Gospel—G.H. Hayhoe
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To turn with me tonight to the Gospel of John in the 4th chapter, John's Gospel chapter 4, and we'll begin at the fourth verse. And he must needs go through Samaria. Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Saikar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there.
Jesus therefore being worried with his journey.
Well, and it was about the 6th hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink, for his disciples were gone away into the city to buy meat. Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him. How is it that thou, being a Jew, ask a string of me which am a woman of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God.
And who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink. Thou wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. From whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our Father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself and his children, and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever.
Of this water shall thirst again, but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water that I thirst not, neither come hit her to draw. Jesus saith unto her, Go call thy husband, and come hit her. The woman answered and said, I have.
Husband, Jesus said, said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband, for thou hast had five husbands, and he whom now now hast is not thy husband. In that says thou truly. The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain, and she say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me.
The hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
He worship He know not what we know, what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father seek as such to worship Him. God is a spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. The woman saith unto him, I know that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ when He has come.
Tell us all things Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am He. And upon this came his disciples, and marveled that he talked with the woman, yet no man said, What seekest thou, or why talkest thou with her? The woman then left her water pot and went her way into the city, and says to the man, Come see a man which told me all things that ever I did. Is not this the Christ?
Then they went out of the city and came unto him.
In the meanwhile his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat. But he said unto them, I have meat to eat, that ye know not of. Therefore said the disciples, 1 To another, hath any man brought him ought to eat. Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. They not either 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.
And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal, that both he had sought. And he that reapeth may rejoice together. And herein is that saying true. One soweth, and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that were on Ye bestowed no labor, other men labored, and ye are entered into their laborers. And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman which testified. He told me all that ever I did.
So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them.
And he abode with them two days, and many more believed because of his own word, and said unto the woman, Now we believe not because of thy saying, or we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.
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All is one very interesting thing, dear friends, about the Gospel of John, and that is the Lord Jesus dealing with individuals. I think it's very lovely to see in this gospel the Lord Jesus speaking to individuals. In the third chapter of John we have that wonderful discourse in which we have that gospel verse so well known to us. God so loved the world and that was just one man who came out by night to talk to the.
Jesus and then when we come to this chapter, all these verses that I read and that I've read here tonight have particularly to do with God dealing with one person. And then of course, there was further blessing because she was saved. But it shows us, dear friends, that the Lord has an individual interest in you. You may feel as you sit in the company here tonight. Oh, I'm just one of the crowd. But as the Lord looks down, He knows all about you.
He knows your whole life. All things are naked and opened under the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
He knows the everything that you've ever done, everything you've ever said, everything you've ever thought, and best of all, He cares about you. He wants to bless you. And just as we see the Lord Jesus dealing with this woman and bringing eternal blessing to her soul, He wants to bring that eternal blessing to your soul tonight. And if there's a boy here, a girl or anyone else who hasn't yet put your trust in the Lord Jesus, heaven would rejoice tonight.
If you receive Jesus as your Savior, why heaven doesn't rejoice when a new building goes up in the city? But heaven does rejoice because there's joy in the presence of the angels of God over one Sinner that repenteth. I say it does rejoice when a Sinner receives Jesus, opens their heart and receives him because God's heart delights in blessing. The very first words that God spoke when sin entered the world are these.
Adam, where art thou? Isn't that wonderful? God became a seeking God, and He's been seeking man ever since. And I'm afraid that many are doing just what Adam and Eve were doing. They're running away. But as someone has said, it doesn't take long for a seeking Savior and a seeking Sinner to meet. And God is a seeking Savior tonight, revealed in Christ, his beloved Son. And he's seeking you. Will you turn around?
Will you let him find you tonight?
He wants to and he wants to bless you. Well, in the third chapter we have twice the mention of the word must. Jesus said to Nicodemus he must be born again. In other words, there was no other way in which Nicodemus could be fitted for the presence of God unless he received a new life. The word born again. The words born again have become kind of popularized today and many people speak of them and they don't have much meaning.
