Turn back to John chapter 4,
we will look at verses 27 through 42. The title of this message,
Have you heard Him yourself? Have you heard Him yourself? They said, In verse 42, and they
said to the woman, this notorious woman, now we believe, not because
of thy saying, but we have heard Him ourselves. We've heard the Master speak,
and we believe. Now, after our Lord, had revealed
himself to this woman, back in verse 26, Jesus says unto her,
I that speak unto thee am, that word he has been supplied, I
am. I am the Messiah. I am God. And when he said that,
he opened her eyes. He opened her understanding is
what he did. She was converted. She was regenerated. That's His work. She had no idea
what was going on when she came there. But when she left there,
she knew who He was, and she believed. She believed. But after our Lord revealed Himself
to this woman, His disciples came back from the city from
buying some food, and they were surprised. to see him talking
to this woman and they were even more surprised that he was not
hungry. He sat thus on the well being
weary. They knew they had gone all day,
no doubt, without eating. But they came back and it was
time for them to come back into the scene. It just amazes me
when I really stop and think how the Lord orchestrates absolutely
everything. He moved them out of the way
so He, without any prejudice, could speak to this notorious
woman of Samaria, of all places, a woman of Samaria. And then
after He had spoke to her and revealed Himself to her, She
understood. She saw and understood who He
is. Then the disciples come back.
Now it's time for them to learn something because He's going
to send them out later and they're going to evangelize that whole
area and then from there it went all over the world. But it says
in verse 27, And upon this came His disciples, and marveled that
he talked with the woman, yet no man said, What seekest thou?
Because they did respect him as their master, their Lord. And it says over in Job that
he gives no account of any of his matters. A true sovereign gives no account
of any of his matters, and God is the only true sovereign. And
so they didn't ask him why he was doing that or why he talked
with her. And here's something as interesting
as I was studying this week. A Jewish man did not talk to
a woman in public. This is how far self-righteousness
goes. This is self-righteousness, I
mean, at its pinnacle. They would not talk to a woman
in public, especially a married woman and especially a notorious
woman like her. And if you were a master or a
scholar, you didn't even talk to your wife or your daughter
in public. That's amazing. But if you want to read, just
look at the history of this. This went back years before this.
Years went back before this and they looked down on those Samaritans
and especially especially this woman, and he was talking to
her, and the disciples came back, and we can see in this the reason
he sent them away. They would've just been in the
way. They would've been in the way. They would've been so prejudiced,
they wouldn't have learned anything, because it'll blind you. It'll
blind you. And our Lord shows by this that
He came to save sinners no matter who they are or where they are
from. It doesn't matter. God has made
of one blood, it says, all nations. You know, if someone was dying
and they needed a blood transfusion, I guarantee you they won't say,
what nationality is that? They'll say, give it to me. You
know, it's amazing how when your life is on the line, you lose
all those prejudices. And our Lord here demonstrates. You see, this is God. This is
the one who made of one blood all nations. And what these disciples
will learn later is that they are no better than this Samaritan
woman. When God saves a person, that
person learns. that they are just as sinful
and as wretched by nature and just as lost as anyone else on
this earth." Anyone else. And you'll notice something here.
This woman in verse 28, the woman then left her water pot. She
came there every day with that water pot to draw water because
without it, you'd die of thirst. But she left her water pot. She
forgot herself. When he revealed himself to her,
she forgot herself and she went out to tell others about this
one that she's met. This one who's the Messiah. I
found the Messiah. Here is one who's told me everything
I ever did. Is this not the Messiah? Is this
not God? You see, God knows everything
I've ever done in my life. God knows every thought I've
ever had in my life. He knows the motive of every
thought I've had. or ever will have, God knows
it. And when our Lord spoke to her and he said, don't call your
husband. She said, I don't have a husband.
