Sunday Message (2nd service) - Pastor Brad Neuschwander (October 11, 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. Would you just join

me in prayer and let's just turn our attention

to Him. Heavenly Father, Lord, in the name of

Jesus, we come tonight. or this morning. We've

come to worship. We've come to adore you. We've

come to set our hearts before you, bring you

worship from our lips and from the very essence

of who we are and what you've done for us. We

thank you for the spirit of grace. We thank you,

Lord, for your mercies, your kindness. God, that

you would continue to grow in us a desire, and

a hunger, and a holy awe for you, for your word,

and for your purposes, and for the things of

your spirit. So Jesus, we say, anoint your word

this morning. Open the path, Lord, in the scriptures

that would be illuminated. For your word is holy

and true, all of it. The logos is both living

and alive. But I'm asking you, As the scripture

says in Psalms, your word is a lamp unto my feet

and a light unto my path. Holy Spirit, open up,

Lord, the direct path for this service, for these

people that are here, that they may be fed, strengthened,

encouraged, challenged, and transformed. In Jesus

Christ's holy name. And everybody said. Amen.

Amen. Amen. Would you tell the band they did

a great job this morning? Appreciate them. Well,

there's a lot on my heart and in my mind this

morning. I'd like you to open your Bibles if

you would. We're going to continue a little bit,

but might be a little bit different flair from

where we have been just in a series. We're talking

about Jesus, the path from Passover to Pentecost.

I didn't get very far in first service. In fact,

as I probably went backwards more than I went

forwards in what we've already been studying.

So we'll kind of take a look at things, but I

want you to put your finger in the gospel of

John. chapter 4, and I'd like you also to find

John 4 · chapter mention

the book of Revelation. I know it gets scary

when I say that. People are like, oh, the book

of Revelation, chapter 1, and put your finger

Revelation 1 · chapter mention

in there, and hopefully you brought your Bibles.

Anyways, we want you to turn there if you can.

I want to just share with you a little bit. I

try to, as I often do when Jenny and I are traveling,

bring you back some reports of what we do and

how we do it and what God is doing. And this,

we've been gone. We left Sunday right after church

this week, this past week. And we went to our

international conference. Now, one of the things

that, in fact, is, Jen, can I give you these?

Thank you. Thank you. I heard one person say,

if I was to write a book about my wife, There

would be major chapters on mercy and grace and

beauty and wisdom and a very small chapter on

sporting ability. Anyway, I'm just giving her

a hard time. One of the things that we do is

I love traveling together with my wife. I've

done lots of stuff around the world, but I don't

like doing it by myself, and there's times I

have to. But when we go to these international

conferences, she was actually a speaker, and

I didn't get asked to speak this year. She did,

and my daughter, both of them did. They asked

me to go into other rooms and minister over to

various pastors and nations. And let me tell

you a little bit about this organization that

we belong to. It's called Ministers Fellowship

International, and I've been part of it now for

almost, I think, about 29, 28 years. We got married

in... And I think we joined MFI in 96 or 97.

One of those two. So it's just been about almost

30 years. MFI will be celebrating 40 years next

year. So they've been an organization for 39

years. And it was started kind of by our great

grandfather. If we could say that in the faith.

Brother Dick Iverson who started. City Bible

Church, or was called originally in Portland

Bible Temple and Portland Bible College. And

then our mentor, Dr. Frank Damasio, who's now

with the Lord, he was also the vice chair. They

started that ministry together. And the purpose

was this, to find not denominational churches

that already had an organization. We weren't

there to pull anybody from their denomination,

but to find independent, local, autonomous churches.

that had local elderships, believed in the same

principles of the scripture, such as having an

axe to focus on Pentecost, on the church being

the vessel that God wanted to use to extend the

kingdom. Finding those pastors that were walking

alone and creating a fellowship that several

times a year you'd get together, share resources,

so that you could walk together with other people

in your area or region so that as a church you

just didn't feel like you were forging everything

alone. You had other people that believed the

same, walked the same. And so when Jenny and

I... got married and were in Eugene Christian

Fellowship at that time. That was one of the

things that Eugene Christian Fellowship, obviously

pastored by Frank Damasio, was involved in from

the beginning. And it's from there I've made

relationships around the world. I know when we

got into MFI, it was about 100, 120 churches.

And from there, we've watched it explode. The

last count we had this year at conference was

there's 14 ,000 churches now around the world

that belong to Ministers Fellowship International.

That means they're local churches that have...

that have no denominational affiliation, but

are walking together in the truth to make healthy

churches, healthy leaders, and extend the kingdom

of God. And MFI is happening on every continent.

I mean, we're getting ready to open MFI Cambodia,

MFI Cuba, MFI... Europe. I mean, we already have

MFI Canada, MFI Brazil, MFI Argentina. I mean,

multiple MFIs in Africa and in Asia. And God

is just continuing to move in that. And we get

the privilege, Jenny and I get the privilege

to be part of that leadership team. And we sit

on an extended leadership board. We're not the

governing body of it. We're part of that governing

body. I'm one of a regional overseer in this

area from Northern California to the Idaho border,

to the coast, all the way up past Salem. And

that's kind of my territory that I take care

of and help shepherd pastors. There's about 18

to 20 pastors that I cover in this area. And

because of that, I'm asked to do various things.

