Participants: III, Charles W. Drake
Series Code: OTR
Program Code: OTR000866
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01:00 It is good to know that we serve a Risen Savior.
01:06 Amen. It is good to know that He loves us 01:11 that He has allowed us to come together 01:15 one more time in order to worship Him. 01:19 I was encouraged last evening, 01:22 when I came in someone said there is a message 01:26 for you and they directed me to the boof 01:32 where the recorders are for the Camp Meeting. 01:37 And they wanted to know my message title. 01:43 And I had to sign a sheet, so you can get it free. 01:48 Well, I can give it to you free, 01:50 it's not free to you, but it's not free to me. 01:53 Is that makes sense? No, let me say it again. 01:54 I had a sign a release, so that they don't 01:59 have to pay me for what they give to you 02:01 that makes better sense? Alright, so in the 02:06 process of doing that I asked them a question 02:10 about the subjects and they informed me that 02:14 my good friend Elder Ron Halverson had 02:17 changed all of his subjects. And I felt really good 02:22 because I want to change mine too. 02:26 So, tonight my subject is water, water. 02:31 And I would draw your attention to the 02:33 Book of John, Saint John chapter 4. 02:43 Saint John chapter 4, 02:52 therefore, beginning in verse 1. 02:55 "Therefore when the Lord knew that the 02:58 Pharisees had heard that Jesus made 03:01 and baptized more disciples than John. 03:05 Though Jesus Himself did not baptize, 03:08 but His disciples. He left Judea and departed 03:12 again to Galilee. But he needed to go 03:15 through Samaria. So He came to a city 03:19 of Samaria, which is called Sychar, 03:21 near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to 03:23 his son Joseph; now, Jacob's well was there. 03:28 Jesus therefore being wearied from His journey, 03:31 sit thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. 03:36 A woman of Samaria came to draw water, 03:40 Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." 03:44 Let us pray. Father this is your word, 03:49 we are your people. This is your time 03:54 you know what we need? Speak to us tonight. 03:59 And we will give you the praise in Jesus name, 04:02 amen. Few years ago, I was preaching for 04:12 Camp Meeting in South Eastern California. 04:16 It was a Sabbath morning; they were 04:22 under a huge tent. And I was preaching and 04:28 as I near the end of my message. 04:33 I began to understand that I did not 04:41 understand what I would say. 04:47 It seemed as if my whole body was slowing down, 04:53 going in slow motion. I turned around to the folk 05:03 who are sitting behind me on the poppet. 05:05 And I said can someone get me some water? 05:11 The next thing I remember was 05:15 I was stretched out on the floor, I had fallen out. 05:22 When I came to, people were unbuttoning 05:26 my shirt and putting cold compresses 05:34 or water or clothes on my forehead. 05:39 I remember thinking as I lay on the floor 05:43 and people were over me and some saying, 05:46 give him a candy bar, no give him some 05:48 water, no do this, no do that. 05:51 What came to my mind was a fact that 05:55 my wife had been fussing with me 05:58 because my undershirts had someone of them 06:02 had little bit of holes you know, I wear them 06:04 along we get little bit of holes. 06:05 And she was saying one of these days 06:08 something is gonna happen and you are 06:10 going to embarrass us. And, and, and, and, 06:13 and I thought thank God I have got a 06:15 new undershirt on. Finally someone leaned 06:26 over me and they said, Elder Darek, 06:31 I am David Wooding, and I recognized 06:36 David Wooding, when I was, when I began 06:39 my ministry as a youth pastor, 06:42 he was a young man in the church and 06:43 now he was a doctor. And he said, if you 06:47 want I'll take care of you. And I said, I'm 06:49 in your hand. An ambulance was called 06:52 and I was rushed to the hospital with sirens, 06:56 blazing and not knowing what was going on 07:00 with me. I finally arrived at the hospital and 07:03 they examine me and he attended to me 07:07 and after a while he came in with the diagnosis 07:10 and he said you were dehydrated. 07:15 And I said to him and so they rehydrated me. 07:20 And I said to him what would have happened, 07:24 if I hadn't gotten any water. 07:28 He said, you would have died. And for the first 07:33 time in my life I understood perfectly well that 07:40 a human being cannot live without water. 