Saved by Grace

Is Connie in here?

That's a pretty serious thing.

!

You know, it's like...

Turn in your Bibles this morning to John chapter 4, verse 25.

John 4:25

Last week I was asked a question that I was reflecting on here just a couple minutes ago as I was praying.

An individual asked me the question, so when are you finished preparing to preach?

And my answer was when I walk away from the pulpit.

The truth of the matter is, is that the process of preparing to preach is one that is, for a pastor, kind of a life-consuming responsibility and blessing.

And the work of preaching is one that depends heavily upon time with the Lord, time in the Word, and your prayers.

And so there is a sense in which I don't know how it's going to go until it's done.

But having said that, I've got to tell you, this is an awful good passage.

Oh, I mean that.

Let me read it to you.

Beginning in verse 24, Jesus said this.

He said,

God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in 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 that 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 the 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.

Let's pray.

Father God, this morning, our hearts, as we take this passage in mind and we read it,

we are drawn to remember the passage in Zechariah where you,

through the mouth of your prophet,

declared that it's not by might nor by power but by your spirit.

And so it is my prayer,

and I know it is the prayer of your people who sit here this morning that know Christ

and are informed by the scriptures,

that your word would have free course this morning,

that it would produce fruit that brings glory to the Lord Jesus Christ,

that it would be used by you to continue the process of shaping and forming our frail lives

to look more like the Lord Jesus.

So as the result of our seeing the Lord Jesus in this passage,

that we would be less consumed with ourself,

less afflicted by the challenges and hardships of life,

more earnest and affectionate for the things of eternity,

more passionate for the souls of lost mankind,

more humble,

more joyful,

more tender in our relationships with others,

so that in all things,

the Lord Jesus Christ,

who is the one who has redeemed us from the pit

and who is actively engaged in changing us

from who we used to be to who we will be,

in that process of progressive sanctification,

would be the one who is glorified not only in saving us,

but also in this wonderful, unbelievable work

of changing us.

So allow your word to do a wonderful work today,

that this day, the Lord's day, March 22nd,

will be one that,

while maybe not written in the fly leaf of our Bible,

will be one written on the pages of our heart

as a day when your word

and your spirit affected your child deeply,

to the glory of Christ.

Amen.

I want you to think back just for a moment

as we take this passage in mind,

that when John the Baptist saw Jesus coming

earlier in the book of John,

he made that statement,

behold the Lamb of God that takes away

the sins of the world.

Clear, undeniable announcement

of who the Lord Jesus Christ was

and what he had come to do.

Behind that opening statement

that John the Baptist made,

then we find a series of incidents

in which we find the Lamb of God

interacting with people.

The first one is Nicodemus.

And you remember he was the ruler of the Jews

who came to Jesus by night.

And I would probably say that

Nicodemus didn't get it at that time.

That's pretty clear.

And the spiritual truths,

the matter that was in the Bible,

even though he was a scholar

and understood all of the Old Testament pretty well,

he just didn't understand

that the issues of spiritual life,

in fact, more important than that,

the issue of salvation and conversion

was not just a matter of improving your behavior

and kind of following all the rules and regalia

that went with being a Jew.

It was really the matter of the work of the Holy Spirit

and bringing conviction

and then the transformation of the heart.

But we have Nicodemus on one side

and then we have, guess what?

We go from a Jew of all Jews,

a classic illustration of the perfect Jewish man,

and then we go to what?

A Samaritan woman.

I mean, and we're not talking

about one of the prima donnas

of Samaritan culture, are we?

We're talking about an absolute low life,

a person who was shunned by her culture

and her community

and who was afraid, in some sense,

of being around the rest of the crowd

because she knew she wasn't liked.

And here we have Jesus

meeting this woman at the well.

And as we look at this passage

and we break it down in verse 25 on through 30,

since one of the responsibilities of preaching

is to be clear,

I'm going to give you the outline ahead of time.

That doesn't mean you can go home and say,

well, I know the three points.

And I can't always say that in every case

the outline is just this easy,

but today, for whatever reason,

it works fairly simply.

So it comes down to three Cs.

And you who know me know that

I am not one of those guys

who got a major in alliteration.

It's just like, here it happened,

it's a blind hug finds acorn time.

Here we go.

Confrontation, confusion, and conversion.

Confrontation is the first thing.

Confusion is the second thing.

Conversion is the third thing.

