Well let us turn again to God's
Word. We continue to endeavor to minister
from this strange sitting position but turning to God's Word in
the portion of scripture that we read in John chapter 4 and
I want us to consider the testimony of the woman of Samaria as we
have it Here in verse 29, when she says to the men of her city,
come see a man which told me all things that ever I did, is
not this the Christ? In John 4, 29, come see a man
which told me all things that ever I did, is not this the Christ? It was the most significant meeting
between the Lord Jesus and this Samaritan woman. It was the outworking
of the eternal purpose of God, because we're told in verse 4
how He must needs go through Samaria. and he must need to go through
Samaria in order that we might have this particular incident,
his meeting with the woman of Samaria. It was God's great purpose
of grace that this woman should be called to salvation in the
Lord Jesus and she was evidently a sinful woman and when Christ
first comes to reveal himself to any sinner does he not find
them in much darkness and ignorance they are so utterly helpless
and yet as the Lord ministers to them and how he ministers
to this particular woman he speaks of her real needs He addresses
the matter of spiritual thirst, interesting words that he speaks
to her as he takes the opportunity, sitting there at the well's head
in Saika, and she comes to draw water. And he says at verse 10, If thou
knewest the gift of God, and knew it is that saith to thee,
Give me to drink, thou wouldst have asked of him, and he would
have given thee living water. This is that spiritual drink
that he speaks of again in verse 14, 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." How Christ then is speaking of that
that is the real need of this woman. How few have any awareness
of their real soul's needs. What is a man profited, says
Christ, on another occasion, if he should gain the whole world.
and lose his own soul or what should a man give in exchange
for his soul. Here then he speaks to her of
the needs of her soul, that spiritual need that is really in every
man who was of course created in the image and made after the
likeness of God. He speaks here to the woman of
the true nature of God. She was a woman of Samaria and
you remember that there were never any dealings between the
Jews and the Samaritans. The Samaritans were such a mixed
company of people. They were those who were descended
from the ten tribes that were scattered by the Assyrians. You
know how after the death of Solomon there was that sad division and
the ten tribes rebelled against the house of David. because of
the foolishness of Solomon's son Rehoboam it was just two
tribes in the in the south it was Judah and Benjamin that were
faithful to the house of David but those ten tribes in the north
chose Jeroboam and then they were eventually scattered and
lost when the armies of Sennacherib fell upon that northern kingdom
of Israel. But there were those that were
left and they intermingled with the other peoples and they became
the Samaritans. And there was much of the true
worship of God but it was mingled and mangled with all sorts of
other practices. And now the Jews despise them
and yet Here is the Lord Jesus, He comes to minister to this
woman, and He speaks to her quite plainly of the true nature of
God. Verse 22, He says, Ye worship
ye know not what? That He's a Samaritan. 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 seeketh such to
worship him. God is a spirit and they that
worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. Speaks of God but he also speaks
to her concerning herself and her life, her sins Verse 16,
Go call thy husband, and come hither. The woman answered and
said, I have no husband. 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 thou
sest true. The woman saith unto him, Sir,
I perceive that thou art a prophet. She recognizes then who this
man is. And so when she returns to Syca,
to her own city, she speaks there to her neighbors, come see a
man which told me all things that ever I did. Is not this
the Christ? Well as we come to consider the
words of the 29th verse, First of all to say something with
regards to the office of the Lord Jesus Christ, the office
of Christ. Is not this, is not this the Christ, she says. Verse 25 When she returns to the city,
she says, I know that Messiah, or speaking to Christ now, I
know that Messiah's cometh, which is called Christ, when he is
come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that
speak unto thee, am her. She accepts his word, he has
told her plainly, that he is that promised one, the Messiah
of God. Remember how the Lord Jesus Christ is most often referred
to by that threefold name. He is the Lord. That reminds
us that He is Divine. He is the Eternal Son of God. He is the Great I Am, the Jehovah.
