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Turn with me in your Bibles to 
John's Gospel. We're in John chapter 4. John 
chapter 4, the Lord Jesus meets with this Samaritan woman, shows 
her, points out to her living water. It is a bit of a confusion 
for her. She's thinking he's talking about 
physical, temporal, literal water. And we see the same sort of thing 
when the disciples return and they talk about food. So I want 
to read beginning in John 4 at verse 27, and we'll read to the 
end of verse 42. 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. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our Father, we thank you for 
the written word of the living and true God, and we pray now 
for the ministry of the Holy Spirit who gave us this word 
to guide our minds and hearts and thoughts, give us grace to 
receive with thanksgiving the implanted word, and may it encourage 
and strengthen our own hearts as we reflect again upon the 
power of our Lord Jesus Christ to save sinners. And God, may 
this gospel, may this truly be good news for those who are here 
in their sins. We pray that you would be merciful, 
that you would bring conviction foresaid and set forth Christ 
in his offices to save. And God, forgive us now, all 
of us, for all of our sin. Cleanse us in that precious blood 
of the Lord Jesus. And we pray in his most blessed 
name. Amen. Well, as John ends chapter two, 
he makes this statement concerning our Lord Jesus. Jesus did not 
commit himself to them because he knew all men. And then in 
225, it says, and he had no need that anyone should testify of 
man for he knew what was in man. He displays this in his encounter 
with Nicodemus in chapter three. And he displays this in his encounter 
with this Samaritan woman in John chapter four. So he's met 
with a woman. He has declared to her that I 
am he with reference to her question in verse 26. She says, are you, 
or we have heard that Christ the Messiah is coming. I know 
that when he comes, he will teach us all things. And he says, I 
am he. So the Lord Jesus, as it were, 
reveals to him, to this particular woman, the nature of his office. Now on the heels of that, we 
find first the testimony of the woman in verses 27 to 30. Secondly, we have the nature 
of the harvest in verses 31 to 38. And then finally, a reference 
to the savior of the world in verses 39 to 42. Just to foreshadow 
a bit, this is where the narrative has been going. It is the declaration 
of the Samaritans that they had in fact found the Christ the 
savior of the world. Remember John 3.16, God so loved 
the world that he gave his only begotten son. John wants us to 
understand that the world there doesn't mean all men without 
exception, but it means men without distinction. Whether you're a 
Jew, whether you're a Samaritan, or whether you're a garden variety 
Gentile, like the Greeks in John 12, the gospel comes to sinners. It doesn't come to only black 
sinners, or white sinners, or Canadian sinners, or American 
sinners, or Jewish sinners. It comes to sinner as sinner, 
such that Christ is, in fact, the Savior of the world. And 
through this woman's testimony, it was enough to evoke the interest 
of these men, such that they went to see for themselves who 
this Lord Jesus was. And having found Him, having 
spent time with Him, they make this grand declaration that He 
is indeed the Savior of the world. So let's look first at the testimony 
of the woman in verses 27 to 30. Remember that the disciples 
had departed. They had left Jesus by Jacob's 
well with this particular woman. And they had gone into the city 
to buy food. So now the disciples return according to verse 27. 
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? They marveled for two reasons. 
One, that he spoke to a woman and two, that she was a Samaritan 
woman. She was notoriously wicked. But 
as we find in his dealings with her, she not only had those two 
strikes against her, but she had a third strike. She was a 
woman, she was a Samaritan, and she had a checkered marital history. Whatever we can say about this 
particular lady, she had problems in the arena of sexual immorality. And that's what Jesus identified 
to her. Now notice secondly, her testimony 
in verses 28 and 29. First of all, remember the Lord's 
revelation in verse 26, I who speak to you am He, the Messiah. 
Now notice in verse 28, the woman then left her water pot, 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? She leaves her water pot. This 
is a good sign. I mean, it's not the case that 
in order to be genuinely converted, you have to leave your water 
pot. You have to first get a water pot, go to the well, and there 
leave it in order to be saved. That's not the point. The point 
is, remember that she was confused about Jesus teaching. When he's 
talking about everlasting life, when he's talking about the water 
that satisfies for everlasting life, she's confused about that. 
She says, sir, the well is deep and you've brought no bucket. 
Well, now she's starting to track. Now she's starting to understand. 
With the revelation that he is, in fact, the Christ, things are 
starting to make sense to her. She does no longer insist on 
the physical water that she had come to the well to fetch. Now 
there is something more important in terms of her own life relative 
to this man and to her own city. Notice that she addresses the 
men of the village and first she issues an invitation. Notice 
in verse 29, come see a man who told me all things that I ever 
did. Could this be the Christ? Now, this invitation is probably 
not as sort of articulated as perhaps yours and mine are when 
we meet people and we talk to them and we evangelize them and 
we tell them about Jesus. But look at what she says to 
them. She says, come see a man who told me all things that I 
ever did. Could this be the Christ? She uses the language that we 
see in chapter 1. When Jesus calls the disciples, 
in verse 39, he said to them, come and see. And then in verse 
46, the same emphasis, Nathanael said to him, can any good thing 
come out of Nazareth? Philip said to him, come and 
see. She uses the identical language. 
