Turning again this evening to John's Gospel, and
we're at the fourth chapter.
John, chapter four, and verse thirty-one, and
verse thirty-one, thirty-two, thirty-three, thirty
-four.
These verses bring before us what I have
put down as a heading, the explanation of
the mission of the Master.
You see, the whole mission is explained here.
When they said to him, Master, eat, he
said, I have meat to eat that you
know not of.
And then the disciples thought that somebody had
brought them something to eat, but Jesus saith
unto them in verse thirty-four, my meat
is to do the will of him that
sent me, and to finish his work.
And so there's an explanation here of the
mission of the Master.
And then, following on in verse thirty-five,
thirty-six, thirty-seven, thirty-eight, we have
the excitation of the sermon for the servants.
The Master turns round now to talk to
the servants at the well, at Cycler, for
quite a time he had been revealing himself
to the sinner.
And we remember how this woman began by
calling him a Jew, then she began to
call him Sir, then she began to call
him Prophet, and then she began to call
him Christ.
And very slowly, but very wonderfully and very
fully, he revealed himself to the sinner at
Cycler's well.
And now he turns from revelation to excitation.
Yes, this is excitation to saints, servants.
And so, there was not only a revelation
there, but there was excitation.
And then in verses thirty-nine and forty,
we shall be looking at the excitation that
is the joy that filled the woman's heart
when she witnessed for Christ.
And when a witness was so triumphant, the
exultation of the witness of the woman.
And then in verses forty-one and forty
-two, we have the exclamation of the saying
of the Samaritans.
Why, they came out loud and said, we
have heard him ourselves, and know, no doubts
at all about this, we know that this
is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the
world.
And then from verse forty-three, right to
the end of the chapter, we shall be
looking at the exhibition of the wonder of
the world.
Five headings tonight.
The explanation of the mission of the Master,
the exultation of the sermon for the servants,
the exultation of the witness of the woman,
and the exclamation of the saying of the
Samaritans, and lastly but not least, the exhibition
of the wonder of the world.
Now, we're back at verse thirty-one.
Now, in the meanwhile, his disciples prayed him,
saying, Master, weep.
And I think you want to stop there
and notice just two things.
You know, these disciples, they could see the
physical weariness of the Master.
You remember that when he came up through
the country to Cyprus well, being weary with
the journey, he suffered up from the well.
And they knew about the physical weariness, and
they knew about the physical needs.
They knew about all these physical things.
But the Master answered like this.
But he said unto them, I have meat
to eat that ye know not of.
You see, they did know about the meat
and the physical weariness, but they didn't know
about the spiritual satisfaction that Christ got in
seeking souls.
That was something they knew not of.
That was the kind of meat that really
sustained and refreshed and revived the Master.
You see, he had taken a long journey
up to Samaria, but he had taken still
a longer journey in through the woman's darkness
until he touched her very soul with light.
And that sort of thing refreshed him.
Sometimes folk blame us for doing too much
and going too hard, and I feel that
sometimes they don't even know the refreshment that
you get out of hunting for tools.
My, there is meat in this thing, you
know.
And Jesus said, I have meat to eat
that ye know not of.
They knew about the physical weariness and the
physical needs, but the spiritual satisfaction they knew
nothing at all of.
Verse thirty-three.
Therefore said the disciples one to another, half
any man brought him off to eat.
You know how blind they were.
My, they can't get it at all.
He said, I have meat to eat that
ye know not of, and then they put
their heads together and say, did somebody bring
them something when we were away?
They're always at the physical, material, natural, national
end.
They never seem to set their affections on
things above.
And you know, we're not much better at
times.
We're not much better.
We're so slow to grasp the spiritual that
all the time we seem to be bound
by the physical and natural and material and
national.
Then Jesus came out into the open in
verse thirty-four.
Jesus said unto them, My meat is to
do the will of him that sent me,
and to finish his work.
You can see the satisfaction that Phil Christ
taught here.
