Welcome to the Life Bible Church podcast. We
want to thank you for joining us today, and we
hope you find today's sermon impacting as you
listen to it wherever you are in your daily walk.
To find service times and watch messages online,
see our website at lifebiblechurch .org. Now,
enjoy this week's message. Let's open your Bibles,
if you would, to John chapter 4. And I believe
the Lord has got something to share with us this
morning. I'm going to continue where we kind
of left off last week. I'm going to do my very
best to kind of bring us into some understanding
of this passage of John 4. We know that this
passage is a very famous passage. There is so
much, as I said last week, there is so much depth
inside this passage that we often skip over some
of the things that Jesus was actually uncovering
and digging at in regard to knowing spirit and
truth. And so, Father, in Jesus' name this morning,
Lord, we've come to your altar, we've come to
your throne. Lord, we're reminded that the priests,
they came to the altar to offer prayers before
you. And Lord, that's what we get to do every
time we come to the house of God. We come to,
Lord, we recognize we as people are now the church.
And Lord, this becomes just a gathering place,
a sheep shed, so to speak, to where we encounter
your presence, where each person brings, Lord,
Lord, their redemption, they bring the spirit
of God that's inside of them. And God, we come
to collectively worship and honor you. And in
this moment, Lord, we're coming to you not only
as king and as Lord and as savior, but now we're
coming to you, Lord, in the feeding time of your
people. You said, you are the sheep of my pasture
and of your hand. And Lord, we come to you as
sheep this morning and we ask you, oh, shepherd
king, We ask you to feed us this morning your
word. You are more than just stale bread, Lord.
You are the living bread. You speak a living
word. And I'm asking you to anoint your word
this morning that it would go deep into our heart.
And God, like the word, can only do according
to Hebrews chapter 4. It can divide. It divides
between that which is soulish and that which
is truly spirit. It's also said in your word
that your word was like a hammer. And Lord, it
breaks up the fallow ground. It breaks the hardness
of the heart. I'm asking now, Holy Spirit, that
you would come and with the word of God, you
would begin to feed, you would begin to reveal.
Let the light of your truth shine forth this
morning as we open the scriptures and that you
would speak to us. Lord, we ask that you would
help us step away. from things of routine, of
shields and barriers that keep us insulated from
the power of your word. We step from behind the
rocks of excuses. We ask for the fig leaves to
be set aside and we ask you to clothe us in your
truth. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Thank
you, Jenny. I appreciate it. John chapter 4,
we'll kind of just start here where we left off
last week. Just a reminder, John chapter 4, verse
10 and 11. We understand, and let me just give
a little narration. We understand that Jesus
was coming into the region of Sychar, the area
of Samaria. And I'm not going to read the first
10 verses because if I do, I'll never get to
where I'm going to go. So I'm just kind of giving
a summation. And he stands. And as he's been
journeying by foot, now, remind you, this is
why it takes us so long to go through some of
these series, is because Jesus never operated
in a motorized vehicle. He walked everywhere.
So that's why it's slow. We're walking our way
from Passover to Pentecost as we're kind of talking
through this mindset. Jesus has now walked. into
Sychar area, into Samaria, and he is sitting
by or standing by the well that was driven into
the ground in the area that was given by their
father Abraham. The reality is he had been walking
probably since daybreak. That time started there
in when we deal with time frame there. As you're
looking at the Bible, their morning started at
6 a .m. Because that's usually sun up to sun
down. 6 a .m. to 6 p .m. Everything was within
usually those 12 hour periods. And so Jesus had
been walking for six hours. And he was tired.
The disciples had gone to go get some food. And
Jesus was by himself at the well. And coming
out of the well at noontime was a lady that came.
And you never come to the well. Now, this is
important. You never come to the well in the
heat of the day. That wasn't normal. In fact,
is anybody that lives in Arizona right now, or
in Palm Springs, or in Palm Desert, or anywhere
that has the word desert to it, in the summer,
you don't go out and go, hey, why don't we just
take a nice walk at two in the afternoon? You
can fry eggs on the sidewalk. You can fry, literally,
on my solar panel, you could fry an egg. Literally,
I mean, you just don't do it. People stop working.
They put wet cloths over them. They either work
early in the morning and at about 10, 10 .30,
they cut it, and then they get back after the
sun sets because of how intense the heat is.