We host a regional conference here and we try

to sow into the lives of pastors. I'm saying

all that to say to you, I was in meetings from,

meetings started at 9 a .m. in the morning and

we got done at 9 p .m. at night. I was in meetings

for 12 hours for five days. So I had long days.

You get up, try to slam down a coffee, have a

little breakfast. And then in the midst of that,

we're meeting with people, helping pastors. I

got to prophesy over a bunch of pastors each

day. They would bring international people in.

that had signed up and said, we just want to

know what God is saying over us. And I've worked

with a team of presbyters and we prophesied over

a lot of people and literally to see what God

is doing and to hear even what the word of the

Lord was over people's lives that are in the

ministry. You'd have no idea how wonderful God

is until you sit down and just stay in a session

for two or three hours. person after person,

the Lord revealing things that only God could

tell them. I got a big kick out of it. You know,

we're in days, I guess, fact is, I don't get

a big kick out of this, but we're in days where

the prophetic word of the Lord or the, if you

will, the prophetic ministry is under scrutiny.

And that's a good thing. To be honest with you,

I welcome it because there's been too many players

that have absolutely not abided by what the Bible

truth of the prophetic actually is. And so one

of the things that we're known for is that we

have very strict process on Even when we would

say, hey, there's candidates that are going to

be prophesied, I had no idea who those candidates

were. And so they said, well, this year we're

even going to just make sure just with everything

that's out there in the world and scrutiny that

there's no data mining. And I looked at my wife

and I said, what is data mining? And she goes,

honey, you have to have a bunch of accounts.

You can barely run your phone. You don't need

to worry about it. But I guess there's a lot

of stuff out there on people trying to get information.

I'm so glad I'm part of a church setting that

we believe that here and there, where we didn't

even get the names of the people until they walked

in the room. And for them to know with a surety

of what God was speaking over them, as only God

could pull out things, reveal things that they

had been walking through and what God was saying

to their circumstances, to watch the joy of the

Lord come over people in tears, that they knew

that it was a genuine word of the Lord. And that's

really important. It's really important. Now,

why am I saying that? Because I want you to understand

we're living in a moment and a time where all

sorts of things are trying to divert the body

of Christ from believing in the power of his

word of what is written and in the authority

of the spirit that comes to highlight the word

of the Lord. Fact is, I would probably say one

of the things in scripture that we actually deal

with primarily as I'm looking and it's traveling

over through the nations and helping guide understanding

of freedom and deliverance ministries and helping

prophetic ministry. In fact, as we're teaching

on that on Wednesday nights this fall, how to

hear the voice of God and how to keep the prophetic

clean. It's a big deal. To train God's people

to hear the voice of God. Why? Because it's a

mandate. You do understand the scripture says,

my sheep hear my voice. And they will not follow

another. Meaning, there are other voices speaking.

And to be able to know Jesus, to know the voice

of the Holy Spirit, which is your right in salvation.

That's why the Apostle Paul, under the inspiration

of the Holy Spirit, could say, earnestly desire

the best gifts, but especially that you prophesy.

Am I talking to anybody this morning? Okay, I'm

going to have to come down there because it's

awful dead. Let's just move that. So you did

this to me, just remember that. So what are we

saying here? We're saying, first of all, that

they're in this explosion of this thing called

the internet and social media. There is a lot

of people releasing words that have nothing to

do, I'm gonna be very careful, but also gonna

put the sword down here, that have nothing to

do with real prophecy. Now, why is that? Let

me, this is not, this is the beginning of the

message. This is not the message because first

of all, they don't actually, you see, the Bible

says the prophetic spirit of prophecy is the

testimony of Jesus, which means what? In the

testimony of Jesus, in order to have a true prophetic

word, you have to have several things. You have

to have what? who Jesus is, was, and is to come.

And the cross has to be predominant and resurrection

life has to be predominant so that you can what?

Build, strengthen, encourage Jesus Christ transformational

work inside of you. If you can't recognize the

cross, You can't recognize the transformational

part of the word that's coming out that's to

encourage you and strengthen you in your walk

with Christ. You are not listening to a prophetic

prophecy. You're listening to a spirit of divination.

It's exactly what Balaam tapped into. It can

sound and even have part of the Holy Spirit or

part, excuse me, not part of the Holy Spirit,

part of a religious truth that's accepted but

not actually bring you into a relationship with

God or with the Holy Spirit. And so as you begin

to look, and I just took a look last night just

to look, how many words are on the internet?

that have nothing to do with the transformational

nature of Christ being formed in you. And that's

the spirit of prophecy. The spirit of prophecy

is the testimony of Jesus. What's the testimony

of Jesus? Jesus Christ, who came to live, die,

and resurrect, and stay connected to the will

of God. Do you understand that crucifixion happened

to Jesus, but us being crucified daily, not in

the flesh, but in our transformational nature

to let Christ be formed in us, if that's not

there trying to move you forward in the things

of God, you're listening to something that's

based on something else that sounds religious.

