43 John 3-4 - Pastor Chuck Smith - C2000 Series

have we got a message for you tonight from the Word of God John chapters 3 & 4 oh my how rich how blessed there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus a ruler of the Jews we know a few things about him we know that he must have been very wealthy for he came with Joseph of Arimathea to embalm the body of Jesus after the crucifixion and he brought these costly spices about a hundred pounds that only a very wealthy person could afford a ruler of the Jews means that he was one of the seventy Sanhedrin and according to Jesus he was a teacher of the Jews he said art thou a teacher of the Jews and knowest not these things finally he was a Pharisee the Pharisees numbered about six thousand men who had dedicated their entire life to keeping the codified law they recognized that the first five chapters of the Old Testament were God's inspired Word to man now the scribes had sought to interpret those first five books in their codifying of the law and this was called the Mishnah now for instance the law said remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy but in the Mishnah there were 24 chapters written to qualify what that meant now God said it very simply just remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy and in six days you shall do your labor in the seventh day he shall rest not do any labor on that day but it took them 24 chapters to constitute what it meant and what the limitations and all were the Mishnah now the Pharisees sought to keep the whole Mishnah the codified law for the explanations and the writings in the codified law now on top of the Mishnah they then wrote the talmud which was a commentary on the Mishnah and so the thing just be you know continued to expand and expand but the Pharisee was one who sought and his primary purpose of his life was the keeping of the codified law Nicodemus a Pharisee a ruler of the Jews he came to Jesus at night now if anyone had it made by works or by the law it would have been Nicodemus if anyone could present their righteous credentials before God it would be a Pharisee they spent their entire life endeavoring to keep every aspect of God's holy law if there were righteousness through the law then the Pharisee surely would have achieved it if a man could be righteous before God by his works then surely the Pharisees would be accounted righteous if there was anybody who didn't need to be born again it would have been the Pharisees but though he was a Pharisee a ruler of the Jews a teacher he was drawn to Jesus much like perhaps that rich young ruler who came to Jesus and fell on his knees before him and said good master what must I do to be to have eternal life and to inherit eternal life and jesus said keep the commandments and he said which and as Jesus rattled off for him the first six commandments or the second six actually he said all of these have I kept from my youth what lack I yet there was a realization that just the keeping of the law was not enough there must be something more evidently Nicodemus had this same awareness there must be something more recognizing in Jesus a special quality recognizing a special mission for he said to Jesus rabbi master we know that thou art a teacher who has come from God he recognized though the other Pharisees did not recognize he did recognize the divine authority by which Jesus spake we know that you are a teacher that has come from God for no man can do these miracles which you do except God be with him so he had made this acknowledgment and had this recognition that was not acknowledged by the other Pharisees and yet was a tremendous witness and testimony to Jesus Christ Jesus himself called his disciples to believe because of the witness of his works he said believe me that I am in the father and the father in me or else believe me for the very works sake again he said my works they do testify of me Nicodemus acknowledged this we know that you're a teacher come from God because no man can do the miracles that you have done unless God was with him now Jesus knew all things and he knew what was in the heart of Nicodemus and he knew foremost in the man's heart was how can I enter into this kingdom of God and so Jesus came directly to the issue that was upon the heart of Nicodemus and he said unto him I say unto thee except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God now Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount said to his disciples except your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees you will not enter the kingdom of heaven now as I said the Pharisees spent their entire life endeavoring to keep the codified law of God not just the Ten Commandments but all of the Mishnah the codified law by which the Ten Commandments were explained and amplified and interpreted and yet Jesus said unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees you're not going to enter the kingdom of heaven now he is saying to this Pharisee the ruler of the Jews unless a man is born again he cannot enter he cannot see the kingdom of God so Nicodemus said how can a man be born again when he is old can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born and jesus answered verily I say unto you except a man be born of water and of the spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God for that which is born of flesh is flesh and that which is born of Spirit is spirit now Nicodemus was interested in being born again but the process how can it happen there's no way that I can return to my mother's womb and be born again