Fear is in the boat

Matthew 14:22-33

^{Fear is in the boat}

^{Let’s say there is a ship on the high sea, having a fierce struggle with the waves. The storm wind is blowing harder by the minute. The boat is small, tossed about like a toy; the sky is dark; the sailors’ strength is failing. Then one of them is gripped by . . . whom? what? . . . he cannot tell himself. But someone is there in the boat who wasn’t there before. . . . Suddenly he can no longer see or hear anything, can no longer row, a wave overwhelms him, and in final desperation he shrieks: Stranger in this boat, who are you? And the other answers, I am Fear. . . . All hope is lost, Fear is in the boat.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer}

^{January 15, 1933 Germany was in the midst of fearful and turbulent times, indeed. The devastation of defeat from World War I, just 14 years earlier, was fresh on the people’s minds and hearts. The Stock Market Crash of 1929 compounded further pressures on the struggling German economy, driving the number of unemployed to more than six million. The new Weimar Republic lacked political stability and leadership, and fears of communism and extremism loomed large. As these dark waves battered them from all sides, many Germans—including German Christians—feared what the future would hold.}

^{“Fear is in the boat, in Germany, in our own lives and in the nave of this church—naked fear of an hour from now, of tomorrow and the day after.” Much like 1933 fear is very much in the boat here in NC in 2020.}

^{22 Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away.}

^{Immediately! We understand the word immediately because we are an immediate society as is evidenced by our newest god the Smartphone. However, that is a sermon for another time. So, immediately after what? The events listed in the previous verses. Right before this Jesus saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them and healed their sick. This went on for most of the day and then as evening came the disciples begged Jesus to send the people away because it was dinner time. Jesus says they don’t need to go you feed them dinner. The disciples go we don’t have enough food for ourselves much less for these thousands of people! Jesus then blesses the food they do have and tells them to hand it out and it multiplies, and multiplies and multiplies until everyone was full and there were twelve baskets full of leftovers. A basket for each disciple.}

 

^{We know from John that the people were getting ready to try and make Jesus king and why not? This is a guy who just fed everyone to the full and it didn’t cost them anything. It would make a catchy campaign slogan “Vote for me and eat for free!” However, Jesus knowing that His kingdom was not of this world sends the disciples away into the boat and then sends the multitudes away as well.}  

 

^{23 And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there.}

^{So what does he do next? Go and join the disciples? No He goes up to the mountain by Himself to pray. Why does He do this? Well this is actually his second attempt at doing this on this particular day. He tried earlier in the morning and that was when the multitude tracked him down. So now He finally has His alone time. Brethren, If our Lord took time away from everything to commune with the Father in prayer why do we think we don’t need to do the same?}

 

^{Specifically what was Jesus praying about? Scripture doesn’t record but I got a good idea of what. You see at the beginning of chapter Herod has John the Baptist executed. John’s disciples take the body, bury it and then go and tell Jesus. When Jesus hears it he departs to a deserted place to mourn and pray and that is when the multitudes track Him down.}

 

^{Three early martyrdoms are recorded in the New Testament: John the Baptist in ca. AD 31, Stephen in ca. AD 35 and James the apostle in ca. AD 44. So, John the Baptist, friend and cousin of Jesus becomes the first Christian martyr to die for his faith, and for his unwillingness to compromise that faith. Jesus gave testimony of John when He said in Matthew 11:11 “Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist” Jesus mourns for this loss, Jesus mourns knowing that John is the first of many who will lay their life down for their testimony of Him.}

 

^{We should note that not only does Jesus take time to be along with the Father but that Jesus takes time to mourn. In our immediate society we want to speed through everything. We should never rush our mourning or those that do. However, we do not grieve as they who have no hope according to 1 Thess 4:13}

 

^{24 But the boat was now in the middle of the sea,[}a^{] tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.25 Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. 26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear.}

 

^{So the Disciples were sent out on the boat at evening time. This would have been around 6pm. Jesus goes to them during the fourth watch of the night which was between 3-6AM in the morning. They have been out on sea, tossed by the waves all night long. So tossed by the waves and the wind was contrary doesn’t seem that bad I mean who hasn’t been on a boat and it bounced around a bit? Well this is where the English is sorely lacking.}

 

^{Greek for tossed is basanizo = to vex with grievous pains, to torture. Contrary = enantios = hostile & antagonistic in feeling or act. So it better translate the disciples had been out at sea for almost 12 hours and they were tortured by the waves because the wind was hostile towards them.}

^{The Sea of Galilee location makes is subject to sudden and violent storms. When cool air from the east drops over the warm air coming from the sea it can make for quick and furious thunder storms in a short time. The disciples were caught in one of these storms and they faced imminent death because of it.}

