The Samaritan Woman's "Fruit of Faith"

Can you imagine Jesus’ joy and delight in this woman? How much more joy did she bring Him than Nicodemus, who had all his advantages, but left Jesus that night without putting his faith in Him.

The epilogue to this one woman’s willingness to run back and tell her village about Jesus is found in Acts 8:4-25. The seeds planted on this day became a great harvest of believers when the apostle Philip went back to Samaria three years later to tell them about the Lord Jesus’ resurrection.

What you’re full of is always going to come out

That’s right! Whatever it is.

What are you full of? Have you been born again?

Is God’s eternal life welling up within you like a spring of living water? You don’t have to think about it, you don’t have to work at it, it just comes out naturally because it’s your nature, whether your old nature, or the new nature God has given you. The Samaritan woman had found love and significance in Jesus and she had to tell everyone she kne

An effective witness will have to leave some things behind. Maybe you have been damping down God’s Holy Spirit within you because there are some things you haven’t left at Jesus feet –

* Maybe you are a shy person.
* Maybe you feel like you don’t know enough to talk about the gospel.
* Maybe you’re afraid people will ask you questions you can’t answer, or they will argue with you, or not like you any more.
* Maybe you’re carrying unforgiveness, or prejudice.

If you recognize that this is where you are, I hope you will ask God to make it possible for you to be intentional and proactive about addressing in practical ways what is holding you back.

Think what joy you bring the Lord Jesus when you are filled to overflowing with His love and joy, and you are willing to bring others to Him.

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The Samaritan Woman's Confession of Faith is Followed by Action

Have you ever heard the phrase “Leave it at the feet of Jesus”? Well this is what the Samaritan woman literally did with her water jug, the symbol of her old life, having to walk a half mile each way every day just to get water.

Leaving her jug was a symbol of repentance, putting down her old life and taking up the new eternal life that Jesus offered her.

– She would not longer seek satisfaction through one romance after another. Her thirst for love and acceptance, for a sense of significance would come from her knowledge of God’s love, and His life, welling up within her.

What do you need to symbolically leave at Jesus’ feet? What have you been trying to find satisfaction in that you now realize is actually standing in the way of you finding true satisfaction in Jesus?

– She could trust Jesus with the things of her life. After all, He had proven that He knew everything about her, but instead of condemning her, He loved her and entrusted His revelation of Himself to her.

What do you need to let go of, and trust Jesus with, so that you will be able to receive more from Him?

– She knew she was coming back, and that Jesus would be there, taking care of her water jug for her. He is trustworthy with the things of our lives.

What do you need Jesus to take care of for you, so that you will be free to tell others about Him?

She was born again, and we immediately see the power of God working through her

1) Her values changed, she was no longer burdened about her old life
2) She ran towards the very people she had been trying to avoid before. 3) She was concerned for other people, not protecting herself
4) The most important thing to her was bringing them to the Lord

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The Samaritan Woman's Response of Faith

The woman was tracking right along with Jesus, but it hardly seemed possible that Jesus could be the one everyone had been waiting for, for centuries

"The woman said to him, 'I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.'

"Jesus said to her, 'I who speak to you am he.'" (John 4:25-26)

The Samaritans called the Messiah “Tahav,” the Revealer. Someday the Messiah would come, and He would bring about this radical change in worship, but Jesus certainly can’t mean that time had come now
...could He?

The words that John records Jesus having said at this point are, literally, in the Greek: “I that speak to you – I AM” Jesus spoke out loud the holiest of names, the “I AM” of God, Yahweh. It is the boldest claim yet in John’s gospel, and it was to one of the lowliest people you could think of.

You would have thought Jesus would have saved this incredible revelation for someone who could really appreciate it, like Nicodemus, or at least His disciples, or at the very least a Jew, and a man. The rabbis of that day had a saying, “It is better that the words of the law be burned that to be delivered to a woman.” Women weren’t considered to be worthy of receiving revelation from God in that day.

But here the Lord gave this Samaritan, and a woman at that, the revelation the whole world had been waiting to hear.

Why?

* She had so little spiritual truth.
* She hadn’t been raised up in the scriptures, or God’s Law.
* She was considered a lowly sinner even by Samaritan standards.

