The Open, Uncomdemned and Compelling Witness of Christ — Carter Conlon

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The Samaritan Woman and the Living Water of Christ

I have a long title this morning. It's called The Open, Uncondemned and Compelling Witness of Truth. John Chapter 4, please, in the New Testament, if you'll go there. The Open, Uncondemned and Compelling Witness of Truth.

Now, Father, I thank you for the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Lord, there's a work that needs to be done today that only you can do. It cannot be reasoned by man. And even the reading of the scriptures will not produce this.

It has to be something Holy Spirit that you do. It has to be a revelation. It has to be given to the hungry heart. I pray today, Father, that the thirsty that have come to this house would find this living water that they're looking for.

I pray, God, with all my heart, that you would give me the ability, take me far beyond my own thoughts, and give me the ability to convey your heart through your word today to this group that you have gathered, this lovely body of believers.

Let the kingdom of Christ advance today. And I thank you for it in Jesus' name. John Chapter 4 will begin at verse 14. And then I'll tell you where we go from there. Jesus said, But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst.

But the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.

Jesus said to her, Go call thy husband, and come hither. The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband. For thou hast had five husbands, and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband.

In this thou saidst truly. The woman said to him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain, and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.

Jesus said unto her, Women, believe me, the hour cometh when you shall neither in this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father. You worship you know not what. We know what we worship for salvation is of the Jews.

But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth. For the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Now we go, the woman saith unto him, I know that Messiah, Messiah cometh, which is called Christ. And when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus said unto her, I that speak unto thee, am he. Verse 28, the woman then left her water pot and went her way into the city and saith to the men, Come, see a man which told me all things that ever I did.

Is not this the Christ? Then they went out of the city, and they came to him. And in verse 39, and many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him. For the saying of the woman which testified, he told me all that ever I did.

Now this was her testimony. Keep this in mind. She did not come back to the city and say, you know, my life is changed. She said, I just met a man who told me everything that I did. And this testimony that came back into the city of Samaria was sufficient to bring out certainly a great number of people from that city to enter into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.

Jacob's Well and the Deceptive Old Nature

I'm speaking about the open, uncondemned, and compelling witness of truth. Now the story begins that we've read today in John chapter 4 with a thirsty woman, and she's heading to a historical well, really, as it is.

Some commentators make the point that she had to obviously bypass several other wells, perhaps in the vicinity, to get to the well that she went to. Now it was a well that was known to be a spring of water, cool, fresh, obviously perhaps a better quality water than some of the others.

But this woman is making this journey at midday and heading to this historical well. Now she knew it was a well that was given to Jacob, and it's a place where a man in history called Jacob had been given by God a new nature, and he had been given the resources to begin a new life.

You remember the story in Genesis when he came back out of this place of wilderness dealing with God? He had to face his old fears that were really shown through his brother Esau, and he had to wrestle with God.

He's a man who wanted the blessing of God, but he didn't want it God's way. He thought he could get God's blessing through fraud or trickery, that he could be a man other than the man he really was. You see, he went to his father, and his father said, Who are you?

And he claimed he was Esau, his brother. He said, Basically, I'm another man than the man that I am. And I think of the number of people that go into churches throughout the country today, that's exactly what they're doing, standing in this place and now have on a suit or a nice dress, and can sing the songs of Zion and are looking for the blessing of God, but they are another person than the person that they're professing to be in this moment of seeking the blessing of God.

And Jacob, before he could be truly blessed, had to wrestle. He had to have a face-to-face encounter with God. And in that face-to-face encounter with God, God asked him a name. It had been a long time coming.

He asked him a question, rather. He said, What is your name? What is your name? Now, he didn't have a very complimentary name given to him at birth. His name at birth was Jacob. It meant deceiver, swindler, supplanter.

Not a very nice name. How would you like to be called that when you were born? And you'd probably be telling people that you had another name as well. But this is his name. This is not only his name, it's his nature.

