Good morning. I invite your attention to the
gospel according to John chapter 4. We will today continue our exposition
of verses 1 through 43 regarding Jesus and the Samaritan woman. I believe this is the eighth
We're going to begin today from verse 30, and I probably will
conclude this next Lord's Day, God willing. It's been an exposition. We have just taken a passage
of Scripture and looked at it, verse by verse, sometimes line
by line. sometimes word by word. I have marveled when I have read
the commentaries of A.W. Pink. He is one of my favorite
commentators, one of the soundest men ever in the gospel. By the
way, copies of his book, The Sovereignty of God, are on the
book table. If you don't have a copy of that,
Get one, take it home. It is one of the books most greatly
used by the Lord in teaching many people the truth. But anyway,
A.W. Pink, if you read his commentaries,
he'll just take a line of scripture and comment on it. You think,
well, that sounded good. And then you look at the next
paragraph and He has quoted the same line. He's going to tell
you something else about it. Someone said he found types and
figures and everything. Someone said he could find a
type and a blade of grass. I doubt it not. But there is
so much in here, in God's Word. And when Chris is reading from
the scripture as he did this morning, there are so many things
that just jump out and you don't have time to look at them all. I read this morning some people
crying after Jesus when Chris read and his disciples said,
Lord, they're crying after us. Well, no, they're not, they're
going after Jesus, but His disciples, you know, it's us, it's us. There is so much in God's Word. It is not enough to merely read
it. You should read it every day,
but meditate upon it. Read a line, meditate upon it. And you'll probably find some
things in even a line or a word that you did not know were there
before. This has been true for me. I
have thoroughly been blessed by this exposition of John chapter
4, verses 1 through 43. We'll continue today. We're going
to start our exposition today at verse number 30. Let me read
the passage that is now before us. Chapter 4, verse 1, when
therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus
made and baptized more disciples than John, then parenthetically
we read, though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples. He left Judea and departed again
into Galilee, and he must needs go through Samaria Then cometh
he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the
parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's
well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied
with his journey, sat thus on the well, and it was about the
sixth hour. I knew. There cometh a woman
of Samaria to draw water. Jesus saith unto her, Give me
to drink. Parenthetically we read, 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, askest drink of
me, which I 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 said 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 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. The woman saith unto him, Sir,
give me this water that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. Jesus saith unto her, 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 saidst
thou truly. The woman saith unto him, Sir,
I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers worshipped in this
mountain, and ye 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, ye worship ye know
not what. We know what we worship, for
salvation is of the Jews. 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. God is spirit, and they that
worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. The woman saith unto him, 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 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 waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith
to the men, Come, see a man which told me all things that ever
I did. Is not this the Christ? I want you to look at that verse
one more time, verse 29. She went into the village and
said, Come, see a man which told me all the things that ever I
did. Is not this the Christ? And now
we begin our exposition for the day in verse 30. Then they went
out of the city, and came unto Him, unto Jesus. This woman learned the truth about Jesus
Christ. She walks back to the village and tells the men, come see a
man. I believe I found the Christ.
I believe He's here. And they all went out. The Lord graciously blessed her
invitation. Now bear in mind, she's a lowly
woman. She is a sinful woman. She was looked down upon even
by Samaritans. But there evidently was an earnestness
in what she said, a sincerity in what she said. Come, you must
come see a man. He told me everything I ever
did, it must be the Christ. And they came. Notice, they came. Who came? Those whom she invited. You never know the power of a
simple invitation. The wise man Solomon says that
a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pitchers of silver. You never know. We should take advantage of every
opportunity to at least give a word of invitation to the service Our brother Chris tells me that
he and his beloved Jenny went to a symphony recently, sat down
beside complete strangers, and one of the strangers made a statement
that Chris thought sounded like something a Christian might say. So he inquired, and sure enough,
they were professing Christians looking for a church. Well, she
opened the door and Chris just walked right on in. Gave an invitation,
told about our church. They got their cell phones out,
googled it, found our church immediately, and gave indication
they're going to come sometime in the future. All right, Chris?
Mark and Lex. All right. See? Mark and Lex.
And it's just a word. You know, just a simple invitation. As you know, I am not a handyman.
You folks remember Bob Vila? My generation does. Remember
the handyman Bob Vila? He could take a run-down shack
that you'd be afraid to walk into, and a few days later it
looked like a mansion. Alright? He was a handyman. Well, the woman whom the Lord
gave to me once threatened to put a sign on our front lawn
that reads, Bob Vila does not live here. All right, I'm not
a handyman, okay? I am not. If it requires more
than duct tape and WD-40, I'm calling some, no, she's calling
somebody. All right, so we call a handyman. He did a few projects. As you
know, I've been unable to do any projects this summer because
of the surgeries, but he did some projects. ran into some
problems. Some things did not work. He
had to change plans regarding things. And I knew the expense
was going to be more than what he had estimated. And I was going
to see that he was treated right for it. So he finished up the
projects. Came in, sat down at the kitchen
table, and we looked at the estimate, and then I said, okay, how much
extra did you have to pay for this? What, you know, your extra
hours, and added it all up. He added it all up, and wrote
him a check, and then gave him some literature, and invited
him to the worship service. He said he had recently moved
to Great Falls. He'd already found a church home,
but evidently because of the way that Sandy and I had treated
him, he's going to come sometime. A word fitly spoken is like apples
of gold and pictures of silver. All it was was a word. Chris
spoke a word. Sandy and I spoke a word. This
woman spoke a word. She didn't preach a message.