He is the Lord. Jesus, of course, is the human
name that was given to Him. The name that the angel mentions
to Joseph when he is betrothed Mary is found to be with child
and she's with child of the Holy Ghost he was minded to put her
away but not so he must take her for his wife she's going
to bear this child and they shall call his name Jesus says the
angel they shall call his name Jesus that's his human name and
he speaks of him as the Savior. He shall save his people from
their sins. And then Christ is the official
name. It speaks to us of his office. He is that one who is the promised
Savior of sinners. And how he's authenticated time
and again during the course of his earthly ministry. When he begins that ministry
in the opening chapter of Mark's Gospel, we see him healing a
man with an unclean spirit in the synagogue at Capernaum. And
what is the response of the people there? They say, what new doctrine
or teaching is this? As he performs a miracle, they
recognize. There's something significant
here. What new doctrine? He says this is a man sent from
God. This is a man who is the Lord's
man, the Lord's prophet. We see the same when Nicodemus
here in chapter 3 comes to the Lord Jesus that chapter that
tells of course of the great truth of regeneration, the necessity
of the new birth and you remember the approach that Nicodemus makes,
Rabbi we know, he says, that thou art a teacher come from
God for no man can do those miracles that thou doest except God be
with him. Here he is, he's authenticated
as a teacher, a man who's come from God. And the miracles are
the authentication of his ministry. Again in Luke chapter 7 we read
of him raising the widow of Nain's son. He goes to the buyer and
touches it and the young man is raised to life. It was his
funeral. And there, in Luke 7, 16, there came a fear on all,
and they glorified God, saying, that a great prophet is risen
up among us, and that God hath visited his people. Time and again, then, we see
this in the ministry of the Lord Jesus, these things that authenticate
Him, to be what He tells this woman He is. I that speak unto
thee am He. I am that One who is the Messiah
of Israel, the Christ of God, the Anointed. And then, of course,
we read the account of the life and the death of the Lord Jesus,
that cruel death that He must die on the cross, and yet even
in His crucifixion He is being glorified. It is as He is exalted
upon the cross that He accomplishes the great work of redemption,
that work of salvation that He was sent to perform. And so he
is raised again on the third day. All the four Gospels bear
this constant testimony. Each of them in some detail relates
the events surrounding his death, his crucifixion, his rising again
from the dead, and then his ascension on high. And then when we come
to the book of the Revelation, how that remarkable book opens
with a revelation of the glorified Christ. This is what John The
aged apostle is favored to behold in exile there on the Isle of
Patmos. The familiar account that we
have in that opening chapter of the Revelation. In the midst
of the seven candlesticks, John says, one, like unto the Son
of Man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about
the paps with a golden girdle, his head and his hairs were white
like wool as white as snow. And his eyes were as a flame
of fire, and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned
in a furnace, and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand
seven stars, and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword,
and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. And when I saw him, I fell at
his feet. as dead or the glorified Christ
and there amongst other things we read of his eyes were as a
flame of fire and so too in the course of his ministry what eyes
what all-seeing and all-searching eyes and this woman in her testimony
her confession here is brought to acknowledge that he could
see her He knew her. Come see a man which told me
all things that ever I did, she says. Is not this the Christ? Now, when we think of those eyes
as a flame of fire, we are obviously to think very much of His deity. And as God, He was one who was
all seeing and all knowing, omniscient he knew all things we're told
back in chapter 2 and verse 25 where we have the record of that
first miracle at Cana in Galilee that he needed not that any should
testify of man he knew what was in the hearts of men he is the
word of God And that's how he's introduced to us, of course,
in this particular Gospel, John's remarkable opening section where
he speaks of the Word. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was
in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him,
and without Him was not anything made that was made. And then
he tells us how the Word was made flesh. and dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth." He is the eternal Word of God. And is He not, in a sense, that
Word that is spoken of in Hebrews chapter 4? We often refer to
those words where the Apostle says how the word of God is quick
and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing
to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints
and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of
the heart. And in the context, if we read
that carefully, it is evident that principally he is speaking
of Christ as that word. And as the word, he is the discerner,
it says, of the thoughts and the intents of the heart. The eternal word of God. the
eternal son of God, he is God, and as God, he is that one who
is omniscient, he is the very one that we have David confessing
in the language of the 139th Psalm, that Psalm that speaks
so plainly of his omniscience and his omnipresence, how he
knows all things and he is in all places, O Lord, says David,
thou hast searched me and known me, thou knowest my down-sitting
and mine up-rising, thou understandest my thought afar off, thou compassest my path and my
lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways, for there is
not a word in my tongue But lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me, behind and
before, and laid thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful
for me. It is high. I cannot attain unto
it." That is the description of the omniscient Jehovah, the
all-knowing Lord. And this is the one whom this
woman is confessing she is confessing his deity then he told me all
things that ever I did and this makes an impression
when she relates it to those of her own fellow citizens they
