The Omaha guide., 1947-01-25

MEMORY SELECTION = whatsoever
crlnketh of the water that i shall give
nlm shall never thirst-John Ala.
Racial and social prejudice divide.
mankind, although they are really
one family by the creation Of God.
Speaking a thousand or more|
tongues and countless dialects: liv-'
ing in separated areas; suffering I'm,
der or priding themselves in Gas the;
case may bel a certain social order
and ~disagreeing even about the
things of God, they manage to build
Up formidable barriers between their
various groups.
The Word of God by both precept
and practical example teaches just
tine opposite. I,
!. Barriers Broken wv. 4-9).
Contrast the woman of Samaria
with Nicodemus, whose coming to
Christ we studied last week. He was
rich; she was poor. He was a Jew;
she was of the mixed race Of Samar-
itans. He vas a man of character
and high position; she was immoral
and uneducated. He sought Jesus;
Jesus sought her. y
In doing so, he cut straight across
the barriers Of race. tradition. social
position, education, everything. He
was interested in her souls saliva
ton and nothing could stand in his
way. We would do well to follow
his example. i
Every Christian is by his very
calling a soul-winner. We dare not
delegate this responsibility to the
pastor or missionary. AS soul-win-
ners we are vitality interested in our
Lords approach to this oma who
was far from God, apparently hope
lessly involved in sinful associations.
a citizen Of a hostile nation and an
'adherent Of another religious faith.
By asking a favor of her. Christ
.;tactfully placed himself Gas does any
,petitioner). for the moment, on her
own plane. He was not a distant,
learned religious leader deigning to
cast a bit Of religious philosophy to-
her. He was a tired. thirsty man
asking for a drink Of water.
But he was moreI He was the
gracious Son Of God, declaring to
her that he was ready to give to
her the water Of life.
II. Problems Solved wv. 9, 10.
-73O).
The first problem this poor woman
had to face was her sin problem. Is
mot that true Of all Of US?
She first tried to avoid it by rails,
ing the race problem. and the reply
of Jesus told her Of the water Of
life. Her quick desire to escape the
drudgery Of carrying water. gave
him opportunity to face her with her
sin. She could never find peace and
Joy until there was a frank and open
facing Of sin in her life.
Let us make no mistake at this
point, for the moral law Of God is
The same now as it was on that far.
off day when Jesus brought the
woman Of Samaria face to face viii
her own sin.
Possibly in an effort to evade her
moral problem by theological discus.
sion "a common practice in our day,
soo!), and partly because Of her ig,
torance of true worship, she asked
a question about a controversial
matter relating to outward ceres
mony. Is it not a singular thing
how men who know nothing of spiri
itual life delight in the propagation
and defense of organizations and ih
the conduct Of outward religious ex
ercises?
True worship is revealed ". 23)
as being first Gin spirit" We do
not cast aside all external helps to
worship. but real worship goes
through and beyond both place and
symbol to real soul communion
with God, second. lin truth"
The disciples were wise enough
not to interfere with what Jesus was
foing personal workers take noteD.
and it was not long before the WON,
an saw Jesus as the Christi Observe
how quickly she went to tell others,
III. Salvation Declared wv. 39-42):
Jesus honors this poor fallen WON,
an by making to her his first dec,
Iaration Of himself as the Messiah
Ivv. rs, 81. He is the high and
fxalted One, but he is at the same
lime the friend of sinners. To Nico,
emus. the learned ruler Of the
Jews. he spoke Of the new birth. To
the poor woman Of Samaria he DEF
elared his Messiahship. He is nd
tespecter Of persons. and neither
are those who truly follow him.
Those whom the woman brought to
Jesus saw and heard for themselves,
and many Of them believed. Peri
sonal testimony is a wonderful thing,
but the ultimate purpose of such witt
ness is to get men to come by faith
into the presence of the Lord Jesus
himself.
A personal experience with Christ
leads to real assurance; without
which there "a be no spiritual
growth or usefulness.
May many who read these words.
and who have SO often heard and
read about Jesus. come to him to-
day so that they may say: Nov we
believe for we have heard him
ourselves, and know that this is ij
deed the Christ, the Saviour of thj
world" ". 42).