07:46 And so most of the time you always see me 07:50 with water. Amen. Because I don't want that to ever 07:55 happen to me again. There are many things 07:59 that we can live without, we can live without 08:03 cake and pie. I know, I know we can live 08:12 without money and land. We can live without sight, 08:18 without sound, without taste, but we cannot 08:23 live without water. Water is more precious than 08:29 silver or gold. Without water crops will not grow. 08:36 Without water crops, a cattle cannot live. 08:41 This story in John chapter 4 tells us that 08:46 without spiritual water the soul cannot thrive. 08:53 There are many lessons in this story, let's, 08:55 let's look at it. The story begins with the 09:00 Pharisee those Pharisees again. Who had looked 09:05 at Jesus and had begun to notice that people 09:13 were following him. They had tolerated John 09:17 because you see John was this weird man 09:20 who lived in a wilderness, who weird his clothes 09:23 and ate weird foods. So, he was just as 09:26 weird person, but here was this man Jesus who, 09:34 who had outpaced the converts of John. 09:41 And Jesus recognized that there needed to 09:45 be a little cooling off time. And so the 09:48 Bible says, he left Judea to go to Galilee. 09:53 The most direct way from Judea to Galilee 09:59 was through Samaria. A trip of about 30 miles, 10:05 but righteous Jews believed that the 10:09 Samaritans were unclean people. 10:14 They believe that the very air in Samaria, 10:19 that the dirt in Samaria would contaminate 10:23 their precious and righteous souls. 10:27 So no righteous Jew would ever go through 10:32 Samaria. In fact, the rule was you would ask 10:37 no favor of a Samaritan nor would you do a favor 10:42 for a Samaritan. So, when the Jews, 10:46 righteous Jews wanted to go from Judea 10:49 to Galilee they would go up the east coast 10:53 to the Jordan River cross over the Jordan 10:56 into Peoria, go through Decapolis, and, and 11:01 Gadara and then go back across the Jordan 11:05 to Galilee, a trip of about 75 miles. 11:12 We sit and we hear that and we say to ourselves, 11:17 how can a person be so prejudice against 11:22 the people that they would go almost three times 11:27 the distance, so they would not have to be 11:30 in contact with them, but I want to suggest 11:34 to you tonight that all of us have our prejudices. 11:39 All of us the Bible says in Romans 3, 11:42 "A born in sin." Am I right? For all have sinned 11:48 and come short of the glory of God. 11:51 A person unpossessed by the spirit of God 11:57 is unpredictable and unreliable. 12:02 And all of us have stuff in us that we cannot 12:07 predict about how we will respond to it. 12:13 Why do Christians lie? Why do deacons commit 12:27 adultery? And it's not just deacons will do it. 12:34 Years ago, the starter of my car went out, 12:40 those were the days you can get under the 12:42 car do self with it. Amen. Now, I don't know 12:47 where starter is in my car, but I live not 12:53 very far from a service station and I have 12:58 become friends with the guys there. 13:00 So, I went around to them and I said, 13:01 my starter has gone out on my car, 13:04 when can you fix it and how much is going to cost? 13:07 Well, they were backed up and I said, 13:09 well I'll go get it myself and I will 13:12 put it on my self, it was winter time, 13:13 we were living in New York, oh! But I went 13:17 and bought the starter and I, I didn't have the 13:19 right tool, but I remember when I first went to the 13:24 service station to ask them about it, 13:26 there were men in there who are cursing 13:28 and swearing. When I went to the parts place 13:32 to buy the starter they were folks in there 13:34 who were cursing and swearing. 13:36 When I got under my car I, I needed an other 13:39 tool, so I went back to the service station 13:41 and asked could I borrow this particular 13:44 kind of ridge, and they gave it to me and 13:46 that was more cursing and swearing. 13:48 I got under that car and I was there and 13:51 I was put that bolt and suddenly the ridge slipped 13:56 and my knuckles hit the frame of that car 13:59 and out of my mouth came some words that 14:02 shocked me. And I said, where did it come from? 14:10 It came from the fact that not only had 14:14 I recently been in an environment where 14:16 my mind had heard it, but it came from the 14:19 fact that I'm born in sin, I'm shaped in inequity 14:24 and I cannot guarantee you, what I will always 14:28 do because there is sin in my members. 