Are You Doing Your Part?

Secular -

One afternoon, a wealthy lawyer was riding in the back of his limousine when he saw two pathetic-looking men by the side of the road, eating grass. He ordered his driver to stop and got out to investigate. He asked the men, "Why are you eating grass?"

"We don't have no money for food," the first man replied.

"Then you must come with me to my house," insisted the lawyer.

"But, sir, I got a wife and three kids here," said the man.

"Bring them along!" replied the lawyer.

The second man exclaimed, "I got a wife and six kids!"

"Bring them as well!", the lawyer proclaimed as he headed back to his limo.

They all climbed into the car, and once underway, one of the men expresses, "Sir, you are too kind. Thank you for taking all of us with you."

The lawyer replied, "I'm most happy to do it. You'll love my place. The grass is almost a foot tall."

Historical/Cultural Context -

The Gospel of John was written between 90 AD and 100 AD. Scholars also believe that John wrote the three Epistles and the book of Revelation around the same time-frame as he wrote this Gospel. The Gospel of John was written after Matthew, Mark, & Luke had been written and circulated. John has been dubbed by most scholars as “The Spiritual Gospel.”

Biblical Text -

John 4:27–42 NKJV

And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why are You talking with her?” The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” Then they went out of the city and came to Him. In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” But He said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” Therefore the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.” And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all that I ever did.” So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. And many more believed because of His own word. Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.”

-[Prayer]-

Life Principle - The Harvest Of Lost Souls Awaits Your Witness So That They May Be Reaped Into The Kingdom Of God.

Life Point- The Harvest Is Plentiful!

Exegetical -

John 4:27–38 NLT

Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked to find him talking to a woman, but none of them had the nerve to ask, “What do you want with her?” or “Why are you talking to her?” The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?” So the people came streaming from the village to see him. Meanwhile, the disciples were urging Jesus, “Rabbi, eat something.” But Jesus replied, “I have a kind of food you know nothing about.” “Did someone bring him food while we were gone?” the disciples asked each other. Then Jesus explained: “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work. You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest. The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike! You know the saying, ‘One plants and another harvests.’ And it’s true. I sent you to harvest where you didn’t plant; others had already done the work, and now you will get to gather the harvest.”

Homiletical -

Now we see the woman at the well from the perspective of the disciples. They are just arriving at the well toward the end of this conversation between the woman at the well and Jesus.

It says they marveled that he was speaking with her, but no one had the guts to ask him why.

Here is that old animosity between the Jews and the Samaritans rearing its’ ugly head again.

Why is he speaking with a Samaritan woman? Surely He knows we don’t deal with them.

How many churches are like that today. How many are like, why are you talking with that tattooed up person, that homeless person, or that drunk. Don’t you know any better?

No, no I don’t.

Jesus said:

Matthew 28:18–20 NLT

Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

He didn’t say “go into all the nations, except for the tattooed up, the prostitutes and the town drunk.” No, he included them. We are going to have to get over the fact that some people don’t look like us, and don’t talk like us.

I got news for you. Though we may not personally like it, cussing every other word is now the normal thing to do. A lot of people don’t realize they are doing it. Don’t get on to them about it, just tell them about Jesus.

You cannot expect the unsaved to behave like the saved. So let’s work on making them apart of the kingdom and let God change em’.

Matthew 22:1–10 NLT

Jesus also told them other parables. He said, “The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a king who prepared a great wedding feast for his son. When the banquet was ready, he sent his servants to notify those who were invited. But they all refused to come! “So he sent other servants to tell them, ‘The feast has been prepared. The bulls and fattened cattle have been killed, and everything is ready. Come to the banquet!’ But the guests he had invited ignored them and went their own way, one to his farm, another to his business. Others seized his messengers and insulted them and killed them. “The king was furious, and he sent out his army to destroy the murderers and burn their town. And he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, and the guests I invited aren’t worthy of the honor. Now go out to the street corners and invite everyone you see.’ So the servants brought in everyone they could find, good and bad alike, and the banquet hall was filled with guests.

