August 5, 2024 • 31 mins
Pastor Eric evaluates a so-called biblical prescription for drinking more water in order to be healthier based on John 4:10. He shows how this is a mishandling of the Scripture and why it is such a horrible thing to twist the Scripture this way.
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Pastor Eric (00:37):
Welcome to another episode of FaithCast.
Coming from Visalia, California,Faith Baptist Church.
My name is Eric Noorthoek.
I'm one of the pastors.
(01:04):
I want to continue todaywhere we left off last time.
We were looking at three biblicalprescriptions for improving mental health.
Which I found as I was browsing.
YouTube looking for
some good material.
(01:29):
Three prescriptions biblicalprescriptions by a man named Dr.
Marcum, who I believe is a cardiologist.
And he claims to be able to bringus biblical prescriptions that are
guaranteed to improve our life.
And what I've hopefully made clear lasttime is that his first prescription,
(01:55):
which was that you need to go outdoors,was anything but biblical, and that
it was a mishandling of Psalm 19.
And that it stopped short ofactually going to the heart of
the issue, which is the heart.
And this is a major problem becausewhen you mishandle scripture, if you
(02:18):
do not properly exegete, that is workthrough a text and look to see what it
is saying, you are not going to cometo the conclusion that is necessary
in order to hear from God so that youwill be transformed and changed so
that the Spirit of God will changeyou and then work out in your actions.
(02:44):
Sanctification is a work of the Spirit,just as much as justification is.
When you came to Christ, it was noton your own ability or strength.
No man can boast.
You know, you are saved by faith andnot of works, so that no one can boast.
It is by grace through faith alone.
Sanctification works the same way.
(03:05):
Nothing changes.
It isn't like you, you come to Christand and Jesus needed to get you there
and now you, you can take over likehe's handing you the baton and you're
moving on as if you're some kindof a, a runner in a, relay race.
\ That, that's not how sanctification works.
We need the Spirit ofGod to do the work in us.
(03:27):
Just as much as we ever did.
We are completely incapable.
And so what God does is he uses his wordand the Spirit of God takes his word
and he drives it right to our heart.
He reveals our issues, our idols,our sin issues in our heart that the
things that we are holding on to, thethings that we are placing above God.
(03:52):
He reveals those to us, He convictsus, and then He calls us to change, and
then He gives us the power to change.
So that the Spirit of God isinvolved from beginning to end, this
transformation work, because we arebeing created into the image of God.
This requires the Word of God.
God uses His Word, and Hewill drive you to His Word.
(04:13):
One way or another you've got to get intothe Word of God in order to be changed
because that is the the the tool That theSpirit uses now the Spirit will use people
God will use people use circumstances allof those things Those are all tools trials
Difficulties those are all tools, but theydrive us to the Word because the Word of
(04:38):
God is the primary agent, if you will,of change that the Spirit of God uses.
And if you mishandle the Word of God, ifit is not properly defined and exegeted
and worked through, studied, then Itis not going to be properly applied.
(05:03):
And if it is not, thewhole process breaks down.
And so when you handle Psalm19 and you say Psalm 19.
1 is telling us that you needto go outside so that you can
improve your mental health.
That is not what Psalm19 is saying at all.
And we went through that last time.
And I want to go through another one
where the second biblicalprescription, supposedly
(05:26):
biblical, and it's not biblical.
This is his prescriptioncoming from a medical.
Perspective, which isanything but biblical.
So let's, let's, let's jump in hereand listen to the second prescription
for improving mental health.
Unknown (05:45):
I want to have us turn to John and that's in the new Testament.
One of the gospels, John four, verse10, and I'm going to flip there to them.
And you can turn there with me.
I'm John four, verse 10.
And that text is a text that Christsaid himself, Jesus answered.
(06:07):
And said to her, the woman at thewell, if you knew the gift of God and
who it is, who says to you, give mea drink, you would have asked him and
he would have given you living water.
Pastor Eric (06:22):
I went through this once and and I was kind of like
hearing it for the first time.
I, I wanted it to be live and andjust responsive, but I got through
it all and I realized I hadn't hitthe record button which is terrible.
So, I get to do it all over again and onlythis time I know what he's going to say.
It I stopped it and I said,now if he starts talking about.
(06:43):
Our need to drink water that, that, youknow, I, I would be shocked , well, sure
enough, that's, that's what he does.
This verse is about your need to drink.
So I'm going to, I'm going toplay this because I want you to
catch the, the absurdity of it.
(07:04):
Also he's got good advice here when itcomes to water and the need for water.
And so I'll, I'll let you listen tothat and maybe you'll you'll drink more
for your, your physical well being.
But, but I want to get to what hesays, cause he will bring it to
the spiritual in just a minute,but let's go ahead and listen.
The
Unknown (07:22):
biblical prescription I want to give you is water.
Remember, when we come to Christ andworship, that's the living water.
This has nothing
Pastor Eric (07:31):
to do with drinking water.
But we also
Unknown (07:32):
need physical water.
No matter what season it is,the brain, mental health does
good When we're hydrated.
Well, it's been estimated that upto 70 percent of our brain is water.
We don't get enough water.
It puts stress on our brains.
We get dehydrated.
It also stresses out the rest of the body.
