I wonder what will it take to
bring you to Christ. Many of you have heard the Gospel
for years, some of you all your lives. You've been the subject
and still are the subjects of many, many prayers. Your parents,
this congregation, this pastor, Call your name before God earnestly. And yet you're lost. I often ask myself this question
as I look into your faces sitting here, getting ready, trying to
prepare to preach to you. What will it take to bring you
to Christ? Today, I want to answer that
question by showing you how our Lord brought a sinner to himself.
here in John chapter 4, verses 1 through 26. I know, I know,
conversion is the work of God alone. I hope you could sing from your
heart, pass me not, O gentle Savior. Hear my humble cry. While on others thou art calling,
do not pass me by. Because unless God turns you,
you will not turn to Him. Unless God comes to you, you
will not come to Him. So I pray, O Spirit of God, visit
us again this day and graciously bring sinners to Christ. Do what only you can do and cause
us this hour to be brought to Him. Now I want you to hold your
Bibles open in John chapter 4, and I'll show you what it'll
take for you to be saved. When I finish preaching, there'll
be a whole lot more room for more preaching, a whole lot more
room for preaching from this passage and on this subject.
But I want to show you from these verses of Scripture five things
that are absolutely necessary for you to be saved, five things
necessary for you to come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Here's
the first one. You will never come to Christ. It just won't happen. It won't
happen. Until the Lord Jesus Christ Himself
crosses your path. The only way God ever saves a
sinner is to meet the sinner head on. He's got to cross your
path. You see, you're running as fast
as you can to hell. You're running as fast as you
can away from God. And the only way you will ever
come to Him Because if he steps in your way, puts himself in
your life, intervenes in your affairs, and stops you in your
mad rush to destruction. Here in verse 1, When therefore
the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and
baptized more disciples than John, If it had been so, so what? But these fellows were religious
competitors, you know. They counted noses and they had
their tote boards and they ran competitions. They had Sunday
school contests and they had church attendance contests and
they had Sunday school bus drives. They had all the foolishness
that goes on in religion. Oh, he's got more folks coming
than we do. What are we going to do? And the Lord just left
them. Just left them. Though Jesus
baptized not, but his disciples, because he wanted us to understand
there's no significance in who does the baptizing, only in the
one being baptized and why he's being baptized. But look at these
words. He left Judea. Oh, what a word. He left. Looking at you, Daniel, you've
been listening to your dad preach the gospel since before you were
born. Oh, but my God, these folks had
had His Word. He walked in their streets, performed
miracles before them. He who is God's salvation, He
who is the light of the world, lit up their streets. And they
clung to their religion and their tradition and their refuge of
lies and their self-righteousness. And he left them. Left them. You hear me and be warned. Listen
to this preacher. God help you to hear me. If you
trifle with the gospel of God's grace, You trifle with Jesus
Christ. You trifle with the things of
God. You are trifling with everlasting
destruction. If God ever leaves you to yourself,
you're left. If God ever leaves you to yourself,
you're left to destruction. You're as sure of hell as if
you were already there. He said Ephraim is joined to
his idols. Leave him alone. God said to
his prophet, don't pray for those people, I won't hear you. Don't
speak their name to me, I won't hear you. No need talking to
me about them, I've left them. I recall years ago when I was
just a young man, I was in college. I heard a sermon by Brother Ralph
Barnard. He was telling a story, a true
story. He was preaching up in Detroit,
Michigan back in the early 50s, big citywide campaign when they
had those things. He'd been preaching, and for
some reason he said, I don't know whether God told me to do
it or the devil told me to do it, or somebody told me to do
it. He said, I got done preaching while we were singing the closing
hymn. I saw a young lady sitting right down in the middle, just
right down the front. She just seemed to be terribly,
terribly affected by the message. And I walked down to speak to
her, see if I could be of some help to her other than what I'd
already said. And as I walked over to put my hand out to her,
he said, that young lady screamed to the top of her voice, my God,
preacher, for Christ's sake, leave me alone. Everything got real quiet. And
he said, all right, honey, for Christ's sake, I'll leave you
alone. She got in her car, headed down the road, half a block away.
She was left alone forever, left alone forever. The Son of God
left Judea. Oh, may he never leave you to
yourself. But I assure you this, man's
unbelief will not affect in any way, will not alter in any way,
will not change in any way the purpose of God Almighty. The
Apostle Paul, having declared how the Jews believed not, raised
the question that was sure to be raised, well, what if some
did not believe? What if you don't believe? Most
preachers, most churches, most religion, most doctrine has the
idea that somehow God's purpose, God's eternal decree, God's intention,
God's work, somehow depends upon the will or the consent or the
permission of man. And so Paul raises the question.
