Sermon #1396 Miscellaneous
Sermons
Title: “NOW WE BELIEVE”
Text: John 4:39-42
Subject: The
Conversion of the Samaritans
Date: Sunday Morning – March 19, 2000
Tape
# V-75a
Reading: Romans
3:1-31
Introduction:
John 4:39-42 "And many of the Samaritans of that city
believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all
that ever I did. 40 So when the
Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them:
and he abode there two days. 41 And
many more believed because of his own word;
42 And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for
we have heard him ourselves, and know
that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world."
As The Lord enables me, I am
going to talk about faith,— faith as it came to and was displayed by these
Samaritans. Wherever faith exists, it is the gift of God. Faith is a plant
which does not spontaneously grow in the soil of corrupt human nature. It
matters not whether we are talking about be little faith or great faith, it is
the gift of God. If we find faith in one who was raised under the sound of the
gospel by godly parents, with loving care and discipline, it is the gift of
God. If faith is found in one who was raised in infidelity as an educated barbarian and has lived all the former part
of his life in the most vile profligacy, his faith, too, is the gift of God.
Faith is the gift of grace, the operation of God, the work of the Holy Spirit,
in no way dependent upon man.
I take great encouragement
from this fact. If faith in Christ is, in all cases, God’s gift, we should
never be selective in the work of the ministry[1].
Our Lord gave us no such example, and no such commission. He told us plainly,
to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Had our
Savior carefully studied a map of Palestine, he probably could not have found a
more unlikely place in the entire country from which he might expect to find
men and women who would believe the gospel and become his disciples.
Samaria was as unlikely a
place as any in which we might expect to God followers of the Lord Jesus. When
the Lord Jesus first came there he found the great evil of racial prejudice
against him. The Samaritans despised and would never trust a Jew. They would
not even listen to a Jew. Yes, it is true, the Jews had no dealings with the
Samaritans. Yet, the Samaritans reciprocated the feeling, and had no dealings
with the Jews.
Still, it was from among the
Samaritans, a race of mongrels whose faith was a mongrel faith, that the Lord
Jesus gathered his elect in larger numbers than anywhere else. Judging by the
events of John 4, we would be wise to always go the opposite way of the world.
We ought always go first to those places and those people where there seems to
be least likelihood of conversions. God’s thoughts are not our thoughts. God’s
ways are not our ways. But his thoughts are always right and his ways always
best. When Paul wanted to go preach the gospel in Bithynia, God would not allow
it. He had another plan (Acts 16).
If we ever truly learn that faith in Christ is the
gift, work, and operation of God,— a
supernatural thing,— it will have a profound effect. It will alter
everything.
·
We will stop trying to figure out how to make the gospel effectual, and
just preach it.
·
We will quit trying to trying to determine where God is likely to work,
and serve him where we are.
·
We will cease trying to determine who is likely top be saved and preach
the gospel to all.
·
We will quit trying to make the gospel politically correct, socially
palatable, and culturally relative, and just preach it.
You and I may and must go,
feeble as we are, useless as we are, and tell sinners about the sinners’
Savior. We may and must scattered the precious seed of the gospel. The hand
that sows the seed is meaningless. Life is in the seed, not in the hand that
sows it. In spiritual matters, not even the soil matters, for it is the grace
of God that makes the soil rich and fertile. Until grace comes, all is alike
barren, empty and desolate. God can make the seed sown fruitful anywhere.
He can make it spring up
like a root out of a dry ground. As of old he brought water out of the rock,
and oil out of the flinty rock, so can he bring a harvest to his glory where
everything seems utterly barren. If this is God’s work, let us have no doubts
regarding it, let us have no despondency concerning it. Let us, rather,
continually put ourselves into his hands, praying that he will use us anywhere
pleases. He knows what is best and always does it. So let him do what he will!
Proposition: Faith in Christ is both
the requirement and the gift of God.
Divisions: I
want to show you four things in our text, which I trust will be blessed of God
to our souls.
1. God used an old harlot,
saved by his grace, to carry the gospel to the men of the city (v. 39).
2. Needy sinners hang on to
Christ (v. 40).
3. We do not all experience
grace the same way. (v. 41).
4. Every believer’s faith is
the same (v. 42).
I. First, in verse 39, we are specifically told that God used an old harlot, saved
by grace, to carry the gospel to the men of Samaria.
