God's Method of Grace

to the book of John, chapter
6, verse 37. The Father hath given to the
Son a people. It pleased God to make you his
people. It pleased God that in Christ
should all fullness dwell. It pleased God to bruise him.
It pleased God to reveal Christ to our hearts. He's given Christ
to people. And our Lord said in John 6,
37, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And him
that cometh to me I'll in no wise cast out, for I came down
from heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of him that
sent me. And this is the Father's will
which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should
lose nothing." And then in John chapter 10 when he talks about
being the good shepherd, the good shepherd loves his sheep.
The Good Shepherd lays down His life for His sheep. The Good
Shepherd will bring those sheep to Himself. Where did He get
the sheep? Well, He tells us in John 10,
verse 27, My sheep hear My voice, I know them, 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." And then in John 17, our Lord
is praying. This is our Lord's priestly prayer.
This is the prayer prior to Calvary, the prayer prior to the atonement
sacrifice. And he prays for these people.
These sheep whom the father has given him and six times. He mentions
them in this fashion verse two as thou hast given him power
over all flesh that he should give eternal life to as many
as thou hast given him Verse six i've manifested thy name
unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world verse nine.
I pray father I pray not for the world, but for them which
thou hast given me, they are thine." So our Lord has a people.
I'm as certain of that as I'm certain that this is the Word
of God. I'm as certain of that as Christ died on the cross.
His death was no accident. His death was no attempt. His
death was an offering, a sin offering, for a people. The Father
gave him a people. And he came into this world to
redeem those people. Turn to Ephesians chapter 1.
This was his mission. He said, I came not to do my
will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the will
of him that sent me, that of all which he had given me I should
lose nothing, but raise them up. The only way he can raise
us up is for him to have perfected us. But here in Ephesians chapter
1, beginning with verse 3, Blessed be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us. with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath chosen us
in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy, that's his object, that's his purpose, and without blame
before him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his own
will. to the praise of the glory of
His grace wherein He made us accepted in the Beloved, in whom
we have redemption, chosen in Him, seated in Him, blessed in
Him, accepted in Him, and redeemed in Him, in whom we have redemption
through His blood, not through His influence or example, through
His blood. It's the blood that maketh atonement
for the soul. Without the shedding of blood,
there's no remission for sins. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's
Son, cleanseth us from all sin. And I'm no more ashamed of the
blood offering and the blood sacrifice and the blood atonement
that I am of the throne of God, or the providence of God, or
the attributes of God. It's the blood that maketh atonement
for the soul. And we have redemption through
His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches
of His grace. So our Lord has a people. His
purpose will not be defeated. It shall be fulfilled. His blood
was not shed in vain. He redeemed us by His blood.
The offering was made, the debt was paid, the justice of God
was satisfied, the law of God was honored, and Christ redeemed
His people. Now then, turn to our text in
John 4. Here's the thing that amazes
me as much as any of this other. I'm not only amazed that God
should be pleased to choose a people out of Adam's rebellious, fallen
race. I'm not only amazed that God
Almighty should give such a gift, unspeakable gift, His Son to
redeem us from our sin. Does that amaze you? Or do you
take it for granted? Is it something, is it old hat
to you? You weary of hearing of it? I'm astounded. I never
cease to be astounded, amazed, that God should be pleased to
choose His enemies, to love His enemies, to die for His enemies,
to save His enemies, the ungodly. Why in the world He should love
us and send His Son to die for us? That's amazing! Don Lederson
singing about amazing grace. If it ever ceases to be amazing,
you never knew it. It gets more amazing with every
passing day. And the thing that amazes me,
I believe most. That amazes me, but that God
should save me, and I'm not just preaching now, and I'm not just
talking powerfully, but I'm amazed that God should make me one of
His own. We were talking last night, you men in the service,
over there with all of you, how many in your company, 220 men?
