The Miracle of Grace

Q: What does the Bible say about the necessity of grace?

The Bible teaches that grace is essential for salvation, as it is the unmerited favor of God towards sinners. In John 4, we see the miraculous nature of grace through the encounter of Jesus with the Samaritan woman. This chapter underscores that God's grace is intentional and purposeful, as exemplified by Christ's need to go through Samaria to reach those He intends to save. This mirrors the broader biblical theme that grace is not a mere afterthought; it is the essential means through which God acts to save His people, as seen in Ephesians 2:8-9, which emphasizes that we are saved by grace through faith, and that not of ourselves—it is the gift of God.

Q: How do we know that Jesus must save us?

Jesus' mission was to save the lost, as demonstrated by His deliberate actions and teachings in the Gospels. The necessity of Jesus' saving work can be seen throughout the Gospels, particularly in His encounter with the woman at the well in John 4. Jesus expresses that He 'must' go through Samaria, highlighting that His ministry is a deliberate pursuit of sinners. This reflects the doctrine of sovereign grace, which teaches that God has chosen His people and has enacted a plan for their salvation through Christ. Additionally, scriptures such as Romans 8:29-30 show that those whom God foreknew, He predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, indicating that salvation is through the purposeful and sovereign plan of God.

Q: Why is understanding spiritual thirst important for Christians?

Understanding spiritual thirst helps Christians recognize their need for Christ and the living water He provides. In John 4, Jesus uses the metaphor of living water to illustrate the deep spiritual thirst of humanity. He points out that those who drink of the earthly water will thirst again, signifying that nothing in this world can truly satisfy the soul. This concept of spiritual thirst is critical for Christians because it emphasizes the human condition of longing for something beyond mere physical satisfaction. It invites believers to seek fulfillment in Christ, who offers everlasting life and spiritual nourishment. Jesus' promise that the water He gives will become a spring of water welling up to eternal life signifies the transformative power of His grace and the need for ongoing reliance on Him, as echoed in John 7:37-39.

Q: How does Jesus demonstrate humility in John 4?

Jesus demonstrates humility by engaging with a Samaritan woman, breaking cultural norms and expectations. In John 4, the interaction between Jesus and the Samaritan woman reveals profound humility on His behalf. Despite being a Jew and a teacher of the law, He speaks to a Samaritan, a group despised by the Jews. By asking her for a drink, He identifies with her humanity and need. This act of humility reflects the broader themes of the humility of Christ throughout Scripture, as described in Philippians 2:6-8, where Paul states that Jesus, though in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but took the form of a servant. This example encourages Christians to reflect Christ's humility in their own interactions with others, especially with those marginalized by society.

Q: What role does faith play in receiving the living water from Christ?

Faith is essential in receiving the living water that Christ offers, as it opens the heart to His grace and salvation. In John 4, when Jesus tells the Samaritan woman that if she knew the gift of God, she would ask Him for living water, it illustrates the principle that faith leads to receiving God's blessings. Faith is the means by which we are enabled to recognize our need for salvation and to come to Christ for that living water. Ephesians 2:8-9 emphasizes that we are saved by grace through faith; in other words, faith is not a work we perform but a gift from God that allows us to grasp the grace He extends to us. This underscores the sovereign grace perspective—that salvation is entirely a work of God, granted through faith, enabling us to partake in the eternal life that Christ offers.

