JOHN 4:27-30, 39-42 | THE POWER OF A CHANGED LIFE
Notes
Transcript
JOHN 4:27-30, 39-42 | THE POWER OF A CHANGED LIFE
JOHN 4:27-30, 39-42 | THE POWER OF A CHANGED LIFE
ILLUSTRATION: Going to pizza with the teens
That night changed my life!
EXPLANATION: Over the past several weeks, we have walked through this story of the incredible interaction between Jesus and this Samaritan woman at a well.
Last week we saw as this woman, with a broken life, had her eyes opened to the reality that the man standing before her was the Messiah who was promised to come!
We don’t find the exact moment that she accepted Christ as Savior recorded in Scripture, but it is clear that is exactly what took place in her life.
And it was at the perfect moment, because just shortly after Jesus’s disciples came walking up.
There is no telling if their arrival could have deterred her from making the decision to trust in Christ.
Maybe if she hadn’t accepted Him in that moment, she would have went back to her home to “think about it”
She would have returned to the mess of her situation, and sure she couldn’t have still gotten saved later, but there was no guarantee of that
Boast not thyself of to morrow; For thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.
Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
Something could have happened and she may not have had another opportunity to accept Christ as her Savior.
No, in that moment, the Gospel had been presented and the gift of eternal life was offered, and she didn’t wait to accept Christ.
APPLICATION: I have no doubt that there are some here today who have been putting this matter of accepting Christ off.
You’ve thought, I’ll take care of that later.
Maybe next time I’ll make that decision.
Friend, can I remind you, you have no promise of a next time.
There are people that woke up this morning with plans for the day and for the week.
With vacations planned.
With money in their bank to make the purchase they are planning for.
But they will never pillow their head tonight.
There will be a car accident
There will be a heart attack
There will something they weren’t expecting
Because no ones wakes up with plans to die unexpectedly…
And yet everyday people do.
Friend, it is only pride to believe that you deserve to be given another opportunity to accept Jesus as Savior when He is given you one here today right now.
Don’t throw away the opportunity that God has placed before you!
As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
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.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Why don’t you accept Christ as your Savior right now where you sit this morning.
EXPLANATION: It was on this day there in Samaria that this woman made the most important decision she could make to accept Christ as Savior.
And what followed that decision is a challenge to each of us here today.
If you have accepted Christ as your Savior, there are lessons for you to learn here this morning.
Because there are some moments that should change everything… and no moment is bigger than when you trust Christ as Savior.
V.28, A CHANGED LIFE LEAVES THINGS BEHIND
V.28, A CHANGED LIFE LEAVES THINGS BEHIND
The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men,
EXPLANATION: When this woman trusted in Christ and Who He is, it changed everything for her.
And what she did next was completely counter to her whole life leading up to that moment.
The woman left her waterpot and headed into the city where the people were…
Earlier in the day, she was avoiding coming to the well so she didn’t have to be around people.
She had carried the burden of the waterpot in the heat of the day so she didn’t have to interact with anyone.
But now, she put down that weight that she had carried and left it behind to go and tell others about her new life.
You see that waterpot symbolized the life she had lived before.
It was one of shame and bondage
It was one of rejection and fear
It was one of regret and heartache
But now, she left the waterpot behind, because she had a new life in Christ!
APPLICATION: Friend, when you accept Christ there should be some changes in your life!
No longer are you under the bondage of the life you once lived, you’ve been set free.
And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Friend, understand something this morning, when you get saved you don’t HAVE to leave the old stuff behind… You should WANT to!
You see friend, your testimony before Christ may have been that you smoked, and chewed, and hang with the girls that do.
But 2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
We talked about it last week, but when you trust Christ as your Savior, you have the Holy Spirit living within you now!
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
You were living in that old unrighteousness, and Jesus took it upon Himself and He gave you His righteousness, so now you are a new creature under the image of Christ.
But for so many, they treat the gift of salvation like fire insurance!
And they go back to their old life and just keep living the same way.
But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
ILLUSTRATION: Carrying our old life… weights.
When people see you, they think nothing has changed
Why would they want what you’ve got?
But when you stop living under the weight and bondage of the old life and start living the new life in Christ, their is freedom!
There is a life that others will want!
APPLICATION: Friend, if you are a child of God, start living like it!
Stop living like the child of the devil you used to be!
ILLUSTRATION: My dad is here this morning and I remember as a teenager, when I had my license I’d get ready to head out to hang out with my friends.
And I can remember on a number of occasions before I walked out the door he said, “Kyle, don’t forget who you are.”
Now he wasn’t concerned I would get a case of amnesia…
He didn’t want me to forget that I was a part of the Gilstrap family… and that meant something…
APPLICATION: Friend, if you have trusted Jesus as your Savior you’ve been given the name: Christian
Now don’t forget who you are!
There may be some water pots you need to put down… so you can start living the life God intends for you to live as a Christian!
A CHANGED LIFE LEAVES THINGS BEHIND
V.29, 39, A CHANGED LIFE TALKS ABOUT JESUS
V.29, 39, A CHANGED LIFE TALKS ABOUT JESUS
Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?
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.
EXPLANATION: After the woman accepted Christ, she started going everywhere telling others about Jesus!
And I love what she shared…
She didn’t know the Romans road
She didn’t share all the OT verses she had memorized.
She said, come meet Jesus… let me tell you what He did for me.
