Allen Jackson - We Need a Savior - Part 2
See, there is no Savior besides God. He secures our future. He watches over it. That's what David understood. He said, "God is my rock. He is my Savior". He's even our Savior in times of distress, when we don't like the circumstances. See, when you don't like your circumstances it's easy to get mad at God, to be embittered, to complain, but sometimes even in those seasons of distress we see the salvation of God in new ways. If you only got your way every day, you wouldn't even know God as your Savior. Look with me in your notes at Jeremiah 14. Jeremiah's got a tough job. He's a prophet in Israel.
You think, "Well, that would be a pretty exalted office". But, you know, the prophet's job is to give the God perspective to the people, and the message God gives Jeremiah is, "Tell the people I'm going to punish them". "Ah, gee. Couldn't I tell them we're going to have a party? Hoedown, free cotton candy for everybody". That's not what Jeremiah got to say. Jeremiah had to say, "You're going into exile and your houses are going to be destroyed". They didn't like the message. They put him in prison. They threw him in a pit. He suffered for the message he delivered. There were dozens and dozens and dozens of false prophets that said, "Don't listen to Jeremiah. He's just a buzzkill. He's a downer. Don't pay any attention to him. He doesn't know what he's talking about". And God said, "Jeremiah, you say what I've told you".
It's a tough, do you have the imagination that sometimes standing up for the Lord, everybody might not cheer? See, I think we're all willing to be Jesus's advocates if we can get an ovation, but sometimes we have to stand up for Jesus when it's not fun. I don't mean to diminish or belittle. Sometimes just owning the truth is awkward. Folks, we've got to be the church, not just when it's convenient and comfortable. A doctor's no good to you if he only tells you good news. A doctor's absolutely no good to you if he only tells you what you want to hear. You need them to tell you the truth, and the church is only valuable if we own the whole truth of the Lord. But look at what Jeremiah said.
Jeremiah 14, he said, "Although our sins testify against us, O LORD, do something for the sake of your name. For our backsliding is great, and we have sinned against you. Hope of Israel, its Savior in times of distress, why are you like a stranger in the land, like a traveler who stays only a night? Why are you like a man taken by surprise, like a warrior powerless to save? You're among us, O LORD, and we bear your name. Do not forsake us". What a marvelous prayer. He said, "You're our Savior in times of distress". If you're in a season of distress, don't be angry at God or turn your back on him or threaten him. Say, "Lord, you are my Savior even in this circumstance". You'll get a revelation of him in a new way. You'll know his power in a new way. You'll know his strength in a new way. "I didn't volunteer for this. I didn't want this". "I understand".
God is faithful. It's really a passage, that's an expression of the mercy of God. He's our Savior in times of distress. Even if the distress has been contributed to by our own choices, he's still our Savior. Isn't that good to know? That's such a beautiful prayer. I think we ought to pray it together. You know, one of the best ways to learn to pray is to pray the Scripture, pray what the Scripture says about you. I think that's an accurate description of our own culture these days. Can we read that together as a prayer? Would you do that with me?
Let's start in verse 7. "Although our sins testify against us, O LORD, do something for the sake of your name. For our backsliding is great; we have sinned against you. O Hope of Israel, its Savior in times of distress, why are you like a stranger in the land, like a traveler who stays only a night? Why are you like a man taken by surprise, like a warrior powerless to save? You are among us, O LORD, and we bear your name. Do not forsake us". What a marvelous prayer. Now, I want to change direction just slightly. The New Testament tells us that Jesus is the Savior of the world. Did you know that? It's a little offensive to say that in public. We're a little timid or a little reluctant. We've kind of been bullied into being silent on that point, but the Scripture is clear Jesus is the Savior of the world. He didn't come with a new idea; he came as the fulfillment of the idea that was launched in Genesis, and it'll be brought to a completion, a conclusion when he comes back to the earth.
He's coming back as the Savior of the world. I hope you know Jesus. I'm not talking about sitting in church or keeping a set of rules; I'm talking about making Jesus your friend, living every day to please him. I'm going to edit your outline a little bit. You'll be glad you'll get to the restaurant ahead of the Baptists, maybe. But I want to skip down to your outline in Roman numeral II to letter C where there's John chapter 4 and we're going to step into a scenario in Jesus's ministry. If you're doing the Bible reading with us, we just read this chapter this past week. John chapter 4, Jesus has an encounter with a Samaritan woman. Samaria is a region of Israel. If you know the geography of Israel, it's at the end of the Mediterranean and by the Mediterranean there's a coastal plain, a flat land.
And on the other border of Israel, on the eastern border is the Jordan Valley. But between the Jordan Valley and the coastal plain by the Mediterranean are the mountains of Israel, the highland; and it's in those mountains of Israel where Samaria is. So if you're going to go from the northern part of Israel to the southern part, the most direct route is through Samaria. And the people who live there are the Samaritans. It's relevant to me 'cause about 10 days ago I was in Samaria. In fact, I was standing in the place where this little region where this incident took place, by Jacob's Well. In biblical labels it's Shechem. In modern-day Israel it's Nablus. But Jacob's Well has been a part of the Jewish history in the land of Israel for about three millennia. That's a long time.
