Elevate - Close to the Savior - How Christ Relates to Us

In this message, the speaker discusses the importance of acknowledging our sins and surrendering to Jesus in order to experience change in our lives. He emphasizes the need to have a correct understanding of who God is based on the Bible, rather than subjective experiences or emotions. The speaker then introduces the story of the woman at the well in John 4, highlighting Jesus' intentional interaction with her and his offer of living water that leads to eternal life. The speaker emphasizes that Jesus meets us where we are, stepping into our mess and brokenness to bring redemption. The message concludes with a reminder of the significance of the Incarnation, where Jesus came to be with us and save us from our sins. But knowing that we have sins isn't enough. Knowing it up here is not enough. Most people know whether you're saved this morning or you haven't put your faith in Jesus. You know that you need your sins to be forgiven. You know that you need help from your Creator. But acknowledging your sin is an act of submission that gives Jesus a chance to change us. Acknowledging it is different than knowing it up here. Welcome to Elevate, the radio ministry of Authentic Life Church in Mobile, Alabama. We pray that it builds your faith, helps you to live a life for God that you've always wanted to live, and that it inspires you to be a fully devoted, authentic follower of Jesus Christ. Here's today's message from Neal DiQuatro. It is time to preach God's Word. And I will tell you, I'm particularly excited about this morning's message. We're in a sermon series called Close to the Savior, a study of John. And the reason for that is that John gives us really unique stories and glimpses into Jesus' ministry because he was the closest of all the disciples. He's got a unique perspective. And when you understand that the reason he includes the stories that he does, when you understand he's got a purpose in doing it, it gives us a better revelation of Jesus, a more intimate look at Jesus, so that we can be close to the Savior. And so two weeks ago, we talked about the importance of knowing who God is. It matters. You can't paint Him with just any brush. We got to know who God is. And then we talked about why it's important. And even so, so many Christians and non-Christians alike, we still have different views sometimes, depending on what we're going through, the kind of God we serve and what Jesus is like. Some people see Him as distant and angry and waiting for us to mess up. And others see Him as kind and gentle and passive and not concerned with much and not concerned with sin on the other side. Some see Him as involved and some see Him as uninvolved. He just spun the world and sort of letting it go. And sometimes the picture we have of who God is doesn't align with the Bible's description of Jesus. You know that's true sometimes? That can happen when you go through difficult times. And that's why it's critical that we form a view of God that is not built on emotion, that is not built on subjective experience, but is built only on the solid rock of the inspired Word of God. Amen? If I had a Bible, I'd hold it up and say, this is where we find out who Jesus is. And so today we're going to move the conversation forward and we're going to be reading one of the most famous passages in all of Scripture. And it's famous for good reason, because it causes us to see in a tangible way not just who Jesus is, but how He relates to us. So not just who Jesus is, but how He relates to us. And so it's beautiful, it's compelling, and it deserves all of our attention. And you know, I wonder if there are people in the congregation this morning that at times you get mixed up about your view of who Jesus is. Sometimes He doesn't feel like the loving Father. He doesn't seem like He's taking care of you. And that happens to all of us, and if that's you, this story's for you. And so this morning we're going to talk about the story of the woman at the well. And so I think we'll just go ahead and just dive in and take it apart. We're going to go through 14 verses here to begin with, and that's a lot of Scripture, but you know what? We need to know God's Word. So that's okay. We're going to go through 14 verses here first and get a flavor for what's happening in this encounter with Jesus and this Samaritan woman. So this takes us to John chapter 4, verse 1. You ready? All right. When Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John, although Jesus Himself did not baptize, but only His disciples. By the way, that's John's little... He just loves to, like, by the way, this is what people were saying, but this is not exactly how it went down. He does that a couple of times with his own little notes he puts in there. He left Judea and departed again for Galilee, and he had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there, so Jesus, wearied as He was from His journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, Give me a drink, for His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to Him, How is it that You, a Jew, ask for a drink from Me, a woman of Samaria? For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered her, If you knew the gift of God, and who it was that is saying to you, Give Me a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water. The woman said to Him, Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep, so where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us