Let's open our Bibles to the
book of John, chapter 4. I'll speak this morning on the
miracle of grace. The miracle of grace. Now, it
wasn't so awful long ago that I brought a message from this
fourth chapter of John. here in this pulpit sometime
in the month of March, I believe it was, I preached from John
chapter 4. But a few nights ago I was in
North Carolina preaching in a meeting and I brought a message from
this chapter, John chapter 4. And it was such a blessing to
me and I believe to others there in the congregation. In fact,
one young lady came to me after the service. She's 27 years old. And she said,
you preached from John chapter 4 here in 1979 when I was 13
years old. And I said, you remembered that?
She said, I wrote it down in my Bible. But it was such a blessing to
me, this chapter 4 of John. that I'm going to preach from
it this morning, but really it's impossible to exhaust the scriptures. This is what we need to learn
about the scriptures. Every reading turns up an important
truth we've never seen before. So often I have people say to
me, well, I heard that message before. No, you didn't either.
You heard one from that scripture, but you never heard that message.
Because every message is a new message from God's Word. Every
message. Now, so let's look here at chapter
4 of the book of John, 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 Noah, His disciples
did the baptizing. But He left Judea, and He departed
again into Galilee. He left Judea up here, and He's
going down into Galilee. Now watch verse 4, and He must. We run into that word must quite
often in reference to our Lord. It said the Son of Man must be
lifted up. He said, other sheep I have which
are not of this fold, them I must bring. I must. The Son of Man
must needs go to Jerusalem and suffer and be slain and rise
again the third day. He says here, he must needs go
through Samaria. Well, preacher, is that the shortest
route? Yes. That's the shortest route
from Judea to Galilee. And if you're going from Judea
to Galilee, you usually go through Samaria. That's the most direct
route. But there was a longer route
around Samaria, which most of the Jews, most of the devout
Jews, the stricter Jews, took. That is the longer route. They
wouldn't go through Samaria. The strict Jews and the Orthodox
Jews would not go through Samaria. If they left Judea and went to
Galilee, they refused to go through Samaria because they hated the
Samaritans. They wanted no contact with the
Samaritans. The Jews had no dealings with
the Samaritans, and these strict Orthodox Jews would go all the
way around. But this says our Lord must,
our Lord must go through Samaria. And I'll tell you why He must
need to go through Samaria. His sheep are that. That's why
He has to go through Samaria. There's a woman that And not
only a woman, but several other people who believed on Christ,
who were brought to know Christ, and he must needs go there on
behalf of these people. Everything our Lord does is on
purpose. There are no accidents with God.
The scripture says, known unto God are all his works from the
beginning. Everything that Almighty God
is doing, he has decreed to do. Everything God will do, he has
decreed to do. The foundation of God standeth
sure, having this seal. The Lord knoweth them that are
his. And he must meet the ghost of Samaria. Now let me show you
that from the book of Acts. Will you hold John forward and
turn to the book of Acts just a moment? First go to Acts chapter
16. And this is not only true of
our Lord's ministry, but it's true of the ministry which he's
given to us. We're not wandering around here,
helter-skelter, hoping that somebody will believe what we're preaching.
We hope people will believe what we're preaching. But it's not
left entirely to them. It's God enables them to believe,
you see. God enables them to believe.
We're not wandering around, you know, just going where we wish
to go. We're going, if we go in the
power of the Holy Spirit, where he sends us. Now look at Acts
16, just a moment, verse 7. Now this is the Apostle Paul.
In verse 7 of Acts 16, or verse 6, Acts 16, verse 6. Now, when
they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they
were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the Word in Asia. Paul
said, I'm going to Asia. The Spirit of God said, no, you're
not. That's not where you're going. And it says in verse 7,
they will come to Mysia. They are saved to go into Bithynia.
They determined to go to Bithynia. Paul said, well, I'll go to Bithynia.
The Holy Spirit said, no, don't go to Bithynia. Well, there are
people in Bithynia. No sheep there. No sheep there. Don't go. Don't go. And they, passing by Mysia, came
down to Troas, and a vision appeared to Paul in the night, and there
stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed unto him, Come over into
Macedonia, and help us. And after Paul had seen that
vision, immediately he endeavored to go into Macedonia, assuredly
gathering that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.
Who was down in Macedonia? Lydia. See, Philippi is the chief
city of Macedonia. Lydia was there, the Philippian
