Sunday Message (2nd service) - Pastor Brad Neuschwander (August 23, 2026) | Life Bible Church

Welcome to the Life Bible Church podcast. We

want to thank you for joining us today, and we

hope you find today's sermon impacting as you

listen to it wherever you are in your daily walk.

To find service times and watch messages online,

see our website at lifebiblechurch .org. Now,

enjoy this week's message. Let's open your Bibles,

if you would, to John chapter 4. And I believe

John 4 · chapter mention

the Lord has got something to share with us this

morning. I'm going to continue where we kind

of left off last week. I'm going to do my very

best to kind of bring us into some understanding

of this passage of John 4. We know that this

passage is a very famous passage. There is so

much, as I said last week, there is so much depth

inside this passage that we often skip over some

of the things that Jesus was actually uncovering

and digging at in regard to knowing spirit and

truth. And so, Father, in Jesus' name this morning,

Lord, we've come to your altar, we've come to

your throne. Lord, we're reminded that the priests,

they came to the altar to offer prayers before

you. And Lord, that's what we get to do every

time we come to the house of God. We come to,

Lord, we recognize we as people are now the church.

And Lord, this becomes just a gathering place,

a sheep shed, so to speak, to where we encounter

your presence, where each person brings, Lord,

Lord, their redemption, they bring the spirit

of God that's inside of them. And God, we come

to collectively worship and honor you. And in

this moment, Lord, we're coming to you not only

as king and as Lord and as savior, but now we're

coming to you, Lord, in the feeding time of your

people. You said, you are the sheep of my pasture

and of your hand. And Lord, we come to you as

sheep this morning and we ask you, oh, shepherd

king, We ask you to feed us this morning your

word. You are more than just stale bread, Lord.

You are the living bread. You speak a living

word. And I'm asking you to anoint your word

this morning that it would go deep into our heart.

And God, like the word, can only do according

to Hebrews chapter 4. It can divide. It divides

Hebrews 4 · chapter mention

between that which is soulish and that which

is truly spirit. It's also said in your word

that your word was like a hammer. And Lord, it

breaks up the fallow ground. It breaks the hardness

of the heart. I'm asking now, Holy Spirit, that

you would come and with the word of God, you

would begin to feed, you would begin to reveal.

Let the light of your truth shine forth this

morning as we open the scriptures and that you

would speak to us. Lord, we ask that you would

help us step away. from things of routine, of

shields and barriers that keep us insulated from

the power of your word. We step from behind the

rocks of excuses. We ask for the fig leaves to

be set aside and we ask you to clothe us in your

truth. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Thank

you, Jenny. I appreciate it. John chapter 4,

John 4 · chapter mention

we'll kind of just start here where we left off

last week. Just a reminder, John chapter 4, verse

John 4:10

10 and 11. We understand, and let me just give

a little narration. We understand that Jesus

was coming into the region of Sychar, the area

of Samaria. And I'm not going to read the first

10 verses because if I do, I'll never get to

where I'm going to go. So I'm just kind of giving

a summation. And he stands. And as he's been

journeying by foot, now, remind you, this is

why it takes us so long to go through some of

these series, is because Jesus never operated

in a motorized vehicle. He walked everywhere.

So that's why it's slow. We're walking our way

from Passover to Pentecost as we're kind of talking

through this mindset. Jesus has now walked. into

Sychar area, into Samaria, and he is sitting

by or standing by the well that was driven into

the ground in the area that was given by their

father Abraham. The reality is he had been walking

probably since daybreak. That time started there

in when we deal with time frame there. As you're

looking at the Bible, their morning started at

6 a .m. Because that's usually sun up to sun

down. 6 a .m. to 6 p .m. Everything was within

usually those 12 hour periods. And so Jesus had

been walking for six hours. And he was tired.

The disciples had gone to go get some food. And

Jesus was by himself at the well. And coming

out of the well at noontime was a lady that came.

And you never come to the well. Now, this is

important. You never come to the well in the

heat of the day. That wasn't normal. In fact,

is anybody that lives in Arizona right now, or

in Palm Springs, or in Palm Desert, or anywhere

that has the word desert to it, in the summer,

you don't go out and go, hey, why don't we just

take a nice walk at two in the afternoon? You

can fry eggs on the sidewalk. You can fry, literally,

on my solar panel, you could fry an egg. Literally,

I mean, you just don't do it. People stop working.

