Good morning again. I always forget to say this, but
the brethren in Kingsport send their greetings and I hope you
all have had a chance to meet the people there. They're so
sweet and gave. I just love them to death. I'm
very thankful that Bruce asked me to be here. I've seen a couple
familiar faces, but most of y'all are new to me, and I pray the
Lord would enable us to rejoice in Christ together this day. If you will open your Bibles
with me to John chapter 4. John chapter 4. You know, Greg mentioned getting
up here and being nervous. And, you know, it's one thing people
say that people fear public speaking more than they fear death. That's
what they say. But preaching the gospel is so
much more than public speaking. I believe if God ever calls a
man to preach, you'll get over the fear of public speaking pretty
quickly. The fear becomes being God's
messenger. and praying that God has sent
you and that he sent you with his message. That's the true
fear. Here in John chapter 4, we have
the passage of the Samaritan Woman. Some of you may be familiar
with it. Some of you may not. And this is probably my favorite
passage of Scripture, so I'm very excited to bring a message
concerning this text of Scripture. I've titled this message, A Religious
Woman Saved. A Religious Woman Saved. Now, I've worded this deliberately. I did not title it, A Saved Religious
Woman. Rather, A Religious Woman Saved. Now you might think, well, Cody,
that doesn't really make any sense. If you're saved, you're
religious, right? Then shouldn't you title this, A Harlot Saved? Oh, we love Rahab the harlot,
do we not? Couldn't you have titled this, A Thief Saved? We
love that thief on the cross. Oh, you surely could have titled
this, A Leper Saved, A Sinner Saved. No, I titled this on purpose,
A Religious Woman Saved. You see, there's a great mistake
among men that being religious is salvation. You know, someone can say they
got religious, they got saved and became a Christian. The fact
is, God's Word speaks nothing along those terms. You're not
going to find that in the Word of God. You're just not going
to find it. But you will find sinners saved. You'll find harlots
saved. You'll find drunkards, thieves, sinners saved. And even
on occasion, you'll find a religious person. I mean, it's just obvious.
God makes it so clear in His Word. Man, they're religious.
And God was gracious to save them. And that's what we have
here. Over in Matthew 5, verse 20, our Lord said, So from that
verse alone, we know that it's not enough to merely be religious.
It's just not enough. Salvation isn't in being religious.
But here's salvation. John 17, verse 3. This is life
eternal. This is salvation. that they might know thee, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." That's
salvation. Salvation is knowing Christ. Now today, for the purpose
of this message, I want us to clearly see God's salvation. Now that's my desire. That's
my desire. I want to see God's salvation.
Are you interested? Are you interested in God's salvation?
I have been blessed to sit under the true preaching of the gospel
my whole life, and every week I get more and more excited to
come hear about God's salvation. It never gets old. It never gets
cold. It's fresh. It's new. I need
it. I desire it more and more. Every time I come into the house
of worship, I pray God would enable us to hear from Him, to
hear His Word, to see His salvation. I've got four points for this
message. I want to talk to you briefly about true salvation,
God's salvation. Then I want to talk to you about
our condition, man, fallen man, state. Well, there it is. I just
gave it away. Third, I want to tell you about how God saves.
Lastly, I want to tell you the effects, the results of God's
salvation. Now first, true salvation. The first thing that I see here
in our text about true salvation is that it is according to God's
purpose. Look here with me in John chapter
4 verse 1. When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had
heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, though
Jesus himself baptized not but his disciples, he left Judea
and departed again into Galilee, and he must, needs, go through
Samaria." Now, the Pharisees were always out to get him, trying
to catch him in his words, and they always sought counsel how
they might take him and put him to death. Same thing is going
on here. And here the Lord leaves, and
He's going to Galilee. And it says He must needs go
through Samaria. You know, that's a verse that is quoted a lot
among the preachers we listen to. He must needs go through
Samaria. Why? Here's why. Because He had a
lost sheep there. Right there. Look over here in
John chapter 10. John 10 verse 27. He had a lost
sheep. He said in John 10, 27, My sheep hear My voice, and I
know them, and they follow Me, and I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them
out of My hand. My Father which gave them Me
is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of
My Father's hand. First, you read that. God has a people that
God the Father gave His Son. They're going to be saved, every
last one of them. No man's going to pluck them
out of my Father's hand, okay? But what we see here, His sheep
hear His voice. They know Him. They follow Him.
