In everything that our Lord Jesus
Christ is, and in everything that he does, as the God-man,
our mediator, he is doing two things. He is acting as our example,
and he is acting as our expiatory sacrifice. In all things, he
gives us an example to follow, and he is making expiation for
our sins. In John chapter 13, our Lord
speaks of cleansing His disciples and He gives an example. He takes
a bowl of water and a towel and washes their feet and says, you
go do as I have done to you. Wash one another's feet. That
is, humble yourselves and serve the needs one of the other. In 1 Peter chapter 2, The Apostle
Peter tells us that our Lord Jesus left an example, teaching
us patience. Patience that we should follow
the example he left us. When he was reviled, he reviled
not again, but committed himself to God, and he submitted himself
to the will of God, suffering patiently. Suffering patiently
as one obedient to God. Let us do the same. And then
the Apostle Peter tells us that our Lord Jesus willingly submitted
himself to the death of the cross, that he might make atonement,
that he might make expiation for our sins. In everything,
our Lord Jesus is both our example and our expiation. Here in John
chapter 4, verses 31 through 34, the Holy Spirit holds up
our blessed Savior who has come to Samaria, that he might call
out his elect among the Samaritans. And now he is held up before
us as an example. The title of my message this
morning is The Rarest of All Jewels. What do you reckon that
might be? The Rarest of All Jewels. Contentment. Contentment. Everyone wants it, but few possess
it. What would you give to have real,
lasting contentment and satisfaction in your day-by-day life as you
walk through this world? What would you give if you could
say with honesty, I have enough? Jacob did. You remember when
he met his brother Esau? He said, I have enough. I have
enough for I have all things. I can tell you this. There is
no contentment to be found in anything in this world. There's
nothing here, nothing here that can satisfy one who was made
for eternity. And Larry, we were made for eternity. Man was not made for time. Man
was made for eternity. You live in a body that exists
for time, but you have and are a soul that is immortal. God
has made man for eternity, and nothing temporal can satisfy
one made for eternity. All who drink from the wells
of this earth will thirst to drink again. All who eat the
bread this world provides will hunger for other bread. But bless
God, there is a well, the water of which will quench your thirst
forever. There is bread to eat, called
the bread of life, and those who eat this bread will never
hunger for any other. These things, this well and this
bread, this water, this life, is in Christ Jesus the Lord,
and these things, the life that's ours in Christ, all that's included
in that life, satisfy the deepest cravings of our souls. May God,
the Holy Spirit, cause you this day to eat that bread and drink
that water. I pray that you will find satisfaction
in your soul before you leave here today, satisfaction in Christ
Jesus the Lord. And for you, who are born of
God, I pray that God will be pleased to open your heart and
feed you again with this bread of life. John chapter 4, verse
31. Holding the Lord Jesus before
us as our example, the Spirit of God here teaches us the secret
to contentment and satisfaction. In the meantime, while his disciples
prayed him, saying, Master, eat. But he said unto them, I have
meat to eat that ye know not of. Therefore said his disciples
one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to eat? Jesus
saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent
me, and to finish His work. The disciples had been away buying
groceries. While they were away in town
buying groceries, the Lord Jesus had sought out and given life
and grace to the Samaritan woman. And now the disciples come back
and they urge Him to eat. And the Master says to them,
I have meat to eat that you know not of. My meat is to do the
will of him that sent me and to finish his work. What does
that mean? What is our Lord telling us?
