Welcome to Anchors Of Truth,
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live from the
3ABN Worship Center.
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I thank you for
joining us this morning.
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I hope you all
are happy in the Lord.
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Isn't it great when
Sabbath rolls around?
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And we can come and be
in the house of worship
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here at 3ABN.
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But for those of you
joining us around the world,
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thank you for your love and your
prayers and financial support
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of 3ABN as we endeavor
to take this great gospel
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of the kingdom
into all the world.
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A ministry that's been here over
30 years with God's blessing
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continues to
grow year after year.
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And thank you for what you do.
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Anchors Of Truth is a
great time every month
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when we get different speakers.
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Our speaker today is a
very special friend to me.
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He has been for
many, many years.
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The first time I
knew about C.A. Murray,
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we were asked, Melody and
me, I think it was about 2003
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possibly, to go to New
York and sing at a camp meeting.
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There was going to be
10 or 12 thousand people.
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Mollie Steenson said, "They
want you and Melody to sing
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a new song she's
written; I Know the Plans."
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That Melody had written.
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So she said, "But I
want to let you know,
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there's a man there
that's going to sing with you."
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And I said, "What?"
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She said, "There's a
pastor there and he said he's
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going to get up
and sing with you."
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I said, "No he isn't.
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I don't know this pastor.
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I don't know if
he can carry a tune.
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I don't even know
if he knows the song."
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"Well, he wants to
sing that with you."
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So I said,
"Well, what's his name?"
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She said, "Pastor C.A.
Murray. He's going to be there."
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I said, "Well, I'll
tell you what we'll do.
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We'll try him out."
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I said, "Before the
service, we'll try him out."
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Well we did, and of
course he know the song already.
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He knew it better
than I did, actually.
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And it was the first time I
had ever met Pastor C.A. Murray.
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What a blessing that
he's been in my life as far as
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ministry is concerned, and also
just as a friend, he and Irma.
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What special people they are.
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I praise God to be able to
work with these folk every day.
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And C.A. has got such
an anointing that God has
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given him to preach the gospel
literally around the world.
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And God has given
him musical abilities,
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he's the General
Manager of the Proclaim network.
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So praise the Lord
for Pastor C.A. Murray.
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Also today we have some special
music by some of our young folk.
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How many like to see our
young folk up here, right?
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Alright, we have
Farrah Barry on the piano,
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and we have Marcus Gonzalez.
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And they're going
to be doing the song,
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Peace, As the
Deer Panteth For Water.
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And then right after
that, the next voice you'll hear
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will be Pastor C.A. Murray.
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Amen and amen. Well done.
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Thank you so very, very much.
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I'm going to ask you
do me the great favor of
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trying to come back
this afternoon, if you can.
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Something occurred to me
about two o'clock this morning
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as I was writing.
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And I fell upon something
that I began to play with
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some 20 years ago.
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And it occurred to me
that it connects with what
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we are talking
about this morning.
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And I should like to suggest
something to you this afternoon
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as we close out this series.
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So we ask for your
prayers this morning,
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and again this afternoon.
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Turn with me, if you will, to
the gospel as written by John.
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Chapter 4 and verse 9.
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John chapter 4,
we begin at verse 9.
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You are, no doubt,
familiar with this story,
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so we will not recount all
of it in our Scripture lesson,
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save, to highlight and showcase
certain aspects of the story
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that are germane
to our discussion.
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John chapter 4,
beginning at verse 9.
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The Bible says, "Then the
woman of Samaria said to Him,
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'How is it that You, being
a Jew, ask a drink from me,
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a Samaritan woman?'
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For Jews have no
dealings with Samaritans."
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I'm reading from
the New King James.
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"Jesus answered and said to her,
'If you knew the gift of God,
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and who it is that says
to you, "Give Me a drink,"
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you would have asked
Him, and He would have
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given you living water.'
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The woman said to Him, 'Sir,
You have nothing to draw with,
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and the well is deep.
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Where then do You
get that living water?
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Are You greater than our father
Jacob, who gave us the well,
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and drank from it
himself, as well as his sons
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and his livestock?'
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Jesus answered and said to her,
'Whoever drinks of this water
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will thirst again, but
whoever drinks of the water
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that I shall give
him will never thirst.
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But the water that I shall
give him will become in him
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a fountain,'" or a
river, "of water springing up
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to everlasting life."
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Gracious Father, we ask
for the presence and power
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of Your Spirit.
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We come expecting a blessing.
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Do not disappoint.
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For we wait upon You.
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In Jesus' name, amen.
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I brought my Mishnah
with me this morning.
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I don't know if I'll get
a chance to read from it.
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I may have to just refer to it.
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The term, "Samaritan," appears
only once in the Old Testament.
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It is found in 2 Kings 17:29.
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It refers to the citizens of
the former kingdom of Israel,
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the northern tribes.
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Later, the term was applied
to the city and the surrounding
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district, of which Samaria,
the city, was the political hub
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and also the religious center.
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The origin of
Samaria as an entity is found
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in 2 Kings 17:24-34.
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We don't have time
to read all of that.
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But after King Tiglath-Pileser,
and later Sargon...
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And for those of you
who are trivia buffs,
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when Ellen White was sent
to Australia in the 1890's,
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she had a dog.
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I believe it was a
German Shepherd or Shepherd mix.
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She named that
dog, Tiglath-Pileser.
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So she did have
a sense of humor.
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So Tiglath, and later Sargon,
carried most of the population
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of Israel into exile.
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The Assyrians had this
idea that when they conquered
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a nation, they tried to
replace the people who are there
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with an imported people in
trying to totally destroy the
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history of the
people whom they conquered.
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So the Assyrians
displaced the original Israeli's
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and replaced
them with Babylonians,
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people from Mesopotamia, and
people from Hammath in Syria.
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And these people brought
with them their own religion,
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their own beliefs, which
intermingled with the religion
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of the small number
of Jews that remained.
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The worship of
Jehovah eventually won out.
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But it was adulterated by
the pagan beliefs of those
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who the Assyrians brought
in for that particular purpose.
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So these foreigners never
really let go of their gods,
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and their religion
was intermingled with the
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pure Jewish religion and became
the religion of the Samaritans.
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Josiah was able to
re-conquer much of Samaria
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under his great revival.
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But the
influences were always there.
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And the religion in
Samaria was always somewhat more
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liberal, shall we say, than
the religion of those in Judah.
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And under the watch of
these pagan influences,
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the religion of
God was nearly erased,
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but not totally.
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So when Judah returned
from Babylonian captivity,
00:14:38.34\00:14:42.44
they viewed the
Samaritans as half-breeds,
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traitors to the
faith, and turncoats.
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And that was the
genesis of the animas between
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Samaritans and Jews.
00:14:59.76\00:15:02.20
The Samaritans later
asked to join the Jews
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in the rebuilding of the temple.
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They were rebuffed.
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The Jews rejected that request.
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They tried to help
them rebuild the city.
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The Jews would not allow it.
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Zerubbabel, Yeshua, and
the others rejected outright
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the offer of Samaritan
aid, because they didn't
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want to be contaminated
with this half-breed religion.
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You follow me?
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The Jews, for their
part, were concerned
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about the Samaritans
practicing a corrupt religion,
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and they didn't
want to be part of that.
