Well, come with me to John's
Gospel, chapter 4, and the passage that Stephen read to us earlier
on. And our focus is going to be
on verse 10 this morning, particularly verse 10. All those who are believers
today once were unbelievers. That's true, isn't it? We're
not born as believers, we come to the knowledge of God. All
who are true believers today, once, were unbelievers. Those
who now have a good hope of eternal life, then, before believing,
had no hope, without God and without hope in this world. But
God, in grace, orders affairs, orders the events that happen
to bring His sheep to the fold. You know, Jesus talks about His
kingdom being like a sheepfold and Him having a flock of sheep,
an innumerable multitude, and He brings them to the fold, the
sheepfold, where they're safe and kept and protected by the
Good Shepherd of the sheep. God orders the things which happen
to fulfill his eternal purpose of good to his church. You know,
that's what Paul said to the Philippians in Philippians chapter
1 about verse 12, something like that. He says, he's writing from
prison and he doesn't seem to be in a good position, he's in
prison. He isn't free to go where he wants to and to do the things
he wants to, but he says, The things which have happened to
me, happened, the hap of life, have turned out for the furtherance
of the Gospel. The things which have happened
have turned out for the furtherance of the Gospel. All the way my
Saviour leads me. He leads every step of the way
for His people. What have I to ask beside? So
we come to this Samaritan woman in the first few verses of John
chapter 4. This Samaritan woman, a Samaritan
woman was a mongrel Israelite. You know about 720 BC when Assyria
overran the ten northern tribes of Israel, the ones that had
broken away from Judea, and they committed the sins of Jeroboam,
which was trying to set up an alternative to Jerusalem for
the worship of God. But Jerusalem alone could be
that which represented the Christ of God and the Passover of God
and the true sacrifice of God. And these Northern ten tribes
were intermingled, they were intermarried with the Assyrians,
they had become mongrel Israelites, and they were regarded with contempt
and mistrust by the Jews in Judea. The Jews in Judea looked down
their noses at them. They regarded them with contempt
as not fit people to have anything to do with. As the Samaritan
woman says, how is it that you're speaking to me? Because the Jews
don't have any dealings with the Samaritans. They avoid them.
They go out of their way to avoid them. They don't want anything
to do with them. And yet God says that his elect, his sheep,
his innumerable multitude are from every tribe and tongue and
kindred, and not just from Israel. The Israel of God is truly of
all peoples. How did this woman who was so
unworthy in the eyes of the Jews happen to cross paths with Jesus? and learn the things that she
did and come into the good of eternal life as she did. Just
think about the events that must have happened. We read about
the first one in verse 1. The Lord knew how the Pharisees
had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than
John, though Jesus himself baptized not but his disciples. And that,
for some reason, envy, jealousy, whatever it was, persecution,
caused him to leave Judea, where he had been ministering, and
depart again back to Galilee in the north. The Pharisaical
opposition to Jesus's ministry had caused him to take this journey,
where he met the Samaritan woman. And verse 4, he must needs go
through Samaria, because it was an awful long way round not to
go through Samaria. And even though the Jews didn't
like to go through Samaria, because they had no dealings with the
Samaritans, he had to go through Samaria. Why did he have to go
through Samaria? I remember years ago, one of
the first times I heard Henry Mahan preach, and I remember
him distinctly saying, why must he needs go through Samaria?
Because there was a woman there who was one of his sheep from
before the beginning of time, and he must get her, he must
go for her. So he had to pass through Samaria on the way to
Galilee. And there was a focal point there,
which was Jacob's well, the parcel of land that Jacob had given
to Joseph. And Jacob's well was there, and
it was highly revered by these Samaritans. They remembered their
religious heritage, and they highly revered this place. And
it was a place that they came to, and it was a meeting point.
And how did he meet the woman there? Well, he was weary. Jesus
was weary, wearied with his journey, verse 6. Jesus, the Son of God,
the infinite, pure, sinless Son of God, inhabiting a true human
body, felt true human Tiredness. He was weary with his journey.
He was tired. And he sat on the well. He was
hungry. The disciples had gone into the
town to buy food for the rest of the journey. But he was tired
and he sat there. Why did he sit there? Because
he knew that this woman would be coming. Jesus was weary, the
place was deserted, it was the sixth hour. The Jews counted
their days from 6 a.m. So if it was the sixth hour,
it was midday. It was the height of the heat
of the day. The one thing you didn't do was
to go out to the well to draw water in the heat of the day.
