If the Lord will enable me, I
want to preach to you this morning about the blessed constraint
of grace. Turn with me, if you will, to
John chapter 4. John the fourth chapter, beginning at verse 1. The blessed constraint of grace. 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, near to the parcel of
ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well
was there. Jesus, therefore, being wearied
with his journey, 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 the Samaritans. Now there are several things
in these opening verses of John chapter 4 that demand our attention,
our close attention, lessons the Spirit of God would have
us to learn and to remember. Let me give these things to you
with as much brevity as I can. Here are seven things I want
you to see in these nine verses. First, the very first thing we
see in this chapter is that our Lord Jesus Christ, the man, the
man who came here on this earth, who lived as our representative
and died as our substitute at Calvary, is himself the omniscient
God. John's primary purpose in writing
his gospel is to show us that this man, Jesus Christ, is God. Not a god, not merely a representative
of God, not merely the servant of God, but God Himself in human
flesh. And John misses no opportunity
to call our attention to that fact. He shows plainly that our
Savior is God here in the opening of this chapter, by showing us
that though no one informed the Lord Jesus what the Pharisees
were saying. No one told Him a thing about
the Pharisees' comments concerning His ministry and John the Baptist.
No one told Him of these things. But our Lord Jesus knew, the
Scripture says, the Lord knew what the Pharisees were saying.
There was no need for anyone to inform Him of anything. There was no need for anyone
to inform him of anything. He knew. You and I often act
like we know what's going on inside of the people. And we
dare presume to say, I know what you're thinking. You never know
what I'm thinking unless I tell you. You just think you know
what I'm thinking. You always think that when you're
looking like that and behaving like that. No, I'm always inconsistent. You too. You too. We don't know
what's going on. We just presume we know. Our
Lord knew. He knew. Because He is the omniscient
God. Before Him, darkness is light. He sees all and He knows all. All things are naked and open
to the eyes with Him before Him with whom we have to do. He is
the omniscient God. Now John stresses that and it
is stressed throughout the scriptures because we must recognize that
He who would live on this earth as our representative to bring
in everlasting righteousness must Himself be the everlasting
God. He must himself be God eternal. That one who would live as our
representative and obey God in our room instead must be one
of infinite worth, of infinite merit, and of infinite efficacy. Otherwise, his life as our representative
would be nothing but an example. It would carry no weight, no
merit, and no efficacy to make us righteous. He who bears our
sin in our room instead upon the cursed tree, who dies in
our stead to satisfy divine justice, must be God, all God, nothing
lacking, of infinite worth, of infinite merit, of infinite efficacy. Otherwise, His atonement is nothing
but an example. Now this is the sad state of
things in our day. Almost everyone who pretends
to believe in Jesus Christ. Almost everyone who pretends
to preach the gospel of Christ. Preachers all over the world
this day. standing in pulpits just like
this, preaching to congregations just like this, in the name of
Christ with an open Bible in front of them, deny that Jesus
Christ is God, for they deny the efficacy of His righteousness
and His atonement. And to deny the efficacy of what
He did is to deny that He is God. Understand that. Understand
that our Lord Jesus did not merely live to give us an example to
follow He did not merely die to give us an example to follow
He did not merely live to make it possible for us to be righteous
He did not die merely to make it possible for us to be redeemed
But he who is God our Savior, by his obedience unto death,
has brought in an everlasting righteousness for somebody. All
the people he represented, and he who died as our substitute,
by satisfying divine justice in our stead, has put away the
sins of those people for whom he is a substitute, a surety,
and a representative. All right, here's the second
thing. The religious world today, and yesterday, and tomorrow,
the religious world as it now is, as it was then, and as it
shall be until time shall be no more, is always set in direct
opposition to the God of glory, to his son, and to the gospel
of his grace. Mainstream religion has always
been opposed to Christ. Now, I know you hear folks talk
dreamy-eyed. You know, preachers can sometimes
talk nonsense. And folks will stand up and say,
well, there was a time, there was a time when everybody believed
these things. I remember when all the churches preached these
things. Hogwash. Just ain't so. I defy you to
show me a time in the history of this world when the majority
of people anywhere believe the gospel of God's grace and worship
God. Brother Don, used to be years
ago, all churches around here preach what you do. Go show me. Just show me. It's just not so. You're living like a child walking
in a bubble, a bubble of a daydream. I'm here to burst your bubble.
