LIVING WATER

Jesus offers living water, reveals true worship, and gives new life.

Where do you go to find satisfaction and life?

What are the names of your wells?  (people? sex? alcohol? drugs? relationships? education? entertainment? TV/internet? pornography? money? stock market? property? your image? shopping? gambling? career? success? food(eating disorders)? diets/exercise? independence? worry? fear? anger? self-pity?)

All of my life I had chased anything or anyone who I thought could make me feel worthy, loved, and safe.  Oh sure, pleasure lasted for awhile, but it never lasted or satisfied the deep pit in my soul.  This pursuit of mine lead me on a path of destruction and was lit with the glamour of lies. It cost me my family, relationships, money, health, sanity, purity, my innocence, and my freedom.  I had always been very independent and I thought I knew what was best for myself...thank you very much.  Well, I was very wrong.  After exhausting all of my bright ideas, God appeared at my "well" to show me that my gig was up, and He offered me a new life.

The story in the bible we're going to look at is when Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the well.  By the way, this personal encounter with Jesus applies to men and women! Below is the passage in full. We will break it down, look at it, then apply it.

First, let’s read through John chapter 4:1-30.

1The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, 2although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3When the Lord learned of this, he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.

4Now he had to go through Samaria. 5So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

7When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" 8(His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

9The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.[a])

10Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."

11"Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?"

13Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

15The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water."

16He told her, "Go, call your husband and come back."

17"I have no husband," she replied.

Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband. 18The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true."

19"Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. 20Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem."

21Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

25The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."

26Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he."

27Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, "What do you want?" or "Why are you talking with her?"

28Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29"Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" 30They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

1.Jesus offers you living water so that you will never thirst again.

We see that Jesus is waiting at the well...the place the woman goes for life and satisfaction. She is coming there to meet her physical needs, but Jesus reveals her spiritual need.  He offered her the Living water that will satisfy her FOREVER. Jesus tells her that the water she comes for will never satisfy her, but the Living water He gives will be an eternal fountain in her springing up to everlasting life. We hear the desperation in her response to Jesus in verse 15 when she says, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

She comes to this well for water...day after day, in the heat of the day(noon), alone. 

Do you return to your wells, day after day, only to find that you are never satisfied and always thirsty? 

Can you identify your habits and beliefs which are leaving you dry?

These wells are the things you and I have tried to make for ourselves to bring life, love, security, relief and pleasure. It is a never ending chase with NO rest. No peace. NO lasting satisfaction.

These idols will fail to satisfy us. Idols are anything we place dependence or importance upon, other than, or more than God.  My idols were people, philosophies, material things, and myself!  One by one they came crashing down.

You will eat but you will not be satisfied. (Lev. 26:26)

The Living water Jesus is offering is the gift of the Holy Spirit.  He brings us new life, complete satisfaction, healing, and His abundant life that will overflow from within us.  Jesus Christ is the source.

And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. (Phil 4:19)

“If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.  He who believes in Me, as Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:37-38 nkjv)

How will you respond to Jesus' gift of Living Water?

2.Jesus will meet you in your shame and offer you new life. He knows everything about you.

She is alone. She doesn’t get water with the rest of the town’s women because she is an outcast. Her sin is public news and she probably doesn’t have many friends. I can relate!  I gave people a lot to gossip about.  I gave my heart away and was riddled with shame from an early age.  I thought I was never good enough, never pretty enough, and never smart enough.  I had a lot of pain to numb.

But Jesus sought value in the brokenhearted. Remember it says in verse 4, Jesus HAD to go to Samaria. He had a Divine appointment with this woman. He HAD to get to her!!!

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. (psalm 34:18niv)

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. (psalm 147:3)

verse 12..It is clear that she does not know who Jesus is at first.  She is confused because Jews do not associate with Samaritans, yet she could see that He had special insight.

verses 16-18 Jesus tells her to go get her husband. She confesses the truth that she does not have one.  Then Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband. 18The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true."

AHHH! Can you imagine? This stranger reveals your deepest shame and secrets?  Yet he did not condemn her. In fact He asked her for a drink of water! He was not afraid of her condition, He met her in it, and came to save her from it! Here Jesus points out that she has been seeking satisfaction in many lovers, and convicts her of her need for a Savior.  She is an immoral woman and the whole town knows about it! I’ll bet the town women didn't want her around their husbands either!!

verses 19-26 Now the woman thinks that Jesus is a prophet because He knows her life story!

O LORD, You have searched me and You know me.