And so you kind of track your way

through the passage

and you see these things

and actually it wasn't forced.

It's there.

Confrontation.

Verse 25.

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.

The story of the Samaritan woman

as it kind of rolls out in front of us

in John chapter 4

John 4 · chapter mention

is broken down in several steps

as we worked our way through it.

We saw, first of all,

a tired Jesus sitting down by the well

at Sychar

and engaging a woman in conversation.

That interchange led

to spiritual things.

And Jesus actually exposed

her sinful heart

with a fairly simple little statement

of saying,

go call your husband.

We do know that what the woman did

after she was convicted

of her sinfulness

is that she did what is usual

and normal

when people are convicted.

The first thing that happens

is they try to avoid the subject

and move away from the conviction.

And she tried to do that

by bringing up

a theological distinction

between the Jews

and the Samaritans

and she hoped that

that would kind of divert

the attention away

from her own heart

and it didn't.

Instead, what Jesus did

was he really address

the issue of what

genuine worship is.

And if you look there

in John chapter 4,

John 4 · chapter mention

just mark what Jesus said

in verse 23,

the hour is coming

and now is here

when the true worshipers

will worship the Father

in spirit and in truth,

for the Father

is seeking such people

to worship him.

Well, what Jesus was saying

in that passage

and we don't want

to move away from it,

it has to be part

of our understanding

of the frame

in which Jesus

was ministering

to this Samaritan woman

and the frame

in which actually

all of us engage

in ministry

to other people.

He was saying this,

true worship

is really all

of who you are

invested in the glory

of who he is.

And can I tell you

something at the end

of the day,

think with me,

we are either engaged

in worshiping him

or we're engaged

in worshiping ourself.

We're all worshipers

all the time.

Do you understand that?

And how do you know

when you're worshiping yourself?

Everybody smile.

Everybody look at me.

Hey, up here.

Come on.

Up.

Look here.

When we're worshiping

ourself,

we're kind of given

to being moody

when things aren't

going our way.

I mean, hey,

you know how in the,

you know,

Dagon was really upset

when people weren't

doing the things he wanted

and Dagon would do what?

I mean,

everybody knew

when Dagon wasn't

be worshiped.

How did we know

that Dagon wasn't happy?

What did he do?

I mean,

there was thunder

and clouds

and all kinds of,

if you're worshiping him,

you're not so caught up

by how other people

are treating you

and all of God's people

who are not

the least convicted

by this thought

said, amen.

Right?

When we're engaged

in self-worship

and things aren't

going the way

self-thinks

they ought to be,

guess how we act?

Moody,

a little pouty,

a little unhappy,

very easily offended.

There's a little phrase

that we've used

over here in Maranatha

called high OI.

Does anybody know

what high OI is?

It's called

a high offendability index.

And people who have

a high OI

are people that are

specialists in self-worship.

Coming back around

to the circle

so we understand

where we are,

we find here is Jesus

helping this woman

understand that true worship

is really all about God

and means putting

all that you are

into it.

And as she

addresses this problem

or as Jesus

addresses this problem,

we find that the woman

tried to step away from it

and when Jesus

made that statement

about listen,

true worship is really

all of who you are

being caught up

with who God is,

she tries one more time

to dodge the subject.

How do I know that?

The woman said to him,

verse 25,

I know that Messiah

is coming,

he who is called Christ,

when he comes

he will tell us

all things.

It's like,

hey, I heard you

but I'm not real sure

I have to buy into

what you say

but I'm going to wait

until the authority comes,

that's the Messiah.

Don't press me right now

with spiritual truth,

I'm waiting to hear it from

and what does Jesus say?

I'm glad you brought that up.

I'm him!

I like that.

You got it,

I'm the one!

You know,

here is

the woman

saying,

I'm feeling uncomfortable

with this

business of sin first,

you know,

the husband deal,

and I'm feeling uncomfortable

with this worship thing

but we're going to try

to wait,

we'll kind of delay

until the real Messiah

shows up.

And what does Jesus say?

let me tell you something,

you're thinking about

distracting me first

with an argument

about location

and then you're kind of

dodging the subject

and here's the reality

is true worship,

true worship

is all about

who God really is

and what he wants

from our heart

and that's what

Jesus was drawing

this woman to understand

in this moment

is,

hey listen,

it's about

who I am

and who you are

that is on the

cusp of the moment.