In fact, while I was in Israel a couple weeks ago, UNESCO, the United Nations, voted officially a position, that the Jewish people did not have a historic connection to the land of Israel. You can't fix stupid. Not a really good word for church, I understand, but an accurate description of that assertion. But Jacob's Well... what you need to know about the Samaritans was there was an ethnic conflict. The Samaritans and the Jews didn't get along. They were enemies. In fact, if you were Jewish and you sat at the table, if you shared a meal with a Samaritan, you were unclean. They didn't even talk to one another. Well, Jesus is traveling through Samaria. He stops in this village and he wants a drink of water at this well, and this whole scenario bubbles out of that interaction.
I want to start, if you got John 4, just look at verse 42. The people in this village where this woman that Jesus has interacted with say to her, "We no longer believe just because of what you said. We have heard for ourselves and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world". There's something ironic in this. The Samaritans, who are enemies of the Jewish people, are acknowledging Jesus as the Savior of the world. A few weeks forward in Jerusalem they're going to say, "Crucify him". At least some of the inhabitants of the city will. But the Samaritans in this village are saying he's the Savior of the world. You can be very religious, have a long pedigree of religious activity and stand opposed to the purposes of God. I don't want to do that. I want a revelation of God that is real and relevant and transformation in my life for this point in history. It's my prayer for you.
Now, I want to unpack that story with you a little bit. We can go forward with your outline. Roman numeral III, Jesus comes to this little village. He's thirsty. He stops at the well and he asks a woman at the well for a drink of water, and then we step into John's explanation. It's John 4 and verse 10. "Jesus answered her, 'If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.' 'Sir,' the woman said, 'you've got nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his flocks and his herds?'" If you listen carefully, you hear a little bit of the tension, don't you? "Just who do you think you are? You think you're better stuff than Jacob? You're asking me for help. You're telling me you can give me something and you don't have the tools to deliver".
Jesus and this woman are having a dialogue, but they're talking past one another. She sees Jesus and she can hear Jesus, but she has no realization what he's talking about. No awareness. No spiritual insight. She doesn't know God's gift that's standing before her nor is she really aware of his presence. She just sees a man. She needs a revelation. Look in verse 13. "Jesus answered, 'Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.' And the woman said, 'Sir, give me this water so that I won't have to get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.'"
She thought Jesus was promising her indoor plumbing. "This will make my life easier. Tell me about this stuff you've got". She's listening, but she still has... no real spiritual awareness. Jesus is addressing something and she's hearing him on one level. Do you think it's possible to be aware of God in a limited way? I have been. Well, in verse 16 Jesus changes the discussion completely. He says, "Go call your husband and come back. I'll tell you about this indoor plumbing if you go get your husband". And the woman says, "I have no husband. Tell me". And Jesus says to her, "You're right when you say you have no husband. The fact is you've had five, and the man you now have isn't even your husband. You told me the truth when you said you have no husband". He called her out with a smile. And the woman said to him, "Sir, I can see that you're a prophet". She should have just kept talking about water. Now there's a personal implication. She just still doesn't understand the invitation. And the woman said, "I know that the Messiah is coming, and when he comes he will explain everything to us". And Jesus said, "I who speak to you am he".
Now, I want you to go back with me in your outline to John 4 and verse 39. I want you to watch what happened. This is the end of the story. Same chapter. "Many of the Samaritans from that town believed, believed in Jesus because of the woman's testimony". The woman goes away from this encounter. She's so influenced. She's had a revelation, and she goes into the community where she's not supposed to talk to Jews. She's not supposed to have interacted with them. And she said, "Let me tell you about the man I met. Let me tell you about the story I just heard. Let me tell you what he knew about me and he wasn't angry or critical or condemning. He was offering me something". Listen to what it says.
See, the woman said, "He told me everything I ever did". "And when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days". He stayed 2 days in a village where he wasn't even supposed to stop for a cup of water. "And because of his words many more became believers. And they said to the woman, 'We no longer believe just because of what you said. Now we've heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.'" Wow. Is it fair to say we would benefit, we would benefit from a revelation of Jesus, that something in us could be unleashed that could influence our communities, influence the world in which we live to say Jesus is the Savior of the world? That's the assignment of the church, not criticism and condemnation. We need a revelation.
We are standing against something in this season. The best way I know to describe it is we are standing against a descent into paganism. I'm not talking about a religious... a worship style, I'm talking about a worldview. We no longer find it convenient to hold God in the imagination of how we should shape the world in which we live. It's not unique to the United States. The Christian West is collapsing into paganism, and the only thing standing in that gap is the church of Jesus Christ. Now, there's many ways I could describe that and far beyond the time we have this morning, but I chose just a handful of ideas that, to me, seem very apparent that would describe this descent if they remain unchecked.