and I do not believe that he was being facetious I think that he was just really curious as to what do you mean born again and then jesus said unless a man is born of the water and of the spirit now what does he mean water and spirit we know what it is to be born of the Spirit what is he referring to being born of the water there are those who declare that he is talking about water baptism unless you have been baptized in water you're not going to see the kingdom of heaven and that born of the water refers to water baptism I do not believe that Jesus is referring to water baptism here because I believe that there are people who have gone through the ritual of water baptism who are not going to see the kingdom of heaven it was only a ritual there are those who say the water refers to the Word of God as Peter in his first epistle chapter 1 verse 23 said that we have been begotten unto this Living Hope through the word of truth and so we have been born again through the Word of God and Jesus said in John 15 now you are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you and so it is being born of the word of God and the theological Giants have taken their positions and there are those they have water baptism those as they born through the Word of God and they write their commentaries and their ideas and thoughts and blast each other's ideas but it would seem to me that being born of the water would be a reference to our natural birth as the fetus is in that water sack being protected and then there is the water bursting and the child is born to be born of the water would refer to the natural birth because in context then jesus said that which is born of the flesh is flesh but that which is born of the Spirit is spirit and so he is talking about the two births born of the water and born of the Spirit and that the born of the Spirit is referring to the new birth the spiritual birth that we we're born of the water would refer to the fleshly birth now I don't intend to make any brief for this position if you want to believe that it refers to water baptism you're welcome if you want to believe that it is referring to be being born by the Word of God you're welcome and if you want to believe that it is being born of the flesh you're welcome you can take whatever position you want and it's not going to alter your relationship with God one iota but there are these positions that people take and sometimes they get very argumented with them but I have no argument we do know that that which is born of the flesh is flesh you were born once naturally of the flesh you are not a child of God by natural birth you are a child of God by the spiritual firm Paul the Apostle talking about your life before Christ said and you hath he made alive who were once dead in trespasses and sins who in times past walked according to the course of this world according to the Prince of the power of the air that even now works in the children of disobedience among whom you all once lived according to the lusts of your mind and the lusts of your flesh and you were by nature the children of Wrath not the children of God the children of Wrath it is only by a new birth that I become a child of God so that which is born of the flesh is flesh a person apart from the new birth lives a life that is dominated by his fleshly desires his body rules over his soul and spirit in fact his spirit is dead that's what comes alive when a person is born again the spiritual birth that is when my spirit comes alive prior to that I am living in the flesh and after the flesh and my mind is dominated by the flesh and thus I have what the scripture terms the mind of the flesh which is death my chief concern is what I'm going to eat what I'm going to drink what I'm going to wear my fleshly needs my body needs these are the things that occupy my mind but when a person is born of the Spirit that which is born of the Spirit is spirit then the spirit becomes alive and begins to rule within my life and now my mind is occupied with the things of the Spirit with how I might please God in the worship of God in the opening up of my life and my heart unto the things of God and of his spirit and these are the things that now dominate my mind a mind dominated by the Spirit is called the mind of the Spirit which is life and peace and joy so jesus said don't marvel when I said you must be born again the word must again is one of those words you've got to pay careful attention to because there you're coming to the heart of the issue when a person says I must when God said you must it is something that you need to pay careful to and he said you must be born again there is no one who will enter the kingdom of heaven who is not born again he's talking about if you want to come into the kingdom of heaven you must be born again you cannot come into the kingdom apart from being born again God's divine imperative for any man who will come into the kingdom is that spiritual birth you must be born the second time born of the Spirit of God in the first chapter of the Gospel of John we read but as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God even to them that believe on his name which were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God born again by the Spirit of God now the wind bloweth where it listeth and you hear the sound thereof but you cannot tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth so is every one that is born of the Spirit there is that mysterious working of God's Spirit within our lives and we cannot fully comprehend it or understand that we just know it we