jailers there, all those people that God raised up the church
at Philippi. Paul and Timothy went down to
Philippi and God raised up the church. Look at Acts chapter
18 just a moment. Acts 18. Listen to this, Acts
18 verse 9. Paul was about to leave Corinth.
They had tried to kill him. And he was about to leave, and
then the Lord spake to him in Acts 18, 9, the Lord spake to
Paul in the night by vision, Don't be afraid, but speak, and
hold not your peace. I am with you. No man will set
on thee to harm thee. I have much people in this city."
That's established fact. Well, they weren't believing
then, but they will. They hadn't come to Christ by
faith, but they will. And God said, Paul, stay there
and preach. And he stayed there, John, eighteen months. The apostle
Paul didn't have a long ministry. It was just twelve or thirteen
years, I believe. And he spent fifteen percent
of it in Corinth. Because God told him, I've got
much people there. You stay there. And that's where
he stayed. And you think it's an accident
that this gospel is preached in this poor fellow's son? I'm telling you this now, our
Lord must need to go through Samaritan because of sheep back. And when we go in the power of
God's Spirit, when God sends His servants, He sends them on
purpose. Old brother A.D. Muse, he died
in 1954. Some of you here may remember
him. Some of you go back as far as I do. But Brother Mews was
preaching here one time, and he said, out there in Texas,
there was a Baptist preacher. It was either B.H. Carroll or
J.R. Graves, but whichever. Let's
say it was Graves. But the next door neighbor, a
lady who lived next door to Dr. Graves, came over one day where
the apostle was working among his flowers. He loved flowers.
He grew roses. And a lady came over there who
lived next door to him for years. She said, Dr. Graves said, you
Baptists believe in election, don't you? He said, yes, ma'am.
Well, she said, what is election? Well, he said, let me ask you
a question. Are you saved? Do you know God? She said, yes,
I'm saved. He said, who saved you? Well, she said, God did. He said, did God save you on
purpose or was it an accident? Oh, she said, he saved me on
purpose. That's a lecture. All things work together for
good to them who love God, who are called according to his purpose. Not my purpose, his purpose.
He worked on all things according to the counsel of his will. And
that's why he went to Samaria. Now let us read on. Verse 5,
Then he cometh to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near
to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
Now this is a historical place, well known. Jacob gave this land
to Joseph. Go back in the book of Genesis
and read about it. Two thousand years before this
occurred. Joseph's buried there. Think
how long they'd used this well. Now you just think about this.
Jacob's well. This is Jacob's well. Think how
long they used it. And it says here, listen, verse
6, Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus, therefore, being wearied
with his journey, sat thus on the well. It was about six hours,
high noon. Jesus is weary. There's two statements
here. We need to camp here for just
a moment. This Jesus was weary. That's the first one. Now look
down at verse 8. His disciples had gone away into the city,
under the city, to buy food. Now, come on. If you were up
here in my place, could you handle that this morning? That's the
responsibility of the ministry. Here's the Son of God sending
his disciples down to buy him something to eat. And he just
fed 5,000 people with five loaves and two fishes. Explain that? Jesus Christ, the
eternal God, from everlasting to everlasting, out here on the
signboard it says, holy is our God which was, which is, and
which is to come. God says, I'm not weary. Is anything
too hard for God? Now here's what you've got here.
Jesus Christ is God. No question about that. He's
the third person or second person of the Blessed Trinity. When
it talked about a child is born, a son is given, his name is Wonderful,
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father. But listen,
Jesus Christ became a man. I can't explain this. Let me
tell you what, it's a mystery. Paul said, great is the mystery
of godliness. God was manifest in human flesh. God became a man. When they announced the birth
of Christ, when the angel announced his birth, and told Joseph, there's
a man-child in Mary's womb. That holy thing is born of God. Now explain to me how God can
be made of a woman. He made woman. How he can dwell
in human flesh, how God can limit himself to his surroundings. But let me tell you this about
Christ. He's God, but he became a man identified with us in our
weakness, identified with us in our troubles, in our sorrows,
Paul said, we do not have a high priest which cannot be touched
with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points, like as
we are, tempted. He was made flesh and dwelt among
us. And while Jesus Christ could perform a miracle to feed 5,000,
he could not perform a miracle to feed himself. Not in being
identified with me. I can't do that. I can't do that. Man has to earn his bread by