He said to bring them all in, both bad and good. That is our job. Our job is to share the simple Gospel with those that we deem bad and those we would deem as good, even though all are sinful and fall short of the Glory of God.

John 4:28–30 NLT

The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?” So the people came streaming from the village to see him.

The interesting thing here is that even the Samaritans were looking for Messiah to come. This lady who met Jesus was so excited that she didn’t care about her past or what people thought of her. She simply went and told the village of people. Some probably came because they wanted to know if He was the Messiah. Some may have come because they were involved with this lady and wanted to see if Jesus really did tell her all that she had done. As it might be embarrassing for them.

Whatever the reason for people coming to Jesus, they came streaming from the village to see Him.

John 4:31–32 NLT

Meanwhile, the disciples were urging Jesus, “Rabbi, eat something.” But Jesus replied, “I have a kind of food you know nothing about.”

If you have ever witnessed to someone and see them believe, you get this kind of euphoria yourself. You feel good. So, Jesus is not only feeling great seeing someone believe buy He is going to teach the disciples something spiritual, but just like the woman at the well they are all caught up in the flesh.

John 4:33–34 NLT

“Did someone bring him food while we were gone?” the disciples asked each other. Then Jesus explained: “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work.

Jesus is telling him that the most important thing in life is not the trappings of this world, but whatever the will of the father is. That is the most important thing to Jesus. He can endure hunger to do the will of the father that sent Him.

John 4:35–38 NLT

You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest. The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike! You know the saying, ‘One plants and another harvests.’ And it’s true. I sent you to harvest where you didn’t plant; others had already done the work, and now you will get to gather the harvest.”

Jesus is talking about making disciples. The harvest in this last time is ready to be harvested. There are many out there that all they have to do is hear the message and they will receive Christ. But it is up to you and I to reap it. It is up to us to do the harvesting.

Matthew 9:37–38 NLT

He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.”

He even says the harvesters are paid good wages. You go sharing the Gospel and worry about the will of the father and the father will take care of your temporal needs. If it is God’s will you be martyred, you will be taken care of even through that. If it is his will that you live to a riper old age, then He will take care your temporal needs through that.

Matthew 6:31–34 NLT

“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

Life Point - Go Reap The Harvest!

Exegetical -

John 4:39–42 NLT

Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said, “He told me everything I ever did!” When they came out to see him, they begged him to stay in their village. So he stayed for two days, long enough for many more to hear his message and believe. Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard him ourselves. Now we know that he is indeed the Savior of the world.”

Homiletical -

Your job is to simply witness and then let God be God.

The people of Sychar came out to see Jesus and once they did you know they were thankful that the woman at the well went and witnessed to them. She told them about Jesus and they came out to see such a thing. Once they saw and heard His teaching they begged Him to stay.

So he did, He stayed two days and many more people believed in His message of the kingdom.

The most interesting thing about witnessing is that you have to point out that people are sinners so that they need a savior, then you back off and introduce them to Jesus so that they can see, spiritually speaking, who He is and what He is about. I love what they say at the end of this section

John 4:42 NLT

Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard him ourselves. Now we know that he is indeed the Savior of the world.”

People must be told that they are sinners, you see you don’t want to just add Jesus on to a stinky dead life, you want that dead life to embrace Christ and come to life in Him

Romans 3:23 NLT

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.

What is God’s standard?

1 Peter 1:16 NLT

For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”

You can’t do that on your own, you were born in sin. You stand condemned already.

But there is good news

Romans 6:23 NLT

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

This free gift is Jesus. Jesus went to a cross to pay a debt he didn’t owe. That debt is the sin debt. You and I owe it, but Jesus paid it. You see, he lived 30 years and for 3 years he did signs and wonders proclaiming Himself God in the flesh. The only begotten son of God.

John 3:16–17 NLT

“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

So how do we receive this gift?

Romans 10:13 NLT

For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

If you would but ask for the gift, which is calling upon the name of the Lord. You will be saved. Not maybe, not might be, but will be saved.

Life Principle– The Harvest Of Lost Souls Awaits Your Witness So That They May Be Reaped Into The Kingdom Of God.Call to Action – altar call….