0:00

Up next on leading the way, see

0:02

how a hurting woman encountered

0:05

Christ at a critical moment in

0:07

her troubled life.

0:09

I don't care what you are facing in life.

0:12

You could never face the degradation

0:15

and the pain that she was going through.

0:17

You cannot comprehend. All the

0:19

things that are going against her. Her

0:21

gender

0:22

rendered her inferior. Her

0:25

immorality could have brought

0:27

the wrath of the self righteous furnaces.

0:30

But Jesus knew

0:32

it desperation. Jesus

0:35

knew that he and he

0:37

alone can set her free. Jesus

0:39

knew that he alone can forgive

0:42

all of her sins there is no

0:44

sin beyond his forgiveness. Jesus

0:46

knew that their most desperate

0:49

need is for his

0:51

redeeming

0:52

love. Welcome

0:54

to leading the way with pastor, author,

0:57

and international bible teacher, doctor

0:59

Michael Youssef. When

1:02

living on earth, Jesus impacted all

1:04

those he encountered, often giving

1:06

clarity to questions about life, death,

1:09

and eternity. Today,

1:11

doctor Youssef takes you to one of those

1:14

moments as he continues his series

1:16

encountering Christ. I

1:19

hope that you'll be able to pause right where

1:21

you are today and experience an

1:23

encounter with the savior. In

1:25

fact, if you have spiritual questions, Visit

1:28

LTW dot org

1:31

slash Jesus. Our

1:33

past oral team would be so honored to have

1:35

a faith conversation with you. LTW

1:38

dot org slash Jesus.

1:41

Listen with me now as doctor Michael

1:44

Youssef begins today's leading the

1:46

way. I

1:48

had an opportunity to watch an interview

1:51

with doctor Patrick Karnes, who

1:53

is recognized as the formal authority

1:56

in this country in this whole

1:58

issue of sexual addiction and

2:00

pornography and pornographic addiction.

2:03

He heads up that famous clinic in

2:05

Mississippi known as Pine

2:07

Grove. Doctor Khan's

2:10

description of

2:12

where we are as a culture in this

2:14

regard is

2:16

enough to send shivers in

2:18

the spine of every parent and every

2:21

grandparent who's sitting here today.

2:23

He called this type of addiction the

2:27

tsunami that could

2:29

threaten the human race. Paragraphic

2:32

addiction moves, he said, in a

2:34

downward direction, which

2:37

leads to addiction and bondage. He

2:40

said this all starts as an impulsive

2:43

act. Then it goes into

2:45

a compulsive behavior

2:48

and then ultimately into a

2:50

full blown addiction. Forty

2:52

percent of men state

2:55

that they started looking at pornography

2:58

at the age of ten. Here's

3:01

what he also said, that women

3:03

are the fastest growing group

3:05

to become sexual addicts, mostly

3:08

because of the internet. But

3:11

enough of statistics, I

3:13

want to move on and I want to

3:15

tell you about the power of God to

3:18

deliver us from whatever it is

3:20

that behold of us. Heming right

3:22

on this one. Because while the

3:24

magnitude is huge,

3:27

Well, there's numbers of addictions

3:29

alarming. The cause

3:32

of this is not new. The

3:35

elements that is driving people

3:37

into this bondage of sexual addiction

3:40

are not new. For

3:42

two thousand years ago plus Jesus

3:46

had an encounter with a woman

3:49

who not unlike

3:51

many in our culture today.

3:55

This woman in John chapter four

3:57

who had an encounter with the living lord

4:00

Jesus Christ could

4:02

be just like somebody lives next door,

4:04

like somebody who works in the office down

4:07

from you. It's like somebody who

4:09

shares a dorm in college with you.

4:11

It's like some member of your

4:13

social club or it could be you.

4:16

Regardless, we

4:18

thank God for the power of Christ who

4:21

can deliver you and can deliver you today.

4:24

The problem is on the outside, most

4:26

of these folks, whatever addiction

4:28

they are into, they appear

4:31

on the outside They're having

4:33

good time. Oh, but on

4:35

the inside, they are living

4:37

in misery. On the outside,

4:40

They look like they've got it all together.

4:43

But deep down, they longing

4:46

for true fulfillment. Deep

4:48

down, they are longing for

4:50

true intimacy. Deep down,

4:52

they are longing for a peace of mind

4:54

deep down, they are longing

4:57

for a deep emotional and

4:59

spiritual victory in their life.

