We
are in a great season of the year for all mankind. Each fall God begins a new
year with great expectations for His children. According to Law of God, as
recorded in the Old Testament book of Leviticus, this coming Friday, September
29th on our calendar, will be The Day of
Atonement. The Jews celebrate it as “Yom Kippur”
- The most Holy Day of the year.
This
is the one day each year on which the High Priest of the Jews was allowed to
enter the Holy of Holies and offer blood upon the Mercy Seat above the Ark of
the Covenant to obtain forgiveness of sins for all the people. Immediately
afterwards the High Priest stretched out his hands over the chosen scapegoat
and transferred the sins of Israel onto the goat who then carried them out into
the wilderness taking them away from the people. For thousands of years this
dress rehearsal has given us a glimpse of what God had promised and has
fulfilled in Christ.
Also
of note: Next week will be the Feast of Tabernacles,
remembering the fact that God will one day live with us, tabernacle with us, on
the earth. This yearly 8 day feast of the Lord will begin Wednesday evening at
sundown on the 4th of October. What a wonderful time of the year!
Some
may not be fully aware that sacrifices are still being made on holy days and
the yearly feasts among some who are waiting on the Messiah to come. For
example, the Samaritans believe they are the true descendants of Abraham and
continue to this day to live a holy life according to the Law of Moses which
includes keeping some of the sacrificial obligations of the law.
This
morning I have a few pictures of the place where Abraham built his first altar
in the Promise Land. It is also the same place where Jacob bought a piece of
ground from a man named Shechem and dug a well, Jacob’s well. It is also near
to where the Children of Israel buried the bones of Joseph after conquering
their enemies in the Land of Canaan. I have visited there many times and have
met with the current High Priest of the Levities of Samaria. To this day they
continue to live on Mt Gerizim in the place Moses commanded them to go and
worship upon entering the Land of Canaan. The city of Samaria is situated there
high above Jacob’s well.
Production Note: (I emailed a file with several pictures to production -
show the pictures I sent of Samaria; the High Priest; Mount Gerizim; Sychar;
Shechem; Joseph’s Tomb; and Jacob’s Well in the numbered order. I will make
comments on a few.)
This
morning I would like us to turn to the Gospel of John, chapter 4. While you
find John 4, allow me to encapsulate the account
of Jesus encountering the Woman at Jacob’s Well in Samaria and the Eternal
Wages of which He spoke.
John 4
4
¶ But He needed to go through Samaria.
5 So Jesus came to a city of
Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his
son Joseph.
6 Now Jacob’s well was there.
Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well.
It was about the sixth hour.
7 A woman of Samaria came to
draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.”
8 For His disciples had gone away into the city
to buy food.
9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How
is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews
have no dealings with Samaritans.
10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew
the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would
have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
11 The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing
to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water?
12 “Are You greater than our father Jacob, who
gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his
livestock?”
13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever
drinks of this water will thirst again,
14 “but whoever drinks of
the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall
give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting
life.”
15 The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this
water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband,
and come here.”
17 The woman answered and said, “I have no
husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’
18 “for you have had five husbands, and the one
whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.”
19 The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that
You are a prophet.
20 “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and
you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.”
21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the
hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem,
worship the Father.
22 “You worship what you do not know; we know
what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.
23 “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the
true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is
seeking such to worship Him.
24 “God is Spirit, and those who worship
Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
25 The woman said
to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes,
He will tell us all things.”
26 Jesus said to
her, “I who speak to you am He.”
27
¶ And at this point His disciples
came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, “What do
You seek?” or, “Why are You talking with her?”
28 The woman then left her waterpot, went her
way into the city, and said to the men,
29 “Come, see a Man who told me all things that
I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”
30 Then they went out of the city and came to
Him.
31 In the meantime His disciples urged Him,
saying, “Rabbi, eat.”
32 But He said to them, “I have food to eat of
which you do not know.”
33 Therefore the disciples said to one another,
“Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?”
34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the
will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.
35 “Do you not say, ‘There
are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you,
lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for
harvest!
36 “And he who reaps receives
wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who
reaps may rejoice together.
37 “For in this the saying is
true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’
38 “I sent you to reap that
for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into
their labors.”
What
would you say if I told you I knew of a way you could win the Publisher’s
Clearing House Sweepstakes for certain and get $10,000 a week for life. How
many of you would be very excited and want to know how you could do it? Well, I
have a better offer than that! And it’s for certain! In fact, I can show you
how you can get a guaranteed paycheck and benefits, including 100% covered
health, hazard, flood and fire, all pre-paid with nothing down and zero
deductible for life … eternal life! That’s right … get paid throughout eternity
for doing something easy as pie right now. I can’t imagine anyone who would
turn down that solid offer.
When
Jesus told the woman at the well that
“Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give
him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a
fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
He
wasn’t fooling, kidding, joking, lying or leading her on … He was serious …
eternal life serious!
Today
we have the greatest opportunity in or out of this world. Greater than winning
the lottery or some sweepstakes that only pays for this lifetime. We have been
offered a job sowing seeds and reaping a harvest for God. Jobs just can’t get
any easier than this and nothing in the world can match the pay or provide the
benefits.
Good
news is that anyone can do this job whether at home, work or play. You can earn
wages at parties, watching ball games, going to church, eating out, on
vacation, while shopping, texting, on social media, surfing the web or playing
catch with the kids.
What
does it take for someone to be saved? The same thing it took for you to be
saved:
1. Recognize
they need a Savior
2. Repent of
their sins
3. Receive
Jesus in their heart by faith
Plus
one more thing perhaps …Everyone needs someone to tell them about this Good
News.
Romans 10
13 For “Everyone who calls on
the name of the LORD will be saved.”
14 But how can they call on
him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if
they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone
tells them?
17 So faith comes from
hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.
Someone
made it possible for you to be hear the Good News … they will receive wages and
have fruit for eternity! Don’t you want a paycheck in heaven?
