If You Knew (2 Corinthians 4:7)

Introduction

Oh thou God of compassion, I pray. Let me ever abide in thy sight. I hope you realize what an amazing prayer that was. That we prayed as we sang to God. And that is my hope for you. But there are some things that you need to know. And that’s where this lesson begins today. Knowledge can be both powerful and transforming. If you knew that tomorrow, October 15th, you were to become an instant multi-millionaire. I know, fanciful, isn’t it? How would that change your life? Number one, I’m sleeping in. Number two, I’m quitting my job. Not me, you knew. If you knew that you were not going to see the year 2020. If you knew that you only had one year to live, that’s it. How would that change your life?

What if you only had one month to live?

What if you discovered today that you only have one day to live? I want to tell you. If that’s the case, I’m not watching the Astros game tonight. Because I will not see the outcome of that series, much less the World Series. That’s how powerful and transforming knowledge can be. And it is my observation that one of the major reasons why folks do not sign on to submission to the King of Kings and glorifying him daily in their lives is because of what they do not know. And I want to talk to you about what you should know. And that’s the point of John chapter 4. And the occasion of Jesus speaking to the woman at the well in Samaria when he asked of her for a drink of water.

And he would say in the course of the conversation in verse 10, if you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, give me a drink. You would have asked of him, and he would have given you living water. Thus Tad led the song that he did before the lesson. Wow. What an amazing statement Jesus makes to that woman. Have you asked and received the water of life, the living water that Jesus came to provide. Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life. I think sometimes we read these verses, and oh, by the way, yeah, I’ve heard that before. This is not a, oh, I’ve heard this before, la di da, kind of verse.

This is amazing stuff. And I think sometimes we struggle in our perceptions of it. Those of us who have imbibed of it, and those who will choose not to. What an incredibly foolish decision to say, I don’t want that, or I don’t need that. Yeah.

1. The Surpassing Value of the Gift of God

So I have it. If we only knew the value of God’s gift. It’s true and inestimable worth. It’s desirableness. I like that word utility that is in the graphic. It’s utility. It’s exceeding usefulness. It’s enduring, excuse me. It’s enduring quality. And so, as we sang, again, I have the vantage point of knowing what I’m about to say when we sing these hymns. God is so good that he provides such an incredible thing for us. I want to describe to you this morning by way of introduction the surpassing value of the gift of God. If we could only clearly see both the eternal and present ramifications and benefits of choosing to serve the Lord, and asking him on his terms, as we’ll see in a moment, asking him on his terms to receive the living water that only he can provide.

You need to imbibe. You need to know the gift of God that has been made available to you. All the ramifications and benefits. And that’s really what Aaron was reading about in Acts 13. That’s what Paul is describing. All the ramifications and benefits that come from embracing this message about Jesus. Everyone who believes is freed from all things, my version reads in New American Standard. Everyone who believes is free from all things. You need that freedom that Jesus came to provide. A freedom that results when we find ourselves cleansed in the blood of Jesus. Baptism now saves us. Not the removal of filth from the flesh. It’s not an outward external cleansing of the body, but it is an inward cleansing of our souls and consciences that accuse us of the guilt of our sin and transgression before God.

But is the answer of a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. On the basis of his resurrection from the dead, I am raised from death to spiritual life. And it’s an appeal to God for a clean conscience. It is an appeal on his terms. Baptism, the culminating step of faith that places us in Christ. This cleansing, this refreshing, this washing of water through the word causes us to come into a realm or relationship that provides all the benefits that Jesus promised that woman in John chapter 4. We are asking him, give me living water when we are baptized into Christ. And as a result of that cleansing, the likes of us, those who have marred perfection and failed, are allowed, brought into the presence of perfection.

A perfect and holy and always loving, always available. God. So first and foremost, the living water that we imbibe causes us to come into fellowship with the most perfect being that we desperately need. And life assistance is provided by him. And not just fellowship with God, but those who can provide a human touch as well. Fellowship with his people. We who are brought forth by the word of truth in James chapter 1 and verse 18, whose souls are purified in obedience to the truth, come forth unto an unfeigned love of the brethren, where there is supposed to be by God’s design and by his instruction, nurturing and caring and help and service, things to assist us. Remember, I said life assistance is provided. We are here today with other people who get it.

They don’t know why they’re here. They don’t know what their purpose is. I was thinking about this morning, the lesson that I was about to preach, as I went by a throng of people, and you always do in Houston, whenever you leave your house. It doesn’t matter what time of day it is. There’s a throng of people, and there’s more on Sunday morning than ever, but they’re all not going to church services somewhere. I don’t know. Maybe people are wearing different clothes than they used to. I don’t know. I’m seeing people and think they’re not going to services anywhere. What are they doing? Where are they going? What could be more important on the Lord’s day than worshiping God on His terms with His people?

