HE WILL TELL US ALL THINGS
John 4:25 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. 26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. 28 The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, 29 Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?
In order for the Lord Jesus to come to this place and open this woman’s heart in Samaria, he had to leave another place, thereby choosing not to open hearts there. Read now verses one through four of this chapter in order to see this.
John 4:1 When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, 2 (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,) 3 He left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee. 4 And he must needs go through Samaria.
The woman in Samaria came to know that this dusty, tired and thirsty Jew was actually God, the Messiah, talking with her! And how did she come to realize that? Her testimony is that this man told me all things that ever I did! Therefore to leave the presence of the Pharisees because of what he knew, was to deny them the revelation of himself, as Messiah! They must have possessed the attitude of those he referred to as swine, to whom he would not cast his pearls!
Has the Lord Jesus told you your heart? Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. Rest assured, dear reader, it was not the preacher that did that! It was the Person of the Word, by His Holy Spirit that made you see yourself as God sees you. And your repentance was then God granting you the ability to agree with him against yourself!
The same thing happened to the widow of Zarephath! 1 Kings 17:18 And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son? Whatever it was that she felt guilty of, came to her heart when her son died while Elijah was with her. And we notice that there was no resurrection of the child, except there was this confession of the person that bore him! And so it is with the new birth! There is no spiritual resurrection of the new man in Christ Jesus, except it is accompanied with a confession of sin from the mouth of the old man. Romans 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
There shall be no unconfessed sinners, who do not realize their sinfulness, abiding in the eternal presence of His glory! For the very foundation of worship is from the realization of the sins that are offensive to God, being now forgiven, and the soul being freed in its being cleansed from all unrighteousness! 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
The very theme of worship of those to be glorified is the past redemption of their souls! Revelation 5:8 And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. 9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
The reason we don’t have any more worship among our assemblies today than we have, is that we don’t have any more confessed, realized sinners, praising God for being forgiven! And those without the realization of their great sin do not need a great Savior! Accordingly, religion in America only needs about a two-for-a-nickel Jesus!
We are skilled in the jot and tittle of the written record. We know that redemption is to take place in the realm of man, and not angels! (Hebrews 2:16) But we seem to have lost the fact that it is not all men, or any man, but only confessed, realized sinner men that have this glorious redemption! And here in our account, the Lord Christ left the religiously skilled, bible believing, legalistic gang, and set out to Samaria to find some sinners. And it was there, and not in Jerusalem that he first started a local assembly of believers!
Listen to the biblical account: John 4:39 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. 40 So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his own word; 42 And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world. 43 Now after two days he departed thence, and went into Galilee. 44 For Jesus himself testified, that a prophet hath no honour in his own country.
And getting back to the identifying of Messiah to be Jesus of Nazareth, in John 1:41-49 we have an account of various disciples being brought to him. In that passage we have the Lord telling both Simon and Nathaniel their hearts. He there renames Simon and tells Nathaniel of the quality of his inner self. In this he again reveals himself to be the good shepherd as he calls his sheep by name and tells them all things! John 10:14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: John 10:3 To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.
There is also a passage in the closing verses of chapter two of John that sets this forth earlier in Christ’s ministry. Here are those verses: John 2:23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. 24 But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, 25 And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man. 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. (We added the first two verses in the next chapter, for that chapter division keeps us from seeing the representative “man” with whom our Heavenly Man speaks. For chapter two closes out with the words, he knew what was in man. And chapter begins with revealing Nicodemus as a man.)
And what is amazing is that the Holy Spirit uses the same Greek word, translated “believed” in verse 23, that He uses in verse 24, which is translated “commit!” So we can actually read it as, “They committed to Jesus, but Jesus did not commit to them!” Or, “They believed on Jesus but he did not believe in them!”
But why? Why would God not accept their belief? For the same reason that multitudes of religious folks are not accepted by God in our own day! It is because that he knows all men’s hearts. And their “belief,” like that of Nicodemus, was based on a false foundation – that of being excited by miracles! The Lord challenged the nobleman concerning this who wanted him to heal his son. John 4:48 Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. And how was this possible except that Jesus Christ was the very Son of God and knew all things!
Concerning the work of the Holy Spirit in that Samaritan village, we read of the developing work of faith within their hearts. First, we read of the woman’s understanding that Messiah would possess the ability to Tell Us All Things! John 4:25 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.
Then, once the Lord Jesus had told her her heart, she makes public confession based upon that knowledge. John 4:29 Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?
And due to that public declaration, many others came to believe in him. John 4:39 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. For no one expected this woman who had stood at the marriage altar and swore her loyalty, even “until death do we part,” to so many men to be so excited concerning a man telling all! This must have been some more powerful man to have her rushing to tell the village this bit of news! Her public profession was a powerfully moving influence.
But finally, there is a more personal faith revealed in their own public confession. John 4:41 And many more believed because of his own word; 42 And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world. And the one factor in all their faith was that this seemingly ordinary looking Jew was the very Christ, and that he was able to pierce their own hearts with the word of his revelation.
They all heard his voice in the inner man and knew it to be the voice of their Good Shepherd. He had told them all things concerning themselves! And that effectual voice, (which was the same powerful voice that had called the worlds into existence – Hebrews 11:3), gives those with ears to hear, spiritual heart burn! Luke 24:32 And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?
And again! What of your heart, dear reader? Has the Lord revealed yourself to you in revealing himself to you? For if you ‘see the Lord’ you will also see yourself as he sees you! Isaiah 6:1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. 5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
Never have those fiery, piercing eyes (Rev. 1:14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; See also Rev. 19:12), set their gaze upon any human heart without the effect of their seeing themselves as He sees us! Luke 22:60 And Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest. And immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew. 61 And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. 62 And Peter went out, and wept bitterly. May God have mercy on us all as we are confronted by His look, while we are in the midst of our denial of Him, seeking to present ourselves as the world’s friend, in order to avoid it’s persecutions! What a gloriously merciful Savior is this Jesus, Son of God!
In warning Timothy of the damaging effect of false teachers, causing the overthrow of the faith of some, the Apostle Paul also instructs him to continue his study of the scriptures. But in the very next verse he comforts Timothy’s mind in the fact that the sovereign Lord knows them that are His! Stating that this is the very foundation of God! 2 Timothy 2:19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.
And those ‘ministers’ who refuse to preach the whole counsel of God, including that he has both known and loved his people from the foundation of the world, withhold from them the comforting assurance of this sure standing foundation!
Think about it. God is eternal. Psalm 90:2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. And God is love. 1 John 4:8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. Therefore his love is eternal! It always has been and always will be. And therefore his knowing and choosing his people in Christ before the foundation of the world is just eternal God eternally loving! Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: And the Lord God set that forth to comfort his people. Who are we to withhold it from them?
God did not start knowing anything at any time. He has always known everything all the time! Acts 15:18 Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. And this omniscience (‘all knowingness’), was also ascribed to the person of Jesus of Nazareth! John 13:3 Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God; 19:28 After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. Therefore being made aware that Jesus had told the woman at the well, and all those who believed on him in her city, and shall continue to Tell Us All Things, we can still rightly ascribe to him the identification of Messiah!
Pastor Gene Breed February 8, 2014
