Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nybert. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Now here's our pastor, Todd Nybert. I'm going to read a verse of
scripture that is the Lord's reply to the woman of Samaria. She said in verse nine, then
saith, this is John chapter four, verse nine, then saith the woman
of Samaria, 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 the Lord answers her in a
way that I'm sure she was not expecting. Let's listen to the
Lord's answer. 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 wouldest have asked of him, and
he would have given thee living water. I've entitled this message,
If You Knew, You'd Ask, and He Would Give. If you knew, you
would ask, and He would give." Now, I suppose that the verse
of Scripture that I just read, there's never been a sermon preached
that would do this passage justice, and I'm sure that after I finish,
that fact will not have changed. But pray for me and pray for
yourself as I attempt to bring this message. If you knew, you'd ask, and he would. Now, this answer begins with
the word if. A conjunctional, conditional
word. If. If you knew, then you would. It's a conditional conjunction. If you knew. If you do not know,
you will not ask. If you do, you will ask. If you knew. Now, the Lord knows
at this time that this woman does not know when he says, if
you knew. But I'm so thankful for the way
he dealt with this woman. And I pray that this is the way
he deals with me and this is the way he deals with you. If
you knew. Now, Did you know that we're not saved
by our knowledge, but we're not saved apart from knowledge? Knowledge is absolutely necessary. Now, I'm not saved by me knowing
something. I'm saved because Christ saved
me. But he saved me, I know that.
I think of what the Lord said in John 8, verse 32, you shall
know the truth. There you go. Somebody says,
can we really know the truth? Well, the Lord says we can. You
shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. It's
not your knowledge of the truth that makes you free, but the
truth himself. He said, I am the truth, and
he is the one who makes you free, if the Son shall make you free.
You shall be free indeed. Now, while our knowledge of the
truth does not save us, all who are saved know the truth. In John chapter 17, verse 3,
the Lord said, This is eternal life, that they might know Thee,
the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. Paul said in 2 Timothy 1.12,
I know whom I have believed. And I'm persuaded that he is
able to keep that which I've committed to him against that
day. I love Romans 8.28, and we know This is not conjecture. This
is not a good guess. And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
call according to his purpose. Paul, how do you know that? How
do you know that everything is working together for good to
them that love God and to them who are called according to His
purpose? And here's the answer to that question, because I know
the character of God. This lines up with the character
of God. Those who believe God know God. They know His character. Now the Lord says to this woman,
if you knew. the gift of God. You know, the
natural man just does not know. He doesn't under, he believes
in God. Somebody says, I'm an atheist. Well, you weren't always
an atheist. You began believing in God and
for whatever reason you don't now, but it hadn't always been
that way. Atheism is a blind leap into
the dark. You weren't always an atheist.
You believed in the existence of God, but you and I by nature
are blind to the character of God. Logic tells us God must
have created the universe. The creation tells us an all-powerful
being created this, but we can't know his character apart from
revelation. We're all ignorant of God. And that's what he says to this
woman, if you knew. The fact of the matter is you
don't, but if you did. I think of what Paul said in
Romans chapter 10, and this is where we're all ignorant. He
speaks of the Jews. He says, I bear them record,
they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge, for
they being ignorant of God's righteousness. Now this is where
every natural man falls short. We have an ignorance of the righteous
character of God. That's why men sit in judgment
on God. That's why they say, how can
a loving God let this happen and how can this take place if
there really is a God? They're judging God. Or they
hear, The gospel about how God elected a people and Christ died
for the elect and accomplished their salvation, they say, how
could that be fair? They stand in judgment of God because they're
ignorant of God's righteousness. You see, if I have an understanding
of God's righteousness, I see that I'm a sinner and I have
no claims on God. Now here's what these people
do that are ignorant of God's righteous character. They, being
ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish
their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the
righteousness of God. If you knew. No natural man knows. They're blind to the character
of God. But if you did know, now, thank God he does make himself
known to people. And when he makes himself known,
you know God. You know his character. You know his person. If you knew,
and the only way you'll know is if he makes himself known.
You remember when the Lord said to Peter, after Peter's bold
confession, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. He
said, blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah. Flesh and blood didn't
reveal this to you, but my Father, which is in heaven. And he's
getting ready to make himself known to this woman. He identifies
himself as the Christ. He said, with regard to himself,
I that speak unto thee am he. I am the Christ. He's gonna make
himself known. But as yet, she does not know. If you knew the gift of God, no man by nature understands
salvation being a gift, if you knew the gift of God. I don't
want to make knowledge a savior because it's not. Your knowledge
won't save you. But it's still said in the scriptures
that salvation is coming to the knowledge of the truth. And faith
is the faith of God's elect, the acknowledging of the truth,
which is after godliness. Repentance, if God perventure
will grant them repentance to the acknowledgement of the truth.