 

 ^{Jewish people of the time feared the Sea of Galilee; they described it as “an abyss, a fearsome place of darkness, chaos and hell.” Now being caught in a terrible storm in his horrible place they are seeing ghosts and they know that death has come for them. At the end in their fear and despair they cry out. Beloved take note here it is at this very moment that Jesus speaks to them. This is when He speaks to us in our brokenness, in our fear, in our despair.}

 

^{27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” The}

^{So what does He say to them? Be of good cheer. It is I! Do not be afraid. Now minus any of you that are secretly British does anyone here go around saying be of good cheer? No? Thought so. It’s pretty close to our use of “Cheer up!” Now when do you use cheer up? When someone is sad over something trivial like your favorite team lost, your favorite band broke up, it’s raining and you wanted to go outside, or you just found out that Burger King no longer offers the Angry Whopper. It’s typically not something you use for someone who’s in a life threatening situation.  Why should they cheer up? The storm is still going, the boat is about to sink. Is His presence enough to cheer them up? Is His voice enough to calm them down? Is it for us? Should it be?}

 

^{Fear of Corona Virus. Everyone is so scared right now whether they admit or not. Change is hard. We are creatures of habit and when those routines are thrown off it’s chaos, when we are forced to change it’s even worse. I know your mad at the governor, and the superintendent and the president and virtually anyone else you can think to blame. Yet, we are called to pray for our leaders. I know your worried about tomorrow and how your going to pay your bills if you can’t go to work. Anger and fear are very closely tied together. This is unprecedented territory and fear has a tendency to reign supreme in the face of the unknown.}

^{Fear crouches in our hearts, hollows out our insides, breaks down our defenses. It gnaws and eats away at all the ties that bind us to God and to one another. When we turn on each other in fear God weeps and hell rejoices.}

^{Nothing makes us so conscious of the reality of powers opposed to God in our lives than this loneliness, this helplessness, this fog spreading over everything, this sense that there is no way out, and this raving impulse to get everything you can for yourself and who cares how it effects anyone else? Fear takes away our humanity. This is not what a person made in the image of God looks like.}

^{This passage is not about being afraid but of conquering that fear! We don’t have to be afraid, we shouldn’t be afraid. This is what makes us as Christians stand out from everyone else.  In the midst of every situation where there is no way out, where nothing is clear, where it is our fault, we know that there is hope, and this hope is called: Thy will be done, yes, thy will is being done.}

^{“This world must fall, God stands above all, his thoughts unswayed, his Word unstayed, his will forever our ground and hope.” Do you ask: How do you know?}

^{Then we call upon the name of the One who makes the evil inside us recoil, who makes fear and anxiety themselves tremble with fear and puts them to flight. We name the One who overcame fear and led it captive in the victory proces­sion, who nailed it to the cross and committed it to oblivion; we name the One who is the shout of victory of humankind redeemed from the fear of death—Jesus Christ, the Crucified and Living One. He alone is Lord over fear; it knows him as its master; it gives way to him alone. So look to Christ when you are afraid, think of Christ, keep him before your eyes, call upon Christ and pray to him, believe that he is with you now, helping you . . . Then fear will grow pale and fade away, and you will be free, through your faith in our strong and living Savior, Jesus Christ. Jesus saw Peter’s fear and spoke 3 simple words.}

^{“It is I.”}

 

^{There’s a lot of debate over those 3 words. I think it’s a declaration of deity. It’s the same phrase used in Exodus 3 when Moses says “Indeed, [when] I come to the children of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they say to me, 'What [is] His name?' what shall I say to them?" And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM."}

 

^{28 And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”29 So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”}

 

^{Peter encouraged by these steps out of the boat! Mind you the storm is still going on. He has been brought up to be in fear of Sea, and it’s very unlikely that he knows how to swim. He starts to walk on water and then the wind becomes too much and he starts to sink. Many of us look down on Peter for doubting and sinking but how many of us would have stepped out of the boat? How many of us are ok with following Jesus until the storms come? Until the wind is boisterous? Until we actually have to make a change or confront the sin in our lives? . There are daily chances to roll over and play dead. So here is Peter, scared and sinking and He cries out the wisest words He will ever say “Lord, save me!”}

 

^{31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” What is the Lord’s response? The same one He offers us. Immediately. Immediately. Jesus saves him. He could have calmed the storm that very moment. He could have let Peter float. He could have waved his hands or blinked his eyes and Peter would be standing on the water like it was ground. What did He choose to do? He reached out His hand and caught him.}

 

^{Psalm 40:1-2 “I waited patiently for the LORD; And He inclined to me, And heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, And set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps.”}

