Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Dear most gracious Heavenly Father, please let us love you as you've
loved us. Let us love each other as you have loved us. To esteem the other better than
ourselves. God, don't let us devour each
other. You're our strength. You're our
hope. Don't leave us to ourselves. Let us love each other in Christ
Jesus. Christ Jesus Holy Name we pray.
Amen. The hour cometh and is now. Our text is going to be in John
chapter 4. Salvation is of the Lord. And we praise God for his electing
grace, for choosing the people in Christ Jesus before the foundation
of the world. And we praise God for his predestinated
grace, for predestinating them that
he chose into the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself. according to His good pleasure
and His will. For making us holy and without
blame before Him in love. And we praise God for His redeeming
grace. Redemption through Christ Jesus'
blood alone. He making us accepted in Him. Know what grace God has bestowed
upon us. If you turn to Ephesians chapter
one, verse nine, we'll finish that up. Having
made known unto us the mystery of his will according to his
good pleasure, which he hath purposed in himself, that in
the dispensation of the fullness of times, he might gather together
in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and
which are on earth, even in him. In whom also we have obtained
an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him
who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will,
that we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted
in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after
that ye heard the word truth, the gospel of your salvation,
in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy
Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance, until
the redemption of the purchased possession, and to the praise
of his glory." It's all for his glory. It pleased God to make us his
people. In Christ Jesus, our Lord and
our Savior. And here in John chapter four, we see a sinner, an elect child
of God, whose hour had come. That appointed time of love when
God reveals himself to one of his elect in the face of his
son, Jesus Christ. Salvation is of the Lord. And
oh, what joy. Oh, what joy, for there's no
merit on our part. We don't contribute a thing.
Ever. God controls it all. He's purposed
it all from eternity to eternity. He does it all. So let's see
by the Holy Spirit what God does for one of his elect, that they
may be made to worship him in spirit and truth. As God the
Holy Spirit leads us, let's see this time of love God
has appointed to this chosen lost sinner. And God willing,
there are seven things I'd like to bring out as we go. But one
thing, keep in mind and notice that I know y'all do. God doesn't
change. We're saved just like Adam and
Eve were. It's all God's free and sovereign
electing grace in his only begotten son, Jesus Christ. Because for
by grace you're saved through faith. And that is not of yourselves. It is a gift of God. A gift of
God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Salvation is all
of God. We only receive by faith what
he gives us. in Christ Jesus. So if you turn
to John chapter four, we'll begin reading in verse three. Lord Jesus Christ, he left Judea
and he departed again into Galilee and he must needs go through
Samaria. Then cometh he to a city of Samaria,
which is called Sychar. near to the parcel of ground
that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there, Jesus
therefore being wearied with his journey, he sat on the well. And it was about the sixth hour,
and there come with a woman of Samaria to draw water. And Jesus
said unto her, give me to drink. For his disciples were gone away
into the city to buy meat. The first thing that we see is Christ Jesus must be seeking
you. Says he must needs go through
Samaria. Luke 19 verse 10 says, For the
son of man has come to seek and save that which was lost. And this American woman was one
of his elect. One that God had gave him for
the foundation of the world. John 644 tells us that no man
can come to me except the father which has sent me draw him and
I will raise him up at the last day. It's all the work of God. And in John 14, verse six, Jesus
says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto
the father, but by me. She was not seeking him. She wasn't seeking him. She can't. She couldn't. She's spiritually
dead, fallen in her first representative, Adam, who fell in the garden. She's bound in her trespasses
and sins. She's under the curse of the
law. She has Adam's sinful nature, just like Weedy. In Romans 3, verse 10 says, As
it is written, there is none righteous, no not one. There
is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. She was going about doing her
daily chores. Everything was fine in her world. But God knows his elect. Christ knows his sheep. And praise God, he said he won't
lose one. And here she is. You notice how intimate this
is. And how intimate it is when he
reveals himself to us. He's just the Lord Jesus Christ. And the one he's loved from eternity. Disciples are gone. And even
if a preacher stands and preaches what God has given him, it's
