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[0:00] And let's turn together John 4. Well, let's read the first 26 verses. It will cover everything this morning.! So John chapter 4, verse 1.

[0:12] Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, though Jesus himself did not baptize but his disciples, he left Judea and departed again into Galilee.

[0:27] But he needed to go through Samaria. So he came to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there.

[0:38] Jesus, therefore, being weary from his journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, Give me a drink.

[0:49] For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Then the woman of Samaria said to him, How is it that you, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?

[1:00] For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. 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.

[1:11] 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? 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?

[1:26] Jesus answered and said to her, Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 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.

[1:41] The woman said to him, Sir, give me this water that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw. Jesus said to her, Go call your husband and come here. The woman answered and said, I have no husband.

[1:54] Jesus said to her, You have said well, I have no husband. For you have had five husbands, and the one whom you have now is not your husband. In that you spoke truly. The woman said to him, Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.

[2:08] Our father is worshipped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship. Jesus said to her, Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem worship the Father.

[2:22] You worship what you do not know. We know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.

[2:32] For the Father is seeking such to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. The woman said to him, I know the Messiah is coming, who is called Christ.

[2:44] When he comes, he will tell us all things. Jesus said to her, I who speak to you am he. Do I have control over this?

[2:58] Alright. Well, what I would like to draw our attention to this morning is a contrast between two forces that are at work here in John chapter 4.

[3:11] The first is God's will and human tradition. God's will versus human tradition. Or specifically traditions that contradict God's will.

[3:27] John 4 opens with a conflict that we see between these forces as they relate to baptism that started back in chapter 3. The roots of that conflict are human tradition, the Pharisees.

[3:41] They practiced baptism and outward external ritual cleansing and then God's will which was a baptism of repentance preparing hearts to receive Jesus Christ.

[3:55] It's an internal cleansing. By the way, this is not Christian baptism. that comes after Christ's resurrection. So Jesus diffuses the conflict by leaving the area.

[4:10] He chose another conflict to challenge. And that's God-ordained worship versus human-created worship. And this ties into that theme of God's will versus human tradition.

[4:25] So God's will is pretty clear. It's right here in verse 23. But the hour is coming and now is when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.

[4:36] The Father is seeking such to worship him. The other may seem a little more subtle, but it is evident nonetheless. And we see that with the woman.

[4:47] Verse 12, she mentions her father Jacob. She says, our fathers worshiped on this mountain. You Jews worship in Jerusalem. she went further and said in verse 25, the Messiah is coming.

[5:00] He'll tell us everything when he arrives. So her traditions were mixed with God's truth. But the best lies are mixed with truth. So tradition as dictionary defines it is one, next Kevin, the transmission of, yeah, last slide.

[5:19] the transmission of customs or beliefs from generation to generation or the fact of being passed on in this way.

[5:33] Second, in theology it's a doctrine believed to have divine authority though not in scriptures. So I see both at work in John chapter 4.

[5:46] The Bible is not explicitly against tradition. On the contrary, God commanded the Israelites to pass down his law. Remember his mighty works and deliverance from generation to generation.

[5:59] And there's verses all throughout scripture that command his people to do just that. One of those is Joel 1 3. Tell your children about it and let their children tell their children and their children the next generation.

[6:12] God is against the traditions that contradict his will. Listen to the rebellious reply that was given to the prophet Jeremiah by the people of Judah because the people didn't do that.

[6:23] They didn't heed God's command to pass down these good godly traditions. They say in Jeremiah 44 verses 16 and 17 we will not listen to the message you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord.

[6:36] We will certainly do everything we said we would. We will burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her just as we and our ancestors our kings our officials did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem.

[6:50] And the heart of this rebellion is alive today and is snuck in and sneaks into Christendom today. The Jews were worshipping the goddess Asterith or Astarte another name and they call her what?