John doesn't want us to miss this. What is the significance 
behind this? She's moved from a concern concerning 
physical water to now this refreshing water that brings everlasting 
life. And she tells her village men to come and see a man who 
told me all things that I ever did. Now that's hyperbolic to 
an extent. She doesn't mean that when I 
was three, he was able to see that I played with marbles. That's 
not what she's talking about. It's about her past. It's about 
her situation with her previous husbands and the one that she 
was currently with that was not her husband. She's amazed by 
this. She confesses that what he spoke 
was in fact the truth, but as well it was convicting to her 
in terms of its effect upon her. She knew she was standing in 
the presence of one that had information that men typically 
don't have by nature. She's in the presence of one 
who knew what was in man because he knew man. She was in the presence 
of one who identifies himself as Israel's Messiah. Everything 
the Old Testament stipulated concerning Messiah is yea and 
amen in our Lord Jesus Christ. And he says that to this particular 
woman. And then notice, with reference 
to this come see a man, A.W. Pink makes this observation. 
He says, come. Come was the word of invitation 
that this newly born soul extended to those men. It was a word she 
had learned from Christ's own lips. Look at verse 16. Go call 
your husband and Come here. So Jesus bid her with that same 
language. He says, it is the great word 
of the gospel. It is the word which has resulted 
in peace to countless hearts. I think Pink's absolutely right. 
We're supposed to ponder, we're supposed to contemplate, we're 
supposed to think and meditate upon that usage that we find 
with reference to this woman. Come and see. As believers, by 
grace, we have come, we have seen, we have tasted, and we 
know that the Lord is good. But if you're not a believer 
here this morning, listen to this lady. Listen to what she 
has to say. Later, listen to the testimony 
of the Samaritans. Listen to your friend. Listen 
to your parent. Listen to your children. Listen 
to those who bid you come and see this particular man. It is most crucial. It is most 
imperative. It is most essential. Today we 
talk a lot about what's essential. Today we talk a lot about businesses, 
and churches, and whatever, and what is and what isn't essential. 
This for sure we know is that the most essential thing ever 
for any man, woman, boy, or girl is to stand before a holy God 
cleansed in the blood of Jesus. That is what is essential. That 
is what is crucial. That is the one thing necessary. You may be here today with all 
kinds of concerns in your mind and heart. You may be here today 
with concerns about your work, concerns about your family, concerns 
about your health, concerns about your wealth, whatever those concerns 
may be, listen to the woman. Come and see. It is the gospel 
word that is issued forth. And as well, Calvin makes the 
observation, based on this woman's conduct, what is true of us when 
we are called out of darkness into marvelous light to proclaim 
his praises and excellencies. Calvin says this is the nature 
of faith, that when we have become partakers of eternal life, we 
wish to bring others to share with us. Don't we? We find the 
pearl of great price. What is the typical reflex in 
our hearts? It's to try and bring others. 
It's to try and get them to come and see. Sometimes when we're 
first converted, we do this in belligerent and horrible ways. We do this in ways that we later 
regret. But it's that attitude or that 
disposition of the man who finds that pearl of great price who 
wants others to partake in it. who wants others to participate, 
who understands that, yes, this is most essential. The best thing 
ever is to stand clothed in the righteousness of another, having 
had my sins forgiven, such that when I enter into that holy place, 
God receives me. That is most glorious. Back to Calvin. This is the nature 
of faith that when we have become partakers of eternal life, we 
wish to bring others to share with us. Nor is it possible that 
the knowledge of God shall lie buried and inactive in our hearts 
without being manifested before men. For that saying must be 
true, I believe and therefore I will speak. And that comes 
from the Psalms. I believe and therefore I will 
speak. The Apostle Paul to the Corinthians 
invokes that same passage. Why? Because by grace, Paul was 
conquered on that road to Damascus. By grace, the first thing we 
see him doing. is going into a synagogue and 
testifying that Jesus is in fact the Christ. It is by grace that 
Paul comes out of that darkness into that marvelous light, and 
Paul never tired, and he never stopped, and he never got weary 
in preaching Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Now this woman 
is a model convert at this point. She understands that he's Messiah. She understands that he is the 
one promised. And she now tells others to come 
and see. When she says, could this be 
the Christ? She's finding her way. Again, 
she doesn't have Romans. She doesn't have John's gospel. 
She doesn't have Philippians. She doesn't have what we have 
in the New Testament. She's had this encounter with 
a man who's told her all things that she ever did. When she asks 
about the Christ, he identifies himself that way. Again, she's 
still finding her way in the dark, as it were, to that light. 
And here she comes to the man and says, could this be the Christ? 
Now notice in verse 30, then they went out of the city and 
came to him. They went out of the city and 
came to him. Whatever she was, she was at 
least worthy to be listened to in this regard. No matter what 
kind of sinner she was, what kind of a woman she was, she 
was a Samaritan, like those other Samaritans, they nevertheless 
were interested. They nevertheless listened. Again, 
there was a messianic expectation in the first century, not just 
confined to the Jews, but remember, the Samaritans accepted the five 
books of Moses, Though they rejected the prophets in a more multi-faceted 
exposition of what Messiah would be, they nevertheless had that 
messianic expectation. So he identifies himself to her 
that way. So she comes back. What do they 
do? They listen. They respond. It's one of the 
things that's most grieving about living in North America. We're 
anathematized from discussing politics and religion. You can't 
do that because it upsets people. Well, there's things worse than 
being upset, I gotta tell you. There's things worse than a mild 
offense. There's things worse than, you 
know, not always being perceived as the most courteous person. 