14:33 You might well say amen 'cause you are in the 14:37 same way. You might think you holy, holy. 14:41 You might sing holy, holy. You may even think 14:44 you got a hallow around your head, 14:46 but my brother, my sister you are a sinner, 14:50 tall sinner and short sinner, skinny sinners 14:56 and good looking sinners and, but a sinner anyhow 15:05 common say, amen out there. All of us are 15:08 sinners and all of us had built into us things 15:12 that we don't know how we will respond to them. 15:16 So, when these Jews have the prejudices 15:19 against the Samaritans, we ought not stand 15:22 back and say, oh! That's terrible because 15:27 we have some of the same stuff in us. 15:31 There are some of us; who talk about people 15:37 who are Non-Adventists in some strange ways. 15:43 We call them first day people, don't we? Amen. 15:49 Sunday keeping folk. We have all kind of names 15:52 for them. Now, I'm a third generation 15:55 Seventh-Day Adventist, I believe in Adventism 15:58 and I would not go any other place un-rooted 16:01 and grounded, but every time we see a 16:07 person who carries a statue. And there are 16:13 several of them in our neighborhood, 16:15 how often do we not even respond to the 16:20 door bell. Amen. Alright, so anyway the Apostles 16:34 expect Jesus to go around Samaria, 16:41 but I like the way the King James puts in, 16:43 the King James says, Jesus say I must need 16:47 to go through Samaria. That's right, amen. 16:50 They are surprised, but I suggest to you today 16:54 that Jesus had to go through Samaria 16:58 because he had a divine appointment in Samaria. 17:03 Lesson number one, there are times when 17:07 God decides to make an appointment with us. 17:12 And we don't know anything about it. Right. 17:15 The appointment may come on our sick bed. 17:19 The appointment may come with a near miss accident, 17:23 the appointment may come with a loss of a loved one, 17:27 but God decides He wants to talk to us directly 17:32 and when God makes up His mind to speak to us 17:35 directly, He will talk, can you say amen out there? 17:40 Amen. I just thank God tonight, that He still 17:43 wants to talk to me. Amen. He has not cut me off; 17:50 they arrived at Samaria. He sends the Apostles 17:54 away. Lesson number two, Jesus wanted His 18:01 appointment in a private conversation. 18:05 When Jesus talked to us, He doesn't need crowd. 18:12 No one else needs to know, what we are 18:17 talking about? Jesus deals with secret stuff. 18:23 Jesus deals with private matters. 18:30 There are some things that perhaps go on in 18:35 our lives that no one knows about, but us. 18:39 Jesus says, I want to talk to you about that. 18:44 There is a gain in us, this, this power that 18:55 we have no control over. Paul describes 19:00 this power in Romans chapter 7; get your 19:03 Bible, go there with me. Romans chapter 7 19:11 and verse 18, he says there, "For I know that 19:18 in me that is, in my flesh, nothing good dwells 19:24 for to will is present with me, but how to 19:28 perform what is good I do not find." 19:33 If you read 17 all the way down when you get, 19:35 get a, get a, get a chance. 19:37 Here is what Paul is saying, he talks about 19:40 the I and the Me. In Greek there are two different 19:48 separate words for I and for Me. 19:52 The I is my good self, the Me is my fleshy self. 20:03 So, the I is who? Common, talk to me now, 20:07 the I is who? Me is? Alright. So, when you 20:13 read this chapter Paul says, I my good self 20:19 knows what I ought to do, but my good self 20:23 has discovered that there is also a Me. 20:27 Are you with me? Amen. He says, I know 20:33 the right path. And sometimes my good 20:37 self makes a decision to do what is right, 20:41 but before I can do what is right Me takes over. 20:46 And he says there is a war in my members. 20:51 A war between I and a war between Me, 20:56 I versus with Me. Me goes off on his own 21:02 and does some terrible things, and I'm ashamed 21:07 of what Me has done. Amen. Bad anyway, 21:11 but truth anyhow. Amen. Paul says, 21:15 "Oh wretched man that I am who will deliver me." 21:23 Common folk you already understand what I am 21:25 talking about? Amen. "Oh wretched man that I am, 21:30 who will deliver me." From this terrible curse, 21:35 this terrible thing that I and Me and then verse 8, 21:39 the verse 22, 25 he says, "I thank God through 21:45 Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind of 21:50 I myself serve the law of God; but with the 21:54 flesh the law of sin." Chapter 8 verse 1, 21:57 "There is therefore now no condemnation in those 22:03 who are in Christ Jesus." Amen. 22:05 Paul says, I cannot do it, Me cannot do it. 22:11 As long as we live I and Me are gonna be 22:15 struggling together, but I thank God that 22:19 God understands I and Me and He didn't 22:22 condemned I and Me for the war because he 22:27 is a solution to the I and the Me, say amen 22:31 out there. Amen. So, Jesus, Jesus waits for a 22:42 private conversation. I know that it was a 22:49 divine appointment. Because as you know, 22:53 it was the sixth hour, it was high noon, no 22:58 one in their right mind, went to the well at 23:02 high noon. They came in the early morning 23:05 or the evening, but Jesus waits, she approaches, 23:12 she must have been beautiful. Because the 23:18 Bible says, she had five husbands. 