The Messiah Has Come!

Please open up your Bibles this morning to the book of John, and we will be in chapter 4 this morning.

We're going to read the story of the woman of Samaria.

So it's going to be John chapter 4, verse 1, all the way through verse 42.

John 4:1

If you would, follow with me as I read.

Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John,

although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples,

he left Judea and departed again for Galilee.

And he had to pass through Samaria.

So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.

Jacob's well was there, so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well.

It was about the sixth hour.

A woman from Samaria came to draw water.

Jesus said to her,

Give me a drink.

For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.

The Samaritan woman said to him,

How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?

For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.

Jesus answered her,

If you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you, give me a drink,

you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.

The woman said to him,

Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep.

Where do you get that living water?

Are you greater than our father Jacob?

He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.

Jesus said to her,

Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again.

But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.

The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

The woman said to him,

Sir, give me this water so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.

Jesus said to her,

Go, call your husband and come here.

The woman answered him,

I have no husband.

Jesus said to her,

You are right in saying,

I have no husband.

For you have had five husbands,

and the one you now have is not your husband.

What you have said is true.

The woman said to him,

Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.

Our fathers worshipped on this mountain,

but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.

Jesus said to her,

Woman, believe me,

the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.

You worship what you do not know.

We worship what we know.

For salvation is from the Jews.

But the hour is coming and is now here

when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.

For the Father is seeking such people to worship Him.

God is spirit.

And those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.

The woman said to Him,

I know that Messiah is coming,

He who is called Christ.

When He comes, He will tell us all things.

Jesus said to her,

I who speak to you am He.

Just then His disciples came back.

They marveled that He was talking with a woman,

but no one said,

What do you seek?

Or why are you talking with her?

So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people,

Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did.

Can this be the Christ?

They went out of the town and were coming to Him.

Meanwhile, the disciples were urging Him, saying,

Rabbi, eat.

But He said to them,

I have food to eat that you do not know about.

So the disciples said to one another,

Has anyone brought Him something to eat?

Jesus said to them,

My food is to do the will of Him who sent me,

and to accomplish His work.

Do you not say,

There are yet four months,

then comes the harvest?

Look, I tell you,

Lift up your eyes and see

that the fields are white for harvest.

Already the one who reaps is receiving wages

and gathering fruit for eternal life,

so that sower and reaper may rejoice together.

For here the saying holds true,

One sows and another reaps.

I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor.

Others have labored,

and you have entered into their labor.

Many Samaritans from that town believed in Him

because of the woman's testimony.

He told me all that I ever did.

So when the Samaritans came to Him,

they asked Him to stay with them,

and He stayed there two days.

And many more believed because of His word.

They said to the woman,

It is no longer because of what you said that we believe,

for we have heard for ourselves,

and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.

This is God's word.

Let's bow once more.

Lord, what a beautiful story.

Powerful.

We pray now that you would open our eyes and ears to understand it,

and to respond to it as you would desire us to.

We pray in Christ's name.

Amen.

There are two crucial questions that everyone in the world ought to know the answer to.

Who is Jesus?

And what did He come into the world to do?

Who is Jesus?

And what did He come to do?

Last week, we closed out chapter 3 with four ways that Jesus Christ is distinct from every other individual on the planet,

every other man, every other religious figure.

So we saw that Christ alone is distinct in His supremacy.

He is distinct in sight and speech.

He is distinct in His measure of the Spirit.

He is distinct in His sonship.

And all of this together, we saw that it tells us that this man, Jesus, is not another teacher.

He is the Son of God in the flesh.

As we see what we just read in the story with the Samaritan woman this morning,

Jesus Christ is the Messiah.

So last week, we saw very clearly who Jesus is.

This morning, as we see this incredible encounter with the Messiah and this woman from Samaria,

the sinful, rejected woman, we see why Jesus has come.

Why Jesus has come.

See, Jesus Christ is a man on a mission.

He has come with purpose.

Jesus Christ came to magnify the glory of God.

This was His primary mission in coming to earth as the Messiah.

His mission is our mission.

So we're going to see this in five ways this morning.

Five reasons the Messiah has come.

This will be our outline this morning if you're taking notes.

Five reasons the Messiah has come.

First, Jesus Christ has come submitting to the plan of God.

Jesus has come submitting to the plan of God.

Look there to verse 1, chapter 4.

