Have you ever paused to consider
the things revealed in this book that came to pass specifically
because of women? Adam, of course, blamed the fall
on the woman God gave him. The scriptures tell us about
a good many Jezebels and Salome's by whom Satan has attempted to
thwart God's purpose and God's works. But have you ever thought
about those things God speaks of that he has accomplished specifically
using women to perform them? Have you ever considered the
fact that were it not for God's use of women, there would be
no salvation for your soul? No salvation for anyone. God
forbids women to speak. The scriptures clearly prohibit
the use of women as preachers and evangelists and missionaries
and deaconesses and such. We won't have such because the
word of God clearly prohibits it and it doesn't matter what
society says contrary to it. The Word of God's clear, crystal
clear. A woman is never to usurp authority
over a man specifically in the house of God. She's not to teach
or usurp authority over a man. But that doesn't mean God doesn't
use them. Not at all. The fact is, no one
would be saved were it not for many things God has done by the
use of a woman. Let me give you some examples.
The very first gospel message preached, Genesis chapter 3 verse
15. The very first gospel message
preached was preached by Christ himself in the garden before
Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden in which the Lord
God declared that the coming Redeemer, he by whom Satan's
head would be crushed, would be the seed of woman. Christ Jesus, the Messiah, the
Redeemer, must be the seed of woman. That is, one who comes
into the earth through the womb of a woman without the aid of
a man. The lion of the tribe of Judah
was brought into this world and at last prevailed to fulfill
all things written in the book of God because there was a woman
who was Judah's daughter-in-law by the name of Tamar. who cherished
Christ and was resolved to have Christ no matter what it cost
her. And because of her faith in the
Lord Jesus, the seed royal was preserved. It was a woman by
the name of Rahab, a harlot, who preserved God's people and
opened the way for God's Israel to inhabit the land that God
had promised them. God raised up a woman named Deborah,
a prophetess. Now, when you read the words
prophetess in the Old Testament scriptures, the word means no
more than a worshiper of God. This woman, Deborah, was a prophetess,
a worshiper of God. He raised her up to deliver Israel
from the hand of Jabin, the king of Canaan. And another woman
in the same day, a woman who was the wife of Heber named Jeho,
The Lord God used her to take Cicero, lay his head on the ground
and stroke his hair and drive a spike through his head. And
she triumphed over the enemy and God triumphed over the enemy
by her. Ruth the Moabitess, again, because
she believed God when few did. And she went up to Boaz on the
threshing floor and humbled herself before him through the use of
that woman, that woman who believed the report that another woman
gave by the name of Naomi to her. Because of Ruth believing
God, the seed promised back in Genesis 315 was preserved and
the Lord Jesus came into this world. Of course, Our Lord Jesus
is the firstborn. He is that one who breaks his
mother's womb in birth. He is that one who is born of
the Virgin, that one who is God the Son given, that one who is
a child born, a child of human flesh. Numerous other women are
mentioned in the scriptures that God used, a lady by the name
of Phoebe. a lady by the name of Dorcas,
a lady by the name of Lydia, a lady by the name of Priscilla.
All these are mentioned in the scriptures as instruments of
God's grace to his people. Now, if you'll turn to John chapter
4 again, I want to pick up right where I left off this morning.
And I want to show you how that God saved a multitude in two
days because of the witness of one woman. God saved a great
multitude of people in one city in a period of two days because
of the witness of one woman. John chapter four, verse 39.
And many of the Samaritans of that city, that city of Sychar,
believed on him for, believed on him because of the saying
of the woman. Remember, she said, y'all come
see a man. who told me all things that ever
I did, is not this the Christ? And they believed her saying,
and believing her saying, they believed on him. He told me all
that ever I did, verse 40. So when the Samaritans were 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 not because of thy saying, for we have heard him
ourselves and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior
of the world. The title of my message tonight,
Because of the Woman. These men of Samaria were converted
to Christ because of the woman. Many believed on him because
of the woman who said, is not this the Christ? Now wherever
faith exists, and be sure you get this at the outset, wherever
faith exists, If it exists in one who has been raised and nurtured
under the gospel as the young man Timothy was, one whose mother
and grandmother both believe the gospel. If you have faith
in Christ and you were raised in such an atmosphere, your faith
in Christ is the gift of God, the work of God, the operation
of God. It has nothing to do with something
you do or something you were born with or something heredity
because of your mama, your grandmama or your daddy or granddaddy.
