Sermon
#1385
Miscellaneous Notes
Title: “Go, Call YOUR Husband.”
Text: John 4:15-18
Subject: The
Necessary Exposing of Sin
Date: Sunday Morning –
Tape # V-60a
Introduction:
John 4:15-18 -- 15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. 16 Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. 17 The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: 18 For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.
Illustration: Whitefield’s Counsel to the
Young Maid –
--
“Ask the Lord to show you yourself.”
-- “Ask him to show you himself.”
If ever God is pleased to save you, he will cause you to see yourself as you really are; and he will cause you to see himself as he really is. No one has ever been saved without seeing who he is and who God is. These two things always go together. You can never see God in his greatness, glory, and grace in the face of Christ, without seeing yourself in your corruption, confusion, and condemnation.
This
is not a conclusion I have reached by reason. It is a fact plainly revealed in
Holy Scripture. Every person in this Book, who is set before us as seeing God,
immediately fell before him, broken and contrite, confessing his sin.
n
Job
n
Moses
n
David
n
Isaiah
n
Peter
n
Saul of
Proposition: You will never be saved until you see who God is and see who and what you really are, until you are compelled by sovereign grace to bow in the dust before the throne of God almighty, confessing yourself to be a justly condemned sinner before the holy Lord God, whose only hope is Christ.
“Christianity
begins by bringing men to the truth about their own depraved condition, but it
does so to convince them of their need of Jesus Christ and to prepare them for
understanding who He is and what He has accomplished
for them by His death and resurrection.” -- James M. Boice
1. The only place you will ever
see God in his true character is in the face of his crucified Son – “In the cleft of the Rock!”
2. If ever you see God in
Christ, you will confess and acknowledge your sin. This is where Holy Spirit
conviction is wrought in the hearts of eternity bound sinners – (John 16:8-11).
– “God, be merciful to me, the sinner!”
3. As soon as you confess your
sin, you will obtain the forgiveness of sin by the faithfulness and justice of
God, through the blood of Christ (1 John 1:9).
In the story of the Samaritan woman (John 4), we see the Lord Jesus, the great soul winner, graciously bringing a sinner to just this place. The good Shepherd is here seeking one of his lost sheep; and he will not rest until he has fetched the sheep to himself.
I.
First, in verse 15, we learn that Conversion
is not always climatic.
15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. John 4
I can
almost picture the scene. The Lord Jesus has been talking to this old gal about
eternal life, grace, and salvation; but she did not understand anything he
said. She was a bit cocky, sarcastic, and rude. She was, she thought, just
engaged in another banter about religion. She could
not care less about what the Master was telling her. As she drops her water pot
into the well, holds the rope with one hand, and wipes the sweat off her face
with the other, she says, Give me that
water and you won’t see me doing this again.
Yet, we should not be too harsh in our thinking about her, and the myriads like her. The carnal mind is always occupied with carnal things. The natural man sees everything with the confined vision of his depraved nature. He lives in the cramped, confined quarters of carnality. Therefore, all he can see, sense, and judge is limited to the carnal, the material, the fleshly. Left to himself, there he will live and there he will die.
Look at this poor woman. The Savior of the world was standing in front of her, but she did not know him. The Light of the world was in front of her, but she could not see him. The Sun of Righteousness was shining in her face; but she was not warmed by him.
She
was, like most, full of questions. The Savior asked her for a drink of water,
and she said – “How?” He told her to
ask him for water, and she said – “From
whence?” He spoke to her about living water, and she replied with a snicker
– “Sir, give me this water,
that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.”
All
the while, the Lord Jesus was preparing her for grace. He was in the process of
making her willing in the day of his power. There are some lessons for us to
learn here.
A. Our Lord does not deal with us all the same way, or bring us all down
the same path.
B. We must never presume that a person will never be converted because he
is not immediately converted.
C. When witnessing to people, we must not allow them to distract us either
by their skepticism (countless questions) or their sarcasm.
