In John 4, 27, we have a sad,
sad, sad picture. It is put here by the inspiration
of God's Spirit for our learning. Our Lord Jesus had just come
on a mission of mercy to Samaria. The Good Shepherd had been seeking
and now has found one of his lost sheep. He has revealed himself
to a woman of ill repute. He converted her by his grace,
revealing himself to her and in her. The disciples had all
been away now, buying some groceries, and they were totally ignorant
of what had taken place. They didn't know anything at
all about the conversation that had taken place between the Lord
and this Samaritan woman. They had no idea what had happened
to her, what he had done for her and in her. But when they
came on the scene, they saw the Lord Jesus talking to a Samaritan
woman in a public place. And they were shocked. They were
shocked immediately. Immediately. They said, this
doesn't look good. This doesn't look good. Look
at verse 27. Upon this came his disciples
and marveled that he talked with the woman. Yet no man said, What
seekest thou, or why talkest thou with her? These men, don't
forget, were believers. They were saved by God's grace.
They were men who were robed in the righteousness of Christ,
men who themselves had experienced the grace of God in the pardon
of their sins. And yet they thought, they dared
to think, that they ought to bring the Son of God before their
bar. and set in judgment over his
actions. Can you imagine such thing? Actually, this brazen audacity
is a terribly common thing. You see, nothing in the world
is more difficult to shake than the grave clothes of self-righteous
legal religion and the taboos that men have invented. Religious
men always have, they do now and they will until time is no
more, invent a multitude of customs, traditions, regulations, and
moral codes by which they nullify the Word of God. That's what
our Lord said, isn't it? He told the Pharisees, you make
void the Word of God by your traditions, teaching for commandments
the doctrines of men. Oh, but they just taught morality.
Surely that's good. No, it's not. But they just taught
being ought to live by good rules. That's surely good. No, it's
not. No, it's not. Because they taught that in doing
so, you gain God's favor. And they set themselves up as
judges of everybody who acted any way different than they did.
These disciples were acting like Pharisees. They were attempting
to set the Son of God in judgment before them by their standard
and by what they had learned from men. They marveled that
he talked with the woman. They marveled for this reason.
The Jews had very strict, well-known laws regarding such behavior.
Their law, not God's law, their law, the law that the Jewish
rabbis and the Jewish scholars and the Jewish doctors and the
Jewish teachers, the law that they added to God's law. Their
law, not God's law, said a man must not multiply discourse with
a woman, even his wife, much less with his neighbor's wife
in public. Their religious leaders said
this, and I'm giving you direct quotes. When a man talks with
a woman, he is the cause of evil to himself and ceases from the
words of the law and will at last go down to hell. Well, how can anybody think such
a thing? It was their custom. It was their tradition. Now,
this was especially considered an evil thing if the conversation
took place in a public place, in a street, or in an inn. This
is what their religious traditions and laws required. Again, a direct
quote. Let no man talk with a woman
in the streets, even with his wife, much less with another
man's wife. The disciples with these things
in the back of their minds, with these religious customs and traditions
in the back of their minds, when they walked up and saw the Son
of God talking to this woman in the middle of the day, in
a public place, at a public well, They presumed something bad was
going on. Their moral uprightness and their
self-righteousness made them sensitive to such things. We've
seen this before. We've seen this before. Again,
they're law taught. Therefore a preacher, a prophet,
a rabbi, a scholar, a doctor of the law, To be seen talking
to a woman was abhorrent. John Gill, who was expert in
these things, gives this quote from their law. This is one of
the six things which are a reproach to a scholar. To talk with a
woman in the streets. And it is even said, let him
not talk with a woman in the street, though she be his wife,
or his sister, or his daughter. And the fact that this woman
was a Samaritan only made things worse. These disciples, they
just, they knew something bad was going on. And yet no man
said, not even Peter, who was never shy about speaking his
mind. No man said, what seekest thou or why talkest thou with
her? They just sat in judgment. I've seen this so many times.