Repentance, you change your mind. You didn't believe the truth
and now you do. There is no salvation apart from the truth. Now, he
says, if you knew the gift of God, God so loved the world,
that He gave His only begotten Son. He that spared not His own
Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with
Him also freely give us all things? Now, God's gift is like no human
gift. God's gift is with no strings
attached. No strings attached. This is
the only gift that has no strings attached. Now, you may think,
well, I give gifts without any strings attached. I give gifts
to my children, and I don't have any strings attached. Yeah, they're
your children, too. Only God gives His gift with
no strings attached. And this is just impossible for
the natural man to comprehend. We naturally think we earn salvation
by what we do, by what we accept, but that's not the way it works.
Salvation is a gift. The wages of sin are death, but
the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
And the Lord Jesus is actually spoken of in 2 Corinthians 9
and 15 as the unspeakable gift. He is such a glorious gift that
the vehicle of language can never describe Him. He's the unspeakable
gift of God. His righteousness, in Romans
5, verse 17, is called the gift of righteousness. If you're righteous
before God, there's not something you did to make yourself that
way. It's because he gave you this precious gift for Christ's
sake. You say, Christ took you. If
you're righteous, it's because Christ took your sins and made
them his own and paid for them and gave you his righteousness
so that it actually belongs to you. The gift of righteousness. Now, here's what all this means.
Ephesians chapter 2 verses 8 and 9, for by grace are you saved,
through faith, and that not of yourselves, it's the gift of
God, not of works, lest any man should boast. If salvation's
God's gift, and it is, if his son is his gift, and he is, if
righteousness is his gift, I mean every aspect of salvation is
his gift. If you have faith, it's because he gave it to you.
If you have a new heart, he said a new heart also will I give
you. If you have repentance, that's the gift of God. If you
have love to him, that's the gift of God. Every aspect of
salvation is the gift of God. And here's what that means, not
of works. God giving you something isn't
him responding to anything that you or I do. If God's gift comes
as a response to what we do, salvation is by works. He saved
us, he called us with a holy calling, 2 Timothy 1.9, not according
to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which
were given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. If you knew the gift of God,
Jesus Christ and everything regarding his salvation is the free gift
of God. And he goes on to say to this
woman, if you knew she didn't as of yet, she will, because
he's going to make himself known. But he says this, if you knew
the gift of God, and if you knew who it is that saith to thee,
give me to drink. Not only must I know the gift,
I must know the giver of the gift. If you knew who it was
that was speaking to you, if you did, you'd ask. Now I want to ask you a question.
Do you know who Jesus Christ of Nazareth is? I didn't ask you if you have
a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I hope you do. I hope I do. But when preachers
make a big issue of your personal relationship with Jesus Christ,
I know what we'll do. We'll start examining our relationship,
and we'll start looking within, and we'll start looking to our
own subjective feelings and experiences to try to see if we measure up.
You don't read anything in the Bible that term a personal relationship
with Jesus Christ. Now, if you know him, you love
him. There is a relationship, but
there's emphasis that preachers put on, do you have a personal
relationship with Jesus Christ? Let me ask you another question.
Do you know who he is? Let me tell you who he is according
to the scriptures. He's God. He's the Creator. He's the only
Savior of sinners. Colossians chapter 2 verse 9
says, In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead in a
body. He said, He that has seen Me
has seen the Father. Do you know who Jesus Christ
is? He's the God-man. He's the creator. He's the one who controls everything
and everybody. He's the Lord. He's my Lord and
He's your Lord. Somebody says He's not my Lord.
Well, He is, you just don't know it. Scripture says He's Lord
both of the dead and the living. If you don't know Him, He's still
your Lord because He is the Lord. He's the Lord of glory. Do you know who He is? He's God manifest in the flesh. Now, if you know who He is, you'll
ask. you'll know there isn't anything
else to do. You'll ask. I think of what is said of Abraham. He was fully persuaded that what
God had promised, he was able also to do. Paul said, he's able
to keep that which I've committed to him against that day. You
see, you ask him when you know he's the only one that has the
ability to give you what you're asking for. There is no other
source. If you knew the gift of God,
And who it is, who I am, that is speaking to you, who it is
that saith to you, give me to drink, you would have asked of
him, and he would have given thee living water. water?" You'd
ask. Now, I love the King James Version. I preach from the King James
Version. I don't say that the King James
Version is literally inspired. It's a translation. It's only
the Greek and Hebrew that are inspired, but I love the King
James Version. And this word, ask, is translated
by several other words in the King James Version that give
us some idea of what it means to ask. If you would have known
the gift of God, and who it is that saith unto thee, give me
a drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given
thee living water. Now this word ask is also translated
beg. You know when you beg? When you
don't have anything to pay. You don't have anything to bring
to the table. You're reduced to begging because you know you
cannot pay. Same word, it's translated beg.
It's translated crave. You crave him. You desire him. It's translated desire. It's
translated, require. Now listen to this. This is what
I require. I require, or I won't be saved,
for Him to do everything for me. I require for Christ to be
made into me wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption
or I won't be saved. I require salvation by grace
or I have no hope. I require the death of Christ
to be a sufficient sin payment to where paid for all my sins
or I have no hope. Ask, ask and you shall receive. Seek and you shall find. Knock
and it shall be opened to you. Everyone that asketh, asketh,
receiveth. And he that seeketh, findeth.