It says,

When Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that He was making and baptizing more disciples than John,

although Jesus Himself did not baptize but only His disciples,

He didn't stick around.

He wasn't chasing after their approval or popularity or their influence.

He didn't stick around.

He was on a mission.

Verse 3 says,

He left Judea and departed again for Galilee.

And what does it say?

It says,

He had to pass through Samaria.

Now this phrase is very, very interesting.

He had to pass through Samaria.

Why?

Of course, this was geographically the quickest route.

I use maps on my phone anytime I want to go anywhere.

I can't get anywhere without it.

And always I click the quickest route available.

I want to get there as soon as possible.

Well, geographically, the quickest route from Judea in the south to Galilee in the north

was a straight path that took you right through Samaria in the middle.

And some took that path, the direct route.

But you didn't have to.

In fact, many Jews did not go the quickest route.

If you were a strict Jew, they put into their maps the setting,

Avoid All Samaritans.

So they would go from the south.

And instead of going straight up through Samaria,

they would go around, cross over the Jordan River,

avoid Samaria entirely,

and take the long route up to Galilee.

But it says here Jesus had to pass through Samaria.

Why?

Well, this was not a matter of geographic necessity.

It was a matter of divine necessity.

Providential necessity.

This same word here is the same thing John said just a few verses earlier last week.

He must increase.

I must decrease.

It's the same word that Jesus used when he told Nicodemus,

As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,

so must the Son of Man be lifted up.

It must happen.

It is necessary.

John chapter 20, verse 9, it says,

John 20:9

As of yet, the disciples did not understand the Scriptures,

that the Son of Man, that he must rise from the dead.

In other words, God had a plan,

and Jesus, being the perfect, obedient Son,

gladly submits to the plan.

He had to pass through Samaria,

because God in his wisdom had ordained that Jesus go,

so that he might grow weary,

sit down at a well,

be thirsty,

so that a woman might come at just the right time in the day,

just the right time in her life,

so that this providential conversation might happen,

might take place,

so that through this conversation,

this woman might be changed,

so that through her transformation,

she might bear witness in Samaria,

so that so many in Samaria might believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

See, there are no accidents in God's plan of redemption.

There are no coincidences in God's plan of redemption.

Every detail down to every step that Jesus took was all part of the plan,

and it delighted Jesus to fulfill it perfectly.

This is what he says down in verse 32 to his disciples, isn't it?

Look there.

He says to his disciples,

I have food to eat that you don't know about.

What was his food?

What sustained Jesus?

What gave him nourishment?

What kept him going?

What was his primary concern?

It's not physical sustenance,

but the sustaining,

strengthening food of obedience to the will of God.

My food is to do the will of him who sent me,

and to accomplish his work.

I have heard legend,

maybe you have too,

of some people being so focused on their job,

on a task at hand,

that they just work right through lunch.

I don't know anything about that myself,

but some people I've heard,

they don't even think about stopping to eat food.

Why?

Because they're so zeroed in on the task at hand.

They're so focused,

so motivated.

That task is what's sustaining them.

Well, for Jesus,

this was all the time.

Of course,

he got hungry.

He ate.

Of course,

he got thirsty.

He drank.

He slept.

He had physical need,

but what kept him going,

was obedience to the plan of God the Father.

This is what he craved.

This is what he hungered and thirsted for.

I just want an ounce of that zeal,

that hunger for obedience,

don't you?

Well,

what was that work that Christ was committed to do?

It was to come,

to live,

and to die,

and to rise for sinners.

This is our second point this morning.

Second,

Jesus has come seeking and saving the lost.

Jesus has come seeking and saving the lost.

Verse 5 says,

Jesus came to a town of Samaria called Sychar,

near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.

Jacob's well was there,

so Jesus,

wearied as he was from his journey,

was sitting beside the well.

It was about the sixth hour,

which is 12 in the afternoon.

This is the hottest part of the day,

and Jesus,

fully God,

yet fully man,

in a picture of his full humanity,

he was tired.

He was worn out.

He had just traveled a long journey.

He was weak.

12 o'clock was not a time when most people were coming out to the well.

Most of the time,

the women,

they would come early in the morning,

before the sun got too high,

before it got too hot.

Most of the time,

they came out in groups,

rarely alone.

But here in God's providence,

again,

Jesus just so happens to sit down at the well,

to be waiting there,

when a woman from Samaria came,

to drink water.

