John Chapter 4:8-14

You ask Jesus, you believe Jesus, you receive your forgiveness, and from that you turn.

See, I don't think you have the power. Before you're saved, you do not have the power to turn from your sins. And yet sometimes that's what we tell people. Well, you've got to turn from your sins. And they're like, what?

What's sin? They have no idea what you're talking about. And then they think, well, I can't do that.

And they say, well, how do I come to God? Well, first you've got to quit doing this. You've got to quit doing that. Then you've got to quit doing this. Quit doing that. Then you've got to start doing this, that, and the other. And they go, can't do it.

Try before. But if we put their hand in the hand of Jesus, you know what happens? Their life has changed. Their heart has changed. All of a sudden they want to read the Bible. They want to go to church. They want to pray to the Lord.

They want to quit doing this, that, and the other. Welcome to Cross the Bridge with David Magee. David is the senior pastor of The Bridge in Kernersville, North Carolina. Today, Pastor David continues teaching through John chapter 4 with the message, give me a drink.

We're also excited to have in the studio with us D.A. Brown, one of David's associate pastors. Welcome, brother. Bob, Jesus wants to be our fulfillment, and the world is offering so many substitutes. Today, if we would just take a minute and listen to the offer that Jesus is extending to us, it might change everything about our future.

Well, that's some good news. So let's listen as David Magee continues teaching, give me a drink. John chapter 4, verse 7. A woman of Samaria came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, give me a drink. That sounds a little abrupt to our English ears, but, you know, in our modern verbiage, it would probably be, please give me a drink.

But don't miss this. Look how the exchange starts. This is intriguing to me. Jesus asked her to do something. He says, please give me a drink of water. Who ends up getting blessed?

Woman at the well. Here's something that's so important as I believe that we're all called to serve. We're all called to minister. I don't believe that only those who, you know, are salaried or paid to be in the ministry are the ones that are supposed to minister. That's the way that it looks like in some churches. It has, you know, you've got the pastor who is a professional Christian, you know, and then everybody else is spectators.

I don't know where we got that. It's completely unbiblical. We're all supposed to be serving. We're all supposed to be serving God. And there are things that Jesus will ask you to do. Obviously, this lady is going to get a little uncomfortable with what Jesus has asked her to do. Verse 8, for his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.

It's interesting. Now, first of all, they seem like they're always missing it. Here they, you know, something's going on, minister opportunity, they're going to go buy food.

But also notice this. They went to buy food. That tells me Jesus and the disciples completely rejected this prejudice thing against the Samaritans. They went into a Samaritan village to buy Samaritan food, which they were going to eat. Also, in a practical sense, to buy food, you've got to have what? You've got to have money. Where did they get money?

They didn't always just pull it out of the mouth of fishes. Scripture tells us, that's a cool trick, but Scripture tells us that there were certain people that helped support the work of the ministry there with Jesus to purchase practical things like food and whatnot. And that's the way that it works now and where, you know, the Lord lays on people's heart to give and to help with the practical expenses because the reality is if we don't keep, you know, we didn't keep the power on, the AC wouldn't be on, we ultimately wouldn't have a building. These are very practical things, but they enable us to minister in the spiritual realm.

We certainly praise God for those who give faithfully. So verse 9, then the woman of Samaria said to him, how is it that you, being a Jew, ask a drink of me, a Samaritan woman? For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.

Now notice what got her attention. His lack of prejudice. The lack of being weird about this Jewish Samaritan thing. See, with Jesus, it's not a case of a whole lot of heat and a little bit of light. Be careful if that describes you as a believer. Be careful with that.

Well, you know what? Keep your finger right there in John 4 and go to the book of Revelation with me. Some of you are going, oh no, Revelation.

Don't let it freak you out. You know, Revelation is not a hard book to understand. You've got to understand the Hebrew Scriptures. We're going to Revelation chapter 2. You need to understand the Hebrew Scriptures of the Old Testament to really understand the book of Revelation.

Incidentally, do you hear that I'm saying that singular? It's Revelation. It's not Revelations.

It's not plural. It's Revelation. It's the revelation of Jesus Christ.

So be sure to say that in a singular form. Chapter 2. I'm just going to go through these first seven verses real quick.

Chapter 2. To the angel of the church at Ephesus write, These things says he who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars. So understand, this church, from an apologetic standpoint or theological standpoint, this church was on time. They were defenders of the faith, if you will. Verse 3, And you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for my name's sake, and have not become weary. Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Actually, we can stop there.

