Worship call 0639 Spirit and in truth pt 2

So sweetly and gently does Jesus draw the heart of the woman into a relationship with himself.

As it were that the woman came to draw water, Jesus was there to draw the woman.

While the Jews cared nothing for the Samaritans, Jesus demonstrated his desire to have this person’s heart. We did not come searching for Jesus any more than this woman was searching for Jesus. Jesus first came searching for our hearts and drew us like He drew the woman.

Jesus said, “come and I will make you fishers of men,”

and just as the fish seeks to free itself from the net, we may not come so willingly into the possession of the Lord as is demonstrated by the woman’s first reluctance to be reeled in with the catch.

John 4:19–20 (NASB95) — 19 The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.

Was she attempting to change the subject or was she testing the Prophet?

or was it sarcasm, which could very well be. “Well, if you are a prophet then prophesied this” Just as the guard who said to the blindfolded Jesus before smashing him in his face, “prophesied who smote you!”

In the Sarcasm she resists to be drawn. the carnal nature does not agree with the direction that Jesus is pulling. She resist by deflecting the conversation elsewhere away from her soul.

Point of application:

When one is giving the gospel, the flesh and the demons will seek to detour the individual in areas of controversies and disputes to lure one away from the power of salvation.

But if it is not enough to detour the individual, it is the active work of the unclean spirits who seeks to hold on to what is Satan’s. To lay the stumbling blocks to push back.

The military principle of Combat is in view.

Where there are two forces in conflict, one force does not advance apart from the other force losing ground.

Every soul that is brought out of darkness and into the light is a defection from Satan’s side of darkness to Christ’s side in light.

there will be opposition.

Expect quarrels. expect a push back. if not from the person himself but often those around them who are full of hostility against the gospel.

I will not say that it would be wrong that even while you are calmly laying out the gospel that at the same time you are praying against the demonic entities that is at work inside this individuals and others. this guy or gal may want to be saved, but certainly the forces of darkness are working hard to keep them from doing so.

three prayers come to mind when I pray for the unbeliever

that the Lord clear out all the invisible opposition that are laying the stumbling block for the one that we are witnessing to.

that the Lord will give me wisdom and the words to say and that the words will be heard

that Jesus will not let go of this one.

Some years ago, Rebecca was visiting a certain young gentlemen in the hospital. He had attempted suicide and was being treated for injuries that he inflicted upon himself. the Nurse that was treating him at the time, was a very kind and pleasant nurse upon meeting her. And all was OK, until she entered the room and found Becca giving this guy the gospel. the nurse lost her pleasant demeanor and became hostile toward Becca. Satan had posted a guard over this soul laying in this hospital bed. that demon was in this nurse.

In the case of the woman at the well, there was no outside interference. If there were any stumbling blocks she was laying them herself by deflecting the conversation and arguing religion.

Jesus is fine. He is not off guard. and rather than dismiss the argument Jesus uses it to bring the woman right back to the main issue.

20 “Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.”

here Jesus is speaking of life. Her Life. Eternal life. The free gift from God. and what does she do? she brings up religion.

Religion is one of the biggest stumbling blocks to pressing forward in salvation and in the Christian way of life.

2 Timothy 2:23–26 (NASB95) — 23 But refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels. 24 The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, 25 with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.

This mountain that the woman is taking aboutnear the well of Jacob is mount Garizim.

Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon 1630 גְּרִזִים

1630 גְּרִזִים [Gâriziym /gher·ee·zeem/] n pr loc. Plural of an unused noun from 1629; GK 1748; Four occurrences; AV translates as “Gerizim” four times. 1 a mountain in northern Israel in Ephraim near Shechem from which the blessings were read to the Israelites on entering Canaan; site of the Samaritan temple built after the captivity. Additional Information: Gerizim = “cuttings off”.

Deuteronomy 11:29 (NASB95) — 29 “It shall come about, when the Lord your God brings you into the land where you are entering to possess it, that you shall place the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.

Joshua 8:33 (NASB95) — 33 All Israel with their elders and officers and their judges were standing on both sides of the ark before the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, the stranger as well as the native. Half of them stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of the Lord had given command at first to bless the people of Israel.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 4:19–20

4:19–20. Her response was most interesting! Jesus was not just a passing Jewish Rabbi. Since He had supernatural knowledge, He must be a prophet of God. But instead of confessing her sin and repenting, she threw out an intellectual “red herring.” Could He solve an ancient dispute? Samaritan religion held that the one place of divinely ordered worship was on top of nearby Mount Gerizim, whereas the Jews said it was on the temple mount in Jerusalem. Who was right in this controversy?

John 4:21–24 (NASB95) — 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 “You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.

What does Jesus say?

You worship in ignorance. this is what Paul was talking about in Athens on Mars hill

Acts 17:22–34 (NASB95) — 22 So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. 23 “For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. 24 “The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; 25 nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; 26 and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, 27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’ 29 “Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. 30 “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, 31 because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.” 32 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some began to sneer, but others said, “We shall hear you again concerning this.” 33 So Paul went out of their midst. 34 But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.

Salvation is of the Jews dating all the way back to Abraham

Genesis 12:1–3 (NASB95) — 1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; 2 And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; 3 And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

Matter of a fact, who was actually the first missionary to leave his country and travel to an unknown land bringing with him a God that was unknown to a people?

was that no Abraham?

Romans 1:16–17 (NASB95) — 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”

The veil of anti semitism exist in order to cast a dispersion of the God of the Jews who was given the revelation and whose history is of God who was working in their lives.

Though we may not participate or hold to the old testament feasts and rituals of the Israelites, these things should not be cast away as some obscure rituals of an obscure race of people. these things are for our edification.

Think of this.

what was available to Timothy and the early church by way of writings? Predominately the Tanakh (Old Testament). the book of the Israelites. the new had not yet had come together into the canon.

and what does Paul write to Timothy?

2 Timothy 3:16–17 (NASB95) — 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

Jesus does not avoid the question, but note; he does not close door in her face by giving her a direct answer,but pointing to the fact that the Jews worship on the mountain in Jerusalem not based on traditions or speculations of man but from knowledge of the truth. the question is why do others worship on Gerizim?

and then Jesus steers the conversation back to the front line and the most pressing issue at hand; this woman’s soul.

23 “But an hour is coming, and now is,

The hour has been anticipated. Even by the spiritual realm. the hour of reconciliation. the hour or occasion of bringing back that which was lost at the time of the fall. the hour in which man can stand before his God and look upon him as a friend and not a foe.

In Cana in regard to Mary seeking Jesus’ aid to solve the wine issue and Jesus replied

John 2:4 (NASB95) — 4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come.”

The demons cried out from the man in the presence of Jesus in the land of the Gaderines

Matthew 8:29 (NASB95) — 29 And they cried out, saying, “What business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?”

and as the time was approaching for the cross

Matthew 26:18 (NASB95) — 18 And He said, “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time is near; I am to keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.” ’ ”

when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth;

It is the two things that is necessary for worship. that is relationship (Spirit) and truth (the word of God) both working together the Holy spirit mentoring the human spirit, the life gaining momentum in its relationship with God and the word of God which fuels the fire of passion for God the Father God the Son and God the holy Spirit.

for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. 24 “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”