So think of it in the Middle Eastern culture.
This is the same aspect that in the middle of
the day, at noontime when they should be eating.
And then they did what they would, what we would
call in Latin America, we would call a little
siesta time. That would be their time to kind
of take a break, let it digest, try to get a
little nap because you're going to go back to
work after the hotness of the sun sets down.
Here comes this woman to get water to actually
work during the day. And Jesus is there. We pick
this up in verse 10. And Jesus, as he asked her,
he said, would you give me a drink? And she kind
of rebuffed that statement and Jesus' response
to her rebuffing, her rebuffing was this, you,
being a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a
drink? And Jesus' response in verse 10 is this,
he says, Jesus answered her, if you knew, could
you say that with me? If you knew, if you knew
the gift of God, and who it is saying to you
give me a drink you would have asked him and
he would have given you living water now to review
from last week we said listen jesus was revealing
himself first and foremost in this passage as
the gift of god he said if you knew the gift
of god he was saying listen i am the gift of
God. Now that, if you just say it in today's
context and don't understand who Jesus was, that
sounds a little arrogant. I am the gift of God.
Well, if you're the son of God, yes, you, you
are. But, but the reality is he was, he was saying
something that would be said all the way through
the scriptures for God, the father. In John 3,
16, just one chapter prior to this, gave his
only begotten son that whosoever would believe
in him would not perish but have everlasting
life. Jesus had no problem declaring what the
father's will or what the father's gift was to
the world. And if you knew who it was, it was
the gift of God. If you knew the gift of God,
Jesus saying, I'm that gift. Jesus is declaring
also the heart of the father. The heart of the
father is saying what? I am now declaring something
about God that you have not understood. God's
nature is a gift giver. Now if there's anything
that that culture needed, if there's anything
that the Jewish people needed and the Samaritan
people needed and every other tribe and nation
needed is they needed a fresh understanding of
who God was. Because the narrative of the goodness
of God had not broke through. The overwhelming
narrative was God is to be feared. God is to
be respected. And whatever type of God they had,
it was always on the basis that humanity was
trying to please God in some way to satisfy him.
That's the narrative of all the nations of how
they serve their deities. Jesus comes on the
scene saying, listen, I've come to breach. Excuse
me, to bridge the breach that came through sin.
And I've come to set something in place here
so that you would understand the real nature
of the father and that his desire is to give
of himself. He is at essence a giver of life,
a giver of love, a giver of grace, a giver of
mercy, a giver of hope, a giver of all things
that are good. That is his nature. And that smoked.
The belts of every person. Because the reality
is. They couldn't compute that. Because culture.
Mandates. Religion. Had created a mindset. Of
how to approach God. And that's why Jesus was.
Acting so intentional. With this woman saying.
If you knew. The gift of God. And who it was.
Saying to you. Give me a drink. You would have
asked him and he would have given you. Notice
how Jesus turned it. He was saying, listen, if
you just give him, you're little. That's all
God is looking for. You give him what you have.
Just give him a drink. Give him the act. of what
he's asking. And you have no idea what's in store
because he's the giver of life at every area.
See, Jesus was declaring to this woman, and here's
where we ended up last week, the gift of God
wants to be known. Really, that's what Jesus
was doing with the Samaritan woman. He was declaring
God's gift is not meant to be in secret. God's
gift is meant to be known. God's gift is meant
to be experienced. And Jesus was saying to the
Samaritan, which would represent all Gentile
nations, he was saying, listen, he's going to
say this here a little further. He said, listen,
salvation is of the Jews. Because she had some
arguments. She goes, well, you Jews say you worship
over there at that mountain. We worship at this
mountain. And Jesus... I had people come to me
over the years. I've had almost 35 years of,
36 years of ministry, 33 years of ministry full
time. 36 years of ministry, I've had people come
say, you know, Jesus doesn't correct and doesn't
correct people. He's always so kind and gentle.
I'm thinking, have you read any of the stories?