But to put it very simply, if I could just say it in this way, you were born into this world with a life that is sinful and fallen, and you can't be in heaven unless you get a new life, a new life from God. And God offers to you as a free gift, eternal life. But if you don't receive that gift of eternal life, why you're not born again? You may talk about a religious experience, but that isn't enough, dear.
It's receiving a new life. He must be born again, except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God. And then the next thing in the third chapter is the Son of man must be lifted up. There's no other way the blessing could come to you or to me unless the Lord Jesus had been lifted up on Calvary's cross as a sacrifice for sin. Thank God he was. And so the message to.
Must be born again. But the way of blessing is through that Savior who was lifted up on Calvary's cross, that Savior who was there as a substitute for sin, that one who wants to be your Savior. And so it says, the Son of Man must be lifted up. While, dear friends, He has been lifted up. He has prided his finish. He is risen again. He was delivered for our offenses and was raised again.
For our justification, but here were reopened, we come to another must for God's messages. He must be born again. Christ has already been lifted up, but unless the Lord had sought me, I would never be blessed. I'm just like Adam. I would still be running away from him. Even though the Lord Jesus died on the cross for sinners to open up salvation to whosoever will, even though it's true that that were a redemption.
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Accomplished unless he had sought me, I would still be in my sins and tonight he's seeking you, my friend and the Lord Jesus came to Samaria seeking someone he was seeking a poor sinful woman and he's seeking sinners Tonight Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. He must needs go through Samaria. It was a worrisome journey. The Lord Jesus said I believe.
Long way to come down to this place. And it wasn't any accident that he arrived here just at the time that this woman came out to draw water. And so it isn't any accident that you're in the meeting here tonight. It isn't any accident that you're under the sound of the gospel. God has planned itself because he wants to bless you. He's brought you here that you might hear the message of redeeming love. And so he went through Samaria with an express.
He stopped at that very well, and it says it was about the 6th hour and the seventh verse. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water. This was exactly time. I say it wasn't an accident. And so the Lord Jesus came there just at the time when she came. Perhaps it wasn't a time when other women would not be there.
Perhaps she was ashamed to meet other people, but the Lord Jesus wanted to bless her.
And I can tell you tonight that no matter how gravely you have sinned, no matter how great your load of sin.
There is still a seeking Savior. There's still power in the blood of Jesus to cleanse from all sins. There was a little boy who was dying down in southern Quebec, and his father wasn't a believer, but the little boy had been to Sunday school and he had learned that verse. The blood of Jesus Christ, his Son cleanseth us from all sin. And you know.
He got very sick and.
The doctor told his father that he didn't expect his boy was going to recover. And a boy and a father didn't know just how to break the news to the little boy, but he felt he should. So he came in and he said, well, the doctors told us that he doesn't think you're going to recover from this sickness, But he said it'll be all right with you because you haven't got very many sins. You're just a little boy. And a little boy looked up into his father's face.
Said Daddy, I don't have any sins. And his father, of course, could call to mind that the boy hadn't always been obedient. He had done some bad things. He had been naughty sometimes. So his father graciously said, well, not very many. The boy looked up again. He said, Daddy, I don't have any sins. The blood of Jesus Christ.
His Son cleanseth us from all sin. Is that what you're trusting to?
Then you can say like that little boy, that no matter how many sins you have, if they have been taken away by the blood of Jesus, there are none left. It says as far as the east is from the West, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us. And so the Lord Jesus had come there to bless this woman, sinful as she was, and He came from heaven down to Calvary's cross to save you. And there's a little.
Says his blood outweighs the utmost fought air. Thy guilt has been well. This woman came as I say, she came out for the purpose of drawing water. She didn't expect to meet the Lord. But as I mentioned, the Lord had it planned. He had come there to meet her. But you know, the Lord Jesus spoke so graciously to her. I think this is so wonderful. He didn't.
Begin at once by speaking to her about her sins. He entered. He entered into conversation with her.
