I want you to listen to the last
verse of the scripture we read there where Peter wrote in 1
Peter 3, verse 15. 1 Peter 3, verse 15. Sanctify the Lord in your hearts. Now, we declare the Lord, that
word sanctify, it's a reference to holiness. We declare him to
be what he is. He's absolutely holy. And also, we declare him to be
holy when we worship him, not just publicly, but in our hearts. And then he says this, be ready,
be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you
for the reason of the hope that's in you. When someone asks, when they ask us to tell them,
why do we believe that our sins are taken away? That they've
been pardoned. When men ask, why do you believe
that your name is written in heaven? That I am eternally his. When men ask, how is it that
you believe that you're no longer under condemnation? When they ask, how is it that
you hope someday to reign in heaven, with the Lord Jesus Christ. I know personally, when men ask
those questions, sometimes we're intimidated by that and you think,
well, what do I say? What should I say? And I think
we often feel like, Paul said this, he said, I've not, that
after we've given some kind of explanation that we'd be able
to say, I've not shunned to declare unto you the whole counsel of
God. And that's just not so, is it?
In that brief meeting that, you know, at the grocery store or
maybe at the table, you know, around family. But listen to
what Peter says here. He says, be ready always to give
an answer to every man that asketh you the hope that's in you. Your hope. What is my hope? Turn with me to John chapter
4. John chapter 4. Now here in John 4, the Lord
had came to the city of Samaria. which is called Sychar, and he
was weary. The Lord Jesus Christ was weary. And he sat down on the well.
There was a well there, and apparently he sat down there, and there
came a woman of Samaria to draw water. And the Lord spoke to
her, and he said, Give me to drink. Now look beginning with
verse 9. Then saith the woman of Samaria,
How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which is
a woman of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings
with the Samaritans.' And Jesus answered her, and he said, If
you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you,
Give me to drink, you would have asked of him and he would have
given you living water. And the woman said, sir, she's
just looking at this thing naturally, you don't have anything to draw
with. And this well is deep. How do
you plan on giving me water? Where are you going to get this
living water? Verse 12, are you greater Are
you greater than our father Jacob? I promise you, one greater than
Jacob was standing there, wasn't he? Are you greater than our
father Jacob, which gave us this well and drank thereof himself
and his children and his cattle? And Jesus answered her, and he
said, he that drinketh of this water will thirst again. 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. And the woman said unto him,
sir, give me this water. That way I don't have to come
back to this well every day and draw more. And it's at this time
that the Lord confronts her with her sin. Jesus said unto her,
go call thy husband. Won't you go call your husband
and come hither? And the woman said, I don't have
a husband. And the Lord spoke and he said, thou hast well said,
you have no husband, for you've had five husbands. And the one
that you dwell with now is not your husband. In that, you've
said this truly. Now here in this short passage
of scripture, we see that the Lord Jesus Christ crosses the
path of one of his sheep. She had just come to draw water. Just think about that. She wasn't
coming to a worship service. She was just coming to draw water.
And the Lord deals with her real thirst. Blessed, Scripture says,
blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness. Her sin, her need of Him, and
listen, her need of Him far exceeds the need for water. I looked this up and the same
number kept coming up. How long can a man live without
water? And the best I could find is
about three or four days. That didn't seem like very much
time at all. Got to have water to live. But more important than that,
we must have that living water. We must have Christ. Or we'll
die. We'll die in our sins. We, like this woman, must have
living water. We must have Christ. I need Him. I must have Him. The Lord knew this woman. He knew her adultery. He knew
her sin. He knew her shame. He knew her
unhappiness. Listen, she came at noon. She
came in the middle of the day when no one would be at that
well to avoid being around anyone that would be at that well. But
the Lord Jesus Christ was there. He was there waiting. He was
there waiting on her. And He's going to bring her to
admit this about herself, her sin, her shame, her need of Him. And afterwards, after this meeting
with the Lord, look down at verse 28. The woman then left her water
pot. She didn't need it anymore. She
obviously had living water, didn't she? She left her water pot and
she went her way into the city and saith to the men, come see a man which told me
all things I ever did. Is not this the Christ? She went and told others what
had been revealed unto her. What had been revealed to her?
