Participants: C. A. Murray
Series Code: AOT
Program Code: AOT000164A
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00:13 Welcome to Anchors Of Truth,
00:16 live from the 3ABN Worship Center. 00:22 I thank you for joining us this morning. 00:25 I hope you all are happy in the Lord. 00:27 Isn't it great when Sabbath rolls around? 00:30 And we can come and be in the house of worship 00:32 here at 3ABN. 00:34 But for those of you joining us around the world, 00:36 thank you for your love and your prayers and financial support 00:39 of 3ABN as we endeavor to take this great gospel 00:43 of the kingdom into all the world. 00:45 A ministry that's been here over 30 years with God's blessing 00:48 continues to grow year after year. 00:50 And thank you for what you do. 00:53 Anchors Of Truth is a great time every month 00:56 when we get different speakers. 00:58 Our speaker today is a very special friend to me. 01:01 He has been for many, many years. 01:03 The first time I knew about C.A. Murray, 01:07 we were asked, Melody and me, I think it was about 2003 01:11 possibly, to go to New York and sing at a camp meeting. 01:16 There was going to be 10 or 12 thousand people. 01:19 Mollie Steenson said, "They want you and Melody to sing 01:22 a new song she's written; I Know the Plans." 01:25 That Melody had written. 01:26 So she said, "But I want to let you know, 01:29 there's a man there that's going to sing with you." 01:31 And I said, "What?" 01:33 She said, "There's a pastor there and he said he's 01:35 going to get up and sing with you." 01:36 I said, "No he isn't. 01:38 I don't know this pastor. 01:39 I don't know if he can carry a tune. 01:41 I don't even know if he knows the song." 01:43 "Well, he wants to sing that with you." 01:44 So I said, "Well, what's his name?" 01:46 She said, "Pastor C.A. Murray. He's going to be there." 01:49 I said, "Well, I'll tell you what we'll do. 01:51 We'll try him out." 01:52 I said, "Before the service, we'll try him out." 01:54 Well we did, and of course he know the song already. 01:57 He knew it better than I did, actually. 01:59 And it was the first time I had ever met Pastor C.A. Murray. 02:02 What a blessing that he's been in my life as far as 02:06 ministry is concerned, and also just as a friend, he and Irma. 02:09 What special people they are. 02:11 I praise God to be able to work with these folk every day. 02:14 And C.A. has got such an anointing that God has 02:17 given him to preach the gospel literally around the world. 02:21 And God has given him musical abilities, 02:23 he's the General Manager of the Proclaim network. 02:27 So praise the Lord for Pastor C.A. Murray. 02:30 Also today we have some special music by some of our young folk. 02:33 How many like to see our young folk up here, right? 02:36 Alright, we have Farrah Barry on the piano, 02:39 and we have Marcus Gonzalez. 02:41 And they're going to be doing the song, 02:44 Peace, As the Deer Panteth For Water. 02:47 And then right after that, the next voice you'll hear 02:50 will be Pastor C.A. Murray. 07:25 Amen and amen. Well done. 07:27 Thank you so very, very much. 07:31 I'm going to ask you do me the great favor of 07:38 trying to come back this afternoon, if you can. 07:41 Something occurred to me about two o'clock this morning 07:44 as I was writing. 07:46 And I fell upon something that I began to play with 07:51 some 20 years ago. 07:54 And it occurred to me that it connects with what 07:58 we are talking about this morning. 08:01 And I should like to suggest something to you this afternoon 08:06 as we close out this series. 08:10 So we ask for your prayers this morning, 08:13 and again this afternoon. 08:15 Turn with me, if you will, to the gospel as written by John. 08:22 Chapter 4 and verse 9. 08:30 John chapter 4, we begin at verse 9. 08:35 You are, no doubt, familiar with this story, 08:38 so we will not recount all of it in our Scripture lesson, 08:43 save, to highlight and showcase certain aspects of the story 08:48 that are germane to our discussion. 08:52 John chapter 4, beginning at verse 9. 09:01 The Bible says, "Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, 09:06 'How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, 09:13 a Samaritan woman?' 09:15 For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans." 09:18 I'm reading from the New King James. 09:22 "Jesus answered and said to her, 'If you knew the gift of God, 09:30 and who it is that says to you, "Give Me a drink," 09:35 you would have asked Him, and He would have 09:39 given you living water.' 09:46 The woman said to Him, 'Sir, You have nothing to draw with, 09:51 and the well is deep. 09:53 Where then do You get that living water? 10:00 Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, 10:06 and drank from it himself, as well as his sons 10:12 and his livestock?' 