Now listen, I just, I... A year and a half ago,

I'll be going back again to Ethiopia. One of

the things that I had to deal with that the pastors

of two different regional areas in two major

cities asked Dr. Munson and myself to deal with

is the very nature of the false prophetic. Because

it's such a big deal in many of... especially

in African culture, but it's come here as well.

Meaning that the prophet is so honored in those

countries that people will move past the normal

transformational process of Christianity and

want to just get a message from the prophet so

they can hear all the time, hearing something

new. That is not the nature of the true prophetic

or the true spirit of prophecy. That's what divination

does. Divination turns your moment of listening

to Christ and that it be formed in you and that

you would grow in hearing the voice of God from

his word and from his relational fellowship with

you to oftentimes just being a comfort from anxiety

and worry and fear. Let me hear somebody else

who's hearing something so that I can just hear

what God is saying, hopefully, and allow that

anxiety and fear. That's not even biblical. It's

not even biblical. That's what you do every morning.

I mean, maybe you don't, but people that do.

They do what? They run to the news. They run

to this. Why? Because fear has gripped their

heart. Anxiety has gripped their heart. And what

are they looking at? They're looking at information

so they can feel somewhat safe. You just begin

to apply this test across what you're coming

across. And you'll find that if it's not actually...

causing Christ to be formed in you and the transformational

to grow, to be encouraged, to step out with the

Holy Spirit in his, if it's only about tickling

the news of what president is going to come,

what senator is going to come, what bill is going

to come, all of that is under a political spirit

of divination. Very few things in the New Testament,

the prophesying out of an old prophetic understanding,

very few things in the New Testament actually

are connected to what is on the internet. Why?

Because Jesus levels up the playing field in

the New Testament through the Holy Spirit saying

what? It's to build, it's to encourage, and it's

to strengthen. If it's not building you or the

church, if it's not strengthening your faith

and the transformational power of Christ in you,

If it's not adding beautification to the things

that are meant to be of a lifestyle of faith

and move you forward, or it's not telling you

what you need to do to endure what's coming through

to build Christ in you in the atmosphere that

you're about to go into, you need to put it on

the shelf because a lot of times it's mixed with

divination. And divination isn't eye of newt

and leg of frog and you know. That's not what

divination is. Divination is operating from a

different spirit that's not connected to Christ.

It has religious and political atmosphere about

it, and it sounds like it's the Lord. Go look

at Balaam's prophecies. Go study. He heard God,

but he mixed it with other things. What did it

do? It kept Balak. constantly coming back to

Balaam for a word. Not anything from Balaam's

life provoked Balak to honor who Jesus Christ

was. It all came back to what? My ministry, my

word. I mean, listen to how he starts it off.

This is the one who falls down, whose eyes are

open, who hears the voice of God. What did he

start with? He starts off by magnifying himself.

All right, it's not my message this morning,

but I'm just giving you a little bit of an introduction.

Why? Because Christ being formed in you is the

goal of the prophetic. You can't get away from

the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy,

which means you have to know Jesus. And did Jesus

prophesy to kings and rulers and who was going

to be the next VP? Did he prophesy of who was

going to be the next Roman pontiff? Now I get

it. He's building the church and he sent the

spirit, but everyone that was to prophesy was

to what? To build the church, to strengthen people

and their relationship with Christ. Even Agabus,

just work with me just a little bit. Even Agabus,

the prophet that set people in, notice when he

Twice when he is recorded in the New Testament

about things that were major. First one was,

Agabus came and said, listen, there's going to

be, the Lord says there's going to be a famine

in all the world. Guess what the answer to the

prophecy was as he was prophesying? Go and give

relief to your brothers and sisters who are there

who are going to be experiencing the famine.

Notice he didn't just leave it and drop the mic.

Hey, there's a famine coming in the world. That's

not the spirit of prophecy. Spirit of prophecy

finished it with, now make yourself available

to go and meet that need because that's what's

coming on the world. Big difference between just

announcing knowledge versus real prophetic. There

is such thing as a word of knowledge and it works

with the prophetic word of God. It is not just

about releasing information. And I taught this,

if you're wanting to deepen this, I'll be teaching

this again the whole fall term as we just started.

This will be my third session, third set of notes

this coming Wednesday. Because this is a thing

that has to get cleaned up in the body of Christ.

Has to. It is, and this is my message, it is

about the Jesus who is. Listen, we know that

Jesus introduces himself. The first title, let's

go to Revelation chapter one at the very beginning

here. Revelation chapter one, and I'm gonna start

in verse four. John to the seven churches that

are in Asia, grace to you and peace from him

who, Now notice, if you're a student of the scripture

and you've done any type of understanding of

how to interpret scripture, what do we know about

scripture? First mention principle is what? There's

a reason something is recorded first before other

things are recorded, right? You'll never see

an apostle listed last. Why? Every scripture

that kneels with an apostle lists it first. We

know that Jesus, who was, is, and is to come.

