John chapter 4. The Gospel of John chapter 4.
Don't you love this story? I can't get away from it. Many
of you say that this is your story, don't you? It's my story. Now the Lord waited to be gracious
and revealed himself to this poor, ignorant, lost woman, fallen
woman. There's a few more things that
we need to look at about her and this story. We didn't really
cover verses 39 through 42, nor what our Lord said to his
disciples, but some of you were Back in the back with me after
Sunday's message, and we were talking about these things. Verses
27 and 28, upon this, after the Lord revealed himself, the disciples
came, and they marveled that he talked with the woman, yet
no one asked him why. The woman left her water pot
and went her way into the city to speak to the men. She said,
come see a man, which told me all things that ever I did. Is
not this the Christ? And many went out of the city
and came unto him from her witness. Disciples came and she left.
She went into town. She was excited. She was overjoyed. She had to tell somebody who
she had met. And that's what happens when
the Lord saves you. That's exactly what happens.
You go and you tell people what great things the Lord has done
for you and what great things you've heard from His Word. I did. You did. We all did that
and do that, I hope. But she has new life in her now.
She's born of God and Christ is in her. Christ is her life.
He hadn't been. She was dead in trespass and
sin. She, and she had to be quick. And now she went home and she
went back to tell everybody what the Lord had done for her and
who she'd met and what she'd heard. I'm certain, now she was
living with a man. I'm certain she went home first
and told him. You know she did. She said, I
met Christ. I met the Christ, Messiah. I
want you to meet him. I want you to hear it. Will you
come with me? Will you come with me? He's at the well. Our Lord graciously and mercifully
stayed right there at the well, knowing there were some others
coming. He had arranged that too. Purposed
that. For many, it says, in that city
came to him, believed on him. So she went home and told this
fellow, I want you to meet Christ. I've heard His voice. I want
you to meet Him too. Come with me." And I'm certain
she said this, We can't live like this anymore. We're living
in sin. I'm convicted of this. We're
living. We're not married. This is wrong. This is evil. I can't live like
this. I can't live with you like this.
And I want you to come with me. I want to follow Christ. I want
to be with Him. I want to be like Him. I want
to do what He tells me to do. You come with me. But if you
won't, we can't stay together. I'm just certain she said that.
Go with me to Luke chapter 8. I told some folks back in the
back that I believe this woman followed Him, you know. Many,
many followed the Lord all His days. He had many followers that
just were always following Him. I'm certain she's one of them. Simon, Andrew, James and John
left their boats and nets, their family, and their homes to follow
Christ as long as he was on this earth. Matthew left his money. He just, like the woman left
her water pot. Matthew, Levi, Republican, money
was his life. Not now. Making money was his
life. Not now. The unsearchable riches
of Christ were his life now. And he drops that money. and
follow Christ. Now, buddy, that's what the Lord
does to a person. Things you used to go after,
things you used to live for, you drop on them. That's just
a fact. It's all everybody did. And our
Lord said, that except you forsake all that you have, you cannot
be my disciple. If any man come after me, let
him deny himself your, your, your, whatever it is you want
for yourself in life. No. Christ is your life then. You want to do His will. You
want to follow Him. Great multitudes followed Him. Many of them were
women. Look at John, where did I tell you to turn? Luke, Luke
8. Look at Luke 7. This is the story
of that woman that came in and wiped his, feet with the hair
of her head and washed his feet with her tears. And verse 47, he said, I say
unto her, her sins which are many are forgiven. She loved
much to whom little is forgiven the same love with little. He
said unto her, thy sins are forgiven. Man, this woman was sad. She
was weeping so much that she was washing his feet with her
tears. And the Lord said something that dried her tears immediately. Thy sins be forgiven. Blotted
out. She smiled for the first time
in years, I bet. She was rejoicing for the first
time in a long time. He said to the woman, Thy faith
has saved thee. Go in peace. Well, where'd she go? Look at
the next chapter. It came to pass, afterward they
went through every city and village preaching, showing the glad tidings
of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, and
certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmity. Mary called Magdalene, out of
whom went seven devils. Joanna, the wife of Chesa, a
man's wife, followed him around. Herod, Stuart, Susanna, many
others, many. The Lord had more women disciples
than He did men. There were many women at the
cross when all of his disciples left, except John. These women followed, and I think
this woman was one of them. She left her water pot. She's
coming back, but not for the water pot. We talked about that,
too, that she doesn't need that water pot anymore. He is the
smitten rock from which water flows. Well, she got the water that
she didn't know she needed. Now she has Him all she needs. Now this is a fact. All who truly
have been born of God and have heard Christ's voice, they follow
Him. Where He is, that's where they are. They must be. That's
where they want to be. She went in to tell other people
about Him, but she's coming back. She left her water pot. She's
coming back. She wanted to be with Him, and
all those who have heard His voice want to be with Him, hear
Him, worship Him, be with Him and His people. And they leave, every one of
God's people leave whatever water pot it is in this world, these
empty vessels, to be filled with the Word of their Lord, because
there's only one thing that meets their need, really. One thing. You know, in the end, when it's
all over, the Lord's gonna separate sheep from the goats. It'll be
a great separation. And you know something about
sheep. Sheep have to have sugar. They have to. That's the nature
of the animal. They have to. They cannot make
it alone. Goats can. And goats will eat
anything. Sheep will eat one thing. Green grass. And when he makes
you one of his sheep, he maketh you to lie down in green pasture
beside the still waters of his word. And he makes you a gregarious
animal that you have to congregate with other sheep, and eat other
sheep. It's just a fact. Does that give you
some comfort? Well, she did. I think she followed
him. Well, John 4, go back to our
text now, verse 28. Well, 29, she went and talked
to the men in town. Where were they? They were in
town, maybe sitting on the courthouse steps. I don't know. Men were just hanging out. And she went in to tell them.
I believe she probably told him that Christ is not here. He's
not in that synagogue right there. He's outside the camp. He's out
there at a well. That's where you're going to
have to go to hear him. He's not here. I've been there. He's not here. We had an old Virginia lady here
named Virgie Jones. You ladies didn't know her. She
had a Virginia accent. And boy, she was zealous for
the truth, wasn't she? And she'd tell her family and whoever would
hear her, she'd say, y'all need to quit going to that church.
You need to come to my church. There ain't no gospel down there.
You can hear gospel up here. Didn't she? That's how she talked. Her dying was, the last words
I ever heard her, I love telling this story. went to see her in
the emergency room at the hospital. She had a heart attack. And I
went in to see her, and she said, they're going to put me in a
nursing home. I said, I don't want to go in no nursing home.
She said, I have to listen to that bad preacher. Seriously. That's all I think she's concerned
about. I don't want to hear that bad preaching in that nursing
home. You know those wolves that go
around and visit hospitals and pray on the sick and the elderly?
That's all they do. Pray on people. The Lord took
her the next day. She died the next morning. She
lived the next morning. You know who she heard preaching
next? Now that's a person that she
sat right there with. Which peer was it, Vicki? Yours? Right there. Years. Right there. Every service. Until she was put in the hospital.
That's somebody that knows the Lord, has heard his voice, and
Christ is their life. And that's this woman. Now she's
ashamed of herself. She's still ashamed of herself.
She's been a forlorn woman. She had a reputation. But she's
not ashamed of her Christ. She's ashamed of herself, but
she's not ashamed of the gospel. You know, as sinful as we are,
in spite of our past life and present feeling of sinfulness,
we still must tell others. We still need to tell people.
You know, we're not confessing ourselves. We're not trying to
show people ourselves. We're trying to tell them about
Christ, like baptism. We're not confessing. You know,
if you wait until you feel good enough to be baptized, don't
do it. It's for filthy ends. It's for
sinful. But we talk to people, and often
we feel so sinful that we, you know, We just feel convicted
trying to tell people, but we're just trying to tell people about
Christ. In spite of what, and we need to tell people, in spite
of what I've done, what I am, this is the truth. You need Christ. I need Christ.
