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- [00:02]
Steven Furtick
Hey, this is Steven Furtick. I'm the pastor of Elevation Church, and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it gives you perspective to see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. We're excited because. Write this down. Favor flows from strange places. It really does. One time, the children of Israel were in the desert and water came out of a rock. That's weird. You ever had God do something for you, but not through the person you expected him to do it through? Have you ever had God be good to you through somebody you weren't even good to and then somebody you were good to wasn't good to you? It's almost like he wants to challenge your attachments. He'll keep on moving around his supply and springing up from different places so you don't camp out where he called you to pass through. That's why sometimes you get frustrated. But favor can flow from frustration. Sometimes you have to get down to the bottom of something to find God there. My study has been like that. It was kind of weird. Can I tell y'all something? I didn't tell any of the other experiences? I did not want to do a Seven Mile Miracle series. I preached this bad boy. I preached this sermon six years ago. I think it was six years ago. Five or six years ago. My publisher had the rights to the material because we had them pay for the study guide for our groups and whatever. You don't need to know all that. But we had them pay the church and they wanted to put out a book. I didn't want to write a book about Seven Mile Miracle because I typically like to preach something and move on. As a matter of fact, this is probably dysfunctional. But before I came out to preach to you, I was writing my sermon for the end of April because it started coming to me. I know what it is, and I'm not telling you because then you would skip. But the way it flows to me, I've had to learn to get in the flow with God. Get in the flow for me. Creativity and inspiration doesn't always flow. It's not always dependable. One songwriter said that creativity is like building your house from the sky down, especially when you're depending on God to give it to you, so you feel kind of vulnerable when you're waiting on God to give you something. It flows in strange places. Sometimes I get sermons off of Gatorade commercials and I just have to do it anywhere I can. This year has Been interesting because God took some things I studied years ago, like this seven mile walk on the Emmaus Road and we taught an Easter sermon on it. And then a whole series and a book flowed out of it. But I was kind of done with it. God took something I was done with like a seed that I thought was gone, but it really wasn't gone. It was in the ground. Some things in your life that you.
- [03:03]
Unknown Speaker
Sowed in the last season are going to come up out of the ground when you least expect it. Favor flows from strange places.
- [03:14]
Steven Furtick
So I've kind of been going through these seven statements of Jesus slowly. I don't like to go slow. If it were up to me, we would study all seven of them in the introduction to the sermon.
- [03:26]
Unknown Speaker
Move on.
- [03:28]
Steven Furtick
I like to cover a lot of ground so you don't get bored. Sometimes you have to slow down. I started the series just talking about Cleo. Were you here for that one? He's walking along with a companion. Here comes Jesus, this stranger. Out of this stranger's mouth comes a revelation that reverses their disappointment. They realize it when they get there, not while they're going. It started to challenge the way I saw faith. I thought faith meant I would know why I was going through everything I went through while I went through it. Now I'm thinking maybe faith means not knowing why I'm going through it, but trusting the One who makes a way where there is no way to feed.
- [04:20]
Unknown Speaker
Me what I need for the season I'm in. Because He's God and He knows what.
- [04:25]
Steven Furtick
I need when I need it. When we were preaching about it, he broke the bread and gave it to them. We've kind of been breaking the bread, haven't we? The bread represents the word of God. Each week I've been giving you a little piece. I'm taking it from the last sayings Jesus spoke on the cross. There are seven. Seven is the number of completion in the Scripture. When we say seven, we're eventually getting to resurrection, but to get there, we're going through crucifixion. We're eventually getting to glory, but to get there we have to go through the sufferings of this present time and.
- [04:59]
Unknown Speaker
Believe that they are not worthy to.
- [05:01]
Steven Furtick
Be compared with the glory that will be revealed. But it's in the ground right now. It's on Saturday. Our faith is proven waiting for Sunday. In the aftershock of Friday, we walked through a couple of different sayings. One was, father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. That one challenged me because it is the exact opposite of how I think when somebody disappoints me or offends me. See, you're different. You're more sanctified than me, and you've arrived. But when somebody breaks my heart, I don't say, father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. I say, God, get them back.
- [05:44]
Unknown Speaker
Hurt them worse than I could ever hurt.
- [05:46]
Steven Furtick
Because they know exactly what they were doing. I'm challenged. Jesus says to a thief, he says, today you will be with me in paradise. I don't think like that. I think if the guy is going to be in paradise, he needs to.
- [06:00]
Unknown Speaker
Do some good deeds and help some old ladies across the street and take a little membership class and get baptized at our Concord campus.
- [06:10]
Steven Furtick
Then he can be in paradise.
- [06:11]
Unknown Speaker
He didn't do any of that. Jesus just saved him just because he asked. So now I'm thinking, this must be a gift you can't earn. It must not have to do with.
- [06:19]
Steven Furtick
My works at all.
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Unknown Speaker
It must be something God gives, not something I get.
- [06:25]
Steven Furtick
All I have to do is receive it. Then I'm a little convicted. How he's on the cross and he's thinking about his mom on the cross. Because I don't think about others while.