00:15:45.31\00:15:46.88
They didn't want to get soiled
with Samaritan impurities.
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So the Samaritans stopped
the rebuilding of the wall
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by force for a time.
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They burned the
gates of Jerusalem,
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tore down sections of the wall,
and generally harassed Nehemiah
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and others who were
trying to rebuild the temple
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and the city of Jerusalem.
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Nehemiah describes in
some detail how Sanballat,
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the Samaritan governor, made
attempts to hinder the work.
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And we find that
in Nehemiah 4 and 6.
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Josephus says the Samaritans
were the kind of people
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who claimed to be Jews
when it was to their advantage.
00:16:35.39\00:16:40.20
But when being a
Jew was unpopular,
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the Samaritans had
nothing to do with them.
00:16:43.33\00:16:45.87
When the Seleucid
king, Antiochus IV,
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Antiochus
Epiphanes, tried to Hellenize
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the community of Israel,
and tried to turn everybody
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into Greeks and make
them behave as Greeks,
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the Jews resisted and
suffered severe persecution.
00:17:03.65\00:17:07.56
The Samaritans dedicated
their temple on Mount Gerizim
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to Zeus, the
defender of strangers.
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So they were kind of a
"go with the flow" people.
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Path of least resistance.
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So when the Jews began
to rebound in the days of
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the Maccabees, John Hyrcanus
went north and burned down
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the Samaritan
temple on Mount Gerizim.
00:17:32.65\00:17:35.18
So by the time of
Christ, the hatred was
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centuries old and mutual.
00:17:40.22\00:17:42.72
Jews hated Samaritans,
Samaritans hated Jews,
00:17:43.19\00:17:49.06
so much so that this
Mishnah says a traveler
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traveling from
Galilee to Jerusalem
00:17:54.50\00:17:56.94
would avoid passing through
Samaria, which was the most
00:17:57.34\00:18:00.61
direct route, at all cost.
00:18:00.64\00:18:02.91
He would even go into
the foreign land of Perea
00:18:02.94\00:18:05.71
to avoid touching or having
anything to do with Samaria.
00:18:05.75\00:18:10.45
Interestingly enough,
the anthro-historians say
00:18:13.69\00:18:16.39
if you go to the
north of Israel today,
00:18:16.42\00:18:19.79
there are descendents of
those original Samaritans
00:18:20.26\00:18:25.67
worshiping and living
there to this very day.
00:18:26.10\00:18:29.10
But in the days
of the New Testament,
00:18:30.97\00:18:33.48
the Jews were possessed
of a species of institutional
00:18:34.18\00:18:39.61
and societal racism.
00:18:39.65\00:18:41.65
And it wasn't a matter of that
Jews didn't like Samaritans.
00:18:42.18\00:18:47.66
They looked down on
them as inferior, impure,
00:18:47.69\00:18:53.33
and treacherous.
00:18:53.73\00:18:55.06
It is said in one of
the old Talmudic prayers
00:18:56.63\00:18:59.53
that the lords of
the temple often prayed,
00:19:00.24\00:19:02.87
"Lord, I am glad I am not lame,
I am glad I am not a woman,
00:19:03.51\00:19:11.08
and I am glad that
I am not a Samaritan."
00:19:14.12\00:19:17.09
So now you have the background
of the meeting between Jesus
00:19:18.89\00:19:24.09
and a woman that was now
in her sixth relationship;
00:19:24.79\00:19:29.80
five husbands and
one common-law paramour,
00:19:30.67\00:19:35.77
at the well of Sychar.
00:19:36.44\00:19:38.31
Jesus now has to cut through
nearly 700 years of animosity,
00:19:39.21\00:19:45.45
bigotry, mistrust,
racism, and suspicion.
00:19:46.08\00:19:51.62
This woman at the well was
looked down upon by any Jew.
00:19:53.05\00:19:59.59
She was looked down upon
by her own Samaritan people.
00:20:00.23\00:20:04.67
Married men shunned her.
00:20:05.50\00:20:08.20
Single women shunned her.
00:20:09.10\00:20:11.71
Married women shunned her.
00:20:12.37\00:20:15.14
And she didn't
have many friends.
00:20:16.64\00:20:18.41
Ellen White says the animosity
between Jew and Samaritan
00:20:21.45\00:20:24.02
was so strong and so ingrained
that even the disciples,
00:20:24.05\00:20:29.99
it didn't occur to them
to do something nice for her.
00:20:30.79\00:20:33.29
She has a
reputation, and it was not good.
00:20:35.30\00:20:39.20
Which is precisely
why she was getting water
00:20:41.00\00:20:44.91
at twelve o'clock noon in
the hottest part of the day.
00:20:45.34\00:20:50.31
The respectable ladies
had already gotten their water
00:20:51.05\00:20:54.62
in the cool of the morning.
00:20:54.65\00:20:56.28
There would have been talking,
there would have been laugher,
00:20:57.25\00:21:00.42
sharing a little gossip.
00:21:00.86\00:21:02.19
Maybe even talking about her.
00:21:02.22\00:21:03.73
But that was done at
6 am, 7 am, maybe 8 am.
00:21:03.76\00:21:07.56
Nobody got water at 12 noon.
00:21:07.60\00:21:10.37
It's too hot,
it's too miserable.
00:21:10.90\00:21:14.07
So she waits
until everyone is gone,
00:21:16.00\00:21:20.38
and she goes to get her water.
00:21:21.34\00:21:24.31
No normal person, no
person of repute would get water
00:21:25.58\00:21:30.35
at the sixth hour.
00:21:30.55\00:21:32.45
That is
precisely why she is there.
00:21:33.46\00:21:36.46
So when she gets there,
there is only one person there.
00:21:37.99\00:21:44.17
And praise God He
is anything but normal.
00:21:45.67\00:21:47.90
Now you've got to
like Jesus as a tactician.
00:21:49.14\00:21:54.48
Ellen White says that there
was the well, and then there was
00:21:54.94\00:21:57.91
this wall around the well.
00:21:57.95\00:22:00.58
And Jesus plants Himself on
that wall right around the well.
00:22:01.78\00:22:07.72
So she cannot ignore
Him, she cannot miss Him.
00:22:07.76\00:22:10.63
She's got to go around Him
to do what she wants to do.
00:22:10.66\00:22:13.96
Christ is right in her way.
00:22:14.00\00:22:15.96
And Ellen White says
she pretends like He's
00:22:18.17\00:22:21.10
not even there.
00:22:21.14\00:22:22.64
Because that's how
Jews treat Samaritans.
00:22:23.51\00:22:27.48
And that's how
Samaritans treat Jews.
00:22:28.14\00:22:31.45
But Ellen White said she
did have a passing interest
00:22:33.15\00:22:36.72
in the Scriptures.
00:22:36.75\00:22:38.09
She was in the
right state of mind.
00:22:40.29\00:22:43.02
She was tired of the old life.
00:22:43.83\00:22:46.36
She had been
through five marriages
00:22:47.10\00:22:50.20
and was in common-law
relationship with a sixth.
00:22:50.87\00:22:54.14
And Ellen White says,
and this is interesting,
00:22:55.94\00:22:58.54
Christ revealed to this
woman, and we'll get to this
00:22:59.31\00:23:02.28
in a little bit, things
that He never told any Jew.