We need Christ. Why? Because we are sinners,
that's why we need Christ. So she's still ashamed of herself. She's broken and she's humbled,
but she's bold for the truth. Can you be meek and be bold?
Absolutely. Moses was. She now fears the
Lord, and now she's She wasn't afraid to
face people before. She didn't want to be around
anybody. She came at noon when nobody came to draw water because
she didn't want to see anybody. She's saved herself. She now
fears the Lord and she no longer fears men. She no longer is intimidated
by human beings. No longer out to impress people. She doesn't need their approbation
anymore. Approval. She needs Christ. Turn
with me to Isaiah 51. John, did you read this recently?
Isaiah 51. I think you did, John Baker.
Isaiah 51. I remember reading this as a
young man, a young believer, preacher. And it was so convicting. It still is. Isaiah 51, verse
11. This is your verse. The redeemed
of the Lord shall return and come with singing and desire
and everlasting joy shall be upon their head. They shall obtain
gladness and joy and sorrow and mourning shall flee away. It
sounds like Isaiah 65, doesn't it? I, even I, am he that comforth
you. Who art thou that thou shouldest
be afraid of a man that shall die, and the son of man which
shall be made like grass? And forgettest the Lord thy Maker
that hath stretched forth the heavens and laid the foundation
of the earth, and has feared continually every day because
of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? Men can't do anything but what
God allows them to do. So she no longer is afraid of
men. She no longer depends on men.
She doesn't need a man anymore to to support her and give her
life. She now realizes that Christ
is the one that's been doing it all along. Like Gomer. Gomer realized that,
didn't she? She thought her lovers had given
her. No, no, no. It was her true husband that
had been caring for her all her days. She's no longer dependent
on a man to take care of her. Now that ought to give us all
comfort. John 4, look at this, verse 39. So she went back to
the city, verse 39. Many of the Samaritans of that
city believed on Him for the sake of the woman. Which testified,
He told me all that I ever did. Many of them thought, maybe this
is the Christ. We've been waiting on Him. If
they were waiting on Him. You know, if somebody's really
seeking the truth, they'll find it. They'll find Christ. They'll go, and they all went,
they all went. She said, He's at the well. See,
they've got to hear His voice. Hers is not enough. They've got
to hear His voice. They've got to see Him, His glory. Remember what Christ said in
John 6? He that seeth the Son and believeth on Him. They all
came out, they all heard His voice and saw Him, and then some
of them said, now we believe, not because of what you said,
but we've heard Him ourselves. And now we know this is indeed
the Christ, Savior of the world, Jews and Gentiles. So she was
a witness, and so are we. And the Lord just might use us
to bring somebody. And that's what we're for. That's
what you're for, to bring people to hear the gospel. My dad used
to say that. He said, You fill the pews, I'll
fill the pulpit. He said, If I'm out to fill the
pew, I won't fill the pulpit. That's what false prophets are
doing. They're doing everything, preaching, studying. He said,
you bring people to hear the gospel and I'll have a message
ready for them. Because gospel is the power of
God unto salvation. And I remember people witnessing
to me when I was lost when I was a young man. I remember distinctly. It made
a great impression on me. It touched my heart. These people
were not self-righteous and critical of me and, you know, coming down
hard on me, but they really cared for me. Gerald King was one of them,
you know, another man, Jack Edel and others. My old brother Gerald,
Gerald was 6'5", 250 pounds or whatever, and he just had tears
in his eyes praying for you. But I had to come here to the
gospel. And I did. By God's grace, I came. And I
met him at the well. He spoke to me. This is my story.
Somebody witnessed to me. Well, while she was in town,
now verse 31, here's where we pick up tonight. Well, that was
the intro. Verse 31, in the meanwhile, that
is, while she was in town speaking to these men. The disciples came,
they had brought food, and I believe they'd all walked a long way,
and they were all hungry and thirsty, and the disciples, I
believe, they just were chowing down, eating voraciously. The Lord was not eating. He's
watching them. And He came to the whale. Remember,
He was weary with His journey? Was He thirsty? Sure He was. He was flesh and blood like that.