[7:09] Queen of heaven. To be clear there is no queen in heaven. There is a king in heaven. But in Roman Catholicism Mary the mother of Jesus is worshipped as what?

[7:22] The queen of heaven. My wife and I photographed a wedding last year where the couple lit candles and prayed before a statue of Mary during the ceremony.

[7:34] If something is believed to be divine but not found in scripture what is it? It's false religion. If a tradition draws people away from God it is set up in its place.

[7:45] What is it? It's an idol. In John 3 to 4 you have the pharisaical practice and you have Samaritan worship which both fall under these.

[7:57] the conflict between God's will and human tradition has been the focus of my family for the past year and a half without getting into too much unnecessary detail a sequence of events caused my immediate family to look closely at habitual patterns generational patterns and some of my family patterns were designed after God's will others from habitual human traditions and some of the latter paved the way for idolatry and other pervasive sins that have had long lasting consequences Jesus challenged the woman at the well with the same exhortation that's been pressing my family do the patterns or traditions in our life demonstrate a true worship of God for my family in many ways no I'll draw an example from parenting my grandfather was a good father good husband by the world's standards but he was an atheist his pragmatic views on parenting obviously weren't rooted in biblical truth one of my grandfather's many philosophies on parenting and my dad actually sat down and wrote down eight that had affected our life affected him and his parenting but one of them was

[9:17] I give my kids enough rope but not enough to hang themselves that's one of my grandfathers I remember him saying I give my kids enough rope not enough to hang themselves that sounds like a chill approach to parenting that any child would appreciate but it contradicts scripture we're supposed to protect our children from sin not allow them to be conditioned by sinful experiences that's saying a little bit of sin is a good teacher and that philosophy ends with death James 1 15 that when desires conceived and gives birth to sin and sin was full grown brings forth death there's things I was permitted to do at 14 that just needed corrective discipline and godly discipleship James 5 19 and 20 brethren if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins a parent's role is to raise children up in fear and admonition of the Lord a parent's role is not to raise their children up in the best human traditions or philosophies that we can find a parent who rejects biblical truth can't do the former neither can a Samaritan worship God on Mount

[10:33] Gerizim the mountain that this woman was talking about where they worship true worship cannot exist outside of God's defined parameters his truth even the raising of children which is an act of worship only glorifies God if done biblically so my grandfather's pragmatic traditions passed down through my father my father's a Christian but then they became mine and as a parent until recently I never questioned some of them neither did my dad and that's often how traditions affect us they become our routine second nature they're our blind spots we don't often see them the past year we've all asked God to shine light in those areas and it has been difficult it's required repentance but we're seeing an amazing work of the Holy Spirit and I want my life and I want my marriage and I want my parenting and all of my worship to be measured exclusively to God's word and I said that before this endeavor in our family and I say it now and God's been faithful to help carry that about this is about authority am I guided exclusively by God's authority or by man's which ends up being my own and I'll put it out there that we are all affected by some unbiblical human tradition or philosophy this affects those with godly heritages look at the

[12:02] Pharisees but have you ever measured yourself or someone else to a rule or a standard that isn't found in scripture worldly standards of beauty ethics material goals worldly moral codes of conduct welcome to June success it's a tough one what is success have unbiblical patterns entered our worship relationship and I say this not to offend but but it may listen to Christian top 40 music and you'll hear a surprising amount of songs that are built upon an unbiblical view of God how he relates to us and how we relate to him it's come in today's songs to bring God down to our level mischaracterizing his attributes character and I say this to challenge a pattern of false teaching that's worked its way into many evangelical churches and that is using songs in our worship to have unbiblical ideas now shoreline this is one thing I love about this church is shoreline leadership and us as a congregation really hold our songs to a high level a high view of