10:16 Jesus answered and said to her, 'Whoever drinks of this water 10:22 will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water 10:27 that I shall give him will never thirst. 10:33 But the water that I shall give him will become in him 10:38 a fountain,'" or a river, "of water springing up 10:44 to everlasting life." 10:50 Gracious Father, we ask for the presence and power 10:56 of Your Spirit. 11:00 We come expecting a blessing. 11:04 Do not disappoint. 11:07 For we wait upon You. 11:08 In Jesus' name, amen. 11:12 I brought my Mishnah with me this morning. 11:14 I don't know if I'll get a chance to read from it. 11:16 I may have to just refer to it. 11:21 The term, "Samaritan," appears only once in the Old Testament. 11:28 It is found in 2 Kings 17:29. 11:34 It refers to the citizens of the former kingdom of Israel, 11:39 the northern tribes. 11:42 Later, the term was applied to the city and the surrounding 11:45 district, of which Samaria, the city, was the political hub 11:52 and also the religious center. 11:57 The origin of Samaria as an entity is found 12:01 in 2 Kings 17:24-34. 12:05 We don't have time to read all of that. 12:09 But after King Tiglath-Pileser, and later Sargon... 12:13 And for those of you who are trivia buffs, 12:16 when Ellen White was sent to Australia in the 1890's, 12:21 she had a dog. 12:24 I believe it was a German Shepherd or Shepherd mix. 12:27 She named that dog, Tiglath-Pileser. 12:31 So she did have a sense of humor. 12:37 So Tiglath, and later Sargon, carried most of the population 12:41 of Israel into exile. 12:44 The Assyrians had this idea that when they conquered 12:49 a nation, they tried to replace the people who are there 12:54 with an imported people in trying to totally destroy the 12:58 history of the people whom they conquered. 13:01 So the Assyrians displaced the original Israeli's 13:06 and replaced them with Babylonians, 13:09 people from Mesopotamia, and people from Hammath in Syria. 13:14 And these people brought with them their own religion, 13:19 their own beliefs, which intermingled with the religion 13:23 of the small number of Jews that remained. 13:28 The worship of Jehovah eventually won out. 13:34 But it was adulterated by the pagan beliefs of those 13:39 who the Assyrians brought in for that particular purpose. 13:44 So these foreigners never really let go of their gods, 13:48 and their religion was intermingled with the 13:51 pure Jewish religion and became the religion of the Samaritans. 13:56 Josiah was able to re-conquer much of Samaria 14:01 under his great revival. 14:04 But the influences were always there. 14:07 And the religion in Samaria was always somewhat more 14:12 liberal, shall we say, than the religion of those in Judah. 14:21 And under the watch of these pagan influences, 14:30 the religion of God was nearly erased, 14:35 but not totally. 14:38 So when Judah returned from Babylonian captivity, 14:43 they viewed the Samaritans as half-breeds, 14:49 traitors to the faith, and turncoats. 14:55 And that was the genesis of the animas between 14:59 Samaritans and Jews. 15:03 The Samaritans later asked to join the Jews 15:07 in the rebuilding of the temple. 15:11 They were rebuffed. 15:12 The Jews rejected that request. 15:16 They tried to help them rebuild the city. 15:19 The Jews would not allow it. 15:23 Zerubbabel, Yeshua, and the others rejected outright 15:28 the offer of Samaritan aid, because they didn't 15:31 want to be contaminated with this half-breed religion. 15:35 You follow me? 15:38 The Jews, for their part, were concerned 15:41 about the Samaritans practicing a corrupt religion, 15:45 and they didn't want to be part of that. 15:47 They didn't want to get soiled with Samaritan impurities. 15:54 So the Samaritans stopped the rebuilding of the wall 15:57 by force for a time. 16:00 They burned the gates of Jerusalem, 16:03 tore down sections of the wall, and generally harassed Nehemiah 16:08 and others who were trying to rebuild the temple 16:12 and the city of Jerusalem. 16:15 Nehemiah describes in some detail how Sanballat, 16:18 the Samaritan governor, made attempts to hinder the work. 16:24 And we find that in Nehemiah 4 and 6. 16:29 Josephus says the Samaritans were the kind of people 16:35 who claimed to be Jews when it was to their advantage. 16:40 But when being a Jew was unpopular, 16:43 the Samaritans had nothing to do with them. 16:47 When the Seleucid king, Antiochus IV, 16:50 Antiochus Epiphanes, tried to Hellenize 16:54 the community of Israel, and tried to turn everybody 17:00 into Greeks and make them behave as Greeks, 17:03 the Jews resisted and suffered severe persecution. 17:08 The Samaritans dedicated their temple on Mount Gerizim 17:12 to Zeus, the defender of strangers. 17:17 So they were kind of a "go with the flow" people. 17:20 Path of least resistance. 