It's altogether God's gift. And if you were raised as a educated
barbarian and infidelity with no reverence for God, no fear
of God, never taught the fear of God, never taught to worship
God. And here you find yourself sitting tonight, believing God. Your faith is the gift of God. The work of God, the operation
of God, has nothing to do with your decision, your will, your
choice, your worth, or your merit. Salvation is God's work. How I want this generation to
hear this. Salvation is God's work. If you repent, God gave you repentance. If you believe, God gave you
faith. If you're converted, God turned
you to himself. Salvation is altogether the work
of God. Never in the book of God is faith
spoken of as something that grows naturally in the corrupt hearts
of depraved men. It is not something that is cultivated
in the will of man or in the nature of man. Faith is not something
that is performed by man because he decides to believe God What foolishness well, I I decided
to believe I Tried to believe long time
for I could believe didn't you I Tried to believe some of you
are trying to believe now, that's your problem. You're still trying
to do something You're still trying to muster something from
within. I Faith is spoken of this way in the scripture. You
who believe, believe by the same power, the power of God the Holy
Spirit, which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead. It takes the resurrection power
of God to create faith in the sinner. Because you see, faith
comes to the sinner who has been raised from the dead. The new
birth is not a moral reformation. The new birth is not a change
of directions. The new birth is not just deciding
to go another way. The new birth is a resurrection
from the dead. If you believe it's because God
raised you from the dead. Faith is spoken of in Colossians
2.12 as the operation of God. It is that which God operated
in you and continues to operate in you. Faith is spoken of in
the scriptures as that which God has given you. Unto you it
is given in the behalf of Christ to believe on him. If you believe
him, it's because God's given you faith. By grace are you saved
through faith. and that not of yourselves. It's
the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Now,
I take great encouragement from that fact. If faith in Christ
in all cases is God's gift, there's never a reason for us to be selective
in preaching the gospel. Now, it's worth remembering,
if faith in Christ in all cases is God's gift, There's never
a reason for us to be selective in preaching the gospel. We live
in this generation where everybody has a focus, you know, focus
on the family, focus on prophecy, focus on the church, focus on
end times, focus on the Judeo-Christian ethic, focus on this nonsense,
focus on that nonsense. What programs do you have for
young people? What do you have for old folks?
What do y'all do for singles? What do y'all do for divorcees?
We do the same thing for sinners of every age and every class
and every kind. We preach Christ to them because
that's what you need. Faith in Christ is God's gift. Consequently, there's never a
reason for us to decide that we need to take a survey and
see where the population is going. Where's the most likely place
for success? That's the way you start churches,
you know. You can read about it, lots of places. Go to the
big city, go to the place where there's, you know, an upward
mobile group of people, folks who are, they're on the right
track, and they're headed towards success, and they're building
empires for themselves, and this is where we can build an empire
for God. Go there. Our Lord said, beginning at Jerusalem,
and in Judea, and in Samaria, start right there. If he had
bothered to take a survey of Palestine and that whole area,
do you know the least likely place in the world in that whole
area to find disciples to follow him would have been Samaria? Maybe in Jerusalem, after all,
salvation is of the Jews. Our Lord said that. Maybe among those who have been
raised in the traditions of the Jews, he might find folks to
follow him. But Samaria? The Samaritans hated
the Jews. And the Jews hated the Samaritans. It's true the Jews had no dealings
with the Samaritans, but they reciprocated in kind. It was
a racial prejudice going both ways, going back for generations. And the Samaritans and Jews despised
one another. Do you expect these folks who
are Samaritans to trust a Jew as their Messiah and King? Forget
it. Forget it. But here the Lord
Jesus found more people chosen of God who were converted by
his grace than at any other place during his earthly ministry in
Samaria. The Samaritans were a people
you wouldn't expect to find God's elect among. These mongrels were
the mongrel religion, but this is where God had his people.