How many of them know God? How many of them are brought
to the knowledge of Christ? You men who were in school, how many
on your campus, why should God save you? Why should God reveal
himself to you? I was having supper with a family
Monday night down in Tioga, Louisiana. And the man had only in the last
year come to the knowledge of God's grace. And his wife said
this, I know for the first time in my life, they're about my
age, been in church all their lives. But she said, I know for
the first time in my life, I know why Christ died on that cross.
I know why he died. To redeem the sinners whom he
came to save. I know for the first time. And
the man said this to me, he said, Brother Mann, you know something?
I'm amazed that God should love me. I'm amazed that God should
save me. And you know when the Pharisees
were amazed, they said, this man eats with sinners. This man's
the friend of sinners. They were amazed that he should
have fellowship with sinners. They were amazed. And you know
something, verse 27, when the disciples came back and saw him
talking to this woman at the well, they knew she was a Samaritan,
and they evidently knew what kind of woman she was. And it
says in verse 27, And upon this came his disciples, and marvel
that he talked with this woman. A whole lot of Pharisee in every
one of us, isn't it? Old Peter was no better than
she was. John was no better than she was. James was no better
than she was. And yet they came back and they
saw him talking to her and they marveled that he had talked to
this woman. Brother Barnard told me about
being in a meeting up north somewhere. I think he told it from our pulpit
here. He said he and the pastor were
out bisting one day. He's holding revival and he and
the pastor were out bisting. They called on all the houses
around there, and they were on their way back to the church,
and they passed this little white cottage with a picket fence.
And Brother Barnard turned to go in there. He'd said I'd visited
every home in the town. I might as well visit this one,
too. So he turned to go in. The pastor said, I wouldn't go
in there if I was you. And Ralph said, how come? He
said, well, I just wouldn't go. I just don't believe I'd go to
that house. And Ralph said, well, I've been to all the rest of
them. Why shouldn't I go to this house? Well, I just don't believe
I'd go, you know. A whole lot of pharisee and all of us. and
ross said well i'm a going anyhow you know how he was just don't
tell him not to do anything but anyway he walked up on the porch
he knocked on the door some young lady came to the door and she
said uh... what can i do for you big boy and ross said well
i said i'm a i'm an evangelist i'm holding a meeting down here
at this church on the corner and i wanted to ask you to come
hear me preach he said you gotta be kidding he said no i'm not
kidding No, I'm not. She was a notorious woman, well-known
in the town. That's the reason the preacher
didn't want to visit her. And so Ralph said, come hear me preach
tonight. She said, I just might do that. And he preached that
night. Sure enough, he said, there she
was, right there with all those church members, you know. He
preached. God gave him a little power.
And I'm going to get to this in a few moments, what happens
when God meets a sinner. And you know, God broke that
young lady. And she wept, and when they stood to sing the last
hymn, she came down the aisle, and she fell on her face down
here and wept and cried, and Barnard talked to her, and she
said, God done something for her. People were stunned. They
were stunned. I don't know why we should be
stunned. The disciples, they marveled that he talked to this
woman. And they were stunned. Nobody could even sing or say
anything. They were stunned. You know when our Lord went down
to the land of the Gadarenes, you know whom he chose? That
naked man out there in the tombs, cutting himself with stones and
a raving maniac. That's whom our Lord chose. When
our Lord Jesus Christ went down in the home of Simon to have
dinner, a lot of distinguished citizens there, a lot of prominent
religious people there, but he chose a harlot who washed his
feet and forgave her sins. When our Lord went down into
Jericho, I'm sure Jericho had their temples and shrines and
synagogues and cathedrals and chapels and prominent citizens
and distinguished citizens and well-known citizens, and He chose
a blind beggar sitting by the wayside, and a Zacchaeus up in
a tree. When our Lord went down by the
pool of Siloam, it was a ragged, dirty beggar that hadn't seen
the light of day in all his life. When our Lord went to the cross,
Everybody who was anybody was present at that hanging. And
our Lord saved the thief. Oh, what a wonder that Jesus
found me. And I'll tell you, if you're
not amazed that God saved you, you don't know anything about
sin or the grace of God. If you take for granted this
grace of God and this mercy of God and feel that you are a worthy
candidate for His love, you are not even a candidate of His love.