believe the word that she had spoken but later on we see how as he
dwells amongst them they believe him for his own words in verse
41 many more believe because of his own words 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 there is here then to this woman
a revelation of his deity but also here there is a an acknowledgement
of his humanity what does she say come see a man this is God's
manifest in the flesh here she beholds the reality of his human
nature and of course when we think of Christ in his office
and this is what we have when we think of him as the Christ
we're to think of him as the God-man, Lord, the divine name,
Jesus, the human name, Christ, the official name. In that official
capacity as the Messiah, He is the God-man. Without controversy,
great is the mystery of godliness, God was manifest in the flesh. And how remarkable when we think
of His human nature. and though he is able to empathize
with men, he understands men. We have not an high priest which
cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, Paul says,
but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet, without
sin. He understands men. In the days of his flesh, here
upon the earth, and we had to learn many things, he knew human
experiences. He needed not that any should
testify of man for he knew what was in the heart of man. It used
to be said of the Protestant reformer Martin Luther that he
could preach God's Word as if he had walked up and down in
the soul of a man. Well, if that was true of Luther,
how much more was that true of Luther's master, the Lord Jesus
Christ, as a man? He could preach as if he had
truly walked up and down in the souls of men. He had the Spirit
of God. And remember what the Apostle
says with regards to that blessed ministry of the Spirit there
in the second chapter? of his first epistle to the Corinthians
1 Corinthians 2 verse 11 what man knoweth the things of a man
side the spirit of man which is in him even so the things
of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God and the Lord Jesus
is that one who had such a an effusion of the Spirit bestowed
upon him he knew men because of the sort of man that he himself
was. He was one spoken of in prophecy,
he would be of quick understanding, it says, in the fear of the Lord. There's that word again turning
to Old Testament scriptures in the book of Isaiah in chapter
11. Remember how he is spoken of here as the stem of Jesse? and a branch growing out of Jesse's
roots. Again, we have the two natures. He is a stem of Jesse, Jesse
the father of David. He is David's Lord. He's before
Jesse, he's before David. He's the eternal son of God and
yet, Isaiah speaks of him as a branch growing out of Jesse's
roots. with regards to his human nature.
He is descended from Jesse, he is descended from David. We see the two natures, God and
man. There shall come forth a rod
out of the stem of Jesse and a branch shall grow out of his
roots. And then in verse 2, the spirit of the Lord shall rest
upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding the spirit
of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear
of the Lord, and shall make him of quick understanding in the
fear of the Lord. And he shall not judge after
the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of
his ears, but with righteousness shall he judge the poor and reprove
with equity for the meek of the earth. This is that one that
this woman is acknowledging. He is of such a quick understanding. He has upon him the spirit of
the Lord, that spirit of wisdom, that spirit of knowledge. And
she acknowledges him. He bears all the marks then of
that promised one, the Messiah of God. Come see a man which
told me all things that ever I did. Is not this the Christ? But having said something with
regards to his office, which is what she's confessing, that
he is truly the Messiah. I want us to look a little more
closely at his omniscience, how he is all-knowing, he's all-knowledge. There's a contrast between the
response of this woman of Samaria and what we see with the Pharisees. in Matthew chapter 12 verse 23
following we're told all the people were amazed and said is
not this the son of David but when the Pharisees heard it they
said this fellow does not cast out devils but by Beelzebub the
prince of the devils and it says Jesus knew their hearts he knew
the heart of this woman and he knew the hearts of all those
Pharisees who blasphemed him. They said he cast out demons
by the prince of the demons, by Beelzebub. Though the people
were amazed and ready to acknowledge him. What a contrast! But we
see here two things. The Lord in his omniscience exposes
the hypocrites that's what the Pharisees were they were hypocrites
and by his all seeing and all searching eye the Lord exposes
them he knew their thoughts but the same Lord who exposes the
hypocrite is the one who comes to encourage the sinner and that's
what we see with this woman his omniscience is such an encouragement
to her but I want us just for a little while to consider those
two things first of all how the Lord Jesus is constantly exposing
the religion of the hypocrites in Matthew 23 of course we have
that tremendous chapter in which he denounces woe upon woe upon
woe on the scribes and the Pharisees. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
he says, hypocrites. Now, we referred just now to
how we have that revelation of the glorified Christ in the opening
chapter of the Revelation, and that description of Him in which
His eyes were as a flame of fire, and then of course as you know
in the following two chapters, We have the letters that are
sent to the churches and different aspects of that description of
his glorified state are taken up. Just turn to the letter that
is sent to the church at Thyatira. There in Revelation chapter 2 And reading at verse 18 and the
following verses, we have the letter to Thyatira. Unto the angel of the church
in Thyatira write, These things saith the Son of God, and mark
what it says, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire. and
his feet are like fine brass. I know thy works, and charity,
and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works, and
the last to be more than the first. Notwithstanding, I have
a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel,
which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach, and to seduce my servants,
to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.
