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Gospel of John chapter 4 verse 1.

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The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and

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baptizing more disciples than John, although in fact

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it was not Jesus who baptized, but his

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disciples.

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When the Lord learned of this, he left

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Judea and went back once more to Galilee.

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Now he had to go through Samaria, so

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he came to a town in Samaria called

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Sycha, near the plot of ground Jacob had

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given to his son Joseph.

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Jacob's well was there and Jesus, tired as

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he was from the journey, sat down by

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the well.

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It was about the sixth hour.

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When a Samaritan woman came to draw water,

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Jesus said to her, Will you give me

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a drink?

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His disciples had gone into the town to

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buy food.

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The Samaritan woman said to him, You are

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a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman.

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How can you ask me for a drink?

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For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.

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Jesus answered her, If you knew the gift

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of God and who it is that asks

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you for a drink, you would have asked

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him and he would have given you living

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water.

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Sir, the woman said, You have nothing to

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draw with and the well is deep.

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Where can you get this living water?

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Are you greater than our father Jacob, who

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gave us the well and drank from it

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himself, as did also his sons and his

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flocks and herds?

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Jesus answered, Everyone who drinks this water will

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be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water

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I give him will never thirst.

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Indeed, the water I give him will become

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in him a spring of water welling up

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to eternal life.

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The woman said to him, Sir, give me

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this water so that I won't get thirsty

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and have to keep coming here to draw

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water.

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He told her, Go, call your husband and

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come back.

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I have no husband, she replied.

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Jesus said to her, You are right when

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you say you have no husband.

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The fact is, you have had five husbands

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and the man you now have is not

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your husband.

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What you have just said is quite true.

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Sir, the woman said, I can see that

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you are a prophet.

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Our father is worshipped on this mountain, but

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you Jews claim that the place where we

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must worship is in Jerusalem.

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Jesus declared, Believe me, woman, a time is

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coming when you will worship the Father neither

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on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.

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You Samaritans worship what you do not know.

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We worship what we do know, for salvation

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is from the Jews.

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Yet a time is coming, and has now

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come, when the true worshippers will worship the

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Father in spirit and truth, for they are

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the kind of worshippers the Father seeks.

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God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship

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in spirit and in truth.

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The woman said, I know that Messiah called

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Christ is coming.

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When he comes, he will explain everything to

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us.

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Then Jesus declared, I who speak to you

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am he.

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Leaping on to verse 39, many of the

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Samaritans from that town believed in Jesus because

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of the woman's testimony.

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He told me everything I ever did.

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So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they

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urged him to stay with them, and he

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stayed two days.

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And because of his words, many more became

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believers.

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They said to the woman, We no longer

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believe just because of what you said.

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Now we've heard for ourselves, and we know

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that this man really is the Savior of

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the world.

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Amen.

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Well, many of us may remember from lessons

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in school, the great word Eureka, Eureka, the

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great word of discovery.

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A man sat in a bath, and he

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discovered something.

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I have found it, Eureka.

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That was his cry.

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It will be true to say this evening

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that Eureka, the discovery, the search, the hope,

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the human aspiration, the desire to discover, to

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find is indeed the great human aspiration and

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desire to seek, to find in different walks

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of life.

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What do you hope to find?

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What do you hope to discover?

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How pathetic, indeed, how doomed any civilization will

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be when they have lost that great desire

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to seek and to find new things, new

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ideas, new horizons, a society that continues to

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dream, continues to hope.

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Indeed, all human civilizations, all human cultures are

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driven by that great motivating need to discover,

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to discover, to create, to design, to invent,

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to compose, in finding ways, new ways of

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communicating with each other, in medicine and healing,

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in science, in all kinds of ways.

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People want to find out.

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People want to discover.

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And they want to, thankfully, share with us

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their discoveries.

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We are all this evening beneficiaries of those

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who have gone before us, and they found

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something out.

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And we benefit from that.

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The people who look for new lands, the

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people who are still looking for new stars,

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are there any new worlds left to conquer?

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The history of researchers, the history of old

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and new technologies, they're all propelled by this

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same thirst, by this same desire to find

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and to discover.

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And the religious experience and religious expression and

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world religions all testify this evening that there

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are people seeking, there are people wanting to

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know, is there an ultimate being?

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How can we find him?

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Where is he?

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Is he there at all?

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Is she there at all?

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The great search, ultimate purpose, why am I

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here?

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What's the point of it all?

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Destiny, the meaning of life.

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Alan mentioned in his prayer, reality.

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People who are fed up with the joke

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and the act and the boredom, they want

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reality.

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Well, discovery is the big theme of John's

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Gospel.

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I want you to turn back to that

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section that Alan read for us this evening.

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This is the big theme that this Gospel

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addresses.

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This discovering, this seeking, this searching for truth

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and for meaning and for reality.

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Indeed, John is the only biographer that tells

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us directly in his account of the life

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and the ministry of Christ why he's actually

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collated it together.

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Why has he put the biography together at

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all?

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You may know that in chapter 20 and

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in that 30th and 31st verse, John tells

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us the purpose of his writing.

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Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the

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presence of his disciples which are not recorded

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in this book.

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So John says, I've been selective in what

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I've put together.

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And what I've put together, these are written

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that you may believe that Jesus is the

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Christ, the Son of God, and that by

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believing you may have life in his name.

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That's the discovery.

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You may discover life.

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You may find life in the name and

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in the person of Jesus Christ.

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That is the great discovery, what we might

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call the discovery of faith.

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That in believing, in trusting, in accepting, in

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acknowledging Jesus Christ, the Son of God, that

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you may have life, continue to have life

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in his name.

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John's gospel tells us about the source and

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the origin of life.

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It tells us about the quality of life.

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It's eternal life.

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It's not life as described by humans for

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humans.

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It's a divine life, described by the ultimate

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divine, by Jesus Christ himself.

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He tells us what life is.

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He describes reality for us.

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It's his life.

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The life of Christ is given to men

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and women who believe in him.

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Eternal life.

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And it's not just eternal in terms of

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quality, but it is everlasting in its duration.

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It does not run out.

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It is not limited.

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It does not stop at any point, not

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even the point of death.

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It goes on forever and forever.

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And the source and the origin of this

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life, John's gospel tells us, is not in

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a system.

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It is not in ritual, not even religious

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ritual.

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The source and the origin of this life

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is in a person.

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The person of Jesus Christ.

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And what John does in his biography, in

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his gospel, of course, is to introduce us

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to people.

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Real people in real places.

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And these people make this discovery.

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They find out not only things about themselves

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and about the world they lived in, but

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they find out about God.

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They find out about his Son, the Lord

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Jesus Christ.

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And they find out about how it is

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possible for them to have a relationship with

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this God.

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Indeed, throughout John's gospel, you have the description

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of God as Father.

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To have a relationship as intimate, a relationship

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as personal, a relationship as real and as

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meaningful as that.

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That this great, invisible, unseen God, made visible

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in Jesus Christ, can become my Father.

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John himself, the author, tells us with that

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measure of delight, with that measure, indeed, even

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of excitement, how he came to discover the

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true identity of Jesus Christ.

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In the first chapter, we are told of

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John the Baptist, how he, although a blood

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relation of the Lord Jesus Christ, how he

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came to discover the true identity, the true

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person, the true character of Jesus Christ.

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Andrew, Simon, these are the names of the

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people.

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Nathanael, in that first chapter too.

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And then that wonderful verse in John chapter

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2, Jesus is in a wedding, you remember

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the story.

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He miraculously, supernaturally, changes that water into wine.

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He shows his complete and total authority over

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the elements of nature, as he does, indeed,

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throughout this gospel.

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We are told in the first of these

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miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee.

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He thus revealed his glory.

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The disciples discover this isn't just a man.

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He's not just a man.

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He is more than a man.

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And they see something of his glory, of

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who he really is.

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They discover that.

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And his disciples put their faith in him.

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They discover that he can be trusted.

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He can be believed upon.

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He can be known.

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In chapter 3, Nicodemus comes to a similar

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realization.

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He discovers in the dark of night that

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Jesus Christ is the son of God.

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And that God so loved the world that

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he'd given this son.

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And Nicodemus discovers wonderful things about the Lord

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Jesus Christ.

276
00:12:25,840 --> 00:12:27,120
So it's a book of discovery.

277
00:12:27,920 --> 00:12:31,240
It's a book that touches, if you like,

278
00:12:31,380 --> 00:12:33,280
the big issue of every day and every

279
00:12:33,280 --> 00:12:34,280
generation.

280
00:12:35,460 --> 00:12:36,100
Discovering.

281
00:12:36,820 --> 00:12:37,200
Seeking.

282
00:12:37,380 --> 00:12:37,660
Finding.

283
00:12:38,300 --> 00:12:41,880
And John's gospel says we may find in

284
00:12:41,880 --> 00:12:45,420
Christ not just the meaning of life, but

285
00:12:45,420 --> 00:12:47,860
that it is life from God himself.

286
00:12:48,740 --> 00:12:50,880
But I want to concentrate this evening on

287
00:12:50,880 --> 00:12:51,700
John chapter 4.

288
00:12:51,800 --> 00:12:52,980
That is the chapter that was read, of

289
00:12:52,980 --> 00:12:53,280
course.

290
00:12:54,640 --> 00:12:58,920
And there in this chapter, the individual and

291
00:12:58,920 --> 00:13:01,640
then the group of people in Samaria who

292
00:13:01,640 --> 00:13:05,240
make this great and tremendous discovery.

293
00:13:06,340 --> 00:13:08,180
We heard last night about the veil being

294
00:13:08,180 --> 00:13:09,120
drawn back.

295
00:13:09,620 --> 00:13:11,300
Well, here is a drawing back of a

296
00:13:11,300 --> 00:13:11,500
veil.

297
00:13:11,600 --> 00:13:13,140
And these people see someone.

298
00:13:14,100 --> 00:13:15,460
And they come to know someone.

299
00:13:16,040 --> 00:13:19,200
And we have recorded for us in John

300
00:13:19,200 --> 00:13:21,980
chapter 4 the discovery that these Samaritans make.

301
00:13:22,380 --> 00:13:24,040
It's a remarkable discovery.

302
00:13:24,460 --> 00:13:26,980
It's a tremendous discovery.

303
00:13:27,920 --> 00:13:30,480
And I want to focus on that testimony

304
00:13:30,480 --> 00:13:32,540
as it is put for us in that

305
00:13:32,540 --> 00:13:33,360
last verse.

306
00:13:33,520 --> 00:13:35,400
Verse 42 of chapter 4.

307
00:13:35,480 --> 00:13:36,660
This is their testimony.

308
00:13:36,840 --> 00:13:37,800
The very last line.

309
00:13:37,940 --> 00:13:42,120
We know that this man really is the

310
00:13:42,120 --> 00:13:43,140
savior of the world.

311
00:13:43,380 --> 00:13:44,280
That's the discovery.

312
00:13:45,460 --> 00:13:47,840
And just in the very description, in the

313
00:13:47,840 --> 00:13:51,200
very profession, in the very testimony of these

314
00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:53,740
people, we sense their own amazement.

315
00:13:53,860 --> 00:13:55,300
They've come to know something they never knew

316
00:13:55,300 --> 00:13:55,700
before.

317
00:13:56,180 --> 00:13:57,860
They've come to meet someone that they've never

318
00:13:57,860 --> 00:13:58,940
met before.

319
00:13:59,140 --> 00:14:00,160
They've come to understand.

320
00:14:01,180 --> 00:14:02,980
They have come into a knowledge that is

321
00:14:02,980 --> 00:14:04,040
new and fresh.

322
00:14:04,420 --> 00:14:07,500
We know that this man who has visited

323
00:14:07,500 --> 00:14:08,140
our town.

324
00:14:08,340 --> 00:14:10,280
He's been with us here for two days.

325
00:14:10,280 --> 00:14:15,360
This man really is the savior of the

326
00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:15,820
world.

327
00:14:16,900 --> 00:14:19,600
This is one of the earliest Christian confessions.

328
00:14:20,420 --> 00:14:24,820
This is one of the earliest confessions of

329
00:14:24,820 --> 00:14:28,940
faith in the church, in the community of

330
00:14:28,940 --> 00:14:29,620
believers.

331
00:14:30,400 --> 00:14:32,120
This is the foundation of their belief.

332
00:14:32,240 --> 00:14:33,180
This is what they believe.

333
00:14:33,460 --> 00:14:36,720
That this man really is the savior of

334
00:14:36,720 --> 00:14:37,880
the world.

335
00:14:37,880 --> 00:14:40,460
And it's a remarkable confession.

336
00:14:40,660 --> 00:14:42,000
It's a remarkable testimony.

337
00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:45,980
It's remarkable because of the sense of conviction

338
00:14:45,980 --> 00:14:48,440
you sense as you read these words.

339
00:14:48,580 --> 00:14:49,060
We know.

340
00:14:49,640 --> 00:14:50,760
We know this.

341
00:14:51,020 --> 00:14:52,520
There are many things we don't know.

342
00:14:52,800 --> 00:14:54,320
There are many things we'll be never sure

343
00:14:54,320 --> 00:14:55,380
of in this life.

344
00:14:55,500 --> 00:14:56,440
But we know this.

345
00:14:56,900 --> 00:14:58,200
We are convinced of this.

346
00:14:58,480 --> 00:15:00,820
This is our personal conviction.

347
00:15:01,320 --> 00:15:04,920
This is no second-hand, second-generation confession.

348
00:15:04,920 --> 00:15:09,080
This is the fresh confession of new babes

349
00:15:09,080 --> 00:15:11,220
who have come to faith in the Lord

350
00:15:11,220 --> 00:15:11,960
Jesus Christ.

351
00:15:12,100 --> 00:15:16,460
And it carries all that freshness of conviction.

352
00:15:17,500 --> 00:15:19,920
There is an assurance in those words.

353
00:15:20,920 --> 00:15:24,220
It does not have anything of the uncertainty

354
00:15:24,220 --> 00:15:26,360
and the lack of clarity that we get

355
00:15:26,360 --> 00:15:28,920
in confessions, even from many quarters in the

356
00:15:28,920 --> 00:15:29,380
church today.

357
00:15:29,460 --> 00:15:32,360
We know that this man really is the

358
00:15:32,360 --> 00:15:33,680
savior of the world.

359
00:15:34,540 --> 00:15:36,380
And not only the assurance and the conviction,

360
00:15:36,620 --> 00:15:37,520
but the clarity.

361
00:15:38,100 --> 00:15:38,840
It's so clear.

362
00:15:38,980 --> 00:15:40,200
It's so focused.

363
00:15:41,320 --> 00:15:45,100
It's a gift of a text to each

364
00:15:45,100 --> 00:15:46,040
and every one of us.

365
00:15:46,380 --> 00:15:47,860
What does a Christian believe?

366
00:15:48,180 --> 00:15:49,160
What is a Christian?

367
00:15:49,820 --> 00:15:51,820
A Christian is a person that can say,

368
00:15:52,460 --> 00:15:55,480
I know that this man really is the

369
00:15:55,480 --> 00:15:58,000
savior of the world.

370
00:15:58,800 --> 00:16:00,400
It's the language of discovery.

371
00:16:00,880 --> 00:16:02,360
It's the language of faith.

372
00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:05,180
Verse 41 tells us they were believers.

373
00:16:05,420 --> 00:16:06,740
So it's the language of believers.

374
00:16:07,200 --> 00:16:08,920
It's not the language of skeptics.

375
00:16:08,960 --> 00:16:11,340
It's not the language of agnostic or atheist.

376
00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:12,340
It's the language.

377
00:16:12,540 --> 00:16:15,940
It's the vocabulary of the believing church of

378
00:16:15,940 --> 00:16:16,540
Jesus Christ.

379
00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:19,920
The believing community there in Samaria.

380
00:16:20,960 --> 00:16:23,060
They'd only had a two-day visit.

381
00:16:23,320 --> 00:16:26,480
But that two-day visit had revolutionized their

382
00:16:26,480 --> 00:16:29,660
lives, their place in their community, their place

383
00:16:29,660 --> 00:16:32,300
in the world, their place in the purposes

384
00:16:32,300 --> 00:16:35,020
of God, their place in the saving purposes

385
00:16:35,020 --> 00:16:36,080
of Jesus Christ.