What's the problem? They became, I think, so busy defending their faith, they forgot it was about loving the Lord. They forgot it was about Jesus. And you know, as I look, and we can flip back to John 4, as I look at some of the ministries that are engaged in what we term apologetics or defending the faith, now understand, these are necessary ministries.

I am glad that they are in place. But what I notice sometimes is they almost get hateful in their approach. And I think we've got to be careful because in that passage of Scripture and Revelation, it's saying, hey, you know, be careful and don't lose your first love.

You know, there's been times when I've been in danger of this, just to be honest. And that I've gotten so concerned about what's wrong with other people, my focus began to get on them. When they're not worthy of my focus, my focus should be on Jesus.

Now, understand what I'm saying. Oh, he's going to candy-coat everything from now on, I doubt it. But I want to make sure Jesus is the focus here. And guys, if we're running around trying to fix everybody that's wrong, boy, when are we going to get finished with that? So I think there's a balance and we need to be careful with it. This lady is interested because Jesus is not being prejudiced.

He's not being weird. Now, verse 10, Jesus answered and said to 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. And here, Jesus introduces salvation. He uses the known to introduce the unknown.

He uses the water to introduce the living water. And this is an awesome opportunity, guys. We're talking about evangelism on Sunday night.

And we'll talk about it again tonight. But this is a front seat right here to the master evangelist. The way Jesus interacts with this lady is incredible. And he uses the known to introduce the unknown. And you know what? You can do that in conversations, whether it's about the weather with hurricanes or what's going on in the Middle East or what's going on with the separation of church and state, all these things. These are opportunities for us to make a segue from the known to the unknown, maybe about the newest bestseller or something. You can make that segue and go, hey, what do you think about this? What do you think about that?

Oh, really? Well, the Bible says, or you know, I've learned from Jesus or my relationship with my Jesus or whatever can be a tie-in to what involves the salvation of somebody's soul. And what is the gift that Jesus is speaking of here? Some people say it's the gift of living water.

I don't think so. Because just in the last chapter, we're told what God gave. God gave what? His only begotten Son. What he's offering to this woman is himself.

He's offering himself to this woman. And he makes it personal. He made salvation personal because he said you would have asked him and he would have given you living water. So he's making salvation personal. It's important when you're talking to somebody that you keep it on their salvation because if you don't, you're going to end up in all kinds of tangents and trouble. You know, what I've found is when you start talking to some people about, hey, what are you going to do about forgiveness?

What are you going to do about sinning? You know, all of a sudden they want to talk about everything else. They want to talk about the big mes in Africa. They want to talk about the Antichrist. They want to talk about this. They want to talk about that.

And I'll never forget, I was up in Pennsylvania and I was probably 18. I was street witnessing and I talked to this guy and he said, yeah, I'm a sinner and what are you going to do about this? I know how you can be forgiven. And man, we were right on the verge and then he asked me about prophecy. Well, you know, I spent the next 10 minutes telling him about the Antichrist and end times and how I thought it was all going to come down and then after that he walked off. And there was a brother, a more mature, older than the Lord standing there and he nodded his head when I walked up and I went, what? He goes, you had him. You had him. I think he was ready to pray with you.

But you went off on this prophecy thing. Pastor Chuck Smith has a saying, keep the main thing the main thing. The main thing is Jesus.

And when you're talking to somebody about the condition of their soul, make sure you keep the main thing being Jesus. Jesus wanted to show this lady three things. She didn't know who he was, wanted to show her what he had to offer and how she could receive what he had to offer. Who he was, what he had to offer and how she could receive what he had to offer.

Now, look at this. In verse 10 it says, I don't know if you read now the same version. Verse 10 says, Jesus answered and said to her, if you knew the gift of God and who it is who says to you, give me a drink, you would have joined the church, been baptized, gotten on the rolls, cut your hair, dressed differently and then he would have given you living water. Is that, is that, oh, you don't have the same version I got? Okay. It doesn't say that, does it?

Again, what do we do? We put obstacles in the way of people getting to God. He says, if you ask for it, I'm going to give it to you. See, even right now, probably some people in the room go, that's just not right. Jesus said it. Jesus said it. If your problem with that is, it's not with me, it's with Jesus. Jesus said, if you ask for it, I'll give it to you. Is it just that easy?

