Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening. And
now for today's program. Welcome to our program today.
I'm glad you could join us. If you'd like to follow along
in your Bibles, I'm continuing to preach in John chapter four,
the gospel of John chapter four. We'll begin with verse 22. And
this is the third part of a series entitled Christ, the water of
life. And this is where the Lord Jesus
Christ is dealing with a Samaritan woman, an adulterous woman, an
infamous sinner. at the well of Jacob, and he
talked to her about living water, drawing water from him who is
the well spring of the water of life. And the water of life
is salvation, full and free by the grace of God that's freely
given to his people. Back over in verse 10, he asked
the question, or he told the woman, if you knew the gift of
God, well, what is the gift of God? Well, salvation's a gift.
For by grace are you saved, through faith, that not of yourselves.
It's the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.
That refers to faith, repentance, perseverance. It refers to all
of salvation. It's a free gift that we have
not earned and do not deserve. Not one blessing, not one benefit.
It's all earned for God's elect, God's people, who are known by
their believing the gift of faith. It is all earned for them by
Christ as their surety, their substitute, and their Redeemer.
Well, here he's dealing with this woman. He exposed her sinfulness
by telling her that he knew her situation when he told her, he
said, go call your husband and bring him here. She said, I have
no husband. He said, you speak well. He said, you've had five
husbands and the man you're living with now is not your husband.
So she said, well, I perceive that you're a prophet. You know
things about me that nobody but a prophet could know. And of
course he was a prophet. And so she goes to her religion. And that's the nature of man.
You know, man is a religious being by nature. Even the most
immoral people are religious by nature. Now they may go through
their lives denying it and fighting it, but it's in them by nature. It's called self-righteousness.
We all think that we deserve better than what we get. And
so she goes back to her religion. She points to the temple in Samaria. which was of the Northern Kingdom,
which was a temple that when the kingdom split back after
Solomon, the Northern Kingdom, the 10 tribes, they established
their capital in Samaria and built a temple there. Well, that
was against God's revealed will by way of command because the
true temple was to be placed in Jerusalem. It was the after
runner of the tabernacle. that was portable in the wilderness.
And when David became king, he wanted to build the temple. God
wouldn't let him do it, but Solomon did. And that temple was where
God established the true worship of God through types and pictures,
the priest, the altar, the sacrifice, which all pointed sinners to
Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ for righteousness,
forgiveness, for life. That was all the type of Christ.
Christ is our high priest. Christ is our altar. Christ is
our lamb, our sacrifice. And that's what all that meant.
And most of the Jews missed it. Even the Jews. But Christ told
her in verse 22, he says, for salvation is of the Jews. Now
I made this point last week. That doesn't mean that you have
to be a Jew to be saved. That is physically. You know,
one of the things that the Jews boasted in for their salvation
or their right relationship with God is that they were physical
descendants from Abraham, but that wasn't any good. John the
Baptist told him that, Christ told him that. He said, don't
say in your heart that Abraham is my father. He says, you don't
do the works of Abraham. Well, what are the works of Abraham?
Abraham believed God. Abraham looked to Christ, and
that was a gift of God to Abraham. But many of these Jews, the majority
of them, did not receive the Messiah when he came. They rejected
him, just like we all do by nature. But there was always an elect
remnant, a small part. Isaiah made this statement in
his day, except the Lord of Sabaoth, the Lord of an invincible army,
powerful, hath left us a seed. we should be a Sodom and Gomorrah,
the whole kit and caboodle would be destroyed. So here we have
it. Well, look at verse 23. Now what
Christ is doing here, he's exposing her sin, and he's gonna show
her the reality of what salvation is all about, what true worship
is all about. She said, we worship in this
mountain, you Jews worship in that mountain. And he said, you
don't know what you worship, but we know what we worship.
In other words, that was the temple, the true temple. And
so in verse 23, he says, but the hour cometh, and now is when
the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth,
for the Father seeketh such to worship him. Now let's read verse
24 with that. God is a spirit, or God is spirit,
and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in
truth. Now those are very, very instructive
verses about what worship is. And I brought this out last week,
how most people today have perverted worship. What is true worship? For most people, it involves
entertainment, it involves large numbers, it involves emotions.