The religious world has always opposed God. In the days of Cain
and Abel, and in the days when Enoch walked with God. In the
days of Noah and Job, and in the days of Abraham and Lot. all the ages from Moses throughout
the Old Testament, in the New Testament generation, and in
the early ages of this dispensation, and through until today. The
mainstream religious denominations and mainstream accepted religion
has always opposed God, has always opposed Christ, and has always
opposed the gospel of God's free grace. You see, the fact is,
even those who profess to worship Him and claim to be His people,
like all other men by nature, are idolaters. We are all will
worshipers by nature. What does that mean? All men
vainly attempt to mix their works with God's grace somewhere in
the scheme of things called salvation. It doesn't matter. whether you're
talking about Judaism or Christianity or Islam. Doesn't matter whether
you're talking about Hindus or Indian mystics. It doesn't matter
what religion you're talking about, whether you're talking
about the various heathen religions found in New Guinea and Africa,
or found among the Mayan tribes in ancient Mexico. It doesn't
matter where you go. The religion is always the same. And the religion is salvation
has something to do with what you do. Is that what you read everywhere
in history? Is that what you see everywhere? Salvation's got
something to do with what you do. It just stands for reason. How many times you heard that?
It just stands for reason. If a man If a man lives good
and he's sacrificial and he never gets drunk and he never beats
his wife and he never chases women and he never steals anything
and another man lives next door to him and he does all those
things, it just stands for reason. They can't both be headed to
the same place. That just stands for reason. You know, you know
that one man is not like another man. You look in the water, and you
see your face. You look at my face and you see
yourself. That's what Proverbs 27 says. You look here, you're looking
at you. I look at you and it doesn't
matter what I see. Oh my God, it doesn't matter
what I see. That's what I am. I see you. In Proverbs 14, and again in
Proverbs 16, we're told that there is a way that seemeth right
unto a man. A way that seems right to all
men. It just seems right. Now, some
folks say you gotta do this, you gotta do that, you gotta
do the other thing. And some folks wear this kind of costume,
and some folks wear that kind of costume. And some folks don't
wear any costume at all. But they all got something to
do. Because that just seems right. All men walk in that way. They
defend that way. And they oppose anything and
anyone who speaks against that way. There is a way that seemeth
right unto a man. And it's all the same way. Doesn't
matter what name you call it. But the ends thereof are the
way of death. That's exactly what we see here
in these Pharisees in John chapter 4. The Pharisees heard that Jesus
made and baptized more disciples than John. Even at this early
date in our Lord's public ministry, they were obviously plotting
to destroy him. They were jealous of his following. It was tough enough to deal with
John the Baptist. But here is a man who obviously
has greater influence upon more people than John had. This man
seems to be a threat to these folks. They were threatened by
our master's influence. They feared him. Not that they
feared him doing something to them. No, no. Not that they feared
that he might lash out at them and take them by the throat and
whip them. No, no. They feared losing their position,
their power, their prestige, and their influence as religious
leaders of the people, people that everybody admired and followed.
The Lord Jesus was looked upon by these men as a man somehow
beneath them. Turn to John chapter 7. I'll
show you that. Hold your hands there just a second. He was that Nazarene from Galilee. He was from Nazareth in Galilee,
a place from which no prophet could come. Look at John 7, 52. They answered and said unto him,
Art thou also of Galilee? Search and look. ain't nothing
ever come from that side of the tracks. Look at it. Search and look,
for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet. They just knew nothing
good could come from Nazareth. Our Lord wasn't from the right
people. He's from down yonder on the
other side of the tracks. I suppose for some folks, that's
a hard expression to understand the other side of the tracks.
That's because they've never been on the other side of the
tracks. Nothing good could come. We don't
talk to those folks. We don't deal with those folks.
They're not our kind of people. They don't talk like us. They
don't look like us. They're not as smart as we are. They don't go to the right schools.
They don't have the right credentials. They're not educated. That's
what they said concerning our Lord. That's what they said concerning
our Lord. Every now and then, people ask
the wrong questions. I remember years ago, there was
a congregation down in Alabama, a large congregation looking
for a pastor Brother Mahan recommended me, I was just a young man, and
they caught Brother Mahan on one of his good days. They said,
where'd he go to school? And Henry said, I don't know,
I think he went to one of those reformed schools down in North Carolina.
