You know, we were talking about Kevin had
never preached in front of David before. He usually fills in for
him when David goes somewhere else, or to proclaim when he
goes somewhere else. He hasn't really had a chance
to preach before. He's a little nervous about that. And I asked
him if he had ever preached before Don Fortner. No, I haven't done
that yet either. So that's pretty nerve wracking.
But I've got to tell you folks. I'm just as nervous now, standing
before all of you. This is a life and death job,
just like you said last night. We're talking about life and
death here. Life eternal. Talking about your
souls. The importance of the messages
that God puts on the hearts of His pastors when He sends His
pastors to stand, His preachers to stand before people and preach
to the lost and preach to the sheep. It's all about the souls. This world is just a passing
moment. It's all going to burn up in the end. It's all cursed.
All this flesh that we have on us now will return to dust. I pray the Lord will bless you
with what He's laid on my heart. Would you turn to the book of
John, chapter 4? In the world we walk in today,
I don't know about you folks, but does it not seem hard to know what is
true and what is not in the world around us today? So much of what we see going
on around us turns out to be nothing more than a lie. There was a time we're taught
in schools where everything was just a molecule or whatever and
it exploded and it became what it is today. It became what we
see. Or, here's something even more
crazy, and I gotta tell you something. I knew this was crazy before
the Lord even called me out of darkness and showed me the truth.
We came from monkeys. That's what they taught me in
school. No, we can't teach you about
this one who claims to be God, but we can teach you how men
became monkeys or came from a fish or some stupid thing like that. I knew I didn't come from a monkey. That's some pretty crazy stuff.
But that's what I'm talking about. How are we supposed to know what's
true and what's not? Thank the Lord that your children
are being taught by your wife and not by the schools. of this
government. The wild and crazy things they
teach in schools today, they teach this. Men are women. You
can be whatever it is you want to be. You decide what you are.
I know you're only three years old and you don't have a lick
of sense about you, but you can decide that important thing of
whether you're a male or a female. Or if you're a woman, you might
want to be a man. Who knows? How are we supposed
to know? How can we understand what is
true and what is not in a world that teaches those kinds of things? My pet peeve is this. They say a child is not alive
until it breathes air. How am I supposed to trust and
believe anybody that says those kind of things? I'll tell you
what that does for me. It makes me so thankful. so wondrously thankful that my
Lord did not leave me in that mess. He didn't leave John Reeves in
his own little world, living in his own little circle, thinking
his own little thing. No. How thankful can a child
of the true and living God be to know where it is that we can
find truth? Is it any wonder that there are
so many different religions in this world? Is there any wonder
that there are so many different Christian religions in this world? We spoke of this before as Kathy
and I was driving back to Don Fortner's conference It seemed
like every corner we would pass, there was at least four churches
on each corner. Religions where men interpret
the holy word according to their own desires, according to their
own destruction. When you take the truth and bend
it to fit what you think is right, you can come up with just about
anything. And men do. And that's just what dead men
do. It's just what they've been doing
since the fall of Adam. That's exactly what everyone
here in this room has done at one point or another. Interpreted
the beginnings in their own way. That's what people who are dead
do. People who are spiritually dead, dead in trespasses and
sin, they interpret it to their own destruction. You cannot walk
in a newness of life except you be given life to walk therein. Mankind in their spiritual deadness
have made up all kinds of gods within their own imagination.
In the 17th chapter of the book of Acts, Paul was at Mars Hill
and he was walking along and he was observing all these different
posts, all these different idols to gods. And he came along and
believe it or not, there was one that was marked the unknown
God. We want to make sure we cover all the gods, so we've
got all these lined up, and you know, just in case we've missed
one, we'll put this one down here, and it just so happens
that's the one that Paul said, you know what, I know this unknown
god. Let me tell you about him. Folks, there's another Jesus
being preached in the world. A Jesus that doesn't even come
close to the true and living God of Scripture. Paul tells
us in 2 Corinthians 11 verse 4, warning the Corinthians about
this other Jesus, he says, for if there cometh, if he that cometh
preaches another Jesus. You see, there was another Jesus
being preached even back then. We think that, well, you know,
we got all these religions going on right now, this is the only
time that that's ever happened. No. It's been going on for a
long, long, long time. Abel. Abel shed the blood of
an animal and brought that as an offering. Why? Because he
had heard about the living, the true and living God. His brother
had heard about it too. He'd heard about it from his
father. But was not Cain bringing another Jesus when He came with
an offering of His own works, not according to the Word which
was given Him by His Father. Men have taken the points that
they desire and they've corrupted the true Word of God with their
own interpretations, using their human logic. Folks, God's ways
are not our ways. If you take what you hear of
God through Scriptures and you try to apply it with man's own
wisdom, you're going to fail. God has taken the wisdom of this
world and put it to shame. His wisdom and His ways are not
our ways. They use their human logic, their
human feelings to interpret the truths of God, and they've been
doing it since the beginning with Adam and Eve. Today is no
different. Mankind has not changed. In Ephesians
2, verse 3, it reads this way, among whom also we all had our
conversations in times past. In the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
the children of wrath, even as others." We are still born dead in trespasses
and sin. We still come from our mother's
womb speaking lies. Is it any wonder there is a state
of confusion in the world around us? You go to one place and they
tell you their God loves everybody, and is trying to save everybody. But your will is more powerful,
they say. More powerful than their God,
and you won't let their God rule over you. If you just let the
Lord in, if you just let Him do what He wants to do, That's the God that the world
is preaching. You go to another and their God
will only save you if you do something for Him. If you make
a decision and walk down the aisle today, God will save you.
