Jesus, The Living Water
John 4:1-26
We have been on a quest here in our church for the Biblical Jesus.
There is no doubt everyone has an idea as to who Jesus is.
We are studying the book of John to see the Jesus of the Bible.
2 Corinthians 11:3-4 “But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully.”
There have been many false assumptions about Jesus.
No character in human history has ever been more reinterpreted.
People continually shape Him to be what best suits their needs.
But we are in search of who the Bible says Jesus is.
Today we continue on that search.
Vs. 1-6 “Therefore when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His disciples were), He left Judea and went away again into Galilee. And He had to pass through Samaria. So He came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph; and Jacob’s well was there. So Jesus, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.”
John had just answered the questions of the Jews who wanted to know what he thought about
Jesus baptizing people and all the people coming to Him.
Jesus is not interested in getting into a baptism war,
So He is going to move for the time being to Galilee.
To get to Galilee the fastest, you would cut through Samaria,
But during the 6th hour, (noon) He finds Himself tired and thirsty
So He sits beside a well, and our story commences.
But John has a purpose in including this story.
We are going to see that this woman found in Jesus,
What she could not find anywhere else.
That is precisely John’s point.
You find in Jesus things you can find nowhere else in life.
I am going to show you three things you get from a relationship with Jesus that you cannot get anywhere else.
#1 JESUS SATISFIES
John 4:7-14
We are all familiar with the song “Just Can’t Get No Satisfaction”
I would say this woman would have sang that song.
Take a moment to see here life.
Her race caused her to be rejected…
Her gender caused her to be rejected…
She was excluded even by her own people…
Despite all her efforts, life had not worked out according to plan.
Life can often turn out this way can’t it?
Take a page from this woman’s diary for example.
1) She comes home and tells her mom that she finally found the man of her dreams. She is in love, and has decided to marry. But marriage wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. And after a couple of years of struggle, the marriage was over.
2) Not long after that, she meets a man who is everything that her first husband was not. This man will really make my dreams come true. However tragedy strikes and his life is cut short.
3) Now middle aged and alone you seek a new relationship, but you weren’t ready to remarry, and the whole thing was a mistake.
4) So a fourth husband comes along, and then a fifth, and now you just want a companion to help share the expenses.
5) Trying the world’s plan for happiness certainly didn’t work for you. Now you are scorned by all the other women, and to do your washing, you go to the Laundry Mat where no one knows you.
Sometimes we find out that all that glitters isn’t gold.
Ecclesiastes 2:9-11 “Then I became great and increased more than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also stood by me. All that my eyes desired I did not refuse them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart was pleased because of all my labor and this was my reward for all my labor. Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted, and behold all was vanity and striving after wind and there was no profit under the sun.”
Ecclesiastes 2:15-17 “Then I said to myself, “As is the fate of the fool, it will also befall me. Why then have I been extremely wise?” So I said to myself, “This too is vanity.” For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise man as with the fool, inasmuch as in the coming days all will be forgotten. And how the wise man and the fool alike die! So I hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was grievous to me; because everything is futility and striving after wind.”
Solomon reminded us that sometimes beer commercials lie.
All that glitters isn’t gold.
But it’s not just the things of the world.
We can be just as burned by religion.
Look at verse 20.
“Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.”
You get the feeling she tried religion,
But was left more confused than anything else.
Jews say you have to be a Jew
Muslims say you have to follow Allah
Buddhists say you have to be good
Jehovah’s Witnesses say you have to be one of the 144,000
Mormon’s say you have to be a missionary
Seventh Day Adventist says it has to be on Saturday
New Age says believe whatever you want
But not only in difference of religions
Are going to be a Baptist, Methodist, Church of Christ, First Christian, Assembly of God, Church of God, Nazarene, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, Catholic, or just watch whatever on TV.
And just like in the world, you can get bogged down.
This was what happened to Israel
They got caught up in religion, but forgot about God.
Isaiah 29:13 “Then the Lord said, “Because this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote,”
In much of the world today, that is exactly what religion is.
It is tradition learned by rote. (rules taught by men – NIV)
THERE IS NO POWER IN IT, AS THIS WOMAN FOUND OUT
And as she approaches the well and sees Jesus,
He makes an analogy for her.
