We have before us in John chapter
four, the story of a woman whose life was a wreck. I mean, this woman's life was
a mess. You don't get married five times
like this without being a mess, and this woman was a mess. And this woman was also an immoral
woman. She was living with a man outside
the bonds of marriage. So she was an immoral woman. And another thing that I would
notice about this woman is she was not at this time seeking
the Lord. When she came to this well, it
wasn't to seek the Lord, it was to get some water. That's all
she was concerned about. But this woman whose life was
a mess. She was an immoral woman. And
she wasn't seeking the Lord. By the end of this story in verse
29, would you turn with me there? She made this statement. Come
see a man which told me all things that ever I did. Is not this? The Christ. And that's quite
a confession. First John Chapter 5 verse one
says whosoever confesses that Jesus is the Christ. Is born
of God. Now at this time she confesses
that Jesus is the Christ, so sometime during the beginning
of this story and the point I just read, she was born of God. That makes this mighty interesting,
doesn't it? Sometime during this period, this woman was born of
God. And it's my prayer that somebody
will be born of God through this message this morning. Let's begin in verse four of
John, chapter four. And he must needs go through
Samaria. Now, there's only one reason
why the Lord Jesus must needs do anything. He must needs do
his father's will. And one of his elect was in Samaria. And he's going after her. You
see, the Lord's always after his sheep. and he must need to
go through Samaria. Verse five, 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. You can read about
that in the book of Genesis. Verse six, 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. Now here we have a striking reminder
of the absolute humanity of Jesus Christ, the Lord. He is very God of very God. This Christ that we're reading
of, who sat at the well, is the same one who said, let there
be light. and there was light. This One
that we read who was wearied and set thusly at the well is
the same One who is in control of everything. This One is God. That's who He is. He is God. All that God is He is because He is God. The
Scripture says, In Him, in the Lord Jesus Christ, dwelleth all
the fullness of the Godhead in a body. Now that's who sat
thusly on the well, and the Scripture points out that when He sat down,
He was weary. He was tired. This one who is
very God of very God is also fully man. And as man, he became
subject to the same physical limitations that you and I have. Isn't that amazing? God became
man. And he was tired. Worn out. And he sat thusly on the well,
being weary by his journey. And it was about the sixth hour.
Six is the number of man. Man was created on the sixth
day. There's something to that. I'm not sure what all there is
to it, but every word of Scripture is important and significant.
It was the sixth hour, the number of man. And the sixth hour was
12 noon, the hottest part of the day. And he sits down at
the well waiting for somebody. Now, this is very important.
I started talking about this woman that had been married five
times. His life was such a wreck and
indeed her life was a wreck. But this story doesn't begin
with her. It begins with him. This woman wasn't seeking him.
Our Lord comes and sits down on this well and he's waiting
for somebody. You see, he had ordained this
appointment. He had decreed this appointment.
This woman was one of his, and he was waiting for her to come
to him. He sits thus on the well to wait
for this woman. Verse 7, Then cometh a woman
of Samaria. Now, Samaria to the Jew was the
bottom rung. And they had a reason for this.
You can read about it in Kings, how the Samaritans, where that
comes from in the book of Kings. It's after Israel had been displaced
and brought into the land of Nebuchadnezzar. They thought,
well, we're going to repopulate Jerusalem. And they didn't use
true Jews. They used other people and put
them in the land. And so the Jews despised these people. They
were not true Jews. And the Samaritans in the Jews'
eyes, that was the bottom run. And this woman was a Samaritan.
And the Jews always avoided them. Verse 7, there cometh a woman
of Samaria, this woman whose life was such a wreck at this
time. But here she comes at twelve
noon to draw water. Now, why does she come at noon?
You don't come to draw water at noon. You come early in the
morning when it's cool and when you won't have to get so hot. I had no doubt that this woman
came to draw water at noon because she was the subject of many people. You reckon a lot of folks talked
about this woman? You reckon they ridiculed her? You reckon
they had a lot to say about her? You reckon they looked down their
nose at her every time they saw her? I mean, this woman was a
loser. That's all you can call her. She was what we would call
a loser. Her life was a wreck. And I don't have any doubt that
she went to the well at noon The last time anybody would come
because she knew she wouldn't have to see anybody at that time.