He said, you're right, you've had five. And the one you're
living with now is not your husband. But I doubt that everything that
was said is written. I imagine he exposed some other
things about her that only her and God could know. You know, we let people see what
we only want them to see. But God sees everything. Was
it Hagar said, Thou God seest me? He sees me at all times. Mike
Bartrand told me a story once. He said his mother, when he was
just a teenager, and he was going to go out for the night, she
used to say to him, remember, God sees you. And he said, that
bothers me all the time because I always felt like God was watching
me. She was right. She was right. Now God sees me. When mom and
dad not around, out there in the dark, out there at night,
God sees me. God sees me. And when she realized that, she
said, this is the Messiah. And there's something else here,
all who follow Christ leave all. They leave all. When they called the disciples,
two of them was in a boat fishing with their father Zebedee. Was
it John and James? Yeah. What did they do? He said, he just walked by. Come, follow me. They didn't
say, they did not say, wait a minute. They jumped out of the boat and
left their father by himself. They left him there. There may
have been other servants there with them, or helpers, that is,
but they left him. They left the waterpots. They
left the waterpots and followed the Lord Jesus Christ. When he
walked by the receipt of customs, there sat Matthew. And he said,
follow me. And he got up, left the table,
All the money there and everything, he probably said to the person
beside him, take care of this. Left and never came back. As
far as I know. She left her water pot. We leave
all and follow the Lord Jesus Christ. And there's something
else here. Remember he said, if you had
asked me, I would give you living water. Her taking off, leaving
that water pot, she was so excited, she had found the Messiah. The
Messiah is here, here He is. She was so excited, she took
off and went back to the city and became a flaming witness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. You know what you see there?
That living water springing up that He said would be within
you. Springing up, she's bubbling over. How many times did the
Lord heal somebody and He said, don't tell anybody? And what
did they do? They weren't told. They could
not keep from it. You cannot keep from telling
others what the Lord has done for you. If you can, He hasn't
done anything. You can't do it. You want to
confess Him. You want to tell. And so she left her water pot,
she went her way into the city, and she told the men there about
Him. And she said to them in verse
20, "'Come and see! Come and see a man! Come!' I
can just hear the passion in her voice." Now I'm going to
tell you something. Her testimony, God put power
in it, just like He does preaching. You know, you think your testimony
to somebody may be meaningless, or not meaningless, but you know
what I'm saying, not powerful, because you're not standing in
the pulpit like I am. If God blesses you to be a witness
to somebody, He'll put power in that witness the same as He
puts power in my preaching." A revival was started here. I've done this so many times,
but it just hit me this morning. He said, I must needs go through
Samaria, and I've always said, because there's a sinner there
that He needs to save. There's one there given to Him.
Well, there's more than one. Many in that city believed that
one was just a beginning, that one was like a seed planted in
the ground, and look at the crop that came out of it. Despise
not the day of small things. A small testimony may bring forth
a flame like a revival if God's in it, if God uses it, whether
it be a man or a woman here who gives the testimony. It doesn't
matter. It doesn't matter. This is a notorious woman. And
she goes back and she says, Come and see a man which told me all
things that ever I did. Now that got their attention
because she did a lot. Is not this the Christ? You know,
Philip one time after he had seen the Lord followed him, he went and found
Nathanael. And he said to him, or Nathanael
said to Philip, can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?
And Philip said, well, come and see. That's what she's saying,
come and see. For yourself, come and see. You
come and listen, just an invite. That's just an invite from one
center to another center, an invite. Come and see. Her testimony was very simple. Her testimony could not be more
simple. Come and see. Just come and hear
the gospel. Just come and hear the gospel
this weekend. Just come and hear. And from her simple witness,
inviting these men to come and see, many were saved. The Lord
saved many. He shows here His omniscient. She recognized, only God's omniscient,
okay? Only God is present everywhere. Only God's omniscient. And she
said, come and see a man that told me all things that ever
I did. Only he could know that. And the Lord is God. He says
in John 2.24, but Jesus did not commit himself unto them, unto
the people, because he knew all men. Not just their existence, but
He knew them. He knew their hearts. And then
they went out of the city and came to Him. God used her testimony
to draw them to the Lord Jesus Christ. He used her testimony
to draw them. But in the meanwhile, it says
there in verse 31, 32, In the meanwhile, His disciples prayed
Him, saying, Master, eat. They knew He was hungry. Because that's what they went
to do, is buy food. They knew he was hungry. He sent
them. But he said to them, I have meat to eat that you know not
of. Our Lord had been feasting, feasting
on saving this center and these other centers that were coming.