^{Isaiah 49:16 “See, I have inscribed you on the palms [of My hands]”}

^{John 10:28 “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.” Later on in life I bet Peter had many occasions to doubt and I bet he recalled these words and remember when the Lord reached down and brought him up.}

 

^{32 -33 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.”}

^{What we’ve yet to consider is the entire point of this passage. When Jesus sent them out on the boat they were following his orders. They went into an area they were afraid of, that they knew was dangerous and that they knew that the Lord had sent them too. Jesus being God knew that He was sending them into a storm, knowing that they would tried and tested. Yet He sends them anyway. Why is this? Why does God do this to us? Why does He knowingly, willingly send us into the storms of life? Look at the end result brethren.}

^{Those who were in the boat came and worshipped Him saying “Truly You are the Son of God.”}

^{When contemplating this passage Mark Stuart penned the following words:}

^{Just like peter I want to go farther
tread on the sea and walk on the water
step where he steps and go where he goes
side by side when the sea billows roll
I'll be alright when the wind comes
I'll be alright when the waves come crashing
I'm not afraid for this is my father's world}

^{If I keep my eyes on Jesus I can walk on water}

Quid Pro Quo

John 4:43-54

Quid Pro Quo

³ Now after the two days He departed from there and went to Galilee. 

his was remarkable in light of the opinions of most of the Jewish people of Jesus’ day regarding the Samaritans. They regarded Samaria and the Samaritans as a place and people to avoid if possible, and if it were necessary to go through Samaria it should be done as quickly as possible. That Samaritans should invite a Jewish teacher to stay with them, with no fear of a rebuff, shows how completely he had won their confidence.

 Later in Acts 8 we see Philip preaching the gospel in Samaria and having similar results. The fields were white unto harvest indeed! It is amazing how many doors the Gospel will open of us when we just take the time to share it. This year has been crazy to say the least, yet amongst all this constant instability we can depend up on and place our hope in Jesus and that is a hope we must share!

⁴⁴ For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. ⁴⁵ So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they also had gone to the feast.

Finally! They get to where they are going, Galilee. Galilee was the area where Jesus grew up. Think of it like Person County a small everyone where everybody knows who everybody else is. Yet, there’s a danger in that as well. We can know people for a long time but not really know anything about them. There are people that I’ve known for over 30 years. Yet, I couldn’t tell you much about them other than we went to school together, because I haven’t really spent any time getting to know them.

It’s the same here with Jesus. There are people that know who He is, but they don’t really know who He is! It’s no different today. I’ve met my share of people that will say they got saved 20-30 years ago, but they really don’t have much knowledge of Christ or the Scriptures.

⁴⁶ So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine. And there was a certain ^[b]nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum. ⁴⁷ When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. 

Jesus is now in a Cana, a small town in a small area. Last time we saw him in Cana he turned water into wine at the wedding feast. Surely, the story of this had spread since the initial event. In fact, I imagine it had been the talk of the town for quite some time. People were on both sides, some saying it was a miracle, others saying it was a hoax and everything else in between.

While Jesus is there a nobleman from Capernaum approaches Him. Capernaum was about 20+ miles away from Cana and was roughly a days journey on average. It would be like us driving to Florida. This man was a nobleman. That literally translates to “a royal person”. This implies that he was a member of the court for Herod Antipas.

This mean that this guy has power, money, influence and resources. He had access to the best medical care that was available at that time. His son was still sick and now he was desperate. He has heard about Jesus and His miracles. He finds out that he’s only a day away, so he takes off to find him on the chance that it might work. His son was on his death bed and Jesus was their only hope.

It’s no fun having a sick child, and I’m talking about just minor sickness. We’ve certainly been through our share of sickness in our house with the kids. Flu, Pneumonia, Stomach Bugs, Hand Foot & Mouth, concussions. We have even had two hospitalizations when Madison had Kawasakis at 18 months and when Sam had RSV at just a few weeks old. I can tell you, as a parent, there’s very little I wouldn’t have done for my children if it meant they would be healed. If I could take the sickness myself I would without a seconds hesitation.

This father is desperate, sleep deprived and willing to do anything if Jesus will heal his son. Jesus response again is an odd one.

Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe:

Jesus rebuked those who depended on signs and wonders before they would believe. It might seem that Jesus was harsh towards this man who wanted his son healed, but He encountered many in Galilee who were interested only in His miracles – He therefore questioned this man accordingly.

Signs and wonders from God are good things, but will never form the foundation of our faith. We should never depend on them to prove God to us. In themselves, signs and wonders cannot change the heart; Israel saw incredible signs at Mount Sinai and even heard the very voice of God (Exodus 19:16-20:1), yet a short time later they worshipped a gold calf (Exodus 32:1-6).