You betcha. Well, don't you have to do this, that and the other? Apparently not. You ask Jesus, you believe Jesus, you receive your forgiveness and from that you turn. See, I don't think, I don't think you have the power. Before you're saved, you do not have the power to turn from your sins. And yet sometimes that's what we tell people. You've got to turn from your sins. And they're like, what?

What's sin? They have no idea what you're talking about. And then they think, well, I can't do that. And they say, well, how do I come to God? Well, first you've got to quit doing this, you've got to quit doing that. And you've got to quit doing this, quit doing that. Then you've got to start doing this, that and the other. And they go, can't do it.

Try before. But if we put their hand in the hand of Jesus, you know what happens? Their life has changed. Their heart has changed. All of a sudden they want to read the Bible. They want to go to church. They want to pray to the Lord. They want to quit doing this, that and the other. But if we set that as the obstacle, man, we're doing the gospel of disservice. Because then it's not the good news anymore.

It's a version of hip, hip, hooray, try a little harder. Push a little harder. Make more promises. Do this, do that. And then, you know, God may accept you.

That's not good news. We'll be right back with more from David McGee on Cross the Bridge. Right now, here's a word from associate pastor D.A.

Brown. Hey, Bob, we want to take a minute to pray for our listening audience, those living in these cities in California, Oroville, Paso Robles, Pine Grove, Quartz Hill, Red Bluff, Redding, and Ridgecrest. God, we thank you for those listening in these cities and the surrounding areas. Lord, we pray that you would speak right to them, right where they're at today, that they would be excited about following you, that they wouldn't fear that they're going to fall short, because you're going to do the work in them. God, we pray that they would get plugged into a Bible-teaching, Bible-believing church. And Father, did you give the pastors in those churches wisdom on how to encourage those whom God brings? In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.

Thank you, brother. And now, let's get back to David McGee as he continues teaching verse by verse. Verse 11, the woman said to him, sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep.

Where, then, do you get that living water? So she's wondering if he can give what he's talking about. Now, verse 12, are you greater than our father, Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock? She's trying to start an argument with Jesus. She uses our father, Jacob.

Those, to a Jewish person, those are fighting words. She's claiming that she's a direct descendant of Jacob, and she is to a degree, but again, it's been mixed with the Assyrians, so that'd be enough to mess the whole thing up. And then she's talking about a disputed piece of real estate, Jacob's well. And she asks, are you greater than Jacob?

What's the answer? Yeah, you betcha. Did he tell her that? No. Why?

No. And notice, he's bringing her along solely. He could have answered, yes, as a matter of fact, I'm God, da da da, right, but he doesn't do that right here. Guys, that's so important, because so many times, when we're sharing the love of the Lord, when we're sharing the gospel, it's like we whoop out this bazooka of truth, you know? Hey, yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah. He's coming.

He's getting cool. Oh, gotcha. Gotcha in the cross here. You know? I got another one for you, God. Wipe that sinner out. Wait a minute.

That's what we're supposed to do? Where in here do you see that you're supposed to go around with a bazooka from God wiping people out? Doesn't say it. Jesus is wooing her and he's winning her. Notice verse 13, Jesus ignores the controversy. Jesus answered and said to her, whoever drinks of this water will thirst again.

He makes a statement that pertains to this woman. What's your master passion right now in life? What's the thing that's driving you? What's the thing that you think about when you wake up in the morning? It might be something good. It might be working hard. It might be a success of the business or school or whatever.

Maybe popularity, maybe this, maybe that. But you know what? Whatever your master passion is, if it's not Jesus, it's going to leave you real thirsty. Probably leave you hurting, dry.

Jesus doesn't want you to be like that. And whatever your master passion is, money or success or fame or fortune, it's going to leave you dry and disillusioned. No real contentment, no real satisfaction. This offers temporary satisfaction. Now it does offer, again, it offers temporary satisfaction, but not for long.

Not for long. It used to amaze me back when I used to drink, and I drank a lot, but it always would amaze me the next morning because you know, I'm thinking, man, I drank so much last night. Why am I so thirsty this morning? Because my thirst wasn't quenched. It didn't do the deal. It didn't quench my thirst.

And that's the way it is with the stuff of the world, guys. Temporary satisfaction that leaves you thirsty. Verse 14, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life. See, there's a deep satisfaction that comes from walking with the Lord, of being sold out for Jesus that the world cannot compete with.

It doesn't have any counterfeit that is of value there. And there's a contentment that comes with loving the Lord and walking with the Lord and living for the Lord. Now you may have moments where you're restless. You may have moments when God's moving you around and you're a little anxious or restless or discontented. But if you return to what God has said, if you return to faith in God's word, then you can rest.