“If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
Until now, all this woman had done
Was searched for things that would not satisfy.
But Jesus points to something better.
“If you knew the gift of God”
If you knew what God would have for you, you wouldn’t be wasting your time seeking the things of the world, or the religions of men.
The gift of God is righteousness.
The gift of God is faith leading to salvation.
The gift of God is Jesus.
Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
Jesus also said, if you knew “who it is who says to you”
If you knew the power that I have to change your life,
You would be seeking Me for what is best.
Of course the woman doubts.
“Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it Himself and his sons and his cattle?”
She is not questioning her need for living water,
She is questioning the possibility of it.
EVER BEEN THERE?
You don’t question the fact that something better in life would be great,
You just question the possibility of it.
You would love to find something that would satisfy your soul,
But everything you have found only lasts for a season,
And so you have just about given up.
Jesus understands that, and see how He replies.
“Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”
Jesus knows exactly what she means.
Everything she ever tried was fleeting joy.
Every relationship was only fulfilling for a little while…
Every religion was only fulfilling for a little while…
Every new car…
Every new dress…
The joy was fading, it didn’t last.
But Jesus promises something better.
He promises true deep satisfaction for your soul.
There is nothing in this world that can satisfy your soul but Jesus.
That is because it was Jesus who created you.
John 1:3 “All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.”
And He created you with a void that only He can fill.
Everything in your life that you have been seeking
Is just like this well water.
It is stagnant, it is fading, and it doesn’t benefit you.
Try gaining all the possession that will make you happy,
Matthew 16:26 “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”
Try getting involved in religion
Jeremiah 2:13 “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, The fountain of living waters, To hew for themselves cisterns, Broken cisterns That can hold no water.”
Without Jesus you will never be satisfied, but with Jesus,
It is like a well of water springing up to eternal life.
John 7:37-38 “Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'”
Isaiah 55:1-2 “Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk Without money and without cost. “Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And delight yourself in abundance.”
Psalms 36:7-9 “How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house; And You give them to drink of the river of Your delights. For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light.”
Jeremiah 17:13 “O LORD, the hope of Israel, All who forsake You will be put to shame. Those who turn away on earth will be written down, Because they have forsaken the fountain of living water, even the LORD.”
You can search in this life,
But apart from Jesus you will never find satisfaction,
He is the One who satisfies a soul.
He can give you living water so that you will never thirst again.
#2 JESUS SOLVES
John 4:15-24
Now you have to love what takes place here in the conversation.
This woman is about to miss the boat completely.
Jesus comes to her wanting a relationship,
She just wants religion.
He wants to fix the problem
She wants to treat the symptom.
“Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw.”
She thought her biggest problem was a long walk to get water.
If Jesus could treat this symptom in her life, then life would be better.
But isn’t that what she has been doing wrong from day one?
She was unhappy so she sought a relationship.
She was confused so she sought religion.
In her life she has yet to treat the source of the problem.
But Jesus doesn’t treat the symptoms, Jesus solves the problem.
“Go, call your husband and come here.” The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus told her, “You have correctly said, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly.”
Jesus was not about to just treat the symptom.
But look further, He wasn’t just asking her to get plugged in to religion either.
Vs. 19-24 “The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. “Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. “You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
DID YOU CATCH WHAT SHE WAS ASKING?
“Where should I go to church?”
Let me clarify something to you this morning,
On this #1 religious day of the year.
CHURCH IS NOT THE ANSWER – JESUS IS
Jesus wasn’t wanting this woman to go to church,
He wanted her to worship God, and there is a big difference.
Romans 12:1 “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”
If you want to worship God, then do what God wants.
“the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
You must yield your entire spirit to Him,
And worship Him according to the truth of His word.
You don’t just go to church and say,
“There God, I worshiped you today.”
Isaiah 1:12-15 “When you come to appear before Me, Who requires of you this trampling of My courts? “Bring your worthless offerings no longer, Incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies — I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. “I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them. “So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.”
Look at what Isaiah says later.
