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Salvation In Samaria
(Part I)
READ: John 4: 1-19.
- I liked what Jack & Jean Coleman shared with us several weeks ago about Samaria: it’s the place (spiritually) where you don’t want to go.
Two (2) Revivals in Samaria
- John 4: 1-42
- Acts 8: 1-25
The Point of the Message:
1. Jesus meets us where we are.
- No barriers ........... No prejudice (be they social or religious)
* There is no room for prejudice in the Kingdom of God.
- Scripture says that, “God is no respector of persons”. (Jew nor Greek, etc.)
2. Jesus meets us the way we are.
- He knows us and the sin in our lives better than we know ourselves.
3. Through simple faith and trust in His Word, His grace will transform our lives.
- He will change our way of living and thinking.
- He will give us a testimony that will bring others to Christ.
(Insight) It is interesting to note that no prayer of repentance was ever prayed in this passage neither were there any words of forgiveness spoken. Yet this woman’s life was totally transformed and an entire citycame to faith in Jesus Christ.
I. The Problem With Samaria
- Understanding the History of Samaria is extremely important.
* There was a history of open hostility (not necessarily armed conflict) between the Jews and the Samaritans. Why?
1. The Samaritans were only half (1/2) Jewish.
- II Kings 17: 28-41,
- The Samaritans claimed their decent from the ten tribes of Israel (the Northern Tribes) and a pure religion derived from the law of Moses.
2. Their own temple
- The Samaritans had built a temple on Mt. Gerizim (the Mountain of Blessing) to rival the one in Jerusalem.
- As a result they had a long history of beingconsidered political and religious outcasts.
3. The matter of “the pigs”
- Some time around or shortly before the birth of Christ, a group of Samaritans had gone into the Temple area in Jerusalem and scattered the body parts of pigs all over the place.
* Pigs were, and are still, considered the most unclean of animals.
* Any contact with pigs would “defile” the Temple and certainly come close to causing a riot!
- THEREFORE, Samaritans had been totally banned from theTemple area in Jerusalem. And, any Jew who wanted to go fromJerusalem to Galilee would totally avoid Samaria by crossing East ofthe Jordan River before going North.
II. Jesus Meets Us Where We Are.
1. “And He had to pass through Samaria” (v4)
- Jesus clearly chose to confront Jewish prejudice.
- There is no room for prejudice in the Kingdom of God or the Church.
2. Jesus comes to us where we are.
- Jesus was criticized because He was “a friend of sinners”.
- Can we love sinful people and be their friend without participating in their sinful activities and behavior?
Absolutely!
III. Jesus Meets Us The Way We Are
1. The fact that Jesus meets this woman at the “sixth hour” is significant.
- There is some question as to whether this was Roman time or Jewish time.
- By Roman time = 6 o’clock in the morning
- By Jewish time = twelve noon
* I believe this encounter took place at twelve noon in the heat of the day.
- It was the women’s job to draw water. This was generally done in the morning and then again in the evening.
* Sharing the news of the day
* Sharing the latest gossip from the rumor mill
* Like what often goes on in the local coffee shops
- The fact that she is there a noon says to me that she wanted to avoid the other women of the city. She had a scarlet reputation in the community. Imagine what it must have been like for her:
- icy glances
- muffled whispers
- open ridicule!
2. Jesus knows us and our sin better than we know ourselves.
- When Jesus tells her to call her husband (v 16) she acknowledges that she is not married (i.e. “I have no husband” v 17 ).
- Jesus exercised a “word of knowledge” (v18) and described her moral condition.
(Note of Interest) I have read that the rabbis permitted two or three divorces at most. This woman had far exceeded the limits and was living in open adultery. Yet Jesus extended mercy and salvation to her.
3. Jesus knows you and me just as well. And if He can saved and transform this Samaritan woman...........He can, and will do it for you and me.
IV. Through simple faith and trust, the wonderful Grace of Jesus will transform our lives.
1. This Samaritan woman had a life changing encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ. (She drank “living” water.)
2. It transformed her life and her lifestyle.
3. It caused her to have a testimony that brought an entire community to faith in Jesus Christ. ( v28-30, 39-42)
4. If God can transform this woman and use her, He can and will do it
in you and me.
* We simply need to open our lives to Him and let Him do it.
* It is not enough to just believe that Jesus is real ...........you have to do something about it! YOU HAVE TO RECEIVE HIM BY FAITH.
August 15, 1999
Salvation In Samaria
(Part II)
“Spirit & Truth”
READ: John 4: 15-29,
I. A Brief Review of Part I
1. Samaria: a land of religious and social outcasts
2. Jesus meets Jewish prejudice head on.
3. Jesus meets us where we are, the way we are, and through simple faith and trust offers us salvation.
II. The Point of the Message
1. It’s not where but why we worship God that counts.
- Prevention vs Anticipation
2. It’s not location but the attitude of the heart.
- Spirit and Truth
III. Verse by Verse Through The Passage
A. It’s Not Where but Why
1. (v19&20) The Samaritan woman tries to change the focus.
2. (v21) Jesus says that a major change in worship is not only coming, but it is already here.
* In the past (O.T.) the focus was on “the place” of worship (i.e. the physical location /Jerusalem or Samaria’s Mt. Gerizim).