00:23:02.31\00:23:05.88
He didn't even tell Nicodemus.
00:23:06.38\00:23:07.92
And He didn't even
tell His own disciples.
00:23:07.95\00:23:10.19
He gave her information
that the Jews never got,
00:23:10.89\00:23:15.86
and even the disciples
didn't get until the very end.
00:23:16.73\00:23:18.89
He gave it to her that day.
00:23:18.93\00:23:20.56
There are important
lessons that we can learn
00:23:24.93\00:23:27.10
from the lesson at the well.
00:23:27.14\00:23:29.47
Number one, Christ is
no respecter of persons.
00:23:29.84\00:23:32.91
Praise God.
00:23:32.94\00:23:34.28
It doesn't matter
what your reputation is.
00:23:35.04\00:23:36.98
It doesn't
matter what you've done.
00:23:37.55\00:23:38.95
It doesn't matter
where you come from.
00:23:39.58\00:23:41.28
It doesn't matter if you're
rich or poor, black or white,
00:23:41.85\00:23:43.92
tall or thin,
educated or uneducated.
00:23:43.95\00:23:45.89
He's no respecter of persons.
00:23:45.92\00:23:47.56
So her past made no
difference to Jesus.
00:23:48.72\00:23:51.96
Praise God.
00:23:51.99\00:23:53.33
See, I can apply that to me.
00:23:53.60\00:23:54.93
My past makes no
difference to Jesus.
00:23:54.96\00:23:56.70
And surprise,
surprise, you're past...
00:23:56.73\00:23:59.13
Mm-hmm.
00:24:01.87\00:24:03.20
...makes no difference to Jesus.
00:24:03.27\00:24:04.64
You see, the situation
between Jews and Samaritans
00:24:09.51\00:24:12.31
was so bad that not only
would a Jew not do a favor
00:24:12.35\00:24:17.49
for a Samaritan, he wouldn't
accept a favor from a Samaritan.
00:24:17.65\00:24:24.53
Right here in the book.
00:24:24.56\00:24:25.89
I got it right here.
00:24:26.13\00:24:27.46
Don't have time to read it all.
00:24:27.50\00:24:28.83
Won't take anything from
you, won't give you anything.
00:24:31.10\00:24:34.70
In fact, the Mishnah
says, "Better to die of thirst
00:24:34.74\00:24:39.37
than accept a glass of
water from a Samaritan."
00:24:40.34\00:24:42.78
So I'm not doing anything for
you, and I will not allow you
00:24:45.85\00:24:48.85
to do anything for me.
00:24:48.88\00:24:50.22
So Christ's request,
"Give Me a drink of water,"
00:24:50.25\00:24:55.26
is shocking.
00:24:55.29\00:24:56.79
First of all, you've got
a man speaking to a woman
00:24:58.59\00:25:00.66
at high noon, you've got
a man speaking to a woman
00:25:00.70\00:25:03.26
that He does not
know at high noon,
00:25:03.30\00:25:05.07
you've got a man who is a
Jew speaking to a Samaritan
00:25:05.27\00:25:07.54
at high noon at a well.
00:25:07.57\00:25:09.17
Shocking.
00:25:09.20\00:25:10.54
And then He
asks her for a favor.
00:25:12.81\00:25:16.04
She would have never
asked Him for anything.
00:25:19.25\00:25:21.08
700 years of bad
blood prevented it.
00:25:22.68\00:25:26.22
But this request
immediately said to her,
00:25:26.99\00:25:30.83
"This Jew is different."
00:25:31.23\00:25:35.16
And if you follow this
story to its logical end,
00:25:38.63\00:25:40.80
you'll find out He never
did get that drink of water.
00:25:40.84\00:25:43.30
Never did.
00:25:44.24\00:25:45.57
Because water wasn't the issue.
00:25:45.91\00:25:48.54
Let me put it this
way; water was the issue,
00:25:48.58\00:25:51.45
but not H2O.
00:25:51.88\00:25:53.28
So Christ gets down to it.
00:25:58.15\00:25:59.55
NIV puts it this way,
"If you knew the gift of God
00:25:59.59\00:26:02.46
and who it is that
asks you for a drink,
00:26:02.49\00:26:06.16
you would have asked Him
and He would have given you
00:26:06.19\00:26:08.43
living water," John 4:10.
00:26:08.46\00:26:10.37
At that point, she knew she
had heard something important.
00:26:10.50\00:26:13.87
She knew
something had gone by her,
00:26:13.90\00:26:15.50
she knew
something had hit her ears.
00:26:15.54\00:26:17.07
She didn't quite
know what it meant,
00:26:17.11\00:26:18.61
she didn't quite
know what it was,
00:26:18.64\00:26:19.97
she didn't quite
know how to decipher it.
00:26:20.01\00:26:22.14
She just knew somebody
had said something to her
00:26:22.18\00:26:25.05
that was important, and she
needed to kind of stick with it.
00:26:25.08\00:26:28.35
Ellen White says Christ
let her lead the conversation.
00:26:30.79\00:26:33.12
You've got to like Jesus' tact.
00:26:33.15\00:26:35.79
He let her think she
was running the show.
00:26:35.82\00:26:37.69
"You can drive the bus."
00:26:37.73\00:26:39.16
So He let her
lead the conversation.
00:26:40.50\00:26:42.00
And for a while He
chose to follow her.
00:26:42.03\00:26:44.27
Now she didn't know it
was going where it was going,
00:26:44.73\00:26:47.40
but Jesus did.
00:26:47.44\00:26:48.77
So she said, "How are
You going to give me water?
00:26:50.34\00:26:54.08
The well is deep, You don't
have anything to get water with.
00:26:55.94\00:27:00.02
So how are You going to
give me this living water?
00:27:00.78\00:27:03.39
Where can You get living water?
00:27:03.42\00:27:05.09
Are You greater than Jacob?"
00:27:05.12\00:27:06.59
See, this lady had
heard eternal truth.
00:27:08.19\00:27:10.43
Her religion was corrupted,
but it wasn't totally wrong.
00:27:10.46\00:27:13.40
She knew about the past,
she knew about father Abraham,
00:27:13.43\00:27:16.30
she knew about Jacob's well.
00:27:16.33\00:27:17.93
The Desire of Ages, to quote,
says she was engaging Jesus
00:27:17.97\00:27:24.61
in what Ellen White calls,
"a light bantering manner."
00:27:24.64\00:27:28.08
Now I didn't want to
assume what that meant.
00:27:28.18\00:27:31.55
And Erma said to me
this morning, she said,
00:27:31.58\00:27:33.01
"You spend too much
time looking up words."
00:27:33.05\00:27:34.85
But I wanted to
check out, "bantering."
00:27:35.05\00:27:37.12
And, "bantering,"
says, an exchange of light,
00:27:37.82\00:27:40.82
playful, teasing remarks.
00:27:41.02\00:27:43.06
So she started off
kind of playing with Jesus,
00:27:43.49\00:27:45.53
perhaps even flirting with Him.
00:27:45.56\00:27:47.46
I mean, she knew
how to handle guys.
00:27:47.86\00:27:50.27
She had five husbands.
00:27:52.57\00:27:53.90
And living with number six.
00:27:54.77\00:27:56.17
She knows what guys
like and how to handle guys.