Isaiah 58:1-5 “Cry loudly, do not hold back; Raise your voice like a trumpet, And declare to My people their transgression And to the house of Jacob their sins. “Yet they seek Me day by day and delight to know My ways, As a nation that has done righteousness And has not forsaken the ordinance of their God. They ask Me for just decisions, They delight in the nearness of God. ‘Why have we fasted and You do not see? Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?’ Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire, And drive hard all your workers. “Behold, you fast for contention and strife and to strike with a wicked fist. You do not fast like you do today to make your voice heard on high. “Is it a fast like this which I choose, a day for a man to humble himself? Is it for bowing one’s head like a reed And for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed? Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the LORD?”
This woman wanted to treat the symptoms,
But Jesus solves the problem.
People all over the world just want Jesus to treat their symptoms.
I need more money…
I need more happiness…
I need more comfort…
THOSE ARE SYMPTOMS, NOT THE SOURCE
He wants you to deal with your sin, that is your problem.
Isaiah 58:6-9a “Is this not the fast which I choose, To loosen the bonds of wickedness, To undo the bands of the yoke, And to let the oppressed go free And break every yoke? “Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry And bring the homeless poor into the house; When you see the naked, to cover him; And not to hide yourself from your own flesh? “Then your light will break out like the dawn, And your recovery will speedily spring forth; And your righteousness will go before you; The glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. “Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; You will cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.”
[ILLUS: My dad’s Chiropractor – “Break up the Calcium deposits”]
JESUS DEALS WITH THE SOURCE
YOU DON’T COME TO JESUS TO TREAT SYMPTOMS,
YOU COME TO JESUS TO DEAL WITH YOUR SIN.
The Bible says our biggest problem is sin.
Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”
Romans 6:23a “For the wages of sin is death…”
But Jesus came to pay for sin.
Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
Today we celebrate because we know His payment was accepted.
Romans 5:9-10 “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”
IF JESUS ONLY WANTED TO TREAT THE SYMPTOMS,
HE WOULD HAVE JUST STAYED AROUND AND TAUGHT FOREVER.
BUT JESUS WANTED TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM,
SO AFTER 3 YEARS HE DIED ON A CROSS.
Jesus Satisfies Jesus Solves
#3 JESUS SAVES
John 4:25-26
At this point, the woman begins to understand what Jesus is saying.
She knows there is a need she can’t satisfy.
She knows she can no longer treat the symptoms.
She knows God has promised to send One who can help.
Isaiah 53:4-6 “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.”
She knew that there was a Savior on the way.
And then we get this wonderful truth.
“Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”
He is the One she was waiting for.
No one and nothing else can save you but Jesus.
John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”
Acts 4:10-12 “let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead — by this name this man stands here before you in good health. “He is the STONE WHICH WAS REJECTED by you, THE BUILDERS, but WHICH BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone. “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”
1 Timothy 2:5 “For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,”
You can look for salvation in other things, but it is exclusive to Jesus, and of course the reason is why we are here today.
There is only One who conquered the grave.
Romans 1:4 “[He] was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord,”
Revelation 1:17-18 “When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.”
John 14:19 “After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also.”
You can seek to fill that void, BUT ONLY JESUS SATISFIES.
You can treat the symptoms, BUT ONLY JESUS SOLVES.
You can follow others, BUT ONLY JESUS SAVES.
So what do you do with Jesus?
It’s not about going to church 1 Sunday a year.
It’s not about going to church 52 Sundays a year.
Religion isn’t the answer.
Jesus is.
I am here to tell you that God brought you to this place today
So that you would surrender your life to Jesus Christ.
He will satisfy the void,
He will solve your sin problem,
He will save you for all eternity.
But you must deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Him.
1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Romans 10:9 “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;”
Matthew 16:24 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.”
Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”
THIS MORNING WE ARE GOING TO HAVE AN INVITATION:
We will sing an invitation hymn.
If the Holy Spirit of God is drawing you to give your heart to Jesus.
• I want you to leave the place where you are sitting…
• Come down one of these aisles…
• Take me by the hand…
• And tell me you want to give your heart to Jesus…
HE IS THE ONLY LIVING WATER
ARE YOU THIRSTY?