(07:55):
And when we're bodiesunder stress, guess what?
Inflammation occurs, thestress chemistries turned on.
We just don't feel as good.
We don't breathe as well.
Our brain is affected.
Remember the whole body.
is interconnected.
So something as simple as watercan help our bodies tremendously.
But I also want you to.
Pastor Eric (08:17):
All right.
Yes, that's good advice.
And I let that go so that youcan know you need to drink water.
I need to drink water.
In fact, I have water right here in frontof me and now I'm moved to drink it.
That's good.
Need water.
Is that what John 4 verse10 is talking about?
(08:43):
It's not.
He's talking about spiritual water.
He's talking about living water.
Now this this gentleman here willbring that and just, you know, this
is what he's going to say next.
He's going to say, doyou need physical water?
But you also need spiritual water.
I want you to catch whathe does when he brings it.
(09:06):
To the spiritual, so let'slisten a little bit more
Unknown (09:10):
remember in this text not only physical water which Continues to keep
us alive, but living water Rememberthe physical water helps our body but
the living water Jesus that also helpsour body and in this text John 4 10
Pastor Eric (09:28):
Okay, did you did you catch that the the this the living water
helps our body, but then the spiritualy'all application here that is Jesus
also helps our he didn't say heart whatdid he say our body this is this is
(09:50):
what I'm saying everything is broughtdown to a physiological level as if
all of our issues are physiological.
This is the foundation of psychology.
All, this is what they're being taught.
They don't know how todeal with spiritual.
(10:11):
And I'm not saying this guythat he's not a believer.
I have no idea.
I haven't listened to him enough.
All I can say.
Is that this is a severe mishandlingof the Word of God, and it seems
like his idea of spiritual helpbecomes physical, as if it all
kind of terminates in the spirit.
(10:32):
The physical body.
Let's listen some more.
He'll do this again.
Just listen.
Unknown (10:36):
It says, it is he who says to you, give me a drink.
That's Christ saying you would haveasked him and he would have given you
not more than the physical water, but beof being with him by being with Christ.
You can have living water.
So in helping your mental health,we want the physical water.
We want the living water.
(10:58):
Now, what does thatlook like in your life?
Well, it might be simple as gettinga drink of water every morning
before you brush your teeth,before you eat a meal, it might be
drinking water instead of soda pop.
It might be just consciouslymaking sure you're hydrated.
Well, you want to drink enough water.
Till your urine comes out clear.
(11:20):
Okay, that's good
Pastor Eric (11:20):
advice there.
Drink lots of water.
It's good for your physical health.
So, that's good.
And I appreciate that from this guy.
It's nice to hear doctors who canencourage us in things that are simple,
that don't require, you know, medications,you know, maybe your physical issues could
be because you don't drink enough water.
(11:41):
That's, you know, there's, there'sclearly an effect that it has on us
when we don't drink enough water.
But let's continue.
Unknown (11:51):
But as you drink the physical water, spend a second
to remember the living water.
Pastor Eric (11:59):
Okay.
Spend a second toremember the living water.
It's like, okay, you're drinkingthe physical water, but don't
forget about the spiritual.
So what Jesus is like a, likean add on, like a tack on here.
You know, you don't, don'tforget the spiritual.
You need the spiritual.
So just spend a secondand, and think about Jesus.
(12:20):
And, and, and that's what it looks like.
That's how you're accessingthe spiritual water.
Is that true?
Is it just you know, you're drinkingyour physical water, and then as
you're drinking your physical water,You know, you brush your teeth, and
you're done, you spit it out, andthen you take some water, and then you
think, Oh, yes, there's Jesus, too.
I'm so glad that he died for my sins.
(12:41):
And then you've done the exercise that isnecessary in order to improve your mental
health, and just be healthy overall.
Is that what John 4, verse 10 is saying?
Let's
Unknown (12:55):
listen just
Pastor Eric (12:55):
a little bit more.
Unknown (12:57):
Have I connected with the living water today?
Have, have I worshiped today?
Have I asked Christ to help mewith all of my problems, whether
it be anxiety or depression?
Have I asked God tohelp my brain do better?
Pastor Eric (13:10):
Have I asked him to help my brain be better?
There's the conflation nowthat I have a problem with.
Because when we when wetalk about the brain, it is
physical, it is physiological.
It is not spiritual,it is a physical organ.
(13:36):
When we talk about theheart, that is spiritual.
In the Bible, when it speaks of the heartissues, it'll often use terms like the,
the thoughts, the inner being, the soul,the thinking of a man out of the heart.
And it equates thethinking with the heart.
(13:57):
What you think is what isgoing on in your heart.
The thinking is part of the spiritual.
And so I would call that the mind.
The mind, which is, which is areference to, biblically, it's a
reference to the inner man, to the,to the spiritual level of a man.
It is not the brain.
(14:17):
Your problems are not your brain.
This is the problem.
We conflate mind with brain.
We conflate, we conflate thespiritual with the physical.
And so there's this Christianese,this, this Christian veneer
that is put in, put over it.
But it is, it is all brought down tothe physical, as if the issues are
(14:43):
physiological, as if, physiological,as if the issues are all about having
mental well being and mental health andjust, just being holistically healthy.
Is that the goal of the Christian life?
Make sure you're drinkingenough water, Paul.