You went in the evening when it was cooler. You read the account
of Abraham's servant going to get
a wife for Isaac, and it's at the end of the day when they
come to the well to draw water. He's alone and weary, but In
the midday quiet, when there's nobody else around and nothing
else to distract, this woman, for some reason, needed to draw
water at midday. Perhaps it was just an innocent
thing. Perhaps a child in the house had tipped over the picture
of water drawn yesterday evening, and she needed to come and replenish
it, because she needed water. Despite the heat of the day,
she still needed to come and to draw water. at a time when
nobody in their right mind would have gone to draw water, because
it would be too hot and too arduous to do it. she needed to come. Perhaps it was, as we find out
later, because of social shame. Perhaps the rest of the women
of the town had ostracized her for her immoral living, and they
didn't want to be seen with her, and she knew they didn't, so
she came at a time when nobody else would be there. She came
when she knew that she wouldn't have to rub shoulders with the
other women who were looking down their noses at her, and
judging her for her immoral pattern of life. And there's Jesus, thirsty. The man, thirsty. I thirst. He's thirsty. He's in a weary
body. It's a hot place, and he's thirsty. And the thirst triggered a conversation. Give me a drink. Give me a drink. You're drawing water, can you
give me a drink? His disciples were gone away,
there they are alone, can you give me a drink? And the woman
of Samaria said to him, how is it that you being a Jew are asking
me for a drink? Which I'm a woman of Samaria,
we don't have anything to do with one another. And so we see
then, in verses 9 and 10, 9 and 10 we see this, look, Then saith
the woman of Samaria, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest,
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 saith
to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldst have asked of him, and
he would have given thee living water. Three points. Firstly,
if you knew, if you knew, b. you would ask, and see, he would
give. If you knew, you would ask, and
he would give. If you knew, if you knew, if
in your mind there was some knowledge, then it would have directed your
behaviour. You know, we read in Proverbs
23 verse 7, about all of us in general, as he thinks in his
heart, so is he. As we think inside us, so we
are. So we act in response. I've been
staggered. especially in recent days, but
throughout this so-called pandemic, at the behaviour of society all
around me. I wander around the town here,
and I cannot believe, when the figures are showing us that there
is virtually none of this virus left circulating, three out of
every four people in the middle of the day, in the open fresh
air, wander around with a great big face mask on, and take great
big detours to avoid passing me, a person without a mask,
on the pavement. Why do they do it? Because of
the way they think. They've swallowed the government's
messages of alarm and fear, and as they think, so they behave. If they believed differently,
they would behave differently. If they believed differently,
they would behave differently. What did the woman see in Jesus? What did she believe about Jesus? If you knew, he says, who it
is that talks to you, if you knew the gift of God and who
it is that talks to you, what did she know at that time when
the conversation started? What did the woman see in Jesus? She saw a poor, weary, travelling
Jew. Somebody that looked like he
was going from place to place, to earn a living, on his way
from one place to another. You know, just like a travelling,
not travelling salesman as such, but a travelling tradesman perhaps,
or something like that. A poor, travelling, weary Jew. Someone of no significance to
her. Here he is, no significance.
There's no need for any interaction, she must have thought. She's
just come to get some water, like she usually does at that
time of day, or out of necessity. She just wants to mind her own
business, and get her water, and go, because he's clearly
a Jew, and he's on his way from Jerusalem to the north, but they
have nothing to do with me, so I'll just get on with my business,
get my water, and I'll go. But in contrast, If she had known
the gift of God, says Jesus, and secondly, who He truly was,
her reaction and the result would have been totally different.
Do you know the gift of God? Do you know? He says, if you
had known the gift of God, if you knew the gift of God and
who it is that says to you, give me a drink, if you'd known that,
do you know the gift of God? What is the gift of God? What
is the gift of God? Look at Romans chapter 6. Romans
chapter 6 and verse 23. This is a well-known verse, commit
it to memory. For the wages of sin, the wages,
wages you earn, don't you, for your works. The wages that you
earn for your works, the wages of sin is death. but the gift
of God. If you knew, the gift of God.
If you knew, the gift of God. But the gift of God, in contrast
to the wages of sin which is death, the gift of God is eternal
life, through Christ Jesus, our Lord. The gift of God is eternal
life. What is eternal life? It's restoration
to the paradise of God that was lost in the fall in the Garden
of Eden. That paradise of God without
sin, with perfect communion between God the Creator, who is infinitely
good and holy. and gracious with his people.