Our Lord Jesus was always satisfied doing the
will of God.
No matter how difficult or how sacrificial, no
matter how the problems would gather and the
storms would howl, the Lord found satisfaction in
being in the center of the Lord.
But notice how he puts this.
He said, My meat is to do the
will of him that sent me.
You see, when he says, sent me, he's
taking his place as a servant of Jehovah.
He's not talking of the Eternal Son, no.
He's talking of one who was sent by
the Father to do a work, the servant
of Jehovah.
You remember God speaking in Isaiah forty-two,
and Isaiah forty-two begins like this, Behold
my servant, whom I uphold, mine elect, in
whom my soul delighteth.
And, you know, as the servant, my, this
was his occupation, to do the will of
God.
And then he comes to this great point,
My meat, that was his satisfaction, is to
do the will of him that sent me,
that is his occupation, and to finish his
work.
You know, he was determined to see it
through.
And no one at that point knew exactly
what that entailed, to finish the work that
the Father had given him to do.
My adjustment, all that we preach continually in
the gospel, it meant that he must go
down yonder to dark rugged Calvary and put
away sin.
It meant that he must defeat Satan.
It meant that he must taste death for
every man.
It meant that he must lay down his
life in a sacrifice that would meet every
requirement of God's holy throne, and he must
go right through into the deep depths where
there was no standing before this work could
be finished.
And so, you can see his satisfaction, My
meat, he said, is to do the will
of him that sent me, that's his occupation,
and to finish the work, that is his
determination.
And I think, you know, if you connect
this with verse 4 of the chapter, you'll
see something.
You see, when we came here, we found
that he must need to go through Samaria.
And you remember how we looked at it
from one angle and another.
Why did he need to go through Samaria?
You see, when Orthodox Jews were passing out
of Judea to Galilee, they always crossed the
Jordan, just here somewhere, and they went up
the Perea Valley on that side of the
Jordan, and when they got up to near
Galilee, they crossed into the province of Galilee.
They wouldn't go through Samaria.
The Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans.
But on this occasion, you see, our Lord
felt he must, needs, go through Samaria.
Why?
Here's the why.
It was the will of God.
It was the will of God, and he
was perfectly sure that when he walked into
Samaria, and mind you, Orthodox Jews must have
looked at him, and his disciples must have
been very sure to follow him.
The custom of the day was being broken,
but the master didn't mind about the customs
of the country, and he didn't mind about
the criticisms of Jews that had no dealings
with the Samaritans, and he didn't mind who
lagged behind.
This was the will of God, and he
must.
Why?
He was obliged to go through Samaria because
God had willed from all eternity that he
should meet the woman at the well of
that particular point in the history of this
world, and he must meet her.
There are quite a lot of musts in
the book for Christ.
Yes, as the serpent was lifted up in
the wilderness, even so must the Son of
Man be lifted up.
My, the Godhead had brought all this over,
and the covenant was made, and the Lamb
was chosen before the foundation of the world,
and our Lord Jesus knew the will of
God, and he was obliged to go up
through Samaria.
So here you find the explanation of the
mission of the master.
You see his satisfaction, you see his occupation,
the servant of Jehovah, you see his determination,
he's determined to see it through, and you
see the obligation he must need to go
through Samaria.
Now, when we get to there, he looks
at the disciples, and he begins this sermon
for them.
This is a sermon for servants, and there
are great expectations here.
Verse 35, "'Say not ye,' this is something
he doesn't want them to say, "'say not
ye there are yet four months, and then
come authority.' You see, I believe this, that
as the disciples came up through Samaria, and
passed through many of the fertile spots of
that beautiful part of the country, my, it
was at the season of the year when
the crops were just appearing through the earth,
and as they saw the new green verdure
of the crops, my, they said among themselves,
in four months we'll have ours.