23:23 Now, sometimes it's hard enough to get one. 23:28 Amen. But there must have been some commonest 23:37 about her because she had five husbands. 23:42 She approaches the well, and Jesus says, 23:48 give me a drink. She is astonished and astounded. 23:56 First of all it's a man talking to a woman; 24:01 in Jewish law men did not talk to women in public. 24:07 In fact, they didn't even talk to their wives in 24:09 public. Second of all, it's a Jew talking to 24:15 a Samaritan, her mind is blown. 24:19 A Jewish man talking to a Samarian woman, 24:23 when the Jews felt that the Samaritans were 24:28 the bottom of the ocean and a woman was 24:30 the neither Samaritan. Why would he talk to me? 24:36 And so, she response to him and she says 24:41 to him over here in John chapter 4, he says, 24:46 give me a drink. The woman says to him, 24:49 why you are talking to me? How was that you 24:52 a Jew talk to me, a Samaritan woman? 24:56 Jesus responds by saying, if you only knew, 25:06 if you only knew the gift that I have, 25:10 if you only knew, who it was that was talking, 25:14 if you are only knew the what and the 25:17 who you would be so excited until you would 25:20 be asking me for water. Lesson number three, 25:25 we lose many of God's blessings because 25:30 we think we have it all. We think we know it all. 25:40 Well, I began school and so on, so on SDA 25:45 School in first grade. I went to Cradle Roll 25:50 and Kindergarten, and Primary, and early teens 25:54 and on and on, I went from there to the academy, 25:58 I went from there to the college, I went from 26:01 there to the university, I have taken Bible 26:04 doctrines and Bible history. What can you tell me? 26:09 And because we think, we know it all, 26:13 we stopped studying the word of God, 26:17 we stop using the Bible in worship, we've got 26:20 to have this worship book and that worship book 26:24 and the other worship book, and we do it every 26:27 morning right on the date it says, July whatever 26:30 the date is, that's what we read, we would not 26:33 think of reading anything else, but the designated 26:37 worship book. We think we know it all, 26:44 we think we have heard it all. 26:46 Your president talked about coming to Camp Meetings 26:49 and hearing preachers preach and we preached 26:52 the same thing we do, but the Advent message 26:54 is a special message, common say amen out there. 26:57 Amen. But, but, but, yeah some of us who have 26:59 close our ears to listening. When I was at Andrews. 27:11 I got to forgot how to say this because I'm 27:13 on TV or maybe on TV, it was not a pleasant 27:20 experience for me. I didn't like it on the midday 27:26 'cause brother said, I had to go, I thought 27:30 there was, well I won't say it anyway. 27:32 That came a time in my experience where 27:37 I needed two credits, just two credits. 27:40 And so the only credit that was available for 27:45 two credits was quire. I can do quire you know, 27:50 there is no problem go down rehearse do quire, 27:53 but the came of time where they have a 27:56 week of prayer. And I didn't want to go to 28:00 the week of prayer because the preachers 28:04 who preach there didn't preach the way 28:08 I was accustomed to hearing preaching. 28:12 You understand what I'm talking about? 28:15 You understand that I was taught conversational 28:23 preaching? You stand, you talk, you never 28:29 raise your voice, you put it in your notes, 28:32 lift hand at this point. I did not fail the class, 28:41 but I failed to learn it. Amen. So, that I'm trying 28:48 my best to be nice folks, you understand, so, 28:51 so that I did not want to go because I knew 28:56 there was gonna be conversational preaching. 29:00 And I like to see folk sweat a little bit and move 29:05 a little bit, and modulate the voice. 29:07 So, I went with the quire to the week of prayer 29:12 with a book under my robe, with the intention 29:17 that when we finish singing and we sat down 29:20 that I would read my book while the preacher 29:23 did his conversational preaching. 