I mean, you know, have you read any of the times
he talked to the disciples? Oh, you of little
faith. Why do you not believe? Or the time that
he would say to his disciples, how long must
I be with you? These are not statements of great
endearing. These are statements of exasperated
parenting. And in this particular instance with
the Samaritan woman, he basically just said,
you're wrong. You Jews worship there, we worship
here, but I know when Messiah comes, this was
her phrase, I know when Messiah comes, he will
teach us all things. He goes, I'm he. Salvation
is of the Jews. Folks, if that isn't a correction,
I don't know what is. That's not a loving, oh,
nice try, honey. Here's a participation award.
He literally comes and re - frames her thinking.
And you understand what he did was actually show
us what it takes for repentance. Because repentance
before you can ever turn and walk something different
means you have to change your heart perspective
and your thought process to actually realign
with God's. She actually had to let go. If she
was going to embrace who he was and what was
standing in front of her and receive the gift
that he was ready to give, not just one gift,
but multiple gifts. of love and acceptance of
salvation, of living water, of the Spirit of
God. If she was going to receive the gift that
she didn't know, she would have to do what? She'd
have to take the correction, reframe it, believe
it, and then allow a new understanding to come
to her. Do you understand? That's often why people
don't get the gifts that God actually has for
them. Because they want to receive a gift without
actually changing their perspective. Jesus was
saying, listen, you've not known the nature of
my father. You've not known his gifts, his goodness.
Jesus is saying, if you really knew, if you knew
God's nature and God's heart, then you would
want everything that he has for you. Jesus continues
the dialogue with this, if you really knew what
I bring. And I want us to focus our attention
on this in what it says in John 10. When it says,
if you knew the gift, you would have asked. That
word is eteo. in the Greek. And I want to drill
down on this this morning. I know sometimes the
Greek, we don't always understand it, but it's
important to look at the original language that
this was written in because the word ateo actually
means something beyond just this phrase. This
one word in the Greek actually means you would
have asked. You would have asked. Four words.
equaling one word in the Greek. That word ateo
means this, to crave, to call, to ask, to desire,
to require, and to beseech of wanting the more.
Now, that's important because, and I'm gonna
come down and just try to explain this. If you
understand what Jesus was saying, if you knew
who it was that you were talking to, if you understood
the gift of God, if you had a fresh revelation
and you stepped outside of the banks of your
thought process, your religion, your culture,
even in the big one for most of us today, you'd
step outside. Of the issue of what you think
you've done wrong. And the framework of what
you've done wrong. And you'd stop allowing those
voices to keep you from receiving. If you'd just
allow yourself to step into who he really is.
You would have had something inside of you. That
would have. A teode. What would have a teode?
It would have asked. It would have called. It
would have almost begged to do what? To receive
something more. You see, at the heart of every
person, when you meet, thank you, looking at
me there, because it said yes. So I'm going to
take Van, for instance. At the heart of when
Van accepted Jesus Christ, at the very essence
of who he is, when he surrendered to Jesus Christ,
several things happened at the same time, the
Bible tells us. He was, when he repented of his
sins and he asked Jesus to come and live in his
life, here's what happened. Number one, he was
justified. That word is a big word, but it simply
means he was made right with the laws that he
was contrary to. And God legally made him right
because of, Christ's life through faith that
is now given to him right standing so he's no
longer in illegal standing he's no longer unlawful
he's been made right second sanctification begin
to take place meaning what what he couldn't clean
up himself the Holy Spirit begins to clean up
and begin to work Number three, the faith that
he didn't have before. God granted faith the
time that he believed that word. And faith partnered
and accompanied grace to do the work in his life
that he couldn't do on his own. And then this
thing that we're talking about here happened
as well. Meaning what? He knew the gift of God.
And at the knowing of the gift of God. Okay,
hang on. I'm not going to hurt you. Too bad here.
Okay. At the knowing of the gift of God. Back.
Right. Just smack right in there. All of a sudden.
Okay. All of a sudden there was something imparted
to him that wanted more. It wasn't self -generated.
He didn't have to like kickstart an old Harley
in the morning. Like, you know, I think I want
Jesus. I think I want, that's a stupid thing.