But what she had was humility. She was teachable. She wanted what Jesus had to give. She was willing to receive whatever He had for her.

You don’t need to be a Nicodemus to receive understanding from God. You just need to be humble, teachable, and want to learn.

God desires people to worship Him in spirit and in truth

How often do you really worship God? Even on Sunday mornings, when our minds and hearts are not in it, singing songs and reciting words are not really worship.

When you feel like your joy has gone away, then worship is one of the places you can find your joy back. If prayer has come to feel like a burden, then temporarily put aside all those petitions and spend your time praising and worshiping for a while. Sing songs of praise. Pray scripture that worships God. This is how you drink from the spring of living water, God’s life within you.

When you feel weak, or down, or joyless
1) Think about God’s attributes
2) Find verses that talk about God’s great power, His love and goodness and meditate on them
3) Remember before God all those times that He showed His power in your life
4) Tell the Lord how you know He will meet you powerfully in your current situation

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The Samaritan Woman's Question: Are You The Messiah?

The Samaritan women didn’t try to defend herself or get away from Jesus. Instead of retreating, she came in closer to Jesus. She was, in effect, admitting the Lord was right about her.

She said “You must be a prophet, you really see me, you know everything about me, you know what’s in my heart.” She was finally stepping into the spiritual plane with Jesus, and this was Jesus other purpose for her – to discover Who He really is.

Remember that the Samaritans only believed in the first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch. So they didn’t believe in any of the Bible prophets. The only prophet they had ever believed in was Moses.

As far as they were concerned there would only be one more prophet, the prophet Moses had prophesied about, the Messiah. But here Jesus was, obviously a prophet! So she asked Jesus about her religion –

1) What about our holy mountain?
2) Have we been wrong after all?
3) Are the Jews right after all?

Jesus made three remarkable statements in answer to her question:

1) "Jesus said to her, 'Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.'" (John 4:21)

The question of whose mountain was right was soon going to be irrelevant. The Jewish form of worship, with all the sacrifices, would no longer be necessary because Jesus was going to fulfill all that symbolism by dying on the cross.

Jesus’ death and resurrection would make every believer’s body God’s temple. Wherever believers are gathered together, that’s a holy place, that’s where God is worshiped.

2) "'You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.'" (John 4:22)

The Samaritans had some truth, but it was mixed with error.

The Jews alone had the scriptures, the revelation of God, and the right symbolic worship, and through the Jews would come Jesus Himself, the fulfillment of all the scriptures.

3) "'But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit.'" (John 4:23-24)

Man-made religion is not acceptable to God.
* True worship is done in the human spirit.
* True worship comes from the heart. It’s not something you do while your mind is somewhere else.

God is spirit, and so are you and I, in our innermost being. Worship is the human spirit meeting God’s Spirit, a communion which is intimate union.

That can only happen when you are born again. Truth is transparency with God, and it is also meeting God through Jesus Christ Who is the truth.

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The Definition of Repentance

In scripture, repentance means to "undergo a change of one's mind" which results in a change of the entire direction of a person's life.

Biblical repentance is a radical turning away from sin and towards Christ. It is a key element of saving faith

According to the Bible, repentance and faith go together. There can be no genuine turning to Christ in faith without an accompanying repudiation of sin.

The Bible explains that in the past you and I were spiritually dead, unfeeling towards God. We followed the ways of this world and, even though we didn't realize it, we obeyed Satan, who rules the world. Satan has power over everyone who is dead to God. Before you and I were born again, we were also ruled by the selfish desires of our human natures. Because of this, we were already under God's wrath.

But look at how Jesus was with this Samaritan woman. That is the picture of God's real mercy! We were dead because of our sins, but God loved us so much that He made you and I who received Him alive with Messiah Jesus. It is God's wonderful kindness which saves you and me, which woos us to repentance, and flows into our lives when we repent.

As a person hears the gospel, understands it and accepts it, God's regeneration of that person from being dead in their sins to being spiritually alive, and that person's repentance and calling on God all seem to happen together.

True repentance involves three important steps:
1) Conviction: Becoming convinced, through the work of the Holy Spirit, that what you have done – or not done – constitutes sin, it was wrong and you now hate it as God hates it.

