and just turn with me to the gospel according to John chapter four. The gospel according to John chapter four. We'll be beginning in verse one today and we'll read all the way through verse 42. So this is a much longer section of scripture than we have been dealing with. on other Sundays, but that's just because the narrative here is so long. There's just a lot going on here. And there will be a lot of really important aspects of this text that we will not be looking at today, that we will overlook some crucial things that we'll have to overlook, but that's okay because I hope that next week we're going to return to this exact same unit of scripture and learn even more about our wonderful Savior. So John chapter four, beginning in verse one, this is the word of the Lord. Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John, although Jesus himself did not baptize but only his disciples, he left Judea and departed again for Galilee, and he had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there. So Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, Give me a drink. For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria? for Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered her, if you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you, give me a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water. The woman said to him, sir, you have nothing to draw water with and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself as did his sons and his livestock. Jesus said to her, everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again. Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water, welling up to eternal life. The woman said to him, sir, give me this water so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water. Jesus said to her, go call your husband and come here. The woman answered him, I have no husband. Jesus said to her, You are right in saying I have no husband, for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true. The woman said to him, Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship. Jesus said to her, woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know. We worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming and is now here when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. For the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. The woman said to him, I know that Messiah is coming, he who is called Christ. When he comes, he will tell us all things. Jesus said to her, I who speak to you am he. 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 town and said to the people, come see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ? 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 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 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 the 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 indeed is the savior of the world. Let's pray. God, we thank you that you are indeed the Savior of the world and that you have come to us with living water, with the life-giving message of salvation, that you died for our sins, God, and that you have raised us up again by the power of your Spirit. God, I just pray that your blessing would fall on us afresh today, that your Spirit would come upon us in a fresh way, that we would hear directly from you, that you would pierce our consciences, that you would draw us to repentance and strengthened faith and trust and love to you, God. God, if I begin to say anything wrong or incorrect, I pray that you would just divert my mouth, stop my mouth, and lead me in a different way, Lord. Let us only hear your truth. God, I pray that all of us would hear from you now with open hearts and open minds. We ask your blessing on this time, in Christ's name, and amen. You may be seated. Well, as I said, we will not be able to look at everything that is going on here in our narrative this morning. Instead, we'll focus primarily on these three points, which are drawn mainly from the first half of our text. First, Jesus is intentional. He's an intentional Savior. Second, Jesus is humble. He's a humble Savior. And third, Jesus is sovereign. He is a sovereign Savior. And next Lord's Day, God willing, we will look at some of the other really important aspects of Jesus's teaching here, like the sufficiency and abundance even of Christ's salvation that he speaks about with this living water, his superiority over those who came before him, our father Jacob and how we are even today supposed to properly and rightly worship God in spirit and truth and what that means. But today we're gonna stick pretty closely to the three points that I just listed. So first, Jesus is intentional. How do we see that in our text today and what does that mean? John tells us that when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John, he left Judea and departed again for Galilee, and he had to pass through Samaria. Well, there's a number of things going on here that we could overlook if we're not familiar with the Bible, with the biblical storyline. Throughout Jesus's entire life, he was intentionally recapitulating the life of Israel. Now, what does that fancy word mean, you might ask? What does it mean that he was recapitulating Israel? It's just kind of another way of saying summing up. Jesus is the true and greater Israel. And as such, his life was summing up and living out the life of God's people, Israel. As he went through his life, he's fulfilling