APPLICATION: Sometimes people feel they have to know all the details and verses before they can tell someone about Jesus.
They need to get a doctorate in theology and know all the things before they can talk about Jesus.
You need to know the ins and outs of Soteriology, Christology, Ecclesiology, Bibliology, Hamartiology, and Eschatology and then you can talk about Jesus.
ILLUSTRATION: Imagine with me that you are out in the ocean in a boat with your family.
Suddenly your child slips into the water.
The waves are crashing over their head, and you know, they need to be saved before it’s too late.
So you pull out the life vest or the floatation ring, and you immediately begin to read the tag so you can be sure you know all of the instructions.
There’s a nice little trifold brochure attached to the vest, and you don’t want to miss a detail so you read carefully, even the fine print.
Is that what you would do?
NO!
You’d throw the flotation ring at them and yell, “Hang on!”
You may even go so far as to jump into the water with them to help save their life.
APPLICATION: People all around us are drowning in their sins.
There head is slipping below the water… and we are more concerned about the details than saving them
Now are the details important?
Should we do our best to know them?
Yes
But when we use the details as an excuse not to give someone the life preserver, we are just being cruel.
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Friend, it is your duty as a Christian, to take every opportunity to walk through the doors God opens for you to share the Gospel with someone!
Get real good at throwing life preservers at people… it’s up to them to grab onto it!
A CHANGED LIFE LEAVES THINGS BEHIND, A CHANGED LIFE TALKS ABOUT JESUS
V.30, 40-42, A CHANGED LIFE LEADS TO OTHER CHANGED LIVES
V.30, 40-42, A CHANGED LIFE LEADS TO OTHER CHANGED LIVES
Then they went out of the city, and came unto him.
So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days.
And many more believed because of his own word;
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 Saviour of the world.
EXPLANATION: This is awesome… the woman shared with these people about what Jesus had done in her life… and some of them came to Christ!
She just kept pointing them to Jesus and one after another people trusted Christ as their Savior!
Her changed life led to other changed lives!
APPLICATION: Friend, did you know that your life will impact others?
The changes in your life have the potential to change the lives of others as well!
Every person in this room has eyes that are watching them whether they realize it or not.
In your home
At your work
Here at church
Can I speak to the dads in this room for a moment.
According to research, if a child is the first to accept Christ in their family, their is a 3.5% chance the rest of the family will accept Christ as well.
If the mother accepts Christ first, there is a 17% chance he rest of the family will be saved.
If the father is the first to accept Christ as Savior, there is a 93% chance the rest of his family will come to Christ.
Dad, the passion of your spiritual life will dictate the direction of your entire family’s spiritual life.
There is a reason fatherlessness is rampant
There is a reason the family is under attack in our world
It’s because as the father goes, so goes their family!
But that doesn’t let the rest of the family off the hook!
God wants to change your life so that your life can change other people’s lives as well!
Mom, who are you using your life to impact for the cause of Christ?
Teenager, who are you using your life to impact for the cause of Christ?
Young person, what friends are you using your life to impact for the cause of Christ!
Friend, there is nothing more exciting than seeing God do something in the life of someone else, and you got to be a small part of it!
Because changed lives lead to other changed lives!
There is a convicting verse in John 15:5
I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
God says that when we are abiding… dwelling in Christ the natural result will be much fruit.
Can we say it this way, when you are living the changed life, the natural result will be changed lives!
So then the question must be asked, whose life is being changed right now because of your changed life?
If we can’t think of anyone, maybe it’s because we aren’t living the changed life God intends us to live!
Maybe it’s time to purpose to live the life that God has called you to as a Christian.
So that you too can see lives changed in your life!
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
ILLUSTRATION: In 1855, there was a humble Sunday School teacher named Edward Kimball.
He wasn’t a famous preacher; he was just a man who lived a "changed life."
He felt a burden for a rowdy young man in his class who worked at a shoe store.
Kimball later admitted he was nervous.
He didn't have a doctorate in theology.
He didn't have a "Romans Road" pamphlet.
He actually said he "made a hash of it" and was so trembling that he almost didn't go into the store.
But he went in, walked to the back of the shoe shop, put his hand on the young man’s shoulder, and simply told him about the love of Christ.
That day, in the back of a shoe store, D.L. Moody accepted Christ.
But the story doesn’t end there.
Moody later preached to a man named F.B. Meyer, whose life was changed.
F.B. Meyer preached to a man named J. Wilbur Chapman, whose life was changed.
Chapman helped a baseball player named Billy Sunday, who became a great evangelist.
Billy Sunday held a revival in North Carolina that led to a group of men becoming so burdened for their city that they invited an evangelist named Mordecai Ham to town.
Under Mordecai Ham’s preaching, a tall, lanky farm boy named Billy Graham gave his life to Jesus.
Millions of souls came to Christ through the ministries of those men.
And it all started because one man—Edward Kimball—was willing to leave his "waterpot" of fear behind and talk about how Jesus had impacted his life and how Jesus could impact that young man’s life as well.
APPLICATION: Church, there is incredible power in a changed life.
Who is the DL Moody in your life?
Wont you decide this morning to set down your water pot, to talk about Jesus, and see God change the lives of those you get to reach!
Let’s do what our theme says, “Love God, Serve Others, Reach People”
Friend, it’s time to leave the well this morning… let’s leave it with a changed life that is looking to change lives!