That's right. Oh, what a wonder that Jesus
found me. I shouldn't be amazed that he
saved Don, but I ought to be amazed that he saved me because
I know me, I don't know him. You shouldn't be amazed that
he should save me, you should be amazed that he would save
you. You don't know me, you know you. You know you're a child
of wrath and a child of rebellion and a child of evil and a child
of sin. Oh, what a wonder that Jesus
found me! Out in the darkness, no light
could I see. Oh, what a wonder! He put His
great arms under, and wonder of wonder! What's the most amazing
thing you know today? Ah, come on, think a minute.
The most amazing thing you know today is that God Almighty should
look down in the pit of corruption and choose you and lift you out
and wash you in the blood of His Son and make you His child.
Are you amazed that God would ever make you an object of his
grace? Are you really truly amazed? Or did you decide for Jesus?
Did he decide for you or did you decide for him? Which one?
Are you really amazed that God Almighty should love you enough,
you wiggling maggot? And that's what he called Jacob.
He called him a worm, a wiggling maggot, in the original. Are
you amazed that Christ Jesus should love you enough to come
down here and die on the cross for your sins? Does that amaze
you? Are you amazed that God should exercise such patience
with you and put up with you in your rebellion? What about
those days of sin and those days of rebellion and those days of
pride and those days of arrogance and those days of just walking
in your own will, and yet He put up with you in longsuffering
and mercy and kindness. He loved you and provided for
you and waited till that day when He'd meet you and bring
you home. Are you amazed that the Holy
Spirit should come, pass by so many others, and reveal the gospel,
the mystery of the gospel to your heart? Are you amazed? I'm
amazed, the songwriter said, that God should ever love me
so full of sin, so covered with shame. Make me to walk with Him
who is above me, cleansed by the power of His redeeming grace. I'm amazed. that God should save
me. Not but the cross could take
away my sin. Through faith in Christ, eternal
life He gave me. Now, think of it. He abides within. Charles Wesley caught that note
when he said, and can it be that I should gain an interest in
the Savior's blood? Died He for me who Him to death
pursued. Oh, amazing love. How can it
be that thou, my God, should die for me? Here's the reason. In chapter 4, verse 4, he has
a people, and he came to redeem those people. And it says here
in chapter 4 of John, verse 4, and he must needs go through
Samaria. He must. I love the must and
the shalls of God's Word. He said, other sheep I have which
are not of this fold am I must bring. It's written. It's purposed. It's planned. It's predestinated. It's ordered. God who declares
the end from the beginning has ordered it. God who calls those
things which are not, though they already were. I must needs
go through Samaria. I know people have argued about
this was the shortest route or this was the longest route or
this was some... It doesn't matter whether it was around the world.
He must needs go through Samaria. Why? One of his people are there.
Other sheep I have, them I must bring. As Moses lifted up the
serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted
up. None other name under heaven
given among men whereby we must be saved. Zacchaeus come down,
I must abide at thy house. The Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy
2.10 says, I endure all things for the elect's sake. I'm on
the trail of God's sheep. They're out there somewhere.
I must bring them. That's what the Lord's saying.
I'm the good shepherd. I must bring them. Now they're not going
to be saved against their will. They're not going to be saved
without hearing the gospel. They're not going to be saved
without believing the gospel. They're not going to be saved
without receiving Christ. They're not going to be saved
without repenting. They're not going to be saved without receiving
Christ. And they're not going to be saved against their will.
They're not going to receive Christ against their will. What's
going to happen? Turn to Psalms 110. He's going
to make them willing. In Psalms 110. He's going to
make them willing. He's going to make them willing.
