"The woman saith unto Him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw." John 4:1515The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. (John 4:15). This is a remarkable expression of confidence in His word. But mark the state of her heart, entirely occupied with her water pot and her wants. Do you know anybody like that?—people who own the Word of God to be the Word of God—who own its authority, but are in heart completely occupied with the things of life. As a natural person she received not the things of the Spirit of God. Her mind was awakened to respect for His word, so that she could believe what He said, but she could not grasp spiritual things; they had not the smallest entrance into her heart, so full was it of temporal things.
What was to be done? He had been pouring out words of grace; all had flown over her head-passed over a heart absorbed with the things of the world. He takes the other side, not the gift of God, but the state of man—"Go, call thy husband, and come hither."
The woman answered and said, "I have no husband." Quite true. She tells the truth to hide the truth—as is often done in this poor world. The conscience is reached now, and there is where the Word enters always. It is quite right that it should attract the heart, but the conscience must be reached. "Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: for thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly." It is all out now; her conscience is brought into the presence of God. Everything must be out in the light that has come into this world. It is wonderful how quick memory even becomes under this action of the light. Sins are recalled which have long been forgotten. Light has come in; she has understanding now; before, she had not understood a word; she was completely buried in her cares.
Verse 19. "The woman saith unto Him, Sir, I perceive that Thou art a prophet." The Word of God had reached her conscience, and wherever it does it has authority, and it is the only way. When I find a book that tells me all that ever I did, I know what it is. It does not require to be proved by man. No book in the world has authority till it reaches the conscience. Then it is its own witness to the folly of attacks made upon it, and proves the folly of unbelief. It is the Word of God itself—its own witness. I do not take a candle to see if the sun shines. But do you not see that it shines? Then you are blind. The only thing that brings authority with it is the Word of God coming into the conscience—"Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?"
God is love—His blessed Son, a poor Man speaking to the woman, but He is also light come in. These always go together. You never find when the gospel is received, that it does not get in as light to the conscience. There is no fruit without it. Where it gets in, it will be light, exposing all that is there; and if it does not, there is no root. The point where intelligence is brought into the heart of this poor woman, is where her conscience is reached. How would you like Him to tell you everything? Does He not know every wicked thing I have done? It should come up in judgment, but my comfort is that it was all out before Him when He was dealing with me in grace. Nov I can bear it that the eye of God searches everything through His Word. In dealing with the soul, love has brought the light here. Love attracted Peter (Luke 5). Why does he not run away? Why go up to Him and say, "Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord." He was drawn by the love and grace, and convicted by the light that love had brought in. Light that manifests to myself what I am in the sight of God, brings me there, so that I am in the light as He is. There must be truth in the inward parts, but did that hinder the Lord's saying, "If thou knewest the gift of God"? Now instead of trying to make things straight with God, I have found Him, knowing everything I have done, in perfect grace. There is then no hiding sin. All is brought into the light by God.
Mark another thing. God is bringing in something new. Was He going to trust the heart of this poor woman? No. He was going to get her to trust His heart. People say, May not my heart deceive me? To be sure it may. Will His deceive me? The grace of God brings salvation to us-brings us everything we need. So He brought strength at the pool of Bethesda—"Take up thy bed and walk." He is not requiring anything from us, but brings the thing we need—brings Himself. And there is nothing we need like Him. He brings us to repentance—to the conviction of what we are, as here. But He comes saying, "If thou knewest the gift of God." God has something to give-eternal life through Jesus Christ. But I shrink from coming to God. Quite right, to a certain extent. But who is it that I am with, that is bringing in this light? The very Man that asked for a drink of water. "If thou knewest... who it is that saith to thee, Give Me to drink"—a poor Man with nothing but words of grace- you would have trusted Him. "Thou wouldest have asked of Him, and He would have given thee living water." Do you think I could trust God in the day of judgment? But can I trust the poor Man sitting on the side of the well? It is when my eyes are upon the Person and work of the Lord, that I find I have been talking with the Lord Himself, and He had not a word against me, and yet knew all that ever I did. My heart has the blessed consciousness that it has met God.
There are the poor infidels beating out their brains to find out about God, but I have met Him. He had nothing but kind and gracious words, though He knew all my sins. His whole ways and words and works are perfect love to me, and the love of one come to seek me as a sinner. The Father seeketh worshipers. You have not to go to this mountain or that. He sent the Savior seeking. How many does He find? Does He find hearts here that would pass by the Lord Jesus—that have read hundreds of passages in which His grace was manifested, and gone away untouched, unmoved, though God was spending His heart on them?