You remember when Paul wanted to go preach the gospel in Bithynia,
God wouldn't allow him to do it. He wanted to go over to Macedonia. God said no. How come? God had
chosen to save some folks in Philippi, and Paul's got to go
to Philippi. because there's a woman there
in Philippi. Actually, she's from Thyatira. But the time of
mercy had come for her while she's at Philippi. And there
she must meet up with the master. And there's a there's an old
jailer in Philippi, a man, apparently an older soldier who who couldn't
make it along on the battlefield and he's put up to take care
of a Roman jail in Philippi and that Philippian jailer. is one
for whom the time of mercy had come. And Paul must somehow or
another wind up under his care so that he may hear the gospel
of God's grace. And thus the Lord called out
the jailer and called out Lydia and began the church at Philippi. If ever we truly learn that faith
in Christ is the gift and operation of God, a supernatural thing,
it will have a profound effect on the way we preach. If we ever really learn it, we'll
stop trying to figure out how to make the gospel effectual
and just preach it. I keep praying, Lord, make your
word effectual. I can't. He can. I can't make
it profitable to you. He can. I can't make the Word
speak to you. He can. If ever we learn that
faith is God's gift and God's work, we'll quit trying to determine
where God is likely to work and just serve Him where we are,
doing what He's put in our hands to do. We'll cease trying to
determine who's likely to be saved and just preach the gospel
to anybody who's here we can get. Because you see, He's likely
to save just anybody. He's likely to call out just
anybody. And we'll quit trying to make the gospel politically
correct and socially palatable and culturally relative and just
preach it. You see, all of these things,
these attempts to make the gospel effectual, I've been hearing
all my life as a believer. I've had folks try to convince
me all my life as a believer, folks who hated the gospel and
folks who say they believe the gospel. All my life they've been
trying to convince me that you've got to, uh, we got to do something,
make this work. Now you, you got to do something,
make this work. There's, there's more to this than just standing
up and telling folks the truth about God and his grace. We've
got to make it work. And I'll tell you what happens
when you try to make it work. You'll compromise the message
every time, every time. and compromise never accomplishes
anything. Never. There has been, for the last
good many years, fellows who once claimed to believe the gospel
of God's free grace, particular redemption, limited atonement,
the effectual accomplishments of grace and salvation by Christ's
finished work at Calvary. Folks want to tone that down.
You can't say that. Because we've got to make a bona
fide offer of the gospel. We've got to tell sinners everywhere
that they can be saved. And you can't do that if you
preach to them that Christ actually died for only his elect and actually
redeemed his elect. You sure can't do anything lying
about it. It won't do them any good to
believe on a failure. Oh no. Compromise doesn't accomplish
anything. You compromise the gospel, Ron, and get somebody
to believe it, you just made him two-fold more the child of
hell than he was before. You haven't done anything. You
and I must go feeble as we are, useless as we are, and tell sinners
about the sinner's savior just as he's revealed in this book.
And amazing as it may seem, God uses it, and God will bless it,
and God will honor it. I tell preachers, young preachers
especially, stay with the stuff. Preach the free grace of God.