Not reformed schools, reformed school. Don't have the right credentials. just not quite up to snuff, so
you can't be any good. Primarily, they despised his
doctrine. You see, our Lord Jesus openly
exposed, reproved, and rebuked their hypocrisy. their religious
traditions, their customs, their doctrine, their anti-religious
ritualism. He did so by declaring himself
to be the way, the truth, and the life. The only way, the only
truth, and the only life. Look at verses 1 and 2 again.
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. Now here's the third
lesson. Believer's baptism is an ordinance
of divine worship. It is an ordinance of divine
worship for which we are responsible, but only an ordinance of worship. It is an ordinance of worship.
an ordinance of worship for which we are responsible, but only
an ordinance of worship. Baptism has nothing to do with
the salvation of our souls. It's a picture of it. It's got
nothing to do with it. It's a symbol of it, but it's
got nothing to do with it. It's a sign of it, but it's got
nothing to do with it. Now observe the order given here.
First, the disciples were made, and then they were baptized,
not the other way around. You will search the Scriptures
in vain to find anyone ever being baptized as an infant, or anyone
ever being baptized to obtain grace, or anyone obtaining grace
by being baptized. I was just reading this week
a fellow, I was so disappointed to read it. I wasn't surprised,
I was disappointed. He tries to say that sometimes grace comes
with baptism, but we don't believe baptism is regeneration. That's
mighty hard to distinguish in my mind. I just, I can't get
my mind around that. How is it that grace comes with
baptism, but you don't believe in baptismal regeneration? Oh
no, no, no. No one was ever made to obtain
grace by baptism or by eating the Lord's table and drinking,
eating the bread of the Lord's table and drinking the wine.
These are just ordinances by which we worship God. Baptism
is the believer's public confession of faith in Christ, a symbolic
confession by which we demonstrate to the world how that righteousness
is fulfilled by the death, burial, and resurrection of our Redeemer
as our substitute. By baptism, we openly make a
publicly avowed commitment of our faith in and devotion to
the Lord Jesus Christ. And by our baptism, we identify
ourselves with Christ, his gospel, and his people. Turn to Romans
chapter 6. Romans the 6th chapter. Romans chapter 6. Let me turn
this thing off. Verse 3. Know ye not that so many of us,
as we're baptized into Jesus Christ, were baptized into his
death? You mean, when we were baptized,
we were baptized into Christ? Oh yeah. Oh yeah. We are baptized, identifying
ourselves as being people in union with him. Therefore, therefore,
because we're baptized into Christ, Because we're baptized with reference
to his death. Therefore we are buried with
him. Buried. That's how you're baptized. Buried with him by baptism into
death. That like as Christ was raised
up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also
should walk in newness of life. For if we've been planted together
in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness
of his resurrection. Knowing this, knowing this, we're
baptized knowing this. Not baptized on the presumption
of this. We're baptized knowing this,
that our old man is crucified, quite literally, our old man
was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed.
that henceforth we should not serve sin. Notice this too. Jesus himself baptized not, but
his disciples. Now, there are some folks, a
lot of them around here, they spell the word Baptist with a
real big B. And they'll tell you you can't
be baptized unless you're baptized by a Baptist who's baptized by
a Baptist back to John the Baptist. And if you find something messed
up with that Baptist, then you weren't baptized either. They
will tell you that legitimate baptism cannot be performed by
someone who is not himself a recognized man properly suited and properly
qualified to baptize. Well, if ever there was a man
properly suited and properly qualified to baptize, Merle Christ
was that man. And if he had intended to demonstrate
that the baptizer himself has something to do with the baptism,
then certainly he would have baptized, folks. But he refused
to do so, to make it clear to us that the baptism altogether
has to do with the believer and his God and Savior whom he's
confessing. You understand that? Sometimes
folks get to questioning their baptism because, well, the fellow
that baptized me, he proved later not to be a faithful man. Our
Lord's disciples were the ones who did the baptizing. Who were
the ringleaders? Peter, James, John, and there
was one other one who was a ringleader. I'll bet he did a lot of baptizing.