He was feasting on this. This is where he found real satisfaction
in such a manner that it overcame his physical hunger. His meat was to do the will of
his Father, and that gave him such satisfaction that it overcame
his hunger. I know this, the more we are
engaged in spiritual matters, Being about our father's business
as he was, the less of an appetite we have for this flesh. You know
that? The more our minds are set on
things above, and the more our minds are set upon the Lord Jesus
Christ, the less we are apt to feel these appetites of this
flesh. But boy, the more we get engaged with this flesh, the
less appetite we have for spiritual things. And he was so Of course, I can't put it into
words, but he was so engaged. He was so engaged in saving this
woman, and that's the way he is in saving us. He's so engaged
in it. He said, this is my meat. This
is what I'm here for. This is what I live for, to save
sinners. And the disciples said, well,
did somebody bring him something to eat? I have no doubt he heard them
whispering. They didn't say it out loud. They're over there
saying, did somebody bring him something to eat? And he, but he could
hear them. He could hear them. He knew their
hearts. And he, listen, our Lord is so patient with us. He knew
their ignorance. He knows my ignorance. And he's
so patient. And he said to them in verse
34, he said to them, my meat, that which satisfies me, that
which nourishes me, that which nourishes me, is to do the will
of him that sent me and to finish his work. Wouldn't you like to be a servant
like that? Would to God we could serve God like that. Now I know this, I know I can
never reach the level he's on in this life, I know that. But
someone asked me here not long ago if I was still enthusiastic
about preaching as I was when I was young. And I told them,
I told them the truth. I said more so, more so. I am more enthusiastic about
standing here preaching the gospel, even though the responsibility's
heavy. But I'm more so enthusiastic about doing this than I've ever
been before. But not even scratch the surface
on the level he's on. Our Lord's greatest pleasure
was doing the will of Him that sent Him, His Father. He received
as much pleasure and satisfaction out of doing His Father's will
as a hungry man received out of eating a good meal. Listen to this in John 6, 39-40,
and I'll show you what the will of the Father is. 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. And this is the will of him that
sent me, that of everyone which seeth the Son, and believes on
him, may have everlasting life, and I'll raise him up at the
last day. He said, that's my me. That's my meat, that's my
satisfaction. He desired to take upon him flesh. He desired
to become a man. With great desire, in one place,
I'm trying to think of that scripture where he said, with great desire,
he's taking the table. With great desire, I've desired
to do this with you. His desire was to become a man,
fulfill the law, bring in righteousness, put an end to sin. He did that
with great desire. Do you get up in the morning
and go to work with great desire? God gave it to you to do. Everything
you and I do, God has given it to us to do in His kingdom. We're in His kingdom. And this
is what He's given us to do. You're a light where you are.
You're the light of the world. You're a light where He's put
you. It puts me to shame. It puts
me to shame. But our Lord did this from His
youth. Remember when He was 12 years old, and He was in the
temple, and the parents were looking for Him, they couldn't
find Him? He said, Don't you know I must be about my Father's
business? At 12 years of age. I don't know. Our Lord is the
perfect servant. He worked because He loved doing
His Father's will. Most people that I have encountered
over the last 67 years hate what they do. They don't like what
they do. One person that told me they
didn't like their job one time, this person made over $150,000
a year. I said, you sure like what that
buys. You may not like what you do, but I guess you do like what
it buys. No, most people don't really
like what they do. Our Lord loved it. He loved what
He did. He loved serving the Father.
He loved saving us. He loved it. And He had the hardest
work. We don't have hard work. He had
to bear away our sins. Listen, I thought of this last
night. He ate because He had to. He
worked because He desired to. Men work because they have to.