Every Pastor I have spent time with has countless stories of individuals who prayed for and received a miraculous healing. They promised things were going to be different and perhaps they were for a time, but they always went back to the way things were beforehand.

 

⁴⁹ The nobleman said to Him, “Sir, come down before my child dies!”

The mans response to Jesus comment is the correct one. He has lot of options available to him. He can offer both Carrot & Stick. As far as Carrot goes he has wealth, money, resources and influence. What do you want? Money, Food, Girls? Just name it and it’s yours! He could have gone stick, I’ll have you and all your disciples arrested. I’ll make life miserable for you and your family.  He could gone I’m a nobleman! A royal person! You should be honored I’m even talking to you.

He doesn’t do any of these things. Just like Pastor Dave preached Sunday he knows exactly who he is. A man begging for mercy from Jesus.

How often do we bargain with God? It always takes the form of God if you do X then I’ll do Y. I know many of you that have done that and many more that are trying it now. I’m here to warn you. Don’t bargain with God. It’s essentially a form of works. As if we have something, we can offer Him that He doesn’t already have, needs but cannot obtain or can’t do Himself! When we do this, we forget who we are and who we are talking to!

This is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. This is the Almighty that spoke the whole of creation into existence! What amongst our possessions is of any value to him? What task are you going to accomplish that He can’t do? This is no Quid Pro Quo with God. We approach Him not on the basis of our works (or future potential works) but on the basis of His Great Mercy! The Psalms tell us that they are new every day.

⁵⁰ Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your son lives.” So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way. 

What’s the result of pleading to Jesus for mercy? In Humility? Mercy is received! Jesus says your son lives! The man has no way to verify this. He can’t call someone to check. No cell phones back then. He can’t just run to his house and be back in 10 minutes to make sure Jesus really doesn’t need to come over. It’s another days journey to get back home. What’s the mans response? He believed the word of Jesus! No flash signs in the heavens, no magic words, Jesus doesn’t even pray before He does it. He just looks at the man and says “Your son lives.” The nobleman, who up to this point was an unbeliever (as we see from the text) no demonstrates true faith. What’s true faith? “the man believed the word that Jesus spoke.” That’s true faith.

When we believe the words that Jesus has spoken, we don’t have time to argue with people about masks, statues, or politics. We are too busy loving God, loving our neighbor and spreading the gospel.

⁵¹ And as he was now going down, his servants  

⁵² Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better. And they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” ⁵³ So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son lives.” And he himself believed, and his whole household. This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.

What’s the end result? Not only a physical healing, which we know was temporary, this son eventually died as will we all one day when the Lord decides. We see a far more important spiritual healing for the entire household!

The first two signs in the Gospel of John took place at Cana of Galilee. The first was at a wonderful celebration – a wedding party. The second was connected with a terrible tragedy – the illness and impending death of a child. It’s important for us to note that Jesus is real in both aspects.

 

Break the walls down part 2

John 4:15-26

Break the walls down pt 2

The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.”

Last time, A Samaritan woman comes alone to draw water from the well Jesus had stopped at. The disciples had been sent into town to buy food. Jesus asks they woman for a drink, as he had no equipment with him to draw from the well. The Samaritan woman is shocked that anyone is speaking to her much less a Jewish man. She has come by herself to draw water, which we will address in more detail shortly, but if you were a woman drawing from a well alone there was no good reason why you were in that circumstance.

With one simple question Jesus breaks down two walls. The wall of cultural prejudice and the wall of gender prejudice. He then offers her living water that quenches the soul eternally.

The woman responds “Give me water that I may not thirst.” Some view this passage as the woman mocking Jesus or being sarcastic. I think in light of her circumstances this is not the case. I thinks she’s stunned to have another adult talking to her. I thinks he senses something different, something unique about this strange Jewish man that is not only taking the time to talk to her but ask her for help. She wants to know more. She wants to understand. It’s as if she is saying “Jesus if there is anyway you can make my life better, I will take it!”

This is how it starts in our walk with Christ. We have to realize that His way of doing things is better than ours. Now I want to be clear about something. I’m not talking about building a better mouse trap. My first youth camp was to Atlanta for this Christian music festival appropriately named Atlanta Fest. We were in the hotel room after some wonderful Rock N Roll and Worship settling down for the night. One of the guys was thirsty and he didn’t want to pay the $4 for the bottle of water in the fridge. There were no water fountains or drink machines in our section of the hotel we were staying at. There was only an ice machine. The guy comes out of the bathroom with a cup of water and goes I got my water! He had gotten a cup of ice from the ice maker and then spent the last 20 minutes using that tiny hotel hair dryer to melt the ice until it became water. I looked at him and asks “Why didn’t you just fill it with the water from the sink?” His response? “Shut up!”