Make sure you're, you'rethinking about Jesus enough.
(15:04):
And make sure that they're allblending together in such a way
that your brain is doing okayand you have good mental health.
Is that the way Paul talks?
No.
And Paul is enduring allthings for the sake of Christ.
And he describes his life as a as aman who is, who is suffering severe
(15:27):
physical trauma and severe physicalpain in misery for the sake of Christ.
Listen to what he says in 2 Corinthians 6he says, verse, verse 4, but in everything
commending ourselves as servants of God.
In much endurance, in afflictions, inhardships, in distresses, in beatings,
in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors,in sleeplessness, in hunger, in purity,
(15:52):
in knowledge, in patience, in kindness,in the Holy Spirit, in the genuine love.
So he's got the physical.
In the midst of that physical,sleeplessness, hunger I'm sure thirst,
he probably, you know, all of thisphysical deprivation that he's enduring.
In the midst of all that, there'spurity and knowledge, there's
(16:12):
patience and kindness and theHoly Spirit and genuine love.
And the word of truth and the powerof God by the weapons of righteousness
for the right hand and for the left.
By glory and dishonor by evil report andgood report regarded as deceivers and yet
true as unknown, yet well known as dying.
Yet behold, we live in themidst of this suffering.
There's life
(16:36):
he says as punished, yet not put to deathas sor sorrowful, yet always rejoicing
as poor, yet making many rich is havingnothing yet possessing all things
he, he endured incredibleaffliction and, and an imbalanced.
Life because of physical sufferingsthat he endured, but he was fully alive
(17:04):
because, well, John 4, 10, Paulhad found living water that
had changed everything for him.
This kind of water that flows fromwithin, which is a reference to the
spirit of God that renews regardless ofour circumstances and our difficulties.
(17:32):
Even if we find ourselvesdeprived of physical water,
Jesus has provided living water.
He is enough.
This is not about your brain health.
The goal of the Word of God isnot to give you a healthy brain.
(17:53):
It is to cause you
to cling to Christ andto know what is true.
It is to affect your inner being.
Your brain can't be counted on.
It can't be you could suffer a massivehead injury and lose all your ability to
(18:18):
function You could get Alzheimer's and andindeed, you know regress into Childishness
you need something that is farmore sustaining and sustainable
than your mental well being.
(18:40):
That is your brain, which, whichprovides, if we're going to define
mental well being as, as innerspiritual realities, which they don't.
Mental well being in, in this world thepsychologist is all about the brain.
It's all about the physical.
But if, but if we're going touse that term in a biblical way,
although it's not described inmental health is not a biblical term.
(19:03):
That was a.
Coined phrase, you willnot find that in scripture.
Paul was never seeking mental health.
If we're talking about the internal man,the mind, the thinking, the source of
life, joy, peace, that can be yours.
(19:25):
Regardless of whether you haveenough water, physically or not.
Let's listen a little bit more.
Unknown (19:33):
Have I asked god to find the other things he can give me that I can
Improve my brain health and he okay
Pastor Eric (19:41):
Ask god to give me the other things So that I
can improve my brain health.
It's all about the brain.
Unknown (19:46):
Might lead you to things like walnuts, almonds, or blueberries, or
better diet, better diet might leadyou to turning off media or focusing
on positive things and negative things.
Remember every input affects our brainsand this living water can give you power
to see the things and the inputs you needto do to change your entire physiology.
(20:08):
Physiology.
Pastor Eric (20:11):
That's the problem.
It's not spiritual, even when he attemptsto use a verse and said, look, you need to
have the spiritual living water as well.
He brings it down to physiology.
You might need to eat more walnuts.
You might need to have a betterdiet that Jesus is interested
(20:35):
in you having your best life.
Now that you're, you're holistic, butthat's not what the Bible teaches us.
This is a horrible use of scripture.
It is.
It's incredibly.
destructive.
And it brings it all down tosort of a, a level of prosperity.
Like Jesus is there to, to, to makesure you have mental wellbeing,
(20:59):
you have a good diet that you'rebalanced in in all of these ways.
And, and by the way, he's alsointerested in blessing you.
So he's going to make sureyou have financial prosperity.
I mean, holistically healthy inall these ways, but that is not
the testimony of scripture, nor theexample in the testimony of the saints.
That's not the testimony of Paul.
(21:23):
He was
completely imbalanced, if youwant to look at it that way.
Or listen to the saints of Hebrews 11.
Others experienced mocking.
Verse 36.
Others experienced mocking and scourgings.
Yes, chains and imprisonment.
They were stoned.
They were sawn in two.
(21:43):
They were tempted.
They were put to death with the sword.
They went about in sheepskinsand goatskins, being destitute,
afflicted, ill treated.
And then verse 38.
I love this.
Men of whom the world was not worthy.
That's a little parentheticalstatement there.
The world knows nothing of this kindof life, that they're willing to endure
(22:07):
such persecutions, and hardship, andsuffering, and hunger, and thirst, going
about destitute, ill treated, afflicted,wandering in deserts, in mountains,
in caves, in holes in the ground.
And all these, having gained approvalthrough their faith, did not receive
(22:28):
what is promised because they werenot living for their best life now.
They were living for the living water thatJesus brought them, and that he promised
that he would bring them into eternity.