They put wet cloths over them. They either work

early in the morning and at about 10, 10 .30,

they cut it, and then they get back after the

sun sets because of how intense the heat is.

So think of it in the Middle Eastern culture.

This is the same aspect that in the middle of

the day, at noontime when they should be eating.

And then they did what they would, what we would

call in Latin America, we would call a little

siesta time. That would be their time to kind

of take a break, let it digest, try to get a

little nap because you're going to go back to

work after the hotness of the sun sets down.

Here comes this woman to get water to actually

work during the day. And Jesus is there. We pick

this up in verse 10. And Jesus, as he asked her,

he said, would you give me a drink? And she kind

of rebuffed that statement and Jesus' response

to her rebuffing, her rebuffing was this, you,

being a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a

drink? And Jesus' response in verse 10 is this,

he says, Jesus answered her, if you knew, could

you say that with me? If you knew, if you knew

the gift of God, and who it is saying to you

give me a drink you would have asked him and

he would have given you living water now to review

from last week we said listen jesus was revealing

himself first and foremost in this passage as

the gift of god he said if you knew the gift

of god he was saying listen i am the gift of

God. Now that, if you just say it in today's

context and don't understand who Jesus was, that

sounds a little arrogant. I am the gift of God.

Well, if you're the son of God, yes, you, you

are. But, but the reality is he was, he was saying

something that would be said all the way through

the scriptures for God, the father. In John 3,

16, just one chapter prior to this, gave his

only begotten son that whosoever would believe

in him would not perish but have everlasting

life. Jesus had no problem declaring what the

father's will or what the father's gift was to

the world. And if you knew who it was, it was

the gift of God. If you knew the gift of God,

Jesus saying, I'm that gift. Jesus is declaring

also the heart of the father. The heart of the

father is saying what? I am now declaring something

about God that you have not understood. God's

nature is a gift giver. Now if there's anything

that that culture needed, if there's anything

that the Jewish people needed and the Samaritan

people needed and every other tribe and nation

needed is they needed a fresh understanding of

who God was. Because the narrative of the goodness

of God had not broke through. The overwhelming

narrative was God is to be feared. God is to

be respected. And whatever type of God they had,

it was always on the basis that humanity was

trying to please God in some way to satisfy him.

That's the narrative of all the nations of how

they serve their deities. Jesus comes on the

scene saying, listen, I've come to breach. Excuse

me, to bridge the breach that came through sin.

And I've come to set something in place here

so that you would understand the real nature

of the father and that his desire is to give

of himself. He is at essence a giver of life,

a giver of love, a giver of grace, a giver of

mercy, a giver of hope, a giver of all things

that are good. That is his nature. And that smoked.

The belts of every person. Because the reality

is. They couldn't compute that. Because culture.

Mandates. Religion. Had created a mindset. Of

how to approach God. And that's why Jesus was.

Acting so intentional. With this woman saying.

If you knew. The gift of God. And who it was.

Saying to you. Give me a drink. You would have

asked him and he would have given you. Notice

how Jesus turned it. He was saying, listen, if

you just give him, you're little. That's all

God is looking for. You give him what you have.

Just give him a drink. Give him the act. of what

he's asking. And you have no idea what's in store

because he's the giver of life at every area.

See, Jesus was declaring to this woman, and here's

where we ended up last week, the gift of God

wants to be known. Really, that's what Jesus

was doing with the Samaritan woman. He was declaring

God's gift is not meant to be in secret. God's

gift is meant to be known. God's gift is meant

to be experienced. And Jesus was saying to the

Samaritan, which would represent all Gentile

nations, he was saying, listen, he's going to

say this here a little further. He said, listen,

salvation is of the Jews. Because she had some

arguments. She goes, well, you Jews say you worship

over there at that mountain. We worship at this

mountain. And Jesus... I had people come to me

over the years. I've had almost 35 years of,

36 years of ministry, 33 years of ministry full

time. 36 years of ministry, I've had people come

say, you know, Jesus doesn't correct and doesn't

correct people. He's always so kind and gentle.

I'm thinking, have you read any of the stories?

