I remember years ago when I first
started attending the worship of God, the folks used to sing
a little chorus. Everybody ought to know. Everybody
ought to know. Everybody ought to know who Jesus
is. If you just knew. If you just knew. Turn with me to John chapter
4. I pray that today you will be made to know the Lord Jesus
Christ. John 4, we'll begin reading at
verse 1. When therefore 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. He left Judea and departed again
into Galilee, and he must needs go through Samaria. Then cometh
he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, nearer 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, sat thus on the well, and it was about the
sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria
to draw water. Jesus saith unto her, Give me
to drink. For his disciples were gone away
into the city to buy meat. Then saith the woman of Samaria
unto him, 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 Samaritans. Now here's a text. Jesus answered
and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is
that saith unto thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldst have asked
of him, and he would have given thee living water. Our Lord might have said to this
Samaritan woman, The same thing he said to the rich young ruler
who came to him. One thing thou lackest. Like
the rich young ruler, this Samaritan woman lacked just one thing. Just one thing that kept her
from faith in him. One thing that kept her from
being a believer. This woman was an object of God's
everlasting electing love. He chose her from eternity. She
is one of those whose names was inscribed in the Lamb's Book
of Life before the world began. She was predestined to eternal
life and salvation in Christ, yet she was lost. She was a rebel
still. She was still an unbeliever.
And the Lord Jesus came into this world to lay down his life
for this woman, but still she believed not. She still didn't
trust him. There was with her, as I suspect
with some of you, just one thing missing. Just one thing missing. She knew her Bible history. You
see that in the chapter. This woman knew her religious
dogma. She knew what her church believed
and she defended it with a vengeance. She knew that the Messiah was
coming. She knew that salvation could
only be found in Him, the Messiah. That's the word for Christ. This
woman understood and understood clearly that salvation is in
and by the Christ of God. Yet, she was still lost. What was missing? Jesus answered
and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is
that saith unto thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldst have asked
of him, and he would have given thee living water. Now here's
the one thing that kept this poor sinner out of the kingdom
of God. The one thing that keeps multitudes
out. She didn't know Christ. She didn't know Christ. She didn't know Him who is the
gift of God. She didn't know the Christ of
God. If you knew, if only you knew
the Lord Jesus Christ, you'd trust Him. It is man's ignorance
of Christ that holds him in unbelief. Did not our Lord Himself say,
if you knew me, you would know my Father also? He spread out
His hands, as it were, to Jerusalem and said, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
if only you had known. In fact, the Holy Spirit tells
us in 1 Corinthians 2 that if the men of this world, the rulers
of this world, had known the Lord of glory, they wouldn't
have crucified him. If they had known who it was
they nailed to that tree, they would not have crucified him.
You see, it is man's spiritual ignorance, his blindness in his
soul that holds him in unbelief, just as it held this Samaritan
adulteress in unbelief. But blessed be God when the light
of the world was made to shine in her heart. When the sun of
righteousness arose in her soul, immediately she was made to know
Him, and she left her water pots and went back to town and told
everybody she ran into, come see a man that told me all things
that ever I did. Is not this the Christ? O Spirit of God, will you be
pleased today? to cause Jesus Christ to arise
as light in our souls this hour. Now, there are three things I
want you to see. Our Lord Jesus here first speaks to this woman
about saving knowledge. And I'm going to spend the bulk
of my time with that one thing. And then he gives this woman
a word, plainly speaking, about faith's request And then we see
his blessed promise. All right, first, the Lord Jesus
spoke to this woman about saving knowledge. He said, if thou knewest
the gift of God, and who it is that saith unto thee, give me
to drink. Knowledge. Now, I just told you
in the previous message that man by nature has no knowledge. He has none spiritually. And
I recognize that doctrinal knowledge is not saving knowledge. Grace
is not gained by learning, and righteousness is not the reward
of study. Salvation is not that which is
the successor of research. Faith is the gift of God. You
can have all the right doctrine and miss Christ altogether. I
can't say this often enough. I can't say it strongly enough.
