The Water of Life
Book of John Chapter
4:6-26
This is a story of
truth where a woman who had lived a life of sin met the Lord Jesus
Christ at a well in Samaria and seized on that opportunity to believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus may not have
ever passed by that way again and we should understand this today.
A great lesson for
today is that the Lord Jesus Christ can save anybody, anywhere, at
any time!
No soul is so lost
that the Lord Jesus Christ cannot find it!
This woman would go
unnoticed today because she would fit in to the things that are
happening, where there is no commitment to marriage and couples
choose to just live together as being married, free to leave at any
time.
Our young people
today are just afraid to make a commitment, yet a commitment must be
made to the Lord before we can enter into God's New Heaven!
Jesus knows so much
about all of us that He knows exactly what to say to us at any given
moment and sometimes it only takes a very few words to lead someone
to Christ.
Another great lesson
we can learn from this passage is that as powerful as is the Lord, He
will still accept a small gift, such as this drink of water from any
of us!
Jesus and His
disciples were traveling back to Galilee and took a short cut through
Samaria which could be said to be the enemies of the Jews.
They at least had no
respect for one another because the Samaritans were a people of mixed
breeds.
Even today the world
still frowns of mixed relationships that produce children of a new
color. This is one of the greatest proofs of the Book of Genesis.
*****Joh 4:6 Now
Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his
journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.
Joh 4:7 There
cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give
me to drink.
We should understand
that there is no one upon the face of this earth that does not need
the Gospel!
It was about the 6th
hour of the day which means it was high noon and the human side of
Jesus was tired and thirsty. "Yes that earthly body of Jesus
felt the same things that our bodies feel and we all get tired and
thirsty!
Mat 8:17 That it
might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,
Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.
The truth is, the
Lord will always ask so He can get an opportunity to give!
God is always ready
to bless us at any given moment and He offers many opportunities to
get a blessing every day!
What is the truth of
Jesus our Messiah?
He shared our
infirmity, yet He had no sin.
He would accept
human supplies to maintain His earthy body.
He would then
because of His great love, surpass all human expectations!
This woman had
walked about a half mile to get some fresh water from a well that was
called Jacob's well because Jacob had dug this well many years before
this day. This well was very near to the tomb of Joseph.
The Jews considered
themselves a pure race then as most of them still do today.
They considered the
Samaritans as mixed breeds because of what had happened when Assyria
had over run the 10 Northern Tribes of Israel many years earlier.
Jesus Christ only
sees souls in need of salvation. Jesus does not see the color of the
skin and no, He is not color blind, He can very well tell what our
skin color is, but this is irrelevant to Him!
The Jews had no
dealings with the Samaritans.
*****Joh 4:8 (For
his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)
Joh 4:9 Then saith
the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew,
askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no
dealings with the Samaritans.
We should understand
that the disciples of Jesus at this time did not understand the "Love
of God" and had they not been sent to gather food they would
certainly have attempted to interfere with the conversation that
Jesus was having with this woman.
Her soul was much
too important for her to be turned off by some who despised her.
The Jews would only
deal with the Samaritans in business matters such as the markets of
fresh foods that met the food laws of the laws of Moses.
The Samaritans had
kept only the five books of Moses to live by and none other books of
the Old Testament.
This woman took no
time in noticing that Jesus was a Jew.
No matter what
people say Jesus was born as a Jew, lived as a Jew and died as a Jew
according to all the Laws of Moses.
Jesus raised from
the dead because those laws of Moses cannot bring life and "New
Life" comes by a New Covenant!
It was only when
Jesus was raised from the dead that He had a glorified body that was
not of this world!
Rom 1:3 Concerning
his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David
according to the flesh;
Rom 1:4 And
declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of
holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:
By continuing in
conversation with the Lord, this woman opened the door for Jesus to
teach her the truth of God's Word.
*****Joh 4:10 Jesus
answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who
it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked
of him, and he would have given thee living water.
Jesus immediately
begins with "Grace" because of His love for each of us.
Joh 3:16 For God so
loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Joh 3:17 For God
sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the
world through him might be saved.