I'm a sinner. I am exceeding sinful. What had been revealed to her?
He is exceeding precious. He's the Lord Jesus Christ. He revealed himself to me. Come see a man which told me
everything. I ask you, I ask you, if any
man would have asked her, what is your hope? Would that have
been a difficult thing to answer? What's her hope? The Lord. Come
see a man. The Lord Jesus Christ. And she
went and told others. Again, she left her water pot.
Come see a man which told me all things. Is this not the Christ? And look at verse 30. She did that. She went out and
told folks about what the Lord was pleased to do for her. And
listen, verse 30, those that she talked to, they went out
of the city. They left the city and they came
unto Him. Skip down to verse 39. And many of the Samaritans of
that city believed on him for the saying of that woman, which
testified. She said, he told me everything
I ever did. Verse 40, so when the Samaritans
were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with
them and he abode there two days. And many more believed. because
of His Word, His own Word. And they said to the woman, now
we believe, not because of thy saying. Well,
why do you believe then? For we have heard Him ourselves,
and that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world. What was her hope? What was her
hope? You reckon she could give a reason
when she was asked that question? Come see a man that told me all
things I ever did. Is this not the Christ? What
was her hope? The Lord Jesus Christ. Turn with me to Luke chapter
8. Turn back just a few pages to
Luke chapter 8. Now here in this chapter we see
a man who lived among the tombs, this Gadarene man. He ran through
the cemetery naked. He cut upon himself. There he was. Imagine that. Here he is in the mountains crying. And men tried to bind him. Tried to bind him with chains,
but they couldn't. It says no man could tame him. No man could restrain him. No man could subdue him. No man
could do anything for him. But one could. One did. The Lord could restrain him.
The Lord could save him. The Lord could help him. And
he did. He did. And afterwards, afterwards,
look at verse 38. The man out of whom the devils
were departed besought him, that He might be with him. And the
Lord Jesus Christ sent him away and He said this, ìReturn to
thy own house.î He didnít say go join a monastery, go completely
separate yourself from this world, did He? What did He say? ìReturn
to thy own house.î Go back to your family, go back to your
friends and show how great things, God hath done unto thee." And
he went his way. And he didn't just publish that
to his family, it says, listen to this, he published throughout
the whole city how great things the Lord had done for him. Now I ask you, If a man would
have approached him, this Gadarene man, and asked him, what's the
hope that's in you? Could he answer that question?
I've been thinking about this these last few days. His desire,
his desire was to be with the Lord. But the Lord says this. He says,
return to thy own house. and show how great things God
had done unto thee." Well, what were some of those great things
that the Lord had done for him? Look back at verse 26. Verse
26, they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is over
against Galilee, And when he went forth to the land, there
met him out of the city a certain man which had devils, long time,
and wear no clothes, neither abode in any house, but in the
tombs." The first great thing that the
Lord done for this man. The first great thing the Lord
has done for every one of us that know Him. He came to me. He came to me. It might have
been here, it might have been somewhere, but the Lord comes
to His people. He came to me where I was. This man, think about the miserable,
just horrible condition he was in. And yet the Lord, in mercy,
came to him. Ezekiel 34, 12, I think we read
this Wednesday night, but it says here, as a shepherd seeketh
out his flock into the day that he's among his sheep that are
scattered, so will I seek out my sheep and I'll deliver them
out of all places where they've been scattered in a cloudy and
dark day. It's a cloudy day out today.
Wouldn't it be a wonderful thing if the Lord was pleased to come
and seek out one of his own? This man, he could do nothing
for himself. The people around him could do
nothing for him. They feared him. Don't you know
these people feared this man? If you don't believe that, you
just imagine driving home today, you drive past a cemetery and
somebody's running through the cemetery naked and screaming
and yelling and cutting themselves. That'd be a fearful sight to
see, wouldn't it? But the Lord, in mercy, came
to him. And you know what he did for,
again, all of his sheep? He came to us where we were.