He must need to go through Samaria because there's a lost sheep
there. In Matthew 15 verse 24, the Lord Jesus said, I am not
sent but unto the lost sheep. of the house of Israel. He wasn't
sent for everybody. He was sent for his sheep. He
leaves the 99 just persons in the wilderness and he goes and
finds that one lost sheep and there's rejoicing in heaven over
that one lost sheep who was found. True salvation is according to
God's purpose. What I mean by that is God purposed
salvation, made an everlasting covenant from eternity, said,
I will be their God, they shall be my people. It's a particular
people. It's not everybody. He has a
people. We just read it. My sheep whom the Father gave
me. He has a people who he purposed to save from eternity and they
shall be saved. God saves sinners on purpose.
That's the first thing we're seeing here. Now, the second
thing is that true salvation starts. Where does it start?
With God. Look at verse five of our text.
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.
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. There cometh a woman of Samaria
to draw water. Jesus saith unto her, Give me
to drink. Now we see God's purpose in that
he came, he must need to go through Samaria, he's going to Galilee,
going to Samaria first, he stops in Sychar, he goes further there,
he goes to Jacob's well, he sits on the well, he was truly a man,
he was weary with his journey, he was tired, he sat down on
the well. Well then this woman came out, what a coincidence.
Oh man, I tell you what, isn't that something? It was no coincidence. No coincidence
at all. He came there. He must need to
go through Samaria. He knew she was going to come
out. He knew she was coming. That's why he came. He came and
she was coming. Now, John 6, I quoted earlier,
no man can come to me except the Father which has sent me.
God the Father sent him. Must need to go through Samaria.
He sent him to Samaria. Except the Father which has sent
me, draw him. God the Father sent his son to
Samaria to that well at that exact time. And He drew that
woman to that well. None of that is by accident. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest and causest to approach unto thee. He chose her and caused
her to approach unto Him. True salvation starts with God.
This woman did not take the first step. She didn't take the first
step. She didn't initiate the conversation.
The Lord came to her. And then he says, give me the
drink. It all starts with God, and this is a picture, okay?
This is a picture. Third, I see that true salvation
is a private work. Look at verse 8. He said, give
me the drink, for his disciples were gone away unto the city
to buy meat. Now, you can easily read this
passage and look over that. It's in parentheses, and well,
maybe it's not important. Here, it's God's Word. It's important,
okay? We should know that, isn't it?
What's the significance? His disciples traveled with Him.
They went with Him. Well, here they come with Him
to the well and then they go out to buy meat. They had no
food. Again, was this just by chance? Absolutely not. Over
in Luke chapter 10, the Lord turned to His disciples and He
said unto them privately, Blessed are your eyes. Blessed are your
eyes. They see the things that Bless
our eyes for they see the things that you see. Many have desired
to see the things that you see and to hear the things that you
hear, but they can't see them. They can't hear them. God doesn't
privately give salvation to everybody. He sovereignly gives it to whomsoever
He will. That's the difference. True salvation,
according to God's purpose, it starts with God. It's a private
work. He was alone with the woman. That is so important. You can
be sitting here today. This is how God saves. God might
speak to you through the preaching of His gospel, through His Word,
and He may not speak to the person next to you. It is so private. It's a private work. Sovereign
mercy. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. Compassion
on whom I'll have compassion. Over in Jeremiah chapter 18,
the Lord sent Jeremiah down to the potter's house. Jeremiah
saw, behold, the potter. He worked the work on the wheels
and he looked and he saw some clay in his hand, and it was
marred, it was ugly. And then the potter, he took
the clay and he made it unto him. It seemed good to him to
make it. And the Lord said, here's the lesson. Can I do with you
as this potter? Even as the clay is in the potter's
hand, so are you in my hand. It's a private work. God sovereignly
saves whom he will. Now, fourthly, I see that true
salvation is the gift of God. Look at verse 9. Then saith the
woman of Samaria unto him, 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 this was true. The Jews had
no dealings with the Samaritans. It was strange. Why was he talking
with her? And so it is. God has no dealings. Outside
of Christ, God and sinners are totally separate. No dealings
with one another. And you know, she's just, I look at this woman,
I say, man, she knows it all. She's, why are you trying to
ask drink of me? Whoa, what are we doing here? But we're going
to see her salvation, okay? Look at verse 10. 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 wouldst have asked
of him, and he would have given thee living water. if you knew
the gift of God. What's the gift of God? He just
said living water. It's the living water of salvation.
And we're going to get back to that in a minute. We'll come
back to this. True salvation is according to
God's purpose, starts with God, private work, and it's God's
gift. That's the first point. Now, when God comes to us, just
like He came to this woman, what condition are we in? When God
saves us, what condition are we in? We're going to see what
condition we're in by seeing what condition this woman was
in. Now first, let's read again, verse 10. 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 wouldst have asked
of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman
saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the
well is deep. From whence then hast thou that
living water? She said, Art thou greater than
our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof
himself, and his children, and his cattle? Here's the first
thing. She thought that he needed her help. The well is deep. You've got nothing to draw with.
