THEME: "MY GOD IS GREATER THAN I"-I Got It All With The Lord Jesus. Colossians 2:9, "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. "One moment with the Master and darkness flees in the presence of His light. The soul longing for a fresh air of truth will always react to truth in the flesh.
LESSON-I: THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, THE MESSIAH- The Son of the Living God. No one can come away from a meeting with the Lord Jesus and ever remain the same!
KEY VERSES: Mat 16:16, "And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."
Jhn 4:25-26, "The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called
I. INTRODUCTION:
Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I speak unto thee am he."
The Old Testament contains the record of God's revealing Himself to Abraham and eventually to the Nation of Israel. When God challenged Abraham to leave the country of Ur of the Chaldees, Abraham was not a worshipper of the one true God. He was, by all human standards, an unlikely candidates for a divine visitation. God chose Abraham as his representative because He saw honest heart of faith within him. The same way, the Lord Jesus Christ chose to reveal Himself to the people who would receive His testimony.
IL TOPIC TO BE DISCUSSED: The Lord Jesus revealed Himself as the Messiah to a thirsty woman and the hungry world of the City of Samaria (Jhn 4:4-42).
A. The Messiah And The Way.
1. A City in need (Jhn 4:5). Samaria was a narrow strip of land inhabited by half-bred race of people produced by the Hebrew intermarriage with the Assyrians. The Jews hated the Samaritan so much that they would not even say the word itself.
a) Samaritan. The most offensive label anyone could have attached to any Jew was to call him a Samaritan.
b) Change route. Upon reaching a place above Samaria, the Jews went out of their way to avoid the City of Samaria.
c) Evangelism. The Lord Jesus go through Samaria to meet a woman who would touch a whole city of people.
2. The Master in need (Jhn 4:6). The Lord Jesus begun His trip in Bethany and reach Jacob's well (about 20 miles), so tired and thirsty.
a) Purpose. The need of the humanity of the Lord Jesus never competed with His divine purpose. b) Priority. He never allowed His physical necessities to interfere with His mission to seek & to save the lost and dying souls.
c) Breaks the chain. The simple request for a drink of water was the key to open the prison that held a soul of hopeless chain.
d) The request. The Lord used His present need of water to ask favor to the Samaritan woman. e) The confession. When the woman responded to His appeal, it eventually led her to confess her sinful condition and to see more than a thirsty Jewish man before her.
B. The Messiah And The Well.
1. Give me to drink (Jhn 4:7).
a) The Lord Jesus Christ and the natural water. The Lord was not just resting by the well; He was waiting for a divine appointment with a woman and a city.
a-1) Natural to spiritual. The Lord Jesus was the master teacher & often employed common things from the natural world to reveal spiritual truth.
a-2) The leading. The application of truth usually led to a startling personal revelation for the student spiritual growth.
a-3) The encounter. During this encounter, she found herself face-to-face with her own need rather than the Lord's need for water.
b) The Lord Jesus & the human conflict (Jhn 4:9). Her response to the Lord Jesus" request for water was a sneering rebuff rooted in centuries of prejudice and hostility.
b-1) The focus. The Lord Jesus allowed neither the bigotry of the Jews, nor the ungodly character of the woman to detour Him from His purpose.
b-2) Mercy. Knowing her sordid history, He could have reproved, judged, and dismissed her. b-3) A request. The Lord Jesus chose instead to make a request: "Give me to drink" (v-7). c) The Lord Jesus and the living water (Jhn 4:10). The Lord Jesus does not say to her, ". If thou hadst known, ..." (Lke 19:42a). That is what He said to Jerusalem when He wept over the city's destruction, but instead He said, "..., If thou knewest the gift of God, ..." (v-10b). c-1) The right used of words. If the Lord had said that in Lke 19:42a, there would have been no hope for this woman. It would have meant that her opportunity had gone forever. c-2) Our great opportunity. It is still with us, and we can still ask Him to bless us & save us. c-3) Make room. The Lord is always ready to give, but we must first make room for the gift. c-4) Living water. The Lord Jesus was more concerned on her personal needs, offering her living water to satisfy a thirst no earthly water could touch.