[13:30] God and I appreciate that so I'm saying this kind of in a general sense but I've been guilty for many years in my life of scrutinizing sermons I hear more than songs that I sing and that was kind of one of those blind spots that I had to be awakened to I led worship all of my adult life before coming to shoreline and there are many songs that I look back and I wouldn't use that one again it's either weak or it's bad doctrine but I've listened to choruses of Christians praising God with unbiblical ideas of God and then often times followed by a solid sermon all in the same service ironically I was talking to someone last night their church is having a meeting today after church to discuss worship and a change in trajectory of worship amen because that's starting to hit our evangelical community like where are we getting this song from now I've learned through experience that it's always tricky name dropping but I think it's important to do here and I'm going to do it again there's one song that that tops the charts for popularity and misrepresenting

[14:55] God's character and it's reckless love and if you're a fan of reckless love hear me out if you don't know what I'm talking about reckless love is a song written by Corey Asbury a former member of Bethel music Bethel music is the top music producer for worship songs used in our churches in the country by the way world and it's still one of the most popular songs sung in churches reckless love love it's loose premise is the parable of the lost sheep where God leaves the 99 to find the one the song uses some biblical concepts in fact it references one of my favorite bible verses zephaniah 317 he rejoices over you in singing love that verse but then it flips and it mischaracterizes God heed the title reckless love and I choose to scrutinize this song not because it's all bad but because it isn't reckless love is a counterfeit to true biblical to true biblical worship to a true biblical song but false teaching deceives with truth satan quoted scripture to jesus in the wilderness god isn't reckless and doesn't leave the ninety-nine in danger to come after the one in a reckless pursuit as the song assumes the parallel parable is that of the lost coin one parable appeals to a man one parable appeals to a woman both parables emphasize the value he places on us as individuals it's about rejoicing in those he saves god doesn't chase us around he seeks us but uses intentional perfect methods he's working today through the holy spirit to convict us of sin righteousness and judgment john 16 8 consider just a contrasting song straight from the scriptures psalm 98 one of my favorite songs short easy to memorize but the last four verses with with trumpets with trumpets and the sound of a horn shout joyfully before the lord the king let the sea roar in all its fullness the world and those who dwell in it let the rivers clap their hands let the hills be joyful together before the lord why why this global praise why this universal expression towards god the last verse for he is coming to judge the earth with righteousness he shall judge the world and all peoples with equity just like matt was saying you can't think about god without sin is that we are looking forward as believers for god's righteous judgment the backdrop of sin righteousness and judgment is what illuminates god's love mercy and justice and songs like reckless love and others take a worldly idea of love and apply it to god it mixes truth but leaves us with an image of god not supported in scripture god's own word uses reckless to describe fools it means brash careless foolhardy negligent thoughtless imprudent it's in direct contradiction to god's character and cory asbury has defended the song by one thing i read he tried to change the definition of reckless the other he said well god isn't reckless it's just his love the song itself is a reckless attempt to describe god's unfathomable love it's catchy it evokes strong emotional response it gets stuck in my head but it's a misrepresentation of god's character no matter how we feel about it by jesus's definition here it's counterfeit worship it needs to go a little bit of yeast leavens the whole batch galatians 5 9 and that's in the context of false teaching songs like reckless love are attracted because they don't acknowledge sin demand righteousness or anticipate judgment and that's why even people who reject christ's lordship