In a most gracious and wonderful way, he said. Give me.
To drink, give me to drink. And I'm sure as we read on that she wondered.
Should ask her that and did you know that it's possible for you to give refreshment to the heart of the Lord Jesus tonight Did you know that well, I tell you that nothing would give him more joy than for you as a Sinner to receive him. If I can speak in these terms, you'd give him a drink tonight. You'd give refreshment to his heart because he came down from heaven in order to save you and he not only came to save us from.
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Sins but to invite us to be his companions, to share his home for all eternity. So when he said to her, Give me the drink, it says, The woman of Samaria said unto him, How is it that thou being a Jew, ask a drink of me which am aluminous Samaria, for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. I want you to notice a few things about this woman. Here you can see at first there was quite a.
In her heart, you can see here the way she spoke to the Lord Jesus that she was prejudice against him. And she said the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. And you know, there's many, many people like this and they're they've never had any, any dealings with the Lord Jesus and they don't know that he wants to have a dealing with them. There's a beautiful verse in Job that says.
Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace.
Thereby good shall come of it. Satan doesn't want you to believe the heart of God is so full of goodness. He wants you to think that God is against you, that God wants to punish you. And so in reality, you don't know the love that's in his heart. You speak to many people and you find at once there's a prejudice. They say, how is it that you're talking to me? It's a no, that's my business. And they don't want you to speak to them about the Savior. And so you can see it once.
That in this woman's heart there was that kind of prejudice that Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. And it may be, I say again, maybe you never had any dealing with the Lord Jesus and because you have never had any dealings with him, you don't know his heart, you don't know his love, you don't know his salvation, but he wants you to know it. And this woman was to have a dealing with the Lord Jesus, the one who had come of the tribe of Judah had come in grace had.
Bless, for it tells us here the Lord's answer was. Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, give me to drink, Thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given me living water. He noticed that there were two things that she was ignorant about. She didn't know the gift of God, and she didn't know who it was.
That was speaking to her. And you know, friends, the devil is going to try and keep you in ignorance about those two things. He doesn't want you to realize who the Lord Jesus really is. Well, if you only knew who it is that's offering salvation to you, why you couldn't turn away? Why? I'm quite sure that if the new president came to your home with a gift, why you'd say I couldn't turn away when it was the president of the United States who?
Home to offer something to me. But the Lord of glory left his home on high, came down into this world and was born in a Manger. What did he come for? Why he came in order that he might offer a gift to you. Do you realize who it is? All we know There are people today who deny that Jesus is really God, but it's most important that we realize who this wonderful Savior is. His name shall.
Wonderful counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, that precious Savior is none other. As a little hymn says, this Savior is the mighty God, the Lord of heaven above revealed in grace. He shed his blood. Bless, proof of endless love. He came down. She didn't know who it was, and she didn't know the gift that he had to offer. It wasn't a small gift, dear friends.
It was a gift that cannot be priced with money. What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world?
And lose his own soul. If you had this room filled with money, why your soul is worth more than that. And yet there's one who offers to you tonight the salvation of your soul. The salvation of your soul. To know that your sins are forgiven, to know that you have peace with God. I say it's a great gift that he offers to you. It's a great gift, the gift of God.
Is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. And what's more, you don't have to pay for a gift.
Sometimes in stores you buy things at bargain prices. You tell people why I only paid half of what it's worth. Well, sometimes we do get a bargain. But the gospel doesn't offer a bargain. The the the gospel offers a gift. The gospel offers something you don't have to pay for, and that is God's gift of eternal life He gave his Son.
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And so the Lord said to her, If thou knewest the gift of God, or the free giving of God, and who it is that saith to thee, give me to drink. And what did she have to do? Thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given the living water. Friends, it's yours tonight for the asking.
Ever in simplicity come as a Sinner and ask the Lord Jesus to save you all I tell you, and that he'll save you at once. When the prophet Isaiah took his place as a Sinner in the presence of God, it says one of the seraphims flew with a live coal from off the altar, and said, Thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.