When I say Jesus way of doing things is better that’s not really what I’m talking about. I’ve talked about my salvation experience plenty since I got saved in Feb of 1998. I didn’t’ walk an aisle or pray a prayer. I didn’t make a deep heartfelt confession where I poured my entire heart out. I simply had a moment of brutal honesty between myself and the Lord where I said, “Lord, my way of doing things is not working. I am going to try things your way now.”

What’s His way? God’s Word! Love God, Love your neighbor. Do Justice. Love Mercy, Walk Humbly. All things by His grace. She realizes her life is a mess and maybe this guy can help.

¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”

¹⁷ The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.”

Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’

What is Jesus response here? It’s very telling honestly. He doesn’t say walk this aisle, pray this prayer, fill out this good deeds check list and make sure you put your 10% in the offering plate and I’ll think about it. He also doesn’t gloss over the circumstances that she is in. In fact, He deals with the directly and immediately.

We can’t evangelize solely on all the gifts of God. In fact that quickly slips into prosperity gospel the whole “naming a blessing yourself, wealth and power, strong healthy teeth, a spot at the beach and story book romance.”

You want to know one of the quickest ways to spot false doctrine? They never mention sin or the fact that we are sinners. Jesus immediately gets to the heart of the problem, as He always does.

Within the two months of salvation God removed a lot of ungodly things from my life. I knew these things needed to go but I was powerless to get rid of them in my own strength. By the grace of God I was gradually able to let these things go. It was painful, but it was also worth it. To this day I neither miss those things nor regret making those decisions. You can’t come to Christ and not be confronted with your sin. It just doesn’t work that way.

 ¹⁸ for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.”

What does Jesus say? He says you’ve had 5 husbands and you’re currently living with a man that isn’t your husband. This sounds like a plot to the young and the restless! I’ve read a ton of theories and conjecture as to why she was married so many times. Some put the entire onus on the woman and paint her in as negative a light as possible. Some place the entire onus on the men, or society as a whole.

The bottom line is that we don’t know, because the scripture doesn’t tell us. In fact, I think a big part of this story is that we don’t know so we won’t focus on the wrong aspect of the story. We all love a good scandal don’t we? And 2020 has not disappointed on that front! This story is not about the woman’s scandalous past, it’s about her scandalous salvation!

¹⁹ The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. ²⁰ Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.”

What’s telling her is the woman’s response. When we are confronted about our sin we typically respond with anger and defensiveness. “I don’t see how that’s any of your business!” “Well that’s my opinion and anyone that doesn’t like it can *!&&@”  My personal favorite is “Well where in the Bible does is say that?” Then you are shown and the response is “ Well I don’t care I’m going to do it anyway!” Then we wonder why our lives are such a mess.

She realizes that what she has suspected is true. This man is from God. She doesn’t yet realize the full truth of Christ but she is headed down the narrow way for certain.

She then asks a question that may seem like she is trying to change the subject. It’s not. She asks a very legitimate question. One about how you properly worship God.

Samaritan worship was a combination of Judaism and the various religions from all the Assyrian captives that had been forced to settle the land that became Samaria some 500 years prior. It was the largest source of contention between Jews and Samaritans. It’s no different than today with those multi religious services. Where officials of various religions take turns teaching the same congregation. The whole every religion is a different path up the same mountain to get to God is a lie. I know that’s unpopular, the truth often is, but Jesus says Himself in John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth and the life and no man gets to the Father expect through me.” I didn’t write it nor am I going to argue with the God who did.

She wants to know the truth about God and she knows she can get that from Jesus.   

²¹ Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. ²² You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. ²³ But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. ²⁴ God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

²⁵ The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.”

²⁶ Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”

Jesus pointed her to a time when worship would no longer be focused on places (neither Jerusalem nor Mount Gerazim). The greater work of Jesus would bring a greater, more spiritual worship. With these words Jesus described the basis for true worship: it is not found in places and trappings, but in spirit and in truth.

To worship in spirit means you are concerned with spiritual realities, not so much with places or outward sacrifices, cleansings, and trappings.

To worship in truth means you worship according to the whole counsel of God’s word, especially in light of the New Testament revelation. It also means that you come to God in truth, not in pretense or a mere display of spirituality.

She says, “I know that Messiah is coming, He who is called Christ, and when that one comes He will declare all things to us.” She wants to worship from the heart in truth. She knows the Messiah is the presenter of that Truth. Jesus says to her, “I who speak to you AM He.” There’s no “He” in the original language; it’s an I AM statement, the name of God. “I who speak to you AM.” The One speaking to you is the I AM.  The incarnate Christ is revealed. She has sought the truth and she has found the living embodiment of truth, the Logos of God. Twenty-three times in the gospel of John we read “I AM.” Seven times He says “I AM” something: the Bread of Life, the Branch, the Way, the Truth, the Life--all references to His eternal Godhood. He reveals Himself to her.