She spoke a word. Come, see a man who told me everything
I ever did is not this to Christ. They would not have come had
she not invited. Do not expect people to come
to the worship services unless we invite them. Greg Elmquist
told me that the Lord has greatly blessed their church there in
Apopka, Florida, and about the only means that has been used
to bring visitors in is church members telling their friends,
come hear the gospel. That's what it is. Let us imitate
this Samaritan woman Come see a man. Come hear the gospel. You've listened to this and that
and the other. Come listen to the gospel. Come listen to about
a sovereign God. She told them they came to Jesus. Here they come. Here they come. Now verse 31. Now let me set the picture here
before you. The disciples have come to Jesus.
They are with him at the well. The woman has gone to the village
and told the men, and if you look over yonder, you can see
them starting to come. Jesus and his disciples at the
well, where they've been able to see they're beginning to come. Now verse 31. In the meanwhile, his disciples
prayed him, saying, Master, eat. Now, they had gone off sometime
earlier to buy food. Jesus was weary. He was thirsty. He was hungry when they left. They'd been gone for some time. to purchase food. Now they have
come back, brought the food with them. They put the food before
Jesus and he does not appear to be much interested in it,
though he was famished when they left. He is not showing a great interest
in the food that they have put there before him. They could
not understand Why it is that he was no longer hungry. So Jesus
told them, look in verse 32. But he said unto them, I have
meat to eat that ye know not of. And it is as though Jesus
said to them, I have been eating all the while you were gone to
purchase food, but you do not know the food of which I have
been eating. Yes. He was eating the whole
time they were gone. But it was not physical food.
It was spiritual food. He was partaking of spiritual
food while that woman of Samaria was there with him at the well.
They did not understand. It is as though Jesus had found
food better than the food they had brought, the spiritual food. Verse 33,
Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man
brought him to eat? They could hardly imagine that
a Samaritan would have done so. I mean, it's not like a Samaritan
over in the village would look at the well and say, ah, there's
a Jew at the well. I think I'll take some food to
him. No, it's not going to happen. The disciples have now come to
Jesus and said, you're not eating. Oh, I've been eating the whole
time you were gone. How can that be? Let me illustrate. I think I can illustrate this
in the physical realm. Here are our Kristen and Mitch. And Mitch is leaving the house
one day, and she says, Mitch, I'm going to fix your favorite
meal for supper. Now, you'd be home at suppertime
because it's your favorite meal, and Mitch walks out the door
and says, yeah, I'll be home. My favorite meal, supper, I'll
be home. So she fixes his favorite meal. Supper time arrives and
Mitch does not. Food's on the table, but Mitch
is not. And finally she gets concerned.
He should have been home by now. She gives him a call. Mitch,
now you know I fixed your favorite meal. It's ready for supper.
Supper time is here, but you're not here. And Mitch says, well,
sorry, I cannot make it. What do you mean you cannot make
it? Well, some friends and I are here out on Holter Lake and the
fish are biting like you would not believe. And I'm staying here until we
all catch our limit. And she says, Mitch, old time,
I think you would rather fish than eat. Yeah, that sounds about
right. That sounds right, Miss Christy.
Sounds about right. He'd rather fish than eat. Fishing. If he's fishing and the fish are biting, he's having a good meal. He's
getting no physical food, but he's eating food. And Jesus is
saying the same thing. I've been eating the whole time
you disciples were gone. Well, we don't see any bones,
we see no breadcrumbs. Oh, no, it was not physical food.
Then what kind of food is it that you could have been eating
and that you would esteem higher than this physical food that
we have brought to you? Jesus answers their question.
He will not leave his disciples in spiritual darkness. We read
in verse 34, Jesus said unto him, my meat
or my food is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish
the work. That's Jesus' food. That's Jesus'
meal. Jesus' food, what he finds the
greatest delight in doing, is twofold. First, the first
desire of Jesus was to do the will of Him that sent me. To do the Father's will. What
was the Father's will? God did not send his Son into
the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him
might be saved. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world
to do the Father's will. What is the Father's will? To
save sinners. And here God has sent a sinner
to the well, and Jesus is doing what the Father sent him to do.