I mean, you know, have you read any of the times

he talked to the disciples? Oh, you of little

faith. Why do you not believe? Or the time that

he would say to his disciples, how long must

I be with you? These are not statements of great

endearing. These are statements of exasperated

parenting. And in this particular instance with

the Samaritan woman, he basically just said,

you're wrong. You Jews worship there, we worship

here, but I know when Messiah comes, this was

her phrase, I know when Messiah comes, he will

teach us all things. He goes, I'm he. Salvation

is of the Jews. Folks, if that isn't a correction,

I don't know what is. That's not a loving, oh,

nice try, honey. Here's a participation award.

He literally comes and re - frames her thinking.

And you understand what he did was actually show

us what it takes for repentance. Because repentance

before you can ever turn and walk something different

means you have to change your heart perspective

and your thought process to actually realign

with God's. She actually had to let go. If she

was going to embrace who he was and what was

standing in front of her and receive the gift

that he was ready to give, not just one gift,

but multiple gifts. of love and acceptance of

salvation, of living water, of the Spirit of

God. If she was going to receive the gift that

she didn't know, she would have to do what? She'd

have to take the correction, reframe it, believe

it, and then allow a new understanding to come

to her. Do you understand? That's often why people

don't get the gifts that God actually has for

them. Because they want to receive a gift without

actually changing their perspective. Jesus was

saying, listen, you've not known the nature of

my father. You've not known his gifts, his goodness.

Jesus is saying, if you really knew, if you knew

God's nature and God's heart, then you would

want everything that he has for you. Jesus continues

the dialogue with this, if you really knew what

I bring. And I want us to focus our attention

on this in what it says in John 10. When it says,

if you knew the gift, you would have asked. That

word is eteo. in the Greek. And I want to drill

down on this this morning. I know sometimes the

Greek, we don't always understand it, but it's

important to look at the original language that

this was written in because the word ateo actually

means something beyond just this phrase. This

one word in the Greek actually means you would

have asked. You would have asked. Four words.

equaling one word in the Greek. That word ateo

means this, to crave, to call, to ask, to desire,

to require, and to beseech of wanting the more.

Now, that's important because, and I'm gonna

come down and just try to explain this. If you

understand what Jesus was saying, if you knew

who it was that you were talking to, if you understood

the gift of God, if you had a fresh revelation

and you stepped outside of the banks of your

thought process, your religion, your culture,

even in the big one for most of us today, you'd

step outside. Of the issue of what you think

you've done wrong. And the framework of what

you've done wrong. And you'd stop allowing those

voices to keep you from receiving. If you'd just

allow yourself to step into who he really is.

You would have had something inside of you. That

would have. A teode. What would have a teode?

It would have asked. It would have called. It

would have almost begged to do what? To receive

something more. You see, at the heart of every

person, when you meet, thank you, looking at

me there, because it said yes. So I'm going to

take Van, for instance. At the heart of when

Van accepted Jesus Christ, at the very essence

of who he is, when he surrendered to Jesus Christ,

several things happened at the same time, the

Bible tells us. He was, when he repented of his

sins and he asked Jesus to come and live in his

life, here's what happened. Number one, he was

justified. That word is a big word, but it simply

means he was made right with the laws that he

was contrary to. And God legally made him right

because of, Christ's life through faith that

is now given to him right standing so he's no

longer in illegal standing he's no longer unlawful

he's been made right second sanctification begin

to take place meaning what what he couldn't clean

up himself the Holy Spirit begins to clean up

and begin to work Number three, the faith that

he didn't have before. God granted faith the

time that he believed that word. And faith partnered

and accompanied grace to do the work in his life

that he couldn't do on his own. And then this

thing that we're talking about here happened

as well. Meaning what? He knew the gift of God.

And at the knowing of the gift of God. Okay,

hang on. I'm not going to hurt you. Too bad here.

Okay. At the knowing of the gift of God. Back.

Right. Just smack right in there. All of a sudden.

Okay. All of a sudden there was something imparted

to him that wanted more. It wasn't self -generated.

He didn't have to like kickstart an old Harley

in the morning. Like, you know, I think I want

Jesus. I think I want, that's a stupid thing.