He's well-named by God in the womb. And you and I have a nature, an old nature, a sin nature. And I don't care how that nature manifests, but that sin nature will manifest in everyone who is not fully yielded to this inward working of the life of Christ within them.

And he wants the blessing, so God says to Jacob, I'll tell you, you tell me your name. And for the first time ever, he has an honest dealing with God. Face-to-face honest dealing. And he says, my name is Jacob or swindler, deceiver.

And this is at this point that the blessing of God comes upon him. And God says, no, now I'm going to change your name. You're now a prince with me. You've met me face-to-face. And as he said earlier, I've met God face-to-face and my life is preserved.

And God gave him provision. And here's a woman years, years, years, years later. Many, many things have happened in the nation. There have been invasions. There have been wars. There have been victories.

And she is part of a people who are partially captivated, partially assimilated. She's part of another culture that's formed out of all of the trouble that came into Israel. And she's of a particular culture called the Samaritans who are not really held in high esteem by the Jews because they were not considered to be pure-blooded.

But she still considered Jacob her father. And she came to this well. And I see it as the type of so many, so many who are mixed. They're confused. They really don't know who and what they are. They know some things about God but not much.

This is exactly the way this woman was. And they're heading to churches. Many people bypass some churches to get to others. Some of you today bypass some other churches along the way to get to this one, hoping, as this woman hoped, that in this place you're going to find something that finally satisfies this thirst that is in you.

The Thirst for Spiritual Satisfaction

You're thirsty. Thank God you are thirsty. Thank God you're thirsty. Folks, if you're thirsty, sometimes it's worth the drive. I'm telling you. Now, we don't know how many times she made this journey only to go home to find her thirst not only unsatisfied but increasing.

And all over the world there are people on this journey. They're looking for a place where they can get something of God. They know about this historical Jesus who has so empowered and so blessed. They read the book of Acts.

They see this empowerment of the Holy Ghost, this emboldening of people to stand in public and seemingly face all kinds of opposition and not back down because of this inward glory, this well of life as it is that seems to be always there even in times of distress.

And they're so weary and saying, I'm tired of hearing about the history. I'd like a little drink of this myself. Perhaps this woman is in only my conjecture really, but she may be involving in her mind into some kind of a mystical religion.

Maybe if I can just be there at the right time, maybe if the spring just happens to bubble at the moment I'm there, maybe something of the blessing of Jacob will become mine. Maybe I'll have the resources to have a sense of well-being in my life.

For surely she didn't have a sense of well-being. She's living at a time of divided opinion as to where and no doubt how God was to be worshipped. She says, this is how I know, what I feel I know that is in this woman's heart, because at the very moment she says, I perceive you to be a prophet.

She doesn't ask for health. She doesn't ask for long life. She doesn't ask for victory over her enemies. If these were the main issues in her heart, the moment she's standing in the presence of a prophet, surely she'd be asking for something perhaps for personal benefit.

But no, I see there's a deep question in her heart. She's living in a time of so much of a division of opinion as to who God is and where he's to be found. She said, our fathers worshipped in this mountain.

And you say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. In other words, I've made the journey here. And yes, I'm here for physical water. But part of the journey is possibly a spiritual journey.

I'm looking for some connection to the past, to the blessing that was told and foretold through the scriptures that was given to Abraham and Isaac and subsequently to Jacob and should be mine because I'm one of the daughters of Jacob.

But yet I seem to be so far outside of this blessing that God says he has for me. This woman's and no doubt her whole town's perspective of God was confused because Jesus said you worship, you know not what.

In other words, your worship has brought you to a not what altar. You have no idea what you're doing. You're scrambling all over the countryside. You're looking for perhaps mystical experiences. You're grasping.

I don't know. They're doing anything and everything looking for a connection as it is to God and perhaps some connection to the history that's supposed to be theirs. Now, some of the Old Testament prophets, Isaiah for one, had derogatorily inserted letters into the name of the area that she lived and changed the name to a name of a place of liars and drunkards.

