Peter Barnes: Facing our Sins, John 4:16-19 (Sunday 9 August 2020 Evening Sermon Notes, 6.00 p.m.)
To be Christians, we need to know that we need a Saviour and that Jesus is the only Saviour. This is the most delicate part of the conversation, where the risk of offence is greatest.
1. We must repent. – 4:16. Why? See Luke 13:1-5; 15:10. Rick Phillips calculated that if we sinned three times a day, and lived for 75 years, we would have well over 75,000 sins to answer for in the judgment. – Andrew Bonar: ‘Faith grows upon the boil of felt sin.’
2. Beware of evading the issue of sin. – 4:17-18. She is evasive – see Genesis 3:12-13. The Greek word for ‘husband’ and for ‘man’ are one and the same, and the meaning relies on the context. Either way, she is immoral and ducking for cover. – for evasion, see 1 Kings 18:17; Ex.32:21-24. – Proverbs 28:13.
3. Jesus knows us through and through. – 4:17-18. He knows as God knows her – Ps.90:8; Heb.4:13. – hence Ps.139:23-24
4. The Samaritan woman’s acknowledgement of what she knows about Jesus. – 4:19. Compare to verse 12. – possibly the prophet of Deuteronomy 18:15-18, but probably more like Elisha in 2 Kings 6:8-12.