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GOD SECURING OUR INTEREST

J. Renton

We were speaking this afternoon about the great need to become interested in the Lord Jesus personally and His things. I want to show how God approaches men in the glad tidings in order to secure their interest. Some may not see much interest in the glad tidings, but Satan does not have things all his own way for God is working and people are being converted, including young people. Do you think teenagers are a hopeless lot? Some are being converted. We are thankful for that. God is working and He presents His glad tidings in such a way as to secure the interest of people.

I want to show from these scriptures how the Lord Jesus, as presented in the glad tidings, would secure our interest. God in the glad tidings is not putting obstacles in our way. So far as God is concerned the sin question is no longer a problem. The sin question is solved, and God is not giving men a long list of their sins to depress them. That is what Satan would do.

Was it not Luther who dreamed that Satan presented him with a long list of his sins? Luther’s answer was, “The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin”, 1 John 1: 7. It is Satan who would depress you with the extent of your sins. God would not, because He has the answer to every one of your sins, no matter how grievous, no matter how far you are from Him. Is that not attractive in itself? God presents the glad tidings to men and in it is the answer to their sins. He invites them to enjoy the forgiveness of sins on the basis of repentance and faith.

The Lord approached this woman as a blessed, real Man here, wearied with the way He had come. He sat at the well of Sychar, and a woman, wearied with her history as a sinner, came to the well. The Saviour,

wearied with the way He had come, met one wearied with her own sinful history. What a meeting that was! What did the Lord do? Did He say, ‘You have been an awful sinner’? It may be some of us would not have been seen alone in the company of this woman, but Jesus approached her, not with a long list of her sins, but attracting her by the promise of living water. She had come with her waterpot to Jacob’s well. I do not think that Jacob’s well represents worldly amusements and pursuits. She may have had plenty of experience of that kind of thing, but she came to Jacob’s well for what was material, what was natural, what in a sense is right in itself. It was the material water she was after, in order to fill her waterpot, to help her in her own natural life. What she was going on with was another matter. She came to Jacob’s well to gain further strength and then intended to proceed on her own self-willed way. But the Lord in a sense says to her, ‘You know, my dear friend, I have something far better than that’. The result was that she left her waterpot. She got something so much better that she left it, she forgot about it. I think she would come back for it later, but she was so full of appreciation of the Lord Jesus and the living water that she went to the men of the city and testified. I suppose she would eventually return to her house needing ordinary water, but for the moment she forgot about it, because something greater had entered into her life. That is how the Lord attracts her. The Lord secured her interest, not by giving her a catalogue of her sins, but by speaking to her about living water.

The Lord Jesus is offering in the gospel the gift of the Holy Spirit. Could you think of anything greater? The living water speaks of the gift of the Holy Spirit which God is offering in the glad tidings. He is looking for a basis in your soul by way of repentance and committal to the Lord Jesus as Saviour and Lord and Master, to impart to you the Holy Spirit. Could anything be greater? Think of this woman going her own self-willed way. She is offered something far better. She

was affected not by her sins being imputed to her, but by being offered something so attractive. Was she not interested? Of course she was interested. Would you not be? Would not some young person be interested that the Lord would present to you living water? The Lord says here, “Every one who drinks of this water shall thirst again; but whosoever drinks of the water which I shall give him shall never thirst for ever”. Is it any wonder the woman was interested? Is it not a matter for sorrow that persons are not more interested in what God offers in the glad tidings? “Whosoever drinks of the water which I shall give him shall never thirst for ever”. You say, ‘Is that possible?’ It is possible in the gift of the Holy Spirit, the living water. The Lord says, “but the water which I shall give him shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up into eternal life”. What an offer He makes!

The Lord’s first words to the woman were, “Give me to drink”. He suggests to her another way of living. Instead of drawing refreshment herself in her own selfish outlook, she should think of the Saviour, and He proceeds to hold her attention and her interest. How is it possible that guilty hell-deserving sinners should receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, and thus have within them a hidden, secret source of joy and power to make them independent of all that this world can offer? How is it possible? The gift of the Spirit is possible because of the sufferings and death of the Lord Jesus Christ and because of His present position of exaltation. The Lord Jesus undertook the work needed, the work of redemption, laid the righteous foundation whereby the sinner’s sins may be forgiven. The Lord Jesus undertook all this suffering, the transaction that no one else could undertake. Every other man, woman, and child is a sinner and needs a Saviour. There was only One who did not need a Saviour and that was the Saviour Himself. He undertook the great transaction involved in His sufferings and death on the cross.

It involved His being abandoned by God. It says in 2 Corinthians 5: 19, “God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not reckoning to them their offences”. That was the life of Jesus here. It is the attitude of God now—“Not reckoning ... offences”. God presents the glad tidings from the standpoint of reconciliation having been accomplished. The work necessary for reconciliation has been undertaken by the Saviour and accomplished by Him. That work is a completed work. That scripture goes on to say, “Be reconciled to God. Him who knew not sin”—that is the Lord Jesus—“he”—that is God— “has made sin for us”. Think of the awfulness of being made sin; the holy Sufferer, the holy, perfect spotless Victim, Jesus,

“made sin for us, that we might become God’s righteousness in him”.

