Facing Christ
A Sermon on John 4:27-30
Originally preached Nov. 12, 1967
Scripture
27¶ And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her? 28The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, 29Come, …
Sermon Description
What does humanity demand from Jesus? In a world that is so violent and where injustices are prevalent, some of the demands from humanity seems wholesome. There is a desire to have peace, justice, and prosperity. These things are good, but are they the primacy of the Christian faith? In this sermon on John 4:27–30 titled “Facing Christ,” Dr. Lloyd-Jones examines the encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman and her response to the demands of Jesus. Dr. Lloyd-Jones shows that when one truly encounters Christ, they are stripped of their demands and instead listen to Christ’s demands. These demands are not outwardly focused, but instead shed light upon one’s sins. They should be left with the same words as the woman at the well: “Come, see a man who has told me everything I have ever did. Could this be ‘the Christ?’” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones makes it clear that the nature of true Christian faith confronts one with their sins and that unless the whole position has been changed after encountering Jesus, then one does not have true faith. Often people look at the particular blessings of the Christian life such as peace, consolation or purpose, but they forget that all of these are only the byproduct of the true blessing – Christ Himself.
Sermon Breakdown
- We must submit ourselves entirely to Christ. We often come to Christ with our own demands and expectations. We want certain things from him like comfort, peace, healing, etc. But we will never find the "well of water springing up into everlasting life" until we submit fully to Christ and his way of doing things.
- Christ makes us face ourselves and our sin. He showed the Samaritan woman the truth about herself and her sinful life. We often come to Christ concerned about things outside of us like why God allows suffering or why we face difficulties. But Christ first makes us look inward at our own sin and unworthiness.
- Christ makes us face him. The Samaritan woman came to see that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah. We need to know Christ himself, not just his teachings. All of God's blessings are found in Christ. We must see who he is - the Son of God who came to save us from our sins.
- Christ gives us a new understanding of life, death, and eternity. He enables us to see through the world and its emptiness. He helps us see death in a new way and gives us a glimpse into eternity.
- Christ delivers us from illusions and gives us contentment. He frees us from being deceived by the world and gives us contentment in all circumstances through his strength.
- Christ gives us a blessed hope of eternity. He enables us to set our minds on heaven rather than earth. Death loses its terror because we see the glory that awaits us.
- Christ gives us strength through all of life's challenges. The water he gives becomes a well within us, springing up into eternal life. He strengthens us no matter what we face in life.
The Book of John
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.