not him. It's just you and the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's all. So disciples are gone away. Just
Jesus and the one he loved from eternity. Salvation is all of
God. She must be called because Christ
is the word. Christ is the bishop and he is
the shepherd of our souls. He's effectual. God makes his
word effectual. Christ Jesus is the word of God. He is the gospel of God. He is
the power. of God unto salvation, and he
is effectual. He makes himself effectual to
him, those that he chooses. He uses his preachers and his
sins as his means, but it's Christ. It's God who speaks. It better
be. He needs no one, and he needs
nothing. It's grace alone, Christ alone. He's the one that speaks to our
hearts, to our souls. We go on to verse nine. Then
saith the woman of Samaria unto him, how is it that thou, being
a Jew, ask a drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? For the
Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans, Jesus answered and said unto
her, if thou knewest the gift of God
and who it is that says to thee, give me to drink, thou wouldest
have asked of him and he would have given thee living water. The woman said 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? And Jesus answered and said unto
her, Whosoever drank of this water shall thirst again. But
whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never
thirst. But the water that I shall give
him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting
life. The woman saith unto him, Sir,
give me this water that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. Second thing we see is God must
show you your need of him, of the Lord Jesus Christ, the son
of God. She's still thinking of that
water for the flesh, but he's talking about her soul. those dead dry bones. A thirst
for His grace and her soul needs His righteousness. She's still in her darkness. If thou knewest the gift of God,
the God-man, Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh. Standing before her, she would
have dropped to her knees. She would have bowed down to
him and begged God for mercy. She can't do it. Only he can give. He is that
living water, He is that eternal life, that eternal fountain that
flows endlessly of grace. All the gifts of God are in Him. All the promises of God are in
Him. All the Godhead resides in Him
bodily. I and my Father are one. He's
filled without measure. The Holy Spirit. God the Father, God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit, they're all one. All those promises, all those
blessings, what a gift God gives his people. The Christ, the Son
of God, the Messiah, the Redeemer of his people. God has made him
unto us. Righteousness. Sanctification
and redemption through his blood. By his one time sacrifice of
himself. For the atonement for the sins
of all God's elect. He is the one who laid down his
life for his sheep. God's elect. He came to do the
Father's will and He emptied Himself. He humbled Himself and
became a servant of the Father. Not my will be done, but Thine
will be done, O Lord. The saving of His elect to the
glory of God. He became a servant. And through
his faithful obedience to God, he became a curse. He took that
curse away. He hanged on a tree. That curse
of the law that we could not ever keep. God demands perfection. He freed us from that curse of
the law. He fulfilled the law of God in
our room instead perfectly. Perfect obedience. By grace,
his righteousness justified us. It's his righteousness. His bloodshed made peace. Peace in his own body. Born of a virgin. God manifest in flesh. born of
the Spirit of God Almighty. In His one body, He brought peace, being that propitiation for our
sins, for His elect. There is no greater
gift. Christ Jesus is the Son of God. He is the gift of God to all.
that believe on Him and trust in Him. And that's His elect, and He
gives us that faith to do it. The free and sovereign grace
of God and His only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He
who loved us and He who has made sin for us, who knew no sin,
took on our flesh, Took on her nature, no sin in him. He was made sin for us. Who knew
no sin that we might be made that righteousness of him, of
God, imputed to us. He took that cup of the wrath
of God, that fury, and he drank it. Took it out of your hand and
he drank it for you. that you might drink that sweet
cup of wine, that New Testament in my blood in remembrance of
me. Let us never forget our first
love. He bore our sins in his own body
on that cross. He bore the wrath of God for
his sheep, every one of them. He bled that precious blood. And he died. He who is life,
he died. And he was buried. And on the third day, according
to the scripture, all he arose again. Cause he conquered sin,
he conquered death, he conquered the works of Satan. He conquered
his enemies, he conquered our enemies cause our enemies are
his and his are ours. He conquered them. Sins were put away, purged. They're
not there anymore. Yet while we were still sinners. And He justified us, He sanctified
us, made us holy, made us acceptable to God Almighty in Him, made
us one with Him. Oh, that unity, that unity that