I know that many will misunderstand it. But it has to be said, Calvinism
is no more beneficial to a man than Arminianism is. Now get
it. What men call Calvinism is no
more beneficial to a man's soul than Arminianism. I see David
and Celeste shaking their heads. They came out of what I'm talking
about. It's no more beneficial. No more at all. Calvinism can't
take anyone to glory. Matter of fact, I'm no more interested.
and getting folks converted from Arminianism to Calvinism than
I am getting them converted from Hinduism to Catholicism. It's
not an interest to me and it shouldn't be to you. I gave up
long ago arguing with folks over what's called the five points
of Calvinism. Salvation is not in a system of doctrine any more
than it's in a system of rituals or in a system of works. Salvation
is in a person. In fact, Salvation is a person. Simeon held the Lord Jesus in
his arms and saw the Scripture fulfilled. And he said, mine
eyes have seen thy salvation. Skipney's looking at that infant
child, just wrapped in a piece of cloth, just circumcised, eight
days old. And he said, I see God's salvation
right here. I see God's salvation. Salvation
is not a system. Salvation is not a religion. Salvation is not a way of life. Salvation is a person, and that
person is Jesus Christ the Lord. The Lord is my rock and my salvation. He alone is my salvation. The Lord is my fortress and my
deliverer, the God of my rock. In Him will I trust. He's my
shield and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, my refuge, and
my Savior. That's who Christ is. Salvation
is not what you know. Turn to John chapter 17. Let
me show you one more time. John chapter 17. Salvation is
not what you know. It's not what you know. I instruct
you in the most precise, accurate, orthodox doctrine, and that's
my responsibility. I try to do so. Our children
are taught in the Bible classes downstairs, they're taught that
which is absolute truth. We don't dabble out heresy to
babies when they're babies and then try to convince them of
truth when they get older. They're taught absolute orthodox
doctrine. Same thing I preached to you
from this pulpit. But if they learn it all, and they can memorize
the Scriptures and recite the Scriptures from cover to cover,
that's not salvation. Salvation, Merle, is knowing
Him. Look at it, John 17.3. This is
life eternal. This is it. Not part of it, this
is it. This is life eternal. That they
might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou
hast sent. What you know or don't know really
doesn't matter. Well, Brother John, does that
mean a person can be saved without knowing Christ? Of course not.
Does that mean a person can be saved without knowing the gospel?
Of course not. Knowledge is essential to faith,
but knowledge is not faith. Knowledge is essential to faith
in Christ as essential to faith in Christ as oxygen is to breathing. But understand this, it's not
what you know that saves Bob, it's who? It's Christ Himself. It's knowing Him who loved us
and gave Himself for us. Our Lord told this Samaritan
woman that she would be saved, she would be a believer if she
knew the gift of God, if she knew who He is. Is that what
you see in the text? Let me say this, I'll stay right
with the text. Gospel knowledge, yes, is essential
to faith. Let men rattle on all they want
to about people being saved who don't know God. I hear it all
the time. Folks get upset. I've been hearing
it all my life as a believer since I was 17 years old. I've
been hearing folks say, you can't say that men are lost because
they don't believe this thing or that thing. No, but I can
say men are lost because they don't know God. If they don't
know Christ, I'm not talking about their notions of Christ.
I'm not talking about what they think God is. I'm talking about
Bill Rodden knowing Him. Knowing Him. There's all the
difference in the world. Those who do not know the gospel,
who do not know Christ, who do not know God are not saved. It makes just as much sense to
talk about Mormons and Russellites being saved people, to talk about
Catholics and Jews being saved people, as it does to talk about
Armenians and wheel worshipers and workmongers being saved people.
Those who deny the gospel don't know God. Those who despise the
character of God don't know God. They don't love the Lord. They've
seen, oh, how I love Jesus. Oh, they want to. They don't
love Him. They don't love Him. Those who trample His blood under
their feet do not trust Him and do not know Him. They're not
born of God. Those who despise the Spirit
of grace despise the God of grace. Gospel knowledge is essential,
essential to saving faith. It's impossible to trust an unknown
Savior. This is what we read in Romans
10. Turn back there if you will. Romans 10. Unbelief says what has to be
done. Faith says it's already done. This is a word that's near
you, even in your heart and in your mouth. Look at verse 9.
If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt
believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead.
What does that mean? Well, I believe in the death,
burial, and resurrection. Don't tell me I don't. Everybody
does. It's a fact in history. You can't
get by it. You can deny it all you want
to. You've got to acknowledge it. It's a historic fact. But it's not salvation. What's
it mean? To believe, to confess with your
mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised
Him from the dead? It's the same thing that John said over in
1 John. He said, Whosoever confesseth that Jesus Christ has come in
the flesh is born of God. Well, Ron, I don't know a pope
who ever lived who didn't confess that. I don't know one who ever
lived and they didn't know God. Well, what on earth is it talking
about then? To confess that Christ has come in the flesh is to declare
that everything prophesied in the book is fulfilled in the
Redeemer. He accomplished it all. To believe
in Christ and to believe in your heart that God raised Him from
the dead is to declare righteousness is brought in and sin is put
away by the Son of God. That's what He said in John 16.