I think, no. He automatically had on the inside

something that said, what I receive from him

is calling me and drawing me to want to get more

of him. I've got to say this to you. That's how

you know you got really saved. In the essence

of justification, sanctification, regeneration,

faith, something deposited in that grace gift

that came to the inside and you woke up with

the next morning going, you didn't wake up going,

oh, that was... a lost venture. You wake up in

the morning recognizing something shifted and

there's something in me drawing me to him. That

is that thing of what Jesus was actually calling

forth to that woman saying, listen, if you knew

who was before you, if you knew the gift of God

that was there, you would have asked me. And

I would have given you living water. How does

this work? Well, number one, you have to be able

to step out of the mindsets that hold you. It's

not about tradition. It's not about religion.

It's the fact that you, now listen, I'm all for

truth. We have to have truth. But sometimes the

religion is not actually based in any form of

truth whatsoever. It's based on somebody's opinion

of what they think something means. But they

actually can't point to a theme. I'm not saying

every, there is not a verse for every action

in the Bible but there are themes all the way

through the scripture that address every issue

of life. And sometimes the things that we think

are godly don't even find a stream or a theme

even in the Bible. I mean, I know this for a

fact. I was raised in a godly home. I went to

a place that loved God the Father, God the Son.

They said they knew the Holy Spirit, but they

didn't know how to engage Him. And one of the

things that they preached against in my conservative

upbringing was type of music was, other than

your voice as the instrument that God provided

you, was not righteous. And then you have to

ask yourself, have you read the Bible? With clanging

cymbals, make a joyful noise. With stringed harps,

make a joyful noise. With the lute and the flute,

make a noise. And you have to bypass whole sections

of scripture to believe that gobbledygook. But

it sounded righteous. But the righteousness of

man does not equal the righteousness of God.

Come on, somebody. And the reality is you have

to begin. To step out of these things as God

begins to come to our lives and say, what am

I doing that satisfies me versus am I doing something

that's pleasing and honoring the Lord and am

I receiving of the gift that's life -giving or

am I just drinking natural water in a religious

setting? You all right? I'm gonna keep meddling

and pressing here a little bit. Notice he said,

if you would have asked, Jesus said, I would

have given. That word given in the Greek is the

word, and here we go, didio me. And I love what

the definition of this word means. It means to

give, which we have in our English rendering

here. I would have given. It also means to grant.

It means to reach out. And here's even better.

I'm gonna give you something to administer, to

furnish. Didio me means I'm going to extend and

present. This is the beauty. Now, I know I've...

Did I send him to the hospital? Is it all right?

All right, no, just kidding, just kidding. I

know I was cranking on him here a little bit.

Okay, I'll pick on Van because he's still over

here. Okay, now you have to understand when God

says this, he said, I would have given you, meaning

I would have what? Granted you, I'd give you.

I'm going to give you something to administer.

I'm going to extend and I'm going to present

you with something. If you'd have known who it

was and the gift that was here, I would have

extended and presented you something. with the

waters of life. Let's read it this way. If you'd

have known the gift of God that it was and who

it was, you would have asked me and I would have

given you something to administer. Whoa. Let's

think that through. Do you understand that every

gift that God gives comes with administration?

God doesn't give gifts that are stagnant. Every

gift that he gives comes with the ability to

administrate it. So let's just start off here.

We'll pick on Jody a little bit because he's

sitting over here on this side because I was

over there. That side was way more unruly, so

we're going to just be peaceful right here. Okay,

think about it this way. jode when you receive

salvation the gift that was now imparted into

you you put just put your hands on your chest

right there the gift that was imparted into you

okay now notice it doesn't just stay it's not

to stay dormant it actually is to be administrated

Meaning that there was a godly presence inside

of you that is meant to come now into your mind

and into your heart where you begin to administrate

the truth and the revelation of who you are.

Because at the moment you said, as we were talking

about it, justification, sanctification, regeneration,

faith, grace comes to your life, then what happens?

Well now, 2 Corinthians 5, 17, if any person

is in Christ, They are a new creation. The old

is gone. The new has come. Well, at that point,

the administrative power of the grace gift of

God of salvation to you... helps you not listen

to the voices or the mindset of yesterday. And

therefore, he expects you to administrate the

truth of who you are in God. So as you're walking,

that gift, you're administrating that gift to

different mindsets that would confront you during

the day. You're administrating that gift to the

group of friends around you and to the people

around you. All of a sudden, they're seeing a

change and you're responding. Here's the wonderful

thing about God. Remember I told you that God

always sets the stage. He does what only God

can do, but then he expects you to partner with

him. He sets the stage for you to always partner

in the administration of that gift. You can't

just let the handlebars go and just say, okay,

Jesus. I mean, it's a wonderful song. Jesus take

the wheel, but it's totally unbiblical. Okay.

