If you'd like to follow along,
I'm gonna be in John chapter four. John chapter four. I'm gonna begin reading in verse
10. This is the account of where
Jesus Christ was going from Judea to Galilee, and he must needs
go through Samaria. And he's sitting at the well.
His disciples have gone into the city to get some food. He's
sitting on the well resting, and the woman of Samaria comes
up, and he asked her for a drink. And she said, what are you talking
to me for? The Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Verse 10. 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 wouldest have asked of him, and
he would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him, 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? 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. I'm gonna stop right there. As I said, this account starts
with these words. And he must needs go through
Samaria. Now these are not just idle words
from the Apostle John. Yes, it is true. You can look
at a map, I did. You'll see Judea on the bottom,
Samaria right above it, and above that is Galilee. So the quickest
route to Galilee is through Samaria. That is true, but there was a
much more necessary reason why the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
had to go through Samaria. Jesus Christ had a meeting scheduled
with a woman from Samaria. She didn't know it. She wasn't
looking for it. She was not seeking. But guess
what? The Lord Jesus Christ found her. And that's what he does. He goes
where he pleases. and he is pleased to go to those
he wishes to speak to. This woman didn't know it, but
she had a meeting with the Son of God coming up. I do want to
say something. Don't make the mistake I did.
Granted, when I came into believing Christ, I was very ignorant of
the Bible. I was born and raised Catholic,
folks. Guess what? We don't study the Bible. Catholics
don't study the Bible. Catholics aren't read the Bible.
Catholics aren't really preached to from the Bible. They read
a few passages of scripture every year, but it kind of goes in
a cycle, and they read the same ones over and over again. But
here's the thing. I thought, from what I heard,
it says the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Well, they
must be heathen. But they're not. They weren't heathen. I heard Henry Mahan put it this
way. The Samaritans were basically just another denomination of
Jew. That was the country when Judah, it was Judah and Israel.
Israel got carried away captive, and they moved in people into
the country. When the Jews came back, guess
what? They didn't run them out. they
actually intermarried. But you'll hear this woman talk
to Jesus Christ if you read this account. He says what? Well,
I read it. Art thou greater than our father,
Jacob. That's verse 12. Jacob, from the Old Testament. This woman, in her own way, was
religious. These were not ignorant people.
She talked to him later on. Now, granted, she was wrong,
but here it is. Says, we worship in this mountain. You say, you Jews say, you have
to worship in Jerusalem. But guess what? They thought
they worshiped. Jesus Christ told her, you worship
you know not what, but here's the thing. She knew also, let
me find it here. Verse 25 of chapter four. The
woman saith unto him, I know that Messiah comes. Messiah cometh,
which is called Christ. And when he is come, he will
tell us all things. And Jesus said these words unto
her. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. This was not an ignorant heathen
place. It was shunned by the Jews. And I'm assuming, possibly, that
the Samaritans pretty much had no dealings with the Jews, because
the Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans. But you understand,
this is, I mean, I thought, and I was wrong, I mean, I'll say
it out now, I mean, I thought they were just basically heathen.
And I'm sure there was some other things going on, but it wasn't
going on here. This was a religious woman that
Jesus Christ was talking to. And he knew her. He knew her. She called Jacob our father,
and she talked about the Messiah, so she knew some Bible history,
and she knew some prophecy. True prophecy. Christ was coming. But here, verse 10's where I
wanna start, and this is gonna be my title, Paul. when he says
these words, if thou knewest. My title is If You Knew. If you
knew what? Here he says, if you knew the
gift of God. If you knew the gift of God.
I've got to start here, and I'm gonna speak of the gift of God,
four different things. First of all, the gift of God
is eternal life. Second of all, the gift of God
is faith. Third, the gift of God is repentance. But fourth and most of all, the
gift of God is Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Christ of God. But eternal life is the gift
of God. Eternal life is not a right,
or an earned merit. The only thing we have earned
on our own is the wages of sin, and that's death. That's all
we've ever earned on our own. All that believe now, we're dead
in trespasses and in sins. We at one time, believers, were
blind, deaf, and dumb. We were blind to the light, blind
to the face of Jesus Christ, true face. We were deaf to his
words. We could hear him, but we wouldn't
hear him. And we were dumb in the fact
that we couldn't speak the truth if our life depended upon it.
Romans six and verse 23 says this, The wages of sin is death. But
the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. If you knew the gift of God,
the gift of God is eternal life. The gift of God is eternal life.