She was coming to get water at noon. And the Lord spoke to her. Jesus saith unto her, give me
to drink. He was alone with her at this
time, for his disciples were gone away to buy meat. And this
is to show us that it was just him and her and what a blessing
it is to be alone with the Savior. And he says to this woman, give
me to drink. Now look at verse eight. Then
saith the woman of Samaria unto him, she was shocked by this.
She says, 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. She was shocked by this. But
she also demonstrates how ignorant she was when she asked this question.
She's speaking to the Creator at this time. And she says, how
is it that you being a Jew? Was he a Jew? Yes, he was a Jew.
You know what else he was? He was the King of the Jews. He was the Lord of Glory. He
was the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. And she says to
him, how is it that you being a Jew? She didn't know who he
was yet, did she? She just saw him as a Jew, somebody
who looked down his nose at her. That's the only way she could
interpret it. How is it that you being a Jew ask a drink of
me, who am a woman of Samaria? Verse 10. Jesus answered and
said unto her, If you knew. the gift of God, and
who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink, you would have
asked of him, and he would have given thee living water." Now,
Lord willing, I want to devote a whole message to this verse
next week. It's such a wonderful verse,
but I want to tell the whole story today of this woman. He
says, if you knew, if you only knew the gift of God and who
I am, you would have asked. He would have given you living
water. Now, let's talk for a moment
about this word, the gift. He says to her, if you knew the
gift of God and the emphasis of this word is the free gift. of God. And you know, that's
almost impossible for us to lay hold on this thing of a free
gift. I mean, if you give me something, I mean, you'd actually
think, well, why are they doing it? Y'all like that? Why are they doing it? Maybe
y'all are not as bad as I am, but why are they doing it? Where's
the small print? Where's the disclaimer? What's
the purpose behind this free gift? Now, we ought not think
that way, but I understand people thinking that way. free gift,
it's so hard for us to grasp the idea of something being absolutely
and completely free. But listen to me, there is one
thing that really is free. And there's only one thing that
really is free. Now, when I give you something,
I hope there's some good motives in there. I hope there is. But
I've also got a reason for it. I've got a reason for it. I gave
this to you. What do I got going? That's the
way the natural man thinks. There's only one gift that is
absolutely free. No strings attached. Do you find that attractive?
No strings attached. Absolutely free. Now if you knew
the gift, the free gift of God, Christ Jesus, His salvation,
everything associated with His salvation is the absolutely free,
free, no strings attached, the free gift of God, the gift of
salvation, the gift of His grace, the gift of righteousness. I
love the way Paul calls it the unspeakable gift. Now, and I
would say this is reverently, I know how the unspeakable gift,
even when God, the Holy Spirit, inspiring Paul to speak of the
gift of Christ, the gift of God's salvation, God, the Holy Spirit
calls this the unspeakable gift. So free, so glorious. Can't even be described. If you
knew the gift of God, the free gift, do you realize
that God does not have to find a reason in me or you to cause
Him to give it to us? Now, I find that so attractive. He does not have to find a reason
in you to give it to you. What if He did? Where would that
leave you? What if you had to come up with
a payment? What if God had to find a reason to give it to you?
Where would that leave you? Well, the fact of the matter
is, me and you'd be sunk if that's the case. If he had to find a
reason to give it to us, he wouldn't give it to us. The free gift
of God. You know, here's a scripture
that I think emphasizes the freeness of His gift. Would you turn with
me to Romans chapter 9? Now, here are the apostles talking
about election. How that God chose who would
be saved. And we read in verse 11, talking about Jacob and Esau,
Romans chapter 9, verse 11, and this emphasizes the freeness
of his gift, the absolute no strings attached. Listen here,
verse 11, for the children, talking about Jacob and Esau, being not
yet born, neither having done any good or evil. that the purpose
of God according to election might stand not of works, but
of him that calleth." Now listen to that. Your good works, how
much bearing will that have on God doing anything for you? None. What about your bad works? What about your sin? How will
that prevent God from having mercy on you? It won't, because
it says, having done either good or evil. Let me ask you, how does that
hit you? Do you like this? That God's
gift is absolutely free and it has absolutely nothing to do
with your works, good or bad? Does that encourage you or does
that make you mad? Well, somebody says, that's not
fair! What you admit by that is you're a self-righteous person.