And God forgive me, I've been guilty so many times, and you
too. Several years ago, Brother Herm
Roseboom, who was such a friend to this pastor and this congregation,
had died. His daughter Lisa was here at conference just a few
weeks after he died, and she wanted to talk with me during
lunch, and I was so pushed, we came up and sat down, and she
was talking to me while I was eating. When she started to leave, she
was just bawling. She got up and hugged my neck.
And by the time one of the fellows walked in the office, I thought, no need to try and explain
a thing. It's mind made up. It's mind
made up. That's exactly what happened
with these disciples. Don't you be so guilty. Be careful. I've said this for a reason.
We need to be constantly on guard. Let us not only bridle our tongues,
that's tough enough, but bridle our thoughts. We ought to always
put the best construction possible on the action of others, especially
our brethren. Don't ever presume that you know
what's going on with people because you see. You just don't. You just don't. Don't ever presume you know what
someone's thinking. You don't know what someone's
thinking. It may be that you're not quite as, or that they're
not quite as perverted as you are. John Trapp put it this way,
all ill thoughts and sinister surmises are to be suppressed
and strangled at birth. God give me grace to do that.
All ill thoughts and sinister surmises are to be suppressed
and strangled at birth. This is exactly what our Lord
said in Matthew chapter 7. You want to turn there? You're
familiar with it. Matthew chapter 7. You wonder why folks are always
a little suspicious. Why folks are always a little,
you know, they're so critical, so severe, so hard. Because you
are. This is what our Lord says, Matthew
7. Judge not. that you be not judged. He's
not saying don't make judgment about things. You've got to make
judgment. You're going to have to make judgment about everything I'm saying.
You're making a judgment about what I'm saying right now. What
he's saying is don't you look at somebody and condemn them
without any cause. Don't you do it. Judge not that
you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge,
you shall be judged. And I'm positive he's not saying
with what judgment you judge men, God's going to judge you.
That's not what he's saying. Bless God, that's not what he's
saying. Oh no, he's going to judge us in Christ. He already
did. What's he saying? The way you
deal with other men, that's just the way they deal with you. Don't
you do it. Don't you do it. You shall be
judged with what measure you measure, or meet out things,
it shall be measured to you again. You see, the scriptures teach
us, the gospel of God's grace teaches us that love is not suspicious. It just isn't. I love my wife,
and I'm not suspicious of her. I'm not suspicious. I'm not suspicious
when I see her doing something. I'm not suspicious when I see
her talking to someone. I'm not suspicious when I see her and
my daughter getting together, you know. I know they're planning
something good for me. I'm not suspicious of them. No. Love's not suspicious. Love
doesn't behave itself unseemly. Religion is. Self-righteousness
makes people suspicious. Self-righteousness picks up the
phone and says, did you know what I saw? Self-righteousness
gossips. Love hopes for the best. Love
believes the best. Love says the best. I didn't
come here though today to talk to you about this horrible sin
of self-righteous suspicion and presumption of evil. Let's look
at verses 28 and 29. The woman then left her water
pot. The disciples came and they looked at the master and they
said, what's going on here? And the woman wasn't even interested
in what they were thinking. She left her water pot and went
her way into the city and said to the men, come see a man. Which told me all things ever
I did, is not this the Christ? Now look what happened, verse
30. Then went out of the city, they went out of the city, and
came unto him. The Lord Jesus had achieved his
purpose in coming to Samaria. He always does achieve his purpose. He had come here to save a poor
sinner, and now Syker's sinner has been saved by his grace.
How embarrassed these disciples must have been when they found
out what was going on. I dare say they hung their head
in shame. This poor woman came out a sinner to the well. She came out a fallen child of
Adam, but she went back to the city rejoicing in the second
Adam. She came out to the well concerned
only about mundane carnal things, water, water that would temporarily
quench her thirst. She went back with water, the
water of life springing up in her soul, a fountain of everlasting
life. She came out of the city with
foul uncleanness. She was an unclean, unchaste,
immoral wretch, guilty, beaten down with guilt. Ashamed, confounded,
confused. She went home washed, justified,
and sanctified. Oh, maybe there's some like that
here today. I pray God you will go home this day washed in the
Savior's blood, justified by His grace, sanctified by His
Spirit. She had come down from Sychar,
corrupt. She went back consecrated. She
came out condemned, she went back free. I can almost hear
her sing. Now I am free, there's no condemnation. Jesus gave me his perfect salvation. Come unto me, I heard his sweet
call. I came and he saved me once for
all. She came out of the city of Sychar,
having had five husbands, and none of them was a husband to
her. They just used her as she used them. She went home with
one husband. who was a husband indeed, faithful
and true forever. This Samaritan woman was converted
by the Lord Jesus, by the revelation of Christ to her and in her,
and the evidences of her conversion are obvious. Now I want you to
hear me. You too must be converted. You
must be converted. You must be converted. Salvation
is not getting in the water of baptism. Salvation is not saying
a little prayer. Salvation is not making a decision.