If you want to, look at John 17, and it says it plainly. Where does eternal life come
from? 17 verse 1 these words spake Jesus
and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said father the hour has
come glorify thy son that thy son also may glorify thee as
Thou has given him power over all flesh that he should give
and Eternal life, to who? To as many as thou hast given
him. And this is life eternal, that
they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
thou hast sent. Eternal life, the life of Christ,
is a gift of God. If you knew the gift of God, And here's the thing, Jesus Christ
gives to those that have been given to him. I got it written down somewhere
else, but I'm gonna throw it in here anyway. The Father chose
us in the Son from the beginning. He chose us from before the foundation
of the world and gave us to his Son. And here later on we'll see not
only that, he gave us his Son. He gives to those that were given
to him by the Father. The everlasting life is the gift
of God. For God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent his son not,
excuse me, for God sent not his son into the world to condemn
the world, but through the world through him might be saved. Everlasting life is the gift
of Jesus Christ. Everlasting life is the gift
of God. If you knew the gift of God.
Second one, faith is the gift of God. Very familiar. For by grace are you saved through
faith and that not of yourselves. It's the gift of God. It's the
gift of God. Guess what? It's not a works.
Why? Because we would boast. If we
did anything to get it, we boast about it. You know why? Because
that's the way we are. That's the way man is. It's done,
what is it, to exclude boasting. We don't want to exclude boasting.
Not naturally. Not naturally. But it's not of
works. Why? We would boast. Salvation
is by grace, through faith. You know what that means? It
can't be of works. Because faith and works, grace
and works are opposites. Totally opposite. If it's of
faith, it can't be by works. If it's of grace, it can't be
by works. If it's of works, it can't be
grace. You understand? Both are true. If you think you
worked for it, you're not talking about grace. If you think you
did something for it, you're not talking about grace. Ah,
but if he did it, and if he did it all, that's grace. That's grace. True saving faith is the gift
of God. Thirdly, repentance is the gift
of God. 2 Timothy 2 verse 24 and 25 says
this. And the servant of the Lord must
not strive, but be gentle unto all men, apt
to teach, patient. In meekness, instructing those
that oppose themselves, if God, peradventure, will give them
repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. Repentance is the gift of God.
I know a lot of people say, repent and be baptized. They mean for
you to do something. And I understand that. because
that's exactly what they mean, and that's what I used to think. But first, I do want to point
out that the servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle.
Don't get into fights with people. You understand? Don't get into
fights with people. Don't respond with aggression. Be gentle, be meek, but Speak
the truth and lie not. Understand, I worry more about
my attitude than I do about my doctrine. I think I said this
before. I think my doctrine's pretty
good. My attitude needs work. Don't be mean about it. I mean,
I have a real tendency. I grew up with seven brothers
and sisters, you understand? And you learn how to argue. And I'm good at it. And I can
get really mean about it. And I want to stop that. Especially
when it comes to this. You understand? When it comes
to the word of God. Paul says, just don't strive.
Don't engage. We're not here to debate anyone. We're here to proclaim the gospel.
That's all we're here for. Be gentle in all men, apt to
teach patience. Why? Because it says in meekness,
instructing those, here it is, they oppose themselves. You understand? They don't need you for opposition. They're already opposing themselves. This is the thing. This is what
drives people crazy. They know this book is so somewhere
back in there, just a little bit. And you tell him this, you
read this to him, and you can read it to him word for word,
and he says, the Bible doesn't say that. You can quote him a
scripture verbatim. I can't do a whole lot of them,
but there are a few I can. Like by grace are you saved through
faith, and that's not of yourselves, it's the gift of God. What, not
of works. That verse, you Baptists always
quote that verse. Well yeah, it's still always
there. Or you can read them another
verse of scripture and let's say, well it doesn't mean that. You
understand, they're arguing in themselves. They already oppose
themselves. The only thing we can do is lay
out the truth and hopefully God will make it clear to them. Because
I can tell you this, folks. You couldn't have argued me before
I knew Christ. I wouldn't have paid any attention
to it. And you could have quoted this book till you was blue in
the face, and I wouldn't have paid any attention to it. Why? Because I was blind, I was deaf,
and I was dumb. I was dead in trespasses and
in sins. Repentance is toward God. You turn toward God from idols. You turn to God from idols. You don't turn from idols to
God. You turn to God. The natural man's not going to
do that. Paul said this, talking about
the Corinthians, the second Corinthians. Now I rejoice that ye were made