- [06:36]
Unknown Speaker
I'm going through good times, let alone hard times. I don't even like to let people merge in traffic on 485 because I'm in a hurry. Here's Jesus dying and thinking about somebody else. All of this has been challenging me. Wade gets up and says, God was forsaken by God, the Son, by the Father, so we would never have to be abandoned. Then I come to this little phrase.
- [07:02]
Steven Furtick
I don't know what to do with it. Because Jesus now says one of his last sayings on the cross. This is mile five, commonly known as the word of distress. It's called the word of distress. But after today, you're going to see that it's actually the word of destiny. I'm going to show you. Because he says something strange. Let's look at it together.
- [07:21]
Unknown Speaker
Are you ready?
- [07:22]
Steven Furtick
Say, I'm ready. You have your Yeezys laced up and ready to run. What? So he has been mocked, he has been flogged, he has been sentenced, handed over to die. He's bleeding, he's suffocating, and he's hanging there. After this, John says, John 19:28. Jesus knowing that all was now finished. Finality achievement would be the original language that all was achieved. That he was sent to do his assignment was achieved. Now that he knew that he said, to fulfill the scripture, I thirst. Which is ironic because this is the same voice that spoke the seas into existence. Now he needs water. Do you ever think about this? How the same voice that told the Red Sea to part now needs a drink. How can the voice that could command the sea, peace, be still and it had to shut up so he could get some sleep. How could that same God. Because the Bible says that he is the one Colossians tells us by whom, for whom and through whom all things were created. That were created in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. And the Word was God. That's Jesus. Now he's wrapped in flesh, dying at the hands of sinful men. A criminal's death. And he says, I thirst. He's the one who said he was living water. How can living water be thirsty? He is the one who was Jacob's well. How can Jacob's well be dry? Do you see? What I'm saying is just strange to me on top of the fact that.
- [09:20]
Unknown Speaker
It'S kind of crazy that the one who called the seas to be gathered together so the dry land could appear, the one whose voice is above the waters, the one who separated the water above the firmament, the water below the firmament, the one who has a throne in heaven by the way, in the book of Revelation that he sits on where the streams of water flow and make glad the city of God, pure and brilliant as Jasper and diamond, those waters flow from the throne. But here we see him thirsting. How can God be thirsty? How can water need a drink? Y'all are looking at me confused and you should be, because it's confusing.
- [10:06]
Steven Furtick
I understand me being thirsty. After all, I'm a thirsty man. That's what Holly said. One time she told a server that in a restaurant. By the way, if you're a server in a restaurant, first of all, God bless you. You are an unsung hero. Especially on Sundays with hungry, cranky, non tipping Christians that put a Bible verse on the receipt instead of a tip. Father, forgive them. It's tough for me to admit this, but I am a server's worst nightmare. It's not because I'm rude. It's not because I'm rude. And I'm not rude because I'm Southern. So since I'm Southern, if I'm going to be rude to you, I'm going to do it behind your back. I watch people from other parts of the country who are so direct and it's weird to me because I can feel my mom putting soap in my mouth because we just weren't that direct. I watch somebody in a restaurant, they're done. They just go, check. Like one word.
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Unknown Speaker
That's not how you.
- [11:11]
Steven Furtick
I can't do it like that. I wish I could. I think it'd be cool. Just holler, check. I see it in movies. I'm going to try sometime. I'm not rude like that.
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Unknown Speaker
I'm not rude.
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Steven Furtick
I'm not even really that picky in a restaurant.
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Unknown Speaker
I'm really not. I'm simple. I'm basic. I like what I like, but it's.
- [11:27]
Steven Furtick
Not that hard to fix it. I like it. Here's what I'm trying to say.
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Unknown Speaker
I'm not Chunks Corbett. Chunks Corbett is the most embarrassing person.
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Steven Furtick
To be in a restaurant with because.
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Unknown Speaker
Of the specificity with which he demands.
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Steven Furtick
His food be prepared.
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Unknown Speaker
His wife is nodding while I'm preaching this. He'll walk in a restaurant.
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Steven Furtick
I want a Bloomin Onion, but no onion. Can you make it in the shape of an eight? Because that's my favorite number. When I was eight, I played baseball.
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Unknown Speaker
He doesn't have the craziest stuff. I'm not really like that.
- [12:00]
Steven Furtick
But my thing is, if you can.
- [12:03]
Unknown Speaker
Keep up with me on the drinks, because I drink Diet Coke, like I just said, I shoot up heroin, you judgmental demon. People will do it. Every time I say that, they'll send.
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Steven Furtick
Me a link about aspartame.
- [12:23]
Unknown Speaker
But it's all right. I already read about it. And I want to go to heaven.
- [12:26]
Steven Furtick
And I'm kind of in a hurry to get there.
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Unknown Speaker
I'm at peace with my mortal nature. I want to sip a Diet Coke on the journey.
- [12:38]
Steven Furtick
My thing is, I tip great. I tip great.
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Unknown Speaker
Especially if you bring me an Elevation Church stolen pen to sign a tip with.