And at Isaiah's time, that particular area had that reputation and certainly possible it was a city that continued to have a derogatory testimony. I feel that she was on a journey. This woman was looking for whatever relief that she could find.

And when Jesus begins to speak to her, she immediately responds and says, Give me this water. Jesus answered and said in verse 13 and said to her, Whoever drinks of this water, now this is Jacob's well, will thirst again.

Now, he didn't have to convince her. She knew this. She's already made this trip. She's making it repeatedly. She's going to the same watering hole as it is, and she's satisfied for the moment, but the satisfaction doesn't take her through the week.

And she's back again. He said, But I have some water and whosoever drinks of the water that I give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

And the moment he begins to speak these words, she cries out, Give me this water. Give me this. I want this water. Now, surely she couldn't have. It's possible, I suppose. But I think it's much deeper than the fact that she thought she's just going to have some kind of a magical glass of water and never be thirsty again.

No, she's on a journey in her heart. And Jesus knows it. This is a woman who's crying out for something in the midst of this town of liars and drunkards. There's a person who's making this pilgrimage and says there's nothing in the town.

And there was a blessing promised to me because I am in the lineage of those who are blessed with Abraham. And I don't know how to get this, whether it's physical water or how it happens. But I've got to get this this blessing that is promised because my life is a wasteland.

And the moment Jesus says, I'll give you this water, she says, give it to me that I don't have to come back here and draw anymore. And there are so many people in churches throughout the nations today or have that same cry.

Oh, God, please, for once, would you give me something that gives me lasting hope? Would you give me something that doesn't leave me thirsty on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday and dying on Friday?

Would you give me something that carries me through this life? Surely the blessing that you promised is more than what I have. I feel good when I come to the well on Sunday. I feel good when I sit in church.

I feel good when we sing the songs of Zion. I feel good when the minister or pastor opens the word of God and seemingly gives me hope for a moment. I feel good. I go out, but it doesn't last. There's a thirst in me and I want this thirst to be satisfied.

Truth That Convicts Without Condemning

Now, Jesus is about to respond to this cry. Listen, folks, if you have this cry in your heart, Jesus is going to answer you today. He's going to answer you before the service is out. You're going to have your answer if you have that thirst.

You have to have that thirst. You have to have in your heart a desire that says, I don't want Sunday religion. I want a living relationship with God. I want the blessing that God promised to Abraham that has gone down through history and through the lineages of God's people and now is mine in Christ, that through me, the world around me is supposed to be blessed.

God, I want this lineage. I want it. I don't just want to sit and hear stories about you in church. I don't want to just be made to feel good. I want something that lasts. I want this, this spring as it is of everlasting water.

I don't want it just in the sanctuary. I want it in me. Now, Jesus begins to speak to her. Now, you'd think initially it's not connected, but it's very really connected to receiving this blessing of his life that she's asking for.

He says, go call your husband and come here. Now, she has a choice to make at this point. She can lie to God. I'll be right back. She can partially tell the truth. She says, well, I have no husband. And Jesus said to her, you've said the truth.

In this, you have no husband. You've had five husbands. And the one that you're living with now is not your husband. In this, he said, you said truly. I want you to notice something. This woman is not condemned by his voice.

A religious voice will always condemn the struggling person. But this is God speaking to this woman, and she is completely uncondemned. She said, I perceive that you're a prophet. Could you tell me how to worship?

She offers. First of all, Jesus begins a journey with her, and it's a journey that must be taken. He begins to speak truth into her life. This is the truth. You see, he said, you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.

Now, the truth is not a head knowledge. The word know in the Greek means an embracing, as with a husband and wife. It's an intimacy. It's the two becoming one. You shall embrace the truth. Not just know it, not just casually place it in the aisles.

But you will embrace the truth, and this truth will set you free. You know, she offers no resistance to this intrusion of truth into her situation. And I think this is where many people go away unsatisfied from the house of God.

