I. The woman at the well, feeling about for light, was led to her own Scriptures, and in those Scriptures to a prophecy a prophecy of a great Teacher who was to come the Messias. The coming Teacher, she knew, would solve all her difficulties, and make her way quite clear. It is very beautiful, very comforting, very teaching, to watch this poor, earnest, baffled woman's soul, gathering itself at last till it centres upon Christ. She was in a great strait; where was the escape? Messias comes; He makes all things right. As the key fits into the lock, as the light matches to the eye, or as sweet music to the ear, so Christ is made for the soul, and the soul is made for Christ. Till nature has that filling it must be incomplete, and life must be restless till it settles on that one resting-place; and this that thirsting, confessing, enquiring mind was finding out, when God took her by the hand and led her, and put it into her heart to feel, "I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when He is come, He will teach us all things."
II. It is a safe thing to affirm that, wherever there is a desire for Christ in the heart, Christ Himself is not far from that desire. For of this you may be assured Christ is always nearer to you than you think. Though you do not know it, the voices of your soul are all echoes. They are the responses to other voices, which are speaking to you. Had not Jesus first talked with you, there would never have been any of those things in your mind. All along, He who is to make the answer woke the question. He is there. You have been conversing with the very object that you are seeking; and that Presence it is which has aroused the feeling which now affects you. "I that speak unto thee am He." Patiently, very patiently, by a thousand tongues, God is always conversing with us; but rare is the heart to hear it. And happy is the man who, in the poetry of nature, in the arguments of fact, in the eloquence of truth, always catches the same accent, "I that speak unto thee am He."
J. Vaughan, Sermons,3rd series, p. 197.
References: John 4:27. J. Pulsford, Christian World Pulpit,vol. xx., p. 388; L. Abbott, Ibid.,vol. xxxv., p. 98; Preacher's Monthly,vol. ii., p. 253. Joh 4:27-30. Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. xxviii., No. 1678. John 4:28; John 4:29. Homiletic Quarterly,vol. iii., p. 416. John 4:29. G. W. Conder, Christian World Pulpit,vol. vii., p. 341; W. V. Robinson, Ibid.,vol. xxvii., p. 66. John 4:31-34. Homiletic Quarterly,vol. xvi., p. 300. John 4:31-38. Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. xxxii., No. 1901. Joh 4:34; Ibid,vol. vi., No. 302. Joh 4:34-37. Homilist,new series, vol. i., p. 361. Joh 4:35. Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. xii., No. 706; I. de Witt Talmage, Old Wells Dug Out,p. 294; Homilist,3rd series, vol. vi., p. 3 2 John 1:4 :35, John 4:36. R. Rainy, Christian World Pulpit,vol. xxxi., p. 248. John 4:37. R. S. Candlish, Sermons,p. 1. Joh 4:35-38. Preacher's Monthly,vol. x., p. 169. John 4:37; John 4:38. Church of England Pulpit,vol. xviii., p. 73; Homiletic Magazine,vol. xii., p. 114.John 4:38. Christian World Pulpit,vol. xxxii., p. 234; Ibid.,vol. xiii., p. 111. Joh 4:39. Ibid.,vol. viii., p. 211. Joh 4:39. Clergyman's Magazine,vol. ii., p. 158. John 4:39-42. Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. xviii., No. 105 3 John 1:4 :42. J. Vaughan, Ibid.,Nov. 12th, 1862; R. Duckworth, Ibid.,vol. xxxvi., p. 166. John 4:46. G. Littlemore, Christian World Pulpit,vol. xxvii., p. 170. John 4:46-53. Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. xxxi., No. 1865.John 4:46-54. Homiletic Quarterly,vol. i., p. 467; Clergyman's Magazine,vol. iii., p. 24.