It is this. Satisfaction, contentment of
soul, is found in doing the will of God. Now write it down and
I'm going to show you this. Satisfaction, contentment of
soul, is found in doing the will of God. If you're without Christ,
if you're yet living in rebellion to God, in rebellion to your
own conscience, in defiance of the Almighty, I'm telling you,
and I tell you again, repeatedly, over and over, week after week,
you will never find peace. You will never find satisfaction
in your soul. until you bow to Jesus Christ. The problem with all men by nature
is a problem of rebellion. We all hate the fact that God
is God, and we refuse to bow to Him. But bow you will, now
or later, either now in mercy or later in judgment, but bow
you will, and you will never find peace contentment and satisfaction
in your soul until you bow to Christ the Lord. You must be
reconciled to God. You must believe on the Son of
God. You must. Quit fighting God. Quit fighting God. We all stand
with our guns aimed right at God's throne. And our guns, just
little old pop guns, is not going to harm God in the least. But
you're going to either have to lay it down or go to hell. You're
either going to have to bow to him or perish. There's no alternative. If you're a believer, a child
of God, and you still struggle in your soul with peace and contentment. Now I'm going to tell you something
that's going to trouble you. I promise you it's going to trouble
you. It troubles me. If you struggle with peace and
contentment, I know the source. Always. It never varies. Merle, when you have trouble
with peace and contentment, and I do, it's rebellion. That's all it is. Rebellion to
God's will. And God's going to force us,
if we're His, by sweet constraints of grace, He's going to force
us to bow to His will. so that we say with our Redeemer,
Thy will be done. I don't mean to suggest that
knowing and doing the will of God gives perfect peace or complete
contentment. Not while we live in this world,
because we will never perfectly bow to God's will. We will never
perfectly surrender to Him. But just in proportion, as we
are molded to His will, We walk before God in peace and contentment. Just in proportion as He causes
us to bow to Him, we walk before Him with peace and contentment. If you're a child of God, you're
here for a reason. God's put you here to serve a
specific purpose. He's given you a specific task
that you must do. And you will never find peace
and contentment until you bow to God's will. Find out what
His will is and do it with all your might and doing the Father's
will. As our Master said, doing that
will of Him that sent me, you will find peace and satisfaction,
contentment, meat that no one knows. Bread to eat that no one
else can understand. Satisfaction that no one else
can comprehend. Now there's two things in the
passage we've read here in John chapter 4. Two things I want
to show you this morning. First, a word of encouragement
for sinners. And oh what a word it is. And
second, a message of example for God's people. Here is an
encouragement for sinners. The Lord Jesus says, I have meat
to eat that you know not of. My meat is to do the will of
him that sent me and to finish his work. Now, I can't imagine
a more comforting word to you who are anxious about your souls,
to you who are concerned about everlasting life, to you who
are seeking God's saving mercy and grace in Christ. What could
be more encouraging? Our Lord Jesus had been here
seeking the salvation of one lost sinner. Once he had obtained
this thing, he said to his disciples, Do you see this Samaritan woman,
this saved sinner? She's the reason I came into
this world. She's the reason I had to come
through Samaria. She's the object for which I
was sent into this world. She is the one I came here looking
for, and now I have her. This is my satisfaction. Oh,
is that not what our Lord meant? How I want you to see this. He
declares that the salvation of sinners is his father's will. People talk about God's will. They want to know what's God's
will. And they're afraid that God's will is not going to be
done. Listen to me. Listen to me. You who question
whether or not God will be merciful to you, you who wonder whether
or not God will be gracious to you, you who stand in doubt of
God's goodness, God's will, God's entire will, is the salvation
of sinners. This is what the prophet said,
he delighteth in mercy. For this reason, he created the
earth. For this reason, he does all
things. But preacher, Does not God judge,
exercise judgment and justice in the earth? He does indeed,
but judgment's His strange work. Mercy is that in which He delights. He exercises judgment because
the righteous Lord loveth righteousness, but mercy is that in which He
delights. The Lord Jesus didn't come here
in order to make God merciful. He didn't come here in order
to get God to love sinners. He came here because God delights
in mercy. He came here because God is love. Herein is love. Not that we love
Him, but that He loved us. The Lord Jesus loved us. In this
was manifested the love of God. God sent His Son to be the propitiation
for our sins. God commendeth His love toward
us. In the while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us. Joseph Hart, or John Kent rather,
wrote this great hymn. T'was not to make Jehovah's love,
to ward the sinner aflame, that Jesus from His throne above a
suffering man became. T'was not the death which He
endured, nor all the pains He bore, that God's eternal love
procured. For God was loved before. God
delights in showing mercy. If you get into the Kingdom of
God, if you ever experience God's salvation, if ever you come to
know the Lord Jesus, There will be nothing surprising to God
about that. You need not concern yourself
that somehow maybe you have overturned God's purpose. That somehow maybe
you have come in without being welcomed at the throne of grace.