Because they're back to the material, they're back
to earth again, but the master's changing it,
and he's on the spiritual, remember, and he's
saying to them, "'Say not ye, say not
ye there are yet four months to have.'
My, I'm going to point out tonight that
what the master was exhorting was this, that
they would open their eyes to see the
urgency of the task.
They had a spiritual job, you know, to
do, and he was going to open their
eyes to see the urgency of the task,
and I would be glad that I could
open the eyes of someone this meeting to
see the urgency of the task.
I believe that if each one of us
only got one glimpse tonight of the urgency
of the task, I believe impressions would be
made in this meeting that would bring glory
to God and blessing to many others.
Let me put it this way to you.
I think that everybody in this meeting now
knew this verse, "'Worst not thyself of tomorrow,
for thou knewest not what a day may
bring forth.'" Would be glad that every believer
got the hold of this tonight.
My dear friends, there are no spiritual guarantees,
no physical guarantees for tomorrow.
Let's let the hold of that.
My dear young woman in this meeting, saved
by grace, you've already got an old mother
at home now, and she's at the fireside
now, maybe looking up the television, and she's
nearer hell than she ever was before.
Let me tell you this.
There are no physical guarantees that she'll be
there tomorrow morning.
"'Worst not thyself of tomorrow, the day for
you seeking is now.'" It wouldn't have asked,
wouldn't put it away down the years.
I'll talk to her when she's done.
"'Worst not yourself of tomorrow.'" And I think
that every man and woman here knows this,
that many of us believe that this very
night in which we are standing, the Lord
Jesus Christ can come back from heaven.
And do I believe this?
And if He comes tonight, let me say
this, that the dispensation of grace ends this
very night.
It ends.
And there are no dispensational guarantees for tomorrow,
no physical ones, and no dispensational ones.
And do you see this old book that
we're reading out of?
There are no scriptural guarantees for salvation tomorrow
in that book, while it is called today.
If you hear His voice, pardon not your
heart.
Might physically, they can die.
Dispensationally, the age can end.
Scripturally, there are no guarantees for tomorrow.
Dear friend, would you God that we could
see the urgency of the task.
Now is the accepted time, and now is
the day of salvation.
I think the man that got the hold
of this vest was old Dr. Talmuth.
He was a great man.
And you know, once he went to preach
way up in the north of Scotland, and
as he was walking home with the minister
for his lunch, the minister said to him,
I've got a little girl called Mary back
at home.
She's just 13.
I want you to talk to her today
about her soul.
After lunch, you go into the drawing room,
and I'll send her in, and you have
a good chat to her.
You know, old Talmuth was a very wise,
shrewd, clever evangelical preacher.
And after lunch, when he went and sat
in the drawing room alone, after a moment
or two, a very lovely little girl of
13, you know, came in through the door,
and said, good afternoon, sir, I'm coming in
to sit with you.
He knew right well she was sent in.
And he said, Mary, tell me this, did
your daddy send you in to all the
preachers that come here?
She said, yes, sir.
And did they all talk to you about
getting saved?
He said, yes, sir.
And you were not saved?
No, sir.
He said, you know what I would say
to you?
Don't bother your head about it for another
ten years.
You were 23 then.
Go away, dear, and have your flaming.
Go into the world and take all the
amusement you can.
Put it out of your mind for another
ten years.
My, she'd never heard anything like that before.
Staggered.
She said, sir, I may not live ten.
He said, yes, yes, that's right, you see.
Well, cut her down a bit.
Don't bother about it for another five years.
You'll be 18 then.
He said, sir, this is ridiculous.
You know, I may not live five years.
Well, he said, then we'll cut it down
further.
We'll say we'll put it off for 12
months.
Don't think about salvation for 12 months.
You'll be 14.
And then she wept.
She said, sir, my pal that stuck with
me at school took meningitis and died.
And she was only 14.
Why are you telling me this?
I may never see 14.
He said, that's right, Mary.
What will we bring it down to?
Six months?
Three months?
