This is an often preached passage of scripture. But you may not have heard a message which emphasizes verses 32-34. And, as you might surmise, this is not a gospel message.
The Lord Jesus had been working very hard in the previous few months prior to this chapter. In His humanity, as He and His disciples passed through Samaria, He couldn’t go on without a little food and rest. So the disciples were sent into Sychar to buy some vittles from Samaritans. When they got back to where they had left Him, Jesus seemed like a different man. Where He had been dragging, now He was pulling; Where He had been sleepy, now He was surging. And where He had been starved, now He was stuffed. When the disciples asked how He had so changed, He said, “I have meat ye know not of.“
WHAT was that meat which did Him so much good? Simply put, Christ was doing the will of the Father who had sent Him. He was fed; He was empowered; He was blessed by serving the Samaritan woman and others.
I think there are some things we might see here about anyone’s work for the Master – OUR work. We might call them “Natural Laws about Spiritual Work.” Or we might call this message simply, “Meat Ye Know Not Of.”
First, we see that serving the Lord can be GREATLY REFRESHING.
Isn’t it true that the mind has great influence over the body? I remember Fred Norling and Harry Riggs plotting against a teacher back in our 11th grade. They told some of the key members of our class to casually ask this lady if she felt all right. We were supposed to suggest to her that she didn’t look well. Riggs and Norling thought that if enough people asked her, then she might start thinking about it. The idea was that if enough people mentioned it, she might think it was true, and she just might catch one of the psychosomatic diseases that were going around the school that day. Well, I don’t remember if it worked or not, but it gave the class hope anyway.
Just as a person’s mind can affect his body, so can a person’s heart effect his mind. In other words, the spiritual can influence the mental, and through that the physical. The person who loves spiritual work will often find himself growing in physical strength. That is simple a fact – not always, but often. And there are two reasons: First, is the natural relationship between the spiritual and the physical within the human being. Just as when we eat well, it helps the health of our body. When our body is well, it helps our emotions, and if they are well, it blesses our spirits. If the spring water high in mountains is pure enough it will reduce the pollution in the river far below. Second, in addition to that, there is the unmistakable law of God’s blessings. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh (like alcohol, drugs and immorality) shall of the flesh reap corruption; But he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. So let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”
What did Paul mean when he said, “Godliness with contentment is great gain” – I Timothy 6:6? Undoubtedly, to be content – to be satisfied and ungreedy are great attributes. Some of the Heathen philosophers extolled virtues like these. One was quoted to have said: “If you can’t be content with what you have, at least be content with what you have escaped.” That is contentment on a natural plane. But it is a child of far greater importance if it comes out of womb of godliness. Godliness, of course, is the character and nature of Jehovah Himself. Godliness is a part of the fruit of the Spirit. And that godliness displays itself in serving that God. When we serve God in godliness and couple it to contentment, there is rich reward. What reward? What great gain? The answer is seen in the Lord Jesus here in our scripture.
I’ve met miserable, sickly, sour and dour professing “Christians” who were in that condition for no other reason than that they were serving only themselves. Their Sundays were either Fun-days or Funds-days, but certainly not the Lord’s Day. And on Monday, they had no time for prayer in the morning or Bible study in the evening. They cared nothing for others, and despite great concern for their bodies, they had little for their souls. “Oh, Christ died? Well, I wonder if he left me an inheritance.” No time to serve the Lord… Oh, but they had time for ulcers, migraines, sleepless nights, worry, hangovers and jail. It is sad to see people destroy themselves through a lack of interest in things eternal.
If you want good mental health – “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” It is a physical asset, not a liability, to serve the Lord. But it seems that some people go out of their way to avoid that service.
A second law in the service of Christ is that there are SEASONS of SOWING and SEASONS of REAPING.
“Say not ye, there are yet four months and then cometh the harvest, behold I say unto you, lift up your eyes, for the field are white unto harvest.” This is true in the Spiritual world just as much as it’s true in farming a plot of black dirt. No matter how much seed you plant, if it is at the wrong time of the year, it will not germinate. You can run a $350,000 combine out into the field in some seasons, and you will only harvest exhaust fumes. That certainly is not very profitable.
I want you to notice the way Jesus was using the illustration of this law. Some people use the seasons as an EXCUSE for not plowing, not reaping and not trying. “It is winter, we’re not going to get much of grape harvest his month.” so they say. Well, Jesus seems to be saying that the harvest season is an ever-present NOW. In Israel, the barley grew during the winter and was harvested in the Spring. The wheat was growing during the barley harvest and was reaped during the Summer. The grapes were picked in August; and the figs were gathered in late September. In other words, there was always something growing, something ripening, and something drying in the bin.