this well, and drank from it Himself, as did His sons and His livestock. Jesus said to her, Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water, welling up into eternal life. So there is a lot there that we are going to unpack, but the first thing we are going to see as we go through these verses is this, that Jesus, that Jesus meets us where we are. We are going to see that Jesus meets us where we are. So let's talk about what is happening here. So you have got Jesus on His way from Judea to Galilee, and He has got to pass through Samaria on the way. And this is a difficult trip for a Jew to make, because there was tension between the Jews and the Samaritans. Many of you know they just didn't get along, and I want to give you a foundation as to why they didn't get along. And this goes back to 750 BC, about 700 years before this time. It was the time of the Assyrian captivity of the northern tribe of Israel. And eventually the Assyrian king let the people go back to Jerusalem. If you want to put this in your biblical timeline, this is the time when Nehemiah was rebuilding the wall. So we all can sort of place what is happening here in context. And so the Assyrians let the Jews go back to repopulate the area, but some of the Jews stayed in Assyria, and they disobeyed, and they intermarried with the Assyrians. And so what you ended up with was a people that were half Jewish and half Gentile. And that would raise disputes about, well, who is the true Jew here? The Samaritans thought they were, because their history was so ancient, even though half of their blood was Gentile blood. So they would argue about this. And as a result, they literally despised one another, and they stayed away from each other. That's why the story of the good Samaritan is so potent, because Jesus is taking someone who the Jews would have viewed as filthy and said, none of that matters, his heart's right. And that's what impresses God. So that's what's going on here. But Jesus, knowing this, purposely engages the Samaritan woman who came to get water from the well, knowing that she was going to think that He hated her, and was going to be unkind and despise her. And if He wasn't the Son of God, He would have thought the same of her. And what does He do? Well, He begins to pique her interest by asking questions and making sort of strange comments to her that she didn't fully understand. He didn't come right out of the gate and say, hey, I'm the Messiah, I'm the Son of God. He starts piquing her interest with questions and comments, and He does this to allow her to perceive who it was she was talking to. He gave her the respect and the opportunity to recognize that she wasn't just talking to any man. She was talking to someone very special. And then He moves the conversation along, and He presents Himself as living water that leads to eternal life. And so, in other words, what He's saying is that the source of all she could ever need, want, or ask for is what He embodies. And what He offers is not just valuable, He tells her. He says, basically, it's priceless. Why is it priceless? Because what Jesus is offering is of eternal value. How many of you know this living water comes to us each and every day? Even when you are saved, even when you're a Christian and you read God's Word, and the truth comes alive to you, that's Jesus there speaking to you, if you'll perceive it. If you'll perceive it. And so, through this encounter, we see that Jesus didn't just leave people, and He doesn't leave people to their own devices, groping around in the darkness trying to find Him. No! God didn't wait for us to find Him. He left His throne, and He came looking for us. Jesus steps into our mess, church. He steps into our brokenness, and our hurt, and our sin. Why? In order to meet us where we are. In fact, this is the whole wonder of the Incarnation, of Jesus putting on flesh. In fact, in the Incarnation is where the redemptive plan really begins to take off. We see this in Matthew 1, verse 20. Let me read it and remind you of the Jesus who meets us where we are. Here, Matthew's talking about Joseph, and he says, But as he, Joseph, considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel. And what does Emmanuel mean? God with us. Do you see that? Starting with the Incarnation, Jesus steps into our mess. He doesn't leave us to our own devices. And this is what Paul means in Romans chapter 5 when he says, For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die. But God shows His love for us, and that while we were still sinners. Do you see that? While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. In other words, when you were unable to help yourself, Christ stepped in, met you where you were, and demonstrated His love for you. Isn't that good news? So the world is full of false gods. Think about it. Full of false gods from the beginning of creation who rule from mountains high or far off, casting judgment on creation. But the true God, the one true God, decided to come into our mess and meet us where we are. And only Jesus makes this claim. You recognize that? Of all the gods, you can study in history, you can spend your whole life studying, you'll never find a God that meets His creation where they are. But Jesus does this. And this is what He did for the woman at the well. That's what He does for us. And so church, I want us to see that Jesus is not a God who stands afar off and shouts at us from a distance. And