prophecies about Israel and he's re-imaging major moments in the course of Israel's redemption that God has wrought for them. For example, Jesus is born in Bethlehem, which is in the land of Canaan. Jacob, who, remember we're talking about Jacob's well here, Jacob who became Israel and fathered the 12 tribes of Israel, he also was from Canaan. Joseph, Jesus's earthly father, he was warned by an angel in a dream that Jesus was in danger of being killed by Herod. So Joseph moves his family, which at this point was just himself, Mary, and Jesus, to Egypt for safety. Well, similarly, Jacob, the patriarch, moves his family to Egypt to escape death by starvation. After the threat to Jesus's life by Herod is gone, Jesus's family leaves Egypt and moves to Nazareth, which is in fulfillment of God's words in Hosea, out of Egypt I called my son. See, in Hosea, that was clearly a reference to the people of Israel being called out of Egypt in that great exodus where they left slavery in Egypt and walked through the waters of the Red Sea. We could go on and on about how Jesus repictures these major pivotal moments in the life of Israel. His baptism, his 40 days of fasting and being tested in the wilderness, his multiplying the loaves and fishes. So many things about Jesus's life are pictures of the life of Israel. But here in our narrative today, we see not as much a picture of who the people of Israel were or what God's people went through, but what they should have been, what Israel should have been. Israel was to be the light to the nations. They were to be those through whom all the families of the earth would be blessed. But see, instead of being a light to the nations and bringing the message of salvation to the pagan lands surrounding them, Israel all too often followed the course of this world and lusted after the darkness. Instead of being a light, they pursued darkness. Jesus, however, is beginning here in our text. He's beginning to shine his light on the nations here in our narrative today. Here with his interaction with the woman at the well, Jesus is not picturing or recapitulating what Israel already did, but he is with his life, not only showing what they should have done, but he is with these actions, prophesying and picturing what the church, which is the Israel of God, will do. Jesus is showing us with his interaction with the woman at the well, what the church will do. And what do I mean by that? I'm gonna read that section of text one more time for us. The Apostle John says at the beginning of our text today, when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John, although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples, he left Judea and departed again for Galilee and he had to pass through Samaria. Jesus really began his ministry in Galilee. That's where he turned the water into wine, which is his first public or semi-public, we might say, miracle. But then he goes to Jerusalem. Jerusalem was the heart of old covenant worship. He goes there in order to observe the Passover, as all faithful Jewish men would have done. And specifically, he goes to the temple, which is itself the heart of Jerusalem. So if Jerusalem's the heart of the Old Covenant worship, the temple is the heart of the heart. That's where man and God would meet together, and that's where God would take away the sins of his people. And as we read and discuss several weeks back now, Jesus cleanses the temple while he's there for the Passover. And then after this cleansing, Jesus leaves Jerusalem and he goes out into the Judean countryside where he begins baptizing. And then here in our text, we see him leaving that Judean countryside to venture into Samaria. And then after Samaria, he goes into Galilee, which is where the Gentiles, the non-Jewish nations, lived. So you can see that Jesus begins in Jerusalem. He begins in the heart, and then he expands out piece by piece from there. He begins in Jerusalem, and then all of Judea, and then Samaria, and then out to the nations. just like Adam's mission was to start in the garden, which was essentially the first temple, just like Adam was supposed to begin in the garden and then expand out and take dominion over the whole world, so Israel was supposed to expand out from Jerusalem and take true dominion over the promised land, which was, of course, Canaan, but eventually this was also to include the entirety of the world. Jesus is beginning to fulfill here what Adam was supposed to have done and what Israel was supposed to have done. And Jesus was in effect displaying and prophesying with his life and ministry this same task that he is now calling and that he will empower the church to do. The last words Jesus said to his church before his ascension into heaven were this, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem. and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth." Jerusalem, all Judea, Samaria, the ends of the earth. The early church was to begin their ministry in Jerusalem at Pentecost. And then when power came upon them, when the Holy Spirit baptized them, they were to then expand outward until all the nations of the world had been made obedient disciples of Jesus Christ. And Jesus is living out that pattern here in the first several chapters of John that he will later give to his church to follow him in. So when our text today said that Jesus had to pass through Samaria, I don't think that's because that was his only option and there was no other way to Galilee. Certainly