Jesus said to her,

give me a drink,

for his disciples,

they had gone off into the city,

to buy some food.

Now,

I wish I could have been there,

to see the look on this woman's face.

And look how she responds.

In verse 9,

it says,

the Samaritan woman said to him,

how is it that you,

a Jew,

would ask me for a drink of water?

A woman,

of Samaria.

She was shocked,

because she had three things working against her,

here,

socially,

in this situation.

Three things.

For one,

she was a woman.

Culturally,

this put her in a lower social class than Jesus.

A male,

it would not be normal for him to approach her in this way.

But not only that,

second,

she was a Samaritan woman.

A Samaritan woman.

The Jews hated the Samaritans.

This hatred,

it goes back all the way to the divided kingdom of Israel in the Old Testament.

The southern kingdom had Jerusalem as their capital.

The northern kingdom took Samaria as their capital.

Well,

in 722,

the Assyrians,

they overtook the northern kingdom.

They took most of the Jews out.

They filled the city up with a bunch of pagans.

And what happened was that these two groups eventually began to mix.

They mixed their religious practices.

They intermarried.

They had children.

And those people eventually became the Samaritans.

These people were hated by the Jews.

They weren't really well received by the Gentiles either.

They were just generally despised.

The Jews,

they saw the Samaritans as dirty.

Half-breeds.

They saw them as perpetually,

constantly unclean.

This is why she says Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.

Why?

Because they wouldn't even share a dish for fear

that touching an object

might make them unclean.

But not just this.

Third,

she was deeply,

deeply sinful.

And she knew it.

Here she is,

coming to the well alone

at the hottest part of the day.

Why?

Five husbands.

One she's living with

is not her husband.

She had been ostracized

from her own community.

She carried her shame

and her guilt

everywhere she went.

She was hated by Jews,

hated by Gentiles,

hated by Samaritans.

And in her mind,

I'm sure she's thinking,

if this man only knew who I was,

he wouldn't be caught dead

with me here,

asking me

for a drink of water.

But here was Jesus

reaching out to her,

initiating to her,

asking her to take on the role

of one of his disciples,

asking her to serve him

with her own water pot.

Not afraid of her uncleanness,

not ashamed,

not bothered by her social status,

not afraid of her sexual history.

Why would he do this?

Because this is exactly

why he's come.

Jesus did not come

to seek out the very best,

the most impressive,

the most self-righteous,

the most religious.

Jesus came to seek

and to save the lost.

I heard a story this week

about a man named Joshua

who moved to Hollywood

to become an actor.

He had aspirations

to become an actor,

but he had a hard time

finding reliable work

and he had to pay the bills.

And so through a series

of terrible decisions,

he wound up entering

into the adult acting industry

for the sake of the children

in the room.

And he was very successful.

He made a lot of money.

He won awards,

but according to his testimony,

he will tell you

all of his success.

It only served

to illuminate his brokenness

because at the end of the day,

none of it satisfied him.

And so in God's providence,

he quit.

And in God's providence,

he met a girl

that he was interested in dating.

And so he asked her out

and he took the risky step

of explaining to her

and telling her

all about his history.

Here's what happened.

She began to share

the gospel with him.

She wasn't afraid

of his sinfulness,

wasn't afraid

of his history.

She saw a providential

opportunity of God

to share the love of Christ.

She took him to church.

He heard the gospel

clearly explained

and he gave his life to Christ.

The Lord saved him.

They wound up getting married

and now he serves

as a pastor in Iowa

and giving his life

to spread the good news

of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Don't tell me

that anyone you know

is hopeless.

Too far gone

for the grace of God.

The gospel is the power of God

for salvation

to any who believe.

Any who believe.

And Jesus Christ

did not come

to seek out

the most impressive,

put together people

of the world

and praise God.

Right?

Praise God.

We are not Christians

because we have it all together.

We are Christians

because by the grace of God,

Christ Jesus came

to seek

and to save

the lost.

There is no one,

no matter how sinful,

no matter how far gone,

who can out-sin

the grace of God.

God.

I think that,

in fact,

this is why John,

the author,

pairs together

this story

of the Samaritan woman

right next to the story

of Nicodemus,

don't you?

You think about

the contrast here.

You could not imagine

two more different people

than Nicodemus

and this woman

from Samaria.