386
00:16:37,380 --> 00:16:41,060
Everything seems to be in this clear, convinced,

387
00:16:41,280 --> 00:16:42,540
assured statement.

388
00:16:44,280 --> 00:16:46,840
But I want to suggest this evening that

389
00:16:46,840 --> 00:16:49,820
there are more reasons why this testimony is

390
00:16:49,820 --> 00:16:50,640
amazing.

391
00:16:50,900 --> 00:16:53,860
Why this conviction, why this discovery of faith

392
00:16:53,860 --> 00:16:55,460
really is so remarkable.

393
00:16:55,720 --> 00:16:57,680
And it is remarkable for every believer.

394
00:16:58,820 --> 00:16:59,860
We sing these hymns.

395
00:16:59,940 --> 00:17:00,740
We read our Bibles.

396
00:17:00,740 --> 00:17:02,240
We say things about ourselves.

397
00:17:02,360 --> 00:17:03,700
I'm sure it's true of all of us.

398
00:17:03,819 --> 00:17:07,119
We lose the sense of amazement, the sense

399
00:17:07,119 --> 00:17:12,160
of wonder, the sense of tremendous significance, the

400
00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:14,780
depth, the profoundness of what we say.

401
00:17:15,380 --> 00:17:16,980
These people here were saying it.

402
00:17:17,380 --> 00:17:19,900
And in saying it, they are saying something

403
00:17:19,900 --> 00:17:20,800
remarkable.

404
00:17:21,660 --> 00:17:24,440
And every true Christian is able to say

405
00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:28,420
something as remarkable, exactly as remarkable as this.

406
00:17:29,120 --> 00:17:31,980
2,000 years later, in the 21st century,

407
00:17:32,100 --> 00:17:33,880
the statement, if it is upon your lips,

408
00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:37,260
if it is found as the controlling confession

409
00:17:37,260 --> 00:17:39,620
of your life and heart, it's amazing.

410
00:17:39,880 --> 00:17:42,160
It's remarkable that there are people left in

411
00:17:42,160 --> 00:17:44,040
Wales tonight, that there are people left in

412
00:17:44,040 --> 00:17:46,240
these islands, that there are anybody left in

413
00:17:46,240 --> 00:17:48,320
Europe, that there are people tonight.

414
00:17:48,660 --> 00:17:52,620
The missionary exhibition, open from 2.30 to

415
00:17:52,620 --> 00:17:55,460
5.30, Stuart Elliot made the announcement last

416
00:17:55,460 --> 00:17:58,120
night, tells us that all through the world,

417
00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:00,640
there are people and this is their confession.

418
00:18:01,260 --> 00:18:02,280
This is their statement.

419
00:18:03,060 --> 00:18:04,180
This is their conviction.

420
00:18:04,480 --> 00:18:06,940
This is their belief too.

421
00:18:07,720 --> 00:18:09,140
And I say it's remarkable.

422
00:18:09,460 --> 00:18:09,960
It's wonderful.

423
00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:11,860
And these are my reasons.

424
00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:14,180
First of all, as we look at this

425
00:18:14,180 --> 00:18:18,000
remarkable testimony, this discovery of faith, I want

426
00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:20,320
to suggest it's remarkable, firstly, because of the

427
00:18:20,320 --> 00:18:22,540
very context we find it.

428
00:18:23,200 --> 00:18:27,500
The very environment that this statement arises out

429
00:18:27,500 --> 00:18:30,600
of makes it most remarkable.

430
00:18:31,460 --> 00:18:33,980
Faith always has a context.

431
00:18:34,960 --> 00:18:36,980
We are not people who are out of

432
00:18:36,980 --> 00:18:38,340
this world, we are in this world.

433
00:18:38,460 --> 00:18:41,980
And in this world, in a geographical spot

434
00:18:41,980 --> 00:18:45,120
in the Middle East called Samaria, these people

435
00:18:45,120 --> 00:18:46,520
made this statement.

436
00:18:47,040 --> 00:18:49,000
They made it at a specific time, a

437
00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:54,300
specific place, and it has tremendous significance just

438
00:18:54,300 --> 00:18:55,860
as we look at the context.

439
00:18:56,060 --> 00:18:58,140
And so does your faith and my faith

440
00:18:58,140 --> 00:18:58,700
too.

441
00:19:00,060 --> 00:19:03,120
Well, firstly, in general terms, if you like

442
00:19:03,120 --> 00:19:07,220
the historical context, the social, the political context

443
00:19:07,220 --> 00:19:10,180
that these people make this confession.

444
00:19:11,500 --> 00:19:13,660
We know that the Samaritans and the Jews

445
00:19:13,660 --> 00:19:17,340
together were dominated by the great Roman Empire.

446
00:19:17,860 --> 00:19:19,240
The Romans were the bosses.

447
00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:21,680
The Romans were in charge.

448
00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:27,220
And the Romans, that civilization, that group, culture

449
00:19:27,220 --> 00:19:30,060
of men and women, and they dominated the

450
00:19:30,060 --> 00:19:30,440
world.

451
00:19:30,900 --> 00:19:32,980
It was the big power force.

452
00:19:33,400 --> 00:19:35,680
It was the big authority.

453
00:19:36,240 --> 00:19:40,640
It was the controlling thing in the world

454
00:19:40,640 --> 00:19:41,320
at the time.

455
00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:44,720
The great, the mighty, the massive, the impressive,

456
00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:47,980
the sophisticated Roman Empire.

457
00:19:47,980 --> 00:19:50,640
With all its ideas, with all its philosophies.

458
00:19:51,060 --> 00:19:52,080
And here it was.

459
00:19:53,060 --> 00:19:56,820
And the savior of the world wasn't particularly

460
00:19:56,820 --> 00:19:59,140
a Christian phrase.

461
00:20:00,060 --> 00:20:03,580
We know that many of the Romans saw

462
00:20:03,580 --> 00:20:05,520
their own leaders as saviors.

463
00:20:05,980 --> 00:20:07,200
They are political leaders.

464
00:20:07,780 --> 00:20:10,700
Indeed, many of the Caesars and many of

465
00:20:10,700 --> 00:20:12,980
the Hadrians and the Neros and the other

466
00:20:12,980 --> 00:20:15,460
guys we've read about in history, they're actually

467
00:20:15,460 --> 00:20:20,760
called the rescuers, the saviors, the deliverers.

468
00:20:21,020 --> 00:20:23,860
These are the guys with their chariots.

469
00:20:24,520 --> 00:20:26,620
Some of you might have seen the video,

470
00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:27,820
part of it.

471
00:20:29,080 --> 00:20:29,880
The gladiators.

472
00:20:30,220 --> 00:20:31,980
You see the wheels, you see the fighting,

473
00:20:32,160 --> 00:20:34,440
you see the battles, and you see the

474
00:20:34,440 --> 00:20:36,320
prestige, and you see the greatness of this

475
00:20:36,320 --> 00:20:39,580
great empire and what it entertains itself with.

476
00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:41,320
And everything there.

477
00:20:42,840 --> 00:20:45,100
And here is a culture that says, these

478
00:20:45,100 --> 00:20:47,680
are our gods, these are our heroes, these

479
00:20:47,680 --> 00:20:50,540
are our saviors, the Caesars, the guys with

480
00:20:50,540 --> 00:20:53,160
the swords, the guys with the chariots, the

481
00:20:53,160 --> 00:20:57,840
guys with physical fitness, the guys with the

482
00:20:57,840 --> 00:21:01,200
big ideas, the emperors, the conquerors, the warriors.

483
00:21:01,820 --> 00:21:02,860
These are the gods.

484
00:21:03,020 --> 00:21:05,300
These are the saviors of the world.

485
00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:09,880
You see the significance of what these, this

486
00:21:09,880 --> 00:21:12,520
minority Samaritan group is saying?

487
00:21:12,520 --> 00:21:15,240
They are saying in their culture, they are

488
00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:18,560
saying in their day, it is not politics,

489
00:21:19,340 --> 00:21:21,940
it is not education, it is not the

490
00:21:21,940 --> 00:21:24,900
philosophy of the Greeks, it is not the

491
00:21:24,900 --> 00:21:28,400
economics, it is not the civil authorities, it

492
00:21:28,400 --> 00:21:30,120
is not the Caesars and the Hadrians and

493
00:21:30,120 --> 00:21:30,580
the Neros.

494
00:21:32,140 --> 00:21:34,740
This man really is the savior of the

495
00:21:34,740 --> 00:21:34,980
world.

496
00:21:35,120 --> 00:21:37,720
It is Jesus Christ who is the real

497
00:21:37,720 --> 00:21:38,320
conqueror.

498
00:21:38,600 --> 00:21:40,480
It is Jesus Christ who is the real

499
00:21:40,480 --> 00:21:40,840
king.

500
00:21:40,840 --> 00:21:43,060
It is Jesus Christ who is the real

501
00:21:43,060 --> 00:21:43,520
Lord.

502
00:21:44,180 --> 00:21:48,380
The world has its salvation, not in the

503
00:21:48,380 --> 00:21:49,540
Greek and the Roman Empire.

504
00:21:49,740 --> 00:21:52,520
We can read, can't we, that book?

505
00:21:52,620 --> 00:21:54,480
You find it mostly, I suppose now, in

506
00:21:54,480 --> 00:21:58,000
secondhand bookshops, The Rise and the Fall of

507
00:21:58,000 --> 00:21:59,340
the Roman Empire.

508
00:22:00,420 --> 00:22:01,680
And there it is.

509
00:22:01,980 --> 00:22:02,800
There's no salvation.

510
00:22:03,240 --> 00:22:04,580
There's no real deliverance.

511
00:22:04,980 --> 00:22:06,820
There's no real rescue.

512
00:22:07,180 --> 00:22:08,340
There's no real redemption.

513
00:22:08,640 --> 00:22:10,720
There's no real liberation there.

514
00:22:10,840 --> 00:22:12,960
These people are saying, and they know what

515
00:22:12,960 --> 00:22:15,660
they're talking about, they were surrounded by saviors.

516
00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:19,220
They are saying this man really is the

517
00:22:19,220 --> 00:22:20,900
savior of the world.

518
00:22:21,300 --> 00:22:22,420
Christ is the savior.

519
00:22:23,080 --> 00:22:26,040
Or think of the more specific religious context.

520
00:22:26,840 --> 00:22:29,340
Not just the philosophical ideas, but think of

521
00:22:29,340 --> 00:22:30,260
the religious ideas.

522
00:22:30,360 --> 00:22:32,240
There were all these deities, gods were to

523
00:22:32,240 --> 00:22:34,580
a penny, and many of these gods, the

524
00:22:34,580 --> 00:22:37,440
Zeus's and the others, they were the saviors.

525
00:22:37,580 --> 00:22:38,640
They were the rescuers.

526
00:22:38,640 --> 00:22:41,040
They were the ones in the unseen heavens.

527
00:22:41,860 --> 00:22:43,440
They were the ones who had the clout

528
00:22:43,440 --> 00:22:44,020
and the power.

529
00:22:44,380 --> 00:22:46,960
If there was to be any spiritual deliverance,

530
00:22:47,040 --> 00:22:48,880
if there was to be any spiritual freedom,

531
00:22:49,700 --> 00:22:51,860
if there was to be any spiritual salvation,

532
00:22:52,240 --> 00:22:54,900
it was dependent on the whims and the

533
00:22:54,900 --> 00:22:57,640
caprices and the fancies and the goings on

534
00:22:57,640 --> 00:22:58,340
of the gods.

535
00:22:59,260 --> 00:23:03,760
This is where spiritual freedom was to be

536
00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:04,160
found.

537
00:23:05,400 --> 00:23:07,420
In other words, here were these Samaritans in

538
00:23:07,420 --> 00:23:08,480
a multi-faith culture.

539
00:23:08,640 --> 00:23:12,480
Here they were in a pluralistic society.

540
00:23:13,140 --> 00:23:14,440
Temples were to a penny.

541
00:23:14,960 --> 00:23:18,300
Gods and beliefs were all around them.

542
00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:21,040
And yet they're willing to stand out in

543
00:23:21,040 --> 00:23:22,300
their day and in their culture.

544
00:23:22,860 --> 00:23:25,360
And they're willing to say, it's not in

545
00:23:25,360 --> 00:23:26,020
the Zeus's.

546
00:23:26,580 --> 00:23:28,100
It's not in the Diana's of Ephesus.

547
00:23:28,620 --> 00:23:30,300
It's not in the gods of our own

548
00:23:30,300 --> 00:23:30,680
culture.

549
00:23:31,020 --> 00:23:33,200
We know the Samaritans themselves have their own

550
00:23:33,200 --> 00:23:34,060
religious culture.

551
00:23:35,140 --> 00:23:38,600
The Samaritans themselves have their own religious convictions.

552
00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:42,280
The Samaritans themselves have their own religious symbolism.

553
00:23:42,660 --> 00:23:47,320
And Samaria itself had significance and even based

554
00:23:47,320 --> 00:23:49,760
on the first five books of the Bible.

555
00:23:50,380 --> 00:23:52,680
But they're making a confession here that says,

556
00:23:52,860 --> 00:23:58,160
no, we know this man really is the

557
00:23:58,160 --> 00:23:59,360
savior of the world.

558
00:23:59,680 --> 00:24:02,400
So I say that in its context, this

559
00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:05,940
confession is remarkable for its boldness.

560
00:24:05,940 --> 00:24:08,560
They're willing to stand out and say, no

561
00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:10,860
to the gods of the world, no to

562
00:24:10,860 --> 00:24:13,560
the gods and to the idols, even of

563
00:24:13,560 --> 00:24:15,040
religion around us.

564
00:24:15,520 --> 00:24:19,620
This man, specifically this man, really is the

565
00:24:19,620 --> 00:24:22,160
savior of the world.

566
00:24:22,940 --> 00:24:26,480
It's a bold, it's a courageous statement.

567
00:24:28,560 --> 00:24:29,920
It's dogmatic.

568
00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:33,300
It's dogmatic in a world that didn't like

569
00:24:33,300 --> 00:24:34,340
dogma either.

570
00:24:34,340 --> 00:24:36,780
It's an absolute affirmation.

571
00:24:37,260 --> 00:24:40,940
This man really is the savior of the

572
00:24:40,940 --> 00:24:41,500
world.

573
00:24:42,560 --> 00:24:44,300
So we're saying tonight, if you were to

574
00:24:44,300 --> 00:24:47,100
trust, if you were to believe in Christ,

575
00:24:47,620 --> 00:24:50,060
if you are to take this affirmation, if

576
00:24:50,060 --> 00:24:51,760
you were to make this your statement of

577
00:24:51,760 --> 00:24:53,460
faith, if this is to be the basis

578
00:24:53,460 --> 00:24:55,140
of your life, it's going to cost.

579
00:24:55,800 --> 00:24:56,800
It's going to cost.

580
00:24:57,380 --> 00:25:00,160
People will say you can't say that salvation

581
00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:02,480
is only in one person.

582
00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:05,260
You can't be as exclusive as that.

583
00:25:06,660 --> 00:25:10,400
But true faith, true belief has always been

584
00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:11,060
exclusive.

585
00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:14,460
It is channeled, it is focused in one

586
00:25:14,460 --> 00:25:17,740
God, not many, in one Christ and in

587
00:25:17,740 --> 00:25:18,500
one savior.

588
00:25:19,740 --> 00:25:23,140
The New Testament is insistent, one faith, one

589
00:25:23,140 --> 00:25:28,540
Lord, one baptism, one unique, and here it

590
00:25:28,540 --> 00:25:28,820
is.

591
00:25:29,380 --> 00:25:32,300
This man really is the savior of the

592
00:25:32,300 --> 00:25:32,660
world.

593
00:25:32,960 --> 00:25:34,440
They are saying Jesus only.

594
00:25:35,020 --> 00:25:37,860
They are saying no other name under heaven

595
00:25:38,420 --> 00:25:40,560
by which we must be saved.

596
00:25:42,080 --> 00:25:44,640
They are preparing the way for the great

597
00:25:44,640 --> 00:25:47,000
statement of Christ himself in John 14.

598
00:25:47,420 --> 00:25:49,740
I am the way, the truth, and the

599
00:25:49,740 --> 00:25:50,080
life.

