Hope - John 4 (Pastor Jeff Shipley)

Whitten Baptist Church iconWhitten Baptist Church

4 views

0 comments

00:00
Now I want you to pay attention. It wasn't anything in Israel. It wasn't their military styles.
00:05
It wasn't the type of people. We're going to be in John chapter 4 this morning.
00:16
John chapter 4. And this is a sermon I actually preached a number of years ago.
00:22
But I want us to look at it maybe in a different perspective this morning. John chapter 4.
00:34
The amount of people that come through this church on a weekly basis is amazing.
00:42
People who never show up on a Sunday morning. People who are just hurting.
00:49
The counseling appointments the pastors and I do, and not just pastors, other people do as well, has reached a new level.
00:58
Both in its frequency, but also in the effectiveness of spreading the gospel.
01:05
And one of the things that people are searching for is not a doctrinal understanding.
01:13
They're not looking for something to connect to. Even though those are some of the colloquialisms that are used.
01:21
What people are truly searching for, especially those who have been wound up in religion, they're searching for peace.
01:31
Peace with God, and then by default peace with everyone else, and peace with themselves.
01:39
And today, just for a few moments, I would like to share with you that there is a hope.
01:46
There is a hope outside of your feelings. There is a hope outside of the codependent relationships that you have formed.
01:56
There is a hope outside of the veneer of self defense that you put up to try to keep the world at bay.
02:03
There's a hope outside of the rebellion that you spew out on your social media and with your words to try to make others intimidated or fearful of you so that you won't get hurt.
02:17
There is a hope. And my friends, once you receive that hope, it is intoxicating, it is blissful, and it is something you never want to lose.
02:28
Now you may say, Pastor, I already have that hope. Well, the Word of God calls it a living hope.
02:35
You see, it is a moving, active thing. It is not a religion based on passivity, but it is a lively, hopeful thing.
02:48
We good? Matty, someone go check. Alright, I want you to read
02:54
John chapter 4. We're going to start in verse 1. And I know this is a lot of scripture today.
03:03
That's why I gave you such awesome notes that I found on AdrianRogers .com.
03:08
So verse 1 says this, Now when Jesus learned that the
03:13
Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John, Baptist, listen, although Jesus himself never did baptize anyone, only his disciples, he left
03:28
Judea and departed again for Galilee, and he had to pass through Samaria.
03:36
So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given his son
03:44
Joseph. Jacob's well was there. So Jesus, wearied, he was tired, as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well, and it was about the sixth hour, or noon.
03:59
A woman, verse 7, came from Samaria, came to draw, something's not right, is it?
04:07
Turn this off, turn that on. Verse 7,
04:14
A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, Give me a drink.
04:20
For his disciples had gone away to buy food. Y 'all remember that. The Samaritan woman said to him,
04:27
How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink from me, now look at the qualifier, a woman of Samaria?
04:37
For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered and said,
04:43
If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, Give me a drink, you would ask him, and he would give you living water.
04:54
A living hope, a moving force. Three things I want to give you this morning from this passage, is that there is hope for everyone in this room.
05:05
And I'm telling you, there's a hope with everyone in this world. I know some hyper -Calvinists say that the lost have no hope.
05:14
I tell you, the very fact that Jesus in the blood of Christ was shed, gave hope to all mankind.
05:21
For the word of God says, He came not to be a propitiation for our sins only, but for the sins of the whole world.
05:31
There is a hope for all. Now listen to what she says. Jesus is sitting at the well.
05:37
She ain't got no idea who this guy is. She walks up, and here's this Jew male, and he turns to her and says, give me a drink.
05:49
And her idea was this. Now I want you to note the racial, and I'm using that term not correctly, because how many races of people are there?
05:59
There's one race, guys. Homo sapien sapien. Follow the science. Anyways, he's sitting there, and she says, how is it that you, a
06:11
Jew, ask me a Samaritan? Now you have to understand the context of this.
06:18
Samaritans and Jews used to be one people before they started fighting amongst each other.
06:24
You know, think of it like this. Think of it as Democrat or Republican, or Baptist and Methodist, or whatever division you want to be.
06:33
They originally, or should be, still one people. But man's sin got in the way.
06:39
His arrogance got away. But I want you to notice the attitude of Christ.
