Take your Bibles, if you will, and open them to the very last chapter in the book of Luke.
Luke chapter 24.
We read in verse 44.
reminds them this is post crucifixion post resurrection preparing to ascend back to the Father and Jesus tells his disciples this is what I was telling you all along
all throughout the Gospels we find Jesus telling the disciples, reminding the disciples, and revealing to disciples that he had to go to Jerusalem to die.
And they didn't understand.
after it's over, he now says, this is what I was telling you, that all things that were written concerning me in the prophets and in the law and in the Psalms, encompassing all
the Old Testament scriptures, had to be fulfilled.
And verse 45 says, and he opened their understanding.
that they might comprehend the Scriptures.
You have here a moment, a glimpse into the fact that here were these disciples, here were these eleven men who for their lives, leading up to this point, being taught the
Scriptures from the time that they were children as Jews, still didn't understand the Scriptures.
They didn't understand what they meant in regard to the Messiah having to come and having to die.
But then notice what Jesus points out, because Jesus did not go to the cross because it was convenient.
Jesus did not go to the cross because it was easy.
Jesus did not go to the cross because it was something that was expected by people.
Jesus went to the cross because it was the only way to complete the mission He had been sent here to do.
So Jesus says in verse 46, thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ, the Messiah, to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day.
Many in the religious world will be sitting in pews this morning, sitting in church buildings this morning, because it's Easter, because they want to honor the resurrection
or because someone in their family said you want to be here.
But we in our society have a really bad tendency.
of focusing on events instead of priorities.
focusing on celebrations and memorials instead of missions.
Why?
Because it's easier.
It requires less of us.
Yet Jesus didn't say it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and arise from the dead the third day and stop.
Jesus said it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and arise from the dead the third day and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations
beginning at Jerusalem.
Jesus came to complete a mission.
Jesus came to fulfill a work that God had given him to do.
And it involved going to the cross, yes.
And it involved going to the grave, yes.
And it involved being resurrected on the third day, yes.
But all of that was done so that the real work could begin.
That was the commencement.
That was the necessary step for everything that came after it.
And Jesus told those disciples, those 11 men,
that that had to occur so that repentance and remission of sins could be preached to all nations.
This morning, we're going to discuss Jesus the master evangelist.
We're going to begin a series of lessons.
It's going to go from this Sunday till two Sundays from now, three lessons about Jesus.
and the fact that he did not come to this earth just to die, just to be the sacrifice, just to make it possible for us to have the remission of sins, though he did that.
He came for a very, very specific purpose.
Before we get to John 4, turn to Luke chapter 19.
In Luke chapter 19, Jesus, as He stands there with Zacchaeus in Zacchaeus' house, will say to Zacchaeus in verse 9 of Luke chapter 19, today salvation has come to this house.
because he also is the son of Abraham.
For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." Jesus said while he was alive before he went to the cross that his mission was to come and to seek and to save
that which was lost.
Jesus said after he went to the cross and after he was resurrected that his mission was to send out those who would preach to those who were lost.
And what would he have them preach?
Repentance and remission of sins.
See, the message never changed for Jesus.
His message was always the saving
of those who were lost.
So John chapter 4, we find an example, we see an example of Jesus reaching those who were lost.
And we're going to learn some things about how we are to reach the lost from this passage.
In John chapter 4 we begin reading,
numbers are diminishing in this country.
That churches are closing across the country because there's no one left in those churches to fulfill the mission.
We are reaching a point where if we do not change we will lose the church in this country.
And yet
Jesus shows us exactly how to change.
Because Jesus was revolutionary.
Jesus was a revolutionary individual who did not believe in keeping the status quo.
Jesus didn't believe that just because that's what we've always done, that's what we should always do.
Jesus believed firmly that we ought to be about the Father's business.
I've observed as I've interacted with families that have owned family businesses that what tends to happen with family owned businesses is there's an individual who is quite aware
of the current state of things around him and realizes there's a hole in the economy around him.
There's a need and no one's fulfilling it.
So he starts a business.
and he grows that business and he becomes successful in that business and as sometimes happens in those family businesses, the next generation comes along and the need still
exists because the need was bigger than maybe one company could supply or it's just a persistent need.
And so that child comes along, son or daughter, and eventually they express interest in running the business and the business gets handed off to the next generation and they see
the need and they understand
Matter of fact, they have a slight advantage over the first generation because they were raised in it.