Said Mary, I'll tell you what God says.
Now is the accepted time.
My dear young folks, for some of you
in this meeting, and your only smile I
know, it may be now or never.
And if Christ comes this evening and shuts
the door, you'll weep.
But you'll know I wasn't a fool.
You'll be damned by the urgency of the
thing.
The urgency.
Would to God we could all see the
urgency.
And then he didn't only exhort them to
see the urgency.
Have a look at this.
Verse 35, he said to them, say not
ye, there are yet four months, and then
cometh harvest.
Behold, I say unto you, lift up your
eyes and look on the fields.
And I want to underline that word, fields.
Oh, how many fields we have to look
up this evening.
Oh, the immensity of the task.
My, if each one of us would only
look at all the fields connected with our
own family that's going down to hell.
What a field we have, just with our
own family.
And then if we would just look at
all the souls connected with our own church.
Oh, what a field we have.
And then if we would look at all
the souls going down to hell, connected with
our own town.
What a field we have.
And then if we looked at all the
souls connected with our own province.
My, in every hill and valley and grain
and backwood of Ulster, Protestants are dying in
darkness, and by their side thousands of dark
Roman Catholics.
What a field.
And if they go into the Congo, and
China, and up to the Arctic West, wherever
we go, lift up your eyes this evening,
and look on the fields.
Oh, the immensity of the task.
This is my 25th meeting in 90 days,
25 times in 90 days, and I never
touch the fringe of the job.
Never touch the fringe of it.
I'm not able.
Can't do it.
And a thousand like me couldn't do it.
Oh, the immensity of the task.
Did you see the urgency?
Did you see the immensity?
Then look at this.
It says, say not.
There are yet four months, and then come
the harvest.
Behold, I say unto you, lift up your
eyes, and look on the fields, for they
are ripe already to harvest.
My, there's a responsibility here.
You know, he was just saying to them,
don't you fellows be putting this thing off?
The thing's ready.
You're in the harvest field now.
My, you're in it now.
My dear young fellow, if you go to
school tomorrow and you're saved, you're in the
harvest field.
And my dear young woman, when you go
to work in the morning, you're in the
harvest field.
Oh, that we could see the responsibility that's
ours, if our hands are willing, if our
eyes are open, if our lips are dedicated,
you're in the harvest field, dear.
My, it's already run.
And then I want you to notice this.
He said, say not ye, there are yet
four months, and then cometh harvest.
Behold, I say unto you, lift up your
eyes, and look on the fields, for there
are ripe already to harvest.
And he that reapeth, receiveth wages, and gathereth
fruit unto life eternal, that both he that
soweth, and he that reapeth, may rejoice together.
And herein is that saying true, one soweth
and another reapeth.
You know, we need to learn the duality
of the task.
My dear friends, I've learned this long ago.
I had to take that old collar off.
I was nearly hung for a month or
two.
But I'm not too worried about the collar,
whether it's round the rape road or not.
I think that we all ought to learn
this.
You know, one soweth and another reapeth.
Now, I've done a fair bit of reaping
in my days.
I've had the great joy of, year after
year, of leading hundreds of souls to the
Savior.
But you know, I'm old-fashioned enough to
know this, that sometimes I'm leading a young
man or young woman to Christ, and you
know, an old godly mother back at home
did all the sowing.
Oh, I know that.
I know that too well.
And sometimes I'm putting my arm round a
young man, and he's weeping, and I know
that I'm reaping.
What a Sunday school teacher's fault!
Sometimes I lead a soul to the Savior,
and you know, the whole sowing was done
by some consistent, faithful, loyal servant of Christ
who lived before him.
I do the reaping.
I do the sowing.
So don't be too worried, you know.
If you're one of the sowers, you go
on sowing.
You know, sometimes my brethren, they talk to
me about this sort of thing.
They say, you preach there, and souls get
saved.
You go to Belfast, and they get saved.
You go somewhere else, they get saved.
