this morning we go to john's gospel chapter four and the reason for this there's a few reasons for this i had after the last uh sermon on uh psalm 71 there was an application in that sermon to tell our story and i had a few of the older um saints come up to me and says you know it's not always the easiest thing to do and two weeks ago three weeks ago i i preached on the woman at the well And then I had a question after that sermon. Whatever happened to that woman? We want to hear part two. So I thought that part two would be appropriate now. So we'll consider this morning the woman at the well and what happened to her as we consider verses 27 through 42. Remember the context? Jesus has had this dialogue with her about living water. And he has just revealed himself in verse 26, saying that he is the Messiah, which is a remarkable moment in the Gospels. And we pick up this morning at verse 27. Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman. But no one said, what do you seek or why are you talking with her? So the woman left her water jar and went away into the town and said to the people, come see a man who told me all that i ever did can this be the christ then they went out of the town and were coming to him meanwhile the disciples were urging him saying rabbi eat but he said to them i have a food to eat that you do not know about so the disciples said to one another has anyone brought him something to eat jesus said to them my food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do you not say there are four, yet four months, then comes the harvest? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, one sows and another reaps. I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored and you have entered into their labor. Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony. He told me all that I ever did. So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them. And he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world, after these two days he departed for galilee there's the reading of god's word may the lord bless the hearing this morning of his word john's gospel is uh revealing and showing to us the glory of jesus christ and that he is as chapter one said that he is full of grace and truth and from him we have received grace for grace and i love studying john because everything about john's gospel is showing us our lord's radical pursuit of sinners who are in need of his salvation it's beautiful and christ is relentless christ is pursuing christ is is keeping a time remember that the schedule everywhere at the right time he will only go where he has to be at the right time he had to go through samaria to save this woman he's pursuing he had said this is why i've i've come i've come down here that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly we looked at this a few weeks ago with this woman didn't we this woman at the well who's such a a fascinating um figure to study and see what the lord is doing here uh that has we saw she was a real mess. This woman was a real mess. Remember her problem? She had five husbands. She was a serial divorcee. And then the one that she had now was not her husband. How have you ever read that? That means it's somebody else's husband. She's an adulteress. Jesus exposes the whole thing jesus had to go through samaria he had to meet this woman whom he knew he had no delusions about her he knew everything about her and what did he do in that passage he offered her living water living water ma'am if you knew the gift of god and who it is who says to you give me a drink you would have asked remember this you would have asked me and he would have given you living water this water bursts this water satisfies you are jumping around in idolatry you are jumping from man to man to man trying to satisfy your idolatry and it doesn't satisfy but whoever drinks of this water you'll never thirst again the water that i give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up everlasting life beautiful so this was the scene and she was enslaved she was enslaved trying to fill all of her desires with her little fountains and remember jesus here plops himself down on jacob's well which was a declaration throughout the old testament always that the lord is the fountain of life remember the scriptures always were saying this about the lord he is the fountain of living water he was saying this to israel all the time and here the lord has come and he's giving this water that satisfies your life that fills your life if you would have asked i would give you this now by the time that christ is done she's full she's satisfied notice um what jesus said here to her it turns into a discussion on worship and jesus makes the the powerful statement here that the father is seeking worshipers to worship him in spirit and in truth that's what the father is about and jesus is going to say i'm about fulfilling that mission that the father has given to me here we are what happened at this point well the disciples come back from town and uh it's interesting we find something i i think rather tragic in this passage it's spiritual blindness on the part of his own disciples to understand why they are following jesus and what his purpose and mission is spiritual blindness is all over john's gospel what is their purpose What is your purpose? What is my purpose? What are we here for? They didn't understand this yet. They didn't get that yet. And I want us to think about this this morning as we go through this. I want us to think about our purpose as Christians. I want us to think about our purpose as a church. With this focus in mind, there's a statement made in verse 35 to his disciples that becomes the driving point of this section. notice what it says behold in verse 35 or there are yet do you not say there are yet four months then comes the harvest look i tell you lift up your eyes and see that the fields are white for the harvest the father's seeking the father's doing something now and down in verse 38 others have labored and you have entered into their labor i pray that by the time we're done we have a good understanding of what this means you know what happened he's filled this woman this half-breed adulterous divorcee rebel with living water who all pictures us doesn't it that's what we looked at last time so one expected no one would have ever imagined that he would have come for her of all people at