I think, no. He automatically had on the inside
something that said, what I receive from him
is calling me and drawing me to want to get more
of him. I've got to say this to you. That's how
you know you got really saved. In the essence
of justification, sanctification, regeneration,
faith, something deposited in that grace gift
that came to the inside and you woke up with
the next morning going, you didn't wake up going,
oh, that was... a lost venture. You wake up in
the morning recognizing something shifted and
there's something in me drawing me to him. That
is that thing of what Jesus was actually calling
forth to that woman saying, listen, if you knew
who was before you, if you knew the gift of God
that was there, you would have asked me. And
I would have given you living water. How does
this work? Well, number one, you have to be able
to step out of the mindsets that hold you. It's
not about tradition. It's not about religion.
It's the fact that you, now listen, I'm all for
truth. We have to have truth. But sometimes the
religion is not actually based in any form of
truth whatsoever. It's based on somebody's opinion
of what they think something means. But they
actually can't point to a theme. I'm not saying
every, there is not a verse for every action
in the Bible but there are themes all the way
through the scripture that address every issue
of life. And sometimes the things that we think
are godly don't even find a stream or a theme
even in the Bible. I mean, I know this for a
fact. I was raised in a godly home. I went to
a place that loved God the Father, God the Son.
They said they knew the Holy Spirit, but they
didn't know how to engage Him. And one of the
things that they preached against in my conservative
upbringing was type of music was, other than
your voice as the instrument that God provided
you, was not righteous. And then you have to
ask yourself, have you read the Bible? With clanging
cymbals, make a joyful noise. With stringed harps,
make a joyful noise. With the lute and the flute,
make a noise. And you have to bypass whole sections
of scripture to believe that gobbledygook. But
it sounded righteous. But the righteousness of
man does not equal the righteousness of God.
Come on, somebody. And the reality is you have
to begin. To step out of these things as God
begins to come to our lives and say, what am
I doing that satisfies me versus am I doing something
that's pleasing and honoring the Lord and am
I receiving of the gift that's life -giving or
am I just drinking natural water in a religious
setting? You all right? I'm gonna keep meddling
and pressing here a little bit. Notice he said,
if you would have asked, Jesus said, I would
have given. That word given in the Greek is the
word, and here we go, didio me. And I love what
the definition of this word means. It means to
give, which we have in our English rendering
here. I would have given. It also means to grant.
It means to reach out. And here's even better.
I'm gonna give you something to administer, to
furnish. Didio me means I'm going to extend and
present. This is the beauty. Now, I know I've...
Did I send him to the hospital? Is it all right?
All right, no, just kidding, just kidding. I
know I was cranking on him here a little bit.
Okay, I'll pick on Van because he's still over
here. Okay, now you have to understand when God
says this, he said, I would have given you, meaning
I would have what? Granted you, I'd give you.
I'm going to give you something to administer.
I'm going to extend and I'm going to present
you with something. If you'd have known who it
was and the gift that was here, I would have
extended and presented you something. with the
waters of life. Let's read it this way. If you'd
have known the gift of God that it was and who
it was, you would have asked me and I would have
given you something to administer. Whoa. Let's
think that through. Do you understand that every
gift that God gives comes with administration?
God doesn't give gifts that are stagnant. Every
gift that he gives comes with the ability to
administrate it. So let's just start off here.
We'll pick on Jody a little bit because he's
sitting over here on this side because I was
over there. That side was way more unruly, so
we're going to just be peaceful right here. Okay,
think about it this way. jode when you receive
salvation the gift that was now imparted into
you you put just put your hands on your chest
right there the gift that was imparted into you
okay now notice it doesn't just stay it's not
to stay dormant it actually is to be administrated
Meaning that there was a godly presence inside
of you that is meant to come now into your mind
and into your heart where you begin to administrate
the truth and the revelation of who you are.
Because at the moment you said, as we were talking
about it, justification, sanctification, regeneration,
faith, grace comes to your life, then what happens?
Well now, 2 Corinthians 5, 17, if any person
is in Christ, They are a new creation. The old
is gone. The new has come. Well, at that point,
the administrative power of the grace gift of
God of salvation to you... helps you not listen
to the voices or the mindset of yesterday. And
therefore, he expects you to administrate the
truth of who you are in God. So as you're walking,
that gift, you're administrating that gift to
different mindsets that would confront you during
the day. You're administrating that gift to the
group of friends around you and to the people
around you. All of a sudden, they're seeing a
change and you're responding. Here's the wonderful
thing about God. Remember I told you that God
always sets the stage. He does what only God
can do, but then he expects you to partner with
him. He sets the stage for you to always partner
in the administration of that gift. You can't
just let the handlebars go and just say, okay,
Jesus. I mean, it's a wonderful song. Jesus take
the wheel, but it's totally unbiblical. Okay.
