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[0:00] Good morning. Good morning. Back in the Gospel of John this morning. John 4.

[0:12] Last week we got as far as the woman, the Samaritan woman that Jesus met there at the well.

[0:26] We got as far as her running back into town and beginning to tell people of whom she had met, first and foremost whom she had met and who he was.

[0:38] And exhorting them to come and see, come and see this man Jesus, come and see Messiah. And that's about where we left off last week.

[0:54] Verse 30 in John chapter 4 says, Then they went out of the city and came unto him. This is the next verse, verse 31, begins kind of a parenthetical portion of Scripture, if you'd like to call it that, because the people are coming out of the city at this point, that this woman's gone and said, come see a man that told me everything that I ever did.

[1:23] He told me everything about myself is not this the cross. And it says that the people are starting to come out of the city at this point. Verse 31 begins with the words, in the meanwhile.

[1:35] So that's where we're going to begin here this morning. It says, in the meanwhile his disciples prayed to him saying, Master, eat. But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that you know not of.

[1:50] Therefore said the disciples, one to another, hath any man brought him ought to eat. Jesus saith unto them, my meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work.

[2:02] So back to verse 31, really back to verse 31 says, Then they went out of the city and came to meet him. And then it begins with this, in the meanwhile.

[2:15] So as these people are coming up out of the city because this woman that had just been converted, she had just believed and just received salvation, really and truly.

[2:27] And she'd gone to tell these people and they were coming up out of the city. This is when this conversation is taking place. So these people are not on the scene yet. We've got to keep that in mind. They haven't made it up there to the well just yet.

[2:41] So it says in the meanwhile, as disciples pray to him, saying, Master, eat. Well, if you recall last week, when the disciples came upon this scene, if you'd like to call it that, of Jesus sitting here on the well, chatting with not only a woman, but a Samaritan woman, which was forbidden by the Jews.

[3:04] The Jews and Samaritans hated each other for different reasons. But they they had to upon this scene. In fact, we'll just reassess. And upon this came as disciples and Marvel that he talked with the woman.

[3:18] Yet no man said what sickest thou or why talk us thou with her. So no man, none of them had guts enough to say, What do you think you're doing, Jesus?

[3:30] This is not only a woman, but she's a Samaritan. We're not supposed to have any dealings with this woman. But if you actually back up a verse, you'll actually see why that is.

[3:41] In verse 26, it says, Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee, and he. This is after the woman had said that she knows that Messiah will come. And when he comes, he's going to straighten everything out.

[3:52] He's going to have answers for everything that I have a question for when this Messiah comes. And Jesus says, Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee, and he.

[4:03] Now, if you notice in your Bible, the word he there should be in italics. Meaning that it was added by the translators. That it wasn't in the original manuscripts.

[4:16] But the literal translation of this is, I am that speaketh unto you. That is the literal translation of this. I am that speaketh unto you.

[4:27] Jesus being that great I am, Bernd, done a wonderful job. Now, long ago, some of the I am statements of Jesus throughout the Gospel of John. I am the bread of life. I am the resurrection. I am the door. I am the good shepherd.

[4:42] Jesus is all these things. But when he says to this woman, I am the speaketh unto you. He's saying, I am God. I am that Messiah. I am the one that you're speaking of there.

[4:53] That word he again, it's in italics. It wasn't in the original manuscripts and the translators of our King James Version stuck it in there. So we would have a better understanding of what was going on.

[5:08] But he said unto her, I am that speaketh unto you. And this is the scene that the disciples walked up on when he said, I am that speaketh unto you.

[5:19] Or I am he, or I that speaketh unto thee, am he. However you want to phrase it, that's the scene that they come up on. And that's why they didn't dare ask.

[5:31] Jesus, what do you think you are doing? Because he had just stated, I'm God. And God can do whatever he wants to do. I am the one that was sent by the Father to save the world from their sin.