17:24 So when the Jews began to rebound in the days of 17:26 the Maccabees, John Hyrcanus went north and burned down 17:32 the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim. 17:36 So by the time of Christ, the hatred was 17:40 centuries old and mutual. 17:43 Jews hated Samaritans, Samaritans hated Jews, 17:50 so much so that this Mishnah says a traveler 17:54 traveling from Galilee to Jerusalem 17:57 would avoid passing through Samaria, which was the most 18:00 direct route, at all cost. 18:02 He would even go into the foreign land of Perea 18:05 to avoid touching or having anything to do with Samaria. 18:13 Interestingly enough, the anthro-historians say 18:16 if you go to the north of Israel today, 18:20 there are descendents of those original Samaritans 18:26 worshiping and living there to this very day. 18:30 But in the days of the New Testament, 18:34 the Jews were possessed of a species of institutional 18:39 and societal racism. 18:42 And it wasn't a matter of that Jews didn't like Samaritans. 18:47 They looked down on them as inferior, impure, 18:53 and treacherous. 18:56 It is said in one of the old Talmudic prayers 19:00 that the lords of the temple often prayed, 19:03 "Lord, I am glad I am not lame, I am glad I am not a woman, 19:14 and I am glad that I am not a Samaritan." 19:18 So now you have the background of the meeting between Jesus 19:24 and a woman that was now in her sixth relationship; 19:30 five husbands and one common-law paramour, 19:36 at the well of Sychar. 19:39 Jesus now has to cut through nearly 700 years of animosity, 19:46 bigotry, mistrust, racism, and suspicion. 19:53 This woman at the well was looked down upon by any Jew. 20:00 She was looked down upon by her own Samaritan people. 20:05 Married men shunned her. 20:09 Single women shunned her. 20:12 Married women shunned her. 20:16 And she didn't have many friends. 20:21 Ellen White says the animosity between Jew and Samaritan 20:24 was so strong and so ingrained that even the disciples, 20:30 it didn't occur to them to do something nice for her. 20:35 She has a reputation, and it was not good. 20:41 Which is precisely why she was getting water 20:45 at twelve o'clock noon in the hottest part of the day. 20:51 The respectable ladies had already gotten their water 20:54 in the cool of the morning. 20:57 There would have been talking, there would have been laugher, 21:00 sharing a little gossip. 21:02 Maybe even talking about her. 21:03 But that was done at 6 am, 7 am, maybe 8 am. 21:07 Nobody got water at 12 noon. 21:10 It's too hot, it's too miserable. 21:16 So she waits until everyone is gone, 21:21 and she goes to get her water. 21:25 No normal person, no person of repute would get water 21:30 at the sixth hour. 21:33 That is precisely why she is there. 21:37 So when she gets there, there is only one person there. 21:45 And praise God He is anything but normal. 21:49 Now you've got to like Jesus as a tactician. 21:54 Ellen White says that there was the well, and then there was 21:57 this wall around the well. 22:01 And Jesus plants Himself on that wall right around the well. 22:07 So she cannot ignore Him, she cannot miss Him. 22:10 She's got to go around Him to do what she wants to do. 22:14 Christ is right in her way. 22:18 And Ellen White says she pretends like He's 22:21 not even there. 22:23 Because that's how Jews treat Samaritans. 22:28 And that's how Samaritans treat Jews. 22:33 But Ellen White said she did have a passing interest 22:36 in the Scriptures. 22:40 She was in the right state of mind. 22:43 She was tired of the old life. 22:47 She had been through five marriages 22:50 and was in common-law relationship with a sixth. 22:55 And Ellen White says, and this is interesting, 22:59 Christ revealed to this woman, and we'll get to this 23:02 in a little bit, things that He never told any Jew. 23:06 He didn't even tell Nicodemus. 23:07 And He didn't even tell His own disciples. 23:10 He gave her information that the Jews never got, 23:16 and even the disciples didn't get until the very end. 23:18 He gave it to her that day. 23:24 There are important lessons that we can learn 23:27 from the lesson at the well. 23:29 Number one, Christ is no respecter of persons. 23:32 Praise God. 23:35 It doesn't matter what your reputation is. 23:37 It doesn't matter what you've done. 23:39 It doesn't matter where you come from. 23:41 It doesn't matter if you're rich or poor, black or white, 23:43 tall or thin, educated or uneducated. 23:45 He's no respecter of persons. 23:48 So her past made no difference to Jesus. 23:51 Praise God. 23:53 See, I can apply that to me. 23:54 My past makes no difference to Jesus. 23:56 And surprise, surprise, you're past... 24:01 Mm-hmm. 24:03 ...makes no difference to Jesus. 24:09 You see, the situation between Jews and Samaritans 24:12 was so bad that not only would a Jew not do a favor 24:17 for a Samaritan, he wouldn't accept a favor from a Samaritan. 