Nothing could be further from the truth. And that's what I'm
saying. We recognize, we understand,
and we rejoice in the glorious gospel doctrines of God's sovereign
and free grace. Electing love. We're not bashful
about preaching around here. We rejoice in it. You've not
chosen me, but I've chosen you as you're sitting here. We rejoice
in the glorious doctrine of limited atonement. That is effectual
redemption. I declare constantly that every
sinner for whom Christ died shall be with him in glory. If you
believe on the Son of God, it's because he died for you. That's
as plain as the nose on your face. If he didn't die for you,
you won't believe on him. We rejoice in effectual, irresistible
grace. The omnipotent grace of God the
Holy Spirit. What's that talking about? Talking
about irresistible grace. It's grace you can't resist. Zacchaeus come down. Well, let's
see if he comes down or doesn't. That's called irresistible grace.
He came down. Grace is always irresistible. Let me tell you why you're sitting
here. If you rejoice in the message of God's grace right now, if
you believe on the Son of God right now, it's because God would
not take no for an answer from you. Oh, thank God there are some
people from whom he won't take no for an answer. His grace sweetly
forces us to believe. His grace sweetly compels us
to look to Christ. His grace sweetly compels us
to come to the Son of God, trusting Him, creating life and faith
in us. Understand that. We're not at
all bashful concerning these things. We recognize them and
rejoice in them. But don't ever imagine that somehow
you've got to find the Lamb's Book of Life and, let's see,
is Don Fortner's name written in there? Nothing could be further from
the truth. Those who would suggest The things I've just spoken to
you about, God's election, God's sovereignty, divine predestination,
irresistible grace, somehow prohibit anybody from coming to Christ.
Do not understand these things as they're taught in this book.
The fact is, divine predestination, sovereign election, particular
redemption, irresistible grace, throw open the doors of heaven
for sinners, that could never be opened otherwise. And if you
come in, there's a welcome mat waiting for you. But the reality
is, if you're sitting around debating these things rather
than trusting Christ, the problem's not with the doctrines. No. The problem is you're not interested.
I'll use it again. I can't think of a better illustration.
A man who's really thirsty, sees that glass of cold water sitting
there. I'm talking about a fellow who's
thirsty now. One who's thirsty. He won't even pause to look and
see if his name's engraved on the glass somewhere. He'll just
take the glass. I'm thankful for that. He'll
drink the water. And sinners who need the Savior,
do you need cleansing? Do you need cleansing? Do you
really? Do you need pardon? And don't
really need it? Do you desperately need righteousness
and forgiveness? If you do, you believe on the
Son of God. And you won't believe Him until
you need Him. And believing Him, you prove
your election. Believing Him, you give evidence
of your redemption. Believing Him, you know your
calling. These things are but the cause
of that which believing Him is the result. Believing Him doesn't
cause God to love you. Oh, no. The fact that I believe
Him testifies in my soul. God loved me with everlasting
love. Believing Him doesn't cause God to choose you. No! What nonsense! The fact that
I believe Him gives evidence that God chose me and inscribed
my name in the book of life before the world began. Believing Him
doesn't make Christ's blood effectual. No! The efficacy of Christ's
blood is that which causes me to believe Him. Believing Him
doesn't cause God the Spirit to call me. My believing Him
is the result of God the Holy Spirit calling me. I hope you
understand this. Christ Jesus came into this world
to save sinners, and the salvation of sinners is that which gives
Him satisfaction. See this gal? This harlot, this Samaritan idolater, this worthless piece of fallen
humanity. You see her? That chaste virgin. That perfectly pure, clean, undefiled
woman. That woman whose righteousness
is the very righteousness of God. That woman who stands here
in front of me and in front of you before God Almighty with
no sin. See her? That's my meat. That's the bread I have to eat.
That's the satisfaction of my soul. Not only is the salvation
of sinners that which satisfies the Redeemer, it is that which
satisfies God Almighty Himself, so that God's purpose is satisfied
in the salvation of His people. In the saving of His people,
Christ sees of the travail of His soul and is satisfied. This
is the reason He came into the world, to save sinners. of whom
I am chief." This is the work for which his heart longed from
eternity. He said concerning the redemption
of our souls, I have a baptism to be baptized with, and I'm
straightened till it's accomplished. He said concerning his death
as our substitute, he said, I have a cup to drink, a cup to drink,
and I must drink all of it. And I am straightened until I've
done so. I've come here for this purpose,
to redeem my people and to save them. And this is that which
satisfies Him, and will satisfy Him forever. Oh, thank God for
His goodness and mercy. If you will look to Christ, look
away to Christ. Oh, if God the Holy Spirit will
but open the fountain to your soul, and cause you to look to
Christ, looking to Him, you will be saved. That's what salvation
is. It's just looking to Him. As Moses lifted up the serpent,
and all those who were bitten of the serpents looked, were
healed. So every sinner, looking to the
crucified Son of God. Looking to Him has life. There's a wondrous mystery connected
here between looking and living. We look because He's given us
life, else we couldn't look. But looking, we receive life
from Him, and we wouldn't receive it except we look. Looking to
Christ, we live. That's what salvation's all about.
