...because of what He said.
Notes
Transcript
Many years ago in St. Louis, a lawyer visited a Christian to transact some business. Before the two parted, his client said to him, "I've often wanted to ask you a question, but I've been afraid to do so." "What do you want to know?" asked the lawyer. The man replied, "I've wondered why you're not a Christian." The man hung his head, "I know enough about the Bible to realize that it says no drunkard can enter the kingdom of God; and you know my weakness!" "You're avoiding my questions," continued the believer. "Well, truthfully, I can't recall anyone ever explaining how to become a Christian." Picking up a Bible, the client read some passages showing that all are under condemnation, but that Christ came to save the lost by dying on the cross for their sins. "By receiving Him as your Substitute and Redeemer," he said, "you can be forgiven. If you're willing to receive Jesus, let's pray together." The lawyer agreed, and when it was his turn he exclaimed, "O Jesus, I am a slave to drink. One of your servants has shown me how to be saved. O God, forgive my sins and help me overcome the power of this terrible habit in my life." Right there he was converted. That lawyer was C.I. Scofield, who later edited the reference Bible that bears his name.
Lat’s recap a bit of what we have learned so far about the interaction between Jesus and the Samaritan woman. First we learned why the Jews and the Samaritans did not get along and that was because the Samaritans had a perverted religious belief system. We learned that this woman was thirsty for something but she was looking for it in relationships and not in the Savior who could give her living water. She also learned what it meant to worship in Spirit and in truth, and what it meant to be a true worshiper.
Today, we will see she becomes one of the first evangelist in the NT. Matter of fact, my very first message I ever gave in front of a congregation was a message titled “The First Evangelist” and it was on this set of passages about the Samaritan woman.
Let’s read the set of passages today!
Just then his disciples arrived, and they were amazed that he was talking with a woman. Yet no one said, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”
Then the woman left her water jar, went into town, and told the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” They left the town and made their way to him.
In the meantime the disciples kept urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.”
But he said, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.”
The disciples said to one another, “Could someone have brought him something to eat?”
“My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work,” Jesus told them. “Don’t you say, ‘There are still four more months, and then comes the harvest’? Listen to what I’m telling you: Open your eyes and look at the fields, because they are ready for harvest. The reaper is already receiving pay and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together. For in this case the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap what you didn’t labor for; others have labored, and you have benefited from their labor.”
Now many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of what the woman said when she testified, “He told me everything I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. Many more believed because of what he said. And they told the woman, “We no longer believe because of what you said, since we have heard for ourselves and know that this really is the Savior of the world.”
Let’s pray!
If you have your bible or your holy mobile, I want you to place your finger or highlight this passage.
Many more believed because of what he said.
We will continue to come back to this verse, because it is the verse that ties everything.
What I mean by that is that this statement holds so much depth. Some of you know that I use a color code system in my study of the bible. If you ever are curious, I can show you my bible and my journal so you can see what I mean. When it came to this verse it fit into every one of my 7 color codes. I would like to go over what I was looking at with you by using my system, and I will explain which one I settled on and why.
Pink-Jesus
I use the color pink to highlight the Characteristics of Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit. This one is not hard to explain.
The verse says it right there...because of what He said.
We spend so much time enjoying the stories of the miracles in the bible, that we miss out that Christ came so we could understand the Word according to His Father’s teachings.
His very nature and character before His crucifixion was to give understand to the Word of God, so that we could continue to teach His word.
Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.
In the vision of the church, to teach is in there, and it is because as a church we are supposed to an example of Christ and that means we teach the Word of God. This is why I tell you to read your bible so you can teach others the Word of God.And it can not all fall on me or my family to be the teachers, other need to do it also.
My next color code that I use is
Green- Faith, Wisdom, Growth
A lot of passages in the bible point toward faith, wisdom, and growth of the Christian.
Notice in our verse for today...Many more believed. This was a people that had a perverted look at worship and religion.
For nearly 500 years, this society was believing and practicing the wrong things.
Put yourself in their shoes...you have been taught one thing...and now there is this guy claiming to be the Messiah telling us something completely opposite. It took great faith to believe.
It reminds me of the story of Noah...you have never seen rain or any large body of water, heck you have never seen a boat before, and here is God...Hey build me a big ole boat so I can save humanity. Can you imagine the amount of Faith.
By faith Noah, after he was warned about what was not yet seen and motivated by godly fear, built an ark to deliver his family. By faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
Sometimes it takes faith, wisdom, and growth to believe in something that goes against everything you have learned in the past.
My next color code I use is
Red- Prophecy
The color red in my color system is to highlight passages that pertain to prophecy, heaven, and the second coming of Christ.