He said, the Spirit of truth will come and convince you of
righteousness because I'm going to my Father. It's not just simply
saying words. It's not repeating what somebody
told you to say. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness."
Now, let's see here. I sent my buddy Bob Potts here.
Let's just imagine he came in here unrighteous. And suddenly
he decides to believe on the Lord Jesus. Does that make him
righteous? No. No. No. No. No. No. The act of believing
doesn't fulfill the law. The act of believing doesn't
satisfy justice. Faith receives righteousness.
Look at it. With the heart man believeth
unto, not for, unto. He believeth with reference to
righteousness established. And with the mouth confession
is made, not for salvation, unto. Confession is made with reference
to salvation. For the Scripture saith, Whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed, shall not be confused,
shall not be confounded, shall not make haste, shall not be
put to shame. For there is no difference between the Jew and
the Greek. For the same Lord over all is rich unto all that
call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. But something's got to
happen. How then shall they call on him
whom they've not heard, whom they've not believed? You can't
worship him if you don't believe him. How shall they believe on
him in whom they've not heard, of whom they've not heard? And
how shall they hear without a preacher? Now, how shall they preach except
they be sent? As it is written, how beautiful
are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring
glad tidings of good things. Verse 17. So then faith cometh
by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Martin Luther was
exactly right when he said there are four impossibilities presented
to us in this portion. First, he said, it is utterly
impossible for anyone to call upon and worship the Lord if
they don't trust him. Everything else that men call
worship is just idolatry. Everything else men call worship
is just having a form of godliness. Everything else men call worship
is just going through the motions. It's nothing but meaningless
religious ritual. You can't call upon the name
of the Lord if you don't trust Him. Second, Luther said, it's
utterly impossible for anyone to trust Christ until you know
Him. You can't trust an unknown Savior. Now, I don't know why that's
so confusing to folks. You can't trust somebody you don't know.
You just can't do it. I remember hearing Jerry Falwell
years ago, years ago, said it on national television. He said,
when I first got saved, those were his words, not God's Savior,
I don't think I ever heard him say that. When I first got saved,
he said, I didn't know anything. Is that right? And he went on
to say, all I knew is somebody told me that there was a man
named Jesus up in heaven who loved me and wanted to save me,
and I believed him. Not hardly. Not hardly. Not you, not me, not anybody
else. Not hardly. You cannot trust an unknown Savior. You've got to know Him to trust
Him. Which of you? Which of you, now let's, pretending
we all have good sense, which of you would just take out of
your wallet everything you own and hand it to somebody that
you don't have a clue who he is, what abilities he has, where
he came from, or what he's going to do tomorrow? Anybody? But you would trust your soul
to one like that? You're not that big a fool. Even lost men
aren't that bad. I take that back. Lost men do.
That's exactly what they do. That's exactly what they do.
You can't trust an unknown Savior. Third, Luther said, it's impossible
for anyone to know Christ without a preacher. That's what Paul
said. How shall they hear without a
preacher? I'm going to write an article
soon A passage I read to you the other day, God said, one
of His blessings, that I made your sons prophets. How shall
they hear without a preacher? You can't hear, except God sends
somebody to tell you about Him who knows Him. And it's impossible
for a man to preach, to effectually preach to you, to effectually,
properly, truly preach to you, except to be sent of God. People often describe faith as
a leap in the dark. Faith is not a leap in the dark. Probably this book says it's
walking in the light. You can't believe without knowing
the Savior. I could say many things about
this matter of saving knowledge. But here, our Lord focuses our
attention on two things. Number one, he says, all who
believe on the Lord Jesus, all who are taught of God, all who
are born of God, know the gift of God. Now, this is very important. Anytime you read in your Bible
a definite article, definite articles were not used in the
Greek language as they are used in our language. We use definite
articles all the time when we don't really mean something definite.
If you have some Jehovah Witness, some Russellite knocking at your
door tomorrow, and he takes you to John chapter 1, he's going
to tell you, more than likely, that this is a bad translation.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. He said that really should be,
in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was a God. Because there's no definite article
there. And he'd be telling you the truth.
