Sermon
Dealing With Personal Sin
November 11-12, 2000
Pastor Donald Sheley

I'm going to ask you to take the notes from your bulletin, and today we're going to continue our lesson in the conversation Jesus had with the Lady of Samaria. During the week, in the early part of the week, my office staff said to me, Pastor, would you give us the sermon title so that we can put it out on the billboard? And I said, yes, it's go call your husband. (Congregation laughs) But after thinking it through, and with thousands of people going up and down the Skyline Boulevard I thought that might be a little distracting, so I said, no, change it to facing the truth about our sins. John chapter 4 verses 15. If you're using the pew Bible, it's, I think, page 715 or 716. John chapter 4.

The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw." And Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here." And the woman answered and said, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You have well said, you have no husband." For you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly. Let's stop there because time is short today. The scene--a well-side conversation between Jesus and a women of Sychar in Samaria, and Jesus has requested a drink of water from the lady. And she's astonished that a Jewish Rabbi would even consider the thought of drinking from her unpurified cup. For you see Jews never used eating vessels that had been used by Samaritans. We learned that last week.

Jesus immediately directs the conversation away from the cup and the well and He speaks to her about living water. And she doesn't understand, but He has said something which really does interest her. He said that this living water was so wonderful that if anyone drank it, they would never thirst again. Now although she did not quite understand what this living water was, we do. Because later on in the gospel on the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of LIVING WATER. But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive: for the Holy Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. Now John is explaining the words of Jesus. He is saying in that great day of the feast He calls out for those who are thirsty. They can drink, but He said He was talking about the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit had not yet been given because Christ had not been glorified. Now what's he saying? The glorification of Christ was His ascension back into heaven, Acts chapter 1. Acts chapter 2, the Holy Spirit is given. And so what he is saying is, Jesus is providing this gift of living water and that gift, well the next verse, the next paragraph, sentence says, The living water which Jesus was speaking to this woman of Samaria about, was none other than the gift of the Holy Spirit which is given to every believer who puts their trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

Ezekiel, the ancient prophet, said, And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. John 14 says, And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. Romans 8, So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. 1 Corinthians 3, Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. Jesus said, If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?

Stop there. You say, Pastor why did you put in all of those verses? Because I was raised in a religious setting that taught me differently. I was taught that you got saved and then a second work, a post conversion work, of grace. You had an experience whereby you spoke in tongues and that was the evidence that you were now filled with the Spirit of God. And there are many who believe that, but that's not what the Scripture teaches. The Scripture tells us that when we open our life to Jesus Christ His Spirit comes to live within us. It is true, we may have deeper and more wonderful experiences in the Holy Spirit where He gives us wonderful gifts, we thank Him for that, but let everyone know that the Scripture is very clear. If Jesus Christ is your Savior, His Spirit dwells within you. Next, now in our text in verse 15, the woman of Samaria said to this Stranger: "Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw." So still, more or less, she is in the dark. Her natural mind is occupied with natural things cups, buckets and a well, but with this comment, her words afford evidence that the patient dealing of Christ with her was not in vain, yea, the light was beginning to illumine her darkened understanding. Now, she now appropriates His word, and says, "Sir, give me to drink." Relief from daily toil was, no doubt, the thought uppermost in her mind; yet, and mark it well, she was now willing to be indebted to a Jew even for that. There was still much ignorance, but her prejudice was being overcome and her heart was being won.

It's a beautiful thing to watch the conversation as Jesus talks to her about spiritual things, but in her mind she's not up there. She's not there yet, and she is talking about--questioning the person who has said that He has living water, and to a Jewish mind that was running water. That was a stream, that was a river, and she simply saying is, where did You find the stream if Jacob, our ancient patriarch, couldn't find the stream? Finally, even though still in the dark, she just opens her heart and says, Sir, whatever You got I want it. Sir, give me to drink.