He came to the well, but not to draw water, but to draw a woman. He didn't
come to drink. He came to give her drink. That was His meat. It's what
He lived for, why He came. He came to this earth not to
eat and drink and live life to its fullest. He came to feed. not eat and drink, he came to
fill empty vessels. With what? Himself. It's what he had. It's true life. So he was watching them, he wasn't
eating. I remember my mother, there were four of us children,
and my dad, and I remember my mother often doing without at
the table. She'd prepare a big meal, and
of course the four, you know, kids are pretty selfish. It's
bad. It needs to be taught manners,
but you know, if you're hungry, you can grab it right quick. And I remember my mother often
going without. It'd be so many biscuits, and
they're gone, and she didn't get one. Her egg in the morning,
she didn't get one. I remember saying, Mother, don't
you want that? Hannah, when she was a little
girl, she'd be one whatever, pork chop left, she'd put her
fork on it and say, Anybody want this? No, no, you go ahead. But I remember her going with
that. You know, Mom, don't you want anything? No, I'm fine.
I've had enough. He said, Our Lord came to serve,
not be served. He came to feed, not be fed. This is the same one we read
about in Psalm 51. It says, If I were hungry, I
wouldn't tell you. Lord, we need some money to pay
taxes. He provided everything. He's
the great provider, He said. That's why He came. They said,
Master, eat. Verse 31. They looked up and
saw He wasn't eating and they were concerned about Him not
eating. You know what He's concerned about? Them not eating the right food. He said, I have meat to eat that
you don't know of. I have meat to eat that you know
not of. And the disciples said, who? Did you give him something?
John? Did you? Thomas? Did you? Did anybody
see him eat anything? Alright, here's what he said
his meat was. Here's what the Lord lived upon. Verse 34, The Lord said unto them, Jesus
saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent
me, and to finish his work. My meat, what I live on, what
I live for, is the Father's will. This is what gives me great joy
and great delight. This is the work that he's given
me, and that's what I live to finish. That's what I live on,
his word, his will, the work he's given me. This is what gives
me great joy. This is what I think about and
meditate on and give myself to wholly all the time. This is
what I live upon. From a child, as a 12-year-old
boy, They were in, remember they were
in Jerusalem, and his parents left. They've got stuff to do.
And they did. They had responsibilities. He
stayed right there. He didn't want to leave the temple. And they were worried about him.
You don't have to worry about our Lord. You don't have to weep
over our Lord. Even when he's going to the crowd,
don't weep for me. Weep for yourselves, for your
children. Don't worry about me not eating.
You're the ones not eating the right food. You see that what
he said? Oh, don't worry about me. I came
to provide for you. You're not going to provide for
me. This is mine. This is the Father's will and
this is the work I came to do. Provide for you. I don't need
you. Boy, do you need me? You just
don't know how much you need me. He just told that woman,
you know, about water, the water of life, which was him. We read
in John 6, you know, they were not for the meat, the pears,
the bread. He said, I'm the bread. As I said, a 12-year-old boy,
he stayed there in the temple, and they came back looking for
him, worried. And he said, wish you not, don't
you know that I must be about my father's business? They didn't understand. Well,
your father's a carpenter shops back in that. That's not his
father. That's not his business. That's
not what he came to do. Build chairs and tables. He came
to build his kingdom. John 6. Go to John 6 with him. Go back there again. Look at
what he said here, John chapter 6. This was his life's work. John 6, 37. This is the will of the Father.
This is what the purpose, the will, the eternal, determinate
will and purpose of God in a covenant made with His Son before the
world began. He gave a people to cry. Fallen,
forlorn, lost people, like that woman at the well. And he gave
them to Christ. It was Christ's job when he came
here to find every one of them and save them. All right? And he said, verse 37, All that the
Father giveth me shall come to me. And they will. And the Holy
Spirit brings them to him. Him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. I don't care how many times she's
been married. I don't care what she's doing. He's doing it. They come to me, I'm not going
to cast them out. I'm going to save them from the
sin. 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 is sent me, that of all which
He hath given me I should lose nothing. Amen is right, John. John Malcolm. That's exactly right. When he
prayed to the Father, he said, I've finished the work you gave
me to do. Of those that thou have given me, I've kept. I've
lost none. He's the Great Shepherd. We're
the lost sheep. And he goes after the lost sheep, every single
one of them, until he finds them. And when he finds them, he puts
them on his shoulder. And does what? Carries them.
