–Dan Arnold  (Bear Creek)

       “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins.”
                    –Ephesians 2:1 (NKJV)
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               “Jesus said to her, ‘Go, call your husband, and come here.’  The woman answered and said, ‘I have no husband.’  Jesus said to her, ‘You have well said, “I have no husband,” for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.'”
                         –John 4:16-18(NKJV)

     There are many things to glean from this story in John.  This woman was a Samaritan, an outcast in the eyes of orthodox Jews.  They were called “dogs,” mongrels to be precise.  They lost their “racial purity” years before and continued the practice.  To the Jews this was unpardonable.  A little historical perspective is needed here.  When the Assyrians conquered a people (this took place in Samaria about 720 B.C.) their practice was to exile some of the inhabitants to various locales.  Some of the people in Samaria were left, and into Samaria, Assyrians brought other peoples from their conquests.  Samaria was then a mixture of many peoples and the Jews of Samaria intermarried with them, thus they became “mongrels” in the sight of Jews.  There is much more to this but that will suffice for now.
     A second thing that is apparent is that this woman who came to the well was a mess.  Some interpret the “five husbands” to be but an allegory representing the people with whom the Samaritans intermarried with.  From what I read and gathered, this was not the case but actually depicted the deplorable condition of the woman’s life.  Jesus points out to her the sinful states in which she was living.  Think of all the problems, the stigma, the issues that this woman faced, not only in the minds of the people around her, but in her own mind.  Then something marvelous happened–she came upon Jesus.  
     Yes, there are many more lessons here, but I want to point out that when the woman left Jesus, she left changed.  The day completely changed her outlook on life.  It changed her attitude toward worship, towards God, towards others, and most importantly herself and her relationship with God.  Imagine the woman, from this day forward.  She didn’t dread getting out of bed in the morning for it was the day the Lord had made for her.  Instead of handing her head as she walked through the streets, she would greet people with a smile and perhaps a “God bless you.”  No longer did she carry the heavy burden of sin, but she walked with joy in her steps.  Her weariness had turned into life of refreshing for she now had tasted of the “living water.”
     When she saw the well a smile would cross her face.  Her mind would always flash back to the moment when she found Jesus.  But I believe that she went on with her walk with the Lord and that she saw the well as a place of salvation, of commitment, of refreshing.  In our lives we all have moments like this, especially if you have been a Christian for long.  Too many people live in the moment of past experiences.  I remember a pastor telling the story of a dear saint in the church.  At altar call, she would go to the same spot near the piano.  She would kneel in such and such a posture with her right hand raised and white hankie in it.  She was looking for the Lord to bless her again in a special way.  She had not moved on!  In reality she was making this spot, this one-time experience into an idol.  It was sort of like Peter when he wanted to stay up on the mountain because of the glorious moments he experienced.  The Lord had to remind him that it was down off the mountain, down in the valley that there was work to be done.
     In saying all of this, I want to get to my main point.  Never, ever forget those experiences you have had with the Lord.  They may be at an altar of prayer; it may be a time when He healed you, or delivered you from a certain disaster.  Those are important, the Bible is full of scriptures that tell us to remember what the Lord has done.  However, don’t go to the well the next day and expect to find Jesus there.  I would say three things that are important:  Remember the past; Learn from the past; Don’t try to relive the past.

                    –2 Corinthians 4:4 (HCSB)
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Here is another one of the short yet poignant verses that we often overlook or easily glance at.  

               “And He was giving orders to them, saying, ‘Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and the leaven of Herod.’”
                              –Mark 8:15(NASB)