Now I'm at the top of page 3 in our notes. What then, is the next step? Why, her conscience must be reached. A sense of need must be created or addressed. And how is this accomplished? By a conviction of sin. The first thought in connection with salvation, or being saved is, and the prime meaning of the word itself, is that of deliverance from something. For salvation implies danger, and the sinner will not flee to Christ as a Refuge from the wrath to come until a due sense, not merely of wretchedness, but of guilt is upon him. For there can be no blessing until there is conviction and confession of sins. It is not until we discover our case to be truly desperate that we betake ourselves to Christ. Now here's the heart of what I want to talk to you about today. I'm suggesting that one never comes to appreciate the depth, and the wonder, and the blessedness, and the glory of His salvation until he realizes what he's been saved from, to what he's been saved to. And one of the weaknesses today in much of preaching is the preacher is somewhat cautious, if not almost afraid, to approach and to confront the audience with the issue of sin. And because sin has not been spelled out in its awfulness, and its wretchedness, and its vileness, and to admit that we are sinners before almighty God and we desperately need salvation. We need forgiveness. We need His cleansing. We need to turn from our unrighteousness, and we need to turn to Christ. Until we understand what we have been saved from, we'll never appreciate what we've been saved to.

I've been saved from hell. I've been saved from God's wrath and His condemnation. I've been forgiven! And now I'm a child of God. I've been adopted into His family, and He's preparing a home for me in heaven. I've been saved from hell so I could live in heaven for eternity. But until I realize what I'm saved from, I'll never appreciate what I've been saved to. Back to the notes. The Gospel call to faith presupposes that sinners must repent of their sin and yield to the authority of Christ. Repent, what does it mean? Let's stop there. I've written down a definition for repentance that I found in one of the great theological dictionaries. It's so clear. Repentance is a radical conversion. It's a transformation of our nature. It's a definitive turning from evil. It's a resolute turning to God in total obedience. It affects the whole man, first and basically the center of personal life, then logically his conduct in all times in all situations to his thoughts, his words, and his actions. It calls for total surrender to the will of God. That's repentance, and that's a preaching that's very, very much missed in the services of most churches today.

I was sent a book three years ago, I think it was, by a very famous preacher in the south land who millions listen to every week. He sent the book to, I understand, paid for by some wealthy businessman, to 100,000 preachers free of charge. That's a big gift. And in that gift was a letter from the author, and the author says, I pray that you'll read this book and it will transform your preaching. The title, Self-Esteem The New Reformation. Now I started reading the book. If you ever visit my library you'll notice across the top of the book, right here and down the side, I always, when I disagree with it, when I know it's wrong, I write heresy. (Congregation chuckles) So anybody who gets into my library and thinks I believe everything I read, I just want them to know right upfront this is heresy. I don't believe it. This is what the heretic wrote: Classical theology defines sin as "rebellion against God". Now the answer is not incorrect as much as it is shallow and insulting to the human being. Every person deserves to be treated with dignity even if she is a "rebellious sinner". I suggest the problem stems from a failure in historical theology to make a distinction between Adam's sin and original sin. Adam was created in the image of God and enjoyed at the onset of his human life a fellowship with the Father, then "sin" entered the scene. And what was sin? Merely the absence of total trust. Somehow Adam did not trust God's promise for fulfillment enough to obediently abstain from the forbidden fruit, and the immediate result of his disobedience was "guilt". And what is guilt? Nothing but an ugly loss of self- esteem. Now lack of trust is another way of saying that we are all born with a negative self-image, an inferiority complex. So the core of original sin then is l-o-t. I thought it was s-i-n. L-o-t is lack of trust, or it could be considered an innate inability to adequately evalue ourselves, or to value ourselves. Label it negative self-image, but do not say that the central core of the human soul is wicked.

So I decided to read the Bible this preacher doesn't read (congregation chuckles) and in James [Jeremiah] 17:9 it says very clearly, the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. And who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings. I want you to take your Bible, turn with me, if you're going to use the red pew Bible, because this is, you know, you can see how different what preaching is and what the Bible says so often. Go with me to page 760 in your Bible, it's Romans chapter 5, and I want to begin reading at verse 6. I'd like for all of you to follow very closely, because Paul said it different than that preacher wrote it, and the Bible is true. Look at how Paul said. 760 in your red Bible, it's Romans 5:6. For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if we were enemies we were redeemed we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. Therefore, just as through one man, that's Adam, sin entered the world, and our self-esteem was injured. No, it says and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned--(For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the offense, that's Adam's sin. For if by the one man's offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one man who sinned, Adam. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. For if by the one man's offense, that's Adam, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through One, Jesus Christ.) Therefore, as through one man's offense, that's Adam, judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act that's Christ dying on the cross, the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience, that's Adam, many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous. Adam did more than injure our self-esteem. He made us all sinners, and we suffer from what he did.