declaring the gospel. I am here to do the will of him
who sent me. He says, I came down from heaven
not to do mine own will. Jesus was not one of those fellows
that bragged on his free will to do whether God wanted him
to do or not. No, Jesus not one of those. Jesus
says, my will is subject and bound to my Father's will. I
came down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will
of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will
which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should
lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. That's my Father's will. It was
my Father's will that I come to Samaria. That's why you read
in the first verse, He must needs go through Samaria. He had to. Why? That was the Father's will. He had to go to a village of
Sychar. Why? That was the Father's will. He had to go to the well in Sychar. Why? That was the Father's will. He had to be there at high noon. Why? Because that was the hour
that the woman would come to the well. Every bit of it was
the Father's will. And every footstep Jesus took
was in His Father's will. I came not to do my own will,
And what is His will? That I should preach to them
who are His, and that I should lose none of them and raise it
up at the last day. When we have breathed our last, when our spirits have left our
body, when they put our lifeless form
of clay into the ground, be resting assured of this fact, that body's
not going to stay there forever. Oh, it may decay. It may see
corruption. It may be burned and the ashes
scattered to the four corners of the earth. But Jesus said,
it is my Father's will that I should save all whom He sent me and
raise everyone up at the last day. Therefore, I am confident
that when my lifeless clay is put into the ground, it will
be given life and raised one of these days because that's
Jesus' food. That's His meat. It is His Father's
will that He do it, and He does His Father's will because He
would rather do His Father's will than eat. Oh, that we might
be driven by such a passion as this. The Father has given a work unto
us to do. Let it be your food. Let it be
your meal. Let it be the consuming interest
of your heart. Find out what your Father's will
for you is and do it, and do it. I came not to do my own will,
but the will of Him who sent me. And then Jesus gives the
second desire. His second desire was to finish
the work the Father had given him to do. To finish the work
the Father had given him to do. A lot of people can start a project, but not
everybody can finish what they start. There's a man in my house that
has projects he started and he probably would never finish them. Jesus was consumed with this
thought that if I started something, it's going to be finished. I
will finish the work the Father gave me to do. Jesus never failed
to finish any task. He ever started. I came to finish
the work. He says in His incarnation, God has prepared for me a body. His law is within my heart. I came to do my Father's will
and His law was in my heart and I will do it. The angel says
at his conception, you shall call his name Jesus for he shall
save his people from their sins. He must. He must. For he is a failure. He must
do it. He came to fulfill God's law
in all its proscriptions and prescriptions and in every commandment
He kneels down the night he is betrayed in the garden, and he
prays to his father, I have finished the work you've given me to do.
I finished it. I kept that law in every jot
and tittle. That's what he came to do. He
says, I delight to do your will, O my God, and your law was written
in my heart, and he did it. Every commandment in God's law
was fulfilled by Jesus Christ. And a few hours later, they laid
him to a tree on Calvary. And God laid on him the iniquity
of us all. And for three solid hours, as
God had plunged the world in the darkness, Jesus bears the
penalty. He came to save His people from
their sins. And the only way He can do it is to be stricken, smitten of
God, and afflicted for their sins. He endures it for three
hours. And then at 3 p.m., after He
had been beaten and suffered the punishment for the last sin
of all God's elect, he shouts in glorious victory, it is finished. I came to do my Father's will
and to finish his work. Let me tell you this, every sinner
for whom Jesus died shall be saved because he finished the
work. No sinner for whom Jesus died
shall suffer condemnation in the afterlife. He finished the
work. It is finished. It's not attempted. It's not tried. It's finished. When Jesus finally said it is
finished, He could put his spoon and fork
down and say, that was a good meal. That was a good meal. It is my meat, it is my food
to do my Father's will. And I am now refreshed. I shall
rest. And he did. He did. Jesus was
consumed with the thought of doing his Father's will. Oh,
that we might have the same driving force in our own lives. I'm going to pause at that point.
We'll continue next week. The message is a little short
today. But we'll finish up next week, God willing. But I want
to leave this with you. Our Lord and Savior is a glorious
success. He became weary and tired, but
he never stopped ministering to those to whom he was sent. If you read Matthew chapter 5
through 7, you'll find the Sermon on the Mount. It's a long message. In chapter 8, he comes down from
the mountain, and here they come. This one's got this disease,
this one's got that infirmity, and here they come. He has already
ministered, he's tired, he's weary, and here they come, all
day long till nighttime. He finally goes to Peter's house,
And there is his mother-in-law, sick with the fever. Jesus does
not say, give me something to eat so I can renew my strength
and I'll heal this woman of her fever. Oh, no. It's getting late
in the day. It's late at night now. He heals
her and she gets up to feed him. Let our lives be those that are
consumed with doing God's will. Let us learn the value of a word
fitly spoken. We have Gospel of John's back
there on the table. We have literature. You never know when you might
need it. Give some sinner, some inquirer an invitation to the
service. And if you'll do it, I will do
my best to see that they hear the gospel. And I'll join you
in inviting others as well. But we have a glorious gospel
of him who finished what he began. And O God, our Father, bless,
we pray this word, to the glory of your Son, in whose name we
pray, Amen.