J.B. Phillips translates it, “Keep your eyes open!  Be on your guard…”  Whereas, Henry A. Harbuck puts it this way, “Jesus began to [seriously] warn them, saying, ‘Be careful and watchful and be on guard…'”  Stay alert, be on guard–against what?  Leaven?  
     Jesus had just been asked for a sign whereupon He replied that there would be no sign given to this generation, then while talking with His disciples we find this verse.  Look first at the Pharisees; they were marked by hypocrisy.  The Pharisees wished to hold on to their self-righteous assumptions that they merited blessing from God, and so they had no place for a Savior.  Herod is marked by hostility.  He wished to hold on to the power he wielded over the people, so he had no place for the King.  Both were committed to a blindness to the truth; both were saying “I don’t want to find out what Jesus means, and I certainly will not accept that He is my Saviour or my King.”  Jesus is warning His disciples to guard against that attitude. (Alistair Begg)
     Paul writes to the Corinthians and also the Galatians warning them that a little leaven leavens the whole lump.  So what is meant by “leaven”?  This word for leaven is referring to the process of fermentation and is used as a symbol of corruption.  Leaven is often used to refer to evil in the Scriptures.  In other words, the disciples were told to be on the lookout for the evil fermentation of the Pharisees and Herodians.  William Barclay writes, “Be on your guard against the evil influence of the Pharisees and of Herod.  Don’t you go the same way that the Pharisees and Herod have already gone.”
     It must have been significant for Jesus to warn them.  “Giving orders” means to do so repeatedly.  The order stands and continues to stand.  “Take heed” is to become acquainted with and to think about the situation using discrimination (Swaggart).  There were to continually be doing this.  “They were to remain watchful and consider the ultimate consequences of this leaven of the Pharisees.” (Swaggart)
     I like what Alistair Begg says about this “leaven.”  “When pride rears its ugly head, it can lead us to judge the Scriptures rather than learning from them.  When we stand in judgment over God’s word, though, what we might regard as trivial and insignificant tweaking of truth will actually become leaven–the yeast–which spreads throughout the entire bread of our convictions.”  It is not up to us to declare that we have a better idea, or give our opinion as to what God actually meant.  We must accept Him for who His is and who He says He is.  
     There are many, and the numbers are growing, within and without the church, who say they have a better idea.  Or that this is what the Bible really says.  There are those who refuse to even hear the words of the Gospel, and dismiss flippantly that Jesus is the only way to God.  “That’s why people can read the Bible and see nothing–can listen to the gospel story and hear nothing.” (Begg)  They are more enlightened.  The disciples didn’t understand for they thought Jesus was talking about the fact that they had no bread.  Can it be that our ears are that dull of hearing and our mind loaded with fog?
     Remember, it only takes a little leaven.  Only a little sin here, and a little there.  Pretty soon the dough will be overflowing and it cannot be stopped as in a Three Stooges’ parody.  Do not be so proud as to assume that you do not need Jesus, and need Him in every part of your life.

                    –John 16:7 (NKJV)
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Why are you suffering?  Is it that God is disciplining you because of sin, or perhaps it is just life?  Maybe, upon chance, God is using you to thwart the plans of Satan, to use you as an example as He did Job.  It is important to check out the possible causes, but remember that “hardship is not always the evidence of disobedience” (George Wood).  Keep those thoughts in mind as we finish the final portion of Psalm 107.

          33 — He turns rivers into wilderness, and the watersprings into dry ground;
          34 — A fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of those who dwell in it.
          35 — He turns a wilderness into pools of water, and dry land into watersprings.
          36 — There He makes the hungry dwell, that they may establish a city for a dwelling place,
          37 — And sow fields and plant vineyards, that they may yield a fruitful harvest.
          38 — He also blesses them, and they multiply greatly; and He does not let their cattle decrease.
          39 — When they are diminished and brought low through oppression, affliction and sorrow,
          40 — He pours contempt on princes, and causes them to wander in the wilderness where there is no way;
          41 — Yet He sets the poor on high, far from affliction, and makes their families like a flock.
          42 — The righteous see it and rejoice, and all iniquity stops its mouth.
          43 — Whoever is wise will observe these things, and they will understand the lovingkindness of the LORD.  (NKJV)

     Why do bad things happen to good people?  I don’t have the complete answer, but it may just be that they are “along for the ride” of God’s punishment because of the wickedness of the people.  When the storms come they will come upon the wicked and the righteous alike.  There were righteous people in Judah when the Chaldeans came to destroy the city and take the people captive among them Jeremiah and Daniel.  They became victims along with those who caused the invasion from the hand of God.  My wife and I watched recently the old version of “The Hiding Place.”  A Christian family, the Ten Booms, faced the onslaught of fascism and went to the concentration camps where they died except Corrie.
     However, God’s discipline is only for a season.  When His people cry out He restores them.  When the righteous suffer, God will call their oppressors into account.  God will bring punishment upon them. (Lawson)  And here I’ll bring a little sidenote:  ponder verse 40.  Those who have made themselves “princes.”  That means all those who set themselves above God, refuse His guidance, commandments, and counsels, He will cause them to “wander in the wilderness where there is no way.”  Those who do right in their own eyes are thinking that they are princes and kings of their lives, but will find themselves lost…wandering.
     Psalm 107, was the psalm read by William Bradford when the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock.  He used it to describe their plight prior to coming ashore, then he read the climax of the psalm–verses 42 and 43.  In all things, loss and gain, good and bad, we can learn something of the goodness of God.  F.B. Meyer wrote, “Love broods over the weary caravan that faints in the desert; visits the prison house with its captives; watches by our beds of pain; notices each lurch of the tempest-driven vessel; brings the weary hosts from the wilderness into the fruitful soil.  Detected everywhere is the loving-kindness of the Lord.”  
     Go back and reread the complete psalm, then consider the prayer of George O. Wood, “I’m considering Your great love for me today, Lord, and I admit it’s way over my head.  You heard my cry when I was lonely, trapped, sick, and in a storm.  My unworthiness didn’t stop You for a moment.  You, who touch untouchables, also took firm hold on me and I thank You.”