00:27:56.94\00:28:01.78
So she's playing with
Jesus for a little bit.
00:28:01.81\00:28:04.75
But Jesus wasn't
playing with her.
00:28:07.15\00:28:09.35
Jesus was trying
to save her soul.
00:28:11.05\00:28:13.09
Second lesson, it doesn't matter
what others think about you.
00:28:14.39\00:28:19.63
The only person you
have to contend with
00:28:20.40\00:28:23.37
is the one who can
save your soul in heaven
00:28:23.47\00:28:26.53
or send your soul to hell.
00:28:26.57\00:28:28.77
And that is Jesus.
00:28:29.94\00:28:31.27
So when she asks Him,
"Are You greater than Jacob,"
00:28:32.51\00:28:35.88
Christ could
have said, "Sure am.
00:28:35.91\00:28:38.65
You've got it right."
00:28:38.68\00:28:40.02
But He doesn't even
bother with that question.
00:28:40.32\00:28:42.28
Doesn't even answer
it. Just goes beyond it.
00:28:42.32\00:28:44.39
He gets back to the real issue.
00:28:44.42\00:28:45.92
Because the real
issue isn't Jacob,
00:28:45.95\00:28:47.76
the real issue is water.
00:28:47.79\00:28:49.56
So in John 4:13, He says, "Every
one who drinks of this water
00:28:54.16\00:28:58.70
will thirst again, but
whoever drinks of the water
00:28:58.73\00:29:03.61
that I shall give
him will never thirst."
00:29:03.64\00:29:08.68
Praise God.
00:29:09.41\00:29:10.75
"But the water that I shall
give him will become in him
00:29:12.48\00:29:16.55
a fountain," a river,
"of water springing up
00:29:16.58\00:29:20.56
into everlasting life."
00:29:20.59\00:29:22.46
Now she knew now that
this guy was different.
00:29:22.49\00:29:27.06
She wants that water, but
thinks it's going to solve
00:29:28.60\00:29:32.93
her present problems.
00:29:32.97\00:29:34.60
She has yet to clue
into the fact that the person
00:29:34.64\00:29:37.47
talking to her isn't
really talking about water.
00:29:37.67\00:29:41.81
Water is a
metaphor for what she needs
00:29:41.84\00:29:45.25
to save her soul.
00:29:45.28\00:29:46.61
So she says,
"Give me this water.
00:29:48.18\00:29:50.69
Sounds good. I want it.
00:29:51.55\00:29:52.92
First of all, I don't
want to get thirsty again.
00:29:53.86\00:29:55.99
And secondly, I don't want
to ever have to come here again
00:29:56.52\00:29:59.93
and face this humiliation."
00:30:00.70\00:30:02.30
Going to that well, you
see, brothers and sisters,
00:30:03.70\00:30:05.87
was a daily
humiliation for this woman.
00:30:05.90\00:30:08.17
The very fact that she's drawing
water in the heat of the day
00:30:09.87\00:30:13.21
at 12 noon is humiliation.
00:30:13.24\00:30:14.91
"Lord, I'll do anything
so I don't have to come here
00:30:14.94\00:30:17.21
for the rest of my
life and humiliate myself
00:30:17.25\00:30:21.65
day after day after
day, lonely, by myself,
00:30:21.92\00:30:25.49
sun beating down,
no one to help me,
00:30:25.52\00:30:27.79
everybody talking about
me, everybody shunning me.
00:30:27.82\00:30:30.36
I'll take that water...
00:30:30.39\00:30:31.73
...if it will
free me from this."
00:30:32.63\00:30:34.46
She was thinking, "Here's
my chance to shed some shame."
00:30:37.30\00:30:40.84
And Christ wanted
to help her with that.
00:30:41.94\00:30:43.71
And so much more.
00:30:44.41\00:30:45.74
You've got to love...
00:30:46.88\00:30:49.21
Well let me say this, you know.
00:30:50.15\00:30:51.48
Everything that
touches you touches Jesus.
00:30:51.65\00:30:54.08
Did you know that?
00:30:54.12\00:30:55.45
Did you know that?
00:30:56.52\00:30:57.85
Everything that
concerns you concerns Jesus.
00:30:57.99\00:31:01.26
You understand that?
00:31:02.12\00:31:03.46
You understand that?
00:31:04.23\00:31:05.56
Those things that
you are concerned about
00:31:06.19\00:31:09.96
concern Jesus.
00:31:10.87\00:31:12.20
Amen.
00:31:13.84\00:31:15.17
Jesus is concerned about
the things that concern you.
00:31:15.34\00:31:21.41
You understand that?
00:31:22.38\00:31:23.71
Jesus is concerned
about those things that we are
00:31:24.68\00:31:28.92
too concerned about.
00:31:28.95\00:31:30.29
Mm-hmm.
00:31:32.79\00:31:34.12
And Jesus is
concerned about those things
00:31:34.96\00:31:38.29
that don't concern us.
00:31:38.33\00:31:41.06
Amen.
00:31:42.50\00:31:43.83
Get the tape, re-watch that.
00:31:44.57\00:31:46.13
And you've got to
love Christ's next line.
00:31:50.87\00:31:53.07
Jesus is a master tactician.
00:31:54.04\00:31:56.18
He's got her on the hook.
00:31:58.88\00:32:00.22
She's listening.
00:32:01.58\00:32:02.92
Her heart is opened.
00:32:03.42\00:32:04.75
Next line, right cross.
00:32:05.59\00:32:08.26
"Go get your
husband and come back.
00:32:08.69\00:32:12.53
Go get him and bring him back."
00:32:14.16\00:32:15.50
Her immediate response,
"I don't have a husband."
00:32:17.23\00:32:19.90
And Ellen White says she
was hoping by that statement
00:32:20.64\00:32:24.44
to cut off any kind of
discussion in that direction.
00:32:24.47\00:32:27.54
She was hoping to cut
Christ off at the pass.
00:32:27.98\00:32:30.81
"Don't have a husband.
00:32:30.85\00:32:32.18
Let's press on
to something else."
00:32:32.21\00:32:33.58
Because she didn't want
Him going down that path.
00:32:35.45\00:32:38.52
But Jesus was trying to
get her to see who she was
00:32:40.09\00:32:46.76
as a sinner so she
could understand who He was
00:32:48.13\00:32:53.70
as her Savior.
00:32:53.80\00:32:55.14
Amen.
00:32:56.00\00:32:57.34
Christ had to get her
to understand her position
00:32:57.37\00:33:01.74
so that He could take
her from where she was
00:33:02.91\00:33:06.68
to where He wanted her to be.
00:33:07.08\00:33:09.62
So He's got to get her to face
the fact that she is a sinner
00:33:10.12\00:33:14.29
and that He is her Savior.
00:33:14.86\00:33:17.29
Very, very important
to know where you are
00:33:17.66\00:33:20.20
so that you can
know where you're going.
00:33:20.96\00:33:23.16
So the bantering
now becomes sparing.
00:33:28.30\00:33:32.64
"I have no husband."
00:33:34.24\00:33:35.58
And in her mind, that was that.
00:33:36.24\00:33:39.38
Game, set, match,
period, exclamation point.
00:33:39.91\00:33:44.45
"Don't have a husband.
00:33:44.49\00:33:45.82
Let's go on to
the next subject."
