So if you could open your Bibles to John 4, verse 1.
Now, when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John,
although Jesus himself did not baptize but only his disciples,
he left Judea and departed again for Galilee.
And he had to pass through Samaria.
So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.
Jacob's well was there.
So Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well.
It was about the sixth hour.
A woman from Samaria came to draw water.
Jesus said to her,
Give me a drink.
For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.
The Samaritan woman said to him,
How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman from Samaria?
For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.
Jesus answered her,
If you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you, give me a drink,
you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.
The woman said to him,
Sir, you have nothing to draw water with and the well is deep.
Where do you get that living water?
Are you greater than our father Jacob?
He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.
Jesus said to her,
Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again.
But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.
The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.
The woman said to him,
Sir, give me this water so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.
Jesus said to her,
Go call your husband and come here.
The woman answered him,
I have no husband.
Jesus said to her,
You are right in saying,
I have no husband,
for you have had five husbands,
and the one you now have is not your husband.
What you have said is true.
The woman said to him,
Sir, I perceive that you're a prophet.
Our fathers worshipped on this mountain,
but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.
Jesus said to her,
Woman,
Woman, believe me,
the hour is coming
when neither on this mountain
nor in Jerusalem
will you worship the Father.
You worship what you do not know.
We worship what we know,
for salvation is from the Jews.
But the hour is coming,
but the hour is coming,
and is now here,
when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.
For the Father is seeking such people to worship him.
God is spirit,
and those who worship him
must worship in spirit and truth.
The woman said to him,
I know that Messiah is coming,
he is who is called Christ.
When he comes,
he will tell us all things.
Jesus said to her,
I who speak to you
am he.
Just then,
his disciples came back.
They marveled that he was talking with a woman,
but no one said,
What do you seek?
Or,
Why are you talking with her?
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.
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 the 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.
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's no longer because what you said that we believe,
for we have heard for ourselves
and we know that this is indeed the saviour of the world.
It's so good to see you all here today.
If you're into football,
I hope somewhat you've recovered
from the big weekend yesterday.
Yeah.
And thank you to the elders
for giving me the opportunity
to share God's worth with you all today again.
And before we dive in the hood,
why don't we pray together?
Thank you.
Let's bow our heads and pray.
Oh, Heavenly Father,
we have a heart that is so prone to wonder.
And our faith,
sometimes it just goes cold.
So I ask that you would encourage us,
that you may convict us,
may comfort us,
and correct us where needed.
Lord, we're so powerless,
yet you're so good and so faithful.
Lord, please help us.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
Yeah, so for the past eight weeks,
we as a church have been going through the book of John
and getting to know Jesus.
And today, I would like to share with you all
something that I myself struggle a lot,
and I believe some of us also do,
and that is making Jesus known.
It's not easy.
It was never easy for me.
And I hope today's passage
and also the stuff that I'm going to share
may help us.
Yeah, so our passage today is from John chapter 4.
It would be great if you can keep your Bibles opened
and follow along.
And I'm going to share two main points.
Thank you.
Yeah, first point, why make Jesus known?
And second, how should we make Jesus known?
So the first is, why make Jesus known?
Well, from God's perspective,
it is mission critical.
It's mission critical.
How do you know when something is so mission critical
to somebody?
Well, you can tell by their words,
and you can also see from their actions.
For example, how determined one is
in pushing barriers to achieve their goal,
or how willing one is to sacrifice
pretty much everything
in order to achieve something.
If you look at Nelson Mandela,
it's not happening, this thing.
His mission was to bring democracy
and freedom to South Africa.
Any South Africans here?
No?
Well, we'll pray for some.
Yeah.
A major sacrifice that he has to make
is what you see in the picture.
He was in prison for 27 years.
But that never stopped him
to fight.
To fight against the apartheid
that ruined so many lives.
Upon his release,
he kept working towards his mission.
And despite intense personal,
political, and racial barriers,
he finally became
South Africa's first black president.
Through his determination
and his sacrifices,
we can see
what was critical
to Nelson Mandela.
In the same way,
we can see that
making Jesus known
is mission critical to God.
John 4, verse 3 and 4 says,
He, Jesus,
left Judea
and departed again
for Galilee.
And he had to,
he had to
pass through Samaria.
If we look at this map,
Oh yeah, it's happening.
It shows us
how to get from Judea
to Galilee.
You see from the arrows,
there are two ways.
One is longer
and the other is shorter.
It's obvious
that Jesus
did not have to
go through Samaria.
There are two ways.
So why did John say
that Jesus
have to
go through Samaria?
That is because
Jesus insisted on it.
He was determined
to go there
to make himself known
despite
all the significant
barriers
that he had to face.
