Nothing to Draw With?
John 4:11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?
Intro: I want to focus on that statement she made in verse 11.
“Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with.”
A. She underestimated His REACH – “…the well is deep…”
There’s nothing too deep to be out His reach!!
God specializes in retrieving things out of deep pits!!
· Psalms 40:2 He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.
I’m glad His hand reached further down than mine could reach up!!
B. She underestimated His RELEVANCE – vs. 12 “art thou greater than our father, Jacob…?”
If she only knew!!
Art thou greater than our father, Jacob?
Jesus said this about himself:
· Matthew 12:42 The queen of the south … came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.
· Luke 11:32 The men of Nineve shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.
C. She underestimated His RESOURCES – “Sir, thou hast nothing…”
When it comes to drawing, the Lord has no problem!
He had more ways to draw a sinner than many people realize.
She came to draw water.
He came to draw a woman.
She came to draw a temporary fulfillment.
He came to draw eternal fulfillment.
She came to quench a natural thirst.
He came to quench a spiritual thirst.
She came to a well provided by man.
He brought her a well provided by God.
She thought he needed her help to get water.
He knew she needed his help to get water.
I want to focus on that statement she made in verse 11.
“Sir, thou has nothing to draw with.”
She was gravely mistaken in this statement.
She had no idea how wrong she was!!
Jesus placed incredible emphasis on the need for us to be saved, we must first be DRAWN.
· John 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
We can’t even get saved if we are not drawn.
What do you mean, you have nothing to draw with??
Why do you think Jesus came?
He came to SEEK AND TO SAVE that which was lost!
What do you mean “you have nothing to draw with??”
Make no mistake woman – He has got PLENTY of things to draw with!!
I. He Draws with His Schoolmaster
Galatians 3
· 22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
· 23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
· 24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
· 25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
· 26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
God used the righteous and holy laws and statues to begin drawing us.
ILLUSTRATION: In Exodus 19, the people of Israel promised to do all that God had commanded.
· 7 And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him.
· 8 And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD.
But they couldn’t do it!
In fact, while Moses was up on the mountain getting the 10 Commandments, they were down in the valley making golden images and worshipping them.
It was our sin that caused us to realize our need for a Saviour.
It was our inability to live up to the laws of God and the statutes of God that caused us to realize we needed Him!
Romans 2
· 12 For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;
· 13 (For not the hearers of the law [are] just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.
· 14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:
· 15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and [their] thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)
Romans 7
· 7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.
· 8 But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.
· 9 For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.
· 10 And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.
· 11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.
On the cross of Calvary, Jesus took the handwriting of ordinances that had condemned us to death and nailed it to His cross.
Colossians 2
· 13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
· 14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
Make no mistake – Jesus was drawing this woman at the well by reminding her of her sinful life.
It was this revelation that caused her to drop her waterpot and go into the city.
“Come see a man which told me all thing that ever I did!!!” (vs. 29)
II. He Draws with His Story
The old, old story of the Gospel has drawn millions of sinners to Christ.
Never underestimate the power of God to draw sinners with the story of the cross.
2 Corinthians 4
· 3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
· 4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
· 5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.
· 6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Romans 10
· 14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
· 15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
· 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?
· 17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
· 18 But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.
· Psalms 119:130 The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.
III. He Draws with His Spirit
The wooing and the drawing and the convicting of the Holy Spirit is one of the most powerful instruments that is used by God to draw a sinner to salvation.
· Revelation 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
Can you remember when the Holy Spirit came your way and told you of your need for a Savior?
ILLUSTRATION: Brother Leeder was telling me just yesterday how that he can remember driving down the road as a lost man and shaking his fist in the face of God and telling God to leave him alone.
The Holy Spirit was drawing him!!
IV. He Draws with His Soulwinners
Never underestimate the power of God to use a soulwinner to draw a sinner unto Himself.
He recruited nearly half of His disciples from the shores of Galilee – professional fishermen.
They left their nets – used to draw in the fish, and because soulwinners – used of God to draw in sinners.
Mark 1
· 17 And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.
· 18 And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him.
God hath given everyone us the tremendous responsibility to DRAW IN sinners.
The Apostle Paul through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit said it like this:
2 Corinthians 5
· 18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
· 19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
RECONCILIATION: adjustment of a difference, restoration to favour
It is our job to grab the hand of the sinner, and grab the hand of God, and bring them together.
· Proverbs 11:30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.
WINNETH: to take from, take out of, take, carry away, take away, to fetch
V. He Draws with His Sympathy
Long before this woman ever got to the well, God looked ahead in time and saw her need for a Savior.
He took a detour; He planned His route; He had a need to meet her need.
Verse 4 says, “…he must needs go through Samaria.”
The Samaritans were outcasts in society.
They were half Jews and half Gentiles.
They were hated by both groups.
But God saw her – an outcast; unwanted and unloved and had compassion on her.
She had had five husbands, and she was living with a man, but she had NEVER been loved by anyone like she was loved by Jesus.
· 1 John 4:9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
· 1 John 4:19 We love him, because he first loved us.
What an amazing picture of this pity and love for the sinner we find in Ezekiel 16.
Ezekiel 16
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite.
4 And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all.
5 None eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the lothing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born.
6 And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live.
The songwriter, Brother Squire Parsons said it like this:
The gulf that separated me from Christ, my Lord,
It was so vast the crossing I could never ford;
From where I was to His domain, it seemed so far,
I cried, "Dear Lord, I cannot come to where you are."
He came to me when I was bound in chains of sin,
He came to me when I possessed no hope within,
He picked me up and He drew me gently to His side,
Where, today, in His sweet love I now abide.
Chorus
He came to me, O, He came to me.
When I could not come to where He was, He came to me.
That's why He died on Calvary,
When I could not come to where He was, He came to me.
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