They are an example.
This is what they live for.
Moses considered the reproachesof Christ of greater riches
(22:51):
in the treasures of Egypt.
And this was the rewardhe was looking toward.
This is what we're talking about with,with living water, it's transformation.
You go back to John 4 and thiswoman at the well, it's an amazing
scene because this woman does notunderstand that this is Jesus.
And she asks a question about worshipbecause the Samaritans had created
(23:12):
an altar religion and they believedthat they, they had the right mountain
they were supposed to worship on.
It was right there near Jacobs.
Well, where this woman was drawingwater verse 20, our father's worship
in this mountain and you people sayin Jerusalem so it's a question of
worship a question of Proper worship.
It was a major debate between theSamaritans and the in the Jews and
(23:36):
Jesus said to her woman believeme now It's coming when neither
in this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
Will you worship the father?
You worship what you do not know, weworship what we know, for salvation is
from Jews, so it began with the Jews.
But an hour is coming, and now is,when the true worshippers will worship
the Father in spirit and truth.
For such people the Fatherseeks to be his worshippers.
God is spirit, and those whoworship him, worship him, must
(23:59):
worship in spirit and truth.
That is the goal of the Christian life.
It is to worship the issues ofour life, are worship disorders.
We are worshiping something thatis physical, something that we
think will bring us delight.
That is not God.
And we are called toworship him in spirit.
(24:19):
In order to do this, we need the spiritof God in us who is driving us to the
word in order to reveal what God has.
Called us to, which is the truth.
The,
the, the water here is metaphorical.
In this passage, this woman is going tothe well and, and it's laborious for her.
(24:44):
And she has to go because, becauseit's the only way to quench the thirst.
She's gotta keep going andgetting the water over and over.
This is the religious systems, whetherSamaritan or whether the Pharisees
that they have to keep going anddoing and trying to, to quench this
thirst, but they never quench it.
It is constant.
(25:07):
And in order to find the cure
for her thirst, which ultimately isspiritual, she needs living water.
And that's what Jesus promises.
It's a beautiful thing becausethis woman says, well, you know,
verse, verse 25, the woman said,I know that the Messiah is coming.
He was called to Christ and he, when hecomes, he will declare all things to us.
(25:29):
He's going to settle this whole debate.
This woman is just kind of like,you know, you know, who's to
know whether the Samaritans areright or the Jews are right.
Who's to know?
And then Jesus, verse 26, saidto her, I who speak to you, am
he, he reveals himself to her.
And and then in verse 28,she drops her water pot.
(25:51):
Why?
Because in a metaphorical way,she doesn't need it anymore.
Christ has revealed to her, Christhas miraculous, miraculously
given her living water.
. He healed her.
He gave her water from within.
She drops her water pot.
She doesn't need it anymore and sheruns and she begins to brag that she
(26:12):
found a man who told her all her sins.
Who does that?
Well, the one who hasfound the cure for sin.
And she says, this is,is this not the Christ?
She becomes an evangelist.
I found the solution to my deep thirst.
(26:37):
That was there my whole life.
And Jesus came and in amoment he quenched my thirst.
And what flows out from this woman is joy.
And I have no doubt that she, inphysical ways, suffered after this.
(26:58):
Surely she had to come backand get water or she went to
another well and, and drew water.
But she has found the onewho has healed her shame.
He's the one who told hereverything he ever did.
He knew it.
Is this not the Christ?
Is this not the cure?
Is this not the one whoquenches thirst in our soul?
(27:21):
This has nothing to do with whetheryou are drinking enough water or
eating enough almonds and walnuts.
That is a massive disservice to allthe people who are looking for answers.
(27:42):
who come across this stuff andthey listen to this and they
think, oh, that's good advice.
I mean, it sounds good, right?
Because we all should eat healthyand we should drink plenty of water.
But you know, your realproblem is not your diet.
It is not a little add on of Jesus.
(28:04):
No, no, no.
No, what you need is heart transformation.
That's what you and I need.
That's what this woman received.
This living water that flowed, thattransformed, that changed her, that
quenched her thirst from within.
So that her heart was cleansed.
It was cleaned.
And she became a lover of God.
(28:25):
And a hater of her sin.
And now she's got the answers.
Because out of the heartflow the issues of life.
And so what she needs is somebodywho can reach down into the
heart and make the tweaks there.
Well, that's God.
That's the Spirit.
That's the Word.
And that's the only hope.
(28:48):
And people who deceive other Christians bysounding Christian and giving this kind of
prescriptions
are misleading people.
And so they never seetheir real spiritual need.
(29:10):
Because the Word of God has been somishandled, that they don't actually
know what God's word says, and so theydon't actually know what they need to
do, which is to repent and turn to Christand cling to Christ as your only hope.
He's the only healer that can do this.
(29:34):
So there you go.
I really think this is a horriblething, which is why I'm doing this.
I don't want you to be deceived.
I don't want you to fall for this.
It sounds so good.
It's so appealing, but it is so deceptive.
It is.
Very wicked when you,when it comes down to it.
(30:06):
I hope this has been helpful to you.
Have you found the living water?
Have you?
Are you still searching foranswers with guys in white coats
and letters behind their name?
They can't help you.