You think God owns you something. That's all you say by that. But
do you find this attractive, that God gives His salvation
freely? If you knew the gift of God,
and if you knew who it was that was talking to you, she thought
it was just a Jew, one of many. She didn't realize this is the
Creator. This is the Son of God. This
is the second person of the Blessed Trinity, the one in whom all
the fullness of the Godhead dwells in a body. She had no idea who
He was. And you know, nobody does unless
He reveals Himself. You know, He grew up with brothers
and sisters and so on. They didn't know who He was.
I mean, here He is, plain and simple. They didn't get it. She
didn't either at this time. This is the God of glory you're
speaking to. who quickens whom he will, the
one who has all power and authority, the only one who can do anything
for you. Now, he says, if you knew who
I was. If you knew that salvation really
was and all that's associated with me, Christ is the unspeakable
gift of God, if you knew the gift of God, the freeness of
that gift, no strings attached. If you knew who I was, you know
what you'd do? You'd ask. Everybody that knows you know
what they do? They ask. You see, you find out he's the
only one who can do anything for you. I was thinking about
this. You know what? In prayer, in seeking the Lord,
I would love to be able one time to pray without asking for anything. Just simply praising for who
he is. I'd like to be able to do that.
You know what? Up to this point, it ain't happened. I try to,
but every time I seek to come into His presence, I'm asking
for something. If you know who He is, you will ask. He says, if you knew the gift
of God and who it is that's speaking to you, you'd ask. And what else does He say? You'd
ask, and He would give you. There's nobody that asks that
He turns away. It hasn't happened. If you know
who He is, you will ask. And if you ask, He will give
you that living water that He speaks of. Revelation 22, 17 says, Whosoever
will, let him take the water of life freely. Now if you knew, you'd ask. If
you asked, he would give. Now let's go on reading in our
text. Verse 11. The woman didn't know what he
was talking about. She was as blind as a bat. She had no spiritual
understanding. Verse 11. The woman saith unto
him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep.
From whence then hast thou this living water? All she understood
was physical water and physical thirst. She had no idea what
he was talking about. And then she demonstrates her
ignorance in verse 12. Are you greater than our father,
Jacob? She didn't know who he was, did she? She had no idea. She's standing before the Son
of God and she says, Are you greater than Jacob? I think so.
No doubt. Are you greater than our father,
Jacob, which gave us this well and drank himself thereof and
his children and his cattle? All she could understand was
physical, material things. Verse 13, Jesus answered and
said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water, they're going to thirst again.
And there's such a depth of meaning in that statement regarding everything
this world has. Everything. The pleasures of
sin. And there is pleasure in sin.
People wouldn't commit sin if they didn't find it to be pleasurable. The pleasures of sin, human religion,
man's religion, the things that this world considers great and
valuable regarding everything that this world has. You can
drink of what this world has to offer you and you will thirst
again. Let me tell you three things
that man's religion can never do. Man's religion can never satisfy
divine justice. Man's religion can never fulfill
divine holiness. And man's religion can never
satisfy a guilty conscience. Not going to happen. You drink
of this water. And you shall thirst again, verse
14, but. Whosoever drinketh of the water
that I shall give him, this is what everybody has in common,
who drinks of the water that I give him. And listen to me,
if he gives it to you, you'll drink it. I'm sure of that. There's never a time when he
gives somebody his water and they don't drink. He gives you
your water, you will drink it. He says, whosoever drinketh 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, you will find, he says to
this woman, this poor, still ignorant, still in the dark woman,
He says to this woman, in drinking of the water that I give, you
will find complete satisfaction. And the only way this can be
understood is by experience. If you've ever drank of Christ,
you know what it is to be satisfied. I don't have to argue into that.