We are forbidden, not forbidden by law, but there's this sort 
of prevailing attitude. The woman told them, come and 
see a man, and they respond. They want to know, they want 
to determine for themselves, they want to investigate. Where's 
that spirit today? Where is it on the part of people 
to say, yeah, if there's something out there, I want to hear about 
it. If there's something that transcends my little existence, 
then I want to know about it. No, we just like to close down, 
we like to shut off, and we like to do our own thing. We are, 
as it were, impervious to this sort of talk. But then notice, 
secondly, so the Samaritan men are leaving their city. They're 
going to come out to meet him. But there's a bit of an interlude. 
The disciples return, and then Jesus speaks concerning the nature 
of the harvest. And again, it coincides with 
the message of the Samaritans. This is the savior of the world. 
Just after Jesus says, look, the fields are white on the harvest. Just after Jesus declares that 
there will be reaping from the sowing that has already taken 
place. There will be wages received 
unto eternal life. See, this is a compact unit that 
goes together and that is consistent with the rest of John's gospel 
to present for us and to us what he does in John 20. These things 
are written so that you may know that Jesus is the Christ, the 
Son of the living God, and that you may believe, and that believing 
in his name, you may have everlasting life. John has an agenda. John has a purpose. John has 
a goal. He wants you to listen. He wants 
you to come and see. And he wants you to believe the 
gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. He didn't write 
this so that everybody go to hell. Again, we've talked about 
this before. There's those churches that teach 
that there's going to be that many people in heaven. There's 
just going to be a handful of people that fall into heaven. 
The book of Revelation tells us it's a great multitude that 
no man can number from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. 
The Bible itself is the best proof that God is in the business 
of saving sinners. It's not that hyper-Calvinistic 
God that grudgingly and in a miserly sort of way lets a few in along 
the way. But his grand purpose is to consign 
the mass of humanity unto damnation. That's not biblical. That's not 
scriptural. That's not even commonsensical. 
Why would God undertake what He undertook in order to manifest 
His glory and the salvation of sinners by His Son to not save 
sinners? It just doesn't make any sense. 
But what we're dealing with in John's Gospel is the Savior of 
the world. Now notice the nature of the 
harvest. The disciples return and they're 
confused. Disciples return and they're 
confused. Notice in verse 31, in the meantime, his disciples 
urged him saying, Rabbi, eat. The disciples had gone into the 
city to buy food, according to verse 8. The disciples were not 
docetists. For those of you who do not know 
what a docetist is, a docetist was an early heretic that plagued 
the church. And what docetist taught was 
that Jesus really didn't come in the flesh. He simply appeared 
to be in the flesh. He was more like a phantom, because 
you see under the influence of some, not all, but some great 
philosophy, the physical was bad. It was not good. The only 
purpose of the physical was to contain the spirit or the soul, 
and that's what's really important. Well, the disciples weren't docetists. 
Jesus didn't simply appear to be a man. Jesus was a man. True humanity, true divinity, 
one glorious person. But as a man, he'd need food. 
He'd need carbohydrates, a minimal amount. He'd need protein. He'd 
need fat. He'd need those sorts of things 
such that he'd be empowered physically to be able to do what God had 
called him unto. So it was not docetism that affected 
the early church rather, or it wasn't docetism that affected 
the minds of these apostles, but rather they saw true humanity. Now notice the explanation of 
his mission in verses 32 to 34. It's one of those places where 
Jesus tells us really good stuff that we really need to listen 
to. In the first place, he makes this declaration. Verse 32, but 
he said to them, I have food to eat of which you do not know. I have food to eat of which you 
do not know. So again, like with the woman, 
they're talking at different levels. The woman is talking 
about Jacob's well and the physical water that you draw out to satisfy 
your physical thirst. Jesus uses that as a foil to 
teach concerning this water of life, to teach concerning spiritual 
things. Well, the same thing is operative 
here. The disciples return and they say, a teacher, you need 
to eat. He says, I've got food to eat 
of which you do not know. So they're talking about whatever 
it is they had stowed away, whatever it is they had fetched in the 
city, they want to bring that to satisfy their master. But 
he says, I have this other food, he's talking at the level of 
spiritual things, and that's what we see as he proceeds here, 
in terms of the nature of the harvest. Notice specifically 
the question that they offer up, verse 33. Therefore the disciples 
said to one another, has anyone brought him anything to eat? 
You should see yourself here, brethren. I should see myself 
here. We're not always the sharpest 
tools in the shed, are we? Has anybody brought... He's talking 
at a completely different level, just like that woman. That woman 
says, the well is deep and you have no bucket. How are you ever 
gonna satisfy your thirst? He's talking about something 
far more sublime, something far more excellent, something far 
more glorious. The same obtains here. The disciples 
are scratching their heads. Who fed him? How's he gonna make 
it? He hasn't had enough nourishment. Now notice how he explains himself 
in this section. Verse 34, Jesus said to them, 
excuse me for a moment, my food is to do the will of him who 
sent me and to finish his work. That is a glorious statement 
that deserves to be unpacked in light of the rest of the gospel 
narrative and in light of the rest of the Bible. In the first 
place, he describes his mission. My food is to do the will of 
him who sent me and to finish his work. He's on a mission from 
the Father. We would call this in theology 
his active obedience, his compliance with the law of God, his doing 
everything that was commanded via God's holy law, active obedience. We absolutely crucially need 
that in order for justification. Not just here, but throughout 
John's gospel, we see this emphasis that Jesus has come to do the 
will of the Father. Look at chapter 5 and verse 30. 