Suddenly, the Master did something totally unexpected. He stuck his finger right into her heart. He raised an issue she had no interest in discussing. He had been sort of poking around until now, waiting for and creating the time to say what he had come there to say. Then, at precisely the right moment, he sticks his finger right into her heart and conscience. Look at verse 16.
16 Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. John 4
Immediately, the woman responded, “I have no husband” (v. 17). She wanted
the conversation to end right there. (At least, she thought she did!) But the
Master had her on his hook. He was not about to let her go. Read on…
17 Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: 18 For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly. John 4
II.
Here our Lord shows us that The conviction of sin is the forerunner of
conversion.
Many imagine that such talk is unkind, that preachers ought never make people feel terribly uncomfortable. Preaching, these days, is intentionally evasive. If evil is dealt with, it is dealt with in such general, ambiguous terms that no one feels as if the preacher might be talking to them.
The Lord Jesus here slapped this woman in the face, at once exposing her deepest guilt, making her know that he knew. That slap across the face was the sweetest, kindest, most gracious and loving thing he could have done for her. Now, her pretentions were useless. She still tried to change the subject (vv. 20 and 25); but the hook was set. She did not really know what was going on; but she knew that all her thoughts and actions were known to this man who spoke to her. She knew that this man was able to tell her all things that ever she had done. Can you imagine how shocked, how utterly horrified she must have been?
Why did the Lord put her through this? Surely, there must be a better, an easier, a less painful way to deal with men and women than this. There isn’t. The doctor who promises to cure your cancer without surgery or drugs, discomfort or inconvenience, may make you feel good, but he is your enemy, not your friend. And those deceivers of men’s souls who would Heal the wounds of your souls “slightly, crying Peace, peace, when there is no peace,” are soul butcherers, not the servants of God.
A. The fact is, no one ever sought Christ who did not need him.
Mark
2:17 When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are
whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call
the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
Salvation is deliverance from danger. You will never flee to Christ for Refuge from the wrath of God until you know that you are under the wrath of God and deserve to be. You will never trust Christ until you know you are going to hell, and ought to. There is no conversion, without conviction. There is no pardon of sin without a confession of sin. And there will never be a confession of sin from you until it is wrung out of you by the power and grace of God the Holy Spirit.
This was the turning point in this woman’s life. It is the turning point in every chosen sinner’s life. Like the prodigal, you must come to yourself, or you will never come to Christ.
1. The Word of God declares that we are all sinners.
The totality of man’s depravity,
the utter corruption of our hearts and our nature is so plainly and frequently
stated, that it simply cannot be denied. Sin is what we all are, what we all
do, and what we all love. Solomon said, “There is no man that doeth good and sinneth
not.”
Genesis 6:5 And GOD saw that
the wickedness of man was great in
the earth, and that every imagination
of the thoughts of his heart was only
evil continually.
Psalms 14:1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works,
there is none that doeth good.
Psalm 143:2 And enter not
into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be
justified. 6 All
we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and
the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53
Galatians 3:2 But the scripture
hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might
be given to them that believe.
Romans 3:10-23
10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11 There is none that understandeth, there is
none that seeketh after God. 12 They are
all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none
that doeth good, no, not one. 13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the
poison of asps is under their lips:
14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: 15 Their feet are swift to shed blood: 16
Destruction and misery are in
their ways: 17 And the way of peace have
they not known: 18 There is no fear of
God before their eyes. 19
Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to
them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world
may become guilty before God. 20 Therefore by the deeds of the law
there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. 21 But now the righteousness of God without the
law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto
all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the
glory of God.
1 John 1:8 ¶ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the
truth is not in us.