24:24 Right here in the book. 24:26 I got it right here. 24:27 Don't have time to read it all. 24:31 Won't take anything from you, won't give you anything. 24:34 In fact, the Mishnah says, "Better to die of thirst 24:40 than accept a glass of water from a Samaritan." 24:45 So I'm not doing anything for you, and I will not allow you 24:48 to do anything for me. 24:50 So Christ's request, "Give Me a drink of water," 24:55 is shocking. 24:58 First of all, you've got a man speaking to a woman 25:00 at high noon, you've got a man speaking to a woman 25:03 that He does not know at high noon, 25:05 you've got a man who is a Jew speaking to a Samaritan 25:07 at high noon at a well. 25:09 Shocking. 25:12 And then He asks her for a favor. 25:19 She would have never asked Him for anything. 25:22 700 years of bad blood prevented it. 25:26 But this request immediately said to her, 25:31 "This Jew is different." 25:38 And if you follow this story to its logical end, 25:40 you'll find out He never did get that drink of water. 25:44 Never did. 25:45 Because water wasn't the issue. 25:48 Let me put it this way; water was the issue, 25:51 but not H2O. 25:58 So Christ gets down to it. 25:59 NIV puts it this way, "If you knew the gift of God 26:02 and who it is that asks you for a drink, 26:06 you would have asked Him and He would have given you 26:08 living water," John 4:10. 26:10 At that point, she knew she had heard something important. 26:13 She knew something had gone by her, 26:15 she knew something had hit her ears. 26:17 She didn't quite know what it meant, 26:18 she didn't quite know what it was, 26:20 she didn't quite know how to decipher it. 26:22 She just knew somebody had said something to her 26:25 that was important, and she needed to kind of stick with it. 26:30 Ellen White says Christ let her lead the conversation. 26:33 You've got to like Jesus' tact. 26:35 He let her think she was running the show. 26:37 "You can drive the bus." 26:40 So He let her lead the conversation. 26:42 And for a while He chose to follow her. 26:44 Now she didn't know it was going where it was going, 26:47 but Jesus did. 26:50 So she said, "How are You going to give me water? 26:55 The well is deep, You don't have anything to get water with. 27:00 So how are You going to give me this living water? 27:03 Where can You get living water? 27:05 Are You greater than Jacob?" 27:08 See, this lady had heard eternal truth. 27:10 Her religion was corrupted, but it wasn't totally wrong. 27:13 She knew about the past, she knew about father Abraham, 27:16 she knew about Jacob's well. 27:17 The Desire of Ages, to quote, says she was engaging Jesus 27:24 in what Ellen White calls, "a light bantering manner." 27:28 Now I didn't want to assume what that meant. 27:31 And Erma said to me this morning, she said, 27:33 "You spend too much time looking up words." 27:35 But I wanted to check out, "bantering." 27:37 And, "bantering," says, an exchange of light, 27:41 playful, teasing remarks. 27:43 So she started off kind of playing with Jesus, 27:45 perhaps even flirting with Him. 27:47 I mean, she knew how to handle guys. 27:52 She had five husbands. 27:54 And living with number six. 27:56 She knows what guys like and how to handle guys. 28:01 So she's playing with Jesus for a little bit. 28:07 But Jesus wasn't playing with her. 28:11 Jesus was trying to save her soul. 28:14 Second lesson, it doesn't matter what others think about you. 28:20 The only person you have to contend with 28:23 is the one who can save your soul in heaven 28:26 or send your soul to hell. 28:29 And that is Jesus. 28:32 So when she asks Him, "Are You greater than Jacob," 28:35 Christ could have said, "Sure am. 28:38 You've got it right." 28:40 But He doesn't even bother with that question. 28:42 Doesn't even answer it. Just goes beyond it. 28:44 He gets back to the real issue. 28:45 Because the real issue isn't Jacob, 28:47 the real issue is water. 28:54 So in John 4:13, He says, "Every one who drinks of this water 28:58 will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water 29:03 that I shall give him will never thirst." 29:09 Praise God. 29:12 "But the water that I shall give him will become in him 29:16 a fountain," a river, "of water springing up 29:20 into everlasting life." 29:22 Now she knew now that this guy was different. 29:28 She wants that water, but thinks it's going to solve 29:32 her present problems. 29:34 She has yet to clue into the fact that the person 29:37 talking to her isn't really talking about water. 29:41 Water is a metaphor for what she needs 29:45 to save her soul. 29:48 So she says, "Give me this water. 29:51 Sounds good. I want it. 29:53 First of all, I don't want to get thirsty again. 29:56 And secondly, I don't want to ever have to come here again 30:00 and face this humiliation." 30:03 Going to that well, you see, brothers and sisters, 30:05 was a daily humiliation for this woman. 