You go to Scotland, they get saved.
Yes, I'm one of the reapers.
But remember, I'm not more important than the
sower.
Well, not a bit of me.
And they say this, in this very church
where we are tonight, for forty years there
are old men here whose souls—I don't despise
them, you know—I'm standing on the foundation that
those fellows fought for.
And they sowed, and sowed, and sowed, and
they're trying to work their way through.
But we're doing the reaping.
But we're doing the reaping now.
So you take courage if you're just one
of the sowers.
You know, an old man said this to
me once.
He said, you know, a farmer's very particular
about who sows.
But they would nearly let anybody in at
the harvest time to do the reaping.
And they would, you know.
So, dear mother, you go on sowing.
Dear Sunday school teacher, go on sowing.
Dear worker in the factory, go on sowing.
And one day, the sower and the reaper
will rejoice together.
They are saying, you know, I'm only the
last link in the chain of somebody's salvation.
Which is good to be in anywhere on
the chain.
And so he's exhausting them here to see
the urgency of the task, and the immensity
of the task, and the responsibility, my authority
around you, and the duality.
You may have to do the sowing, and
somebody else may have to do the reaping,
but we'll both rejoice together by and by.
And then we come to verse 39, and
many of the Samaritans of that city believed
on him, watch this, for the saying of
the woman which testified, he told me all
that ever I did.
I think that's wonderful.
You know, I feel like this, that this
woman, who had had five husbands, and who
was living with a man that she had
no right to, this poor, down-and-out,
scarlet sinner, it seemed that nobody would walk
out to the well with, because usually in
the Far East, the woman maybe came in
pairs or more, but nobody would associate with
her, only Christ.
He wasn't a bit afraid to sit alone
with her out in the country.
He made himself of no reputation the whole
way through.
He didn't worry about what they said.
And you know, I think that this woman,
when she found the Christ, and knew that
she had talked to him, and that this
was her beloved, you know, she might have
said, oh, who am I?
I couldn't go into the city and talk
to anybody.
Think about my past.
Why, they all knew my character.
They would never listen to me.
I'm sure the devil told her all these
things.
But you know, she never listened for a
moment.
Why, she just left the well of the
water pot and went straight in among them,
I said, the men of the city.
And she told them, I met the Christ.
And here's what the book says, and the
book never makes any mistakes.
Verse thirty-nine says, And many of the
Samaritans.
My, don't you marvel at the many?
Oh, not just one or two, you know.
My, she told this story with such feeling
and power and joy and grace and blessing
upon her that many turned to the table.
Thank God for a woman like that.
She came out to the well, you know,
not very much use.
She went back in and evangelized.
And whether folks like it or not, God
used her.
And her testimony was taken.
And God blessed her.
Why, her testimony was a triumph.
And then, we come to this exclamation of
the Samaritans.
Verse forty, So when the Samaritans were come
unto him, they besought him that he would
tally with them, and he abode there two
days, and many more believed.
You can see many believed through her, and
many more believed because of his own worth.
Of course, he has the preeminence and all
things.
And said unto the woman, this crowd, Now
we believe not because of thy saying, for
we have heard him ourselves.
My, their ears were opened to hear the
voice of the Son of God.
And oh, and their hearts were opened, their
mind was opened, they knew, and their mouth
was opened.
This is indeed the Christ, the Savior of
the world.
My, I tell you, friends, what an exclamation
this is.
There are no limitations with these fellows.
They didn't worry about limitations, did they?
Oh, no.
My, they said, We have heard him, and
deep down in our hearts we know.
And out comes the great exclamation, This is
indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.
And don't limit it.
There's a Savior for every man, and woman,
and boy, and girl who will come and
trust him.
It was a wonderful exclamation.
And now we're moving on from the well.
Verse 43.
Now, after two days he departed saints and
went into Galilee.
Before Jesus himself testified that a prophet hath
no honor in his own country.