His name was Judas. Our Lord didn't baptize anybody,
but His disciples, because baptism has to do with you confessing
the Savior. Has to do with you identifying
with the Son of God. Has to do with you identifying
with His people and His gospel. Fourth, look at verse 9. Now, this fourth lesson is a
lesson that's evident to almost everyone except those who make
it evident. Religion without Christ makes people even more
proud, more bigoted, and more mean-spirited than they are by
nature. The last line of verse 9, this
Samaritan gal knew well the Jews, especially the Pharisees. She
said, the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. The Lord Jesus said to her, you've
got a pitch of water there. How about giving me something
to drink? And this is what she said to
him. If I didn't have something you want and couldn't get otherwise,
you wouldn't talk to me. You wouldn't say a word to me
because you're a Jew. And Jews don't talk to Samaritans.
The Jews looked upon the Samaritans as a lower class of people, an
inferior race, and despised them. These Jews had the word of God
and the oracles of God. They were a people whom God had
especially distinguished and blessed in his providence. with
all things that would appear outwardly to be blessings, the
Jews were blessed. But they wouldn't think of sharing
that knowledge and the worship of God with the Samaritans. The Jews, particularly the Pharisees,
were a heartless people, totally indifferent to the glory of God
and totally indifferent to the souls of men. They were only
concerned with themselves, with their appearance before men,
with the accolades and applause that men could give, with their
religion, with their people. The proudest, meanest, most dishonest
people I've ever known and dealt with in my life have been religious
people. Now, Bob, I didn't say believers.
Religious people. I guess you have observed that
in this modern political climate, everybody has been talking religion. I mean, everybody. Just a few
years ago, The folks who now call themselves progressives,
the liberal herd, wouldn't mention the name of God in a public forum
for anything under the shining sun. They wouldn't think about
doing so, but now they can hardly say hello without saying, God
bless you, God bless America, God loves you, and I do too. And the conservatives are just
as bad. Just as bad. Everybody's gotten religious.
and they use religion. Matter of fact, you can mark
this down. People who use religion, me,
you, or anybody else, for their personal advantage. People who
use religion to advantage themselves are blasphemous, irreligious,
godless, reprobate people. People who use religion to advance
themselves do not know God. They're just like these Pharisees.
Number five. Oh, what a solemn lesson. Look
in verse three. The light despised will be withdrawn
and turned to darkness. He left Judea. What sad, sad words. He left
Judea. The gospel came among them. The Son of God walked their streets. God came and talked to these
people there, and they wouldn't have him, and he left them. He speaks about the candlesticks,
the seven churches in Revelation, that I'll come and take away
your candlestick, leave you standing there, but
I'll snuff out the light. I've lived long enough to see
it happen. I've lived long enough to see it happen. Light despised
will soon be withdrawn and turned to darkness. I urge you, receive not the grace
of our God in vain. Believe on the Son of God. Be ye reconciled to God. And yet I assure you that God's
will, God's purpose, God's grace, God's glory are things that do
not depend on you or me. Here's the sixth lesson. The
purpose of God is not and cannot be altered. by man's unbelief. Turn to Romans, the 11th chapter. If you go to hell, you'll go
to hell because you will not believe. It'll be your fault. There's no question about that
fact. So a preacher, you tell us all the time that only the
elect are going to be saved. I'll tell you that again in just
a minute. And I'll tell you this as well. God would save you if you would obey His voice. God would save you if you'd call
on Him. God would be merciful to you
if you'd seek Him. God would save you if you'd believe
His Son. If you go to hell, God says you
will eat the fruit of your own way and be filled with your own
devices. But your unbelief and your rebellion,
your despising the counsel of God, will not alter God's purpose,
but only fulfill it. God cast off Israel, here in
Romans chapter 11, and the Spirit of God tells us
plainly that the reason for it is this. They cast off God. God cast off Israel because they
cast off God. Now hear me. Judgment throughout
this book is represented as being just. God's judgment is always
just. He will not punish those who
do not deserve to be punished. His judgment is always just. Men and women are cast off by
God because they cast God off. Yet in the Jews' rejection of
God's gospel, God's kingdom, and God's Son, they brought in
judgment upon themselves and became the very instruments by
which grace was carried to us. That the fullness of the Gentiles
might be brought in. The Jews in Judea would not hear
him. So he left Judea. He left Judea, but he went to
Samaria. The Jews would not believe. So God sent blindness to Israel
and sent light to you. Sent light to the Gentiles. Romans
11, 25. I would not, brethren, that you
should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye be wise in your own conceits,
that blindness in part is happened to Israel until the fullness