Most people, they wanna sing songs and let that be their worship
instead of hearing the gospel, hearing the truth preached. That's
popular, that's not true worship. It says, the hour comes and now
is when the true worshiper shall worship the Father in spirit
and in truth. Now, many times in scripture,
when you see the word spirit, sometimes the King James translators,
they capitalized the word spirit, meaning the person of the Holy
Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. And then sometimes they
made it a small s, which would mean the spirit within us, the
spirit of life, new life, the new heart. But this thing of
the Spirit, I believe that it's talking about here the Holy Spirit
who testifies, as Paul wrote in Romans chapter eight, with
our spirits that we are the children of God. So it could be both. But let me show you a passage
over here in Philippians chapter three that is one of the best
definitions of what a true believer really is. Philippians 3 and
verse 3. Okay, he says in Philippians
3 and verse 3, he says, for we are the circumcision. Now, circumcision
was a title which the Jews called themselves because of the males
being physically circumcised. And so the whole Jewish nation
was called the circumcision because the males represented even the
females. And so, Paul here is addressing
false believers who were Jews who came into the church of Philippi
and insisted that the Gentile believers be circumcised physically. Well, Paul says they've got it
wrong. Circumcision in the Old Testament that began with Abraham
was a physical sign for that nation up until the ending of
the Old Covenant. And it was a picture of what
the Bible calls the circumcision of the heart. Paul dealt with
that in Romans chapter two. You can look at verses 28 and
29. He said, he is not a Jew which is one outwardly and circumcision
is not that which is of the flesh, but he is a Jew which is one
inwardly and circumcision is that of the heart. Now circumcision
of the heart is the new birth where the Holy Spirit gives a
sinner spiritual life under the preaching of the gospel, the
truth, and gives that sinner faith to believe and repentance
to turn from self. And that's, spiritually speaking,
a cutting away of the filth of the flesh, especially repentance.
And Paul describes that in Philippians chapter three. So when Paul says
here in Philippians three and verse three, we are the circumcision,
what he's saying, we're the true circumcision. We're the true
spiritual, spiritually circumcised. We're the true children of God.
Not those who are physically circumcised. Well, how do you
know that you've experienced the new birth? Circumcision of
the heart. Well, he says here, which worship
God in the spirit. Now that's, I believe that should
be capitalized, the Spirit of God. But it does mean that we
worship God sincerely from the heart, from that new heart that
God has given us. But he says, now how do you know
you're doing it in the Spirit? Well he says, we rejoice in Christ
Jesus. Now that word rejoice means to
boast. In other words, we have confidence
in Christ Jesus. He is our hope, our assurance. He is my righteousness, and then
have no confidence in the flesh, the works of the flesh, the will
of the flesh. It's all in Christ. Now go back
to John 4. When he says in verse 23, the hour cometh, and now
is when the true worshipers shall worship this Father, God the
Father, in spirit. by the Holy Spirit, with the
Spirit within, the new heart, and in truth. Now that's important. For the Father seeketh such to
worship Him. Christ seeking His sheep, bringing
them out of their darkness into the kingdom of God's dear Son,
through the preaching of the truth. And what that tells us
is this, If the Spirit of God is leading us and is present
with us in worship, and if we're truly, sincerely from the new
heart as born again people, worshiping the Father, it's in the truth. How do you know? You know, I've
had people go into services, and I've been in these services
too, where there was no gospel preached. All it was was a big
free for all, hollering and emotional, singing songs, but no gospel,
no Bible taught. And I've heard people walk out
and say, boy, the spirit was with us tonight. No, he wasn't.
You say, well, preacher, how can you make such a judgment?
I'll tell you how I can make such a judgment, because the
word of God tells us where the spirit is, there is truth. There is the word of God. That's
how you know the spirit is present. That's how you know that the
new heart is welling up, worshiping God within. We're hearing the
truth. Without the truth, there's no
spirit. He's not the spirit of a lie.
He's the spirit of God in the truth. And that's what he says.
Verse 24, God is a spirit. God is invisible, you can't see
Him or touch Him. And they that worship Him must
worship Him in spirit and in truth. And you could say, by
the Holy Spirit, in spirit from the new heart, in truth. And what is the truth? Well,
Christ said it in John 14, six. He said, I am the way, I am the
truth, I am the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. Paul said, I strive not to know
anything among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. The
glorious person, the finished work of Christ, when he is preached,
when he is exalted in the truth now, as he's identified and distinguished
in this book, the Bible, the word of God, that's when true
worship is experienced. And not until then. So what you
need to understand and what you need to do is when you go to
a church, you need to first discern what that man or whoever's preaching,
is it the truth? Is it the word of God? Does it
tell me who Christ is? What he did, why he did it, where
he is now? Is it the preaching of righteousness?