He says here in Psalm chapter 110, look at verse 1. The Lord
said to my Lord, he is the Lord, the sovereign Lord, sit thou
at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion, rule
thou in the midst of thine enemies, and thy people, thy people shall
be willing, willing to bow. willing to be broken, willing
to repent, willing to grieve, willing to behold Christ, willing
to trust Him, willing to receive Him, willing to obey Him. They shall be willing, loving,
bond slaves, willing, when? In the day of thy power. That's
when it's going to take place. Man can't break them. Man's power
can't break them. We claim to have persuasive powers,
personal powers, but the only power that can break a heart
of stone is the power of the Holy Spirit. The only power that
can bring a proud sinner down, down sinner down. The only power
that can cause old Naaman to walk down into that dirty Jordan
River is the power of God. The only power that can strip
you of your pride and self-righteousness and arrogance and haughtiness
is the power of God. Our people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. Willing to confess Christ and
willing to trust Christ and willing to walk with Christ in the day
of thy power. In the day of thy power. Our
Lord makes them willing in the day of thy power. And you know
what happens in the day of thy power? Oh, he doesn't send lightning
from heaven. No, sir. He doesn't send a vision
while they're lying on the bed and knock them out of bed. Use
this word. And there are four things that
happen as illustrated in the story of this woman which I read
a moment ago. She was one of his sheep, an
unlikely one, but all of them are unlikely. He said he hid
these things from the wise and prudent. Are you wise? Are you
prudent? Are you worldly wise and intelligent
and sharp? You'll never learn the gospel.
Not till you become a fool, for Christ's sake. Not till God whittles
you down and God strips you and God knocks your foundations out
for money. Not till you unlearn what you think you know. God
Almighty doesn't build on a flesh foundation. God Almighty doesn't
build on a foundation of tradition and custom and religion and piety
and self-righteousness. He tears out all of the rubbish. He lays the clear, clean, pure,
holy, divine foundation, which is Christ Jesus. It's all of
grace. All of grace. And God will not
permit you to have one bit of the glory. That's right, He'll
kill you before He gives you life. He'll strip you before
He clothes you. I mean He'll strip you. He's
not going to allow you to keep one rag, not one fig leaf. He'll
strip you. If you're one of His own, whatever
it takes, He'll do it. If you're not one of His own,
He'll pass you by. Leave you in your rebellion, leave you
in your pride, leave you in religion, leave you in your haughtiness,
leave you in your self-confidence, leave you in your presumptions,
He'll pass you by. The Pharisees were offended, the disciples
said. Offended! Are you offended? When God saves a man, he ceases
to be offended because everything that people say about him is
right anyway. Everything God says about him is right. And
they haven't even begun to commence to get started to describe it
like it is, have they? You won't be offended. God Almighty
breaks your heart, you can't offend a broken heart. God Almighty
gives you a contrite spirit, you can't offend a contrite spirit.
God will whittle you down. I'm telling you the truth. You
can go on and miss Christ in your religion if you want to.
But our disciples said, these Pharisees are offended by what
you said. He said, leave them alone. Leave
them alone. There are no words this side
of hell that I'd rather not hear than those three words, leave
him alone. Leave him alone. Leave him alone! He's a blind leader of the blind,
and the blind lead the blind. Oh, they're going somewhere.
They got leaders, and they got followers, and they're on their
road, and they're going somewhere, but it's the ditch that's where
they're going. The ditch. God Almighty performs an operation
of grace. No, His people don't have the
same experience. No, they don't mourn with the
same grief. No, they don't have the same degree of faith. But
they all come to Christ. And they all come empty-handed.
And they all come broken. And they all come for mercy.
And they all know who brought them. And they all know where
he brought them from, where he found them. And they know they
didn't come on their own. They know the shepherd came out
there and found them in the wilderness and lifted them and put them
on his shoulders and brought them home. They know who found
them and where he found them. They know his grace is sufficient,
and they know he gets all the glory. What's that we read in
our Sunday school class this morning? Abraham was strong in
faith, giving God the glory. Giving God the glory. There are
four things this woman, this experience she had with the Lord.
