Gooding, David: 2 - The First Journey: An Overview

Our task now, gentlemen, is to look at the first journey that our Lord made to Jerusalem on the occasion of a feast and his return up north. What happened on the way as he returned, and what happened when he actually got back to Galilee. As I read them, in this journey there are six major elements, major stories. Let me, uh, point them out to you. Of course, it is open to you to disagree in details about them. The first major story, as I read it, is chapter two, verses thirteen to twenty two, Where our Lord went to Jerusalem and found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves and the changes of money sitting. The famous cleansing of the temple. It is be note- it is to be noticed in passing that John has this cleansing of the temple on our Lord's first visit to Jerusalem. The other gospels tell us that he cleansed the temple on his last visit to Jerusalem, and hence there has been much dispute among the scholars why John has it at the beginning and the others have it at the end. The simplest way of accounting for it is to say that he did it twice. If you want to read up the, uh, the arguments on both sides, there's a book by Blomberg that discusses it. Second major element is, I- I- according to my reading, the conversation with Nicodemus. For let us notice that at verse twenty three of chapter two, we're told that when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover during the feast, many believed on his name, beholding the signs. Would you notice that? It raises the question of the signs which our Lord did. We're not told any of them at the moment, but, uh, uh, he did these signs, apparently. They believed when they saw the signs. Presumably they had no option. The miracles were done under their very noses. They couldn't deny they were miracles. But what the value of their so-called belief was is another thing. Our Lord didn't commit himself to them. But there came this Nicodemus, chapter three. You notice his gambit. Uh, verse two, we know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these signs. He is still talking about the signs that were mentioned in verse twenty four. And so I hold that, uh, this second major incident, verses tw- verse twenty of chapter two on to three and verse twenty one, form the next major element in the story of the journey. Now again, scholars will say, but the end of that passage, who knows, from sixteen or seventeen onwards, is John's own comment on what the Lord said to Nicodemus. I shall not discuss it this morning. As the passage reads, it is all of a continuum with our Lord's conversation with Nicodemus. Third major element, chapter three and verse twenty two, John the Baptist and his disciples. Verse twenty five, you will notice. There rose therefore a questioning on the part of John's disciples with the Jew about purifying. And they came to John and said to him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou hast borne witness, behold, the same baptizes, and all men come to him. And apparently John's converts, jealous for his reputation, were put out because this young man called Jesus, uh, to whom John had given a little space on his platform one afternoon and talked about him, was now getting more converts than John was, and they were put out about this, do you see? And we have John's reply. And once more, scholars will say, but some of the verses that follow, particularly verse thirty one to the end, are the comments of John the Evangelist. I shall not discuss it, it's all of a piece, uh, with the, uh, uh, remarks to- of John to his disciples. Then in chapter four, the famous conversation with the Samaritan, verses one to thirty. How she left her water pot eventually and went and gave her witness to the men of the city. While they were coming out, you have a conversation of Christ with his converts in the city of Samaria. Verses thirty nine to forty two. Finally, you have the story of the healing of the nobleman's son, the court official's son. Now you want to, may want to precise, uh, those observations, uh, do you see? My point at the moment is that they are the major stories, major elements in the, um, first journey. Let's put them up on the board here so that we can then ask some questions about them. I guarantee, gentlemen, that if you were forced to it at gunpoint, you could take a verse at least out of this passage of scripture and preach a gospel sermon on them, and the Lord would honor you, and who knows how many might be converted. So you could preach John three sixteen even if you didn't know what John two sixteen was about, and it wouldn't matter, you just preach John three sixteen. It is the word of God, it is inspired, it will, uh, produce the effect the Holy Spirit intended. You don't have to know a whole lot of stuff before you may preach a verse of the Bible, because it all is inspired of God and is profitable. But our task this morning is not so much to preach to each other, but to ask some questions about these six major elements in the first journey. Are they simply, uh, things that happened? Well, because they happened, John has put them down. Or are they related? Has the Holy Spirit chosen these, selected these, and arranged them because they are related one to another, such that the comparison