Carries them. See, they're His responsibility. All the way back. And presents
them and puts them in the foal to stay. There should be one
foal and one shepherd. That's all because of Christ
the Great Shepherd. So, look at verse 39. This is
the will. Verse 40. This is the will of
Him that sent me. And everyone that seeth the Son,
and believeth on him, may have everlasting life. You notice
how many times he kept saying, I will raise him. I will raise
him up at the last day. I'm not going to leave him behind.
When I come, I've been too sinful. He's going
to leave me. No, he's not. He promised. He can't lie. I will. See at the sign. Have
you seen Christ's glory? Have you seen your need of Christ? Have you seen Christ as the water
of life, the bread of life, true meat? Have you seen that Christ
is your only hope, your only salvation? Have you seen Christ,
your wisdom, righteousness, sanctification of heaven? Have you seen Christ
as your great high praise? Have you seen? Oh, we've seen
clearly, haven't we? We understand. He said, I'm going
to raise you up. He that seeth the Son and believeth
on him hath life. He went on to say, he that believeth
on me hath everlasting life. That's why you believe on him.
That's why you've seen him. That's why you call upon him.
That's why you believe on him. You have life. Dead people don't
call. So this is the Father's will. And
this is what I live on. It's what I came to live to do.
I came to die. The work that he gave me, Daniel
9, one of the ladies texted me, you know, I sent the outline,
turned to Daniel 9, and she said, what a powerful verse this is. Oh, yes, is it ever. Daniel 9,
look at this. Speaking of finishing the work.
This is long before Christ came. And this is Daniel's prophecy,
verse 24. Daniel 9, 24. Seventy weeks are
determined upon thy people, upon thy holy city, to finish the
transgression. That is, put away sin. Make an
end of sins. Make reconciliation for iniquity.
To bring in everlasting righteousness. seal up the book, and the prophecy,
and to anoint the most holy. Isn't that wonderful? That's
Christ. That's Messiah, verse 26. Three
score and two weeks, Messiah will be cut off, but not for
himself. Cast out of God's grace. Crucified. Christ crucified.
Verse 27. He'll confirm the covenant with
many. That's us. He's confirmed it with us. The Gospel. So the work that
Christ was sent to do was to save God's people and finish
the transgression and make an end of sin, put away sin by the
sacrifice of Himself. He's going to talk about meat.
He said, I'm your meat. As I live to do the Father's
will, fulfill his will to save my people. This is the work he's
given to me. I'm going to lay down my life,
my body broken for you, my blood to shed for the remission of
your sin. This is what you're going to live on. You're going
to live on me as I live on the Father. And our Lord, remember,
as a young boy in the temple, I must be about my Father's business.