06:44
If you look on your paper, there's a little map that I drew. Actually, I copied it off of Google, but I'll shamelessly take credit.
06:55
There's a map there, and if you will look at that map, I'm going to show you how
07:00
Jews used to travel. You see Galilee there in the north where Jesus was from.
07:05
That's where he was living before he started his ministry. He was living in Galilee, and the
07:13
Jews in Galilee had to come through Samaria to get to Judah, or Jerusalem there in the south.
07:22
But no self -respecting Republican, white Anglo -Saxon
07:28
American white power person would dare travel through Samaria because them peoples was unclean.
07:35
You know what I'm saying? They was unclean. They had on the north and south board, them
07:41
Jews were yelling, let's build a wall, right? Because they weren't going to go through those lesser people.
07:48
Now, for those of you that are feeling a little awkward today with all these racial things, listen to me. Come here. You have swallowed the lie of this world.
07:57
Now, you can continue to be stupid and an idiot, or you can pass through the reality of we are one people, and the only division in humanity is lost and saved.
08:08
That's it. That's it. Skippy, I've read the end of the book. That's the only two there are.
08:14
Okay? So they would literally cross the Jordan River, go all the way around Samaria so their precious feet wouldn't touch the dirt in Samaria.
08:28
Look at verse 3 again. What did Jesus say? Hmm. He left
08:36
Judea and departed for Galilee. So he left the south and he went north, but watch verse 4.
08:42
And he had to pass through Samaria. That don't mean geographically, y 'all.
08:50
That don't mean he had to pass through because there was a storm on the other side. It meant that he was going to pass through that place because there was a broken woman at a well who needed a fresh touch from Jesus.
09:04
And there wasn't going to be anything that stopped him. Not the biasness, not the racism, not the cultural difference.
09:11
He had a message of hope to deliver, and it was to a single woman at a well.
09:18
Hmm. We all, all, have become so entitled and arrogant through victimization.
09:28
That's the number one thing. Well, you don't know what I've been through. Ladies and gentlemen,
09:34
I ain't got to know what you've been through to know you're in need of a Savior. Okay? So do us all a favor and that self -righteous entitlement act that you used on your mom and dad when you were a rebellious teenager, go ahead and let that die so you won't stop ruining your life and the life of your children, okay?
09:56
Because ain't nobody caring. Oh, you'll have some people that'll come alongside you and say, oh, poor baby, look here or do this and this will make you happy.
10:06
Yes, it can make you happy for a moment, but it will never give you the hope that Jesus Christ can.
10:13
Jesus came through Samaria to find that one woman. Notice what he said, verse 10.
10:23
Jesus answered, if you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, give me a drink, you would ask him and he would give you the living water.
10:34
I want you to notice something. I want you to notice something. For all you hyper Arminiests in here, some of y 'all don't know what he mean, don't worry about it.
10:43
It's stupid church crap. But for all you folks in here that think you found Jesus, mmm, mmm,
10:52
I walk down the aisle, amen, amen. I ask Jesus Christ in my heart, amen.
10:58
I found the Lord. Uh -huh. Here's another one. I need to get back into church.
11:05
My life is a wreck. Ladies and gentlemen, church won't give you hope, but Jesus Christ will.
11:11
What you need to do is submit and obey the gospel. Then you will find the hope that you're looking for.
11:20
See, here Jesus is talking to her and I want you to note that he came and found her.
11:30
She wasn't looking for nothing. Some of you are here this morning today and all you did is come to a church service.
11:37
You weren't expecting the Lord to show up. You were expecting Baptist. You were expecting preacher.
11:43
You were expecting smoke machine. I don't know what you were expecting. But I'm here to tell you today where two or three are gathered,
11:50
Jesus is there in the midst of them. And Jesus Christ is here if you're willing to submit.
11:56
Jesus. Jesus came and looked for her. Now I want you to also notice something,
12:02
Bills. Yeah, I said Bill. I want you to notice how many times
12:09
Jesus has to give that water. Watch what it says. If you knew the gift of God and who was saying to give me a drink, you would ask him and he would give you living water.
12:19
In the Greek, oh, it says water. It's singular. It's singular.
12:26
Jesus Christ found you. He saved you. He opened up your eyes.
12:33
He regenerated your soul to be able to understand what faith is. He did all the work.