What barrier?
Well,
the first one
is racial.
Samaritans
came from
the northern kingdom
Israelites
who married
a bunch of foreigners
that the Assyrian kings
basically assigned
to go live there.
So the Jews,
well,
to the Jews,
Samaritans
are unclean
half-breds.
Second
is religious barrier.
Samaritans
are religious
rivals to the Jews.
This is because
Samaritans
recognized only
five books
of the entire
Old Testament,
the books of Moses,
and they discarded
the rest of the 34.
They built
their own temple,
didn't want to go
to Jerusalem
to worship,
and they worship
other gods too.
The third
is a social barrier.
Samaria.
Basically,
if you're a criminal
and you want to
dodge all your penalty
like parking fines
or whatever,
you run to Samaria.
And then they will
welcome you
and they will
take care of you.
To us,
these things are like
no big deal,
you know,
whatever.
But to the Jews,
the Samaritans
are like parasites.
And Samaria
is like a quarantine
hotel during COVID.
They absolutely
hated their guts.
That's why
the Samaritan woman
was so shocked,
you know,
that Jesus
would ask her
for water.
No Jews
would ever go there
and have any contacts
with any of them
except for criminals.
All Jews
would rather go
the long way
around
to go from
Judea in the south
to Galilee in the north.
But because
Jesus
or making
Jesus known
is so critical
to God's mission,
God was
Jesus who
determined to push
through all the barriers
to go there.
Beside pushing
through barriers,
Jesus also
made significant
sacrifices
to other priorities
that he has.
We can see that
in verses 5 to 7.
After a long
and tiring hike,
you know,
Jesus' disciples
had all went
in the city
to get fed.
But what does
Jesus do?
He chooses
to miss out.
We are talking
about the creator
of the universe here.
Before he became
human,
he was all-sufficient.
He was never hungry,
never thirsty,
never needed anything.
But here,
look at him.
He's tired
and he's hungry
and he's thirsty.
And not only that,
he had to cast aside
his divine dignity
and go up to
the idol-worshipping woman
and beg for water.
If I asked you
to go to a slum
in India
and beg for water,
would you do it?
You may,
if something
is so important
for you
that makes you
need to do it.
And so,
we can see here
that making himself
known
is really
mission critical
to Jesus.
Jesus says
in verse 34,
My food
is to do
the will of him
who sent me
to accomplish
his work.
Making himself
known
according to the
will of God the Father
is food to Jesus.
It's a matter
of life
and death.
If we sing
of loving Jesus
or seeking
to love God
with all our
hearts and soul
and mind,
whatever is
important
or critical
to Jesus
should also
be of critical
importance
to us.
Why make
Jesus known?
First reason,
God's perspective.
It is mission
critical to him.
Now,
let's look at
the second reason
from a human
perspective.
People need
the Lord.
people need
the Lord.
According to
science,
our greatest
need
is water
because 60%
of our body
is water,
right,
Catherine?
Yeah.
We can last
three weeks
without fruit
but three days
tops if we
don't have water.
But to Jesus,
what we really
need is
living water
because without
living water,
what happens?
We're all
stuck in the
inner thirst
which is
unquenchable
and that
is lifelong.
Always longing
for something
but never
getting enough.
The poor
Samaritan woman
in our story
is a case
in point.
Jesus says
in verse 17,
he already
had five
husbands
but she
still,
she wants
another one,
a de facto
one.
God knows
what's happened
to all of them
but she
needed more
and despite
the shame
that she'll
be copying
from her
community
by having
this sixth
one.
And how
about the
wisest
and richest
man the
world has
never known?
Was he
not the
same?
I'm not
talking about
Elon Musk
here.
It's
King Solomon.
First
King
11.3
says
he has
700
wives.
700
and that's
still not
enough.
You know,
while some
of us
are struggling
with one,
he had
300,
another 300
concubines.
That's
a thousand.
I don't
know how
he does
it.
The
inner
thirst
in a
human
soul
is
indeed
unquenchable
and
you know,
we all
have our
own ways
of expressing
it,
don't we?
You know,
doom
scrolling,
binge
watching,
you know,
the young
guys are
like,
yeah,
yeah.
You know,
Netflix,
you know,
it's unending,
right?
And then,
you know,
you have
online gaming,
online shopping,
church hopping,
you name it.
Nothing
is ever
enough.
So what
does Jesus
do?
He offers
the Samaritan
and indeed
the rest
of the world
living water.
Verse 14
says this,
only
this water
would quench
our thirst
for life
and also
beyond.
So what
is this
living water
and how
does it
quench
our thirst?
In short,
living water
is the
Holy Spirit.
John chapter
7 tells us,
right?