5:02

And the way Jesus reached out to this woman

5:05

of sexual addiction is the

5:07

same way that he would reach to every one

5:09

of us. To everyone who

5:12

longs to be set free, Jesus

5:15

wants to do that. To everyone who

5:17

longs for true contentment and life,

5:19

to everyone who's tired of

5:21

inner conflict and confusion and

5:24

pain Jesus is sitting

5:26

at the well of your life and

5:28

he's calling out to you. Will

5:30

you respond to him? Will you respond

5:33

to him? This encounter took

5:35

place more than two thousand years ago

5:38

And yet in many ways, this story

5:40

is a very modern story in every

5:43

way. It's a really modern story

5:45

in terms of the expression of

5:47

racism, of

5:49

prejudice, of the decline

5:52

of morality, of

5:54

human loneliness, and

5:57

of the longing for true

6:00

love and for true intimacy

6:02

and for true acceptance. When

6:06

he reached out to this desperate Samaritan

6:08

woman, it was nothing

6:11

short of a revolutionary. Trust

6:14

me when I tell you this. And when I explain to

6:16

you further, you'll understand what I mean.

6:18

You see, Samaria, is

6:21

where the West Bank today under

6:23

the Palestinian rule of

6:26

modern day 01. That's where

6:28

Samaria was. From

6:31

Galilee to Jerusalem, you have to go through

6:33

Samaria. It's about seventy two

6:35

mile track. Now

6:39

most people traveled on foot.

6:42

You have to be very rich to have a donkey.

6:45

So most people traveled On foot,

6:47

they walked seventy two miles.

6:49

Do you know how long it took him to walk? Two

6:53

and a half days. Two and

6:55

half days to walk from Jerusalem

6:57

to the gallery area. Ah,

7:01

do you think most of the Jews did that?

7:03

Not on your life. They

7:05

would not go this two

7:08

and a half days walk. They

7:10

went around to Jericho,

7:12

then up to the Jordan Valley

7:14

River, all the way, turned

7:17

back east to galaxy to Nazareth

7:20

or to all the cities around the galaxy. That

7:23

trip took five days.

7:26

Two and a half days versus

7:29

five days. But

7:32

guess what? Ninety nine

7:34

point 999 percent of the

7:36

Jews would go for the five day

7:38

walk rather than the shortcut

7:40

of going through some area. They

7:43

would do whatever it take not

7:45

to go through some area. They will do whatever

7:47

it takes in order not to talk to the

7:49

samaritan or have anything to do with the

7:51

samaritan. And the Samaritans returned

7:53

the favor. They did not like the Jews either.

7:57

You talk about prejudice, prejudice

8:00

and bigotry, were

8:02

so deep that they would rather go

8:04

five days on foot than

8:06

two and a half going through some area.

8:09

Oh, but not Jesus. Not

8:11

Jesus. He wanted

8:13

to go to 01, which

8:16

gave his disciples a

8:18

case of the heavy g b's. They

8:21

go somewhere. Who can go through somewhere?

8:24

Okay. Well, he knows what he's doing, but then

8:26

made it worse. When they saw

8:28

him talking to a Samaritan woman. Him alright,

8:30

please, this is important. Jesus

8:33

came from heaven so that he

8:35

may redeem and forgive

8:38

all people from any

8:40

sin and addiction. It doesn't

8:43

matter what race a person

8:45

may be. It doesn't matter what

8:48

job a person holds. It doesn't

8:50

matter what ethnic group a person

8:52

belongs to. It doesn't matter what nationality

8:55

they might be. It doesn't matter what their

8:57

status and society might be. As

8:59

long as there's someone who

9:01

is desperate for forgiveness,

9:04

as long as there's someone who

9:07

is conscious is so burdened with

9:09

the fire of guilt as long as someone

9:11

who wanted to be relieved from

9:13

the crushing weight of the chains of

9:16

sin and addiction Jesus is

9:18

staying at the well of your life.

9:22

As long as somebody needing

9:24

salvation, that only

9:26

Jesus can give. Jesus

9:28

will come and meet you

9:30

at the point of your need. So

9:32

he gets to 01 weary

9:35

of his walk and tired. He

9:37

sits at the well that was known

9:39

as Jacob's well. Back Jacob, the grandson

9:41

of Abraham dug that well. And no

9:43

one behold of some relative woman comes out

9:45

and draw water from the well.