12:39
You were nothing but a recipient of God's grace. Pastor, you don't know what I've done. No, you don't know what
12:46
Jesus Christ did. That's the problem. You're relying on your feelings or morals or ethics or good works or some sort of ootsy -kootsy feeling when a certain song is played.
12:59
You're living in the nostalgia of the past rather than the grace and the hope that is in the presence. And you're a defeated, weak, hurt
13:07
Christian. Well, guess what? You're in good company. Because God invented something called the church to help with that.
13:16
Guys, I look before me in a room of people, and I know some of y 'all go, man, you don't know my past life.
13:22
Dude, you don't know where you're at. I can't swing a deck.
13:29
Some guy up here, dude had tattoos. He was like, man, I got some tattoos. I'm like, man, there's $250 ,000 worth of ink in this room.
13:37
We got the best tattoo artist in Memphis sitting back there. Man, we ain't studying your tattoo.
13:43
Ain't nobody care. Your pastor's got eight of them. No one cares. Nobody cares.
13:50
We understand what it is because we all did the same thing. Well, pastor, you don't understand what
13:56
I've been through. Praise God I don't have to because I don't want to listen to another war story. I don't want to hear about how your dog went away, your daddy abused you, your husband mistreated you.
14:06
I got that already. Got a whole room full of it. See, what I'm here to do is not listen to how broken you are, but to give you a hope that is for all people.
14:18
That's what I do. That's why I'm here. I'm trying to share with you what
14:24
God did with me. Look at verse 15.
14:30
Here's what some of y 'all gonna do today. During that invitation time, right now, the Holy Spirit of God is convicting you and here's what you're gonna do during the invitation time.
14:44
Sir, verse 15, the woman said to him, give me this water so I won't get thirsty and come here to draw water.
14:54
See, you're looking for the lowest common denominator of your trichotomy to be fulfilled.
15:01
Now, for you Mississippi folks, let me break that down for you, okay? You see, you are a trichotomy.
15:09
Back in Genesis 126, when it said, let us go down and make man in our image.
15:16
Notice the plurality of those pronouns. Back in Genesis, we are the image of God, which means you have a mind, you have a body, and you have a soul.
15:29
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It ain't that hard, really. Arkansas folks get this, alright? But here's what people try to do.
15:37
They want to find Jesus because they want the flesh to be fixed without ever submitting the mind and heart to Christ.
15:46
There are many people who have walked down an aisle in a Baptist church and the pastor said, oh my, my.
15:53
Take me by the hand. Well, here's the better one. Every head bowed and every eye closed.
15:59
If you want to give your life to Jesus, raise your hand. You've raised your hand, but you've never submitted your heart.
16:06
And then you wonder why God and I are this far apart? It's because you ain't a Christian.
16:12
And then you're the idiot that will say, judge not lest ye be judged, and don't even know what that means.
16:18
And you're gonna go through life relying on your pride, relying on your strength, and here's what's gonna happen.
16:25
And you don't have to believe me. You will one day. You're gonna split the gates of hell wide open and be eternally damned, separated from God.
16:34
And then you're gonna be that dork that goes, wait a minute. I got a gold star on my
16:40
Sunday school report. I didn't cuss, smoke, or drink. I was a good person.
16:47
Yeah, because you submitted your flesh but never your soul. This lady, now, it's a well -known commentary.
17:04
This woman came at noon to get water. Now, traditionally the women, now
17:11
I know this isn't true today, okay? I know this ain't true today.
17:16
Y 'all get ready for it, okay? So we're about to talk about the chicks of Whitten. The cows.
17:22
Listen. Robert, I wouldn't laugh too loud, boy.
17:29
I know, I recognize that laugh. Did y 'all see that? I can't even see them and I knew that laugh.
17:36
You see, the women in the morning time would get their little pots, they would march out to this well, and as they were drawing water, wait for it, they would all talk and share prayer requests.
17:51
Christians, did y 'all hear about Lauren Vance? Man, we need to pray for her.
17:57
God, let's pray for her. But she ain't never prayed. You're just a vile, spewing out hate and sin and jealousy, you godless heathen.
18:09
And you actually think that that's a less amount of sin than the adultery of those that you gossip about.
18:16
Go look up the seven saying God hates. You might want to get a reality check there.