They offer a resistance. They don't want to think that they're offering resistance, but they really do resist the truth of God. They will accept truth when it's palatable. It tastes good, makes me feel nice about myself.

And I'm very happy with this portion of truth. But then a word comes that convicts, not condemns, that says, no, you've fallen short in this area. And all of a sudden, there's a resistance to truth. And the interesting thing is, you're seeing this woman now.

She's about to enter into a miraculous revelation. This is the first time that Jesus plainly says to anybody, I am the Christ. I mean, it's a Samaritan woman. The Jews have nothing to do with it. And he says, I'm the Christ.

And then he tells her his mission. The Father is seeking people to worship him in spirit and in truth. This is why I've come. I'm the Christ. I'm the Messiah. And this is my mission. I'm looking for this type of person.

The Samaritan Woman's Compelling Testimony

Now, ironically, as you go through this passage, it's rather humorous. Because the disciples, the closest to him, the blood related as it is, are all arguing about who brought him bread. How come he seems to be satisfied?

And they're all in this big discussion about bread. And these are the ones around his table. These are the ones that are going to be taking the kingdom as it is to the world. And they're all discussing bread.

I thought, where did he get the bread? How come he's satisfied? Did you bring bread? I know it. It was you, Thomas. You snuck him a loaf of bread while the rest of us were off shopping. And they're involved in this discussion about nothing.

And the whole time they're doing this, this woman who's just there, she's had five husbands, she's living with her boyfriend, is getting this revelation that they are completely outside of. They know nothing about what is going on in this realm whatsoever.

He reveals who he is. He unlocks the mystery that's closed to those that are close to him. And the only reason is because she's willing to worship him in truth. She goes back into her village in verse 29 and says, Come and see a man that told me everything I ever did.

Now, this is only a supposition on my part, so please give me mercy on this. And don't get mad at me for saying this, but having had five husbands, the people of this city might have been amazed that she's willing to listen to any man.

Especially one, surely one or two of those five had tried to get to her about some area of her character. And the five had given up the journey as it is. And now she's got a boyfriend living with her.

And I can see, it says in the scripture, she went to the men of the town. It doesn't say the people, she went to the men of the town. It says, Come, meet a man, told me everything I ever did. And I can see the men of this, it's not a large, it's a small town.

Wow, if there's somebody out there that can speak to this woman, I want to hear this man. I can see in my mind this sixth guy, the boyfriend, leading the stampede literally out of the city. I've got to meet this man.

Anybody that can speak to her and get through to her heart. Now, how about you? Is the Lord using your life to lead people out of the city? This city to himself. Is your life a compelling testimony? And you see, this woman's testimony was compelling because in the light of absolute truth, she was exposed and yet uncondemned.

And she was willing to be honest, in other words. Now, there are many, many people here who gather in not only this church, but all Christian churches all over the country who are not leading people to Christ.

Let me tell you why. Your family can't talk to you. Your wife, your husband can't speak to you about, you know. You're willing to hear as long as they say, oh, you're just a wonderful person. You're just a lovely provider.

I'm just so enamored by your prayers. But let them try to tell you, you know, you're selfish or you're prone to anger or you speak wrongly about these types of people or the way you counsel the children is not right.

It's hard, it's harsh. And all of a sudden, this resistance comes up because, you know, you're tampering with my image of myself as it is. And people go into the workplace and they get an assessment at the end of the month.

Now, I know I'm speaking to somebody directly here this morning. You recently got an assessment in the workplace and you come out and you're all in a knot and you're going to go down to the union that you're going to make a real stink over this thing because they said that you were unmotivated or something in your assessment.

And the bottom line is that nobody can speak to you. You see, you have an image of yourself that is not grounded in truth. And God could even use the unsaved and the ungodly to speak to you, to begin to speak to your heart about issues of your character.