[18:55] can connect with it much in the same way someone can connect with a modern love song so if that criticism if my criticism of that song does offend you you're in good company i encourage you to stay with me a little bit longer because this is a conversation that needs to continue and it is continuing i'm just trying to get it going but let's turn back to john four and see how jesus addresses these issues and it starts with submission to god's authority so we've got three points that pulled out of this section the first one is that jesus needed to carry out his father's will the second one god's will is merciful towards his children and then human tradition can lead to idolatry so let's take a look at this first point jesus needed to carry out his father's will we see this in verse four jesus needed to pass through samaria this theme appears throughout each gospel look at john eight verses 27 to 29 then jesus said to them when you lift up the son of man then you will know that i am he and i do nothing of myself but as the father taught me i speak these things and he who sent me is with me the father has not left me alone for i always do the things that please him so did jesus really need to pass through samaria because there were two other routes and the jews would avoid passing through samaria like the plague so what made jesus go this way he's part of his father's plan his father's will was inseparable from his own god's will and christ are the same i'm in the father the father is in me john 14 11 the father is the planning person of the trinity there's a lot of verses like jeremiah 29 11 you know the plans i have for you says the lord yet all things are accomplished through christ john 1 3 all things were made through him and without him nothing was made that was made and then we just read in john 16 8 that the holy spirit convicts us of sin righteousness and judgment so the spirit through the work of jesus christ carries out god's purposes in our hearts today father son holy spirit all working together to fulfill the father's will authority is perfectly depicted in the persons of god we are all under authority may god's will alone guide our needs as it did for jesus the father seeks worshipers john 4 23 that's what we just read so jesus sought these to be worshipers he left the pharisees and their hard hearts behind and sought people whose hearts had been prepared calling his own to himself john 6 38 to 40 for i've come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me and this is the will of the father who sent me that of all he has given me i should lose nothing but should raise it up the last day and this is the will of him who sent me that everyone who sees the son and believes in him may have everlasting life and i will raise him up the last day and then there's luke we get there yet not yet so he he left judea passing through samaria stopping at sychar a town of of people we'll see in heaven we're all built to worship the samaritans worshipped the pharisees worshipped but the father seeks those who worship him in truth not just outward ritual in spirit not just in a specific location but with

[22:56] a concern for spiritual realities jesus was concerned with the heart as his father was concerned with the heart for samuel 16 7 god looks at the heart god wills all to believe and this is the will of him who sent me that everyone who sees the son and believes in him may have everlasting life and i will raise him excuse me raise him up the last day luke 19 for the son of man came to seek and to save the lost so jesus used uses this analogy of water because it drives at the root of human need similar to john 6 that speaks of jesus being the bread of life jesus is the sole answer for a universal need humanity can't save humanity we need an external answer for an internal problem and jesus uses the metaphor of water and salvation in john 4 living water it plays upon thirst a fully human need with a fully spiritual answer living water is the holy spirit we know that from john 7 38 39 he who believes in me as the scripture has said out of his heart will flow rivers of living water but this he spoke concerning the spirit whom those believing in him would receive so we believe in jesus receive the holy spirit and become sources of this living water we see with the woman but it starts with belief the pharisees didn't believe what it can't say a few weeks ago what do dead people do nothing dead people don't thirst ephesians 2 1 and you he may alive who were dead in trespasses and sins the pharisees were dead but their traditions gave them a false sense of life a self righteousness where salvation is attained through our own efforts the belief that humanity can save humanity is an evil philosophy that's driven western civilization since the late 17th century ironically called the enlightenment where we separated ourselves from god and became autonomous to ourselves satan deceives us with counterfeits so what's a truth there will be a new heaven and new earth amen what's a counterfeit we can make our own earth heavenly satan wants us to find counterfeit salvation one not found in jesus a counterfeit worship one that changes a true god into a distorted version that's why it's so important that our songs are rooted in biblical truth as much as anything is as much as sermons are otherwise we create a false idea of god and how our relationship with him works the pharisees had a carefully constructed counterfeit the samaritans created their own counterfeit religion so jesus cuts through the barriers the pretense the error and facade he tells the woman and us exactly what we need in verse 10 if you knew the gift of god and who it says to you and who says to you give me a drink you would have asked him and he would have given you living water he's saying you've come for water i'm offering you living water you desire worship i will show you how you need salvation this is it all who come to me will never thirst god's will is to give eternal life praise god praise jesus that he carried out he needed to carry out his father's will god's will is merciful towards his children second point mercy is showing forgiveness

