IN his interview with the woman at the well of Sychar, Christ Jesus declared, "The hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers 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."
Because "God is spirit," as given as an alternative reading in the Revised Version, it is plain that He must be spiritually apprehended or understood, and worshiped. God must be recognized solely as Spirit, infinite and eternal, with no least material aspect identified with His nature; and must be worshiped with unmixed spiritual purity of thought. This Godlike, spiritual consciousness, expressed in holy, uplifting faith and understanding, and made manifest in outward righteous individual activity and demonstration, constitutes the meaning and purpose of Church in the hearts and lives of true, practical Christians.
When Jesus, on a memorable occasion, asked his disciples, "Whom say ye that I am?" he put a question not only pertinent but vital. Simon Peter, as the record discloses, "answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus replied: "Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church." Thus had Peter beheld the Christ, the manifestation of which made Christ Jesus the Saviour or Redeemer of mankind. In other words, the apostle had perceived the spiritual power of God operating through Jesus and enabling him to perform his mighty works of healing and salvation. This recognition and acknowledgment on the part of Peter was indeed the "rock" of spiritual understanding upon which the Master averred he would build his Church, solid and impregnable, that very church which should throughout all time successfully withstand the onslaughts of evil resistance, of whatever source or kind.