Can you imagine the testimony if you go back in there Monday morning and say, I'm just so sorry about my reaction. I went to church and God spoke to me and told me that I am the very things that you've been trying to tell me that I am.

I can almost guarantee you, I can't guarantee you, but in many cases there'll be an immediate thought come into people's hearts. I'd like to hear. I'd like to go to this place. If somebody can speak to you, I'd like to hear what they have to say.

Many children lose faith in God because they cannot speak to their parents. They see things clearly. I had a young lady years ago, and it's no longer any association with this church today, but in my office weeping and saying my father's in ministry and he is such a selfish man.

He goes out and buys himself the finest of clothing, eats the finest of foods, and I don't have lunch at school. My mother has no clothes and shoes. She said, my father is such a selfish man. I said, have you tried to talk to him?

She said, there's no talking to this man. Here's a 15-year-old girl weeping hot tears in my office, and her father is in ministry. And it's such a tragedy. It can't be spoken to. There's an issue in the heart, and it doesn't lead people to God.

Folks, it's such a tragedy. You see, she was in the light of absolute truth. She was exposed and uncondemned. And I believe that's really what drew the people. Here she comes into town and says, I met a prophet outside of this town.

And he told me everything I've ever done. He didn't tell her everything she's ever done, but that was kind of a blanket statement. She did a lot more than what he said. But in her heart, she had been just completely unveiled, and she was completely uncondemned.

And here come these people out of the town and say, well, if that's what God is like, if that's what the voice of God does, then I want to go because I've got a lot of flaws in me. I've got a lot of struggles, and I've been afraid to go to church.

What's God going to think of me? What's he going to say? The messes I've made in relationships, the people I've wounded and bruised, the times that I've said and done things that I'm going to deeply regret, and others have regretted because of my actions.

If he can speak to you and you have seemingly such hope, then I believe that he can speak to me as well. In John chapter 8, the Pharisees brought a woman taken in the act of adultery. You don't have to turn there.

I'm just going to speak to you about it. And they said, here's a woman taken in the very act of adultery. Now, what do you say? And in the law it's written. Now, of course, the scripture tells us that in Exodus, I believe it's 31, 18, that the law of God was written by the finger of God.

It actually mentions the finger of God in the King James translation on tables of stone. And this is God, in a sense, saying, now here's what's required for obedience, but your hearts are so hard you're never going to be able to do it.

And so the law condemned the person who failed to death. So here's a woman brought in to his presence. She is completely unveiled and exposed. She's caught in the very act of adultery. And the interesting thing is that Jesus stoops down and he begins to write in the ground.

I love this illustration. Now, this is only the way I see it. But, you see, man was formed out of the dust of the ground. And in John it says, with his finger he begins to write in the dust of the ground.

And I was thinking of the Old Testament prophets who said, I'm going to write my law not on stone anymore, but I'm going to write it in the fleshly tables of the heart. I'm going to bring a new law and I'm going to superimpose it over the old law of sin and death.

Romans 8 says that the law of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. I'm going to write my law in their hearts. And there are going to be a people who are so touched by me, who so understand my ways they're going to want to out of the life that I will give them.

Not only will I write the law, but I will come and be a fountain of living water within them. I will be the life within them that they require to have the law as it is that I will write within them, become a reality in them.

It will be me, it will be all me. I will give them a desire to obey me and then I'll give them the power to obey me. It will no longer be this dreadful trudge to church on Sunday morning, looking, looking one more time for a little glimmer of hope that doesn't satisfy.

No, they're going to leave because they're not running from truth. I can speak into their lives. This woman knows that she's been exposed. She knows she's been caught in adultery. She stands before me totally condemned.

But I look at her and say, I do not condemn you. I do not condemn you. This is the voice of God. If you stand up and have the courage to say, God, I've failed in this area of my life. I've had an image of myself, but it's not based on truth.

And the Lord immediately looks to you and says, I do not condemn you. And this woman standing there, exposed and uncondemned. I feel the scripture tells us that the elders to the youngest began to drop their stones.