we can never achieve. God demand perfection. And he provided that perfection. Accomplished works of Christ
Jesus, our Lord and Savior. He justified his elect and he
was exalted. He ascended up on high and he
was exalted of the Father above all. And he sits on his throne
right now. Right now he rules and he reigns
supreme, sovereign, holy and just. And he intercedes for his elect
until all his enemies be made his footstool. And we were in him. Thank God we were in him. While we were yet sinners, he
died for us. He is the prophet, he is the
priest, and he is the almighty king. Ask of me according to the Father's
will, and I'll give it to you. He'll give it to you. Believe
on me, and ye shall be saved. Ye shall have eternal life. Jesus
Christ, that gift of God, to His elect, what more could we
ever need? What more? The third thing, before God raises
you up, he will bring you low. Children of God know exactly
what I'm talking about. You're going to be brought down. You must. You must be convicted
and reproved of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. God must reveal
that you are the sinner. And you do nothing but sin. You're
ruined. You're ruined. You fell in Adam
and you ruin yourself. Your own sins. and that he is
salvation. Let's read in verse 16. Jesus said unto her, go call
thy husband, and come hither. And the woman answered and said,
I have no husband. Jesus 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, and that saidst
thou truly." Her sin is exposed. God knows all. He's omnipotent. He's omnipresent. He's sovereign. He's everywhere. He's spirit. He sees all, even the invisible
things. He knows the thoughts and the
intents of our heart. The deep things that we try to
hide, that we hide from each other, that we even deceive ourselves
with. He knows it all. We lay naked
open. before him. We stand guilty before God and
the wrath of God is on our head. That is the only thing we merit. We have earned the wrath of God. We have offended his holy justice. We have broken every single law
of God. And there is nothing we can do
about it. We don't have any righteousness.
Our works are abominable. It's only in Christ. Only in Christ. All sin must
be punished and will be punished. The wages of sin are death. Do you see her need? Do you see your need for a substitute? A surety of a covenant of God? As God demands perfection, He
demands righteousness. A perfect sacrifice for sin. A lamb without spot and with
blemish, One who is sinless, righteous, holy, just. Behold the lamb of God slain
before the foundation of the world. God already provided his
lamb. He already chose his lamb. He
chose his son. to be your substitute, to be
your surety of the covenant. Behold the Lord Jesus Christ,
God's sacrifice for sin. Only he, only he appease the
holy justice of God. Satisfied God on our behalf. in the room instead of all that
God give him before the foundation of the world, that we might be holy and blameless
before him in love. Verse 19, the woman saith unto
him, sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers worshiped
in this mountain. And you say that in Jerusalem
is the place where men ought to worship. Here's the fourth thing. God will strip you of your confidence
in your flesh. He will strip you of your self-righteous
works religion. Your religion is vain. Those fig leaves that you try
to hide and cover your nakedness with. He knows all. He sees all. He's gonna strip you of those.
He's gonna show you that your false religion is sin. It's an abomination to God. Verse 21. Jesus saith unto her,
woman, believe me. The hour is cometh when ye shall
neither in this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem worship the
Father. Ye worship, ye know not what. Ye know not what, or we know
what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. Woman, believe
me. Oh, faith. Only God can give
it faith. The object of faith. The author and the finish. The
beginning, the end of faith. Standing before her. The faith of Jesus Christ, believe
me. You know not what you worship.
Your self-righteous works religion is vanity. It's sinful. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness sake. Turn to me and live. Believe on me and live. Live. Only he can give spiritual life.
Look at verse twenty-three. But the hour cometh, and now
is, when the true worshippers 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. Fifth thing, you must be born
again. You must be born again by the
will of God, born of His Spirit, the inward working of God the
Holy Spirit, Christ revealed in you the hope of glory. Your only acceptance, your only
righteousness before God. Born of the Spirit of God by
His will, not the will of man. He by His grace forms Christ
in you, making you a new creation in Him. You're in your darkness, you're
void. You're a mass of chaos. He formed a new creature in you. A new creation. Formed Christ in you. He gave
you His Spirit. Making you partaker of His divine
nature. That old man crucified on the
cross in Him. He's still with us. Until the
Lord takes him away. He's crucified on that cross. He's buried with him. And your
life is hid in him. Because he rose again. You have life in him. You belong
not to yourself. You don't belong to this world.