Prodigal returned in a sense of his guilt and sin, to his father.
The Father ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. There's only one thing God's in a hurry to do, and that is to bless judgment is his strange work. And I've been struck in reading in the Book of Revelation that when the time comes that those seals of judgment have to be open and God has to act in judgment upon this world. Why, it says there was silence in heaven for the space of half an hour.
I've often been struck by that, friends, because in the 5th chapter we read about the redeemed company singing. Thought worthy for thou was slain has redeemed us to God by thy blood. Out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation, they're singing the praises of the Savior. But when the time comes that God has to deal in judgment, it seems to me that the singing stops. The singing stops the moment, the most solemn moment has come when God has to.
In judgment, because judgment is God's strange work. He's never in a hurry to judge. He never brings judgment without doing two things, providing a way of escape and giving a warning. Providing a way of escape and giving a warning. Well, if this woman had only known it was hers for the asking. But as I said, there was prejudice in her heart and she didn't think that she was going to have.
Dealing with this person whom she looked upon as just an ordinary Jew. And perhaps you don't realize who Jesus is, but I say again, he's the Son of God. He's the Son of God from heaven. Come down to save you. And then notice how she replies, Surah has nothing to draw with and the well is deep. See, she tries to reason it away. And that's another thing we find, you know, human nature doesn't change.
Much we see, first of all, prejudice and then reason is not the way it is. If you ever tried to talk to somebody about their soul, that's probably the what you found. First of all, you found prejudice. And then they start to reason, they start to reason, and that's what she does. How could Jesus get water out of that? Well, it was deep and he didn't have a a bucket or a chain or anything to let it down. How could he get water out of it? Or she didn't realize who it was?
And she didn't realize that what he was offering to her was not water from Jacob's well. It was a well that he would place in her own heart. It was something that would really satisfy because the well would be in her own heart. But she started to reason. Are you reasoning? While I'm sure of this, if your reasoning, you'll never find peace with God that way.
I'm a naturally reasoning person and I tried to find peace with God that way.
I reasoned and I reasoned and I just went around in circles. I never found any peace that way.
But when I simply rested upon what God had said to them, I found peace. There's no other way, dear friends. Reason will never bring peace, but simple trust in what God has said will bring peace to your soul. Oh, I hear somebody say, but I don't have very much faith. Well, I often say to your friends, the question is not how much faith you have, but is your faith in the right person?
Some people have faith in themselves. They think that by their works they can do it. I remember reading a truck and the title of it was Why do I believe in Christ? And it began with this comment. It said why is a man an infidel? And the answer was because he believes in himself. And the next statement is why is a man a Christian?
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And the answer was because he believes in Christ and none in himself. Well, friends, that's why I'm a Christian, because I don't believe in myself.
I've seen too much sin in myself, I've seen too much folly reasoning, I've seen too many changing feelings that I know I could never rest on myself, and all my righteousnesses are as filthy rags. But I believe in Christ and not in myself. And dear friends, I ask you, will you tonight look away from yourself? The little hymn says, Come as thou art in all thy sin, Come with thy hardened heart, come with thy carers.
Thy doubts, thy fears, all grace He will impart. Don't get occupied with how much faith you have, as though you could produce it. Just come, and the Lord Jesus will do the rest. He gives the faith to believe, just as He, by His mighty work at Calvary, provided what was necessary for your salvation. And so just come, come as you are. Well, she tried to reason. Was the Lord Jesus greater than Jacob? What a comparison.
And that's the way people reason. They act as if God was just like a man. The way they talk, you'd think God couldn't do anything more than a man could. Do they think God couldn't make a fish big enough to swallow one man, And yet they can make a submarine big enough to put fifty men in, but God couldn't make a fish big enough to swallow one man and keep him alive. You see the way men reason, they always reason and compare God to themselves, and they sometimes think they can do things greater than God.
But I found out that God could do things I couldn't do.