can see the effects of it my mother used to ask me when I was a child can you see the wind and I said oh yes I can see the wind she said no you can't oh yes I can I can see it out there look it's blowing the dust she said you're seeing the results of the wind you don't see the wind I can see the result of the spirit I believe it I I know that the spirit exists I have never seen him but I can feel his effect upon my life it's very real I can see his effects in the lives of those around me it is very obvious and so are they who are born of the Spirit there is that mystic work of God's Spirit that I can recognize I can feel I can see that work of God's Spirit within me so Nicodemus answered and said to him how can these things be now he has asked two questions number one how can a man be born again and then how can these things be Jesus doesn't immediately answer the question but chides him now he said are you a teacher in Israel or of Israel and don't you know these things verily verily i send to you I am speaking of those things that I know and I'm testifying of those things that I have seen and you do not receive my witness now I have I have talked to you about earthly things and you did not believe how will you believe if I tell you of heavenly things if I can't bring to your understanding a faith in these earthly things how can I ever elevate you to higher plane you're a teacher you often know these things no he then turned and answered the question how can the things being how can I be born again having chided him for is not believing not receiving the witness that Jesus said I know is true he then said to him for as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness even so must the Son of Man be lifted up here Jesus is talking about his cross notice again the word must even so must the Son of Man be lifted up if there is to be the possibility of redemption if there is to be an experience of being born again it can only be by the Son of man being crucified so must the Son of Man be lifted up he uses a very interesting example out of their history in the Old Testament found in numbers 21 where the children of Israel after their failure to enter into the land and Moses began to take the circuitous route around towards Edom up through moab and ammon into the coming into the land from the east the people began to murmur and complain against Moses saying why did you bring us into this wilderness to die where there is no bread or water and our souls loathe this manna we're sick of it and the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people of Israel and God sent these little serpents into the camp fiery serpents deadly serpents they began to bite the people and the people began to die as the result of the bites and they came to Moses and they said we have sinned against you and against the Lord by our murmuring praying to God for us that we might be delivered from this plague of serpents and Moses prayed unto the Lord and the Lord told him to make a serpent out of brass and to put it on a pole and to stand it up in the middle of the camp and it shall come to pass then whenever a man is bitten by one of these fiery serpents if he will just look at the pole in the middle of the camp he will be healed he will live and so Moses made a serpent of brass put it on a pole set it up in the middle of the camp and it came to pass that whosoever was bitten by the serpent when they looked upon that serpent on the pole they were healed they did not die therein you find the basis for that little symbol that the doctors use the serpent on the pole for healing but brass in the scripture is always a metal that is symbolic of judgment and the serpent is always symbolic of sin so the brass serpent on the pole was a symbol that God had judged their sins the judgment of God upon their sin and by looking at that they were healed they did not die now this is an interesting provision that God made and and by what process looking upon the serpent could save a person's life you know there's no physical or scientific explanation for this it was just God's covenant God's provision and said all you have to do is look and you will live now I can imagine that there were some hard heads there in Israel lying on the ground convo seen as the result of the snakebite about to die and their friends as hey in the middle of the camp Moses set up that pole of the brass service just look at it and you'll be healed how don't tell me that man that's ridiculous I can't make sense out of that how can looking at that do anything for me don't you see I'm dying man I need help yeah but just look ah come on it how can that help and I can see him arguing and and dying because he can't understand how looking would help people are foolish unless they can understand all of the processes by which God is working they they won't accept it I can't explain to you how that believing in Jesus Christ can cleanse you of your sin and caused you to be born again and become a child of God all I can tell you is it it will it works that's what God has ordained Jesus hanging on the cross was bearing the judgment of God for your sins all we like sheep have gone astray we turned every one of us to our own ways and God has laid on him the iniquity of us all as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness so must the Son of Man be lifted up and Jesus hanging there on the cross was there taking the judgment of God for sin dying for our sins dying in our place and even as those in the days of Israel looked at the serpent and lived so we by looking at the cross in faith