It's time. Okay. Well, it's good
to see you. I see a number of those who request
prayer. Teresa's sister's doing better
with a broken shoulder. She's doing much better, so we're
thankful for that. Cora and Julie and Steve and Jess and all of
them are down at Panama City enjoying the meeting, so we'll
see them Sunday. Little Will at Sunday. No dinner,
no afternoon service. He'll be home at 11 o'clock.
because everybody's having their family over for Easter dinner.
And of all of us, I didn't get to last Sunday, so we all may
have an 11 o'clock service then, too. All right. OK, that's it
for announcements. Number 236, Amazing Grace. We're going to sing the Cherokee
version on the last verse. That's the last verse. Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound that saved a wretch like me I once was lost, but now am
found Was blind, but now I see I am. Hey! His grace that brought me safe
thus far and grace will lead me home When we repent in thousand
years Christ shining as the sun We've no less days to sing God's
praise than when we first began! U'ne' lana' ki u'we'ji! hymn number 46. Oh, for a thousand tongues to
sing my great Redeemer's praise! The glories of my God and King,
the triumphs of His grace! My gracious Master and my God,
assist me to to spread to all the earth our
brother, the honors of thy name. Jesus, the name that charms our
fears and heals our sorrows, peace. Tis music in the spirit. Tis time for health and peace. He raised the power of cancer's
sting He sets the prisoner free This blood can make the highest
king! He's put a veil for me. Here in the day He's freshly
done Your lucent tongues employ. Be blind, behold the Savior Come
and meet me laid for joy. Glory to God in praise and love The Angry Bibles turn with me to the fourth chapter of the Gospel
according to John. Going to the first six verses. And therefore the Lord knew how
the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more
disciples than John, though Jesus himself baptized not but his
disciples. He left Judea and departed again
to 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, let us pray. Our Lord in heaven, we are thankful
for your goodness and mercy and grace toward ruined and wretched
sinners who are born into this world without hope and without
help. We are thankful As the good shepherd, you sought out
your sheep and laid them upon your shoulder and brought them
into the fold. We are thankful, Father, that
you did not count on us for anything in our salvation, but everything
that was required of us, you supplied to us. You gave us faith
to believe. You granted repentance to our
hearts and minds. You gave us understanding and
knowledge And you fixed our eyes and hearts upon Jesus Christ.
Thank you. For we know that had you not,
we would have still been in our sin without any interest in you
whatsoever. Father, we pray for those who
are sick, that you'd be with them and watch over them. Those
who are going through trials and tribulation, I'll know it's
every case. And we know if your child is
suffering these things, it's by appointment. We ask, Lord,
for your mercy and kindness toward them. We pray for those who are
away from us, that you might bring them safely home to us.
We pray for ourselves tonight, that you might fix our hearts
upon Jesus Christ. Show us Him in your word, and
we can see Him, and we bow down before Him, and hail Him as King
of kings and Lord of lords. and praise him for his goodness
towards such as we. Help us now to worship you in
spirit and in truth. We pray in Christ's name. Amen. Now this entire fourth chapter
of John is pressed down and running over with good news of the effect
of the living and the spoken word and the efficaciousness
of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ Most of the chapter involves
the good shepherd seeking one of his lost sheep and her reaction
to having been found. These first six verses are a
prefix that set up what follows and gives us a first glimpse
of the Lord's unshakable intent to find his beloved. It is the
sweetest of stories, as we'll see in the weeks to come, a blessed
account that flows sweeter than the honey and the honeycomb.
begins by setting the stage as to why our Lord sets his eyes
upon Samaria. Verse one begins with the word
when. When therefore the Lord knew
how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more
disciples than John. Though Jesus himself baptized
not but his disciples. Begins with the word when. This
may suggest that the sovereign Lord was unaware of the intent
of the Pharisees to be rid of him And then he gained knowledge
of that. Christ had gained more followers
than John the Baptist, as we've already seen in previous verses
in chapter 3. And our Lord read the thoughts
of men, however. He knew the intents of their
hearts. This was no surprise for some, nor was it something
he learned. He proved that fact over and over again in his earthly
ministry. When people would just think
something about him, he would read their thoughts. The Lord
said that He knows every word that is upon the tongue of men
before they ever speak it. He is the Lord. He is omniscient
and knows all things. The word when in the original
language is most often translated about three times as many times
in scripture as the word as. which changes the thrust of the
narrative and indicates that the Lord knew, as He knows all
things. If you read it that way, as therefore
the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard what Jesus made baptized
more than disciples. He knew that they knew that. Our Lord knew the Pharisees desired
to kill Him. That was always their desire. But it was not yet His time.
He said that over and over again in this particular book of John.
He often said, My time has not yet come. The hour has not yet
come. And so they wanted to kill Him
and they tried to kill Him, but it didn't do any good. awaited the Lord Jesus Christ.
He came to this world to die in the room instead of his people.
He set his face like a flint toward Jerusalem, and that's
where he was heading, and nobody and nothing was going to stop
him. They tried to kill him several
times. They wanted to throw him off a cliff. They wanted to stone
him to death, but it never worked out that way. They wanted to
get rid of this pestilent Nazarene called Jesus Christ, but it was
not yet time, so our Lord left the area He did not leave out
of fear, he had some place to go. But he knew exactly what
was going over in Luke chapter 13 if you want to look there. Beginning with verse 31. Verse
31 he says, the same day came certain of the Pharisees seeing
him, these were Pharisees that believed on him, there were some
that did. saying unto him, Get thee out,
and depart hence, for Herod will kill thee. And he said, Go ye,
and tell that false. Behold, I cast out devils, and
I do cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be
perfected. Nevertheless, I must walk today
and tomorrow, and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet
should perish in Jerusalem, he said. He said, you go tell him
he ain't going to kill nobody because I've got things to do.