They eat and play because they want to. What a reverse. What
a reverse. And he says, Here is my means
to do the will of Him that sent me and finish His work. His work. God the Father devised the way
of salvation. And that way is His Son. Christ
came and finished it. When He died on Calvary's tree,
He said, before He gave up the ghost, He said, It is finished. And He said that with great satisfaction. I have redeemed the multitude
of sinners you have given Me. I'll not lose one of them. Not
one. Salvation is a work begun by
the Father and finished by the Son. Redemption, saving all for
whom the Father gave Him, putting down all rule and authority,
put an end to sin, and bring in an everlasting righteousness.
He did it. He did it. Now He says to His disciples,
"'Say not ye there are yet four months.'" Now He's going to talk
about the harvest. and how we are workers together.
Don't say there are four months and then cometh harvest. Someone
said it had been about eight months had gone by before the
by the last Passover and is about four months left to the next
one and the harvest time came came at the Passover. He says
don't say that in four months that it's it's harvest time. Behold Listen to me, disciples. I say to you, lift up your eyes
and look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest."
I say that when he said this, there was a whole bunch of Samaritans
coming up the road. Here they come. Here comes a
crowd, a multitude walking up the road. And he says to his
disciples, look on the harvest. This is your harvest. He's speaking
about a spiritual harvest. Don't think that preaching the
saving of a sinner takes a long time or takes a while. No, God
can save you now. Salvation happens now when he
saves. It's now. And what he's telling
them, change your way of thinking. Change your way of thinking.
You see, it took about four months from planting to harvest, but
not so in spiritual harvest. Spiritual harvest is now, God
can save someone right now. While I'm preaching, God can
save someone right now. In 2 Corinthians 6.2, For he
saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, And in the day of salvation
have I succored thee, helped thee? Behold, now is the accepted
time. Behold, now is the day of salvation."
It's now. You see, with God, God always
operates in the present. It's always now. Who promised you tomorrow? We don't have a promise of the
next minute. What we have, though, is now.
I do have now. And he says here to his disciples,
the ones he's going to send out, don't look at this like you would
natural harvest, because in spiritual things, it's now. And listen,
there's no shortage of sinners. There are no shortage of sinners.
And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto
life eternal. And both he that soweth and he
that reapeth may rejoice together. He gathereth wages." I think Christ is saying here,
and I think this is so, that He's saying to His disciples,
they'll be taken care of. You all take care of me, don't
you? You take care of me. You know, I stand here week after
week and preach the gospel, and you all support the ministry,
you support the gospel, and you take care of me. But he says here also, he said,
He that reapeth receives wages, he'll be taken care of, and gathereth
fruit unto eternal life. What's the fruit of a ministry?
What's the fruit of a man that's called to God? What's the fruit
of his ministry? the saving of sinners. That's the fruit of
His ministry. And He says here, "...that soweth,
and he that reapeth, they rejoice together." Paul said this at
1 Thessalonians 2.19, "...For what is our hope, our joy, or
crown of rejoicing? are not even you in the presence
of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming. You're my rejoicing.
You're my rejoicing. That's the fruit of a man's ministry. You know, if a man's ministry,
Paul says in one place, if it's wood, hay and stubble, it'll
burn up. He's talking about the converts.
Talking about the converts. But now, if the fruit of a man's
ministry are true converts, they'll last to life everlasting. In verse 37-38, and herein is
that saying true, one soweth and another reapeth. Man, we
see this in business, don't we? We see parents or a father or
a mother, whichever, start a business and they grow it and they put
in the hard labor and hard work and all that, and then the children
come in and reap the benefits. And they'll go on with it, but
they never put in that hard work that the parents did to get it
to where it's at. Our Lord is not forgetting the
prophets. He doesn't forget our labor and
our labor of love. He doesn't forget it. You have
entered into the labor of the prophets. You know, when I pastored
Hurricane Road, I wrote Henry a letter and I said, I know,
I want you to understand that I realized I inherited the fruits
of your ministry. Because, I mean, it was, we had
several there, but it was those who grew up under Henry's ministry
for the most part. We've entered into the labor
of the prophets. You've entered into the labor of John the Baptist,
who was the forerunner. We are laborers together with
God. No one can brag on... I can't brag on a ministry that
God's given me, and no man can. It doesn't matter if he has a
10,000 congregation. He can't boast about it. That's
just a fruit of the past. And besides, Christ is the soul,
isn't He? Christ is the sower of the seed.