many people see God that way. But Jesus is not one that shouts at us from a distance. He comes close and reveals Himself. Why? So that He might set us free from bondage and death. He reaches into our sin and then He pulls us out of the miry clay, as the psalmist says. He's God. And so we see that Jesus meets us where we are, and as the story continues, we're going to see that after that, He then confronts us with truth. Jesus confronts us with the truth. Let's continue the story. John chapter 4, verse 15. The woman said to Him, Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water. Jesus said to her, Go call your husband and come here. The woman answered Him, I have no husband. Jesus said to her, You are right in saying I have no husband, for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true, the woman said to her. Sir, I perceive, remember hearing that word a couple of minutes ago, Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship. Jesus said to her, Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know. Wow. We worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jew. But the hour is coming and is now here when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. For the Father is seeking such people to worship Him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth. The woman said to Him, I know that Messiah is coming. He who is called Christ. When He comes, He will tell us all things. And then Jesus said, I who speak to you am He. See why I love this passage so much? There's just so much here. With these verses, Jesus moves from meeting the woman where she is to taking her where He wants her to go. And He does this by asking questions, and these are really unique questions. Why? Think about this. Jesus asks her questions that He already knows the answer to. Just think about that for a moment. Jesus asks questions He already knows the answer to. Why would He do this? Well before we answer it, let me remind you that He's done this before. Let's go back. Let's go way back to Genesis chapter 3, verse 8, after Adam and Eve sin and fall. Verse 8 says, And they heard the sound of the Lord walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, Where are you? I mean, this is God speaking. Certainly He knows where the guy is. Where are you? And he said, I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself. He, God, said, Who told you that you were naked? Well, He knew exactly who told them. Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat? He has three questions, just like Jesus, that He already knows the answer to. Why does God do this? Because knowing that we have sins isn't enough. Knowing it up here is not enough. Most people know whether you're saved this morning or you haven't put your faith in Jesus. You know that you need your sins to be forgiven. You know that you need help from your Creator. But acknowledging your sin is an act of submission that gives Jesus a chance to change us. Acknowledging it is different than knowing it up here. And so He gives the woman at the well this opportunity. He gives her the respect to not force Himself on her and gives her the opportunity to acknowledge her sins and He does it with very uncomfortable questions. Questions she didn't need to answer. See, many people know they need forgiveness, but not everyone has the humility to answer Jesus' questions. And if you're here this morning and you're saved, it's because at some point in your life you said, Yes, I hear you, Lord, and you're right. I'm a sinner. And I need you. Now that only comes from the revelation of the Holy Spirit. Most people know about Jesus. Not everyone knows Jesus. And that's a really big distinction. And this is what we see happening here with the woman at the well. He gives the woman the opportunity to acknowledge her sin. And after the woman's humility, think about this, after the woman's humility of her own volition, what does Jesus now do? Then He offers her hope. He gives her hope. We see it in verse 21. Jesus said to her, Woman, believe Me. The hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem you will worship the Father. You worship what you do not know. We worship what we know. For salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming and is now here when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. For the Father is seeking people to worship Him. Isn't that a great hope? What great hope is that? That she gives this woman a time is coming where you're not going to be second class, you're not going to be confused, you're not going to be lost, you're not going to be despised, because Jesus is making a way that all can come to Him. But think about this for a moment. When He shares that hope for her, why does He share the hope, but also remind her that the Samaritans differ in their worship from Jews? Couldn't He have just said, couldn't He have just sidestepped all of that? Left that all alone and said, hey, by the way, the true worshiper is going to worship in spirit and truth. Why did He have to remind her that she was wrong about some things? We'll just unpack this for a second. We talked about the problems between Jews and Samaritans, but the issues in Samaria go way deeper than that. When they intermarried with the Assyrians, what happened was, the pagan religion of the Assyrians mixed with Judaism, forming a corrupt combination of Judaism and paganism. We call that syncretism. And it happens all over. People who minister in deep areas of