- [12:45]
Steven Furtick
That'll be our thing.
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Unknown Speaker
I'll bump it up at least 3%, spread the word.
- [12:51]
Steven Furtick
But my thing is, keeping my drink.
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Unknown Speaker
Full is kind of hard because I'll.
- [12:55]
Steven Furtick
Drink 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. I've been to 12 glasses before in a long meal, so I know it's horrible, but one time this server came over and she was kind of giggling about how many drinks I was drinking. This had been years ago. She looked like she was too young to be legally working at a restaurant. She comes over to the table and she's kind of giggling. I'm apologizing. I'm like, I'm sorry. I'm drinking so many drinks. I like to drink a lot of Diet Coke. I'm sorry about That I promise. Tip you good. Just thank you for trying to keep up with me. She goes, holly feeling the need to apologize. Holly goes, he's just a thirsty man. She started laughing when Holly said that, but she was laughing a little too hard.
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Unknown Speaker
Do you know how people can laugh a little too hard for what you said?
- [13:51]
Steven Furtick
And, you know, they took something different out of what you said. So she's laughing, just laughing, laughing. I said, what? What was funny about that? She said, your wife just said, you're thirsty.
- [14:03]
Unknown Speaker
I said, yeah, I am. You've seen it today night here in the restaurant.
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Steven Furtick
I like to drink. She said, no, no. You don't know what thirsty means, do you?
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Unknown Speaker
I said, no, but tell me what thirsty means to you.
- [14:18]
Steven Furtick
I need to know. She said, you don't want to know this. You're a preacher. I said, no, tell me.
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Unknown Speaker
She said, well, it's kind of something younger people would say. Say, maybe if a guy is a little too desperate, we would look at.
- [14:32]
Steven Furtick
Him and maybe roll our eyes and say, thirsty.
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Unknown Speaker
Now I knew why she was laughing. She said, when people post something on social media where they want to get attention and they try a little too hard, we call that a thirst trap. I want to preach to you today about the thirst trap. I want to go all the way back from Bonefish grill to John 19 and see if I can work it together. Because I have to admit, sometimes I'm thirsty. Sometimes I'm thirsty. Like the guy who sends 12 text messages and none of them get responded to those long text messages. Sometimes I need too much from the wrong place. Sometimes I'm thirsty because I love God and I know he's my shepherd and I'm not supposed to be in need, and I have his spirit.
- [15:37]
Steven Furtick
But sometimes I have to admit to you I'm kind of thirsty. Look at your neighbor and ask him, are you thirsty? Not you.
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Unknown Speaker
You're filled with the spirit of God.
- [15:53]
Steven Furtick
We get thirsty, it's no surprise. We get thirsty because we're weak. He knows our frame. We're made of dust. Came from the dust. Get thirsty in the dust. Dirty thirsty people. I mean, that makes sense. But for Jesus to say, I thirst. Watch this. When he said it, the Bible says they came to him, those soldiers around the cross, and he said, I thirst. And there was a jar full of sour wine, cheap stuff, what the executioners drank while they were waiting on the person to die. This was the second drink Jesus was offered on the cross. But the first one, he refused. When he was on his way to the cross, when he got to the spot where they would drop the cross, the vertical beam, and attach to the horizontal beam. Because the cross works both ways. I taught you that. Two weeks ago. When he got to that spot, they offered him a drink. This drink was, the Bible says, mixed with myrrh, which was meant to drug the person going to the cross. The women would prepare it often as an act of compassion or kindness. When they offered him this drink, perhaps in mockery, before he called himself a king, and they offered him a drink, Mark tells us in Mark, I think it's like 1523, they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it because maybe he saw it as a trap, because he was focused on finishing what God gave him to do. When he got to the cross, he refused to drink and said, I don't need that. I want you to do something for me. I want you to get something in your mind that's trying to keep you from being on the path of your purpose. When I say three, push it out the way. Like Jesus pushed the cup of myrrh and say, I don't need it. One, two, three. I don't need it. He said, I'm not drinking that. I'm going somewhere. With his gaze set on the glory of God, he went toward the cross. But now it has been six hours since he first got to Golgotha. He says, I thirst. Remember, this is the same voice of God who created the clouds and filled them with condensation. This is the voice that has the power to flood the earth. Only Noah and every animal on the boat gets out of it alive. And he thirsts. So we're surprised by it, or at least we should be. We're surprised when they come to him and there's a jar of sour wine and they offer to the Lamb of God who was slain before the foundation of the earth.
- [18:36]
Unknown Speaker
You need to understand that what happened.
- [18:38]
Steven Furtick
On the cross didn't start on the cross and it didn't end on the cross.
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Unknown Speaker
The cross was pointing at the prophetic fulfillment of the purpose of God that.
- [18:48]
Steven Furtick
Existed before time began. They take a hyssop branch, which was what they used on Passover, back when they would take the blood of a lamb and put it on a doorpost. So they took that branch they would.
- [19:00]
Unknown Speaker
Put the blood on. And now the Lamb of God is bleeding. It's not the shadow anymore. It's the actuality, the revelation of God, the fullness of God is hanging on.