18:22
So she's coming at noon all by herself. Why? Because ain't nobody like her. She ain't got
18:28
Izod's or whatever the thing is today. Tommy Hilfinger or whatever you girls wear.
18:35
I don't know. I ain't into girls fashion except on Friday nights. Hoka's.
18:41
Yeah, you ain't wearing them Hoka's. You ain't Sigma Fresh Fire Savage. You know what I'm saying?
18:46
You ain't got pink hair. He's single, men.
18:59
And so she's sitting there all alone. She's sitting there dejected.
19:04
But here's her problem. I ain't talking about the rest of the women. Here's her problem.
19:10
She blames how she feels on everybody else. Now y 'all keep that in mind because we fitting to go there.
19:19
Her hope is diminished and weak because it's everybody else's fault for where she at.
19:26
Let's talk about hope is for all. But number two, hope is truth.
19:33
Let's read verse 16 a little bit. Verse 16. So she sits there and wants to start talking about this living hope and all that.
19:42
And she goes, so you're a Jew. And Jesus says to her, this is so savage.
19:51
Ratchety sketch ratchet. Verse 16. Jesus looks at her and says, hey, go call your husband and come back here.
20:03
Ha ha ha ha ha ha. She says, oh, I'm sorry,
20:10
I don't have a husband. Now watch what smile Jesus loves you
20:15
Joel Osteen does. It's not true. You have correctly said,
20:24
I don't have a husband, Jesus said. For you had five of them guys and the man you now have is not your husband.
20:33
What you have said is true. I don't, I want you not to miss the sarcasm in that verse.
20:40
She was a neighborhood bicycle. Okay. She had been through husbands left and right five different times.
20:49
Five different times. Now she living with somebody. Now y 'all focus up here.
20:56
Y 'all focus. Cause here's the problem. Some of you want to take God's word and modern culture and twist them together and come up with something new.
21:06
Well let me tell you something, that don't work for God. When God said this is wrong, he didn't mean at that moment he meant it's wrong period.
21:16
For some of you in that, what's the generation now called? Bunch of fairy little sissy kids.
21:23
Whatever it is, they sit there and go, well you don't understand my situation, you don't understand my problem.
21:30
God's word says thou shall not and it wasn't a suggestion it was a command. Guys, Jesus slams her in the face.
21:43
Pastor Josiah, Pastor Jeremiah, I've listened to y 'all sermons online these last few weeks and they're a little harsh.
21:53
I'm gonna be honest with you, they made me feel some kind of way. I had my feelings up in there and I was offended.
22:01
This is the part where you're supposed to grovel and apologize. Laughter Jesus Jesus wasn't being very nice here, was he?
22:13
Actually he was being very loving. Because let me tell you something, there was a guy who once said,
22:19
I think it was Nietzsche, correct me if I'm wrong, in John 8 verse 32,
22:25
Jesus said, I've come to give you life and give it abundantly, but then he said this, the truth will set you free.
22:34
That was Jesus, I forgot. You see, here's the problem guys, you wanna be free from sin, but at the expense of truth.
22:43
You wanna make excuses, you want to be forgiven without repenting.
22:51
Guys, the word of God, Jesus said, he shows up for the first time and he said this, repent for the kingdom of God is at hand.
23:00
You wanna bypass repentance to get to forgiveness, you ain't ever gonna find it. You ain't gonna ever find the peace, you ain't gonna ever find the hope.
23:07
Well gee pastor, what is repentance? Repentance is this, it's a changing of a mind that by default changes your body.
23:16
You walk away from sin towards God. Have you repented? Well yes sir, back in 1983
23:24
I gave my heart to Jesus Christ. That's your testimony?
23:30
Huh. You know, I don't share a lot of my testimony of the past, you know what?
23:36
Because my testimony is still going. When I ask for somebody's testimony and they start in the womb, it's like when
23:43
I ask my wife, how was your day? She starts at 6am when she gets up. Baby, I just wanna know if anybody robbed you or mean to you today.
23:51
I don't care about what your hair dryer did or what your hair did, right? If you have a
23:57
Christian testimony you could go back to this morning, yesterday.
24:04
Your testimony should be ongoing and look children of God, growing in faith.
24:11
Some of y 'all, this is what your Christian testimony look like. You know why?
24:17
Because you dead. You flatlined. You ain't a Christian. Oh, you religious, but you ain't no
24:23
Christian. Jesus says, go and get your husband. Huh. Verse 19 and 20.