Nicodemus was

a Jewish man,

well-educated,

well-respected,

well-liked,

intelligent,

a teacher of Israel,

a member of the Sanhedrin,

a child of Abraham,

and here is this

Samaritan woman,

we don't even know her name.

Sinful,

hated,

sexually immoral,

ostracized,

rejected,

unworthy.

Here's the lesson.

I want you to get this.

If Nicodemus

can't earn

eternal life

despite his knowledge,

despite his heritage,

then no one can.

But if this Samaritan woman

can receive

eternal life

despite her sinfulness,

despite her brokenness,

despite her past,

anyone can,

church.

This is why

Christ has come

to seek out the lost

and third,

to satisfy

the thirsty soul.

Christ has come

to satisfy

the thirsty

soul.

Jesus answered her,

verse 10,

if you knew the gift of God

and who it is

that's saying to you,

give me a drink,

then you would have asked him

and he would have given you

living water.

If you knew who I was

and if you knew

what I came to do,

you would ask me

and I would give you

living water.

Well, she and Nicodemus

did have one thing

in common,

didn't they?

They both responded

to Jesus

with physical understanding.

Look what she says.

She says,

Sir, you have nothing

to draw water with

and this well is deep.

Where do you get

that living water?

Are you greater

than Jacob?

He gave us this well.

He drank from it.

His sons drank from it.

In fact,

it had been there

for over a thousand years.

But Jesus pressed in further.

He said to her,

For everyone who drinks

of this water

will be thirsty again,

but whoever drinks

of the water

that I will give him

will never be thirsty again.

The water that I will give him

will become in him

a spring of water

welling up

to eternal life.

What is he saying here?

Well, Jesus,

as he often does,

he's making a spiritual lesson

out of a physical example.

Water satisfies.

Water gives life.

You know what it's like

to be thirsty

at a hard day's work

out in the sun.

Your face is dripping sweat.

You're exhausted.

And you come inside

and you get a cold glass of water.

What does that do for you?

It satisfies.

It gives you life.

But Jesus says here,

even the best water

will run out.

And even,

no matter how much

you drink of it,

you will be thirsty again.

He's making a spiritual application

here for this woman

and for us.

So often throughout

the scriptures,

water, thirst, dryness,

hunger, drought, famine,

they are interconnected.

They point us.

They're indicators.

They represent spiritual lack.

Spiritual thirst,

spiritual hunger,

spiritual drought,

spiritual dryness.

Here is this woman

who has tried

and tried

and tried

and tried

to satisfy herself

with sexual pleasure.

Six men and counting.

But Jesus says,

you will be thirsty again.

Why?

Because your soul

was made

to be satisfied

in God.

Not these trifles.

We often think

that more money

will satisfy us,

more health,

a healthier body,

more me time

will satisfy us.

Maybe like this woman,

we think more sexual satisfaction

will satisfy us.

but we will be thirsty again.

Nothing can satisfy

the desires of our soul

except that for which

we were made

to delight ourselves

in the living water

that Jesus Christ alone

can offer.

What is this water?

What is this water?

Well,

it's the soul-satisfying gift

of the Holy Spirit.

The soul-satisfying gift

of the Holy Spirit.

John chapter 7,

John 7 · chapter mention

you don't have to turn there now,

mark this down

for later.

In John chapter 7,

John 7 · chapter mention

Jesus stood up

at the feast of booths

and he cried out,

if anyone thirsts,

let him come to me

and drink.

Whoever believes in me

as the scriptures

has said,

out of his heart

will flow rivers

of living water.

Does that sound familiar?

Now he said this

about the Spirit

whom those who believed in him

were to receive.

The Holy Spirit

is like water

in the lives

of believers.

We need to understand

the ministry

of the Holy Spirit,

don't we?

The Holy Spirit

is not some mystical,

magical,

mysterious force

that just makes us emotional

and does cool tricks

and impresses us.

The primary work

of the Holy Spirit

in the lives

of believers

is to give us life

by satisfying

our soul

in Christ.

Let's say that again.

I want you to get it.

The primary work

of the Holy Spirit

in the lives

of believers

is to satisfy

our soul

in Christ

and in so doing

to give us

life.

Eternal

life.

This is the ministry

of the Spirit.

The Holy Spirit

is working in us

to magnify

the greatness

of Jesus Christ.

He's working in us

to cause us

to see His goodness

more clearly,

to cause sin

to taste bitter,

and to cause Christ

to taste sweet

to our souls.