- [19:10]
Steven Furtick
A cross in the form of a man. And they give him vinegar to drink for his thirst. And they put it to his mouth, the same mouth that spoke them into existence. And they gave him vinegar to drink. How could he be thirsty? How could God struggle with a human sensation like thirst? Struggle. If you want to write something down, write down struggle. To really understand why he said I thirst on the cross, you would have to start really in the Garden of Gethsemane. The Garden of Gethsemane is where he went out to pray before he drank the cup of suffering. It's one thing to come to church and talk about a calling, because sometimes a calling is like a beautiful cup. But what's in it sometimes when it comes time to really fulfill your calling. Let me break this down because y'all are really looking at me cross eyed and stuff. It's one thing to pick out a name for your baby. It's another thing to have to raise them in middle school. It didn't work. It still didn't work. I'm trying really hard to bring this right where you are. It is one thing to write down his last name with your first name and think about how awesome it would be to be Mrs. So and so. But it's another thing to deal with his bad breath and his bad spending habits and realize his mom didn't teach him how to put the seat down on the toilet after he used it and work out the mechanics of marriage in the context of the calling, not just the excitement of the concept of something.
- [20:59]
Unknown Speaker
Sometimes, while we are very excited about the concept of being used by God, stay with me because this sermon is about to do something in your soul. Deep down in your soul. I feel the spirit of God saying.
- [21:11]
Steven Furtick
To somebody today, what will you do with the cup? Jesus had a cup that he didn't want to drink.
- [21:21]
Unknown Speaker
He prayed in the garden. He prayed, father, if there's any other way to get this done, if there's any other way, let this cup pass from me. The cup that was full of the wrath of God, the just punishment that our sin deserved. And he drank it. But he struggled to drink it. Do you know how I know he struggled because he prayed. If there's any other way, let this cup pass. But if there's not, if I have to drink it down, if I have to suffer, if I have to go to the cross, I'm going to the cross. If I have to be mocked, I'll be mocked. If I have to be alone, I'll be alone. If I have to cry, I'll cry. If I have to struggle, I'LL struggle. Not my will, but yours be done. The Son of God is thirsty. And he's thirsty because he's trapped. He's trapped in a place we're all familiar with. He's trapped between what he wants and what God wills. Have you ever been trapped? Three honest people. Three thirsty people. All the thirsty people. Make some noise. Just be honest about it. Remember, it's only those who hunger and thirst that can be filled. It's only those who know what it's like. I mean, he got down in that garden and he prayed so hard about it and he heard so much about it while Peter, James and John slept on the side. But Jesus prayed. The Bible says he prayed to the.
- [23:19]
Steven Furtick
Point that his sweat was like drops of blood. He struggled to surrender. He was trapped in the garden between what God had spoken and what his flesh wanted. I'm thirsty. Of course he's thirsty. When you sweat like that, you're going to be thirsty. I mean, if the Son of God sweat like that, what makes you think you're going to go through life and never break one yourself?
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Unknown Speaker
We think we're just supposed to fulfill.
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Steven Furtick
Our calling and never drink the cup. We think we're supposed to have a vision, but no vinegar.
- [24:07]
Unknown Speaker
I mean, the Son of God is sweating drops of blood. And we're supposed to be able to sleep through life. It's a struggle. He said I thirst because he struggled, people. I know he was thirsty. I mean, he's fully God, yes, but he's also fully man. In other words, he's trapped because he's God. But he's wrapped in flesh because he's glory. But he's wrapped in frailty because he's eternity. But he's trapped in time because he's spirit. But he's trapped in a body. Sometimes I feel trapped because what I want to do, I can't do. And what I do, I hate. And what I want to do, I don't have the will to do. I'm trapped.
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Steven Furtick
Thirsty, tired.
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Unknown Speaker
I'm weary.
- [25:06]
Steven Furtick
He struggled. See, I'm not very comfortable with this. I don't like it. I don't really want to see a God who struggled like I struggled. I like that stuff where he opens his mouth and says, shut up to the wind and the waves. I like that because that makes me think he's just going to walk into my situation. Smooth sailing. But when he says, I thirst. See, now I see him identifying with my shame. And it causes me to look at myself not as I wish to be, but as I really am. Now I have to picture him carrying my shame. Write down shame, because shame will make you thirsty. Shame will make you try to fill something with the words of people that can really only be fulfilled by the word of God. Shame will make you forget who you really are. Of course he was thirsty. He was carrying your shame. Now, I mean, to an untrained eye, it looked like he was carrying a beam that weighed 80 pounds. He carried it up a hill. This is from Pilate's palace where Jesus was sentenced by the Roman prelate. He had already been handed over by Caiaphas, the high priest. He has been going back and forth all night. He sweats in the garden. He heads to the cross. He gets there. They offer him something to numb the pain. He says, no, I'm focused. No, not yet. He pushes the drink aside, thirsty as he is carrying my shame. £80. You know, it weighs a lot more than that when it's in your soul. A whole lot more than 80 pounds. It'll weigh so much you can't even look people in the eye when it's in your soul. He carried that. He carried it the length of six and a half football fields from Pilate's palace to Golgotha. Of course he was thirsty. Come on. I can't even do a set of kettlebell swings and not take a sip. Of course he was thirsty. Of course he said, I thirst. And you know what? This isn't the first time Jesus said he was thirsty in John's gospel. No, it's not, man. Not at all. Can I tell you a story from the Bible? It's a Bible story from John, chapter four. It's interesting because going somewhere, but he goes around to get there. The place where he goes is called Samaria. This is not a normal place for a Jew to go. So the fact that he went there was kind of surprising. But nobody asked him why he was doing what he was doing. Because by this time, his disciples knew.
