Let's take our Bibles and turn
to the Gospel of John, chapter 4. John, chapter 4. And we're going to look at verses
19 to 22. Before we begin reading, let's
ask the Lord's blessing. Our Father, again, we ask You,
would You speak? through Your Word, by Your Spirit,
to our hearts, to the honor of our blessed Savior. For it is
in His name we pray, Amen. Our blessed Savior was marvelously
and mercifully at the very place that His Father had eternally
purposed for Him to be. An object of His mercy was directed
to come to that very spot at that well so she could cross
paths with her Redeemer. You know, when we think about
people coming, This woman was drawn. Let's be sensitive to people
that cross our path. Invite them to come. The hearing
of the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation. Even after
this woman was called out of darkness, she went back and she
told some men, she said, See a man which told me all things
ever I did." We don't tell people, come and believe. We don't tell
people, ask them to come. We can't make them believe. But
we can invite them. Who knows? The Lord may be pleased
to do something. God may be pleased to call one
out of darkness. Well, our Lord in His conversation
with this woman, toler of Himself, the water of life, the drinking
of Him that would satisfy a man's spiritual thirst. He that drinks
the living water that I give will never thirst again. You that believe, you know something
about that. You don't thirst after another
gospel. You don't thirst after another
Christ, a false Christ. The Lord said, many will come
in My name saying, try the spirits whether they be of God. Are they
consistent with the Scriptures? Try the spirits. Well, after
our Lord told this woman to call her husband, what she had to admit was, I don't have a husband. He said, well said. Beautifully said. She knew that the one that was speaking
to her knew something. Mysteriously knew something. And we pick up in verse 19 this
morning, and this is what she said. The woman saith unto him, Sir,
I perceive that thou art a prophet. She understood that the Lord
must have been somebody sent from God, a prophet because he
had knowledge that no ordinary man would have had. But she was
still in darkness. Matthew 6.23 says, If the light
that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness. And every
man has that conscience. Every man, every woman born in
Adam knows something about God. That's why you see all of these
false religions, Tower of Babel being built. We're going to build ourselves
a tower to God. That's what man by nature wants
to do. I'm going to reach up there and we're going to build
ourselves footing where we can reach God
Himself. I perceive that you are a prophet. How did you know that I didn't
have a husband? How did you know I was living
with somebody? This woman, she knew something. when Nicodemus said, Rabbi, we
know that thou art a teacher. Come from God, for no man can
do the miracles that thou doest except God be with him. There
was a Pharisee saying that. The two on the road to Emmaus,
the Lord asked them concerning the things that they
spoke And they said unto him concerning Jesus of Nazareth,
which was a prophet, mighty indeed in word before God and all the
people. They knew something. They knew
that he had to have been a prophet sent from God. Surely, God was
with him. This woman confronted with one
who told her all things that no one could naturally know.
did exactly what a depraved heart and mouth will always do. She
began to talk religion. He told her that he knew she
didn't have a husband. The one she was living with wasn't
her husband. You're an adulteress. And so she says in her religious
talk, Verse 20, our fathers worshipped in this mountain. And you say
that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Now she's beginning to speak
out of spiritual anxiety. People kind of get hemmed up,
you know, between a rock and a hard place. And they're going
to start speaking, talking about everything they know that's religious. She feels that she's got to say
something because now she's exposed. And the darkness of her heart
is opened up. She realizes that the one to
whom she's speaking has just spoken straight to her. He knows
who she is. He knows what she's doing. Well,
you know, my father's worship Her statement deals with the
only area of religion that she can comprehend, outward formality. Where are you supposed to worship
God? Another favorite of the unregenerate,
customs. Our fathers worshipped in this
mountain. Well, you know, the way I see
it, It doesn't really matter what you believe as long as you're
sincere. That's what they say. If it was
good enough for Grandma, good enough for Grandpa, it's good
enough for me. We've always believed this way. I just like just a little country
church. We grew up in the church in the
Dales. We used to sing the old time
hymns. Yeah, but what do they preach? What's being said? Is Christ set forth as the Lord
of glory? Now this woman, whether or not
she was trying to take herself out of the spotlight, whether
she seriously inquired concerning worship, our Lord's long-suffering
mercy was going to teach her something of herself. As I said last week, I am so
thankful. As I think back on myself and
I think of myself right now in my ignorance, don't ever think
that you've arrived. I was talking to Brother Chris
Cunningham last Friday morning. We had breakfast together and he was telling me about the conversation
that he had with Brother Tommy Robbins just before Brother Tommy
died. And Tommy told Chris, he said, Now
here was a man that knew. I'm getting ready to meet God.