9:48

Again, you just got to understand the enormity

9:51

of that incredible risk that Jesus was

9:53

taken. It's incredible. I

9:56

mean, a Jewish man cannot be seen talking

9:58

to a Samaritan man. But this

10:00

is a Jewish man talking to a Samaritan

10:02

woman. Think

10:05

about this two thousand years ago, not today.

10:08

To this day to this day today, twenty

10:11

first century, a orthodox

10:13

rabbi would not shake a hand of a

10:15

woman. If a Jew really

10:17

wants to ruin his own reputation, we

10:20

see him talking to a Samaritan. Man,

10:22

let alone being a woman. But

10:24

that's not all. Jesus

10:27

comes from the very

10:29

height and the apex of righteousness, sinlessness,

10:34

and holding us. He is

10:36

God in human flesh. And

10:40

she is at the bottom of degradation of

10:42

sin. This woman

10:45

had so many things going against her.

10:47

I don't care what you are facing in life

10:49

that you could never face the

10:51

degradation and the pain that she

10:54

was going

10:54

through. You cannot comprehend all

10:56

the things that are going against her. The

10:59

worst of what you are experiencing would

11:01

not even measure very close to what she's

11:03

going through. Her birth

11:05

rendered her the object of hatred.

11:08

Her gender rendered her

11:11

inferior. Her immorality could

11:14

have brought the wrath of the self righteous

11:16

viruses. But Jesus

11:20

knew her desperation. Jesus

11:22

knew that he and he

11:24

alone can set her free Jesus

11:27

knew that he alone can forgive

11:29

all of her sins. There is no

11:31

sin beyond his forgiveness. Jesus

11:34

knew that her most desperate

11:36

need is for this

11:38

redeeming love, and

11:41

he can do the same for you today. He

11:43

can do the same for you today. Whatever

11:46

you are. Whatever your situation. He

11:48

can do that for you today.

11:51

All of conventional wisdom back

11:53

then would

11:55

have said, Jesus. You

11:59

should have left the moment. This woman

12:01

showed up.

12:03

But thank god, he didn't. Thank

12:06

God, he didn't. All

12:08

conventional wisdom would have said

12:10

Jesus. This woman

12:13

cannot help who she

12:15

is. And Jesus would

12:17

have said, that's false belief.

12:20

That's false belief. Because I

12:22

came to give life and

12:24

give it more abundantly. Jesus

12:29

This woman is not predisposed to

12:32

leaving her addiction. And

12:34

Jesus would have said, that's a fallacy.

12:38

I can set the captive free.

12:41

She is desperate for salvation

12:44

that only I can give her. Oh,

12:46

but Jesus, this a

12:48

monitored woman is too

12:50

deep into her alternative lifestyle.

12:55

Jesus, this woman is

12:57

half gentle and half you like

12:59

all the samarathons. She cannot be

13:01

saved. Jesus, This woman is

13:03

beyond depravity for her lifestyle.

13:07

But Jesus will say, you don't understand you

13:10

don't understand my power

13:12

came to do the impossible. Jesus,

13:16

her addictions have gone too

13:18

deep and too far Nothing

13:22

is impossible for Jesus. Jesus,

13:26

this is the way she's born and

13:29

Jesus said, I came

13:31

to save, everyone who had

13:33

turned to me, everyone of any

13:35

ethnic group, of any It it doesn't

13:37

matter what religion you belong to.

13:40

The fact you're born, a Muslim or

13:42

born, a Hindu or a born, and you are

13:44

a born. It doesn't matter. If you

13:46

come to me as the only Savior on

13:48

Lord, I will set you free. But

13:52

Jesus, This woman

13:54

is happy in her life.

13:58

You don't understand. My

14:00

eyes see through all

14:03

that's inside of her, and

14:05

I know she's not happy. I

14:07

know that her consciousness is on fire.

14:10

I know the truth. I know how

14:12

she feels. This

14:14

woman like anyone who's

14:17

living in sin and in bondage and in in

14:19

the chains with which

14:21

we are born and then we practice. Like

14:24

all of them, we put a mask on.

14:26

Some of you may walk in here in this church

14:29

with a big mask. She

14:31

had a mask. Actually she had several

14:33

masks. This woman

14:36

felt so degraded, so

14:39

disillusioned, and so dissatisfied. You

14:43

see, whatever glamour that she once

14:45

had She knew is fading away

14:47

fast. Whatever excitement

14:50

in her senses, she's

14:52

now burning them out

14:54

or burning themselves out. All

14:57

that she got left is the drudgery of

14:59

coming in and drawing water from that

15:01

well. Hemirat, please, this is important.