sorry, not that you were made sorry, excuse me, but that ye
sorrowed to repentance. For ye were made sorry after
a godly manner, that ye might receive damage in us by us in
nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repentance
to salvation, not to be repented of. But the sorrow of the world
worketh death. It's not just sorrow. It's a
godly sorrow. A godly manner. Why? Because repentance is the gift
of God. Acts 11 and verse 18, when the
Jews heard about Peter's visit to Cornelius, he was called on
the carpet, sorta, to give a report of what? We have heard that you
went to the Gentiles' house and y'all ate with them. And Peter
said, yes, we did. And he accounted the whole thing,
from his account with Cornelius, from the vision he was given,
and everything that went on, and guess what the end of it
was? It says, when they heard Peter's story about his meeting
with Cornelius, they glorified God and said, then God hath granted
to the Gentiles repentance, repentance, unto faith. Repentance is the
gift of God. If you knew the gift of God, sorrow after a godly manner,
God has to give. God has to give true repentance. And repentance is the gift of
God. Now the fourth one. There he is. the primary, wondrous,
most gracious gift of God. That's Jesus Christ himself. And if you knew the gift of God, and if you knew who it is, it
doesn't say that, but that's the text of it. If you knew the
gift of God and who it is that saith to thee, give me to drink. Jesus Christ is God's greatest
gift. A child is born and a son is
given, is given. Inextricable to him, eternal
life and faith and repentance, all gifts of God, but they are
all inextricably and totally and completely tied to Jesus
Christ. Because what did he say? If you
knew the gift of God, and then that little conjunction there,
and. who it is that speaks to you. You must know him, the gift of God, Jesus Christ. Just knowing he is the gift of
God is not enough. He says you've got to know him.
You've got to know him. Who is this Jesus who must go? He must go through Samaria, must
needs go through Samaria. Well, in the beginning, he's
the word. He's the word of God, and the
word was with God, and the word was God. In the beginning, he
created all things. That's who this Jesus Christ
is that we know, and that we are to know. That's who the gift
of God is. the creator of all. There was not anything made that
was made without him. Nothing was made without him.
Without him, there is nothing. And here's the thing, all of
the gifts of God are in Christ Jesus. Every single one. This is only a small listing,
I'm not going into all of them. But there is no gift of life
There is no gift of faith and there is no gift of repentance
without Jesus Christ. You understand, he told his disciples
when he was here, when he was coming toward the end, he said,
I have to go away. And they said, no, don't go.
No, I have to go away, otherwise the comforter will not come. Now the Holy Spirit was there
with them, but he said the Comforter would not come. He is with you,
but he shall be in you. The Comforter could not come
until Jesus Christ died. He had to go away so he could
send him, because the blood of Christ had to be shed. The redemption
had to be paid. The blood had to be shed. Without
shedding of blood, there is no remission, and it had to be his
precious blood that was shed. To what? To take away the sins
of the world. Call his name Jesus. Why? For
he shall save his people from their sins. Eternal redemption
had to be accomplished before the Comforter could come. Because
then the Comforter came and now dwells, abides, lives in all those that
he has called out by his name. Eternal life, the gift of God. Eternal life is the life of Christ. It's the Holy Spirit in you.
What? Christ in you. The hope of glory. Eternal life is the life of Christ
now in every believer. We believe by his given faith
and he's the author and the finisher of it. We believe because he's
given us everlasting life. He said, I am. I am the resurrection and the
life. He that liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. And he asked this question. Believest
thou this? You understand, in order to know
the gift of God, in order to know him, who is a gift of God,
but in order to know him, you got to believe him. You understand? There's no way you can know the
Son of God without believing the Son of God. How is that possible? Oh, there's all kind of people
who go, oh, I know Jesus, he was a good teacher. Or I know
Jesus, he did something or the other. I don't really know whether
they raised him from the dead or not, or they just hid him
away, doesn't matter to them. But here, how can you say you
know Christ if you don't believe his word? I am the resurrection and the
life. So either he was the resurrection
and the life, and he still is, or he was a liar. You understand? There's no way you can turn that
into a great moral lesson. I know a lot of people want to
think about it this way, but I know people who also was supposed
to have been a Jewish rabbi that told me they never did any of
those Old Testament sacrifices. They never really killed all
them animals. That was just a story. I got no idea what that man thinks.
because that just flabbergasted me at that time, and guess what,
it still does. I mean, you can, if you're supposed to be leading
people in some sort of Jewish religion, you might want to check
your history along with the Bible, just a little bit, you know?