[26:56] towards someone who deserves punishment that's why we praise god for his mercy because we all deserve punishment not all people are children of god it's another uncommon or i should say common misconception we are not all children of god i trust all of us here are children of god but first john 3 10 makes a distinction between children of god and children of the devil there's two two types of people in this world children of god children of the devil that's a hard hard truth this woman is a chosen child of god her calling shows god's merciful will towards his children first corinthians 1 26 for you see your calling brethren that not many wise were wise according to flesh not many mighty not many noble are called you know in chapter three we see who comes to jesus nicodemus right nicodemus sought out jesus nicodemus represents the wise the elite of israel and exactly the type of person anyone would go out of their way to meet nicodemus is the type of person you set up meetings with rearrange your schedule for and show up early so as to not be an inconvenience to give nicodemus's influence he was an expert in the law a pharisee a chief leader knew lots of other influential people certainly if anyone can multiply the truth with great effectiveness it would be him any rational person would see that nicodemus is the perfect choice to be on your side and on top of that he sought out jesus well jesus didn't seek out nicodemus instead he walks an arduous twenty miles from daybreak to noon to be in this moment at this place for a woman that wouldn't even go to a well in the cool of the day like normal people this woman is not a nicodemus but about as opposite a person as possible she's likely a pariah the samaritans had the pentate which is the first five books of the bible which includes the ten commandments which includes do not commit adultery adultery would have brought incredible shame to this woman jacob's well may not have been the nearest well to sychar the woman travels to a more remote well in the heat of the day no criteria established by anyone would have picked this woman for salvation it's a mystery how god chooses his own that's why it's great to your testimonies because it's just you look back how did this happen but it's god's mercy and calling us to himself he spared nothing to save us he became human the book of john opens with christ's deity in the beginning was the word the word was with god the word was god jesus is the word and that was coming under contention in the first century there were false teachings circulating that denied the deity of christ on one side denied his humanity on the other side john clearly rebuts these heretical notions and establishes christ's deity and humanity which we see pictured perfectly here in john 4 the word became flesh john 1 14 in john 4 jesus's humanity is on full display and then his full identity as god is unveiled look at it from the woman's perspective first she sees a tired thirsty man i mean consider how he looked

[30:56] sitting on a well by himself after walking he came 20 miles away and then she recognized a prophet he must be a prophet who's actually the omniscient god and then messiah when the word became flesh jesus became the least of these who seeks the least of these to save the least of these all for the glory of god mercy is not getting what we deserve this is this woman deserved death she was dead in her sins no pulse she'd earned judgment but was instead given eternal life and this if this is who god chooses i don't want to be a nicodemus this is very humbling i don't want to be anybody special in the world's eyes she's also not a jew jews had no dealings with samaritans the jews thought very highly of themselves they were god's chosen people possessors of the law the rightful heirs to god's land children of promise while that's true they were missing the heart of god for all people and it's part of the reason why so many people in judea and galilee didn't believe in jesus through them god would bless all people salvation is of the jews verse 22 that was god's will from the beginning israel instead became a self righteous nation look at how the prophet jonah treated the ninevites 800 years prior to this he hated the assyrians and didn't want to see salvation come to their capital city he ran in the opposite direction swallowed by a fish we know the story still angry after god saved the city from judgment the samaritans were the jews of jesus day what the what the samaritans were the assyrians were 800 years earlier the whole nation became polluted with ethnicism against non-jews especially the samaritans the samaritans weren't exactly loving towards the jews either there's a lot to that story we don't have time for god however has always been merciful and and as demonstrated here mercy does not originate from the human heart we naturally want to see wrongdoers get caught and pay for their wrongdoing that's a tension i feel every day yet that line of thinking you miss the fact that we're all equally wrongdoers yes god will judge that's why we praise him for but i can't judge all of sinned and fallen short of the glory of god that's that's romans 3 23 it's a simple message that we need to hear so much because i have a tendency of saying well you're more of a sinner than i am i'm a sinner yeah but you know you are worse or how we judge things around us again these human standards these traditions just become kind of blind spots in how we look at people again a conviction in my own life but god wills all to be saved jesus demonstrates a mercy that's been established by god in a time when it become unthinkable for jews have no dealings with samaritans a number of years ago um i was asked to participate in a missions trip and and uh have you heard that saying um god helps those who help themselves it's probably some practicality there but it's not a bible verse um and certainly not true as it relates to salvation salvation we don't help god save us but anyway i was approached and asked to co-lead a missions trip for uh for teenagers um to take them to a work camp work camp first thing