I've got my water pot. You don't have a bucket. A spiritual
application here is She did not believe that He was able. If
it's living, what? You're not able. You've got to
at least use my bucket, right? I mean, you don't have anything
to draw with. He's not able. And by nature, we just saw it.
If you be the Christ, save yourself. Let Him come down from the cross
and we'll believe Him. We don't believe He's able. No
man does. But by the grace of God, we don't
see His saving power. We don't need His saving power.
And in Ephesians 3, verse 20, it says, And I went to Him that
is able to do exceeding abundantly. Well, how much is that? That's
everything. He has all power. He's able to exceeding abundantly
above all that we ask or think. Jesus Christ has all the saving
power that there is. And yet He comes to us and we
think He needs our help. I at least have to accept it,
right? Only by His grace will you do
that. Only by His grace. It's not of us, not of works,
but of Him that calleth. God does not need our help. We have no spiritual understanding.
Look at verse 13. Jesus answered and said unto
her, Whosoever drinketh of this water, this water that you came
here to draw, whosoever drinketh of this water shall 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. The woman saith unto him, Sir,
give me this water. Give me this water that I thirst not, neither
come hither to draw. Now, if God has done something
for you and me, we cry out to God, Oh God, give me this water.
Give me this water that I thirst not. And soon that would truly
be her cry. But right here, she had no understanding. She was interested. Give me this
water. But she had no understanding. And it'll be obvious that all
she thought he was talking about was water that would make her
immortal here on this earth. Physical water. She had no clue. She had no clue what he was talking
about. And she also had no clue how deep the well was. You know,
she said, the well is deep. Winston has to ask, how are you
going to get this living water? Where's it coming from? Oh, brother. Two wells here. First, she did
not have any idea how deep the well of her sin was. She knew nothing about her sin.
No one had ever told her, you're nothing but sin. And God in His
Word says, there's none good, no not one. All have sinned that
comes from the glory of God. She didn't know that. And she
also did not know the depth of mercy. The depth of that well
of God's grace. Whosoever will, let him come.
Come, take of the water freely. Freely. She had no idea about
that well either. Third, she was guilty. Look at verse
16. She was a guilty sinner. Jesus saith unto her, Go, call
thy husband, and come hither. Go call your husband. 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." What did the Lord do here? We're seeing
our state by nature, our spiritual state. She was a sinner. He said, go call your husband.
She said, I have no husband. He said, you've had five husbands,
and he who you have now, he's not your husband. He said, you
are a sinner. That's what he was saying. pointing
out her sin. All have sinned. All have sinned.
You know, God looked down from heaven to see if there was any
that did understand, if there was any that sought after God.
What's it say? They're all gone back. They're
all together become filthy. There's none that seeks after
God. There's none that understands. There's none good. No, not one. Not one. I like what David said. He said, If thou, Lord, shouldest
mark iniquities, who shall stand? If God's going to judge me dead
in my sin, who is going to stand? I have no hope. And here this
woman, the Lord shows her, you are a sinner. You're a sinner. You're a sinner. And you and
I are in the same state. Fourthly, our condition, we are
ignorant of Jesus Christ. Look at verse 19. The woman saith unto him, Sir,
there it is again, Sir, I perceive that thou art a Did you know
that the Pharisees, they had many
run-ins with the Lord. And I mentioned it earlier, their
intentions were never good. He cast out devils. And they
said, by Beelzebub, you're casting out devils. They thought he was
of the devil. They said, this man blasphemeth. They thought
he was a blasphemer. They thought if anyone is a God-hater,
it's him. But they didn't know it was them.
Now, it's very important that we see that because here's the
danger. You know, I just mentioned people
think going to church is going to produce salvation. Well, I've
got to go to church. You must hear God speak to you
through His Word. You must. Faith comes by hearing and hearing
by the Word of God. But going to church is not salvation.
You can know all about Christ. You can know all about the Lord
Jesus, but not know the Lord Jesus. You know, people knew
all about the Ark, didn't they? They didn't go in the ark. And
they might even touch it. You know that ark they built?
Man, that's a mighty fine ark. I guarantee you, no people there
have any idea what that ark represents. People going in there every day,
no idea. That ark is Christ. That ark
is Christ. It endured all the wrath of God
and it stood firm and rose above the waters. Every soul in that
ark was safe and saved. That's Christ. That's Christ. It is not enough to know about
Him. I perceive that thou art a prophet." Well, guess what?