600
00:25:50,780 --> 00:25:54,040
No one, no one, no Samaritan, no Greek,

601
00:25:54,120 --> 00:25:56,900
no Jew, no Barbarian, no Scythian, no one

602
00:25:56,900 --> 00:25:59,700
comes to the Father but by me.

603
00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:02,820
And these men and women, they've seen that.

604
00:26:03,160 --> 00:26:04,740
They've seen the exclusive nature.

605
00:26:05,140 --> 00:26:08,260
They've seen how special, how unique.

606
00:26:08,720 --> 00:26:10,680
They've seen that Christ is not just the

607
00:26:10,680 --> 00:26:11,420
best way.

608
00:26:11,780 --> 00:26:13,440
He's not just the best savior that's on

609
00:26:13,440 --> 00:26:13,720
offer.

610
00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:15,800
They are saying this man really is the,

611
00:26:16,180 --> 00:26:19,680
he's the only savior of the world.

612
00:26:21,900 --> 00:26:23,160
And that makes it remarkable.

613
00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:24,500
You know, it's remarkable.

614
00:26:25,380 --> 00:26:28,280
I visited a Christian union in a school

615
00:26:28,280 --> 00:26:31,020
and they always apologize in this particular school

616
00:26:31,020 --> 00:26:32,200
that there's not many there.

617
00:26:32,840 --> 00:26:35,180
On this particular day, there was only one

618
00:26:35,180 --> 00:26:35,700
there.

619
00:26:36,760 --> 00:26:39,380
And that one boy who was in year

620
00:26:39,380 --> 00:26:41,560
seven, so he was about 11 or 12,

621
00:26:42,020 --> 00:26:43,580
was telling me that he thought that he

622
00:26:43,580 --> 00:26:46,160
was the only Christian in the school.

623
00:26:47,720 --> 00:26:49,720
And he told me what he believed and

624
00:26:49,720 --> 00:26:52,680
how he'd become a Christian in one of

625
00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:54,760
the camps during the summer.

626
00:26:55,300 --> 00:26:57,480
He was standing there on his own, the

627
00:26:57,480 --> 00:26:58,220
only one.

628
00:26:58,480 --> 00:27:01,100
He knew that this was the only savior

629
00:27:01,100 --> 00:27:01,980
of the world.

630
00:27:02,060 --> 00:27:03,380
And he was already at 11 years of

631
00:27:03,380 --> 00:27:06,520
age, bearing the cost, bearing a little of

632
00:27:06,520 --> 00:27:08,820
the stigma of being a Christian.

633
00:27:08,960 --> 00:27:09,960
It makes it remarkable.

634
00:27:10,080 --> 00:27:13,040
There are men and women tonight, I think

635
00:27:13,040 --> 00:27:15,320
it's still 80 pastors in Vietnam.

636
00:27:15,620 --> 00:27:16,560
They're in prison, why?

637
00:27:17,280 --> 00:27:19,500
Because they believe that Jesus Christ is the

638
00:27:19,500 --> 00:27:21,600
only savior of the world.

639
00:27:22,480 --> 00:27:24,380
We heard last night of missionaries who have

640
00:27:24,380 --> 00:27:26,500
labored for years and for years in different

641
00:27:26,500 --> 00:27:28,200
cultures, had opposition.

642
00:27:29,140 --> 00:27:31,500
They have died terrible, horrible deaths.

643
00:27:32,180 --> 00:27:32,420
Why?

644
00:27:32,540 --> 00:27:36,040
They believe that Jesus Christ is the only

645
00:27:36,040 --> 00:27:38,600
savior of the world.

646
00:27:41,030 --> 00:27:43,190
But let's be more immediate again, even in

647
00:27:43,190 --> 00:27:43,870
the context.

648
00:27:44,890 --> 00:27:47,670
How were these people brought to this wonderful

649
00:27:47,670 --> 00:27:51,790
discovery, this bold, this courageous affirmation of faith?

650
00:27:52,010 --> 00:27:53,210
How were they brought to it?

651
00:27:53,230 --> 00:27:55,330
What is the immediate context?

652
00:27:56,930 --> 00:27:59,530
Well, we know that there are two aspects

653
00:27:59,530 --> 00:28:02,930
recorded for us in John chapter four.

654
00:28:03,410 --> 00:28:06,290
Firstly, there is the aspect of the power

655
00:28:06,290 --> 00:28:07,470
of personal testimony.

656
00:28:07,950 --> 00:28:10,170
It is an amazing story, isn't it?

657
00:28:10,290 --> 00:28:14,030
The woman of Samaria, it is through her

658
00:28:14,030 --> 00:28:23,090
testimony, her personal understanding, little, small, even insufficient,

659
00:28:23,290 --> 00:28:24,210
you would say, as it is.

660
00:28:25,450 --> 00:28:27,230
It is this that has brought these people

661
00:28:27,230 --> 00:28:29,310
to faith and to belief in the Lord

662
00:28:29,310 --> 00:28:30,050
Jesus Christ.

663
00:28:30,890 --> 00:28:34,310
Her testimony is strategic.

664
00:28:34,550 --> 00:28:35,550
There's no doubt about this.

665
00:28:35,610 --> 00:28:38,610
Her testimony is strategic in bringing a community

666
00:28:39,570 --> 00:28:42,530
to believe, a significant number of people to

667
00:28:42,530 --> 00:28:44,570
believe in her community.

668
00:28:45,050 --> 00:28:49,190
Her own personal discovery of who Jesus is

669
00:28:49,190 --> 00:28:52,090
and what he has told her about herself

670
00:28:52,090 --> 00:28:56,250
and about himself acts like a bridge to

671
00:28:56,250 --> 00:29:00,050
bring these people close to the Lord Jesus

672
00:29:00,050 --> 00:29:01,110
Christ.

673
00:29:03,080 --> 00:29:05,720
Let's take a step back and ask this

674
00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:07,680
question, and it's an important question for us

675
00:29:07,680 --> 00:29:08,140
all, isn't it?

676
00:29:08,180 --> 00:29:09,800
How do you reach Samaritans?

677
00:29:10,320 --> 00:29:12,700
How do you reach people in this particular

678
00:29:12,700 --> 00:29:13,500
community?

679
00:29:13,680 --> 00:29:14,860
They have their own belief system.

680
00:29:15,300 --> 00:29:16,640
They have their own culture.

681
00:29:17,410 --> 00:29:20,940
They have their own convictions before this woman

682
00:29:20,940 --> 00:29:24,500
opens her mouth and before Christ spends those

683
00:29:24,500 --> 00:29:25,880
two days there.

684
00:29:26,280 --> 00:29:29,520
They are locked in, and some would say,

685
00:29:29,680 --> 00:29:31,060
well, could you ever penetrate?

686
00:29:31,720 --> 00:29:34,520
Could you ever get into that particular kind

687
00:29:34,520 --> 00:29:35,520
of culture?

688
00:29:36,760 --> 00:29:38,080
How do you do it?

689
00:29:38,820 --> 00:29:42,360
How do you cross the big, great cultural

690
00:29:42,360 --> 00:29:48,380
divides that separate these people from Jesus Christ?

691
00:29:49,760 --> 00:29:52,300
You see, the discovery of faith is made

692
00:29:52,300 --> 00:29:54,340
in that context of real-life challenges.

693
00:29:55,440 --> 00:29:56,380
We think we have problems.

694
00:29:56,480 --> 00:29:57,840
We think we have difficulties.

695
00:29:58,000 --> 00:29:58,560
Well, here they are.

696
00:29:58,620 --> 00:29:59,860
They face the Son of God, and he

697
00:29:59,860 --> 00:30:01,020
was here on earth.

698
00:30:01,520 --> 00:30:03,320
Here was what you might call a resistant

699
00:30:03,320 --> 00:30:04,220
group of people.

700
00:30:04,700 --> 00:30:08,180
And how was the Savior himself to penetrate?

701
00:30:08,360 --> 00:30:09,300
How was he to come in?

702
00:30:09,780 --> 00:30:10,900
What was his strategy?

703
00:30:11,020 --> 00:30:11,840
What was his way?

704
00:30:12,660 --> 00:30:16,940
How did he cross those divides?

705
00:30:17,320 --> 00:30:20,040
Verse 9 summarizes, doesn't it, the divides, the

706
00:30:20,040 --> 00:30:22,180
woman herself, the Samaritan woman.

707
00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:23,820
It's very interesting.

708
00:30:24,060 --> 00:30:26,340
Ten times in this chapter we're reminded here

709
00:30:26,340 --> 00:30:30,380
is a Samaritan woman, a person who would

710
00:30:30,380 --> 00:30:33,400
have not had any standing, let alone from

711
00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:37,080
her moral background and her immorality.

712
00:30:37,420 --> 00:30:38,860
Some have said it may be prostitution.

713
00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:39,860
We'll look at that in a moment.

714
00:30:39,860 --> 00:30:42,420
But here's a woman with a background.

715
00:30:42,560 --> 00:30:43,680
Here's a woman with...

716
00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:45,320
But she's a Samaritan woman.

717
00:30:45,440 --> 00:30:46,240
She had no place.

718
00:30:46,380 --> 00:30:47,240
She had no voice.

719
00:30:48,340 --> 00:30:51,420
There'd be no authentic credibility about this woman

720
00:30:51,420 --> 00:30:52,720
if she said anything, really.

721
00:30:53,320 --> 00:30:55,460
But to say something about religious matters, and

722
00:30:55,460 --> 00:30:57,940
yet this is the difficulty.

723
00:30:58,380 --> 00:31:01,060
And she says, you are a Jew, and

724
00:31:01,060 --> 00:31:03,120
I am a Samaritan, divide number one.

725
00:31:03,400 --> 00:31:04,780
You are a Jew, and I'm a Samaritan

726
00:31:04,780 --> 00:31:06,200
woman, divide number two.

727
00:31:06,620 --> 00:31:08,820
How can you ask me for a drink?

728
00:31:08,820 --> 00:31:10,600
Jews do not associate with Samaritans.

729
00:31:10,880 --> 00:31:13,540
And there's a baggage, isn't there, of divides

730
00:31:13,540 --> 00:31:13,860
there.

731
00:31:15,280 --> 00:31:17,740
Real life challenges, real life obstacles.

732
00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:20,660
And yet we're about to see that faith

733
00:31:20,660 --> 00:31:23,360
and conviction is about to rise on Samaritan

734
00:31:23,360 --> 00:31:25,900
ground where all this cultural baggage and where

735
00:31:25,900 --> 00:31:27,760
all these difficulties abound.

736
00:31:29,520 --> 00:31:32,480
You see, this discovery and the faith that

737
00:31:32,480 --> 00:31:34,880
these people come to, yes, it's in the

738
00:31:34,880 --> 00:31:37,800
context of geography and history and religion, but

739
00:31:37,800 --> 00:31:40,940
let's remind ourselves it's in the context of

740
00:31:40,940 --> 00:31:42,600
the ministry of Christ when he was here

741
00:31:42,600 --> 00:31:43,040
on earth.

742
00:31:43,820 --> 00:31:47,140
And in the context of Christ's ministry, in

743
00:31:47,140 --> 00:31:50,180
the context of Christ's teaching ministry, in the

744
00:31:50,180 --> 00:31:53,220
context of Christ's preaching ministry, in the context

745
00:31:53,220 --> 00:31:58,440
of Christ's caring ministry, faith, the discovery of

746
00:31:58,440 --> 00:32:00,980
faith is about to blossom.

747
00:32:02,540 --> 00:32:04,560
All the commentators tell us of the great

748
00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:07,000
significance of verse four, he had to go

749
00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:08,440
through Samaria.

750
00:32:09,020 --> 00:32:12,860
The divine mission, the divine mandate, the divine

751
00:32:12,860 --> 00:32:15,560
plan which we heard of this morning, the

752
00:32:15,560 --> 00:32:19,900
divine plan of God had to be executed,

753
00:32:20,260 --> 00:32:24,200
had to bring its fruit here in Samaria.

754
00:32:26,330 --> 00:32:28,910
What are the wonderful features of Christ's ministry

755
00:32:28,910 --> 00:32:29,190
here?

756
00:32:29,270 --> 00:32:31,310
And in the context of this ministry, this

757
00:32:31,310 --> 00:32:35,210
woman herself comes to simple, simple faith.

758
00:32:36,190 --> 00:32:38,670
Well, of course, he first of all identifies

759
00:32:38,670 --> 00:32:39,270
with her.

760
00:32:41,230 --> 00:32:44,290
That context of his ministry is always amazing

761
00:32:44,290 --> 00:32:45,370
in the gospels, isn't it?

762
00:32:45,430 --> 00:32:47,890
Who Christ identified with.

763
00:32:48,810 --> 00:32:50,970
He comes close to this woman.

764
00:32:52,170 --> 00:32:53,770
Many have suggested she's at the well at

765
00:32:53,770 --> 00:32:55,690
this particular time of the day because she

766
00:32:55,690 --> 00:32:57,230
would not have had to mix with others.

767
00:32:57,590 --> 00:32:59,230
Others didn't want to identify with her.

768
00:32:59,590 --> 00:33:01,030
Other people didn't want to know her.

769
00:33:01,690 --> 00:33:03,190
There were some who wouldn't be seen dead

770
00:33:03,190 --> 00:33:03,890
with this woman.

771
00:33:03,890 --> 00:33:05,990
She's out there in the loneliness of that

772
00:33:05,990 --> 00:33:07,730
hot sun.

773
00:33:08,790 --> 00:33:10,910
The well was a place for community gossip.

774
00:33:11,130 --> 00:33:14,050
The well was a place for community gatherings.

775
00:33:14,370 --> 00:33:16,450
The well was the community place.

776
00:33:17,530 --> 00:33:19,130
But there's no community there for her.

777
00:33:20,350 --> 00:33:22,290
She may well have been an outcast.

778
00:33:23,290 --> 00:33:25,210
There may have been certainly four or five

779
00:33:25,210 --> 00:33:26,190
women who didn't want to see her.

780
00:33:26,330 --> 00:33:28,590
She might have been the one who'd stolen

781
00:33:28,590 --> 00:33:31,250
their husbands, who'd upset their family life, who'd

782
00:33:31,250 --> 00:33:33,950
brought heartache to children and others in the

783
00:33:33,950 --> 00:33:34,590
communities.

784
00:33:35,830 --> 00:33:37,850
And there she was, isolated, cut off.

785
00:33:39,050 --> 00:33:41,790
This is the context, her context, and Christ

786
00:33:41,790 --> 00:33:45,230
comes in to that context and he identifies

787
00:33:45,230 --> 00:33:45,930
with her.

788
00:33:46,330 --> 00:33:48,530
Like Ezekiel of old, he sits where she

789
00:33:48,530 --> 00:33:49,130
was sitting.

790
00:33:49,990 --> 00:33:53,270
And there he sits and he's interested in

791
00:33:53,270 --> 00:33:53,430
her.

792
00:33:54,510 --> 00:33:58,290
We know that he actually knows everything about

793
00:33:58,290 --> 00:33:58,510
her.

794
00:33:59,390 --> 00:34:01,710
There's nothing that she can really tell him.

795
00:34:02,250 --> 00:34:04,870
But he comes and he's interested in her.

796
00:34:05,290 --> 00:34:08,310
There's that wonderful personal touch.

797
00:34:08,710 --> 00:34:13,250
There's that wonderful personal contact, that wonderful personal

798
00:34:13,250 --> 00:34:14,110
interest.

799
00:34:16,150 --> 00:34:18,889
That is the context, always and ever of

800
00:34:18,889 --> 00:34:19,230
faith.

801
00:34:20,449 --> 00:34:21,889
I'll at least mention in his prayer this

802
00:34:21,889 --> 00:34:24,130
evening, somebody prayed, somebody was interested.

803
00:34:24,650 --> 00:34:27,770
Somebody came in the name of Jesus Christ.

804
00:34:28,650 --> 00:34:30,150
Somebody showed an interest.

805
00:34:30,489 --> 00:34:31,710
Somebody spent time.

806
00:34:32,150 --> 00:34:33,530
Somebody was there.

807
00:34:35,110 --> 00:34:37,590
Somebody, in the name of Christ, minister, did

808
00:34:37,590 --> 00:34:38,290
what he did.