15:04

Like all of those who are enslaved

15:07

to sin. Whatever that

15:09

sin may be, She

15:12

drew temporary satisfaction from

15:15

that bondage, but that's not

15:17

all. Like all people

15:20

who are into all sorts of chains

15:22

of sins, she ended

15:24

up being cynical. She

15:27

knew enough religion to make a dangerous.

15:31

In fact, the hardest people

15:34

who turned to Christ are those

15:36

who are inoculated with a little bit

15:38

of religion. It keeps him

15:40

from coming to know the truth. Religion

15:43

kills. Jesus

15:45

gives life. So

15:49

they put the religious mask on. And

15:51

they rattle these kind of answers, you know.

15:54

They just got them all canned and they

15:56

rattle them. I don't really need God because

15:58

I'm a good person or or, you know,

16:00

God will have to accept me because I live by the

16:03

golden rule. I'm

16:05

born that way. The list goes

16:07

on and on and on. All the canned answers. Religious

16:11

masks. Ah,

16:14

but they are flimsy

16:18

They flimsy excuses for

16:20

not coming to the only one who

16:23

can truly give you life and set you

16:25

free. Forgive your sins and assure

16:27

your eternal life in heaven. Thank

16:29

god. Jesus would

16:31

not be detracted by her cynicism. You

16:34

noticed how many times you try to

16:36

get him off track? Well, you know,

16:38

you just do this and we some other things do that.

16:40

He let that pass. You know, you worship

16:42

in this mouth and you just worship with us and let

16:44

that pass. He he did not want to get into

16:46

a theological debate with her. No. No.

16:48

No. No. As a

16:51

Hebrew language, there are two words for water.

16:53

Those who translate the bible into English

16:56

try to distinguish between those two words

16:58

by using the word living water. She

17:01

was using one word. He was using another word.

17:04

He was referring to stagnant water.

17:06

He was referring to bubbling spring

17:08

water. As if Jesus was

17:10

saying to her. And

17:13

not in very subtle way, by the way.

17:15

Lady, you are into

17:17

dead religion, Lady,

17:20

you are into dead rituals. Lady,

17:23

you are into traditions that

17:26

can never give life. They

17:28

can never deliver you from the pain that you

17:30

feel on the inside. They

17:32

can never deliver you from the guilt

17:35

and shame that you're feeling on the inside.

17:37

They can never give you inner fulfillment and

17:40

satisfaction in this life

17:42

and for all of eternity. Religion

17:45

can never save you. Religion

17:47

can never permanently forgive

17:49

all of your sins. If

17:51

you knew the gift of God and who

17:53

it is who's asking you for a drink, you

17:56

would have asked him and

17:58

he would have given you the living

18:00

water. All of

18:02

that other stuff of religion is

18:05

like stagnant water. It

18:07

stinks. All

18:09

of the stuff of religion that

18:11

you are into is like salt

18:14

water. Those of

18:16

you, I'm sure you've 01 it. If

18:18

you're thirsty and you're swimming in the ocean

18:20

and you take some of that water in, You

18:22

get more thirsty. The more you drink

18:24

it, the more you thirst. And

18:27

you can't wait to run out to the beach to get

18:29

some called pure

18:31

water to drink, to quench your

18:33

thirst. That's the water of

18:35

the world. It's salty water.

18:37

It can never never never

18:40

never satisfy. It

18:42

can never give you that inner contentment.

18:45

That can never give you that inner peace.

18:49

I was thinking about this and I thought about

18:52

the man in history who once was

18:55

in prison. And he said,

18:57

if I be set free from

18:59

prison, that's all I would want

19:01

in life. So he was

19:03

set free. Then

19:06

he said, oh, if I would only

19:08

have the necessities of

19:11

life, The resources in life,

19:13

I would want no more. He got

19:16

that. Then he

19:18

said, oh, but if I only have

19:20

a high position, I

19:23

would want no more. He got that.