And yet people by the thousands are doing that. They don’t get it. And one of the things we find when we come here are people who get it. That it is the living water that Jesus provides that we so desperately need. And beyond that, as I talked about life answers for fear and uncertainty. And life is uncertain, whether it’s mainly predictable or not. I may think tomorrow is going to go a certain way, but I have no guarantee that it shall.

2. The God of This World Blinds the Minds

Blindsided. Wasn’t expecting that. Can’t account for that. Oh, that’s even greater than I could have possibly imagined in terms of consequences in my life. But there are always answers for whatever trauma, whatever situation and circumstance that unfolds. For the one who has this connection with Jesus Christ and fellowship with God. I could go on all day about the surpassing value, the ramifications and benefits of drinking the living water that Jesus provides. But I want to talk about something else mainly this morning. And that is why people don’t imbibe. Why they find themselves without the water of life and basically not even wanting it. Can you imagine why someone would so choose? How could you not choose living water? Because we had this adversary who doesn’t want you to see its benefits.

Don’t even look at this side of the screen. The devil doesn’t want you to see this. He doesn’t want you to value this. He wants you to think you don’t need this. You see, the God of this world blinds the minds of the unbelieving. Paul says in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 4. If the gospel is veiled, the mystery has been revealed. If the gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, those who will not subject themselves to its beauty, those who will not consider its ramifications and benefits. They are blinded, and thus they think, nah, I don’t want any of that. It is blindness. It is the inability so often, and blindness does this to weigh the costs against the yield.

3. The Cost Versus the Yield

So often people do not drink of the living water. Okay, I understand who Jesus is, and I believe he’s the Savior of the world. I may even go so far as to believe that this is his message and that we have to follow it in order to be saved. And yet I’m not going to do it. And the reason why I’m not going to do it is because it’s going to cost me something.

God has expectations. He has holy expectations. He expects submission and obedience. And he does. And there’s a cost to that. Jesus didn’t sugarcoat any of that with his disciples. Sit down first and calculate the cost. He would say in Luke chapter 14. And so all people can see sometimes is the cost. What it’s going to cost me. But in reality, we should instead look at the yield that is provided, which is far greater than any of the costs. One day you look back, especially when you find yourself abiding in his sight forever. You look back and say, wow, why was I concerned about those costs? Those costs were nothing compared to the yield that I receive. It is amazing as we speak of the cost versus the yield.

We do not preach ourselves, but ourselves as bondservants for his sake. Paul would go on to say in 2 Corinthians chapter 4. And he has, he says, we have this surpassing treasure in earthen vessels. And that the power may be of God and not of ourselves. The thing that he’s talking about there is that the likes of us can be used in this great cause. When we talk about the yield in drinking the living water that Jesus provides, the fact that we can be used to advance the cause and glory of our God who’s done things that we could not conceive. And that’s really part of the Acts 13 message as well. I may come back to that again tonight. I like that Aaron put me on to that.

4. Enthralled With Other Things

The cost versus the yield. But I’ll tell you why people don’t embrace the living water as they consider the great costs that are involved. They’re just enthralled with other things. The world is just so compelling in all of its trinkets and all of its electronics and all of its things that draw us and woo us and seem to satisfy us very temporarily, I might add. But for the moment it’s all that matters. The world offers us fun. We can do stuff. I like it. But as I like to say about those things, you do them and they’re done. And you have to do something else, and something else, and something else, until you’re no longer capable of doing something else, and that day comes too. Then what?

Well, right now, we’re just the devil offers us a million, a trillion different things. You can go any avenue that you like, whatever suits you and satisfies you. He is offering an abundance, a plethora of things. I like the word plethora. Sounds exactly like what it is. He’s got an array, a plethora of stuff that he’s throwing in front of you, saying, This is so much better than the Jesus stuff. And when you embrace it, you are enthralled with the inferior, not the superior. But see, he blinds us, he convinces us. No. That stuff is far better. It’s far. It provides far more. This living water must be spiritually perceived. I know time and effort is required. But if you choose everything else but Him.

5. Irrational Fears

Irrational fears. But they make sense to us in the moment. But they’re irrational. And some of those fears relate to people. I think Ted talked about this when he was talking at that great Wednesday night invitation where he was talking about being afraid of public speaking, but the more time went on, the more comfortable he got. I’m telling you, Ted could preach. But he talked about fear of public speaking, and that’s an irrational fear. What’s the worst thing that could happen? You could stumble over your words. I do that. Your mind can go blank. That’s happened to me more than once. It gets worse with time. You can fall off the pulpit. I’ve done that. These are you can, and I’m still preaching. Those are irrational fears.