But look at the revelation that Jesus now, as

the resurrected Lord over the churches, as John

is on the Isle of Patmos, look at what he highlights

right here. He said, I am the one who is. Oh,

shut the door. What are we saying here? Because

most of what we've grown up with is the Jesus

who was and the Jesus who is to come. If you

think about the majority of the messages that

the Christian church has heard, it's about the

Jesus who was and the Jesus who is to come. Very

few messages deal with the Jesus who is right

now. Who is he right now? Do you know him in

the is? In your life right now, that is. Is your

relationship with the is part as well as the

who was and who is to come. You see, the who

was. Of course is connected to the Godhead. Connected

to the Trinity. Beyond time and space. He is

co -equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

The was. The lamb slain before the foundation

of the world. Even the law of Moses. The giving

of the tabernacle. All of the biblical accounts.

All the way through was the was. But we're living

in the day of the is. Doesn't disconnect us from

the was. In fact is our. our understanding of

the was and our understanding of who is to come

deals with his kingship, his authority, his resurrected

victory and the full establishment for a literal

thousand year reign on the earth and the summing

up then after that of judging the living and

the dead and eternal states. Yes, we need to

preach that. But what about now? The Jesus who

is, is now. Think of it. John on the Isle of

Patmos, suffering persecution. And you have to

wonder, you might just think about this for a

second. You have to wonder, you know, when Jesus

talked to Peter and John there in the end of

John's gospel, and Jesus restores Peter three

times at the end of, before he leaves to go to

heaven. Love my, sheep, love my lambs, love my

sheep, feed my sheep. All of those principles

was to restore Peter back to his calling. And

then Jesus says to Peter, he says, and by the

way, when you're older, you go where you want

to go now, but when you're older, someone will

lead you by the hand to a place you don't want

to go. And the scripture says, and that was prophesying

of how he would die. And then Peter, like Peter

always does, looks at John and looks at Jesus

and goes, well, what about him? Appreciate the

prophetic word over my life and ministry, but

what does John get to do? And Jesus says, don't

worry about John. What is it to you if I allow

John to remain? And then John writes for the

commentary, he says, and this was said, circulated

that I would never die, but that's not what that

means, right? I'm paraphrasing. So here John

is on the Isle of Patmos. Everybody else has

pretty much lost their life for the sake of the

gospel. He's still on the earth and he didn't,

I'm sure when he received the message, what is

it to you if he remains until I come? That was

a good word. It's like, if I receive that word

in 2026, what is it if I remain until he comes?

Lord, I can't wait to see you face to face. You're

gonna give me long life. He probably had no idea

of what Jesus meant when he said, what is it

to you if I ask him to remain? Being boiled in

oil, being left for exile with no fellowship,

no church, no people, no nothing, wasn't exactly

what he was getting when Jesus was speaking,

what is it to you if I ask him to remain? His

idea of Jesus' prophetic word over his life was

a little bit different than what Jesus was now

asking him to do. Are you doing okay? Okay, why

do we say that? Because now John is getting this

message. He is left alone. If there's anything,

he's in a wilderness moment in his life. He is,

if I'm John, which I'm not, If I'm John, I am

asking myself, because remember, he's the apostle

of love. Of everything he's known for, every

letter he writes, he's known as the guy that

brings the message of Christ's love, brings the

message of reconciliation, brings the message

of this is the original intent of the Father

to know the love and to love and have unity.

is john's signature guess what you you want to

do if you're the message of love to the church

you want to be with the church you want to be

with people and experience and love and show

what genuine love is where is he now in exile

by his lonesome seems weird for the apostle of

love to be placed in no man's land how many have

ever felt like you've been put in no man's land

Have you ever felt like you've been exiled from

God? Or maybe you didn't know that God didn't

leave you, but you were exiled. It's like nobody

could. It's almost like they couldn't even grab

a hold of your life. It was almost like you were

so insignificant. People didn't see you. People

didn't hear you. And like you were in this thing

like God put over you. Wilderness. Right? And

you're in this space of wilderness. And that's

where John was. John was in exile. John was in

wilderness. And then the Lord calls him as he's

what? As he's in the spirit on the Lord's day.

He's praying. He's praying to do what? Connect

with the spirit of God. He's praying in the spirit.

He's in the spirit on the Lord's day. And then

what does he do? What does the scripture say

in Revelation chapter four, verse one? And I

heard a voice. behind me like the sound of many

waters. And I turned and I looked. Multiple things

happened there. He didn't see the God who was

and the God who is to come. He saw the one who

is both of those, was and future. But he was

now being called to attention by the God who

is. And as the Holy Spirit is starting to write

this letter in Revelation to be brought to the

seven churches, the very first name, before you

get to Alpha and Omega, before you get to the

one who is the first and the last, because in

Revelation, John defines, as the Holy Spirit

is writing to him, Every name and every title

that brings Jesus over everything past, present,

and future. But his first title of everything

to John and to you and I now in this season is

what? From the God who is. You'll not find the

God who is first in any other section of scripture

except here. It always goes the God who was,

is, and, okay, let's try that again. Who was,

is, and is to come. Here in Revelation, he deals

with what? The God who is. It was first and foremost

to John, and then it was to you and I as well

that are part of the church that Jesus is and

wants to be known in your now situation. He doesn't

want you to rely on things that you've known

about the past or defer your hope to only things

that are in the future that are yet to be known

and yet to be seen. He actually wants to break

into your life right now and be known as the

God who is and have fellowship and relationship

and encounter with you in a now moment. And the

problem is, for most of us, if we don't have

that, when we end up talking to people, like

if I'm gonna go over here and talk to Chad, very

studious man, accomplished, educated. If I'm

gonna talk to Chad, what is my first fallback?