24:31
Now watch this. Here's some of y 'all again in this room today and you're gonna know the truth as it comes out of the word of God and hits you square in the chest.
24:41
What was this woman's response to this? Look. Verse 19.
24:47
Sir, so we've gone from Jew to Sir. Huh. We get a little bit of respect here.
24:54
Because he just pulled a magic trick out of it. He just copper fielded me and something going on, but I don't know what it is.
25:00
Sir, the woman replied, I see that you are a prophet. Jew, Sir, now prophet.
25:08
Hmm. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, yet you Jews say that the place of worship is
25:14
Jerusalem. What is the number one way Christians and pseudo
25:21
Christians deal with conviction? They pull religion out of their butt. They pull religion out of their butt.
25:28
Some of y 'all just did it now. I can't believe a pastor just said butt, butt, butt, butt, butt, butt, butt, butt. God likes big butts.
25:36
I promise you that because everywhere in his word that it says you had no hope, you were a failure.
25:42
It says this, but God who was rich in mercy, but there is therefore now no condemnation.
25:49
You might want to start looking at the butts and stop looking at your legalistic religion to find the hope that you're missing. She sits there and she brings up a religious question.
26:02
Guys, do you really think it's gonna matter to God that you were in a
26:07
Baptist church? Do you really think, I had a lady talking to me, she's on staff at another place and she said,
26:17
I can't wear this nail polish or people are offended. I never heard this one before and I've been in this game for a long time.
26:26
I did not know nail polish was sinful. Did y 'all know that? Any of you women ever been told you can't go to church with that sort of nail polish on?
26:34
One, two, three, really? Speaking for the men in this room,
26:41
I have never sat and watched a chick walk by and went, hey dude, check out her nail polish.
26:49
Never happened. And for you women to save you a little bit of money, I've never said check out her shoes either, okay?
26:57
Never. Guys, we've come to a place where we want to superimpose our religious ideals instead of repenting.
27:10
Notice what Jesus answers. I love this answer. This is so awesome. Jesus said, now watch this,
27:19
Jesus said to her, verse 21, woman, woman, believe me.
27:28
The hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem you will worship the Father. You worship what you do not know.
27:36
We worship what we do know. For salvation is of from the Jews, meaning Jesus was a
27:42
Jew. So the hour is coming and is now here when the true worshipers will worship the
27:49
Father in spirit and in truth. For the
27:54
Father is seeking such people to worship Him. You know, automatically hope is truth.
28:02
Here's maybe a truth you need to understand. God is seeking you out. You aren't too dirty.
28:10
You're not. Oh, but pastor, I've done this. I've done that. I've done this. God's seeking you.
28:18
So much so He sent His Son to be crucified for you. He watched
28:24
His only Son scream in pain and cry out for Him, but He rejected
28:31
Jesus. He poured out His wrath on Jesus instead of you.
28:40
Now, you tell me that God doesn't love you. I love my church family, but there ain't no way
28:50
I would take baby Ava and kill her for you. That's what God did with Jesus.
28:57
You see, there is hope in truth, not just in truth and understanding where you're at, but there's also hope in understanding where God's at.
29:06
And God is actively seeking you. Last thing, there is hope in Messiah.
29:14
Alright, last thing. Listen, verse 26.
29:19
Well, let me start putting it in context. So let's keep reading verse 25. The woman said to Him, check this out, the woman said to Him, I'm laughing because I've done this.
29:32
The woman said to Him, I know that Messiah is coming, He who is called the Christ. And when
29:37
He comes, He will tell us all things. I don't understand everything, but I'm going to trust in the
29:44
Messiah. Now watch what Jesus does. For all of you that wish that Jesus would just be point blank with who
29:50
He was in the gospel, I want you to read instead of watching YouTube videos. Watch this. Jesus said to her,
30:00
I who speak to you am He. Boom!
30:08
Right? Some of y 'all jumped. Why do you think
30:14
I came to talk to you, woman? I came all this way just for you.
30:22
You're sinful. You need some hope. Honey, you beat yourself up long enough blaming others for your poor choices and insecurities.
30:33
It's time to stop. It's time to repent. Me and God have a personal private relationship, and when
30:44
Messiah comes, I'm sitting right here. There's hope for all.