Jesus take the wheel and he expects you to actually

partner with him. Yes. I understand. It's about

let Jesus be in control, but he still wants you

conscious and hands on the wheel. Okay. Jesus

take the wheel. Doesn't mean hell, whatever Lord

is your will. No, that is not the case. The administration

of salvation means that you are in full faculties

learning to process your thoughts and begin to,

where you didn't have a filter before, now have

a filter to recognize the mixed from the true.

Are you there? The whole point of the Holy Spirit

and the Holy Word is to give you a filter to

determine what is false and what has mixture.

And what you're going to find out in any form

of Christianity is the majority of mixture doesn't

come with outside of the people of God. It comes

within the people of God. That's a good word,

preacher. Because the people on the outside,

they know they're jacked up. They know that they're

lost and fallen. It's the ones that think they

know that carry the mixture that you have to

be able to discern what is coming out of their

talk, their words, their mindset. Is it truth

or is it their own version? That's why Jesus

was dealing with this Samaritan woman. Why? She

was trying to persuade Jesus that where the Jews

worshipped versus where she worshipped was equal

to them. Messiah would sort it all out and she

was good where she was at. And Jesus was saying,

no, listen, if you knew the gift of God that

was in you. and you knew who it was that would

say to you, give me a drink, I would have bestowed

and granted and extended to you. I would have

reached out to you and given you the administration

of the spirit of life and truth. That would cause

you now to think differently. It would cause

you now to make different choices. And as you

partner with it, you're going to learn to discern

the truth from the lie. Are you guys doing okay?

Because this is really, really important. Listen,

in today's culture, the world, the flesh, the

devil will try to convince us. Listen, this is

where you live, this is where I live. It will

try to convince, listen, the world, the flesh,

and the devil doesn't stop the minute you get

saved. Have you noticed that? It's like nobody

puts a little red flag up at your heart and says,

okay, no soliciting by the devil anymore. You

cannot come. Okay, that's not what happens. They

still knock on the door of your mind and your

heart. Why? Because although he knows that you're

in the hand of God, what's he trying to do? He's

trying to keep you from actually walking in the

administration of truth and in the administration

of his Holy Spirit. If he can get you to get

mixture, then you're saved, but your effectiveness

with mixture will be diluted with everyone else,

and he still has the opportunity to pull people

in through deception. See, that's part of my

assignment. Every pastor's assignment is as the

congregation comes in from the week as we celebrate

Jesus and we celebrate the Father and the Holy

Spirit and we offer worship. The word of God

preached is not only to establish doctrine, but

it's also the cleansing power of the word of

God that separates little mixtures and the truth

from the lies of getting in so that what? Not

only is worship stay clean, our lives stay clean,

and we are reaffirmed, encouraged to go out and

serve the Lord in purity and in honesty before

the Lord and before men. That's the whole job.

That's why the preaching of the word is so effective.

It's supposed to be because it comes and it cleanses

us. It not only feeds us, but it acts as a fresh

shower over our conscience, over our values,

over our filters. And so the enemy's goal when

you get saved is he can't take your salvation,

but if he can marginalize you. If he can get

you to believe that God is haphazard in his word.

That God is superstitious. He only once in a

while does what he says he's going to do. If

you can believe that he'll try to get you to

convince you that God has certain favorites and

he doesn't love all of his people the same. He'll

try to convince you that God is kind of like

a bingo that once in a while you get a stream

of truth and favor and you get your answer. But

most of the time it's just I -94. See, if he

can get you to believe that God is haphazard

in his approach to you, that he's fickle, that

he's moody, and you better guard your heart and

play it safe because to give God all of your

heart might mean you get disappointed. He then

has taken your focus off of you trusting the

Father in his timing and you trusting your heart

and preserving you and you've just... fallen

into the snare of a filter of mixture that you

won't be able to administrate purity and truth.