all of all times in such a place and that's exactly what's raised in verse 27 and at this point i want you to notice how uh the text is is phrasing this and weaving two stories together just then just then in verse 27 his disciples came back they marveled that he was talking with a woman but no one said what do you seek or why are you talking with her notice this here it's it's it's it's strong in the transitions but it's also showing us how connected these two scenes are just then when as soon as he had said i am the messiah just then is what we have the disciples come back the disciples had gone into the city to do what to buy food seems like a noble thing they make their way out to christ and are shocked as they make their way back out he's talking with a woman you don't do that as a rabbi you never talk with in that culture men just didn't freely talk with women and and you know this jews did not speak with samaritans and and a rabbi or a teacher would not talk with an adulteress barriers barriers barriers they're amazed but they don't say anything and that's an interesting interjection by john isn't it it's it's it's as if to say they're troubled with this they're struggling with this but it's silent right now jesus knows this jesus knows this so what happens at this point is rather are fascinating a great contrast takes place you'll notice in verse 28 that the woman left her water pot now that's a remarkable statement too she left her water pot behind and she went away into the city and said to your translation says the people but all the old translations and i believe right looking at the word in the greek she said to the men and boy did she have a reputation with the men could this be the christ they went out of the city and they come to jesus so think about the scene this is there's all this going in and and going out happening here she goes in initially with a water jug a water pot to get physical water and by the time christ is done with her the water jugs left behind she's done with that water the imagery you have is she has living water and she's satisfied with this water and so she has gone into the city and what did she go get the men people so this is a a moving thing going on side by side the whole picture that we have here is that she has been filled and there is something bursting in her she's excited you ever seen people pulled out of really great darkness and the excitement that comes when christ saves it's bursting you know this because her vessel is left behind of water she's no longer pursuing now she's has in her heart the water that she has tasted but she will not thirst again she's gone to tell others but notice the exchange here i i don't want us to miss that she leaves the pot she heads back into the city and directly in her path come the disciples who are carrying what buns food notice the contrast she's gone to the city what has she done she's going to bring out people to jesus and you're getting the sense that this is a majority of the city that's coming and the disciples have been there the whole time mulling around samaria and all they walked out with is food they have nothing on their minds of their purpose they have nothing on their minds of what they're called to do and this woman's brought a city this is going to strike us this morning and i think what a great thing to consider for the church and the mission of the church and how you are involved in them remember what jesus said don't labor for the food which perishes but for the food which endures to everlasting life which the son of man gives food is all throughout john's gospel it's a major theme the food all playing off exodus and the food that came down from heaven and have you noticed then what happens to this woman she's been giving the living water and now she is about his food she's filled she can't help but speak of who this is and notice what she's saying i love the witness here because it's very simple people say well how do i go do this it's very simple come see a man who told me everything that i ever did and what i love about that is the revealing that the concealing is over you all know what i used to do the concealing's done christ had exposed her life christ had exposed her sin all of her guilt all of her sorrow and the things that that condemned her and people who are living this way if you're doing these things you know you're miserable and she didn't want to talk about it and Jesus hit her go get your husband I don't have a husband she had been rather chatty by the way all of a sudden it went quiet and he exposed and by the end of it the concealing of sin was done it's been rightly said the conviction of sin is the end of the concealing of sin so that's what's happened here and she wants others to know about this. She wants others to know about this. Think of how sad we are. If I asked every single one here, especially the men, where to get the best steak in town, you'd tell me. You'd tell me where I could go to the restaurant and get the best steak in town. I can tell you since I've been here where to get the best burrito in town. It's Alberto's. It pleases me. And it pleases you. And we know who will give the bad steak in town. I think that's kind of sad. That often we're more about that, food, than the excitement that should fill us of what we have and to look at a lost world out there that doesn't happen. I want to come back to that thought. pause because this is what the scenes are doing here what happened she's left she's gone she's out telling others about christ and verse 30 this city's going to come but verse 39 picks up with the disciples here verse 30 so here they are coming to jesus and jesus is now going to explain for them by the time this is done they're going to understand what it means that Jesus is the Savior of the world. So in the meantime, as the woman has gone and the people of the city are beginning to come out to Christ, his disciples urged him, Rabbi, eat. Verse 6 tells us that Jesus was rather tired from the journey and they have their sandwiches and so they're ready to sit down and eat. Rabbi, eat. Verse 32, here it comes again. But he said to them, I have a food to eat of which you do not know. And you say, here we go again. This is all over John. Jesus is speaking in spiritual terms. The people aren't understanding it. This is the fourth time, by the way, in John's gospel. Destroy this temple and I'll raise