He is a prophet, the prophet, priest, and king. But you must
know Him. You know, there's a difference
in the Jesus people speak of and Jesus Christ, who is God.
Big difference. I want to show you this. We're
in John. Look over at John 17. This is life eternal, that they
might know thee. We must know Him, the true and
living God, the true Jesus Christ. Look here, John 17, verse 9.
This is the true Jesus of Scriptures. John 17, 9. This is the Lord
speaking. He said, I pray for them. I pray not for the world. God so loved the world, I pray
not for them. Well, that doesn't make a whole lot of sense. We'll
read it again. I pray for them. He's praying for somebody. I
pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me,
for they are thine. Well, what does John 3.16 mean
then? God so loved the world. You must understand scripture
in its context. Nicodemus came to him, lost, ruler of the Pharisees. God tells him, you must be born
again. And then he goes on to say, God so loved the world,
he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him
shall not perish, but have eternal life. And then he goes on to
say, we're condemned already. We've condemned ourselves because
we love darkness rather than light. He says, he that hath
son hath life. He loves his people. He loves
his people. He died for his people. That's
why God sent his son to die for his people. We must see that.
And here he prays for his people. For them which thou hast given
me. That's who he prays for. He ever
lives to make intercession praying for us. And that's who he died
for. We must know him. We must know
him. Fifth, this woman. She professed to be a Christian. She professed to be a Christian.
Look back at our text. Look at verse 20. She said, Our fathers worshipped
in this mountain And you say that in Jerusalem is the place
where men ought to worship. What is she saying here? Our
fathers worshipped in this mountain. You say this is where we ought
to worship. We worship. Let me tell you this. I come
from a long line of Christians. Oh boy. My father's worshipped
in that church. I was raised in that church.
Buddy, I'm a Christian. Who doesn't know this woman professed to
be a Christian? Who doesn't? Everybody does everybody Bobby's
I just mentioned everyone's saved. No, everyone's a Christian Yeah, I just told you the Lord
pointed out her sin and I'm a sinner but I at least I go to church
That's not salvation Salvation is knowing Christ and we're about
to see that we're Every everybody Some more outwardly than others,
but we all set up God, set up idols in our hearts, and we worship
Him. You thought that I was altogether like yourself. That's not God. God is not like us. This woman
represents all of us, every single one of us, before experiencing
the grace of God. We think God needs our help.
Salvation is in some regard dependent upon me, but He doesn't. It's
not. God makes it clear that man by
nature has no spiritual understanding. I read it earlier. We cannot
discern them. They're spiritually discerned.
Neither can we know them. Tells us that we're sinners.
Pointed out her sin. Tells us that we're ignorant
of Jesus Christ, God's Savior, though religious. That's what
I want us to see here. This woman, religious, okay? It should be obvious. It should
be obvious. God's word is clear. Many people
are religious, but they do not know God, have not experienced
God's salvation. Now, the whole reason I came
here today is because I'm here to share from you what God has
done for me, and I pray that he would do it for you. I'm not
going to stand here and tickle your ears, tell you what you
want to hear, make you feel good. I feel great. That's not why I'm here.
I'm here because I know how we are. We're religious. We like
to look to ourselves for something. But there's no salvation in that.
Salvation is of the Lord. That's what Jonah said. The third
thing I want us to see is how God saves. We have a religious
woman. Well, how does God save her?
We know God saved her. How does He do it? The first
thing he must do is reveal to us we're lost. We're lost. Look at verse 21. She said, Our
fathers worshipped in this mountain. Jesus saith unto her, Woman,
believe me. We could park right there for
a while, couldn't we? Woman, believe me. Believe me. The hour
cometh when you shall neither in this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem
worship the Father. Now look at this. Ye worship
ye know not what. We know what we worship, for
salvation is of the Jews. You see, what the Lord did, He
came to her where she was. In sovereign mercy, He came to
her, and then she came, and He engages in this conversation,
points out her sin, and He tells her, you're lost. You don't even
know what you worship. And here's the sad reality. Many
people are in church pews right now, worshiping they know not
what. I don't want to be one of those
people. It's not enough to just play
church. People do it. I would do it.
If it weren't for the grace of God, I would be playing church
like many others right now. There's no salvation in that.