Jesus take the wheel and he expects you to actually
partner with him. Yes. I understand. It's about
let Jesus be in control, but he still wants you
conscious and hands on the wheel. Okay. Jesus
take the wheel. Doesn't mean hell, whatever Lord
is your will. No, that is not the case. The administration
of salvation means that you are in full faculties
learning to process your thoughts and begin to,
where you didn't have a filter before, now have
a filter to recognize the mixed from the true.
Are you there? The whole point of the Holy Spirit
and the Holy Word is to give you a filter to
determine what is false and what has mixture.
And what you're going to find out in any form
of Christianity is the majority of mixture doesn't
come with outside of the people of God. It comes
within the people of God. That's a good word,
preacher. Because the people on the outside,
they know they're jacked up. They know that they're
lost and fallen. It's the ones that think they
know that carry the mixture that you have to
be able to discern what is coming out of their
talk, their words, their mindset. Is it truth
or is it their own version? That's why Jesus
was dealing with this Samaritan woman. Why? She
was trying to persuade Jesus that where the Jews
worshipped versus where she worshipped was equal
to them. Messiah would sort it all out and she
was good where she was at. And Jesus was saying,
no, listen, if you knew the gift of God that
was in you. and you knew who it was that would
say to you, give me a drink, I would have bestowed
and granted and extended to you. I would have
reached out to you and given you the administration
of the spirit of life and truth. That would cause
you now to think differently. It would cause
you now to make different choices. And as you
partner with it, you're going to learn to discern
the truth from the lie. Are you guys doing okay?
Because this is really, really important. Listen,
in today's culture, the world, the flesh, the
devil will try to convince us. Listen, this is
where you live, this is where I live. It will
try to convince, listen, the world, the flesh,
and the devil doesn't stop the minute you get
saved. Have you noticed that? It's like nobody
puts a little red flag up at your heart and says,
okay, no soliciting by the devil anymore. You
cannot come. Okay, that's not what happens. They
still knock on the door of your mind and your
heart. Why? Because although he knows that you're
in the hand of God, what's he trying to do? He's
trying to keep you from actually walking in the
administration of truth and in the administration
of his Holy Spirit. If he can get you to get
mixture, then you're saved, but your effectiveness
with mixture will be diluted with everyone else,
and he still has the opportunity to pull people
in through deception. See, that's part of my
assignment. Every pastor's assignment is as the
congregation comes in from the week as we celebrate
Jesus and we celebrate the Father and the Holy
Spirit and we offer worship. The word of God
preached is not only to establish doctrine, but
it's also the cleansing power of the word of
God that separates little mixtures and the truth
from the lies of getting in so that what? Not
only is worship stay clean, our lives stay clean,
and we are reaffirmed, encouraged to go out and
serve the Lord in purity and in honesty before
the Lord and before men. That's the whole job.
That's why the preaching of the word is so effective.
It's supposed to be because it comes and it cleanses
us. It not only feeds us, but it acts as a fresh
shower over our conscience, over our values,
over our filters. And so the enemy's goal when
you get saved is he can't take your salvation,
but if he can marginalize you. If he can get
you to believe that God is haphazard in his word.
That God is superstitious. He only once in a
while does what he says he's going to do. If
you can believe that he'll try to get you to
convince you that God has certain favorites and
he doesn't love all of his people the same. He'll
try to convince you that God is kind of like
a bingo that once in a while you get a stream
of truth and favor and you get your answer. But
most of the time it's just I -94. See, if he
can get you to believe that God is haphazard
in his approach to you, that he's fickle, that
he's moody, and you better guard your heart and
play it safe because to give God all of your
heart might mean you get disappointed. He then
has taken your focus off of you trusting the
Father in his timing and you trusting your heart
and preserving you and you've just... fallen
into the snare of a filter of mixture that you
won't be able to administrate purity and truth.