Now as you look

at this passage

and you recognize

what Jesus says

in verse 26,

I want you to understand

that it is one

of only two places

in the New Testament

where Jesus

explicitly

declares

who he is.

That's pretty interesting

because you'll remember

over and over again

the Jews were,

they kept on coming

to Jesus

and saying,

you know,

tell us,

are you really

the Messiah?

Their understanding

of the Messiah,

by the way,

was not the Savior

of mankind's sins

but they were looking

for someone

to kind of rescue them

from their political problems.

Hey,

everybody out there,

it's kind of like

in the Jewish culture

all of their Facebook posts

were about politics

not about spirit issues.

How many of you

understood what I just said?

That's it.

Everybody understand

that one?

It's like they were

all caught up

in concern

for the political condition.

I mean,

and let me tell you something,

Rome was absolute trash

and by that extension

the Jews were living

in a pretty repressive environment

and so if Facebook

had been around

in the ancient world,

I bet you that 99.8%,

2%, 0.10%,

forget it.

How many of you know

that I don't do well at math?

Is that a secret?

Okay.

There was a very,

very, very, very,

very, very, very,

very small part

of the Jewish population

that would have been

concerned about anything

but politics

and Jesus,

when he would

do these miracles,

they'd say,

well,

are you the Messiah?

And what they were

really saying is,

are you the one

that's going to

clean up Washington?

Washington.

And Jesus would come back

and say,

well, hey, listen,

I'm not about

cleaning up Washington,

I'm about taking care

of your heart.

That's what he did

with this woman, okay?

And that's not in my notes

in case you want to

email me about that one later.

Here's Jesus,

he says,

I'm the one,

I'm the one,

I'm the one.

And it's pretty interesting

because here is this woman,

she's been convicted

by her immorality,

she's been convicted

by the fact

that her worship

is just kind of ritual

and being in the right place,

you know,

doing the right kind of thing

and whatever,

and Jesus says,

hey, listen,

real worship's about the heart.

And then she tries

to dodge that one

and Jesus says,

hey,

you want to hear

what the Messiah thinks?

I'm here.

I'm here.

And so I want you

to understand

as you look at this passage

that you can't step away

from the illustration

we have of the grace of God

in getting a hold

of the hardness

and the darkness

of man's heart.

I like that.

And that's one of the reasons

why in the process

of witnessing

and sharing the gospel

with other people,

when I was younger,

I used to become

pretty animated

in winning arguments

for Jesus.

How many of you

have been there?

Winning arguments

for Jesus.

I took class one

and class two,

did pretty well in it,

and I could persuade

anybody

to drink fire water

on a moment's notice.

Hey,

you know,

I'm in your space

and you better believe

in Jesus or else.

I've learned

that that doesn't work.

You know,

how many of you know

what a reversionary clause

is when you sign a contract?

How many of you know that?

I mean,

I had people pray the prayer

in front of me

and the minute I left,

guess what happened?

Whew.

He's gone.

Jesus wasn't that way.

He just allowed

the work of grace

to do its part

in affecting the heart

of people,

and here's this woman.

She says,

yeah, well,

I want to dodge this one too,

and he says,

you can't dodge me.

I'm right here.

And so we understand

that grace is what convicts us

of our sins

and opens blinds eyes

so people can see Jesus.

He's got to do that work.

We can't force it,

but there is convicting power

when the Spirit of God

is at work in people's lives,

and you'll see it.

Let's come to a second part.

I want you to read this here,

and I don't want you

to think about low lives.

They didn't get it.

If I was a disciple,

I would have been

all over this spiritual moment.

Follow me?

I want you to look now

in verse 27.

Then, just then,

his disciples came back.

Where had they been?

They went into town

to get a McDonald's, you know?

I mean, they were hungry,

and so they went

to get a little snack

from Samaritans, you know?

And snacking from Samaritans

was okay,

just don't be at the well.

And so here they are.

They come back,

and they marveled,

and that word marveled

is pretty interesting.

We'll get to that

in just a minute.

They marveled

that he was talking

with a woman,

and no one said to him,

what do you seek?

Or, why are you talking

with her?

So, confusion.

We have confused disciples.

Now, look at me.

Look at me.

These disciples were confused

because they didn't understand

what Jesus' work was.

Why did Jesus come?

Come on.

If you know the answer,

look up.

For the Son of Man

came to seek and to save

Samaritan women.

Am I right?

And here are the disciples.