- [28:13]
Unknown Speaker
That everything he did, he did on purpose.
- [28:16]
Steven Furtick
Let me say that again.
- [28:18]
Unknown Speaker
Everything he did, he did on purpose. That's going to come back, and that's.
- [28:21]
Steven Furtick
Going to be very important when I finish this little sermonette today. Everything he did, he did on purpose.
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Unknown Speaker
The Bible says he had to go to Samaria.
- [28:31]
Steven Furtick
He had to go.
- [28:33]
Unknown Speaker
Why? Why did he have to go to Samaria? Why did he have to go to the cross? Why would he go out of his way to Samaria where a Jewish person would not normally go? Why would God go where he was least expected? Do you ever wonder why God would bother with someone like you? Have you ever asked that question, why me? God? Any parents who have ever asked God, why me? Why would you call me to raise a kid when I feel like a little boy myself sometimes? See, the interesting thing to me about.
- [29:08]
Steven Furtick
This little excursion Jesus takes is that.
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Unknown Speaker
He'S going to Samaria. He sits down when he gets there, and he waits by a well for a woman. Let me tell you something about this woman. She's coming out in the middle of the day. And the only reason you would go to the well in the middle of the day in a hot climate is so nobody else would be there because you're ashamed to be seen by people. She's going out in the middle of the day to get some water at a time when she doesn't think anybody else will see her because she's thirsty. I said, she's thirsty. She's not just thirsty for water, she's thirsty. She's thirsty in the urban dictionary thirsty kind of way. So Jesus sits by a well waiting for a woman and sets a trap for a thirsty woman. Y'all aren't even helping me preach this sermon I worked so hard on.
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Steven Furtick
That's rude.
- [30:16]
Unknown Speaker
She comes up, says, oh, crap, I thought nobody would be here. I don't even know this guy. Have you noticed how everything we've been studying and in the Scriptures is Jesus showing up to people who didn't even.
- [30:26]
Steven Furtick
Recognize him when he did?
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Unknown Speaker
Just showing up.
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Steven Furtick
Then he does something unthinkable. Talk about a thirst trap. Jesus, the living water, sees this woman coming, knows what kind of life she has lived. Yet he doesn't say anything about that. He says, hey, girl, modernization. Look at verse seven. Give me a drink. She didn't like that very much, so she got real deep. Look at her. See, here's what you do when God speaks to a place in your life. When God starts speaking to you, you get theoretical and abstract. To be specific, to really have to deal with the issue, is actually sometimes painful. So she's like, hey, how is it that you, a Jew, ask to drink from me, a woman from Samaria? In other words, I know you're not talking to me. That's what the woman is saying. I know you're not talking to me. You can feel that way sometimes. I mean, some of you sit here and listen to me preach, and you think it's for your wife. I'm talking to you. I'm talking to you, buddy.
- [31:43]
Unknown Speaker
Thirsty self. Everybody in here is thirsty. Everybody in here is thirsty. Some of y'all get it through sex. Some of y'all get it through success. Some of y'all get it through religion. But I have to tell you something. The person you're sitting next to is thirsty. It's not a sin to be thirsty. It's just where you go to get your fix that determines whether or not your soul will be satisfied. Because I found out there's only one well that has the water I need. We talk about the satisfaction. Jesus says, hey, I need a drink. The woman thinks he's talking about water, but he's not talking about water. The woman is perhaps ashamed and offended, so she goes to push him away. See, that's what she has learned how to do. She's thirsty, so she has learned how to get what she needs from who she thinks can give it. But none of it lasts. She's learned. Give me your phone. She has learned how to get what she needs. So she wakes up in the morning thirsty. Did they like my picture? Did they comment on my post? Did they friend me back? Did they follow me back? Thirsty. Somebody shout thirsty. Acting like that's going to fill you. It might for a minute.
- [33:02]
Steven Furtick
But there's one problem with this well. Jesus said, if you drink of this water, woman, you're going to stay thirsty.
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Unknown Speaker
I want you to know that if you put your validation in other people's.
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Steven Furtick
Hands, you will have to go back.
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Unknown Speaker
To them for it.
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Steven Furtick
Don't make me throw his phone.
- [33:20]
Unknown Speaker
So Jesus just lays it out there. Oh, yeah, I'm going to make it worth the while to come to church today.