Just as each of us,
this woman was unworthy to receive the gifts of God, yet there she
was side by side with the Messiah and she did not know Him.
James the
half-brother of Jesus said it this way.
Jas 1:17 Every good
gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the
Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of
turning.
The truth is, Living
Water is alive and that "Living Water" can come only by the
Lord Jesus Christ!
What is the truth of
our world today? The world does not accept the precious gift of God,
His Son, Jesus the Messiah!
In our world today,
many want everything given to them and this is exactly what God does,
He gives His gifts freely, but God does have one rule that cannot be
avoided. God says if you do not work then you will not eat!
Jesus says, if you
just knew the gifts of God, you could just ask, and they would be
given to you!
Water is one of the
two great necessities of life the other one is the air we breathe.
Without these two things we would die very quickly, and we know that
both these things can describe the work of the Holy Spirit!
This woman could not
understand the truth because she was caught up in sin and immorality,
which also describes our world of today!
We cannot “Passover”
to the side of Jesus Christ until we know the truth of Jesus Christ!
Joh 7:37 In the
last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying,
If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
Joh 7:38 He that
believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall
flow rivers of living water.
Joh 7:39 (But this
spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should
receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was
not yet glorified.)
We might ask
ourselves, why does the world think we need some part of this world
in order to understand what the Lord is saying.
This woman said, you
are not even equipped to draw any sort of water from this well.
This woman was
thinking, that without her bucket, this man was not going to drink
any water.
*****Joh 4:11 The
woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the
well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?
Joh 4:12 Art thou
greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank
thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
To this woman who
knew that it was Jacob who had dug this well but even Jacob could not
have guessed the number of blessings this well would provide to those
near unto it and traveling strangers.
This considered, how
could this stranger provide a greater blessing than that of Jacob who
was a patriarch of the Jewish people but also of the Samaritans. The
Samaritans only recognized the 5 books of Moses and this only
loosely.
This woman
insinuated that there was no water anywhere else in the world any
better than the water of this well provided by the hands of Jacob the
patriarch of all Israel.
This woman was
already thinking a works religion when the Lord was offering the free
"Gift" of "Grace".
Certainly Jesus was
greater than Jacob!
Certainly Jesus was
greater than Moses.
Certainly Jesus was
greater than the Jonas.
Certainly Jesus was
greater than Solomon.
Certainly Jesus was
greater than Abraham.
Certainly Jesus was
greater than the Temple.
And, Jesus is
greater than the Church because He is the fountain of "Living
Water". The "Grace" of God cannot flow except by the
hands of Jesus Christ!
Jesus Christ knew
the circumstances of this woman. Sometimes we can have this same
feeling when we sense that the Preacher is preaching directly at us.
Col 1:17 And he is
before all things, and by him all things consist.
Col 1:18 And he is
the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn
from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
Jesus Christ must be
preeminent in our lives before we can dig deep into that well of
"Living Water"!
It is only Christ
Jesus who can give the gift of "the water of life" which
refers to the Holy Spirit.
All those who reject
the Lord will drink of the "Lake of Fire"!
Rev 21:6 And he
said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the
end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the
water of life freely.
Rev 21:7 He that
overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he
shall be my son.
Rev 21:8 But the
fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and
whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have
their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which
is the second death
So Jesus answers
this woman, whoever drinks of this water that you hold in so high
regard will always have to return for another drink.
*****Joh 4:13 Jesus
answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall
thirst again:
Joh 4:14 But
whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never
thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of
water springing up into everlasting life.
You see it did not
matter how much this woman esteemed the water from Jacob's Well,
because in the end it was only water and water that was provided to
meet the needs of these people not by Jacob but by the Lord!
To be at peace in
this world, we need much more than water from some well, we need that
"Living Water" that can come only by the Lord!
The one thing we
understand about wells is that wells will eventually dry up.
But there is a
fountain: Pro_14:27 The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to
depart from the snares of death.
What will be the
difference with the way the Lord treats all people? Remember there
are only the believer and the unbeliever.
Isa 65:13 Therefore
thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall
be hungry: behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty:
behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed:
Isa 65:14 Behold,
my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow
of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit.