[5:43] I am the Messiah that's been promised from Genesis 3 all throughout the Old Testament. Not just the Torah, what this woman, this Samaritan woman would have been paying attention to. But all throughout the poetical books, all throughout the history books, all throughout the major and the minor prophets, I am that Messiah that has been promised.

[6:04] And that's why they didn't dare say anything to him. So back to verse 31, in the meanwhile, his disciples prayed him saying, Master, read. Now that they've walked up on this scene and they've heard the things that Jesus has said, they say, Master, you need to eat.

[6:21] I think they were feeling a little bit maybe dumbfounded, maybe even a little bit embarrassed because of what would have been going on with their mind. But Jesus straightened them up and straightened this woman up, all at the same time with the exact same statement.

[6:38] In the meanwhile, his disciples prayed him saying, Master, anybody said unto them, I have meat to eat that you know not of. Therefore said the disciples, one to another, hath any man brought him on to eat? Has anyone brought him bread? Has anyone brought him something to nourish him, something to sustain him?

[6:54] He showed up at this well several verses ago, a couple of Sundays ago, we read about that. And he was worried from his journey when he showed up here. He was parts with thirst, he was hungry, and he showed up to this well, but not to get a physical need met.

[7:13] He showed up because that was the Father's will for him to show up there. If you remember, we talked about a couple of Sundays ago, he said that he must needs go through Samaria.

[7:25] He must go through Samaria. There was no other way around it. It must happen. People say that God doesn't have to do anything. There are certain things that God has to do.

[7:36] God has to remain righteous because he is righteous. God has to remain holy because he is holy. God has to do many things and God had to go through Samaria.

[7:48] Jesus Christ himself had to go through Samaria to convict this woman first of all of her sin and to save her from her sin.

[7:59] So that she could go into the city, she could announce that the Messiah has come. She said, come see a man that told me all that I ever did is not this the Christ. She said these things, and all these things are the reason Jesus had to go through Samaria.

[8:16] He said unto them, I have meat that you know not of. Therefore, said the disciples, wanted another. Have any man brought him ought to eat? Jesus said unto them, my meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work.

[8:31] What kind of sin do you think that the disciples were expecting to come upon here? When they left Jesus there at the well, he was weary. The scripture plainly makes out that he was weary.

[8:45] He was tired from his journey. He was thirsty. He was hungry. He was everything that the disciples were. He was fully God, yes, but he was fully human as well, experiencing everything that they were experiencing at this point.

[9:00] That's the Jesus they were expecting to come back to. But they come back to a man, they come back to Jesus. And it's almost as if his countenance changed, almost as if he had maybe a surge of energy here.

[9:15] And why was that? It wasn't because he'd eaten some crackers and drank some water. It wasn't because he had bread. It wasn't because he had fish or any of these other things. It was because he had done the will of the Father by going to this well and by talking to this woman and by this woman being converted and becoming a believer and going into the town and saying what she did.

[9:39] This was the meat of Jesus Christ. And folks, this should be the meat of you and I as well. Yes, we've got to eat. We've got to eat in order to continue on in this life and talk about physically.

[9:51] But our true meat should be to do the will of the Father, to do the will of Him that sent us. Well, God's never sent me anywhere, Spitzer. God's never sent me to do anything, Spitzer.

[10:05] If God has saved your soul, he didn't do it so you could sit on a church house pew and do nothing. He'd done it for you to go out and be a witness and to be alive and to be salt in this world.

[10:17] You go do the Father's will and you see how refreshing that is to your soul. You see how refreshing it is just to witness about Jesus Christ to someone, to tell someone about God's goodness, to tell them about His mercy, share your testimony with Him.

[10:32] Your testimony ain't the gospel and it won't save no one single soul. But share your testimony while telling about the goodness of God and telling about His mercy, telling about His forgiveness. This is the Father's will for us to testify of Him.

[10:49] And this should be our true meat. And in fact, any physical food that we get, any physical sustenance that we get whatsoever should take a back seat to doing the will of Almighty God.