This work was necessary. The Holy Spirit could not be given to men and women and young people apart from the righteous basis laid by the Saviour, our Lord Jesus Christ. The work was undertaken by Him and thoroughly completed. There is nothing left of that work to do, and God presents His glad tidings from that standpoint. God is, speaking reverently, in the enjoyment of reconciliation accomplished. What delight He has in the One who accomplished the work of reconciliation. His precious blood was poured out, the witness of the price paid. Oh what a price that was! Who could estimate the value of the blood of Jesus, and His holy sufferings? God alone knows fully the value of that finished work. His shed blood is the basis, dear friend, for our forgiveness. It is the righteous basis on which God is going to build His universe of bliss. The foundation for the eternal order of things is the shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. The world to come, peace and prosperity on this earth—what is the righteous basis for it? The shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. And it is the basis, friend, for your forgiveness.

The work undertaken by the Saviour included that He was buried, put out of God’s sight. Did you ever think of Jesus buried? Burial is a kind of terminus; but He is not in the grave now. The grave is empty. At the end of Mark’s gospel we read of a young man who was in that empty tomb.

When the women came to the tomb they found a young man there (see Mark 16: 5). Think of a young man in the tomb. You say, ‘How depressing!’ Not at all. The tomb was empty. It was the evidence of victory. Persons who went into that grave found everything in order, no evidence of a struggle. The Victor, the mighty Victor, arose triumphant over death, and came out of the grave. What a moment that was! No one witnessed it but God. No human eye saw what happened. There is no record of the actual resurrection, it took place in secret, but there is plenty of witness to the fact that He is risen. He was seen of many, even by above five hundred persons at one time, as a risen Man. I used to think it was a very depressing thing for a young man to be in the tomb, but I do not think so now. He was in the light of the tomb being empty, Jesus risen from the dead. Dear friend, you can be in the light of the Saviour risen from the dead and highly exalted, given “a name, that which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow”, Philippians 2: 9, 10. It is from His position at the right hand of God that He is the great Administrator, and He gives the Holy Spirit to those who trust in Him and those who are committed to Him.

The Lord attracts this, woman. He gains her interest in such a wonderful gift, the Holy Spirit.

Then the woman says, “Sir, give me this water”. Do you wonder that she was interested? I wonder that there are not more interested in the wonderful blessings that God offers in the glad tidings. “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst nor come here to draw”. What did Jesus say? “Go, call thy husband, and come here”. She was so interested, and so held by the Lord’s approach to her in the glad tidings, that she was prepared to face the whole matter of her guilt and of her past. She said later, “Come, see a man who told me all things I had

ever done”. That must have been a wonderful relief to this woman to think that all that guilty past was settled once and for all. She would be able to say, ‘It will never rise again during my lifetime here, and never rise in the hereafter’. Is it any wonder that she became effective as an evangelist? The men listened to her, men who no doubt knew her in the city. She was so changed that she had moral power with these men and they came to Jesus and found for themselves that He was the Saviour of the world.

Now the man in chapter 5 was infirm. He had lain thirty-eight years on a bed at the pool of Bethesda, a hopeless case. What did the Lord say to him? “Wouldest thou become well?”.

Did that not arouse the man’s interest? Of course it did, immediately. The Lord did not say to him, ‘There must be some reason why you have been here all that time; there must be something very wrong with you’. He said, “Wouldest thou become well?” Oh how attractive!

Dear friend, no matter what your need is, the Lord would say to you, ‘Would you like Me to help you? Would you like power to move according to the will of God?’ This man said, “Sir, I have not a man”; but there was a Man there, a Saviour ready to help him. “Jesus says to him. Arise, take up thy couch and walk. And immediately the man became well, and took up his couch and walked”. Think of the relief, the benefit, this man received.

The woman in chapter 4 turned out well. She maintained her interest. She became a worshipper and she came into the testimony in a powerful way. This man was interested enough in getting relief and immediate benefit, but it would seem that he did not maintain his interest in the Lord and His things. That is like many today. They have been sufficiently interested to get their need met and to be assured of forgiveness, and of their souls’ eternal welfare, but the test is, are we maintained in interest here? Are we helping forward the Lord’s interests? This man, alas, did not. He was

linked with the Jews, he had more of a link with the Jews than he had with the Lord. His interest ceased with his relief. Now, dear friend, the Lord would have us maintain an interest like the woman. The work was deep in her and she was maintained in interest as a worshipper and in the testimony.

Now this woman in chapter 8 was a guilty sinner, found in the act of sinning. What would we have said? We would have pointed out the seriousness of her conduct. Of course, it was serious. The Lord said to her, “Has no one condemned thee? And she said, No one, sir”.