that was the most direct route, but Jews were very much in the custom of avoiding Samaria if at all possible. They could go through the sea. They could go through the Transjordan. They didn't want to be mixing with the Samaritans. But Jesus, our text says, had to pass through Samaria to get to the nations. I think it was because Jesus was intentionally showing us that he was here to save the whole world. He would go to the Jew first, he would go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel first, and then he would expand outward from there to Samaria and then to all the nations of the earth. So Jesus had to pass through Samaria in order to picture what his church would shortly do. And that's not the only reason, though, I think, that our text says that Jesus had to pass through Samaria. That prophetic, wide-angle, Great Commission reason, I think, is definitely what's going on here. But there is something much more close to home and personal as well. And it's the second reason that our narrative today is primarily actually concerned about. Why did Jesus have to pass through Samaria? What other reason could there be? Well, it's because he knew that one of his lost sheep was there. In fact, many of his lost sheep were in Samaria, and he had to rescue them and bring them in to the sheepfold. And that first lost sheep, of course, that's highlighted in our story today is the Samaritan woman at the well. Verse seven through 15 of our text today of John 4 says this, a woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, give me a drink. For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, how is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria? For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered her, if you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you, give me a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water. The woman said to him, sir, you have nothing to draw water with and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself as did his sons and livestock. Jesus said to her, everyone who drinks from this water will be thirsty again. Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water, welling up to eternal life. The woman said to him, sir, give me this water so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water. Well, we're not quite done unpacking this reason why Jesus had to pass through Samaria, that first reason of Jesus being intentional. Jesus is an intentional savior. But I wanna bring in our second point here while we're still here. And that is that Jesus is humble. Jesus is a humble savior. Our text says that Jesus was wearied from his journey. He was wearied. from his journey, and he sat down on the well, or by the well, and he asked this woman for some water. This is humility on display big time. I think we could just read right past this without realizing this, but this is a massive display of humility. The Bible tells us that Jesus humbled himself, or as some translations render it, he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant. Jesus became poor, poorer materially than any of us here in this room. He became poor that we might become rich. He became the Son of Man that we might become sons of God. He became homeless that we might have mansions in heaven. He died so that we might live. Jesus was humiliated that we might be glorified. Jesus left the majesty and wonder and beauty and honor of heaven to live an impoverished existence here on earth. God's word says that he had no beauty that we should desire him. Nothing in his outward appearance was beautiful. Jesus himself told us that even the wild animals have homes that they can retreat to for safety and comfort, but the son of man has no place to lay his head. He was called a man of sorrows and one well acquainted with grief and suffering. He was, in short, a humbled and humiliated man. He was meek and mild and lowly, and though he deserved worship and praise and honor, and though he was more spotless, sinless, blameless, righteous, knowledgeable, powerful, any of those things, more than any human being that has ever existed or will ever exist, yet he was not proud. If anyone had a reason to be proud, it was Jesus. And he was humble. And we see that humility on display here in the opening of John 4. First off, Jesus is tired. Jesus is tired. Think of how, when you really sit back and reflect on it, how humiliating and humbling this fact is alone. When you were the one who created the universe effortlessly, and yet walking for the better part of the morning makes you tired. That's humbling. Jesus doesn't get irritated at this fact. He doesn't get upset and kick against his human limitations. No, he gladly and freely submitted to this. So he just sits down. He's humble. Second, we see Jesus' humility in that he is asking for water. Of course, Jesus had it within his divine power to summon up water, any amount of water he wanted from any part of the world. He didn't even need to be at a well. but that wasn't God's will for his humbled son. So Jesus has to wait. He evidently has no bucket. The woman says you have nothing to draw water with. He has no rope. He has no ordinary human means to attain some water. So he has to wait and he has to ask someone. Even today, for all of us who are not God, who are not kings, who are not princes, it is humbling even for us to have to ask someone for water, to ask a complete stranger for food or water, it's humbling. I don't know if