And to him that knocketh, it shall be opened to him. Now here's
what he said. If you knew the gift of God and
who it is that's speaking to you, you would have asked of
him and he would have given you living water. Water associated
with spiritual life. Life from the dead. If you knew,
you'd ask, and he'd give 100% of the time. Now let's look at this woman's
response to what the Lord said. Verse 11, the woman saith unto
him, Sir, and I think she's being very respectful. Yet she still doesn't understand
what he's saying. Sir, thou hast nothing to draw
with, and the well is deep. From whence then hast thou that
living water? All she understood was H2O. Art thou greater than our father
Jacob, which gave us this well, and drank thereof himself, and
his children, and his cattle? All she understood was physical
water. And then the Lord replies to her, he understood her ignorance,
and as I said, he's going to end up making himself known to
her. But he makes this statement, and there's so much in this statement,
whosoever drink of this water shall thirst again. Now you can
drink of this water, this physical water, and it'll quench your
thirst today. that you'll thirst again tomorrow. And that can be said of every
human activity. Whatever you're doing, you will
thirst again. You may have religion, and you
may be doing many things that you hope will prove to you that
you're saved, but at some point, you'll thirst again. You'll be
saying, is it enough? Is what I've done enough? Can
I truly believe that I'm saved? You'll thirst again. If you try
to find your satisfaction in your family, Well, I hope you
find much happiness in your family. I hope I do, but you'll thirst
again. There's not true satisfaction
there. You may try to find your satisfaction in your marriage,
in your spouse, you'll thirst again. You may try to find satisfaction
in your career. You may reach all your career
objectives, but you'll thirst again. You may give yourself
to all your activities and your recreations and enjoy them so
much, but at some point, you're gonna thirst again. The fact
of the matter is, every human activity has this after it. You will thirst again. But, verse 14, but whosoever
drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst. But the water that I shall give
him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting
life." Now, do you hear what he says to this woman? He says,
if you drink of the water that I give, you'll never thirst again. Now, what does that mean? Because
Is not one of the Beatitudes, blessed are they that hunger
and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled? I should
always be thirsting for God. I should always be thirsting
for fellowship and communion with Him. And I am, I thirst
for Him, I thirst to know Him. And if I quit thirsting, I'm
not alive. So what does the Lord mean when
He says not thirsting again? If you drink of the water of
this world, you'll thirst again, but whoso drinketh of the water
that I shall give him shall never thirst. He'll find complete satisfaction. Now I know exactly what that
means. In Colossians chapter two, verse 10. Paul said, you
are complete in Him. In Him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily and you are complete in Him. Nothing lacking, nothing missing. If I'm in Christ, I can't get
any more saved, I can't get any more loved, I can't get any more
accepted, and I'm satisfied simply to be found in Him. I do not
want anything else but to be found in Him. I want no other
righteousness but His righteousness. The only way I want to be saved
is by His free grace, and I'm satisfied with that. I'm satisfied
in being saved by Him. I'm not looking for anything
else. A lot of times, religious people are always looking for
something else, another feeling, another experience. I don't want
anything else. I'm complete in the Lord Jesus
Christ, and I am completely satisfied. I think of what Paul said in
Romans 8. If God be for us, who can be
against us? You know what? I'm satisfied with that. If God's
for me, I've got nothing to fear. He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? I'm satisfied that everything
God requires of me, he gives me for Christ's sake. And he
does so freely. He didn't spare his son. Who
shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that
justifieth. I'm satisfied with that. Nothing
can be brought to my charge because God justified me. My sin was
put away. Who is He that condemneth? It's
Christ that died. I'm satisfied with that. I need
no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough
that Jesus died and that He died for me. I am satisfied to be
saved by the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, let me ask you a question. Is God satisfied with what His
Son did? Is God completely and infinitely
satisfied with what His Son did so that He's not looking for
anything else? Well, look at the empty tomb,
and that answers that question. When God raised Jesus Christ
from the dead, He said, I'm satisfied with what He did. I'm satisfied
with His sin payment. I'm satisfied with everyone in
Him. God is completely, infinitely
satisfied with what Christ has done. And beloved, I am satisfied
with what God is satisfied with. I'm satisfied to be saved by
the Lord Jesus Christ. The scripture says in 1 Corinthians
1.30, He's made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption. My satisfaction has nothing to
do with my works. My satisfaction is found here.
He said it's finished and there's nothing for me to do. All I have
is Christ. All I want is Christ. All I need
is Christ, and I am completely satisfied to be saved by him. Now he says, whoso drinketh of
the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water
that I shall give him shall be in him, a well of water springing
up into everlasting life. Now my physical body will die,
but my spiritual man will never die. And when this physical body
dies, I will be in the presence of Him who gave me life. And that's how I will spend eternity
perfectly conformed to His image, beholding His beauty and His
glory, that well springing up into everlasting life that is
now will be then as well. Now if you knew, oh may God make
each of us to know If you knew the gift of God and who it is
that saith to thee, give me to drink, you would ask, and he
would give unto thee everlasting life. To receive a copy of the
sermon you have just heard, send your request to todd.neibert
at gmail.com, or you may write or call the church at the information
provided on the screen. Hmm.