00:33:45.85\00:33:47.52
She didn't want to go there.
00:33:49.29\00:33:50.63
Ellen White says she
hoped, she wanted to prevent
00:33:51.46\00:33:55.76
all questions in that direction.
00:33:55.80\00:33:58.60
That was the reason
she was gathering water at
00:34:00.94\00:34:02.87
twelve o'clock
instead of six am.
00:34:02.90\00:34:05.01
Because she had five, and
was working on number six.
00:34:06.81\00:34:10.61
Jesus, brothers and
sisters, promises to give you
00:34:12.58\00:34:15.38
not only what you
want, but what you need.
00:34:16.08\00:34:20.12
And sometimes what you
need over what you want.
00:34:21.22\00:34:25.13
Because the Bible says sometimes
we pray for things we want
00:34:26.23\00:34:29.23
that we shouldn't pray for
because we don't really know
00:34:29.56\00:34:32.17
what we want.
00:34:32.43\00:34:33.77
Amen.
00:34:36.20\00:34:37.54
So He may give you what
you want, but He will give you
00:34:38.97\00:34:42.74
what you need.
00:34:42.78\00:34:44.25
And He was looking
past her wants to her needs.
00:34:46.18\00:34:49.12
So He had to make her
a little uncomfortable
00:34:49.65\00:34:52.25
before He would elevate her.
00:34:52.72\00:34:54.82
So the Savior cuts her no slack,
00:34:58.83\00:35:01.50
because He knows what she needs.
00:35:02.50\00:35:04.37
And what she
really needs is a Savior.
00:35:05.13\00:35:08.27
"Bring your husband
back, and we'll talk."
00:35:08.30\00:35:12.97
"I don't have one."
00:35:15.41\00:35:16.75
"I know.
00:35:18.08\00:35:19.41
Your statement is true.
00:35:22.32\00:35:23.75
You've had five.
00:35:24.45\00:35:26.49
You've been to
the alter five times.
00:35:26.96\00:35:29.82
And you didn't bother
going to the alter this time.
00:35:30.59\00:35:33.73
You're just shacking with him."
00:35:33.76\00:35:36.77
And Ellen White says,
for the first time in this
00:35:42.07\00:35:44.11
whole
conversation she got scared.
00:35:44.14\00:35:48.74
Wouldn't you?
00:35:50.95\00:35:52.28
It's hard to get scared.
00:35:53.75\00:35:55.15
You've got to remember,
in those days, no newspaper,
00:35:57.09\00:35:59.32
no radio, no TV, no
internet, no Google.
00:35:59.35\00:36:02.22
She didn't put
anything on Facebook.
00:36:02.52\00:36:04.29
Here's a total stranger.
00:36:07.13\00:36:08.66
He's from a nation of
people that hates their guts,
00:36:09.83\00:36:13.17
she's a woman, alone,
talking to a male Jew,
00:36:13.90\00:36:18.64
at high noon, no less, who
is a total foreign stranger.
00:36:18.67\00:36:22.64
And He's putting her
business in the street
00:36:22.68\00:36:25.21
like it's on
the History channel.
00:36:25.25\00:36:26.95
Ellen White says she trembled.
00:36:29.98\00:36:31.55
She got scared. Wouldn't you?
00:36:32.52\00:36:34.09
A total stranger comes up
to you, asks you for water,
00:36:34.69\00:36:39.19
and then begins to
get in your business,
00:36:40.56\00:36:42.43
and says,
"Shelly, get your husband."
00:36:44.33\00:36:45.87
"I don't have a husband."
00:36:47.14\00:36:48.47
"You're right.
00:36:49.37\00:36:50.71
J.D.'s not your husband.
00:36:51.61\00:36:53.01
You've had Danny, and Jim,
and Greg, and Jeff, and..."
00:36:53.78\00:36:57.25
Time to get scared.
00:37:00.82\00:37:02.22
You meet a man who's never
seen you before in your life,
00:37:04.45\00:37:07.16
and He knows you like a book.
00:37:07.19\00:37:09.66
And Ellen White
says she trembled.
00:37:11.26\00:37:13.09
"Five husbands, you're
current is not your husband."
00:37:16.67\00:37:20.40
So now the
sparring becomes reverence.
00:37:23.04\00:37:27.78
And she's still
trying to change the subject.
00:37:27.81\00:37:30.01
And Christ allows her
to drive the bus just a
00:37:30.05\00:37:32.88
little bit further.
00:37:32.91\00:37:34.98
"I see that You're a Prophet."
00:37:37.32\00:37:40.52
Well, hello.
00:37:42.32\00:37:43.66
She's trying to
change the subject.
00:37:46.19\00:37:47.86
Lesson number three,
nothing is hidden from Jesus.
00:37:48.43\00:37:51.47
You can't hide
anything from Jesus.
00:37:52.77\00:37:54.74
And I am so glad that Christ
knows everything about us,
00:37:54.77\00:37:58.97
and loves us still.
00:37:59.01\00:38:00.34
Amen?
00:38:00.88\00:38:02.21
See, we've all got stuff.
00:38:02.28\00:38:04.65
I've got stuff,
you've got stuff,
00:38:04.68\00:38:06.01
all God's children got stuff.
00:38:06.05\00:38:07.38
Everybody has got stuff.
00:38:07.42\00:38:08.75
And I think if we all knew
everything about each other...
00:38:08.78\00:38:10.89
There's some stuff about
me you don't want to know.
00:38:16.12\00:38:19.26
I suspect there's some stuff
about you I don't want to know.
00:38:24.43\00:38:26.57
But Jesus knows it...
00:38:27.90\00:38:29.40
...and loves you still.
00:38:31.77\00:38:33.11
No surprises with Jesus.
00:38:34.48\00:38:36.18
And He's letting her know,
"I know about all of your stuff.
00:38:36.78\00:38:40.75
And I can fix that stuff."
00:38:42.22\00:38:45.35
Nothing hidden from Christ.
00:38:51.33\00:38:52.99
In fact, the truth is,
Christ does His best work,
00:38:53.53\00:38:57.77
ladies and
gentlemen, in pigpen lives.
00:38:57.80\00:39:01.30
Amen?
00:39:02.00\00:39:03.34
Does His best work in lives
that are totally messed up.
00:39:03.64\00:39:06.57
That's when
Christ is at His best.
00:39:07.04\00:39:08.68
When you throw up your
hands in disgust and say,
00:39:08.84\00:39:10.45
"There's nothing I can
do with the mess I've made
00:39:10.48\00:39:13.21
but make more mess,"
00:39:13.82\00:39:15.58
Jesus says, "Give it to Me.
00:39:17.09\00:39:18.59
I can clean it."
00:39:19.89\00:39:21.22
I was up the other night
trying to find some stuff,
00:39:21.86\00:39:24.56
and I turned on the TV
real quick, and there was a
00:39:24.59\00:39:26.86
commercial on for the
world's greatest vacuum cleaner.
00:39:26.90\00:39:29.63
It cleans up messes.
00:39:32.20\00:39:33.54
So does Jesus.
00:39:34.64\00:39:35.97
The world's
greatest vacuum cleaner.
00:39:36.77\00:39:38.37
He cleans up messes.
00:39:40.38\00:39:41.71
And so He knows
all about her life.