Why? Because out of your past experience, that

spoke to you louder than your encounter with

the gift. You see, when God says in Luke 11,

13, He says, if you are evil, know how to give

good gifts to your children. How much more will

your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to

those who ask him? He's saying, above all the

gifts. And that's what Jesus was getting with

the Samaritan woman. Here was the gift. Of the

son of God himself. And the giver of living water.

Which we'll get to in the weeks to follow here.

Which is always representative of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus here becomes not only the gift. of salvation

but he would be the gift he would be the one

who would give the Holy Spirit of the gift that

would keep on giving and yet because of experience

because of culture because of religion because

of fear because of whatever excuse many times

we just simply only settle for the little things

in the natural And we don't actually open our

heart for the things that he actually has. You

see, Jesus in his correction of this woman in

John 4, 22. And Jenny, if you'd come to the piano

wherever you're at. Jenny, Jenny, Jenny. You

worship, listen to what Jesus said. You worship

what you do not know. We worship what we know.

I want to share with you something that might

sound a little callous, but this is a huge point

that Jesus is making. He was saying to the woman

at the well that she was a worshiper, but her

worship was not actually doing her any good.

I want you to think that through for a moment.

You worship what you do not know. Meaning you

can come into this room today. You could have

worshiped and sang those songs. But if you don't

actually know Jesus on the inside, it doesn't

mean that God doesn't honor the fact that you're

trying to worship him. It means that your worship

actually didn't go through to life to you or

him. Think of that. You see, Jesus wasn't coming

to a woman that had complete ignorance. Joseph,

don't come down here. All right, Jesus wasn't

coming to a woman that had complete ignorance.

He was coming to someone who knew. She knew she

had background of knowing that Messiah would

come. You read the whole passage, read it over

and over. You'll find that Jesus was dealing

with something that she knew Messiah was on his

way. She knew that God was going to give a gift.

She worshiped on a mountain and she worshiped

in a culture and she hid behind it. And Jesus

said, because of that, you worship. And your

worship is, you're truly trying to do something,

but your worship isn't changing your life. Why?

Because you don't know the gift. You only know

it from a true perspective that you think you

know who God is, but you haven't actually been

introduced to who he really is. You worship what

you don't know. My question is in the church,

in this house this morning, how many people are

walking in this room today that are actually

worshiping God, desire to worship God, but because

of cultural ramifications, because of the listening

to the voice of the past, because of religious

things that you thought that it was really a

choice for you to make and you've said no to

it, that has actually kept you from actually

receiving living water. That worship becomes

a ritual rather than life -giving. It's huge.

And oftentimes we'll come to church services

and we don't often get, and I'm not saying it's

always right to just preach a message that just

kind of pokes you in the eye. Sometimes you have

to be encouraged. Amen? But sometimes you need

actually a word of conviction that actually comes

to break hardened mindsets and hardened hearts

and religious traditions and say, what have I

put in front of me? What have I allowed to frame

it in that actually isn't Bible at all and that's

keeping me from receiving the drinking of living

water? That I wouldn't even ask for it. I didn't

even know I had a need for it. You see, this

Samaritan woman got so used to living with the

routine of her life where she'd been ostracized

from culture. Well, partly because she'd had

five different husbands and the one she was with

now wasn't her own. The ladies in the town weren't

exactly thrilled to have to play bingo with her.

She was a threat to every marriage. Then she

wrapped herself in that mindset in addition to

the Samaritan mindset of being mixed and now

worshiping on Mount Ebal versus where the Jews

had set the temple on Mount Moriah. And we're

going to get into that next week, so stay tuned.

Why was those two mountains So radically different.

Why would they think that evil was the same as

Moriah? It all comes back to tradition. It all

comes back to how man tries to justify getting

out of true obedience and worshiping something

that's close. That's good enough. Jesus comes

back. And his word saying. If you knew. If you

knew. And notice what he says next in verse 23

through 25. The hour is coming. And now is here.

When true worshipers will worship the father

in spirit. And truth. For the father is seeking

such people to worship him. We hear this verse

a lot. I quote this verse a lot. God is spirit.

And those who worship him. Must. Can we say that

word together? Must. Worship him in spirit and

in truth. I need you to just drill down with

me for a second. And then we're going to pray.