I don't know who these people are, but guess what? You know
why? I used to be one of them, but
I'm not anymore. Do you believe me is what he
was asking. Because to know Jesus Christ
is to believe Jesus Christ. He is the gift of God. I read
it just a little while ago. For God so loved the world, what? That he gave his only begotten
son. He gave his only begotten son
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life. And here's where I wrote it.
Yes, God gave his people that he chose in Christ to his son
in the beginning, and God gave those chosen, his people, God
gave them his very son. His well-beloved son. You understand, God didn't look
for us to make a decision and then base his decision on our
decision. I'm so tired of hearing that.
I heard it Thursday morning. In the hospital, Walter got a
visitation. I mean, I'm sorry. We were visited
by somebody from the Church of God who just walked over and
intruded into our space. And Walter asked her, do you
believe in a sovereign God? And her response basically came
out to be this. Well, I believe that Jesus died
for everybody, and what we do makes a difference. And Walter
said, that's a lie. And he's right. And he wasn't striving with her.
He was just laying out what the truth is. Now, granted, I will
suspect this. He was a little aggravated at
the time, because he was getting ready to go into surgery. And
I can't blame him. I would be too. But he was handling
it, so I stayed out of it. Needless to say, she asked if
we would pray, and he said no thanks, and she went away to
go bother somebody else. But here, that's the thing. People, and I hate to put it
this way, who don't know Christ, don't believe Christ, and don't
believe what he says. And that's the whole thing. That's
the whole point. If you know Christ, you believe
Christ. And he wants to know, he was
asking, believest thou this? Because you need to make that,
you need to know that in your head. Do you believe Christ or
do you not? It's not believing Christ when
you want to and don't when you want to. You believe him all the time.
And you doubt yourself all the time. If you knew, mm, If you knew the most precious
gift given, the Lord Jesus Christ, he gave him to us out of his
loving kindness, out of his grace, and out of his mercy. We didn't
deserve him, we weren't looking for him. At best, we were like
this Samaritan woman thinking, well, you know, the Christ is
gonna come and tell us all things. He is, but you're not gonna hear
him unless he gives you ears to hear. He did, and they killed
him. You understand, that's the beauty
of mankind. The depravity of mankind. Truth
came into the world, and we'd rather have the lie. Matter of
fact, we'll run to the lie and run away from him. The Jews were looking for the
Messiah, yes they were. But they were looking for a king
to throw the yoke of Rome over off of them. They weren't looking for a carpenter's
son. They didn't want the carpenter's son. Oh, they didn't want the carpenter's
son telling them the truth about their own sin. because the gift
of God always tells the truth about man. And he tells it to
the Pharisee and to the public and alike. He tells it to the
Baptists and he tells it to the Methodists. He tells it to the
Pentecostals and the Jehovah Witnesses. Now whether or not
they'll hear is up to him. Jesus Christ told his disciples,
he that hath ears to hear, let him hear. He told that to the
multitude when he preached in parables. He that hath an ear
to hear, let him hear. If you knew the gift of God,
and if you knew who it was that's talking to you, what would happen? Jesus Christ said, you would
ask. You would ask. If you knew the
gift of God, and if you knew the Christ of God, you would
ask, and he would give. See, this answers all the questions
why. Why don't more people believe
the gospel? They don't know. Why don't more people believe
Jesus Christ? Why don't more people believe
the scripture? As they're written, they don't
know and they don't ask. Why are so many on the Broadway
that leads to destruction? Why do so many go back? When
they heard the very words of Christ preaching a message to
him, they went back and walked with him no more. Why? Why won't they have the Son of
God to rule over them? They don't know, and they don't
ask. Matter of fact, John recorded
it in the next chapter, these words. John chapter five and
verses 39 and 40, Christ's words saying, search the scriptures,
or if you were, you search the scriptures, for in them ye think
ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me. And then he says this, and ye
will not come to me that you might have life. Why? They don't
know and they won't ask. If you knew, you would ask. So
how can we know? There's a song by Augustus Toplady,
I got a verse here. And I like this. Our seeking
thy face, was all of thy grace. Thy mercy demands and shall have
all the praise. No sinner can be beforehand with
thee. Thy grace is eternal, almighty,
and free. I like that, I do. How can we
know? If you come to Christ, it's because
he's brought you. Peter answered a question Christ
asked. He said, he saith 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. Jesus
answered and said unto him, blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for
flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee. but my Father which
is in heaven. Well, unto you, he told his disciples
when he was explaining parables, unto you it is given to know
the mysteries of the kingdom. But to them, it's not given. It's not given. The knowing of
thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God, takes a revelation
from the Father of the Son. It's a work of God. Guess what?