I can of myself do nothing as I hear I judge, and my judgment 
is righteous because I do not seek my own will. but the will 
of the Father who sent me. Look at chapter six at verse 
38, for I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, 
but the will of Him who sent me. This is the will of the Father 
who sent me, that of all that He has given me, I should lose 
nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this 
is the will of Him who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son 
and believes in Him may have everlasting life, and I will 
raise Him up at the last day. You see, The son comes to do 
what the father had given him to do, active obedience. We need a righteousness that 
avails with God. We're not going to bring it because 
we're wretches. We're not going to bring it because 
we engage in idolatry and blasphemy and Sabbath breaking and insubordination 
to authority. We're murderers, we're adulterers, 
we're liars, we're thieves and liars and covetous people. We 
can't just get better. We can't just try harder. We 
can't just do more. Rather, God calls us to look 
to his son who obeyed the law perfectly in every jot and diddle. He always did what the father 
said. He didn't do it with grudging 
intent. He didn't do it with any sort 
of complaint. He complied. He always did what his father 
commanded. Why? So that when sinners believe 
in him, we are forgiven of our sins based on what we would call 
his passive obedience, his death on Calvary. We need his blood 
to wash us. We need his blood to cleanse 
us. We need his blood to purify us because we're filthy and undone. 
But again, we need righteousness so that we can enter into the 
presence of God. So when we believe the gospel 
by God's grace, we're not only forgiven, but as the Bible teaches, 
we are given the righteousness of Christ, and it's received 
by faith alone. It's a beautiful transaction. 
It's a most blessed situation, and Paul treats it in 2 Corinthians. 
He says that God made Him, Christ, who knew no sin, to be sin for 
us, that we might become what? The righteousness of God in Him. I do not set aside the grace 
of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ 
died in vain. Galatians 2.21. What's Paul indicating 
there? He's indicating that we need 
righteousness. Doesn't God Most High declare 
this on several occasions? It is better to obey than to 
sacrifice. He says that in 1 Samuel chapter 
15. He says that in the book of Hebrews. 
It is better to obey than to sacrifice. In salvation, Specifically, 
in justification, we are not only forgiven of our sins, but 
we receive the righteousness of Jesus. It is accredited to 
us and it is received by faith alone. So back to John chapter 
four, when he says, my food is to do the will of him who sent 
me and to finish his work. We should appreciate the act 
of obedience of our blessed Savior. As well, this statement, for 
those at least who've been reading the book on the Trinity, reflects 
the missions, remember missions, the sending of the Son and the 
Spirit by the Father. They don't exhaust the relation 
between Father, Son, and Spirit, but it does reveal something 
to us about God Most High. Notice what Jesus says in verse 
34. My food is to do the will of 
what? Of Him who sent me. He's the only begotten Son. The father is unbegotten, the 
son is begotten, the spirit proceeds from the father and the son. 
Again, this doesn't exhaust the relations, but it certainly reveals 
the relations that obtains between the father and the son. The father 
sends the son in order to save his people from their sins. And 
then notice this resolution to do his work, or to finish his 
work. In theology, we have something 
called the covenant of redemption. I don't want to bore you or take 
too long away from the sermon here, but basically, the covenant 
of redemption happened before the foundation of the world, 
where the Father chose to save a miserable group of sinners, 
and the Son promises covenants to be their surety, to be their 
mediator, to be their prophet, priest, and king. So when we 
look at the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ, He's 
resolute. He's not a haphazard. He's not 
just hoping that it may pan out. But remember in Luke chapter 
nine, when he makes that embarkment onto the city of Jerusalem, it 
says he set his face like a flint. He was steadfast. He wasn't the 
hippie Jesus of Jesus Christ superstar that just wandered 
around the hills of Israel, drinking chamomile tea and not understanding 
why he came. He comes to finish the work of 
the Father. And that means the salvation 
of guilty, vile, helpless sinners like you and I. So in verse 34, 
Jesus says a lot of theology in a very short span. And we 
ought to delight in it and rejoice in it. My food is to do the will 
of Him who sent me and to finish His work. Again, He's doing that 
because that's not our food. None of us can say that. I don't 
care how good a soul winner you are. I don't care how holy you 
are. I don't care how morally pure you are. You are not Jesus. None of us can say, my food is 
to do the will of Him who sent me. That's just not us, brethren. 
He says that because we never will. He says that because we 
never do. He says that because we never 
have. If God doesn't send the son of 
his love, then we die in our sins. Now notice the Lord's instruction 
on the heels of this. Verse 35, 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. Again, he's operating it the 
same way. He appeals to something known in the physical realm. 