it up in three days. Mass confusion. Nicodemus, you've got to be born again. how do I go get in a womb? You need living water. If you drink of this water, it will be a fountain of water springing up to everlasting life, but you don't have a rope bucket. Rabbi, eat. I have a food to eat of which you do not know. Therefore, the disciples said to one another, has anyone brought him anything to eat? How do you take this? In each case so far, with Nicodemus, who was pinnacle of religion, that's why I did the Sermon on the Mount this morning that way, and the woman at the well in the next section, height of religion, the lowest and the worst of the worst, both were dead spiritually needing the same thing. But now here are the disciples and notice that they are struggling with a certain kind of spiritual dullness as followers of him. What does it mean to be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, you've made the commitment. You say, I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. What does that look like? In other words, if being a Christian is to be, boys and girls, a Christ follower, Christ-like, following his ways and his teachings, what does Christ desire of me? They're Christians. They follow. But they've grown incredibly worldly and earthly. Their minds are set on earthly things. And that's not what Jesus is about. They've not really entered in yet to what Jesus is doing. They've not understood the mission. They've not understood the purpose. And so, again, the contrast is powerful because on the one hand they've entered a whole city of Samaria who were their enemies remember we went through the history last time these were terrible enemies of Israel and Judah and and the enemies and all they brought back remember what happened when they moved back in and they they married in people from other kingdoms so they were known as half-breeds by the Jews All they brought back is physical food. And here's this woman who is a Samaritan and she is bringing back people. I have a food to eat of which you do not know. When did we give him food? Verse 34. My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. don't you understand brothers and sisters jesus is why i've come do you know what my food is do you know what sustains me i don't need physical food to sustain me but let me tell you what sustains me let me tell you what i'm about let me tell you my purpose it is to do the father's will now jesus had already given us some insight into the father's will what is the father seeking worshipers who will worship not on this mountain or that mountain but worshipers who will come to jesus and worship in spirit and in truth disciples are thinking what is his food jesus is my food and doors to everlasting life so what is the father's will well jesus openly says it in john 12 29 if you have your bibles you can turn there but he openly says it when he says for i have not spoken on my own authority notice what it says in 1249 but the father who sent me gave me a command the father who sent me gave me a will his will here's the will here's the food what is it what i should say and what I should speak and I know that his command is everlasting life. I do what the father has told me. Here's what sustains me. Here's what I'm about. Isn't this wonderful? Here's what i'm about to do the will of my father it's a beautiful passage the way that i go forward the reason that i've come is to give eternal life to be the savior of the world that's what jesus is saying that my food is to do the will his will in giving all of these sinners living water everlasting life I'll never get this from physical food I don't live by that food remember Jesus said that I'm sustained when sinners are saved now the disciples the disciples are followers of Christ and they've not understood their purpose and I challenge us this morning to think is that a problem is that a challenge for us we have a world today that is uh is perishing and we're often about comfortability we're often about what is a convenience to us and the disciples here are are really confused because they can't believe that he's talking to a woman and so it's at this point that christ goes after this in this point that christ addresses this i want you to look at verse 35 this is a beautiful section here to understand our purpose do you not say there are still four months and then comes the harvest everyone knows that you uh you plant something and you generally know when the harvest is going to come everyone knows that it's a big moment for farmers isn't it it's the time of the harvest when they reap and that is when the benefit comes. We think a lot of that in the church today. We look ahead to what is to come and we think that the great harvest that is to come, the blessing of what is to come is just future. That's how we think, isn't it? But I want you to notice what Christ says next. Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields for they are already white for the harvest. now what did he just say you see what he did here right then and there he opened up their spiritual eyes get your eyes off the buns get your eyes off the food get your eyes off all of that look up look up and now they're beginning to see their real purpose what did he just do he collapsed sowing and reaping in agricultural terms there's a long interval of time here and what's he talking about do you know there was a great promise in amos in the day of amos and you know what the promise was in the day in which you live the promise was this that there would be a day when the lord would collapse sowers and reapers sowing and reaping so here's the prophecy here's the promise behold the days are coming says the lord when the plowman shall overtake the reaper and the shredder of grapes him who sows seed the mountain shall drip with sweet wine and all the hills shall flow with it i will bring back the captives of my people who's he thinking about he's thinking about the northern kingdom i'm going to bring him back it's a samaria i'm going to collapse sowing and reaping so notice what he says in verse 36 already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life so that the sower and reaper may rejoice together we're on a mission of reaping souls sowers and reapers and we get to do this together and so verse 37 he says the saying is true one sows another reaps here's the blessing for you is what he's saying. As the sowing