And thank God for that. He could save a Sinner like me, and he can save you, my friend. And so don't be like this woman, she compared.
The Lord Jesus with Jacob, Jacob, that character that we all know. So planning, deceiving character. And she asked the Lord if he was greater than Jacob. Oh friends, what a comparison. That's not the kind of a Savior I have. The one I have is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens.
Well, the Lord Jesus still loved her soul in spite of it all. And Jesus answered in the 13th verse, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again. But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
Well, if I could say at the Lord, Jesus bore with her strange reasoning, and he bore with me.
Perhaps He's born with you too. In some of our strange reasonings. He's been very patient. He's born with us. And so the Lord just just seemed to pass it over. And he said that he would give her not water from that well, but he would place the well in her heart. The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. What a savior, dear friends, He's not asking.
Something to Him, He has something to give to you. And when you receive Christ, why then He lives in your heart, Christ in you the hope of glory. He is that eternal life that was with the Father and was manifested unto us. He Himself is that spring of living water. Well, the Lord Jesus, as I say, was breaking her down. It's hard to break us down sometimes.
We have so many things.
Raisins and all kinds of things to keep us, but at last you can see this breaking down process.
At last he says in the 15th verse, Sir, give me this water and that I thirst not, neither come hit her to draw. Shall I say the Lord has produced in her heart a sense of need, and I hope you'll produce in your heart a sense of need tonight. I hope you make you feel your knee of Jesus because you do need him. You do need him.
There's no salvation without him. There's no happiness without him. That is no happiness at last. And at last this woman realizes that she does need a Savior. Well, when she comes to this point. And then the Lord must awaken her conscience. God is a holy God, and God can't have sin in His presence. He cannot have even one sin.
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In his holy presence, and he knows all about you.
And all about me. And so the Lord in the most gracious way, touches her conscience. Now he doesn't say. He could have easily said at this point, but I know all about you. Wasn't it gracious? He didn't say that. Instead of this, he probes her conscience, seeking to get her to acknowledge her guilt right in his presence.
And his father didn't have to probe him and say, now say you're sorry.
He came back saying, Father, I've sinned against heaven and before thee. No wonder he got the blessing. For this woman wanted the blessing without the same question being settled. And some people like to get to heaven without the sin question being settled too. They'd like to have the peace that a Christian has without facing up to the sin question. But here we find the Lord raises this question, and he gives her the opportunity to acknowledge that she was guilty, but she still wants to hide it.
That covereth his sin shall not prosper, but whoso confesseth and forsake of them shall have mercy. The Lord wanted her to confess that she was guilty, so he says.
Thou hast well, she said, I have no husband. And someone has said she told the truth to hide the truth. It was true. She didn't have a husband, but she told the truth to hide the truth. And sometimes we can do that, you know?
We can try and find a way of getting out of a difficult situation, and we don't exactly tell a lie, but we really pervert things to make it look another way. And this is exactly what she did. And the Lord wouldn't let this pass. He knew all about her, and he said, 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 says thou truly, oh, the Lord now had reached your conscience.
He knew all about her and He knows all about you. The psalmist said, Thou hast set my secret sins in the light of thy countenance. You can't hide anything from God. He could open the page of your life, for it's all written down, my friend. He could open it tonight and read it to you. Everything is recorded and it's to me. It's just as if the Lord opened the page of her life and started to read it to her. And what did she do? Just.
Today she started to get religious and she started to argue about where was the right place to worship. Have you ever found people do that? Why, every time you speak to them about their sins, they'll tell you that they had an uncle who was a preacher, they were a member of such and such a church, or they'll have some religious element in their life somewhere that they hope they can fall back on. And that's just the way she was. Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and he say that in Jerusalem is.
Men ought to worship. She would just like to have entered into a religious argument. People love religious arguments. They learned you for hours religiously. What was she doing it for? Because she didn't want to face up to the fact that she was a Sinner in the sight of God. Religion never saved anybody. Religion may be a cover up in the eyes of men, but it's not a cover up in the eyes of God.