That paradise communion, the restoration of that is what eternal
life is. The restoration of it. And not
just some future thing in heaven, but now in the experience. If
you knew the gift of God, it's eternal life. possessed now and
carried on into eternity. Listen to some things that Jesus
says in other places in John 6, 47. Verily, verily, I really
mean this, take note, verily, verily, I say unto you, he that
believeth on me hath, has now, now, now, not then in the future,
he that believes on me has now everlasting life. You have it
now. If you believe on Christ Jesus
now, eternal life, the life of the Paradise of God, of the Kingdom
of God, is your life now. John chapter 10, verse 27 and
28. My sheep hear my voice, and I
know them, and they follow me, and I give unto them eternal
life. Not I will give unto them eternal
life. They have it now. I give my sheep
eternal life now. And they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. What is eternal
life? What is it, this thing he's speaking
of, eternal life? John 17, verse three, the prayer. Christ's prayer to his father
the night before he was crucified. John 17, 3, this is life eternal,
that they might know, his people, that his people might know thee
the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. That is
what it is, it's to know God. That is eternal life, knowing
God. Not to know about God, but to
know him. As Paul said, when it pleased
the Lord to reveal Christ in him, revealed in him, not to
him, but revealed in him. But before anybody can know the
gift of God, which is eternal life, he must feel that it is
utterly unattainable by human effort, by the things that we
are, the people we are, and the things that we do. This woman
was a Samaritan, not a Jew. She couldn't attain to eternal
life by changing anything about herself in her own power. There
were no works that she could do, no works that you or I can
do. There is no resolve that we can make, no promise we can
make, no determination that we can have. And though we may try
and try, we learn through successive failures, eventually to understand
that eternal life is the precious, invaluable gift of God. It is the gift of God. Our own
strength, our own self-righteousness, our own confidence in our ability
must be destroyed. We must come to the position
Paul came to when he said in Romans 7 verse 18, he says, I
know that in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. There's no power to become a
child of God in the flesh. For to will is present with me,
but how to perform that which is good I find not. But Christ
alone has been given divine power to give eternal life. That's
what he says in John 17 verse 2. He says that the Father has
given him power over all flesh to give eternal life to as many
as the Father has given unto him, to all the elect of God,
all chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. But
when God gives that gift, it is felt in the soul. It is experienced
in the emotions. You feel it, you believe it,
you know it, you rely on it. As a man thinks in his heart,
so is he. You think in the way of the kingdom
of God, on the things of God. You feel it in your soul. You're
not having to be persuaded constantly. You know it. This is the basis
of your life and your experience. You haven't just studied eternal
life or read about it, you've experienced it first hand. It
is obtained, it is something which is obtained by divine revelation,
the gift of God. You know, it is the gift of God.
By grace are you saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves,
it is the gift of God. It is obtained by God's grace. Romans 11 verse 7, what then? Israel, meaning what? meaning
religion, meaning human efforts, meaning human ingenuity, etc. Israel has not obtained that
which he seeketh for by his religious efforts. What is it that he seeks
for? The gift of God. What is the
gift of God? Eternal life, favour with God. But the election has
obtained it. The grace of God in election
has obtained it, and the rest were blinded. So we're left reliant
on grace, which is the gift of God alone. But we must also know
who alone is able to be gracious, who alone is able to. If you
knew the gift of God and who it is that says to thee, give
me to drink, you have to know who it is that is able to be
gracious. Who is it that says to you, give
me to drink, in that interaction there? You see, Who appeared
to her was what the scriptures say. Isaiah says it in Isaiah
53 in verse 2. I know I often quote this. It
says that when he comes he appears as a root out of a dry ground. That isn't a very green and healthy
looking root. He has no form nor comeliness.
And when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire
him. This is what she's looking at.
She's looking at somebody who looks like a weary, thirsty traveler. That's all. There's no comeliness. And when we shall see him, there
is no beauty that we should desire him. Who is it that said unto
her, give me to drink? She looks and she sees somebody
that looks bedraggled and weary from a journey. But in him, In
the one that was set before her, Colossians 2 verse 9, in him
dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily. There is God in human
flesh. God contracted to a span. before
her, speaking to her. If you knew who it was that speaks
to you, those who got close to him over the three and a half
years of his ministry, John says in chapter one and verse 18 of
this gospel, we beheld his glory. For three and a half years, we
looked on his glory. We looked on this man that hath
no comeliness that we should desire him, but God revealed
to our innermost beings the glory of God. We beheld His glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. The glory of God in this man
is what they saw. They beheld the glory of God
in this man. Speaking to her was God manifest
in the flesh. As Paul writes to Timothy, great
is the mystery of godliness. Great is the mystery of God,
you know, of all the things that you will ever discover in life.