00:39:44.01\00:39:46.11
This lady is the poster
child for mixed up existences.
00:39:46.15\00:39:50.29
She's from a hated race,
she's from a despised faith,
00:39:50.32\00:39:54.16
from misplaced beliefs,
convoluted marriage situation,
00:39:54.42\00:39:59.03
and actively living in adultery.
00:39:59.19\00:40:01.66
Doesn't get any worse than that.
00:40:01.70\00:40:03.16
She's an outcast
in her own community.
00:40:03.20\00:40:05.50
Hated by Jews
and Samaritans alike,
00:40:05.53\00:40:08.67
and an outcast in her own town.
00:40:08.87\00:40:12.17
And Jesus is
about to fix it all.
00:40:15.91\00:40:18.88
So she changes the
subject one last time,
00:40:20.78\00:40:23.99
and Christ allows her to do it.
00:40:24.02\00:40:26.25
Ellen White says the
Holy Spirit is moving.
00:40:30.59\00:40:32.63
Christ lets her
steer the situation just
00:40:34.86\00:40:36.80
a little bit longer, because He
knew where it was going to end.
00:40:36.83\00:40:41.80
She tries to bring
in a little controversy
00:40:43.87\00:40:46.24
to try to get Him off the path.
00:40:47.64\00:40:49.74
So she says, "You
know, some people say
00:40:51.25\00:40:55.45
we ought to
worship in Jerusalem.
00:40:56.32\00:40:58.02
And my people say we
ought to worship up here."
00:40:59.79\00:41:04.43
She figures Christ would
get into that controversy
00:41:06.86\00:41:09.36
like everybody else does.
00:41:09.40\00:41:11.07
And Christ tells her,
"The issue is not where.
00:41:14.24\00:41:20.88
The issue is who and how."
00:41:23.08\00:41:26.78
The same thing Shelly
said a couple months back.
00:41:27.88\00:41:30.82
It's not where you worship.
00:41:32.09\00:41:33.56
Nothing more important about
worshiping in Thompsonville
00:41:35.29\00:41:37.79
than worshiping in Marion.
00:41:37.83\00:41:39.46
It ain't where.
00:41:41.53\00:41:42.86
It's who.
00:41:44.07\00:41:45.40
And how.
00:41:46.77\00:41:48.10
"The time is
coming, in fact, now is,
00:41:52.44\00:41:56.24
because I'm standing
right in front of you,
00:41:56.64\00:41:58.11
that God is
going to reject places,
00:42:00.15\00:42:04.75
because He
doesn't dwell in places.
00:42:06.76\00:42:08.56
He dwells in hearts."
00:42:09.32\00:42:10.66
You remember the very
first night, I told you
00:42:11.16\00:42:12.99
how ridiculous it was
that the children of Israel
00:42:13.46\00:42:17.03
hung their harps
on the willows because
00:42:17.07\00:42:19.10
they were
thinking about Jerusalem?
00:42:19.20\00:42:20.87
Jerusalem can't save you.
00:42:22.07\00:42:23.51
Neither can Thompsonville.
00:42:24.31\00:42:25.64
Amen.
00:42:26.81\00:42:28.14
Hallelujah, amen.
00:42:28.74\00:42:30.15
Because it's not where.
00:42:34.08\00:42:36.38
It's who...
00:42:37.62\00:42:38.95
...and how.
00:42:39.75\00:42:41.09
And God can find you in Babylon
just like He can find you
00:42:42.59\00:42:46.70
in Jerusalem.
00:42:46.73\00:42:48.40
And God can find you in Damascus
just like He can find you
00:42:48.86\00:42:52.37
in Jerusalem.
00:42:52.40\00:42:53.74
And God can find you in your
home just like He can find you
00:42:54.37\00:42:58.41
in the Thompsonville
Seventh-day Adventist Church.
00:42:58.44\00:43:00.64
Now that's not a
call to stay home.
00:43:01.31\00:43:03.88
It's an assurity
that wherever you go,
00:43:04.95\00:43:07.32
God is with you.
00:43:07.62\00:43:09.68
So Christ is saying,
"What God wants is pure hearts
00:43:14.29\00:43:19.76
and worship in
spirit and in truth."
00:43:20.10\00:43:24.63
That's who He's seeking.
00:43:26.07\00:43:27.50
He's trying to let her
know, Samaria, Jerusalem,
00:43:28.40\00:43:32.44
that's not the issue.
00:43:33.27\00:43:35.38
Interestingly
enough, Ellen White says
00:43:36.41\00:43:38.01
He could have never made
that statement in Jerusalem.
00:43:38.05\00:43:40.92
It wasn't going to fly there.
00:43:41.52\00:43:42.88
Because the Jews were
too hung up on the temple.
00:43:42.92\00:43:45.65
They felt that once
you left the temple,
00:43:46.22\00:43:48.56
you got lost.
00:43:48.99\00:43:50.39
And God couldn't
find you anymore.
00:43:51.63\00:43:53.63
Which is why when
the temple was destroyed
00:43:54.76\00:43:56.87
and they were in Babylon
when they should have been
00:43:56.90\00:43:58.57
singing the Lord's song,
they were hanging their harps
00:43:58.60\00:44:01.80
on the willows and
whining about Jerusalem.
00:44:01.84\00:44:05.41
Nothing sacred about Jerusalem.
00:44:07.41\00:44:09.08
Ladies and gentlemen,
forgive me for saying this,
00:44:09.78\00:44:11.85
there's nothing sacred about the
Seventh-day Adventist Church.
00:44:11.88\00:44:14.58
I repeat what I
said the other night.
00:44:21.66\00:44:22.99
It is blasphemous, but
it is blasphemously true.
00:44:23.02\00:44:27.00
Every Christian is not
a Seventh-day Adventist.
00:44:30.33\00:44:33.97
Amen.
00:44:36.54\00:44:37.87
Amen.
00:44:38.81\00:44:40.14
And every
Seventh-day Adventist...
00:44:42.54\00:44:44.41
Mm-hmm.
00:44:49.68\00:44:51.02
See, it's not about the name.
00:44:52.25\00:44:53.66
It's about Jesus in your heart.
00:44:56.29\00:44:57.79
Now is the
Seventh-day Adventist Church
00:44:58.49\00:45:00.06
the right church?
00:45:00.10\00:45:01.43
And I'll use that
bigoted, isolationist term.
00:45:01.46\00:45:04.60
Is it?
00:45:06.84\00:45:08.17
Uh-huh, I've no
doubt about that.
00:45:08.80\00:45:10.91
But Seventh-day Adventists,
as a name, doesn't save you.
00:45:12.44\00:45:16.44
We have heard the
joyful sound, Jesus said.
00:45:18.11\00:45:21.38
Amen?
00:45:22.02\00:45:23.35
So if you're in the
church and not in Christ,
00:45:23.52\00:45:26.05
you are lost.
00:45:26.19\00:45:27.89
Because it's not about the name,
and it's not about the place.
00:45:30.79\00:45:34.30
It's about who and how.
00:45:34.33\00:45:37.80
And that's what He needed her
to understand at that moment.
00:45:38.17\00:45:40.70
It's about who and how.
00:45:41.80\00:45:43.14
That is a message He
never gave to the Jews.