No, the Holy Spirit raised the question. Paul just wrote it
down. Well, what if some believe not? What if you don't believe?
What if you don't? Shall their unbelief make the
faith, the faithfulness of God without effect? You can bet your
life it won't. That's just exactly what I said.
God forbid. Oh, no, no, no. You see, you may not trust Christ. I don't know. You may never come
to Him. I don't know. But I know this,
somebody will. Somebody will. There is a remnant,
according to the election of grace, who shall be saved. At the appointed time of love,
the Lord Jesus Christ will come to the sinner, chosen and redeemed
by Him, and He will call them by His grace. Look at verse 4.
And he must needs go through Samaria. At the appointed time, the good
shepherd comes seeking his lost sheep. Verse 5. Then cometh he
to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near the parcel
of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well
was there, Jesus therefore being wearied with his journey. He
was a man, you know. He's a man. It was only 12 o'clock,
he was already tired. He was a man just like us, all
things. He was just like us, sin alone
accepted. And sat thus on the well. It
was about the sixth hour, 12 o'clock. Now this looks like
just a chance meeting. Looks like a lucky break. Everybody would rather worship
luck, fate, chance, or free will than worship God. That's the
nature of man. I was telling the manager of services, Milton
won't mind me telling you this, he didn't do it. He called the
other day and told me, said the paper down here finally printed
one of my articles I'd written for him. And he said, Don, they
printed it just exactly like I gave it to them, except for
the title. He said the title I gave to the
article was Christ is the sinner's friend. That article came out
yesterday in 72-point boldface type, half a page on the paper,
said, Lucky for us, Jesus is the sinner's friend. Reverend
Milton Howard, he said, I wanted to have... Luck's got nothing to do with
anything. We don't worship our lucky stars. We worship God who names the
stars. You understand the difference?
This was no chance happening. This parcel of ground was bought
by Jacob and the well was dug by Jacob hundreds of years before
this because Jacob wanted the ground and wanted to dig the
well. But it wasn't bought by Jacob and it wasn't dug by Jacob
for that reason alone. Not at all. More importantly,
it was bought and the well was dug because God Almighty had
appointed a time from eternity and a place where the master
must come to meet the ruined sinner, whom he would save by
his grace. And that place was Jacob's well. Our Lord said, Lindsay quoted
it earlier, I am sought of them that ask not for me. I'm found
of them that sought me not. I said, behold me, behold me
unto a nation that was not called by my name. The Son of God came
here to seek a sinner given to him before the world was and
the appointed time had come. Divine Providence had arranged
the meeting. Divine Providence had arranged
for this needy sinner and the mighty Savior to be at the well
at the same time. It's interesting that John was
inspired to write, she came to the well and it was about the
sixth hour. That's why he threw that in.
Because not many folks would come out in the heat of the day
at noontime or a little after to draw water out of a well.
Most folks would be out there early in the morning drawing
water, or late in the evening drawing water, but not at noontime. This woman came to the well at
noontime because she was a woman with a name. She had a reputation. Nobody much talked to her about
things, but she understood and realized that her behavior had
made her the object of great scorn. And she came here at this
time because she expected to see no one at the well on this
particular occasion. But notice this too, the Lord
Jesus arranged to be there alone with that woman, the object of
his mercy, love, and grace. In verse 8, this woman came to
draw water and Jesus said to her, give me to drink. And then
he says, for his disciples were going away into the city to buy
meat. He sent them to buy meat, not
to beg for it. Anytime you see churches and
religious organizations out begging for money with their little buckets
and their little tin cups and their hats, don't even think
about giving a dime. That's not God's cause. Our Lord
never sent His people in this world to beg for anything. Not
his church, not his preachers, nobody who represents him. He's
the king of glory. He doesn't live on alms, neither
do his people. He sent his disciples to buy
meat, to buy it at a fair price. But notice here, the reason for
it was in order that he be alone with the woman. I read this text
as I was preparing this message and immediately Hebrews 2.14
came to my mind. Therefore, behold, I will allure
her and bring her into the wilderness and speak to her heart." When God Almighty intends to
be gracious to a sinner, when God Almighty intends to bring
a sinner to His Son, He arranges to get the sinner alone with
His Son and His Son alone with the sinner. Now preachers and
churches and religion and mommy and daddy will do everything
they can to prevent that. They'll do everything they can
to get in the way somehow. Oh, but if you would ever meet
the master, time's going to come when he's
going to stand you right in front of him stark naked. And that's not pleasant at first. Oh no. Oh no. This Samaritan
woman would never have come to Christ had he not first come
to her, had he not crossed her path. And you will never come
to him unless he crosses your path, steps in your way, and
makes you to stand before him alone. Here's the second thing. The Lord created an interest
in this woman's heart. He asked her for a drink of water
because he was thirsty, yes. But the thirst he had, as we
read the chapter earlier, we're clearly given this indication.