30:09 The very fact that she's drawing water in the heat of the day 30:13 at 12 noon is humiliation. 30:14 "Lord, I'll do anything so I don't have to come here 30:17 for the rest of my life and humiliate myself 30:21 day after day after day, lonely, by myself, 30:25 sun beating down, no one to help me, 30:27 everybody talking about me, everybody shunning me. 30:30 I'll take that water... 30:32 ...if it will free me from this." 30:37 She was thinking, "Here's my chance to shed some shame." 30:41 And Christ wanted to help her with that. 30:44 And so much more. 30:46 You've got to love... 30:50 Well let me say this, you know. 30:51 Everything that touches you touches Jesus. 30:54 Did you know that? 30:56 Did you know that? 30:57 Everything that concerns you concerns Jesus. 31:02 You understand that? 31:04 You understand that? 31:06 Those things that you are concerned about 31:10 concern Jesus. 31:13 Amen. 31:15 Jesus is concerned about the things that concern you. 31:22 You understand that? 31:24 Jesus is concerned about those things that we are 31:28 too concerned about. 31:32 Mm-hmm. 31:34 And Jesus is concerned about those things 31:38 that don't concern us. 31:42 Amen. 31:44 Get the tape, re-watch that. 31:50 And you've got to love Christ's next line. 31:54 Jesus is a master tactician. 31:58 He's got her on the hook. 32:01 She's listening. 32:03 Her heart is opened. 32:05 Next line, right cross. 32:08 "Go get your husband and come back. 32:14 Go get him and bring him back." 32:17 Her immediate response, "I don't have a husband." 32:20 And Ellen White says she was hoping by that statement 32:24 to cut off any kind of discussion in that direction. 32:27 She was hoping to cut Christ off at the pass. 32:30 "Don't have a husband. 32:32 Let's press on to something else." 32:35 Because she didn't want Him going down that path. 32:40 But Jesus was trying to get her to see who she was 32:48 as a sinner so she could understand who He was 32:53 as her Savior. 32:56 Amen. 32:57 Christ had to get her to understand her position 33:02 so that He could take her from where she was 33:07 to where He wanted her to be. 33:10 So He's got to get her to face the fact that she is a sinner 33:14 and that He is her Savior. 33:17 Very, very important to know where you are 33:20 so that you can know where you're going. 33:28 So the bantering now becomes sparing. 33:34 "I have no husband." 33:36 And in her mind, that was that. 33:39 Game, set, match, period, exclamation point. 33:44 "Don't have a husband. 33:45 Let's go on to the next subject." 33:49 She didn't want to go there. 33:51 Ellen White says she hoped, she wanted to prevent 33:55 all questions in that direction. 34:00 That was the reason she was gathering water at 34:02 twelve o'clock instead of six am. 34:06 Because she had five, and was working on number six. 34:12 Jesus, brothers and sisters, promises to give you 34:16 not only what you want, but what you need. 34:21 And sometimes what you need over what you want. 34:26 Because the Bible says sometimes we pray for things we want 34:29 that we shouldn't pray for because we don't really know 34:32 what we want. 34:36 Amen. 34:38 So He may give you what you want, but He will give you 34:42 what you need. 34:46 And He was looking past her wants to her needs. 34:49 So He had to make her a little uncomfortable 34:52 before He would elevate her. 34:58 So the Savior cuts her no slack, 35:02 because He knows what she needs. 35:05 And what she really needs is a Savior. 35:08 "Bring your husband back, and we'll talk." 35:15 "I don't have one." 35:18 "I know. 35:22 Your statement is true. 35:24 You've had five. 35:26 You've been to the alter five times. 35:30 And you didn't bother going to the alter this time. 35:33 You're just shacking with him." 35:42 And Ellen White says, for the first time in this 35:44 whole conversation she got scared. 35:50 Wouldn't you? 35:53 It's hard to get scared. 35:57 You've got to remember, in those days, no newspaper, 35:59 no radio, no TV, no internet, no Google. 36:02 She didn't put anything on Facebook. 36:07 Here's a total stranger. 36:09 He's from a nation of people that hates their guts, 36:13 she's a woman, alone, talking to a male Jew, 36:18 at high noon, no less, who is a total foreign stranger. 36:22 And He's putting her business in the street 36:25 like it's on the History channel. 36:29 Ellen White says she trembled. 36:32 She got scared. Wouldn't you? 36:34 A total stranger comes up to you, asks you for water, 36:40 and then begins to get in your business, 36:44 and says, "Shelly, get your husband." 36:47 "I don't have a husband." 36:49 "You're right. 36:51 J.D.'s not your husband. 36:53 You've had Danny, and Jim, and Greg, and Jeff, and..." 37:00 Time to get scared. 37:04 You meet a man who's never seen you before in your life, 37:07 and He knows you like a book. 37:11 And Ellen White says she trembled. 