First of all, he crossed her path. He crossed her path. He must needs go through Samaria. Our Lord's got a people. He's
going to save them. He's going to bring them to Himself. They're
going to be willing to come. Just like Noah walked into that
ark. He went in willingly. People stayed out willingly.
That's right. They stayed out because they
wanted to. He went in because he wanted to. But Noah found
grace in the eyes of the Lord. And those who come to Christ
are going to come willingly. They're going to believe on Him.
They're going to trust Him. They're going to love Him willingly.
Those who leave him, those who reject him, they reject him because
they don't want him. They don't want him. But if you're
one of his own, he'll cross your path. He'll cross your path. Walter Gruber told me, he said,
he went to Pueblo to preach one Sunday. One of the ladies said
to him, said, I wish you'd go out. I've got a friend way out
in the jungle. It's just a rough, rocky, trail
that leads to her house, a wagon trail, but I think you can get
up there. So Walter got in his truck and he drove as far as
he could drive, right near her home there. Oh, it was rough,
he said, just like that. He drove his truck up there and
got out and stooped down and walked through the little grass
hut, you know, and she welcomed him and he sat down and began
to tell her about the Savior. Now, I don't know that God works
this way everywhere, but he does somewhere. We have his word. We don't need visions or dreams,
but God spoke to people before in that way. And you know what
she said to him? She said, I had a dream that a man was coming
here in a machine to tell me about God. Isn't that right?
That's what she said. I had a dream that a man would
come here in a machine to tell me about God. God's going to
cross the path of his people. One day a friend of mine had
borrowed a tape of one of my sermons. His wife was not a believer. He listened to my tapes, but
she didn't. She didn't care a thing about them. She was a church
member, but didn't know the Lord, and most church members don't.
And so she decided one day when she was cleaning the house that
she would, she saw those tapes laying over there and she decided
she'd put one on. So she put it on, went on dusting,
you know, and that preacher was preaching. And the Word began
to fall, not on fallow ground and stony ground, but again to
fall on ground prepared by the Holy Spirit. And she said she
sat down and she listened to that tape. He turned it over
and listened to the other side, and God spoke to her heart. I
tell you, my friend, Jesus Christ, the living Christ, not another
Jesus, not any Jesus, not some Jesus, the Lord, as He's revealed
in His Word, is going to cross the path of every one of His
sheep someday, because a man can't be saved without the gospel.
It's the power of God unto salvation. Christ is the gospel. You can't
be saved without Christ, you can't be saved without the gospel,
because Christ is the gospel. How can they call on Him in whom
they've not believed, and how shall they believe in Him of
whom they've not heard, and how shall they hear without a preacher?
But our Lord sat on the well and waited on this woman, and
she came. And our Lord one day passed by
a certain place in Jericho, and there was Bartimaeus. And our
Lord was waiting on Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus, and
I'll tell you this, if you're one of his own, he'll cross your
path. You'll find out who he is. You'll
find out who it is that speaks to you. It'll be a special revelation. He may do like Tom DiGiorno,
he may put you in prison to hear his word. I don't know. He may take you
to a church, otherwise you wouldn't dare go there. Gerald, you've
had that experience. But he crossed your path. He
crossed your path. The living Christ. Oh, anybody,
just go hear anybody preach. No, you don't just hear anybody
preach. You hear him preach, who is exalting and preaching
who Christ is, what Christ did, why Christ did it, where he is
now, the living Christ. The one who is our perfect righteousness,
the one that honored God's holy law, the one who reigns above
all, the one to whom God the Father hath committed all things,
the one in whose hands is all authority, the one who has the
keys of hell and death, the one who died that God might be just
and justify the ungodly, the one who reigns and is coming
again, that's the Christ you'll meet. That's Him. Another Jesus
can't save you. He doesn't have the power. Another
Jesus can't redeem you. He doesn't have the power. He'll
cross your path. Secondly, he'll create an interest. Look at verse 10. He said to
that woman three things. He said, if you knew the gift
of God. If you knew the gift of God.