They saw it from the time they were growing up.
They know exactly what they're supposed to do and so they do it.
And if that business has become successful one generation into the second generation, usually by the second generation, that family's pretty well off.
They're doing quite well.
And you know the cycle generally tends to break about generation three.
Because that generation grew up somewhat separated from the business.
That generation grew up somewhat separated from need.
That generation grew up somewhat separated from the realities of life and insulated from the realities of life and so they don't really appreciate the value of the business.
And what often happens to family businesses is come generation three, it gets handed to a generation that will squander, destroy, and lose the business.
Why?
They became comfortable in their situation.
They assumed that it was easy and they didn't have to work to create it.
Therefore, they didn't value it.
And too many congregations are in that state where those who are in the congregation didn't have to do anything to build it.
They didn't have to do anything to create it.
And as a result, they don't value it.
And they're not ready to work to keep it.
But Jesus was revolutionary.
He didn't believe in status quo.
As you go into John chapter 4, you'll also find that Jesus did not let culture close doors to souls.
In John chapter 4 and in verse 4, we notice the text says, but he needed to go through Samaria.
Jesus is going to leave Judea, he is going to depart to Galilee.
If you were to look at a map of the land of Israel in the first century, you would notice that Judea is down in the southern part of the country and Galilee is in the northern part
of the country.
So Jesus has to go from the southern to the northern.
Well, of course, what would you do?
Well, you'd just travel across the middle of the country.
You'd go from the south of the If you want to go from the coast of Mississippi to the top edge of Michigan, you don't
go, unless you're flying, you don't go by way of Nevada.
Okay?
You don't need to.
You just hop on the interstate, head straight north, you're gonna end up there.
The problem is that's not what Jesus does.
Or sorry, that's not what their culture did.
Jesus was in Judea.
Jesus wanted to go to Galilee.
It was straight south to north.
All he had to do was go straight through Samaria.
Except the problem was in the first century for the Jews that the Samaritans, those who dwelled in the region of Samaria, they were considered outcasts.
They were considered unacceptable individuals because Samaria was filled with those families and those people who had been left in the land when the northern kingdom was
taken away into Assyrian captivity.
But the Assyrians, as they took that northern kingdom away, had a practice.
They would not leave a land empty.
So they would take other people they had conquered throughout time and they would transport them into a new place and they'd take the people from that place, they'd
and them into somewhere else.
They take them out of the place where they grew up, but invariably there were some who were left behind.
So these individuals who were left behind began to intermarry with those nations who had been brought down into Samaria by the Assyrians.
And so for the Jews in the first century, they considered these individuals in Samaria, those who were Samaritans to be half-breeds.
They considered them to be those who were worse even than the Gentiles, for they had intermarried with the Gentiles.
And so as Jesus prepares to go to Galilee, the text says that he needed to go through Samaria.
He didn't need to go through Samaria because it was the only path.
As a matter of fact, the culture in that time, the Jews would actually cross the Jordan River in Judea.
They'd go up the other side of the Jordan River, then they'd cross back over the Jordan River just to avoid going through Samaria.
That's how badly those Jews despised the Samaritans.
And yet Jesus did not let culture close doors.
Jesus saw closed doors by culture as opportunities to reach the lost.
In the world we live in, you might have noticed that this country is not quite as unified as it once was.
over the last few years, you might realize if you've traveled around that you go from one place to another place and it's like you're in a different country.
Go travel into big metropolitan city that's well maintained and well off and then go drive an hour or two outside of that city.
One of the most stark contrasts that I have ever seen in my life and I've been a few places is driving down through Louisiana, down near New Orleans.
and then driving to some of the more wealthy areas around New Orleans.
You want to talk about two different worlds.
Try driving through rural Texas and then go drive through a part of Texas where there's oil money.
It's two different worlds.
And sometimes the culture says, you know what, we just don't need those people.
And it's the culture in the small towns that we don't need those people in the city.
We don't need those people with all their money.
We don't need them.
And we don't like them.
And we don't want them.
And then you have the ones in the city going, we don't need those poor people.
We don't need those people who still live out in the boonies.
You know, they're three hours from Walmart.
They must be outside their mind.
Let alone a good hotel and a great restaurant.
We don't need those people.
but then we take it another level.
You know what?
They voted Democrat.
You know, they voted for Trump.