See how even the heart of the Lord rejoices over this one poor sinner (v. 32), "I have meat to eat that ye know not of." Do you believe that of Christ? He had come to open her eyes, and that was the Lord's meat. "My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work." It is lovely to see the Lord's heart in that way. Just see how it opened out to all the rest. "Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields: for they are white already to harvest." He has actually been rejected out of Judea, but the case of this woman has so comforted Him now, it opens out His heart to say, The fields are white to harvest.
Then we have to go on to see that sins having been perfectly manifested, the love and cross of the Lord Jesus comes in, because sins never could be allowed. Nothing remains but the love that comes for the sinner. The heart was won; the conscience was reached. But what about these things that she had done? The very Lord who was speaking to her, goes under them and puts them away. We do need something else than that which reaches the conscience; we need that which purges it. Though our sins were as scarlet, they are made white as snow, and we are bound to believe it, for "His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree." He has charged Himself with them. I was convicted, and then humbled about them. But before the day of judgment comes, Christ came, and on the cross was bearing the sins He would have had to judge. The cross was God's dealing with Him about them. When He comes in judgment, I say, That is the Man who put away my sins. Before the time comes for judgment, the Person who is to be the Judge has come Himself to bear the judgment. The question is not then whether I deserve condemnation—"There is none righteous, no, not one"-but what has God wrought? Can I dare to doubt it?
If I am out in the light before God, there is no place where I see sins so terrible as in the cross. But if they are not all perfectly put away forever, they never can be, for Christ cannot die again. See Heb. 10 He will rise up for judgment, but He is sitting down now because all is completely done; if not (I mean as to the work, not as to your feelings), it never can be. That being so, therefore, when the soul is exercised. I look at the cross and say, He has borne my sins. I hate them the more. That is right; it is the work of the Spirit in us; but I speak of the work done for us. Do not speak of the past, present, and future sins; it is a foolish confusion of the time when my heart laid hold of it, and of the work that put them away. As to future sins, I ought never to think of sinning again. As to past sins, how many were past when Christ died? The work was done when they were all future. It is confounding the work done, with the effect in me. He is • raised in glory; is there then any question whether I am to be glorified?
There is another thing as to the cross. It all passed between God and Christ alone—of which the outward darkness was the sign—according to the exigencies and righteousness of God, where it must be according to the absolute perfection of those who wrought it. Men had nothing to do with it; all we had to do with it was our sins, and, we may add, the hatred that killed Christ. It was a divine work about my sins.
Now as to the effect of it. We saw the poor woman absolutely absorbed with her water pot; but the moment her conscience was thoroughly reached, she went off to testify to the others—If you only get Christ, He will tell you all things. She leaves her water pot. The Holy Ghost has not recorded it for nothing. The thing that absorbed her is gone. The word and power of Jesus, that gave her conviction of sin, also substituted Christ for the things that had power over her heart. Christ for my righteousness instead of my sins; Christ as the object for my heart instead of my cares.
I add a word for the comfort of any soul that is convicted of sin, but has not peace. Supposing a person has received the word of Christ, but cannot say he has got Him, but says, if only I could find Christ! find so much sin in me. I would give anything to have Christ. What put that desire into the heart? You have got Him as a great Prophet; His word has reached the heart, you are convicted of sin, but do not know if you have Christ as Savior. He has spoken to you about eternal life, and you have received a word that has made Christ precious to you and your conscience bad. Then you have got Christ. His word has had the authority of the Word of God in your con.: science. If that be so, the Christ that has visited you is' the
Christ that has borne your sins. The Christ who thus speaks to us to bring these thoughts to our hearts, is the One that through grace has borne our judgment before the day of judgment comes.
Now, how is it with you? Has your heart given up its water pot for Christ? I do not mean that there will be no conflict. But has your heart so heard His word that it has penetrated into your conscience? Do you think you are going with your sins into heaven? How many sins had Eve committed when God turned her out of Eden? One! You have committed more. Do you expect to get into heaven with your sins or without them? Are they all put away? How can you rest a moment until you know it? What madness and folly!
The One who deals with our conscience is the One who came where we are, and is now beseeching us to be reconciled to God. It will be a terrible thing in the day of judgment to have had the heart closed against the voice of the Charmer. Has He not charmed wisely? Were ever words like His?—words of grace, unutterable grace, with which He has sought to win us. It is a blessed truth that before the day of judgment comes, the Judge has come Himself to deliver. Of course you will have to be judged then, if you do not accept the deliverance now!