It's looking away from myself to the Son of God. Brother Scott
Richardson said one time years ago, salvation begins in a look. Look unto me and be ye saved.
All the ends of the earth. Find the Lord and beside me there
is none else. And salvation's continued in
a look. Looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith. We live in this world all the
days of our life, just as we began our pilgrimage here, looking
to the Savior. And bless God, salvation ends
in a look. We'll see Him face to face. Then
shall I be satisfied, the psalmist said, when I awake in thy likeness. All right. Here's the second
thing. We have an example for saints
to follow. when our master said, I have
meat to eat that you know not of. My meat is to do the will
of him that sent me and to finish his work. He sat before us a
great example. Now I promise you, as I said
earlier, if you're struggling with frustration and failure
and doubts and fears and inadequacies, A general sense of uselessness
is because you're having trouble bowing to God's will. Having
trouble with one of these five distinct things by which our
Savior showed himself bowing to God's will. First, the Lord
Jesus always made his will subservient. to his father's will. Not my
will, thy will be done. All our sorrows in this world
really arise from the bitter root of self-will. If my will
were totally subservient to my father's will, my father's will
would always please me. I find it remarkably providential
that we've come to this place in the exposition of John's Gospel
just at this time in my life. As you know, I've been struggling
with some things. You don't know it nearly as well as that lady
over there knows it. But I'll tell you what the struggle is.
It's rebellion in here. It's rebellion in here. And I
hate it. I hate it. Oh, I hate it. Pain would be a wonderful comfort
to my soul if I didn't kick so hard against it. Losses would
enrich me if I weren't so covetous. Bitterness would have a wonderful
sweetness about it if I didn't crave so much my own will and
my own way. Have you not found it to be the
same, Rex? Our trouble comes because we want our way. We're determined to have our
way. Contentment comes when our will
is subservient to our Master's will. Our Lord Jesus lived in
great peace and contentment because He always knew why He was here. He always knew why He was here.
Turn to John chapter 20. Let me show you something. He
came on a mission. He came with a commission from
God the Father as our Savior, our surety, and our substitute.
He came to save His people, to build His kingdom for the glory
of God. Now this may surprise some of
you, but if we're His, we're here for the same reason. Father,
that's the reason the Lord put you here. That's why He put you
here. That's why we are here. We have
the same commission, the same mission, the same work to do
as our Master did. Look at John chapter 20, verse 21. Then said Jesus to them again,
Peace be unto you. Now watch this. As my Father
hath sent me with the same authority for the same purpose to the same
end with the same power, as my Father hath sent me, even so
send I you. And he breathed on them. When he said this, he breathed
on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost. He said to his disciples, Ye
shall be witnesses unto me, martyrs unto me. Men and women who laid
down their lives for me, for this cause, to minister to my
people, to serve their souls, to seek and save that which was
lost. Third, our Savior's contentment and satisfaction in this world
was found in doing His Father's will. My meat is to do the will of
Him that sent me. He said, I do always those things
that please Him. We'll never find satisfaction
anywhere else. I've been around the bend a few
times and I've had to sit and listen to fellas
talk about doing God's will. And they talk about it relentlessly,
and never do anything, and never find any contentment or satisfaction,
and they move from here to there because they are always talking
about doing God's will. They will often debate God's
will, and God's Word, and God's work, and so they constantly
are in turmoil, never at peace, never at satisfaction, because
they're just debating. They're not doing, they're just
debating. When the ship is broken on the iceberg, and it's sinking,
and folks are about to be drowned, what they need is lifeboats,
not blueprints. Would to God I could get preachers
to understand this. Preaching the gospel is not debating
doctrine. It's declaring truth. It's preaching
Jesus Christ crucified. House is on fire and everything's
engulfed in a blaze. People don't need someone to
sit around and debate where the fire came from. They need someone
to fetch the people out of the house. That's the business of
preaching. The Lord Jesus found in His meat. His soul's fond desire and the
food of his heart to do his father's will. I'll tell you what I'm convinced
of, more so now than ever. I've experienced it. I know it's
so. The vast majority of people who deal with depression, difficulties, anxieties, The vast majority,
I'm convinced, do so because they lack any meaningful responsibility
and work. Mark it out. Mark it out. Celeste
has just finished reading the biography of William Cowper.