29:27 And I sat down, and I began to open my book 29:33 and out of another ear I began to hear a man 29:39 begin to talk. And he talked about grapes. 29:45 And I had never heard anyone talk about 29:49 grapes before. He took his time and he talked 29:54 about grapes in that conversational tone that 29:59 moved my heart. Later, he wrote a book called 30:04 Grapes. His name is Morris Venden, one of the most 30:08 marvelous preachers in this Adventist Church, 30:11 but I learned that day that if you go with your, 30:17 your mind and your ears open to hear the word 30:22 of God, God will tell you something you have 30:25 never heard before. Amen. And even though 30:29 I went with close mind and close ears, 30:33 God reached out and touch my heart there are 30:36 some of us who have rejected new ideas, 30:40 we have rejected everything because 30:43 we think we have seen it all, we have heard 30:45 it all, we have done all the kind of worshipping, 30:48 but I have come to remind you that my Bible 30:51 says that God's blessings are new every morning. 30:56 Amen. If only we knew the joy of praise, 31:03 if only we knew the comfort of faith, 31:06 if only we knew the assurance of salvation, 31:11 he says, if you only to knew who it was? 31:15 That was, that was asking you for water, 31:18 you would ask me for living water. Right. 31:22 She hears his response; she reasons he can't 31:27 give me anything. He didn't have a bucket 31:31 and he didn't have a rope to draw the water 31:35 up with, no bucket that he does not had, 31:38 what she did not understand? 31:40 Was that my Lord God need a bucket to draw water? 31:45 Amen. My Lord doesn't need a rope he was 31:50 in fact a well sitting on the top of a well. Amen. 31:55 You see there sometimes we try to figure the 31:59 Lord out, we try to contain him with human 32:02 thought, but human thought cannot contain 32:06 the Lord Jesus Christ that I serve, 32:10 we cannot even begin to imagine what God can do, 32:14 if we would let him lose in our lives. Amen. 32:19 Water from this well Jesus says would dry up, 32:23 but my water will never dry up. He says, I will 32:27 plate within you in your bosom a spring of water 32:32 that will keep on going and going and going. Amen. 32:36 Lesson number four, living water comes not 32:42 from a well, but comes from a relationship with 32:46 Jesus Christ. Amen. I am amazed at people 32:56 who stand at an altar to get merry. 33:03 This year my wife and I celebrate 40 years of 33:09 marriage. Amen, amen, amen. I was two when 33:14 we got married, but when I look at the love 33:22 that we have today, I recognize that the love 33:28 we got married on, when I recognize the love 33:32 we got married on, it scares me I have to die. 33:36 Amen, amen. And some of you have been around; 33:38 you understand what I am talking about? 33:40 That's right. When you buy a house? 33:43 You schedule an inspection, am I right? Amen. 33:50 Come on now, right, amen, you want someone 33:52 to go from the roof to the foundation. 33:56 That's right. And if all of that is well then you 34:00 go to a closing and then you got a stack of 34:03 papers that high. Amen. You sign off on everything, 34:07 I mean you sign off from this and sign off on that, 34:10 why? Because you want to protect the investment 34:16 and yet folk decide to get marry. Amen. 34:22 And they stand before a preacher or in 34:25 these days anybody almost in some places. 34:27 Amen. And they promised to love, to cherish 34:33 in sickness or in health. They promise to love you 34:42 when the hair you used to have are gone. 34:45 They promised to love you when the clear eyes 34:49 you used to have are gone. They promised to love 34:53 you, I just had a thought, they promise to love you, 34:56 when you lay your teeth on the counter. 34:58 When you lay your hair on the counter? 35:01 When you take off an arm and put it on the, 35:05 they promise to love you until deaf do them part. 35:12 Amen. What an obligation? What a contract? 35:17 And yet people stand there and they do it 35:21 with stars in their eyes and you've seen a 35:24 young folk man, she opens the door, 35:27 opens in that she is in her, in her gown and, 35:29 and here he is and tears begin to role down 35:33 his cheeks and, and she comes down looking 35:36 like a movie star. They don't know what they 35:38 getting into. They have no idea; they think that 35:44 when it's over somebody is gonna say, 35:46 I now pronounce you, you go on and get in the 35:49 catalog convertible, would we even make catalog 35:51 convertibles anymore. And they gonna drive off 35:54 in the sunset with half flowing, and they are 35:57 gonna live happily ever after. It doesn't work 36:00 like that, but why do they do it? 36:05 Well, I love him, I love her, we were made 36:15 for one another. Jesus says that what I want 36:28 from you is not knowledge of me; I want from you 36:37 a relationship with me. Amen, amen, that's right. 