That perfection of righteousness that can only be found in Christ?
Or are we there just having a good big party, feeling good about
ourselves? That's the key. Well, let's go
on. Look at verse 25 of John chapter
four. The woman saith unto him, I know
that Messiah's cometh. That's the Messiah. Now the Samaritans,
they knew that there was a Messiah coming. The Messiah cometh, which
is called Christ. That's his title. That's the
anointed one. When He has come, He will tell
us all things. And that's true. Christ is the
embodiment of all truth. He's the living Word of God. He's the incarnate Word of God. The Word made flesh, dwelt among
us, tabernacling among us. He is the subject of the written
Word of God. Over in John 5, he told the Pharisees,
he said, you search the scriptures. In them you think you have eternal
life? They are they which testify of me. They said, we have Moses. He said, oh, you missed Moses.
Moses wrote of me. Moses pointed sinners to Christ.
All the prophets pointed to him. You remember on the Mount of
Transfiguration when he showed Peter and James and John that
visible sign That vision, Christ speaking
to Moses and Elijah, Moses representing the law, Elijah representing
the prophets, Christ the subject of the law and the prophets.
He's the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believe it.
He's what the prophets pointed to. He's who the prophets pointed
to. And it said, they spoke of his decease, which he should
accomplish in Jerusalem. They spoke of him and his death.
The gospel. And that's what it's all about.
And he'll tell us all things. He should be the subject of all
the preached word, the uttered word, the Rahema. That's what
he should be. Well, verse 26, Jesus saith unto
her, I that speak unto thee am. There's one of the I am statements.
Now in your King James version, it'll have I that speak unto
thee am he. And that's okay. That means it wasn't in, the
word he was not in the original manuscripts, it was added by
the translators. But that's what Christ is saying,
I am the Messiah. Now it was testified in the Old
Testament, prophesied, that the Messiah would be God in human
flesh. And I've heard preachers say,
well, Christ never claimed to be God. Right here, He did. If He claimed to be the Messiah,
He claimed to be God, Emmanuel, God with us. And we could go
all through the Old Testament, but I'll give you just one verse,
Isaiah 9, 6. It says, unto us a child is born,
a son is given. That's a child is born, that's
his sinless humanity. A son is given, that's his deity. The second person of the Trinity.
So he tells this woman, he said, I am the Messiah. And look at
verse 27. And upon this came his disciples
and marveled that he talked with the woman, yet no man said, what
seekest thou? Now the disciples that he had
sent them in to buy bread, they came back and they were astonished
he was talking to this woman. And it says in verse 28, and
they asked, yet no man said, what seekest thou or why talkest
thou with her? But the woman then, verse 28,
left her water pot and went her way into the city and saith to
the men. Now she leaves her water pots. That's why she came out
there, to draw water. But you see what's happening
here. Her mind's getting away from the physical, going to the
spiritual, and that's by the power of God. That wasn't in
her naturally. So she went in and saith to the
men of the city, verse 29, come see a man which told me all things
that ever I did. Is not this the Christ? Isn't
this the Messiah? Now she's beginning to see him
as the water of life. Christ, the water of life. And
it says in verse 30, then they went out of the city and came
unto him. You see what's happening there?
He's revealing himself to this woman as the water of life, as
the Messiah, Son of God. That's who he is. I mentioned
earlier in preaching, what are we supposed to tell? We go through
the scriptures verse by verse. Whenever we come upon scriptures
where there are exhortations for believers to be obedient,
to fight sin, to live honestly and all of that, we preach that.
But the motivation and the foundation of all godliness and acceptable
obedience is the glorious person and the finished work of Christ.
And my friend, listen, lost people who do not know Christ, that's
what they need to hear. They need to hear the gospel.
That's why I'm determined in every message on this TV program
and every message that I preach, every message that I preach from
the pulpit of Eager Avenue Grace Church, I'm gonna preach the
gospel. Because that's what you need
to hear. That's what lost people need to hear for salvation. And
that's what saved people here need to hear for motivation.