the sweat of his brow. And that's the way Christ Jesus.
That's the reason he worked as a carpenter. That's the reason
he sent him to buy food. That's the reason he sat on the
well. He was weary. He was actually weary. How can
he be identified with you and your weariness if he wasn't weary?
How can he be identified with you and your sorrows if he doesn't?
Jesus wept. Explain that to me. He stood
and cried one day. He went. Well, the only way,
and the Scripture deals with it and leads it to faith, that
our Lord came to this well at noon. The sun was beaming down. He'd walked for miles. And He
sat down because He was tired. And He told His disciples, go
into town by Sunday and bring it back out here. And bring it
back out here. In every way, He was a man. All
right, Jacob's well was there, verse 6. Jesus, being wearied
with his journey, sat thus on the wells about the sixth hour.
Now watch this, verse 7. Here's what this is all about.
While his disciples were gone, there cometh a woman of Samaria
to draw water. Now I'll tell you, there's a
contrast. You'll read chapter 3 of John,
and then chapter 4. Chapter 3. There was a man of
the Pharisees named Nicodemus who came and encountered the
Lord. He came by night. Look at the contrast. This is
an unnamed woman. Nobody knows her name. Nobody
ever knows her name. Just an unnamed woman. In chapter
3, Nicodemus, a man of high rank and position, came to Jesus. This is a poor woman who comes
with a water pot on her shoulder to draw water. A nobody. A nobody. Probably had calluses
on her hands from working so hard. In the fields. Over there in chapter 3, there
was a favored Jew. A favored Jew. Here, a despised
Samaritan. Over there in chapter 3, a man
of strict morals. Here was a woman. Very poor morals. sinful woman. That's the reason
she was there at noon, because she didn't want to meet anybody.
Over there in chapter 3, Nicodemus sought out Christ. This woman wasn't seeking Christ.
She didn't know who he was. She, I guarantee you, would have
never spoken to him if he hadn't spoken to her. She would have
never said a word to him. That woman would have never looked
She had that veil on, all you could see was her eyes, that's
the way they dressed back then. And when she came to that well,
she saw that man sitting there and her eyes never looked on
him again. Not by her own choice. She didn't seek him, he was seeking
her. That's the difference. And I'll
tell you this about old Nicodemus, Christ gave him something impossible
to do. He told him he had to be born
again. He said, how? Can I enter my
mother's womb a second time? So I said, that which is born
of the flesh is flesh, that which is born of the spirit is spirit.
It's got to be born from above. Impossible. What did he give
the woman to do? Ask me, and I'll give you living
water. He gave her something she could
do. Ask me. Ask me. Oh, I tell you, the Lord
Jesus is merciful to sinners like you and me. Now, which way are you coming?
Is Nicodemus high and mighty, great and powerful, rich and
prosperous, strict and moral, condescending to offer Christ
your time, talents, and so forth and so on? Or did he come to
you in grace and meet you where you are and give you something
to do you could do? Ask me. Well, let's look at verse
9. Jesus said, give me a drink,
verse 7. The woman was shocked. She was shocked. Then said the
woman of Samaria, how is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink
of me, which am a woman of Samaria? The Jews have no dealings with
the Samaritans. His request was a shocking surprise
to her. Among the Jews, it was considered
the depth of degradation to speak to a Samaritan. But to ask a
favor of a Samaritan would never, ever be tolerated. Never. And my friends, this is an example
of my Lord's humility. He thought it not robbery to
be equal with God, but he made himself of no reputation, took
upon himself the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness
of sinful flesh. Look at John 4, verse 27, way
on over here. When the disciples came back
and saw him talking to the woman, it shocked them too. Verse 27,
listen. And upon this came his disciples
and marveled that he talked to that woman. Yet nobody asked
him, what are you seeking? Why are you talking with her? Oh, how merciful, how merciful
God is. Do you know Do any of us realize, you know,
David looked at the heavens and he said, Lord, when I consider
the heavens, the sun, the moon, the stars, the things you've
made, what is man that thou art even mindful of them? Does it occur, or has it occurred
to you and to me, what condescension our Lord takes upon himself to
even behold the things on this earth, to even consider and be
mindful of the things on this earth? Some of us, some people seem
to entertain the idea that God ought to be grateful when we
call on Him. God ought to be grateful we're here. I hear preachers
get up and say, I thank you for coming. Thank you for coming
and worshiping the Lord. Thank you for coming? We ought to thank God He lets
us come. Thank God we have the privilege
of coming before the Lord. This woman was amazed he spoke