Jesus
explains it.
Jesus
takes a local
term,
living water,
it's usually
used to
actually describe
clean flowing
water.
It's a common
term.
And living
and clean
water is
still humanity's
greatest need.
So he uses
that term
to help people
understand the
nature of the
Holy Spirit
so people can
relate to him.
We need him
like we need
clean water
water.
In order to
understand how
the Holy Spirit
quenches our
inner thirst,
we must first
look at where
the problem
came from.
When Adam
and Eve
ignored God's
warning and
took the fruit
of the knowledge
of good and
evil,
they did not
just break a
rule.
They broke
God's heart
and also
broke their
intimate
relationship
with God.
Since then,
as a race,
we have been
really suffering
from anxiety
problem.
Separation
anxiety.
Separated from
our source
of endless
joy.
Separated from
the one,
the love of
our life.
We separate it
from the one
we are made
for.
And this
separation is
sometimes called
spiritual death.
Have you heard
that quite a lot
of people,
they got dogs
during the
COVID lockdown?
Anyone heard
of that?
Everyone's like
cat and dog
and everything.
Well,
when the
people,
when the
lockdown is
over,
people go
back to
their normal
lives,
go out
and shop
again and
go back
to work
in person.
You know
what happened
to their
dogs?
They went
crazy.
Right?
They started
chewing up
half the
place.
Why?
Because they
suffered,
according to
the vets,
separation
anxiety
problems.
guys,
that's
us.
To
cure us,
God let
us drink
the Holy
Spirit.
Instead of
being separated
from us,
now He
puts Himself,
His own
presence,
into us.
In that
way,
we can
become less
anxious
inside,
because the
Spirit enables
us to
experience God's
love again,
and His
presence
progressively
quenches
our inner
thirst,
too.
It might
not happen
overnight,
but it
does happen.
People
need the
Lord.
The thirst
of this
life is
one need,
but there's
also another.
The Bible
says that
human also
faces the
thirst of
Hades,
which some
people call
hell.
In Luke
16,
Jesus told
a story
of Lazarus,
a poor
guy,
and a
rich man.
They both
died,
and the
poor guy,
well,
Lazarus,
went to be
with Abraham
in paradise,
and the
rich man
went down
to Hades.
There,
Jesus described
Hades as
a place of
unrelenting
torment,
with burning
flames and
thirsty
tongues.
Why thirst?
Why is
thirst in
hell?
Is there
lack of
water?
2 Thessalonians
chapter 1,
verse 9,
Paul says,
it is because
the presence
of the Lord
is not
there.
Where the
Lord is
not,
we first.
And that
would have
been us
if nobody
had made
Jesus known
to us.
People
need the
Lord.
One of the
things Jesus
said on the
cross was,
I thirst,
right?
is in
John chapter
19.
Have you
ever wondered
why?
It is because
perhaps that
he who had
no sin
became sin
for us.
So on the
cross,
he lost the
Father's
presence and
endured the
agony of
hell that
we all
deserved.
God's
thirst.
And as Sam
said and
quoted,
his soul
thirsted for
the living
God.
Jesus' thirst
on the
cross was
the fulfillment
of Psalm
42.
This thirst
is something
that Jesus
had never
experienced
before,
in eternity
past,
until the
cross.
he suffered
the fire
of hell
so that
our thirst
can be
quenched
and we
can have
God's
presence
in our
lives
now and
forever.
If you
see a
video of
someone
injured,
lying by
the side
of the
road,
and then
you see
all these
cars,
you know,
slowing down,
taking a
look,
and then
driving off,
what would
you do?
You'd be
totally judging
those people
in those
cars,
right?
You'd say,
what on earth?
Why don't you
get out and
help them?
You'd be
disgusted.
People are
dying without
Jesus right
before our
eyes.
Right before
our eyes.
Why wouldn't
we go nuts
to share
about Jesus?
Making
Jesus known
is critical
to God's
mission,
and we
must make
him known
because people
need the
Lord.
God.
That's
our first
point.
Now,
let's move
on to the
second.
There are
so many
ways to
make Jesus
known,
isn't there?
But some
are more
effective than
others.
In today's
stories,
we see that
this Samaritan
woman was
super effective
in making
Jesus known.
Even though
she had a
bad reputation,
she's never
been to church,
never been to
Bible college,
never had
Sunday school
or Bible
studies,
verse 39
says,
many people
went to
Jesus and
turned to
him because
of her
testimony.
So perhaps
we should
really humbly
learn from
this lady
how to
make Jesus
known.
First,
we should
present
Jesus
worshipfully.
You can
follow in
the bulletin
if you want
to fill in
the blanks.
Look with
me at
verse 25.