809
00:34:38,909 --> 00:34:42,010
Sat in the lonely chair in the kitchen.

810
00:34:42,170 --> 00:34:44,989
Sat in the lonely hospital ward.

811
00:34:45,949 --> 00:34:47,949
Sat with you, perhaps on the lakeside in

812
00:34:47,949 --> 00:34:49,949
a camp, or sat with you next to

813
00:34:49,949 --> 00:34:50,590
a conference.

814
00:34:51,370 --> 00:34:52,550
Nobody else knew about you.

815
00:34:53,250 --> 00:34:54,610
Jesus Christ knew about you.

816
00:34:54,610 --> 00:35:01,590
And the context here, the interest, Christ knows.

817
00:35:01,890 --> 00:35:03,690
Knows everybody here.

818
00:35:04,430 --> 00:35:05,810
It is interesting, isn't it, in a large

819
00:35:05,810 --> 00:35:08,270
conference, who knows who and what we know

820
00:35:08,270 --> 00:35:08,930
about each other.

821
00:35:09,830 --> 00:35:12,370
We heard in our prayer this morning from

822
00:35:12,370 --> 00:35:15,670
this platform, God knows you're here.

823
00:35:16,370 --> 00:35:17,910
This woman wasn't here by mistake.

824
00:35:18,790 --> 00:35:21,410
And Christ wasn't there, certainly not by mistake

825
00:35:21,410 --> 00:35:22,030
or chance.

826
00:35:22,030 --> 00:35:24,710
He was there, the right time, the right

827
00:35:24,710 --> 00:35:25,210
place.

828
00:35:25,570 --> 00:35:26,430
And he had the right words.

829
00:35:26,530 --> 00:35:28,290
He wasn't just interested in her, but he

830
00:35:28,290 --> 00:35:30,630
was actually interesting as he spoke to her.

831
00:35:32,510 --> 00:35:33,410
They were by a well.

832
00:35:33,670 --> 00:35:35,190
The great concern of this woman was to

833
00:35:35,190 --> 00:35:37,510
sustain her life, to get water to drink.

834
00:35:38,050 --> 00:35:38,930
She lived in the Middle East.

835
00:35:39,050 --> 00:35:39,830
You don't have to be in the Middle

836
00:35:39,830 --> 00:35:40,030
East.

837
00:35:40,110 --> 00:35:41,210
We all know what thirst is.

838
00:35:41,590 --> 00:35:42,490
We need to be sustained.

839
00:35:42,610 --> 00:35:45,470
And here's the picture, the picture of water.

840
00:35:46,730 --> 00:35:49,930
The water that sustains, the water that refreshes,

841
00:35:49,930 --> 00:35:52,630
the water that washes, the water that cleanses,

842
00:35:52,650 --> 00:35:54,970
all the pictures of water in the scripture

843
00:35:54,970 --> 00:35:56,050
itself.

844
00:35:56,670 --> 00:35:58,590
The water of life that Jesus will later

845
00:35:58,590 --> 00:36:01,670
talk about in John chapter 7, 2.

846
00:36:02,290 --> 00:36:05,390
That picture of eternal life, the life of

847
00:36:05,390 --> 00:36:07,450
God, the real life, the real meaning, the

848
00:36:07,450 --> 00:36:09,990
real purpose, the real relationship that we were

849
00:36:09,990 --> 00:36:11,210
created for.

850
00:36:11,510 --> 00:36:13,490
All these pictures come to mind.

851
00:36:13,610 --> 00:36:15,150
And Christ is interesting.

852
00:36:15,270 --> 00:36:17,630
And he talks to her about this water.

853
00:36:17,710 --> 00:36:19,130
Well, it will sustain you physically.

854
00:36:19,130 --> 00:36:21,690
But I can give you a water that

855
00:36:21,690 --> 00:36:24,450
will bring you to life and sustain you

856
00:36:24,450 --> 00:36:28,450
spiritually forever, eternally and everlasting.

857
00:36:28,830 --> 00:36:31,690
And he says to this woman, that water

858
00:36:31,690 --> 00:36:32,910
is a gift.

859
00:36:33,770 --> 00:36:37,530
And throughout the verses at the beginning of

860
00:36:37,530 --> 00:36:42,270
this chapter, the gift that I give, give,

861
00:36:42,730 --> 00:36:43,070
give.

862
00:36:43,830 --> 00:36:46,110
He's telling this woman that God is generous.

863
00:36:46,530 --> 00:36:49,090
Whatever else she thought about God, whatever else

864
00:36:49,090 --> 00:36:51,550
she knew about God, from that day on,

865
00:36:51,650 --> 00:36:53,870
she would never doubt that God is kind,

866
00:36:54,110 --> 00:36:55,430
that God is generous.

867
00:36:57,150 --> 00:37:00,590
So many people today, perhaps ourselves as Christians,

868
00:37:00,790 --> 00:37:02,490
we are sometimes tempted to think that God

869
00:37:02,490 --> 00:37:06,310
is some celestial scrooge in heaven and he

870
00:37:06,310 --> 00:37:07,810
just wants to take things from us.

871
00:37:07,850 --> 00:37:09,150
That is not the view of the Bible.

872
00:37:11,170 --> 00:37:13,070
The water that I give.

873
00:37:13,150 --> 00:37:14,030
Why does God give?

874
00:37:14,090 --> 00:37:14,930
Because that's his nature.

875
00:37:15,630 --> 00:37:17,010
That's how he is.

876
00:37:17,010 --> 00:37:19,890
From the very beginning of Revelation, he gives

877
00:37:19,890 --> 00:37:20,490
a world.

878
00:37:20,610 --> 00:37:21,690
And what kind of world does he give?

879
00:37:21,730 --> 00:37:23,890
The best kind of world with a variety

880
00:37:23,890 --> 00:37:24,530
of color.

881
00:37:25,770 --> 00:37:29,810
The majesty of mountains, the vastness of seas

882
00:37:29,810 --> 00:37:32,810
and all the creatures therein, sun, moon and

883
00:37:32,810 --> 00:37:33,310
stars.

884
00:37:33,410 --> 00:37:34,890
He gives this world.

885
00:37:36,310 --> 00:37:38,930
And he gives to Adam in that world

886
00:37:38,930 --> 00:37:40,050
great dignity.

887
00:37:40,790 --> 00:37:44,350
He gives to Adam great identity, great status

888
00:37:44,350 --> 00:37:46,670
made in the image of God.

889
00:37:46,670 --> 00:37:49,010
And he gives to that first man, he

890
00:37:49,010 --> 00:37:50,330
gives him a wife.

891
00:37:50,950 --> 00:37:52,610
And he gives them responsibility.

892
00:37:53,110 --> 00:37:55,110
And he gives them liberty and freedom to

893
00:37:55,110 --> 00:37:58,450
enjoy and to subdue and to create and

894
00:37:58,450 --> 00:38:00,850
to do all the wonderful things of discovery,

895
00:38:00,930 --> 00:38:03,570
to discover names for the animals, the God

896
00:38:03,570 --> 00:38:04,750
who gives.

897
00:38:05,310 --> 00:38:07,210
And even when they sin, they turn their

898
00:38:07,210 --> 00:38:11,110
backs on this God, he gives them a

899
00:38:11,110 --> 00:38:14,390
promise to sustain them in their fallenness, in

900
00:38:14,390 --> 00:38:16,090
their shame and in their disobedience.

901
00:38:16,090 --> 00:38:18,910
He gives them a promise to lean on.

902
00:38:19,790 --> 00:38:21,450
And the whole of the Old Testament is

903
00:38:21,450 --> 00:38:26,510
a testament to God giving, giving leaders to

904
00:38:26,510 --> 00:38:30,170
his rebellious people, giving grace to sinful men

905
00:38:30,170 --> 00:38:33,070
and women, giving them kings, giving them his

906
00:38:33,070 --> 00:38:38,130
law, his royal law, giving them, the great

907
00:38:38,130 --> 00:38:40,610
climax of the giving is recorded here in

908
00:38:40,610 --> 00:38:43,930
John, the God who gives his only begotten

909
00:38:43,930 --> 00:38:46,850
son, the God who looks into himself and

910
00:38:46,850 --> 00:38:49,650
gives of himself in the Lord Jesus Christ

911
00:38:49,650 --> 00:38:52,190
and who gives eternal life to all those

912
00:38:52,190 --> 00:38:52,770
that will believe in him.

913
00:38:52,850 --> 00:38:54,650
He tells this woman, I have a gift

914
00:38:54,650 --> 00:38:55,030
for you.

915
00:38:55,630 --> 00:38:58,190
God has a gift for you.

916
00:38:59,510 --> 00:39:02,550
The God who is generous, eternal life.

917
00:39:03,530 --> 00:39:05,590
And in this context, giving this woman a

918
00:39:05,590 --> 00:39:08,770
relationship, that's where she'd failed, isn't it?

919
00:39:08,770 --> 00:39:10,030
She'd failed in relationships.

920
00:39:10,370 --> 00:39:12,710
She'd failed in human relationships.

921
00:39:13,870 --> 00:39:15,810
I don't really know whether this woman was

922
00:39:15,810 --> 00:39:16,510
a prostitute.

923
00:39:17,190 --> 00:39:19,350
Scripture doesn't tell us she was a prostitute.

924
00:39:20,290 --> 00:39:21,870
It's always two ways of looking at everything,

925
00:39:22,010 --> 00:39:22,230
isn't it?

926
00:39:22,290 --> 00:39:23,390
It was this woman's story.

927
00:39:23,470 --> 00:39:25,970
There she was, looking for love, looking for

928
00:39:25,970 --> 00:39:28,490
relationship, looking for meaning, looking for purpose.

929
00:39:28,830 --> 00:39:30,590
She's made like that, like every other woman,

930
00:39:30,710 --> 00:39:33,130
like every other man, young person and child,

931
00:39:33,490 --> 00:39:35,810
looking for what we were intended to be.

932
00:39:35,890 --> 00:39:37,850
And so much of that comes in human

933
00:39:37,850 --> 00:39:38,690
relationship.

934
00:39:38,830 --> 00:39:41,710
And man after man used her, abused her.

935
00:39:41,710 --> 00:39:42,630
Who knows?

936
00:39:43,670 --> 00:39:45,470
Usual tendency to blame the woman.

937
00:39:45,830 --> 00:39:47,690
The men that had used this woman, the

938
00:39:47,690 --> 00:39:50,370
men that had abused her, the hurt, the

939
00:39:50,370 --> 00:39:54,230
rejectedness, the sense of being used, and the

940
00:39:54,230 --> 00:39:58,510
sense of cheapness, and the sense of hurt,

941
00:39:59,170 --> 00:40:00,830
and the sense of bitterness, and all that

942
00:40:00,830 --> 00:40:03,010
had come into her life.

943
00:40:03,090 --> 00:40:04,590
And Jesus puts his finger on it and

944
00:40:04,590 --> 00:40:07,450
says, well, it's all because of sin, personal

945
00:40:07,450 --> 00:40:11,350
sins, personal choices, personal habits that you have

946
00:40:11,350 --> 00:40:11,890
developed.

947
00:40:12,870 --> 00:40:15,190
It's all there and I know about it

948
00:40:15,190 --> 00:40:15,550
all.

949
00:40:15,910 --> 00:40:18,890
And there is not one word of condemnation.

950
00:40:19,190 --> 00:40:20,870
There's not a word of affirming this kind

951
00:40:20,870 --> 00:40:21,470
of lifestyle.

952
00:40:21,890 --> 00:40:23,370
But John chapter three tells us, he had

953
00:40:23,370 --> 00:40:25,590
not come to condemn the world, he'd come

954
00:40:25,590 --> 00:40:26,530
to save.

955
00:40:26,630 --> 00:40:27,350
Here it is, remember?

956
00:40:27,590 --> 00:40:29,290
The savior of the world.

957
00:40:29,430 --> 00:40:30,510
I have not come to condemn.

958
00:40:30,630 --> 00:40:32,990
And he's coming to rescue this woman out

959
00:40:32,990 --> 00:40:33,650
of all that.

960
00:40:33,990 --> 00:40:36,090
He's coming to save her, to deliver her

961
00:40:36,090 --> 00:40:40,130
from all that collapse of human relationship.

962
00:40:40,910 --> 00:40:42,690
And she comes, and this is the context

963
00:40:42,690 --> 00:40:43,190
of faith.

964
00:40:43,430 --> 00:40:45,230
She comes, that great awareness.

965
00:40:45,750 --> 00:40:47,430
She thinks to herself, he knows everything about

966
00:40:47,430 --> 00:40:47,650
me.

967
00:40:47,990 --> 00:40:48,750
Could this be?

968
00:40:48,870 --> 00:40:50,910
Is this the Christ?

969
00:40:51,210 --> 00:40:53,110
The anointed ruler of God?

970
00:40:53,250 --> 00:40:54,830
The one who knows everything?

971
00:40:55,230 --> 00:40:57,470
The one who God has said will be

972
00:40:57,470 --> 00:40:57,950
everything?

973
00:40:58,290 --> 00:40:59,170
Will be the king?

974
00:40:59,590 --> 00:41:00,710
Will be the Lord?

975
00:41:00,970 --> 00:41:03,850
On his government, on his shoulders, the government

976
00:41:03,850 --> 00:41:04,450
will rest?

977
00:41:04,450 --> 00:41:08,250
The mighty God, the wonderful counselor, could this

978
00:41:08,250 --> 00:41:08,790
be him?

979
00:41:10,490 --> 00:41:11,970
She's just asking the question.

980
00:41:12,170 --> 00:41:14,730
She's the first awakenings of this woman's faith

981
00:41:14,730 --> 00:41:17,430
in the context of Christ's ministry.

982
00:41:18,050 --> 00:41:20,670
And in the first awakenings of faith, she

983
00:41:20,670 --> 00:41:21,850
goes with that testimony.

984
00:41:22,770 --> 00:41:24,710
And she shares it with other people.

985
00:41:25,670 --> 00:41:29,070
The potential, the power of the potential of

986
00:41:29,070 --> 00:41:30,250
one testimony.

987
00:41:31,510 --> 00:41:34,090
I do not know many things this woman

988
00:41:34,090 --> 00:41:34,710
could have said.

989
00:41:34,990 --> 00:41:37,290
I do not know how God's wonderful grace

990
00:41:37,290 --> 00:41:37,570
works.

991
00:41:37,850 --> 00:41:39,610
I do not know the mechanics of faith.

992
00:41:39,970 --> 00:41:41,210
I have little theology.

993
00:41:41,710 --> 00:41:43,250
No time in Bible college.

994
00:41:43,410 --> 00:41:45,510
No course that I've been on at all.

995
00:41:45,810 --> 00:41:47,550
But she has been for that short while

996
00:41:47,550 --> 00:41:50,070
in the presence of the Son of God,

997
00:41:50,170 --> 00:41:51,030
the King of kings.

998
00:41:51,410 --> 00:41:52,830
He's seen right through her.

999
00:41:53,550 --> 00:41:56,530
He's identified the emptiness, the sin, the broken

1000
00:41:56,530 --> 00:41:57,970
relationships, the lot.

1001
00:41:58,830 --> 00:42:00,570
And into that he said, I have come

1002
00:42:00,570 --> 00:42:02,690
to give you eternal life.

1003
00:42:03,890 --> 00:42:08,750
Although you are a broken sinner, although the

1004
00:42:08,750 --> 00:42:11,070
cisterns of this world have failed you and

1005
00:42:11,070 --> 00:42:13,310
the waters have all fled, I'm coming to

1006
00:42:13,310 --> 00:42:17,530
give you eternal life like water to wash,

1007
00:42:17,690 --> 00:42:20,430
to cleanse, to heal, and to restore.

1008
00:42:21,750 --> 00:42:23,630
You see, this is what makes the testimony

1009
00:42:23,630 --> 00:42:24,890
of these people so wonderful.

1010
00:42:25,030 --> 00:42:26,590
That's what brought them to the Savior.

1011
00:42:27,370 --> 00:42:29,210
That's what brought them to the foot of

1012
00:42:29,210 --> 00:42:29,690
the Savior.

1013
00:42:30,610 --> 00:42:33,970
The brokenness, the hurt, the confusion, the little

1014
00:42:33,970 --> 00:42:35,910
uncertainty even of the woman.