Paul was a religious man about he was the chief of sinners. Dear friends, religion will never save you, and she was a religious person.
And so she says to the Lord, I perceive that thou art a prophet. And then she starts to talk on about which was the right place to worship in that mountain, or in that mountain. And the Lord said, woman, believe me, the hour cometh when he shall neither in this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father. Why the Lord was not occupying her with.
A particular mountain, this mountain or that mountain?
But what she needed was to learn her need of salvation. And dear friends, I'm not going to ask you tonight, what church group do you worship with? But I say it is very, very important whether you know the Lord as your savior because you can't be a true worshipper until you do. You can't be a true worshiper. But it is something interesting the Lord says in this 22nd verse.
He says he worship he know not what we know. What we worship for salvation is of the Jews.
You might just wonder why the Lord said this, but you know, these Samaritans, they carried on a mixed worship. They worship partly idols and partly the Lord. You could read about it in the Old Testament in kings, how they carried on a mixed worship. And sometimes people say, well, it doesn't matter where you go. Well, you know, there are places, and I suppose there are places right here in Gresham.
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Or the gospel is never preached from one end of the year to the other.
They carry on a sort of a religious service, but they never tell people or sinners and they never tell them the way of salvation. It does matter where you go. It does matter. Now, there are many, many Jews that went to the God appointed place at Jerusalem and that was a wonderful thing. It was a great privilege, but unless they personally put their trust in Christ, they were still lost. And I know that I'm talking tonight to a good many people.
And you can't say, well, Mr. Wakefield used to tell us, I never heard the gospel in my life till I was 25 years of age. He went to a place of worship, but he never heard the gospel. That isn't the way it is with most of you here tonight. You've heard it many times. Be thankful for it. It's a great privilege. But remember, unless you've received Christ, being in a place where the gospel is preached doesn't mean that you're saved. You must receive the Lord as your Savior.
Being in a garage where there is a good mechanic doesn't mean your car is fixed unless the mechanic works on it. And friends, you can be in a place where there is the finest mechanic and your car will be just as bad when you drive it out as when you drove it in. Unless the mechanic works in your car. And you can be in this place and hear the gospel over and over again. But unless you know the work of Christ for your salvation, you're still lost. You're still in your sins. You need Jesus and you need his work for.
So I say the Jews had a privilege, but it was important that they should learn that the only way of salvation was through Christ. She needed to learn it, the Jews needed to learn it, and everyone who is saved must learn what the Lord Jesus has done so that they might be saved. Well then he goes on to tell in his 23rd verse. But the hour cometh, and now is when the true.
Shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Sometimes when we're approaching a town, we've seen a sign and there will be come and worship with us, and then there'll be a list of quite a number of different church groups down below and people are just invited to come and worship with them. But the Lord said that the true worshippers worship the Father in spirit and in truth. That means, first of all, you must be saved before you can be a true worshipper. And if you are saved.
Remember that you'll find the truth about the proper way of Christian worship in this book.
Is not important for us, dear friends. Yes, it's important that we should first of all learn to know the Lord as our Savior. We cannot be worshippers unless we know Him, a Savior. But after we are saved, let's be like the disciples. When the Lord told him about the Passover, they said where wilt thou that we prepare? The true worshippers worship the Father in spirit and in truth, and it says the Father.
Such to worship Him. Notice it doesn't say God is seeking worship. He's seeking worshippers. Worshippers. What's the difference? Well, God could make and every one of these empty chairs sing his praise better than any of our voices if that was all He wanted. Just a lot of sound. But what does He want? He wants the worship of redeemed hearts. He wants worshippers, those whose hearts have been won by His.
Those whose hearts have been touched by His love and have been cleansed in the blood of Christ, then, but not till then, can you be a true worshipper.
God is a spirit, and may that worship Him must worship him in spirit and in truth. The woman saith unto him, I know that Messiahs cometh, which is called Christ. When he has come, He will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he all to me this is most beautiful. The Lord was bringing this woman to the point where she would recognize that what she.