You and I know when we do things that are wrong – yelling at our kids, being rude to someone, breaking a promise we don’t want to keep. Then we try to protect ourselves from feeling bad about it by trying to justify it, trying to make it seem less than it really is. But scripture teaches that confessing our sins honestly and completely, without trying to gloss over it, or make excuses, is really the only way to spiritual health, and that brings us to the next step.

2) Contrition: Along with your confession of sin, with no attempt to excuse it or justify it, you also experience the sorrow that you have offended God and broken fellowship with Him.

3) Conversion: Resolving, deeply, to turn away from sin and turn towards Christ, coupled with a willingness to make restitution whenever possible.

Repentance is a prerequisite, a necessary condition for salvation. But even after a you and I are saved, we continue to sin. The Bible calls us to repent again and again as we are convicted of our sin by the Holy Spirit.

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Jesus Confronted the Samaritan Woman's Sinful Lifestyle

Jesus knew what was standing in the way of this woman moving from temporary satisfaction to true heart satisfaction. She was trying to find heart satisfaction and that sense of significance we all need, in relationships with men. So He gently drew out what had been keeping her back

"Jesus said to her, 'Go, call your husband, and come here.'"

At first she tried to make her situation look better than it really was by trying to create the impression that she lived alone, that she was single.

Yes, Jesus agreed, that’s technically true. But you’ve already been through five marriages, and you’re actually living with a guy right now who isn’t your husband.

When Jesus brought up her lifestyle choice, she was amazed, but not offended. Jesus had shown Himself to be completely in the know about her sin, but also tender, compassionate, loving and personally interested in her.

* He didn’t condemn her, or try to shame her or ridicule her.
* He didn’t go into a long speech about how immoral that was.
* He didn't go on about how low her standards were, what’s wrong with her, going from man to man.

Instead, without holding back the truth, but with all gentleness, Jesus helped her to see the loneliness and emptiness in her heart.

--> When you and I are in situations like this, talking about spiritual things with people, we also can pray and ask God for this kind of insight, to help people see the truth about themselves, and the truth about God.

Her thirst to be loved, and to find significance had never been satisfied. She knew what falling in love was like, she knew what a hot romance was all about, but she had never yet found true love.

She had found out, again and again, that falling in love only lasts so long – and then something deeper and more real has to take its place, or the relationship will die away. Every time she got married she was looking for a secure and binding kind for love, love that would last a life time. but with each failed marriage her hope dwindled so that finally she had reached a point where she’d given up on the commitment of marriage.

Jesus understood her loneliness, and her fear of being left old and alone. He knew that her search for acceptance and self-worth and love had led her to look for the wrong kinds of love, and now she was a moral outcast. Jesus had two purposes for her at this point.

1) The first was for her to recognize how empty her lifestyle was so she could repent.

[More on repentance tomorrow]

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John the Baptist: Sanhedrin Delegation

As John was preaching repentance in the desert, and symbolically washing people clean by baptizing them in the River Jordan, a bunch of Pharisees and Sadducees got into line for their turn to be baptized.

The Pharisees were the traditionalists, the conservative religious leaders of their day. The wealthy Sadducees were the liberals; they controlled the temple businesses that Jesus later cleaned out.

When John saw them, this is what he said:

You bunch of snakes! Who warned you to run from the coming judgment? Do something to show that you have really given up your sins. And don't start telling yourselves that you belong to Abraham's family. I tell you that God can turn these stones into children for Abraham. An ax is ready to cut the trees down at their roots. Any tree that doesn't produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into a fire.

Does that bother you to hear John speaking so forcefully to his religious leaders, those who were considered to be in spiritual authority over him?

I mean, after all, these were all the priests and ministers and seminary guys, they were supposed to be the spiritual giants, with deep spiritual responsibilities. They were important religious leaders who had made time to come clear out to the desert to meet with John. But God had given John a prophet’s discernment to see the truth about these men.

John’s message was a call to self-judgement. He urged the people to take sides with God against themselves.

But the Pharisees and Sadducees held that being descended from Abraham made them exempt from John’s call to repent. They thought they were already good enough to please God.