Why? Because out of your past experience, that
spoke to you louder than your encounter with
the gift. You see, when God says in Luke 11,
13, He says, if you are evil, know how to give
good gifts to your children. How much more will
your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to
those who ask him? He's saying, above all the
gifts. And that's what Jesus was getting with
the Samaritan woman. Here was the gift. Of the
son of God himself. And the giver of living water.
Which we'll get to in the weeks to follow here.
Which is always representative of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus here becomes not only the gift. of salvation
but he would be the gift he would be the one
who would give the Holy Spirit of the gift that
would keep on giving and yet because of experience
because of culture because of religion because
of fear because of whatever excuse many times
we just simply only settle for the little things
in the natural And we don't actually open our
heart for the things that he actually has. You
see, Jesus in his correction of this woman in
John 4, 22. And Jenny, if you'd come to the piano
wherever you're at. Jenny, Jenny, Jenny. You
worship, listen to what Jesus said. You worship
what you do not know. We worship what we know.
I want to share with you something that might
sound a little callous, but this is a huge point
that Jesus is making. He was saying to the woman
at the well that she was a worshiper, but her
worship was not actually doing her any good.
I want you to think that through for a moment.
You worship what you do not know. Meaning you
can come into this room today. You could have
worshiped and sang those songs. But if you don't
actually know Jesus on the inside, it doesn't
mean that God doesn't honor the fact that you're
trying to worship him. It means that your worship
actually didn't go through to life to you or
him. Think of that. You see, Jesus wasn't coming
to a woman that had complete ignorance. Joseph,
don't come down here. All right, Jesus wasn't
coming to a woman that had complete ignorance.
He was coming to someone who knew. She knew she
had background of knowing that Messiah would
come. You read the whole passage, read it over
and over. You'll find that Jesus was dealing
with something that she knew Messiah was on his
way. She knew that God was going to give a gift.
She worshiped on a mountain and she worshiped
in a culture and she hid behind it. And Jesus
said, because of that, you worship. And your
worship is, you're truly trying to do something,
but your worship isn't changing your life. Why?
Because you don't know the gift. You only know
it from a true perspective that you think you
know who God is, but you haven't actually been
introduced to who he really is. You worship what
you don't know. My question is in the church,
in this house this morning, how many people are
walking in this room today that are actually
worshiping God, desire to worship God, but because
of cultural ramifications, because of the listening
to the voice of the past, because of religious
things that you thought that it was really a
choice for you to make and you've said no to
it, that has actually kept you from actually
receiving living water. That worship becomes
a ritual rather than life -giving. It's huge.
And oftentimes we'll come to church services
and we don't often get, and I'm not saying it's
always right to just preach a message that just
kind of pokes you in the eye. Sometimes you have
to be encouraged. Amen? But sometimes you need
actually a word of conviction that actually comes
to break hardened mindsets and hardened hearts
and religious traditions and say, what have I
put in front of me? What have I allowed to frame
it in that actually isn't Bible at all and that's
keeping me from receiving the drinking of living
water? That I wouldn't even ask for it. I didn't
even know I had a need for it. You see, this
Samaritan woman got so used to living with the
routine of her life where she'd been ostracized
from culture. Well, partly because she'd had
five different husbands and the one she was with
now wasn't her own. The ladies in the town weren't
exactly thrilled to have to play bingo with her.
She was a threat to every marriage. Then she
wrapped herself in that mindset in addition to
the Samaritan mindset of being mixed and now
worshiping on Mount Ebal versus where the Jews
had set the temple on Mount Moriah. And we're
going to get into that next week, so stay tuned.
Why was those two mountains So radically different.
Why would they think that evil was the same as
Moriah? It all comes back to tradition. It all
comes back to how man tries to justify getting
out of true obedience and worshiping something
that's close. That's good enough. Jesus comes
back. And his word saying. If you knew. If you
knew. And notice what he says next in verse 23
through 25. The hour is coming. And now is here.
When true worshipers will worship the father
in spirit. And truth. For the father is seeking
such people to worship him. We hear this verse
a lot. I quote this verse a lot. God is spirit.
And those who worship him. Must. Can we say that
word together? Must. Worship him in spirit and
in truth. I need you to just drill down with
me for a second. And then we're going to pray.
The time of just worshiping around truth and
truth alone, I say this carefully, had already
been passing from the scene. Truth without spirit
passed from the scene because of Jesus' life.
