May it please Almighty God to
bless us together as we are here to meditate in His Holy Word.
Let's turn to the Gospel of John, chapter 4, and we'll read verse
4. The Gospel of John, chapter 4,
and reading as a text, verse 4. and he must needs go through
Samaria. This is a very short statement
really and yet a very important statement because it was of course
through him being led to go through Samaria that he was blessed and
his words were blessed not only to the woman that came and taught
him by the well but also to many other people as we read together
at the end of that reading from verse 39 we're told and many
of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying
of the woman which testified, he told me all that ever I did. So when the Samaritans would
come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with
them. And he abode there two days. And then we read, and many more
believed because of his own word and said unto the woman, now
we believe. not because of thy saying, but
we have heard him ourselves and know that this is indeed the
Christ, the Saviour of the world. As we read this account we can
think perhaps it was just a casual situation which developed that
Jesus was going from Judea into Galilee And then we read this
remarkable statement, and he must needs go through Samaria. Well, as we read through this
chapter, I'm sure we will therefore see why he had to go through
Samaria. And it's wonderful, therefore,
to be able to observe God's work, God's plan being fulfilled. In particular, we read about
this woman of Samaria, and we can surely observe how her life
was changed. She got up that morning, no doubt,
with not many cares, and now she was completely changed. I wonder whether you and I, in
our lives, could look back and observe a
day, perhaps a time when we were changed, completely changed. This woman was changed by the
work of Almighty God in her heart. And what a blessing if you and
I are changed by the great work of Almighty God in our heart. You see, she came to draw water
quite casually, no doubt. And there was Jesus, sitting
on the well, not by chance, ordained from all eternity. this was the
time and this was the occasion that this woman should come and
meet with Jesus and that this woman should speak to Jesus or
perhaps we should say Jesus should speak to her because we note
that She came and saw Jesus and we're told that Jesus spoke to
her. Jesus said unto her, give me
to drink. She hadn't said anything. Jesus
spoke to her. And that's a good illustration
for you and me to realize that Jesus was the one who spoke first
to her. She didn't come and say anything
to Jesus. He spoke to her. And again, it
was quite surprising because as we read, she says, how is
it that thou, being a Jew, Askest drink of me which am a woman
of Samaria for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans
Well, what do we see? we see the sovereign grace of
God coming to this woman and it would be a great blessing
for you and me in our lives if we also are able to observe the
glorious grace of God coming to us. And as we follow this
account through, we see how it developed. And what do we see
in this? And it's a wonderful pattern
for us in our lives. Well, the Lord questions her
and points out to her, her life, what she is and how she is living. Jesus came and asked her first
to drink of this water. The woman was surprised at what
he was asking her. And Jesus then answered, and
it's wonderful how he answered, 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.' Well, what a blessing that was for this woman, and
what a blessing it would be for me for us rather well me as well
all of us and if thou knewest the gift of God and how all of
us need to come to know the gift of God we're traveling through
life what a mercy it is if God comes to us and reveals to us
His gift to unworthy sinners. And so we have Jesus answering
and saying, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that
saith to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldst have asked of me,
and he would have given thee living water. You see how Jesus
uses a natural illustration to direct her to the great truth
of God. and it's wonderful for us today
that we do have in the Word of God these natural illustrations
that can direct us to look beyond the natural illustration to that
which is behind it and that's precisely what occurred in this
situation Jesus spoke like this to this woman and of course she
couldn't quite understand what it meant And she asks an obvious
question. 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? Well, Jesus then responds, not
in the way that she expected. And how often that's true. in
our day you may come to God we may come to God and ask a question
and God may not answer it in the way that we expect perhaps
in the way that we want but God did answer it and God does answer
prayer but not always in the way that we expect but it is
the way that God would lead and direct us in. So we shouldn't
therefore cavil at God's answers, at God's responses, and think
that God has ignored us. No, he hadn't ignored this woman. Because Jesus answered and said,
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 great reality is that
Jesus passes over that which was just a natural request And
he jumped straight in to the important and significant element
of being a partaker of the water of life. You see how amazing
God asks questions, asks questions of us today, speaks to our heart,
causes us to consider many things. What a blessing if God comes
and speaks to our soul. And if we're able to look back