30:54
There's hope in truth. But I want you to understand this last thing. There's hope only in the
31:02
Messiah. I want you to understand when you meet the real
31:07
Jesus, when you meet the real Jesus, listen to me. Some of y 'all getting
31:13
ADD and getting bored on me now. Focus. Focus up. When you meet the real
31:20
Jesus, there's going to be a real change.
31:28
Well, pastor, I invited Jesus in my heart 20 years ago, and nothing's really changed except I've gotten older.
31:35
You didn't meet the Jesus I know. You didn't meet the Jesus Scripture talking about. You may have got some morals.
31:42
You may have changed some things in your life. You may have even got off alcohol or crack cocaine.
31:50
But there ain't been really any change. Change. I want you to watch what this woman does.
31:56
Jesus says, I am he. Now watch this. Verse 27.
32:02
The church finally shows up. Just then, his disciples, remember back in verse 8, they went to the city to buy food?
32:09
They're coming back now. Just then his disciples came back and they marveled that he was talking with a woman, but ain't nobody said why are you talking to her?
32:24
Church, when someone comes up in this building, do you really sit there?
32:30
I know Witten doesn't, but some of you people don't belong here and you haven't caught the culture yet of who we are.
32:36
So some of y 'all still may be doing a little stupid. You walk up in here and you see somebody walk up in here.
32:43
Let me find someone to pick on real quick. God, there's so many choices.
32:50
Y 'all are such losers. We'll use Camille because she looks very awkward right now, so I'm going to use her.
32:55
She loves being the center of attention by the way. So you see Camille and you notice her tattoos and you're kind of thinking to yourself, why is she here?
33:08
You know what I'm saying? Roderick. Hey, Roderick. Hey, buddy.
33:14
Roderick the other day walked into Subway and he was telling me this.
33:20
Yeah, I'm going to tell it. You told me. You told the pastor. Roderick walked into Subway the other day and he ordered a salad from the sister behind the counter.
33:31
He got his salad and he said, hey, do y 'all serve crackers? And she said, we serve everybody here, man.
33:40
Roderick came up and told that joke to his pastor. Roderick. Guys, do you ever wonder why somebody,
33:54
Gwen just got it. She went to private school. Do you ever wonder why somebody is here?
34:04
Here's one church. Have you ever gone, oh, they got cancer. I wonder what they did. I wonder why
34:10
Jesus is mad at them. You ever done something like that? Be very careful of that kind of brain pattern because you are lining up perfectly with the
34:20
Pharisees who heard Jesus say, how will you escape the damnation of hell? Just food for thought.
34:28
From one cracker to another. Watch this.
34:34
Verse 28. Verse 28. So the woman, read with me, the woman left, went to her local
34:45
Baptist church and joined up. Began to teach Sunday school and bought a skirt.
34:51
And made sure that the neckline was appropriate. She then stopped wearing white shoes except after Easter.
35:01
Because that's a real sin right there, guys. Is that what it says? Listen to what happens when you finally get hope.
35:11
Now some of you Christians say, oh, I'm on fire for Jesus. But you ain't opened your mouth about him except in a worship service.
35:17
Listen to what she does. So the woman left her water jar and went away into the town and said to the people, come and see a man who told me all that I ever did.
35:30
Can this be the Christ? Now I want you to notice a couple things. Who did she go to?
35:39
The very people who had shunned her. How's your forgiveness factor this morning?
35:48
Oh, I can't remember. I don't even want to think about the harsh things
35:53
James King did to me. I brought my poppy seed casserole dish to a church function and he said he wouldn't eat it because he was too full.
36:04
He was making fun of my cooking. I'll never forget that fat old heifer that sat in my chair that I've been sitting in in this church for 20 years.
36:16
The Nazi. Those things are ridiculous.
36:24
I can't ever forget the man who molested me. Never will forgive him. Got quiet real quick, didn't it?
36:31
There is someone who said if you can't forgive others God will not forgive you.
36:38
Oh, but pastor, you don't understand my pain. Oh, yeah, I do. You ain't got an excuse.
36:45
Well, he broke my heart and left me. You broke Christ and left him.
36:52
Tell you what, let's make a comparison. You don't have to forgive others if you walk down the
36:57
Via Dolorosa. Take those stripes, die in a sinless perfected stake on a cross for the sins of the whole world.