The world at the time would have said there’s to many walls that separate Jesus from this woman. Jesus says “ I AM” and every wall is broken down immediately and a scandalous woman, receives a scandalous salvation. Whatever walls may be between you and God presently just know a word from Him breaks them all down.

Break the walls down part 1

John 4:1-14

Break the walls down Pt 1.

Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John ² (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples), ³ He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. ⁴ But He needed to go through Samaria.

Jesus sees a pointless political debate brewing. He does the smart thing and the thing I have advised so many of you to do and every once in a while, one of you does it. He walks away.

Why is Samaria such a big deal in the New Testament? We hear it mentioned a lot. The Pharisees would accuse people of being Samaritans as an insult. Jews would take the long way around Samaria via the Jordan river with Samaria situated between Southern Judea and Northern Galilee this was a common trip to take. If you did not have time to go around Samaria, you went through it as fast as you possible could with minimal stops. Even the direct route could take three days. Why so much hatred for this group of people? It actually goes very far back.

Following King Solomon’s reign, Rehoboam took over as King of Israel. He was a selfish and cruel idiot. The northern tribes of Israel rebelled and created their own kingdom. The capital of it was Samaria. Fearing people would return to Jerusalem to worship they created their own religion. God was not happy with any of this.  Despite numerous warnings to return to God, the people of Samaria refused. God acted, or rather, God let them try and live life without Him.

It went the way it always goes when we try to do things our way because we think we know better. The Assyrians overran the nation in 722 B.C. They took many of the people captive. You can read about this in more detail in 2 Kings 17. The Assyrians then took captives that they had from other conquered nations and used them along with the poorest Samaritans to stay and work the land. They all inter married and the race of people known as Samaritans came to be, half Jew, half gentile.

The Jews from Judah also went into exile and capture thanks to their refusal to repent and constant ignoring of God’s messengers. They were captured by the Babylonians. However, thanks to Godly people like Daniel (as in Daniel and the lions den) when they returned to Israel they had managed to hold on to their Jewish heritage and religion. Instead of recognizing this for what it was, the Grace of God. They used it to view themselves better than the Samaritans  and taught there children to do the same.

Some 500 years have passed between the return and where we are now in the Gospel of John. Did they somehow realized that both sides were equally chastised by God? That only by God’s grace that they were who they were? No of course not! They blamed each other for their own problems and had only grown in their hatred of each other.

Sounds familiar doesn’t it? Two opposing sides with a similar heritage that constantly hate and blame each other for their own problems? Instead of putting aside differences and working together as the scriptures clearly command us to do.

Romans 14:10-12 “ Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; ¹¹ for it is written,

“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
    and every tongue shall confess^[b] to God.”

¹² So then each of us will give an account of himself to God”

⁵ So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. ⁶ Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

⁷ A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” ⁸ For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.

As I’ve mentioned earlier, it was roughly a three day journey if you took the direct route through Samaria. You have to remember that most of Jesus journey’s were foot powered. No car, no bus, no uber, no chariot and rarely even an animal. He walked, like pretty much everyone else did.

The drive from my house to church is right about 12 minutes most days. If I get stuck behind a tractor or something it might take 15 minutes. However, if I were to walk that 7 miles I’m looking at 2 hours or so for that trip.

Jesus stops at a well because they had been walking all day and were thirsty. He then sends the Disciples in to town to buy food. We overlook this part to focus on the conversation Jesus is has with the woman at the well. Yet, I don’t want you to overlook it.

The disciples had been brought up their entire lives to fear and hate the Samaritans. To take the long way around Samaria via the Jordan river and to never under any circumstances do business with them. Yet, Jesus intentionally sends them into town to buy food. This was a big test of their faith in the simple act of buying groceries. I bring this up to make two uncomfortable points. When you follow Jesus you won’t feel safe or comfortable, if you place your safety or comfort in anything other than Him. Which is why He places us in situations where we don’t have any other choice.

⁹ Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.

A Samaritan woman comes alone to draw from the well. Jesus asks her for a drink, as they had no equipment with them to draw from the well. This lady is shocked that anyone is speaking to her much less a Jewish man. She has come by herself to draw water, which we will address in more detail in a later message, but if you were a woman drawing from a well alone there was no good reason why you were in that circumstance.

With one simple question Jesus breaks down two walls. The wall of cultural prejudice and the wall of gender prejudice.

¹⁰ Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

¹¹ The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? ¹² Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?”

¹³ Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, ¹⁴ but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

Jesus desired a drink of water. Jesus did not stop at this well out of convenience or happenstance. Jesus didn’t randomly send the Disciples away. Every last bit of this story was foreordained. Jesus was always in the right place at the right time for the right reason. What was that reason? To glorify God by spreading the gospel.