Was Christ, that was the point that he was bringing her to right from the very start. But he had a great many things to break down before she came to that point. And you know, it's strange, we're so self willed, we're so proud, we're so occupied with ourselves and perhaps with religion and all kinds of things. It takes us a long while to get broken down. It's something like those stones in Solomon's temple. They were great stones. They were huge. They were costly because.
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Lot of work had to be done in the quarries cutting out those stones to make them fit in a place in the temple, the place of worship. And so the Lord was cutting a stone out of the quarry. He was cutting a hard heart out of the glory of sin to prepare her to be a living stone in God's building. And at last he says, I see it now, it's Christ that I need. It's Christ that I need, she says when Messiah comes, which is called.
Christ, He'll tell us all things, and when she came to that point, isn't it beautiful, she found herself right in the presence of the Christ of God. And dear friends, when you come to the point where you realize you're a Sinner and that it's Christ you need, why, He's right there to bless you. Yes, it says, seek ye the Lord, while he may be found, call thee upon him.
While he is near, he's right near to you now and he wants you to call out from your heart and say.
I see I need Christ, and there is no salvation apart from Him, neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Oh, what a moment this was for her soul. I believe we can say to your friends that at this moment she passed from death unto life. At this moment she passed from death unto life, because at this moment she left her water pot. And I like to.
Reason she left her water pot was because she had the well inside. Now, yes, the well was inside. And also I'd like to thank the Lord didn't say, now you better leave that water pot because I've given you something better. He didn't say that why? Well, it's not hard to give up things when we have something better. And you know, I'm not here to say you've got to give up this and got to give up that before you get saved. The Lord will give you something so much better.
That if you'll just allow him, he'll fill your heart and you'll be able to say, like Paul, what things were gained to me, those I counted loss for Christ. His whole sense of values was changed when he got saved. And that's what makes the difference with us. There is a new sense of values in your life when you're saved. Christ becomes the most important one. And so it was with her. She left her water pot and it says she.
To the man, there were no doubt some pretty bad men there in in that city and they knew about this woman. They knew that she was one who shared the pathway of sin with them and she goes back to them and she said it comes see a man that told me all things that ever I did. Is not this the Christ?
Her very companions in sin, and now she goes right to them, and she says.
Here is a person who knows all about me. It must be the Christ. She thought her life was covered up, but she stood in the presence of one who found out and who knew all about her, and she realized that He loved her. I've often said, and there is no one on earth that knows all that I've said and done and thought, but there's one in heaven that does. And He's the person whose presence I most want to be in, because although He knows.
Me, he loves me just the same. He died for me. His blood has washed me clean. He's my best friend. And sometimes our best friends even don't know all about us. But this friend does know all about us. And nothing that he'll ever find out about us will change his thoughts toward us. Because knowing it all, he loves us just the same. Oh, what a wonderful thing that he could go to these men and say this and I think that when.
Heard her speaking. They wanted to come out and meet him too, because it says then the people came out to see him. And I believe it was because they could see the difference in her life because, you know, after we're saved, the world can see where we're new creatures in Christ Jesus. And I believe that it wasn't just what she said. I like to think it was the way she said it. And I think I can hear them say to one another, something's happened to that woman.
Why? Let's go and see what has made this change in her life.
And so it's lovely here to see that they come out to see this wonderful person. Then they went out of the city and came unto him. Well, in the meantime, the disciples came back. Isn't this lovely too? The Lord had seen to it that the disciples just walked away at the beginning of the conversation and came back at the end.
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The Lord had planned this whole thing, that He might have an individual.
Dealing with this woman, it's a personal thing to be saved. People don't get saved in crowds. They get saved as individuals. They get saved. As we often say, it's Christ, your personal Savior. It's a personal thing. It's not a family thing. It's an individual thing. Your brother may be saved, your mother may be saved, but it's a personal thing to be saved and she had a personal dealing with the Lord Jesus.