[11:03] God will take care of us as long as He's got work for us to do here on this earth. He will sustain us to one degree or another. We may not be eating T-bone steak every night. We might be eating Spam or Bologna sandwiches.

[11:17] But either way, God will sustain us somehow, some way as long as He has work for us here on this earth. So we need to all make it our priorities to do the Father's will.

[11:29] Put your own self-interest on the back burner. Make it your priority to do the Father's will. Jesus said in Him, My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me and to finish His work.

[11:41] Say not ye, there are yet four months. And then comeeth harvest. I'm sorry, say not ye, there are yet four months and then comeeth harvest.

[11:52] He's asking them a question here. Is this not what you're saying in your mind? Is this not your take on the situation? Say not ye, there are yet four months and then comeeth to harvest?

[12:04] Behold, I say unto you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields for they are white already to harvest. First of all, He tells them what they're thinking here.

[12:15] He says, is this not your thought? That there's four months left to harvest. But then He tells them something. He says, lift up your eyes. This tells me that they were embarrassed like we were talking about a little while ago.

[12:29] Because they asked Jesus, well first they had happened upon this scene that we went back and recovered. Then they asked Jesus, or asked the question, Has anybody brought Jesus meat?

[12:42] Has anyone brought him bread? Has anyone brought him something before we returned from the city with what we got here? And Jesus tells them here, lift up your eyes.

[12:53] And I don't think it was just a phrase that He was using. I think they were staring down at the ground, physically staring down at the ground because they were embarrassed over what they were thinking about the current situation.

[13:06] They were embarrassed about their thoughts. And Jesus called them out in their thoughts. There are yet four months then coming to harvest. Is this not what you were thinking? Behold us. And you lift up your eyes and look on the fields for there.

[13:18] Or what? All ready to harvest. You remember, the woman had gone into the town and she had made her announcement to the people in the city. And the people were coming towards the well at that time.

[13:30] And Jesus said, look up. Look this way for the fields. Or what? They're ready to harvest. They're coming this way. Look up at these people. And He says, And he that reapeth, receiveeth wages, and gathers fruit unto eternal life, that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.

[13:49] And here it is that saying true, one soweth and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon you bestowed no labor. Other men labored and ye are entered into their labors.

[14:02] So again, He says in verse 36, And he that reapeth, receiveeth wages, and gathers fruit unto eternal life, that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.

[14:15] So He's telling them, He told them in the previous verse, Lift up your eyes. Behold the fields. Look and they are ready for harvest. So the sowing's already been done.

[14:26] You don't go into a field to reap what has just been sown. I mean, physically we don't do that. Spiritually we don't do that. We go and reap where it's already been sown.

[14:38] The ground's already been cultivated. It's already been sown. Someone else has come by and they've supplied the water and it's been taken care of. It's been nourished. And then the fields become ripe for reaping, to gather it into the barn, to gather in whatever the crop is in the barn.

[14:57] And folks, salvation is no different. Salvation is no different at all. And herein is that saying true one soweth and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon you bestowed no that, whereon you bestowed no labor.

[15:12] I sent you to reap where you didn't even sow is what Jesus is saying here. I sent you to reap somewhere where someone else has sown. Now who would have gone into a city of Samaria, any Samaritan city, and sown the seed of the gospel.

[15:32] We're not talking about this woman when she went in there. This was one woman. And this, as I sent you to reap whereon you bestowed no labor. Other men labored. It ain't talking about the woman.

[15:44] The scripture is not talking about the woman that went into the city. And that's what a lot of people think. But Jesus says other men labored here. Men, men were sent into the city.

[15:55] Men were sent into the towns. Men were sent all around, not just to the cities of Samaria, but they were sent around all of Judea. They were sent all around Jerusalem, all these other towns and villages in place.

[16:09] They were sent to sow the seed. And we're certainly not talking about the prophets here. That's what a lot of people think is going on here. You remember what I told you last week. The Samaritans paid attention to the Torah.