00:45:43.17\00:45:46.94
They never heard that
from His lips because they
00:45:46.98\00:45:48.91
wouldn't have accepted it.
00:45:48.94\00:45:50.28
Too self-righteous, too in
to the temple, and too bigoted.
00:45:51.45\00:45:55.25
But that was the
clincher for that woman.
00:45:55.98\00:45:58.32
Now get this
statement in John 4:21-24.
00:45:58.62\00:46:02.82
Christ deliberately
kept this from the Jews
00:46:02.86\00:46:04.66
because they
weren't ready for it.
00:46:04.76\00:46:06.09
He didn't even say
that to the disciples.
00:46:06.13\00:46:07.96
Ellen White says, this
is, Desire of Ages, page 190,
00:46:10.27\00:46:13.64
"But that which had
been withheld from the Jews
00:46:13.80\00:46:16.84
and which the disciples
were afterwards enjoined
00:46:16.97\00:46:20.21
to keep secret,
was revealed to her."
00:46:20.24\00:46:22.58
So He told her
something that day at that well
00:46:22.61\00:46:25.75
that He didn't tell the Jews,
00:46:26.55\00:46:28.08
that He didn't
tell the disciples,
00:46:28.12\00:46:29.58
that He didn't tell Nicodemus,
00:46:29.62\00:46:30.95
that He didn't tell
any of those persons
00:46:30.99\00:46:32.59
that He had those one
on one conversations with.
00:46:32.62\00:46:34.82
He went all the way to
Samaria to talk to a hated woman
00:46:34.86\00:46:37.99
who He shouldn't have
been talking to, at high noon
00:46:38.03\00:46:40.20
at a well, one on
one, man and woman.
00:46:40.23\00:46:42.03
It should have never happened.
00:46:42.06\00:46:43.40
And He gave her
something He gave to nobody else
00:46:43.43\00:46:45.63
throughout His ministry.
00:46:45.67\00:46:47.37
Jesus saw that she would
make use of her knowledge
00:46:50.41\00:46:54.38
in bringing others
to share His grace.
00:46:54.41\00:46:57.45
That's the only reason
Christ gives anybody anything.
00:46:57.48\00:47:01.22
So that you can use it to bring
others to the foot of the cross.
00:47:01.72\00:47:05.55
So He gave her something special
because He knew she would
00:47:07.32\00:47:09.92
use that special something
to help save somebody else.
00:47:09.96\00:47:13.43
That's powerful that
He gave it to a Samaritan.
00:47:13.86\00:47:17.27
Something He didn't give
even to His own disciples.
00:47:17.77\00:47:20.60
The Bible says to study
to show thyself approved,
00:47:20.64\00:47:24.11
because He wants us to
get ready to be able to reveal
00:47:25.41\00:47:28.28
the character of
Christ to everybody we meet.
00:47:28.31\00:47:30.85
No two people are the same.
00:47:30.88\00:47:34.18
No two people have
the same experience.
00:47:34.88\00:47:37.59
Everybody is different.
00:47:37.79\00:47:39.45
And praise God, Jesus
tailored His experience
00:47:39.49\00:47:43.02
for that particular woman.
00:47:43.06\00:47:45.16
And that's the way
it is for all of us.
00:47:45.59\00:47:47.13
Christ tailors His
experience for what you need
00:47:47.16\00:47:53.23
at the time you need it.
00:47:53.27\00:47:54.60
Danny Shelton and I are friends.
00:47:55.60\00:47:58.41
But Danny is cowboy boots.
00:47:59.37\00:48:01.94
And I like cowboy boots.
00:48:02.88\00:48:04.41
But I can't wear them.
00:48:06.51\00:48:10.22
I tried to try on some of J.D.'s
cowboy boots the other day.
00:48:11.85\00:48:14.76
Hurt my feet.
00:48:15.56\00:48:16.89
And they're not
suppose to do that.
00:48:17.23\00:48:18.66
I'm city, he's country.
00:48:19.43\00:48:21.06
So he gets a country Jesus...
00:48:21.90\00:48:24.17
...and I get a city Jesus.
00:48:28.54\00:48:30.04
You know what?
00:48:30.61\00:48:31.94
Same Jesus.
00:48:32.11\00:48:33.44
Amen?
00:48:34.28\00:48:35.61
Shelly's from Texas.
00:48:35.64\00:48:37.51
So is J.D. So is Jim.
00:48:38.31\00:48:40.62
I'm from New York.
00:48:41.32\00:48:42.65
They get a Texas Jesus,
00:48:43.62\00:48:45.62
I get a New York Jesus.
00:48:46.79\00:48:48.39
Guess what?
00:48:49.96\00:48:51.29
Same Jesus.
00:48:51.93\00:48:53.26
But He tailors our experience,
00:48:54.86\00:48:56.67
because
everybody's road is different.
00:48:56.87\00:48:59.00
And it doesn't
matter what road you're on,
00:48:59.20\00:49:01.50
because we're all
heading to the same place.
00:49:01.54\00:49:04.07
And Christ uses a
term, and I love this...
00:49:07.48\00:49:09.48
Got to check my time.
00:49:09.58\00:49:10.91
Christ uses a term that He
uses nowhere else in the Bible
00:49:10.95\00:49:14.98
to no one else in the Bible.
00:49:15.18\00:49:16.52
It's only used one time.
00:49:16.55\00:49:17.89
It's in verse 21.
00:49:17.92\00:49:19.79
Christ says, "Believe Me."
00:49:20.22\00:49:23.76
Ever use that term?
00:49:25.26\00:49:26.59
When you're getting
ready to get serious?
00:49:26.73\00:49:28.36
"Child, believe me."
00:49:29.73\00:49:31.83
"You've got to believe me."
00:49:32.80\00:49:34.24
Only one time, to one
person, and she was a Samaritan.
00:49:34.90\00:49:38.31
He says, "Woman,
believe Me when I tell you."
00:49:38.34\00:49:42.51
Huh?
00:49:43.38\00:49:44.71
"Believe Me."
00:49:44.75\00:49:46.08
Only one time, to a
non-Jew, on a hot day,
00:49:46.78\00:49:51.35
at a Samaritan well.
00:49:51.55\00:49:52.89
He says, "Believe Me."
00:49:52.92\00:49:54.56
The time is coming when
everything is going to change.
00:49:56.39\00:50:00.93
And you're not going
to worry about Jerusalem,
00:50:01.93\00:50:03.67
you're not going to
worry about Gerizim;
00:50:04.53\00:50:06.40
you're only going
to worry about Jesus.
00:50:07.60\00:50:09.30
Aren't you glad that we don't
serve a "one size fits all" God?
00:50:10.51\00:50:15.51
God tailors our salvation
experience for each of us.
00:50:17.51\00:50:22.05
If you look at how
He treated Nicodemus,
00:50:23.22\00:50:25.35
how He treated Matthew,
00:50:25.45\00:50:26.92
how He treated
this woman at the well,
00:50:26.96\00:50:28.92
how He treated Pilate,
00:50:28.96\00:50:30.46
how He treated an
unnamed Canaanite.
00:50:30.96\00:50:33.09
Each presentation tailored
to meet the spiritual needs
00:50:33.13\00:50:36.23
of that individual.
00:50:36.26\00:50:38.00
This woman needed to
know, one, she was a sinner.