The truth that would emerge was the truth that
was Spirit filled and covered. What was he saying?
He's saying just having the law, having the truth
alone does not lead to life. The father's not
looking for those just to live by the letter
of the law. He's now looking for those that will
take the truth and have the spirit of truth in
it. Because the spirit of truth comes also from
the Father. His name is what? And this is Jesus'
big introduction. His name is Holy Spirit. And
Jesus gets further into that. He's only in John
4. When he gets to John 14 and he gets to John
16, he introduces, and I will send the spirit
of what? Truth. So what was Jesus doing? Jesus
was setting the stage, Chris, right in the beginning
with this doctrinal understanding with a Samaritan
woman that had lived outside the boundaries of
everything that was real truth. And yet under
the culture and the idea that she was giving
God her best, he was saying, listen, if you're
going to worship God, you now have to operate
in both spheres of truth. You have to operate
in the truth of his word. And you have to operate
in the fullness of his spirit. Now that doesn't
mean that you're going to have that. It means
that you have to desire the spirit of truth.
And you have to desire both spirit and truth.
Because if they are the spirit of truth. It highlights
the truth of the word. And it highlights everything
that God is in the spirit. And God says. I'm
looking for that now. And if you're going to
come to worship me, you actually must worship
in those two realms, in spirit and in truth.
That word is a huge dividing word, even now in
the body of Christ. It divides. Why? Because
some people want to just worship around truth
alone. The black and white of it, that's what
it is. If I don't understand it, it doesn't matter.
I just stick with what I know. Well, no, he wants
you to worship. Worship means what? You got to
get vulnerable. The system of being detached
was an Old Testament system. You brought your
offering to the priest and you walked away. It
was a detached offering of just truth. Now, the
system of worship that God is asking of us is
not detached. It means I bring my life as obedience.
That's why Paul says in Romans 12, 1 and 2, I
present myself as a living sacrifice, holy and
acceptable to God, which is my reasonable service
of worship. That's the first part of truth. Bringing
what? I bring myself. The next part of worshiping
in spirit and truth is that I now minister in
vulnerability to the Lord with everything that's
in me and I allow his spirit to awaken me to
areas where I'm not aligned, awaken me to areas...
That aren't actually in the truth. Clean out
of me places of mixture. Remove from me. And
then move into freedom. That living water would
actually satisfy me. And that I would want more.
That's what the father is after. You see. And
I'll end with this. Pastor Scott if you'd come.
In the Old Testament. scriptures. At a young
age, a lamb was considered a year old and less.
After a year old, you weren't considered a lamb
anymore. You were considered a sheep. Okay, whether
you were a ram or a ewe, the reality is a lamb
had a year basis to it. In Old Testament law,
under the law of Moses, you could bring a kid
goat. A kid goat is what? A year or less, I'll
say the full of a goat that's called a kid. In
the sacrificial system, you could offer a lamb
or a kid. They were exchangeable. But the minute
you move past the year lamb or a kid, you became
categorized as either a sheep or a goat. Why?
Because the nature of what was in that animal
would begin to be seen and begin to manifest.
That's why the Bible would always call the people.
He says, you are the sheep of my pasture. Notice
he doesn't say, you are the goats of my pasture.
But shepherds shepherded both sheep and goats.
But we were, anybody that was of the Lord was
always required to do what? They were always
said, my sheep hear my voice. The sheep knows
the shepherd's voice. Why? Because a goat, a
sheep's nature is what? A sheep's nature is to
follow the shepherd even when they were going
somewhere else. The voice and the counsel and
the appearance or the physicality of the shepherd,
the sheep change direction to follow the shepherd.
That's the nature of a sheep. What's the nature
of a goat? I don't ever tell you to go to YouTube
or TikTok. Most of the time, I tell you don't
go there. But just look up goat experiences.
And you will find that even the most wonderful
goats that the shepherd has fed and watered and
they just had as soon as they turned their back,
boom! Pulled some. Okay. What do they do? The
budding nature. Means I'll follow when I want
to follow, how I want to follow, and you won't
tell me and I will not be able to be relied on.