He found a common ground between himself and this Samaritan woman. He then used that to present the gospel. The world wants to focus on differences, walls and division. Yet, Jesus is about breaking down those walls and finding common ground.

He then takes that discussion about physical water and transitions to spiritual water. He points out the superiority of living water. It’s obtained without cost or effort and it satisfies both completely and eternally.

Anything that you love more than you love Jesus Christ is an idol. Don’t care who or what it is. It’s an Idol and God will have no idols before Him. I don’t know what God is doing with 2020 and I don’t dare speak for Him outside of His word. However, I have seen the systematic destruction of nearly every idol that we hold dear. Money, Health, Comfort, Safety, Politicians, Jobs, Entertainment. It’s all gone away in the blink of an eye. What’s been our reaction? For the majority of us it’s been to hold on to whatever is left of our idols as fiercely as we can! To long for the good ol days of 2019. Yet, these things are temporary, we drink of them we will be thiristy again. Now it’s time to drink and drink deep of the living waters of Christ.

John 3:16 pt4

Seven Wonders of John 3:16 pt 4


Expiration Dates


The thing I feel I have enjoyed the most in quarantine life is the fact I have not been in a hurry in over two months. I can rarely recall moments in the prior 20 years where I didn’t feel in a hurry. Where my mind wasn’t on the next thing that had to be done. Where I didn’t rush through something to be able to get to the next thing, to get to the next thing, to get to the next thing, to get home and go to bed so I can get up early and get to the next thing. This is how we end up with junk stashed all over the place. We simply don’t want to take the time to organize, or don’t have the time to organize, when we can just throw it into the corner, the junk drawer, stash it in the closet, until we have more time.

I’ve patiently organized so many things in the house! Just this past weekend was the spice cabinet. I went through the whole thing! I started tossing out spices that were unused, or had caked together. I found an old bottle of food lion brand onion powder that expired in 2015! It was just a solid clump or onion powder at this point. That’s not to mention expired stuff I tossed from pantry, fridge, freezer and medicine cabinet. Part of what has us so terrified about Covid is that it makes us consider our own expiration dates, and those of our loved ones as well. Let’s continue to dig into John 3:16 and see what we really have to fear.



John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

There are 7 wonders to be found in John 3:16. Pastor & Author David Guzik listed them as such.

God	The Almighty Authority
So loved the world	The Mightiest Motive
That He gave His only begotten Son	The Greatest Gift
That whoever	The Widest Welcome
Believes in Him	The Easiest Escape
Should not perish	The Divine Deliverance
But have everlasting life	The Priceless Possession

First we talked about God, The Almighty Authority.. God is eternal. He always has been, always is and always will be. John 3:16 starts with God, The Eternal All Powerful maker of the heavens and the earth. 


Then we saw the mightiest motive, love. Not the temporary conditional love that the world offers. I love you until it’s no longer convenient or no longer benefits me. God’s Love is that Agape love, a statement of commitment evidenced by unconditional sacrifice. We’ve all made sacrifices for those that we love. The greater the sacrifice, the greater the love on display. We make minor sacrifices for strangers, giving up a seat, letting someone in front of you in the check out line. The biggest sacrifices are reserved for those that we love the most. 


John 15:3 “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”

 God, in demonstrating His love for us, made the ultimate sacrifice. When He gave His only begotten Son. This was the greatest sacrifice, and the greatest gift. Who is this gift for? Whosoever. We dug into the Greek for Whosoever and we realized it was the most inclusive word possible. 


The Greek is the word Pas. It includes all forms of declension (ways of categorizing things), all, any, every, the whole, all manner of, all means, always, any, any one, ever, everyone, every way, as many as, thoroughly, whatsoever, whole, whosoever. It is the most inclusive word possible!  We have a hard time conceiving of that right now in our polarized my way is the only way and those that don’t agree with me 100% are my enemy society. We don’t want to include anyone that differs from us in anyway. We actively look for reasons to exclude people, to disagree, to argue, to express our opinion as the only opinion. 


However, when it comes to the greatest gift, God’s Son, given by the greatest giver (God, The Father), for the greatest reason (Unconditional love) it’s available to everyone. EVERYONE! The Greek word Pas for whosoever is the most inclusive possible word! No one, No one. Is excluded, for any reason from the gospel, ever. The Widest Welcome! 


Whosoever does what? We know the opportunity is available to everyone but what does it require? Is there a complicated admission process? What great work must I do? Believe. Whosoever believes in Him. There’s no work to be done, it’s all already been done for us.  