and observe that God has spoken to us. God has caused us to consider
our situation. And so This woman responds, Sir,
give me this water that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. She didn't understand what the
Lord was directing her in. And we're the same today. We don't always understand initially
what the Lord is speaking, how he's directing us, why he's speaking
in a certain way why he's directing us in a certain way? well you
see she says give me this water that I thirst not neither come
hither to draw so you might think well why didn't the Lord respond
and give her that water straight away? well we see how the great
plan of salvation is worked out and we might say unfolded this
woman had to have described to her her condition her sinful
condition the things which perhaps she felt were well hidden that
no one knew about God knew about and you see the time had come
to show her that it was God that was speaking to her and God was
going to reveal to her her true condition. You might say how wonderfully
the Lord spoke. He knew the position and he asked
a question which on the surface might seem very innocuous and
nothing very much in it The question was, go, call thy husband and
come hither. And now she was face to face
with Almighty God, not realizing who it was yet. And yet, you
see, she recognized that she could not prevaricate. She couldn't
tell lies. She had to come and tell the
truth. And when you and I come face to face with God, we
can't prevaricate, we can't pretend we don't know. We're not talking
to people, we're talking to God. She was talking to God and she
therefore answered, I have no husband. How did the Lord respond? 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. All her secrets were suddenly
revealed, and things perhaps which she thought were hidden
was suddenly revealed and she was face to face with God and
sometimes that's just how it is in our lives and indeed how
it is really in the lives of true believers the Lord digs
into our heart and we have to confess what we are what we've
been And our present position, because the woman conceded, Sir,
I perceive that thou art a prophet. What it means is, you and I,
when we come face to face with God, we realise we're not coming
face to face with a mere man. And that's what was revealed
to this woman. She said, Sir, I perceive that
thou art a prophet. What a wonderful blessing if
God comes to us and has come to us. And it's good for us to
be able to look back into our spiritual life and to see how
God came to us and how God made us spiritually alive and how
he convinced us of our sinful condition by revealing to us
sins perhaps that we thought were well hidden God brings them to the fore and
we realise it's not the work of man it's the work of God I perceive that thou art a prophet. And she goes on to say, our fathers
worshipped in this mountain, and you say that in Jerusalem
is the place where men ought to worship. And Jesus said unto
her, woman, believe me. Believe me. It's a simple statement,
isn't it? It's a vital statement. And what a great blessing it
is when such a word is applied to us from Almighty God. A cross-examination between our
souls and God. A private cross-examination between
our souls and God. There was no one else there.
Just Jesus and this woman. When the Lord God Almighty cross-examines
us, It's between our soul and God. And what a blessing it is,
therefore, because we know that God knows everything. And it
brings us to this realization, like it did this woman, I perceive
that thou art a prophet. We realize we're not dealing
with a mere man, we're dealing with Almighty God. And what a
difference that produces. And so, as she came and said,
our fathers worshipped in this mountain, and ye say that in
Jerusalem is a place where men ought to worship. And Jesus answered
her, Woman, 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. easy statement isn't it but what
a blessing when the Lord points out to us in our life perhaps
we've been pretending to worship this woman no doubt had been
pretending to worship she no doubt gone up to pretend to worship
and you know we naturally pretend to worship by that I mean this
you and I can come to chapel and we can sit and listen to
the reading and prayer and sing the hymns and to the sermon it
may have no effect upon us at all what are we doing? we're
pretending to worship we're not really worshipping we're just
going through the motions 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. What a blessing it is when the
Holy Spirit convicts us of our condition. convinces us of our
sinful situation, convinces us perhaps that we've just been
a hypocrite in our worship. We haven't been a true worshipper,
we've just pretended to worship. But you see when God comes, and
God speaks to our hearts, and it's a personal Acknowledgement
that God is dealing with our souls. We come face-to-face with
Almighty God. This woman recognised she'd come
face-to-face with this prophet. And so the Lord tells her, ye
worship ye know not what. Is that where we've been? Is
that where we are? God knows where we are, whether
we are worshipping the true God, or whether we've been in this
condition. Ye worship ye know not what. What a blessing if the Holy Spirit
has blessed us with spiritual life. So there's been an amazing
change. From that time when we worshipped,
we knew not what. Just going through an action,
a physical action with our bodies, didn't touch our hearts, didn't
really affect our souls. It came and we went and we worshipped,