Africa, where they have witch doctors, the people will get saved, and then they'll come back years later and find that these genuinely saved people somehow have a witch doctor there that's praying for people, but also doing their thing. And they have to be told, no, that's not correct. You can't blend those things together, because what you have now is no longer the truth. And so, Jesus has something you've got to deal with, with the Samarian woman. Not only was it a pagan Jewish combination religion that they have, they rejected parts of the Torah, and then during Joshua's time, they would exile criminals to Samaria. So now, there's a corrupted form of Judaism, and there's questions about the character and integrity of the Samaritan people. And so what is Jesus actually saying to her in a succinct way through all of this? He's pausing before He gives her hope to say, your religion is corrupt and you're living in sin. That's the truth coming to her. You see that? Jesus confronts us with the truth. You see, the truth matters. You're not just praying a prayer to Jesus to get out of hell free card. It's more than that. Truth matters. And so notice that Jesus, though, doesn't present Judaism as the answer. Isn't that interesting? He says, listen, they believe right and you believe wrong, and then He doesn't present Judaism as the answer. No, what does He say? In verse 23, He says, but the hour is coming and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father and Spirit and truth. And this is the place where people often get stuck. What answer does Jesus provide? The answer He provides is this, an orientation to God that is based on Spirit and truth. I want to say that again. What's Jesus' answer? Jesus' answer is, you must have an orientation to God that is based on Spirit and truth. So what does He mean by Spirit? Well, Spirit is speaking of the new birth. Now listen, we are indwelt with the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit helps us worship and it does so much for us. But here, Jesus isn't speaking about sort of a supernatural Spirit-empowered worship. How do I know that? Because just one chapter earlier, He's talking to Nicodemus in John chapter 3, and here's what He says, Truly, truly, I say to you, Nicodemus, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. In other words, He's saying, without the new birth, there's no worship. You cannot worship Him. It's impossible. Without the Spirit, without the new birth. So He says you need Spirit, but you also need truth. Well, what's this truth? What He's saying to this woman who's got a religion that's a hybrid of Judaism and paganism, He's saying to her, What you believe about Me matters. Scripture matters. Religion isn't enough. What you believe must be the truth. What you believe must be the truth, and it must eventually lead to a new birth in Jesus Christ. Not all roads lead to Jesus. Not all roads lead to Jesus. The best way I can illustrate this is this way. Recently I sent an Instagram video to the worship team, and it was really troubling to me. And here was the picture. It was a progressive church that embraced progressive ideals about gender and transgenderism and those types of things. And what they did was changed all the words in their lyrics from him and he to she. And so now they were worshiping to her. And what really upset me about the video was just how similar their worship service looked to many evangelical worship services. I want you to see this. This is really, really important of why Jesus confronts us with truth. They had their eyes closed, and they had their hands raised. Some of them were emotional on the edge of tears. The worship leader was doing this. Come on, let's keep worshiping. Let's keep praising. Just the way we do here and in many evangelical circles. Doing that while they're singing to her. While they're singing to a her. They received. Somewhere along the line, they found out about Jesus, but got tripped up on truth. And it's happening in our world at like a breakneck pace where God's people are being confused. But Jesus says you've got to worship in spirit and truth. So these people that I'm telling you about were not worshiping according to truth, were they? And it's possible as a result they weren't worshiping according to the new birth either. But we'll let God be the judge. Amen? We'll let God be the judge of that. But it's cause for concern. So church, I want us to see that God confronts us with His Word and His truth about our own lives. Allow Christ's truth to go beyond just recognizing in your mind that you need Christ. And have the humility. Whether you've never put your faith in Christ, or if you've been a Christian for a long time, have the humility to acknowledge your brokenness and shortcomings. And allow the Savior to forgive you and to lift you and to restore you and to transform you. And if you haven't put your faith in Jesus this morning, you can acknowledge your sin today and put your trust in Him. Amen? And so Jesus meets us where we are in our mess, but He doesn't stop there. He confronts us with the truth. Why? To condemn us? No. To lift us and to save us from our brokenness. That's why He does it. That's why we preach the Scripture here. Because truth matters. Jesus said, I'm the way and the truth and the life. And then number three, Jesus then, after He's done these two things, ignites us with a testimony. And this is the fun part. Let's continue in chapter 4, but we will skip all