2 You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar.

3 You discern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all my ways.

4 Before a word is on my tongue You know it completely, O LORD. (Psalm 139:1-4)

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (Romans 3:23)

“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." (Luke 19:10)

She changes the conversation to ask about where to worship. Many people disagree about where to worship.

In verses 21-26, Jesus says that she worships what she does not know (Hebrew God and pagan gods), for salvation comes from the Jews.  He also says that true worshippers MUST worship in Spirit and in truth, now.

What in life is receiving your worship? Your trust?

Isn’t this true today?  I had always done what I thought was right in my own eyes.  I went to great lengths searching for people's opinions, if I didn't have one for myself. Everyone has an opinion about religion, how to practice it, where to practice it, or maybe ignore it all together. But Jesus speaks to her heart!  He tears down the lies of man-made rules, religion, and opinions. Then he tells her the Truth that will set her free!  No matter where you are right now, you can worship God in Spirit and Truth...through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

What does worship in Spirit and Truth mean?

Jesus says,  "I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.(John 14:6)

She says she knows the Messiah(the Christ, the Anointed one) is coming soon.  Jesus replies “I who speak to you am He”.(John 4:26)

Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.(John 3:3)

Being born again means to be born again of God's Spirit, the Holy Spirit.  We are all dead in our trespasses and are only made alive by the power of the Holy Spirit in us, when by faith, we confess Jesus as our Lord and Savior.  We give Him all our brokenness, He cleanses us, and makes us His new beautiful creation.  Once dead, now alive in Christ!

 28Then, leaving her water jar.... stop right here. She left her water jar! This is radical, significant, and life changing. This woman left her source of security, life and satisfaction at the feet of Jesus!! When we lay our life down, Jesus resurrects it! He is the God who makes something from nothing! He is the Potter and we are His clay.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.(1Peter 5:7)

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone and the new has come! (2 Cor 5:17)

Will you drop your water pot (your life) at the feet of Jesus?

Will you give your life to Jesus, so that He may give you a new one?

There are many important things to see here!

1) She dropped her life at the feet of Jesus.  In that act, she acknowledged who He was, the Savior of the world.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is a gift of God. (Eph 2:8)

Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it." (Matthew 16:24-25)

2) She turned the other way and went back to the town.  Repentance is a deliberate turning away from your sin and going the other direction. 

"Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:38)

3) She then confessed Jesus to others.

If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9)

4) She witnessed to them what He said to her!

Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the Word of Christ. (Romans 10:17)

5) The fruit of her testimony is that many come to a saving faith in Jesus Christ! Even today.

In verses 29-30, she left all she had ever known, goes back into the city and tells everyone to  29"Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" 30They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

Here she goes back into town with NO SHAME or GUILT, free from the chains that held her in bondage. She tells everyone who she met and what He told her. She is forgiven, she is made new, made whole, and she has a personal relationship with God. Because of that relationship, her heart is on fire and many more come to see Him, believe in Him, and are saved! Only someone who has been forgiven much... would respond with such urgency and joy, that she has to tell everyone!

Below is the BIG PICTURE result of ONE woman’s encounter with Jesus at the well....

 39Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in Him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I ever did." 40So when the Samaritans came to Him, they urged Him to stay with them, and He stayed two days. 41And because of His words many more became believers.

 42They said to the woman, "We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world."(John 4:39-42)

How has the Samaritan woman’s testimony and the hearing of Jesus' Word changed you?

If you haven't already, will you receive Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior today?

The truth is that we have a Creator who desires a personal relationship with us.  Our sin blocks our fellowship with Him.  All men have sinned against God and fall short of His holiness.  We have all lied(even a white lie, or have not been completely honest), we have all murdered(Jesus says that if you have hated in your heart then you have committed murder), we have all worshipped other things, envied others, and gossiped.  God's perfect law says that if you have broken even one of these laws, you are guilty for breaking them all. The penalty for your sin is death and eternal life in a literal place called hell(separated from God forever, tormented by Satan). The Good News is that God sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to pay the penalty for your sin. He wore all of your shame and guilt on the cross and was the perfect and acceptable sacrifice for God.  Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.  When you repent of your sins, confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is the Son of God who took your place on that cross, died for you, was raised to life on the 3rd day, and receive Him as your personal Lord and Savior, you will be saved! This is the grace of God.  You cannot earn salvation, nor do you deserve it.  It is because of God's great mercy and grace that you are saved through faith in what Jesus did for you on the cross. He will forgive you, wash the stain of sin away, make you white as snow, give you His Holy Spirit, and everlasting life! He will satisfy your  thirst, free you from the prison and chains you are in, give you new eyes to see, and a new heart.  You'll become a child of God.

But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:31)