And I gave her space to repent of her fornication, and she repented
not. Behold, I will cast her into
a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation,
except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children
with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He which
searcheth the reins and hearts, and I will give unto every one
of you according to your works. But unto you I say, and unto
the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and
which have not known the depths of Satan as I speak, I will put
upon you none other burden, but that which ye have already. Hold
fast till I come. And he that overcometh, and keepeth
my word unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations. and he shall rule them with a
rod of iron, as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken
to shivers, even as I received my father. And I will give him
the morning star, he that hath an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit saith unto the churches." Now, this is the letter to these
churches, Thyatira there, and Christ is spoken of as he who
hath eyes like unto a flame, of fire." And then at verse 23
he says, "...all the churches shall know that I am he which
searcheth the reins and hearts, and I will give unto every one
of you according to your works." It speaks of Christ's omniscience. He's the one who's all-seeing
and all-searching, but it speaks also of the woman Jezebel. which calleth herself a prophetess.
A reference of course to Jezebel, the wife of Ahab, that wicked
king of Israel in the Old Testament. But what a hypocrite, what a
hypocrite was that woman. We're told how she painted her
face and tied her hair and looked out at a window as she wanted
to be seen. She sought to enhance her beauty. She wanted to make a spectacle
of herself. She wanted people to take account
of her. This is the religion of the hypocrites. Religion is
all on the outside. It's all show. But that woman
inwardly was evil. She was a terrible idolater. She was a persecutor. of the
children of God, a persecutor of the true prophets of the Lord. She supported all the false prophets.
In 1 Kings 18-19 we read of some 850 prophets who would eat at
her table, the prophets of Baal and the prophets of the groves.
In fact, as we read there in that portion, in Revelation 2.20,
she called herself a prophetess. and a teaching, it's not the
literal Jezebel of course, it's the spirit of Jezebel that was
obviously there in that church at Thyatira and the Lord is exposing
it, the Lord sees it and it's referred to in verse 24 as this
doctrine, the depths of Satan and the Lord will destroy it
How the Lord exposes the hypocrite. He sees the hypocrite for what
he is. His religion is nothing but pretense.
It's a play act. It's not real. There's nothing
genuine. It's all on the outside. And we're told in Job 8.13, the
hypocrite's hope shall perish. Or the Lord takes no delight
in those who only have the religion of the hypocrite. In his omniscience
then. those all-seeing eyes, those
all-searching eyes are there in that church at Thyatira exposing
these things but really what I want to dwell on is the fact
that this truth of Christ's omniscience is such an encouragement to the
sinner the poor sinner who feels himself to be so unworthy of
the notice of God Oh, that sinner is such a sacred thing. I know, I suppose the language
is somewhat controversial when we have it and we sing it. In
that hymn 89, that hymn of Joseph Hart, a sinner is a sacred thing.
The Holy Ghost hath made him so, new life from him we must
receive before for sin we rightly grieve. He's speaking of that
poor sinner who has been awakened, who has a sense of his need.
And see what it says there, In that letter to Thyatira, in Revelation
2.23, it's not just a word to that church in Thyatira, it says
the churches. Verse 23, the churches shall
know that I am he that searcheth the hearts. That is the mark
of the true church, the Lord Jesus Christ, the glorified Christ
is present. in the churches and He comes
and He searches the hearts of His people and how does the Lord
do that? He does it by His Word, He does
it through the ministry of His Word, He deals with us, does
He not? He brings scriptures to us, He
brings us under His Word, He makes us have to submit to the
authority of His Word and that Word exposes us for what we are. The Lord comes and He deals with
us in our hearts. Surely that's what we desire.