Don't you realize that in four months there's going to be a 
harvest? They knew that. They understood that. They weren't 
sort of, you know, foreigners in Israel. They understood the 
law of sowing and reaping. They understood time frames in 
terms of harvest. So he appeals to something they 
know in the physical, and then he draws again a spiritual application 
from this. And this one, look at what he 
says. Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the 
fields, for they are already white for harvest. They wouldn't 
have been. At the time that Jesus spoke 
this, the fields, physically and temporally, would not have 
been white for harvest. But he says they are. Why? Because 
probably when they looked up, they'd see those men from the 
Samaritan village coming to meet with him. They would lift up 
their eyes and see the spiritual fields white under harvest. Jesus is teaching his disciples 
that Samaritans get to enter into the kingdom based on the 
Messiah of Israel. He is teaching them that he is 
in fact the savior of the world. Lift up your eyes. Don't be so 
introspective. Don't be so much looking at your 
own nation or your own people group that you forget the mass 
of humanity, the other tribes, the other tongues, the other 
peoples, the other nations. This is why I read Psalm 67 at 
the outset of worship. What does the psalmist say? That 
God will cause his face to shine upon who? The nation of Israel? Upon the nations. In Isaiah 42 
and 49, there is the servant songs of Yahweh, and the prophet, 
or rather the Messiah that is promised to come, will be a light 
not only to the Jews, he will not only recover the lost tribes 
of Jacob, but he will be given as a light unto the Gentiles. 
See, Jesus is teaching that to them. Jesus is affirming that 
to them. Jesus is telling them, it's not 
just about your own narrow ghetto. It's about the entirety of the 
world. The Messiah that hails from Israel 
is the Savior of the world. So lift up your eyes. They're 
white for harvest. It is the Samaritans that are 
coming down that particular hill. The background to this, Amos 
9.13, a promise, a new covenant blessing. Behold, the days are 
coming, says the Lord, when the plowman shall overtake the reaper 
and the treader of grapes, him who sows seed. The mountains 
shall drip with sweet wine and all the hills shall flow with 
it. That fits beautifully with what we're seeing in John's gospel 
up to this point. Jesus turns the water into wine, 
not for some cheap parlor trick, but to underscore that the new 
covenant has come. The blessings, the promises, 
the anticipation has been realized now. in the Word, the one who 
was with God and the one who was God, the Word who became 
flesh and tabernacled among us. That's what Jesus is affirming 
to these disciples. Notice he speaks to the division 
of labor with reference to this. He says in verse 36, he who reaps 
receives wages and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he 
who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. Now the obvious 
application is the prophets and the apostles. The ones who sowed 
were the ones who lived during the time of promise. They were 
the ones that lived during the time of anticipation. They were 
the Isaiahs. They were the Jeremiahs. They 
were the Micahs. They were those sowers who were 
recording, under the inspiration and power of the Holy Spirit, 
what God would do in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. What God 
would do in the revelation of the Messiah. So the sowers, according 
to redemptive history, is everyone who preceded these disciples. 
Every man who wrote, every man who preached. John the Baptist 
was another one who sowed, who made preparation for this time 
of reaping. such that now the disciples, 
having been deputized by Christ, can go, therefore, to make disciples 
of all the nations, to baptize them, and to teach them to observe 
all that He had commanded, and that He promises that He would 
be with them even to the end of the age. So the sowers are 
the Old Testament prophets, the reapers are the New Testament 
preachers, the apostles, the disciples, the evangelists, And 
notice what Jesus says in verse 36, he who reaps receives wages 
and gathers fruit for eternal life. The wages there aren't, 
you know, you're gonna get 50 bucks for every soul that converts, 
that's not it. The wages is the blessed joy 
of sharing or participating in this glorious plan of God to 
save his people from their sins. That's the wages, that's the 
blessing, that's the joy. So notice, he who reaps receives 
wages and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows, 
the prophets, and he who reaps may what? They may rejoice together. You see, the saving of souls, 
that most essential thing, that out of darkness into marvelous 
light, that's what brings joy to the people of God. Remember 
the lesson in Luke chapter 15, all the sinners drew near to 
hear Jesus. tax collectors and all the, just 
the hoi polloi, the bad people, they all draw near to hear Jesus. So what do the religious leaders 
do? What do the scribes and the Pharisees do? They complain, 
they grumble, they're upset. What's the nature of their complaint? 
This man receives sinners and eats with them. You can see the 
contempt dripping off of them. You can see their judgmental 
attitude. You can see their contrary way 
to the work of God most high. This man receives sinners and 
he eats with them. What an insult. So I would submit 
that all the sinners are probably wondering, what's he going to 
say? How is he going to answer? How is he going to respond to 
this? Wouldn't you? If I was one of the hoi polloi 
that happened to draw near to hear him and I heard that complaint, 
I'd shoot my eyes to Jesus to hear how he's going to answer. 
Is he going to say, no, I don't. I don't like these icky, nasty 
people. Get away from me. Or is he going to say something 
else? Well, Jesus says something else 
and he says it three times. He says it by way of three illustrations, 
three pictures, three parables. In the first place, he says that 
there is a shepherd who loses a sheep and he leaves the 99 
sheep and he goes and he finds that one sheep and he grabs it 
and he puts it on his shoulders and he goes back. What is he 
doing when he goes back? He's rejoicing. He says he does 
it like a woman who loses a coin. She doesn't say, well, I'll just 
write it off at the end of the year. No, she moves the furniture, 
she picks up her broom, and she finds that coin. What does she 
do when she finds it? Oh, I found my coin. She rejoices. And then with that man who had 
the two sons, and the one son says, Father, you're better off 
to me dead than alive. I just want my share of the inheritance. 