y'all have been in that situation before. I've been in that situation before where I've just been in a place where I didn't have any water, I didn't have a car, I didn't have any means to get where I was going and have to ask for things like that, to have to ask a stranger for water or for a ride or for some money. That's hard to do if you're clinging to your pride, but Jesus asks. And he doesn't go and seek out and ask one of his peers for a drink. He doesn't tell his disciples to get some water and return quickly when he sends them into town. He doesn't seek out a fellow Jewish rabbi for assistance. No, Jesus further shows his humility here, and then he asks this particular person. The woman at the well was, first of all, obviously a woman. And in our egalitarian society today, a man asking a woman for a favor, it doesn't sound terribly odd or strange. But in Jesus's day, women and men were much more segregated. This was a humbling act to have to ask a woman for assistance, for a Jewish rabbi to have to ask a woman for help. Secondly, an even bigger deal, this woman that Jesus asked was a Samaritan. And as the Samaritan woman herself says, Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. The Jews and the Samaritans hated each other. It was a religious, ethnic, cultural division that almost seemed unable to be crossed. There was great animosity between the two. Now, it's not precisely true that Jews and Samaritans had no dealings with each other. But there were lines which one did not cross. And one of those lines was that Jews and Samaritans never shared utensils or drinking vessels with each other. Never. They might engage in some business transactions from time to time. For example, Jesus sent his disciples into the city to buy food. And maybe they got some weird looks because they were Jews, but I doubt anyone gave them the same comments here that the Samaritan woman gives to Jesus. Because Jesus here is saying, let me put my lips where your family puts their lips. Let me drink from the same bucket that you drink from. Give me some of the water that you're planning to take home and bathe your children in. Give me some of your family's water. Let me drink from your cup. Jesus cuts through all of that cultural and ethnic and religious animosity when he asked this woman for a drink. And one more point before moving on, Jesus shows his humility as well as his intentionality by choosing to ask for water from a woman who has had five husbands and now lives with a man who she's not even married to. Not only would an upstanding Jewish man who cared about his appearance and reputation not have begged water from a Samaritan woman, but he certainly would not have done so from an adulterous Samaritan woman. Jesus is humble and he's intentional. Coming back to that first point, Jesus is intentional. We see that he is an intentional savior here because Jesus intentionally asked this one particular woman for a drink from the well. It was not by chance that this is the woman who happened to come up to the well. It was not by chance that Jesus happened to go to this particular well. This was intentional. As real as Jesus's need was for water, he nevertheless knew this woman needed the gospel even more. And so he chose to tell her the truth of who he was, that he was the Messiah. Throughout his ministry, Jesus often did not reveal to people what his true identity was. He doesn't just go around telling anyone and everyone, I'm the Messiah, I'm the Christ, I'm the King of Kings. In fact, many times he keeps it hidden and he tells other people, don't make sure you don't tell anyone that I'm the Messiah. But he meant for this woman to know him. He didn't want her to remain in the dark as to who he truly was. He had a plan to come to this place and to reveal to this woman that he was her Lord so that he could make her one of his disciples. And then that leads us straight to our final point here, that Jesus, first Jesus is an intentional savior, then he's a humble savior. And now we see that Jesus is a sovereign savior. He's a sovereign savior, meaning he's overall, and he has an expansive knowledge and control of what is happening. Meeting the Messiah was the last thing on that woman's mind today. This was not part of her plan. She, in fact, most likely went to the well during the middle of the day so that she wouldn't meet anyone. I think that was probably her plan. Let me go when no one else is going to be there because no one in their right mind goes to the well during the middle of the day. Usually women would go draw the water either in the cooler part of the evening right before it would get dark or in the early part of the morning right before it was getting light. If you went to the well in the middle of the day, it most likely means that you either A, unexpectedly ran out of water, or B, you're trying to avoid the other women. She's not in the circle of women that talk and spend time at the well each day. And I think that's absolutely what's going on here. She is seeking to do whatever she can to avoid meeting people. The other women of the town, they know. They know that the Samaritan woman has been married five times and is now shacking up with someone else. They know that. And instead of being proud about this fact and just parading it around the other women and flaunting her sin in front of others, as we see so commonly happen today when it comes to marital and sexual sins, instead of that, it seems that our woman at the