1015
00:42:36,830 --> 00:42:38,610
Come see a man who told me everything

1016
00:42:38,610 --> 00:42:39,190
I ever did.

1017
00:42:39,570 --> 00:42:41,010
Could this be the Christ?

1018
00:42:41,150 --> 00:42:43,490
She brought an interest.

1019
00:42:43,630 --> 00:42:46,170
Here was the woman of Samaria.

1020
00:42:47,090 --> 00:42:50,910
And in that context, tells each and every

1021
00:42:50,910 --> 00:42:52,030
one of us tonight, doesn't it?

1022
00:42:52,050 --> 00:42:52,710
You have a neighbor.

1023
00:42:52,910 --> 00:42:53,590
You have a friend.

1024
00:42:53,790 --> 00:42:54,510
You have a child.

1025
00:42:55,450 --> 00:42:56,730
You have a mother, a father.

1026
00:42:56,870 --> 00:42:57,610
There is somebody.

1027
00:42:58,410 --> 00:43:00,010
And you are witnessing to them.

1028
00:43:00,110 --> 00:43:01,030
And you don't know.

1029
00:43:01,130 --> 00:43:02,990
And most probably, you don't need to know

1030
00:43:04,270 --> 00:43:09,610
the potential, the possibilities of your witness, even

1031
00:43:09,610 --> 00:43:14,730
of your questions of honesty, the impact they

1032
00:43:14,730 --> 00:43:16,250
can make on a community.

1033
00:43:16,630 --> 00:43:18,790
I mean, this is a remarkable passage for

1034
00:43:18,790 --> 00:43:21,050
each and every one of us involved in

1035
00:43:21,050 --> 00:43:23,950
different aspects of mission in our own communities,

1036
00:43:24,110 --> 00:43:26,050
which are now, I mean, it's cross culture

1037
00:43:26,050 --> 00:43:27,530
just going over the fence next door.

1038
00:43:28,190 --> 00:43:31,370
It's cross culture all over the world.

1039
00:43:31,430 --> 00:43:33,190
And we think we must have this plan

1040
00:43:33,190 --> 00:43:35,430
and this action and this system and this

1041
00:43:35,430 --> 00:43:38,270
course and this teaching and this training and

1042
00:43:38,270 --> 00:43:39,910
they'll all help in some way.

1043
00:43:40,830 --> 00:43:44,150
But the power of the testimony of somebody

1044
00:43:44,150 --> 00:43:45,690
who has been in the presence of Christ

1045
00:43:45,690 --> 00:43:47,610
and Christ has touched their lives.

1046
00:43:47,710 --> 00:43:48,430
You just don't know.

1047
00:43:49,090 --> 00:43:51,770
Teach me, we have sung tonight, the value

1048
00:43:51,770 --> 00:43:53,170
of a soul.

1049
00:43:54,090 --> 00:43:55,510
I mean, we'd have gone into Samaria in

1050
00:43:55,510 --> 00:43:56,090
different ways.

1051
00:43:56,090 --> 00:44:01,270
Jesus went through this frail jar of clay

1052
00:44:02,650 --> 00:44:05,290
and he brought out a congregation.

1053
00:44:06,330 --> 00:44:08,170
And this, of course, leads us to the

1054
00:44:08,170 --> 00:44:10,590
second aspect of the context, which makes it

1055
00:44:10,590 --> 00:44:11,070
wonderful.

1056
00:44:11,470 --> 00:44:12,950
It was not just the testimony.

1057
00:44:13,250 --> 00:44:15,770
The testimony was powerful and that is not

1058
00:44:15,770 --> 00:44:16,130
denied.

1059
00:44:16,270 --> 00:44:18,110
We no longer believe just because of what

1060
00:44:18,110 --> 00:44:20,010
you said, but what you said has had

1061
00:44:20,010 --> 00:44:20,570
an impact.

1062
00:44:20,790 --> 00:44:22,090
We cannot deny that.

1063
00:44:22,250 --> 00:44:23,590
It has had its impact.

1064
00:44:24,570 --> 00:44:27,930
But that has been that there may be

1065
00:44:27,930 --> 00:44:30,250
another impact and that is far greater.

1066
00:44:30,890 --> 00:44:34,150
And it is this context, the context of

1067
00:44:34,150 --> 00:44:36,190
the ministry of Christ then to these people.

1068
00:44:37,050 --> 00:44:38,670
We no longer believe just because of what

1069
00:44:38,670 --> 00:44:39,330
you said.

1070
00:44:40,470 --> 00:44:44,330
Now we have heard for ourselves.

1071
00:44:45,030 --> 00:44:46,030
Look at verse 41.

1072
00:44:46,510 --> 00:44:51,350
Because of his words, many more became believers.

1073
00:44:51,750 --> 00:44:53,230
That's how people come to faith.

1074
00:44:54,250 --> 00:44:55,790
How will you become a Christian?

1075
00:44:56,010 --> 00:44:57,490
How will you come to discover that Jesus

1076
00:44:57,490 --> 00:44:59,610
Christ is the savior of the world?

1077
00:44:59,810 --> 00:45:01,690
There may be many things that bring you

1078
00:45:01,690 --> 00:45:02,830
to the point of interest.

1079
00:45:03,230 --> 00:45:05,650
There may be many instruments used to bring

1080
00:45:05,650 --> 00:45:06,670
you to that place.

1081
00:45:07,770 --> 00:45:11,990
But true faith, faith like these Samaritans had,

1082
00:45:12,310 --> 00:45:16,530
faith which focuses specifically in the saviorhood of

1083
00:45:16,530 --> 00:45:21,930
Christ is impossible without being exposed to the

1084
00:45:21,930 --> 00:45:24,070
word of Christ himself.

1085
00:45:24,490 --> 00:45:29,090
Because of his words, many more became believers.

1086
00:45:29,510 --> 00:45:31,970
This is the great context of faith discovery.

1087
00:45:32,870 --> 00:45:35,170
You see, we're emphasizing here that faith is

1088
00:45:35,170 --> 00:45:37,870
discovered not in the same way that the

1089
00:45:37,870 --> 00:45:40,970
enjoyment of music is discovered or the interest

1090
00:45:40,970 --> 00:45:44,050
in literature may be discovered or the way

1091
00:45:44,050 --> 00:45:47,190
that we discover in science or technology, human

1092
00:45:47,190 --> 00:45:50,090
effort, human cleverness, human ingenuity.

1093
00:45:50,090 --> 00:45:50,750
No.

1094
00:45:51,390 --> 00:45:53,230
The discovery of faith is made in the

1095
00:45:53,230 --> 00:45:56,910
context, in the atmosphere, in the environment of

1096
00:45:56,910 --> 00:45:58,350
the word of Christ.

1097
00:45:59,270 --> 00:46:00,810
And that is vital to understand.

1098
00:46:01,190 --> 00:46:02,190
And it's a great relief.

1099
00:46:02,450 --> 00:46:04,470
Takes the burden off everybody's shoulders.

1100
00:46:04,810 --> 00:46:05,650
It's not my word.

1101
00:46:05,730 --> 00:46:06,630
It's not my testimony.

1102
00:46:06,850 --> 00:46:08,130
Has a part to play.

1103
00:46:08,750 --> 00:46:12,570
But ultimately, Jesus will do his work in

1104
00:46:12,570 --> 00:46:14,570
his way through his word.

1105
00:46:15,350 --> 00:46:17,850
And in case we think, well, surely there

1106
00:46:17,850 --> 00:46:18,950
must be another way.

1107
00:46:18,950 --> 00:46:22,150
Look at what the words of Christ actually

1108
00:46:22,150 --> 00:46:22,750
are.

1109
00:46:23,310 --> 00:46:26,210
In chapter 6 and verse 63, Christ himself

1110
00:46:26,210 --> 00:46:32,330
tells us, the words I have spoken to

1111
00:46:32,330 --> 00:46:35,970
you are spirit and life.

1112
00:46:37,090 --> 00:46:39,050
It's not just abstract teaching up there in

1113
00:46:39,050 --> 00:46:39,730
the air somewhere.

1114
00:46:40,030 --> 00:46:40,930
The words.

1115
00:46:41,950 --> 00:46:45,010
The very words that I speak as you

1116
00:46:45,010 --> 00:46:47,530
watch my lips and as you hear those

1117
00:46:47,530 --> 00:46:49,230
words coming to you.

1118
00:46:49,230 --> 00:46:51,870
Those words I have spoken to you are

1119
00:46:51,870 --> 00:46:52,950
spirit and life.

1120
00:46:53,650 --> 00:46:55,270
So how did the Samaritans come to the

1121
00:46:55,270 --> 00:46:56,070
discovery of faith?

1122
00:46:56,170 --> 00:46:57,490
The same way as you and I came

1123
00:46:57,490 --> 00:46:58,650
to the discovery of faith.

1124
00:46:59,430 --> 00:47:00,870
Romans 10 verse 17.

1125
00:47:01,030 --> 00:47:03,590
Faith comes from hearing the message.

1126
00:47:04,750 --> 00:47:07,910
And the message is heard, says Paul, through

1127
00:47:07,910 --> 00:47:09,470
the word of Christ.

1128
00:47:10,350 --> 00:47:12,190
A Sunday school teacher brought you the word

1129
00:47:12,190 --> 00:47:12,550
of Christ.

1130
00:47:12,650 --> 00:47:14,430
A camp leader brought you the word of

1131
00:47:14,430 --> 00:47:14,710
Christ.

1132
00:47:14,790 --> 00:47:16,730
A parent brought you the word of Christ.

1133
00:47:16,950 --> 00:47:18,690
A tract brought you the word of Christ.

1134
00:47:18,690 --> 00:47:21,090
A sermon brought you the word of Christ.

1135
00:47:21,230 --> 00:47:23,170
A hymn brought you the word of Christ.

1136
00:47:23,370 --> 00:47:25,650
The testimony of someone else brought you the

1137
00:47:25,650 --> 00:47:26,850
word of Christ.

1138
00:47:27,950 --> 00:47:30,510
And it is that word that brought these

1139
00:47:30,510 --> 00:47:33,430
men and women in Samaria to say, this

1140
00:47:33,430 --> 00:47:35,510
man really is the savior of the world.

1141
00:47:35,830 --> 00:47:36,970
He has told us.

1142
00:47:37,390 --> 00:47:38,630
He has testified.

1143
00:47:39,410 --> 00:47:42,650
The authentication we seek is in him and

1144
00:47:42,650 --> 00:47:44,250
his word.

1145
00:47:45,450 --> 00:47:48,410
So important, isn't it, to see this.

1146
00:47:48,410 --> 00:47:50,910
In all discoveries, communication is vital.

1147
00:47:52,170 --> 00:47:53,950
Communication here of Christ.

1148
00:47:54,950 --> 00:47:56,850
It's not in mime, can't be.

1149
00:47:56,930 --> 00:47:57,670
It's speaking.

1150
00:47:58,150 --> 00:47:59,610
Not dances, not drama.

1151
00:48:00,310 --> 00:48:01,490
It's eyeball to eyeball.

1152
00:48:01,630 --> 00:48:03,210
He's looking at these people and he's speaking

1153
00:48:03,210 --> 00:48:03,610
to them.

1154
00:48:04,210 --> 00:48:07,050
This is the greatest act, actually, that any

1155
00:48:07,050 --> 00:48:09,930
human can be a part of.

1156
00:48:10,170 --> 00:48:11,990
The Bible tells us our God is a

1157
00:48:11,990 --> 00:48:12,830
speaking God.

1158
00:48:13,570 --> 00:48:15,190
Our God communicates.

1159
00:48:15,530 --> 00:48:16,770
Our God spoke.

1160
00:48:16,770 --> 00:48:18,690
And the world was brought into being.

1161
00:48:19,370 --> 00:48:20,950
And when he created men and women in

1162
00:48:20,950 --> 00:48:23,510
his own image, one of the glories of

1163
00:48:23,510 --> 00:48:26,310
that image is that they too can speak

1164
00:48:26,310 --> 00:48:30,890
and communicate to each other in this world,

1165
00:48:30,970 --> 00:48:32,610
even fallen as it is.

1166
00:48:34,130 --> 00:48:37,990
Here is word-centered communication from Jesus Christ.

1167
00:48:38,530 --> 00:48:39,190
The word.

1168
00:48:39,370 --> 00:48:41,550
It's the big theme, isn't it, of John

1169
00:48:41,550 --> 00:48:42,810
chapter 1.

1170
00:48:43,310 --> 00:48:45,170
How does God express himself?

1171
00:48:45,730 --> 00:48:47,910
Well, Jesus is the expression.

1172
00:48:48,390 --> 00:48:49,710
Jesus is the word.

1173
00:48:50,510 --> 00:48:53,670
Jesus is God revealing himself to us.

1174
00:48:53,950 --> 00:48:54,770
This is the revelation.

1175
00:48:55,290 --> 00:48:56,250
This is how we discover.

1176
00:48:56,510 --> 00:48:57,410
We discover nothing.

1177
00:48:58,130 --> 00:49:00,090
If God were to close his mouth, if

1178
00:49:00,090 --> 00:49:04,470
God were not to speak, the heavens declare

1179
00:49:04,470 --> 00:49:07,610
they speak something of the glory of God's

1180
00:49:07,610 --> 00:49:08,770
power and his majesty.

1181
00:49:09,010 --> 00:49:11,150
But here these people are talking about salvation.

1182
00:49:12,250 --> 00:49:14,410
Not talking about creation at this point.

1183
00:49:14,410 --> 00:49:15,330
It's salvation.

1184
00:49:15,830 --> 00:49:17,710
How do we know anything about being saved?

1185
00:49:17,990 --> 00:49:19,630
How do we know anything about being right

1186
00:49:19,630 --> 00:49:20,390
with God?

1187
00:49:21,550 --> 00:49:24,730
Jesus, we are told, because of his words.

1188
00:49:26,310 --> 00:49:28,810
Precious words of Jesus.

1189
00:49:30,910 --> 00:49:33,530
Wonderful word of life.

1190
00:49:34,110 --> 00:49:35,970
He speaks.

1191
00:49:37,050 --> 00:49:37,830
He speaks.

1192
00:49:38,770 --> 00:49:41,070
John's gospel tells us this is the voice

1193
00:49:41,070 --> 00:49:42,690
of God.

1194
00:49:43,250 --> 00:49:46,910
God is speaking in Jesus Christ.

1195
00:49:48,230 --> 00:49:49,250
Wake up.

1196
00:49:49,430 --> 00:49:51,230
The creator is addressing you.

1197
00:49:51,490 --> 00:49:52,970
This is what John's gospel says.

1198
00:49:53,210 --> 00:49:54,930
Jesus Christ, the word.

1199
00:49:55,550 --> 00:49:57,870
He is the creator of this world.

1200
00:49:58,110 --> 00:50:00,270
The one who made you is speaking.

1201
00:50:01,010 --> 00:50:01,530
Listen.

1202
00:50:01,810 --> 00:50:02,670
It's important.

1203
00:50:03,470 --> 00:50:06,130
The words of the creator.

1204
00:50:07,410 --> 00:50:08,450
They are words of wisdom.

1205
00:50:08,830 --> 00:50:09,990
They are words of knowledge.

1206
00:50:10,290 --> 00:50:11,410
They are words of love.

1207
00:50:12,690 --> 00:50:14,790
In this gospel, we find a little phrase

1208
00:50:14,790 --> 00:50:15,870
time and time again.

1209
00:50:15,970 --> 00:50:16,650
The old version.

1210
00:50:16,970 --> 00:50:19,390
Verily, verily, they are words of truth.

1211
00:50:20,650 --> 00:50:22,710
I tell you the truth.

1212
00:50:23,170 --> 00:50:24,930
This is not a pack of lies.

1213
00:50:25,710 --> 00:50:27,070
This is not myth.

1214
00:50:27,450 --> 00:50:28,690
This is not fantasy.

1215
00:50:29,270 --> 00:50:30,530
This is truth.

1216
00:50:31,650 --> 00:50:34,270
Jesus speaks the truth about himself.

1217
00:50:34,870 --> 00:50:35,490
He's not a liar.

1218
00:50:36,170 --> 00:50:37,070
He's not a deceiver.