I've got places to be and I've got people to meet. Now the reason
the Pharisees were after him was that his following was growing.
It was growing. A lot of people were following
him for the miracles that he did and some were even believing
on his name. His numbers were exceeding those
that followed John the Baptist who already the Pharisees were
paying attention to because he was gaining a following. But
numbers are ever the interest of religion. It's ever the interest
of religion, for in their mind numbers equate to power, and
numbers equate to success, and numbers are viewed by varying
churches as a threat one to another. I cannot tell you how many times
over the years preachers and congregants have asked me, how
many people are in your church? Or how many are you running up
there at Sequoia? Laverne had the best answer of
all. She'd say, everybody that's there is supposed to be there.
That's just how it is. I often said, I don't know how
many I'm running, but I can tell you I've ran off a few in the
days that I've been there. But inspired enlightenment is
delayed in verse two. It says, though Jesus himself
baptized not, but his disciples, they believed that Jesus was
baptizing, but the Lord was not baptizing. He gave that privilege
to his disciples. Now I was reading some commentators
on that and some commentators said he didn't baptize because
it was a menial task. And he was too busy suggesting
he left this menial task to his disciples. Others said he didn't
baptize with water because he would baptize with the Holy Spirit
and with fire. But such notions suggest that
baptism carries little weight with the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
not the case. That's not the case. The fact
is that baptism is a function of the church. It's the church
that baptizes people. It's done in the name of the
Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. And the Lord was
setting the standard that baptism is done by the church. He gave
baptism to his disciples. He and his disciples leave the
Pharisees and head for Galilee, it says. and departed again into Galilee. But he spent a great time in
Galilee. It was kind of his hometown,
but it was merely the shortest way to where he was going. He
was headed through Galilee because he says, and he must needs go
to Samaria. He was going to a city called
Sychar. And the shortest way to go there
was through Samaria. If he had went some other way,
he had to make a really long round trip to get there, so he
had to go through Samaria. That was why verse 4 begins with
the word, and, and he must go, must means go through Samaria
to get to Sycophant. to get there quickly because
he's got an appointment that nobody knows about but him. The
words must need indicate that this journey to Sychar was imperative
to the Lord Jesus Christ. There's something in Sychar that
must be immediately attended to. That's the language, that's
how it's implied here. Better yet, there's someone there.
There's someone there, a notorious sinner, who unbeknownst to her
must needs encounter her savior. a notorious sinner, for him to
find his lost sheep, he must seek her out. He must go where
she is. She is not looking for him and
would not, and would be just going about her business, and
her business will bring her face to face with the Lord Jesus Christ. He's going there for a reason. Now in Isaiah 65, in verse one,
this land that he went to was called Sheikah. In Romans chapter
10 it's called Sheikah. And here we find it called Sychar.
Providence, however, will make this woman thirsty in the land
of Sychar, and grace will slake her thirst. That's where she's
going. She's going to get water at midday. She'll be coming to a well. to
draw water, and the Savior will be sitting there on the rim of
that well, waiting for her with living water. She don't know
any of that. She's just doing what she's doing.
She's going out in the middle of the day to get water. He came
to Sychar, and it's described as being near where Jacob was
buried. He was buried near Shechem in
a place called Shechem. But the ordained destination
of our Lord Jesus Christ is Jacob's well. That's where he's headed.
That's why he must means go there. It's necessary, that's what he
says, it's a necessity for me to go there. That's his ordained
destination. And Jacob's well was there, that's
what he says. He came to the city of Samaria
in verse five, which is called Sychar, near the parcel of ground
that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there. That's where he's heading. He
went all this way just to sit down on a well. He was a weary traveler. It says
in verse 6, Now Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, therefore,
being wearied with his journey, sat down at the well, and it
was about six That's noon. That's noon. The hottest part
of the day. The hour when no one came to
draw water. Too hot. Save for someone who
does not want to be seen. Who does not want to be seen
by the public. Someone not welcome in society. Someone who is a pariah who resides
in shame. And that's this woman he's going
to meet. went there for her to meet Him. This day she will not
abide alone. For this day she does abide alone,
but after this she'll never be alone again. This sets us up
for what's about to happen in this chapter when this woman
comes to this well. And our Lord says to her as we
look next week, And she says, you're a Jew. Why
are you speaking to me? I'm a Samaritan. We don't have
anything to do with each other. He says, you give me water to
drink, and I'll give you the living water, and you'll never
thirst again. You'll never thirst again. Proverbs
is a wondrous thing. I think of the times I sat under
men who actually preached the gospel of God's grace. He told
me the truth about Christ. And I didn't believe. I even
embraced those truths as far as doctrinally I saw that they
were exactly right. That was what the scripture said.
The providence would have me go over to a little old church
in Winston-Salem. I had just a few people there
that night. A fellow named W.R. Crews came
and preached the gospel. I went there thirsty. and I got the living water that
night. Providence is a wondrous thing. These first six verses
are a providential expression of our Lord going to an appointed
place at the appointed time to meet an appointed person chosen
from where the world began. This is the psalm of grace and
trust me in the weeks to come We will rejoice in the words
that our Lord speaks. He said it this morning, if you
knew who you were talking to.