well here is probably very ashamed. She's ashamed of what her life is like. She's ashamed of what she has come to. So she goes to the well in the middle of the day. She's not yet repentant. She still lives with this man. She doesn't know the Lord yet when she comes to this well, but she does have shame about her. Now we don't know the details about this woman's marital or relationship history. Maybe she's not as bad as some might assume. Maybe she's not a serial adulterer. Maybe she hasn't had a single divorce. Maybe all of her husbands have died. Maybe she had no resources and she felt like her only option was to live with this current guy who clearly was not willing to make an honest woman out of her. We don't know the details and I don't think it's inherently helpful to go to the extreme of speculation one way or the other. But we know that there is sin here. That's undoubted, that this woman is coming in her sins to Jesus. She is living with a man to whom she is not married. And I know this is common in our culture today, that people would live together before they get married. And people always seem to think, if you talk to someone who's living with their boyfriend or girlfriend, they always seem to think that they're the one exception. that, well, yeah, of course, normally I wouldn't be okay with this. Normally that would be a sin, but, you know, I'm the one exception. We have X, Y, Z, Q, R, P reason that this isn't sinful. That's what people think. People in the church even that engage in this behavior. They think, well, they're the one couple that can skate across that paper-thin ice and not fall into that river of sin. That they're the ones that can lead themselves straight into temptation, but not fall to temptation. but all that's just a coverup when people say things like, it's just a coverup. That's people seeking to justify themselves. It is a sin to live with someone like your husband and wife when you were not husband and wife. And the blessing of a society that shames this type of behavior is that this woman was daily reminded that she was living a life of sin. I say that's a blessing that she was daily reminded that she was living a life of sin. That might not seem like a blessing to be constantly reminded that you're a sinner, but if you don't know you're in sin, then you can't repent. If you only ever get affirmed in your sins, then you're not gonna know there's anything that you need to repent of. Paul says the reason he knew about sin and therefore knew to repent was because the law told him he was in sin. And if you don't repent, it means you're not forgiven. And if you're not forgiven, then you don't get to be with Christ. You don't get to go to God. You don't get to go to heaven. But every time this woman went alone to draw water from the well in the middle of the day, every time she walked there in the heat of the day, she was reminded that she was in a sinful relationship. And everyone in town, they knew this woman's history. But how, some people might have thought, how did this stranger from another town know about this woman? How did that happen? How did Jesus know with such specificity that she had had five husbands in the past? Our text tells us that the woman, after leaving the well, went straight into the city and testified that she had met a man who told her all that she had ever done. She knew that Jesus hadn't just heard from the townsfolk about her reputation. She perceived that this was a holy man with special insight from God. And once they talked a little more, she knew that this Jesus was in fact the Messiah who could take away her sins. He is a sovereign Savior. He's in control of this situation. He knows everything about this woman. He knows exactly what he's doing here at this well. Now, we don't know what all she knew right away or how accurate her understanding of the Messiah was. She could have had a number of misconceptions. She could have been confused on some important things. But I think Jesus revealed straight to her heart, straight to her heart, that even though she was an adulteress, he had the power to forgive her sins and make her acceptable before God, just like a bride wearing white, spotless and beautiful on her wedding day. He was the one who could grant her repentance. He was the one who could grant her newness of life. He was the one who could satisfy her thirst so that she wouldn't have to go back to those wells that were broken and dirty and polluted of pretend husbands and further adultery and more divorce. She knew he was the one who could give her something that would satisfy her deepest longings and her deepest desires. And God willing, next week, when we go over this narrative again, we'll discuss how Jesus is a satisfying, all-sufficient Savior who gives abundant blessing to his children. But for now, just think of how this Samaritan woman was ultimately comforted by Christ's sovereign knowledge here. She was comforted that he knew everything about her. Think of how children are with their parents. Children love to ask questions, do they not? And they expect their parents to know the answers. Why is the sky blue? Why can birds fly and we can't? Are we there yet? They love asking these questions. Now, why? Why do children ask questions like this? Well, they ask them because they don't know the answer and they want to find out. But they also ask them because they expect their parents will know the answer. They think, they just automatically assume, if