Sweeter

and sweeter

and sweeter

and sweeter,

welling up

to eternal life

when we enter in

to the fullness

of joy

in the presence

of God.

And Jesus,

here,

He promises

that Spirit

to any

who believes

in Him.

Any

who would come

to Him

in faith.

This is why

He has

come.

Are you thirsty?

I know

that even

in a room

this size

there are

some here

who are thirsty

or spiritually

dry

this morning.

I know

that maybe

some of you

even know

that you

are seeking

satisfaction

other places

besides the

fount of

living waters.

Well,

He says

to the Samaritan

woman and to

us this morning,

church,

if you are

tired of

coming again

and again

and again

and again

to the same

streams of water

that promise

satisfaction

yet never

deliver,

simply come

to Christ

and ask

and He

will give

you exactly

what you

need.

He came

to satisfy

the thirsty

soul.

Why?

In order

that we

might delight

to worship

Him.

This is the

fourth reason

He has come.

Fourth,

Jesus has

come securing

true

worship.

Securing

true

worship.

The Samaritan

woman,

she's no

fool.

She tries

to throw

Jesus off

her trail,

doesn't she?

And change

the subject

away from

her own

personal

history and

instead to

the most

hotly debated

theological

topic that

she could

think of,

which is

the question

of worship.

See,

the split

between the

two kingdoms

of Israel,

it resulted

in a split

of religious

history and

religious practice.

So the

Samaritans,

again,

in the north,

they only

accepted the

first five

books of

the Bible.

They rejected

anything else.

Essentially,

they rejected

anything that

mentioned

Jerusalem at

all.

And they

established

their own

temple.

Instead of

the temple

in Jerusalem,

they established

their own

place of

worship on

Mount

Gezerim.

And as

you can

imagine,

this was a

major point

of tension

between these

two people

groups.

And she

would rather

talk about

that than

anything to

do with

her own

personal

history.

And so

she says

in verse

19,

Sir,

I perceive

that you

are a

prophet.

Our

fathers

worshipped

on this

mountain.

But you

say that

Jerusalem

is the

place where

people ought

to worship.

So,

which is

it?

But look

at what

Jesus says,

verse 21.

Jesus said

to her,

Woman,

believe me,

the hour

is coming

when neither

on this

mountain nor

in Jerusalem

will you

worship the

Father.

You worship

what you do

not know.

We worship

what we know

for salvation

is from the

Jews.

But the hour

is coming

and is

now here

when the

true

worshippers

will worship

the Father

in spirit

and in truth

for the

Father is

seeking such

people to

worship Him.

Jesus

doesn't

take the

bait.

He doesn't

engage in

this theological

discussion

of this

mountain

or that

mountain,

this tradition

or that

tradition.

Instead,

He says,

I have

come to

bring something

entirely

different.

I have

come to

usher in

the age

of true

worship

for the

glory

of God.

That time

is coming

and is

now

here.

a time

when

worship

will no

longer

be

connected

to a

specific

place

but rather

to a

person.

See,

there is

no

Christian

Mecca.

We know

Muslims,

millions and

millions of

Muslims make

their pilgrimage

every year

in July

to perform

the Hajj

in Mecca.

The Koran,

it commands

it that every

capable adult,

every healthy

Muslim who is

financially and

physically capable,

they must

travel to

Mecca to

perform the

Hajj at

least once

in their

lifetime because

to them,

this place,

this physical

location is

holy,

this time of

year is

holy,

this physical

area is

holy,

but Christianity

has no

holy place.

Some of you,

I know,

have traveled

to Israel

and gone to

see some

of the very

places that

we're reading

about here

in Scripture.

I hope to

go someday

myself.

I think that

that would

be fascinating,

but not

to get

closer to

God.

Church,

we live

in an

incredible

time.

We live

in the

age of

the church,

the age

of physically

unbound,

unrestricted

worship.

We live

in the age

of the

Holy Spirit.

And the

Spirit of

God is

what makes

God-honoring

worship

possible,

not a

place.

And that

Spirit,

because of

what Christ

has come

to do,

does not

dwell in

any one

place.

Church,

He dwells

in us.

If the

Spirit of

Christ is

in us,

then there

is no

place on

earth that

we can

go to

be closer

to God

than where

you are

right now,

here,

in

Allendall,

South Carolina,

wherever you

might be

tomorrow,

if the

Spirit is

in you,

He is

what makes

true worship

possible.