The only one who can help youis the one who came and died
(30:28):
on the cross for your sins.
He's the only one who cangive you forgiveness and can
quench your thirst from within.
It's through Christ alone.
Welcome to another episode of FaithCast.
Coming from Visalia, California,Faith Baptist Church.
My name is Eric Noorthoek.
I'm one of the pastors.
(01:04):
I want to continue todaywhere we left off last time.
We were looking at three biblicalprescriptions for improving mental health.
Which I found as I was browsing.
YouTube looking for
some good material.
(01:29):
Three prescriptions biblicalprescriptions by a man named Dr.
Marcum, who I believe is a cardiologist.
And he claims to be able to bringus biblical prescriptions that are
guaranteed to improve our life.
And what I've hopefully made clear lasttime is that his first prescription,
(01:55):
which was that you need to go outdoors,was anything but biblical, and that
it was a mishandling of Psalm 19.
And that it stopped short ofactually going to the heart of
the issue, which is the heart.
And this is a major problem becausewhen you mishandle scripture, if you
(02:18):
do not properly exegete, that is workthrough a text and look to see what it
is saying, you are not going to cometo the conclusion that is necessary
in order to hear from God so that youwill be transformed and changed so
that the Spirit of God will changeyou and then work out in your actions.
(02:44):
Sanctification is a work of the Spirit,just as much as justification is.
When you came to Christ, it was noton your own ability or strength.
No man can boast.
You know, you are saved by faith andnot of works, so that no one can boast.
It is by grace through faith alone.
Sanctification works the same way.
(03:05):
Nothing changes.
It isn't like you, you come to Christand and Jesus needed to get you there
and now you, you can take over likehe's handing you the baton and you're
moving on as if you're some kindof a, a runner in a, relay race.
\ That, that's not how sanctification works.
We need the Spirit ofGod to do the work in us.
(03:27):
Just as much as we ever did.
We are completely incapable.
And so what God does is he uses his wordand the Spirit of God takes his word
and he drives it right to our heart.
He reveals our issues, our idols,our sin issues in our heart that the
things that we are holding on to, thethings that we are placing above God.
(03:52):
He reveals those to us, He convictsus, and then He calls us to change, and
then He gives us the power to change.
So that the Spirit of God isinvolved from beginning to end, this
transformation work, because we arebeing created into the image of God.
This requires the Word of God.
God uses His Word, and Hewill drive you to His Word.
(04:13):
One way or another you've got to get intothe Word of God in order to be changed
because that is the the the tool That theSpirit uses now the Spirit will use people
God will use people use circumstances allof those things Those are all tools trials
Difficulties those are all tools, but theydrive us to the Word because the Word of
(04:38):
God is the primary agent, if you will,of change that the Spirit of God uses.
And if you mishandle the Word of God, ifit is not properly defined and exegeted
and worked through, studied, then Itis not going to be properly applied.
(05:03):
And if it is not, thewhole process breaks down.
And so when you handle Psalm19 and you say Psalm 19.
1 is telling us that you needto go outside so that you can
improve your mental health.
That is not what Psalm19 is saying at all.
And we went through that last time.
And I want to go through another one
where the second biblicalprescription, supposedly
(05:26):
biblical, and it's not biblical.
This is his prescriptioncoming from a medical.
Perspective, which isanything but biblical.
So let's, let's, let's jump in hereand listen to the second prescription
for improving mental health.
Unknown (05:45):
I want to have us turn to John and that's in the new Testament.
One of the gospels, John four, verse10, and I'm going to flip there to them.
And you can turn there with me.
I'm John four, verse 10.
And that text is a text that Christsaid himself, Jesus answered.
(06:07):
And said to her, the woman at thewell, if you knew the gift of God and
who it is, who says to you, give mea drink, you would have asked him and
he would have given you living water.
Pastor Eric (06:22):
I went through this once and and I was kind of like
hearing it for the first time.
I, I wanted it to be live and andjust responsive, but I got through
it all and I realized I hadn't hitthe record button which is terrible.
So, I get to do it all over again and onlythis time I know what he's going to say.
It I stopped it and I said,now if he starts talking about.
(06:43):
Our need to drink water that, that, youknow, I, I would be shocked , well, sure
enough, that's, that's what he does.
This verse is about your need to drink.
So I'm going to, I'm going toplay this because I want you to
catch the, the absurdity of it.
(07:04):
Also he's got good advice here when itcomes to water and the need for water.
And so I'll, I'll let you listen tothat and maybe you'll you'll drink more
for your, your physical well being.
But, but I want to get to what hesays, cause he will bring it to
the spiritual in just a minute,but let's go ahead and listen.
The
Unknown (07:22):
biblical prescription I want to give you is water.
Remember, when we come to Christ andworship, that's the living water.
This has nothing
Pastor Eric (07:31):
to do with drinking water.
But we also
Unknown (07:32):
need physical water.
No matter what season it is,the brain, mental health does
good When we're hydrated.
Well, it's been estimated that upto 70 percent of our brain is water.
We don't get enough water.
It puts stress on our brains.
We get dehydrated.
It also stresses out the rest of the body.
(07:55):
And when we're bodiesunder stress, guess what?
Inflammation occurs, thestress chemistries turned on.
We just don't feel as good.
We don't breathe as well.