As The Message puts it, “Do you think a little water on your snake skins is going to make any difference? It's your life that must change, not your skin! And don't think you can pull rank by claiming Abraham as father. Being a descendant of Abraham is neither here nor there. Descendants of Abraham are a dime a dozen. What counts is your life. Is it green and blossoming? Because if it's deadwood, it goes on the fire.”

They didn’t have any sense of their own sinfulness, and they were offended by the very idea that they might need something more than their own righteousness, which they had worked very hard at to achieve.

They considered themselves faultless in their ability to keep all the rules they had written about how to obey God’s law. To suggest they might need to repent, that they were undeserving of God’s favor, was an affront to them.

Their intent was to tuck baptism under their belt for just in case, just to make sure they had dotted all their “i’s” and crossed all their “t’s” in terms of religious observance.

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John the Baptist: Repentance

Today people don’t need to clean up their lives first in order to become Christians.

I’m not waiting until I get my act together before I go to Jesus for forgiveness!

I’m coming to Jesus right now,
* just as I am, tossed around with all kinds of conflicts and doubts.

* I’m coming just as I am, with lots of fears and struggles inside me;

* I'm coming just as I am, poor, wretched and blind.

For you and me today, Messiah has already come and He presents the full gospel.

Do you believe this is true: That Jesus, in history, is the Messiah, a real man Who lived two thousand years ago, Who also is and always was God?

Do you believe that He died on the cross for our sins, that He was, in real life, raised from the dead, that He actually rose up, bodily, into heaven, and that He has sent His Spirit to literally live inside every person who believes and accepts these truths?

Repentance happens as a person hears the gospel, understands it and accepts it, and as God's regeneration of that person changes them from being dead in their sins to being spiritually alive.

Repentance is the first step in getting right with God

It is the power that comes from Jesus’ Spirit living in you and me who believe these truths that makes it possible to live a holy life.

You and I need to repent every day, even after we have entered into new life, even after having been made into "new creations" by the power of God. We need God’s grace every day. What wrong thinking do you need to abandon? What sin have you been having a hard time ‘fessing up to?

Trying to live a holy life is not enough. Going to church, reading the Bible, keeping religious disciplines, does not make you and me today automatically eligible to enter the kingdom of heaven. Confession is good. Commitment is good. But you and I can’t keep it up on our own. You and I need something more. We need the Holy Spirit’s power to live a holy life.

Repentance is a prerequisite, a necessary condition for salvation. But even after a you and I are saved, we continue to sin. The Bible calls us to repent again and again as we are convicted of our sin by the Holy Spirit.

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John the Baptist: Repent!

John didn’t make it easy for people.

He did his preaching out in the desert, instead of going into the city, so people had to make an effort to come out and hear him.

But when John announced that the Kingdom of Heaven was near, people were electrified.

This was the message they had been waiting for, for a thousand years and more, so we read that

From Jerusalem and all Judea and from the Jordan River Valley crowds of people went to John.

They came out in droves, evidently, from all over the country-side, to listen. But John was also saying that even Jews needed to repent, which gave the Jews some hesitation.

When Gentiles wanted to convert to Judaism, first they were symbolically washed clean by baptism. Jews were familiar with baptizin Gentile converts. But John was a Jew baptizing Jews! This was something entirely new

John’s call to repent was God’s call to His people to return to Him. In scripture, repentance means to "undergo a change of one's mind" which results in a change of the entire direction of a person's life. Biblical repentance is a radical turning away from sin and to Christ.

By submitting to this symbolic rite of water baptism, John was providing for every Jew a public declaration of their confession of their sins, and a commitment to live a holy life, making the roads straight, in anticipation of the coming of the Messiah, Who was the King of Heaven’s kingdom.

There can be no genuine turning to Christ without an accompanying repudiation of sin. The picture of repentance is a significant change of perception, a paradigm shift; joined with an emotional response, sorrow and grief for having acted in a certain way; which results in a change of behavior.

But genuine repentance is not something you and I can do on our own. Scripture makes it clear that God must be in it. God makes a person spiritually alive when they were dead in their sins so that they will be able to repent of their sin and trust in Jesus.

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