You see, I think that's a little parenthetical
portion put in, and it's teaching us something.
You know, the Master didn't worry too much
about the crowds, and those that follow the
Master shouldn't worry too much about the crowd.
He was having a wonderful time in Samaria.
My, there were crowds coming, and crowds believing,
and crowds testifying.
But he must keep in the will of
God.
And it was God's will, and he knew
it from the Old Testament, that he must
go up to those that sit in darkness,
that they might see a bit white.
And he didn't mind leaving a crowd.
And he knew right well, when I go
up yonder, my prophet hath no honor in
his own country.
He wasn't looking for crowds, or honor, or
pats on the back.
He was going now where he would be
despised and rejected, as we'll see in the
next chapter.
But he didn't mind.
And, you know, Philip followed the Master very,
very, very closely here, because he went down
to Samaria on one occasion, and there was
a revival.
My, the whole city fell at the feet
of Jesus.
But God called Philip away from the revival
to a little place in the desert.
I hope we're not angling after the crowd.
And brethren, when God speaks to me to
go to the smallest tin hut in the
country, I'm believing, I'm believing.
And I mean every word of that.
I'll only be useful to God when I'm
in the center of the will of God.
And all the time going through Samaria, or
going to Galilee, or leaving the crowd, or
going into the crowd, it was always my
meat to do the will of him that
sent me.
It's always there.
What a wonderful thing he's teaching, these disciples.
You see, I think the whole thing is
for their benefit.
You see, when the woman went into the
city, and she spoke to the Samaritans, and
the great crowd believed, you know, this is
exactly the thing that the Lord was showing
to the disciples.
Not one of those disciples of his would
have gone to a Samaritan and said, the
Christ is out of the well.
Oh, no.
Oh, not at all.
Not them.
Ah, but the woman showed them that the
harvest was ripe.
And now the master's rubbing it in.
My, he doesn't mind going where he's despised
if it's the will of God.
Great teaching there, brethren, if you take it
in.
And now when he comes into Galilee, here's
something to watch very carefully, verse 45.
Then when he would come into Galilee, the
Galileans received him, having seen all the things
that he did at Jerusalem at the feast,
for they also went on to the feast.
Mind you, when it says they received him,
because they saw, it doesn't mean that they
received him as Savior.
Oh, no.
My, they wanted to see some more of
these exhibitions.
They weren't receiving the Lamb of God, or
the sacrifice for sin.
Oh, not at all.
They were only pleased that one of their
countrymen had gone down and did so many
wonderful things at Jerusalem.
But they were not receiving him as Savior.
My, these were the very crowd that went
to toss him over the brow of the
hill.
But watch, verse 46.
So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee,
where he made the water wine, and there
was a certain noble man whose son was
sick at Capernaum.
And you can see that Cana of Galilee
is just there, and Capernaum is just there.
There are 25 miles between the two towns.
And this noble man came all the way
down to Cana of Galilee, where Jesus was.
Verse 47.
When he heard that Jesus was come out
of Judea into Galilee, he went unto him
and besought him that he would come down
and heal his son, for he was at
the point of death.
Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see
signs and wonders, ye will not believe.
The noble man saith unto him, Sir, come
down, ere my child die.
Now, I want to point out that this
noble man came to the Lord believing in
a way, believing in a way.
Yes, in a kind noble way, he believed.
He wasn't saving faith, you know, but he
was limiting the power and the performance of
the Lord Jesus.
Well, he hadn't real faith at all.
Looking at the story, you would think he
was a wonderful fellow.
He said, Come down, ere my child die,
come down and heal him.
You see, friends, he thought that Christ must
be at the bedside and put his hand
upon him and make some sort of an
exhibition, or the child wouldn't be healed.
He couldn't believe that Jesus could heal 25
miles away.
Oh no, he couldn't believe that.
You see, he limited the performance of Christ.
He did, and he did this.
You know, he really pleaded.