[16:22] They paid attention to Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. They wouldn't have known a whole lot about the prophets. So it wouldn't have been the prophets that we're referring to here either.

[16:34] It would have been people that had been sowing seed. What people did this and when did they do it? That's the ultimate question here. When did this take place? When did this seed get sown for the harvest to be ready to reap at this point?

[16:51] Well, folks, the Gospel of John in the 21 chapters that there are in the Gospel of John takes place over about a three-year span.

[17:04] We have three pass-overs that we're positive of that are brought up in the Gospel of John. One is brought up in John 2, one is brought up in John 6, and the third one is first brought up in John 11.

[17:18] And it's brought up a couple more times after that, but it's all the same pass-over. So there's three pass-over fees. Three years worth of information in 21 chapters of the Gospel of John.

[17:31] Now, taking that into consideration, if you turn over into the Gospels, there's over into the other Gospels, if you flip backwards, in particular the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke, you'll see where Jesus sent the disciples, especially in Matthew chapter 10.

[17:48] Jesus sent the disciples, and they were in Judea at that point. And He sent the twelve. This isn't when He sent the seventy, He sent the twelve out, but He told them specifically, don't you go to any cities of the Samaritans.

[18:02] Don't you go to any cities that are in Samaria, but you go everywhere else, and you spread this Gospel, you preach the Gospel, you heal the sick, you touch them, you help them, perform your miracles, and He gave them power to do so, Jesus Christ did.

[18:21] But when they went out and done this, flip back just a little bit, John chapter 4, the very beginning of it. When they went out and done this, John chapter 3 naturally leads into John chapter 4.

[18:38] But in John chapter 4, the first verse, when therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, though Jesus Himself baptized not, but His disciples.

[18:51] This was the fruit of what I'm talking about there in Matthew chapter 10. This was the fruit of these disciples, of the twelve going out and preaching.

[19:04] They didn't just come to Jesus out of nowhere, something had to draw them in. This drawing was these disciples going out and spreading and sowing, spreading the Gospel, spreading the good news that Jesus Christ had indeed come.

[19:20] John 4-1, when therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John. It didn't just happen overnight.

[19:32] It wasn't what we were referred to nowadays as an overnight sensation. There were times that that happened in Jesus' ministry, but this wasn't one of them. This had to have happened and it had to have time to get back to the Pharisees.

[19:47] The Pharisees learned that Jesus Christ had more disciples than John and He was baptizing more disciples than John the Baptist was. This is the very fruit of Jesus Christ sending those twelve out and spreading the news of the Gospel.

[20:03] These were the men that Jesus Christ sent out and they preached and people believed. And then they went to other places, just as this woman in Samaria did, or just as this Samaritan woman did.

[20:16] She went back to the city and she said, come see a man that told me all that I ever did is not this the Christ. And these people that these disciples would have been preaching to, the twelve, they would have done the same thing.

[20:29] They would have went on and done the same thing that this woman did. They would have been telling people about Jesus Christ. And these are the men that I believe the Scripture is talking about here when it says, I sent you to reap that whereon he bestowed no labor.

[20:42] Other men labored and he entered into their labors. You're just reaping what other men have sown. And the verse before that in here is that saying, true one soweth and another reapeth.

[20:53] And how true is that? As many Gospel seeds as I may have sown since I've become a believer. As many seeds as I may have sown, have I reaped any of them?

[21:08] Honestly, I can't tell you one that I have. But praise God, it ain't up to me to do the reaping all the time. God tells me to go sow. It's another's job to reap.

[21:19] And that one that reaped that time, maybe they're sowing the seeds somewhere along the way. And that person will come my way at some point and I can reap that. But one sows and another reaps according to what Jesus said here.

[21:34] And herein is that saying true one soweth and another reapeth. I'll send you to reap whereupon you bestowed no labor. In other words, Jesus is saying, you've got the easier portion of this.