- [33:30]
Steven Furtick
Jesus is like, hey, you know everyone who drinks of this water? Everyone who drinks of this water. That's why I got on Facebook. Yeah, but why do you go to the mall? Everybody drinks somewhere. Why do you eat Doritos? Everybody drinks somewhere. Why do you put so much pressure on your kids to do what you never did? Everybody drinks somewhere. Why are you texting her back? You better take your phone, man. Something is coming over me while I hold this thing. Something demon in that phone. So sit down. He sits by a well and he's like, I've got to be honest, on the surface, this sounds like a pickup line, but we know it's not. Because Jesus, he's not thirsty like that. He's trying to give her something. He's not trying to receive something from her. He's trying to release something to her because he knows she's thirsty. So he's like, hey, whoever drinks of the water I will give him will never be thirsty again. That troubled Me, because I was contrasting what he said 15 chapters earlier with what he said in John 19 on the cross, where he said, I thirst. I felt like I had caught Jesus contradicting himself because he said he had water and we would never thirst if we drank it. But he said he thirsted on the cross. But I noticed how he didn't say, you'll never feel thirsty again. He didn't say, you will never thirst again. You're going to thirst. You're going to have days that you feel discouraged. If you weren't, God wouldn't tell you not to be terrified or discouraged. If you were naturally going to always be encouraged. If you were never going to be discouraged and dehydrated. That's what the water is for. What he's saying is, you'll always have somewhere to drink from. Not that you'll never have a need, but that I will meet all of your needs according to my glorious riches.
- [36:07]
Unknown Speaker
That's the promise.
- [36:10]
Steven Furtick
He tells the woman, I got something for you. That's what he tells the woman, I have something for you. It's not like what you've been drinking. Watch this. He traps this woman. He totally traps this woman. All through his ministry, people were trying to trap Jesus, the Sadducees and the Pharisees. Judas trapped him in the garden, and the Roman officials thought they had him trapped on the cross. But Jesus was always the one. Even when they thought they had him, they never really had him because he was always in control. Even on the cross.
- [36:39]
Unknown Speaker
There were over 300 messianic prophecies Jesus fulfilled in his life and in his death.
- [36:46]
Steven Furtick
Jesus was never really trapped.
- [36:50]
Unknown Speaker
Here he is with this woman, and he says, I want to drink. But he's not really thirsty like that. He's trying to give her something. God doesn't really need anything from you.
- [36:58]
Steven Furtick
He can have another you in a minute.
- [37:00]
Unknown Speaker
I don't mean to go back to 2002. God really isn't needing something from you when we talk about giving in the church.
- [37:08]
Steven Furtick
How dare you, with your thirsty self, get an attitude. They just want my money.
- [37:12]
Unknown Speaker
God doesn't need your money. God wants to be in your heart. He wants to set you free. You're the one thirsty.
- [37:26]
Steven Furtick
So he says, give me a drink. She says, well, we don't have a bucket. And he's trying to get her to see that she is the bucket.
- [37:35]
Unknown Speaker
And he is the water.
- [37:39]
Steven Furtick
You know what I'm telling myself right now? Focus, Furtick. You have to finish.
- [37:43]
Unknown Speaker
These people have a life. They don't want to be here with.
- [37:46]
Steven Furtick
You for three more hours.
- [37:51]
Unknown Speaker
Give me ten minutes. The woman said, sir.
- [37:58]
Steven Furtick
If there's some kind of water, if there's some bottomless well, if there's free refills, somebody shout, free refills. Give me this water so I won't have to be. So I won't have to be trapped, so I won't have to keep coming back here, so I won't have to keep texting Travis. I just made up the name Travis. So I won't have to keep performing, so I won't have to keep being so thirsty. Now Jesus has her. He got her. He came to Samaria and sat by the well. And now she's trapped. Watch this. He goes, all right, go get your husband. She says, what had happened was I don't have a husband. Which is true, but it's not the total truth. You know how you do, Blake, right? I have no husband. Jesus said, you're right in saying I have no husband. For you've had five husbands and the one you have now is not your husband. What you've said is true and your thirsty and you're trapped. When I asked you for water, I was trying to release you from having to go all around to people and things and stuff that doesn't satisfy. I want to give you something that comes from within. I want to give you something that doesn't depend on bank accounts, that doesn't diminish no matter how the biopsy comes back. I want to give you something you can live off of, something that only gets stronger in your struggle. I want to give you unlimited supply. She said, sir, I think you're onto something. She goes back to Samaria carrying living water she didn't even expect to get. Comes back to Jesus. And the Bible says many in Samaria believe because of her testimony. See, it was a trap. Jesus used a thirsty woman to transform an entire region. I wonder how he could use your life if you would receive his grace today. You've been coming here a long time. Have I ever preached stronger than I'm preaching right now? I'm not even done yet. So sit back and let me give you my fourth point. I want to talk about the setup, because that's what it was. It was a setup.
- [41:47]
Unknown Speaker
That's why he went through Samaria. He was setting this woman up. That's why he asked for a drink, because she was thirsty. That's why he went to the cross uphill, 650 yards. That's why he said, I thirst.