1219
00:50:37,450 --> 00:50:38,430
He's not a charlatan.

1220
00:50:38,890 --> 00:50:42,370
He speaks the truth in his word.

1221
00:50:42,690 --> 00:50:46,270
We will never discover faith without paying attention

1222
00:50:46,270 --> 00:50:47,470
to the words of Christ.

1223
00:50:48,230 --> 00:50:52,810
That is why any strategy, any little training

1224
00:50:52,810 --> 00:50:56,650
course, anything that brings people to the word

1225
00:50:56,650 --> 00:50:58,650
of Christ, we lose it.

1226
00:50:59,390 --> 00:51:02,390
Anything that helps people to open the Bible

1227
00:51:02,390 --> 00:51:05,450
and to read from John in a Discovering

1228
00:51:05,450 --> 00:51:09,490
Christianity course, or read Mark's gospel in a

1229
00:51:09,490 --> 00:51:12,850
Christianity Explained course, bring them to the word

1230
00:51:12,850 --> 00:51:13,570
of Christ.

1231
00:51:14,210 --> 00:51:16,310
Let the word do its work.

1232
00:51:17,010 --> 00:51:17,990
It's never failed.

1233
00:51:18,390 --> 00:51:19,630
The word of God is sent out.

1234
00:51:19,710 --> 00:51:20,390
It will accomplish.

1235
00:51:20,650 --> 00:51:21,550
It did here in Samaria.

1236
00:51:22,390 --> 00:51:26,090
In this difficult, hard context, leave the word.

1237
00:51:26,830 --> 00:51:27,790
Do its work.

1238
00:51:28,470 --> 00:51:30,870
His word is light in darkness.

1239
00:51:30,990 --> 00:51:32,430
These are the pictures of John's gospel.

1240
00:51:33,090 --> 00:51:35,730
His word is bread to the hungry.

1241
00:51:35,730 --> 00:51:37,330
Creates the hunger.

1242
00:51:38,930 --> 00:51:41,130
Fulfills the hunger too.

1243
00:51:42,110 --> 00:51:43,770
His word creates the thirst.

1244
00:51:44,390 --> 00:51:45,550
Never thought about that before.

1245
00:51:46,330 --> 00:51:48,850
Wonderful moments, aren't they, in Bible studies, preaching

1246
00:51:48,850 --> 00:51:51,250
or teaching, Sunday school class, even with your

1247
00:51:51,250 --> 00:51:51,810
own children.

1248
00:51:52,330 --> 00:51:53,730
Never thought about that before.

1249
00:51:53,870 --> 00:51:56,030
Or the word brought that to mind.

1250
00:51:56,090 --> 00:51:58,090
You thought about it for the first time.

1251
00:51:59,110 --> 00:52:00,910
I never thought I was a sinner.

1252
00:52:02,030 --> 00:52:04,030
Never forget an evening.

1253
00:52:04,530 --> 00:52:06,290
It's related to our morning speaker.

1254
00:52:07,510 --> 00:52:09,790
And the only thing that ties us together

1255
00:52:09,790 --> 00:52:11,330
in this way is that we both arrived

1256
00:52:11,330 --> 00:52:13,310
in Bangor in the same term.

1257
00:52:14,250 --> 00:52:16,130
And Dr. Davis had come to pastor the

1258
00:52:16,130 --> 00:52:16,490
church.

1259
00:52:17,010 --> 00:52:19,510
And I'd arrived in my first year.

1260
00:52:20,210 --> 00:52:24,330
And having a service to induct Dr. Davis

1261
00:52:24,330 --> 00:52:24,990
to the ministry.

1262
00:52:25,670 --> 00:52:27,830
And a famous preacher came to preach.

1263
00:52:28,230 --> 00:52:30,270
I decided to ask as many friends as

1264
00:52:30,270 --> 00:52:30,710
I could.

1265
00:52:30,710 --> 00:52:34,170
And one of our friends turned to me

1266
00:52:34,170 --> 00:52:36,330
and said, after the sermon that night, I

1267
00:52:36,330 --> 00:52:39,010
have never been told before that I am

1268
00:52:39,010 --> 00:52:39,470
a sinner.

1269
00:52:40,070 --> 00:52:41,590
I thought to myself, we've told him for

1270
00:52:41,590 --> 00:52:42,810
two years that he's a sinner.

1271
00:52:43,650 --> 00:52:45,010
We've told him for two years.

1272
00:52:45,690 --> 00:52:47,570
We've been telling ourselves this is why we

1273
00:52:47,570 --> 00:52:48,090
need...

1274
00:52:48,090 --> 00:52:49,330
He heard it.

1275
00:52:50,250 --> 00:52:51,810
The word of God was being preached.

1276
00:52:51,890 --> 00:52:54,110
And he became aware of his sin.

1277
00:52:54,770 --> 00:52:59,630
He became aware of how tragic his sin

1278
00:52:59,630 --> 00:52:59,830
was.

1279
00:52:59,830 --> 00:53:01,990
He became aware of how dangerous it was

1280
00:53:01,990 --> 00:53:02,810
of his sin.

1281
00:53:02,910 --> 00:53:04,970
You see, the word was doing its work.

1282
00:53:06,370 --> 00:53:09,130
And I'm asking tonight in this context, what

1283
00:53:09,130 --> 00:53:10,230
will you do with the word?

1284
00:53:10,810 --> 00:53:13,470
You will never come to this confession without

1285
00:53:13,470 --> 00:53:13,830
it.

1286
00:53:14,770 --> 00:53:16,330
What will you do with the word?

1287
00:53:16,390 --> 00:53:18,490
Because in the word, God speaks to you.

1288
00:53:18,650 --> 00:53:20,430
God addresses you in his word.

1289
00:53:20,890 --> 00:53:22,170
Some of you have already been on another

1290
00:53:22,170 --> 00:53:22,430
camp.

1291
00:53:22,530 --> 00:53:24,670
Some of you have been in other conferences.

1292
00:53:24,890 --> 00:53:26,730
Some of you have Christian parents.

1293
00:53:26,890 --> 00:53:28,110
Some of you have Christian children.

1294
00:53:28,110 --> 00:53:30,350
Some of you have heard sermons time and

1295
00:53:30,350 --> 00:53:31,130
time again.

1296
00:53:31,350 --> 00:53:32,770
What have you done with the word?

1297
00:53:32,930 --> 00:53:34,390
Because it's the word of God.

1298
00:53:34,510 --> 00:53:36,190
It's the word of Christ.

1299
00:53:37,950 --> 00:53:39,910
Those that are not ashamed of me and

1300
00:53:39,910 --> 00:53:43,590
my word, Christ has tied himself to that

1301
00:53:43,590 --> 00:53:45,470
revelation of himself in the word.

1302
00:53:46,290 --> 00:53:48,010
It is the word that triumphs in the

1303
00:53:48,010 --> 00:53:48,710
book of Acts.

1304
00:53:49,070 --> 00:53:50,930
It is the word of God in testimony.

1305
00:53:51,550 --> 00:53:53,750
As the Holy Spirit comes upon it.

1306
00:53:54,010 --> 00:53:55,210
What will you do?

1307
00:53:56,250 --> 00:53:59,230
Have you heard the voice of Jesus?

1308
00:54:00,230 --> 00:54:02,590
Have you heard the voice of Jesus pleading?

1309
00:54:02,710 --> 00:54:06,090
Have you heard him explaining who he is?

1310
00:54:08,740 --> 00:54:11,500
This is the context that faith came in.

1311
00:54:12,220 --> 00:54:14,620
It gives great possibilities for the triumph of

1312
00:54:14,620 --> 00:54:15,980
the gospel throughout the world.

1313
00:54:16,300 --> 00:54:18,120
There are faithful men and women tonight throughout

1314
00:54:18,120 --> 00:54:19,020
the world.

1315
00:54:19,180 --> 00:54:21,580
Go to the missionary exhibition and there you

1316
00:54:21,580 --> 00:54:23,280
will see a wonderful display of what the

1317
00:54:23,280 --> 00:54:24,520
word of God is doing.

1318
00:54:25,400 --> 00:54:26,700
What the word of God is doing.

1319
00:54:26,700 --> 00:54:29,040
The word of Christ is doing in modern

1320
00:54:29,040 --> 00:54:31,060
situations like Samaria.

1321
00:54:31,680 --> 00:54:33,160
That was the context.

1322
00:54:34,360 --> 00:54:38,220
But secondly and finally, what was the content

1323
00:54:38,220 --> 00:54:39,660
of that word?

1324
00:54:40,420 --> 00:54:42,480
We've looked at the context of faith.

1325
00:54:43,320 --> 00:54:44,560
But what was the content?

1326
00:54:44,760 --> 00:54:47,960
What do they actually hear Jesus say?

1327
00:54:48,840 --> 00:54:52,980
What was his two-day teaching program all

1328
00:54:52,980 --> 00:54:53,260
about?

1329
00:54:53,380 --> 00:54:55,640
What was his ministry focusing on?

1330
00:54:55,640 --> 00:54:59,420
I'm sure we'd love to know how long

1331
00:54:59,420 --> 00:55:01,220
he preached and what he said and what

1332
00:55:01,220 --> 00:55:01,620
he taught.

1333
00:55:01,940 --> 00:55:02,640
What parables?

1334
00:55:02,860 --> 00:55:03,540
What pictures?

1335
00:55:03,960 --> 00:55:04,960
What illustrations?

1336
00:55:05,520 --> 00:55:06,580
What intensity?

1337
00:55:06,880 --> 00:55:07,900
When did he plead?

1338
00:55:08,200 --> 00:55:09,740
When did he stop perhaps and pray?

1339
00:55:09,820 --> 00:55:12,720
I don't know but we know this.

1340
00:55:14,300 --> 00:55:17,520
We know that this man really is the

1341
00:55:17,520 --> 00:55:19,000
Savior of the world.

1342
00:55:19,380 --> 00:55:20,640
That was the result of it all.

1343
00:55:21,360 --> 00:55:24,840
Christ himself had brought them to that place

1344
00:55:24,840 --> 00:55:29,020
of conviction, of knowledge, of assurance, of clarity.

1345
00:55:29,400 --> 00:55:30,620
Whatever else they'd forgotten.

1346
00:55:30,820 --> 00:55:33,000
Whatever else they'd not picked up on.

1347
00:55:33,300 --> 00:55:34,540
They picked up on this.

1348
00:55:34,640 --> 00:55:36,500
The man who came to our town.

1349
00:55:36,820 --> 00:55:38,780
The man who sat there and taught us.

1350
00:55:39,320 --> 00:55:44,660
He is the Savior of the world.

1351
00:55:46,320 --> 00:55:49,620
That is the remarkable aspect of their confession.

1352
00:55:49,760 --> 00:55:50,680
The content of it.

1353
00:55:50,900 --> 00:55:53,060
The context is thrilling but the content.

1354
00:55:53,940 --> 00:55:56,620
This man really is the Savior of the

1355
00:55:56,620 --> 00:55:56,840
world.

1356
00:55:57,360 --> 00:55:59,040
Their faith is focused on him.

1357
00:55:59,500 --> 00:56:01,220
That's the greatest thing about faith.

1358
00:56:01,780 --> 00:56:02,700
It is object.

1359
00:56:03,660 --> 00:56:05,540
Who is the one they look to?

1360
00:56:05,740 --> 00:56:07,360
Who is the one they speak of?

1361
00:56:07,580 --> 00:56:08,940
Who is the one they talk of?

1362
00:56:08,980 --> 00:56:10,260
Who is the one they testify of?

1363
00:56:10,400 --> 00:56:10,980
It's him.

1364
00:56:12,200 --> 00:56:13,860
You see it's not even their own experience

1365
00:56:13,860 --> 00:56:14,520
at this point.

1366
00:56:14,520 --> 00:56:17,420
They don't say this man is my Savior.

1367
00:56:17,560 --> 00:56:20,320
You know we really mustn't meddle with Scripture.

1368
00:56:21,660 --> 00:56:23,560
Even evangelicals are wonderful at meddling with Scripture,

1369
00:56:23,680 --> 00:56:23,920
aren't we?

1370
00:56:24,180 --> 00:56:25,460
For God so loved the world.

1371
00:56:25,700 --> 00:56:27,040
Now I'd like you to take out that

1372
00:56:27,040 --> 00:56:28,580
little phrase and put your own name there.

1373
00:56:28,680 --> 00:56:28,860
Why?

1374
00:56:29,880 --> 00:56:32,720
The Bible says God so loved the world.

1375
00:56:33,520 --> 00:56:35,800
And here these people say this man really

1376
00:56:35,800 --> 00:56:38,200
is the Savior of the world.

1377
00:56:38,400 --> 00:56:39,440
They are in that world.

1378
00:56:39,520 --> 00:56:40,840
They belong to that world as we shall

1379
00:56:40,840 --> 00:56:42,100
see in closing.

1380
00:56:42,860 --> 00:56:45,820
And they have an interest in this Savior

1381
00:56:45,820 --> 00:56:46,420
of the world.

1382
00:56:46,680 --> 00:56:48,080
They have come to believe and put their

1383
00:56:48,080 --> 00:56:51,000
faith in the Savior of the world.

1384
00:56:52,100 --> 00:56:55,160
They are confessing something big and something great.

1385
00:56:56,080 --> 00:56:59,220
They're not just talking about their own experience

1386
00:56:59,220 --> 00:57:01,300
and their own understanding.

1387
00:57:01,520 --> 00:57:03,920
There is a declaration here.

1388
00:57:04,540 --> 00:57:07,620
There is an objective assent and a realization

1389
00:57:07,620 --> 00:57:09,540
about who Jesus is.

1390
00:57:09,680 --> 00:57:10,460
And that is vital.

1391
00:57:11,240 --> 00:57:13,060
You cannot be a Christian without such a

1392
00:57:13,060 --> 00:57:16,020
confession about the Lord Jesus Christ.

1393
00:57:17,020 --> 00:57:20,100
Who he is and what he has done.

1394
00:57:20,500 --> 00:57:22,400
The person, the work of Christ.

1395
00:57:22,720 --> 00:57:24,080
Our faith rests on it.

1396
00:57:24,980 --> 00:57:27,480
Indeed faith cannot be without it.

1397
00:57:28,080 --> 00:57:29,700
Faith will never come into existence.

1398
00:57:30,140 --> 00:57:31,900
Faith will never be there.

1399
00:57:32,600 --> 00:57:34,800
It will never let alone flourish and survive.

1400
00:57:35,630 --> 00:57:39,380
And thrive without the person and the work

1401
00:57:39,380 --> 00:57:40,960
of Jesus Christ.

1402
00:57:41,360 --> 00:57:44,300
And here they tell us about who Jesus

1403
00:57:44,300 --> 00:57:48,580
is and about what he's done specifically in

1404
00:57:48,580 --> 00:57:52,160
him as the Savior of the world.

1405
00:57:52,240 --> 00:57:54,000
They focus on salvation.

1406
00:57:55,980 --> 00:57:57,320
It is a wonderful thought isn't it?

1407
00:57:57,380 --> 00:58:00,000
They're young believers and they have this world

1408
00:58:00,000 --> 00:58:00,300
vision.

1409
00:58:00,480 --> 00:58:03,940
They haven't been to an EMW missionary exhibition.

1410
00:58:04,800 --> 00:58:06,420
And yet they know that the man who's

1411
00:58:06,420 --> 00:58:08,300
been in their town is not just the

1412
00:58:08,300 --> 00:58:09,880
Savior of their town and the Savior of

1413
00:58:09,880 --> 00:58:10,540
their families.

1414
00:58:11,320 --> 00:58:13,000
He's the Savior of the world.

1415
00:58:13,200 --> 00:58:14,620
They have a world vision at a very

1416
00:58:14,620 --> 00:58:15,940
young age as Christians.

1417
00:58:16,600 --> 00:58:20,120
They've already seen the international scope of the

1418
00:58:20,120 --> 00:58:21,660
work of Jesus Christ.

1419
00:58:22,280 --> 00:58:24,520
They've already come to understand in a little

1420
00:58:24,520 --> 00:58:28,140
way the universal significance of this man who's

1421
00:58:28,140 --> 00:58:29,560
been in their town.

1422
00:58:29,700 --> 00:58:30,440
It's remarkable.