Now brethren, everybody who belongs to him finds out sooner or later
that salvation is a gift of God. That's right, you can't praise
him eternally for the gift of his grace if you don't know it's
his gift. You'll find it out. That's right,
Christ said if you knew the gift of God, she didn't. Do you? My
friends, salvation is not something we earn, it's the gift of God.
My friends, the results, salvation is not the results of our cooperation,
it's the gift of God. Salvation is not the result of
our labor, or our righteousness, or our decision. It's the gift
of God. Salvation is not a reward for
merit. It's the gift of God. And sooner
or later, His people will find out. He'll cross their path.
And He'll show them that salvation is the gift of God. The free
gift of God, to whom He wills. Say something else, they find
out. He said, if you knew the gift of God, and if you knew
who it is that saith to thee, if you know who it is that speaks
to you, do you know who he is? You can't trust an unrevealed
Christ. Who is he? Who is Jesus of Nazareth? Who is it that speaks to you?
Is he that little pitiful, pitiful reformer? That little fella they
call the superstar, that didn't know where he was, didn't know
where he came from, didn't know why he came, didn't know where
he was going, huh? Is he that little feminine, soft,
frail fella that tried to come down here and save everybody
and they wouldn't let him and went back to heaven and sitting
up there crying his eyes out because you won't let him do
what he wants to do? Is that the Jesus you met? Huh? If you knew who it is. I am God. Beside me there's none
else. I form the light. I create darkness. I create evil. I create good. I the Lord do all these things.
I kill and I make alive. None can deliver out of my hands.
I am the Lord. I am God. Can I not do with my
own what I will? Who is God? Who is Jesus? In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God, and all things were made by Him. And without
Him was not anything made that was made. And He is the brightness
of God, the brightness of His glory, and the exact image of
His person. And we beheld His glory, the
glories of the only begotten of the Father, who is He. If
you knew salvation was the gift of God, and if you knew who you
were dealing with, you'd do what? You'd ask. You'd beg. You'd seek. You wouldn't be running
up and down somebody's aisle, shaking hands, making decisions.
You'd ask. That's right. They wouldn't be
asking you, won't you accept Jesus? Won't you make a decision
today? Won't you let God in your heart?
Won't you do this? Nuh-uh. Lord, would you save
me? God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
Lord, if you will, you can make me whole. Lord, remember me when
you come into your kingdom. If you knew that salvation is
the gift of God, it's not a persuasion, it's not a proposition, it's
the gift of God if you knew that. And if you knew who it is that's
talking to you, Christ said, I'm the King. You'd ask I don't beg anybody to trust
Christ. He's not a beggar. You're the
beggar. He's not in your hands. I beg
your pardon. That little silly, sentimental,
defeated, disappointed, disillusioned Jesus that's preached in the
average church may be in the hands of dirty hands of sinners,
but my Lord's not. He's on a throne. And those dirty-handed
sinners are in His hands. And he's going to dispose of
them as he will. Is that too hard? Well, it's
so. I'm not apologizing for the truth.
I apologize for my lack of compassion and lack of tenderness. But I'll
tell you this, it's so. He will deal tenderly with broken-hearted
sinners. He'll deal tenderly with the
harlots and the publicans and the beggars. He won't deal tenderly
with you Pharisees. He didn't deal tenderly when
he was here on this earth. That's right. He dealt hard with
them. He said, you generation of snakes, who hath warned you
to flee from the wrath to come? Our Lord's tender and merciful
to sinners! And if you knew the gift of God,
if you knew who it is that's talking to you, that's condescending
even to speak to you, that's condescending even to be identified
with you, you'd ask him, and he'd give you what? Well, this woman didn't need
religion, she had that. She said, you're a Jew and I'm
a Samaritan, you're a Baptist and I'm a Methodist. She had
religion. Well, she didn't need any more
tradition. She said, our father Jacob built this well. She knew
all about Jacob and Joseph and the children and the cattle.