the way down to verse 28. So the woman left her water and went away into town and said to the people, Come see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ? Many Samaritans from that town believed in Him because of the woman's testimony. Wow! He told me all that I ever did. So when the Samaritans came to Him, they asked Him to stay with them. And He stayed there two days. And many more believed because of His Word. They said to the woman, It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves. And we know that this indeed is the Savior of the world. Wow! That escalated quickly. From a Samaritan woman living in sin, to Jesus meeting her in her mess and confronting her with tough questions and having the humility to answer the questions that Jesus already knew the answer to, to then going and sharing her testimony. And as a result, people didn't get connected with the Samaritan woman, they got connected directly to Jesus. And that's how God does it. And so this passage reveals that this woman's interaction with Jesus was so important that she urgently left to tell others. How do I know that? Because it tells us here that she left the water jar behind. Something that would have been a commodity for poor people. And then she stirs up excitement of others as they hear Jesus for themselves and then they believe. And notice what she has to say to the townspeople. Notice what she says. Was it anything complicated? Was it deep? Was it theological? Was it well-spoken? No! It was simply her story. And then people began to believe. She just shared her story and people began to believe. Why do they believe? Well, verse 41 and 42 tells us. Let me read them again. And many more believe because of whose word? His. Many believe because of His word. They said to the woman, it's no longer because of what you said that we believe, for what we have heard for ourselves, or for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world. Did they believe because of her word? No. It was Jesus' word. You see, our goal was to get people interested with our story of what Christ has done in our lives and how He's changed us. But Jesus, through the Holy Spirit and Scripture, convinces people. Doesn't that take all the pressure off? He convinces people. We're just to be obedient and to tell people our story. So we don't have to worry about the outcomes because Jesus and Scripture, the Holy Spirit, is very good at doing their jobs. And so here's what's happening with this woman. Let me illustrate it this way. Has anyone ever gotten news that's so good that it's too good to be true? Like the publisher's clearinghouse, you know, showing up on your doorstep. You know, if you're under 40, you have no idea what I just said. You don't know that a creepy, creepy old guy is going to show with his booming deep voice is going to show up on your front lawn telling you you won $10,000. Let's go with a different example. You got an inheritance. You thought your whole family was broke and someone's going to give you a million dollars. What do you do? You go, this is too good to be true. I'm going to confirm before I get my hopes up. Why? What are you going to do? You're going to go to the source. You're going to go directly to the source. And you do it because the news is so good that you've got to know. And here's the news we have, church. You ready? Your sins can be forgiven. You can spend eternity with Jesus. You can hitch your wagon with the Creator of the universe and the source of all that is good and holy and pure and true. But people need the good news of your testimony before they can find out for themselves. They need the good news of your testimony before they can find out for themselves. And we see this at work throughout Jesus' ministry. This is not an isolated situation. Luke 8 and verse 38, when Jesus delivered the demoniac named Legion. Remember that? Because he had so many demons in him. And this is what Luke says, the man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him. But Jesus sent him away saying, return to your home and declare how much God has done for you. And he went away proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him. You see that? Truth comes to you. Jesus is revealed. He fills you and ignites you with a testimony. He says, now go tell somebody. Go tell somebody. This is why Paul says in Romans 10, verse 14, these passionate words, he says, how then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? And this is not a passage for pastors. This is a passage for all of us. This is Jesus' way of doing it. He comes into our mess. He confronts us with truth. He ignites us with a testimony. He sends us into someone else's mess. And then they find Jesus. They find Jesus from themselves when they hear Scripture and the Holy Spirit convicts them. You know, evangelism has been becoming a part of our culture, hasn't it? And it's really great. We've been doing something mostly called servant evangelism, showing people the love of Jesus through acts. And it's the heart of Christ. Let me just tell you, for years and years and years, I didn't get it. I was one who was kind of like, well, I don't seem to really have that gift. And so, you know, I think the church, because, you know, I pastor to a different church. You know, this is, you know, we're more into discipling people. God needs churches that can disciple people too. And I sort of believe that. Now, that doesn't mean that some folks don't have evangelistic