There's no definite article there. That means that Christ is a God? No, no. The text actually reads
this way. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and God was the Word. God was Him who is the Word,
Christ Jesus our Lord. A definite article implies then
that there is something specific and definite here. He says, if
you're born of God, you'd know the gift of God. The gift of God. The gift of
God is eternal life. The gift of God is the unspeakable
gift of God. The gift of God is grace and
faith and salvation. Is that not of works, lest any
man should boast? The gift of God, then, is Jesus
Christ, our Redeemer, as we've already seen. The gift of God
is Christ, he who is our salvation. It is he who God gives to sinners. as a matter of pure, free, undeserved,
sovereign grace. Most all religious people, and
this is the problem with the religious world. Do you remember
in Acts chapter 8? There was a fellow by the name of Simon
Magus who came and offered the apostles money for the gift of
God. Remember that? This is the problem
with the whole religious world. Everybody is convinced they can
buy Christ. Either with money, selling indulgences. How do you think St. Peter's
Basilica in Rome got built? Because fools believe they could
buy the forgiveness of sin with money. And they still do. They
still do. Fools. Fools who don't know God. Other folks believe they can
buy the gift of God with works. Works. so that they can go to
the monastery and hide away in a closet and not talk for 15
hours a day. Not speak. That's holy. Fools! Fools! They beat themselves with
whips. Beat themselves. They go and
buy the gift of God with works. They go off to the missionary
field and they label them on lumpers. They go and buy the
gift of God with works. But everybody's convinced they
can buy the gift of God with an act of their will. I can choose
Him anytime I want to. I can choose to be saved anytime
I want to. It's up to me. Everybody's convinced
it's so, except those who are born of God. If you knew the
gift of God, if you knew that Christ is God's
gift, that Christ is God's salvation, not a present, a gift, not an
offer, a gift, not a proposition, a gift. If you knew that, oh,
then you'd have water springing up in your soul and everlasting
life. Saving faith involves knowledge, knowing the gift of God, knowing
Him by whom the gift comes as well. There's no saving faith
in Christ without a saving knowledge of Christ. And no one who is
saved who doesn't know who Christ is and what He's done. When our
Lord put this question to the blind man in John chapter 9,
He says, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? Do you remember
how that fellow answered? Now this fellow had been made
to see. You talk about experiencing something.
Which one of you ever experienced that? He was born blind, man,
and Christ came and caused him to see. And the one who caused
him to see said, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? Do you remember
how he answered? Who is it? Who is it? And the Master said,
He's the man who put light in your eyes. And when he was made to see in
his soul, as he was made to see with his eyes, he said, Lord,
I believe. I believe. Lord, I believe. And the evidence that he did,
the proof that he did, is that he worshipped him. Before there
can be any faith in Christ as our Savior, there must be some
knowledge of Him and of our need of Him. When we call upon Him,
crying for mercy, like the disciples, Lord, save us, we perish. It's
because we recognize our desperate need of Him and understand that
none can deliver but Him. And no one will ever call on
Him for mercy who is not made to know his need of mercy. It
won't happen. It won't happen. No sinner will
ever fall out to Christ until he is made to see that if ever
he is saved, it must be by grace alone, through the righteousness
and blood of Christ alone, and not by any work of his own, by
the power of God alone, not by the power of his will. There
is no faith in Christ apart from the knowledge, the knowledge
of the fullness and ability of God's darling Son as our substitute,
our surety and Savior. We can't trust Him until we see
Him as the Christ of God, full of grace and truth. I'll tell you when you'll trust
Him. I'll tell you when you'll trust Him. When He causes you
to see. that He really is a Savior suitable
to your needs. What do you need? I need pardon.
There He is. Oh, I'm so dirty. So filthy. I've got to be made clean. He's
cleansing. I need righteousness. Righteousness
that will stand me in good stead with God Almighty in His holiness. Christ is made of God unto us.
Righteousness. I need life because there's nothing
but deadness in me. Christ is life. When you're made
to see that He is a suitable Savior for you, you'll trust
Him and you won't until you do. It's as absurd to talk about
saving faith without saving knowledge as it is to talk about seeing
without light. Knowledge and faith are joined
together as inseparable companions. expressing the same thing. We
have known and believed the love that God had to us. It's the
same thing. We know it and we believe it.
And then the Lord tells this woman, this knowledge only comes
by divine revelation. If you knew who speaks to you
and knew the gift of God. I'm talking about something more
than a notion, more than an idea, more than a fact. I'm talking about a personal,
experimental knowledge of the living God. Not an academic knowledge,
not an experimental knowledge, That is a knowledge based on
experience, not a second-hand knowledge, not a textbook knowledge,
but a personal knowledge experienced in the soul. I know whom I have
believed. I know whom. Oh, but God, I'll tell you right
now what I believe. I know. I know you can. Can you tell
me who you believe? I know whom I have believed. I know Him like I know no one
else. I know whom I have believed.
And knowing whom I have believed, I am persuaded. I am persuaded,
though all hell rise up in my face, I am persuaded. Though
the sun should drop from the sky, I am persuaded that He is
able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that
day. I know whom I have believed. I know Him by the gospel that
I've heard preached. by the Spirit of God who called
me to here, by the gift of God called faith. I know who I have
to be. Now, here's the second thing.