They come scampering back

from having gotten their hamburgers

and whatever else,

and they come,

and here is Jesus

talking to a woman

at the well

in Samaria.

And so,

by the way,

none of us here

are the disciples.

Am I right?

We're a lot more mature

and a lot more spiritually advanced

than the disciples,

and we understand

that this business

of drawing breath,

this side of glory,

is really all about one thing,

and it's about seeing people

come to Jesus, right?

That's why you invite

your neighbors over,

and that's why you minister

to the people around you,

and that's why

when you go to work

on Monday,

the ambition of your heart

is not to earn a living,

but to see people

come to Jesus, right?

Low life disciples.

They come booking in,

and they see Jesus

talking to this woman.

Now look at that word.

Put your finger on it.

There's something about translation.

They marveled.

Okay?

The word that is used here

talks about like,

what is this?

It's the same word

used in Acts chapter 7

Acts 7 · chapter mention

where Stephen is preaching

about how Moses

was blown away

when the bush was on fire

and it wasn't burning, right?

Marveling,

in a biblical sense right here,

is not kind of this,

huh.

It's like,

whoa!

What is this?

What is this?

And the thing that was just

beyond their little

pea-brained grasp

was that their teacher,

the one that they had left

their profitable careers

to follow fishermen,

you know,

I mean,

whatever they were doing,

they had sold it all out

to follow Jesus

and the one they were following

was at a well

talking to a woman.

Oh.

By the way,

Jewish culture

drew a strong line

between the sexes.

An open conversation

between a man and a woman

that was not a man's wife,

child, or blood

was absolutely unacceptable.

Crass and wicked men

and women did flirt.

Happened all the time.

But men and women

that were each,

that were at least sensitive

to the civil decorum

of the day

and to the relationships

that were marked

by Old Testament purity,

and Scripture as well,

were pretty careful.

And so,

truth of the matter is

is that rabbis

just didn't talk to women,

period.

By the way,

just as a sidebar,

ladies,

I like all of you.

Do you understand that?

But I know some

on occasion

have thought

that I've been

just a little standoffish.

I'm not a rabbi,

but I am pretty careful.

Okay?

Enough said?

Here was Jesus

talking to a woman.

I mean,

a woman.

A woman who was

a Samaritan.

I mean,

it was like

over the top.

How do we know

it was over the top?

Well,

can we read verse 27

with a little bit

of realism in it?

I'm going to do that for you.

Everybody listen.

Don't be offended.

At the end of the day,

if you have a question

about what a pastor says,

at the end of the day,

what you really ought to do

is not check

what your sensibilities are,

but how it fits the Bible.

Everybody agrees,

right?

Okay,

so we're going to do this

and you can go back home

and kind of,

you can Google it.

That means you don't have

to be a specialist

in Hebrew

or Greek

to get it.

Okay?

Here we go.

Verse 27.

No one said,

what do you seek

or what are you,

why are you talking with her?

Can you kind of parse

that a little bit

for yourself?

Let me do it for you.

Why are you flirting with her?

Is that a fair rendition?

Nod your head

if you think

there's probably

a good chance

that that's a little bit

of what they were thinking.

They didn't say it.

Do you follow that?

Men didn't talk with women.

Case closed.

The only time

that men talked to women

were,

if they were courteous,

blood relative,

not blood relative,

off page

where they shouldn't be.

And here is Jesus

doing something

that stepped beyond

the bounds

of what these people

understood.

And they were kind

of taken back by it.

They did,

what's going on?

Well,

here's the heart

of the issue

for the disciples.

And the truth of the matter

is that the disciples

had a small view

of Christ's mission.

I want you to mark

that out.

They had a small view

of Christ's mission.

And see,

they had drawn

a tight circle

around what they

thought ministry was.

And that tight circle

did not include

Samaritans,

and it didn't include

women.

End of discussion.

And so here

they come,

they find their

rabbi,

their teacher,

the one who

they're following,

engaged in a conversation

with a woman,

and it just literally

blew their socks off.

Now,

forget flirting,

but stop and recognize

something.

It's a fair question

we can ask ourselves.

Have we drawn

unchrist-like circles

that exclude some people

that Jesus came to save?

I want you to think

about that.

Hey,

what about the kids

that don't respect

your lawn?

Or mess up

in your parking lot?

Or the neighbors

that are just

too loud?

I moved into

a neighborhood

that has people

closer.