The thirst he had was not a thirst after the water that was in that
well, though that was certainly true. But there was a deep, deep
thirst in his soul that the water of Jacob's well could never quench.
It was a thirst for her soul that he wanted quenched. His
request was designed to get her interest and her attention in
himself. And the woman answered the request with a kind of smart-mouthed,
rude retort. She said, You're a Jew. I'm a Samaritan. And I know good
and doggone well you wouldn't have anything to do with me if
you didn't need me. What are you doing asking me
for water? How dare you ask me, a Samaritan, for something to
drink? But our Lord is long-suffering toward his elect. Ah, Rex, he put up with our insults
for years, didn't he? He's long-suffering. Not willing
that any of his elect should perish. And so he ignored her
insult and pursued her heart. Look at verse 10. Jesus answered and said unto
her, If thou knewest the gift of God. Oh, if only you knew. If only you knew. See, the reason you won't come
to Christ is because you don't know Him. If only you knew the
gift of God. Salvation, eternal life, Jesus
Christ is the gift of God. Not the offer of God, not the
opportunity of God, not the invitation of God, not the pretty little
present God has wrapped up and wants you to take if you pretty
please will. The gift of God. The wages of sin is death. The
gift of God is eternal life. This is a gift which God must
perform in you in order to give to you. It's the gift of God. If only you knew the gift of
God and who it is. The Master says, if you knew
what I've got to give and you knew who I am, You would ask of me, and I would give you to drink. Lindsay, there's a volume of
theology in that verse. I mean a volume, a big volume. Our Lord Jesus tells this woman,
if you knew these things, you would ask of me, because asking
proceeds faith. or proceeds from knowing rather,
it is followed by, asking is that which follows knowing. Our
faith in Him is the result of something He makes known to us.
Before we ask, God has to deal with us in conviction and revelation.
Notice Christ deals with this woman, not on the basis of what,
but on the basis of who. I wish the world would hear this,
especially our refined imaginary theologians. Doctrine no more
saves than doing does. It's Christ that saves. It's
Christ. If you knew who it was, if you
knew who it was, you would ask. And salvation is to be had for
the asking. All you got to do is ask. That's all. All you got to do
is ask. Just ask. God be merciful to
me, the sinner. You got it. He went down to his
house justified. Just ask, Lord, I would be made
whole. Go your way. You got it. What
is it you want? Oh Lord, that I may receive my
sight. Go your way, your faith made you whole. You mean salvation
is that near? This is what the book says, the
word is nigh thee, even in thy heart and in thy mouth, that
if thou shalt confess with the Lord Jesus and believe in thine
heart, thou shalt be saved. The Lord Jesus Christ is willing
to pour out the living water of grace, salvation, and eternal
life to every needy sinner who asks of Him with overflowing
superabundance. Ask, you shall receive. Seek,
you shall find. Knock, it shall be opened to
you. But you've got to do the asking,
and you've got to do the seeking, and you've got to do the knocking. Gary, it's impossible for you
to give those boys faith in Christ. Impossible for you to talk them
into making the ask, and making the knock, and making the seeking. The only one who can cause you
to ask and knock and seek is Him who comes to seek and to
save that which is lost. But this is personal business.
Faith is not a family effort. Faith is not a denominational
effort. Faith is not something the church does for you. Faith
in Christ is something God works in you, and you must exercise
personally for yourself. All right, read on. Our Lord Jesus Christ, having
created an interest in this woman, an interest in Himself, in her
heart, declares plainly that all men by nature are ignorant
of all things spiritually. And then He points her to the
well. That well. I read the other day
that it was 100 feet deep, 9 feet in diameter. Pretty good-sized
well. been there for hundreds of years. Thousands and thousands
and thousands of folks had come and drawn water and watered their
cattle and watered their families and bathed with it. And our Lord
Jesus said to that woman, look at this, whosoever drinketh of
this water shall thirst again. With the finger of God, He writes
across all the wells of this world, all of them, all of them,
whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again. I know it so. I know it so. Materialism, wealth, and position,
fame, honor, Respectability, religion, philosophy, lust, pleasure,
drunkenness, rioting, reveling, adultery, fornication, all of
them is the same thing. They're all the same thing. This woman here, she was engaged
in her perversity. The Pharisees were equally engaged
in their perversity. You see, it doesn't matter what
you seek in this world or which well you drink from. It's all
the same thing. It'll never give you any satisfaction.