I don't really even much need to explain it. You know what
it is to be satisfied. Do you know what it is to be
satisfied, to have your conscience settled by seeing that what He
accomplished on Calvary's tree is all that's needed. And you're
satisfied. You're satisfied with His blood
as your sin payment. You need nothing else. You're
not looking for anything else. You are satisfied. I mean, you
are satisfied to be saved by His righteousness. You find satisfaction
in that. You find satisfaction in knowing
Him. Now, I know you're not satisfied with yourself. I'm not satisfied
with myself. Nobody's satisfied with themselves. I realize that.
But I'm talking about being satisfied with Christ. Being satisfied
to be saved by His grace in a way where He gets all the glory and
none goes to you. And you like it that way. You're
satisfied with it. I've had I don't know how many
people say to me over the years, in hearing the gospel, they say
there's got to be something more. You haven't seen it, that's right.
The only reason somebody says there's got to be something more
is you've gone drunk of this water. Because if you've ever
drunk of this water, you really are satisfied. Are you satisfied
to be saved by Christ? You satisfied with Him? That's
the question. Whosoever drinketh of this 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." Verse 15. The woman saith unto him, Sir,
give me this water that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw,
unless ye was interested in this. I'd like to have water. You know,
everybody wants to be satisfied, doesn't they? I mean, I don't
think she understood what he's saying. Still, at this time,
she knew this. I want to be satisfied. I'm not. So she said, Sir, give
me this water that I thirst not neither come hither to draw.
This would be a great advantage to me. I won't have to come to
this well anymore if I have this water. See, all she could understand
was physical stuff. I won't have to go through all
this. Verse 16, Jesus saith unto her,
Go, call thy husband, and come hither. Go get your husband and
come back here. I've got something to say to
you. Verse 17, the woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast
well said, I have no husband, for thou hast had five husbands.
And he whom thou now hast is not thy husband. In that saidst
thou truly. It's almost humorous the way
the Lord says this, but he's still gracious with this woman,
even when he's confronting her with her sin. He said, truly,
I don't have a husband. He had five of them. You're currently
cohabiting with a man in a sinful way. That's not the way he said
it, though. That's not the way he said it. That's the way a
lot of preachers would have it. I mean, they'd just come down on this
woman. I can imagine all the things they'd say. I like the
way the Lord deals with this, don't you? The way He deals with
it. It's so different. Look in the previous chapter,
the way He dealt with Nicodemus. And look at the way He deals
with this woman. It's very special. You've had five husbands. The
one you're living with now, he's not your husband. And Miss, you
said true. You told the truth. So, she figures out that this
is no ordinary man. She says in verse 19, the woman
said to him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. I see
there's something special about you. You're a prophet, obviously. I mean, how in the world would
you know this if you weren't a prophet? And so she does what everybody
does. She starts her religious mumbo-jumbo. I've heard this,
I don't know how many times. Oh, I tell you, you know, I don't
want folks to find out I'm a preacher, particularly on a plane. If you're
stuck with somebody for four or five hours, they find out
you're a preacher, you don't know, oh my, you know. She starts a religious mumbo-jumbo.
Our fathers worshipped in this mountain, and you say that in
Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship as if place
was the issue. Verse 21, Jesus saith unto her,
Woman, believe me. Now there's where
you and I need to be. Woman, believe Me. That's the command of faith.
Believe Me. I pray that God says that to
me in power this morning, that He says it to you. Woman, believe
Me. The hour cometh when you shall
neither in this mountain nor yet in Jerusalem worship the
Father. Place is not the issue. He says in verse 22, you worship,
you know not what we know what we worship for salvation is of
the Jews. What you're doing is ignorant.