Give me my loot so I can do what I want to do. So this young man 
takes the father's loot. He goes out in the field, or 
he goes out in the far country, and he lives a godless life. 
And then he comes to himself. He's not converted when he comes 
to himself. He's not converted till the father runs from the 
porch and falls on him, and robes him, and blesses him, and gives 
him life eternal. But what happens with the other 
son? He's like the Pharisees and the 
scribes. He's upset. He's like them saying, 
oh, this man receives sinners and eats with them. He grumbles, 
he whines, he moans. And what does the father say? 
Son, it was right for me to do this. This son who was lost is 
now found. This son who was dead is now 
alive. What's the point? Pharisees and 
scribes and persons who grumble over the gospel, bad. Persons 
who rejoice in the salvation of sinners? Good! Same thing 
at Luke 19. Zacchaeus shimmies up that sycamore 
tree so that he can look down and see Jesus. When Jesus bids 
him to come down and says, I'm going to have dinner at your 
house tonight, how does the crowd respond? They're murmuring, they're 
grumbling, they're complaining, they don't like that. You see, 
persons who understand that Christ is altogether lovely, when persons 
understand that he is the pearl of great price, when persons 
get that bee in their bonnet and they can't wait to tell others 
about Jesus, when God saves those sinners, what do they do? They 
rejoice, they praise God, they bless God. The best prayer meetings, 
I mean, all prayer meetings are wonderful. Those prayer meetings 
where persons come and say, oh, my friend or my neighbor or my 
family member confessed faith in Jesus Christ. We have a brother 
and a sister that used to be in our church. They moved away 
to Ontario many years ago. This day, their three daughters 
are being baptized. Praise God Almighty. See, it's 
not the case that we don't want others to share with us. We want 
everybody. We want sinners to come. We want 
you to taste and see that He's good. There's no miserliness 
in the kingdom of God. There's no Ebenezer Scrooges 
in the kingdom of God. The reapers and the sowers rejoice 
because they're seeing the work of the Savior in the conquest 
of sinners. That brings glory to God. It 
brings cheer to the hearts of His people. And then notice, 
with reference to the power behind this, verse 37, for in this the 
saying is true, one sows and another reaps. Again, this is 
obvious physical situation employed in a spiritual way. But then 
notice in verse 38, I sent you to reap that for which you have 
not labored. Others have labored and you have 
entered into their labors. The Geneva Bible says the doctrine 
of the prophets was, as it were, a sowing time, and the doctrine 
of the gospel as the harvest. And there is an excellent agreement 
between them both and the ministers of them both. So there's sowers, 
there's reapers. But note the power behind them 
both. Verse 38, I sent you. Again, the language of the Great 
Commission is conspicuous here. Go, therefore, and make disciples 
of all the nations, baptize them, and teach them. The language 
of Matthew chapter 9 is also very appropriate here. Matthew 
9, it says, when He, Jesus, saw the multitudes, He was moved 
with compassion for them. Why? Why was he moved with compassion 
for them? Because they were poor? Because 
they had sickness? Because they were ill? Because 
they were maimed? Because they were lame? Certainly, 
Jesus is about the physical. Certainly, Jesus is about the 
temporal. Certainly, Jesus is concerned 
not only with our soul, but with our body, because Jesus is an 
agnostic. But notice, when he saw the multitudes, 
he was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary 
and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. It's an indictment 
upon the religious situation in the first century. The fact 
that the Samaritans in our passage are confessing that he is the 
savior of the world is an indictment upon Israel in the first century. Remember when Jesus in John chapter 
2 goes in to cleanse the temple? What was that? It's an indictment 
upon the religious situation in Israel at this time. It was 
a mess. And these sheep that Jesus looked 
upon that were weary and without any sort of concern or care, 
they were under the religious teachers of his day that were 
horrible people. But then it goes on. It's not 
our harvest. We don't own it. We don't possess it. We just 
get the privilege and the prerogative to work in it. It isn't ours. It isn't us. It isn't about you and me. It's 
about Christ Most High at the right hand of the Father, sending 
forth the Spirit, blessing and empowering His church such that 
they can undertake in what He has called them to, to go out 
and to reap what has been sown and to bless God for the privilege 
of being able to do so. Now that brings us now to the 
Samaritans, finally. Notice in verses 39 to 42, the 
savior of the world. We have a reference to the woman's 
testimony, again, in verse 39. Many of the Samaritans of that 
city believed in him. Again, how many times do we just 
read passages like that and we don't stop to ponder? Many, many 
in Samaria? Remember, this is the messed 
up Samaritans. These aren't, you know, with 
a great religious pedigree. These are persons that were basically 
taken from other nations and populated this region in Israel 
way back in the 700s BC. They engaged in all kinds of 
wickedness in terms of idolatry and syncretism. They were just 
miserable people. And yet many of the Samaritans 
have come from the city, according to verse 30, Many of the Samaritans 
have listened to this woman's testimony again. You don't find 
many people today who are even interested one whit in what the 
Bible has to say in this Western world. I understand it's different 
in other parts of the world that you can actually talk about religion 
and politics without cutting each other's heads off or avoiding 
each other for the rest of your life. It just ought not to be 
that way, but we've been conditioned to be sissies, and if anybody 
ever challenges us with anything we don't like, that's it! It's 
done! You're over! That's just not 
cool at all, whatsoever. But in this instance, the Samaritans 
believed. Notice the testimony of the woman. The 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." Now notice, they 
want this, they understand this, but then they make a special 
appeal to the Savior in verse 40. So when the Samaritans had 
come to him, they urged him to stay with them and he stayed 
there two days. Now this is intriguing for two 
reasons. One, because they wanted Jesus 
to be with them. This is a good sign. Persons 
who hate Jesus don't want Jesus to be with them. You can witness 
this all throughout society today. But secondly, Jesus went to be 
with them. You get this idea that God doesn't 
really save, that he doesn't really have this large heart 
filled with love and compassion for needy sinners. It's just 
not sustainable in a search of the scriptures. If that were 
the case, Jesus would say, oh no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm not 
gonna spend any time with you. You get a little bit from this 
woman. I've got bigger and brighter things that I need to do. He 
spent two days with them. And what does he do when he's 
there with them for those two days? He speaks the word of truth 
to them. It is a most blessed and wonderful 
thing. And I take from this the absolute 
importance for you to spend time in the words of Jesus. Sometimes 
people say, well, I have an interest in the gospel. I have an interest 
in religion. I have an interest in Christianity. 