and in trusting in Jesus live we have eternal life and so it was quite a interesting parallel symbolism that God had established how can a man be born again how can these things be they are the result of simply believing in Jesus Christ that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life God's provisions given to us through faith like the wind you may see the effects you may see the results and feel the effects though it is a mystery you can't tell whence it comes where it's going so is that man born of the Spirit the processes of God's Spirit we can't fully understand we just know they exist how can a man be born again how can these things be for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life again the key is believing in Jesus that's the provision that God has required for those to be born again you are born again when you by faith believe in Jesus Christ that he bore God's judgment for your sins in his death upon the cross and you receive him into your life you are then born again by the Spirit of God and have become now a new creature in Christ Jesus a son of God a child of the kingdom believing in him that is the key then Jesus went on to declare to Nicodemus for God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved I do not know why we always seem to picture Christ as condemning us well I guess it's because we're so guilty all the time but we always are thinking of him in that posture of condemning you you know during it again you know and we're always thinking of him in that posture of condemning but Paul the Apostle asked the rhetorical question in Romans 8 who is he that condemneth and then he answers not Jesus for he died for us yayyyy rather is risen again and as even at the right hand of the father making intercession God didn't send him into the world to condemn the world Jesus hasn't come to condemn you Jesus has come to save you God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved he didn't need to come to condemn because the world is already condemned now he that believeth in him is not condemned oh did you hear that do you believe that he that believeth in him is not condemned what a glorious message of God's grace to us tonight that ought to thrill your soul beyond measure there is therefore now no condemnation to those who believe in Jesus Christ isn't that what it said do you believe it why is it that we are always going around condemning ourselves why is it that we're always going around feeling so defeated and so discouraged when there is therefore now no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus for he that believeth in him is not condemned however he that believeth not is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God what is his name Yahshua the Lord is salvation Jesus came to save that's what his name implies thou shalt call his name Yahshua for he shall save his people from their sins he didn't come to condemn he came to save his name implies his mission Jesus declared it plainly that I have come to seek and to save that which was lost now he that believeth not is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God and what is the condemnation that light has come into the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil for every one that doeth evil hates the light neither comes to the light lest his deeds should be manifested but he that doeth the truth comes to the light that his deeds might be made manifest that they are wrought in God what is the condemnation that men won't come to the light now god forbid but if you will in the future if you are standing with that throng in Revelation 20 before the great white throne judgment of God and the books are open and you are to be judged out of the things written in the books and when your name is finally called and you have to stand before God naked open and God opens the books and the indictment is made against you there will only be one charge there's not going to be going down the list of every lie you told or everything is stole or every wrong thought or action or deed you ever had there's only going to be one indictment your failure to come to Jesus Christ he said I am the light of the world light has come into the world but men won't come to the light and that's why they are condemned he that believeth not is condemned already you don't need that Jesus should condemn you you're already condemned he didn't come to condemn you he didn't need to you already are condemned but now the issue is not so much the evil that you have done but your rejection of the provision the only provision that God has made whereby men might come to him whereby men might have the forgiveness of their sins so there will only be one indictment against men jesus said when the Holy Spirit is come he's going to reprove the world of sin of righteousness and a judgment of sin because they didn't believe in me you see that's the only sin that's going to damn your soul any other thing you may have ever done is forgiven Christ died for the sins of our God laid upon him the iniquities of us all his death satisfied God completely for the sin of all humanity there's only one charge an indictment that God will make against a man his failure to come to the light his failure to receive God's provision now after these things came Jesus and His disciples to the land of Judea so they had come down to the area around Jerusalem and he tarried there with his disciples and baptized so it would seem that the disciples of Jesus were at this time beginning to baptize people and John also was baptizing in Aenon near to