And some of the songs

that I

would care to forget,

they happen to love.

And so I've got

to decide,

am I going next door

and knock on their door

and say,

listen,

I paid taxes here

and I don't have to

listen to that junk.

People drive down

the street,

you know,

and I don't understand it.

I understand why

people are deaf

today.

But I mean,

when your windows

are rattling,

I was at the

stoplight

and I could hear

every word

that was being said

in the car

next to me.

And I looked over

and I thought,

maybe he's got

his windows down.

He had his windows

up and they were

literally shaking

with the,

how many of you

know what I'm

talking about,

right?

Okay,

here's the deal.

We're not talking

about that.

We're talking

about the attitude

we have towards

people that aren't

in our circle.

Don't be small-minded

with your prejudices.

I want to encourage

you to look for

gospel opportunities

in those moments

at the well.

When you're driving,

you're in the mall,

you're across the fence,

and you're talking

with people who

have no hope

and you're the one

representative that

Jesus put in their

space to make a

difference for all

of eternity

and you want to

have an attitude

over their music.

I got to tell you,

he came looking

for sinners

and he found me

at the well.

And if I understand

what he did for me,

it means I don't

get all bent out

of shape over

little issues

that in the scope

of things don't

count for a hill

of beans.

Oh, let's stop

for a minute

so we understand

something, by the way.

You're not going

to do very well

at the momentary

moments at the well

if you can't do

reasonably well

with people that

you get to practice

with over and over

again.

How many of you

understood what I

just said?

Let me say it again

slowly because I know

it's a tough one.

You're not going

to do well,

you're not going

to do properly.

Forget the well part.

You're not going

to do properly,

you're not going

to be effective

at those little

moments when you

get to bump into

low-life sinners

that desperately

need Jesus

in those rare

incidents at the

well if you can't

do well practicing

with people you

see every day

at home or here

in the body of

Christ.

Everybody smile.

This is one of

those smile moments.

if you're sitting

there and you

tell me you care

about lost mankind

but you're torqued

out about somebody

else in the bride

of Christ,

there's something

wrong and it's

not with Jesus.

It's your heart.

And having smack

talk about the fact

that well we're not

doing real well

at evangelism and

you're over there

just complaining

about someone else

in the family

and say get over

it.

Practice here.

Go out there

and light it up.

All God's people

said,

Oh wow,

I need a Kleenex.

Convict me Lord

of being petty

at the cost

of the gospel.

Can you write that

on your paper?

I'll say it again

slowly.

Convict me Lord

of being petty

at the cost

of the gospel.

Now do you

understand why

when you preach

you don't know

what's going to

happen until it

happens?

Well,

let's come to

the best part.

Conversion.

The Samaritan

woman had come

to this well

at the off hour.

woman had come

to this well

at the off hour.

Because she

wanted to

avoid

the people

who disliked

her.

And she

came with

one agenda

and Jesus

found her.

And we know

that as a result

of Jesus

finding her

everything

changed.

Verse 28.

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?

Let me say

this and mark

it.

And I want

you to hear

this clearly

because one

of the things

that is a

problem in

our culture.

How many

of you

understand

that coming

to Christ

is simple?

But just

because you

say a prayer

doesn't mean

you have

the deal.

If there

is no

evidence of

a genuine

change in

your life

and your

affections,

don't fool

yourself to

think that

saying 17

or 31

words made

any difference

at all.

Well,

anyway,

salvation

changes our

values and

our life

agenda.

I love

2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 5:17

chapter 5

verse 17.

Let me say

it to you

here.

It says,

if any

man be

in Christ

Jesus,

he is a

new

creation.

And that

word that

is used

there,

creation,

is a

word that

conversion

is used

exclusively

for God's

activity in

doing something

supernatural.

Conversion

is not a

decision to

kind of improve

yourself by

following a

new set of

rules.

It is the

power of God

that gets a

hold of a

nasty,

broken,

ruined

sinner whose

life is an

absolute mess

and comes with

broken humility

and says,

I am desperate

in my

condition.

I need you

to do

something in

me and

salvation takes

us from

death to

life and

we're

different.

We're

different.

I think it's

frustrating

sometimes to

listen to people

talk about their

faith in Christ

and their

conversion,

but Matt,

there's no

evidence.

There's no

evidence.

Turn in your

Bibles to

Romans chapter,

you're in

John, go to

the right,

John chapter

John 6 · chapter mention

6, John

John 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6,

Romans.

