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Wonderful lessons from John 4.
It is a wonderful thing to think of the reality of the intimacy with which the Lord carried on interactions with people in this world — His ways and manners with them — and who He is. In truth it changes all our thoughts of God.
He has visited men before the day of judgment, and we find Him giving and not judging — dealing with them in quite another way. He who is to be the Judge had to come beforehand to be the Saviour; came in grace, seeking worshippers; came to visit the hearts of men where they were — naughty hearts; coming to such, not to judge at all, but to deal with our souls about the very sins for which He would have had to judge us. If I see Him there, I find He has dealt with my sins already in a totally different way. It confirms the judgment, of course — puts the seal of God’s testimony on it in the strongest way. But at the same time it gives me to know and understand that the whole thing has been decided in a totally opposite manner. Instead of coming to claim the debt, He comes to pay it; both ways prove the debt was there, but the dealing is totally different.
He comes and deals with sinners, then, in exactly the opposite way to claiming the debt, and He deals effectually, and that is the gospel. “We have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.” It is a Saviour we have to tell of, and I could not stand here to speak thus if He were not a Saviour who has wrought an effectual salvation. Then comes exercise of heart, and the discovery of what we are by His Word, to bring us to repentance, but it tells us we are saved. “Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.” It was at all cost to Himself that He could say it, but He did not recall it or deceive her. Can we go in peace? We go out of this room with the consciousness that we go on the Lord’s own warrant in perfect peace, and with nothing to fear as to the consequences of sin, if He has said, “Go in peace.”
Now as to the effect of it. We saw the poor woman absolutely absorbed with her waterpot, but the moment her conscience was thoroughly reached, she goes off to testify to the others: If you only get Christ, He will tell you all things. She leaves her waterpot. The Holy Spirit has not recorded it for nothing. The thing that absorbed her is gone. The word and power of Jesus, that gave her conviction of sin, also substituted Christ for the things that had power over her heart: Christ for my righteousness instead of my sins; Christ as the object for my heart instead of my cares.