1423
00:58:31,340 --> 00:58:33,560
You see the confidence is not in self.

1424
00:58:34,800 --> 00:58:36,420
It's not in personal merit.

1425
00:58:37,040 --> 00:58:39,740
It's not in religious observance, religious pilgrimage.

1426
00:58:39,900 --> 00:58:41,200
They tell us nothing of that.

1427
00:58:41,900 --> 00:58:45,220
They just say Jesus is the Savior of

1428
00:58:45,220 --> 00:58:46,400
the world.

1429
00:58:47,620 --> 00:58:49,800
But in closing let's look at the specifics.

1430
00:58:50,360 --> 00:58:52,920
They say this man.

1431
00:58:54,180 --> 00:58:57,520
They don't see before them some remote robot.

1432
00:58:58,600 --> 00:59:00,340
They're not looking at some kind of mythical

1433
00:59:00,340 --> 00:59:02,040
genie who's come out of a lamp for

1434
00:59:02,040 --> 00:59:02,660
a few minutes.

1435
00:59:03,360 --> 00:59:06,000
They're not looking at some nonsensical ghost.

1436
00:59:06,940 --> 00:59:09,520
They're looking and they're saying this man.

1437
00:59:10,960 --> 00:59:13,460
This real human being.

1438
00:59:14,120 --> 00:59:14,820
He came here.

1439
00:59:14,900 --> 00:59:15,860
He arrived in town.

1440
00:59:16,000 --> 00:59:16,700
He was thirsty.

1441
00:59:17,780 --> 00:59:18,860
He was tired.

1442
00:59:19,660 --> 00:59:23,060
He's got the dust of Samaria on his

1443
00:59:23,060 --> 00:59:23,440
feet.

1444
00:59:24,900 --> 00:59:26,900
John's gospel tells us this is a real

1445
00:59:26,900 --> 00:59:27,260
man.

1446
00:59:28,940 --> 00:59:30,000
Tired, thirsty.

1447
00:59:30,280 --> 00:59:31,440
A man who knows loneliness.

1448
00:59:31,440 --> 00:59:33,080
A man who was misunderstood even by his

1449
00:59:33,080 --> 00:59:33,520
closest.

1450
00:59:33,660 --> 00:59:35,800
A man who suffered.

1451
00:59:36,120 --> 00:59:37,340
A man who knew what pain was.

1452
00:59:37,400 --> 00:59:38,960
A man who looked at the grave of

1453
00:59:38,960 --> 00:59:39,480
a friend.

1454
00:59:40,140 --> 00:59:42,680
With all the significance that death and the

1455
00:59:42,680 --> 00:59:47,260
grave had, he wept over it all.

1456
00:59:48,360 --> 00:59:49,240
He was vulnerable.

1457
00:59:51,960 --> 00:59:54,660
The world's Savior is not removed from the

1458
00:59:54,660 --> 00:59:54,880
world.

1459
00:59:54,980 --> 00:59:55,980
He is in this world.

1460
00:59:56,620 --> 00:59:58,660
And they've seen a real man.

1461
00:59:58,660 --> 01:00:01,160
They've spent two days and they've had exposed

1462
01:00:01,160 --> 01:00:05,880
to them the perfect transparency of his life.

1463
01:00:07,080 --> 01:00:09,200
He's a man of sorrows, says the Bible.

1464
01:00:10,300 --> 01:00:12,580
He's touched with our infirmities.

1465
01:00:12,920 --> 01:00:17,160
Sympathizes with all our human needs.

1466
01:00:19,440 --> 01:00:19,980
He's real.

1467
01:00:20,600 --> 01:00:21,200
He's genuine.

1468
01:00:21,640 --> 01:00:22,200
He's true.

1469
01:00:22,360 --> 01:00:23,340
He's an authentic man.

1470
01:00:24,740 --> 01:00:27,700
In this world, this vast, vast humanity, a

1471
01:00:27,700 --> 01:00:28,520
real man.

1472
01:00:29,060 --> 01:00:29,820
A human.

1473
01:00:30,940 --> 01:00:33,140
A human being has come.

1474
01:00:34,320 --> 01:00:36,600
And he has not just revealed God to

1475
01:00:36,600 --> 01:00:37,720
us, but he is God.

1476
01:00:38,460 --> 01:00:40,520
God who made the first man in his

1477
01:00:40,520 --> 01:00:42,640
own image, in his own likeness.

1478
01:00:43,480 --> 01:00:45,380
We saw something of the fall, the collapse

1479
01:00:45,380 --> 01:00:46,160
of that just a little.

1480
01:00:47,760 --> 01:00:50,160
He's come now as a real man, a

1481
01:00:50,160 --> 01:00:50,960
perfect man.

1482
01:00:51,800 --> 01:00:56,200
To save and to rescue this sick world.

1483
01:00:56,800 --> 01:00:58,460
And this is his greatness.

1484
01:00:58,660 --> 01:01:01,320
That as a man, as the God-man

1485
01:01:01,320 --> 01:01:04,000
that John portrays him to be.

1486
01:01:04,520 --> 01:01:06,480
He is God, but he is man.

1487
01:01:06,840 --> 01:01:09,280
And as the God-man, he saves and

1488
01:01:09,280 --> 01:01:10,880
he rescues and he delivers.

1489
01:01:11,460 --> 01:01:15,260
This man really is the Savior of the

1490
01:01:15,260 --> 01:01:15,600
world.

1491
01:01:16,080 --> 01:01:18,020
This world has no other real Savior.

1492
01:01:18,580 --> 01:01:20,180
There is no other real man that can

1493
01:01:20,180 --> 01:01:20,940
save this world.

1494
01:01:20,940 --> 01:01:24,240
There is no other person who has entered

1495
01:01:24,240 --> 01:01:27,400
in to this world that can save it

1496
01:01:27,400 --> 01:01:29,980
and redeem it and deliver it.

1497
01:01:30,940 --> 01:01:31,900
He's a real man.

1498
01:01:32,220 --> 01:01:35,780
He can come as close as he needs

1499
01:01:35,780 --> 01:01:38,040
to come to each other human being.

1500
01:01:39,500 --> 01:01:42,120
Even as ascended glorified Lord.

1501
01:01:42,180 --> 01:01:44,440
We read that wonderful title in Timothy.

1502
01:01:44,560 --> 01:01:46,720
He is still the man in the glory

1503
01:01:46,720 --> 01:01:47,000
now.

1504
01:01:47,000 --> 01:01:49,500
There is a man, a real man in

1505
01:01:49,500 --> 01:01:51,000
the glory tonight.

1506
01:01:51,880 --> 01:01:55,340
He's not lost his capacity to understand, to

1507
01:01:55,340 --> 01:01:58,480
sympathize with humanity.

1508
01:01:59,780 --> 01:02:01,080
And this is his great genius.

1509
01:02:03,720 --> 01:02:06,040
You may ask, as many have asked, why

1510
01:02:06,040 --> 01:02:07,260
does the world need to be saved?

1511
01:02:08,420 --> 01:02:10,280
Why did Samaritans need to be saved?

1512
01:02:11,080 --> 01:02:12,640
Why did Romans and Greeks need to be

1513
01:02:12,640 --> 01:02:12,860
saved?

1514
01:02:12,960 --> 01:02:13,960
Boy, they had a wonderful culture.

1515
01:02:14,720 --> 01:02:15,640
They had a wonderful life.

1516
01:02:16,260 --> 01:02:17,260
Buildings, a lot.

1517
01:02:19,120 --> 01:02:20,420
Philosophies, Olympic games.

1518
01:02:20,500 --> 01:02:21,520
You didn't have to wait four years for

1519
01:02:21,520 --> 01:02:21,660
them.

1520
01:02:22,380 --> 01:02:23,460
Games all over the place.

1521
01:02:23,540 --> 01:02:24,040
What a life.

1522
01:02:24,300 --> 01:02:25,780
It looks like that on the outside.

1523
01:02:27,620 --> 01:02:29,520
John's gospel tells us this world needs to

1524
01:02:29,520 --> 01:02:32,500
be saved because it's a dark, miserable place.

1525
01:02:32,880 --> 01:02:33,960
I was on a beach in Temby last

1526
01:02:33,960 --> 01:02:37,060
week listening to those wonderful beach missioners who

1527
01:02:37,060 --> 01:02:39,980
speak to children as if nobody else is

1528
01:02:39,980 --> 01:02:40,380
around.

1529
01:02:41,100 --> 01:02:43,020
And they get these children to be involved

1530
01:02:43,020 --> 01:02:45,080
and to listen to gospel truths while their

1531
01:02:45,080 --> 01:02:46,920
fathers, some of them, were swigging lager.

1532
01:02:47,260 --> 01:02:49,720
Others sleeping and crosswords were being done.

1533
01:02:49,840 --> 01:02:50,920
And there was a high of activity.

1534
01:02:51,560 --> 01:02:52,320
And here was this man.

1535
01:02:52,380 --> 01:02:55,880
And he was telling people about the deep,

1536
01:02:56,400 --> 01:03:00,120
dark, empty feeling one little boy had.

1537
01:03:01,080 --> 01:03:03,500
This is what John's gospel tells us about.

1538
01:03:03,600 --> 01:03:07,540
It tells us that humanity is dark.

1539
01:03:08,060 --> 01:03:08,860
The darkness.

1540
01:03:09,300 --> 01:03:11,260
Light has come into the world.

1541
01:03:11,340 --> 01:03:11,960
What kind of world?

1542
01:03:11,980 --> 01:03:13,020
It's a dark world.

1543
01:03:13,580 --> 01:03:17,860
It's actual, personal, active darkness.

1544
01:03:18,000 --> 01:03:19,520
It's a symbol, isn't it, in John's gospel

1545
01:03:19,520 --> 01:03:20,420
of sin.

1546
01:03:21,520 --> 01:03:23,460
It's a picture of sin.

1547
01:03:23,700 --> 01:03:27,120
Sin is darkness in John's gospel.

1548
01:03:27,520 --> 01:03:31,020
Particularly in John's gospel, the darkness of sin

1549
01:03:31,020 --> 01:03:33,380
expressed in unbelief.

1550
01:03:33,680 --> 01:03:34,720
The rejection of God.

1551
01:03:34,820 --> 01:03:36,200
You know it in John chapter 1, don't

1552
01:03:36,200 --> 01:03:36,380
you?

1553
01:03:36,680 --> 01:03:37,440
He was in the world.

1554
01:03:37,500 --> 01:03:38,560
The world was made through him.

1555
01:03:38,620 --> 01:03:40,420
The world did not recognize him.

1556
01:03:40,420 --> 01:03:42,500
He came to that which was his own.

1557
01:03:42,600 --> 01:03:44,280
His own did not receive him.

1558
01:03:44,440 --> 01:03:45,540
No thank you.

1559
01:03:45,980 --> 01:03:47,560
We don't want God in our lives.

1560
01:03:47,980 --> 01:03:49,820
We don't want the Son of God in

1561
01:03:49,820 --> 01:03:50,520
our lives.

1562
01:03:50,700 --> 01:03:52,080
The rejection of God.

1563
01:03:52,400 --> 01:03:53,700
The rejection of Christ.

1564
01:03:53,860 --> 01:03:54,700
That is the darkness.

1565
01:03:55,200 --> 01:03:56,500
That we have a testimony.

1566
01:03:57,040 --> 01:03:58,860
We have in John's gospel and the other

1567
01:03:58,860 --> 01:04:00,120
gospels the evidence.

1568
01:04:00,280 --> 01:04:02,520
Nobody's asking you to leap in the dark.

1569
01:04:02,660 --> 01:04:04,160
Actually, faith is quite the reverse, isn't it?

1570
01:04:04,160 --> 01:04:05,060
It is out of the dark.

1571
01:04:05,240 --> 01:04:06,100
Not into the dark.

1572
01:04:06,400 --> 01:04:08,620
It's out of the dark, into the light.

1573
01:04:08,620 --> 01:04:12,620
But naturally, by nature, by habit, by choice,

1574
01:04:13,140 --> 01:04:13,940
by desire.

1575
01:04:14,300 --> 01:04:16,220
We are in that darkness of sin.

1576
01:04:16,680 --> 01:04:18,480
Expresses itself in unbelief.

1577
01:04:19,840 --> 01:04:22,760
It's what one commonly does call the declaration

1578
01:04:22,760 --> 01:04:23,700
of independence.

1579
01:04:25,160 --> 01:04:26,840
There's a generation here who know the song,

1580
01:04:26,880 --> 01:04:27,900
I'll do it my way.

1581
01:04:28,220 --> 01:04:28,920
That's it, isn't it?

1582
01:04:28,960 --> 01:04:29,560
My way.

1583
01:04:30,220 --> 01:04:30,720
I don't want God.

1584
01:04:30,820 --> 01:04:32,540
I don't want Christ telling me what to

1585
01:04:32,540 --> 01:04:33,820
do with my life.

1586
01:04:34,220 --> 01:04:35,920
It's the darkness of separation.

1587
01:04:36,560 --> 01:04:39,860
Bible tells us our sins have cut us

1588
01:04:39,860 --> 01:04:40,600
off from God.

1589
01:04:40,720 --> 01:04:42,600
We're separated from God.

1590
01:04:44,100 --> 01:04:45,980
And the Bible says that isn't just some

1591
01:04:45,980 --> 01:04:46,960
kind of neutral state.

1592
01:04:47,080 --> 01:04:48,640
It's a dangerous state to be in.

1593
01:04:48,840 --> 01:04:51,120
Because this Bible says that the darkness doesn't

1594
01:04:51,120 --> 01:04:51,800
get less.

1595
01:04:52,300 --> 01:04:53,700
The darkness increases.

1596
01:04:53,920 --> 01:04:56,220
Indeed, the Bible tells us that darkness will

1597
01:04:56,220 --> 01:04:58,660
one day become outer darkness.

1598
01:04:59,560 --> 01:05:00,860
It's one of the titles of hell.

1599
01:05:01,280 --> 01:05:04,580
Hell is a place of total separation from

1600
01:05:04,580 --> 01:05:05,040
God.

1601
01:05:05,040 --> 01:05:08,700
The road to unbelief might be very popular.

1602
01:05:09,180 --> 01:05:11,220
But it leads to death.

1603
01:05:11,500 --> 01:05:12,760
It leads to hell.

1604
01:05:13,280 --> 01:05:16,620
It leads to a place of being cast

1605
01:05:16,620 --> 01:05:18,080
out of God's presence.

1606
01:05:18,400 --> 01:05:21,000
Nobody in hell is saying this man really

1607
01:05:21,000 --> 01:05:22,760
is the savior of the world.

1608
01:05:22,880 --> 01:05:23,700
We don't believe it.

1609
01:05:24,780 --> 01:05:26,020
No salvation.

1610
01:05:26,820 --> 01:05:28,080
No redemption.

1611
01:05:28,360 --> 01:05:29,160
No freedom.

1612
01:05:29,300 --> 01:05:29,880
No liberty.

1613
01:05:30,020 --> 01:05:33,200
No light in that place of outer darkness.

1614
01:05:35,080 --> 01:05:36,300
Jesus taught these things.

1615
01:05:36,360 --> 01:05:38,140
He always taught these things.

1616
01:05:38,320 --> 01:05:40,020
You can't understand his saviorhood.

1617
01:05:40,360 --> 01:05:41,360
You can't understand what it means to be

1618
01:05:41,360 --> 01:05:41,560
saved.

1619
01:05:41,620 --> 01:05:42,520
What am I saved from?

1620
01:05:43,240 --> 01:05:45,720
I'm saved from death, from hell, from despair,

1621
01:05:46,100 --> 01:05:47,400
from darkness.

1622
01:05:48,640 --> 01:05:50,400
You know the Bible is so clear, isn't

1623
01:05:50,400 --> 01:05:50,500
it?

1624
01:05:50,500 --> 01:05:51,960
In chapter 3 and verse 19.

1625
01:05:52,300 --> 01:05:53,480
It tells us this is what the world

1626
01:05:53,480 --> 01:05:53,940
is like.

1627
01:05:54,120 --> 01:05:55,300
This is why we need to be saved.

1628
01:05:56,100 --> 01:05:56,860
This is the verdict.

1629
01:05:57,060 --> 01:05:58,060
Light has come into the world.