I've got to hurry because my time's all gone. The little lady said, Sir, I'm ready for this living water you're talking about. My heart is open. It's just like when we give an invitation and we say, would you like to receive Christ today into your heart and life? You say, I'm ready. Last night a number of folks in our gospel service gave their lives to Christ. Now I come to verse 16. Now Jesus said, go call your husband. What's He doing? He's saying, if you want this water let's confront this whole issue of sin. Now that's the crucial matter. What Jesus is saying is, listen, if you're going to follow Me you're going to have to deal with the sin in your life. Easy believism and cheap grace don't make us disciples of Christ. The rich man comes to Christ, he says, I want eternal life. Jesus touches right at the heart of his sin. He's filled with greed and his love for money and his selfishness, and Jesus says, you go, sell what you've got, get rid of your sin, then you come follow Me. He knew that at the heart of that human being was the love for money that far exceeded his desire for eternal life. And He confronts this little lady and says, I want you to go and deal with this sin. Now He does it with grace. Notice how gentle He handles it. He says to the lady, I appreciate your answer. It's true; you don't have a husband. In fact, you've had five and you're living with one who's not your husband now. You really did speak the truth. That's gracious, isn't it? In fact it's an amazing thing in the Scriptures Jesus had no time for hypocrites, but He loves sinners.

A little lady is brought to Him and she's been accused of adultery, and all of her accusers are standing there, and Jesus said the first one without sin I want you to throw the first stone. If you want to stone her, stone her. But you stone her. So He starts writing in the sand. The oldest guy is looking on and Jesus is writing his sin in the sand, I think that's the way it is, because He was writing something in the sand. Because the first guy, the old guy, left. Then he looks at the next one and starts writing again, and finally all the accusers are gone. Jesus looks up and he says one of the most startling things, neither do I condemn you, but just go and sin no more. He always deals graciously with a sinner. He loves you. He loves us, but He makes us deal with our sin. You can't be a disciple of Christ and live in sin! They're not compatible. So Jesus is saying you can drink, but you've got to deal with sin.

Some months ago a lovely couple came to the church, sat here and God touched their hearts. They just felt God's presence and when they went out she turned to him in the car and she said, this has got to end. He said, what? She said, I can't live with you anymore. We've been living together six years in sin. Now I didn't tell her that that morning, the Spirit of God did. He said, you mean we're going to break this all up? We've got a little boy. She said, no, but if we're going to follow Jesus we've got to correct this matter. He said, well what do we do? She said, I'm going to call the preacher tomorrow and we're going to get an answer. So she called me and said, Pastor, what do I do? I said, first thing you do head right down to the marriage license bureau and get your marriage license, on the way back come back and we'll marry you right here in the office. (Congregation laughs) I mean, we'll get this thing taking care of real quick. And she did just that. Tuesday the secretaries were the witnesses and we married this lovely couple, but they said we really want to tell the church we're now a Christian family, and you remember the morning we had the wedding right during the worship service. And they stood here thanking God that He had revealed their sin, and now they're a happy, glowing, lovely Christian family.

Do you see the point? If you're going to follow Jesus, deal with your sin. Go call your husband. Now, the instructions go call your husband may be something else. I'm dealing with something I never dreamed in the 50 years of my ministry I'd ever dreamed of. That's the problem of people absolutely addicted to pornography through the internet, and that garbage from hell feeds into the living rooms and the offices, and people sit there and digest that stuff. And His command to you may be go clean out your office or clean out your home, and throw the instrument of hell a thousand miles away because it's damning your soul. I don't know what 'husband' He's going to talk to you about, but if you're going to follow Jesus He's going to require that you leave your life of sin. Now that little lady did because she runs to the village, she says, come, I found a man who told me everything I did. Something must have happened while she's running back to Sychar. I met Him! And something happened inside, and whatever it was, it says the village came out and they were so fascinated with this stranger they invited Him into Samaria, where Jews never went. And He stayed there as their guest.

Now, you go to the eighth chapter of the book of Acts and one of the first evangelistic crusades of the new church was conducted down in Samaria. And I just believe that during that interval between when Jesus met her and maybe three years later, whatever it was, she had so influenced that community, when the disciples came to town they had a marvelous spiritual revival. She was changed because she went and called her husband. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, You make it very clear if we're going to follow You we must deny ourselves, take up Your cross, deny all ungodliness, and cleave to You. Now we are weak. We'll not live perfect lives. We know that. But Your grace is sufficient to forgive, but You do require us to follow You. Please help us dear Jesus, and everybody said, amen. God bless you.