Notice how these persons say ‘Sir’. They speak to the Lord respectfully. What did the Lord say? “Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more”. This is the attitude of God. Before the Lord said that, He stooped down and wrote on the ground, and then lifted Himself up and said, “Let him that is without sin among you first cast the stone at her”. Again stooping down He wrote on the ground, and lifted Himself up the second time. Certainly one of these stoops must have involved His going into death and answering the whole sin question, especially the second stooping down, so that God can righteously take up the attitude of no condemnation.

What a word that was for this woman, “Neither do I condemn thee”. She no doubt was expecting to be condemned, and she deserved to be condemned, but because of the righteous basis the Saviour laid, He could say to her, “Neither do I condemn thee”.

Was not this woman interested? Was not this word the answer to her exercises? The Lord said to her, “Neither do I condemn thee—go, and sin no more”, but we hear no more of this woman. She was sufficiently interested and held in the presence of Jesus to get this word from Him; but the Lord said, as He said to the man in John 5, “Sin no more”. I wonder what happened to her. Would she turn out like that woman in John 4? Maybe she did. It would all depend on whether she

maintained her interest in the Lord Jesus and in His things, whether she received the Holy Spirit. John the evangelist leaves the matter. It would be a challenge to each one of us. The question is, whether you are maintained in interest in the Saviour and in His things; whether you are committed to Him. This woman is left, I think left for a reason, so that we each can question ourselves: How are we faring, how are we proceeding? Has there just been a spark of interest and it has flagged and ceased, or do we proceed in the way of the will of God and committal to the service of our Lord Jesus Christ?

In John 9 we have a man of whom the Lord says, “Neither has this man sinned nor his parents”. Now that does not mean that the man had not sinned. It means that the Lord is looking on this person not in relation to the governmental consequences of sin, but He is looking on him in view of the works of God being manifested in him. Would it attract you, that the Lord is looking upon you that you might manifest the works of God? Would you rather manifest your own will? You might say, ‘I would rather manifest the works of men. I would rather go to the university or be a big man down here’. There is something infinitely better; to be here to manifest the works of God. Would that attract you? The Lord says,

“Neither has this man sinned nor his parents, but that the works of God should be manifested in him”. This man is prepared to be a subject of the works of God, manifested in him. He is prepared to be a subject of the Lord’s own service, the Lord’s own operations. If you read the chapter you will see how the Lord approached him, and he was obedient and subject. He was simply a subject of the Lord’s own operations, and was subject to His word. The word was,

“Go, wash in the pool of Siloam ... He went therefore and washed, and came seeing”.

This man became representative of the Lord in His absence. You will find in chapter 8 of this gospel that

the Lord becomes the object of the opposition of men, and in John 9 from verse 6 the Lord is absent and this man is left to represent Him in testimony. The Lord does not appear again until the end of the chapter. All through this section the Lord is absent, and this man is left to manifest the works of God. What a manifestation it was! No one could shake him or make him give way. He stood resolutely against these religious persons. In fact he became an embarrassment to them. In his own simple way, as manifesting the works of God, he became an embarrassment to these persons. In chapter 8 the Lord was an embarrassment to them. In chapter 9 this man who received his sight was an embarrassment to them. They were glad to get rid of him. The Lord was rejected in John 8 and this man is rejected in chapter 9. He is manifesting the works of God; he is like his Master. He is representing his Master during His absence, standing in testimony unmoved against all the opposition.

You will find that the neighbours come into it, the parents come into it, the Pharisees come into it. All these try in vain to influence him. He is manifesting the works of God. What a privilege in this world, which has rejected our Lord and Saviour, to be manifesting the works of God, not manifesting what men can do! There is plenty of that around, but it is all tinsel, empty, and all going to come down. All that men are building up in their knowledge is going to come down. The Lord said regarding the temple in Jerusalem, “there shall not be left stone upon stone which shall not be thrown down”, Luke 21: 6. Think of Western Europe and all that is going on in it, all the pretension, all the schemes and ideas that men have. It is all going to come down under judgment. But oh, to manifest the works of God, to stand firm representing our Lord in the testimony! Can you think of anything greater, anything more privileged? Would it attract you that you should know something of the works of God, and manifest the works of God? That is what this man becomes. He had not been long on the

way; he was newly converted, yet he stands firm. When he is questioned he says very simply,

“A man called Jesus made mud and anointed mine eyes, and said to me, Go to Siloam and wash—and having gone and washed, I saw”. How simple it is!—a simple transaction with the Saviour Himself, and this man is manifesting the works of God.

May the Lord help us to be interested, to be attracted. One of the great teachers spoke about attraction and attachment and affection. We might preface that by saying you become interested; then you become attracted, then you become attached, and then you have affection. The woman in John 4 went the whole way, both in committal and devotion to the Saviour, and in the worship of God. The man in John 9 went the whole way, reliable, trustworthy. The man in John 5 we are not sure about. The woman in chapter 8 we are not sure about. I would like to be reliable; would you not? The Lord would take you up in view of being trustworthy here in the testimony and the service of God. May it be so, for His name’s sake!

Preaching at Grangemouth
18 January 1976

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