Preach Christ crucified. Don't chase rabbit trails. Don't
debate theology. Don't get drawn aside into side
issues. Just preach up the redeeming
greatness and glory of Christ the Savior, and God will honor
it, and God will use it. The hand that sows the seed is
really meaningless. The life is in the seed, not
in this hand. It's not who does the preaching
or how clever he is in preaching, but rather the message preached
that God uses. God can make the seed sown fruitful
anywhere he pleases. He can cause the seed to spring
up into everlasting life anywhere. You see, the soil where the seed
is sown, the soil is always bad soil. until he makes it good. And he can make good soil out
of bad soil anywhere. The message is what we're concerned
about, the message of God's grace. Now, faith in Christ, being the
gift of God, is the one thing God requires of us. He that cometh
to God must believe that he is, and that he is the rewarder of
them that diligently seek him. Let's look at this passage we've
just read here in John chapter 4, verses 39 through 42. And
let me show you four things here. Four things I find tremendously
instructive. First in verse 39, the Holy Spirit
shows us the instrument God used here to save his elect in Samaria. Somebody wrote a book some years
ago called Revival and the Men God Uses. And they started describing
these wonderful men. Oh, how holy they were, how great
they were, how prayerful they were, how they wrestled with
God. Let me tell you about a revival in Samaria and the one God used
to bring it to pass. She was a harlot. Just a harlot. A harlot who had
just been saved by God's grace. She hadn't even had time to live
down her name. She was just a harlot. A harlot
God saved. And a harlot God used for His
glory. Verse 39. Many of the Samaritans
of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman which
testified, he told me all that ever I did. Oh, I love this, God's condescending
goodness and grace. The objects of his grace were
Samaritan. Among the Jews, nothing was considered lower
than a Samaritan. Dogs, better than Samaritans.
Gentiles, better than Samaritans. Woman, better than Samaritans.
And here, God chose and used a Samaritan, who was a woman,
who was a harlot. That's just the way he does things.
He often calls those whom we least expect he should call.
He saves those we least anticipate he will save. That's just the
way he does things. His ways are never our ways. His thoughts are never our thoughts. I sometimes hear folks say, well,
if he's not saved, God's going to save him. Maybe he will. I
hope so. You can forget about him. John
Newton once said, since God saved me,
I despair of none. I despair of none. He might just
save you. This I know. His elect are never
the ones we expect them to be. You remember when he sent Samuel
down to Jesse's house in 1 Samuel 16? He said, go down and anoint
a king. I've chosen one of Jesse's sons
to be the king in Israel. And he called out Jesse's sons,
one after the other. Oh, man, look at, there's the
oldest boy, strong, strapping, handsome fellow. No. The next
was almost as good. No. Jesse, are these all your
boys? No, I got one other son, just
a scrawny little red headed fella. He's out in the field feeding
the sheep. Go get him. And then he comes. Arise, anoint him. This is he. God's choice is always
that way. Look at first Corinthians chapter
one. Not only is it God's pleasure
to save the most unlikely, God uses the most unlikely. I wouldn't claim to be a scholar
in any field of study. I do read a little and study
church history some. Do you know what I've observed
in church history? The men that are most commonly, greatly used
of God to preach the gospel are fellas that you You'd wonder
how they got in and out of the raid. They're just no academics
or background. Some of them didn't even know
who their daddy was. Didn't know where they came from. Didn't
have any education. Had to learn to read right after
God saved them. Countless men like that. How come? Let's see
the answer. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 26. You see your calling, brethren?
Look around you. Look around this little band
right here. It's just this little group right here of all the men
and women in Danville, Kentucky. You see your calling, brethren,
how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not
many noble are called. He didn't say not any. He just
said not many, not many. But God has chosen the foolish
things of the world. to confound the wise. And God
hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things
which are mighty, and base things of the world, and things which
are despised hath God chosen." Who on earth is he? I don't know. I didn't figure he'd last this
long. I figured he'd be in jail for now. Who's that? Nobody. and things which are not to bring
to naught things that are. Some years ago, you may recall
in Greensboro, North Carolina, there was some racial tension.
Some fellows by the name of Hackett from Winston-Salem pulled out
some guns and started shooting folks. When I saw them on television,
those were my next-door neighbors. My next-door neighbors, I used
to run around with them. They were older than me, and
I hung around with them. It's right where I'd have been
if God hadn't snatched me by my heart from my mad race to
hell and saved me by his grace and put me here doing this rather
than shooting people preaching the gospel to. Alca, why on this
earth would God use such things as the man preaching to you?