John 4:39 "And many of the Samaritans of that city
believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all
that ever I did."
How I
love and rejoice in God’s great, condescending goodness and grace!
A. The objects of his grace were Samaritans!
These
Samaritans were not just sinners. They were the most despised sinners, a mixed
breed with a mixed religion. The only thing in the world which ranked lower
than dogs, publicans, and women in the minds of Jewish people in this day, were
Samaritans. The fact is, God’s elect are always those whom we are least likely
to choose.
Illustration: 1 Samuel 16:12
1 Corinthians
1:26-29 "For ye see your calling, brethren, how
that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 27 But God hath chosen the
foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak
things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28 And base things of the world, and
things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea,
and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 29 That no flesh should glory in his
presence."
B. Not only is it true that
God’s elect are the most unlikely, it is also a demonstrated fact that God uses the most unlikely instruments
for the saving of his elect and the building of his kingdom.
The
message of grace was carried to Samaria by a harlot. The word she spoke was the
instrument God used to bring many of his elect to life and faith in Christ. God
almighty can make the weakest of instruments mighty to pull down the strong
holds of Satan. That simply means that God almighty can use such things as you
and me for the salvation of sinners!
C. The message this old harlot delivered was no more
and no less than the testimony of her experience.
She told them what she knew, and urged them
to see for themselves whether or not she knew what she was talking about.
John 4:28-29 "The woman then left her waterpot, and
went her way into the city, and saith to the men, 29 Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is
not this the Christ?"
D. We see a clear display of God great and glorious
sovereignty here, as well.
Wherever
you see grace exercised, you see sovereignty manifest. You do not have to look
for it. You just have to open your eyes to see it.
1. Many were converted, but not
all (Acts 13:48; Matt. 22:14).
2. Those converted were
idolatrous Samaritans, not enlightened Jews.
3. They were converted by the
mere word of grace. – No miracles were performed.
Isaiah
55:8-9 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher
than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."
II. Secondly, in verse 40, we see this fact demonstrated – Needy sinners hang on to
Christ.
John 4:40 "So when the Samaritans were come unto
him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two
days."
That
one sentence contains volumes of practical, spiritual instruction for our
souls. The desire of the Samaritans and our Lord’s compliance with it, shows
the willingness of Christ to abide with and meet the needs of those who want
him.
·
The Gergesenes prayed for the Lord to depart from them (Matt. 8:34).
The Samaritans prayed him to tarry with them. Both got what they wanted!
·
What blessings those two disciples would have missed on the Emmaus
road, had they not said to the Lord Jesus, as he was about to leave them, “Abide with us” (Luke 24:29).
·
If we do not have Christ abiding with us, it is because we do not ask
him, because we are willing to go on without him!
Song of Songs
3:5 "I charge you, O ye daughters of
Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor
awake my love, till he please."
III. Thirdly, I remind you, once more, that we do not all experience grace the same way.
The
needs are the same in us all. The grace is the same. The salvation is the same.
But the experiences of God’s elect in grace and salvation vary greatly. Look at
verse 41.
John 4:41 "And many more believed
because of his own word;"
Some
of the Samaritans were converted by the woman’s witness. Others were converted
by the preaching of Christ. Some appear to have been converted immediately.
Others were converted gradually, over the course of the two days of our Lord’s
ministry in Sychar.
Now,
be sure you hear this. – We must
never try to put God in our little box. He just won’t fit! God saves
his people As he sees fit; and he always does it in such a way that no man can
say, “There, I did that. I am responsible for the grace this or that person
enjoys.” While preachers and churches choose up and take sides, fussing and
fighting about how a person must come to Christ, sinners are going to hell!
What folly! What madness!
I do
not care how you come, when you came, or where you were at the time. I am
concerned for only this one thing – Do
you trust Christ?
Having
said that, let no one mistake my meaning. I do not mean to imply or suggest in
any way that it does not matter who you trust or what you believe. Oh, no! Look
at verse 42. I want you to see…
IV. Fourthly, that every believer’s faith is the same.
That’s
right. All who are born of God believe the same thing. We all have the same
faith. In all matters of “the faith once
delivered to the saints” we all see “eye
to eye.” Every gospel preacher has the same message. And every saved sinner
has the same faith. Let’s see if this is not what verse 42 tells us.
John 4:42 "And said unto the woman, Now we
believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior
of the world."