I have an interest in being saved. I've heard enough to scare me 
about not being saved. I really want to be saved. What 
should I do? Well, obviously the first response is believe 
on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. The second 
is read the Bible. How many times have you met people 
that have this earnest longing for salvation and they never 
read the Bible? I just don't get it. If you really 
have an earnest longing for salvation, guess what you might try? You 
might actually read the Bible. You might actually spend time 
with Jesus. You might actually listen to 
the words of eternal life. You might end up saying with 
Peter, when Jesus says, do you also wanna leave? Peter says, 
Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal 
life. So if you're interested or serious about your soul, pick 
up your Bible and read it. The Samaritans had the wherewithal 
and the chutzpah to urge him to stay with them and he stayed 
there two days. And then it tells us, and many 
more believed because of his own word. There's a revival happening 
in Samaria. There's a revival happening in 
the city of Sychar. There's a revival happening under 
the presence and the power of the Messiah, operative by the 
Holy Spirit in the hearts of men, showing them who He is, 
revealing to them His altogether loveliness, and giving them the 
graces of faith and repentance that they might close with Him. 
And then the passage of the narrative of the section ends on that high 
note of their confession in verse 42. Notice, then they said to 
the woman, now we believe not because of what you said. They're 
not discounting. They're not disregarding. They're 
not saying, oh, you sinful, horrible woman. That's not it at all. 
All they're saying is that we have seen him for ourselves. 
We have heard Him for ourselves. We believe, not because of what 
you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know. This is 
something these men knew that Israel missed. This is something 
that these men received that Israel was missing. We know that 
He is the Christ. And we know that He is the Savior 
of the world. It is a most glorious declaration, 
and it's not only glorious, but it's hope-filled. This is not 
just true in the first century with reference to Jews, with 
reference to Samaritans, with reference to Greeks. but this 
is operative in the here and now. Christ is the savior of 
the world. We preach him boldly to all sinners 
everywhere, calling them to believe on him and to turn from their 
sins. And we have the confident expectation 
that God most high will save a great multitude of them that 
no man can number. And he'll do so from tribe, tongue, 
people, and nation, because Christ is the savior of the world. In 
fact, turn back. to the prophet Isaiah in chapter 
49. Isaiah 49, we're gonna close 
this in just a few minutes, but in Isaiah chapter 49, we see 
that emphasis in a prophetic passage. Again, these are servant 
songs of the Lord, four of them in the prophet Isaiah, various 
facets of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The most famous, 
of course, is chapter 53, the one where he is a man of sorrows 
and acquainted with grief, a passage that we could almost call Isaiah 
an apostle because it's so evangelistic, so evangelical. But notice in 
chapter 49 verse 5, And now the Lord says, who formed me from 
the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, so that 
Israel is gathered to him. For I shall be glorious in the 
eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength. Think about 
that too. In light of what he says in verse 
32, my food is to do the will of him who sent me. See, that's 
still operative even in the pre-incarnate state. As well, it is to finish 
his work. Same sort of thing here in verse 
5. I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God 
shall be my strength. Indeed, he says, it is too small 
a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes 
of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel. I will also give 
you as a light to the Gentiles that you should be my salvation 
to the ends of the earth. Lo and behold, we come to a Samaritan 
city in the first century and we find that it's not Israel 
that's confessing this, but rather it's Samaria that's confessing 
this. Again, an indictment upon the 
religious condition of the first century Jews at the time of the 
Messiah. He is the Savior of the world. And again, world is not all men 
without exception, but it's without distinction. You could be a Jew, 
you could be a Samaritan, you could be a Gentile. You could 
be one of those categories of persons. What qualifies you for 
salvation is nothing. It's that you have the sin that 
you need to be saved from, and that it's God in his good pleasure 
who has chose us in him before the foundation of the world. 
Well, in conclusion, let's visit those main categories again. 
The testimony of the woman. I cannot escape the connection 
between this woman and what we have in the Song of Solomon. 