we knew not what. And then the Lord says, but we
know what we worship. What a blessing if God brings
into our lives the reality of real religion. When the Lord
brings into our lives the realization that we have sinned, We disobeyed
God. This was a situation, a particular
situation, which the Lord raised to remind this woman of her position. The Lord knows all about you
and me. It may not be in this way, but there may be secret
sins which we've been hiding, we think, but they're not hid
from God. The time comes when God shows
us We can't hide our sins. They're there. They're revealed
to Almighty God. And so says the Lord, but the
hour cometh and now is when the true worshippers shall worship
the Father in spirit and in truth. You see the change. The change from just a formal
worshipper and every one of us has or is a formal worshipper
what a blessing if we have the evidence therefore of the wonderful
blessing that we're told of here but the hour cometh a time appointed
by Almighty God a set time to bring about us the wonderful
favour of becoming a true worshipper. And you see, when the Holy Spirit
brings us into this position, we can then recognise the relevance
of this account. What it shows us is this. He
must needs go through Samaria. The appointed time to convert
this woman had arisen. And what a blessing it is in
our lives when we observe the appointed
time when the Lord came and converted our souls. Word of God speaks
of it very beautifully in those words, and you hath he quickened
who were dead a change a wonderful time of change and to therefore
become then a true worshipper you see the relevance there was
a change in this woman's lives from a mere formal worshipper
to a true worshipper and how wonderful that is when that occurs
in our lives. But you see, follow the pattern,
the pattern set before us. The Lord revealed to her her
sinful condition. The Lord reveals to us our sinful
condition. The Lord reveals to us who it
is that's revealed to us our sinful condition. She said, thou
art a prophet. And my friends, it's not people,
it's the work of the Spirit of God that reveals to us our sinful
condition. And that's when we stand guilty
before a holy God. And all our formality in religion
will then drop away. Because we will recognise that
will not save our soul. Just going through the motion
will not save our soul. But what a blessing if the hour
has come. The time has come. the set time. You see we've read here about
that set time because the Lord spoke to her and what a mercy
it is that salvation is indeed of the Lord. Jesus said to the
woman, believe me the hour cometh when you shall neither In this
mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship
ye know not what, but we know what we worship. For salvation
is of the Jews. And of course, the Jews represent
the Church of God. Salvation is the saving of the
soul for the Church of God. And then the hour cometh and
now is. Now is. What a blessing in your life
and my life if there's been a now. We can trace God's work and we
can now say yes by the grace of God the unmerited favour of
God to me the hour came the time came and now is when I became
a true worshipper a true worshipper and how is a true worshipper
described? it's spelled out here true worshippers
shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth. It's a spiritual
thing. You see, you and I can bring
our bodies to worship, but when you and I are born again, when
you and I are quickened by the Holy Spirit, we then worship
in spirit. It's a spiritual situation because
we have that new nature. We're born again. We have our
natural body, we have a spiritual body. A body made spiritually
alive. And we shall be then a true worshipper
who worships the Father in spirit and in truth. For the Father
seeketh such to worship Him. It's a very wonderful truth,
isn't it? And how necessary for each one
of us to be able to recognise the reality of true religion. It's not formality, it is reality. It's the dealing of our soul
with Almighty God. And how wonderful it is to realise
that we worship then the same God that this woman was brought
to worship. it's the work of the glorious
Spirit the hour cometh and now is well then let's look back
let's look into our hearts to see whether that hour has come and now is that we are by the
grace of God a true worshipper who worships the Father in spirit
and in truth for the Father seeketh such to worship him. Those who are not in this condition
are not therefore true worshippers. The solemnity is that if we are
not a true worshipper, we are a false worshipper. And if we
are a false worshipper, we're really mocking God. And if we're
mocking God, what are we doing? We're adding to our sin. 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. So the word of God is very clear,
it's very direct, and you and I can never remain being a false
worshipper, being one who just pretends, just goes through religious
motions. There are many today who have
a false religion, just going through the motions, but a true
worshipper is one who worships God in spirit and in truth. So it would be a good thing for
us today, as we think of this lovely account, which we refer
to as the woman of Samaria, to recognise the relevance of this
account to our lives to not just think well that's an interesting
account may we say it's a blessed account because it describes our spiritual
life and then you see the woman saith unto him I know that Messiah
cometh which is called Christ When he has come, he will tell
us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that