A. “Now we believe.” – Sooner or later, every
saved sinner confesses his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
It
may take some, like Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea a while to openly do so,
but all who trust Christ will confess him before men. Believers identify
themselves with the Savior.
Romans 10:9-10 "That if thou shalt confess with thy
mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him
from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For
with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation."
Look
at this. “NOW we believe.” In other words, these men acknowledge
that before this, they were unbelievers.
·
Religious? Yes. But unbelievers.
·
Bible believers? Yes. They believed the same Bible the Jews did. But
they did not know God.
·
Moral? Yes, very moral. But lost unbelievers, nonetheless.
·
These men here repented of their former religion and abandoned it
forever. They came out of Babylon!
B. “Now we believe, not because
of thy saying.”
The
Samaritans here acknowledged that their faith was not based upon and did not
arise from the words and arguments of a mere mortal. Our faith does not stand
in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
C. “Now we believe, not because of thy saying for we have heard him ourselves.”
Faith
in Christ is the result divine revelation. It is a matter of personal
experience.
1 John 1:1-3 "That which was from the beginning,
which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked
upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; 2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you
that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) 3 That which we have seen and heard
declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our
fellowship is with the Father, and
with his Son Jesus Christ."
Galatians
1:11-12 "But I certify you, brethren, that the
gospel which was preached of me is not after man. 12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus
Christ."
D. “Now we believe, not because of thy saying for we have heard him
ourselves, and know that this is
indeed the Christ.”
Those
words might better be translated,” We
know that this is truly THE CHRIST,” or, “THE TRUE CHRIST.”
Both
the Jews and the Samaritans looked for and believed in a “christ,” a messiah;
but both looked for a political savior, a moral reformer, a false “christ.” all
god’s people know, own, acknowledge, trust, love, and worship the true Christ.
This one and only true Christ is…
E. “The Savior of the world!”
·
The Only Savior of the World!
·
The Effectual Savior of the World!
·
The Savior of God’s Elect in All the World!
The
word translated “world” here (kosmos), is used 185 times in the New Testament.
The vast majority of the time, it is used by the apostle John. It is the word
from which we get our word “cosmetic.” Like many words, it is used in many
ways, and its meaning must be determined by the way it is used.
1 "Kosmos" is used of the universe as a
whole (Acts 17:24) "God that made the world and all things therein, seeing
that he is Lord of heaven and earth."
2 "Kosmos" is used of the earth (John
13:1; Eph 1:4).
"When Jesus knew that his hour was come that he
should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which
were in the world he loved them unto the end." "Depart out of this
world" signifies, leave this earth.
"According as he hath chosen us in him before
the foundation of the world." This expression signifies, before the earth
was established.
3 "Kosmos" is used of the world system
(John 12:31). "Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the Prince of
this world be cast out." (Compare Mt 4:8 and 1 John 5:19).
4 "Kosmos" is used of the whole human
race. (Rom. 3:19). "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."
5 "Kosmos" is used of all humanity except
believers (John 15:18; Rom. 3:6).
"If the world hate you, ye know that it hated
me before it hated you."
"God forbid: for then how shall God judge the
world." Here is another passage where "the world" cannot mean
"you, me, and everybody", for believers will not be
"condemned" by God, (John 5:24). So that here, too, it must be the
world of unbelievers which is in view.
6 "Kosmos" is used of Gentiles in contrast
from Jews (Rom. 11:12). "Now if the fall of them (Israel) be the riches of
the world, and the diminishing of them (Israel) the riches of the Gentiles; how
much more their (Israel's) fulness." Note how the first clause in italics
is defined by the latter clause placed in italics. Here, again, "the
world" cannot signify all humanity for it excludes Israel!
7 "Kosmos" is used of believers only (John
1:29; 3:16, 17; 6:33; 12:47; 1 Cor. 4:9; 2 Cor. 5:19).
Application: Like
the old harlot of Samaria, I want to persuade you who hear this sinners voice
to come to Christ. This I know…
1.
This
is the true Christ.
2.
He
is the Savior of the world.
3.
He
has saved me by his grace.
4.
He
can save you, too.
5.
He
is as able as he is willing, and as willing as he is able, to save all who come
to God by him.
[1] The world’s way, the way of all denominations, to build churches is first to get some surveys, find out where the upwardly mobile, prosperous, educated part of society is moving and what they want.