Oh,
actually,
I didn't put
it there.
Yep,
it's in
your Bible.
Verse 25.
The woman
said to
him,
I know
that the
Messiah is
coming,
who he
is called
Christ.
When he
comes,
he will
tell us
all things.
Jesus said
to her,
I who
speak to
you,
am he.
Then,
speaking to
verse 28,
the woman
left the
water
jar
and
went
away
into
the
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 they
were coming
to him.
The way
this woman
made Jesus
known
was spot
on,
I think,
because she
simply presented
Jesus and
let the main
thing be the
main thing.
all she
mentioned was
what Jesus
has done.
He told me
all that I
ever did.
And she
asked a
question,
which in
the original
text goes
something like,
this could
not be the
Christ,
could it?
It was a
humble
invitation to
explore Jesus
together.
No gimmicks,
no pressure,
no lectures,
no downloads.
Her
tweet,
you know,
or one-liner
was enough
to have a
big crowd
running to
Jesus.
It was not
like what
she knew,
she knew a
lot,
you know,
that helped
turn Jesus,
draw people
to Jesus.
It was what
she didn't
know that
helped people
to go find
Jesus.
To present
the good
news of
Jesus,
there are
only really
two points
that are
truly essential.
Who he
is and
then what
he has
done.
That's what
the Samaritan
women did
too.
The rest
are all
non-essentials.
Let me
share two
examples
of these
two
non-essential
topics
that have
become
popular for
a while
but not
always helpful
in presenting
Jesus.
First
example is
creationism.
Some gospel
tracks,
which I
loved,
like Two
Ways to
Live,
and I've
used that
a lot.
It uses
creation as
the first
point to
introduce
people to
Jesus.
But you
can really
get stuck
on that
point
alone.
You know
two ways
to live
really takes
ten minutes
to complete.
I've spent
one hour
on the
first point
on creation
alone.
Why?
Because people
in our
generation,
that's the
past 80
years,
exclude
Don maybe,
grew up
with Darwinism,
the theory
of evolution,
which by the
way had been
rejected by
over a
thousand
PhD biologists
for over
20 years.
But most
people don't
know that.
They think
that the
theory of
evolution is
truth.
It's like
one plus
one equals
two to
them.
So they
would fight
you to
the end.
Winning a
debate on
creationism
almost never
wins people
to Christ.
Beside,
Muslims also
believe in
creationism,
right?
And it
doesn't mean
they would
believe in
Jesus,
not all
of them.
So we
can point
people to
Jesus first
and then
let Jesus
correct their
understanding of
creation over
time.
In his
perfect timing,
we can be
patient.
It is their
faith that
will drive
them to
seek
understanding,
not the
opposite.
Another
example of
non-essential
topics that's
becoming
unhelpful in
in presenting
Jesus is
heaven and
hell.
Heaven and
hell.
Non-Christians
used to
believe in
heaven and
hell because
it was part
of people's
upbringing,
part of the
culture,
part of the
stories that
they grew up
with.
So it was
useful to
include in
the gospel
presentation
heaven and
hell.
But studies
have shown that
it's no longer
the case.
our generation
thinks that
heaven and
hell is
just like
superstition.
It's a
myth.
The younger
generation would
rather believe in
the multiverse,
you know,
parallel universe,
right?
You know,
there are many
worlds and
many earths,
yeah?
You know,
why is that the
case?
Well,
they grew up
with it.
You know,
that's the stuff
they grew up
with, you know,
Spider-Man,
you know,
Avengers,
the flesh,
right?
Yeah,
that's what they
want to believe.
They don't
believe in
heaven and
hell.
Well,
the apostles
in the Bible
don't seem to
see heaven and
hell as an
essential point
when they
present Jesus
as well.
So let's
keep the
main thing
the main
thing.
And by the
way,
you cannot
prove heaven
and hell
actually exist.
It says in
the Bible,
but you can't
really prove it.
What you can
really prove
is that Jesus
actually died on
the cross
and rose again.
That is
historically
undeniable
fact that
you can
prove.
People
nowadays
find all
the isms
in Christianity
offensive.
Like, you
know,
Calvinism and
all the isms,
right?
Young people
nodding,
yeah,
I like that,
thank you.
But surveys
have shown that
people are
actually quite
positive about
Jesus himself.
They just
don't know
how Jesus
is different
to other
religious leaders
or how
he's relevant
to their
lives.
We should
leverage
this positive
attitude
towards Jesus
and learn
from this
Samaritan woman.
Humbly
present Jesus
and invite
people to
explore him
together.
We can say,
I don't know
everything about
Jesus,
but I can
hear some
people say
that he's
pretty amazing.
How about
we find out
together?