37:06
When you do that, you can then elevate yourself to place of God. But until then, it's not a suggestion, it's a command to forgive others as I have forgiven you.
37:21
She went to the people that made fun of her. Now watch this. Ready for this?
37:26
Watch this. She left her jar. Some of y 'all came here today to find something else.
37:37
Maybe you looking, you church shopping because you church hopping because somebody made you mad at the last place you've been.
37:45
Well, let me let you on a secret here in Witten. We may not want you either. I don't care about your money.
37:54
I don't see it, don't count it, don't hear about it. I don't want to know anything about it. I don't care.
38:00
You ain't got nothing I want or need. Okay? I ain't looking to write a book.
38:06
I don't want TV cameras in here. I ain't looking to become famous. Here's what
38:12
I'm looking for. When I die and stand before God for him to say, well done, thou good and faithful servant, son.
38:18
Come on in, boy, you did good. You see, because I ain't worried about empty water jars.
38:26
I want to leave that hurt and pain and that stuff that you keep going back to to try to fill your life with something other than true hope.
38:37
When you meet Jesus Christ everything else you've tried whether it be people, drugs alcohol, whatever, religion whatever it is.
38:47
When you meet Jesus, there will be a real change because all that stuff will turn to ash in your mouth.
38:54
And you'll find the peace of God that passes all understanding that no one can understand.
39:01
Verse 27. No, I already did that. Let's do verse 39. So she goes back, she tells them and then here come all the pastors.
39:13
You know all the pastors were like, oh, she's doing that prophecy thing again.
39:18
Why isn't she in the kitchen making a sandwich? Which is where all women should be. You know what I'm saying?
39:24
No, I'm serious y 'all. My dishwasher stopped working the other day and I went up and picked up her hand and shook it it was still working.
39:31
You know what I mean? You know when the first missionaries came to this part of the world, they already found
39:41
Christians there. Paul was actually amazed. He goes, where did all these Christians come from? A little woman at a well.
39:48
A woman who had been married five times and shacking up with someone met
39:54
Jesus and it changed not only her life but everyone else around her. So that 20 years later when the church is sending out missionaries it was already there.
40:05
Because of a woman decided to get through her shame and started being obedient to the cross. Watch. Verse 39.
40:13
Now many Samaritans from that town believed in him. Watch what it says. Believed in him because of what the woman said when she testified.
40:23
He told me everything I did. Therefore when the Samaritans came to him they asked him to stay with them and he stayed there two days.
40:33
Many more believed because of what he said and they told the woman we no longer believe because of what you said for we have heard ourselves and know that this is really the savior of the world.
40:48
Of white now it's just talking about white people there. Y 'all this is uncomfortable and awkward for me someone give me the courtesy laugh.
40:59
Savior of the world. You know what? She didn't care who she was talking to. She didn't care who came to Jesus.
41:07
She was just talking about the truth. And I want you to notice the beauty of this. The last part of this it says we believe because of what no longer you said but because we've experienced it ourselves.
41:26
I'll close with this. Hunter you can come get ready to do your thing.
41:33
Y 'all listen to me. There are going to be a lot of people that miss the grace of God to go to heaven because they're looking for a sign and wonder instead of hearing the word of God.
41:47
Listen to me. I've heard people say when we have guest pastors that come in or guest speakers they go he really just didn't do it for me.
41:59
Do you think the word of God is like freaking JC Penney's? You're going to go try it on and walk away? What are you stupid?
42:07
What if God says that if we quit praising I don't need Hunter. Some of y 'all say
42:13
I can't worship God because I don't like that style of music. At some point in your life you're going to have to mature past the stupidity you're living in.
42:24
Listen to me.
42:31
They believed on nothing more than the word of God.
42:38
And it changed their lives. And you know what?
42:45
It changed their families as well. Because that generation died away and the one that the missionaries found were the children of these people.
42:56
Where you at this morning? I didn't have a sermon this morning.
43:02
This wasn't no sermon. There ain't no church service. Ain't no you know bite
43:08
Jesus Christ your heart Lord and Savior God bless you all that bull crap. This is the word of God.
43:14
And some of you sitting in this room you've heard with your ears and said amen and that's good. But some of you in this room this word of God not my words but the word of God it hits you square in the heart.