See, we're not just voting for individuals in an election; we're voting for positions, for perspectives. Far more important than individuals. One of the things we are witnessing that suggests this descent is the redefinition of marriage. Even the phrase is erroneous, the redefinition of marriage, as if changing the meaning of a word would change the reality. Suppose I stood an elephant on the stage next to me, trunk and all, and I said from now on we're going to call it a squirrel, would it be able to climb a tree, jump from limb to limb? No, the pachyderm is earthbound. He might push the tree over and stomp on it, but he's not climbing it.
And we have had this mistaken notion that we were the definers. We may change the label. God ordained marriage. It was his idea. But for the most part, we've been quiet, voiceless. It's important. I'll tell you another expression of this descent. And I believe all of these things can be addressed. But it's sexual perversion, and I'm not talking predominantly or even primarily about homosexuality. I'm not talking about that. Sexual perversion is a far more significant topic than that.
You see, sex is physiological. Sex is physiological. Gender is grammatical. Gender is how we describe the physiological reality of our sexual nature. I was born male. Been that way my whole life. It's improbable it's going to change. But there is a significant effort afoot to confuse that with all sorts of labeling and changing and choices. Folks, that's not a choice we make. It's a rebellion against the sovereignty of God. There's another expression of this descent. It's the systematic deconstruction of authority. We need authority to thrive as people. It's important. God put authority in the midst of his own people. We need authority in the world. We need godly authority.
This notion of the separation of the church and state is not only not constitutional, it's very destructive because the only thing to keep the church, anything... the state, anything resembling just is the involvement of the church. But there's some very specific expressions of this. We see that deconstruction of authority through lawlessness, through increasing lawlessness. For all of our talk about security and concern for our children and their well-being, lawlessness is exploding in the Christian West. I'll give you one expression from our own culture. We have an unwillingness to even acknowledge or protect our own national borders. We're reluctant to say we're a sovereign nation with control over our own borders.
Now, I believe we need a just, humane, reasonable policy for immigrants. We're a nation of immigrants. We can't be opposed to immigrants. But if we have no borders, we cease to exist as a nation. It's lawlessness. The deconstruction of authority is expressed through corruption, through a shameless unapologetic flaunting of the law. We are a nation of laws. If the laws are unjust, we have a history of changing them. But we have submitted to the laws of the land, and when we cease to do so we are vulnerable. It is an intentional deconstruction of authority. We see it through the unrelenting criticism of those who protect and serve us. Our military, our police officers, our firefighters, our EMTs, they stand watch around the earth and in our backyards on our behalf to benefit us.
And it has become popular to search through the tens of thousands of people doing that and they will search through that long list of people to find the worst behavior and highlight it in an unrelenting fashion to convince us that they shouldn't be trusted. It is destructive. I thank God for our military. I thank God for our police officers and our firefighters. Are they perfect? Absolutely not. Do we want to excuse their weaknesses? No. But I am grateful for those people who put themselves at risk, whose families bear a burden so that you and I know freedom and liberty. It's important. That attack on authorities even expressed... we are unwilling to identify our enemies.
We don't want to say someone is our enemy when they will say out loud, not only with words, but support it with their deed, their intent to destroy us, we're reluctant to call them an enemy because we might hurt their feelings. I've been of the opinion that if you say you intend to destroy me and then you back it up with behavior, your feelings are not at the top of my priority list. Jesus is the answer. We need a Savior. No politician and no political party is our Savior. Nevertheless, we are under authority and we are privileged with a choice. I, again, want to encourage you to vote. Now, we are not perfect. We are in process. And it's not hard to find weaknesses and failures within the people of God, but the truth that we hold is more valuable than the vessels in which it's held and we have to have the courage to stand for Jesus. I have gotten to know some of the people involved in this process.
Dr. Ben Carson, Governor Huckabee was with us at Bridgestone. There were some godly people in this queue, and we weren't prepared to acknowledge and support truth at that level yet. But my prayer is that we'll have a revelation of Jesus that makes the truth welcomed in the street again. But in the meantime, let's participate in the process. The largest single group of... people in America are Evangelical Christians, but we are the most fragmented and often the least participatory. Let's not let that be our future with God's help, amen? Now, I brought you a prayer. And if you are a careful reader and you're awake, that prayer is going to look very familiar to a passage we just read in Jeremiah 14. And if you're really careful, you'll notice the verse numbers have been removed and I inserted Almighty God and in Jesus's name. Otherwise, it's Jeremiah's prayer. I'm not trying to take credit for it, but I think it's an appropriate prayer for us in this season of time. So if you will, let's stand together and offer that prayer to the Lord. Have you found it? Okay.
Almighty God, although our sins testify against us, O LORD, do something for the sake of Your name. For our backsliding is great; we have sinned against You. O Hope of Israel, its Savior in times of distress, why are You like a stranger in the land, like a traveler who stays only a night? Why are You like a man taken by surprise, like a warrior powerless to save? You are among us, O LORD, and we bear Your name; do not forsake us. We humbly ask for Your mercy, in Jesus's name, amen.