Right?
Explore him.
Meet Jesus.
This approach
that's as
old as the
Bible may
not be as
efficient as
thumping the
gospel onto
someone with
four to six
Bible verses,
but it can
be more
than effective
than you
think.
Besides
content,
I also want
to share
something about
the attitude
we need
when presenting
Jesus.
Worshipful
might be a
helpful adjective
here because
as Jesus
says in
verse 23,
the true
worshippers
will worship
the Father
in spirit
and truth,
for the
Father is
seeking such
people to
worship him.
So what is
worship?
What's
worship?
Is it just
singing a few
songs and
listening to
a sermon
and pray?
Well,
let's say
one day you
went to this
op shop,
okay?
You got a
painting that
you like for
20 bucks.
Something like
this.
Looks like a
bunch of
people working
in the
Hunter Valley
in the
vineyard.
Yeah.
So when
you got
home,
right,
you realize
it doesn't
go well
with your
furniture
and your
wall color
and all
that,
so you
stuck it
in your
bathroom
wall,
right?
Like,
you know,
it's empty
there,
put it
there.
A couple
of months
went by
and one
of your
cousins
came and
visited
your house.
After
dinner,
you know,
got a bit
full,
had to use
the bathroom.
He goes
in there
and he
comes in,
comes out,
basically kicking
and screaming.
Apparently,
she's an
art auctioneer
and this
painting,
she says,
is by who?
Van Gogh,
right?
You guys
know your
art,
I should
have done
better.
It's worth
over $100
million.
It's going
to pay
off your
mortgage and
pay off
everything else
for the rest
of your
life.
But you
have no
idea how
to take
care of
this thing.
It's too
valuable and
there's mold
growing on
it.
It's in the
bathroom.
So your
cousin got
you connected
with some
art restoration
expert,
get the
mold off,
get all
your environment
set up,
climate control
throughout the
whole house,
and have
security in
place,
you get
insurers,
you've spent
tens of
thousands of
dollars,
right?
And then,
most importantly,
you took the
painting outside
your bathroom,
you're stuck in
your living room,
you change all
your furniture,
you repainted
the house to
go with this
painting,
right?
Yeah, and it's
like a full-time
job looking after
this thing.
But you love
it.
You stop
watching TV,
you know why?
Because you're
staring at this
thing all the
time.
You're so happy
with it.
Everything else
can wait
because it
is so
important to
you.
And this,
my friend,
is worship.
That's worship.
Worship in
English, and you
know English
better than me,
the word comes
from worth and
then ship.
It's like
fellowship,
friendship,
worth,
ship.
That's where
the word came
from.
It's worship.
It's expressing
worth.
Whether you're
Christian or not,
everybody does
it.
You know,
we express
worth of what
is or who
is most
important to
us.
That's the
attitude we
need when
presenting Jesus.
We do it
because of
His infinite
worth.
We do it
because He's
worth me
rearranging the
whole life,
all of our
life, and
spending all
that we have,
energy,
money,
time,
whatever,
in order to
present Him
and make
Him known.
And isn't
that what we
saw in the
passage today
as well?
Look at
verse 28.
The woman
at the
well was
supposed to
get water.
What did
He do?
He left
her water
jar in
order to
go make
Jesus known.
What's she
going to
drink or
cook with
or clean
with for
the rest
of the
day?
She can't
just turn a
tap on and
have water
coming in,
you know.
She needs
water.
We don't
know how
the rest
of the
day went
for her,
but she
probably
didn't
care.
What we
know is
that she
is worshipping.
She is
worshipping.
She is
becoming the
kind of
worshipper
that God
seeks.
In his
book,
Our Guilty
Silence,
John Stott
says that
worship
involves
witness,
and witness
involves
worship.
You cannot
divorce the
two.
And I
quote,
Worship
that is
pleasing to
God will
inevitably
send us
out to
bear witness
of the
name we
have sought
to honour.
He also
wrote,
and I
quote,
that worship
which does
not beget
mission is
hypocrisy.
How should
we make
Jesus known?
First,
we need to
present Jesus
worshipfully.
second,
we should
also pray
for his
presence
intentionally.
This point
is about
making Jesus
known in a
big way.
In John 4,
a spiritual
awakening
appears to
have happened
or taken
place.
Some people
call it a
revival.
It began
with one
woman meeting
Jesus,
then verse
39 says
many Samaritans
believed in
Jesus because
of this one
woman's
testimony.
And then
verse 41
says many
more believed
in him.
That's an
explosion of
followers.
What
happened?
Well,
verse 40
happened.
Please take
a look.
In the
Bible,
it says
they prayed
for Christ's
presence
intentionally.