between them will help to bring out their significance. We could notice even from that, uh, uh, list, you'll see. There's a conversation with Nicodemus. Nobody, I think, would object to my title, A Conversation with Nicodemus, followed by John the Baptist and his discussion with his disciples about the service of God. Then there's our Lord's conversation with a Samaritan, again at great length, followed by Christ and a discussion with his disciples and then with his converts in Samaria, that might give you an inkling that perhaps these stories are not altogether unrelated. So let me suggest, uh, uh, uh, one, uh, particular feature of them that suggests that they are a very Very deliberate deliberate selection. selection. The travelogue begins with our Lord's cleansing of the temple at Jerusalem. Story one, followed by two other stories. And then chapter f- uh, uh, section four. the conversation with a Samaritan. You will notice what the discussion was about. Yes, it was about the living water. But when the woman perceived that our Lord was a prophet, she did what I suspect many people have done to you, particularly in such remote parts of the world as Athlone or Waterford or any place like that. You're a Protestant, aren't you? Well, well, uh, uh, my family's been Catholic for all these generations, you see, and I'm not going to change my religion because of you. The age-old enmity between Samaritans and Jews briefly flares up here. I perceive you're a prophet, but our fathers worshipped in this mountain, and you Jews say that Jerusalem is the place where you ought to worship. But it leads on, doesn't it, to a discussion of the nature of true worship. What on earth was the temple of Jerusalem for, if it wasn't for the worship of God? But you notice at once the balance of this historical record. It begins with our Lord's critique of the orthodox worship in Jerusalem city and the highly unorthodox worship of the Samaritans up in Mount Gerizim. It's not only John being fair, it is the Holy Spirit himself. It's not just criticizing the Samaritans. It starts by criticizing the Jews. Huh? On the topic of worship. Now, in Jerusalem, our Lord's critique, his major critique of the worship in Jerusalem was what, gentlemen? You tell me so that I mean to say I get rid of this notion that people don't see what I see. What was wrong with the worship in Jerusalem? Have a stab at it. Was the admission fee too high or something? What was wrong with it? It has become a business. It become a business, yes. Have you any authority for saying that? You haven't? Yes, you have. What does scripture itself say? What did our Lord say? We're trading. Pardon? They were trading, trading in the temple. Yeah, what does he actually say? You've made a den of thieves. Mm-hmm. It is verse what? Sixteen. You've made my father's house a house of merchandise. Take, yes, in sense, make not my father's house a house of merchandise. In the other gospels of the he- of the cleansing at the end of our Lord's life, he accuses them of, of, of making Dennis Roberson things. But make not my father's house a house of merchandise, buying and selling. What was wrong with that? Gentlemen, you, you have to keep the place up. I mean, a temple that's there for the good of the nation and the Jews of the dispersion. It costs money, gentlemen. You've got to get the money somehow to keep the central heating going and all the, and the salary of the crelics, and goodness me, you have. Mm-hmm. What's wrong with it then? And anyway, uh, the Bible itself required the people to buy bullocks and sheep and things and al- offer them on the altar. Uh, I mean, it was a nice convenience, wasn't it, to have the bullocks near at hand where they could be sold, I mean to say. I mean. Don't you have collections in your church? Or put a box on the table, whichever way you do it. What was wrong with it then? Make not my father's house a house of merchandise. What was bad about it. You say, I don't, I d- never preached on it, so you don't bother. Well, come on. It was maybe becoming the focus. Pardon? Maybe it was becoming the focus. Yes, it could be the focus, yes, yes. What about this hall here? Good bargains to be had. Come and buy. Why would that go great counter to counter con- contrary to the gospel? You have to buy your way to God. Yes. To do anything that would give the impression that at the temple you had to buy salvation. Make not my father's house a house of buying and selling. And that is so contrary. Ah, well, anyway. Yeah. Story two is a very famous story, so you'll be able to tell me about that. You'll doubtless preached on it yourself, gentlemen. And John three sixteen. mhm Mm-hmm. What does it say? Come on, you, I mean, John three sixteen. you know. If this was Sunday school, I'd offer you a prize for saying it. For God so loved the world that he did what? Gave, yes. That's chapter th- uh, that's chapter three. What did he say to the woman in chapter four? Pardon? I will give you. Yes. He said something else. If you knew the gift. Yes, if you knew the gift. That was his gambit. He asked her of a drink of water, and she demurred because he was a Jew. How, how you can't make that out, you Jew should ask for me and talk to me even. And he said, woman, if you knew the gift. That's what incensed him about he, what