Salem because there was a lot of water there and they came and were baptized for John was not yet cast into prison then there arose a question between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying and they came unto John and they said unto Him rabbi he that was with you beyond Jordan to whom you bore witness behold the same as baptizing and all men are coming to him so they came to John and they said that one that you bore witness to you said the Lamb of God and all he's baptizing down and everyone is going to him and John answered and said a man can receive nothing except it is given to him from heaven ye yourselves bear me witness that I said I am NOT the Messiah but that I was sent before him he that hath the bride is the bridegroom but the friend of the bridegroom which standeth and hears him rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice and this my joy therefore is fulfilled for he must increase and I must decrease beautiful humility of John and taking his rightful place he said you bear witness that I testified of him now look he's the bridegroom I'm just the best it's the bridegroom who takes the bride but his best man rejoices when he hears him and herein I rejoice because of the bridegroom's voice and my joy therefore is fulfilled how in bringing honour and glory to Jesus for he must increase and I must decrease so say we all now he that cometh from above is above all and he that is of the earth is earthy and speaketh of the earth but he that cometh from heaven is above all and what he hath seen and heard that is what he testified and no man received his testimony this is pretty much what Jesus said to Nicodemus no man has ascended into heaven but he which came down from heaven even the Son of Man which was in heaven and I've told you earthly things and you believe not how would you believe if I told you of heavenly things so he speaks of Jesus coming down from heaven but no man receiving his testimony and he that hath received his testimony has set to his seal that God is true when you receive the testimony of Jesus Christ there is sort of a a seal a stamp in your heart you know that's true the Spirit of God has borne witness to my own heart of the truth of God there are things I just know are true you say how do you know they're true I just know they're true there is that seal the spirit just bears witness to the truth and you just know it they eat us the just intuitive knowledge for he whom God has sent speaks the words of God for God did not give to him the spear by major or just apportioned out to him but the fullness of the Spirit dwells in Jesus Christ not just measured out but that fullness and the Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand now he that believeth on the son has everlasting life and he that believes not the son shall not see life but the wrath of God abides on him so this is the final witness of John the Baptist concerning Jesus Christ he that believeth on the son has everlasting life but if you believe not you have not life you'll not even see life but conversely the wrath of God abides upon you now when the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John though Jesus himself baptized none but his disciples now this can mean one of two things Jesus baptized not but his disciples or he only baptized his disciples or he didn't baptize at all it was only his disciples who were baptizing so you have a choice but when Jesus heard that John had heard these things or the Pharisees had heard these things he left Judea the Pharisees heard now that Jesus was baptizing even more than John so he left the area of Judea the area near Jerusalem where the most of the Pharisees hung out and he departed and went again into the area of Galilee from Judea on up into Galilee and he had to go through Samaria for Samaria lies between Judea Jerusalem and the Galilee the area of Samaria lies between the two through the middle part of the country now he came to a city of Samaria which was called Sai car or Shechem near a parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph now Jacob's Well was there and Jesus therefore being wearied with his journey sat on the well for it was about noon and there came a woman of Samaria to draw water and jesus said unto her give me a drink for his disciples were gone away under the city to buy meat then said the woman of Samaria unto Him how is it that you being a Jew are asking me for a drink when I am a woman of Samaria for the Jews have no dealings with Samaritans jesus answered and said unto her if you knew the gift of God and who it is that said unto you give me a drink you would have asked him and he would have given you living water and the woman said unto him sir you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep where are you going to get this living water are you greater than our Father Jacob which gave us the well and drank from it himself and his children and his cattle and jesus answered and said unto her whosoever drinks of this water shall thirst again but whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life and the woman said unto Him sir give me some of this water so I will never thirst again and I won't have to come out here and draw draw water every day now up to this point this woman is being rather saucy with Jesus sort of pert and cute she's not a very upright woman in fact she's sort of a low moral character she's probably very well known in Shechem because of her not so illustrious past she's got a bad reputation she's probably known as a flirt and available and probably that kind who is pretty