He's the one who puts the Word in the heart. He's the one who
does that. He said, I sent you to reap that
were on you, bestowed no labor. Other men labor, and you've entered
into their labors. Now listen, verse 39, And many
believed what this woman said. They believed her message. It starts here. It starts here,
believing the message. You believe the gospel I'm preaching.
You believe it. It starts here, but it doesn't end here. It does
not end here. And many of the Samaritans of
that city believed on him, for the saying of the woman was testified,
he told me all that ever I did. They believed she was telling
the truth, and they were convinced of it, and they went out to see
him. So when the Samaritans were come to him, they besought him
that he would tarry with them, and he abode there two more days.
I tell you, when sinners hear Christ, they want more. They
want, tell me more. It's not, oh, you're about done. It's tell me more. I couldn't
tell you how many times I couldn't believe Henry was finishing,
and it seemed like he just started. And he preached 45, 50 minutes,
but it's just like he just started. Tell me more. And then it says there in verse
41, 42, and I close, and many more believed. You see, it started
with one. And he used the testimony of
that one to bring these others out. And
many more believed because of his own word, not words, but
word. His own gospel. Our Lord sat there for two days
and preached the gospel and made Himself known to them, just like
He did that woman. He said, I that speak unto thee
am He. He opened their eyes, their heart,
and they believed. They believed. And they said
to the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying, for
we have heard Him ourselves. And know that this is indeed
the Christ." You see, this is the Christ, the Savior of the
world, not just the Jews. This is the one who's going to
save Gentiles as well as Jews. You see, salvation happens when
the Lord speaks to the heart. when He reveals Himself to you,
when He becomes real to you, when it's no more me speaking,
but the Lord speaking. And when that happens, you can't
help but believe. The only way I can explain faith,
as I heard Henry say in a message, and this is so, the only way
I can explain faith is the gift of God. He gave me faith. And
I can't help it. Can't help it. Most people are
waiting for a feeling. Because I know this from the
past. Most preachers will preach on repentance. They preach on
this mourning and feeling bad. And people get to thinking they've
got to reach a certain point of mourning and feeling bad. It's just belief. It's just believe. God will take care of the repenting
part, I promise you. He'll take care of that part
when you cry, oh wretched man that I am. If you're waiting,
if anyone's waiting on this, I wanna wait till I feel saved,
that ain't gonna happen. Because when God saves you, you
feel like, oh wretched man that I am. That's how you actually
feel. And then there are some who wait
on a sign, some kind of a sign, a miracle. The Jews kept saying,
show us a miracle. Well, the miracle was standing
in front of them. God in human flesh. And I'm looking at miracles.
You are a miracle of the grace of God that you actually believe. That's a miracle. Signs do not produce faith. Faith
comes by hearing, hearing by the Word of God. You have heard
the Word of God this morning. It was read to you and I've gone
over it again, twice. We've looked at the same verses
twice. But it's just this. Do you believe Him? Do you know
and believe? Now listen, here it is. Do you
know and believe that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior
of the world? Do you really believe that? Do
you know that with all your heart? Because I know everybody in this
room, everybody in this room believes what I'm saying. There's many who believe, they
believe the gospel when they hear it, but they never hear
Him. They never hear Him. They never
trust Him. They never commit to Him. They will defend Calvinism and
still not know Him. But when you come to know Him,
He's real to you. This book becomes alive. It just
becomes alive to you. And you have light and understanding.
And you have complete commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm
His and He is mine. Have you heard Him for yourself? That's what they said. I believe
I can say that. Some of you can say that. By
the grace of God, I've heard Him myself.