Salvation is not saying, I now believe in Jesus. So what? Who
doesn't? The devils believe and tremble.
The devils have better faith than most Baptists do. They at
least tremble. They believe there's one God.
So do you. That's nothing. You must be converted. This is what our Lord said. Verily
I say unto you, except you be converted and become as little
children, humble, meek, inoffensive, believing, you shall in no case
enter into the kingdom of heaven. The apostle writes in Acts chapter
3, repent therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted
out when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence
of the Lord. Did you ever consider, seriously
consider the miracle of the new birth? It's beautifully reflected
in the miracle of natural birth. I did a little reading on this
this week. Do you ever think about the drastic, drastic changes
that take place as soon as a baby comes out of its mother's womb?
I mean radical, drastic changes. Changes that affect almost everything
about that little child's life. The eyes that had been secluded
in darkness suddenly begin to see light. That body which has
been snuggled in a warm, cozy room of nearly 100 degrees for
nine months suddenly comes into a cold, cold, cold world nearly
30 degrees colder. The umbilical cord through which
its life's blood has been flowing all this time is cut and now
it must live without the attachment. There's a specific valve in the
heart. A valve that, while the child is in the womb, must remain
open or the child dies. As soon as it's born, it's shut
permanently by God's hand. Shut permanently so that the
used blood and the new blood don't get mixed up in the heart.
The lungs fill with air and begin their lifelong function. Dozens,
dozens of changes take place instantly in the nose, the digestive
system, even the skin goes through changes. All of them are necessary
or the child will either die or exist in a very unhealthy
state. As it is in the birth of a child, so it is in the new
birth. There are changes that must and always do take place
in the life of one who is born of God. Now this is so very important. I'm talking to some of you I
know, I don't have any question about it. You have a little religion,
you've been talked into a profession of faith, you got scared and
said I believe in Jesus when your little boy mama or daddy
talked you into it or some preacher or some soul winner, but you've
never known anything about conversion. Now I'm going to tell you something,
except you be converted, you'll perish. Being a member of this
church is not going to do you one bit of good when you stand
before God. Being a member of no church will do you good when
you stand before God. These changes always take place
in the life of one who's born of God. They're changes which
are evident in this Samaritan woman. There are at least four
things in our text about this woman to which I want to direct
your attention in the next couple of minutes. And these are evidences
of true conversion. Evidence is not proof, but it
is evidence. You can have the evidences and
not have conversion. But I want to tell you something,
Lindsay, you can't be converted and not have these changes. Can't
happen. You have the evidences and not
be born of God, but you can't be born of God and not be changed. Joseph Eileen wrote, conversion
is a deep work, a hard work. It goes throughout the man, throughout
the mind, throughout the members, throughout the entire life. And
it's constant. It goes on until we are changed
no more. All right, the first thing that's
obvious in our text is the fact that this woman made a public
confession of Christ. The very first thing a doctor
does when a baby is born in the world is slap that baby on the
bottom. To this day, mama and daddy may
never slap her on the bottom again, but she gets slapped one
time. And the doctor does so for one reason. because that
child's got to get air in its lungs and breathe. And when he
hears the child cries, he's all right. He's all right. The lungs
are working properly. This child's breathing with life
in its soul. The cry of a child means the
child is living. And in the new birth, the first
evidence of life, the first evidence that a soul is breathing before
God is the cry of new life, confessing Christ before me. Now life is
breathing before God. That's exactly what it is. We