36:44 I'm not concerned about the legal technical 36:52 relationships, I'm concerned about whether you 36:58 and I can talk together, if my wife a 40 years 37:07 would serve me dinner and throw it on the table, 37:12 I would not touch it because the attitude is wrong, 37:18 can I get the witness? Amen. If she put food on 37:22 the table, and by the way I'm not suggesting 37:25 that only women can cook, so don't go over 37:28 ahead, here the pastor said, well I don't 37:29 I'm very nice. Men can cook too and I do cook, 37:33 yeah, not well, but I do it, but if she put 37:38 a plate on the table and say to me, 37:40 I'm only doing this because I promise 40 years ago 37:45 to do it, I still would need it. Because I don't 37:50 want food from her 'cause she has to feed me, 37:53 I don't want her to say, hello because 37:56 she has to feed me, if she has one bean 37:59 and she puts that one bean on a plate 38:02 and says sweetheart this is all we have, 38:06 but I'm given it to you with all the love that 38:08 I have, I take that bean and I slice it as thin 38:12 as I could, and I would eat a little piece at 38:15 a time because it's not what it is, 38:18 it's who it is. Amen. And that's what Jesus 38:21 wants from us, not the what, but the who? 38:27 Amen, amen. This water, this relationship says 38:38 that I can be happy in Jesus without all of 38:44 the stuff that goes with it. How can you 38:50 do that? Because we have a constant conversation 38:55 with him. I talked about that last night, 38:58 it is not a conversation that says, I got to talk 39:01 to you, it's a conversation that says, 39:03 I want to talk with you, I need to have a 39:07 conversation with you as Jesus talk with this woman. 39:10 Suddenly, she cries out give me this water, 39:14 suddenly she understands that there is a gift 39:17 that he has, that she does not have, please 39:21 she says, give me this water, I need it. 39:26 Suddenly Jesus abruptly changes, and 39:31 he moves from water to husbands. 39:35 He says, go call your husband. 39:39 And she said I don't have one; he said you 39:44 should have told truth about that 'cause 39:47 you have five husbands and one you with now 39:51 any choice. Lesson number five, 39:56 Jesus will make us confront our weaknesses. 40:04 We cannot be saved until we see ourselves 40:12 and know we need a Savior. Amen. 40:16 Again I said to you last night that some of us 40:20 speak that salvation is linked to what we do, 40:25 salvation is not linked with what we do? 40:29 What we do comes as a result of who we are with? 40:35 Amen. Come on now, amen. I do what right 40:41 because I fall in love with Jesus. Amen. 40:45 When I do evangelism now I don't spend the 40:49 whole lot of time on the Sabbath like we used to. 40:53 We preach the Sabbath and the change of the 40:56 Sabbath and who changed the Sabbath, and we, 40:59 we preach four, five sermons, five or six 41:01 sermons sometimes on the Sabbath trying to 41:04 convince folk on the Sabbath. Along the 41:06 away I have discovered when people fall in 41:09 love with Jesus, they will do what Jesus said do. 41:14 Amen. Lord you want me to keep the Sabbath 41:19 no problem, why is it no problem because you 41:23 want me to do it. I want to please you, 41:25 Lord you want me to, me to change my diet, 41:28 no problem I will do it, why? Because you 41:32 asked me to do it. Amen. It's about relationships. 41:37 This woman has been falsely accused. 41:44 I have heard sermons about her the chowder 41:48 or lose woman, the chowder or prostitute, 41:52 but no where in scripture or the spirit of 41:57 prophecy is she called a prostitute, 42:00 a lose woman, a husband thief or a home wrecker 42:05 nowhere. In fact, Ellen White says in 42:09 The Desire of Ages that she was a student 42:13 of Old Testament promises. Jesus on His way to 42:20 Galilee needed someone to start a revival in 42:26 Samaria. And so Jesus reached out and chose 42:32 a person we would not chose. 42:40 Church had visitors day and they send flyers 42:48 out you may have heard the story, 42:50 they send flyers out to the neighborhood, 42:53 come we are having visitors Sabbath. 