37:16 "Five husbands, you're current is not your husband." 37:23 So now the sparring becomes reverence. 37:27 And she's still trying to change the subject. 37:30 And Christ allows her to drive the bus just a 37:32 little bit further. 37:37 "I see that You're a Prophet." 37:42 Well, hello. 37:46 She's trying to change the subject. 37:48 Lesson number three, nothing is hidden from Jesus. 37:52 You can't hide anything from Jesus. 37:54 And I am so glad that Christ knows everything about us, 37:59 and loves us still. 38:00 Amen? 38:02 See, we've all got stuff. 38:04 I've got stuff, you've got stuff, 38:06 all God's children got stuff. 38:07 Everybody has got stuff. 38:08 And I think if we all knew everything about each other... 38:16 There's some stuff about me you don't want to know. 38:24 I suspect there's some stuff about you I don't want to know. 38:27 But Jesus knows it... 38:31 ...and loves you still. 38:34 No surprises with Jesus. 38:36 And He's letting her know, "I know about all of your stuff. 38:42 And I can fix that stuff." 38:51 Nothing hidden from Christ. 38:53 In fact, the truth is, Christ does His best work, 38:57 ladies and gentlemen, in pigpen lives. 39:02 Amen? 39:03 Does His best work in lives that are totally messed up. 39:07 That's when Christ is at His best. 39:08 When you throw up your hands in disgust and say, 39:10 "There's nothing I can do with the mess I've made 39:13 but make more mess," 39:17 Jesus says, "Give it to Me. 39:19 I can clean it." 39:21 I was up the other night trying to find some stuff, 39:24 and I turned on the TV real quick, and there was a 39:26 commercial on for the world's greatest vacuum cleaner. 39:32 It cleans up messes. 39:34 So does Jesus. 39:36 The world's greatest vacuum cleaner. 39:40 He cleans up messes. 39:44 And so He knows all about her life. 39:46 This lady is the poster child for mixed up existences. 39:50 She's from a hated race, she's from a despised faith, 39:54 from misplaced beliefs, convoluted marriage situation, 39:59 and actively living in adultery. 40:01 Doesn't get any worse than that. 40:03 She's an outcast in her own community. 40:05 Hated by Jews and Samaritans alike, 40:08 and an outcast in her own town. 40:15 And Jesus is about to fix it all. 40:20 So she changes the subject one last time, 40:24 and Christ allows her to do it. 40:30 Ellen White says the Holy Spirit is moving. 40:34 Christ lets her steer the situation just 40:36 a little bit longer, because He knew where it was going to end. 40:43 She tries to bring in a little controversy 40:47 to try to get Him off the path. 40:51 So she says, "You know, some people say 40:56 we ought to worship in Jerusalem. 40:59 And my people say we ought to worship up here." 41:06 She figures Christ would get into that controversy 41:09 like everybody else does. 41:14 And Christ tells her, "The issue is not where. 41:23 The issue is who and how." 41:27 The same thing Shelly said a couple months back. 41:32 It's not where you worship. 41:35 Nothing more important about worshiping in Thompsonville 41:37 than worshiping in Marion. 41:41 It ain't where. 41:44 It's who. 41:46 And how. 41:52 "The time is coming, in fact, now is, 41:56 because I'm standing right in front of you, 42:00 that God is going to reject places, 42:06 because He doesn't dwell in places. 42:09 He dwells in hearts." 42:11 You remember the very first night, I told you 42:13 how ridiculous it was that the children of Israel 42:17 hung their harps on the willows because 42:19 they were thinking about Jerusalem? 42:22 Jerusalem can't save you. 42:24 Neither can Thompsonville. 42:26 Amen. 42:28 Hallelujah, amen. 42:34 Because it's not where. 42:37 It's who... 42:39 ...and how. 42:42 And God can find you in Babylon just like He can find you 42:46 in Jerusalem. 42:48 And God can find you in Damascus just like He can find you 42:52 in Jerusalem. 42:54 And God can find you in your home just like He can find you 42:58 in the Thompsonville Seventh-day Adventist Church. 43:01 Now that's not a call to stay home. 43:04 It's an assurity that wherever you go, 43:07 God is with you. 43:14 So Christ is saying, "What God wants is pure hearts 43:20 and worship in spirit and in truth." 43:26 That's who He's seeking. 43:28 He's trying to let her know, Samaria, Jerusalem, 43:33 that's not the issue. 43:36 Interestingly enough, Ellen White says 43:38 He could have never made that statement in Jerusalem. 43:41 It wasn't going to fly there. 43:42 Because the Jews were too hung up on the temple. 43:46 They felt that once you left the temple, 43:48 you got lost. 43:51 And God couldn't find you anymore. 43:54 Which is why when the temple was destroyed 43:56 and they were in Babylon when they should have been 43:58 singing the Lord's song, they were hanging their harps 44:01 on the willows and whining about Jerusalem. 44:07 Nothing sacred about Jerusalem. 