they were doing in the temple. It was his father's house. And giving the impression that salvation had to be bought was an absolute slander on the name of God. That's what he objected to. Make not my father's house. This is a fearful misrepresentation of God. Very difficult to trust a person for salvation when it's obvious he's making money out of you. Mm-hmm. So when our Lord talked to Nicodemus about the gift of God, what was the gift, gentlemen? Pardon? Pardon? His only begotten. His only begotten son. And when he talked to the woman, the gift of God was what? Eternal life. Eternal life. Yeah, well, if you like, but it's always good to keep to scripture. Our job, gentlemen, is to expound scripture, yes? If thou knewest the gift of God, thou would have asked of him, and he would have given you. And that is what? You'll notice that while the conversation with the Nicodemus and the conversation with the woman both emphasize the gift of God. It is not just ditto repeato, is it? It's okay to say, well, Christ offered Nicodemus salvation. Yes, God so loved the world that he made salvation possible, and he told the woman that God loved you enough that he's made salvation possible. But now we're talking in exactitude, gentlemen. This is inspired scripture. Do notice that in chapter three, the gift, the giver is the Father, and the gift is the Son. In chapter uh four, the gift giver is who? The Son, yes. If you knew who it is that s- that says, give me to drink, you would have asked of him, and he would have given you living water. The Spirit is the gift of the Son. Day of Pentecost, gentlemen, according to Peter, it wasn't simply that the Holy Spirit came after Christ was ascended. It was that Christ, whom you crucified, now ascended, has poured out the Jesus of Nazareth, has poured out the Holy Spirit, who therefore is Jesus of Nazareth. But the language, of course, is precise because Christ is dealing with individuals and is meeting their particular need as individuals. Be good to study that in a moment, wouldn't it? Our Lord's different way of talking to Nicodemus and the woman. Mm-hmm. But now notice another thing. Let's come back to the cleansing of the temple. The lesson that Christ taught the cleansing of the temple was that you mustn't represent God's house as a place where people have to buy salvation. Is that all? Or is there anything more to the story? Was he exposing it as being a sham? Yes, he was exposing it to be a sham, yes. The temple is just a shell. Yes, that's right. Good. Full marks, but any, any further? Is the story go- uh, anything else in that story? He puts himself forward as the Ah, yes. It's in two parts, isn't it, that story? You've noticed how, uh, uh, John carefully records it. There are two halves to the story. First of all, he cleansed the old system of worship, the old temple. And he said to them that sold doves, take these things hence, make not my father's house a house of merchandise. Now, comment about the disciples. His disciples remembered that it was written, the zeal of thine house shall eat me up. Comment on that first half of the story, the cleansing of the temple. Now the second half of the story. The Jews therefore answered and said to him, what sign showest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? Jesus answered and said unto them, destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. And the Jews said, don't be so daft and absurd, don't. The Jews therefore said, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou raise it up in three days? But he spoke of the temple of his body. Now notice what, uh, uh, do you see, verse twenty two adds. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he spoke this, and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus said. Important remark, as D. A. Carson will point out. This is John admitting that even at the time, even the disciples didn't understand what he was talking about. But when he was raised from the dead, then they remembered what he said on that occasion. And of course, it made a tremendous lot of sense to them. So what you have in the first half of that story, ending with the disciples' comment, the first half is Christ's critique of the old system. But not content with that. He announces the new system of worship, yes? The temple, his body. And what about your bodies, gentlemen, if I may ask? One Corinthians three, one Corinthians six. what does that say? Huh? Know you not that your bodies are temple of the Holy Spirit? The temple is not the building you meet in, is it, any longer? Some people call it the sanctuary. Okay, but um, mm-hmm. The actual temple of God is not a building, literal building now, it's the bodies of the believers, isn't it? This is the new system. So the story as a whole, we should be missing an important part of it if we didn't see that the first story is in two parts. John has carefully underlined it by citing the comments of the, of the disciples. It's in two parts, critique of the old system and the announcement of the new. Now, when our Lord went and talked to the dear woman of Samaria, and the topic of worship came up, did he have anything to say to the woman about the old Samaritan worship? Or was he so polite that he didn't even mention it? Let me put the question more directly, because