If you get into the waters of baptism, God will save you. If
you stop worshipping on these other days and only worship on
Saturday, our God will save you. Whatever you want to put in there,
you all know what I'm talking about. I ask you this morning, will
you give me a minute? Will you give me a minute of your time? I want to tell you about one
who deserves to be called God. I want to tell you about my God. The one who cannot fail, because
He is God. The one whose desires shall be
fulfilled. The one whose love for His chosen
shall succeed all things. In Deuteronomy 3.24, the Word
of God describes Him this way, He is the rock. His work is perfect. For all His ways are judgment,
a God of truth, and without iniquity, just and right is He." That's the God of Scriptures.
That's the One who deserves to be called God. In Psalms 33-4,
we read this, for the Word of the Lord is right. And all His works are done in
truth. In John 1, 1 we read it this
way, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God, and all things were made by Him, and without Him
was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the
life was the light of men, and the light shineth in the darkness,
and the darkness comprehended it not. And then in verse 14
we read it this way, and the Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. John 14 puts it this
way, Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life,
no man cometh unto the Father but by me. Here in the book of John we are
seeing a presentation of the way to God, being laid out as
it must for all that come to God, all that come to God the Father,
and they must come by Him. Look at verses 4 with me in chapter
4 of John. And He, speaking of the Lord
Jesus Christ, must needs go through Samaria. Why? Why must the Creator,
this One we just heard about in John chapter 1, the One who
created everything, why must He do anything? In His own Word,
He's telling us He must go through Samaria. Why? Last night, I believe
Kevin read these verses from John 6.38 where it says, For
I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the
will of Him that sent me. And this is the Father's will
which has sent me, that 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 everyone which
seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting
life, and I will raise Him up at the last day." And then in
the 44th verse it reads this way, except the Father which
hath sent me draw him, and I will raise him up to last day." Why
did He have to go through Samaria? Folks, our Lord did everything
that pleased His Father. And everything He did pleased
the Father. Everything our Savior did was
to please His Father. Why must He go through Samaria?
Because all that the Father giveth Me, He says, shall come to Me. He had a child of God down there
in Samaria that must be saved. I'm so thankful that Christ my
Savior has come to rescue. In coming to rescue, John Reeves
heard this gospel preached. In coming to rescue, my wife
has heard the gospel preached. Where the Lord of glory goes,
Wonderful, wonderful things happen. The lame walk, the deaf hear,
the diseased are healed, and the dead are given life. And
here in Samaria, an elect child of God needed saving. Verses 5 and 6. Then cometh he
to the city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near the parcel
of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now, Jacob's
well was there, and Jesus, therefore, being worried with His journey,
sat thus on the well, and it was about the sixth hour. Doesn't
it amaze you? Doesn't it amaze you to hear
things in Scripture about how our Lord, our great Creator,
worried? Do you know what He sang? He
sang hymns. He laughed. He cried. Just like you and I do. It amazes me. It amazes me that God in the
flesh were 100% God, yet 100% man. How else could God take
the sins of his people upon himself? God in spirit is all powerful. God in spirit is the creator
of all things, all that is. But as a man, he knows our weaknesses
and our infirmities. God in spirit cannot even look
upon sin, yet God in the flesh bore our sins on his own body. God in spirit cannot die, yet
God in the flesh died and was buried. carrying the sins of
His people to that grave, never to be seen again. Oh, what amazing
grace to know that I stand before God as clean and white as the
sun, not for any reason that John has done, not for anything
that John might think is his righteousness, but for the righteousness
sake of my Lord and Savior. Yet God, yet as God, in the flesh,
the grave could not hold this man. His purpose had been fulfilled. Just before he died he said this,
he says, it is finished. Now, some may want to take that and
say, what does that mean? I like the way Don Fortner says
it. Folks, it simply means this. It's finished. Salvation is of
the Lord. There's nothing for us to do.