It's a gift of God to know Christ. Knowing Jesus Christ is a gift
of God. If you knew, you would ask. And what'd it say? And he would
give thee living water. And I like that, if you knew,
you'd ask. You don't demand anything from
God, okay? You don't bluster, you don't
yell and scream, you ask. If you knew, you would ask. Because here's the thing, that's
what that leopard did to him when he came to him. He said,
if thou will, Thou canst make me clean. Ask, ask. If you know him, if
you know him, you'd ask. And he'd give, and he'd give
living water. 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. Whosoever drinks of the water
that Christ gives shall never thirst again. Well, Jesus Christ is not talking
about water here, folks. He's talking about the Holy Spirit
of God. The life, the everlasting life
brought about, brought to man, living in man. This water is
gonna be in you. You understand? The water is
in you. It's the spirit in you. And it's,
and he is there. He dwells, he abides in every
child of God. In every believer, there's water. There's water. And the water
just doesn't lay there. It springs up. It springs up
into everlasting life. It's a refreshing source. I can tell you this, from what I read in the scriptures,
if you tire of him, you might wanna make your calling
and election sure. Now I'm not saying you can get
tired of me, you can't. I get tired of me some days.
But if you get tired of him, if you don't love his gospel
anymore, You might wanna make your calling
and election sure. It's in here written, they went
out from us because they were not of us. Because had they been
of us, they would no doubt have continued. Jesus Christ said,
if you're gonna be my disciple indeed, continue in my word. because what he gives springs
up in you everlasting. How can I know what's true? His
spirit bears witness with my spirit. His spirit bears witness
with our spirit that we are the children of God. See, the thing is, and that's
part of what you can read in the parable of the sower. Our
spring can run dry, his never will. Our water runs dry, his
never does. Our life has not been extended
or lengthened, we have been given new life. His life, His spirit abides with
us, dwells in us. And the last thing I was gonna
point out is what happened here. In John chapter four and verses
39 and 40. And this just fascinated me reading
this, it always has. John chapter four and verse 39. And many of the Samaritans of
that city believed on him for the saying of the woman which
testified, he told me all that I ever did. So when the Samaritans
were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with
them, and he abode there in Samaria two days, two days. and many more believed because
of his own word. And said unto the woman, now
we believe not because of thy saying, for we have heard himself
and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the
world. You understand, Jesus Christ
had been some places, He preached the message and 5,000 people
left him. He had healed, cast out a demon
of a man of the Gadarenes, the Gadarene demoniac. You know what
they told him to do? Please go and don't come back. There was a man who had been
possessed of these devils and he was sitting there in his right
mind at the feet of Christ listening and they said, please go away. Don't hang around here. He went
another place and cast out a legion of demons into a bunch of pigs
that ran off a cliff into the water. Guess what those people
said to him? Please go away. But here in Samaria,
he stayed two days because they asked him to. And guess what
it says? We know that this is indeed the
Christ, the Savior of the world. Folks, that's grace. We use the word distinguishing
grace. We use the words. Ah, but here's
the meaning right here. He must needs go through Samaria. I like that. Many believed on
him for the saying of the woman of Samaria. So don't try to tell
me a woman can't be a witness. for Christ. And when they came
unto him, they besought him to stay. And he did. And many more believe because
of his own word. His own word. That verse I read
you from Top Lady, this is the next verse. Our Savior and friend,
his love shall extend. It knew no beginning and never
shall end. Whom he once receives, his spirit
ne'er leaves, nor ever repents of the grace that he gives. I like that. Yes, he must need
to go through Samaria. And thank God, Jesus Christ Always
and still to this day and on goes where he must needs go And his word always accomplishes
that for which he sent it forth And then amazing He'd been been
in Judea and was leaving I don't know if they'd brought him out
that time or not. I can understand it, because
I'd have been the same way, I guess. But here's the fact that he came
unto his own, and his own received him not. But to as many as received
him, even in Samaria, Even Samaritans in Samaria. To them gave he the
power to be the sons of God. To those that believe on his
name. Because they were born of God. They knew the gift of
God and they knew who it was that was talking to them. And others don't. Our heavenly
father, we're thankful again for this time in this place.
Most of all for you, our Lord. Thank you that you have given
us these gifts, but most of all, the most precious gift of all
your son, our Lord, who gave himself for us, who purchased
us with his own blood. who redeemed us and reconciled
us to God, to you. Thank you, Lord. In Christ's
name we pray.