2. Give me this water (Jhn 4:15b). Thinking that He intended to give her natural water, the woman is completely misunderstood the Lord's reference to a living water. While in His presence she did not fully comprehend that the hope of everlasting life was sitting right in front of her.
C. The Messiah And The Woman.
1. The woman and her husband (Jhn 4:16). The woman's lack of spiritual perception necessitated an abrupt change in the conversation. Intending to help her face truth of her wasted & empty life, He asked her to call her husband.
2. The woman & her worship (Jhn 4:25). The woman responded as best as she could by affirming both the Jewish and the Samaritan hope in the Messiah.
a) The Messiah. To both Jews and Samaritan, the Messiah would be the restorer of righteousness and justice, the answer to all mysteries and questions.
b) The expectation. The woman had come to the well for water at midday not expecting anything more than an ordinary day.
c) Living water. She left with the life changing experience of revelation that was far greater than the natural water she had come to draw.
D. The Messiah and the City. The disciples returned from Sychar just as the woman was leaving. 1. The disciple was amazed (Jhn 4:27). The disciples were surprised that the Lord Jesus had been talking to a Samaritan woman. Although they were amazed, the disciples neither ask their Master why He was speaking to the woman nor stop the woman to ask her business with Him.
2. The woman was motivated (Jhn 4:28). In the excitement of seeing herself in open honesty and standing in the blinding light of the revealed Messiah, the woman rushed away without the water pot, & forgot to draw water. The only thing that matter now was telling the good news about the man that she had just encountered.
a) Her husbands. There had been many men in her life, but this man had forever changed her in a few moment with Jesus.
b) Its still true today. That we should leave our water pots of thinking behind & accept the wealth of knowing Jesus in the fullness of a personal relationship.
3. The disciples were perplexed (Jhn 4:32). The disciples were successful in their mission of purchasing food in the city. As they urged the Lord Jesus to join them in eating lunch, He told them, "I have meat to eat that ye know not." The Lord Jesus was teaching the disciple about answering the higher call of God while He was simultaneously bringing a revelation to a city.
4. The Master was satisfied. The Lord Jesus quoted Moses during his temptation in the wilderness: "..., It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, ..." (Mat 4:4 and Deu 8:3). The life of the Son of God was our perfect example in all things. His joy & satisfaction came through doing His Father's will rather than from satisfying fleshly desires.
5. The harvest was ready (Jhn 4:35). The Lord Jesus looked at the people of Sychar coming from the city toward them and observed that a harvest was already coming from the seed He had sown. a) Rejoicing (Jhn 4:36). Now the disciples could share in the joy of reaping the harvest from the woman's testimony.
b) The woman planted the seeds (Jhn 4:37). They were entering a harvest that someone else had created.
E. The Messiah and the world (Jhn 4:39). The testimony of a once scorned & ostracized woman was certainly moved the city of Sychar.
1. Her sincerity (Jhn 4:40). It motivated others to go to the well & they meet the man she called the Messiah
2. The Word of the Lord Jesus (Jhn 4:42). The people of Sychar said to the woman believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, III. CONCLUSION: The Lord Jesus Christ was not a social reformer whose purpose was to change the society. He came to change the individual and thereby change the world. The boundaries of race, culture, tradition or ideology were never a problem to the Lord Jesus. The Samaritan woman and the City of Sy- char are emblematic of every person and city that ignorance and sin holds captive.
IV. PRAYER: Gracious Lord God Almighty, in the glorious Name of our Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth, we pray for the mind of our Lord Jesus Christ as we are able to share the scriptures to turn our city upside down. Lord, supply us with good courage and strong faith as we witness and testify to all the people around us. Put words in our lips to be able to touch lives and bring them to their conversion. Use us mightily in the services to your throne room of grace to spread your gospel to the lost & dying humanity, In the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ we pray, Amen.
PRAISE THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY - TO GOD BE ALL THE GLORY