I want

Romans, not

John.

It's a habit

right now, we're

in the John

part.

But we're

going to

Romans chapter

Romans 6:1–5

6, verse 1

through 5.

Salvation is

change.

Salvation is

change.

Let me read

Romans chapter

Romans 6 · chapter mention

6.

What shall we

say then?

Are we to

continue in

sin that

grace may

abound?

In other

words, hey,

since we've

been saved,

can we just

kind of, you

know, bebop

our way

through, acting

just like we

did before, but

you know, at

least we said

the prayer and

we got, you

know, kind of

some of the

vocabulary, we're

learning songs and

all that kind of

stuff.

He says, by no

means.

How can we who

died to sin still

live in it?

Do you not know

that all of us who

have been baptized

into Christ, Jesus,

were baptized into

his death?

In other words, in

his death, our

death took place.

We were buried

therefore with him

in baptism in order

that just as Christ

was raised from the

dead by the glory of

the Father, so we

too might walk in

newness of life.

Underline that.

Circle that in your

Bible.

Newness of life.

So that we might

walk in newness of

life.

If you cannot

recognize something

significantly different

from where you used

to be to where you

are now as the

result of your faith

in the Lord Jesus

Christ, there's

something wrong.

Salvation changes

our view of self.

I want you to

mark that down.

I want you to

underline that.

I want you to

bold that.

Go back to John

John 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4.

the woman left

her water jar and

went away into town

and said to the

people, I'll never

forget.

There's an excellent

book by Stuart Scott

called From Pride to

Humility.

And I remember

several years ago

when I gave a copy

of it to the deacons.

Asked them to just

read a little part of

it.

We were working

on something

together and I

said, so let me

have you fill in

this little statement.

If people really

knew me, they

wouldn't, guess

what all the deacons

thought would be the

next word?

Like me.

If people really

knew you.

If people really

knew you.

Because of the

nastiness of our

hearts.

Do you understand

what I'm saying?

Here's a woman

who went into

town and what

did she say?

You follow me?

This is a woman

who was a serial

adulterer.

You follow me?

Did she have a

good reputation?

Everybody really

liked this girl.

They loved to

invite her over for

family fun because

while they were in

the kitchen, they

were worried what

this girl was doing

with their husband.

Got that?

This woman runs

back into town and

she says, you

got to meet him.

He knows all

about me.

There's a little

part in the story

that's missing.

You know what it

is?

He still loves me.

He's ready to

forgive me for all

of that.

He's ready to give

me complete

forgiveness for all

of my sin.

He accepts me

unconditionally.

I love what it

says in Ephesians

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1 where it

says, we are

accepted in the

beloved.

I love being able

to say to people

as I share the

gospel with them,

Romans chapter 10

Romans 10:11

verse 11 says,

whosoever believes

in him, can anybody

finish the rest of it?

You ought to know

this, shall not be

ashamed.

Salvation changes

our view of self.

By the way, mark

this.

Just because salvation

changes our view of

self doesn't mean that

the enemy of our

souls does not want

to keep on torquing

us back to the way

we used to be.

Satan is always

there saying, do

you remember the

value system you

used to work under?

Do you remember how

bad you felt about

yourself?

I want to bring

you back to that

place.

How many of you

understand what I

just said?

That's what Satan's

all about.

Here's a woman who

ran into town and

said, let me tell you

something, I want you

to meet the man who

is the hero in my

story.

It's not me, it's

him, it's Jesus.

Jesus knew her

secrets and her sin

and yet he was

ready to give her

complete forgiveness

for everything and

that was all that

counted.

that's the way it

is.

What Jesus thought

about her life

trumped every other

thing.

Can I say that

slowly?

Because I know

that Satan plays

this card.

What Jesus thought

about her life

trumped every other

thing.

I like that.

to have the burden

and the shame of

your life lifted by

the forgiveness of

Christ is

overwhelming.

healing.

I recited the passages in

Romans chapter 10

Romans 10:11

verse 11 and Ephesians

Ephesians 1:6

chapter 1 verse 6 and

I want you to mark

them for your later

education.

But one other thing I

want you to see here is

the woman's view of

Jesus changed.

Back she went into

town and she makes an

interesting statement

that may be a little

confusing on the surface

but we need to think

with us.

Think it through.

She goes into town.

She says can this be the

Christ?