He said, Sir, come down, ere my child
die.
He thought, you know, if death comes at
us all over now, you can't do anything
if he dies.
Do you see it?
Well, he didn't believe at all.
You would almost think he did at first
glance.
But he's limiting the performance and limiting the
power of Christ, and when you limit, you
can't really believe.
Man, his excitement was unbelief.
It was only believing in a kind noble
way.
Never believe like that.
That's not my savior, you know, when you
have to limit him.
Oh no, you know, Jesus knew all about
this fellow.
He said, you know, except you receive signs
and wonders you'll not believe.
You know, he was like the clouds, he
received them just because they saw the wonders
that he did in Jerusalem.
But you know, that's not believing in Christ
at all.
Lots of folks, you know, my, they get
all hallelujah and amen when they think there
are some wonders being done.
Let me tell you this, a man could
cast out devils every night in the week
and die and go to hell.
That shakes you, because I meant it to.
Let me tell you that.
This book says, when the master hath risen
and shut to the door, many will stand
without saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us, in
thy name we have eaten and drunk, in
thy name we have cast out devils.
He shall say, I never knew.
Don't get excited.
Except you get to the point, don't
go angling after signs and wonders, dear, because
you'll go to hell.
He believed in a kind of a way.
Now watch it, because this is very wonderful.
Verse 49, over again, the noble man saith
unto him, Sir, come down ere my child
die.
Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way, thy
son liveth, and the man believed the word
that Jesus had spoken, and he went his
way.
Now, I would say he's getting nearer now.
Oh, you say he's believing now.
Oh, not a bit of him.
Not a bit of him.
You know, the master turned and said, Go
thy way, thy son liveth.
And the noble man turned, and he's going
back twenty-five miles, believing the words that
Jesus had spoken.
You say he's a believer.
Oh, wait till you see.
Just wait till you see.
You know, I think he went down the
road like this, saying now, now he said,
thy son liveth.
He cannot fail.
The word is true.
I believe his word.
I believe it'll work all right.
I've not doubted.
And he goes the whole twenty-five miles
back home like that.
You say, Mr., he's a believer.
All right then, we'll see.
We'll read on.
Verse fifty-one, And as he was now
going down, his servants met him and told
him, saying, thy son liveth.
Then inquired he of them the hour when
he began to amend.
And they said unto him, yesterday at the
seventh hour the fever left him.
So the father knew that it was at
the same hour in which Jesus said unto
him, thy son liveth, and, and, and himself
believed.
Where did he get that bit to put
in?
He believed what?
I'll tell you.
When he came down the road the first
time, he believed this man could do wonders,
with fashion limitations on them.
And that's not belief at all.
When he's going up the road, he's clinging
on to a word.
Clinging on to a word.
Let me tell you this, unless the word
leads you to a person that you place
your faith in as the son of God,
as the sacrifice for sin, as the savior
of the weak, then you're not safe.
My, it was only at the last laugh
when they said, the son, thy son liveth,
it said, he himself believed.
My, he knows the man back yonder is
the son of God, is the savior of
the world, is the Christ, he's everything, his
whole faith.
Double use it, is it?
Because if you've only got a touch, you
know it'll be a pity on you.
There are thousands in the north of Ireland
who've only got a touch and they're on
their way to hell.
I'm telling you, I'd love to shake the
foundations round some of you.
Mind you, I'm standing here tonight and it's
not a guest that I'm leaning on.
The arms of my faith are round the
person of Christ.
He's mine.
I've got a real living savior, one who
died for me, one who rose again, one
who lives in the power of an endless
life.
I, he's my beloved, he's mine, my real
personal savior.
You see, friend, the word is given collegiate
of a person.
I think I've told you this before, but
for the benefit of somebody, I'll tell you
it again.
I preached once at the big fashionable church,
and the minister there was a good fellow.
Well, when I had a mission there, he
must have been a good fellow.
