Worship in Spirit and Truth.
I. Apart from revelation men have not the idea of God as Lord, Spirit, Father; and even after the light of Scripture has appeared, God is to many only an abstract word, by which they designate a complex of perfections rather than a real, living, loving, ever-present Lord, to whom we speak and of whom we ask the blessings that we need. Without revelation prayer is regarded not so much as asking God in order to receive from Him, but as an exercise of mind which elevates, ennobles, and comforts. It is a monologue.
II. Unto the Gentiles God never gave an Aaronic priesthood, an earthly tabernacle, a symbolical service. From the very commencement He taught them, as Jesus taught the woman of Samaria, that now all places are alike sacred; that the element in which God is worshipped is spirit and truth; that believers are children who call God Father; that they are a royal priesthood who through Jesus are brought nigh unto God, who enter into the holy of holies which is above. How difficult it is to rise from the spirit of paganism to the clear and bright atmosphere of the gospel! Priesthood, vestments, consecrated buildings, symbols, and observances all place Christ at a great distance, and cover the true, sinful, and guilty state of the heart which has not been brought nigh by the blood of Christ. The sinner believes, and as a child he is brought by Jesus unto the Father. High above all space, high above all created heavens, before the very throne of God, is the sanctuary in which we worship. Jesus presents us to the Father. We are beloved children, clothed in white robes, the garments of salvation, and the robes of righteousness. We are priests unto God.
A. Saphir, Lectures on Hebrews,vol. ii., p. 76.
Reference: Hebrews 9:1-12. Homiletic Quarterly,vol. ii., p. 469.