commonly call this the cry of faith or prayer. God be merciful
to me the sinner. The evidence of this before men
is the believer's confession of Christ. The scripture we read
earlier says with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. So that
men, observing and hearing the confession that's made, observe
that life is in the soul. This child has been crying to
God, for this child confesses Christ. This woman said to the
men of the city, come see a man which told me all things that
ever I did. Is not this the Christ? What
a simple, simple statement and question. She said, fellas, I've
been down well, and I've met a man I met a man who knows all
about you and me. He told me everything I am and
everything I did. Could it be that this is the
Christ? Come see. Come see. Could it be? Could it be that this man is
the Savior? Come see for yourself. Could
it be that this is the one of whom the scriptures speak? She
doesn't come and say, this man told me all that I did. Now you
need to know if I failed him, you come see him. I'll tell you
who he is. No, no. She says, let me tell you what it did for
me. Maybe this is him. Maybe. As the Lord had created an interest
in her, she stirs up an interest in some others. She says, is
not this the Christ? Salvation does not come by confessing
Christ before men. Don't ever get that notion. This
day people, you know, they want you to walk down an aisle and
stand up and say, this is confessing Christ. That's playing religion
and playing games, preachers, toying with your souls is what
that is. Salvation doesn't come by confessing Christ before men.
But don't ever imagine that a public confession of Christ is unnecessary.
Our Lord tells us plainly in Matthew 10. Turn over there if
you will. Matthew 10 verse 32. Whosoever therefore will confess
me before men, him will I confess before my Father which is in
heaven. But whosoever shall deny me, now Bobby this is not denying
me saying I don't believe in Jesus, that's not it. Whosoever
shall refuse to confess me, just doesn't confess me, keeps his
mouth shut, doesn't identify with me, doesn't take up his
cross and follow me. Him will I also deny. I refuse to confess you before
my Father which is in heaven." Now the believer's confession
of faith in Christ is done once by the solemn ordinance of believer's
baptism. Romans chapter 6 talks about
it very plainly. Believers, by the waters of baptism,
identify themselves with Christ and his gospel and the death,
burial, and resurrection symbolized in that ordinance of baptism
declaring, I now am his to walk with him in the newness of life.
And if it means anything, Gary, they go out of here and say,
I'm his. And they walk with him in the newness of life. Things
are different now. Things are different now. Our
confession of Christ is also a verbal thing. Now, I'm not
talking about some show of piety. I'm not talking about walking
around with, you know, wrinkled up tracts hanging out of your
pocket and a big Bible in your hand and painting Jesus saves
on rocks in the park. I'm not talking about that silly
nonsense. I'm talking about the natural, that's a bad word isn't
it, supernatural result of God's grace in the heart. Grace experience. Christ revealed makes us love
Him. Now I'm going to tell you something.
I don't talk much about our love for Him because it's not worth
talking about. But there's no such thing as a saved sinner
who doesn't love the Son of God. No such thing. Love Him. Love
Him. That's not talking about some
Emotion, passion, some silly schoolgirl kind of thing. That's
not love. That's at best eroticism. That's not love. No, no. Love
is commitment. Just flat out commitment. Commitment. And every believer
does. What's the book say? We love
him because he first loved us. If you ever meet him, you'll
love him. And you know what I've discovered over the years? It's
not at all hard to get somebody to talk about folks they love. You don't have a tough time with
that. When I'm traveling, Shelby's not with me. I talk about her
all the time. I sometimes get a little embarrassed. I talk about her
just incessantly. How come? Because I love her.
And I don't talk bad about her. I talk good about her. If you
haven't Been around in the last 10-15 minutes, wait until that
service is over, and she'll be talking to you about somebody.
I guarantee you, somebody that shines more than I do anymore.