Can you believe it they voted for Trump?
and we'll divide ourselves and we have divided ourselves and culture is promoted dividing our country and you know what for Christians that is a golden opportunity because you know
why we know the value of a soul
And we know the value of a soul surpasses who they voted for.
We know the value of a soul surpasses what they have by way of possessions.
We know the value of a soul matters way more than what zip code they live in.
But the world doesn't.
So Jesus needed to go through Samaria.
But then consider as well, if you go down to verse five, so he came to the city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son
Joseph.
Now Jacob's well was there.
Jesus therefore being wearied from his journey, sat thus by the well.
It was about the sixth hour.
Jesus comes to this city of Sychar, and Jesus comes to this well, and Jesus, the text says, was wearied.
Raise your hand if you've ever traveled all day long.
When you get wherever you're going, are you nice and refreshed and ready to know?
You just want to get out of car?
Just want to get off the road?
Just want to get off the plane?
Whatever way you traveled, you're ready to be done.
Here Jesus has been traveling.
And Jesus given his situation financially in life, as Jesus told individuals who decided they would follow him and be his disciples, he said, foxes have holes, birds of the air
have nests, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head.
Jesus wasn't traveling on a nice, elegant horse or donkey, Jesus traveled by foot.
So after walking all day, Jesus was weary.
Jesus sat by the well.
But you notice in the text, and you notice as we think about the text, that Jesus overcame fatigue to reach souls.
As this congregation begins thinking about evangelism, there are going to be times, and I guarantee it, because I've lived it, there are going to be times your phone is going to
ring or you're going to get a message via text message and you're going to look at that and you're gonna go, there's that person who's a contact of mine and they want something
right now and it has been.
a day.
you're gonna think back to John chapter four and Jesus being wearied and stopping at a well because Jesus overcame fatigue to teach lost souls.
There are a lot of things in life that you will not overcome fatigue to do because you don't enjoy them and they don't have a whole lot of value.
But this one does.
But then consider as well that Jesus began as he reached and sought lost souls.
He began in friendly conversation.
In John chapter four we read, a woman of Samaria came to draw water.
Jesus said to her, give me a drink.
This interaction is not, open the scriptures with me.
and tell you why the Jews are right and the Samaritans are wrong.
It's not how he began.
Jesus interacted with individuals on a very normal level, in a friendly way.
But Jesus speaks to this woman, he says, give me a drink.
Verse eight, for his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.
And then the woman of Samaria said to him,
How is it that you, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?
Jesus begins by engaging in friendly conversation.
Jesus speaks to her, she speaks to him, and yet Jesus utilizes this as an opportunity.
But Jesus is not of the observation that you convert souls by having friendly conversations.
Now Jesus is going to move past the friendly conversation to the heart of the matter.
Jesus is going to move past the casual to the serious.
Yet Jesus is not going to do this at a time when there's a bunch of other people around.
The disciples have gone into the city to buy food.
It's just Jesus and the woman.
The things that Jesus needs to talk to this woman about are things that she might not be willing to talk about with others around.
The situation of this woman's life may not be something that she's willing to discuss amongst 12 or 13 Jews.
Jesus finds an opportunity when others aren't around to take matters into a serious discussion.
And one of the easiest ways to derail a good opportunity to reach the lost is by getting a lot of other people to have a comment and a say and an opinion on the matter.
And Jesus doesn't do that.
Jesus goes to her privately.
You'll notice there's going to be a difference before we get to the end of John chapter 4 in these lessons.
There's going to be a difference between how He interacts with the woman and how he interacts with the city.
But Jesus chose a time when others weren't around.
Furthermore, Jesus was not put off by potentially offensive statements.
Notice back in the text, she replied to him, how is it that you, being a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?
This woman was not.
unaware of the Jews' perspective concerning Samaritans.
This woman was not confused about the Jewish rabbis' method of ignoring women in public, because that's what the Jewish rabbis would do.
They wouldn't speak to a Jewish woman in public, let alone a Samaritan.
And she points this out, she makes a statement that could have been something that would have offended Jesus.
And I think maybe she meant for it to.
It certainly would have offended most Jews.
And yet Jesus doesn't allow things that are offensive to offend.
In other words, Jesus doesn't allow the things that individuals say that are ignorant to keep Him from focusing on what is eternally important.
As you talk with those in the world around you, as you spend time with those who are not Christians,
as you speak to those who are spiritually ignorant, they will say things that are offensive.