44:09 Ladies and gentlemen, forgive me for saying this, 44:11 there's nothing sacred about the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 44:21 I repeat what I said the other night. 44:23 It is blasphemous, but it is blasphemously true. 44:30 Every Christian is not a Seventh-day Adventist. 44:36 Amen. 44:38 Amen. 44:42 And every Seventh-day Adventist... 44:49 Mm-hmm. 44:52 See, it's not about the name. 44:56 It's about Jesus in your heart. 44:58 Now is the Seventh-day Adventist Church 45:00 the right church? 45:01 And I'll use that bigoted, isolationist term. 45:06 Is it? 45:08 Uh-huh, I've no doubt about that. 45:12 But Seventh-day Adventists, as a name, doesn't save you. 45:18 We have heard the joyful sound, Jesus said. 45:22 Amen? 45:23 So if you're in the church and not in Christ, 45:26 you are lost. 45:30 Because it's not about the name, and it's not about the place. 45:34 It's about who and how. 45:38 And that's what He needed her to understand at that moment. 45:41 It's about who and how. 45:43 That is a message He never gave to the Jews. 45:46 They never heard that from His lips because they 45:48 wouldn't have accepted it. 45:51 Too self-righteous, too in to the temple, and too bigoted. 45:55 But that was the clincher for that woman. 45:58 Now get this statement in John 4:21-24. 46:02 Christ deliberately kept this from the Jews 46:04 because they weren't ready for it. 46:06 He didn't even say that to the disciples. 46:10 Ellen White says, this is, Desire of Ages, page 190, 46:13 "But that which had been withheld from the Jews 46:16 and which the disciples were afterwards enjoined 46:20 to keep secret, was revealed to her." 46:22 So He told her something that day at that well 46:26 that He didn't tell the Jews, 46:28 that He didn't tell the disciples, 46:29 that He didn't tell Nicodemus, 46:30 that He didn't tell any of those persons 46:32 that He had those one on one conversations with. 46:34 He went all the way to Samaria to talk to a hated woman 46:38 who He shouldn't have been talking to, at high noon 46:40 at a well, one on one, man and woman. 46:42 It should have never happened. 46:43 And He gave her something He gave to nobody else 46:45 throughout His ministry. 46:50 Jesus saw that she would make use of her knowledge 46:54 in bringing others to share His grace. 46:57 That's the only reason Christ gives anybody anything. 47:01 So that you can use it to bring others to the foot of the cross. 47:07 So He gave her something special because He knew she would 47:09 use that special something to help save somebody else. 47:13 That's powerful that He gave it to a Samaritan. 47:17 Something He didn't give even to His own disciples. 47:20 The Bible says to study to show thyself approved, 47:25 because He wants us to get ready to be able to reveal 47:28 the character of Christ to everybody we meet. 47:30 No two people are the same. 47:34 No two people have the same experience. 47:37 Everybody is different. 47:39 And praise God, Jesus tailored His experience 47:43 for that particular woman. 47:45 And that's the way it is for all of us. 47:47 Christ tailors His experience for what you need 47:53 at the time you need it. 47:55 Danny Shelton and I are friends. 47:59 But Danny is cowboy boots. 48:02 And I like cowboy boots. 48:06 But I can't wear them. 48:11 I tried to try on some of J.D.'s cowboy boots the other day. 48:15 Hurt my feet. 48:17 And they're not suppose to do that. 48:19 I'm city, he's country. 48:21 So he gets a country Jesus... 48:28 ...and I get a city Jesus. 48:30 You know what? 48:32 Same Jesus. 48:34 Amen? 48:35 Shelly's from Texas. 48:38 So is J.D. So is Jim. 48:41 I'm from New York. 48:43 They get a Texas Jesus, 48:46 I get a New York Jesus. 48:49 Guess what? 48:51 Same Jesus. 48:54 But He tailors our experience, 48:56 because everybody's road is different. 48:59 And it doesn't matter what road you're on, 49:01 because we're all heading to the same place. 49:07 And Christ uses a term, and I love this... 49:09 Got to check my time. 49:10 Christ uses a term that He uses nowhere else in the Bible 49:15 to no one else in the Bible. 49:16 It's only used one time. 49:17 It's in verse 21. 49:20 Christ says, "Believe Me." 49:25 Ever use that term? 49:26 When you're getting ready to get serious? 49:29 "Child, believe me." 49:32 "You've got to believe me." 49:34 Only one time, to one person, and she was a Samaritan. 49:38 He says, "Woman, believe Me when I tell you." 49:43 Huh? 49:44 "Believe Me." 49:46 Only one time, to a non-Jew, on a hot day, 49:51 at a Samaritan well. 49:52 He says, "Believe Me." 49:56 The time is coming when everything is going to change. 50:01 And you're not going to worry about Jerusalem, 50:04 you're not going to worry about Gerizim; 50:07 you're only going to worry about Jesus. 