[34:57] i had no no no preface to this i'm thinking like labor camps concentration camps what is this so i went and it was through an organization called work camp new england um if you haven't heard from it heard about it uh they they uh organize these these teams of middle and high schoolers and we do week-long service projects to people's homes in particular areas around new england and they move every year these different trips and the individuals served are vetted by work camp new england to assess neediness so the intention is to paint their houses fix roofs do moderate structural repair invite the residents to dinner to hear the gospel at the end of the week so when i went our service location was outside of boston i could actually see boston from this woman's roof that i was working on we lived in a high school outside of the city for a week the students would pay to go on the trip wasn't free to go to work camp and that money was used for supplies to repair the home homes i was leading a roofing team and our resident was chosen because she was a single mother with a young daughter and an autistic son her roof had a hole in it water was dripping into her bathroom and that was the profile that we received needy single mom with leaky roof and new jesus our first day on the job we discovered that she wasn't single she had a live-in boyfriend who was an unemployed construction worker and he and he just hung out on the couch all week and watched tv and he made the female the females uncomfortable so when we didn't have portal bathrooms so whenever the females had to use the bathroom i'd stop work and accompany them in the house you know anyway so the second day on the job i saw this older gentleman staring at me from the driveway and i went down and he he asked me almost in accusatory way what are you doing so i told him and i asked who he was and um and guess what he was this woman's father and he lived a few houses down and guess what he did for a living he owned a construction business with his son i was livid like there were so many other people that we could be serving who actually had a need right there's so many people this woman could have been using to fix her roof and then it hit me you see where i'm going with this god impressed upon me that this is exactly who he chose for us to serve she wasn't being shown god's love because she was doing the right thing or deserved it but because god is merciful and on top of that god didn't find me because i was doing the right thing either i didn't get to some point where i deserved christ intervention in my life the woman in boston was no nicodemus she was more like the woman at the well and that struck me i'm a lot more like the woman at the well even though sometimes i think of myself as a nicodemus so at the end of the week you know her kids her boyfriend they all came they heard the gospel presentation and i don't know if they ever received christ i do know i would not have gone on that trip if i knew the details about that woman jesus knew all the details about this woman and he went god's will is merciful human tradition can lead to idolatry so the pharisees transformed god's law into keepable traditions traditions there's 613 laws in the old testament i read this somewhere but by the time jesus was walking around the pharisees had transformed that into about 5,000