Jesus tells us where all our faith and believes should be centered. In Him. The only way out of this sinful world and into an eternity of sinless perfection is Him. The easiest escape.

This brings us to tonight. Divine Deliverance.


God so loved the World that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish. 


Perish is a word we don’t actually use a ton. It’s main two uses are in saying “Perish the thought” when we don’t want to think about something unpleasant. We also use it with non-perishable items. Those things we buy that don’t go bad, or at least don’t go bad easily. We understand that food, spices, medications, things like this eventually go bad. I also know many of you don’t particular care for expiration dates and use stuff well past them.

That’s not really what Jesus is talking about. He’s talking about death. Yet, more than that. He’s talking about death that leads to an eternity in Hell. The Greek word here is Apollymi. Bonus points to those of you that just connected that word to Apollyon, the Angel of the Bottomless pit who releases the demon locusts in Revelation 9. 


Apollymi has two main usages 1) to perish, to be lost, ruined, destroyed  2) to devote or give over to eternal misery in hell.


Ever since Genesis 3 we have been bound on a one way trip to hell. Our sin separates us from God. Sin has given everything in this world an expiration date, even the world itself.

2 Peter 3:10 “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.”


Or if you want science we have the second law of thermodynamics that lets us know that everything eventually will break down, rot, rust and decay. Even the great pyramids of Giza, the lone surviving ancient wonder of the world will one day also be no more. I read somewhere that with no human interference it would take 138 million years for those pyramids to disintegrate back into sand. That’s impressive isn’t it? Yet, that amount of time, is nothing more than a drop in the bucket compared to eternity.


We don’t have 138 million years. We have roughly 78 on average. We know we are going to die and It's frightening. Turns the legs to jelly. We ask, to what end? Dread it. Run from it. It arrives all the same. And now with Covid, we think, it is here I thought I had more time. What do we do? We believe! We exercise Faith not fear! I ask you right now are you saved? You listening to this sermon are you saved? I know some of you just answered to yourself well so n so preached, I prayed a prayer and then got baptized. What were you saved from? Were you saved from Bitterness? Were you saved from Gossip? Were you saved from fear? Were you saved from lust? Were you saved from lying? Were you saved from bad manners? Come on, what were you saved from? You were saved from Hell! An eternity in hell that we all deserved, deserve and will deserve on a daily basis were it not for the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. 


This is not the time for labeling, blaming, condemning, conserving, protecting, attacking or defending.  For those of us who believe in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, this is the time to speak with tenderness, compassion, confidence, and love.  We don’t have answer every question that is asked us or accept the terms that are given to us by the world. Frequently when those in power tried to ask Jesus questions, he side stepped their political games and got to the heart of the gospel! We should do the same!  When the wrong question is asked, we offer better questions.  Given polarized choices, we answer in nuanced essay. When we are asked for a clear answer, we respond with a parable.  When we are asked for a position, we give our testimony.


When people ask why are you the way that you are? Don’t you know that you too will perish. We say No! We shall not perish, because we have everlasting life. Jesus Divine Deliverance leads us to a priceless possession! For as long as history has been recorded people have sought everlasting life! This is not an accident. We know from Ecc 3 that God has set eternity in our hearts. We know there’s more to life than this. 


Yet, we seek it all in the wrong places. Ponce de Leon famously went out seeking the fountain of youth. You can go visit it yourself in St. Augustine Florida. In the 70’s and 80’s the big thing of cryopreservation . Freezing your body with the hopes of one day in the future you can be thawed out and cured of whatever. 15 years or so ago it was cloning. Most recently it was uploading your brain into a computer. All of that, while it makes of entertaining Science Fiction, it is also ridiculous tripe.  


Everlasting life is more than just not dying. It’s more than an eternity in the good place where whatever we can imagine appears in unlimited fashion. I submit to you an eternity with everything you ever wanted but without God would in fact not be heaven but hell. What is Eternal life without God? It’s hell. 


Eternal life here is connected back to the motive! This describes the duration of God’s love. The love we receive among people may fade, change or turn, but God’s love will never fade, turn or change. He will never stop loving His people, even unto the furthest distance of eternity. God loves us as much today as He did yesterday and as He will do tomorrow. People frequently ask what will we do in Heaven? The fear I think in that question is will I get bored? I don’t know what we will do but I do know who will be there. The one who loved us enough to die for us. That’s more than enough for me.


Theologian F.F. Bruce said “If there is one sentence more than another which sums up the message of the Fourth Gospel, it is this. The love of God is limitless; it embraces all mankind. No sacrifice was too great to bring its unmeasured intensity home to men and women: the best that God had to give, he gave – his only Son, his well-beloved. 


As the church, now is the time to be all about living, showing and preaching the Love of God! That none should perish, but have everlasting life.