But more is the concern, you know, if I were to embrace the living water today, when that preacher offers the invitation, I’m going to embrace it. I’m going to come for cleansing to the fount, and I’m going to receive this blessing that Jesus can provide. But there’s all these people. Let’s wait till everybody leaves. And you can do that. That’s fine. How many people are present is irrelevant. I don’t think there was a big audience when the eunuch obeyed the gospel in Acts chapter 8. But instead of having concerns and fears about how many people might be watching you. How about instead looking at it as an opportunity to encourage? You know, this is just the beginning of my confession. He who confesses me before men.

I will also confess him before the angels and before my Father who is in heaven, Jesus said. And so why not just start your public confession of loyalty to Jesus right here, right now, today in front of these people. Let’s come boldly. It doesn’t matter that there are a lot of other people here because I want them to know that I choose the Lord. I’ve told the story about Charlie Taylor before. His son Mickey was here last week to visit me from Austin, Texas. And I’ll never forget Charlie’s obedience of the gospel. I had just moved to Beaumont, just met Mickey and his mother, who were members there, new converts. And I remember that service I was preaching that night, and Charlie came to the front.

And so I normally guide people to the front row, and they sit down after the psalm is over. I sit down next to them, and then I’ll take their confession and baptize them. Oh, no. Charlie is confessing in the aisle halfway down. Everybody in the first five or six rows. I believe Jesus. I put my hand out, he shook my hand. He said, I believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and he died for my sins. We’re ready to go. Let’s just during the let’s just go right to the Baptistry. Don’t worry about people. Be an example to people. Confess your allegiance. And I think some people have a fear of failure. I’m not sure I can live the Christian life. I know Jesus offers the living water, but it’s it’s going to be a struggle.

It’s going to be difficult. What happens if I fail? I’m not sure I can live this perfectly. Now let’s take a poll. I’m not literally doing this, of course, because you know the answer. How many of you have been Christians for more than two years who have failed again? You don’t have to raise your hand because I know the answer.

This is a common catchphrase. Failure is not final. You can overcome failure. I like what this acrostic says. Fail. First attempt in learning. And that will be true of your choice to submit to the key. I like what Winston Churchill said. Success is not final. Failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts. I will say this about failure. And I don’t think it should be overlooked. Failure is always foolish. Let’s not discount the foolishness that is involved in failure or to dismiss it. It needs to be properly handled and rectified, and the gospel makes provision for that. Failure is always foolish, but yes, indeed, it is not final. And we do have heavenly assistance in this journey and hope beyond our failures.

6. The Conscience Can So Quickly Be Silenced

Another reason, a final impediment that I want to talk about is that the conscience can so quickly be silenced. As we go back to our comfortable worldly path.

As he spoke, as Paul spoke of the need for self-control, about the need to live right, righteousness, and the fact that there will be a final day of reckoning, the judgment to come. He trembled, and then he said, No, go your way. I don’t want to consider this any longer. I’ll call for you at another time. It is so easily done. Silence the conscience. Go back to your comfortable life. But the comfort is only comfortable until it’s not.

Conclusion

We find it easier and more selfishly satisfying to just dismiss the unseen creator and the spirit realm. But it is not really more satisfying. And ultimately, discomfort beyond measure awaits that decision. If you knew the gift of God and who it was who asked you to give me a drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water. Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst. But it shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life. If you only knew the incredible value extending to a bliss-filled eternity in the glorious presence of our God.

You know, that’s really how the book of Revelation ends, despite all of the concerns about persecution and opposition that go on in the book. This is really where the story ends. The righteous imbibe of the water of life. They see his face. His bond servants serve him, and he wipes away all of their tears, which speaks to the times of refreshing. That Peter promises in Acts chapter 3 that those who are who repent and are converted, the times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord. And we can be filled up to all the fullness of God. Paul says in Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 19. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. One final quote this morning from C.S.

Lewis. It’s one of my favorites. It would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition, when infinite joy is offered us. Like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by a holiday at the sea. And then he concludes we are far too easily pleased. And that’s really the tenor of this whole lesson. Are you going to drink of the sustenance that truly fills your life and soul unto eternity? Are you going to settle for less? Is it true that you’re going to go on making mud pies in a slum when a holiday at sea is afforded?

Now I will say, though Terry and Steve have been on a cruise and the waters have been somewhat turbulent, that just shows what happens on earthly voyages. We’re on a voyage that will exceed that by far if we will imbibe of the water of life while there’s time and opportunity. Come now while we stand and sing.