That's what we see, of course, in the case of Lydia. And it's interesting, there in
Acts 16, Lydia was of Thyatira. She's a seller of purple, it
says, of Thyatira. Did she go back to Thyatira?
Was she one who was in that particular church that we read of there
in Revelation 2.18 following? but remember what we're told
concerning that woman how the Lord opened the heart of Lydia
and she attended unto those things that were spoken by Paul and
Silas and we need the Lord to open our hearts and it's a fearful
thing when the Lord does open our hearts when we're exposed
we're exposed to His all-searching eye, He sees us and he looks
within and what does he see within us how this woman you see is
so convicted before him and she cannot bear this testimony to
her fellow citizens come she says see a man which told me
all things that ever I did is not this the Christ or that the spirit really that
we have again in that 139th psalm we read the opening part of the
psalm as David explains the truth of God's omniscience how God
knows he's down sitting and he's up rising and understands his
thoughts are far off before ever David thinks the thought God
knows all about and remember how David concludes that blessed
psalm search me oh God he says and know my heart, try me and
know my thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting." He wants God to search him. And that is a mark of grace,
the Puritan. John Flavel says, false grace
is shy of God's eye. It cares not to be examined.
But true grace, true grace is that that wants to be searched
by God's eye, wants the Lord to come and lift up the light
of His countenance and to look and to look within. We have it
of course here in the previous chapter, chapter 3 at verse 20. Everyone that doeth evil hateth
the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deed should
be reproved. But He that doeth truth cometh
to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they
are wrought in God. Are we those who hate the light? We don't want God to examine
us too closely. Or are we those who love the
light? Those that do truth, they love
the light. They want to know that their
religion is real, that it is that that is wrought of God.
It's wrought in God. we have of course that exhortation
in the end of 2nd Corinthians 13 to examine ourselves and to
prove ourselves and to know ourselves that Jesus Christ is in us and
he must be in us the Lord must open our hearts he must come
within the kingdom of God he says he is within you And we
see this in the testimony of so many in Scripture. The language
of dear Job. Job in 31.6 says, Let me be weighed
in an even balance, that I may know mine integrity. Oh, he wants
the Lord to examine him. He wants to know that his religion
is right, it's real. It's that that is truly of God. But see with this woman as she
bears her testimony, how faithful she is. She says to the men of
her city, come. Come see a man. She doesn't say,
go. She doesn't send them to the
well at Sykes. She brings them. Come. See a
man. Which told me all things that
ever I did is not this the Christ we have the the same spirit do
we not in the in the case of Andrew and his and his brother
Peter back in chapter 1 verse 41 of the two which heard
John on the Baptist speak, and followed him was Andrew, Simon
Peter's brother. He first findeth his own brother
Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messiah, which
is being interpreted the Christ, and he brought him. He brought
him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he
said, Thou art Simon the son of Jonah, thou shalt be called
Cephas, which is by interpretation a stone. But Andrew, he brings
Peter. and the woman of Samaria she
brings these fellow citizens come see a man and we sang it
just now of course in that lovely hymn then will I tell to sinners
round what a dear saviour I have found I'll point to thy redeeming
blood and say behold the way to God or to be those who are
faithful as we seek to bear our testimony to the Lord Jesus Christ
or this woman and her testimony to fellow sinners. We're told there in verse 39,
Many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the
saying of the woman which testified, He told me all things that ever
I did. they were so impressed by the
testimony that she bore but then as we see later we've already
referred to it as the Lord is constrained to tarry with them
for two days so they hear him for themselves
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 and all that we might know that truth also even
from the testimony of this woman that she might be to us a true
testifier of the Lord Jesus directing us to him as that one who does
indeed know all things he knows all about us he knows all about
our circumstances there's nothing we can hide from him but are
we those who desire to expose our souls to his all-seeing eye
and yet oh what an encouragement it is to the sinner when the
Lord looks upon him when he looked upon Peter there in Luke 22 you
know the incident after Peter denied his Lord three times and
the Lord turned and looked upon Peter and now Peter was affected
by that gracious look he went out and he wept such bitter tears
of true repentance well the Lord bring us to that the testimony then of this woman
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 it says
and came unto him well God bless his word to us let us conclude
our worship today as we sing 119 the hymn 119 the tune st
agnes 218 thou dear redeemer dying lamb sorry 119 great god
from thee there's naught concealed thou seest my inward frame to
thee i always stand revealed exactly as I am.