[38:58] so they had about 5,000 laws what to do on the Sabbath what you can't do what you can how far you can walk i mean just laws and rules for absolutely everything traditions are keepable we break up our lives into little things that we can do and that's why we like them that's how they get passed on through generations but religion is often a mixture of truth and tradition the pharisees were very religious mixing religious traditions is syncretism that represents what samaritans practice both have the law of moses pharisees the samaritans both trace themselves back to the patriarchs abraham isaac and jacob but they mixed in their own practices and ideas that compromise their worship many professing christians today practice a form of syncretism western christianity has been watered down to keepable traditions that have compromised our true worship there's a united church of christ across the street from the school where i teach and it has a banner hanging up outside it's actually a pretty common banner maybe you've seen it um at other churches but the banner says it says protect the environment care for the poor forgive often reject racism fight for the powerless share earthly and spiritual resources embrace diversity love god enjoy this life and there's nothing inherently wrong with those statements but they're all capable without needing god or relying on his word even love god what does that even mean without context do muslims jehovah's witnesses mormons love god they would certainly say they do and be very offended if you suggested they didn't how about if you love me keep my commandments john 14 15 measured to god's word none of the above love god a lot of people could look at that sign and say i can do that on the other hand no one can keep the law of god and that's the point we're saved by grace through faith and this is not of ourselves it's a gift of god not by works lest anyone should boast god's law humbles us decreases our own opinion of us human tradition increases our own opinion of us allowing us to become self-righteous because we measure ourselves based on attainable standards not god's perfect unkeepable standards the human standard becomes the idol that keeps us from god jesus had no need for human tradition he keeps doing miracles on the sabbath this drove the pharisees to murderous madness and he just kept doing it but the sabbath was made for the man not man for the sabbath mark 2 27 the pharisees would practice circumcision on the sabbath but hated jesus for healing the whole body in john 7 talks about that they're more concerned about their tradition breaking the breaking the sabbath for tradition and then holding jesus to account for healing the whole body pharisaical traditions even though built around god's law were actually from satan satan they practiced satanic counterfeits jesus speaking to the jewish leaders in john 8 41 to 44 he said you speaking to the pharisees do the deeds of your father then they said to him we were not born of fornication we have one father god jesus said to them if god were your father you would love me for i proceeded forth and came from god nor have i come of myself but he sent me why do you not understand my speech because you

[42:58] were not able to listen to my word you are of your father the devil and the desires of your father you want to do he was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him when he speaks a lie he speaks from his own resources for he is a liar and the father of it jesus is at odds with the pharisees throughout the whole gospels in verse 1 as we read it's it's this outward ritual washing versus internal baptism of repentance i mentioned jonah so jonah and the samaritans have an indirect connection jonah preached to the ninevites the capital of the assyrian empire was nineveh the assyrians repented and turned back to god for about a generation then they became wicked again god used the assyrians to conquer the northern kingdom of israel in 722 bc the syrian captivity the remnant jews left in the land were mixed married to other ethnicities that moved in to the area they became tainted half-breeds unclean samaritans who were named after samaria the former capital of the northern ten tribes the jews wouldn't eat or touch anything from samaria in sending his disciples to buy food in a samaritan city jesus was blatantly ignoring what had become common practice or tradition to the jews keep separate at all costs then in his disciples absence he starts talking to a woman which broke all eastern customs and not just a woman but a pariah samaritan woman his disciples were so shocked when they came back they were speechless they didn't know what to say verse 27 i don't know if i have it up there but in verse 27 he says at this point his disciples came and they marveled that he talked with a woman yet no one said what do you seek or why are you talking with her customarily if your friend was in an awkward position like this a very awkward position like this you would give them a way out disciples couldn't say anything this is so it's out of their box of thinking they're speechless!

[45:37] verse 20 she gets to that she's like she had this idea but it was wrong so when light shone in her darkness conviction took place she recognizes a need for peace and forgiveness as an unbeliever she immediately did what she sought external things to find this she looks to her past leaders her traditions answers that she already has kind of in her in her keeping but she needed an answer that met her internal needs and her traditions couldn't provide so in conclusion worship must be acceptable salvation must be through Jesus verses 21 to 24 again Jesus said to her woman believe me the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem worship the father you worship what you do not know we know what we worship for salvation is of the Jews but the hour is coming and now is when true worshipers will worship the father in spirit and truth for the father is seeking such to worship

[46:44] God is spirit and those who worship must worship in spirit and truth Samaritans as I mentioned traditionally worship on Mount Gerizim this false worship was established in the 5th century BC during the time of Nehemiah this was after the Babylonian captivity as I mentioned it was a syncretic mixture of Judaism in pagan religions tracing all the way back to the Assyrian captivity several hundred years prior as Jesus predicted Jews and Samaritans will no longer be able to worship in their traditions traditions what happened in 70 AD the Romans came they sacked the temple and did worship there and then as tradition has it they then went to Mount Gerizim took out their swords and it was a great slaughter and ended tradition there traditional Jewish and Samaritan worship has been eradicated ever since this gospel was actually written after those events so the reading of this gospel they would have been able to consider that as a backdrop human traditions will end