She had the tradition. Somebody said, well, he knows
his Bible. Yeah, but does he know God's
Bible? Oh, he knows the doctrine. Yeah,
but does he know the Lord? Huh? This woman didn't need tradition,
she had that. She didn't need form, she had
that. She said, we worship in this mountain. Here's the way
we worship. In our circles, we sing the Psalms, or we sing the
hymns. Or in our circles, we read the
Catechism, or we do this, that, and the other. She had all the
form. She said, we worship in the mountain. You folks worship
in Jerusalem. We shout when we worship. Y'all
don't shout, y'all are formal. We kneel when we pray. Y'all
don't kneel, you stand. Hogwash Christ said you don't
know what you worship You just got religion. That's all you've
got. It's a farm and a Sarah. She didn't need that. She had
that Christ said I'd give you what? Living water something
that springs up in here Something inside something rich something
that cannot be something that cannot be relegated to just words
Something that cannot be put into just words, something that's
living, life, coming to me, for everyone that thirsts, coming
to me, I'll give you living water. You'll never thirst again. Out of your belly shall flow
living water. Blessed are they that hunger
and thirst, not just for heaven, for righteousness, and not their
own, His. Blessed are they that hunger
and thirst not to meet mother, oh, I want to meet mama in heaven.
No, for righteousness. Righteousness. Blessed are they
that hunger and thirst not just for the right form, the right
church, for righteousness. Blessed are they that hunger
and thirst not for peace of conscience only, but for righteousness.
They'll be filled. But I know whose it is. It's
His. And I know where it is, it's
in Him. And I know who gives it, Him. It's the gift of God. You know what I'm going to do?
I don't know about you, but I'm going to ask Him. Lord, if you
will, by your grace, won't you do something for me? Won't you
give me that living water? Won't you strip off my rags and
clothe me in the beauty of Christ's righteousness? Won't you, Lord,
make me accept in the Beloved? Won't you come and dwell in my
heart? Won't you give me life? I'm interested. And I'll tell
you this. If you're His own, He'll cross your path. And secondly,
He'll create an interest, not in religion, not in answering
silly questions, but He'll create an interest in living water in
Christ, in Christ. not interested in whether we're
going to know each other in heaven, and not interested in whether
or not Christ is going to come and reign in a millennial reign
here on the earth, not interested in the right form, or whether
or not Thomas Watson held to a particular doctrine, he'll
create an interest in Christ, in his Son, in righteousness. And thirdly, he'll present you
a little problem. He'll lay a problem on you. Every
believer goes through this. Every child of God goes through
this. This woman said, I'll take it. He said, verse 16, go call your husband. Uh-oh. She said, I don't have one. He
said, that's right, you had five, and the one you're living with
now is not your husband. You know what the Lord does with
his people? First, he'll cross their paths.
Secondly, he'll create an interest in knowing God, in knowing the
living God, in knowing Christ, the reigning Christ. And then
he'll present you with a little problem. How can I be just with
God? How can he be clean that's born
of a woman? How can God, being God, a holy
God, how can he look on me as his friend? When I'm so opposite,
I'm so extreme from God, I'm such a wretch. That's what our
Lord told this woman. That's what He was presenting.
He was presenting her sins. And every time God Almighty deals
with a sinner in mercy, He'll deal with him first in judgment.
He'll judge himself. He'll judge. No shortcut. You'll repent and you'll believe.
You won't believe without repenting. You'll grieve! And you'll receive,
but you won't receive till you grieve. You won't be clothed
till you strip. That's right. That's right. He'll present you with a problem,
and he'll let you see sin as you ought to see it, not as you
have interpreted it all your life. And the issue between you
and God is not you stole a watermelon or how many you stole. The issue
between you and God is you've got a heart full of hate. You
hate God, the living God. Oh, you don't hate your God,
you hate the living God. You hate the sovereign Christ.