We all know how to
quench our thirst but until you know the Lord your spiritual thirst
cannot be quenched!
Today, especially
among our young people there is a void in their lives and that void
is spiritual thirst!
Suicides are up
among all people especially are young because they cannot quench
their spiritual thirst with the things of this world, no matter how
much they think they should be given.
We must also
understand that suicides are the highest among those children who
have been coerced to think of themselves of as opposite sex from
which they were born.
This world we live
in is like salt water, the more you drink the more you want until you
die of thirst because they have forsaken the Lord!
Joh 7:37 In the
last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying,
If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
Joh 7:38 He that
believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall
flow rivers of living water.
Once we drink of the
fountain of the Lord we will never have a spiritual thirst again!
Do we need a
refilling of the Holy Spirit every day, we sure do because we need
His guidance and His protection not so much because we are athirst?
Isa 58:11 And the
LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought,
and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and
like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.
The only wells we
need to drink from are the waters of salvation!
Isa 12:2 Behold,
God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD
JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.
Isa 12:3 Therefore
with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.
And what did this
woman say after Jesus explained the truth to her?
*****Joh 4:15 The
woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not,
neither come hither to draw.
This woman had
thought life was nothing, but a time of sensual enjoyment and she had
become miserable living this life of lies.
There is no complete
fulfillment in the things of this world, including sensual pleasure!
This is why drugs are so popular.
We know that all of
us have an inner thirst that in most cases we do not understand and
like Solomon we try everything this world has to offer, and nothing
in this world cannot supply things to fulfill that inner thirst!
Christ alone is the
answer to all life's questions!
At this point this
woman still had no respect for the Lord and we can just imagine as
she said "ok smarty pants show me this water" so the Lord
starts telling her things that He could not possibly have known if He
was just a man.
*****Joh 4:16 Jesus
saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.
Joh 4:17 The woman
answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast
well said, I have no husband:
Joh 4:18 For thou
hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband:
in that saidst thou truly.
We should know by
now that the conviction of sin is by the Holy Spirit.
It should be obvious
that this woman knew she was a dirty rotten sinner, but she thought
that her past was hidden to the rest of the world!
Even the man she was
living with now may not have known that she had been married 5 times,
but the Lord knows everything about our lives and about our sin!
Heb 4:13 Neither is
there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things
are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
If we do not see
anything else surely, we can see the love of God for this poor woman.
Sin is like a
life-threatening disease such as Cancer and as sinners, the cure
seems to always too far from us.
This woman needed to
be delivered from her sin, but she had to renounce that sin before
this could take place.
This woman attempted
to deny her sin by saying she did not have a husband, but the Lord
saw straight through this partial truth.
Pro 28:13 He that
covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and
forsaketh them shall have mercy.
If Christ knows
exactly how many hairs are on my balding head at any given moment,
then we can be sure, Christ knew everything about this poor woman.
We must understand
God keeps a record of everything we do.
Mal 3:16 Then they
that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD
hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before
him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.
Rev 20:12 And I saw
the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were
opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and
the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the
books, according to their works.
God has already
heard every excuse made by the sinner who rejects the truth so, there
will be no excuses at the White Throne of Judgment!
When we go before
the Lord it makes no sense for us to hold back any detail of our sin
because, He already knows, and He just wants us to understand if we
know ourselves!
This woman had been
married 5 times and this sixth man may have been the reason she was
divorced from that 5th husband.
Someone who has been
married 5 times will be the subject of many conversations but notice
Jesus did not judge her at all and this poor woman responded with the
truth, she was not married to the man she was living with at that
time.
A certain man once
wrote "an age in which divorce was easily allowed cannot be
judged by the same rules as one of stricter principles".
Yet this is the age
we live in today divorce is fairly easy to obtain but many today also
choose to live together so they do not have to go through the pain of
divorce.
If this woman was
trying to make herself to be someone innocent, then this also failed
because Jesus sees us for who we are because He knows all our
thoughts!
The woman was
astounded that the Lord knew everything about her past.
We should understand
that there is not one thing we can hide from the Lord.
We are all sinners.
So, what do we do
when we are in a conversation with someone who knows more about our
lives than we do?