Our brain is affected.
Remember the whole body.
is interconnected.
So something as simple as watercan help our bodies tremendously.
But I also want you to.
Pastor Eric (08:17):
All right.
Yes, that's good advice.
And I let that go so that youcan know you need to drink water.
I need to drink water.
In fact, I have water right here in frontof me and now I'm moved to drink it.
That's good.
Need water.
Is that what John 4 verse10 is talking about?
(08:43):
It's not.
He's talking about spiritual water.
He's talking about living water.
Now this this gentleman here willbring that and just, you know, this
is what he's going to say next.
He's going to say, doyou need physical water?
But you also need spiritual water.
I want you to catch whathe does when he brings it.
(09:06):
To the spiritual, so let'slisten a little bit more
Unknown (09:10):
remember in this text not only physical water which Continues to keep
us alive, but living water Rememberthe physical water helps our body but
the living water Jesus that also helpsour body and in this text John 4 10
Pastor Eric (09:28):
Okay, did you did you catch that the the this the living water
helps our body, but then the spiritualy'all application here that is Jesus
also helps our he didn't say heart whatdid he say our body this is this is
(09:50):
what I'm saying everything is broughtdown to a physiological level as if
all of our issues are physiological.
This is the foundation of psychology.
All, this is what they're being taught.
They don't know how todeal with spiritual.
(10:11):
And I'm not saying this guythat he's not a believer.
I have no idea.
I haven't listened to him enough.
All I can say.
Is that this is a severe mishandlingof the Word of God, and it seems
like his idea of spiritual helpbecomes physical, as if it all
kind of terminates in the spirit.
(10:32):
The physical body.
Let's listen some more.
He'll do this again.
Just listen.
Unknown (10:36):
It says, it is he who says to you, give me a drink.
That's Christ saying you would haveasked him and he would have given you
not more than the physical water, but beof being with him by being with Christ.
You can have living water.
So in helping your mental health,we want the physical water.
We want the living water.
(10:58):
Now, what does thatlook like in your life?
Well, it might be simple as gettinga drink of water every morning
before you brush your teeth,before you eat a meal, it might be
drinking water instead of soda pop.
It might be just consciouslymaking sure you're hydrated.
Well, you want to drink enough water.
Till your urine comes out clear.
(11:20):
Okay, that's good
Pastor Eric (11:20):
advice there.
Drink lots of water.
It's good for your physical health.
So, that's good.
And I appreciate that from this guy.
It's nice to hear doctors who canencourage us in things that are simple,
that don't require, you know, medications,you know, maybe your physical issues could
be because you don't drink enough water.
(11:41):
That's, you know, there's, there'sclearly an effect that it has on us
when we don't drink enough water.
But let's continue.
Unknown (11:51):
But as you drink the physical water, spend a second
to remember the living water.
Pastor Eric (11:59):
Okay.
Spend a second toremember the living water.
It's like, okay, you're drinkingthe physical water, but don't
forget about the spiritual.
So what Jesus is like a, likean add on, like a tack on here.
You know, you don't, don'tforget the spiritual.
You need the spiritual.
So just spend a secondand, and think about Jesus.
(12:20):
And, and, and that's what it looks like.
That's how you're accessingthe spiritual water.
Is that true?
Is it just you know, you're drinkingyour physical water, and then as
you're drinking your physical water,You know, you brush your teeth, and
you're done, you spit it out, andthen you take some water, and then you
think, Oh, yes, there's Jesus, too.
I'm so glad that he died for my sins.
(12:41):
And then you've done the exercise that isnecessary in order to improve your mental
health, and just be healthy overall.
Is that what John 4, verse 10 is saying?
Let's
Unknown (12:55):
listen just
Pastor Eric (12:55):
a little bit more.
Unknown (12:57):
Have I connected with the living water today?
Have, have I worshiped today?
Have I asked Christ to help mewith all of my problems, whether
it be anxiety or depression?
Have I asked God tohelp my brain do better?
Pastor Eric (13:10):
Have I asked him to help my brain be better?
There's the conflation nowthat I have a problem with.
Because when we when wetalk about the brain, it is
physical, it is physiological.
It is not spiritual,it is a physical organ.
(13:36):
When we talk about theheart, that is spiritual.
In the Bible, when it speaks of the heartissues, it'll often use terms like the,
the thoughts, the inner being, the soul,the thinking of a man out of the heart.
And it equates thethinking with the heart.
(13:57):
What you think is what isgoing on in your heart.
The thinking is part of the spiritual.
And so I would call that the mind.
The mind, which is, which is areference to, biblically, it's a
reference to the inner man, to the,to the spiritual level of a man.
It is not the brain.
(14:17):
Your problems are not your brain.
This is the problem.
We conflate mind with brain.
We conflate, we conflate thespiritual with the physical.
And so there's this Christianese,this, this Christian veneer
that is put in, put over it.
But it is, it is all brought down tothe physical, as if the issues are
(14:43):
physiological, as if, physiological,as if the issues are all about having
mental well being and mental health andjust, just being holistically healthy.
Is that the goal of the Christian life?
Make sure you're drinkingenough water, Paul.
Make sure you're, you'rethinking about Jesus enough.
(15:04):
And make sure that they're allblending together in such a way
that your brain is doing okayand you have good mental health.