They will say things that are wrong.
They will say things that are ignorant.
Do not feel as though you need to correct everything that you hear that is wrong.
because you will lose focus on the important things.
Matter of fact, when you think about our cultural divide in this country, one of the things that we have a problem with is that we have become a nation of people who insist on
winning every argument and always being right.
But are we always right in this country?
Are we always the one who knows best?
Are we perfectly perfect?
then why do we interact with people the way as though we are?
Jesus will hear this statement.
Instead of being offended by it, He does what every good evangelist will learn to do.
He asks questions.
He says, if you knew the gift of God and who it is who says to you, me a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.
Jesus offers her something that she didn't have.
He offers her more than what she had.
Jesus said, if you knew who was sitting in front of you, you wouldn't be worried about the fact that I'm a Jew or that you're a Samaritan.
you would be asking for something of great value.
Jesus will point out that the things that she cares so deeply about, the things that are her immediate reaction when she sees a Jew, when she has an interaction with a Jew, are
barriers to what is really important.
as we consider the lost, as we consider the mission of Christ, as we consider the thing that Jesus said it was necessary that He came, that He died, that He was buried, and that
He was resurrected on the third day in order for this to occur.
We must not lose sight of what is most important.
As we move forward in this congregation, as we move forward in this mission, we're moving forward with a goal.
And it would be nice if we blew the goal out of the water.
Maybe we will.
This is our goal.
Six to ten lost souls brought to Christ this year.
And then next year.
because Jesus said, He came to seek and to save that which was lost.
This woman at the well did not think she was lost.
This woman at the well thought she worshiped God.
this woman at the well had a life that declared otherwise.
but she didn't know what she didn't know.
This woman at the well didn't know that the man who was sitting at that well was the very Son of God.
He was the Messiah that her people had been waiting on.
He was the Messiah that they had been talking about.
but she didn't know what she didn't know.
And how is she going to learn unless someone taught her?
Turn over to Acts chapter 8 as we close.
In Acts chapter 8...
Saul begins to persecute the church.
and a man named Philip will end up going to Samaria.
And we read in verse 26, now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.
This is desert.
So he arose and went, behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury and had come to Jerusalem
to worship, was returning.
And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet.
Then the Spirit said to Philip, Go near and overtake this chariot.
So Philip ran to him and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, Do you understand what you are reading?
And he said, How can I?
unless someone guides me.
And he asked Philip to come up and to sit with him.
And the place in the scripture which he read was this, he was led as a sheep to the slaughter and as a lamb before her sheers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.
In his humiliation his justice was taken away and who will declare his generation?
For his life was taken from the earth." Notice the eunuch.
is reading about a Messiah who had to die.
So the eunuch answered Philip and said, ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?
Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this scripture preached Jesus to him.
Now as they went down the road, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, See, here is water.
What hinders me from being baptized?
Then Philip said, if you believe with all your heart you may, and he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
So he commanded the chariot to stand still, both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he, Philip, baptized him the eunuch.
Now when they came up out of the water, the spirit of the Lord caught Philip away so that the eunuch saw him no more, and he, the eunuch, went on his way rejoicing.
Philip knew this, that his mission of his Lord was to preach repentance and remission of sins to every nation under heaven and even those who thought they were saved and weren't.
even those who would travel from one country to another just to worship God and yet were lost.
needed to be reached and needed to be saved.
And so what did Philip preach?
He preached Jesus.
What did the eunuch learn?
The eunuch learned that in order to receive salvation, he had to be baptized and he wanted to know what keeps me from doing this.
And Philip said, you're the only one standing in the way.
Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God?
Do you believe that He came here to die, to save mankind from their sins?
Are you willing to repent of your sins because He came that repentance could be preached?
But not just repentance, repentance and remission of sins.
And so in Acts chapter two,
when Peter was asked, men and brethren, what shall we do?
Because they realized they had crucified the very Son of God.
Peter said, and be baptized for the remission of your sins.
If you're here this morning and you're outside the body of Christ, if you're lost and you do not have salvation and you don't know how to be saved, don't leave this morning not
knowing.
When the eunuch who didn't know realized he didn't know, he said,
How am going to know unless somebody shows me?
and you're surrounded by people who are more than willing to do that this morning.
If you have need of the invitation of Jesus Christ for any reason, why not come forward now as we stand and as we sing.