I don't know something, I can ask mom and dad, they'll of course know, they're mom and dad, and they will tell me what the answer is. And that's a good thing, children, for you to expect. You should trust your parents. They know a lot. They are smart. Your parents have lots of answers to these questions that you wanna ask. But, you know, not even your parents, as godly and smart as they may be, not even they know everything. But see what the Samaritan woman says about Jesus. He knew everything she had ever done, and he was just meeting her. Think of that. He knew everything she had ever done. Now, they weren't talking long enough for Jesus to literally tell her every detail about her life, but Jesus showed her that nothing could be hidden from him. Children, do you know that Jesus can see straight into your heart and your mind? He can see straight into what you're thinking right now. He knows what's on your heart right now. He knows what you love. He knows what you don't love. And the sovereign knowledge that Jesus has of all his people, that should scare sinners. Think about that. You mean Jesus knows everything? Even those sins that I made extra certain no one would ever find out about. Jesus knows those too? Even those wicked thoughts that I had, but I never once settled out. Jesus knows those thoughts also? Yes, Jesus knows all about those. And even though that should scare us in our sins, Christ's sovereign knowledge should also comfort his children, just like it did the woman at the well. You mean Jesus knows all about that hatred that rose up in my heart the other day when someone did me wrong? and he still chose to die for me, and he still loves me even after he knew that? You mean Jesus knows that one sin that I keep falling into over and over? That one sin that no one else in the world knows about? Jesus knows about that too? And He still wants to make me His own? And make me pure? And make me holy even as He is holy? What a comfort that is. Jesus knows how bad you are in your sin and in your flesh and on your own. and he still loves you and he still pursues you? The Samaritan woman was comforted by this. It might've been scary at first when she first realized what was going on. How does he know I've had five husbands? How does he know I'm living with a man who's not my husband right now? How does he know that? She had been looking for and hoping for love and coming up empty. She was looking for love in all the wrong places. And here in Jesus Christ, this man she had just met who knows everything about her, even though it might've been scary at first, that's where she realized, I have found true comfort, true security, true love. I am known by Him and I am loved by Him in a way that none of my five husbands knew or loved me. That this man I'm living with right now, he doesn't know or love me like this. This stranger, this Jewish man sitting here begging for water, he knows me and he loves me. Brother or sister, Jesus knows you more than anyone else knows you in the whole world. And he loves you more than anyone else loves you in the whole world. He loves you more than your husband or your wife. He loves you more than your mom or your dad, as good as they love you. He loves you more than your son or your daughter love you. He loves you more than the husband or wife you dream of having but don't have yet. He will love you more than that spouse will one day love you. And this should comfort you. That doesn't mean just because he has this love for you, it doesn't mean there's never any reason for fear. You should be afraid of disappointing Christ. You should be afraid, not because he's going to cut you off and divorce you and cast you into hell, he will not do that. But you should be afraid of incurring his discipline and his fatherly displeasure, just like a child is afraid of disappointing their parents and getting disciplined by their father. The love of Christ doesn't leave you in a place of comfort in your sin. It comforts you because it takes you out of your sin. It gives you power to overcome those sins that you struggle with so. It gives you power to leave them behind. When you have the true love of Christ in your heart, then the fake pretend love that your sin keeps lying to you and offering to you, it doesn't look as appealing anymore. In fact, your sins that you once loved, they'll start to disgust you. You'll start to hate them with righteous hatred. God's kindness will lead you to repentance. Don't be discouraged if you don't have complete, total victory over every sin in one moment. I don't know that the Samaritan woman, I don't know how how things went when she went home. Did she immediately leave this pretend boyfriend? Maybe. I hope so. Did she immediately never have thoughts of going back to another man? I don't know. God doesn't give the victory all at once. Think of the people of Israel. He didn't drive out the enemies in Canaan all at once. But your victory is sure and certain in Jesus Christ. The kindness The sovereign knowledge and control, the intentionality and the love of Christ led this woman to repentance and it is to lead you to repentance as well. It led her to turn away from her adultery and to turn in love and faithfulness to her true and everlasting husband, Jesus Christ. So as we approach the end of our sermon here, I wanna leave you with a couple points of application. The biggest thing is to take what we have just discussed to heart. It's that simple. Be aware that God sees and