But now the Lord tells the disciples to lift up their eyes.
And look on the fields, for they were white already to harvest. Sometimes we don't realize that there are opportunities near to us. We often miss them, don't we? The Lord said, don't say, well, in four months it'll be harvest time. He said, lift up your eyes. The fields are white already to harvest. And I speak now to those who told the Savior, I'm afraid we do this Sometimes we say, well, I intend to do something for the Lord someday, but.
I don't think that this is the time just yet. And so this is what they were saying.
Yes, in four months it will be harvest, but not just now. The Lord said it's already.
Right now the fields are white to harvest. And wasn't he gracious? And he said, he said, he that reapeth receiveth wages and gathereth fruit unto eternal life. Isn't it a marvelous thing, dear friends, that God offers salvation as a gift, and then says, If you serve me, I'll pay you wages. He gives you salvation as a gift. And then he said, you will never do anything for me.
That I won't reward you.
More than you could ever get from any earthly employer. Yes, gather us fruit unto eternal life. And I say to the Christians in this room, now let's realize what a privilege it is to serve the Savior. And the fields are white to harvest. The Lorde coming is near. We haven't got much longer to serve him. And he says, Son, go to work today in my vineyard.
Son, go work today in my vineyard. There's something for us to do.
Today.
Well then, tells us here at the end of the chapter. And many of the Samaritans of that city believed.
On him for the saying of the woman which testified. He told me all whatever I did. Yes, there was results from the testimony of this woman, but then it tells us too that the Lord Jesus came to this city, this city of Samaria and a bullet there two days and many more believe. Many more believed not because of what she said, but I like this 42nd verse.
And said unto the woman, Now we believe.
Not because of thy saying, for we have heard Him ourselves and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world. Well, she was used to bring many out, but I think it's nice what it says here that they believed, not because of what she said, but it says they heard the Lord Jesus Himself.
And now I have tried, in my simple way, to present the gospel to you tonight.
But nothing would make me happier. And then that you should hear the Lord Jesus himself.
There's a brother in the Lord that I knew he's with the Lord now. But he said I came to the gospel meeting many times and he said I heard a certain brother speak and I sat there and listened to him and to me it was just that brother talking. But he said one time I came to the meeting and he said I just felt as if the Lord was talking to me.
Through the whole meeting and he said I got saved that day. I got saved. Well dear friends, and you have heard me talking, but I hope that you'll hear the voice of the Savior. I can't save you. I can't put away your sins, but if you'll only hear the Lord Jesus yourself, if you'll only take some verse out of God's word for your very own. I like sometimes to hear people say, well, that's my verse and I know that what they mean.
Is that they've heard the Lord Jesus for themselves. They've taken some verse. They rest upon that verse and that verse means salvation to them. Remember we gave a girl on time Romans 10 and nine printed on a text and she said that's my verse, that's my verse. I love to hear that expression, my verse. She knew she was saved because she had believed that verse. If thou shalt confess.
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With thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in thine heart, that God hath raised him from the dead.
Thou shalt be saved, and I hope if you know him as your Savior, you will confess him. You're missing a great deal of the joy of salvation if you've never confessed him. And more than that, more than that, you know it's a sad thing when a person is taken away and the parents or the friends have to say we hope he was saved, but we never really heard him.
Confess the Lord Jesus.
Now I know that God looks on the heart, dear friends, but isn't there a joy in confessing Him? I know how lovely it is. There was a boy died in our Sunday school some years back and we always wondered whether he was saved because he never confessed the Lord. He was regular at Sunday school. He repeated his verses and I like to think that he was saved, but I'm not sure. He never told us. Well, if you have received the Lord, why not confess him? It'll give joy.
Heart of the Lord, and give joy to your heart, and then we'll know that you have confessed Him.
As your Lord and your Savior, well may the Lord grant that tonight you will receive Him if you have never done it before.
Now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. Or do you receive him tonight because tomorrow might be too late?