What Kind Of Person Are You? Series

What Kind of Person Are You?

The Gospel of John

John 4:39-54

Sermon by Rick Crandall

Grayson Baptist Church - August 17, 2016

(Revised July 24, 2019)

BACKGROUND:

*John 4 tells the wonderful story of a Samaritan woman who went to the well one day. And there, by God's grace, she met the Messiah, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This woman went for the water that sustains earthly life, but Jesus was there to give her the water of eternal life. And she believed!

*Believing in Jesus is the only way to everlasting life. That woman believed, and so she was saved! Then she ran off to tell everybody in town what Jesus had done for her. That's where our Scripture picks up tonight, so let's read John 4:39-54. And as we read, please think about the kind of person you are.

MESSAGE:

*What kind of person are you? There are hundreds of ways to answer this question. Some of us are tall. Some of us are short. Some of us are younger. Some of us are not.

*You could say, "I am a father, mother, sister, brother, doctor, lawyer, soldier, farmer, salesman, pilot, teacher, or student." The list goes on and on. There are hundreds of different ways we could describe ourselves.

*But the most crucial way to answer centers on whether or not you are a Christian. Are you saved, or are you lost? Have you received Jesus, or have you rejected the Lord? These answers will determine how we will live on earth, and where we will spend eternity. Tonight's Scripture will help us be the kind of people God wants us to be.

1. FIRST: BE LIKE THE SAMARITANS WHO WERE SAVED.

*Hopefully, all of us here are saved. Hopefully, all of us can say we are Christians. Hopefully, all of us can say we are sure we are going to Heaven, because we have believed in Jesus Christ.

*In that case, we would be like the Samaritans in vs. 39-42:

39. And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me all that I ever did.''

40. So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days.

41. And many more believed because of His own word.

42. Then they said to the woman, "Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.''

*John Phillips explained that this "crowd of Samaritans arrived on the scene, an eager, welcoming throng. They wanted to know more. They asked this strange Jew, who had already showed himself to be so singularly free from racial bias, to come and visit in their town.

*Jesus gladly obliged and remained there two days, breaking who knows how many Jewish traditions by visiting in their homes, eating their food, sleeping in their beds, and teaching them the word of God. Revival broke out, and in vs. 41, 'many more believed because of his own word.'

*Unlike the Jews, the Samaritans asked for no signs. These despised Samaritans received the word with readiness of mind. Their faith came to rest on something more solid than someone else's testimony. In vs. 42, 'they said to the woman: "Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world"'

*It is significant that this great truth about the Lord Jesus, also found also in 1 John 4:14, was first expressed by the hated Samaritans. Jesus had said to the woman at the well, 'Salvation is of the Jews.' These Samaritans said, 'And so it is! We have found not just salvation, but the Savior, and not just the Savior of the Jews, but the Savior of the world.'" (1)

*Hallelujah! Those Samaritan people were saved! They were delivered forever from sin and death!

[1] BUT HOW WERE THEY SAVED. FIRST, IT WAS BY GODLY TESTIMONY.

*In vs. 39, "many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, 'He told me all that I ever did.'''

*And that's not our testimony, but every true Christian has testimonies we can share. Every born-again believer in Jesus Christ has a testimony of how God saved their soul. We also have many other testimonies about how God has blessed our lives. And there is great power in our testimonies.

*God surely used a testimony to help me come to Christ. I grew up attending Presbyterian churches, but I never got saved. Then, when I was about 16, there was a terrible fight in our church. I don't have time to go into the details tonight. But after I saw the terrible way my parents and other good people in that church were treated, it was enough to convince me to be an atheist for 6 years.