That no flesh should glory in his presence. God's going to
fix it so that nobody gets any honor but him. Nobody. The message of grace was carried
to Samaria by a harlot. The message this harlot delivered was no more and no less than
the testimony of her experience. She said, come see a man who
told me all things ever I did. Is not this the Christ? The Lord
came to this woman, ripped open her heart, and showed her herself. And then he showed her himself
in his glory. And she said, this is the Christ.
This is he. Come see him. Come see him. Come see him. If you read John's gospel carefully,
mark those words as they're used. They're used often in John's
gospel. And literally, this is what it means. You remember,
John the Baptist's disciples followed the Lord and said, Master,
where dwellest thou? Come and see. The next day, where
dwellest thou? Come and see. Who is this you
found? Come and see. This woman says,
come, see. The word literally is, come and
you shall see. Come and you shall see. Come to Christ and you'll see.
Come on. Come out here with me and see
this man. This man who told me everything
I ever did. Is not this the Christ? And they
went out and saw. She simply testified what she
had experienced and what she knew by divine revelation. Oh God teach us that's the way
to witness to sinners. Have you experienced forgiveness?
Do you know what that is? Do you know what it is to be
justified before God? I'm not talking about know how
it is that it was done. Do you know what it is to be
just with God? Do you know what it is to be
pardoned of all sin? To be free of guilt? Know what
that is? I'll guarantee you, you find somebody who's laid
down with a heavy load of guilt and you tell him, buddy, Yesterday
morning, I was in the same boat you are. I'd have blown my brains
out if I wasn't scared of going to hell. I was in the same mess
you're in, and I met the son of God. I went down here to this
church out here on the hill, and nobody knows where it is.
Listen to this fellow. He doesn't have enough sense
to talk quietly like good preachers do. He just talks like he's hollering
through the mountains somewhere. But he told me about the Son
of God and the free pardon of sin by his blood. And I don't
have any guilt anymore. I'm clear of guilt before God.
Come and see. Oh, what a clear display we have
here of God's great and glorious sovereignty as well. Many of
the Samaritans were converted, but not all. as many as were
ordained to eternal life, is the way the book puts it, believed.
Who's going to believe this message? As many as were ordained to eternal
life. These Samaritans who were converted were idolaters, not
enlightened Jews. They were converted by the mere
word of grace. No miracles were performed. They
were saved in such a way as to give all glory to the Savior. Here's the second thing. Verse
40. Now learn this. As long as you need him, as long as you need him, you're
going to cling to Christ. So when the Samaritans were come
unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them. And
He abode there two days. Needy sinners hang on to the
Son of God. The righteous shall hold on His
way. They cling to the Savior until
they find themselves seated with Him in glory. How come we keep
hanging on? Because we've got to have Him.
Got to have Him. The Gergesenes came out after
they saw those fellows in the tombs who'd been healed and the
demons cast out of them and the swine destroyed, and they begged
him, said, get out of our tail. These Samaritans came out and
said, please stay. And both got exactly what they asked for. Oh, what blessings those disciples
would have missed on the Emmaus road as they came to where they
were gonna go turn in for the night and the master made it
as though he would go on beyond them and they said, come stay
with us. Or don't you know they were glad?
They asked him, come stay the night with them. Come stay with us. The fact is the Lord Jesus is willing ever to be held by us. And if we miss him, you look
around and he's not manifestly present. It's our doing. I put off my shoes. How shall
I put them on? Don't bother me now. I wake in
the morning. If you need him, he's with you. And I'll tell
you when you'll find yourself without him, when you think you
don't need him. I'm going to read the book this
morning, and you try. And you might as well pick up
a piece of paper with no writing on it at all. Will you open your word to me
today? And the first word you read, when you think you can do without
him, he'll let you do without him. Number three, it's clear from this passage
before us that God's people don't experience grace the same
way. I keep stressing this. because I keep getting folks
who seem not to understand it, write to me or call, want to
argue. Many more believed, were told in verse 41, because of
his own word. Some of these Samaritans were
converted by the woman's witness. She came and told them what she
had experienced. That's the Messiah, and they
believed. Others did not believe what they heard from her and
they went out to see and they heard the master for themselves
and they believe because they heard for themselves. Some appear
to have been converted immediately. Others gradually over a course
of two days anyway. Be sure you understand this.
