Quotes & Notes on:
John 4:24
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John Wesley's Notes:
God is a Spirit-Not only remote from the body, and all the
properties of it, but likewise full of all spiritual perfections, power,
wisdom, love, holiness. And our worship should be suitable to his
nature. We should worship him with the truly spiritual worship of faith,
love, and holiness, animating all our tempers, thoughts, words, and
actions.
- Treasury of Scripture Knowledge:
* a Spirit. 2Co 3:17; 1Ti 1:17
* must. 1Sa 16:7; Ps 50:13-15; 51:17; 66:18; Isa 57:15; Mt 15:8,9 2Co
1:12
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Adam Clarke's Commentary:
God is a Spirit] This is one of the first, the greatest, the most
sublime, and necessary truths in the compass of nature! There is a God,
the cause of all things-the fountain of all perfection-without parts or
dimensions, for he is ETERNAL-filling the heavens and the
earth-pervading, governing, and upholding all things: for he is an
infinite SPIRIT! This God can be pleased only with that which resembles
himself: therefore he must hate sin and sinfulness; and can delight in
those only who are made partakers of his own Divine nature. As all
creatures were made by him, so all owe him obedience and reverence; but,
to be acceptable to this infinite Spirit, the worship must be of a
spiritual nature-must spring from the heart, through the influence of
the Holy Ghost: and it must be in TRUTH, not only in sincerity, but
performed according to that Divine revelation which he has given men of
himself. A man worships God in spirit, when, under the influence of the
Holy Ghost, he brings all his affections, appetites, and desires to the
throne of God; and he worships him in truth, when every purpose and
passion of his heart, and when every act of his religious worship, is
guided and regulated by the word of God. "The enlightened part of
mankind," says Abu'l Fazel, "knows that true righteousness is an upright
heart; and believe that God can only be worshipped in holiness of
SPIRIT." Ayeen Akbery, vol. iii. p. 254.
"Of all worshippers," says Creeshna, "I respect him as the most devout,
who hath faith in me, and who serveth me with a soul possessed of my
spirit." Geeta, p. 68.
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Family Bible Notes:
(No comment on this verse).
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1599 Geneva Bible Notes:
By the word "spirit" he means the nature of the Godhead,
and not the third person in the Trinity.
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People's New Testament Commentary:
God is a Spirit. Rather, "God is Spirit." This declaration is
fundamental. Since he is Spirit, he must receive spiritual worship, and
is everywhere present.
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Robertson's Word Pictures:
God is a Spirit (pneuma ho theos). More precisely, "God is Spirit" as
"God is Light" (1Jo 1:5), "God is Love" (1Jo 4:8). In neither case can
we read Spirit is God, Light is God, Love is God. The non-corporeality
of God is clearly stated and the personality of God also. All this is
put in three words for the first time. Must (dei). Here is the real
necessity (dei), not the one used by the woman about the right place of
worship (verse Joh 4:20).
Albert Barnes' Commentary:
God is a spirit. This is the second reason why men should worship him
in spirit and in truth. By this is meant that God is without a body;
that he is not material or composed of parts; that he is invisible, in
every place, pure and holy. This is one of the first truths of religion,
and one of the sublimest ever presented to the mind of man. Almost all
nations have had some idea of God as gross or material, but the Bible
declares that he is a pure spirit. As he is such a spirit, he dwells not
in temples made with hands (Ac 7:48), neither is worshipped with men's
hands as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life, and
breath, and all things, Ac 17:25. A pure, a holy, a spiritual worship,
therefore, is such as he seeks--the offering of the soul rather than the
formal offering of the body--the homage of the heart rather than that of
the lips.
{r} "is a spirit" Php 3:3
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Jamieson-Faussett Brown:
(No comment on this verse).
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Spurgeon Commentary:
(No comment on this verse).
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William Burkitt's Notes:
God is a Spirit; that is, he hath no body, nor bodily parts; he is not
a bare spiritual substance: but a pure and perfect Spirit: and therefore
his worshippers must worship him in spirit and in truth; where spirit is
opposed to the legal ceremonies, and truth to the Jewish rites, not to
hypocritical services: for the old patriarchs did worship God in spirit
and in truth. As truth is taken for sincerity, they served him with a
sincere conscience, and with a single heart. But our Saviour's business
is to shew, that a worship without legal rites and Jewish ceremonies, is
proper to the times of the gospel.
In these words, observe, 1. The nature of God declared; God is a Spirit.
2. The duty of man inferred; therefore they that worship him, must
worship him in spirit and in truth.
From the whole, note, 1. That God is a pure spiritual being. When bodily
parts, hands, and eyes, &c. are ascribed to him, it is only in
condescension to our weakness, and to signify those acts in God, which
such members do perform in us.
Note, 2. That the worship due from the creature to God is spiritual
worship, and ought to be spiritually performed; that is, we must worship
him from spiritual principles, sincere love, and filial reverence; for
spiritual ends, that we may please him, and promote his glory; and after
a spiritual manner, with the whole heart, soul, and mind, and with a
fervency of spirit. We must have awful apprehensions of him, suitable to
the nature of his being; but above all we must endeavour to resemble
him: then is God best worshipped by us, when we are most like to him.
The Jewsish ceremonial worship was abolished, to promote the
spirituality of divine worshp; yet must not this be so understood, as if
God rejected bodily worship, because he requires spiritual under the
gospel: for Jesus Christ, the most spiritual worshipper, worshipped God
with his body. Besides, God has created the body as well as the soul;
and he will glorify the body as well as the soul: therefore it is our
duty to worship and glorify God with our bodies, and with our spirits,
which are his.
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Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary:
(No comment on this verse).
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The Fourfold Gospel:
God is a Spirit. These words contain one of the most simple, yet
most profound, truths which ever fell upon mortal ear. Their truth is
one of the great glories of revelation, and corrects the mistaken
conclusion of human reason. They show that, 1, God is absolutely free
from all limitations of space and time, and is therefore not to be
localized in temples (Ac 7:48); 2, that God is not material, as
idolaters contend; 3, that he is not an abstract force, as scientists
think, but a Being; 4, that he is lifted above all need of temples,
sacrifices, etc., which are a benefit to man, but not to God (Ac 17:25).
Spiritual excellence raises man above the beast, and spiritual
excellence in turn raises God above man (Isa 31:3).
And they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth. That is, men
must offer a worship corresponding with the nature and attributes of
God.
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