October 23^rd , 2016

9:30 am & 10:00 am ----------------------------------------------------------------------Messages by Dan Culver

Nursery Today: Second Service -- Robin C. , Alt. -- Tammy F.

“Come See A Man . . . Is Not This The Christ?” – John 4:29

The story of the Lord revealing Himself to the woman at the well is every believer’s story. The Lord chose her, must needs go and find her, speak to her, convict and convince her of her sin, reveal Himself to her . . . save her from her sins. And upon meeting the Lord Jesus Christ, she dropped everything and went home to tell everyone what great things the Lord had done for her. She became a witness of Christ, saying, “Come see a man . . . Is not this the Christ?”

Before she met Christ she spoke of her religion, the place she attended. Not now. She now speaks of Christ. Before she met Christ she talked to people about her church, her preacher, “Come see our choir, come be a part of our church, come experience the fire.” Not now! She now says, “Come see a man” . . . “Come see the Christ.” To everyone she meets, she says, “Come hear the gospel of Christ and Him crucified. . . Come see and behold His glory, as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth! Before she met Christ she spoke to others mostly about the weather, her husband(s), politics and the things of the world. Not now. She now speaks of Christ. Her conversation is of heavenly things and of her true Husband, Christ! She now knows this man is no mere man; not calling Him ‘Jesus’ , but now calling Him THE CHRIST. And so it is with everyone who has truly met and heard from the Lord Jesus Christ.

How can you tell if someone is truly saved; if someone has met the true God, His Christ, and has eternal life? Like this woman, they will speak of Him. They will speak of God’s sovereign electing mercy in choosing them, calling them; of His sovereign grace in saving them. They will speak of how He came to them; how He chose them; how He gave life to them. They will speak of His will in their salvation, not their own sinful will. They will glory in His sovereignty and be ashamed of their sin and ignorance. Their speech will be of God’s sovereign love, mercy and grace in Jesus Christ. Like this woman, they all speak of how He came to them through the gospel, revealing Himself to them (in them) and giving them the gift of salvation (not offering it); giving them His righteousness, shedding His precious blood for the remission of their sins; putting in them the water of life. They will speak of Him. It will be all of Him, for Christ is all in all to all His people.

You see, ‘out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.’ When the Lord has truly revealed Himself in you; if Christ is in you, you will be in love with Christ, eternally grateful to Christ, and like a child speaks of His parent, like a wife speaks of her husband; those who know and love Christ will speak of Christ.

HURT AND OFFENDED

When I was a younger believer so many things hurt my feelings and sometimes offended me. I would get in such a depressed condition in my mind that I would lose my joy and peace. My poor heart would get so disturbed that I could not worship or fellowship with God’s people because I was thinking about the negative thing someone said about me or something I had heard or read and strongly disagreed with etc. When you are in such a state of mind, you not only suffer

yourself but those dear to you suffer with you. They can detect that something is wrong with you. And here is the thing. Somebody has said something that has so disturbed you that it has created a problem in your heart. It becomes a problem within you – ‘something is wrong with you.’ I thought I was justified in letting myself get all up in the air about it – after all, it was their fault. They were the ones who said it or wrote it or did it, not me. A couple of things that helps me.

One: “Great peace have they which love thy law and nothing shall offend them” (Ps. 119:165). Great peace have they that love God and the Son of God and the gospel of God and the ways of God etc. I find nothing here to upset me but everything here to love and rejoice in. A law that is perfect and perfectly fulfilled and honored by my Savior. A gospel that is full of grace to save me right where it finds me and keep me saved. Here my mind is restful and calm. Let others believe and say and do what they will, I have peace.

Two: Poor Peter was concerned about what John would do and what the Lord’s plans for him were (John 21:21-23). It seems to me as if Peter was being nosy. ‘Lord, what shall this man do’, Peter said. ‘What is that any of your business,’ the Lord said. ‘Here is what you should be concerned with, ‘following me yourself’.