You see, the first step in salvation is for God to get you lost. I'm
lost. I have no hope. My conscience
is guilty. It hasn't been purged. I'm guilty. There's no hope. That's the first
thing God must reveal to us. We're lost. We're lost. I read
it earlier. He came from the lost sheep of
the house of Israel. Christ came to seek and to save
that which was lost, the holy, not a physician, but they that
are sick. He came to give sight to the
blind, hearing to the deaf. He made them lame to take up
his bed and walk. You see, it's one thing to think
that he is, that he doesn't have the power to save. It's one thing
to think that he's unable. We must know that I am unable
to do anything for me. I have a soul. God gave me a
soul. My soul is lost. I'm born into
this world. In sin did my mother conceive
me. I'm brought forth from my mother's womb speaking lies.
We drink iniquity like water. Is that not been your experience?
We're lost. We're lost. You know that these
girls just sing amazing grace. That's so beautiful. I love hearing
that. I pray that as you grow up, God
would save you by his amazing grace. That God would pierce
your heart with the truth of the gospel and save you by his
grace so that you will cry from the heart, oh, amazing grace
that saved a wretch like me. Because many people sing it who
have not experienced it. God saves by revealing to us
that we're lost, and then by telling us the truth. He said,
you worship you know not what. Look at verse 23. But the hour
cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship
the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to
worship him. God is a spirit, and they that
worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. Now notice
what he said there in verse 23. He said, when the true worshipers. What does that imply? There are
false worshippers. Okay? In Matthew chapter 7, we
read those solemn words where the Lord said, Not everyone that
saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven,
but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Hear this. Many, many shall say to me in
that day, Lord, Lord, look what I've done. Just consider that
thief on the cross. What in the world did he do?
He cried, Lord, Lord, remember me. There's a big difference
in that. And Lord, look what I've done.
Have we not done many wonderful works in thy name? Those are
the false worshipers. And that's all of us by nature
until God saves us by his grace, false worshipers. And we worship
false idols. There is just one way God is
to be worshipped. You see, it says here, God is
a spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him. It's the
only way. They must worship Him in spirit and in truth. It's
the only way He's to be worshipped. Here, God saves us by showing
us we're lost, convicting us of our sin that we're lost. And
then He tells us the truth. He tells us the truth. The truth
of how He's to be worshipped. Look over at Psalm 99. This is
wonderful. Psalm 99. Verse 5. This is how God is to be worshipped.
Psalm 99.5 says, Exalt ye the Lord our God. We come here to
exalt the Lord Jesus Christ. You all are looking at me. I
don't want you to look to me. Look unto Christ and be saved.
Look to Him. Exalt ye the Lord our God and
worship at His footstool. What's that mean? At His feet.
You remember Martha and Mary. Martha comforted about much serving.
They are careful about many things, Martha. But one thing is needful. Mary had chosen that good part,
which shall not be taken away from her. What was Mary doing?
She sat at the Lord's feet and heard His word. That's how God
is to be worshipped. That's the only way God is to
be worshipped. To sit at His footstool, hear
His word, for he is holy. You know, this comes back to
this matter of going to church. You can have skits and Easter
egg hunts and whatever. A ten minute sermon that has
nothing to do with Christ and his finished work for sinners.
That is not worshipping God. Going to church, maybe, but it's
not worshipping God. God is holy. He must be worshipped
in spirit. God must send his spirit to descend
upon us and reveal unto us the truth. Spirit and truth. It's
the only way. For he's holy. We're the sinners. We're to sit and hear his word.
That's how God's to be worshipped. It's the only way God is to be
worshipped. And it said in our text, it said, God seek, for
he seeketh such to worship him. We don't please God by coming
to church, by sitting. Well, I went to church. I read
my Bible. God seeketh such who come to worship Him in humility.
God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. That's
God. The second step in salvation
is for God to cross our paths with the truth. Look over in
Romans chapter 10. We must hear the truth. You know, I was thinking about
this. In studying this, there are many churches, there are
many preachers. God's word says that there are
many false prophets. And he said, truly the harvest
is great, but the laborers are few. Pray ye therefore, the Lord
of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his
harvest. These are his preachers, his
ministers, his servants, his messengers. There are many false
prophets, few of God's laborers, few Faithful gospel preachers
and we need to understand that it's not enough. Well, I go to
church. I believe him because the piece of preacher There are
many man-made preachers. Well, did he I can tell you this
right now? I haven't been to seminary and
I'm never going to seminary if God is gonna call me to the ministry
Then he's gonna call me to the ministry if he's not then he's
not It we must be taught of God His disciples were fishers several
of them fishermen he The Lord came to them, he said, come follow
me. They forsook all that, and they followed him. I will make
you fishers of men. That's the way this works. That's
the way this works. We must be hearing the truth.
Now look here in Romans chapter 10, verse 13. For whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Well, Cody, your
message has sounded pretty rough. That's kind of ruffling my feathers. How's this for good news? Whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. That's good
news. Are you? Who's a whosoever? Whosoever will let him come.