to her. I ought to be just as amazed
if he speaks to me. Just taken aback. Lord, you speak to me? You speak
to me? Jesus answered and said to her,
listen, verse 10. He answered and said, two words
stand out here. If you knew, if you knew the
gift of God, Most of us, people today, feel like they know about
all this to know about God. But this woman, he said, if you
knew the gift of God, that's eternal life. That's eternal
life. The gift of God. If you knew
the gift of God, what it means to be accepted of God, and who
it is that sayeth to thee, give me a drink, why, you would ask
Him. He'd give you living water. Ask
Him. You know, this is what I've been
watching. I watched a tape someone gave me about people
over in Russia, a lot of the Americans over there preaching.
And I'm supposed to go over there and preach. But I'm not going
to ask them to do something for God. I'm going to try to impress upon
them their need to ask Him to do something for them. That's
what he's saying to this woman. If you knew the gift of God,
what eternal life is, it's not some little decision that you
make and hold up your hand. One man over there in the corner
of the tape saved 22,000 people in his visit over there. 22,000!
Think what 22,000 Christians could do to a country. Boy! But
anyway, he said if you knew the gift of God and who's speaking
to you, you would ask Him. Like the thief on the cross,
Lord, be merciful to me. Like the publican in the temple,
God, let thy blood be propitiation for me. Lord, remember me." You'd ask him. You'd seek the
Lord. You'd cry for mercy. And he would have given you living
water. Why is water used so often as
a figure of life, spiritual life? Why is it used so often, salvation? Our Lord, the last day of the
feast, listen, the last day of that Jewish feast, when they'd
been occupied with their ceremonies and sacrifices and things like
that, all these three or four days, and they were going home,
the last day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried with a loud voice,
if anybody's thirsty, thirsty, let him come to me. and out of
his belly shall flow rivers of living water." Anybody thirsty? And here he says to this woman,
if you knew what it is to know God, if you knew the gift of
God, and if you knew who was speaking to you, you'd ask me,
you'd beg me, and I'd give you living water. You know why water
is used so often as a type of spiritual life? One, it's the
gift of God. Water is the gift of God. Water
is the gift of God. God gives water. That's right. Who controls the skies and the
clouds and the rain? God does. God causes it to rain
upon the earth. God gives water. Over there in
the oriental countries, they used to carry water around in
these pigskins on their shoulders. Water is so precious over there
where it's so dry. And when the men would carry
water down the street, They cry, the gift of God! The gift of
God! The gift of God! That's the way
they talk about water. Gift of God. Salvation is a gift
of God. What do you have you didn't receive? And secondly, water comes from
heaven. Water is not a product of the earth. The earth does
not produce water. You can dig down here and get
ore, but water comes from up there. It rains down. That's
where water comes from. It comes from above. It's not
a product of the earth. It's a gift of God. God causes
it to rain. And water, thirdly, is necessary.
You can't live without it. And fourthly, water is the need
of everyone, rich or poor. Rich or poor. And this woman Listen to this,
verse 11. So she said, now what's she going
to reply? Our Lord said, you'd ask me,
I'll give you living water. Now what's she going to reply?
She said, she started raising objections. She said, you don't
have anything to draw with? The well is deep? Where did you
get this living water? Are you greater than our father
Jacob? He gave us the well, he drank all of himself and his
children, his cattle. What's good enough for Jacob
is good enough for us. Now note the patience of our
God. And Jesus said to her, woman, verse 13, whosoever drinketh
of this water shall thirst again. You're talking about natural
water. You're talking about the things of this world. You drink
of this, you'll thirst again. We might put that sign over all
the wells of this world, whether they're religious, political,
or social. Whosoever drinketh of this water will thirst again,
thirst again, and again, and again. Nothing this world can
offer can completely satisfy the soul and the heart. Can it? David said, David had about everything. He said, I'll be satisfied when
I wake with his likeness. Solomon tried everything. He
said vanity. It's all vanity. Whoso drinketh
of this water shall thirst again. Look at verse 14. But whoso drinketh
of the water that I shall give him. The water that I shall give
him. Said that twice. In that one
verse. Verse 14. Whoso drinketh of the
water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that
I shall give him. Eternal life's the gift of God.
Salvation's the gift of God. If you drink of the water I give
you, you'll never thirst again. But
the water that I shall give you will be in you, a well of water,