He found us. We sing that hymn, He sought
me and He bought me with His redeeming blood. He came to me. He came to this man. Second,
look at verse 28 of Luke chapter 8. When he saw Jesus, When he saw
the Lord Jesus Christ, he cried out and he fell down before him. How did this man know who the
Lord Jesus Christ was? When he saw him, when he saw
Jesus, listen, his eyes were opened. You ever have something
in front of you and you just can't see it, and you can't see
it, and then it appears? He saw the Lord. His eyes were
open. And I ask you, how long was it
for many of us before the Lord was pleased and mercy to open
our eyes and let us see him? To reveal himself to us when
he saw Jesus, and in Job 42, verse five, we read this. I've
heard him, oh, I've heard him by the hearing of the ear, but
now, now mine eye seeth thee. Oh, for an eye to see him. You know, Simeon, Simeon saw
him, didn't he? Remember that as an old man in
the temple. It had been revealed to Simeon that he wouldn't die.
He wouldn't see death until he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came by the Spirit into
the temple. And the parents, Mary and Joseph,
brought their son in there to offer, as it was, the custom
of the law. I wonder how many little ones
had been brought into that temple that day. Don't read anywhere
where Simeon was going around just grabbing all of them, was
it? No, it says, when he saw him, he took him up in his arms
and he blessed God and he said, Lord, now let thy servant depart
in peace according to thy word, How is that, Simeon? For mine
eyes have seen thy salvation." Huh? Who did he see? He saw the Lord. He saw Him. And this man of the Gadarenes,
he saw the Lord Jesus Christ. His eyes opened to see Him. Do you still have Luke 8? Look
at verse 29. Here's the third thing. Third
great thing. He had commanded the unclean
spirit to come out of the man, for oftentimes it had caught
him and he was kept bound with chains and fetters and he broke
the bands and he was driven of the devil into the wilderness.
Again, the third great thing the Lord did for this man, that
which tormented him, that which troubled him, that which burdened
him, that which he and himself and no one else could do anything
about, the Lord removed it. The Lord took it away. What troubles us? What torments
us? What burdens us? What is it that
we are helpless to do anything about? sin. And yet the Lord was pleased
to take it away. My sins have been taken away. The sins of his people have been
taken away. John said this, Behold the Lamb
of God that taketh away the sin of the world. A couple places in Isaiah, but
Isaiah 43, 25, I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions
for my own sake, and I will not remember thy sins. The Lord has put them away. Isaiah 44, 22, I have blotted
out as a thick cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins. Return unto me, for I have redeemed
thee. He took away that which tormented
me. He took away my sin. He removed it. And if that wasn't
enough, he cast it on another. For this man of the gatherings,
those demons were taken from him and they were putting those
swine and they ran down that hill and they were choked in
the sea. Our sins have been cast into
the depths of the sea. My sin. Listen to this great
thing. He took my sin and he put it
on his son. The Lord Jesus Christ. And he
died. He bore my sin. He was made sin. Isaiah wrote, for the transgression
of my people was he stricken. We read this, for he hath made
him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made
the very righteousness of God in him. It's a pretty great thing,
isn't it? That which burdened me, he took
it away, and he put it on his son, and the Lord Jesus Christ
bore the wrath of God for it, and it's been put away. It's
been put away. And He gave us His righteousness.
We're made righteous in Him. Well, fourth, look at Luke 8, verse 35. He's now a new man. He made him
a new man. I'd consider that a great thing,
wouldn't you? Verse 35, then they went out to see what was
done and they came to Jesus and they found the man out of whom
the devils were departed. You remember what he was before.