The time of just worshiping around truth and

truth alone, I say this carefully, had already

been passing from the scene. Truth without spirit

passed from the scene because of Jesus' life.

The truth that would emerge was the truth that

was Spirit filled and covered. What was he saying?

He's saying just having the law, having the truth

alone does not lead to life. The father's not

looking for those just to live by the letter

of the law. He's now looking for those that will

take the truth and have the spirit of truth in

it. Because the spirit of truth comes also from

the Father. His name is what? And this is Jesus'

big introduction. His name is Holy Spirit. And

Jesus gets further into that. He's only in John

4. When he gets to John 14 and he gets to John

16, he introduces, and I will send the spirit

of what? Truth. So what was Jesus doing? Jesus

was setting the stage, Chris, right in the beginning

with this doctrinal understanding with a Samaritan

woman that had lived outside the boundaries of

everything that was real truth. And yet under

the culture and the idea that she was giving

God her best, he was saying, listen, if you're

going to worship God, you now have to operate

in both spheres of truth. You have to operate

in the truth of his word. And you have to operate

in the fullness of his spirit. Now that doesn't

mean that you're going to have that. It means

that you have to desire the spirit of truth.

And you have to desire both spirit and truth.

Because if they are the spirit of truth. It highlights

the truth of the word. And it highlights everything

that God is in the spirit. And God says. I'm

looking for that now. And if you're going to

come to worship me, you actually must worship

in those two realms, in spirit and in truth.

That word is a huge dividing word, even now in

the body of Christ. It divides. Why? Because

some people want to just worship around truth

alone. The black and white of it, that's what

it is. If I don't understand it, it doesn't matter.

I just stick with what I know. Well, no, he wants

you to worship. Worship means what? You got to

get vulnerable. The system of being detached

was an Old Testament system. You brought your

offering to the priest and you walked away. It

was a detached offering of just truth. Now, the

system of worship that God is asking of us is

not detached. It means I bring my life as obedience.

That's why Paul says in Romans 12, 1 and 2, I

present myself as a living sacrifice, holy and

acceptable to God, which is my reasonable service

of worship. That's the first part of truth. Bringing

what? I bring myself. The next part of worshiping

in spirit and truth is that I now minister in

vulnerability to the Lord with everything that's

in me and I allow his spirit to awaken me to

areas where I'm not aligned, awaken me to areas...

That aren't actually in the truth. Clean out

of me places of mixture. Remove from me. And

then move into freedom. That living water would

actually satisfy me. And that I would want more.

That's what the father is after. You see. And

I'll end with this. Pastor Scott if you'd come.

In the Old Testament. scriptures. At a young

age, a lamb was considered a year old and less.

After a year old, you weren't considered a lamb

anymore. You were considered a sheep. Okay, whether

you were a ram or a ewe, the reality is a lamb

had a year basis to it. In Old Testament law,

under the law of Moses, you could bring a kid

goat. A kid goat is what? A year or less, I'll

say the full of a goat that's called a kid. In

the sacrificial system, you could offer a lamb

or a kid. They were exchangeable. But the minute

you move past the year lamb or a kid, you became

categorized as either a sheep or a goat. Why?

Because the nature of what was in that animal

would begin to be seen and begin to manifest.

That's why the Bible would always call the people.

He says, you are the sheep of my pasture. Notice

he doesn't say, you are the goats of my pasture.

But shepherds shepherded both sheep and goats.

But we were, anybody that was of the Lord was

always required to do what? They were always

said, my sheep hear my voice. The sheep knows

the shepherd's voice. Why? Because a goat, a

sheep's nature is what? A sheep's nature is to

follow the shepherd even when they were going

somewhere else. The voice and the counsel and

the appearance or the physicality of the shepherd,

the sheep change direction to follow the shepherd.

That's the nature of a sheep. What's the nature

of a goat? I don't ever tell you to go to YouTube

or TikTok. Most of the time, I tell you don't

go there. But just look up goat experiences.

And you will find that even the most wonderful

goats that the shepherd has fed and watered and

they just had as soon as they turned their back,

boom! Pulled some. Okay. What do they do? The

budding nature. Means I'll follow when I want

to follow, how I want to follow, and you won't

tell me and I will not be able to be relied on.