How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?
How are you going to call upon him whom you have not believed?
And how should they believe in him of whom they've not heard?
How are you going to believe in someone you've not even heard
about? That's ridiculous. You're not going to. And how
shall they hear without a preacher? You won't. You won't. Philip
in the end, he was reading, and Philip said, do you understand
what you're reading? He said, how can I, except some man should
guide me? It's the only way. It pleases God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them of that belief. He begets us by
his word, the word of truth. Well, just any preacher? No.
Verse 15, and how shall they preach except they be sent? And down to verse 17, so then
faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. God
must show us Cody, you're lost. God must speak to me through
the foolishness of preaching, through a gospel preacher whom
he has sent with his word, with his message for me. And by his grace, I will hear.
He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear. God, by his grace,
he'll give me an ear to hear, heart to receive his truth and
believe on him and to call upon the name of the Lord. It's only
going to be by God's grace. Thirdly, How does God save? He saves by revealing Himself
unto us. Look back at our text. John 4,
verse 25. This is the third and most important
step in salvation. Christ reveals Himself to us.
Verse 25, the woman saith unto him, I know that Messiah cometh. I know Messiah cometh, which
is called Christ. When He is come, He will tell
us all things. Here she is again showing us that she was indeed
a religious woman. I know all about the Messiah.
I know he's coming. I know he's going to tell me
all things. I don't know when, but I know he's coming. I love
this. Look what the Lord said to her.
Verse 26. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee, am he. I am. Who shall you say sent me? Tell
him I am sent you. I am that I am. Before Abraham
was, I am. That's our God. That's our Lord. He is. Oh, what a name. That's the name above every name.
I am. Salvation is Christ revealing himself to us. This woman says,
I know that when Messiah comes, he'll tell us all that. I am.
Isn't that wonderful? Don't you want to put yourself
in her shoes? Here we are being in our religious lost state.
I know. talking all about what we know.
I can quote John 3.16. I know the Bible. God says, I
am. Forget it. Drop what you've been
doing. Just put off that show of religion. I am. That's how
God saved a sinner. You remember Paul, the Apostle
Paul, his conversion. Here he is on the road to Damascus
to persecute the church, God's people. Had a rest once, ready
for him. He had just consented unto Stephen,
the faithful martyr, to death. on his high horse, a proud man,
a religious man. God shined a bright light from
heaven, knocked him off the horse and blinded him. He said, Who
art thou, Lord? What did he say? I am Jesus,
whom thou persecutest. God saved him. How did he save
him? I am. There it is again. I am.
We're not going to be saved unless he comes to us and says, I am.
That's the only way. You remember Joseph, I mentioned
him earlier. Joseph could not refrain himself. He revealed
himself to his brethren. And before he said that, he said
he made everyone leave, except him and his brothers. It says,
there stood no man with him while he made himself known unto his
brethren. We just read it. The Lord was alone with this
woman. His disciples were, coincidentally, gone away. He got alone with
that woman. He showed her he was lost. He
told her the truth. This is how God should be worshipped. You
don't know what you worship. Here she is lost, and he says, I am.
There's salvation. I am. And the big difference
here is she said that I know that Messiah cometh. I know when
he comes, what's going to happen? He's going to save me? I know
that when Messiah cometh, he will tell us all things. It's
all about what he's going to tell us. Salvation is not what
you know, whom you know. Right? I know whom I have believed.
I'm persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed
unto him against that day. I'll just be honest with you.
The believer has an old nature that I'll put off the old man.
And a new nature. Partakers of the divine nature,
that new holy nature. Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Okay? This old man, this old man is so proud. Oh, if only
you knew. What a proud rebel I am. You
don't even know. I hope some of you can relate. We're proud about what we know,
right? Man, I can quote scripture. Oh,
man. I go to work. I do such a good
job. I'm so proud. It's not about what you know.
Lord, I know nothing. Without me, you can do nothing.
I am nothing. I have nothing. I know nothing. Brethren, I pray
Christ will be all our strength, all our knowledge, that we might
know Him and the power of His resurrection. We must know Him. You and I come into this world
dead and trespassing. We come into this world in a
pit of sin, falling, and we can't get ourselves out. In Isaiah,
the Lord said, remember the pit from which you're digged. I've
dug you out of a great pit. That's how we are. That's us.
But praise God. I love that. You who were dead,
but God. But God. But God. Praise God. But God has a people he shall
save. And for us to be saved, God must reveal to us we're lost.