gifts and are more effective maybe than you are, where their reach is greater. But evangelism is the heart of Jesus. And it's a heart that in time, if you're open to it, if you'll answer Jesus' questions, that He'll do that work inside of you. I promise you He will. But it's becoming part of our culture. But the next step is to move from simply serving people to also telling people. Not just serving people, but also telling people. And listen, this is intimidating for some. It's intimidating for me sometimes. You know, what are they going to say? What if I get a question that I can't answer? What if I don't, you know, what if I fumble over my words and say the wrong thing? What if they don't like me? What if they yell at me? What if I lose my job? What if... and there's all kinds of what ifs. And we all struggle with that. But what does this story teach? It doesn't teach us to be, you know, to go to Bible college for eight years so you can tell someone about Jesus. It simply tells us to tell our story. Just tell your story. Your most recent story. The last thing that Jesus did to show Himself faithful to you. Everyone can tell their story. And your story will help someone become interested in Jesus. Because the Holy Spirit will convince people about Jesus. Let me say it again. Your story will help someone become interested in Jesus. But the Holy Spirit will convince people about Jesus. You know that's true? And so I believe that's the next level for us. And that takes practice. Sometimes we've got to rehearse it. Sometimes we have to just put ourselves out there. But it's worth it. It's worth it. And Jesus makes this whole point clear in John 16 verses 7 where He says, Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Helper, the Holy Spirit, will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you. And when He comes, what's He going to do? He will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment. Isn't that freeing? So as this church moves more into just serving people and learning how to tell your story like the woman at the well did with this testimony that we've been ignited with, we don't have to worry about results. We just have to share our story and we can all do that. We need to take the story God's given us and just tell somebody. Tell everyone. So let me encourage you with this. Think about your salvation story. Think about what God has done in your life this week. Think about where you would be if Jesus didn't save you. And if you don't think you have a story to tell, you now know you have a story to tell. And just tell that to somebody. Just tell it to somebody. So Jesus in His goodness and His love stands out from all these false gods because He leaves His throne. He becomes the incarnate Christ, Christ in the flesh, Emmanuel God with us. Why? To meet us in the middle of our mess. He doesn't yell at us from a distance. And then He confronts us with the truth. And then He ignites us with a testimony. And I want you to know that this doesn't just happen at salvation. It repeats over and over and over again in your Christian life. When you're struggling, when you're broken, when it's time for Christ to lift you to a new place, He'll step into your mess. And as you read Scripture, He'll confront you with truth. And if you'll answer His questions, He'll give you a testimony. The hope comes after you answer the questions. Amen? As wonderful as this story is, and I'll close with this thought, just remember that the story of the woman at the well could have gone very differently. It could have gone way differently. In fact, it had every reason to go differently. There was animosity between this woman and how she felt about Jesus, between Jews and Samaritans. She's living in sin, and she's probably embarrassed and feels ashamed. She had reason to be angry and to put her walls up to Jesus. And Jesus didn't force Himself. He just shined His light on the situation and let her perceive, to be honest, to acknowledge. Right? This is what Jesus does. But she didn't have to respond that way. So the question just for us all to ask, and for me to ask, is how does it go when Jesus meets you where you are? How does it go when you're reading Scripture and the truth jumps off the page and you know it's talking to you? What do you do? Do we sort of push it aside? Do we turn the page? Do we reject it? Because remember, Jesus' motivation is not to condemn, but to lift and to save. But just like the woman at the well, it's always uncomfortable. Always. Can I encourage you? When Jesus brings the truth upon your life, answer His questions. Say, Lord, I hear you, and that's me. Here's what I'm struggling with, and here's what else I'm struggling with. It's not just that. It's not just one husband. It's five. You know, she sort of told Him the whole story. And when He does that, I promise you, church, in that humility, He will lift you, and He will save you, and He'll give you a testimony. Thank you for listening to Elevate. We pray that this message encouraged, inspired, and challenged you. Authentic Life Church is located at 3750 Michael Boulevard in Mobile, Alabama. Visit our website, AuthenticLife.tv, for more information about Authentic Life Church, to find out what we have going on, or to make a donation. We'd love for you to join us on Sundays at 10 a.m. for our weekend service. We have excellent children's, nursery, and youth programs, so bring the family. Thanks again for listening to Elevate, and may God bless you.