Was she asking a kind of

a democratic answer?

Let's take a poll.

What do you think?

Is that what's going on?

No.

How do we know that?

Well if you look at

verse 39 many Samaritans

from the town believed

in him because of the

woman's testimony.

She didn't go around

saying I have a question

for you.

Do you think this is

Jesus?

Do you think it's a

Christ?

No.

She was going around

saying I want you to

meet the one who is the

Messiah who has given me

complete forgiveness for

all of my sins and

everybody's looking at

her saying all of your

sins?

Do you know that we know

what kind of sinner you

are?

All of your sins?

Verse 42.

They said to the woman

it's no longer because of

what you have said that

we believe.

She couldn't have been

just saying is this the

Christ?

Now why did she ask it

this way in the passage

we're looking at there

in verse 29.

You remember this woman

had a testimony in town

of being fast and loose

with sex.

Agreed?

Would she have been the

perfect person to be

bear testimony to the

deity of Christ and to

the holiness and glory

of the Savior of lost

mankind?

Answer is no.

And so she exercised a

little decency and

caution in speaking

gently.

And by the way,

questions are a pretty

good way of bringing

conviction.

Do you know that?

It works.

Is your life a mess?

You mean what I'm living

isn't the way it's

supposed to be?

Questions work.

So here's the woman

comes into town.

She says, hey, is this

the Christ?

So I want you to

understand this morning

that you sit here

maybe like Nicodemus.

Remember Nicodemus?

Curious but not convicted.

He knew something was

missing in his life.

There was a void and an

emptiness but he really

was too caught up in

himself to come to

grips with the desperate

condition of his soul.

And can I tell you?

Until Jesus brings you to

the place of brokenness

where you see the

bankruptcy of your soul,

there will be no remedy.

There will be no

conversion.

bad news,

you've got stage

four cancer and

you're dying.

Good news,

Jesus is the only

solution and you

have to trust in him

or you're going to

hell.

Well, some of you

could be sitting here,

not like Nicodemus,

but like the woman

before she knew Jesus

and every time a little

bit of conviction comes

into your life,

you kind of try to skate

away from it.

Oh, I'm uncomfortable.

I didn't like that.

That kind of makes me

feel bad about myself.

And the woman dodged

and dodged and dodged

and what did Jesus do?

He kept on chasing her

down.

And so some of you have

been sitting here and

every time you turn

around, the spirit of

God is still convicting.

Can I tell you there's a

way to stop that?

Huh?

It's like, I get it.

I need him.

I can't undo the mess.

All right.

And here's the woman.

After she knew Jesus

and she knew that she

was loved by Jesus

and she knew that she

was forgiven by Jesus

and she was overwhelmed

by his grace,

she spent the rest of

that day doing the

very simple and logical

thing of letting other

people know who he is.

grace.

Let me tell you something.

What we do together is

enjoyable, but it's really

not the main event of

worship.

The main event of worship

will be when we who know

Christ gather together in

the presence of the Lord

Jesus, the Savior of our

souls and we without any

impediment, without any

cloud over the struggles

we have in life, we will

worship him with unending

glory.

What we do here is kind of

encourage our souls for what

he wants us to do out there.

Do you follow that?

There are women at the

well.

There are men in your

neighborhoods.

There are children in your

school.

There are mothers in your

group.

There are people where you

work whose lives are broken

and ruined by sin.

And if you have been caught

up with the sweetness of

Jesus, you know what you

do?

Come see the man who told me

all that I ever did is not

this the Christ.

Let's pray.

Holy Father, the truth of

matter is, is the Lord Jesus

is the supreme lover of our

soul and the one who has

called us to redeem us from

the pit.

And it is so unbecoming for

us who know the Lord Jesus

Christ to have our lives

clouded by the ugliness of

our own ill-spirited thoughts.

When we in the presence of

Christ may enjoy true worship

and go out to a world that is

broken and dying and plead with

them with tenderness and

passion that they know the one

who knows us.

Today's a day of conviction.

Some are here and don't know

Christ and I would plead with

you, Lord, that you would draw

them to see their sin and to

confess their brokenness and

trust in Jesus.

There are some here today that

are believers whose lives are

clouded by issues that have

compromised the sweetness of

their testimony.

And it really comes down to

this.

They need to be repentant and

humble.

And ask you to renew their

affection for the Lord Jesus

that they may minister to the

world around them.

And we ask this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.