worldly wise and able to handle men pretty well and that type which every man is sort of a challenge so when she came to draw water and saw this person sitting there and he said to her would you give me a drink rather than just obliging and giving him a drink without saying anything she has to open up the doors and how come you're asking me for a drink you're a Jew and I'm a Samaritan and we're not supposed to have dealings with each other and Jesus said if you knew the gift of God and who it was that was asking you for a drink you would have been asking him for a drink now I'm sure that her motives in talking to Jesus at this point are far different from his but she continued on and say hey why would I ask you for a drink that well is deep and you don't have anything to draw with and Jesus said and she said where are you going to get this living water are you greater than Jacob who gave us this well jesus said to her whosoever drinks of this water shall thirst again when Jesus is talking to this woman about water about living water she did not understand what he was talking about even I'm sure as Nicodemus did not fully understand what Jesus was talking about when he first said you've got to be born again you know he got this mental picture going back to his mother's womb Jesus was talking again about spiritual things and she was thinking only of material things but Jesus said to her if you drink of the spiritual water the living water you'll never thirst again oh I like some of this water so I don't have to come out here every day and draw from this well so I won't get thirsty anymore now the statement he who drinks of this water shall thirst again there Jesus is referring to that physical water in the well carrying it one step further Jesus in talking about thirst spoke not of physical thirst but of spiritual thirst man is a three-fold being he is body mind and spirit and there are physical thirst there are emotional thirst and there is a spiritual thirst jesus said to the woman if you drink of this water you're going to thirst again that can be said of every physical experience that you might possess or seek or find there are always those who feel if I could just and you fill in the blank then I would be happy and satisfied what's in your blank if I just had blank I would be satisfied and happy it seems that man is always setting out a goal or a thing whereby he feels that if I could just achieve if I could just attain if I could just have then I would be satisfied I wouldn't be thirsty anymore jesus said not so you drink of this water and you will thirst again now you ought to be able to prove that in your own mind because surely in times past you set those temporary goals that you felt if I could just have a new bicycle I wouldn't want anything again as long as I lived you know I know there was a time when I lusted after a bicycle and I thought if I could just have that bicycle oh I would be just so happy I would never want anything again as long as I lived and I got that bicycle but it wasn't long before if I just had a speedometer on this bicycle I wouldn't want anything again you know and then if I just had a headlight with a generator oh I would never want anything again so there have been those intermediate goals that I have achieved and attained but you know what I thirst it again they didn't fully satisfy me as Jesus said drink of this water you're going to thirst again and it has been true in my life as I have achieved those goals those intermediate goals that I had established and I thought oh if I could just have and I then had but it didn't satisfy I thirst it again but jesus said if you drink of the water that I give you'll never thirst again it'll be like a well of water just springing up inside of you the woman said sir I'll take some of that water and Jesus said well first go call your husband and she said I don't have any husband I'm available and then Jesus said to her you have well said I have no husband for you have had five husbands and you finally have just moved in with a man without marrying him now notice the whole switcheroo of her attitude no longer is she a cute little flirt her mask has been ripped off you know a lot of people go around wearing masks they have a cute clever exterior I can handle myself I know how to get around I don't need any help I've got it made but when that mask has been removed underneath there's a great thirst in a great need and the thirst and the need that man has is for God every man no matter who they are you may try to pretend that you don't need God that's for weak people I don't need to commit my life to God I don't need God I can handle it I am able to make my way in life the battle is for the strong and I'm strong I don't need help and you may put up a very tough formidable front a mask but deep down inside every man's heart is crying out for God no matter what kind of affront you may be putting up and when Jesus took away her mask when suddenly she realized she wasn't kidding this fellow he's looking right inside of me and he knows what is inside of me he knows the truth about me I'm not fooling him at all the mask was gone her spirit was open and naked and revealed and she knew it and so suddenly the whole attitude and tenor changes and what is her question our fathers worshiped in this mountain and you say in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship the question was where do I find God our Father said we find God in this mountain you say we find God in Jerusalem where can I find God and down deep inside of every man there is that