This is exactly what
happens when we are in contact with the Lord.
We are guilty of
every disobedience!
We are guilty of
every law we break!
We are guilty of sin
and condemned!
We must confess our
sin!
Had this woman
confessed all her sin, then there would have been no sin for Jesus to
remember!
This woman
recognized Jesus as a prophet but not yet as her Savior!
*****Joh 4:19 The
woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.
Joh 4:20 Our
fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is
the place where men ought to worship.
It had been over 400
years since there had been a true prophet of God and the one since
that time would have been John the Baptist whom this woman probably
had never heard of.
In reality this
woman changed the subject of her being a sinner into this man(Jesus)
was a prophet.
If Jesus was a
Prophet, then He would be sure to know the place of worship of the
Samaritans on mount Gerizim.
She also knew that
the Jews worshipped in Jerusalem, but she did not see Jerusalem as a
better place to worship.
In essence she was
saying "which one of us is right"?
We should never take
this approach with the Lord!
Mount Gerizim was
officially the Mount of Blessing for this was where Joshua blessed
the children of Israel.
Many historical
events had happened on and near this mountain and Gerizim is still to
the Samaritans, what Jerusalem is to the Jews.
On this day of Jesus
this one lady would begin to know the truth!
That truth is, true
worship shall be no longer confined to any one place or to one
nation!
*****Joh 4:21 Jesus
saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall
neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
Joh 4:22 Ye worship
ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the
Jews.
We must understand
that the place we worship is not important.
1) An hour was
coming that would change the whole concept of worship. There would be
a "new way" to approach the Living God.
2) On this hour a
historical event would take place that would change the worship of
Jehovah.
3) The people of God
could worship God in any place and at any time!
By following the
ways of the Samaritans, this woman had no idea about true worship.
It was not the
worship of the Jews that was important, but Jesus Christ was a Jew,
and therefore salvation is of the Jews.
In true worship our
whole being must be focused on the One True Living God!
Rom 10:1 Brethren,
my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be
saved.
Rom 10:2 For I bear
them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to
knowledge.
Rom 10:3 For they
being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish
their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the
righteousness of God.
Rom 10:4 For Christ
is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
The Jews were
intended to be our example for the Church and this points out some
things about our Lord.
God wants a people
who will love Him above all other things and give Him their loyalty.
God wants a people
who are unashamed to tell others how wonderful He is.
God wants a people
through whom the Messiah will return.
God wants a people
who will preserve the truth of the Word of God.
This was indeed what
God wanted from the Jews and is now true of the Church!
The Jewish nation
failed, and it is the Church in place now and the Church must not
fail!
The Jewish nation is
still the apple of God's eyes and is still the time piece for all
prophecy to be fulfilled!
Jesus was a Jew and
God took all the sin of the world and placed all that sin upon His
Messiah so that sin could be done away with!
*****Joh 4:23 But
the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship
the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to
worship him.
Joh 4:24 God is a
Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in
truth.
So how are the true
worshippers described? All those who worship the Father in spirit and
truth. All others will fail!
It is the Lord Jesus
Christ who determines true worship! (In spirit and truth)
It is the Lord Jesus
Christ who determines the place of worship. (In our heart, down deep
in our soul).
Spiritual worship is
to seek a close and personal fellowship with God. Resting in God's
acceptance and God's peace.
True worship is to
approach God in the right way and the right way is through His Son
the Lord Jesus Christ!
Why? Because God is
seeking all those who will worship Him in spirit and truth and they
will spend eternity with Him and not any others!
Pro 16:1 The
preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is
from the LORD.
Pro 16:2 All the
ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the
spirits.
Pro 16:3 Commit thy
works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.
Pro 16:4 The LORD
hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of
evil.
Pro 16:5 Every one
that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand
join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.
To worship in truth
means that God has dictated the only method of pleasing Him and that
is the worship through His dear Son!
We must present our
bodies to God for His use!
Rom 12:1 I beseech
you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your
bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your
reasonable service.
Rom 12:2 And be not
conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of
your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and
perfect, will of God.
This is the results
of God's Living Water!
Amen
Let’s Pray
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