- [42:04]
Steven Furtick
I'm going to Tell you how I found out.
- [42:06]
Unknown Speaker
I thought about that thing so long.
- [42:07]
Steven Furtick
I thought, okay, how can living water be thirsty?
- [42:09]
Unknown Speaker
How can a well need water? How can the one who spoke the oceans into existence now need water from.
- [42:13]
Steven Furtick
The very same source that he created?
- [42:15]
Unknown Speaker
How could God, who reigns above the waters, need water? How could it be possible that God could come down, condescend to the form of human man? How could Christ be made flesh? How could he die and suffer like that? How could it be that there are seasons in my life when I call.
- [42:26]
Steven Furtick
On him and nothing happens?
- [42:27]
Unknown Speaker
How could it be that I have divinity, but I'm trapped sometimes in my desperation? How could it be that I'm full of the spirit, but sometimes I feel so dry? So I had to read again. I read that verse 20 times in John 19:28. I don't read Greek, although I took Greek. I don't read Hebrew, although I took Hebrew. I was not very effective in my language studies. I don't even read Aramaic, which is what Jesus was probably speaking in at the moment when he said, I thirst. But what I do read really well is English, and I know my punctuation marks. So when I read John 19:28, have y'all got, like, seven minutes for me to tie this up? Seven Minute Miracle. It said that after this, after all you've been through, after all they've accused you of, after all the people who walked away, who should have been there, after this, after they counted you out and said you were nothing and mocked you, after this, after a crown of thorns was placed on his head, after the blood ran from his brow, after this, after they beat his back, after they released Barabbas. After this, after the cock crowed and Peter denied him thrice.
- [43:53]
Steven Furtick
After this, knowing that now all things were finished. Jesus had one more thing to say, one thing to do, because there are 300 prophecies and he was on 299. See, everybody standing around that day thought death had trapped Jesus. The cross was a setup. But it wasn't set up by Judas. It wasn't set up by the Sadducees. It wasn't set up by the Pharisees, and it wasn't set up by Herod. It was set up by heaven.
- [44:47]
Unknown Speaker
Listen to me preach on the parentheses in John 19:28. I preached on a lot of things in my little tenure preaching, but I never preached on a punctuation mark until today. After this, knowing that all things had been fulfilled, knowing that he had drank down the full cup of the wrath of God. So you Would never have to. After knowing that he suffered like a criminal so he could reign like a king. After humbling himself, being obedient even to the point of death on a cross.
- [45:22]
Steven Furtick
It was finished. Jesus said, parentheses to fulfill the scripture. Huh. I wonder why John put it in parentheses. Probably because he didn't know that's why it was happening at the time. See, when Jesus said, I thirst, they thought he wanted water, so they gave him vinegar to mock him. The thing they used to mock him was actually the thing he used to finish the work God gave him to do, the thing they put on a sponge to shame him. I have to tell y'all something. Stand up so I'll finish this sermon. Please, I have to show you one more thing. When Jesus said, I thirst to fulfill the scripture, have you ever had to live in the parentheses? I mean, not understanding why you were going through what you were going through?
- [46:36]
Unknown Speaker
Please be real with me. I cannot preach this sermon to closed hearts. I'm trying to give you water today for your thirsty soul.
- [46:47]
Steven Furtick
But sometimes you're in a wilderness and you don't know why. Sometimes you're looking at a red sea.
- [46:54]
Unknown Speaker
And you feel trapped.
- [46:57]
Steven Furtick
Jesus looked trapped up there on that cross. But John said, no, he wasn't trapped. Death didn't trap Jesus. Jesus trapped death.
- [47:20]
Unknown Speaker
Now I know why he said, I thirst. Now I know why. The lips that spoke the waters into their place on the earth said, I thirst to fulfill the spirit. Scripture. God has a purpose for every thirst in your life. Death didn't trap Jesus. Jesus trapped death.
- [47:55]
Steven Furtick
One time, David felt trapped in the psalms, in Psalm 69, he describes it in vivid detail. He goes, the deep waters have engulfed me. I'm surrounded by enemies. They hurl their insults at me. Does this sound familiar, by the way? It's a messianic song. It's describing centuries before the cross, what the cross would be like for Jesus. It is David. Jesus is called the son of David. It is David. Pointing to the one who now says, I thirst. David says something that although he is surrounded by what he calls deep waters of trial, he says, the reproach has broken his heart. The shame has brought him so low to this place that he feels like he's drowning. And you can get to a place where you feel trapped in doubt. You can't have dysfunctions in your life that have been there so long that you feel trapped inside of yourself. That's the worst place to feel trapped. Not in a bad relationship. I mean, you can always block that number. But what do you do when you're trapped inside of your own heart, your own broken heart. David said, it's. It's so bad. It has broken my heart, and I am in despair. I am in distress. But watch this. He said, I looked for pity. There was none for comforters. I found none. Nobody could help me. I was trapped. I was trapped. He said, I got to the point where I asked my friends for food.