I'm usually gonna talk to Chad if we're gonna

talk about Jesus in a God who was. I talked about

what the plan of God has been, who Jesus was,

what he came to do. And that's wonderful. But

why am I not starting with the God who is? Because

that's where he starts here in Revelation. He

starts with the God who is and then goes back

to the God who was and is to come. You see, it's

important that you understand that moment. We

often brush by that because we want to go back

to the formulas. We're used to linear thinking

about how to present Jesus rather than actually

just sharing from what actually is the God who

is right now. Now, he's all of those things.

I can't divide the is out from the was and the

who is to come, but the But the context here

this morning of what we're dealing with is he's

dealing with wherever you're at in that now moment.

Wow, think about that. The God who is, who was,

and who is to come. And then the next part of

it, this is the prophetic. Now listen to this.

True prophetic prophecy deals with what? the

seven spirits who are before the throne and Jesus

Christ, the faithful witness. Firstborn from

the dead, ruler of the kings of earth in that

order. Notice faithful witness. Do you understand

that that is the nature of what the prophetic

should be coming to bring? The faithful witness

to Christ. That's what it's coming to do. If

someone's gonna give Van a word here, The whole

point of the word should encourage him, strengthen

him to be what? A faithful witness to Christ

in the season of the life that he's in and the

season that he's heading into. If all that's,

and I'm sorry if this offends you, it's pastorscott

at lifebiblechurch .org is the email, okay? Now,

if somebody comes up over you and says, oh, I

just see the color blue, God bless you. And that

is the level of the, Quote, prophetic, whoosh,

flush. Why? Does it mean that blue has no significance?

Of course it does. Sorry, I got somebody laughing.

I'm not sure whether they're laughing or crying

back there. But anyways, if you got a blue prophecy,

just let it go. Hallelujah. But the issue being,

the reality is he needs something to be a faithful

witness. He needs living impartation. from the

one who is raised from the dead and the one who

fulfilled the will of his father in every season

to be obedient to the will of God, to the word

of God, and to let it transform his character

and nature that he would be strengthened, that

he would be built, that he would be encouraged,

and that he would have holy impartation. That's

what the prophetic is for. That's what the level

of prophecy is for, is to build you, to strengthen

you, to add to you, not give you a... There's

an orange hue. This is a good time to say, I

love everybody. Hallelujah. But I hate foolishness.

I hate it. I hate it in the body of Christ when

it tries to get passed off as something spiritual.

Do I believe in colors? Have I had encounters

where... absolutely needed to know that color

because of what it represented? Yes. Did the

colors of the tabernacle mean something to God

in the temple? Absolutely. There's a difference

between the crimson, the blue and the purple.

There's a difference between silver and gold

and precious stones. All of those have meaning,

but if they are just spoken over a person and

there's no pointing to deepening the transformational

grace and word in your life, it doesn't mean

anything. You doing okay? All right. So In the

few minutes I have left, why did I bring that

up? Because Jesus is going to do something in

John chapter four that is going to be different

in the levels of prophetic that had been modeled.

And I need you to see this. True canopy of a

prophetic ministry always moves in a three -stage

transmission. It's just like a good three -speed.

It's first, second, and third. And you'll see

it all through. Why? Because the God who was,

is, and is to come. What does first deal with?

First always deal with, when you're seeing how

the real prophetic works, it deals with who you

were and how God intervened in your life, that

he saw all the good. all the ugly, and he wasn't

scared off. He paid for you. And he lets you

know of how he intervened when you were who you

used to be, but you're not that anymore. That's

first gear. Then it moves to second gear. What's

second gear? It moves to the God who is. He now

begins to speak to situations that are in your

current life. He speaks to things that you're

asking him about. And you'll notice this. If

you've had real, real presbytery or prophetic

ministry, God will begin to answer things that

have been prayers on your heart and on your mind

that only he can know. And God begins to answer

some things. And then he moves into third gear.

And third gear isn't baldness, although it does

feel like that from time to time with my life

and your life. Third gear is what? Releasing

the future and impartation for your next seasons.

It becomes an encounter with the only one who

knows your future. That's the nature. of the

fullness of the prophetic. What often Christians

get is they get a is moment. They get an is light

moment. Meaning what? That when they have prophetic

encounters or somebody gives them a word. If

it's really from the Lord, it is going to answer

and bring confirmation and grace to things that

you have been struggling and wrestling with that

only God knows you've been doing. That's one

of the confirmations. Not only, but it's one

of them. But it doesn't deal with, most of the

time, your future or your past. Why? Because

it's dealing with a now moment of the church

trying to find, according to the rules of What

God gives us to keep the prophetic clean, it

gives you the rules to edify, to build up, to

strengthen, and to encourage in the transformational

process and the leading of the Lord in your life.