You see, the motivation for acceptable obedience for godliness cannot
be legal self-righteousness or mercenary promises of earned
reward. You do this or God will take
things away from you. You do this or you'll lose salvation. That's legalism, that's evil. or you do this and God will give
you a greater mansion in heaven. You'll have more rewards. The
Bible doesn't teach that. The only reward singular the
Bible knows about is the reward of grace which Christ earned
for his people. and they'll receive a full reward.
Ephesians chapter one in verse three talks about how we are
to worship God by saying, blessed be the God and Father of our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. In other words, if I'm a sinner
saved by grace, God has blessed me with all spiritual blessings. Not some, He hasn't given some
to the best Christians and less to the worst Christians or anything
like that, but all spiritual blessings. Romans 8, I believe
it's verse 32 says, he that spared not his own son, how shall he
not with him also? Get freely, give us all things
unconditionally without a cause. and the assurance of salvation.
The Bible says in Hebrews chapter six that God, it is God's will
that his people have strong consolation based upon two things, and that
is God's promise and God's oath. Now God's promise is what he
promises to give to his people upon the foundation of the glorious
person and finished work of Christ. That's the gospel. Salvation
is of the Lord. Salvation comes to sinners who
are undeserving and even unwilling in their natural state to receive
Christ. It comes to sinners by the free,
sovereign, powerful grace of God based upon the blood, the
righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's right, that's
how eternal life comes. And that's God's promise. God
promises to save sinners through Christ. He never promises to
save sinners in any other way. He never promised to save sinners
based on their faith, no. Now, He promises to give them
faith, and the Bible says, he that believeth not shall be damned,
he that believeth shall be saved. It says, he that believeth and
is baptized shall be saved. Does that mean that faith and
baptism are conditions? No, no, it doesn't mean that
at all. It means that all who God brings
to salvation will come by God-given faith, which is the gift of God,
not of works, lest any man should boast. The Bible teaches that
if we're left to ourselves, we will not believe in him. If God
left it to our own wills, as what people call their free will,
they freely will not come to Him. You see that if you're truly
saved, the difference between you and a lost person is not
the fact that you did something or decided something. The difference
is the sovereign grace and mercy of God. Romans chapter nine,
he said, I'll have mercy upon whom I will have mercy. I'll
be gracious to whom I will be gracious. Therefore it's not
of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that
showeth mercy. You understand what that means?
Salvation doesn't come because you willed it so or you made
the right choice. If you made the right choice,
which I hope you have and urge you to do, it's the product of
the sovereign mercy and grace and power of God. Understand
that? God, thank you for the faith
that you gave me. by which I lay hold of Christ.
Thank you for the repentance that you granted me to turn away
from myself. Thank you for keeping me unto
glory because I would not keep myself. Paul said, I know whom
I have believed and I'm persuaded that he is able to keep that
which I've committed unto him against that day. And what have
I committed unto him? My whole salvation, all of it. And so here they are. What a
story. The woman at the well, a Samaritan
woman. And these disciples, now when
they came back, they didn't figure out what's going on here. Look
at verse 31 of John 4. It says, in the meanwhile, his
disciples prayed him, saying, master, eat. They wanted him
to eat. And he was in his humanity. He
got hungry, but it wasn't sinful. And it says, but he said unto
them, I have meat to eat that you know not of. Therefore said
the disciples one to another, hath any man brought him ought
to eat? Now their minds are on physical things instead of spiritual
things. Verse 34, Jesus saith unto them,
my meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish
his work. Think about it. In other words,
here's what feeds me spiritually, what Christ said, and he had
the spirit without measure. He said, to do the will of my
father and to finish his work. And what was the work? Establishing
on the cross by his obedience unto death, the righteousness
by which God is just to justify ungodly sinners. The imputed
righteousness of Christ, which God justifies them and gives
them life. I hope you'll join us next week
for another message from God's word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
a copy of today's program or to learn more about Reign of
Grace Media Ministries or Eager Avenue Grace Church, write us
at 1-1-0-2-1. Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia
31707. Contact us by phone at 229-432-6969
or email us through our website at www.theletterofgrace.com. Thank you again for listening
today and may the Lord be with you.