sure- surely you've preached on it, gentlemen. Come, come, now you have. Um, and he said about to the woman about the old Samaritan worship, what did he say about it? Gentlemen, you all have it at your fingertips, you know. What did he say to the woman about their old Samaritan form of worship? Pardon? You worship what you do not know. Yeah! Because that was being planned, wasn't it? You worship what you don't know. For? For what? Salvation is after Jesus. Fancy saying that to a woman of Samaria. Poof! Yes, but you see how tactfully it was done. What a marvelous story that is. He went and sat on the well. And this woman came and he needed her. Oh, what a gesture that was. Woman, give me to drink. He was going to tell her of the Father who seeks worshippers. He come to seek. The very Son of God come to seek the worship of that woman's heart for the Father. Samaritan though she was. And started by showing his knee, give me to drink. But of course she nearly fell down the well because he was a Jew, obviously, and that he would talk with a, with a woman. I mean, the rabbis didn't talk with women. They didn't, wouldn't waste their time, they said. Eh, and uh, and then to talk to a Samaritan woman? Ooh. And to ask the woman for a drink when she'd have to give him a cup. The rabbis held that any, anywhere that a Samaritan woman went, she s- she spread defilement. No Jew would ever, no Orthodox Jew would ever use a vessel out of a Samaritan woman's house. Oh. That he should overstep all those bounds. Was a magnificent gesture, wasn't it? Which made him the opening when she, I don't know whether he ever got the water or not. It, you see, when she demurred, he said, but if you knew who it is that's speaking to you, you would have asked of him, and he would have given you living water. Who drinks of this water shall thirst again, you see, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. He's got the woman's interest now, he's something to give. She says, go call my, uh, uh, uh, uh, he said, give me this water that I don't have to come here. So she hasn't understood that it was a spiritual water, so that I don't have to come here and draw water. Which our, where our Lord said, oh, go call your husband then. Now he's going to mention her sin, but where he mentions the question of sin, in his personal conversations with people, in his personal witness, where he gets around to mentioning sin is very instructive. Where he got round to mention it with Nicodemus, actually, we'll come back to that in a moment. And go call your husband, he said. She said, I have no husband. And he replied, now don't you tell lies, woman. No, no, no. No, he said, you put that very exactly, my dear. Wonderfully exactly, you'll see. You had four husband- uh, five husbands, haven't you? That doesn't mean she'd live with all five at once. Divorce was very easy in those days, and death came early to many. Five relationships broken. Sad and unsatisfactory world it is, isn't it? It's a woman desperately in need of some satisfaction. Hence the offer of water, living water, and never thirsting. So he said, you put that exactly, you see, you've had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. You said that very well. It was meant to be a half a truth that... where's the truth? He'd exposed it, hadn't he? But how, how, how marvelously tactful. So she says, I perceive you're a prophet. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain. You say that Jerusalem is the place where you ought to worship. She raised the question, didn't she? And he said, man, you worship what you don't know. How can worship be satisfying to anybody if you're worshiping something you don't know? Yes. We know what we worship. And now here comes his faithfulness, the critique of the old system then. Salvation is of the Jews. It was wrong of the Samaritans all these centuries to have rejected the witness of scripture that God had chosen Jerusalem. Samaritans had the Bible too. They preferred to concentrate on those parts that don't mention Jerusalem. But then, of course, he didn't leave it there, did he? He not only critiqued the old, but now he announced the new. Believe me that the hour cometh when neither in this place nor in Jerusalem. They're both superseded by the new thing. Like you labor to tell Roman Catholics when they get offended. You say, but you can be a Protestant, you know, and not know the s- not know the Savior. Matter what religion you are, if you don't know the Savior. Yes? Thou cometh when they that worship the Father must worship him in spirit and in truth. That's an important thing in our worship, gentlemen. It must be according to truth, you know. If you should go one of these days on one of these flights to Paris and go- be minded to go into the Louvre, you see, and you find me s- uh, standing in front of a picture on the wall, you see, and I'm saying, I think that's the most marvelous depiction of the female countenance that I have ever seen. You see, he's getting excited now, this Gooding, and I wonder what picture this is. Ha. And when you go, it ain't a woman at all, it's a picture of a cow. What would you say to me? Do you feel all right, old chap? Are you okay? I'm going into all sorts of ecstasies, but it ain't according to the real facts of the case. Not a question of my emotions