But it doesn't deal with usually past, and it

doesn't deal with normally future. It deals with

a section and season of the is. But just to give,

I'm gonna come back here, just to give information

does not mean, It's holy. Just to be able to

give a phone number or a street address, that

does not mean that's from the Lord. If it doesn't

lead you to an encounter that's transformational

in the giving of that word, you need to put a

question mark going, why was that given without

transformational grace assigned to it? Because

most of the time, those types of words come to

build up the ministry and the person giving it

rather than bring honor and glory to God and

what he's doing in your life. Now, when Jesus

deals, let's go back to John chapter four now.

When Jesus comes upon, and I'm teaching a little

bit prophetic this morning because I've been

involved in an international conference. So you'll

have to forgive me. I've just, I've been immersed

in the prophetic and teaching on it. releasing

prophetic words and all that. But when I came

to the text that I had prepared and I felt like

the Lord had given to me, as we look at John

chapter four and Jesus coming to that area, you

need to see something beyond just the woman here.

Listen to what it says. I'm gonna start in verse

three. Jesus left Judea and departed again for

Galilee. What happened two chapters before John

chapter four? Anybody? What happened in John

chapter two? Okay. I would maybe suggest we dip

our toe back into the gospel of John a little

bit. The wedding feast of Cana of Galilee. Thank

you, John. John probably should have the gospel

of John memorized, but way to go, John. Okay,

the reality is what? The first miracle that happened

Jesus did a sign and a wonder and a miracle in

what? Cana of where? Galilee. Why is this gonna

be important? Because Galilee. Would be a place

that would be Jewish. But also have some mixture

in Galilee. And there would be places in between.

The turning of the water into wine. That Jesus

would have to go through to get back to Galilee.

To again have another encounter with his people.

You see the gospel of John is setting you up.

What's it setting you up? To have an encounter

with the God who is. Everything that starts in

the gospel of John. Before he moves to the last

week of Jesus' life. Everything prior to the

last week. John encounters you with the God who

is. The very first part is the beginning statement.

In the beginning was the word. And the word was

God. And the word was with God. And the word

was made manifest. And we beheld him as the only

begotten son of God. He moves you to the was.

And he moves you to the is. And in the gospel

of John, he moves you to the is and to his future

return. But he's constantly trying to move you

out of, let's not stay in the was because the

was is anchoring you to a religious mindset and

understanding, keeping you from embracing the

encounter of the now. Jesus is never divided.

He's not. He is part of the Trinity, Father,

Son, Holy Spirit. He's not divided in his heart,

but we often are. And we often live with what

we're most comfortable in. And in John, he's

trying to move us to begin to experience the

God who... had prophesied long, long ago and

moved through generation after generation that

the time of was is over and the new is is now.

So he starts with the what? The water into wine.

And we'll talk about that at some other time.

But now we're talking about John 4. And why would

we say that? He left, he was in Cana of Galilee,

did his first miracle. In between chapter two

and chapter four, he went back to another place

and now he's going back to Galilee again. And

Jesus comes to a town of Samaria called Sychar.

Now listen to this. This is important because

it's actually a very prophetic moment. I don't

want to get into the history of Sychar, but he's

coming to Samaria, a place that was now cut out.

first in God's discipline because of rebellion

and them refusing to follow God wholeheartedly.

And they were dispersed. The Jewish people were

dispersed. Among every tribe or every kingdom

that the king of Assyria and Babylon, they were

moved all through. They took the Assyrians and

the other lands that they captured and put in

Samaria and they moved the Jewish people to every

kingdom they conquered to remove the taste of

their Judaism out of their mouth. So when we

look at Samaria, Samaria now was a hodgepodge.

Of all other countries that had been conquered

by the kingdom of Assyria. And some of Babylon

that had been displaced. And there was a mix

of Jewish. And a mix of all the mixture of all

the nations and the pagan deities. Jesus is now

walking there. But Samaria, you have to remember,

had its roots in God. Its roots were in God.

That's why you read this next verse. The field.

Near the field that Jacob had given his son,

Joseph. You see, the very heritage of the faith

was given from Jacob to his son, Joseph. Why

was Joseph, why was this so important? Because

Joseph represented the double portion. In Joseph

would be both what? Manasseh and Ephraim it would

represent double fruitfulness and when you get

to that understanding there was a prophetic nature

to the field saying I'm giving you this portion

because this portion of our heritage belongs

to this son because this son is to carry favor

and blessing in the inheritance then it says

something else it says and he came to the what

Jacob's well Jacob's well. Now it's more than

just the field. It's a well. And folks, I'm just

going to maybe mess with you in the next 13 minutes

here. That is prophetic in itself. Why? Because

the Bible says, give me your name again. Chris.

The Bible says, Chris, in 1 Corinthians 3 .9,

you are God's field. You are God's building.

just like Chris now has a place right there in

that scripture that God is speaking to him, we

are destined to be God's field. By the blood

of Jesus Christ, by the grace of his word, God

has now made you to be his. He's put his name

on Chris. He's put his stamp on Chris. And he

says, you are God's field. And then you look

at Jesus's ministry. He was what? He was the

one that had what? Living water. He was the one

that, I mean, we could go through multiple, multiple

scriptures. He is what? The one who has life

and water. That's the first encounter we're going

to read about. Jesus actually said to the woman

in just a few verses, if you knew who it was

that was standing here, you'd ask me for a drink

and I would have given you living waters. that

you would thirst no more. Do you get the irony

here, the prophetic moment? Here Jesus comes

to the field that was destined to be God's. What

is Samaria now? Completely mixed, completely

paganized, but God remembers his oath and his

plan and his desire of what he would do to all

peoples, and his desire is that. all the nations

would know him. He comes back to what was a physical

inheritance, and he's now coming to the place

that had roots in the nature and in the promise

of God, and he comes now by a well that was driven

to establish covenant. Remember that well? Every

time they drove a well, it meant what? Survival?