The Song of Solomon is about Christ and his church. The Puritan 
John Owen describes it this way. The whole book of canticles, 
which is another name for song, is designed to no other purpose. 
but variously to show forth, to insinuate and represent the 
mutual love of Christ and the Church. Blessed is he who understands 
the sayings of that book and has the experience of them in 
his heart." That's the best hermeneutical help you'll get for the book 
of Song of Solomon. But in Song of Solomon, there's 
a bit where the bride describes her man. Now listen to how the 
bride describes her man. It's not the way we would. There's 
an Eastern situation here. We usually say he's got, you 
know, nice biceps or she's got a pretty face or something like 
that. That's essentially what the bride is doing, but in sort 
of a convention that we wouldn't typically operate in. She says, 
my beloved is white and ruddy, chief among 10,000. His head 
is like the finest gold, his locks are wavy and black as a 
raven. His eyes are like doves by the 
rivers of waters, washed with milk and fitly set. His cheeks 
are like a bed of spices. banks of scented herbs. His lips 
are lilies, dripping liquid myrrh. His hands are rods of gold set 
with barrel. His body is carved ivory inlaid 
with sapphires. His legs are pillars of marble 
set on bases of fine gold. His countenance is like Lebanon, 
excellent as the cedars. His mouth is most sweet. Yes, 
he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this 
is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem. Now, I realize that 
the Samaritan woman didn't get in to that degree of detail. I get that. But it's what happens 
in chapter 6 of Song, verse 1, that really resonates in terms 
of what happens with this woman's testimony to the men in the village. The daughters of Jerusalem say, 
Where has your beloved gone, O fairest among women? Where has your beloved turned 
aside that we may seek him with you? See, that's what this woman 
does. This woman tells the villagers, 
come, see a man who told me all things that I ever did. Again, 
brethren, I don't think she did it in some morose, depressed, 
sorrowful way. She's probably bubbly. She is probably joyful. She is 
probably delighted. Come, see a man. That resonated 
with these men. They leave according to verse 
30. They come down the hillside. 
They're the living embodiment of the fields being white unto 
harvest. They come, they testify, they 
affirm that He is both Christ and He is the Son of God. So 
the bride describes her man in this particular way, in such 
a way that the persons to whom she describes him have this response. Where is he that we might find 
him too? Brethren, as evangelists, as 
pastors, as preachers, as those who teach the word of God, We 
describe Christ the way Christ is. He's altogether lovely. He's chief among 10,000. He saves 
to the uttermost. All who draw nigh unto God through 
Him. We ought to take the scripture 
like this woman. to bring it to bear upon others, 
not in obnoxiousness, not in a horrible sort of a way, but 
in this manner of the pearl merchant who finds this pearl of greatest 
price and he delights in it. The church of Christ has everything 
in Christ and therefore she must be about preaching Him and Him 
crucified and Him resurrected in such a manner and in such 
a fashion that the Spirit is well-pleased to bless and attend 
and open hearts so that, like these Samaritans, they are able 
to see that He is the Christ and that He is, in fact, the 
Savior of the world. That is an encouragement for 
the church today and for sinners today. Listen to Jesus. Certainly listen to the woman 
of Samaria. Certainly listen to these Samaritan 
villagers who testify that he is the Christ and he is the savior 
of the world, but be in the word of God. Read the gospel narratives. Learn of Jesus. Read Luke 15. If you're a sinner, and by sinner 
I mean all of us are sinner, but there are some saved by grace 
and others that are not. And if you're one of the others 
that are not, don't despair, don't sorrow, don't be distressed. 
Rather, come and see. Listen to the Savior, read Luke 
15, see the heart of Jesus, see His benevolence, see His beneficence, 
see that John 3.16 is a reality. God so loved the world that He 
gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should 
not perish but have everlasting life. This is John's goal for 
you today. He says in verses 30 and 31 in 
chapter 20, and truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence 
of his disciples, which are not written in this book, but these 
are written that you, Not me, I have by grace, but you is what 
he says in chapter 20 in verses 30 and 31. That you may believe 
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing 
you may have life in his name. Well, let us pray. Our Father 
in heaven, we thank you for the encouragement that we have as 
a church to set forth Christ in all of his loveliness, as 
prophet, priest, and king, as the one who is the Christ, the 
one who is the Savior of the world. We thank you for that 
work of redemption on behalf of the Lord Jesus. We thank you 
for his fulfillment of all the law of God and his sacrifice. 
and death and resurrection again. And Lord, we pray that wherever 
this gospel is proclaimed today, that you would be pleased to 
save sinners from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. 
And God bless and encourage our hearts and help us to be faithful 
evangelists, to invite others to come and to see the Lord of 
glory. And we pray in his most blessed name, amen. Well, you 
can turn in your hymn books and we'll close our service by singing 
568. 568, we'll stand as we sing together. ♪ Praise Him, all creatures here 
below ♪ ♪ Praise Him, Abba, the earthly host ♪ ♪ Praise Father, 
Son, and Holy Ghost ♪ Ah... The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ 
and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you 
all. Amen. Father, we thank you and we praise 
you and we bless you for your gracious salvation. We know we 
didn't earn it. We know that we haven't worked 
for it. We know it isn't dependent upon our performance, but it's 
because of what Christ has done in finishing the work that the 
Father had given to him, both in his life and in his death. 
And again, in his resurrection, we have everything necessary 
for salvation. We give praise to you for the 
Lord Jesus. Again, bless the gospel as it 
is proclaimed this day. And we pray in His name. Amen. Well, please be seated for a 
brief time of meditation.