springing up in everlasting life. Salvation is in us. It's in us. The water that I shall give him
shall be in him. Paul said, God revealed his Son in me, in me. I wonder, I wonder if we know
the difference in a cistern and a well. We used to have a cistern when
I was a boy and we put water within that cistern and came
from outside, always outside. We lived in this house, and we
had a gutter, and it had a spout there that would come down to
the cistern. And we'd let it rain a little
while, wash off the roof a little bit, and we'd turn that thing
over to the cistern. And that's how the water was.
The water was in the cistern, and it came off the house when
it rained. And that cistern depended on
us to put water in it. And sometimes we had to put You
know, you get wiggle tails. You remember those old cisterns?
They'd get bugs and things like that because water gets stale.
And that's not salvation. It's not folks that go to church
and kind of get filled up again, try to get rejuvenated, revived
all the time. But what Christ is saying here
is as a well, a spring, springing up a living water. We were driving
on the Blue Ridge Parkway. a few days ago, and we stopped
along the road and went to visit a log house that people used
to live in back, I forget the date, 1840, 50, 60, somewhere
in there. And down back of the house, just
a little log cabin, down back of the house, there was a spring
house. They had a shelter and a house
built over the spring. And I walked down there to the
spring house. Doris is older now. She knew
what it was. She said, that's a spring house. I didn't know. She said, that's a spring house.
That's where they used to keep their watermelons and their milk
and things down at the spring house. They built those sheds
over them, you know, to shield them and everything. And I walked,
and I didn't expect to find any water in there. I thought, well,
it'd be dried up like everything else. I went down to that old
spring house built out of logs, a hundred and some odd years
old. It was open and I stuck my head in and I heard rippling
water. And I looked down and there was
the prettiest, cleanest, coolest stream of water flowing, flowing,
flowing. And my mind went back yonder
a hundred years ago when that mother used to come down there
with her body at home and her children and get a bucket of
water out of that well and take it up to the house and bring
the milk and set it in the spring. Even in the hottest summer, it's
cool and refreshing. And now they'd come down and
get all their water, and I thought it's still flowing. And let me
tell you something. This old house is about broke
down. But the water in it is still
flowing. And it still is refreshing, and
it's sweet, and it's cool, and it's comforting as it ever was
when we discovered it by God's grace. That's true of some of
the others. That old house is falling down, isn't it, John?
Now, this is what God, our Lord, is saying to this woman. He said,
Woman, who swore up and drank of this water is going to thirst
again. And again and again, I don't care what you, whether it's health
or wealth or popularity or fame or whatever, or what it is, this
world will give you some fleeting pleasure. But you, you, Christ
in you, the water I'll give him be in him. And you don't, they
don't have to pump water down there behind that log house.
They don't have to bring in truckloads of water and dump in there. A
hundred years, Frank, it's been flowing. That's God's spring. God, God made that spring. God made that spring. And it's
as sweet and beautiful as was the day God made it. It's still
flowing. And that's this thing of salvation.
That's what I'm going over there to tell the Russians. You walk
down an aisle 10,000 times, I don't care how many, get in this pool
all you want to, join all the churches you want to, but I'll
tell you, if God Almighty ever gives you the living water, and
God ever creates a spring in your heart, The house will fall
down, but that old spring will still be going, springing up
unto eternal life. Well, he still can't get her
thinking right. She says, all right, give me
this water, that I don't come back to this well. I'm tired
of coming to this well anyway, and I wish you'd give me this
water. She doesn't see, she just can't see. That's these preachers,
come and believe on Jesus, and he'll give you a new car every
year, and a new job, and a new house, and folks just flop down. That's not it. He may not. Also, Paul never had any trouble
when he met Jesus. His life was pretty well fixed
until he met Christ, and he got in trouble then. And I'm saying
to you, your old house may wind up in jail. for the gospel sake. You may have trouble and sorrow
and sickness, I don't know, but there'll be in you a well of
water. Comfort and joy. She can't see that. Well, she
says, give me this water. And Jesus said, listen, our Lord
is so wise. Oh, the wisdom of God. He knew
her. He knew her life. He knew her thoughts. He knew
her problems. He knew her trouble. Why do you think she's here at
noon? There wasn't any other woman here. She came at noon because she