Yes, but it meant blessing. It meant this is

the response to covenant gave us water to give

to our flocks, to our herds, and to our people.

So here, just think of it. Jesus sitting on the

well of promise in the field of promise to a

group of people that had no idea that Jesus who

is was now there. And John 4 opens with this

understanding that the living water and the new

covenant had now come to present himself not

as the God who was. And notice, if you look at

the Samaritan story, what did she try to do?

Move him to the God who would be. What was her

answer? I know that when Messiah comes, he will

what? She knew the past. She knew about the future.

But she was living in a realm that wasn't willing

to engage the God who is. And Jesus is God enough,

because he's completely God, to care about your

is moment. He doesn't want you just to know a

historical account. He doesn't want you just

to have a hope and a faith in the someday. He

actually wants to bring what was and what will

be into what is right now. And that's why, that

is why he jumped right into a conversation with

a Samaritan woman and did the exact opposite

that seeker -sensitive churches do. I can't leave

today without, you know, kind of just adjusting

a few things. You see, when we put the seekers

first, and we are to be about the lost, but when

we put what they think they need before what

God tells us as the God who is that they need,

we do something like this. Oh. You're a Samaritan

woman. Here's some water. Here's some groceries.

Here's some things that you didn't ask for. How

can we pray for you? Notice that wasn't Jesus's

approach. Jesus didn't offer her a bottle of

Fiji. He didn't offer her some fresh loaves and

some fishes because he knew even though she had

need, just like we all do, she had need to eat

and to drink. And the fact is she was coming.

Jenny, my precious wife, I ask her to do things

that she's sometimes uncomfortable with. Can

you give me some depressing Samaritan woman music?

It's kind of heavy. Just think of this. She's

walking at noon with barrels to be filled or

these big pots to be filled with water. Why?

Because she's alone. Everything in her life she's

destroyed. She has no friends. Society hates

her because every time she got involved in it,

she'd steal somebody's spouse. So nobody wanted

to fellowship with her. She's out in the middle

of the sun trying to draw water, which was the

time that was reserved for having a little siesta

and not doing work. We either did it in the morning,

we do it in the evening, but that's when everybody

comes out. So she was forced and relegated because

of the choices she made in her life to actually

go at noon. She expected no encounter. She had

been living with what was that has still been

gnawing on her mind. And she had hoped that someday

something would change, but she had no space

for the God who is. And in the midst of carrying

these water pots, all of a sudden sat one who

was wearied as well. In fact, as just a side

note, you doing okay so far? Just a side note,

the fact that this scripture tells us that Jesus

was wearied from his journey absolutely lets

us know that Jesus was not operating in his Godhead

position as the living word of God on the earth.

He laid aside, as Philippians said, his divine

prerogatives and he was God wrapped in. man so

to speak and he allowed the man part of his life

the human part of his life to be absolutely subject

to everything so that he could be made like us

and experience and he had to do what lean on

the holy spirit so when the fact that the scripture

says and jesus was wearied from the journey at

noon it didn't mean that jesus was out of shape

if this was really God in his full strength manifesting,

he would never be wearied. He did say in the

scriptures, you weary me because of your prayers.

But that wasn't the case here. He was wearied

because of humanity. And you know, my takeaway

from this, Joe, and that's probably bad exegesis

here. My takeaway is long walks tire you. I know

that's deep, so don't walk long. That's my philosophy.

Anyway, no, just kidding. The point being, Six

hours of walking will make you weary. Jesus,

the living water, sits on the well of prophetic

heritage and destiny in the land of prophetic

heritage and destiny and now waits for a woman

who comes to him by herself wanting... Already

screening out everyone and Jesus doesn't say,

hey, I've come to bless your life. Here's some

stuff to practically meet your need. Jesus' first

response is exactly the opposite of what we'd

expect. He goes, give me a drink. What's your

response when someone asks you for something

that you didn't expect? I'll tell you, one of

the greatest things that happened to me, it's

happened to me at least twice. The one I remember

the most is the one I failed. Kind of have an

issue with people that, not the people that would

ask me for money, but when they sit there with

their dogs and they're full of tattoos and they're

holding a sign, I probably don't listen very

well and I don't look. Why? Because if you have

the money to feed that dog and you have the money

to put some permanent Sharpie on your, because

all that costs money, I'm probably not too clued

in to helping you with wisdom. Just saying. No,

I see your stewardship and you're in this for

a reason. Now that's kind of been my thing. I

give money a lot to people who ask of it and

there is a need, but I don't like giving money

just because somebody asked for it. I need to

know that God spoke to me. So there is a point

to this story. It's raining one night. I got

my kids. Jesse's really young. Jackie. They're

13 years apart. Jackie's a teenager. Dad, come

on. Can we go to DQ? Can we go to DQ? Can we

go to DQ? All right. And you have to know for

an old Mennonite to spend money at DQ, it is

already, I was moving in a level of faith. Okay,

just saying. So we go to the Junction City DQ

and they're asking for, of course they want everything.