Our Lord Jesus speaks about a request. Look at John 14 again. 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 that which is the sure follower
of saving knowledge, that which always comes from the revelation
of Christ in the heart, That which is always the follower
of God's free gift of life and faith in Christ is expressed
in a request. Our Lord said to this woman,
He said, Honey, if you knew, if you knew, if you knew anything
of that one talking to you, If you knew me, you would ask of
me, give me a drink. You'll be standing here arguing
with me about how I'm going to get water out of this well. You'd ask me
to give you something to drink, if you knew me. What's that say? If only you knew my Savior, you
would ask of Him, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. You would ask of Him, Lord, Lord,
if You will, You can make me whole. You'd ask of Him, O Lord,
that I might receive my sight. You'd ask of Him, Lord, remember
me. And then the Lord gives a promise.
Now look at this text one more time. Look at what the Lord Jesus
promises to poor, needy sinners who ask of Him. And He would
have given the living water. You mean, Brother Don, salvation comes by asking? Yeah. Well, that means you've
got to do something. The asking is the result of Him
giving. The asking lays hold of. The asking receives. Ask and you shall receive. Believe
and you shall live. Look and you shall be saved. Ask of Christ and He'll give
you living water. Pastor, why does the Lord here
refer to His great salvation as living water? Let me give
you a hint. Water is God's gift. Water is absolutely essential
to life. Water meets the needs of all
men. Water comes down from heaven. Water cleanses and refreshes. Water is free. It's something
no one ever, ever, ever, ever gets tired of having. Nobody ever gets tired of water. I can drink water when I'm not
thirsty. Nobody gets tired of water. Oh,
fresh, cool, refreshing, clean water. That's Christ. If thou knewest the gift of God,
and who it is that saith unto thee, Give me to drink, thou
wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee living
water. These two sweet, precious, instructive
views of our Lord Jesus, which he held before this Samaritan
woman, by which he graciously endeared himself to her, Let
us never cease to have of him. All that he is in himself, he
is for us. All that he is. All that he is
as the God-man, our mediator. All that he did. All that he
accomplished. All the righteousness he brought
in. All the sin He put away. All the blood He shed. All the
atonement He made. All the satisfaction He rendered
to justice. All the power that He possesses
now as the risen Savior. All that He possesses as the
God-man seated on the throne. He is and He has for us. He didn't need any of it for
Himself. He already possessed it all. He did it and He has
it for us. That He might give eternal life
to us. And he, in all that he is and
all that he possesses, is the gift of God. Now, what does all
that mean? Oh, so much of man's misery, those who are tortured with the
guilt of sin, and so much of the discomfort that God's people
experience in this world arise from a failure to see that all
that Christ is is ours, and He's the free gift of God. That which
keeps sinners from trusting Him more than anything else is to
see that all that Christ is, He is as the Savior of sinners,
and He is the gift of God. Ignorance of these two things
these sweet revelations of grace, hinder the believer's enjoyment
of his interest in Christ and his union in Christ more than
anything else I can think of. All he is, I am. All he has, I have. by God's free gift. And it's
a well of water springing up unto everlasting life in my soul. That means the waters that refresh
our souls, the waters that give us peace and comfort, do not
depend on dry and wet seasons of experience. their hours by
virtue of Christ Jesus the Lord our Redeemer. This is what Mr. Hawker said about all that. A poor sinner is as much suited to Jesus for
Him to give out of His fullness as Jesus is suited for a poor
sinner to supply His emptiness. Take the ground God gives you. Take the ground God gives you.
What's that? A sinner. Take the ground. Oh, not me,
preacher. Okay, I'm not talking to you.
A sinner. Take the ground God gives you.
You can't come to Him any other way. A sinner. is suited for everything I need. Everything I need. Not only that,
He's more anxious to give it than I am to receive it. He's
the gift of God. He's more anxious to cleanse
me than I am to be cleansed. He's more anxious to refresh
me than I am to be refreshed. indescribably more anxious to
comfort me than I am to be comforted. He's the gift of God. He's the
gift of God. Oh, use Him then for every need
of your soul. Is this really so? Is this really
so? Is the only thing that keeps
men and women from believing Him, knowing Him, Is that all? Is that all? Well, go tell it!
Go tell it! Go tell it in the city! And tell
it in the country! And tell it at the house! And
tell it on the streets! Tell it everywhere! Who Jesus
Christ is. The sinner's Savior. God's salvation. The gift of God. Amen.