being stirred, it's what my emo- what my emotions have been stirred by. I m- must be not only in spirit, but according to truth. And that ultimately means the very nature of God himself. God is spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and according to truth. Yeah, so just let me put that up, uh, uh, uh, and you, we at least see how John is being very, very, uh, precise in his record. He's not telling us everything that Christ said and did on this journey, but deliberately choosing elements that we shall sit down and think about and then compare one with the other. Christ's critique of his people's worship and service. Mm-hmm. But now let's look, uh, further. Because there are other stories, are there not? Is that focused as it should be? Yeah, I think there's a, it looks like the print is smudged. Print is smudged, is it? Never mind. Is it, it is readable, is it? Conversation with Nicodemus is followed by the account of the discussion that went on between John the Baptist and his disciples. The conversation with the woman of Samaria is followed by Christ's discussion with his disciples. The discussion between John Baptist and his disciples was a discussion of principles of service. And the discussion with Christ and his dis- between Christ and his disciples after the talk with the Samaritan woman is about that same matter, principles of service. So we notice, of course, what we've been used to this last half a century. Our Lord's teaching to Nicodemus, you must be born. Again is the normal English translation, and it can rightly be translated again. Uh, the Greek word is anothen, and it means from the top, from above. It can be used, therefore, as something that you go over again right from the very start and repeat it. Or it can mean literally from above. And what it means in this discourse with Nicodemus becomes clear by our Lord's own comment. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. And obviously it would make no sense just repeating that process. It's not being born again of the flesh. It's born from above. You will never, however well you treat the cabbage, tender it, and uh, put on the right s- uh uh uh growth hormones and everything else under the sun, you'll never turn it into a dog. This is what our Lord is saying. What is born of the flesh will be flesh. Do as you will with it, make it very religious if you can, or philosophical. It will still be flesh. You must be born from above. What is born of the spirit is spirit. You will notice that the theme repeats itself in the conversation with the Samaritan woman. They that worship God must worship him in spirit. Yes? The two stories have a great deal in common, of course. Born from above. But notice now, when it comes to John's discussion with his disciples, this word from above occurs again. Do you see? Uh, uh, let's, uh, read the, uh, passage. It begins in chapter three, verse twenty two, when our Lord went, uh, away from the city into the country and baptized, or at least his disciples baptized. John was not yet cast in prison. There came therefore questioning on the part of John's disciples with the Jew about purifying. And they came unto John and said to him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou hast borne witness, behold, the same baptizes, and all men come to him. There is a note of grievance. He's making more converts than you. And the passage of Jesus heard that, of course, and that's why he moved. Uh-huh. Um, and uh, John's reply was, a man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven. Ye yourselves bear witness that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. This my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease. He that cometh from above is above all. And he that is of the earth is of the earth, and of the earth he speaks. He that cometh from heaven is above all. What he has seen and heard, of that he beareth witness, and no one receiveth his witness. You notice the repetition of the word anothen. In our gospel preaching, yes, we preach our law, uh, the need to be born from above. And when our Lord was talking to Nicodemus, and No- Nicodemus said, how can these things be? Our Lord replies, no one hath ascended up into heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man which is in heaven. What's that got to do with anything? Well, Nicodemus was the biblical scholar. And now this, uh, this prophet from Galilee, okay, he'd done signs and wonders, but who was he to lay down the rules and the regulations and say what was absolutely necessary? Who was he? Our Lord's now telling him. How can these things be? How can you believe it? It isn't a question of understanding it, Nicodemus. It's a question of whether you are prepared to believe it. And now I'm telling you, Nicodemus, that no one has ascended up to heaven, save he that came down from heaven. If you believe it, you'll believe it because I said so. I'm telling you, as the one that has come down from heaven. That is our Lord's claim to the great theologian. You'll see. He is from above. So that was what our Lord was preaching to Nicodemus. Now John is instructing his disciples. And they are on edge because this Jesus, you'll see John had, uh, spoken up in favor of him, of him in his great campaign, you'll see. But this chap was now aggrieved