And I said, nope. Just like my dad did with me.

Nope, you're not getting that. You can have this

or this. This is the amount we're spending. Okay.

So I go in, I order this. I go inside, leave

the kids in the car because I knew if they came

out of the car that we would end up with more

stuff than we should have, right? Any parents?

Okay. I come out with their two Sundays and immediately

this person on a bike rolls right up around me.

And now you have to understand, that doesn't

go well with me when somebody gets in my space

and I'm not aware of it. Most of the time I'm...

am I packing? Am I not packing? What's what's

happened? Am I getting rolled? Am I not? Cause

I've been in some really crazy precarious things.

And so I immediately went and I, Oh shoot, I'm

not packing. Okay. So, and they rolled up and

they said, Hey, and I looked at him. He said,

can I, can you, can I have some money? I I'm

hungry. And I looked at him at the moment. And

because I was in the rain and my kids were there,

I didn't have any cash on me. It was in the car.

And I just said, hey, I don't have any on me,

which was the truth. And they just looked at

me and he rode away. And he was probably in his

forties. I got my car, got past the light, was

probably two blocks from the restaurant. And

the Lord said to me, you missed me tonight. I

said, Lord, what do you mean? He goes, that was

me. I sent my angel. You didn't recognize him.

And immediately my mind flashed to this man's

eyes. And I rehearsed again the encounter. And

I saw Jesus in his eyes. And I thought, Lord,

I did. I am so sorry. And he spoke to me. He

says, you weren't prepared for my now moment

of visitation. It came different than what you

expected. And I pulled off to the side of the

road right there where that coffee cart is on

the other side of the tire shops, right before

in between two buildings, I pulled my car over

and I stopped it right there. The kids are in

ice cream. He said, dad, what are we doing? I

said, just eat your ice cream. I got to repent.

And I had a moment. I don't know what they did.

They were eating hot fudge and ice cream. And

I'm in the front going, God, I was so driven

to get my thing done for the kids and the principle

of being. I didn't allow any space for the God

who is to lead me. I had all of my presets. At

that moment, I was no different than the woman

at the well. I had all my presets of things that

I didn't want to have done in my life and the

things that I had value for. And I just made

my nice little box of how to live and what I

was going to do for my kids, being a good dad.

And I gave no room for the God who is. Why am

I sharing that with you? Because if the church

is going to be who Jesus says we have to be in

the future, it's not going to be done by a big

evangelist or a big prophet or a big apostle.

Those offices are to do what? Equip the saints

for the work of the ministry. My job is to equip.

My job is to impart. My job is to challenge,

not to do all the work. The fact is, I'm to do

less and less of what's out there so that the

church does more and more. Why? Because the Jesus

who is, is going with you. See, where we're headed,

where this world is going, is not quickly the

God who is to come where we've been taught just

to wait on that. Although that's great, we should

be ready at any time. The seasons that we're

heading into as the church in the Western world,

is not ready for the season that's coming. And

we have to get used to knowing the Jesus who

is. He is going to want to move you and shape

you and go ahead and live in you in the now moment

so that you could actually respond and not do

what I did and miss him and who he brings so

that you could sit As one who the Bible says

now, you're to have springs of living water flowing

out of you. You're to be along the roadside,

sitting in your journey. And when people come

up, to be able to know what the Holy Spirit would

say at that moment. Sometimes it is going to

be, go buy them a hamburger. They're hungry.

Sometimes it is going to be, get them a bottle

of Fiji water. But many times it's going to say,

so why are you here? Can you get me a drink?

See, Jesus completely backwards of what we would

normally think. He invaded her life to get to

the thing that she needed most. She needed to

get the God who she thought he was and the God

who she thought he would be to actually encounter

the God who he is to change both of those realities.

so that she would know in truth who he really

was and who he really is in coming because she's

encountered the is. Can I pray for you this morning

that like myself, I'm praying for myself as well,

that there would be something inside of us this

morning that would desire a closer relationship

and an awareness of the God who is in our lives.

Can we do that? Let's pray. Father, In the name

of Jesus this morning. Lord, that encounter happened

years ago at Dairy Queen. And I remember it as

though it was last night. 10 years, 12 years

past. I can still see the eyes. I can still see

the face. I can still feel the disappointment

in my own heart when I missed my now Jesus is

moment. That's the one I'm aware of. There's

probably been many, many more. And I don't want

that anymore. I want to walk with you and talk

with you. I want, Lord, my heart to be open.

Lord, that I would consider you in every option.

I would not have presets for preset's sake. I

would not build a box around my life. Help me

remove the barriers. That would keep me from

now encounters. And being used as a vessel fit

for every good purpose for your will. I ask you

to do that with every person that's here. Grow

us. Transform us. Renew us. Let the nature of

Christ be formed in us. That we would be now

responding. Voice activated people who hear your

voice. and follow your leading in every step.

In Jesus Christ's holy name. 625 -1365 We would

love to pray with you.