haunting question where can I find God because we all need God no matter what kind of affront we may be putting up to others down deep inside all of us need God and there is that cry of our hearts where can I find God and so her whole attitude change sir I perceive you're a prophet now our fathers say we're to worship God in these mountains that is in Mount Gerizim which is there in Samaria the mountain upon which the tribes of Israel stood on the top and pronounce God's blessings when they came into the land opposite to Mount Ebal where the curses were pronounced and so the Samaritans those people who inhabited the northern province after the Assyrian captivity those who were not accepted into Judaism when the Jews returned from the Babylonian captivity because they could not prove the purity of their lineage who had intermarried with the people that were brought into the land by the Assyrians sort of half-breeds were called Samaritans and because they were not allowed by the Jews in Jerusalem to help with the temple or to enter into the worship there they began to establish their own worship center on Mount Gerizim making their own sacrifices there and creating quite a breach between the Jews and the some Aaron's not dealing with each other and they began to say that it was on Mount Gerizim that Abraham had offered Isaac and they also affirmed it on Mount Gerizim Solomon had built the temple that this is the place to worship God and they would discourage the Samaritans from going to Jerusalem to worship God God is found in this mountain God is worshipped in this mountain now even to the present day the Samaritans and of course they have dwindled there are only about 1200 Samaritans left in the world and they are fast passing off the scene because of the inbreeding most of them are sort of on the lunatic fringe because they won't marry outside of that close-knit group and so the inner marriages are too close and and there has not been the infusion of outside blood so you've got idiocy going among them now and they are fast passing away but to the present day to the present day they still offer a sacrificial lamb on Mount Gerizim to the present day they still affirm those Samaritans that are left that Gries them is the place where men find God but basically her question is where can I find God and that's the question that burns in the heart of every man and Jesus said woman believe me the hour is coming when you will neither in this mountain nor at Jerusalem worship the father and then he said something that is very revealing you do not know what you worship how true that is of so many people today they really don't know what they are worshipping he said we know what we worship for salvation is of the Jews but the hour is coming and even now is when the true worshipers shall worship the father in spirit and in truth for the father is seeking such to worship Him for God is a spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth where is God worshiped where is God found he's found wherever you are he surrounds us God is not localized nor can you localize God and so often in our minds we make that mistake of localizing God how glorious it is to gather tonight in the presence of God here in the sanctuary well that's true in a sense but yet in another sense God doesn't just dwell here in the sanctuary God dwells in your car as you're driving to the sanctuary God dwells in your house as you're yelling at the kids getting ready to go to the sanctuary because they're not getting dressed fast enough we need to become more conscious of the all prevailing presence of God wherever I am God is a spirit I'm surrounded by him for in him we live and we move and we have our being and you cannot localize God in Garissa more Jerusalem or any other locality he doesn't dwell there any more than any other place God dwells in the hearts and in the lives of every child of God and he surrounds us all in him we live we move we have our being God as a spirit and if you want to worship Him you've got to worship Him in spirit that spiritual worship of God and in truth so the woman said unto him I know that when the Messiah comes which is called Christ the word Christ is a Greek word it is the translation into Greek of the Hebrew word Messiah and so you have the Greek word Christ but it is a word that is the translation of the word Messiah so he John points that out here I know that when the Messiah comes which in Greek is called Christ Christos when he has come he will tell us all things and jesus said unto her I who speak unto you am he can you imagine what she must have felt at that moment and I was flirting with him I who speak unto you em he and upon this the disciples returned and they marveled that he was talking with a woman yet none of them said what are you seeking or why are you talking with her and the woman then left her waterpot and went her way into the city and said to the men the women probably wouldn't talk to her come and see a man which told me everything I ever did is not this the Messiah and they went out of the city and came unto Him and in the meantime his disciples prayed him saying master eat but he said unto them I have meat that you don't know about therefore said his disciples one to another has someone brought him something to eat and Jesus said unto them my meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work an interesting phrase to finish his work the work of redemption was not yet finished later on the cross Jesus will cry it is finished but God's work of redemption was not yet complete and so I came