God is not going to let you or let me put him in any box. Well, the Frank Hall asked me
this morning at the service of us, I've got a question. He said,
John, the Baptist. Was filled with the Holy Spirit
from his mother's womb. What does that mean? As it means
exactly what you think it means. And I could see the big bigger
question mark written all over his face. I said, God's not going
to be put in our box. But didn't he have to hear the
gospel? Apparently not. When did you first believe? When did you first believe? Who
was preaching when you believed? Who? Are you sure you believed
right? What did you understand? What
did you know? Let me tell you something. It
doesn't matter when you believed. Yesterday's gone. It doesn't matter where you were
when you believed. It doesn't matter who was preaching
when you believed. Well, I thought it was Man who
taught me the gospel, he proved to be a reprobate. He ran off
with the church secretary and he proved to be nothing. I must
not be saved. That ain't nothing. That ain't
nothing. My soul, the power of life doesn't
reside in this man. It's in the word that's preached
to man. And just as sure as you think
God's going to do things this way, God will do them another
way. He's not going to be put in your
box. And don't misunderstand what I'm saying. I don't mean
by that that it doesn't matter who you believe. No, no, no,
no. And that's the fourth thing.
Every believer's faith, though we experience God's grace differently,
our faith is the same. Verse 42. They said unto the woman, now
we believe not because of thy saying, for we have heard him
ourselves and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior
of the world. Not a Christ, not a Savior, the
Christ. This is truly the Christ. This is the true Christ, the
true Christ who is the savior of the world. This one who's
told me all things never I did. This one who has explained to
me the meaning of the Old Testament scriptures. This one who's come
to fulfill God's word, who made me to hear I am he. This is the Christ. Now we believe. Sooner or later, every saved
sinner confesses the redeemer. Some do so immediately. Others,
like Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, may take a while. I don't believe anybody saved
who hadn't made a public confession of faith. I ain't going to tell
anybody he's saved or not. I'm just not going to do it.
But I know there's a fellow named Nicodemus and a fellow named
Joseph of Arimathea who didn't confess the Savior for a long
time, who were truly believers. Now, we believe. Before this,
they were unbelievers. Religious, yes, but unbelievers. Bible believers, yep, they had
the same Bible the Jews had, but they didn't believe anything.
Moral, yes, very moral, but lost, unbelievers nonetheless. They
repented of their former religion and abandoned it forever. They
came out of Babylon. Now we believe not because of
thy saying. My grandchildren believe anything I tell them. And I'm very careful. I don't
pretend to tell them the truth when I'm not. They believe anything
I tell them. Children do that. Lots of people
get a dose of religion because they believe something a man
told them. And when somebody comes along
who can talk better than that man, who's smarter than that
man, somebody who maybe has a little better appearance than that man,
and they tell them something else, then they forget this and
they go on the other way. You see, faith doesn't stand
in the wisdom and power of men's words. They said, honey, You
told us the truth. Thank God you told us the truth.
But we don't believe on the Son of God because we heard you talk. We believe the Son of God because
we heard Him talk. He spoke for Himself to our hearts. And I want to tell you something.
The only time a sinner will ever believe The only time you will
ever believe is if by the word preached. God the Son speaks
directly to you. And when he does, you won't have
to guess whether it's him talking or not. It's his work. Now we believe. not because of
thy saying, for we have heard him ourselves, and we know that
this is indeed the Christ. The Jews and the Samaritans looked
for and believed in a Christ, a Messiah, but both looked for
a political savior, a moral reformer, a false Christ. God's people
know own, acknowledge, trust, love, worship, and confess the
Christ, the true Christ, the Savior of the world. He's the only Savior of the world. He's the effectual Savior of
the world. He's the Savior of God's elect
scattered through all the world. God give us grace to make him
known. Blessed Savior, keep us, oh keep
us, knowing our desperate need of you, clinging to you, and
give us grace to make you known in this generation. Amen.