The seasons are not an excuse for God’s people to sit back and vegetate; it was just the opposite. The disciples looked at the Samaritans, as most of the bigoted Jews had done for years. “What, shall we give the gospel to those spiritual heathens, harlots and half-breeds?” “Let them worship at Jerusalem and then we’ll try our hand at sowing and reaping among them.” I think that our lesson is that should assume that everyday is harvest day. If the Lord decides that only sowing is appropriate, then that is what He will bless.. But our task is scattering precious seed with one hand while we carry a scythe other. “Lord give us an increase; we’ve planted with Paul and Apollos. We’ve watered with Paul, Apollos and Elijah. Lord give us an increase: forty-fold, sixty- fold, yea, even an hundredfold. And until you do we will continue to scatter the precious seed.”
A third spiritual law here is that our labor links us to other laborers.
When a person waters the seed planted by another, he joins hands with his predecessor. Very often the man who reaps the apple or the peach, is the son of the man who planted the tree. The prophets had been working to prepare the soil for the coming of the Messiah. John the Baptist joined that throng shouting “prepare ye the way of the Lord!” Then the Saviour came along just as He been prophesied, and He built upon foundation that others had laid. And finally came the disciples working in the same fields, then filled with ripening fruit. And even after that – here we come reaping the harvest worked by Paul, Peter and many others.
Someone has said that every generation stands on the shoulders of previous generations. A hundred fifty years ago, John Broadus preached a message in which he said, “The time will come when men will look back upon our inventions, our slow travel, oOur wonderful ignorance of the power of physical forces and the adaptions of them to physical advancement, And smile at the childishness with which, in the fag end of the19th century, we boasted our ourselves and our time.” Isn’t that the case? And they will do the same with our inventions in the beginning of the 21st century.
What can we hope to accomplish against about the onslaught of wickedness in these last days? On a world-wide scale, in ourselves, we can’t do a thing. Can we hope to drain the ocean by carrying away a glassful at a time? But what we’re doing is joining ourselves to an army of God’s servants under the leadership of the Saviour Himself. Some missionary may think that he stands alone there on his mission field, but he’s not. Not only does he have Lord, but he is joined by those who sent him to that field. And in every dollar sent to him, others unite with him. In every moment of prayer that is uttered towards Heaven, others join him. And even when we give the gospel to a Coeur d-Alenian, we are a part of the same team.
When God’s people begin to serve Christ, they become united with the greatest people in world.
The fourth Law we recognize here is that Spirit Work has RICH REWARDS.
“And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.” I hesitate to preach this point very hard, because it might tend to make some people mercenary. But at the same time I notice that Jesus preached it to his disciples. And then too, it must be realized that there are different kinds of rewards. Money makes a poor reward for love. Ah, but marriage is an excellent reward for love. Our eternal reward will reflect the amount of God’s glory we have allowed to shine through us. It’s like a chandelier that has many light bulbs, some 25W, some 50W, some 100W. The light bulbs all give and contribute light to the room, no matter what their wattage. That’s the way it will be in heaven: some of will contributing only 25W and others 46W. The question is, “How much of God’s light do you want to shine through you?”
Daniel12:3: “They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.” “Whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, shall in no wise lose his reward.” “Glory, honor and peace to every man that worketh good.” “Whatsoever good thing any man doeth, she same shall he receive of the Lord.”
It pays to serve the Lord. There was man named James Kraft who wanted be most famous manufacturer cheese in the world. As a very young man, he began making cheese at night and selling it during the day. He had a little pony named “Paddy” who would pull him around Chicago, selling cheese. But after a few months he found that he wasn’t making money, and he began to despair. One day he pulled to stop and began to talk to his horse. “Paddy something is wrong. We’re not doing this right. Our priorities are wrong.” Kraft went home and made a covenant with God to serve Him as best he could. James L. Kraft was the founder of the Kraft cheese empire. Years later he was heard to say, “I would rather be a faithful layman in the North Shore Baptist Church, than to head of the greatest corporation in America. My first job is serving Jesus.” Our first job is serving Christ Jesus, whether He makes us head of empire or not..
Two preachers met having not seen each other for nearly 20 years After the usual greetings, one asked the other how big his church was. One said, “Oh, we have about 1000 members.” His friend snickered and asked, “Yes, but how many of them are active.” The other who really didn’t take much stock in numbers said, “Every single one them. About 200 are active for the Lord, and 800 are active in a dozen other areas.” For whom are you active this evening?