You're no longer under the law, you're under grace. He's freed you. He overcame the world, and you
live in him. You've been bought with his own
blood. Galatians chapter two, verse
19, tells us, Through the law am dead. He slays
with the law. And I'm dead to the law that
I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless,
I live. Yet not I. But Christ liveth in me. In the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son
of God, who loved me and he gave his self for me. What a gift. What a gift. Salvation is of the Lord. Start
to finish, eternity to eternity. And in verse 25, the woman saith
unto him, I know that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ. And when he come, he will tell
us all things. the sixth day. Only God can give
you spiritual life and faith to believe on His Son. To know that He is Christ, the
Son of God. To know that He is the Messiah,
the Redeemer of His people. Christ is effectual. Born of
his spirit. Christ in you. He is truth. Grace and truth came by Lord
Jesus Christ. He is spirit. He is that life.
That spiritual everlasting eternal life is in him. It's written on our new heart. That blood is applied, sprinkled
on our conscience. We have the mind of Christ. It
doesn't mean we're little G-O-Ds, but that means we're in Him.
And our faith that He gives us looks to Him, looks to His faithfulness. We're solely at the mercy of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Sealed. Another promise, another
gift, he seals us with his Holy Spirit. And he witnesses with our spirit,
that new spirit, that new man. And he teaches us, we are taught
of God. He teaches us all things of Christ
Jesus, our Lord and our Savior. All the Godhead resides in him
bodily. I and my father are one. We'll make our abode in you.
Comforter will come, the Holy Spirit. He testified me. And
those three are one. And we're in him. And he's in
us. Now here it is. Verse 26. Jesus saith unto her, I that
speak, Unto thee, I am. He was put in a talis, reads fire neither way, but all
he's gotta say is I am. The seventh thing, God must reveal
himself to you in the face of his only begotten son, the Lord
Jesus Christ. He must reveal himself to you. I that speak, I am. He is the great I am. And oh,
what grace and oh, what mercy. He is before all. He is Alpha. He is Omega. She needs nothing
else. She needs no one else. Christ Jesus has made her one
with God in Him. There's that unity. There's that
acceptance in Him. Christ revealed in her that hope
of glory. So in conclusion, salvation is
of the Lord from beginning to eternity. the free and sovereign
grace of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. And in John chapter six,
verse 54, he says, whosoever eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood hath eternal life and I will raise him up at the last
day. He is the meat that we feed on,
that our souls feed on. He is the blood that we drank.
He's made us one with him, flesh of his flesh, bone of his bone. He's our head, we're his body.
He's in us, we're in him. Don't ever forget that. And when
you look at each other, He's given us a commandment, and that
is to love one another as He loved us. Because He's in us. He's in you. He's in me. When we look at each other, we
don't know man after the flesh. It's Christ in you. Christ in
me. The hope of glory. He's near. Oh, He's near. And it's forever. He doesn't
take His love away. Even if you deny Him, He does
not take His love away from you. And you will not ever fall completely. You may get wrapped up in this
world, you may get wrapped up in yourself. And the cares of
yourself in the world. And not lose communion with God.
But He's not going to forsake you. He's not going to forsake
His self. He's going to keep you. He gonna bring you low. Gonna bring you to the throne
of grace where you can cry in Him, Abba, Father have mercy
on me. Forgive me. I am sinful. He's already put them sins away.
He's just. He's holy. He's faithful to forgive. It was her time of love appointed
of God. And oh, the gift of God. And you notice
something? If you read on down, she left
her water pot. She left that water pot. She
wasn't concerned about that water pot anymore. She left that water
pot and she went off rejoicing. She went off rejoicing in the
Lord for all he had done for her. She confessed, this is the
Christ, this is the Messiah, this is the Son of God. He knew everything. He knew everything
about me. The Son of God, the Messiah that
redeemed his people. And you know what? She was made
to worship. She was made to worship God and
Jesus Christ. She worshiped the father in Christ,
in spirit and in truth. And she went off rejoicing, giving
glory to God, all the glory to God. And you know what? She never thirst again. She never thirst again. I hope
and pray it's a blessing to you.