42:56 We want to invite the community right down 42:59 the street from the church with the motorcycle club. 43:02 The God said, I'm gonna go there and test 43:07 these Christians out. So, He put on His black 43:10 leather and he stood in church, Sabbath 43:15 morning with a cold beer in His hand. Amen. 43:20 Walk through the door the host is greeted Him. 43:26 He was ready for her, she said good morning 43:32 we're so glad that you have come. 43:34 She said, I wonder if I could take your beer 43:39 and put it in the refrigerator and keep 43:41 it cold until you are finished. Blew his mind, 43:50 but she took the beer, put it in refrigerator, 43:54 he walked into the church, Jesus sometimes 43:58 chose His people we would not chose. Amen, 44:02 that's right. And He puts them where He wants 44:06 them to be because He has a word for them there. 44:11 That's right. So, He chooses this woman. 44:17 She is a woman to be pity. Jewish tradition says, 44:24 that she was a barren woman, Jewish men 44:28 want children because they were all hoping 44:32 that the Messiah would come through their lives, 44:36 if you could have no children they had no, 44:39 no reason to keep him. The first husband discovered 44:46 that she could not bare children and so 44:50 according to Jewish law he wrote a writ of 44:54 divorcement and said I'm divorcing this woman 44:58 because she cannot have children. 45:02 The second man came along, saw the writ 45:07 of divorcement and said, well maybe he couldn't, 45:11 but I can. And the third husband and the fourth 45:17 husband five times this woman has been put 45:22 out of the house, five times she has been dismissed; 45:27 five times she has been rejected. 45:30 Her hope is gone, herself esteemed has been 45:34 destroyed this time tradition says, 45:38 she decides not to marry, but to live with a man 45:42 because when she sees him growing cool rather 45:46 then him putting her out, she will walk away. 45:58 Jesus says call your husband, she says I don't 46:04 have one. He says, you got five. She is a smart 46:09 woman because she comes back and she shifts 46:14 the focus, she starts talking about well 46:18 you know, your father's worship here, 46:21 my father's worship there, she tries to change 46:26 him from husbands back to water, 46:31 but Jesus said, aan, aan, we've got to confront 46:35 the stuff that in your life. We as a people like to 46:43 shift the focus. We talk about the church 46:48 and how it's not right, we talk about the tithe 46:54 or I don't know what they are doing with the 46:56 tithe. So, I'm gonna hold my tithe, 47:01 it wouldn't yours to begin with. Amen, amen. 47:05 God did not promise a blessing to you based 47:10 on what the brethren do with the money. Amen. 47:13 Are you listening to me? Amen. When I returned 47:17 my tithe to the Lord, if the brethren take it 47:21 and flush it down to toilet he will bless me 47:25 on toilet drenched money. Amen. 47:35 We said, not to commit meetings and we have 47:36 talk about money. We talked about working 47:41 capital percentages, we talked about tithe 47:45 increases and we want to make sure every little, 47:48 every little thing is there at contiguous meaning 47:51 everywhere, I have never been discussing this 47:53 meeting, but I have been to whole lot of them 47:54 and someone inevitably will stand on the floor 47:56 says, Mr. Chairman I'm concerned about his debit 47:59 over here Line 42. What was that about? 48:02 It's not about that. It's about my relationship 48:08 with Jesus Christ. It's about the fact that 48:12 I will do what He says for me to do and 48:16 He has promised, if I'm faithful to Him, 48:19 He will open the windows of heaven and 48:22 He will pour me out of, pour me out of blessing. 48:25 The church is not the problem. 48:27 The problem is we are trying to shift focuses, 48:35 but Jesus brings her back and as she talks about 48:42 the Messiah she says, I'm looking, I'm waiting 48:47 on the Messiah. Jesus says, you found me, 48:53 I'm He. Ellen White says conviction rises in her heart, 49:00 spiritual water begins to spring up in her heart; 49:06 suddenly she realizes what she has before her. 49:09 Suddenly faith springs a new in her heart. 49:14 Lesson number six, a spirit filled life is 49:23 compelled to share the Gospel. 49:27 I could put it nicely, but I just don't see it, 49:32 if you can't tell it, it's 'cause you don't 49:37 have it, if you can't tell it, it's 'cause you don't 49:46 have it. You may have it here, but you don't 49:52 have it here. When the Gospel of Jesus Christ 49:57 does its work in our heart, we recognize that a 50:01 miracle has taken place and something inside 50:05 of us moves us, so that we cannot contain 50:09 ourselves. Jeremiah said I made it in my mind, 50:14 one go and tell him? A one go and say 50:17 another word, but he said that was a fire that 50:20 was inside of me, that was shed up and 50:23 before I knew it, I could not help myself. 