Run With It: To Accomplish His Work

Come and See

John 4:28-30 ESV

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.

Jesus Christ had a divine appointment with a woman at a well in Samaria.

During his time with her, he shared with her the gospel of Jesus Christ. He revealed himself to her as the promised Messiah, the Christ of Israel. And, he told her about the gift of God, and of his living water, himself, his Spirit, his grace, faith, his salvation and eternal life with God, of the Spirit of God.

And, he told her of the changed life she could have by receiving this living water – his salvation and the Spirit of God and eternal life with God. He would fulfill her thirst for love and acceptance, and she would no longer be thirsty for what could never satisfy, which was her sinful lifestyle. Now she would have the Spirit of God welling up in her unto eternal life.

And, then he spoke to her about what it truly means to worship God, which was different from the idolatrous worship she was accustomed to. He taught her about what it means to worship God in spirit and in truth, which has nothing to do with customs or religious performance, but it has everything to do with transformation of our hearts, of the Spirit of God, away from sin, to following Jesus Christ in obedience to his will and to his ways.

So, after their conversation was completed, she left and she went and told the people of her town all about her conversation with Jesus Christ and the things which he told her, and that he might be the Christ who was to come. And, so they came to check him out for themselves, based on her testimony.

To Do the Will of God

John 4:31-38 ESV

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 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.”

The disciples, although they were followers of Jesus Christ (at least 11 of the 12 were), they didn’t have perfect understanding of who Jesus was and of his mission on this earth.

Their minds sometimes were more focused on the things of this world than they were heavenly focused, for they thought more in terms of this world than the world that was yet to come. And so Jesus often had to correct their thinking, and he had to refocus their minds on heavenly things, and on what really mattered for eternity.

And, sometimes we can get that way, too, thinking more in terms of the things of this life than on the things of God’s eternal kingdom. And, so he has to readjust our thinking from time to time, too.

And, what he said here is really the crux of the gospel of our salvation. It is really the heart of why Jesus died on that cross to take away our sins. And, that is that our sustenance for life should be to do the will of God who gave us life, and who gave us new (spiritual) life in him, too. And, it is to accomplish his work, too.

And, what is his will for our lives? It is that we should die with him to sin and live with him to his righteousness, for that is the reason he died on that cross. And, it is that we should walk in obedience to his commands and live lives which are pleasing to him and which are holy in all of our conduct (Rom. 6:1-23; Eph. 4:17-24; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; 1 Jn. 2:3-6; 1 Pet. 1:13-16).

And, what is his work on this earth that he would have us accomplish in his power at work within our hearts? It is that we should share the gospel of his salvation – the true gospel – with the people of this world, which includes all who have professed faith in him, too, for not all have true faith. And, it is that we should walk the walk and not just talk the walk, so that we set the example for how the Christian life is to be lived out in our lives, too.

And, the harvest that we will reap will be a harvest of human souls who have surrendered their lives to Jesus Christ, who are walking in his righteousness and who are living holy lives pleasing to God because we had the courage and the determination to tell them the truth, and to expose to them the lies so that they are not led astray to a false Jesus and a false (cheap) grace.

Many Witnesses

For, many witnesses are going throughout the earth preaching a cheap grace gospel and a false Jesus, telling people that they don’t have to turn away from their sins, and that they don’t have to walk in obedience to the Lord, and that they don’t have to surrender their lives to the Lordship of Christ, but that they can still go to heaven when they die. And, that’s a lie.

They are giving them a false hope of eternal life with God and the sense that they have no fear of God’s judgments, based on some mere profession of faith in Jesus Christ. But, the “light” which they are preaching is not constant, but it is flickering, and it is superficial and artificial, for it does not submit to God, but it gives free license for lasciviousness.

And, so people’s hearts and lives are now being governed by this cheap grace gospel which promises them freedom from sin while it encourages them to remain in slavery to sin with no way out. But, this cheap grace gospel stands in opposition to God’s true grace, and so it hates God’s true grace, because it is of Satan who hates Jesus and his gospel and his messengers, too.

So, if we are preaching what Jesus taught, that our sustenance for life should be to do the will of God who brought us into this life, and that we should do the work of God on this earth in bringing others to Christ, then we are going to be hated as Jesus was hated, and we will be opposed as his gospel is being opposed today by those pushing the cheap grace.

Because of the Testimony

John 4:39-42 ESV

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 is indeed the Savior of the world.”

But, if we share the words of Jesus with our family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, acquaintances, church family, and people on the internet, too, then they can come and see for themselves what Jesus is all about, and what his Word teaches, and many can then have true faith in Jesus Christ which will well up in them unto eternal life with God.

But, it is important, too, that we share with them how that is impacting our lives and what a difference that is making in our lives, so that we aren’t just teaching them theory that we haven’t personally experienced ourselves. The woman at the well experienced Jesus, and she told her experience, too, how Jesus changed her life, I believe, and many believed in Jesus.

But, for those who are holding on to the cheap grace, and they are not in true relationship with Jesus Christ, although they call themselves the church, and they claim they have faith, and that it will result in them going to heaven when they die, if they do not change, and they don’t turn their hearts over to Jesus, one day they will stand before God and say “Lord, Lord,” but he will answer, “Depart from me. I never knew you!”

So, make sure today that you are believing the true gospel of grace which demands death to sin and living to righteousness and walks of obedience to our Lord and surrender to Christ as Lord (owner-master) of our lives.

It doesn’t demand sinless perfection, but we must walk (in practice) according to the Spirit of God and not according to our flesh, if we want to have eternal life with God (Rom. 8:1-17; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; Gal. 5:16-21; Eph. 5:3-6; Rom. 2:6-8; Gal. 6:7-8).

Nearer, My God, to Thee

Lyrics: Sarah F. Adams, pub. 1841

Vs. 6: Edward H. Bickersteth, Jr.

Music: Lowell Mason, 1856