You don't even know what you're worshiping. He says we talking
about the Jewish nation because God has given them the revelation
of himself. They have the Bible. You know,
Sodom didn't have a Bible. The Hittites didn't have a sacrifice. The Jebusites knew nothing of
the need of a priest. They had not these things. He
said, you don't know what you're worshipping. You're worshipping
ignorantly. You don't even know what you're
about. We know what we worship for salvations of the Jews. And
he was doing that with reference to the revelation God gave the
Jewish people. Verse 23, but the hour cometh
and now is when the true worshippers Now that catches my attention.
There is such a thing as a true worshipper. And the fact that
there is such a thing as a true worshipper also tells us that
there is such a thing as a false worshipper. There is true worship
and there is false worship. The hour cometh and now is when
the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth
For the Father seeketh such to worship Him." Now, the Lord tells
us the two things that are involved in true worship. And what does
He speak of? Spirit and truth. That's what's involved in true
worship. Spirit and truth. Now, what in the world does He
mean by that? When He speaks of spirit, This is what's involved
in true worship. Spirit and truth. He's speaking
of the Holy Spirit. And he's speaking of the truth. The truth of the Gospel. Here's
two things that can't be separated. The Spirit of God and truth.
Listen to this Scripture. 2 Thessalonians 2.13 says, But
we're bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, the
beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit, the work of God
the Holy Spirit, and belief of the truth. Wherever you have
the work of the Spirit, you have the truth. Wherever you have
the truth, you have the work of the Spirit. You can't be separated. Now, in this thing of worship,
here's the first thing that's necessary. It's the Holy Spirit. What that tells me is I can't
worship God unless I have the Holy Spirit. I can't worship
God unless I'm given a new nature. Paul said in Philippians 3.3,
We are the circumcision, which worship God in the Spirit. Rejoice in Christ Jesus and have
no confidence in the flesh. I must have the Spirit of God. I must have a holy nature, a
new nature, the Spirit of God, or I can't worship. You know,
I've said before, inviting people to church, well, come worship
with us. And you know, I really shouldn't say that. I was thinking
about this. That's really not a right thing to say. But you
can't worship if you don't have the Spirit of God. Now I say,
come listen. Come here. And you ought to listen to hear
the Gospel, shouldn't you? Everybody ought to want to hear
what God has to say. But worship. Come worship with
us. You can only worship if you have
the Spirit of God. If you have a nature that can
see the things of God, that can see the things of Christ. It's
beyond human ability. They that worship Him must worship
Him in spirit. I'm totally dependent upon God
the Holy Spirit to worship. I'm totally dependent upon Him
to give me this heart that does worship. They that worship Him
must worship Him in spirit and in truth. You see, there is no
worship without the truth. Now, I will repeat that. There
is no worship, no true worship without the truth, the truth
of the gospel. Now, when we're speaking of the
truth, when the Bible speaks of the truth, what does the Lord
say? This is such a, I think, an awesome, stupendous statement. The Lord said, I am the way. I love that. He didn't say, I'll
show you the way. He said, I'm it. I'm it. And you know what he said next?
I am the truth. That is so awesome. He himself
is the truth. And worship comes only through
the truth. Now I want to show you two scriptures.