I was struggling if I should put this under the prophecy category because of the verse.
he says,
“It is not enough for you to be my servant
raising up the tribes of Jacob
and restoring the protected ones of Israel.
I will also make you a light for the nations,
to be my salvation to the ends of the earth.”
I will also make you a light for the nations. This prophecy is saying that Christ will be there to teach to the Gentile nations, not just the Jews.
Here we see this prophecy coming to light. We must understand that everything in the OT is pointing to Christ and His ministry.
That is why it is vital for us to study the OT, so we can see the validity of the Scriptures and see what Christ did and what he will do.
My next color code I use is
Brown- Spiritual Warfare
Brown signifies sin, spiritual warfare, and evil.
I was looking back over the context of these passages, and thought this a prime example of spiritual warfare. Christ is confronting their unbelief and their improper worship with the Word of God.
I actually got very excited over this one because Christ confronted them not with healings, not with casting out demons, not with any signs at all...He confronted the evil with the Word of God
...Because of what He said.
I got excited because we think of spiritual warfare as this dramatic showing and speaking God’s Word in this world and facing those that speak against it.
since the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments and every proud thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ.
Notice when you speak God’s moral law, people get all upset. When we speak against abortion, people pop up saying my body, my choice. That is just one example. In all honesty, they go against God’s Word, because the devil has whispered in their ears, it isn’t harming anyone, how dare they tell you what to do.
The only way to combat this is to know what He said, so you can tell the devil and his temptation, get thee behind me Satan.
And let me ask this before leaving this point, the devil and the demons know who Christ is and His Word, do you?
My next color code I use is
Blue-Worship
Blue in my color code system means prayers, blessings, and worship.
We hit on this last week, reading your bible, studying your bible, and coming to bible study with others is a form of worship.
...because of what He said.
How are you going to know what he said if you don’t read what he said. Me and my family can not teach you everything you need to know in the two to three hours we see you each week. You must study and meditate on His Word. It is a form of worship.
This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to meditate on it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do.
I don’t drink coffee, I like my hot tea. Hearing God's Word is like one dip of the tea bag into the cup. Some of the tea's flavor is absorbed by the hot water, but not as much as would occur with a more thorough soaking of the bag. Reading, studying, and memorizing God's Word are like additional plunges of the tea bag into the cup. The more frequently the tea enters the water, the more permeating its effect. Meditation, however, is like immersing the bag completely and letting it steep until all the rich tea flavor has been extracted and the hot water is thoroughly brown with all the tea juice. Meditation on Scripture is letting the Bible brew in the brain. Thus we might say that as the tea colors the water, meditation likewise "colors" our thinking. When we meditate on Scripture it colors our thinking about God, about God's ways and his world, and about ourselves and the way we worship Him.
My next color code I use is
Orange- Salvation
Orange is grace, salvation, and love.
Many more believed...
Salvation starts with the belief that Jesus is the Savior of the World, the Messiah.
You can see here why I struggled if I should use this color to highlight this verse.
This verse signifies the very essence of our salvation. The very core of our religious beliefs. That Jesus came for us.
For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—not from works, so that no one can boast.
Salvation comes not by doing good things in this world. It comes from faith, believing that Jesus is who He is, the Messiah.
Now for the last color, and this is the one I settled on because of the context of the passages we read earlier.
Purple- Ministry
Let’s look back over the text from earlier.
It said she took her water jug home. She kissed the guy she was living with. Made supper. Decided that she needed to change her life first. Then know more about God and this new religion the guy at the well was telling her. Then go out to see if anyone else was interested.
Then those she told asked...does the new church called At The Well Church of Samaria, does it have children's ministry, how about youth? Do they have good food? Is the pastor a good preacher? Does anyone there make rolls? How about nanner pudding?
Obviously, I am kidding.
What she did do was share her testimony.
The reason I settled on ministry was because one of the things about ministry is evangelism.
Then he said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
But pastor, I don’t know the gospel. Yes you do. The Gospel you know is why you became a Christian. Your testimony.
The woman at the well did not know the bible like we do. She didn’t have one. All she knew was a messed up religion.
How she became the first evangelist was she stopped being scared of what they thought of her and used what was her worst quality and made it about Jesus Christ and how he changed her beliefs.
Church, let me ask you, we want our church to grow, but how many people have you invited?
Have you ever shared your testimony with someone? Have you told them the good news that you are a sinner that has repented and gave you life to Jesus Christ?
What if the next person you share the gospel with is the next Billy Graham?
This good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
I have heard more and more lately that we are in the end times and Christ is coming soon.
I tend to disagree, and this is why...the church is scared to share the gospel or their testimony? How can we reach the nations when we are scared to invite our neighbor to church?