50:27 My brothers and my sisters, if Jesus has 50:30 done something inside of us, we got to tell it. 50:34 Amen. Bible says she leaves her water pots. 50:46 Significant of her old ways, her old fears, 50:52 her old problems, and she runs to town 50:57 'cause she has got to tell it. Amen. 51:01 She has had a contact with Jesus. 51:05 And she has got to tell it, I see her running 51:09 to town. She goes by the carpenter's house 51:15 and knocks on the carpenter's door 51:18 and says, come see a man. Who is not only 51:22 the Savior, but who is the master carpenter? 51:26 She goes door-to-door, she is not ashamed 51:30 to focus in, in that, in that, in that, yes, 51:34 then I'll see her going to the house where she is 51:39 living with this man. And she says come see a man, 51:46 I hear his response, oh you've found another 51:50 one ah? Well, when he finds out about her, 51:56 he is going be through with her children. 51:58 And I here say, come see a man. 52:03 Who knows everything about me, and he loves 52:09 me still, still love me knows about my crooked 52:17 homes, knows about the, the, the, 52:21 the deformities of my life, but he still loves me 52:25 how is it that he could love your disgrace, 52:30 he looks beyond me and sees what's inside of me. 52:34 He says, I want to give you a living water this 52:37 woman ran in the town and her, her 52:40 excitement overrode her reputation. 52:44 I'm going to say it again, her excitement, 52:48 her enthusiasm overrode, over shadowed her 52:53 reputation and the Bible says, the whole town 52:57 went out. And said with Jesus for two days 53:00 and the testimony was we have never heard anything 53:04 like this before. Amen. Jesus used this woman 53:10 to start a revival, when he gave her grace, 53:17 grace, marvelous grace. You know, what grace is? 53:27 Is what you don't deserve, am I right? Amen. 53:31 I bought a new car and it was a fast car. 53:37 I must confess that I drove it quickly. 53:48 And I was preaching for Camp Meeting, 53:50 where about I shall not disclose. 53:54 And every night I leave and go back the place 53:59 where I was staying. On the third night 54:04 as I was going suddenly out of nowhere red lights. 54:13 And I pulled over. The gentlemen came out and 54:21 he says you know your license and all about. 54:23 And before he could say much I start explaining 54:28 to him who I was. Yes, officer I'm a preacher. 54:33 I have been out there preaching the Gospel 54:40 and he said to me, he said were you faithful? 54:46 I said, yes. He says well I'm faithful to my job? 54:53 He says, I sit in the same spot every night 54:57 as I watch you come by here twice 55:01 and both times you exceeding your speed limit. 55:06 And tonight I saw you come by for the third time. 55:11 And he said, preacher you are going beyond the 55:15 limit said this night you have gotten 55:19 faster-and-faster. What could I say? 55:23 I knew it was true, I didn't want to say guilty 55:28 'cause I don't want ticket. So, I said mum, 55:31 he says preacher do you understand grace. 55:37 I says, oh yes I preach about grace. 55:40 He says, well grace is you caught, 55:43 but you will let go under with the understanding 55:50 that you don't do it again. And he gave 55:55 me my license and registration back. 55:57 The next night I look for the speed limit side 56:03 and I make sure I was about 5 miles under. 56:07 I got away with grace. The Lord says, sinner 56:14 you have been going this way too long. 56:18 And you have been thinking, you are getting 56:20 away with it. He says but it is time to confront 56:24 your sin. It's time to confront your mess, 56:29 it's time for me to say stop, and he says 56:35 but I won't condemn you. I'll simply give you 56:39 my grace, my grace is sufficient, my grace me, 56:47 that means my grace is enough, 56:50 he don't need anything else, you are full 56:54 with my grace tonight whatever your situation. 56:59 The Lord is saying, my grace is for you, 57:03 if you don't have the living water he says 57:07 I can give it to you right now, you don't need 57:11 to go back to the baptismal pool, 57:13 he says sitting in your seat right now 57:16 I can re-baptize you with the power of the 57:19 Holy Spirit, and you can leave here a new 57:21 person free and clean because of my grace. |
Revised 2014-12-17