in your career, in your education, in your work, in your interactions
with the rest of society. Above all else is this, great
is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh,
in the body that was prepared. Lo, a body thou hast prepared
for me. Lo, I come, in the volume of the book it is written of
me. God, come, why? God, come. That holy thing, the
angel said to Mary, that holy thing which is conceived in your
womb is conceived of the Holy Ghost, therefore he shall be
called the Son of God. God become man, so that infinite
perfection could accomplish the redemption of an innumerable
multitude. You see, God alone is infinite
and able to redeem the multitude that he chose in Christ, but
God as a spirit cannot satisfy the justice of God for the sins
of the people. It is only by becoming man that
he can do that which satisfies the law's demands. God had to
become man. God had to become flesh and blood.
That that which the law demands, which is the soul that sins,
it shall die. The life is in the blood. The
blood must be shed. Without the shedding of blood,
there is no remission of sins. He, God, must become man. And
here is that man sat on the well, next to this woman, asking her
for a drink. If she knew the gift of God, and that this is
God who is asking her, for this water. She would have asked Him
because He is God before her. He is the one in whom is the
possession and the gift of eternal life to anybody. If you would
get it, you must get it from Him or not get it at all. It
must come from Him. He alone is the one that can
accomplish this. He is the only one who can reveal
the mystery of God's gift. We read in Matthew chapter 11
and verse 27, No man knows the Son, A lot of people know Jesus, but
they don't know Him as the Son of God. No man truly knows the
Son but the Father. God the Father alone truly understands
the mystery of godliness that God was manifest in the flesh.
No man knows the Son but the Father. Neither knoweth any man
the Father save the Son. Only the Son of God truly understands
the Godhead. but also, in measure, He to Whomsoever
the Son will reveal Him. You have given Him power over
all flesh to give eternal life to those that the Father gave
to the Son. It is only in knowing Jesus Christ that we experience
the gift of God. Look at John chapter 8 and verse
24. Just read a few scriptures with
me. Verse 24. I said therefore unto you that
you shall die in your sins if you believe not for if you believe
not that I am and I'm leaving out the he which is in italics
there because I believe that's what he said read Don Faulkner's
article in the bulletin if you believe not that I am the great
I am you shall die in your sins If you knew who it was that says
these things to you, turn to 1 John, John's first epistle,
1 John chapter 2 and verse 23. Whosoever denieth the Son, the
same hath not the Father. Oh, show us the Father, and that
will suffice. But he that acknowledgeth the
Son, he hath the Father. It's only in knowing the Son.
He alone is the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to
the Father but by Him. Look at chapter 4, verse 15 of
1 John. Chapter 4, verse 15. Whosoever
shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, It's knowing who
it is. If you knew who it is that says
to you, give me to drink. Whosoever shall confess that
Jesus, this man without comeliness, form or comeliness that we should
desire him, beauty that we should desire him. If you knew and if
you confess that he is the son of God, God dwells in that one
that makes that confession. And he in God. Chapter five and
verse 12, same epistle. He that has the son has life. and he that hath not the Son
of God hath not life. It's pretty clear, isn't it?
It's pretty clear. Access to God is through Christ
and Him alone. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. No man comes to the Father but by me. In Ephesians
2 and verse 18, we read that through Him, through Christ,
we both, by which it means Jews and Gentiles, have access by
one Spirit unto the Father. It's in Him and in Him alone
that we have access to God. In 1 Timothy chapter 2 and verse
5 we read that there is one God and one mediator between God
and man. The man, Christ Jesus. We who
are sinners need a mediator with God who is holy. And there is
one mediator and that is this man who is sat there on the well
speaking to this woman. who by Him, by Christ, says Peter,
believe in God. You don't believe in God without
Him. Those who claim that they are
believing in their God and getting to the same God by their own
particular route are under a complete delusion. It's by Christ that
you believe in God truly. Do you know any of this? Has
God revealed this divine truth to your soul? If he has revealed
who he is and what the gift of God is, and you see what it is,
and you know what you are as a sinner and what you face, for
it's appointed to man to die once and then the judgment, you
would ask him for God's gift. You would ask Him for the living
water that He can give. You would ask Him for the eternal
life that He alone can bestow. You would ask Him for that which
your mortal sinful soul needs, which is eternal life, which
is forgiveness of sins. You would ask, you would ask
Here's what I, as a sinful, mortal being, destined to face judgment,
here's everything I need to be just with God. As Job asked,
how should a man be just with God? Here it is, Christ is sitting
there on this well speaking to this woman. Lord, do not pass
me by, whilst on others thou art calling. Do not pass me by. Be merciful to me, the publican
cried at the temple wall when the Pharisee next to him was
boasting about how good he was as a religious man, and the publican
says, God be merciful to me. He beat upon his breast, God
be merciful to me, the sinner. And here he is, the one who alone
can grant that forgiveness of sins on the basis of what he
has accomplished. Show me your saving grace. Bring
me into your sheepfold. Look at verse 15. The woman said
to him, Sir, give me this water. He's been talking about water
and she's thinking purely physically all the way through this. She's
thinking, oh wouldn't that be good if we didn't have to, you
know, she must have been dreaming of the possibility of having
what we have in our kitchens today, you know, where you just
go and turn the tap on and the water comes out. Literal water. Hard work to go in the heat of
the day and put down a big stone pot and draw it back up to the
surface. The woman said to him, sir, give
me this water that I thirst not, neither come here to draw again.