of the Gentiles be come in. And when the fullness of the
Gentiles is come in, and so all Israel shall be saved. For it is written, there shall
come out of Zion the deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness
from Jacob. And when Paul gets to the end
of that, in verse 33, folks say, well, how do you explain all
that? Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and the knowledge
of God. How unsearchable are his judgments
and his ways past finding out. For who hath known the mind of
the Lord? Who hath been his counselor? who hath first given to him,
and it shall be recompensed to him again. For of him, and through
him, and to him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Blessed be God, it is still true,
and forever shall be. The foundation of God standeth
sure, having the seal The Lord knoweth them that are his. Now,
let's look at verse four. Let's look at the seventh lesson
for just a few minutes. He must needs go through Samaria. He must needs go through Samaria
because there were some people in this world who must and shall
be saved by His almighty grace. There were some people in Samaria
and there are some people in this world today who must be
saved according to the sovereign unalterable purpose of our great
and glorious God. Here, the text declares, He must. Now remember, we're talking about
God Almighty. He must. How dare you say the
Son of God must do anything? God said that. I didn't. He must. There are some things that he
who is the God-man, our mediator, our substitute, our surety, some
things he must do. He must do some things. Here
he says he must, needs, go through Samaria. And I'm going to show
you four reasons why he must, needs, go through Samaria. This
is not something he might do or might not do, but something
he must do. Why? There was a chosen, blood-bought
sinner down there in Samaria for whom the time of love had
come. In fact, there were a bunch of them. Yes, I am fully aware
he had not yet died. I am... Every now and then somebody
will hear me make a statement, well, he wasn't dead yet, he's
on his way to being crucified. As if I didn't read the Scriptures
too. I am aware of that little bit of history. I'm also aware
of something most folks are not aware of. He is the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. In the mind, will, and purpose
of God, He had already died, and these folks were already
redeemed. He must go through Samaria because there's some
blood-bought sinners there who must now be converted by His
grace. Oh, I love those words. must. He must. He must. Though obliged to do nothing,
as our surety, the Son of God obliged Himself to save His people. And so He must save them. A surety, we're told, is bound
by His Word. He's bound by His Word. A surety
gives his pledge to take care of someone else's necessities,
someone else's responsibilities, someone else's debt. And that
surety's pledge is his bond, and he is bound to it by law
and by honor. And Jesus Christ, God's Son,
gave his pledge as our surety before the world was to save
his people. and they called his name Jesus
for he shall save his people from their sins. The salvation
of chosen sinners is a thing as certain and as much in that
matter of necessity with God our Savior as his own truth and
faithfulness. He must needs go through Samaria. Brother Don if you look at a
map you'll see that the The only direct way to get from Judea
to Jerusalem is to go through Samaria. And that's the reason
why he had to go through Samaria, because Samaria was on the way
to Jerusalem. Well, you're right. Boy, I'm
sorry I missed that. Divine providence calls some
men. to build a city right smack dab
in the middle of the way between Jerusalem and Judea because divine
predestination had ordained a Samaritan woman to be saved on this particular
day. And divine grace brought our
Savior through Samaria. He must needs go through Samaria. He must do so for the saving
of this woman. Now hear me. What are you driving
at, Brother Don? All the works of God's providence
are moved by the sweet, blessed constraint of God's grace for
the saving of God's elect. Everything that has come to pass
must come to pass. for the salvation of his people
and everything that comes to pass tomorrow must come to pass
according to God's purpose of grace in the saving of his people. I'll give you four reasons and
I'll quit. He must needs go through Samaria because of God's purpose. God purposed it before the world
began and so it came to pass. Very frequently I'll get telephone
calls, folks curious about what kind of Baptist we are, and usually
they've heard rumors. And they'll say, you believe
in predestination? And usually they'll say it kind
of quiet, as if, you know, I'd rather folks hear me cussing
than hear me say that word. Yes, we do. We do. Well, what does that mean? It's
not hard to figure out. Predestination. Your destiny, the destiny of
the universe was determined before God created it. Every revolution
of this ball called Earth, God determined and fixed before the
world began. Everything predestined from eternity. Read the eighth chapter of Romans.
Verse 28, listen carefully. We know that all things work
together for good to them that love God. That is not what Romans
8, 28 says. That is not what it says. It
says we know that all things work together for good to them
that love God, to them who are thee called according to his
purpose. That's what Romans 8, 28 says.