happens, go reap. Go reap. Now listen, I sent you to reap that for which you've not labored. Others have labored and you've entered into their labors. I have sent you to reap. Others have labored. Who's laboring right now? Well, you could say the prophets have done this. you could say that all throughout history there have been those who've labored and that would be good and right. But notice these scenes were put together for a reason. Who's out laboring right now? The woman and Christ. She has gone out. I'm not talking about the official act of preaching the gospel. I'm talking about being a witness. Just like when Jesus told that man who said, I just want to be with you, the demoniac. And Jesus says, I want you to go out and tell others the wonderful things that the Lord has done for you. Commentators are mixed up on this. But she did what? She dropped her bucket and ran into the city. And who has labored? Christ and this woman are laboring. Now put it in context. Lift up your eyes, disciples. Lift up your eyes. The fields are white for the harvest. Go reap it. Go get them. Where are your eyes if they're not lifted up? Your navel gaze. Get your eyes off yourself and look at what's happening. Look at the fields. They're white for the harvest. What do you think they saw when they looked up? There's no crop that's white like that. What do you think they saw? You know how Samaritans dress, right? If you go to this day and you plug in on Google and you look at Samaritan dress, they're still around to this day. They wear all white. And there coming to them were multitudes in white robes coming to Jesus. The fields are white. Go get them. Go get them. And that's what you have in verse 40. So the Samaritans came to him. Notice how that's right after this. There they were, all of these men who just a short time ago were overwhelmed and here they are coming. And they brought out, notice this, the disciples had brought out food, this woman has gone, and in the short time she just gave a simple testimony and here come the people of the city and she said, come see a man. And what's happened? Here they come. I wonder what the disciples thought then. You chose them? Our enemies? Through a divorcee woman telling others about Christ. Look at what was accomplished. Look at these fruits here. She's telling everyone. Verse 39, isn't it wonderful that many of the Samaritans of the city believed? Many Samaritans from that town believed in Him because of the woman's testimony. he told me everything that I ever did of all things to go out and start talking about. And I think that's such an encouragement for you who last week when you heard you have a story in what the Lord has done and you have the gospel story of what Christ has done in laying down his life and how that has affected you and changed you and you've got a great responsibility but it's not a burden. This is wonderful. she didn't have to say much so when the samaritans came to him notice what it says they asked him to stay with them and he stayed there two days and many more believed because of his word they said to the woman it's no longer because of what you have said that we believe for we have heard for ourselves and we know that this is indeed the savior of the world what is jesus showing us here in closing that, you know, I've said this before, but still, the greatest way that the church grows, and we don't have this mindset today, we go out and we stay out. But did you notice the program here? She went out to bring in. And we don't think that way about the church. But notice she brought them to the place where they could sit at the feet of Jesus and hear what his word she gave the testimony but it was his word that they received from the word and the mouth of christ and you realize that's what we're doing right now you realize that's the blessing of coming on sunday that the lord set this up we wouldn't dream this up boys and girls of a man standing up here preaching like this and our songs and our readings we wouldn't dream this up the lord set this up so that you can go out to bring in and that's what he's challenging us that's what he's telling us is the beauty of this and what just happened if you look at the whole picture what just happened is the very thing that she was concerned about which mountain is it this mountain or that mountain and the lord just said the father seeking worshipers to worship in spirit and in truth. You want to see what it looks like? It just happened. They came to the feet of Jesus and they heard his word. And you see, when we're satisfied with that living water, it will burst. It will burst out of our hearts and you're going to love to have others know about that. Jesus is saying to us today, open your eyes, look up. look up there's all sorts of people right in front of you who the lord has brought right to your door right to your path go get them it's an encouragement now they're coming and what a blessing when the lord brings them here to hear the gospel and to hear the word of christ when we see that change. I think that the Lord uses sinners such as us to do this work. I praise Him for that. And I praise Him that we live in the day of grace and the day of salvation. There's a day coming when no man may work. You realize that. It's all going to be over. We've got this window. We've got this time that the Lord left us here to be His witnesses to the ends of the earth. And I think there's nothing greater that we could do than to tell others the wonderful things that the Lord has done for us. Amen. Oh Lord, our God, we thank you that you have blessed us with your word and that you've involved us as your people to give a simple testimony of grace and gospel with the goal that these people would come in and sit at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ. We ask that you would give us opportunities that our eyes would be lifted up and that we would not merely be focused on ourselves but remember why we're here and to enter into this great food, to partake of the food that you have given and that we also would delight to do that will. Help us, Lord, who's sufficient in and of ourselves for these things. We're not sufficient, but we're thankful you've given us the Spirit who prepares the heart, who works in the heart and ripens and sows and reaps all of this so that all praise and glory and honor may be to You. In Jesus' name we pray these things. Amen.