That's why Jesus said at the end of the age,
he will do what? He will separate the sheep from
the goats. It'll be the nature of who truly want
to follow the Lord in the fullness, allowing
the mixture out of their life, following the
shepherd and pursuing him versus he'll get what
he gets and I'll decide when I'll follow and
when I want. You see, that's what Jesus was trying
to take out of the Samaritan woman. Not only
was he trying to redo her mindset, That had been
framed by her mistakes and her behavior. That
was just one of the issues. He was removing the
mindset. That the mountain that she was worshiping
on. Was equal to what God said needed to be pursued.
And that's what the Lord is doing. In his house
right now. Is he is cleansing the mixture. Allowing
people to embrace what? The real word of God.
Not just what you think. The real word of God.
There are scriptures that we are actually supposed
to believe and adhere to while we pursue the
Holy Spirit. It is the scriptures that keep us
in the purity of pursuing the Holy Spirit. You
cannot trade truth for spirit. You cannot trade
spirit for truth. You must have them both. Why?
because John explained it best in his opening
salvo as I'm closing in the gospel of John chapter
1 verse 14 and you know the beginning salvo says
in the beginning was the word and the word was
God and the word was with God and the word was
made flesh and right before 14 he says and we
beheld him the only begotten son of God who came
in the flesh we saw his glory for he was what
filled with Grace and truth. Grace is the spirit.
Truth is always the truth. They're both truth
in God. Jesus operated in both. And as he moved
forward in the gospels right from the beginning,
he would constantly reveal that you needed God
as the gift and you needed the Holy Spirit that
was the part of that truth gift. and they were
to be yours to be embraced and received because
it would make, it would cause you to know the
giver of the gift. Would you bow your heads and
your hearts this morning? If you're here this
morning and you have not, experienced the knowing
of the gift of Jesus Christ. I'm not talking
about knowing him from a distance. I'm not talking
about knowledge. I'm talking about having an
encounter with Jesus Christ himself that would
put that administration of his grace and of his
spirit on the inside of you. If you have not
known him by his holy word this morning, he is
here in spirit. to draw you to himself. He stands
before you just like he stood before the Samaritan
woman. He said, if you knew who it was that was
speaking to you, if you would ask, I will give
you living water. He comes today with the gift
of himself to give to you if you'll ask. But
that asking means that I have to recognize that
what I have has kept me really from experiencing
him. And I'm willing to trade it. I'm willing
to lay it down and say, Jesus, forgive me for
putting all the excuses and the boundaries around
you. I come to you plainly. I come to you out
of my own free will and I'm asking you to come
live inside of my life. If that's you. I'm asking
you, I'll send somebody right to you right now.
Just lift your hand and we'll help you. We'll
pray that prayer and we will watch God actually
give you a drink of living water. If that's you
this morning, you say, yeah, that's me. I want
to receive him. I don't, I've only known him
at a distance. I've not been able to drink deeply
from life. I've only known ritual and religion
and mixture. And as you're thinking about that,
you can raise your hand at any time. I'll send
somebody to you. I want to speak to those that
you know that God is dealing with the mixture
right now. Mindsets that have kept your heart
guarded. Mindsets that have kept you from fully
trusting God. Fully giving yourself in worship.
to him. If that's you this morning, you say,
yeah, Lord, I need you to help me. Direct me
back to have an encounter with you. If that's
you, would you just be so bold just to lift your
hand and say, yeah, pray for me. Yeah, thank
you. Thank you. Come on, just lift them up. I'm
not going to call you forward, but I am going
to ask you to respond in the presence of the
Lord saying, Jesus, that's me. I need more of
your spirit. I need to be free. I need to let
go. Help me now. Remove the mixture. Let me know
the truth and let me understand the Holy Spirit.
Father, you see every hand that's lifted even
now. And Lord, every decision that's being made,
I ask Holy Spirit. that you would come to them.
Lord, touching their mind, touching their heart,
unravel from them, Lord, the justifications and
the excuses. Lord, even the voices that are around
them that are trying to keep them in old ways,
in old mindsets. I pray now for a breaking off
of that and I ask for a release of grace and
truth together over their heart and over their
spirit. I bless them now. Lord, do that work.
Let that gift now, the gift of salvation, start
drawing and pulling them closer and closer to
receive the life that's in you. In Jesus Christ's
holy name, amen. We are so grateful for those
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