Turn to John chapter 17. Verse 17. Sanctify them. Declare them to be holy, make
them holy, set them apart to be holy, sanctify them through
thy truth. Thy word is truth. Now turn over to Hebrews chapter
10. Thy word is truth. Verse 10, by the witch will,
by God's will, we are sanctified through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ once for all. Now, in the first verse of scripture
I read, it says sanctify them through thy truth. And in that
scripture I just now read, it says sanctify them through the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ. Well, does that mean
we're sanctified by two different things? Not at all. The offering of the
body of Jesus Christ, the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, what
he accomplished on Calvary's tree is the truth. You want to know the truth? There it is. In his sacrifice, That one hanging
on the cross, bleeding and dying, that one who died, that one who
raised from the dead, I see the truth concerning man. I see the
truth about myself. Listen, you can get all convicted
of sin because of bad things you did, and I suppose you should,
as far as that goes. I mean, if you did something
wrong contrary to the Word of God, you ought to be convicted
about it. I'm not taking away from that,
but you know, you can have all that and never be truly convicted
of sin. You want to find out the truth about yourself? It's
not the bad things you did. That's just the outcropping of
the real problem. The real problem with you and
me is that when left to ourselves and God took away the restraints
and let you be what you really are, we nailed God to the cross. Now that is the truth regarding
you and I. That's your problem. It's not
the thing you did that you wish you hadn't done. You shouldn't
have done it. Don't get me wrong, but that's not the real issue
between you and God. It's how you have been guilty
of hating him with this perfect hatred. That's the truth regarding
you. The cross is the truth concerning
who God is. Every attribute of God is fully
displayed. In the cross, His justice, His
holiness, His love, His mercy, His wisdom, His sovereignty,
every attribute of God is fully displayed in the cross. And in
the cross, I find out the truth concerning salvation. Here's
the truth. When He said, It is finished,
everybody He died for was saved. Is that the truth? It sure is. He is the truth. Now, there is
no worship. Without the Spirit of God. And
there is no worship without the truth. There's no worship without
the truth, and there's no truth without worship. Wherever the
truth is really believed, there will be worship. Now let's go
on reading verse 24. God is spirit. He's eternal. He's immortal.
He's invisible. God is spirit and they that worship
him must. It's absolutely necessary that
they worship him in spirit and in truth. The woman saith unto him. Now, she's just heard the Son
of God preach to her. And she's so frustrated, I can
feel her frustration in her voice when she says she she hears the
Lord saying this stuff and she doesn't have any idea what he's
talking about. The woman saith unto him, well, I know the Messiah
cometh. I don't know what you're talking
about, but I know the Messiah cometh, which is called Christ.
When he has come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that
speak unto thee, Am he? You know when you see who he
is, everything becomes obvious. When you see who he is, you understand
the gospel. And not before then. I that speak unto thee, am he? And nowhere in the Bible did
he make himself No more clearly than right here. You know, I
was reading in John chapter 12. There's one verse of scripture.
These fellows were talking to him. The scripture says he went
and hid himself from them. What's scary? I don't want the
Lord hiding himself from me. But here he makes himself known
in such a clear and powerful way. I've been speaking to them. Verse 27. And upon this came
his disciples and marveled. Did he talk with the woman? What's
he doing talking to her? Yet no man said what seekest
thou or why talkest thou with her. They were afraid to do that.
They had better sins than that. The woman then left her water
pot. That water pot had been awful
important to her, but now she forgets about it. That woman
then 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. that ever
I did, is not this the cross?" Now, notice what she didn't say. She didn't say, come and see
a man who told me that I was married five times and the person
who I'm with, I'm not married to. She didn't say anything about
that. I'm sure that was included in it because she said, come
see a man who told me all things that ever I did. Now, that covers
everything. Now, how is that? How can He
tell her all things that ever she did? Well, I understand that
in two senses, both of which are true. When you come to understand
the Gospel, when you come to believe the Gospel, when you
come to find out who Christ is, and that's when she was born
from God, when she found out who He is. Whoso believeth that
Jesus is the Christ is born of God. She was born of God. The
Bible tells us that. Is not this the Christ? He told
me all things that ever I did. Now, this is understood in two
senses. When you're born of God, here's the first thing you learn.
First one of the things, I don't know which order is right. Both
of these are true. First, you find out that all
things that ever you did were sin. You find out that everything
you've ever done or thought is nothing but sin. That's everything. But you also find out that all
things that ever you did, there's no sin in them. Because His righteousness
is your righteousness. That's what saving knowledge
is. You understand that He is your salvation. And everything
He did, that's your hope. Everything He did, you did. That's how real union with Christ
is. everything he did. When he kept
the law, that was me keeping it. When he died on the cross,
that was me dying. When he was raised from the dead,
that was me being raised. He told me all things that ever
I did. Is not this the Christ? And I say to you regarding this
Savior of whom I've been speaking, is not this the Christ? Yes, He is. Let's pray.