Look at him now. Sitting at the feet of Jesus,
clothed and in his right mind. Boy, that's a far cry from where
he was when we met him, wasn't it? Seated, clothed in his right
mind, a new man with a new heart. Clothed, clothed in the very
righteousness of God. Clothed in beauty not my own. Faultless, faultless to stand
before his throne. Oh, he's a, he's been clothed. He's in his
right mind. He has a new heart, new desire.
Look at Ezekiel, or let me just read it to you. Ezekiel 36, 26. A new heart also will I give
you, and a new spirit will I put in you. I'll take away that stony
heart out of your flesh, and I'll give you a new heart, a
heart of flesh. Fifth, he gave him a new desire. Look at verse 38 of Luke 8. The man out of whom the devils
was departed, besought him that he might be with him, called out of darkness. Called
out of darkness into His marvelous light. This man once desired
to be among the dead. He desired to be among the tombs.
Not anymore. What's his desire? To be with
the Lord. To be with Him. Paul wrote this
in 2 Corinthians 5a. We're confident. Confident, I
say, and willing rather to be absent from the body and present
with the Lord, to be with Him. And those who are born from above,
those whose hearts and treasures are above, no longer of this
world, but of above, whose affections are set on things above, inwardly
desire no longer to be part of this strange country, but to
dwell, to dwell with Him. You know the people of that town,
that wasn't their desire, was it? They didn't want to be with
the Lord. In fact, if you look at verse 37 of Luke 8, it says,
then the multitude of the whole country. I read that, that sounds
to me like all of them. The multitude of the whole country
of the Gadarenes round about him. What was their desire? That
he leave. They besought Him to depart from
them. You know, unless the Lord's pleased
and mercy to reveal Himself to us, that'll be our own desire. No desire for Christ, no desire
for His gospel, no desire for salvation. The whole multitude
of the country of the Gadarenes round about besought him to depart
from them. Was that this man's desire? No,
his desire was to be with the Lord. And the Lord told him, go and
tell. You, go and tell what great things
the Lord hath done for thee." You know, we began this message
with this passage, sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, be ready
always to give an answer to any man who asketh you the reason
of the hope that is in you. This Gadarene man, you think
he could answer that question? What was his hope? Well, I think he could say, like
many of us could say, he came to me. The Lord Jesus Christ
came to me in mercy. He opened my eyes. He opened my eyes to see him. He took away my sin. He made
me a new man. He gave me a new desire. One of the other Gospels, it
says this, He had compassion on me. He had mercy on me. What was the reason for the hope
that was in this man? That woman at the well. What
was her hope? Was it anything she was doing?
Was it in her water pot? Was it in anything that she could
do? No. She said, come see a man
that told me all things I ever did. What was her hope? The Lord
Jesus Christ. This Gadarene man, a desire to
be with who? The Lord. What was his hope? The Lord Jesus Christ. And I
ask you, I ask you this, is that your hope? Is that our hope? Has he done a work of grace in
you? Turn with me to Colossians chapter
one, Colossians one. Look, beginning with verse 21. I'll finish up here. Colossians 1.21, and you that
were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked
works, yet now hath he reconciled, verse 22, in the body of his
flesh through death to present you holy, unblameable, and unreprovable
in his sight, if you continue in the faith, grounded and settled,
and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which you've
heard, which was preached to every creature which is under
heaven, whereof I, Paul, am made a minister, who now rejoice in
my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the
afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is
the church. Where have I made a minister according to the dispensation
of God which is given to me for you to fulfill the word of God? Verse 26, even the mystery which
hath been hid from ages and from generations but is now made manifest
to his saints to whom God would make known what is the riches
of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is, Christ in you, the hope of glory. What's our hope? Christ in us,
huh? Whom we preach, warning every
man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present
every man perfect in Christ Jesus. Listen to this verse just one
more time. Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts. and be ready
always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason
for the hope that is in you." What is that hope? Who is that
hope? It's the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ
in you, the hope of Lord. And he says, you do it. You do
it with meekness. and fear. Do it with a gentle
spirit. Do it with reverence. All right. God bless His Word.