1 John
n
Hedonists – Self-centered,
Make me Happy, Materialists – (Romans
n Moralists – Philosophical Ethicists (Romans 2:1-16)
n
Religionists – (Romans
2. Every man’s conscience condemns him for his sin.
No matter what the rule book is by which you pretend to live, which you claim to be your standard, you do not measure up.
n The Ten Commandments
n The Sermon on the Mount
n Ben Franklin’s Ethics
n The Golden Rule
3. Yet, no man can convince another man of his utter sinfulness, his total depravity, his just condemnation – only God himself!
“It is as difficult to convince men of their lost condition as it is to recover them from it. 0nly God can do both! You cannot help anyone until he is willing to be helped; but our Lord can make him willing. A man cannot truly bear the gospel of sovereign grace until HE CANNOT BEAR HIMSELF !"
-- Milford
Hall
That is what the Lord was doing with this Samaritan woman. The day of his power had come. Therefore he was making her willing. He makes us willing to be saved by getting us lost. He makes us willing to wash in his blood by making us get a smell of ourselves. He makes us willing to be robed in his righteousness by stripping us naked before him.
B. What a thought that is! We are naked before the all-seeing eye of holy omniscience!
Illustration: “God sees behind the mask.”
Hebrews
There is another lesson hidden in this thing of our Lord telling this woman to go call her husband. Turn back to 2 Kings 17:29-33. Let me show you something.
When the
original inhabitants of
29
Howbeit every nation made gods of
their own, and put them in the houses
of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities
wherein they dwelt.
30
And the men of
31
And the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the
Sepharvites burnt their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the
gods of Sepharvaim.
32
So they feared the LORD, and made unto
themselves of the lowest of them priests of the high places, which sacrificed
for them in the houses of the high places.
33
They feared the LORD, and served their own
gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence. 2
Kings 17
C. If we would be married to Christ, we must be made to
see that the gods of this world are false gods and the religion of this world
is wicked, abominable, and adulterous.
This poor sinner could not be married to Christ (spiritually) until she acknowledged that her Samaritan religion was adultery (whoredom), that her former gods were her adulterous lovers (whoremongers), and that her preachers were prostitutes.
You may think I am stretching the allusion just a little. Let’s see if this is not exactly what the Scriptures tell us about all free will, works religion.
1.
Does not the Holy Spirit call the preachers of works
dogs (male prostitutes)? “Beware of dogs!”
2.
Does not the Lord command us to abandon the adultery of
false religion, to come out of
Revelation 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
2 Corinthians
14
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship
hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what
communion hath light with darkness?
15
And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
16
And what agreement hath the
17
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye
separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
18
And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall
be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us
cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting
holiness in the fear of God.
Look again at John
III. If the Lord Jesus ever exposes your sin to you, if he brings you down in the dusts of humiliation, it is that he might bring you up to himself.
He exposes that he may pardon. He abases that he may exalt. He strips that he may cloth. He slays that he may make alive. He destroys our refuge of lies that he might compel us to flee away to him for Refuge.
16 Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. John 4
The Master did not simply say, “Go, call thy husband.” He said, “Go, call thy husband, and come hither.”
I know that our first, immediate reaction, once we have seen ourselves corrupt and naked before God, is to run from him. Our first thought is – “How can God have anything to do with one so vile as me?” He can’t, except by Christ. Only by Christ’s blood atonement and imputed righteousness can the holy Lord God embrace such trash as we are. But, blessed be his name, in Christ he can, and he does!
Romans 8:1 ¶ There is therefore now no condemnation to
them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the
Spirit.
A.
First, the
Lord Jesus spoke a word of piercing truth to her conscience. “Go, call thy husband.”
B.
Then, he
spoke this word of matchless grace to her heart. “And come hither!”
“The force of what He said was
this: If you really want this living water of which I have been telling you,
you can obtain it only as a poor, convicted, contrite sinner. But not only did
He say ‘Go,’ but He added ‘Come.” She was not only to go and call her husband,
but she was to come back to Christ in her true character.” -- A. W. Pink
Illustration: The Artist and the Beggar