We live

in the

age of

Spirit-empowered,

God-glorifying

worship for

the entire

world.

Just think

about how

this magnifies

God's glory.

How this

magnifies

His glory.

The Holy

Spirit,

He exponentially

increases the

glory and the

honor that is

given to God.

True worship

is no longer

limited to

one geographic

region of the

world or

another.

It's no longer

limited to one

particular people

group or

another.

It's no longer

mediated by one

class of people.

Christ has

come that

God's glory

might be

known and

exalted by

anyone,

anywhere,

in any

place,

from Allendall

to Kenya,

to Jordan,

to the

uttermost

ends of

the earth,

so long

as they

worship in

Spirit and

in truth.

Two very

important qualifiers

He gives us,

aren't they?

For true

worship in

Spirit and

in truth.

True

worshipers must

worship in

Spirit and

in truth.

He says,

God is

Spirit and

those who

worship Him

must worship

in Spirit

and in

truth.

And one of

the most

American

individualistic

lies that we

tend to

believe is

that we can

worship however

we see fit.

Whatever

makes us

feel good,

whatever our

preferences are,

whatever moves

me, as long as

it moves me,

then that's

what I can

do.

That is

simply not

true.

We must

worship in

Spirit and

in truth.

In Spirit,

that is

internal,

not external,

not a matter

of religious

practice,

not a matter

of external

behavior,

but a matter

of your

inner spirit,

yourself,

your inner

self.

You all know

how easy it

is to worship

externally only,

but nothing

you do on

the outside

can honor

the Lord

if your

spirit is

not engaged

in worship.

Charles Spurgeon,

the great

preacher,

he once said,

God does

not regard

our voices,

he hears

our hearts,

and if our

hearts do

not sing,

we have not

sung at all.

We want to

worship,

we want our

hearts to

sing,

not just

our lips,

but doesn't

it matter

who we

sing to?

Doesn't it

matter what

we sing

about,

what we

proclaim

about the

God that

we worship?

Of course

it does,

which is

why we

must also

worship

in truth.

How could

we worship

a God

that we

know nothing

about?

Any

worship

that would

please God,

it must

spring out

of the

truth of

what he

has revealed

in his

perfect

word?

The

true

worship,

it requires

true

knowledge

about the

truth of

God.

It is

truth that

cannot be

learned any

other way

than by the

word of

God.

We must

worship

according to

his

word.

How then

will the

nations hear

the truth?

How then

will the

unreached

peoples of

India and

Afghanistan,

even those

here in

Allendal and

Mount Pleasant

and our

community,

how will

they know

the truth

of God's

word that

they too

might worship

him?

Church,

they must

hear it

from us.

They must

hear it

from us.

Fifth,

and finally,

Jesus Christ

has come

sending

his

disciples

to sow

and to

reap.

Jesus has

come sending

his

disciples to

sow

and to

reap.

One of the

most amazing

truths of

the gospel

is that we

who have

believed it

now get to

experience the

joy of

spreading it.

This message

of life and

hope and

satisfaction is

spread by the

lips of his

disciples.

We are

commissioned as

disciples of

Christ to

go and to

follow the

example of

our master.

Have you

noticed over

the past

several weeks

how we have

seen Jesus

go from

Jerusalem

now to

Judea and

now to

Samaria and

in the coming

weeks to

the Gentiles?

Does that

sound familiar

to you?

In that

same way he

has sent

his disciples

you will

receive power

when the

Holy Spirit

has come

upon you

and you

will be my

witnesses in

Jerusalem and

Judea and

Samaria and

to the ends

of the earth.

You see that

call the

missions of

Christ it was

not just for

these disciples

but for any

and all who

would claim to

be disciples of

Christ we

too must go

and share

the message

of salvation

in the name

of Jesus.

Two things

convinced this

woman of who

Jesus was.

Do you see

it?

For one it

was the

clear testimony

of Christ.

Look there to

verse 25.

This woman

clearly was

impressed even

curious about

who Jesus

might be.

We see in

verse 25 she

said to him

I know

that Messiah

is coming

he who is

called Christ

and when he

comes he

will tell us

all things

and here Jesus

does what he

rarely does.

He speaks

clearly and

directly to

this woman and

reveals in no

uncertain terms

who he is.

And I

who speak

to you

am he.

But you

know something

else added

to that

testimony.