50:10 Aren't you glad that we don't serve a "one size fits all" God? 50:17 God tailors our salvation experience for each of us. 50:23 If you look at how He treated Nicodemus, 50:25 how He treated Matthew, 50:26 how He treated this woman at the well, 50:28 how He treated Pilate, 50:30 how He treated an unnamed Canaanite. 50:33 Each presentation tailored to meet the spiritual needs 50:36 of that individual. 50:38 This woman needed to know, one, she was a sinner. 50:42 Two, that she could be saved. 50:46 Three, that praying at Gerizim wasn't going to do it. 50:51 Four, that Jesus, the stranger from Galilee, 50:55 had what she needed. 50:58 Five, when you get it, you'll never thirst again. 51:06 But more than that, more than that, 51:09 so much more, when you get and receive living water... 51:16 And we're going to talk about that this afternoon. 51:17 I'm going to show you something that I just, 51:19 I'll say, stumbled upon that I think is really exciting. 51:24 And why living water is so important. 51:28 Because Christ told her that day, "When you get living water, 51:35 you will become a fountain of water. 51:42 You will become a source of water. 51:47 People will be able to come to you and learn of Me." 51:54 Now that, ladies and gentlemen, is transformative. 51:58 Christ is saying, "You don't become a static pool. 52:02 You become a source of water so that people who interface 52:06 with you will learn about Me. 52:12 And they will learn so much more from Me. 52:16 You become a fountain of water." 52:20 I want to move into something, 52:21 but I'll try to just get to it fast. 52:26 Jesus gave her that day, really, the keys to the kingdom, 52:37 and He showed her the way of salvation. 52:45 And by the grace of God, His Bible study was not wasted. 52:51 She dropped her water pot and ran into town. 52:56 Isn't it interesting, and I don't know, I've got to check 53:00 if this is just the language that John employs, 53:05 or if it's a commentary on the kind of people 53:11 that she knew. 53:13 But the Bible says she went and got the men of the town. 53:19 Did you read that? 53:20 She went and got the guys. 53:22 Now I don't know if the Bible is just discounting the women 53:26 who may have come, or since the only people that 53:31 she was really associating with was guys, 53:35 that's who she went and got. 53:39 And the Bible doesn't touch on this, but I'm very curious 53:42 to know if any of her five ex's were in that group. 53:49 But she said, "Come and see a Man who told me 53:55 everything that I have done." 54:01 And they came. 54:03 And there was conversion that day. 54:06 Because a little woman with a bad reputation 54:11 had met Jesus. 54:13 And when you meet Jesus, you can't keep it to yourself. 54:20 And when you share Jesus, His word does not come back void. 54:28 That's the power of the gospel. 54:31 I rather suspect that when we get to heaven, 54:36 we will meet that little lady. 54:39 And we may meet all five of her ex's. 54:43 And we may meet number six, who she never got married to. 54:50 But what a day of rejoicing that will be. 54:55 Because Jesus broke tradition and stopped by a Samaritan well. 55:00 No one is beyond the reach of Jesus. 55:06 It doesn't matter what you've done. 55:09 It doesn't matter how many times you've done it. 55:15 It doesn't matter what you think of yourself. 55:19 Because even when you give up on yourself, 55:22 Jesus doesn't give up on you. 55:25 And He will plant Himself right in your way 55:31 to get your attention. 55:33 He'll make you have to go around Him. 55:35 And He's not going to ignore you. 55:36 He will say, "I've got water for you. 55:41 I've got something that when you drink, 55:43 not only will you not thirst, but you will become a 55:48 wellspring of waters for others." 55:52 Isn't that exciting? 55:54 Not only do you not get thirsty, you become a river. 56:00 And others can come to you and find Jesus, 56:05 like those in the city of Sychar found Jesus 56:11 through a little lady at a Samaritan well. 56:16 Shall we pray. 56:18 Gracious Father, how we praise You and thank You 56:25 that Jesus traveled out of His way to meet a woman 56:31 who needed to meet Him. 56:35 Because that says that Christ will travel out of His way 56:39 to meet me at the point of my need. 56:44 Wherever I am; in Jerusalem, Samaria, 56:49 the utter parts of the world, or Thompsonville, Illinois, 56:56 Christ will find me and call me, and give me, through the power 57:02 of His Holy Spirit, living water. 57:07 Father, everyone in this house wants that water. 57:13 Not only want that water, Lord, we need that water, 57:18 we crave that water, 57:21 that we may never be thirsty again. 57:24 But more than that, that through the out flowing 57:29 of that living stream, our lives will be a blessing, 57:36 and others will see Jesus in us. 57:41 Oh mighty Father, would You be pleased 57:46 to give us living water that we may never 57:55 ever thirst again. |
Revised 2016-02-15