What is
intentional
prayer?
Well,
the initial
group of
Samaritans
who believed
in Jesus,
based on
that woman's
testimony,
were in
town.
They were
in the
town,
inside the
city.
Jesus was
at the
well,
which was
outside the
city.
By the way,
that well is
there,
so you can
go take a
look if
you want.
It's way
outside the
town.
So they
had to
walk all
the way
to Jesus
to make
their request,
and I
call that
prayer.
It was
not like
the quick
prayers that
we're used
to,
you know,
before the
meal,
when you're
taking a
shower,
before you
sleep.
Whenever,
it was a
very intentional
prayer that
they made.
They put
aside
everything.
Everything
stopped.
Stopped
working,
stopped
eating,
stopped
running errands,
stopped
serving,
whatever.
They stopped
everything.
They took
a step at
a time
together,
and they
approached the
throne of
grace.
There was
nothing
convenient about
it.
That is
intentional
corporate
prayer.
What did
they ask
for?
The ESV
Bible says
they asked
Jesus to
stay with
them.
And Jesus
stayed for
two days.
Now,
this word
stay,
sometimes
translated
dwell or
abide,
is a huge
word in
John's
dictionary.
He used
it 40
times in
his gospel
account.
You know,
the blue
parts on
the right
hand side,
the huge
section of
the pie,
you can
see it.
He used
it 40
times,
more than
everybody
else.
And the
green
section,
I'm a bit
colorblind,
is that green
on the
top left?
Yeah?
That's the
first John.
So,
altogether,
John uses
that word
abide or
stay more
than anybody
else in
the New
Testament.
Now,
abide means
a lot more
than doing
Airbnb
together.
It's more
like sharing
life with
each other.
We heard
about that
in John
15 the
other week,
didn't we?
Abide in
me as I
abide in
you.
The
Samaritans
asked for
Jesus'
presence.
And
Jesus
abided
with
them,
abided
in them.
He
shared
life
with
them.
So,
what was
the result?
In
verse 41,
the ESV
Bible says,
and many
more
believed
because of
his word.
Now,
is this
word some
kind of
mystery
sermon
that we
don't know
about?
I don't
think so.
The
verse in
Greek here
can be
translated as
something like
this.
Bottom of
the slide
here.
And
many
more
believed
because
of
him,
the
word.
The
word
here
in
Greek
is
logos.
That's
what
John
calls
Jesus
in
John
chapter
1,
verse
1.
In
the
beginning
was
the
word,
the
word
was
God,
and
the
word
was
with
God.
The
word
or
logos
can
mean
the
message,
but
people at
the
time
would
have
understood
it
to be
something
else.
It
means
the
principle
that
rules
or
governs
the
universe
or the
cosmos.
So
Jesus
must have
claimed the
term
the
logos
and
shown
the
Samaritans
how he is
the true
logos
that governs
and rules
the world.
God
is
not
some
kind
of
impersonal
principle.
It
is
him
that
rules
the
world.
Therefore,
in
verse 42,
the
Samaritans
were
able
to
proclaim
that
Jesus
is
indeed
the
savior
of
the
world,
which
in
Greek
is
cosmos.
And
verse 42
clarifies
this
too.
These
new
believers
went
back
to
the
woman
at
the
well
and
told
her
that
their
belief
is
no
longer
based
on
their
head
knowledge
or
hearsay.
We
don't
believe
Jesus
because
of
you
anymore,
they
said.
We
now
believe
in
Jesus
because
of
him.
You
know
how
people
say,
I
came
to
faith
because
of
Billy
Graham
or
John
Piper
or
Tim
Keller
or
David
Calderwood?
Whoever
the speaker
may be,
people
need to
believe
in
Jesus
because
of
Jesus,
not
because
of
the
messenger.
the
Samaritans
now
believe
because
they
have
both
heard
for
themselves
and
know
for
themselves
who
Jesus
is.
To
know
here
means
to
experience
personally.
They
really
got it.
Jesus
has been
really
made
known
in a
big
way
because
a group
of them
prayed
for his
presence
intentionally.
So some
of us
had heard
about
Jesus.
Some
of us
know a
lot
about
Jesus.
But some
of us
have
personally
experienced
Jesus.
These
things are
not the
same.
If we
want to
see an
explosion
of
people
who
would
proclaim
Jesus
as the
Savior
of the
world
because
they
have
personally
experienced
him,
once or
twice a
year of
smoking
joes
won't
be
enough.
52
services
that we
hold here
were not
enough in
a year.
We must
pray more,
a lot
more,
for his
presence
and
intentionally
together.
Someone
said that
a non-praying
church is
just a
playing
church.