Is that the way Paul talks?
No.
And Paul is enduring allthings for the sake of Christ.
And he describes his life as a as aman who is, who is suffering severe
(15:27):
physical trauma and severe physicalpain in misery for the sake of Christ.
Listen to what he says in 2 Corinthians 6he says, verse, verse 4, but in everything
commending ourselves as servants of God.
In much endurance, in afflictions, inhardships, in distresses, in beatings,
in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors,in sleeplessness, in hunger, in purity,
(15:52):
in knowledge, in patience, in kindness,in the Holy Spirit, in the genuine love.
So he's got the physical.
In the midst of that physical,sleeplessness, hunger I'm sure thirst,
he probably, you know, all of thisphysical deprivation that he's enduring.
In the midst of all that, there'spurity and knowledge, there's
(16:12):
patience and kindness and theHoly Spirit and genuine love.
And the word of truth and the powerof God by the weapons of righteousness
for the right hand and for the left.
By glory and dishonor by evil report andgood report regarded as deceivers and yet
true as unknown, yet well known as dying.
Yet behold, we live in themidst of this suffering.
There's life
(16:36):
he says as punished, yet not put to deathas sor sorrowful, yet always rejoicing
as poor, yet making many rich is havingnothing yet possessing all things
he, he endured incredibleaffliction and, and an imbalanced.
Life because of physical sufferingsthat he endured, but he was fully alive
(17:04):
because, well, John 4, 10, Paulhad found living water that
had changed everything for him.
This kind of water that flows fromwithin, which is a reference to the
spirit of God that renews regardless ofour circumstances and our difficulties.
(17:32):
Even if we find ourselvesdeprived of physical water,
Jesus has provided living water.
He is enough.
This is not about your brain health.
The goal of the Word of God isnot to give you a healthy brain.
(17:53):
It is to cause you
to cling to Christ andto know what is true.
It is to affect your inner being.
Your brain can't be counted on.
It can't be you could suffer a massivehead injury and lose all your ability to
(18:18):
function You could get Alzheimer's and andindeed, you know regress into Childishness
you need something that is farmore sustaining and sustainable
than your mental well being.
(18:40):
That is your brain, which, whichprovides, if we're going to define
mental well being as, as innerspiritual realities, which they don't.
Mental well being in, in this world thepsychologist is all about the brain.
It's all about the physical.
But if, but if we're going touse that term in a biblical way,
although it's not described inmental health is not a biblical term.
(19:03):
That was a.
Coined phrase, you willnot find that in scripture.
Paul was never seeking mental health.
If we're talking about the internal man,the mind, the thinking, the source of
life, joy, peace, that can be yours.
(19:25):
Regardless of whether you haveenough water, physically or not.
Let's listen a little bit more.
Unknown (19:33):
Have I asked god to find the other things he can give me that I can
Improve my brain health and he okay
Pastor Eric (19:41):
Ask god to give me the other things So that I
can improve my brain health.
It's all about the brain.
Unknown (19:46):
Might lead you to things like walnuts, almonds, or blueberries, or
better diet, better diet might leadyou to turning off media or focusing
on positive things and negative things.
Remember every input affects our brainsand this living water can give you power
to see the things and the inputs you needto do to change your entire physiology.
(20:08):
Physiology.
Pastor Eric (20:11):
That's the problem.
It's not spiritual, even when he attemptsto use a verse and said, look, you need to
have the spiritual living water as well.
He brings it down to physiology.
You might need to eat more walnuts.
You might need to have a betterdiet that Jesus is interested
(20:35):
in you having your best life.
Now that you're, you're holistic, butthat's not what the Bible teaches us.
This is a horrible use of scripture.
It is.
It's incredibly.
destructive.
And it brings it all down tosort of a, a level of prosperity.
Like Jesus is there to, to, to makesure you have mental wellbeing,
(20:59):
you have a good diet that you'rebalanced in in all of these ways.
And, and by the way, he's alsointerested in blessing you.
So he's going to make sureyou have financial prosperity.
I mean, holistically healthy inall these ways, but that is not
the testimony of scripture, nor theexample in the testimony of the saints.
That's not the testimony of Paul.
(21:23):
He was
completely imbalanced, if youwant to look at it that way.
Or listen to the saints of Hebrews 11.
Others experienced mocking.
Verse 36.
Others experienced mocking and scourgings.
Yes, chains and imprisonment.
They were stoned.
They were sawn in two.
(21:43):
They were tempted.
They were put to death with the sword.
They went about in sheepskinsand goatskins, being destitute,
afflicted, ill treated.
And then verse 38.
I love this.
Men of whom the world was not worthy.
That's a little parentheticalstatement there.
The world knows nothing of this kindof life, that they're willing to endure
(22:07):
such persecutions, and hardship, andsuffering, and hunger, and thirst, going
about destitute, ill treated, afflicted,wandering in deserts, in mountains,
in caves, in holes in the ground.
And all these, having gained approvalthrough their faith, did not receive
(22:28):
what is promised because they werenot living for their best life now.
They were living for the living water thatJesus brought them, and that he promised
that he would bring them into eternity.
They are an example.
This is what they live for.
Moses considered the reproachesof Christ of greater riches
(22:51):
in the treasures of Egypt.