was embarrassed to come any other time. The other women came in
the morning to draw water. They came in the morning. That's
when they cook and wash and do their things, in the morning.
Here she is at the sun directly overhead at noon, hot and dry. She's here by herself. She wanted
to avoid any contact with anybody. She's a sinner. We've got a very
questionable life, and Jesus, and He's going to probe this
now. He's going to bring this out.
And this is what we've got to do if we learn to preach the
gospel. The Lord came to save sinners, not righteous people.
He came to save sinners, and we've got to find some sinners.
We've got to find somebody that will say, I need help. You got
to find somebody that says, I don't have any water, I need some.
I don't have any hope, I need some. I don't have any peace,
I need some. I don't have any joy, I need some. I don't know
God, I'd like to. He says, go call your husband. I wish I had his wisdom. He knew
her properly. And she said, I don't have a
husband. And he said, that's half a truth. He well said, I have no husband.
You've had five. And he whom you now have is not
your husband. In this, you did tell the truth
on that score. All right, now he's probed her
problem. Here's the problem. She's got
a messed up life, a troubled life. He's not singling out one
fault. He's simply digging down to the
heart and seed of her problem. Her problem is herself. Her problem
is her sin. Her problem is she can't straighten
things out by herself. She needs help. All right, she's going to change
the subject again. She said, verse 19, I perceive
you're a prophet. And you know one of the first
things that people do, now I want you to listen to me a minute.
One of the first things people do when they find out you're
a preacher, or when you start talking about salvation, or life
eternal, one of the first things they do is start talking about
their religion. what they've done, what they
were, what their mom and daddy was, what their background is.
I'm a Baptist. Somebody introduced me as a preacher,
and somebody said, well, I'm a Baptist. My father was a Baptist. They want to get you talking
about these things. So she said, listen, oh, she said, I perceive
you're a prophet. Our fathers worshipped in this
mountain, and you say in Jerusalem is a place where men ought to
worship. She just started arguing about All these different things,
you know, about religion, the form of religion, the way that
we worship and so forth. Jesus said, woman, believe me,
the hour cometh when you shall neither in this mountain nor
Jerusalem worship the Father. You worship you know not what.
You're going through the motions. We know what we worship. Salvation
is of Israel. But the hour cometh and now is
when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit
and truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship Him." God is
spirit, and they that worship God worship Him in spirit and
truth. The truth of who He is, the truth
of His holiness, the truth of our sinfulness, The truth of
His righteousness, the truth of His Son, the truth of substitution,
the truth of the gospel. That's how men worship God, in
truth. Not just in spirit, but truth. We need a Redeemer. We need a Mediator. Alright,
now, she finally recognized He's a true prophet. She finally recognized,
she's finally been stripped, she's finally been put to silence.
She finds it now without all the answers and the arguments.
And she said, verse 25, I know this, that Messiah's coming. The Advocate's coming. The Redeemer's
coming. He's coming. The seed of woman,
the Son of God is coming. And when He's come, when He's
come, He'll tell us all things. He'll tell us. And now watch this. And Jesus
said to her, I that speak to thee, am he. Am he. That's the key. Am he. And that's what the eunuch
was reading in Isaiah 53. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our nickel.
By His stripes, that's the He. I'm He. I'm He. I'm the Messiah. Salvation's
in a person. Salvation's in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Salvation's in His righteousness and His blood. I'm He. You see this thing, I hope you'll
read this chapter some more, look it over, study it. Salvation's
a work of grace. It's a work of God. It's God
taking the truth and bringing it into the heart. Bringing us
to recognize Him. I'm He. And she believed it. She believed it. She perceived
it.

The Miracle of Grace

What does the Bible say about the necessity of grace?

How do we know that Jesus must save us?

Why is understanding spiritual thirst important for Christians?

How does Jesus demonstrate humility in John 4?

What role does faith play in receiving the living water from Christ?

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The Miracle of Grace

What does the Bible say about the necessity of grace?

How do we know that Jesus must save us?

Why is understanding spiritual thirst important for Christians?

How does Jesus demonstrate humility in John 4?

What role does faith play in receiving the living water from Christ?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

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