And
Lewis
Perry
Schaefer,
who is
the president
of the
Dallas
Theological
Seminary,
also wrote
a book
called
True
Evangelism.
He said
the work
of
evangelism
is more
talking to
God
than
talking
about
God.
Or
talking to
people.
In
1857,
a late
believer,
Jeremiah
Lenfler,
started a
lunchtime
prayer meeting
in New
York City.
Guess how
many people
showed up
the first
time?
It was
six people.
Then by
next year,
the following
year,
guess how
many people
are praying?
10,000.
Every
single day,
10,000 people
gathered and
prayed.
In New
York,
this revival,
known as the
businessman
revival,
spread across
the entire
U.S.
The estimated
1 million
people came
to Christ
within
two years.
Two years.
Then
following that,
if you look
at history,
we have the
abolition of
slavery,
we have
prison reform,
there was
improvement in
social justice
and women's
rights.
It all
followed because
the gospel
renewal that
started with
six people
started
rippling
through the
society
from within.
Jesus'
name was
well glorified.
It all
started with
six people
praying
intentionally
together.
Now,
fast forward
to 2023,
last year,
you may have
heard of
this.
In Asprey
University,
a small
private
Wesleyan
Christian
college in
Kentucky,
USA,
a revival
also happened.
It started
after a
usual weekday
chapel service
like what
Martin probably
does at
Newcastle.
The
chaplain spoke,
preached a
biblical sermon,
I went
online and
heard it,
and then he
led a
concluding
prayer at
the end
of the
service and
then students
dismissed,
goes,
go home,
go back to
class,
right?
But a
few students
stayed back.
Rather than
chit-chat like
we always do,
and chit-chat is a
good thing too,
some of them
actually stayed
back and just
prayed.
And what
happened after
that?
Next thing you
know,
more and more
students came
into the chapel
and started
praying.
More came
and more
came.
And then
people started
coming from
other colleges,
from outside
the city,
from another
state.
Then people
from outside
the world,
like outside
America,
their world,
started,
you know,
coming to
this chapel
and prayed.
there are
people
confessing,
there are
people
repenting,
and they're
just on
their knees
and they're
worshipping.
There's
nothing charismatic
about this,
by the way.
People are
just spontaneously
doing that.
This one-hour
service,
which was
extended,
became 16
days,
24-7.
the town,
there's
usually
6,000
residents
there.
200,000
people showed
up within
two weeks,
asking for
Christ,
for forgiveness,
and they
worshipped.
And this is
the queue
that you see
on the screen
here.
I checked
their recordings.
Guess what
they were
praying for
before all
these people
showed up?
they were
simply
praying for
Christ's
presence.
They were
asking for
Christ's
peace be
here,
peace come
to us.
How should
we make
Jesus known?
Pray for
his presence
intentionally.
Finally,
we come to
the third
and last
point of
how we
should make
Jesus
known.
Well,
we should
be powered
by the
joy of
eternity.
Isn't
making
Jesus
known,
isn't
laboring
for the
gospel
about
obeying
the
great
commission
and
fulfilling
the
Christian
duty
that's
given
to us?
Yes,
it is.
But John
wants to
remind the
church here
not to
neglect
the joy
of making
Jesus
known.
Do it
because you
want to,
not just
because you
have to.
In verse
35,
Jesus
says,
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.
Now it's
the harvest.
Don't need
to wait
for four
months.
Now,
what's the
big deal
about the
harvest?
In
Exodus
23,
God
commanded
Israel to
keep the
feast of
the harvest.
And another
name of the
feast of the
harvest is
what?
Anybody
join us?
Pentecost,
yeah,
it's the
Pentecost.
It's a
great time
of celebration,
isn't it?
God wanted
to make
sure the
entire
nation
would
chuck a
party
because of
this harvest.
Why?
To celebrate
His grace.
It's a
command to
rejoice.
Here in
John 4,
Jesus says
that laboring
for the
gospel is
just like
the time
of harvest.
It's time
to celebrate
God's
grace.
Rejoice.
We love
singing that
song,
right?
Here,
rejoice.
Let's
look at
verse 36.
Already
the one
who reaps
is receiving
wages and
gathering
fruits for
or into
eternal life
so that
the sower
and the
reaper
may rejoice
together.
one of
the sobering
realities
that we
all need
to face
is no
matter how
hard you
work,
no matter
what kind
of money
you make,
every single
cent,
you know,
all the
stuff you
save into
the super
fund that
you have,
they either
get ripped
off or
it's basically
you're not
going to
carry a
single cent
with you
when we
pass on to
the next
world.
But here,
Jesus says
the fruits
that will
reap from
making himself
known will
do what?
He says
if we
believe us,
we're saving
them now.