And this was the rewardhe was looking toward.
This is what we're talking about with,with living water, it's transformation.
You go back to John 4 and thiswoman at the well, it's an amazing
scene because this woman does notunderstand that this is Jesus.
And she asks a question about worshipbecause the Samaritans had created
(23:12):
an altar religion and they believedthat they, they had the right mountain
they were supposed to worship on.
It was right there near Jacobs.
Well, where this woman was drawingwater verse 20, our father's worship
in this mountain and you people sayin Jerusalem so it's a question of
worship a question of Proper worship.
It was a major debate between theSamaritans and the in the Jews and
(23:36):
Jesus said to her woman believeme now It's coming when neither
in this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
Will you worship the father?
You worship what you do not know, weworship what we know, for salvation is
from Jews, so it began with the Jews.
But an hour is coming, and now is,when the true worshippers will worship
the Father in spirit and truth.
For such people the Fatherseeks to be his worshippers.
God is spirit, and those whoworship him, worship him, must
(23:59):
worship in spirit and truth.
That is the goal of the Christian life.
It is to worship the issues ofour life, are worship disorders.
We are worshiping something thatis physical, something that we
think will bring us delight.
That is not God.
And we are called toworship him in spirit.
(24:19):
In order to do this, we need the spiritof God in us who is driving us to the
word in order to reveal what God has.
Called us to, which is the truth.
The,
the, the water here is metaphorical.
In this passage, this woman is going tothe well and, and it's laborious for her.
(24:44):
And she has to go because, becauseit's the only way to quench the thirst.
She's gotta keep going andgetting the water over and over.
This is the religious systems, whetherSamaritan or whether the Pharisees
that they have to keep going anddoing and trying to, to quench this
thirst, but they never quench it.
It is constant.
(25:07):
And in order to find the cure
for her thirst, which ultimately isspiritual, she needs living water.
And that's what Jesus promises.
It's a beautiful thing becausethis woman says, well, you know,
verse, verse 25, the woman said,I know that the Messiah is coming.
He was called to Christ and he, when hecomes, he will declare all things to us.
(25:29):
He's going to settle this whole debate.
This woman is just kind of like,you know, you know, who's to
know whether the Samaritans areright or the Jews are right.
Who's to know?
And then Jesus, verse 26, saidto her, I who speak to you, am
he, he reveals himself to her.
And and then in verse 28,she drops her water pot.
(25:51):
Why?
Because in a metaphorical way,she doesn't need it anymore.
Christ has revealed to her, Christhas miraculous, miraculously
given her living water.
. He healed her.
He gave her water from within.
She drops her water pot.
She doesn't need it anymore and sheruns and she begins to brag that she
(26:12):
found a man who told her all her sins.
Who does that?
Well, the one who hasfound the cure for sin.
And she says, this is,is this not the Christ?
She becomes an evangelist.
I found the solution to my deep thirst.
(26:37):
That was there my whole life.
And Jesus came and in amoment he quenched my thirst.
And what flows out from this woman is joy.
And I have no doubt that she, inphysical ways, suffered after this.
(26:58):
Surely she had to come backand get water or she went to
another well and, and drew water.
But she has found the onewho has healed her shame.
He's the one who told hereverything he ever did.
He knew it.
Is this not the Christ?
Is this not the cure?
Is this not the one whoquenches thirst in our soul?
(27:21):
This has nothing to do with whetheryou are drinking enough water or
eating enough almonds and walnuts.
That is a massive disservice to allthe people who are looking for answers.
(27:42):
who come across this stuff andthey listen to this and they
think, oh, that's good advice.
I mean, it sounds good, right?
Because we all should eat healthyand we should drink plenty of water.
But you know, your realproblem is not your diet.
It is not a little add on of Jesus.
(28:04):
No, no, no.
No, what you need is heart transformation.
That's what you and I need.
That's what this woman received.
This living water that flowed, thattransformed, that changed her, that
quenched her thirst from within.
So that her heart was cleansed.
It was cleaned.
And she became a lover of God.
(28:25):
And a hater of her sin.
And now she's got the answers.
Because out of the heartflow the issues of life.
And so what she needs is somebodywho can reach down into the
heart and make the tweaks there.
Well, that's God.
That's the Spirit.
That's the Word.
And that's the only hope.
(28:48):
And people who deceive other Christians bysounding Christian and giving this kind of
prescriptions
are misleading people.
And so they never seetheir real spiritual need.
(29:10):
Because the Word of God has been somishandled, that they don't actually
know what God's word says, and so theydon't actually know what they need to
do, which is to repent and turn to Christand cling to Christ as your only hope.
He's the only healer that can do this.
(29:34):
So there you go.
I really think this is a horriblething, which is why I'm doing this.
I don't want you to be deceived.
I don't want you to fall for this.
It sounds so good.
It's so appealing, but it is so deceptive.
It is.
Very wicked when you,when it comes down to it.
(30:06):
I hope this has been helpful to you.
Have you found the living water?
Have you?
Are you still searching foranswers with guys in white coats
and letters behind their name?
They can't help you.
The only one who can help youis the one who came and died
(30:28):
on the cross for your sins.
He's the only one who cangive you forgiveness and can
quench your thirst from within.
It's through Christ alone.
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