19:27

Then he cried at all. If I

19:29

would be a magistrate, I

19:31

would want nothing else in life. He

19:34

got that. Then

19:36

he cried out and said, oh, but if I

19:39

were to be a prince, I

19:42

would want nothing else in life. He

19:45

got that. Then

19:47

he said, no. But if I be a king,

19:50

I would want nothing else in life. He

19:52

got that. Then he said,

19:54

no. No. No. If I become an emperor,

19:58

I would want nothing else in life. He got

20:00

that. Then the cried out is at

20:02

all, if I'll be emperor of the whole world,

20:05

I would want nothing else. He

20:07

got that. And history

20:10

tells us that Alexander

20:12

the great wept when there was

20:14

no more worlds to conquer. Salt

20:18

water, the more you drink it,

20:20

this can never be enough. It could never satisfy

20:23

you. The more you drink the more you thirst,

20:25

the more you drink it, the more you thirst. It's a lie.

20:28

It's a deception. My

20:31

beloved friend life

20:33

away from Christ will never satisfy

20:35

you. We'll never satisfy you.

20:38

The waters of this world will never give

20:40

you that inner contentment you're looking

20:42

for today, Jesus wants

20:45

to give you the living water. He

20:47

wants to give you himself and

20:49

set you free. And

20:52

that is why Jesus had

20:54

to walk through Samaria.

20:58

And not avoid it like

21:00

most people did. See,

21:03

this woman had five failed

21:05

marriages you think that's

21:07

coming out of Hollywood. I

21:09

mean, 01, five. Obviously,

21:11

she reasoned in her head, ah, The

21:14

problem must be the marriage itself.

21:17

Such you were shacking up with number six.

21:19

Say, I give up marriage. She

21:22

did not realize that her real thirst for satisfaction

21:25

in life could only come from

21:27

the Lord Jesus. That her

21:29

desperate need in life

21:32

is for Christ to come

21:34

into her life. And

21:36

give her true contentment and

21:39

joy. Before

21:42

Christ found me, Every

21:44

time I try, I said, I'm gonna do better.

21:47

I'll try harder. Until

21:49

I stopped running away from him. Until

21:52

I came to the end of myself. What

21:56

about you? You come to the end of

21:58

yourself. Good news because

22:00

Jesus is right there. At

22:02

the end of yourself. Are

22:05

you ready to receive his

22:07

living water This

22:11

woman, when she was confronted

22:13

by the truth, when

22:16

she accepted the truth the

22:18

truth transformed her. She

22:21

ran back to the very people who

22:23

degraded her. And

22:26

she said, come and see. The

22:28

one who told me all my secrets.

22:30

Here's the Messiah. Come and meet

22:32

the one who lived stood my burden.

22:35

Come and see the one who forgave all

22:37

of my sins. Come and see the one

22:39

who broke my bondage. He

22:42

can do the same for you. He can do

22:44

the same for you.

22:49

Have you met the one who will

22:51

lift the burden of your life? You

22:53

can today. In fact, leading

22:55

the way pastors or are they available to talk

22:57

or chat online about your faith questions.

23:00

And you can start those conversations at

23:03

ltw dot

23:05

org slash Jesus. That's

23:08

LTW dot org

23:11

Jesus. Now just to keep

23:13

you up to date on what to expect as you

23:15

listen to the series from Dr. Youssef,

23:17

remember it's called encountering Christ.

23:21

Each message transports you into

23:23

the moments when Jesus meets people

23:25

at crucial points in their lives. And

23:28

during these encounters, Jesus

23:30

reveals himself as more than a teacher

23:32

or a prophet he reveals himself

23:35

to be the savior. You

23:37

can experience a life changing encounter

23:40

with Jesus as well. All of us at

23:42

leading the way hope that you'll encourage those

23:44

who need an encounter with Jesus to

23:46

listen along. They can do that

23:48

through the radio program. Or

23:50

by streaming online or

23:52

listening to podcast and other content

23:55

that Dr. Youssef makes available online

23:57

and through the leading the Way

24:00

app. In fact, let me give you this quick

24:02

reminder. As I mentioned, anyone

24:04

can connect with leading the Way team member

24:06

any time with your faith questions.

24:09

The place to start, LTW

24:12

dot orgJesus. LTW

24:17

dot org slash Jesus.

24:20

Oh, and keep this phone number handy as well.

24:22

Calls that a representative can help you

24:24

order products, give a gift, and

24:27

connect further with leading the way.

24:29

The number to call 86666264356.

24:36

That's 86666264356.

24:44

This program is furnished by leading

24:46

the way with doctor Michael Yusa

24:48

Connect with us through our YouTube channel,

24:51

Facebook, Twitter, and all of our

24:53

social media networks. Learn

24:55

more at LTW dot

24:58

org.