Go, Call Thy Husband, And Come Hither Series

“Go, call thy husband, and come hither”

John 4: 1-42

I. THE WARNING THAT CONCERNS ME- ALARMING

A. The possibility they denote

B. The opportunity they disregard

II. THE WONDER THAT CAPTIVATES ME - AMAZING

A. It is so amazing in that it embraces the unwanted before salvation

B. It is so amazing in that it enlists the unlikely after salvation.

III. THE WILL THAT CHARGES ME - ACTIVATING

A. An exhausted Christ

B. An excited Christ

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It is of great interest to me to observe the way in which the Lord Jesus dealt with different souls with whom He came in contact. In John 3 we observe how He dealt with a moral Jewish man named Nicodemus, and now in John 4 He is deals with an immoral Samaritan woman. When you study the different conversations that are recorded that Jesus had with different individuals, we catch a glimpse of wonderful wisdom we need in opening up the Word of God to needy souls.

One of the loveliest records of the master soul-winner at work is found in John 4. It is a story full of grace.

His grace is greater than all social bigotry - "Samaritan"

Intense racial hatred existed between Jews and Samaritans. So great was this hatred that, in traveling from Judea to Galilee, Jews would go miles out of their way to avoid crossing the Samaritan border. The Jews viewed Samaritans as nothing more than dogs. Normally, a devout Jew would take the eastern route around the land of Samaria.

His grace is greater than all sexual barriers -"woman"

Cultural sentiment for women was extremely low during the time of Christ. The Pharisees taught that men should not speak to women in public. One of the Jewish prayers included the phrase, "Blessed art thou, O Lord...who has not made me a woman."

The prejudices of the day prohibited conversation between men and women in public. Rabbis or men of high degree especially frowned upon this.

His grace is greater than all sinful backgrounds.

“For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband”

Jesus certainly knew what sort of woman he was talking to. She was woman of low morals and He knew it, but His grace was greater than her sinful background.

Isn’t it wonderful to know that Jesus loves the social outcast, as well as the socially acceptable? Jesus’ ministry was concerned with basically one group of people—the lost. Jesus Himself put it like this: “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19: 10).

How the church of God needs grace in dealing with individuals!

How the church needs to pay attention to those the Lord delights in using in His grace!

I. THE WARNING THAT CONCERNS ME - ALARMING

The thing that concerns me and troubles me the most in this story is the simple fact that the disciples of the Lord seemed to have very little to do with what happened on this day years ago (39). In verse 8 we read of the arrival of the disciples in the city, but as far as I can conclude their arrival did not cause a single ripple of interest in the city.

A. The possibility they denote

It is possible that we can be passed over by the Spirit of God in His work. They were the early disciples of the Lord. They had position and prominence, and yet they were not used of the Lord that day to reach the lost.

You would have expected them to be in the very heart of it, but they were not.

O, the possibility of being by-passed by the Spirit of God.

B. The opportunity they disregard

Why was it that the disciples were by-passed when such a work was done on this day?

There are two verses that would hint as to the why.

1. Were they preoccupied (8)

Were they so preoccupied with a legitimate and necessary thing, that they did not see this woman that thy no doubt passed that day coming out of the city as they entered the city. Were they so preoccupied with food that they did not talk to the people they met inside the city as they bought meat from them?

Is it possible that bread for themselves so occupied their thoughts that they did not think of the burdens of others?

Some Christians miss being used of God simply because they are so preoccupied with material things that we have no time to sense the spiritual needs of others around them

2. Were they prejudiced - (9)

I wonder if the disciples had already washed their hands of the Samaritans. On the way into the village to buy provisions they must have walked pass this woman with her water- pot on her way to the well. Perhaps they passed her by on the other side without any sort of friendly greeting.