[21:45] These other men went out and they told and they labored. And actually this word for labor here is the same word that you used for worried to describe Jesus Christ when he sat down at the well.

[21:57] He's saying they told to the point of exhaustion here. And sowing the seed. He says, but other men labored and year entered into their labors.

[22:09] Verse 39. And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him. Now the parentheses have kind of ended at this point. And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman which testified, he told me all that I ever did.

[22:27] Now I just got through saying, your testimony won't save anybody. And my testimony won't save anybody. And this is true. My testimony is not the gospel. And your testimony is not the gospel.

[22:39] And I've heard several sermons preached on that very thing over the years. But these people believed on Jesus. And I think that's the reason why I'm saying this. And I'm not saying that, because I heard a lot of people say that they believed on Jesus.

[22:54] They've been there for years. But these people believed on Jesus for the saying of the woman. Substitute that word for with because. Because the saying of the woman which testified, he told me all that I ever did.

[23:07] These Samaritans believed on Jesus Christ because of the testimony of one woman who had been convicted of her sin, who had been shown her need of a savior, who had met that savior, and who believed on that savior when he told her who he was.

[23:23] And she went into the city and she testified of this man Jesus Christ. And because of her testimony, many of the Samaritans believed on him.

[23:34] They believed on Jesus Christ because they believed this woman's testimony. So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they saw him that he would tarry with them and he had both there two days.

[23:45] So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they saw him that he would tarry with them. They wouldn't like so many other people in the scriptures that we see Jesus Christ comes and works a miracle.

[23:58] Jesus Christ comes and heals someone and people in the surrounding area are saying, get out of here Jesus. One particular instance of that that pops into mind is Mark chapter five.

[24:09] There's a man named Legion that's possessed with devils. He lives up in the tombs. He cut himself running around naked, terrorizing the local people. And Jesus Christ shows up on the scene and he heals the man.

[24:22] He cast the demons out. The demons go into a herd of swine, run down the mountainside and drown their cells and all this other good stuff. And this man Legion has been healed by Jesus Christ.

[24:34] And what do the local people do? Get out of here. Get out of here. That ain't the case with these Samaritans. You keep in mind the Samaritans were hated by the Jews.

[24:47] And the Jews rejected Jesus. We read it in John chapter one. He came into his own, his own received him not. Most of the Jews rejected Jesus. But these Samaritans were coming, when these Samaritans were coming to him, they'd be saw him that he would tarry with them.

[25:02] Stay here a little while. Praise God. That's a good sign of true conversion there. That's a sign of true belief. Stay with me a while.

[25:13] Teach me something else. It's like those two that Jesus met that were on the road to Emmaus. They wanted him to tarry there.

[25:25] Why? Because he had opened up the scriptures. He'd started teaching them about himself all throughout the Old Testament. It says, beginning at Moses. That's not talking about Exodus.

[25:36] That's talking about the book of Genesis, which Moses wrote. It's talking about beginning at the beginning of the scripture, at the beginning of the Bible. Jesus expanded to them and talked to them about himself.

[25:49] That's why they wanted him to stay there. This man knows something. These people here, they believed that this was the cross. Here in Samaria, they'd be saw him that he would tarry with them.

[26:01] He abode there two days. I'm not good in this. My own personal experience, if somebody don't want me around, I don't want to be around. But Jesus, these people wanted Jesus.

[26:13] People wanted Jesus around. And it says he abode with them two days. The exact amount of, or abode with them two days. He stayed there.

[26:25] Folks, if you don't want Jesus, he ain't going to force himself on you. He might send a preacher your way. He might have the gospel preached.

[26:36] He might send the Holy Spirit your way to convict your heart. If you don't want him, he ain't going to stick around. If you don't want Christ, he ain't going to stick around.

[26:47] Because there's other people out there. Now you keep in mind who was first converted here. A Samaritan harlot, basically is what she was. A Samaritan adulteress is what she was.

