Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1886-04-08
sarded as Indicating her loose manner Of

garded as Indicating her loose manner of
life. Though she may not have been a very
bad woman, it is certain she was not a vir-
tuous She regarded the Saviour
merely a Jew passing through the coun-
try, but when he told her of her sins she be-
came the subject of conviction which devel-
oped into conversion as the conversation
with the Saviour progressed. This is full of
practical suggestions. The notion was COM
mon among the Jews, and it is common to-
day among Christians, that Gods grace is
restricted within the limits of certain fam
lilies. The deluded Jew thought that all the
Jews would be saved because they were the
seed of Abraham !; and that the Samaritans
were beyond the reach Of redeeming grace,
because they were a mixed race. To-day
many restrict the convicting and converting
grace of God to the sons and daughters of
those who, to use a common expression, are
members of the Church. They forget that
the great body of the Church to-day are
Gentiles, with not a trace of Abraham's
blood in their veins. Another thing sug-
gested is that the telling of the Samaritan
woman of her sins was accompanied by the
convicting influence of the Spirit. So it
was with the Samaritan woman, and so it
is to-day and ever will be. "Cry aloud,
spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet,
and show my people their transgressions,
and the house of Jacob their SINS" is part
of the commission which the Head of the
Church gives to every individual whom he
sends out into the world to preach the Cos
pei. This is the ordinance of Heaven.
Men must be told of their sins in plain Ian
guage which they can readily comprehend
and fully understand.
Having been told of her sin, the woman
becomes an anxious inquirer. "Our faith
ers" she said, "worshipped in this Mount
Gerizim, but you Jews say that Jerusalem is
the place where men ought to worship"
Her mind was still clouded and the Saviour
replied that the Samaritans did not know
what they worshipped. This at the begin
ming of the conversation would have sound
ed very harsh to the woman, and in all prob
ability she would have resented it. Not so
now, and the Saviour proceeded to unfold
the truth. "God is a spirit" said the
Saviour, 'and they that worship him must
worship him in spirit and truth" The
time has come-the long promised time
when the worship of God will not be re-
stricted either to Gerizim or Jerusalem.
To this the woman replied that when the
Messiah ONE this will be the case. Jesus
replied, II that speak unto thee am he."
This is the most remarkable declaration
made by our Saviour. On no other occasion
and to no other individual, so far as is re-
corded, did he plainly declare his Messiah
ship. The individual to whom it was made,
was, as we have seen, a Samaritan woman
of bad character. Evidently the woman
had at least a general impression of a prom
ised Messiah. This she had learned from
the scriptures. 1t is marvellous that our
Saviour always, when conversing with even
his own disciples, calls himself the son of
man, but to this Samaritan woman he said
81 that speak unto thee am the Messiah"
This is very suggestive. Multitudes OF
miserable abandoned wretches have Christ
revealed to them, while Pharisees and
moralists are left in midnight gloom. No
sooner had the woman heard the declara-
ton 81 am he," that she left her water pot
and began to proclaim in the streets of Sy-
char, no doubt to her paramours, "Come
see the man who told me all things that
ever I did is not this the Christi" Her
preaching was effective. Many of the Sa-
maritans of that city believed on him for
the saying of the woman, and many went
to the we'll to see Jesus and believed.
What became of this Samaritan woman no
one knows. No mention of her is after
ward made. Origin calls this woman 1.-THE
apostle of the Samaritans." Her preaching
was Of the most wonderful kind. The Ian
guage is that of a soul all ablaze with love.
"Come see the man who told me all things
that ever I did. Come see the man who
can discern hearts. Is not this the Christ 2"