Do you see

it?

Look there

to verse 27.

It says

just then his

disciples came

back.

They marveled

that he was

talking with a

woman although

they didn't

know the half

of it.

Right?

They didn't

know the half

of what was

going on.

But no one

said what do

you seek or

why are you

talking with

her?

No one

doubted the

integrity of

his master.

No one

questioned his

motives.

No one

criticized this

woman.

Maybe for the

first time in

her life.

No one

cast shame

upon her.

And it

was this

two-fold

testimony.

The words

of Christ

and the

trusting

obedience

of the

disciples

that had

her convinced.

She left

her water

jar, went

back into

the town,

back into

the crowd

of people

she once

avoided,

back into

the place

of her

shame,

and she

proclaimed

to any

and all

who would

listen,

come see

a man

who told

me all

that I

ever did.

Can this

be the

Christ?

You know,

so often

we think

that we

need more

training to

be an

effective

evangelist.

We're

intimidated by

the task of

evangelism.

We don't

think we

know enough.

I hope

that the

Samaritan

woman can

convince you

that that

is simply

not true.

We just

need to

be convinced

of the

message

and moved

by the

harvest.

The message

is simple.

The Messiah

has come.

Come.

Come see.

Come hear

his word.

Come drink

the waters

of everlasting

joy and

life.

We don't

need to be

experts.

We just

need to be

faithful.

Like the

woman from

Samaria.

She didn't

stick around

to learn

much more,

did she?

Right away.

She didn't

go to

seminary.

She didn't

read a

book.

She didn't

ask for

more knowledge.

Right away

she moved

to proclaim

the message

of the

gospel.

And as

the woman

left on

her way,

Jesus took

this opportunity

to teach

the disciples

a lesson.

He says,

Do you not

say there

are yet

four months

and then

comes the

harvest?

Look,

I tell you,

lift up your

eyes and

see that the

fields are

white.

for harvest.

Already the

one who

reaps is

receiving wages

and gathering

fruit for

eternal life

so that

sower and

reaper may

rejoice together.

For here the

saying holds

true,

one sows and

another reaps.

I sent you

to reap that

for which you

did not

labor.

Others have

labored and

you have

entered in

to their

labor.

Jesus is

telling the

disciples and

us that he

has come to

usher in the

age of the

harvest.

So many

have come

before us

to prepare

the way for

this time.

Prophets,

martyrs,

apostles,

sowing seed,

scattering seed,

but now in

the coming of

Christ, the

age of

reaping has

begun.

The age of

the harvest

has begun and

the harvest is

plentiful.

Church, we

have the

incredible

privilege of

being used

by God to

bring in the

harvest of

those who

would become

his disciples.

If only we

would go and

share the

news of the

gospel.

There are

men and

women all

around us

every day

who are

thirsty for

what only

Christ Jesus

can provide.

Do you

realize that

God has

appointed men

and women

to eternal

life all

around us?

If only we

would go and

open our

mouths and

proclaim the

message of

the gospel

that they

might hear

and believe

and become

his disciples.

The harvest

is plentiful,

but the

laborers are

few.

Church,

the mission

of Christ

is our

mission.

We follow

in his

footsteps.

He has

come submitting

to the

plan of

God,

so we

go submitting

to God's

plan for

the salvation

of those

in our

household,

for the

salvation of

those in

our community,

that we,

the church,

would go and

call them to

come and see

the man who

told me all I

ever did.

Come and see

the Messiah.

Come and see

the man who

has lived and

died and risen

for my salvation.

Christ has

come seeking

the lost,

so we go,

not caring

about physical

appearance,

external social

status,

sinfulness,

but scattering

the seed

faithfully and

broadly and

trusting the

Lord to bring

the growth.

Christ has

come satisfying

the thirsty

soul,

and so we

go proclaiming

that we have

tasted and

seen that the

Lord is good.

Come to the

waters.

Come and drink.

Come find

satisfaction for

your soul,

the soul that

was satisfied,

that was created

to be satisfied

in Christ.

He came

zealous to

restore worship

for the glory

of God.

So church,

we must go

with this one

ultimate mission

to magnify the

glory of God

in the gospel

of Jesus

Christ.

This was his

mission,

so church,

it must be

ours.

Here at the

close of this

story,

we see a

glimpse of

the harvest.

John says

in verse 29,

many Samaritans

from that town

believed in him