knows everything about you. He knows everything you've ever done. He knows everything you will ever do. And if you were his child by faith, this should make you concerned not to disappoint him. But he didn't give us a spirit of fear. It should also primarily comfort you that even when you do sin, He is ready and willing to receive your repentance and restore your broken heart and conscience. Now, if you are not Christ's child by faith, this fact that Christ knows everything about you should absolutely terrify you. If you are not Christ's child by faith, you are not scared enough. You are not concerned enough that Jesus knows everything about you. Think how terrified you would be if your grandmother found out some of the things that you've done that you thought kept secret. That is nothing compared to what it will be like on judgment day. You know the sins that you have committed. And if you have not humbly come to Christ and asked for forgiveness, then you should have no hope. No matter how well you may hide those sins now, they will be laid bare on that final day. And if you are not covered by the righteous blood of Christ, you will be condemned in your sins. So turn to Christ, believe on him as the Lord of heaven and earth who died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sins and who rose again victorious over sin and death. Believe on this Jesus and ask him to forgive you. and enter His grace and joy. That's the main application from this text. But then I want to draw out two very simple, boots on the ground, day-to-day application, especially for Christ's children, for believers. One is that we should be humble like Christ. We should be humble like Christ. We must reject and turn from pride every time we feel it welling up within us. We need to have a proper view of ourselves. We are poor redeemed sinners who on our own deserve nothing but punishment from God. We are the woman at the well who has no reason to boast or brag, but we who are in Christ, we have been redeemed, we have been forgiven, we are saints. That is a good view of yourself. You are to reign. You are to judge even angels, but you are not to be proud. You are to be humble. The woman at the well had no reason to be proud in her life, but after meeting Jesus, she had every reason to rejoice and take comfort in his love. That's number one, to be humble, and number two, second everyday boots on the ground application is that we should be intentional like Christ was intentional. Jesus was intentional in everything he did. Jesus did not waste a day. He didn't waste any of his interactions. He didn't waste any of his relationships. He made his life count. And we can see that so clearly here. Jesus was thirsty. Yes. He was tired. Yes. But he came to the well first and foremost for the woman, not for the water. He had an eternal perspective here. And we should approach all our relationships like this. We should not, first of all, be thinking, what can I get from this person? Or how can this relationship better me or help me out? What a worldly way of thinking. I've heard so many people say, only surround yourself with people that'll make you better. I understand what they're meaning. And you shouldn't bring people into your intimate confidence unless they are good, solid believers. But think of how self-serving that is if that's your only metric for determining who you spend your time with. I'm only going to spend my time with people that make me better. Well, who are you making better? You don't always want to be on the bottom rung of every relationship. Instead, you should be thinking when you're in any relationship or dealing with any person, first, how can I glorify God here? How can I use this interaction to bring honor to Christ? How can I point this person to Christ, whether they are saved or not? We should always be pointing each other to Jesus. How can I love my neighbor as myself? Be intentional. with your interactions with others, and especially those who do not know the Lord. Your life, your words, your joyful demeanor, your actions should all be pointing to your wonderful, loving Savior who has washed you and beautified you and made you holy, even as He is holy. And may He grant us the grace of seeing our friends and family members, even through these intentional interactions, joyfully turn to Him, like this woman, in true repentance and faith. Let's pray together. God, we thank you for your goodness to us. Lord, we thank you that we are just like the woman at the well. Lord, we are covered in our shame apart from you. Lord, we know our sinful deeds of the past, but you come to us humbly and you call us to yourself and you gently lead us. Lord, you break us if we need to be broken, but then you bind us back up. Lord, that you love us, that you are tender with us. We thank you, God, that you have called us by your gospel, even today, Lord, that you have revealed to us who you are, our Messiah, our living King, who died for our sins and rose again in victory. God, I pray that you would just let the truth of your gospel sink deeper into the hearts of each and every person here. And that when we leave this place today, Lord, that we would leave empowered to be intentional, and humble and to trust you as our sovereign Lord to perfect your work of salvation in us and to bring salvation to others. Lord, we ask your continued blessing now as we worship you through our praises and through your ministry of the Lord's Table. In Christ's name.