not to do my own will I came to do the will of him who sent me Jesus was a man on a mission sent by the father to finish the father's work the work of redemption of mankind and then he said don't say there are four months and then the harvest will come behold I send to you lift up your eyes and look on the fields now at this point the men of Shechem were coming out through the fields to the well where Jesus was and most of them wore these white turbans and so as you look on the fields you saw these white turbans all of them descending from the city towards the well and Jesus said to his disciples don't say for months and then the harvest will come look under the fields right now behold they are white unto harvest hungry souls searching for God where can you find God and he that reaps receives wages and gathers fruit unto life eternal and both he that sews and he that reaps may rejoice together and hearing is that same true one souls another Reese Paul said one plant one waters God gives the increase I sent you to reap we're on you bestowed no labor other men labored and you are entered into their labors and many of the Samaritans of the city believed on him for the saying of the woman which testified he told me everything I ever did so when the Samaritans were coming to him they begged him that he would stay with them and so he remained there for two days and many more believed because of his own word and they said unto the woman now we believe not because of what you said for we have heard him ourselves and we know that this is indeed the Messiah the savior of the world now after two days started from there and went into Galilee for Jesus himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country and when he was coming to Galilee the Galileans received him having seen all of the things which he did it drew his limb at the feast for they also went unto the feast so he came again to Cana of Galilee now Cana was a little village there in the valley as you're coming from Nazareth up over the top of the hill you drop into this little Valley and Cana sits there in the valley and it's on the road from Nazareth to the Sea of Galilee so as he came to Cana it's probably 20 miles from the Sea of Galilee to Cana and so he came unto Cana of Galilee where he made the water wine and there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum now Capernaum is at least 20 miles from Cana and when he heard that Jesus was coming back to Galilee he went unto Him and besought him that he would come down and heal his son because he was at the point of death he's asking Jesus to go from Cana down to Capernaum 20 miles to heal his son of course if you've got a son that's dying near the Dead you're going to be desperate you're gonna you're going to do your best if you feel that here's a man that can help my dying son and Jesus said to him except you see signs and wonders you will not believe and the nobleman said unto him sir come or my child is going to die and Jesus said unto Him go your way your son lives and the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken to him and he went his way he believed the word so much he didn't even go home he just believes it because the next day as he was going down his servants met him and they said your son is all right and he inquired and he said at what hour did the change take place and they said about one o'clock in the afternoon and he knew that that was exactly the time that Jesus said your son lives now you see but one o'clock in the afternoon he's really concerned about his son he would have taken off for Capernaum and and probably could have made it there by evening on a fast jog but he wasn't worried anymore he believed the word of Jesus and so the father knew it was the same hour in which Jesus said to him your son lives and himself believed that moment that Jesus said it and he believed it and it was and his whole house believed this is again the second miracle that Jesus did that is in Cana when he was come out of Judea into Galilee now in chapter 5 we leave Galilee and we go back to Jerusalem and to the Pool of Bethesda and the events that were there and John concentrates the most of his gospel with the Ministry of Jesus around Jerusalem tells little about the ministry in Galilee where the other Gospels concentrate most on the Galilean ministry so John doesn't leave us long in Galilee before we go back to Jerusalem to the feast of the Jews there in in Jerusalem and so we'll get into that next week as we continue chapters 5 & 6 next week of the Gospel according to John may the Lord be with you and bless and keep you in his love and may your life being rich daily this week as you study the word and as you worship God in spirit and in truth for God is seeking such to worship Him may your life in Christ grow be enriched and develop more and more day by day that you might come to that fullness that God would have you to experience the fullness of His grace and love towards you through Jesus our Lord so may the Lord bless and keep strengthened and guide and give you just a totally beautiful week walking in the spirit in the love of Jesus Christ

Channel: Ken Zenk

Views: 25,237

Rating: 4.681818 out of 5

Keywords: Bible, God, Jesus, Christ, Love, Hell, Death, Sex, Marriage, Drugs, Satan, Porno, Cancer, Sports, Girls, Music, Holy Spirit, Children, Family, Heaven, Healing, Pregnant, Aids, Gay, Movies, TV Shows, Animals, Israel Prophecy, Last Days, Christian, Jewish People, Gentiles

Id: Ry0iYZNzehU

Length: 78min 17sec (4697 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 26 2013