because this Jesus was going away and making more converts than John. You see. And John is replying, oh, but he that comes from above is above all. Gentlemen, in our attitude to service, in our attitude to the authority of Christ and his position in our lives. That attitude in us as servants must be consistent with the gospel we preach. Yes? If we preach our Lord's absolute authority, the one that came from above, and therefore his insistence that we be born from above, then in our service, we must recognize Christ as supreme. It's not a question of how many converts do I get. And to enhance that, uh, John gives us the analogy, doesn't it? He that has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, he hears the voice of the bridegroom, is he, he rejoices. So the friend of the bridegroom introduces the bride to the bridegroom, you see. But he doesn't thereafter say to the dear lady, now look here, you, you've fallen in love with uh, uh, this good man here, Simon somebody, eh, well now, but now in all your negotiations, uh, with him, you must come through me, you see. Be funny courtship, wouldn't it? No, says John, I introduce you to Christ. Now I stand aside. It's Christ, the bridegroom that has a bride. I don't come between Christ and his people. None of this priestly business of you have to come through the priest. That won't do. You'll come direct to Christ, yes? Because of who Christ is. My point is simply now to, uh, to, uh, point the similarities between the terms used in the conversation of our Lord with Nicodemus and now in his John's discussion with his disciples. Okay? I want to make the same point when it comes to the discussion between Christ and his apostles after the woman had gone. He had talked to the woman in terms of satisfaction, hadn't he? She had come to draw water from the well, she discovered a living water. And when she went back to her city, she left her water pot. Nice little touch. She'd found a better supply of water for the time being. So when she was gone, she went off to the city, and you must admire her tact as a witness for Christ. She didn't go to the city and say, do you know, gentlemen, I've had a marvelous experience, as you'll see, and you could have a marvelous experience. I found this man, and oh, I feel marvelous. They said, yes, I said you did, yes. You've had several men. Uh, uh, uh. Mm-hmm. No, no, no, no. What she said was, um, come see a man. He told me everything I'd ever done. Ooh. The men of the city knew about her, didn't they? And then, at least so the Greek goes, she had a very nice feminine touch. She didn't say, and you, you, this is the Christ you know, and I'm telling you. What, no, no, no. Much more tact than that. He said, I, I, I come and meet this man, he told me all things, whatever I did. That was a colorful story. If she admitted that, that rang true. This couldn't be the Christ, could it, she said. Talk about tact. Let the men decide, you know, they, let them tell her when they'd met him, you see. This couldn't be the Christ, could it? Oh, magnificent. And they came out to see. Yes. So he talked to her about satisfaction. In the interval while she was gone and before the men came out, uh, the disciples came saying, Master, eat. Hadn't eaten anything all that from early morning. And he said, I've a food to eat that you know nothing of. They said, has anybody brought him lunch or something? No, he said, gentlemen, um, my food is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work. I live on it, not that I get money for it, but it is my spiritual food to serve God and to do his work. Notice how it balances what's the main theme of the story with the Samaritan woman, the question of satisfaction. If I preach to the world and then I give out the final hymn, now none but Christ can satisfy, none other name for him. Yes? And then somebody comes up and said, could you take a Sunday school class? No, no. Now, do I have to? Mm, you see. Eh? Do we find the Lord's service our very food so we live on it? Not make money out of it, but it's life to us. That is the standard our Lord exhibited. All that way to Samaria. Tired, worn out, wearied, he sat on the well. Needed a glass of water. But fed, it was food to him. To join with the Father in seeking worshippers to worship the Lord. He lived on it. Gentlemen, we should be consistent, shouldn't we, with the gospel we preach. If it satisfies the sinner and brings them to God to worship him, then that same sense of satisfaction in the service of God should mark us. And then he talked to them about reward, did he not? The harvest is white already to harvest, but each person has his own reward, that the sower and the reaper may rejoice together. There is reward in the harvest home. But the reward for the sower shall come alongside the water of the reaper. It's all different parts of the same movement, so to speak. Yes? And then as far as testimony goes, when he got to Samaria, and multitudes believed on him in Samaria, in the city, you see. But then the men, feeling their macho dignity, told the woman straight, now we're believing, you know, but not because of what you said. We've heard him ourselves. You get high-minded, you see. You didn't teach us. Okay, let them have their machismo if they want to, do you see? But it's an important