Pastor Dan Turpin
West Coast Church
Introduction: Years ago I preached a message from John. 4:3-7 which says, v3 Jesus left Judea and returned to Galilee and … came to the Samaritan village of Sychar …v 6 Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime v7 Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” From that encounter I saw three things: 1) God Has Needs, 2) You have the ability to minister to the needs of God, 3) You were created to meet God’s needs
John. 1:1 declares, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Moses gave us the Ten Commandments, [God in Stone] inscribed by the finger of God Himself. These commandments are a reflection of His divine nature. They are windows into His heart, mind and soul—revealing His needs and how we can have relationship with Him.
#1. God has a need for Loyalty (Ex. 20:3-6 ) You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; v5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and
fourth generations of those who hate Me, v6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
A. Eerdman: " God is jealous … of His own honor, and will not have the reverence which is due Him bestowed on other beings
or on inanimate objects".
1. No Substitutes (Ex. 20:5 I am a jealous God)
a. Pastor Dan: An idol is anything that we substitute for relationship with God (good works, baptism, church attendance, tithing)
b. Matt. 7:21-23 Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the
will of My Father in heaven.v 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name,
cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name? v 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I
never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness
c. Spirit Filled Life Bible: No human effort can represent God adequately so He forbids us from creating any image of Him.
d. Eerdman: Obedience is the best evidence of worship.
e. John. 14:21, 24 Those who have My commandments and keeps them, they are ones who love Me. And those persons who love Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love them and manifest [reveal] Myself to them.
2. First Things First Psalm 1:2 Blessed is the man and woman who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in
the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But their delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law they
meditate day and night. v3 He or she shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bring forth its fruit in its
season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he or she does shall prosper.)
a. Pastor Dan: God is jealous of the place in His heart that He has reserved us and the place in our hearts that is reserved for Him. I am jealous.
b. Heb. 12:2 Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Pastor Dan: God has written us into His life and written Himself into our lives—His nature is inscribed into our heart and soul and we will forever be at odds with ourselves until He is given His rightful place in our hearts.
c. Luke 6:33 Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all other things will be given to you.
Pastor Dan: Put first things first, last things last and in between things in between.
d. Is. 40:31 They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall walk and not faith; they shall run and not be weary.
. e. Eerdman:" Dependence on something else other thanGod is a peril and grave danger."
Closing and Invitation; David Bevan: Relating to God is like any other relationship. If we relate to Him as a person then we will develop a personal relationship with Him. The primary focus of time we spend with God must be on God Himself—on our relationship with Him—rather than of either what we can do for Him or on what He can do for us. We should not be coming to Him primarily to be given orders to obey (as if we just worked for Him), or to ask Him to meet our needs (as if He worked for us), but to relate to Him deeply and profoundly as our closest friend, the love of our lives and father.