He must tell us the truth of God. No man's going to be saved
under a false message. Why would God warn us to beware
of the many false prophets? If we could be saved by Him,
it's not going to happen. And He must make Himself known
to us. Christ in you. Galatians 2.20 I'm going to have
to turn there. I forget things when I'm up here. This is so glorious. Galatians
2.20 I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless
I live, yet not I, but what's your hope? What's your hope,
Cody? But Christ liveth in me. Oh man, that's a good hope. And the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me and gave himself for me. That's how God saves sinners,
okay. Now lastly, and I'll be quick, the effects. God saves you, what's going to
happen? Well, first of all, you're going to be saved. Look at what this
woman did in John 4, verse 27. And upon this came his disciples,
they came back, and marveled that he talked with the woman.
They were shocked. We just read it. The Jews have no dealings
with the Samaritans. They were shocked. Yet no man
said, What seekest thou? Or, Why talkest thou with her?
The woman then left her waterpot. And she went her way into the
city and saith to the men, come, come see a man which told me
all things that ever I did. Is not this the Christ? Is not
this the Christ? God ever saves us. I tell you
the first thing we're going to do. You can just mark this. And
I hope again, I hope, I hope this has been your experience.
We will leave our water pot. What in the world does that mean?
I'll tell you what it means. She came there, just going about
her daily business, and I'm gonna go get me some water. You notice,
she left. She didn't have that water. She
didn't even have her water pot. What did she have? The reason she left her water
pot is because her thirst was forever quenched. Look back at it in verse 14.
What did the Lord tell her? He said, but whosoever drinketh
of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst. It's going to be in you a well
of water springing up into everlasting life. Oh, she shall never thirst. You can flip a page over in John
chapter 6. Look what the Lord said in verse 35. Jesus said
unto them, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall
never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall what? Never thirst. You're not thirsty anymore. Your
soul has been quenched. Leaving that water pot behind
also represents, she came there and, you need to at least use
my water pot, right, to get your water. God doesn't need our help. God won't have our help. We die
trying to help God out, we'll die in our sins. That's exactly
right. We must leave our water pot and stop working for our
salvation. That's what it represents. She
left her water pot. She left all she had and clung
to Christ. Look over at John 6 again, verse 28. Here are these
people who the Lord performed the miracle and they start following
Him. And what do they say? What shall we do that we might
work the works of God? Here we are. What can I do to
help? What can I do to work the works
of God? Look what He said to them. Jesus answered and said
unto them, This is the work of God, that you believe on Him
whom He hath sent. Believe on Christ. He is the
living water. Look to Him. And we only will
by the grace of God. It's the only way we'll look
to Christ. It's the only way our thirst is going to be quenched.
You see, this woman could leave her water pot behind. She could
forsake everything and follow Him, which is the only way you're
going to follow Him. She could do that because she doesn't thirst
anymore. She was complete in Christ. Complete
in Him. Christ is all. Second, the second
effect of God's salvation is we will know what we worship. And not only that, we'll know
whom we worship. You worship you know not what?
Well, not anymore. I am. Not anymore. I love thinking
about this. Oh, how her worship changed.
We're going to go worship in that now. I know Messiah's coming. Oh, how her worship changed.
I can just see her like Mary getting down, just sitting, just
grinning ear to ear, hearing the gospel preached to her. She
had the gospel preached to her by the gospel itself, Christ
himself. You see, if God saves us, it's
going to be all about Him. We're not going to be trusting
in what we know. Now, well, you've got to give me something to credit.
No, not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give
glory. for thy mercy and thy truth. It's all to Him. Christ
is all. God ever saved us, we're going
to worship Christ and Him alone. We're not going to go around
saying, Jesus this, Jesus that. The Lord Jesus Christ has saved
me by His grace. Amazing grace. How sweet the
sound. Thirdly, this woman, she knew
the gift of God. The Lord came to her and said,
if you knew the gift of God and who it is that's talking to you,
You would have asked of Him. Well, now she knew. I can see
her. Oh, Lord, give me this water that I thirst not, neither come
hither to draw. Oh, can't you just see her? Now
she knew the gift of God, and she knew the giver of the gift.
She knew it all. She knew Christ. Look over with
me in Romans chapter 6. Romans chapter 6, verse 23 says,
For the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God, there it
is, the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our
Lord. That's eternal life. You know,
learn this from this verse. The wages of sin is death. Everything
that you see around us is because of sin. This dark, wicked world. Sin. That shouldn't surprise
us that we turn on the news and see awful things. That's the
result of sin. That's the result of sin. But also, the main result
of sin is our spiritual death. The soul that sinneth, guess
what? It shall die. God will by no means clear the
guilty. God is a just God. He's just. He's holy. He can
only do that which is just and right. But praise God, it doesn't
just stop the wages of sin as death. I mentioned but God earlier,
but the gift of God. Praise God for His unspeakable
gift. Praise God for Christ's eternal
life in Him. Lastly, like this woman, I love
this, like this woman, we will go and tell others what He's
done for us. Verse 29 of our text, she said,
Come see a man which told me all things that ever I did."