There was conviction because there was an open, uncondemned testimony, a compelling testimony of truth standing before them, not only in Christ, but in this woman standing there completely uncondemned.

Hallelujah. I'm going to write a law of truth within you. And in the power of the Spirit, which is my life within you. This new truth that I write within you, you will live. Hallelujah. Jesus said to this woman, the hour comes and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth.

Growing in Truth and the Life of Christ

For the Father seeks such to worship him in spirit and in truth. I come to the church and I open my Bible on Monday morning and I see truth and I see where I am. I see that I fall short. I'm not condemned.

I'm convicted. And I say, Lord, you've got to come and make this truth. I see a reality in me. And God says, I will come. And by the power of my spirit, because we are in agreement, this truth will become a reality in your life.

And so you become a person who's worshipping in spirit and in truth and in truth and in spirit and in spirit and in truth and in truth and in spirit. Week after week, you come back to the house of God and say, oh, God, what a week this has been.

You are changing my heart. I'm learning to love the unlovable. You are changing my heart. My lips are starting to speak truth. Oh, God, what an incredible week this has been. It's not by my effort. It's not by anything I have done.

But I have believed you. I've turned to what you say. I've believed it. And by your Holy Spirit, you have made your truth in me a living reality. I have a well of living water that is flowing from me to everlasting life.

I'm no longer suffering from this thirst of the flesh. This thirst of religious hopelessness is no longer binding me. I have the life of Christ within me. But you see, in order to know this, this living water that delivers from all of religiousness and brings a person into the living.

Relationship that God wants to have with people, there has to be truth in the heart. And we never arrive, folks. If we think we've arrived, then we've got to go back to the beginning and start all over again.

Because as we walk with God, he will always be challenging us. In order to have more of his life, we have to have less of our lives. In order to have more of his mind, we have to have less of our minds, more of his ways, less of our ways.

We are prone to making great boasts. Recently, I was preaching at a pastor's conference in Argentina. And I said something in the pastor's conference with great fervor. I really believe it. And I've said it several times in this church.

And I said to the pastors, I don't care what any man says. I don't care if they like my preaching. I don't care if they hate my preaching. I don't care if they get happy. I don't care if they get angry.

There's only one voice that counts. You've heard me say that in this pulpit, I'm sure. And so I left the pulpit. And from that moment onward, people all around me got strangely silent. Nobody was saying anything about my messages.

And I thought, was this odd? Normally, you know, if somebody says something, it's good. It touched my heart. So I started walking around. I was listening very carefully in the conversation. I'm preaching at night.

I mean, there's hundreds of people getting saved. Has nobody got anything to say about this? I mean, nobody, nobody is saying anything. And I started to get despondent. I thought, am I, have I lost the touch of God?

Am I just getting up and screaming and it's not ministering to anybody? And I'm soliciting from everybody as best as I can, without being overt, some kind of a comment about my preaching. Because everybody is coming to me every day saying, oh, when Pastor Patrick spoke, that was incredible, the glory.

And another lady said, oh, when Sister Nolene got up and spoke in the women's camp, that changed my life. And I've been screaming my heart out in these meetings for days. And I got desperate. And it was the last day.

And we went to a restaurant to eat. And my secretary and her husband were there. And she's always good for a compliment of some sort. So I tried to appear very ministerial, you know, very concerned. And I looked across the table and I said, so what touched your life during this whole seven, eight days that we've been here?

And as soon as she started, she said, well, I tell you, when Sister Teresa spoke, that just absolutely touched my life. And Pastor Patrick said that was just incredible, that youth meeting. And Greg Thomas, when he spoke at the worship seminar to the youth, oh, it was phenomenal.

And she stopped and she said, I'm sorry, but that's all that touched me. I looked down at my plate and I thought, if anybody else says anything, I'm going to cry. I'm just going to break down. So I came back to New York and I went to visit Pastor Neil.