I know. I know. And he told Chris. He said, Chris, there is so much
flesh in us. And he said, I'm scared. And Chris said, I understand.
Tommy said, no. This is what I'm scared of. I'm
scared of being disrespectful before our Lord in this time. I thought, you know, boy, there's
some evidence of some hope right there. He wasn't concerned about
formality. He wasn't concerned about this,
that, and the other, about where, you know, this worship that way.
He was concerned of God's glory. Our Lord said, verse 21, unto
her, Woman, believe Me, the hour cometh when ye shall neither
in this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father. Our Lord
is revealing something that He is going to do for this woman. He's going to give this woman
a heart that truly worships the Father. I think back on that passage
that we looked at a week or so ago when Paul the apostle said,
oh, that I may win Christ. be found in him, that I may know
him." This is the heart of a believer. Woman, believe me, the hour cometh. Here it is. That's what he says
in two verses. You know, the hour cometh and
now is. The hour cometh when you shall
neither in this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem worship the
Father. The hour cometh when you'll no
longer be in darkness. I know just enough about myself
to realize, except for God's grace, this old heart with which
I was born in Adam, this old nature could lie to me right
now. Do I really believe what I preach? I tell you, a believer concerned
with God's honor and God's glory, God's grace, concerned with true
worship, God's done something for that person. He's done something. Those that don't even consider
to make their calling and election sure. But you that believe, let me
tell you what you're thinking right now. Lord, don't leave
me to myself. Woman, believe me. And a believer
says, Lord, I want to believe You. The hour cometh when you
neither in this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem worship the
Father. The old superstitious worship
of your fathers, the place of the Levitical ceremonies is going
to come to an end. No more law, no more types, no
more holy days. They're all going to be fulfilled
in Christ. Woman, believe me. Paul the Apostle
said, Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty with which Christ
hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke
of bondage." A believer is not concerned with
traditions and ceremonies. He is concerned with God's honor,
God's glory in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord,
I want to know You. I want to worship You. I want
to be found in you. Liberty. Freedom. The Lord told
this woman, verse 22, you worship you know not what. We know what
we worship for salvation is of the Jews. You worship what you
don't know. The condemnation of this woman's
Worship. The Lord told her, you worship.
You know not what. And men do worship. But apart from regenerating grace,
they don't know what they worship. You worship. You know not what. What did He mean? Here it is. You have no scriptural basis
for what you claim to believe. You're worshipping, but it's
a false worship. You worship you know not what. You don't have any foundation
for what you say you're believing. Almighty God is worshipped as
He's revealed in Scripture. Does the Scripture set forth
that God Almighty truly wants to save but can't because of
man's ability to resist Him? God wanting to do something but
He can't do it because man won't let Him. Is that what Scripture
says? Then why do people believe that? The same accusation that's brought
before this woman right now is brought before every place where
false belief is found. You worship you know not what. You have no basis for that. Show me in the Scriptures where
it sets forth that the Lord Jesus Christ died shedding His blood
to save everybody But some that He died for are not going to
be saved because He could not save them. Show me in the Scriptures
where the Scripture sets forth that He's a failure. Show me
in the Scriptures where the Lord Jesus Christ is going to have
to hang His head in shame because there's some now in hell. that
He everlastingly loved, that the Father gave Him, that He
came into this world and lived before God's law for us, went
to the cross, died for them, redeemed them, redeemed them. And that redemption was thwarted
because of their ability to resist Him and say, I know you love
me, I know you died for me, I know you purchased me, I know you've
established a mansion in glory for me, but I ain't coming. And he hung his head in shame
and confessed, Father, I tried, I did the best I could, and I
just couldn't do it. Show me that. Show me that. Does the Scripture declare that
a man can be regenerated by the grace of God and then finally
lost? Truly saved! Truly saved! Oh, I know men rest
the Scriptures to make it say what it doesn't. You show me that. You show me
in the Scripture where God has ever tried to do something that
He could not do because of man's ability to resist Him. You show
me that in Scripture. I defy you to show it to me. The Lord told this woman, you
worship you know not what. You don't know what you're worshiping.
We know what we worship. Here's the assurance. of every
regenerated sinner concerning their knowledge of Christ. The
Jews with scriptural authority knew that God was all-powerful
and sovereign. They knew that. They had scriptural
basis for that. Genesis 1-1, In the beginning
God created the heavens and the earth. Well, I believe that they
came out of green slime. I don't care. I believe that man is evolving.