What did she do? What did the Lord tell her? All
he told her, you worship, you know not what, and he pointed
out her sin. He told her, you're religious but lost, you're a
sinner. That's what he told her. And then she goes, he told me
all things that ever I did. Is not this the Christ? Is not
this the Christ? You know, if we've received and
grace from God our Savior. We've experienced His saving
grace. How can we keep that to ourselves?
Why can I stand here and smile ear to ear and tell you, oh,
look what God has done. Look what God has done. Because it's so good. It's so
glorious. This is not fake. I'm not putting
on a show. God has done something for me,
and God can do something for you. I think it was Scott Richardson
who said, what's a preacher? It's a nobody who tells everybody
about somebody who can save anybody. Is that not our God? Oh. Oh,
that's our God. That gathering filled with devils.
The Lord cast the devils out of him and sent him home. You go tell your friends and
family what great things the Lord has done for you. If you
can't relate to me, I'm sorry. But this is God. This is the
condition we're in. This is how he saves. Glory to
his name. Amen. We believe or we believe.
Some believe and some believe not. But he's going to get all
the glory either way. You know, I'm so glad we sang
that hymn. I forgot, but I was going to
ask if we could close singing that hymn. We already sang it.
To God be the glory and great things He hath done. It ain't
about what I've done. He hath done. Let Him glory in the Lord. Glory
in the Lord. If God ever saves us, we will
leave our works behind. Oh, all my works are filthy. rags, abomination in the sight
of God. Yeah, highly esteemed in the eyes of men, filth in
God's sight. That's everything I've ever produced.
Everything I've ever got. But by the grace of God, leave our works behind and cleave
unto the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is all. I'm going to read
you what Paul said. He said, My only hope is that
I may win Christ and be found in Him not having mine own righteousness,
which is of the law, but the righteousness which is of God
by faith. That which is through the faith
of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. That
is my only hope. That's the only hope there is.
That's the only hope for this sinner. That's the only hope
for you. That's the only hope for anybody. You see, the problem
is not that we're not religious enough. I really should go to
church. If you're going where the gospel
is preached, yeah, you should go. But don't look to your going. Look to Christ. Look to Christ
of whom the man is telling you. The problem, here's the problem.
Not that we're not religious. The problem is that we've missed
Christ. Oh, you and I are sinners doomed
for hell. At the wages of sin is death.
You and I are nothing but sin. God makes that abundantly clear.
that Christ has the power to save, he sovereignly has mercy
on whom he will. Oh God, be merciful to me, the
sinner. Don't miss Christ. If you miss
Christ, you miss it all. Miss it all. Christ is all. Oh,
I pray God would not let us miss him. Amen. We'll be dismissed
in prayer. Gracious God and Heavenly Father,
oh Lord, we thank you for salvation in Christ. We thank You that
salvation is 100% of the Lord, that we can only glory in You,
that we have nothing of which to boast. We're nothing but sin. We don't deserve the least of
Your mercies. But yet we read in Your Word,
You came to this woman and You saved her by Your grace. And
Lord, I know You can save us by Your grace too. Oh God, come
to us. Reveal unto us that we're lost.
Teach us thy truth. Oh God, teach us thy truth and
reveal yourself unto us. Oh, to know you is life eternal.
Oh God, save us. Be merciful to us. I pray for
these children here that you might be merciful to them. Keep
us looking to You. Make us faithful in the cause
of Christ. Set our eyes, set our hearts on You, not on ourselves
or the things of this world. Lord, save us, keep us. I pray You would bring Bruce
safely back here and continue to bless the work here. Lord,
get all the glory for all things. In Christ's name I pray. Amen. I forgot to mention, again, my
forgetful memory here, that I was told right before we began the
service that Gail has provided some food for us to eat. I had
the opportunity to stay in, fellowship a little
bit, and enjoy some food. So let's, I want to ask God's
blessing on the meal. Our eternal Father, our great
God and creator, our designer and life giver, and you are our
provider. So we prepare now to enjoy some food with one another,
some food and conversation and fellowship. Father, please bless
us. Bless our meal that we're going
to receive. Bless our fellowship. Protect
us and guide us and everything. In Jesus' name, Amen.