principle, isn't it? And that's your aim, gentlemen, in your preaching the gospel and in your teaching of the word, that people shall come to faith, but not because you said so. Your aim is to bring them to Christ, and in that sense, eventually, to let them hear him for themselves. Well, excuse the rough-hewn ex- rough-hewn exposition. What I'm arguing now is, uh, the, uh, discussion with Nicodemus, the need to be born from above, matched in the discussion with between John and his disciples on the principles of service. We have to remember as servants that he that is from above, our Lord, is above all. If we preach satisfaction of salvation to our modern women of Samaria, it has to be balanced, doesn't it? As Christ taught his disciples, that we find satisfaction in the work of God and in doing his will. Yes? Does that make sense? Mm-hmm. Now, I left out a lot of detail in the, uh, discussions between our Lord and Nicodemus in particular, but I'm persuaded you know it very well. Bring up what stories, what questions you care to. Um, that leaves us, as you see, now with two stories. If story three— uh, uh, uh, uh, two, sorry, story two and story three are linked. Our Lord telling Nicodemus, how if I've told you earthly things and you don't believe, how shall you believe if, if I tell you heavenly things? Isn't merely a question of your understanding, Nicodemus, it's a question of your believing. And if I've told you earthly things and you don't believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? For no man has ascended up save he that came down from heaven. And I'm the only one that's done that, Nicodemus. And if you're going to believe, it will be believing because I say so. Yes? I've come down from heaven. And then the repetition of the notion, he that is from above, anothen, because he is above all governing our service. Similarly, the conversation with the Samaritan about satisfaction. Conversation with our Lord and his disciples and the men of Samaria on the satisfaction in the service of God. That will leave us with two. The first story, which was the cleansing of the temple, you may remember, and the last story, the story of the court official's son. Yeah. But, uh, we can leave that, uh, so that we may first be strengthened by lunch, do you see? Questions? Disputes? Problems? Mm-hmm. Do you see what I'm getting at, is my, my question. Yeah? You do? Tell me, is it worth getting at? Yes. It is? Jolly good. Mm. So it's our Lord evaluating the ser- worship and service of his people. Mm-hmm. Gentlemen, you are very mild in your criticisms. This isn't so much to do with the flow, but if we were to sit beside a woman like the lady in chapter four, uh, today, that'd be very unadvised. Oh, it would. of reputation, um, and try and talk to her like this, John chapter four. and talk to her with satisfaction not in men but in the man. Uh, it's still very tricky to do. Oh, it is very. That's not quite in your outline. Uh, no, but it's a practical difficulty. Yes. It is to be noticed that our Lord was accompanied by his disciples. Were they not away? Pardon? They were away buying food. They went away buying food, yes, yes. But they were there to have stopped with, weren't they? Mm-hmm. And came back, of course. I'm astonished to find him talking with a woman. Faces like thunder. Pardon? Probably faces like thunder to find him talking with Samaria. Oh, surely, yes. She seemed to leave at that point. Mm-hmm. He came back. Yeah, yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Good. Now, nothing I have said, gentlemen, detracts, as I began, and I mean it sincerely, detracts from taking a verse or two verses or three verses, understanding them and preaching them. Nothing I've said detracts from that. You don't have to understand every phrase in the first four chapters before you can preach any of it. That would be silly, wouldn't it? What I am saying, that this is the inspired word of God. It is most carefully written. And therefore, we should attend to it and the relationship there, not just casually put down, oh, this happened, you know, uh, and uh, when we were in Jerusalem, we went to the zoo to see the animals, but that was just a half day off. And then, um, do you see, and then we there all there was this famous case, we had a good contact with the woman of Samaria, you see. And uh, you say that kind of thing. This is very carefully s- selected, uh, uh, do you see, and written. And it is to make us key- make us exact in our thinking, even about salvation. Do you see? The gift of God. If you say, well, the gift of God is salvation, okay. And that when our Lord talked to the woman of Samaria, it's the gift of God was salvation. Well, yeah, what salvation is. But now by your blanket term, that you may use because you are explaining it to somebody who doesn't know, well, yes, very good. You are obscuring a little bit the precise language. The gift of God in chapter three is the Son. It's the Father who gives the Son. There's nothing about worship to Nicodemus. Uh, the gift in chapter four is the Holy Spirit, of course, and it is Christ that is the giver. Yeah? Both are two sides of salvation, aren't they? They're too distinguishable, at least distinguishable in our thinking. Mm-hmm. Good. No more comments? Questions? Well, shall we adjourn for lunch?