I remember a message when he first came here, and I was first
starting to, the Lord had first given me ears to hear. Don walked
in here, and he said that, and grabbed one of these chairs,
and boom, he sat down. And so we all sat there and waited
for him to get back up and finish his message. But that point was
made. Rest. It's finished. We can rest in our Lord and Savior
and His works. There is nothing for us to do.
If we're thinking there's something that we must do, then our thinking
is wrong. In Ephesians 2 verse 4 it says, For His great love wherewith
He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, and hath quickened
us together with Christ, by grace ye are saved, hath raised us
up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in
Christ Jesus." It's all in Him. It's not in you, it's not in
me, it's not in what we might do, it's not in the good works
of feeding the poor, it's not in this or that, it's in our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in Him alone. We sit in heavenly
places right now. Not later, but now. Our sins
were laid upon Him over 2,000 years ago when He went to that
cross at Calvary. Our sins were laid upon Him that
we would be righteous in Him. He accomplished redemption for
His sheep. I'm so thankful that He could
not save Himself. People stood there and said,
if you're God, save yourself! But yet He did not, as you all
had heard the message a couple weeks back. What a wonderful
thing in Scripture to read along and see that He could not save
Himself. If He could have, and He would
have, then you and I wouldn't be saved. He had to go to the
cross. Everything He did was to please
the Father. And all that the Father gave
Him shall come to Him. Right? You see how it goes? Look at verses 7-10. There cometh
a woman of Samaria to draw water, and Jesus saith unto her, Give
Me to drink. For His disciples were gone away
unto the city to buy meat. And then saith the woman of Samaria
unto Him, How is it that Thou, being a Jew, askest of Me which I am a woman of Samaria,
for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. And 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 him, and he would have given thee living water."
Hold your place here if you would, and turn over to the 10th chapter
of Romans, will you? If she knew, Our Lord tells this
woman, if thou knewest. If she knew this One who is the
Son of the true and living God, if she knew that He was the very
One standing before her, was the Creator of all things, if
she knew that all she would have to do is to ask, that He would
give her living water, folks, I'll tell you, it's my greatest
desire to tell you about this Son of the true and living God.
I want you to know who He is. Are you with me in Romans chapter
10? Look at verse 13-15. For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. It's not a calling that we do
once and then we're just saved. It's a calling that we do all
the time. Every moment of every day. I
get out of bed and I'll sit before the mirror and say, look at the
guy right there, he's not worthy of anything. I need all the help
I can get to get through today. I don't just call on my Lord
once, I call on Him all the time because John in the flesh is
weak. There is no power in me. I need a Savior all the time. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved." Well, how then shall they call
on Him in whom they have not believed? How shall they believe in Him
in whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? How shall they preach except
they be sent? Folks, I'm telling you there's another Jesus in
the world today and it's a lie. It's a weak Jesus being preached
and it's a lie. I stand before you and speak
these words, telling you who my Lord is. But if all you hear
is my voice, if all you hear is John Reeve
speaking, then you've missed it. God must give life to one to
hear. Turn over to Matthew chapter
16. We're still holding our place
in John. We're going to come back to it. You see, I can't speak to the
hearts. I can't see your hearts. None of these men can. No man
can. The heart is desperately wicked,
how can we know it? Is what scripture says. I think
Kevin read that last night. We don't even know our own hearts. But if God is speaking to you,
look at verse 13, When Jesus came into the coast of Caesarea
Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, Whom do men say that
I, the Son of Man, am? And they said, Some say that
thou art John the Baptist, some say Elias, and others Jeremiah,
or one of the prophets. And our Lord said unto them,
But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and
said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus
answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon of Arjona, for
flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which
is in heaven." Our God must give us life that we might hear. He
spoke of Lazarus last night. Lazarus was dead, but yet when
the Lord called him, he came forth, didn't he? Did you know
he was wrapped still in his in his burial clothes, in his wrapping,
they wrap him completely, almost mummify him. He came forth at
the power of God from that grave. He couldn't walk, his feet were
still bound. God had to give him life that
he would hear when the Lord Jesus said, come forth. I've heard
Pastor Fortner, I believe it was, say this once before. He
says, you know that if God had not have said Lazarus, the power
of Christ would have pulled every single body out of the grave
and given it life that very moment. We must hear with the heart,
right here at this well. Back in our text, John chapter
4, the God of all creation is revealing Himself to a blood-bought
child for whom He is loved before the foundation of the world.