               “My times of sorrow and of joy,
               Great God, are in your hand;
               My choicest comforts come from you
               And go at your command.
               If you would take them all away,
               And all my world be gone,
               I’d still seek lasting happiness
               In you and you alone.”
                        –Benjamin Beddome

                    –Jesse Storm  (Last Stand at Redwood)

       “Keep a close watch on yourself and on your teaching.  Stay true to what is right, and God will save you and those who hear you.”

                    –1 Timothy 4:16 (NLT)
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               “Faith deconstruction is a postmodern process of rethinking your faith without regarding Scripture as a standard.”
                         –unknown

               “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.”
                         –Galatians 1:8 (NKJV)

Friends, there are evil forces at work out there and they have drifted into the church.  There are those of the man of lawlessness at work in our midst, and as Paul was concerned, in his day, we should be even more concerned as the day of the Lord draws nearer.  Paul wrote concerning this, “But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” (2 Corinthians 11:3, NKJV)
     Years before I developed my course in Apologetics I saw the ideas slowly being accepted into the church.  I thought of the three deadly “Cs”:  curiosity, complacency, and compromise.  Tolerance became a keyword, and anyone who was not tolerant was said to be a bigot.  We had the Emergent Church Movement, a product of Postmodernism.  It sought to bring about a safe environment rather than preach the truth of the gospel.  Conversation was to be sought rather than dogma.  Now, I understand that there are things we should not be dogmatic about, but there are a host of things in God’s Word that we must be dogmatic in regard to them!  
     The group states that the Bible is historical, metaphorical, and narrative in nature rather than the inspired, authoritative Word of God.  Christian “jargon” is to be done away with, a product of deconstructionism, which is a major tenet of Postmodernism.   The Bible is to be used to find meaning for society rather than to teach redemption.  Compassion, justice, mercy, and tolerance are the foundation rather than that man is sinful, needs a Savior, must repent and then can be saved through the blood of Jesus Christ.
     Now we see a new “church” emerging from this same worldview.  They are calling themselves “Progressive Christians” and are part of the “Woke” crowd.  The idea is to remove the resurrected Savior, Jesus, and reinterpret Him as a Jewish mystic removing Him from divine claims and miracles.  “Progressive Christians say their ‘modernizing of Jesus’ makes Him a more friendly and accepting figure for self-identified Christians.  They say they are simply ‘refreshing’ Jesus (sort of like Subway keeps refreshing its sandwiches).” (Jason Jimenez)  They see themselves as more enlightened and having a better way and “as a recovery–a rescuing of Jesus from the dogmatic rigidity of traditional Christianity.” (Jimenez).
     This is the church at Pergamos seen in Revelation 2:12-17.  This was the compromising church–accepting the doctrine of Balaam.  Remember it was Balaam who suggested that Israel could be defeated by compromising their standards with those of the people around them, accepting culture rather than obeying the truth of God’s Word.  The Nicolaitans were a heretical group whose teaching was immoral and idolatrous.  Compromise, be more tolerant, be more like the culture around you.  If you are more tolerant the more people will accept you.
     Friends, it’s here!  What will you do with this heresy?  Barna states that two out of every three Americans believe that all religions basically teach the same thing.  Four out of every ten say that when Christians, Jews, Buddhists, or others pray to God they are actually praying to the same God.  The new guru, the religious idol states, “One of the biggest mistakes we make is to believe there is only one way to live.  There are many, many ways, many paths to what you call God.” (Oprah Winfrey)
     Paul tells us to turn away from these people (2 Timothy 3:5).  He continues in the same chapter to exhort us, “But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them.” (2 Timothy 3:14, NKJV)  He tells Titus to hold “fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict” (Titus 1:9, NKJV)  Oh, by the way in a little side note, the progressives teach that the original “hijackers of Jesus belong to the Pauline movement.” (Jimenez)
     Hold on, my friend, to the truth of the Bible and pray “even so,come, Lord Jesus.”