It's like
there's a
bank account
on the
other side.
It's all
going in
there.
It's all
going in
there.
That is
reaping.
That is
sharing him.
And we
will get to
enjoy every
bit of it
all the way
into eternity.
Now that's
real super,
isn't it?
We're not
getting ripped
off.
Christ is
saving it all
up for us.
About three
months ago,
Dave preached
a series on
money and
wealth.
And if you
remember,
there was one
sermon based
on Luke 16.
There's this
unrighteous
manager who
started taking
his boss's
money and
started forgiving
all the debts.
In that
parable,
Jesus explained
something about
that money.
He tells
his disciples
to use the
unrighteous
wealth to
make friends,
so that
when the
wealth becomes
useless,
that's after
we die,
it becomes
useless,
then what?
Then these
eternal friends
that you made
with the wealth
that you've
had today
would welcome
you into
their eternal
homes.
So in a
nutshell,
use what you
have today
to bring
people to
Christ so
that you
have eternal
friends.
Can you
imagine in
eternity,
you know,
you arrive,
and all
these people
flocking at
you,
like people
flock to
Taylor Swift
or whatever,
you know,
say,
you know,
shaking your
hands,
because why?
You have
indirectly or
directly shared
Jesus with
them.
They're
welcoming you
to say,
hey,
can you come
to my home
for a party?
Can you come
to my home?
They all
want you
there.
They're
celebrating you
not just
because they
need something
from you or
they want to
use you,
but they're
simply grateful,
grateful for
what Christ
has done
through you.
Can you
imagine that?
The best part
is relative
to all the
saints that
have gone
from before
us,
you know,
Abraham who
wandered the
deserts,
Moses,
you know,
who died in
the wilderness,
David,
you know,
suffered all
that he
had,
his sons
going berserk
on him,
and John
the Baptist
getting his
heads chopped
off.
They were
the sowers.
They did
the hard
work.
And Jesus
said,
we didn't
have to
do that,
yet we
get to
enjoy all
the results
that they
put in,
all the
work they
put in.
Shouldn't
we rejoice?
We should
go crazy
and be
really happy
that we
have a
privilege
and that
we're just
reaping,
we're just
reaping,
we're just
reaping for
all eternity.
I think that
should really
bring a smile
to our face
when we
present Jesus.
The eternal
fruits and
friends are
the only thing
we'll ever
invest in
that will
not perish.
Jesus is
saving it
all for
us.
Nothing
will be
wasted.
We'll get
to enjoy
every bit
of it.
We can
waste time
today,
just focusing
on making
money or
making
ourselves
famous or
making
whatever,
making
ourselves feel
good even,
but we do
not waste a
single thing
making Jesus
known,
for which we
must rejoice.
so here
we have
it.
Two points.
Why make
Jesus known
and how
should we
make Jesus
known?
Question is,
what we are
going to do
with this
as a church
community
and also
individually.
In some
people's mind,
the church
is like a
cruise ship,
but to
others,
it's a
battleship.
one day
when you
get off
the ship,
would you
be a
tourist
who has
enjoyed the
ride,
or would
you be
an officer
who has
completed your
mission and
ready to
be honored
by your
captain?
Which one
would you
be?
Let's
pray.
Our
Heavenly
Father,
thank you
that you've
given yourself
to us.
Thank you
that you
let your
son Jesus
thirst so
that we
won't have
to for
now and
all eternity.
Father,
we say we
believe that,
yet sometimes
our
excitement
don't show
it.
So may
your Holy
Spirit,
this living
water,
really
well up
within us.
Let us
experience
your love.
Let us
enjoy your
presence.
So must
show that
it really
overflows
onto like
a river
that it
can be
poured out
every single
day joyfully
amongst our
neighbors so
that we can
say we
really love
them.
Help us
care.
Help us
see that
people are
dying right
in front
of us.
Help us
prioritize
making
your son
known
as an
act of
worship.
And you
say that
we don't
get because
we don't
ask.
So remind
us to
ask.
Help our
brothers and
sisters to
forget about
this official
time that we
have together.
But not forget
about it,
but we
really use
our lives,
our everyday
lives,
to be
together,
to pray,
to beg you
to pour out
your mercy
because you're
a great
God,
you're a
merciful God.
You deserve
to be made
known and
this city
needs you,
really needs
you.
We want to
see people
flogging not
into the
MCG.
We want to
see people
flogging into
your churches
so that your
name can be
greatly
glorified.
Father,
why not
us?
Please,
start a
revival
through us,
even though
we are
only,
well,
we're not
six.
We are
a hundred
here.
Please use
us.
Make your
name great.
In Jesus'
name we pray.
Amen.