It was his meat, it was his joy to do. John 19.30, he was hanging
on the cross and it said, it's finished. He finished the work. Now if you're hungry and you
eat, all you eat, all you can eat,
and you're full, you're full, what are you? You're satisfied,
aren't you? You're satisfied. Usually when
you get full and you're satisfied, you've eaten too much, and you're
really full, what do you do? Go lie down. Rest. Our Lord finished the work, and
He rested, didn't He? The Lord laid His body in the
grave. And he rested. You read that
scripture with me on, I awoke and my sleep was sweet. I satiated
the weary soul and upon this I awoke and my sleep was sweet. He finished the work. You cannot
rest. You cannot be satisfied if the
work's not finished. Right? He shall see the travail
of his soul and be satisfied. We make a lot of this. Because
it's great blasphemy to talk about, you know, God's done all he can
do and now it's up to you and Christ to make a down payment
and, you know, it's up to you. It's the worst, it's the highest
blasphemy to say that Christ did not finish the work, that
he did not save his people. The highest blasphemy is to say
that the blood of Christ and Your acceptance of it saves you. That's what they're saying. It's
not just doctrine, bad doctrine. It's blasphemy. And anybody that
says that doesn't know Jesus Christ. They don't see that Jesus
Christ is their only hope. They don't. John 6, the Lord, verse 35, I
am the bread of life, he said. Verse 48, he said, I am that
bread of life. And then verse 53, when he started
talking about, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man,
drink his blood, and whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood
hath eternal life. And we've talked about this so
many times. Our Lord said, my flesh is meat indeed, my blood
is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood dwelleth in me and I in him. This is someone who's hungry
and thirsty for Christ. This is someone who's tasted
that the Lord is gracious, tasted of His sovereign, electing, saving,
redeeming, forgiving, keeping, all-powerful grace. This is someone who's tasted
grace. Everything else leaves a bad taste in their mouth. It's
grace. You've got to have grace. And
this is Christ. You feed on Christ and Him crucified. That's what this is speaking
of. Someone who's really tasted the gospel and seen that Christ
is their all, and from that day on, they live upon that. They
don't need anything else. Don't give me this sugary, syrupy,
sickeningly sweet false gospel today. Don't give me that. Give me Christ and Him crucified.
That's what we feed on. Bread. I thought about this.
Bread is good. I love bread. Vegetables are good. But meat. Why does he call it meat? Well,
it's his body. Flesh. But meat, you know, really
is the only thing that really fills you. It's substantial food. It really is. I know, you know,
I was a vegetarian and vegan and all that crap. I tried it, seriously. Maybe
there's some validity to it and all that, all the HVMO or GPO,
whatever stuff to do. Okay, I understand that. That stuff's not going to kill
me. God is. But here's the point. After sin came into this world,
God said, kill animals and eat them. Why? Because somebody's got to die
for you to live. It's a type of crime. Bread's good, vegetables are
good, but you know what's wrong with it? There's no blood in
it. Only meat has blood in it. There's a reason. Cain's religion,
Cain brought food and vegetables and flowers. Isn't that pretty?
No, God said, get it out of my sight. Abel brought a lamb, blood,
the fat thereof. God said, sweet smelling savor. It takes somebody's death for
us to live, and it's all a type of Christ. It really is. Christ
is our food. This is what I'm trying to bring
out. You can be a vegetarian. I don't mind. But you can't go
without Christ. You can't live without the blood.
You can't do it. And that's such a clear type,
isn't it? That meat has blood in it. But Christ is our food. Paul wrote this in Romans 14.
He said, The kingdom of heaven is not in meat and drink. So many people think they want
to go to heaven because they're just going to continue doing
what they're doing down here, some kind of carnal utopia, you
know, some paradise, another Garden of Eden. Yeah, we want
that. Who doesn't want that? No, heaven to God's people is
because Christ is there. The kingdom of God is not meat
and drink, Paul wrote, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy
Ghost. What's that? It ain't a thing, is it? Righteousness.
Peace. Who is our righteousness? Christ.
Who is our peace? Christ. Joy in the Holy Ghost.
Holy Ghost. What does the Holy Ghost do to
give you joy? It takes the things of Christ
and shows them unto you. Are you eating this right now?
Are you meeting your name? You got life. Matthew 6. Go over there real
quickly. Time flies when you're having
fun. Matthew 6. Go over there. Matthew
6. I love this, Lord. We need to
read this all the time. This is Sermon on the Mount,
Matthew 6. Look at verse 24. He said, No man can serve two
masters. He can either hate the one and love the other, or else
he'll hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God
and mammon. You cannot. Matthew 6, 24. Verse
25, Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life,
what you shall eat or drink, or your body, what you shall
put on. Is not life more than meat and the body than raven?
He went on to say, verse 32, that's what the Gentiles, the
pagan people of the world, that's all they think about. They're
no better than animals. Animals live to eat and drink. Not man. Man was created by God
to enjoy God. He lived on God. Man didn't live
by food back then. He lived on God. We're not going
to live... We're going to eat food in the
new creation. We're going to eat food, but we're not going
to live by it. We don't need it to sustain our lives. It's just going to be enjoyment.
