the same truth that Jesus had revealed to Nicode-
mus when He said, “Except a man be born from above, he cannot see
the kingdom of God.”
John 3:3
, margin. Not by seeking a holy moun-
tain or a sacred temple are men brought into communion with heaven.
Religion is not to be confined to external forms and ceremonies. The
religion that comes from God is the only religion that will lead to God.
In order to serve Him aright, we must be born of the divine Spirit. This
will purify the heart and renew the mind, giving us a new capacity for
knowing and loving God. It will give us a willing obedience to all His
requirements. This is true worship. It is the fruit of the working of
the Holy Spirit. By the Spirit every sincere prayer is indited, and such
prayer is acceptable to God. Wherever a soul reaches out after God,
there the Spirit’s working is manifest, and God will reveal Himself
to that soul. For such worshipers He is seeking. He waits to receive
them, and to make them His sons and daughters.
As the woman talked with Jesus, she was impressed with His
words. Never had she heard such sentiments from the priests of her
own people or from the Jews. As the past of her life had been spread
out before her, she had been made sensible of her great want. She
realized her soul thirst, which the waters of the well of Sychar could
never satisfy. Nothing that had hitherto come in contact with her had
so awakened her to a higher need. Jesus had convinced her that He
read the secrets of her life; yet she felt that He was her friend, pitying
and loving her. While the very purity of His presence condemned her
sin, He had spoken no word of denunciation, but had told her of His
grace, that could renew the soul. She began to have some conviction
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