That little grandbaby. Yeah, sure. Why? Because she
loves her. And believers talk about the
Savior. They talk good about Him. Now
look at this next thing. This woman's conversion was more
than lip service. It was more than a confession
of Christ, it was a confession Enforced and backed up by positive
change Verse 28 the woman left her water pot She now had something better
in her hands she had a greater concern in her heart to look
after Having now the water of life in her soul. She became
oblivious now listen she became oblivious to that which others
thought was absolutely necessary and And to that which she thought,
just a little while earlier, was absolutely necessary, she
left her water pot. She left it. When the Lord called
the disciples, what did the book say? They left their nets. When
the Lord came to Matthew, what did he do? He left his receipt
of customs. What did he do? They leave all
and follow him. How come? Because now he's all.
Brother Mahan in his commentary had such a good comment. Let
me read it to you. She had come to the well with one thing on
her mind, a pot of water. But now she had met Christ, tasted
the living water, and was so taken up with him that she not
only forgot the water she'd come for, but she left even her water
pot. Once there is a clear knowledge
of Christ in the heart, Once he is revealed, once he is known,
once he is received, once he is believed as Lord and Savior,
the things of this world are just unimportant, even the necessary
things. What did Brother Simpson preach
on here a few weeks ago? One thing, oh God, make us to
see it. One thing is needful. One thing. I read the other day, one of
the queens in England, one of the early ones, she said, I would
give everything I have for just one more breath. Because she knew she was about
to take her last one, and nothing else was needful. Nothing. One thing is needful. Christ. That's all. Here's another evidence
of her conversion. This woman, once she met the
Savior, showed a personal concern for others. Up to this point,
she had no interest in what good she could do for anyone. All
her life long she had spent her energies and her cares and her
thoughts about gratifying her lust. Using others and being
used of others. Now for the first time in her
life she was concerned about the immortal souls of men. About
doing them good. Her first thought seems to have
been, I've got to tell others about him. I've got to make him
know. Oh, if the men in the city could
just know who he is, if they could just meet him, oh, what
a change it'd make in them and in us all. Immediately the woman left the
water pot, went into the city, and said to the men, come see
a man which told me all things ever I did. Is not this the Christ?
Let me tell you a story, a true story. Back in 1866, as far as anyone in history knows,
no one had ever gone to Korea with the gospel of God's grace.
That Asian land was still engulfed in even greater darkness than
it is today. But the gospel first came to that land this way. There
was a Welshman in 1866 who was working in China. His name was
Robert J. Thomas. He was working as a co-porter. Now, for you who don't know,
that's a book and Bible distributor, someone who just goes around
giving out good literature, selling it at a very nominal fee, whatever.
He was working for the Scottish Bible Society, but he had a great
burden to carry the gospel to Korea and had no opportunity,
until one day he found out there was an American ship headed to
northern Korea, to Pyongyang, I believe is the way you pronounce
the name of the city. And he boarded that American ship, General
Sherman was the ship, and he sailed for Korea. As the ship
came near the harbor, the Koreans met the ship in a fierce battle.
The ship was burned. The crew and all who were on
the ship were killed out at sea. But as the ship and all the passengers
and crew were sinking down, Somehow, in God's good providence, Robert
Thomas managed to get to shore. He struggled up the shore, carrying
in his hands all the books he could carry in whatever manner
he had them. And as he staggered up on the
shore, nearly drowned, the Koreans met him and clubbed him to death. as he thrust the Bibles into
their hands. Why? Why? Why would this woman
risk going back to those men who knew her all too well and
tell them about the Christ? Because the love of Christ constraineth
us. That's why. We met the Master. You got to know Him. Oh, you
got to know Him. Are you going to perish in your
sins? You've got to know Him. Are you going to hell? You've
got to know Him. Are there no hope for your soul? He can make
you whole. Look what it did for me. There's one more thing here.
This same sinner went to those she knew, not coldly and indifferently. Oh no, I hear fellas sometimes
say, I don't care whether you believe this or not. Oh my God,
I care if you believe. My heart breaks for your soul.
You must believe or perish. This woman went back to Samaria
or to Sycra with a passionate call. She said, come, come. She didn't say, go see him. She
said, come on, I'll take you. Come see a man who told me all
things ever I did. Is not this the Christ? Come
and see. Come and see. Oh God help you
now to come. And you too will drink of the
water of life. Really. Amen. All right, let's
have a heal.