43:25
And you've said I know I'm not a Christian. But I'm too embarrassed or I've done this to me.
43:31
I've prayed Jesus in my heart too many times. Find me in scripture where it says to pray
43:38
Jesus in your heart. Maybe you hadn't been doing it according to God's word rather than some preacher's word.
43:46
Maybe it ain't working because you trusting in your religion rather than Jesus Christ the
43:52
Messiah. Maybe it is you want to submit your heart without submitting everything else.
43:59
I can sin like a godless heathen Monday through Saturday but on Sunday for two hours I'm gonna be all holy.
44:07
You meet Jesus you're gonna be changed. You're gonna be changed.
44:14
Have you met Jesus? Screw that church stuff. Have you truly met
44:19
Jesus Christ? Now some of you where your butt just grew legs cause
44:24
I see people fidgeting all over the room. You are the folks the word of God is talking to.
44:32
Number two. Are you kinda like that woman at the well?
44:37
No I ain't talking about you. Shacking ain't hacking it. By the way shacking ain't hacking.
44:43
If you people are living together and unmarried you are living in sin. Well I don't know taxes
44:49
Stop being stupid. Embrace the truth. It'll set you free. It's sin. God said don't do it.
44:56
Okay? Weep over that if you got to but come to grips with reality. Some of you in this room you are
45:03
Christians but what's happened is your love has grown cold. You've turned into the people in that city.
45:11
You started judging according to the flesh rather than by the spirit. Some of you people are trying to worship on the outside but as John 4 24 says those who worship me must worship me in spirit and in truth.
45:26
You're trying to manufacture holiness and worship by a music style. It'll grow cold.
45:32
Trust me. It'll grow cold. Folks if you can't drive in your car and worship
45:38
God without fancy music and drums and smoke machines and glitter bombs and some overpaid music director you got bigger problems.
45:52
Well pastor how do I fix that? Here's the good news for you. You don't have to learn anything new. The same repentance that saved you is the same repentance that keeps your sanctification going.
46:03
Repent. I'm gonna change my thoughts. I'm gonna change my ways. Maybe some of you need some accountability in your life.
46:12
Look right here. I'm almost done. Look right here. Some of y 'all are dumb enough to say my spiritual life is private between me and God.
46:24
You're the idiot that cannot break the cycle of sin. That arrogance will absolutely blow you up.
46:33
Here's what you need to do. I wish I could word this some way. Confess your faults one to another that you may be oh yeah.
46:43
That is James 5. Thank you pastor. I thought it was something Dr. Phil said.
46:50
You need accountability. I am the the senior licensed ordained pastor of this church.
47:03
Hey man, come on. I need accountability in my life.
47:10
Or I'll be chasing Marty Wilson all over this room, you know, cause he's kinda cute. I will find a way to steal, lie, connive, manipulate.
47:23
I will. If I don't have other brothers in Christ going, hey pastor, let me see your phone.
47:30
Here it is. You know how much freedom it is? My little Kaylee.
47:35
Where's my Kaylee? I don't have both. That's why. Where is she? Hey my baby
47:41
Kaylee. You're so cute. Baby Kaylee is my secretary. She has the password to my phone, my computer, and I don't erase my history.
47:51
Ever. Ever. I'll give you my phone right now.
47:58
Do you know how powerful and peaceful that is? That's a comfy pillow to sleep on at night.
48:06
Where are you at? Where are you at? Church membership ain't about a stupid letter.
48:12
It's about your sanctification. So we're gonna do this. We're fittin' to do business with God. Now some of you are gonna sit there, you're gonna grab the back of that chair, you're gonna look up the screen, you're gonna sing the song, you're gonna hope to God this thing ends quick and this fat guy will shut up so I can go home.
48:28
You are free to leave right now. Bye Felicia.
48:36
Ain't nobody keeping you here. Ain't nobody keeping you here. Go. Go.
48:45
Hey. But for those of you that need help, break out of that cycle of self -reliance.
48:52
Break out of that religious crap. Come confess your fault to somebody who will pray with you and then we'll call you tomorrow and go, where you at?
49:01
And the next day. And the next day. Come. If you need to be a
49:07
Christian, man, I've done this so many times but I know I ain't saved. I got a scripture for that.
49:13
We can fix that. Whatever it is, I'm gonna ask you to stand and if God has spoken to you today, you come as God leads.