[47:56] God's will prevails and the destruction of the temple and the slaughter in Samaria was tragic but God uses many unlikely methods and situations to draw us into true worship because that is his will he removes things from our lives places things in our lives disciplines us works through tragedy and we have to remember that his will is merciful towards his children because that is his will and we should always be giving him a measure of thankfulness in any situation that's why James commands us to rejoice in times of trial so even as we're surrounded by lies and deception seeming to seep in everywhere we turn it is tough raising kids in this culture it's like what is next just seeping in everywhere think okay

[49:04] God false prophets appear throughout scriptures ignoring or misrepresenting God's will spreading spreading the lie that we can find salvation or worship God outside of his truth and the gospel of John is written to correct any potential misunderstanding about who Jesus truly is and that's the theme verse for for John John 20 verse 31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ the son of God and that believing you may have life in his name Jesus tells us here in John 4 what we need to be worshippers in spirit and truth I've read a lot of church statements of faith that are really solid in fact Bethel Church in Redding California produces most of the songs that is sung around the country has a pretty solid statement of faith if you read it I know countless

[50:06] Christians who confess the Bible as the authoritative word of God I always did since I was five I know that I've had some some opportunity to do some serious reflection in the past year what's going on in my family and and I know that I'm susceptible and guilty of allowing lies into my heart I personally know some professing Christians who claim to know God but their actions they deny him Titus 1 16 by their actions they deny him I know that a good church statement doesn't make a godly church so we must be vigilant allowing only the word of God to light our path I love that picture the word is a lamp into my feet and a light into my path where else can I go Colossians 2 8 beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy or empty deceit and empty deceit according to traditions of man according to the basic principles of the world and not according to Christ salvation and worship are inseparable you can't have one without the other and each must equally be based in

[51:19] God's truth look how they function with this woman verse 28 29 also verse 39 I think I have it there the woman then left her water pot went her way into the city and said to the men come see a man who told me all the things that I ever did could this be the Christ then they went out of the city and came to him down to verse 39 and many of the Samaritans of that city believed in him because of the word of the woman who testified he told me everything I ever did her expression of salvation was joy filled worship that affected her entire community consider the transformation she went from from hiding to being a light on a hill after one meeting one interaction with Jesus Jesus said I speak I who speak to you and there's not actually a he in the original Greek this is an I am statement an I am statement the ultimate truth the center of all worship the culmination of the father's will the revelation of salvation to this woman to

[52:29] Sychar to the world Jesus declares that he is Messiah he overturned tradition and custom yet there were no flashy miracles I mean he read her her history right he knew that there was no lengthy sermon majestic setting this was this was really kind of cut down to bare bones what Jesus does here this interaction could have not been conceived by anyone other than God no human philosophy or tradition could have created this moment the omnipotent all powerful person of God Jesus placed himself not in a position of power but of need he became a tired thirsty man sitting on a well and through love and mercy brought a chosen daughter of God to truth to salvation to worship needing to carry out God's will she left her water jar her traditions behind and declared Jesus to everyone she knew let's pray as David prayed search me oh God and know my heart test me and know my anxious thoughts see if there's anything unrighteous in me lead me to the way everlasting whereas King

[53:50]  David knew there were things that he didn't see and I just pray Lord that just through this word as you've spoken to my heart to me that you have spoken and speak to each one of us to to just carefully consider your will in our lives in areas we may not be able to see as a church body strengthen us to speak into one another's lives and give us ears to hear that we would know you and give you glory in the way that you deserve in the way that you called us to and we pray these things in Jesus name amen