A child of God for whom this One who is speaking to her will
go to the cross of Calvary and pay the ransom price for her
sins. Folks, this is exactly what He's
done for each and every one of us. As His children, He has come
to us when we were yet dead in sins, trespasses and sins, and
called us with a personal calling, giving us life that we would
hear His voice, the voice of truth. Now read on in our text,
verse 11. The woman saith unto him, Sir,
speaking to our Lord Jesus at the well, 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. And the woman saith unto
him, Sir, give me this water that I thirst not, neither come
hither to draw. And Jesus said unto her, Go,
call thy husband, and come hither. And the woman answered and said,
I have no husband. And here the Lord of glory, who
knows all things, answered and 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 sayest
thou truly. And the woman said 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? And 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 a spirit, and they that
worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. Folks, we have seen in the Word
of Truth how the Lord of Glory must come and reveal Himself
to a people chosen before the world was to receive the gift
of faith, the gift to believe, the gift of spiritual life, For
this is the Father's will. He says, I shall lose none. I like to say it this way, there
are no empty seats in heaven. That's what all the Father giveth
me shall come to me means. Every single one whose name was
written in the book of life before the world was shall come, like
you said last night, and they've got nothing to worry about. what
peace we have in this world of lies, knowing the truth that
all that the Father giveth him shall come to him. I have two
grown children, and just like I was at one time, just like my mother was at one
time, I worry about them. Worry might not be the right
word. I'm concerned for them. I pray for them. Neither one
of them want to have anything to do with the Lord of Glory.
That's exactly how it was for me for 40 years. Yet my mom continued
to pray for me. In the day of love, in the day
of His power, He comes to His people just like He came to this
woman in the well. Our Lord has a people chosen
from before the foundation of the world. The world don't like
that. That doesn't fit right. What
do you mean he's got a people? That doesn't mean, that's not
fair. In man's eyes it's not fair.
But like I said earlier, God's ways are not our ways. His ways
are right. John's ways are wrong. Many have seen these very same
words that we've just read and do not believe. True salvation
is not a knowledge of the truth. It's an experience of it. It's an experience of the truth.
Look at verses 25 through 26 of our text. The woman saith
unto him, I know that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ. When he is come, he will tell
us all things. And Jesus saith unto her, I that
speak unto thee am he." You know how many people in the world
read that very same scripture and don't know who he is? There's
a whole lot. I point that out because in my
eyes, I can sing that song we closed with last night, Amazing
Grace, and understand that it is by His grace that I see Him
for who He is. It is by His mercy that I see
Him for who He is, rather than walking down the street and worshiping
some false god, some god of lies. Turn over to the 8th chapter
of John, if you would, and I'll bring this to a close. John chapter 8, starting at verse
34, And Jesus answered them and said, Verily I say unto you,
Whosoever commit a sin is a servant of sin, and the servant abideth
not in the house forever, but the Son abideth forever. If the
Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. I know that ye are Abraham's
seed, he is saying, speaking to the Jews, but ye seek to kill
me, because my word hath no place in you. I speak that which I
have seen with my father, and ye do that which ye have seen
with your father.' And they answered and said unto him, Abraham is
our father. And Jesus said unto them, If
ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham.
But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth
which I have heard of God, this did not Abraham. You do the deeds
of your Father. Then they said unto him, We be
not born of fornication, we have one Father, even God. And Jesus
said unto them, If God were your Father, you would love me. for
I proceeded forth from and came from God. Neither came I of myself,
but he sent me. Why do you not understand my
speech? Even because you cannot hear
my word. You are of your father the devil, and the less of your
father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning
and abode not in truth, because there is no truth in him. When
he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar
and the father of it. But because I tell you the truth,
ye believe me not. Which of you convinceth me of
sin? If I say the truth, why do you
not believe me? He that is of God heareth God's
words, ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God. Kevin began his message last
night stating he had some tough things to say. Things that people
don't want to hear. People don't want to hear that.
You believe not because you are not of God. Our Lord says to
some unbelieving Jews, He says, you hear not because you are
not my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound that saved a wretch like me. That woman at the well, she
heard the word of truth, but she didn't hear it just with
these. She heard it with the ear of the heart. And from that
moment on she worshipped the true and living God in spirit
and in truth. Allow me to read one last verse
for you over in the book of Psalms. This is my prayer for those who
have heard this message this morning. This is my prayer for
those of you who may have never heard the word of God spoken
in such a way. This is my prayer for you who
have heard the word of God with your ears of the heart. Show me thy ways, O Lord, teach
me thy paths, lead me in thy truth, and teach me, for thou
art the God of my salvation, on thee do I wait all the day? Amen? Stand with me if you would.