* Remember that the Church is not a building, it is people.......you and me!
3. (v22) “You don’t even know why or what you are worshipping.
- Samaritan worship vs Jewish worship
- “......salvation is of the Jews”
- The origins of Samaritan worship
- II Kings 17: 24-41 (Read: v24-29, 32-34, 41)
- Samaritan worship = good “lion insurance”
* Prevention
- Jewish worship, in spite their legalism, was always with “a sense of anticipation”. The were, and still are, looking for the coming of the Messiah!
(Key Insight) * Why are you here today???????? Why do you worship God????????
- Are you afraid of going to “Hell” or did you come expecting to meet with Jesus and worship Him?
B. The “Father” is seeking worshippers (v23).
- Did you know God has a need? He is seeking worshippers, those who will worship Him for “who He is” not just for “what He does”.
C. God is spirit.............. (v24)
1. The Greek places the word “spirit” first giving it greater
emphasis.
- Literally: Spirit is what God essentially is.
- Amplified Bible: “God is a Spirit (a spiritual Being)and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth (reality).”
2. “.....Must worship.......”
- The English word “worship” was originally spelled “worthship”-------- and means: to acknowledge the worth of the object (One) being worshipped.
3. “.......... spirit..........”
- Heart attitude , not just burnt offerings, forms or rituals.
- It means a heart that is released in adoration and praise to the only one who is worthy.
* Are we worshipping God today in “spirit” or out habit?
* Is there a sense of anticipation or are we counting the minutes until the service is over?
4. “............Truth....”
- We acknowledge “truth” in contrast to falsehood.
- Honesty about ourselves (heart attitudes) and our lives.
August 22, 1999
Salvation In Samaria
(Part III)
“Who’s Faith Are You Living By?”
Read: John 4: 28-42,
- Who’s faith are you living off of? Is it your personal faith, or is it someone else’s?
- Do you have a “head knowledge” of God or is it “heart knowledge”?
* Both “head knowledge” and “heart knowledge” are real.
* But it is “heart knowledge” that brings transformation in our lives.
I. Recognize the spiritual images and types
The woman at the well ............ is a spiritual type of those who have been used and abused by the selfish desires and passions of men ............ only to be cast aside, made to be an out cast, and then an object of scorn and shame.
(Insight) It is to those who are ............ wounded in spirit that the Lord Jesus comes bringing forgiveness and healing.
- When she met Jesus her life was totally transformed.
- Jesus met her where she was.
- She had a “head knowledge” (i.e. “I know Messiah is coming” v45)
- But when her eyes were opened (revelation ....... heart knowledge) her life was transformed.
II. Transformation ( “Heart Knowledge” ) Results In Evangelism
- When her eyes were opened she had to do something.
1. “So the woman left her water pot.......” (v28)
* New priorities in life!
2. She had to tell somebody! (v28)
- The men of the city
- After five (5) husbands and her current “live-in”, she knew men!
- Her message: “Come, see a man who told me all that things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is it?” (v29)
1. “Come” = don’t miss an opportunity
2. “see a man” = check things out for yourself
3. “this is not the Christ, is it?” = you decide for yourself
(This is really what evangelism is all about....... it’s just that simple.)
* We try to make it so hard. Evangelism is simply one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread.
III. Two (2) Stages In Faith
1. “Head Knowledge” = intellectual ascent.
- This can result in a dimension of faith.
- It does acknowledge God (that He is real) and He does have a claim on our lives.
- The men of Samaria did believe based on the testimony of the woman. (v39)
- They knew her and her lifestyle. (This was a real key.)
- (Insight) Most of us initially come to faith and draw from someone’s faith and testimony. (i.e. our parents, our grandparent, another relative, or someone we admire and respect )
* Their faith (testimony) inspires us to faith.
- That is wonderful!
- But you can’t live off of someone else’s faith and personal relationship with Jesus.........you and I have to have our own!
- May people struggle as a Christian because, while they believe in Jesus and the
Bible, they are trying to live their life on the basis on someone else’s faith. (i.e. Mom & Dad, the preacher, etc.)
- Part of the struggle that teenagers face, in addition to the identity crisis of trying
to discover who they are as a person, is the whole issue of “What is it that I believe..... ......... not what Mom & Dadand others have told me to believe”.
2. “Heart Knowledge” = revelation of truth
- Each of us, .... every believer, must come to the place where we can say with the men of Samaria: “........ It is no longer because of what you said that we believe,
for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world”. (v42)
- “...... heard for ourselves”
- “........and know” (This settles everything!)
- “Heart Knowledge”
- comes as a result of revelation ( i.e. and encounter with God)
- it opens a doorway to relationship with God
- It is out of revelation and personal relationship with God that our faith become activated.
* We begin to walk by Faith and not by sight.
* Radical changes come in our lifestyle and our values.
IV. Conclusion:
- “Head Knowledge” will make you religious.
- “Heart Knowledge” will make you mighty in the Kingdom of God.
* Are you living off of “Head Knowledge” or “Heart Knowledge”?
* Jesus will meet you where you are and give you “Revelation...... Heart Knowledge.
Eden Worship Center
P.O. Box 518
Topeka, IN 46571
Last updated 1/20/03gc