And his purpose is the salvation of his people. All things, all
things, sovereignly ruled governed, manipulated,
brought to pass, and disposed of by God for the good of His
people according to the purpose of His grace. Because of divine
predestination, these things come to pass. God is that one
who predestinated all things according to the purpose of His
own will. and works all things according
to that purpose for the glory of his own name. I believe it
was Isaac Watts who wrote this great hymn. Keep silence, all
created things, and wait your maker's nod. My soul stands trembling
while she sings the honors of her God. Life, death, and hell,
and worlds unknown hang on his firm decree. He sets on no precarious
throne, nor borrows leave to be. Chained to his throne, a
volume lies with all the fates of men, with every angel's form
and size drawn by the eternal pen. His providence unfolds the
book and makes his counsel shine. Each opening leaf and every stroke
fulfills some bright design. Second, he must needs go through
Samaria because of a promise God made before the world began. Turn to Titus chapter 1. Divine
predestination was arranged and divine providence moves according
to the promise that God made in eternity to give eternal life
to his elect. Oh yes, the scriptures do teach
the doctrine of election. If there were no election, there'd
be no salvation. People say, well, I don't believe
in election. Well, you don't believe in salvation
then. It's just that simple. I don't believe God chose anybody
to save. Well, you don't believe God's going to save anybody then.
Salvation begins with somebody's choice, and it ain't yours. It's God's. Salvation is by God's
election. We're told plainly that God promised
eternal life to chosen sinners before the world began, Titus
chapter 1. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ
and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of, what
is that word? God's elect. And the acknowledging
of the truth, which is after godliness, in hope of eternal
life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world
began. but hath in due times manifested
his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according
to the commandment of God our Savior." Our Savior said, you
have not chosen me, but I've chosen you. And I thank God that's
the way it is. For if salvation were left to
my choice, I experience enough of hell inside
me every hour of every day to know. If salvation were left
to my choice, I'd choose hell rather than heaven every time. If heaven means bowing to Christ,
and you would too. If salvation were left to my
choice, I'd choose death over life every time, and you would
too. If life means bowing to the Son
of God, if salvation were left to my choice, I'd choose filth
and ungodliness and degradation every time, rather than grace
and glory and eternal life. And you would too. If grace and
glory and eternal life mean bowing to Christ. But the scripture
says, our Savior says, ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen
you and ordained you. Tis not that
I did choose thee, for Lord, that could not be. This heart
would still refuse thee, hast thou not chosen me. Divine predestination
arranged all things from eternity in the purpose of God, according
to the promise of God, And this promise of eternal life to God's
elect was made in a divine covenant before ever the world began.
We trace everything to the covenant. Covenant grace. David said, the Lord hath made
with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things This is
all my salvation and all my desire, though he make it not to grow. Oh, thank God for covenant grace,
a covenant ordered in all things and sure by which our salvation
was fixed. And our Lord Jesus must needs
go through Samaria because there was a center there who'd been
purchased by his blood. And that's what constrains him
in everything he does. His purpose, his promise, his covenant, his
redemption. He must needs go through Samaria
because there's a sinner there for whom the time of love had
come. and she must be called by His grace. You may have been
running from Him for a long time, but if you're His, you're His
and He's going to get you. He's called the Lion of the tribe
of Judah. And I don't guess it's true that
lions always get their way, but this one does. He always prevails. And the lion crouches and waits
and stalks his prey. And the lion stalks his prey
to destroy it and devour it. The Son of God stalks his prey
to save it by omnipotent mercy. And save his own he shall. He
must needs go through Samaria. And he'll turn the world upside
down to save his own. Use things that just seem impossible,
most unlikely. We do things, and rightly so. We preach the gospel by this
means and that, every means God gives us. And you think God's
going to use this. And then suddenly you hear about
something that you had forgotten about. didn't pay any attention
to and God used it. Mr. Spurgeon told a story of
a man who had a son leaving, going off from home, wanted to
get out from under the influence of his father. He was on a ship
and the father wrapped in his goods a Bible, some things he
gave him. And the boy, being the rebel
he was, would get up every morning and turn a page out of the Bible
and use it to wipe his razor off as he shaved. But after a
while, he couldn't help but to read once in a while. And he
got to Isaiah 53, and he tore the page off and started to wipe
his razor, and he read about the Lamb of God. And God got him. He rules this world as He does. He must needs go through Samaria
by the sweet, blessed constraint of His grace toward chosen sinners
like you and me. Amen.