That's why Jesus said at the end of the age,

he will do what? He will separate the sheep from

the goats. It'll be the nature of who truly want

to follow the Lord in the fullness, allowing

the mixture out of their life, following the

shepherd and pursuing him versus he'll get what

he gets and I'll decide when I'll follow and

when I want. You see, that's what Jesus was trying

to take out of the Samaritan woman. Not only

was he trying to redo her mindset, That had been

framed by her mistakes and her behavior. That

was just one of the issues. He was removing the

mindset. That the mountain that she was worshiping

on. Was equal to what God said needed to be pursued.

And that's what the Lord is doing. In his house

right now. Is he is cleansing the mixture. Allowing

people to embrace what? The real word of God.

Not just what you think. The real word of God.

There are scriptures that we are actually supposed

to believe and adhere to while we pursue the

Holy Spirit. It is the scriptures that keep us

in the purity of pursuing the Holy Spirit. You

cannot trade truth for spirit. You cannot trade

spirit for truth. You must have them both. Why?

because John explained it best in his opening

salvo as I'm closing in the gospel of John chapter

John 1:14

1 verse 14 and you know the beginning salvo says

in the beginning was the word and the word was

God and the word was with God and the word was

made flesh and right before 14 he says and we

beheld him the only begotten son of God who came

in the flesh we saw his glory for he was what

filled with Grace and truth. Grace is the spirit.

Truth is always the truth. They're both truth

in God. Jesus operated in both. And as he moved

forward in the gospels right from the beginning,

he would constantly reveal that you needed God

as the gift and you needed the Holy Spirit that

was the part of that truth gift. and they were

to be yours to be embraced and received because

it would make, it would cause you to know the

giver of the gift. Would you bow your heads and

your hearts this morning? If you're here this

morning and you have not, experienced the knowing

of the gift of Jesus Christ. I'm not talking

about knowing him from a distance. I'm not talking

about knowledge. I'm talking about having an

encounter with Jesus Christ himself that would

put that administration of his grace and of his

spirit on the inside of you. If you have not

known him by his holy word this morning, he is

here in spirit. to draw you to himself. He stands

before you just like he stood before the Samaritan

woman. He said, if you knew who it was that was

speaking to you, if you would ask, I will give

you living water. He comes today with the gift

of himself to give to you if you'll ask. But

that asking means that I have to recognize that

what I have has kept me really from experiencing

him. And I'm willing to trade it. I'm willing

to lay it down and say, Jesus, forgive me for

putting all the excuses and the boundaries around

you. I come to you plainly. I come to you out

of my own free will and I'm asking you to come

live inside of my life. If that's you. I'm asking

you, I'll send somebody right to you right now.

Just lift your hand and we'll help you. We'll

pray that prayer and we will watch God actually

give you a drink of living water. If that's you

this morning, you say, yeah, that's me. I want

to receive him. I don't, I've only known him

at a distance. I've not been able to drink deeply

from life. I've only known ritual and religion

and mixture. And as you're thinking about that,

you can raise your hand at any time. I'll send

somebody to you. I want to speak to those that

you know that God is dealing with the mixture

right now. Mindsets that have kept your heart

guarded. Mindsets that have kept you from fully

trusting God. Fully giving yourself in worship.

to him. If that's you this morning, you say,

yeah, Lord, I need you to help me. Direct me

back to have an encounter with you. If that's

you, would you just be so bold just to lift your

hand and say, yeah, pray for me. Yeah, thank

you. Thank you. Come on, just lift them up. I'm

not going to call you forward, but I am going

to ask you to respond in the presence of the

Lord saying, Jesus, that's me. I need more of

your spirit. I need to be free. I need to let

go. Help me now. Remove the mixture. Let me know

the truth and let me understand the Holy Spirit.

Father, you see every hand that's lifted even

now. And Lord, every decision that's being made,

I ask Holy Spirit. that you would come to them.

Lord, touching their mind, touching their heart,

unravel from them, Lord, the justifications and

the excuses. Lord, even the voices that are around

them that are trying to keep them in old ways,

in old mindsets. I pray now for a breaking off

of that and I ask for a release of grace and

truth together over their heart and over their

spirit. I bless them now. Lord, do that work.

Let that gift now, the gift of salvation, start

drawing and pulling them closer and closer to

receive the life that's in you. In Jesus Christ's

holy name, amen. We are so grateful for those

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