Christ is our life. He's spiritual life. Eternal
life, new life, not sustained by these things. Philippians
3, Paul said, he said, I say this weeping that some people's
God is their belly. He went on to say that. Job,
the root of the matter was in Job. You know what he said? You
read it with me, Sunday. He said, I have esteemed the
words of his mouth more than my necessary food. If you want
to know what fasting is, that's what it is. You'd rather eat
and, I mean, commune with the Lord. You forget to eat if you've
got a burden so heavy that you forget to eat. You don't need
to eat. You need His Word to feed you. David said in Psalm
63, he said, Thy lovingkindness is better than life. He said,
I found Your Word is sweeter than honey, sweeter than honeycomb.
Read the Psalms. Psalm 119. It's been over and
over again. He says, Thy Word, Thy Word,
Thy Word, Thy Word is everything to me. And that's what our Lord was
saying in John 6. He that eateth my flesh. His
meat was to live for the Father's will and glory. And His meat
was to do the work given Him. Oh, that we would, you know,
we're just consumed with Him and not things. And once He said,
Man does not live by bread alone, but by the Word of God, every
word. Now, look at this very briefly, and you may wonder the
connection here. He said this to His disciples
while the woman was away. Verse 34, He said, My need is
to do the will of Him that sent me to finish His work. Do ye
not say, or say ye not, say not ye that there are yet four months,
and then cometh the harvest? Behold, I say unto you, lift
up your eyes, and look on the fields. Now, he still hasn't
eaten anything. He said, The fields are white
with harvest. He that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathers
fruit unto life eternal, that both he that soweth and he that
reapeth may rejoice together. Herein is that saying true, one
sows and another reaps. He said, I sent you to reap,
whereon you bestowed no labor. Other men have labored, and you
are entered into their labors. What's he saying? He told them,
I came here to work. I came to this earth to do work.
And I'm not going to completely rest, be satisfied until I finish
that work. He said, now I've given you work. Fields are white with harvest.
He's telling them he's sending them out. to preach the gospel. And they're going to live on
that gospel. And they're going to live preaching the gospel. It's
going to be their life. They're going to know. They didn't
know what he was saying at that moment. When he leaves, they're
going to. They're going to find out. Everything
he said was true. They're going to live on every
word. They're going to hang on every word. You know, we reap what Christ
sowed. No way. He said, except a corn
of wheat fall in the ground and die, it abideth alone. But if
it fall in the ground and die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
We reap what Christ sowed, what God sowed. Put that corn of wheat
in the ground and we have life because He died. We reap what
others have sowed. When our Lord ascended on high,
he gave gifts unto men, some prophets, apostles, evangelists,
pastors, teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, for the edifying
of the body of Christ. We reap what other men have sowed. Paul said that. I plant and I
water. God gives you income. But we plant and we water. He
said we're laborers together with him. And we reap what my
pastor and other men have sowed. I'm so thankful the Lord sent
laborers into the field, aren't you? He's selling these men.
You're not here to eat and drink. You're not here to have a big
time. I'm sending you out. Like I came, I'm sending you. I love the story of Abraham's
servant, you know, who went to find a bride for Isaac. And they
said, eat, sit down, let's have a big party here and see. Tomorrow
we'll put this off. No, he said, I will not eat until
I've told my message. When I find out she's coming
with me, I then will eat. We reap what others have sown.
We reap what we sow. That's what Galatians 6 says.
He sowed the flesh, you replant it. He put everything into flesh,
you'll have a lot of flesh. People lusted in the wilderness.
John, uh, Psalm 106, what is it, 4? They lusted exceedingly,
and the Lord gave them meat to eat. But they were lean of soul. Rather be fat of soul than you. Psalm 106. We reap what we sow. If you sow to the flesh, you'll
reap flesh. If you sow to the Spirit, you'll reap Spirit. So that's
what he's saying. My, my. Oh, what the Lord could
say in just a few words. Meat, my meat. Oh, may it be
our meat. May He be our meat. May we live
on Him. We certainly live by Him. and
may we live for Him. Stand with me.