You worship you know not what. If Scripture doesn't set forth
truth, then you have no reason whatsoever to believe it. Where
is your God, David? Our God is in the heavens. He
hath done whatsoever He hath pleased. What's He doing? Whatever He's
pleased to do. What if one dies in unbelief? He wanted to die in unbelief.
And God allowed him to do just exactly what he wanted to do.
But I'm telling you, if Almighty God has everlastingly purposed
to save a man or a woman, I'm telling you based on the authority
of God's Word, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. and him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out." Kept by the power of Almighty God. The Jews knew, according to Scripture,
that they had to have a priest to approach God for them. Man by nature says, I can cover
myself, I can approach God, I can ask God for forgiveness, and
I can approach Him on my own merit. No, you can't. You cannot
approach God without a priest. No, no. Where did you ever learn
that you could approach God on your own merit? Well, I'm sincere. No, you're not. No, I'm not. I'm not sincere. what it's going to take. I'm
going to have to have one that will approach God for me. And
God Almighty will accept the priest on the priest's merit. And that priest stands for me. And I stand in him. And my acceptance
before God Almighty, we're accepted in the Beloved. We're not accepted
in ourselves. You worship, you know not what.
We know what we worship. There's a mercy seat. Whenever
God told Moses, you build this ark and you build the mercy seat,
the lid, the lid on top of the ark. And there'll be some cherubims.
They were golden cherubims. And these cherubims are emblems
of the presence of God. That's a cherubim. And their
wings came before. And God told Moses, He said,
I'll make you between the cherubims. I've got to have a mercy seat.
See, man in his fallen condition thinks that God will just meet
with him. No, He won't. This is my beloved Son in whom
I am well pleased. You hear Him. God Almighty is just and He's
going to deal with sin He's holy. I must know Christ. I cannot. Man, when I hear people
talk about what they've done, what they are able to do, law. That's what it is. It's law.
Do and live is what the Scripture says. You've never done anything
right. I haven't either. As I've told
you before, you don't want to deal with God's law. No, you
don't. Believers have the assurance
of their hope and it's scriptural. I know whom I have believed. I'm persuaded that He's able
to keep that which I've committed unto Him against that day. Lord, have mercy on me, the sinner. Salvation is of the Jews. What did he say then? The word
of right there. Salvation is of the Jews. It
means from or out of. Our Lord reveals to this Samaritan
woman that great mercy has been shown this world through the Jews. God chose a nation through which
He was going to send His Word, His prophets. God was going to
make known Himself through a nation. He chose a people. And that people,
the Jews, in type a picture of God's elect. Not all the Jews, nationally
speaking, were true spiritual Jews. But out of that nation of people,
there were some spiritual Jews. But he chose a people. He didn't
choose the Syrians. He didn't choose the Hittites
or Perizzites. He chose the Jews. And he sent
his word. He gave his word. He chose a
man called Moses and He brought him up and He gave him the Ten
Commandments. He gave him the law and He gave
him His Word. He taught us the purpose of that
law. The purpose of the law of God
is to show us, number one, God's holiness. Number two, our inability. When you look, you're not able. Only one has ever answered obediently
before God. He chose a people. Salvation
is of the Jews. I know that a lot of them in
that nation didn't believe Him. I know He came to His own and
His own received Him not. But as many as did receive Him,
But listen to this, Romans 3, 1-3, What advantage then hath
the Jew? What profit is there of circumcision? Much every way, chiefly, because
that unto them were committed the oracles of God. For what
if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief make the
faith of God without effect? Yes, God did send His Word, His
oracles, through that nation. The Lord Jesus Christ told that
woman, you worship, you know not what. We know what we worship. Salvation is of the Jews. God
has sent His Word. What does God's Word have to
say about it? The Lord has eternally purposed
to save a people. How did we know that? He is going to save them according
to His good pleasure, according to His purpose, according to
His Word. How do we know that? He told
us. In closing, Romans 9, 3-5, let
me read this to you. Paul said, For I wish that myself
were a curse from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen, according
to the flesh. who are Israelites, to whom pertaineth
the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the
law, the service of God, and the promises. Whose are the fathers,
and of whom, as concerning flesh, Christ came, who is over all,
God blessed forever. Amen. Our blessed Savior came
into this world. He was a man. A Jew. God-man. Salvation is through
the Jews. You worship, you know not what.
We know what we worship. Search the Scriptures. Make much
of the Scriptures. Almighty God speaks through His
Scriptures. Outside of His Scriptures, He
says nothing else. May the Lord Jesus Christ be
honored. for the glory of His eternal purpose and for the good
of His people.