Wrote so many great hymns. In so many ways a great, great
man. Spent his whole life buried away
in his house, constantly debating, convinced that he was reprobate,
convinced that he was damned, and just constantly, constantly,
one of the most useful men, but in his mind, in his own thoughts,
utterly useless. People who struggle with those
things constantly look inwardly rather than away to the Redeemer. And they're constantly doing
nothing because they're constantly looking at themselves. Spiritual
trouble, depression, incessant doubtings and fears only overwhelm
those who have nothing better to do. I'll tell you what I've
experienced. Sitting back here in my office,
get to thinking about feeling bad, thinking about being weak,
thinking about not doing something. Do you know how long I sit back
and think about it? All day long. All day long. And I tell you,
when I forget it, when I bury myself in the work God's given
me to do, there's no other time. Find me a person full of questions,
I'll find you a person who does nothing. Find me a person constantly
struggling with doubts and fears, and I'll show you a person who
serves no useful purpose ministering to anyone else. Find me a preacher
who's forever in doubt of his calling, I'll find you one who
ought to be. Find me a person forever questioning his election,
whether or not he trusts Christ, whether he loves the Lord or
no, and I'll show you one who spends too much time thinking
about himself and too little time thinking about other people.
Fourth, our Redeemer's peace, contentment, and satisfaction
came by His perseverance in doing His Father's will. He said, my
meat is to do the will of Him that sent me and to finish the work. To finish His work. Turn to 2 Timothy 4 again. This is exactly what Paul said. He's writing his last epistle,
and he knows it. He's about to be offered upon the sacrifice
of Christ, Christ's altar, Christ's faith. He says in verse 6, that's
all right. That's all right. However it
is God takes me out of this world, that's all right. I'm ready to
be offered. the time of my departure is at
hand. I fought a good fight. I finished my course. I've kept
the faith. I haven't withdrawn from the
battle. I'm now at the end of the course God appointed for
me. I've finished it. I've kept the faith. Henceforth,
because I've not withdrawn from the battle, Because I've finished
my course, I've finished the purpose for which God put me
in this world, because I've kept the faith. Henceforth there is
laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous
judge, shall give me at that day." Imagine that. Imagine that. Who would dare
say such a thing? Who would dare say such a thing?
Can you imagine one of you saying, now, I've earned a crown of righteousness?
That's not what he said. That's not what he said. No,
no. No, no. Read the next line. And
not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. Every one of you who are looking
for him shall receive this same crown of righteousness when you
finish your course. when you come to the end of that
for which God has put you in this world. All right? The Lord Jesus made his will
subservient to his Father's will. He knew why he was here. He knew
what his Father's will was, and he did it. He persevered in doing
it. And fifth, he did what God gave
him to do with all his might for the glory of God. Turn to
John chapter 12. I'll wrap this up. Verse 27. Now is my soul troubled, and
what shall I say? Shall I say, Father, save me
from this hour? Oh no, no. Troubled though I
am. Cast down though I am. Heartbroken
though I am. Exceedingly sorrowful though
I am. I won't ask God to save me from
this. But for this cause came I unto this hour. That is, Father,
I came into this world And I've come through these 33 years,
and I've come here to this place, about to go up to Jerusalem,
to suffer all the fury of your wrath and justice, being made
sin for my people, for this one purpose. Father, glorify thy
name. That's the secret. Father, glorify thy name. Would you be content? Would you
be at peace with God? Would you find satisfaction for
your soul? Believe on the Son of God. Believing
Him from this day forward You have one goal. One object. Oh God, give me grace
never again to deviate from that goal. Forgive every deviation and set
my heart to this one thing. Father, glorify thy name. Amen.