- [49:42]
Unknown Speaker
Go to the next verse. And they gave me poison for food. The people who were supposed to help me hurt me. They gave me poison for food. I was thirsty, but for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink. Now I understand why Jesus said, I thirst. Go back to my scripture. It was to fulfill the scripture. It wasn't about water. Jesus was setting the trap for death. This was the last thing he had to do before the spirit could be released. If he didn't suffer, salvation could not spring up like a well. If he did not suffer, it could not flow forth. If he did not die, he could not rise. Somebody shout, it's a setup. It's not the end.
- [50:44]
Steven Furtick
It's in the parentheses.
- [50:49]
Unknown Speaker
Sometimes you have to trust God in the parentheses, in the tight places, when it looks like you're trapped to know that the very red sea that feels like it's going to kill you is going to drown your enemies behind you. Somebody shouted.
- [51:13]
Steven Furtick
He said, I thirsted and they gave me vinegar. Watch this, David. Praying. This is what I'm praying over your life today. Every evil thing the enemy has done to you and every trial that feels like it's sweeping over you. And for everybody who feels trapped, listen what he prayed. Let their own table before them, the thing they brought to destroy me. Let their own table become a snare. And when they are at peace. Just when the devil thought he had.
- [51:46]
Unknown Speaker
Jesus trapped, just when he thought it was over, just when he thought we got rid of that one, just when he thought it was the end, just when they rolled the stone, let it become so. God brought you here into this garden so you could sweat out your insecurities. God brought you here into this tight place so that your doubts could die and your faith could live.
- [52:29]
Steven Furtick
And he will never thirst again. He said, I thirst. And they brought him vinegar. He said, good, I need that vinegar. I needed that trial. Sometimes victory doesn't look like victory. Sometimes victory doesn't taste sweet. When he said, I thirst and they gave him the vinegar for water, after that, after he had received the sour wine, after he had set the trap on death, hell and the grave, I promise you we're going to have the best Easter ever this year.
- [53:11]
Unknown Speaker
I feel like Easter came early today. I really feel like resurrection came in an unexpected the time for somebody who thought you were trapped. Hear the word of the Lord. It's not a trap, it's a triumph. Shout unto God.
- [53:40]
Steven Furtick
Friday's trap was Sunday's trial. Athirst said the trap after he had received the sour wine. He said, it's finished. The trap became the triumph. God is going to take the thing that looks. Ask the children of Israel. They thought the Red Sea was going to be the end of them. It was the end of their enemies. You're not trapped. The devil is.
- [54:27]
Unknown Speaker
Thirsty whom the sun sets free. How many believe that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that will be revealed? How many believe Christ is in you, the humble glory? Come on, shout like you believe that.
- [54:55]
Steven Furtick
I'm going to tell you one more thing and I promise I'm going to walk off this stage while I'm saying it. I love to preach the word to you not because I like to hear myself taught. I love to preach the word of God to you Because I know what this seed is going to do. If you get it down in your heart, watch this favor flows from unexpected places. Do you remember when we were writing the song, resurrecting? It took about nine months to write the song. And everybody on the team contributes in different ways. My thing is, I always like to write. Chris can tell you this because we've been knowing each other forever. Y'all give it up for Chris Brown. This man is a great man of God.
- [55:38]
Unknown Speaker
Well.
- [55:41]
Steven Furtick
I'm kind of weird because when the song seems like it should be over, I always like to put another verse. It's true, right?
- [55:48]
Unknown Speaker
So we wrote the song and it.
- [55:49]
Steven Furtick
Was kind of done. Not really done, but we thought it was done. We finished the songwriting thing. I started thinking I wanted to write this fourth verse for this song. Chris is kind of lazy because he's a worship leader. No, I'm just kidding. He's the hardest working man in the praise biz. So it took six months to get the verse right, but we ended up writing a declaration for our church. Lift your hands, Whatever has you trapped today. We ended up writing this verse to let you know that what looks like it has you locked in is going to be the place. See, that's what the grave was. The grave of Jesus Christ was a garden in the sky. That's what your trials are. That's what your weakness is. So I want you to sing this fourth verse Just when it seems like the song should be over.
- [56:44]
Unknown Speaker
Just when it seems like your hope is gone. Just when it seems like the devil has dehydrated your dream.
- [56:56]
Steven Furtick
The tomb. So they thought they had him right?
- [57:06]
Unknown Speaker
They posted the guard right there. Now if he robbed the grave of its power, if the guards couldn't keep his body in Come on church, come on. I'm talking about rivers of living water. You never thirst again when you get this spirit and the same spirit that raised him from the dead, you better sing that for birth. Your name, your name is Victory.
- [58:05]
Steven Furtick
Thank you for joining us. Special thanks to those of you who give generously to this ministry. It's because of you that this ministry is possible. You can click the link in the description to Give now or visit elevationchurch.orgpodcast for more information. And if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscrib. You can share it with your friends. You can click the Share button, take a screenshot and share it on your social stories and tag us LevationChurch. Thanks again for listening. God Bless.