speak unto thee am he. What a revelation. And that will
be the same in your life and my life. When we observe the
blessed work of the Holy Spirit, we will realize it emanates from
God himself. how humbling that realization is Jesus said unto her I that speak
unto thee am he well there we are what had happened was she'd
had the way of salvation explained to her she'd been brought to
that situation to desire to know who Jesus was. And then Jesus
had been revealed unto her. Now, the effect upon her was
marked. It was marked, and it will be
in our lives. It was marked in this way. The
woman then left her water pot. She'd come to get water. naturally water is a need she
come to get it but this conversation this blessed work of the Holy
Spirit had had such an effect upon her she forgot what she'd
come for she left her water pot she left
her water pot and went her way back into the city where she
was And she spoke to the men, she spoke to the people. She
didn't go and hide. She didn't go and pretend nothing
had happened. God gave her that strength and
that spiritual desire. She came and said, come, see
a man which told me all things that ever I did Is not this the
Christ? That was straightforward, wasn't
it? That was very easy to understand. It's an amazing statement. You know, the people have been
looking for the Messiah. And now this woman comes and
says, come see a man which told me all things that ever I did
Is not this the Christ? And obviously, this woman spoke
very convincingly. She didn't speak in an unknown
way and say, well, I'm not really sure. No, she was convinced of
the truth of that which had occurred. And it's a great blessing in
our lives, and it will be so, that we shall know that this
is the work of the Holy Spirit. Now, don't be surprised if there
is that temptation, because the devil doesn't want you to believe. The devil doesn't want you to
listen to what the Lord speaks to your heart, and he'll try
and attack you. And the Word of God describes
it very clearly. It's like this, the evil heart
of unbelief. Well, this woman was delivered
from that, She had a very clear work of the Holy Spirit and that's
why she comes and says, come see a man which told me all things that ever I did is
not this, the Christ. She recognised it wasn't just
the odd thing, it was all things he knew, God knows in our lives. And what a blessing it is when
we realise that we have sinned against light and knowledge perhaps,
against the law of God and we are a guilty sinner and we need
salvation and we need to know the Saviour. And so she came
and spoke and then they went out of the city and came unto
Him. The people that she spoke to.
They didn't doubt what she said. They came to speak and to see
whether these things were true. Well, what a blessing it is. And of course, Jesus came and
was speaking to them. And as we read on further in
this chapter, we come down to the last few verses that we read.
And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for
the saying of that woman. You see, it's good, isn't it?
If our testimony is such that convinces people that our conversion
is true. It's not something which is just
fickle. It's a blessed work of the Holy Spirit. She wasn't ashamed
of it, was she? She wasn't ashamed of it. Remember,
There she was, a Samaritan woman, speaking to a Jew. She wasn't
ashamed of it. She came and spoke to those people,
her neighbours, the men of the town. And they went to hear,
and they were affected also. And therefore, many of the Samaritans
of that city believed. It doesn't say everyone. It does say many of that city
believed on him like this woman for the saying of that woman
which testified, he told me all that ever I did. So when the
Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would
tarry with them and he abode there two days. He wanted to
hear the words of the Saviour. It's a good effect, wasn't it?
This woman's conversation had had upon them. They went, they
met the Saviour. They wanted to hear his words.
They wanted to abide with him. And therefore, we're told, and
he abode with him two days and many more believed because of
his own words. were those you see who believed
because of the words of the woman and now we're told and many more
believed because of his own word you see how God works in a glorious
and sovereign way through the need there was he must needs
go through Samaria nobody knew apart from the Savior what that
entailed and how we see the Lord bringing this to pass in such
a simple way he came and sat on a well and this woman came
to him and he addressed her and they had this wonderful conversation
and the wonderful conversation had a wonderful effect then upon
many Samaritans and what a wonderful thing it is the result was Many
more believed because of his own word, and they said unto
the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying. No, it
was more important than that. For we have heard him ourselves.
My friends, all of us will hear the word of the Savior speaking
to our hearts so that we will be able to concur with this statement. Now we believe, not because of
thy saying, we have heard him ourselves and know that this
is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the
world. Well, my friends, it's a wonderful
blessing if you and I can trace out in our spiritual life the evidence
of God's gracious, glorious and wonderful work and come to this
same conclusion that these people did and know that this is indeed
the Christ, the Saviour of the world. In which case we can conclude
It is well with our soul. Amen.