You tried to throw him off the throne back in the Garden of
Eden, you and your whole race. And we came down here to this
earth. I hear people say, let the world see Jesus in you. They
didn't see Jesus in Jesus. How are they going to see him
in you? They didn't even see Jesus in
Jesus. They rejected Jesus in Jesus. The world doesn't love God. They're
not looking for God. They hate God. And when He came
down here, they nailed Him to a cross. You and I did that.
And God's got something against this race. And God's going to
reveal that sin to you. Old Whitfield said, He'll reveal
your sins. He'll reveal your sin. That's
the nature of it. the source of it, the fountain
of it. That old stream that shows itself in our hands and our feet
and our mouths comes from our hearts. It's a polluted source. Can't get good water out of a
rotten fountain. That's where it all comes from.
It just keeps on manufacturing, manufacturing, pollution, pollution,
pollution. God's got to give us a new heart
so we can have clean water. And God will convince you of
your sins, He'll convince you of your sin, and He'll convince
you of the sin of your righteousness. God Almighty will show you that
everything you've done in worship, in church, in religion, has been
sin. That's right. Your righteousness
is a filthy rag. And that question of sin will
never leave you. You'll cry like David, my sins
are ever before me. God, what about my sins? What
about my sins? God can't take a rebel to glory.
God can't walk with a rebel! God can't fellowship with a traitor!
Any more than you can fellowship with the Rosenblooms or whoever
those people were that denied this nation and sold its secrets.
God Almighty can't walk with a traitor. And that's the reason
every one of God's people, he crosses their path and he creates
an interest in righteousness and salvation, and then he hangs
a problem right out in front of our eyes. What about my sins?
God Almighty is holy, and he'll not clear the guilty, and I'm
guilty. God Almighty said, every soul that sinneth it shall die,
and I've sinned, and I ought to die. And God Almighty will
keep his word. All right, Christ, the last verse,
just verse 25, the woman said, well, when the Messiah comes,
he'll tell us all things. And Christ said, here it is.
Watch it. God presents a remedy. I'm he. Not a rededication. That won't
do it. Not a solemn reformation, that
won't do it. Not an awesome resolution, that
won't do it. Not a decision to do better,
that won't do it. Not a promise to serve God till
you die, that won't do it. It's got to be, I am. Notice he in italics, I am. The same one that spoke to Moses
at the burning bush spoke to this woman at the well. Same
one that spoke to those soldiers out yonder in the garden and
said, I am, and they fell backward is the one that spoke to that
woman, I am. I'm the answer. I'm the remedy. I'm the solution.
I'm the righteousness. I'm the justice. I'm the sanctification. I'm the redemption. I'm the wisdom.
I am! Everything a sinner needs is
in Him. There are two ways to view the
work of Christ. Most people view it the wrong
way. First of all, the work of Christ must be viewed as it was
presented, and as it was offered, and as it was performed toward
the Father. Christ came down here not to
set an example for you, He came down here that God Almighty might
be holy and merciful to you. That God Almighty might maintain
His righteous throne and still forgive ungodly sinners. He came
down here that the holy law of God might be magnified and honored
and the justice of Almighty God might be justified. You know
anything about that? How can God punish you and save
you? How can God's attribute of mercy
and God's attribute of justice both meet? Same place, at Calvary,
I am He. I am He. I am he. The second way the atonement
is viewed is for the sinner. He did it for us because he loved
us. He did it because he was going
to save us. He who knew no sin was made sin for us that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him. Brethren, it's an
awesome time. It's a day of his power. It's
a day of his power when he crosses the path of one of his own. Who
are they? I don't know. But I'm preaching
here and on television, wherever I can go, and I'm telling that
same old story. I've got a one-string fiddle.
I've got one message. God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross of Christ, because I'm looking for some
sheep, and God the Savior, the King, is going to cross their
path, and He's going to create an interest. They're going to
say, I'd like to have that water, and the Lord

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