And one night we had seven or eight
people waiting behind to trust the Savior.
And I dealt with a woman over in
the corner and led her to the Savior.
In fact, I think she's in this meeting
tonight.
And then when I had led her to
the Savior, I wandered along the line, and
I can see the minister, he's down on
his knees, and he's got his arm around
the big man that's serving, and he's got
his Bible open before them on the seat
of the pew.
And I just strolled behind him and listened
carefully, and the minister saying, now look, look,
that's John 3 in 16.
For God so loved the world that he
gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish but have everlasting
life.
And then I saw him squeeze the big
man and say, do you believe that?
And I heard the big man sob and
say, yes.
And I heard the minister say, you're saved.
Then I butted in, and I said, no,
he's not.
He's not saved.
I said, who told you?
Where did you learn this?
Who told you that mental assent to writing
on paper would save anybody?
Who told you that?
Is that what you've learned somewhere, that your
mental assent to writing on paper would save
you?
Because if that's all you've got, you're on
your way to hell.
So I pushed the minister out of the
room.
I said, let me talk to you.
Tell me, did you believe this before you
came in?
He said, of course I did.
I said, you weren't saved before you came
in, were you?
No, and you're not saved yet, either.
He said, I'm not sure I've believed that
all my life.
Of course you have.
I could get sinners to stand up in
this meeting now.
They believe that, even now, that God loved
the world and gave his son, but by
merely giving assent to writing on paper doesn't
save them.
I said, let me talk to you.
I said, you know, sir, God so loved
this world that he gave his only begotten
son, the blessed Lord Jesus, who came from
heaven and who went beyond blood-stained cross
and died an atoning death and paid the
ransom and rose again from the dead, a
living Savior, able to save any that will
come.
And whosoever believeth in him, not that,
him, that was leading him to him.
You know what old W.P. said?
And I almost curry to use anything he
used.
He could do it, but I couldn't do
it, and God blessed him a thousand times.
But to make the thing clear, he said
this.
He said, you know, the day that I
got married, they gave me a marriage license.
And I can see him doing it yet.
He said, you know, they gave me a
beautiful marriage license, and I rolled it up,
and I put it in the box.
He said, do you think I took it
to bed with me at night?
Not a bit of it.
I took her to bed with me.
I, especially, he got a woman, didn't he?
Yes, when I got saved, I got a
person, not a tax, a real person, one
who's alive, one who's alive forevermore.
He's mine.
I am his.
Wonderful salvation, isn't it?
My, not until this fellow got away to
the end of the road did he believe.
I mean, his whole house believed.
From the dead, they knew that this was
really the Savior.
You see, here's the idea.
John is writing this gospel, and he's taking
these signs, and at the end of chapter
20, he says, These are written that ye
might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the
Son of God, and that believing in him
ye might arise through his name.
And where you are tonight, as you have
opened to the Christ of God, it's not
mental ascent to writing on paper that saves
you.
It's the opening of the heart to trust
the Christ of God for the Savior.
Are you done now?
It's with the heart that man believes on
the righteousness.
And not until he came to the end
of the road did his heart open, and
he believed.
Next Tuesday, God willing, we'll move on into
the fifth chapter.
Let us bow together for a moment.
Blessed Lord, thou hast revealed to us tonight
what believing really is, thou hast revealed to
us what believers can really do, and thou
hast revealed to us the task that really
lies before those that believe in thee.
O God, open our eyes tonight to know
that there are no guarantees for tomorrow for
our friend, that there is no guarantee that
the dispensation will continue tomorrow.
O God, give us vision.
Realize where there is no vision, the people
cherish.
O God, speak to every believer.
Make us, from this moment, redeem the time.
O God, some of us waste it, some
of us let the precious moment go by
in nonsense that could be spent before thy
throne, pleading for the perish.
O God, bless this meeting.
We thank you for thy help and for
thy truth, and ask thy blessing for the
glory of Christ.
Amen.