It won't happen. There's absolutely no difference.
Man, you talk about leveling us. This levels us. There's absolutely
no difference. between pursuing material lust
and pursuing sensual lust. Absolutely no difference. None
at all. None at all. All of them are
to walk after the course of this world, after the lust of our
flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind.
Now, believers have a responsibility. You work out there at Ed Martin,
it's your responsibility as a believer to be the best you can possibly
be in the job God put you in. That's altogether proper. But
to pursue name, recognition, fame, and fortune for Bill Raleigh
and his family is just as wicked as pursuing a bottle every Saturday
night. Just as wicked. After all these things do the
Gentiles seek from wells that will never satisfy. I don't care
how much you get of what you pursue. No satisfaction. Oh, no. But that person who is
born of God, who drinks of the water from that river that flows
from the throne of God, that person, who has Christ and the
grace of God and the Spirit of God and the light and life of
God in his soul, never thirst again. He has all. Do I tell the truth? Do I tell
the truth? Christ is it. All right, thirdly,
in verses 15 through 18, you will never come to Christ until
he exposes your sin. This old salty gal here, I'm
sure she imagined that this Samaritan and probably most other people,
maybe a few intimate acquaintances, but most people didn't have any
idea of what was going on in her life. She had it well hidden. It was something, you know, you
didn't talk about every day. And so the master said to her,
he said, Go get your husband. Well, I don't have a husband.
I know you don't, but you live with one fellow. And you've lived
with five others just like you. You just shacked up one fellow
after another, after another, after another. Where have you
said you have no husband? And this gal, she, it's interesting
what she did. She tried her best when the light
fell on her to turn the light in another direction. Turn it
any way. Not here. Not here. Let's talk
about something else. Let's get off this subject. He
had fired his barbed arrow right at her heart, and she tried to
break the barb off. And how did she do it? Talking
about religion. She had been a smart aleck. She'd
been rude, now she begins to speak respectfully. She says,
verse 19, Sir, I perceive you're a prophet. Oh, I was mistaken
about you. Our fathers worshipped in this
mountain. And you folks, you Jews, you
say in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. You
see, immediately she changes her tone. She wanted to get away
from the subject of her immoral, lascivious, perverse behavior. Her conscience was picked, and
she wanted to soothe her conscience. And the way men do that is with
religion, by talking about religion in general terms, in historic
terms, in doctrinal terms, in traditional terms, in family
terms, in any terms except me and God. And I'm going to tell
you something. That's a refuge from which few
men are ever shaken. But our Lord would not be led
into a trap. He was far more concerned about
her soul than he was in proving a point. So he did what only
he can do. And this too he must do for you.
He destroyed her refuge. Exactly what it is. He said,
here's this old gal. She's, it's amazing. She has less respectability than
a prostitute. She just plays with one fellow
or another. And she's standing before the
Son of God, defending religion. We're Calvinists. You fellas
are Arminians. We're Arminians. You fellas are Calvinists. I
believe in election, my father did. What stupidity! What arrogance! What self-righteousness! This woman was seeking a refuge.
And the Lord just started tearing the boards down.
Look what it says. Verses 21 and following. The Lord Jesus said, Believe
me, woman. Woman, believe me. Believe me. He didn't shake his finger in
her face and say, well, you are a minute and it's all going to
hell. That's not the way you witness to folks. That's the
way you offend people needlessly. What did he do? He said, believe
me, the hour is coming when you shall neither in this mountain
nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father. You don't know what
you worship. We know what we worship, salvations
of the Jews. And the hour comes and now is
when true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and
in truth. For the Father seeketh such to
worship Him. God's Spirit, they that worship
Him, must worship Him in spirit and in truth. And those words
need to be expounded in this day of bumper sticker trinket
religion. Somebody wrote to me the other
day wanting to know if they could send all of y'all a free God
Loves You pin. I'll give you next week the letter
I wrote to him. Such nonsense. Such nonsense. Such foolishness. Such idolatry. God is the awesome
Spirit. If you'll worship Him, you've
got to worship Him in spirit, in your heart, sincerely, by
His Spirit, in truth, as He's revealed Himself in His Son. Now then, one more thing. Before a sinner comes to Christ,
he's just got to make himself known to you. Look at verse 25. The woman said to him, I know
that Messiah comes, which is called Christ. When he is come,
he'll tell us all things. And Jesus said to her, I that
speak unto thee am he. And that's salvation. That's
what it is. It's Christ making himself known
to you and in you by his almighty power and grace. This is life
eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God. and
Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. Amen.