1630
01:05:58,380 --> 01:06:00,980
But men love darkness.

1631
01:06:01,920 --> 01:06:03,700
Men and women are loyal to it.

1632
01:06:03,700 --> 01:06:05,220
They are committed to it.

1633
01:06:06,240 --> 01:06:08,260
They are deciding for it.

1634
01:06:08,720 --> 01:06:10,800
Darkness rather than light.

1635
01:06:11,580 --> 01:06:13,560
Anyone but Jesus will be our hero.

1636
01:06:13,960 --> 01:06:16,420
Everyone but anyone but Jesus to save us.

1637
01:06:16,560 --> 01:06:17,080
Don't want him.

1638
01:06:18,600 --> 01:06:20,180
And you can be in a Christian conference.

1639
01:06:20,640 --> 01:06:21,760
You can be in a Christian camp.

1640
01:06:22,600 --> 01:06:23,940
You can be in the company of Christian

1641
01:06:23,940 --> 01:06:24,640
people.

1642
01:06:25,360 --> 01:06:27,620
But that's the controlling factor of your life.

1643
01:06:27,980 --> 01:06:29,280
I want Jesus to tell me what to

1644
01:06:29,280 --> 01:06:29,420
do.

1645
01:06:29,760 --> 01:06:31,640
Don't want God to interfere in my life.

1646
01:06:32,280 --> 01:06:33,400
I don't want to be told.

1647
01:06:34,500 --> 01:06:35,240
What to do?

1648
01:06:35,320 --> 01:06:36,460
I'll do what I want to do.

1649
01:06:36,720 --> 01:06:39,180
My desires, my hopes, my aspirations.

1650
01:06:39,980 --> 01:06:41,100
My big discoveries.

1651
01:06:41,780 --> 01:06:43,140
Not the discovery of faith.

1652
01:06:44,820 --> 01:06:46,480
Men loved darkness.

1653
01:06:46,920 --> 01:06:48,660
And it's expressed, isn't it, in the context

1654
01:06:48,660 --> 01:06:49,660
of John chapter 3.

1655
01:06:49,880 --> 01:06:51,980
In that terrible phrase.

1656
01:06:52,060 --> 01:06:53,720
And their evil deeds, they show it.

1657
01:06:53,800 --> 01:06:56,540
And we're seeing darkness all around us.

1658
01:06:58,440 --> 01:07:02,020
The drugs, the drink, the adultery, the pornography

1659
01:07:02,020 --> 01:07:03,640
we heard of this morning.

1660
01:07:04,400 --> 01:07:07,100
The broken homes, the broken marriages.

1661
01:07:07,740 --> 01:07:08,720
Darkness everywhere.

1662
01:07:09,220 --> 01:07:11,180
And who can save us from darkness?

1663
01:07:11,760 --> 01:07:13,980
Sin and hell and the results of it.

1664
01:07:14,040 --> 01:07:16,380
And the chaos it's reaping in lives.

1665
01:07:16,620 --> 01:07:18,520
And can there be any family?

1666
01:07:18,660 --> 01:07:20,340
Can there be any life not touched by

1667
01:07:20,340 --> 01:07:21,180
it here tonight?

1668
01:07:21,400 --> 01:07:22,340
No, the Bible says.

1669
01:07:23,000 --> 01:07:24,940
All have sinned and fallen short of the

1670
01:07:24,940 --> 01:07:25,600
glory of God.

1671
01:07:25,820 --> 01:07:26,740
Who will save?

1672
01:07:27,060 --> 01:07:28,020
Who will rescue?

1673
01:07:28,240 --> 01:07:29,340
Can't rescue myself.

1674
01:07:29,700 --> 01:07:31,040
Religion can't rescue me.

1675
01:07:31,680 --> 01:07:33,980
Going to Christian meetings can't rescue me.

1676
01:07:35,760 --> 01:07:36,640
Jesus rescues.

1677
01:07:36,820 --> 01:07:37,740
Jesus saves.

1678
01:07:37,880 --> 01:07:39,460
This is what this text is saying.

1679
01:07:39,540 --> 01:07:41,200
This is what these people had come to

1680
01:07:41,200 --> 01:07:42,120
understand.

1681
01:07:44,080 --> 01:07:46,100
I've already said it, but let's underline it.

1682
01:07:46,180 --> 01:07:47,620
It's a dangerous place to be in.

1683
01:07:47,680 --> 01:07:48,020
Darkness.

1684
01:07:48,520 --> 01:07:50,480
We need to understand why we need to

1685
01:07:50,480 --> 01:07:50,980
be saved.

1686
01:07:51,340 --> 01:07:53,200
John chapter 3 again, verse 18, says we

1687
01:07:53,200 --> 01:07:54,240
stand condemned.

1688
01:07:55,060 --> 01:07:56,900
God is not neutral to this state of

1689
01:07:56,900 --> 01:07:57,280
darkness.

1690
01:07:57,400 --> 01:07:59,900
And this state of sin and rebellion and

1691
01:07:59,900 --> 01:08:00,380
rejection.

1692
01:08:01,040 --> 01:08:02,480
He condemns it.

1693
01:08:02,600 --> 01:08:03,520
It's terrible.

1694
01:08:03,760 --> 01:08:04,440
It is awful.

1695
01:08:04,580 --> 01:08:05,680
It is abhorrent to him.

1696
01:08:08,040 --> 01:08:10,660
And in chapter 3 in the last verse,

1697
01:08:11,600 --> 01:08:13,880
God's wrath remains.

1698
01:08:14,340 --> 01:08:16,600
Notice, not that God's wrath will one day

1699
01:08:16,600 --> 01:08:17,040
come.

1700
01:08:17,460 --> 01:08:19,760
God's wrath is on those now.

1701
01:08:21,479 --> 01:08:23,880
Even those sat here tonight who may not

1702
01:08:23,880 --> 01:08:24,620
yet know Jesus.

1703
01:08:24,859 --> 01:08:27,000
God's wrath remains.

1704
01:08:28,540 --> 01:08:31,100
And what eternity will do is to confirm

1705
01:08:31,100 --> 01:08:31,760
that wrath.

1706
01:08:32,540 --> 01:08:34,340
And to actualize it.

1707
01:08:35,420 --> 01:08:38,700
It's a horrible, dangerous place to be in.

1708
01:08:39,359 --> 01:08:39,459
Darkness.

1709
01:08:39,880 --> 01:08:42,859
The people that walked in darkness.

1710
01:08:43,040 --> 01:08:45,479
And here they were in Samaria, in the

1711
01:08:45,479 --> 01:08:45,960
darkness.

1712
01:08:46,899 --> 01:08:49,260
And yet the day came when the light

1713
01:08:49,260 --> 01:08:50,680
of the world walked into town.

1714
01:08:51,439 --> 01:08:54,399
And he came to save and to rescue

1715
01:08:54,399 --> 01:08:56,859
there in Samaria.

1716
01:08:57,800 --> 01:08:59,840
This is where the hope of Samaria was.

1717
01:09:00,120 --> 01:09:01,500
This is where our hope is this evening.

1718
01:09:01,500 --> 01:09:04,040
It's in the Savior who delivers, who rescues,

1719
01:09:04,340 --> 01:09:05,439
and who liberates.

1720
01:09:05,800 --> 01:09:09,160
And John's gospel wonderfully tells us how he

1721
01:09:09,160 --> 01:09:09,620
did it.

1722
01:09:10,100 --> 01:09:11,740
He came down from heaven.

1723
01:09:12,540 --> 01:09:14,319
The Savior came to Bethlehem.

1724
01:09:15,220 --> 01:09:16,700
He not only sees its darkness.

1725
01:09:16,859 --> 01:09:18,560
He lives in the context of darkness.

1726
01:09:19,020 --> 01:09:20,100
He feels the darkness.

1727
01:09:21,240 --> 01:09:23,380
And as we heard this morning, taking the

1728
01:09:23,380 --> 01:09:23,600
sheep.

1729
01:09:23,660 --> 01:09:27,460
He took the darkness on himself.

1730
01:09:27,800 --> 01:09:29,120
He goes into the darkness.

1731
01:09:29,680 --> 01:09:32,620
You know that picture as he hangs there

1732
01:09:32,620 --> 01:09:33,200
on the cross.

1733
01:09:33,399 --> 01:09:33,920
What's happening?

1734
01:09:34,460 --> 01:09:35,359
Well, he's in the darkness.

1735
01:09:35,700 --> 01:09:37,680
The darkness symbolizes sin.

1736
01:09:39,380 --> 01:09:40,760
It's separation from God.

1737
01:09:41,760 --> 01:09:42,560
The shame of sin.

1738
01:09:42,660 --> 01:09:43,359
The guilt of sin.

1739
01:09:43,439 --> 01:09:44,200
The burden of sin.

1740
01:09:44,260 --> 01:09:44,880
The punishment.

1741
01:09:45,620 --> 01:09:47,700
Darkness, death, despair.

1742
01:09:48,439 --> 01:09:49,319
And he goes in.

1743
01:09:50,240 --> 01:09:51,620
And he defeats it.

1744
01:09:51,800 --> 01:09:52,740
Takes the punishment.

1745
01:09:52,960 --> 01:09:55,320
Takes the burden in our place.

1746
01:09:57,160 --> 01:10:00,100
And the light of Christ triumphs.

1747
01:10:00,160 --> 01:10:01,160
The love of Christ.

1748
01:10:02,300 --> 01:10:04,440
The love of God in Christ triumphs on

1749
01:10:04,440 --> 01:10:06,140
the cross of Calvary.

1750
01:10:06,640 --> 01:10:08,300
And on the cross, we can say this

1751
01:10:08,300 --> 01:10:09,200
world has a Savior.

1752
01:10:09,920 --> 01:10:11,660
This world has hope.

1753
01:10:12,240 --> 01:10:15,120
This big world has a big and a

1754
01:10:15,120 --> 01:10:16,680
great and a mighty Savior.

1755
01:10:17,040 --> 01:10:19,180
But this bad world, that is what makes

1756
01:10:19,180 --> 01:10:20,780
the love of God so great.

1757
01:10:21,040 --> 01:10:22,460
Not really the extent of the world.

1758
01:10:22,580 --> 01:10:23,060
What is that?

1759
01:10:23,360 --> 01:10:23,840
To God.

1760
01:10:23,840 --> 01:10:27,320
But this bad, this dark, this sin-sick

1761
01:10:27,320 --> 01:10:29,560
world has a Savior.

1762
01:10:30,480 --> 01:10:33,140
And I'm saying in closing, what a discovery.

1763
01:10:34,000 --> 01:10:36,280
To find that my salvation, my safety is

1764
01:10:36,280 --> 01:10:36,720
in Him.

1765
01:10:36,820 --> 01:10:38,080
He is the Savior of the world and

1766
01:10:38,080 --> 01:10:38,680
no other Savior.

1767
01:10:40,460 --> 01:10:42,280
And I'm asking in closing, where do you

1768
01:10:42,280 --> 01:10:44,800
stand in relationship to the Savior?

1769
01:10:45,820 --> 01:10:48,060
Where do you stand in relationship to Him?

1770
01:10:48,060 --> 01:10:52,740
The whole destiny of nations is in the

1771
01:10:52,740 --> 01:10:54,320
answer to this question.

1772
01:10:55,400 --> 01:10:58,000
Samaria, Rome, Greece.

1773
01:10:59,640 --> 01:11:01,540
All the nations of the world.

1774
01:11:01,640 --> 01:11:04,120
Where do they stand in relationship to the

1775
01:11:04,120 --> 01:11:04,800
Savior of the world?

1776
01:11:04,860 --> 01:11:06,660
If salvation is only in Him, they can

1777
01:11:06,660 --> 01:11:07,580
only be saved in Him.

1778
01:11:08,200 --> 01:11:10,820
It's the only hope of the nations.

1779
01:11:11,240 --> 01:11:13,880
The destiny of nations, of peoples, of tribes,

1780
01:11:14,140 --> 01:11:14,840
of tongues.

1781
01:11:14,840 --> 01:11:16,740
The last book in the Bible tells us

1782
01:11:16,740 --> 01:11:20,380
all circles and centers around a relationship and

1783
01:11:20,380 --> 01:11:23,280
a response to this great Savior of the

1784
01:11:23,280 --> 01:11:23,700
world.

1785
01:11:24,300 --> 01:11:26,400
The discovery of faith says if I trust,

1786
01:11:26,560 --> 01:11:31,010
if I believe, if I accept, if I

1787
01:11:31,010 --> 01:11:35,050
embrace, if I recognize this Savior, the Savior

1788
01:11:35,050 --> 01:11:37,470
of the world to be my Savior too.

1789
01:11:39,290 --> 01:11:41,250
I live in His company and I travel

1790
01:11:41,250 --> 01:11:43,050
with Him all the way by faith.

1791
01:11:43,050 --> 01:11:46,570
Listening to His word, trusting Him for everything

1792
01:11:46,570 --> 01:11:47,970
in my life.

1793
01:11:48,170 --> 01:11:50,070
Recognize Him, acknowledge Him.

1794
01:11:50,590 --> 01:11:53,090
He is the only Savior of the world.

1795
01:11:53,930 --> 01:11:55,290
We know that now by faith.

1796
01:11:55,410 --> 01:11:57,070
One day He will declare it to be

1797
01:11:57,070 --> 01:11:57,370
so.

1798
01:11:58,490 --> 01:12:01,130
The Savior, the Savior of the world will

1799
01:12:01,130 --> 01:12:05,270
return to take His people unto Himself.

1800
01:12:05,530 --> 01:12:07,990
This is a wonderful statement of faith.

1801
01:12:08,090 --> 01:12:10,590
We know this man really is the Savior

1802
01:12:10,590 --> 01:12:12,150
of the world.

1803
01:12:13,050 --> 01:12:14,770
Can you say tonight to that, Amen?

1804
01:12:15,490 --> 01:12:16,330
I believe that.

1805
01:12:16,810 --> 01:12:17,790
I accept that.

1806
01:12:18,190 --> 01:12:19,090
I understand that.

1807
01:12:19,770 --> 01:12:25,150
This man only really is the Savior of

1808
01:12:25,150 --> 01:12:25,750
the world.

1809
01:12:26,050 --> 01:12:26,670
Let us pray.

1810
01:12:27,430 --> 01:12:31,670
Heavenly Father, we know so little and yet

1811
01:12:31,670 --> 01:12:33,490
what we know through the word of Christ

1812
01:12:34,250 --> 01:12:36,490
is indeed remarkable because we cannot know it

1813
01:12:36,490 --> 01:12:37,690
by human discovery.

1814
01:12:38,510 --> 01:12:41,450
We cannot know it by human ingenuity.

1815
01:12:42,150 --> 01:12:44,350
You have taught us all we ever know.

1816
01:12:44,650 --> 01:12:45,670
We thank you for the grace.

1817
01:12:46,230 --> 01:12:47,330
Thank you for the mercy.

1818
01:12:47,910 --> 01:12:49,050
Thank you for the love.

1819
01:12:49,550 --> 01:12:52,270
Thank you for the patience that you've displayed

1820
01:12:52,270 --> 01:12:54,990
with us in teaching us of who Jesus

1821
01:12:54,990 --> 01:12:55,810
really is.

1822
01:12:56,670 --> 01:12:57,810
And Lord, we do have in our hearts

1823
01:12:57,810 --> 01:13:00,410
tonight a little desire that all that the

1824
01:13:00,410 --> 01:13:02,290
world might know and see how great, how

1825
01:13:02,290 --> 01:13:08,030
big, how mighty, how sufficient, how relevant the

1826
01:13:08,030 --> 01:13:09,390
Savior of the world is to them.

1827
01:13:09,910 --> 01:13:12,610
Pray for any here tonight who has yet

1828
01:13:12,610 --> 01:13:13,550
been undecided.

1829
01:13:14,990 --> 01:13:17,410
May for many years have just taken a

1830
01:13:17,410 --> 01:13:18,610
casual glance at him.

1831
01:13:19,470 --> 01:13:21,630
Tonight they may survey and look.

1832
01:13:21,990 --> 01:13:25,350
And together we shall look forever in hope

1833
01:13:25,350 --> 01:13:27,570
at the only Savior of the world.

1834
01:13:28,230 --> 01:13:28,550
Amen.