00:50:38.67\00:50:41.90
Two, that she could be saved.
00:50:42.70\00:50:45.31
Three, that praying at
Gerizim wasn't going to do it.
00:50:46.11\00:50:50.51
Four, that Jesus, the
stranger from Galilee,
00:50:51.45\00:50:55.65
had what she needed.
00:50:55.85\00:50:58.02
Five, when you get it,
you'll never thirst again.
00:50:58.59\00:51:05.36
But more than
that, more than that,
00:51:06.39\00:51:09.40
so much more, when you get
and receive living water...
00:51:09.93\00:51:16.10
And we're going to talk
about that this afternoon.
00:51:16.14\00:51:17.57
I'm going to show you
something that I just,
00:51:17.61\00:51:19.54
I'll say, stumbled upon
that I think is really exciting.
00:51:19.64\00:51:24.01
And why living
water is so important.
00:51:24.48\00:51:27.78
Because Christ told her that
day, "When you get living water,
00:51:28.58\00:51:34.36
you will become a
fountain of water.
00:51:35.86\00:51:40.43
You will become
a source of water.
00:51:42.13\00:51:46.70
People will be able to
come to you and learn of Me."
00:51:47.87\00:51:54.14
Now that, ladies and
gentlemen, is transformative.
00:51:54.88\00:51:58.18
Christ is saying, "You
don't become a static pool.
00:51:58.51\00:52:01.68
You become a source of water
so that people who interface
00:52:02.38\00:52:06.72
with you will learn about Me.
00:52:06.76\00:52:10.23
And they will learn
so much more from Me.
00:52:12.36\00:52:15.33
You become a fountain of water."
00:52:16.73\00:52:18.13
I want to move into something,
00:52:20.30\00:52:21.64
but I'll try to
just get to it fast.
00:52:21.67\00:52:23.57
Jesus gave her that day,
really, the keys to the kingdom,
00:52:26.21\00:52:36.12
and He showed her
the way of salvation.
00:52:37.89\00:52:43.73
And by the grace of God,
His Bible study was not wasted.
00:52:45.93\00:52:49.90
She dropped her water
pot and ran into town.
00:52:51.50\00:52:55.34
Isn't it interesting, and I
don't know, I've got to check
00:52:56.84\00:53:00.01
if this is just the
language that John employs,
00:53:00.21\00:53:04.38
or if it's a
commentary on the kind of people
00:53:05.21\00:53:10.22
that she knew.
00:53:11.09\00:53:12.42
But the Bible says she went
and got the men of the town.
00:53:13.56\00:53:17.73
Did you read that?
00:53:19.23\00:53:20.56
She went and got the guys.
00:53:20.83\00:53:22.16
Now I don't know if the Bible
is just discounting the women
00:53:22.96\00:53:26.33
who may have come, or
since the only people that
00:53:26.37\00:53:31.27
she was really
associating with was guys,
00:53:31.31\00:53:35.31
that's who she went and got.
00:53:35.88\00:53:38.25
And the Bible doesn't touch
on this, but I'm very curious
00:53:39.91\00:53:42.28
to know if any of her
five ex's were in that group.
00:53:42.32\00:53:48.22
But she said, "Come
and see a Man who told me
00:53:49.72\00:53:55.66
everything that I have done."
00:53:55.86\00:53:59.67
And they came.
00:54:01.34\00:54:02.67
And there was
conversion that day.
00:54:03.94\00:54:05.74
Because a little
woman with a bad reputation
00:54:06.91\00:54:10.68
had met Jesus.
00:54:11.45\00:54:12.81
And when you meet Jesus,
you can't keep it to yourself.
00:54:13.68\00:54:19.05
And when you share Jesus, His
word does not come back void.
00:54:20.46\00:54:26.80
That's the power of the gospel.
00:54:28.40\00:54:30.00
I rather suspect that
when we get to heaven,
00:54:31.53\00:54:35.40
we will meet that little lady.
00:54:36.47\00:54:37.84
And we may meet
all five of her ex's.
00:54:39.81\00:54:42.31
And we may meet number six,
who she never got married to.
00:54:43.71\00:54:47.75
But what a day of
rejoicing that will be.
00:54:50.09\00:54:53.49
Because Jesus broke tradition
and stopped by a Samaritan well.
00:54:55.26\00:55:00.20
No one is beyond
the reach of Jesus.
00:55:00.86\00:55:04.53
It doesn't
matter what you've done.
00:55:06.47\00:55:07.97
It doesn't matter how
many times you've done it.
00:55:09.00\00:55:11.67
It doesn't matter
what you think of yourself.
00:55:15.04\00:55:17.05
Because even when
you give up on yourself,
00:55:19.31\00:55:21.48
Jesus doesn't give up on you.
00:55:22.48\00:55:24.25
And He will plant
Himself right in your way
00:55:25.32\00:55:30.39
to get your attention.
00:55:31.43\00:55:32.76
He'll make you
have to go around Him.
00:55:33.70\00:55:35.46
And He's not
going to ignore you.
00:55:35.50\00:55:36.87
He will say,
"I've got water for you.
00:55:36.90\00:55:40.44
I've got something
that when you drink,
00:55:41.34\00:55:43.67
not only will you not
thirst, but you will become a
00:55:43.71\00:55:48.18
wellspring of
waters for others."
00:55:48.21\00:55:51.21
Isn't that exciting?
00:55:52.05\00:55:53.38
Not only do you not get
thirsty, you become a river.
00:55:54.48\00:55:58.75
And others can come
to you and find Jesus,
00:56:00.39\00:56:04.69
like those in the
city of Sychar found Jesus
00:56:05.76\00:56:10.47
through a little
lady at a Samaritan well.
00:56:11.57\00:56:15.20
Shall we pray.
00:56:16.00\00:56:17.34
Gracious Father, how we
praise You and thank You
00:56:18.87\00:56:23.45
that Jesus traveled out
of His way to meet a woman
00:56:25.05\00:56:31.15
who needed to meet Him.
00:56:31.92\00:56:33.79
Because that says that Christ
will travel out of His way
00:56:35.02\00:56:38.89
to meet me at
the point of my need.
00:56:39.39\00:56:43.23
Wherever I am; in
Jerusalem, Samaria,
00:56:44.20\00:56:49.20
the utter parts of the world,
or Thompsonville, Illinois,
00:56:49.77\00:56:55.58
Christ will find me and call me,
and give me, through the power
00:56:56.51\00:57:02.42
of His Holy
Spirit, living water.
00:57:02.45\00:57:06.76
Father, everyone in
this house wants that water.
00:57:07.96\00:57:12.49
Not only want that
water, Lord, we need that water,
00:57:13.56\00:57:17.53
we crave that water,
00:57:18.63\00:57:20.64
that we may
never be thirsty again.
00:57:21.70\00:57:24.81
But more than that,
that through the out flowing
00:57:24.94\00:57:29.58
of that living stream,
our lives will be a blessing,
00:57:29.61\00:57:35.72
and others will see Jesus in us.
00:57:36.45\00:57:40.69
Oh mighty Father,
would You be pleased
00:57:41.79\00:57:46.19
to give us living
water that we may never
00:57:46.39\00:57:54.77
ever thirst again.
00:57:55.50\00:57:59.37