Matthew 4:12 part 7-D The Harvest is Ready (Plain Text Form)

Matthew 4:12 part 7-D

“The Harvest is Ready”

John 4:21-42

(I am offering this outline in plain text form and pdf)

Isaiah prophesied about this day 800 years earlier (Isaiah 9:1-2)

Nevertheless the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed,
As when at first He lightly esteemed
The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
And afterward more heavily oppressed her,
By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,
In Galilee of the Gentiles.
The people who walked in darkness
Have seen a great light;
Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death,
Upon them a light has shined.

He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. 

(John 1:11)

Jesus crossed the boundary line of prejudice. He left the region that boasted of its privilege; and entered the region outside. He had found a human soul, a sinful woman who had burnt out her life until only the ashes were left. He opened her eyes so she could see the way to God for worship. By dealing with her moral nature, and satisfying her spiritual thirst He not only saved her, but a whole village that had ancient wounds that needed healing. The Samaritans understood that Jesus is not only the Messiah for the Jews, but that He is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.

1. (John 4:21-24) Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. 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. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

1. Jesus confronts her misconceptions of how to worship God

1. Worship should be universal,

1. Not only practiced in churches or temples

2. Wherever you are you can worship God

2. Worship is based upon true knowledge, 

1. True worship comes from knowing who you are worshiping

2. Jews knew that they worshiped the true God

1. They knew salvation came from the Jewish Messiah

1. They just did not believe Jesus was the Messiah

2. Jesus affirms that the Jews had the true form for the worship of God

3. He also knew they had corrupted it, often times telling them so

3. Worship should be directed to the true Father,
   Instead of directing our attention to inanimate objects and highly exalted individuals, we should direct our attention to the Father in heaven

4. Worship in Spirit and in Truth,

1. “In Spirit” Jesus is referring to the “mind,” the “soul,” the “heart.” Not just in appearance and form but that they shall worship God with a sincere “mind;

1. “God is Spirit “(pneuma ho theos). More precisely,

2. “God is Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:17) and (1Timothy 1:17) just as…………….

2. “In Truth” This means to know and follow the truth, not the traditions of men.

1. “God is Light” (1John 1:5)

2. “God is Love” (1John 4:8)

3. “God is Truth” (Isaiah 65:16)

5. More precisely we should say “He is also all of the above, not just one. The non-corporeality or non-physicality of God is clearly stated in Scripture, as is the personality of God. All this is put in three words for the first time. “God is Spirit”.

2. (John 4:25) The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.” 

1. The woman continues to debate Jesus by stating one day the Messiah will tell us what is true

1. All she knows is what the Religious teachers tell her. 

2. She was clueless outside of what she was told

3. (John 4:26) Jesus said to her, “I, who speak to you, AM He.”

1. Now Jesus reveals to her Who He is

1. He will will not reveal who He is again until (John 8:58)

2. This is the first time Jesus tells anyone who He really is 

1. In doing so, He used the same Greek term He would use later in (John 8:58)

Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, 'I AM'.”

3. When Jesus said this, the Jews to stone Him for it (John 8:59) 

Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by

4. The Greek word is ( ἐγώ εἰμί ) pronounced in English it is, ( egō eimi )

5. These are the exact same words God used when He told Moses His name 

1. “I Am” (Exodus 3:13-14)

Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?”

And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”

2. Since Moses’ day, God has been known as the great “I AM”.

3. Thus Jesus reveals to the woman that He is, the “I AM”.

2. Not only is He the Messiah the woman is waiting for, but He is GOD incarnated into man so He could live the sinless life and one day become our eternal sacrifice so that we could be saved and gain eternal life

God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. (Galatians 4:4-5)

4. (John 4:27-30) 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?” The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”. Then they went out of the city and came to Him.

1. The Disciples return, but they never confront Him about the woman and Him talking

1. Those close to Jesus consider Him a special kind of teacher, 

2. They never question Jesus when He spoke with those most teachers would ignore

1. Lepers, tax collectors, prostitutes, Samaritans, etc. etc. etc.

2. Woman’s thirst forgotten as she leaves water pot

1. Her thirst was quenched by the living water He told her about (John 4:13-15)

3. She goes to tell the townspeople to meet the messiah. 

1. “Come meet the Lord”. 

2. Notice she talked to the men, the women would have nothing to do with her.

4. Four stages of how the eyes of her heart and mind were opened to see Who Jesus was

1. Jew (John 4:9)

2. Sir (John 4:11)

3. Prophet (John 4:19)

4. Christ (John 4:29)

5. All those she told her story to went to see this so-called Prophet who knew all about her

1. When we have a true heart conversion we want the World to know

2. It's like finding something you lost, you want everyone to know so you share the good news

“Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? And when she has found it she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!”. Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”      (Luke 15:8-10)

5. (John 4:31-34) In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” But He said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” Therefore the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.”

1. Disciples went to get Him food, but He was refreshed by the results of His reaching out

1. When we are about our Fathers business is when we are truly satisfied. 

2. When Jesus Parents realized He was not with them when He was 12, they eventually found Him at the Temple with the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. When confronted by His parents He told them,

Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business? (Luke 2:49)

2. As Believers, we should always be about our Father's business, and that is sharing the Gospel

6. (John 4:34-38) 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! And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.”

1. Jesus uses the example of a harvest to show His disciples how they must sow the truth and harvest the souls others have sowed the seed of truth in.

2. In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul tells us how some plant a seed, while others water the plant, but God gives the increase 

3. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building.(1Corinthians 3:6-9)

4. The disciples, will remember this day when Jesus tells them to spread the Gospel (Acts 10:9-48)

5. Alway do your part to spread the Gospel, and let God worry about the results

6. Christians are like plants. We have to grow. It is a part of our system. We need nourishment and water. We need to be protected from the weeds and insects of this world. We need to produce spiritual fruit. We need to spiritually propagate ourselves individually. The actions of the normal Christian life are supernatural actions. God works through our actions. Mother Teresa said,

“I believe that if God finds a person more useless than me, He will do even greater things through her because this work is His.” 

We know we are growing, alive, and producing when we see the works of God in our life. If there is no spiritual life or spiritual fruit evidence in us then maybe we are not alive spiritually.

7. (John 4:39-42) And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all that I ever did.” So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. And many more believed because of His own word. Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.”

1. The Samaritan woman was a convert only minutes old, yet she led a whole city to Jesus

1. We do not have to wait until we have learned more, we can share Jesus right away

2. We may not be able to teach, but we can share what we know

3. This Samaritan woman knew nothing but Jesus, 

4. She shared what she knew

2. They Received The Testimony Of The Woman

1. In all our speech, casual or important we can draw people to Christ, or drive them away

3. The word of one woman was instrumental in the salvation of others. 

1. If she had never spoken they would not have been saved.

4. She told them what He told her about herself

5. They came because of the testimony of a new convert

He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.

8. Consider how the Jews rejected their Messiah, but the hated Samaritans accepted Him

1. Samaritans wanted Him to stay longer

1. The Jews wanted Him to go away

2. Samaritans wanted to hear Him

1. The Jews wanted to stone Him

3. Samaritans wanted to honor Him

1. The Jews wanted to destroy Him

4. Samaritans wanted Him to stay with them in a Samaritan village

1. He was never asked to stay in Nazareth

2. He was never asked to stay in Jericho

3. He was never asked to stay in Jerusalem