She asked for physical water, but there's no repentance at
this stage for her immoral living. Jesus said to her, go and call
your husband. And Jesus convinces her of her
sin. He uncovers her sin, her immorality. She tries to discuss religion.
Just look at the next few verses. She says, I perceive that you
are a prophet, verse 19. Our fathers worshipped in this
mountain, but you say Jerusalem's the place you ought to worship.
Well, of course, the Jews were right, that Jerusalem was the
place that God had ordained for the worship of God. The sacrifices
could only be there. The sins of Jeroboam were to
try to set up an alternative in the northern kingdoms. No,
that's not the right thing. And Jesus puts her right on this.
He says, believe me, the hour comes when it isn't about place.
It's about spirit and truth. God seeks spiritual worshipers. She tried to discuss religion
and she says, well, you say that you ought to worship there and
we say we ought to worship here. And Jesus says, no, no, it's
not about that at all. God is spirit and they that worship
him must worship him in spirit and truth. And so she tries to
draw it to an end. Oh well, I've got to get back
to my things. We know it'll all be right. We know that when Messiah
comes, who is Christ, he'll tell us all things, and that'll sort
it all out. So let's leave it there, shall
we? She's trying to just get away without being pressed further.
Yes, she's right. She knew the scriptures. She
knew Deuteronomy. She knew the books of Moses,
where God had promised that the Messiah would come. Deuteronomy
18, verse 18, a prophet will he raise up like you, and he
shall speak to the people. Verses 25 and 26. The woman said
unto him, I know that Messiah cometh, which is called the Christ.
When he's come, he will tell us all things. Let's draw a line
under it at that point so I can just go and get on with my life.
Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. I that speak unto thee am he.
I don't know how in that moment, The truth of God was revealed
in her soul, but she saw the truth of it. The eyes of her
understanding were opened. She saw this weary man as the
Messiah who would come and has come. She saw, she knew who he
was, and she asked. We don't have it recorded here,
but she asked. It's obvious from the words that
follow. She asked for that eternal life. She asked for that forgiveness
that he alone can give. He does give. He would give.
God revealed the truth to her. She saw by faith that sight of
the soul. She believed. She experienced
life. She witnessed. Look there in
verse 39. And many of the Samaritans, she went back to the town and
she said, despite the shame and people not wanting to talk to
her, she went back and she said, come, see a man that told me
everything I ever did. Is this not the Christ? Surely
this is the Christ that has come. 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. How could he have
known her? He'd never seen her before. He's
the Christ. Like he said to Nathaniel, when
you were under the fig tree, I knew you, I saw you. How could
he do that except he be the Messiah? So when the Samaritans would
come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with
them, and he abode there two days, and many more believed
because of his own word, and said unto the woman, Now we believe,
many of them, many of them, now we believe, not because of thy
saying, for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this
is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world. He gives eternal
life to as many as the Father has given unto him. These were
amongst them, these mongrel Samaritans, these despised people of the
Jews, and yet they were among the elect of God, who were ordained
to eternal life, who were called out when they saw, by Holy Spirit
revelation, who this was, that this was the Christ. If you knew
the gift of God, if you knew the gift of God, eternal life,
peace with God, and who it is that is able alone to bestow
it, you would ask Him. Ask, and you shall find. Seek,
and you shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened
unto you, is what the Scripture says. And if free grace, why
not for me? Let's sing that hymn at the close
now.