[26:59] That's who was converted here. Going back to John chapter three, he told us about Nicodemus. A man that was so wrapped up in religion. A man that was so wrapped up in the law and he knew it and he knew it well.

[27:10] And that's what he was depending on. And here we've got a Samaritan adulteress. A woman that the Jews hated. A woman that her own people hated. Because of her depraved state.

[27:24] Because of how low she had sung. Because of all the men that she had had. And Lord only knows what kind of home she had regged. All kinds of things were going on. This woman was hated of everybody.

[27:39] But she ran into town, testifying in Jesus Christ. Ain't it just like God depict those that are the lowest on the pole. Those that are least likely to get saved.

[27:50] Those that are least likely to believe. My goodness, he chose a little, little ruddy shepherd boy to slay a giant. In David and Goliath's account.

[28:03] He chose Paul to go on his way. Now Paul was way up there as far as religion went. Paul was taught in the eyes.

[28:14] But he chose Paul to go on. After he had brought Paul to a low point. Remember when Paul was on the road to Damascus. And Jesus showed up in a bright light.

[28:27] And it blinded Paul. That humbled Paul. Not to mention the things that Jesus spoke to him. We said, Saul, Saul, why persecutor style me? And then a little bit later we said, come and see the things you must suffer.

[28:38] For my name's sake, he had brought Paul to a low estate, to a low level. But folks, that is the type of people that Jesus Christ seeks and that he uses. And those are the type of people that can be saved.

[28:51] God cannot save someone who is filled with pride. He has got to have them get rid of their pride. He's got to show them their pride. He's got to penetrate that pride by means of the Holy Spirit.

[29:03] And then he can save them. Then he can save them. Many more believe because of his own words. These people, these Samaritans that come up out of the city, it plainly says that they believed on Jesus Christ because of the testimony of the woman that had gone into the city.

[29:20] It says, many more believe because of his own word, so the very words of Jesus Christ that says, and said unto the woman, now we believe not because of thy saying, for we have heard him ourselves.

[29:34] And know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world. So this woman's testimony led these people to Jesus Christ. Once again, your testimony can't save anyone.

[29:48] My testimony can't save anyone. But our testimony might get someone just curious enough to where they say, can this Jesus do this for me? Can this Jesus save my soul?

[30:00] Can this same Jesus that Spencer, that whoever is talking about, can they do the same things for me? And folks, this is far from any type of prosperity gospel that's out there.

[30:15] This is people that saw their need for Christ. This is people that have been rejected by their own kinsmen, really, the Samaritans. They've been rejected by everybody.

[30:27] They were their own little sect of people. And they were rejected by everyone except for their own. But these people said unto the woman, now we believe not because of thy saying, not because of what you told us, that was good.

[30:43] And that was great. You might have a wonderful and a great testimony of God saving you out of dope or alcohol or adultery or lying or stealing or even murder or whatever the case is.

[30:54] And that's an awesome testimony. Don't you get me wrong? But these people said not because of thy saying to the woman, for we have heard him ourselves and know that he is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.

[31:11] Until they meet this Jesus, until they come in to contact with Jesus Christ, until they have a personal delivering experience with Jesus Christ, they will remain lost.

[31:27] I'm talking about the world now. And these people would have done the same. Yes, they may have believed on him because of this woman's, believed what this woman was saying and believed that Christ was indeed there.

[31:38] But the Scripture plainly says that they said not because of your word, but because we've heard of ourselves. We had a personal contact. We had personal relations with this man.

[31:51] This is why we believe that he is the Christ. But not only that he is the Christ, he is the Savior of the world. Yes, he's Messiah. He's the one that's come to deliver and he is the Savior of the world.

[32:03] And we're going to wrap it up right there. We'll get into the next section. Hopefully next week, well, it won't be next week, because I'll be here next week. Week after next, we'll be able to finish up John chapter 4.