And you can know that deep soul satisfaction you can't find anywhere else. See guys, we're not here because we're just really good people and this is what really good people do on Sunday mornings. We're here, well, in the words of Peter in John 6 when Jesus said, are you going to leave too? Peter said, where are we going to go? We don't have anywhere else to go to get this satisfaction for the soul that Jesus can give us.

He's the only one that can offer us that. Oh, there's counterfeits out there, you betcha. There's distractions out there galore. But they're going to leave you hurting.

They're going to leave you thirsty. They're not worthy of your focus or your time and that's no way to live and it's certainly no way to die. Perhaps you're here this morning and you've let the Lord slip to number two or three or maybe five or six. Maybe you're miserable and maybe you realize, even as I'm saying it, where true peace and contentment are but you're not experiencing those things. Well, might I suggest that you've gotten your priorities out of whack. Maybe you've put the physical above the spiritual. You'll never be able to achieve spiritual satisfaction through physical things, never. God didn't wire us like that.

Oh, I know we struggle with this and we need to be honest that there is a war going on. Romans chapter eight, verse six and seven says, if your sinful nature controls your mind, there is death. But if the Holy Spirit controls your mind, there is life and peace. For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God's laws and it never will. See, some people get told, hey, you know, when you get saved, you quit wanting to do wrong things.

Really? That's not what my Bible says. My Bible says that Paul said, you know, the things I want to do, I end up not doing.

The things I don't want to do, I end up doing those. And at the end of 20 years plus of ministry, he said, you know, of sinners of whom I am the chief. That tells me Paul was still struggling. And too often we put this bondage on people and say, well, if you're a Christian, you shouldn't be struggling.

Really? It says always here. It will always be hostile to God.

So what do we do? We give that to the Lord, not just once, but over and over. And we ask for his help and we surrender that part of us in order to live for God.

This doesn't mean you go around beating yourself or having personal vows of poverty and starvation and all this weird stuff. It is a sacrifice of sorts, but it's well worth it. You give your life for his. For your confusion, for your pain, he gives you joy. He gives you peace. For your hatefulness and bitterness, he gives you love and forgiveness.

Who wouldn't want that deal? But sometimes we stray. Sometimes we get off track.

Sometimes we get caught up in stuff and we get thirsty and we go looking for something that the Lord has already given us. Let me ask you a question. How many people in here, and just be honest, how many people in here did I just describe? And you're willing to admit to the Lord, you know, Lord, this is, he's talking to me. He's talking about me. I thought it was this.

I thought it was that. I've been focused on this person or not forgiven that person and I'm dry and I'm thirsty and I'm hurting. This describes you. Do me a favor right now. Just flip your hand up and say, yes, pastor, that describes me. I want you to pray for me. Praise God. Praise God.

Thank you for your honesty. Just raise your hand and slip it back down. Lord sees your hand going up. I'm going to wait a few more seconds.

Is there anybody else? Lord you see hands going up all over the room. And Lord, in the passage we're reading, you saw the thirst of this woman and your offer then was to quench that thirst.

Lord, that's your offer this morning. Lord, you see your people. Some of them have a relationship with you. They've asked you to forgive them of their sins, but they've gotten distracted.

They've gotten a little sidetracked. Lord, maybe there's even some here who've put ministry in front of you. And they're dry and they're thirsty. And Lord, just like you wanted to quench the thirst of this woman at the well, Lord, this morning you want to quench our thirst. And perhaps there's some here this morning who don't know you as their savior. They've never asked you for the forgiveness of their sins.

They assumed that as long as they did okay and tried hard and did the best they could that you would accept that. And yet, Lord, that's not the good news. That's not the gospel. The gospel is that our best is not good enough for a holy and perfect God, and they're thirsty as well.

Some of you were bold enough to raise your hand. Some of you need to pray this prayer for the first time, admitting that you're a sinner, asking the Lord to forgive you of your sins, believing He died for you, and asking Him to change your life. And don't let people or voices or whatever distract you from what the Lord's wanting to do in your life this morning. I invite you this morning to come and drink from the living water. Friend, do you know for sure that your sins have been forgiven?

You can know right now. I want to lead you in a short, simple prayer, simply telling God you're sorry and asking Him to help you to live for Him. Now, God wants you to pray this prayer so much that He died to give you the opportunity and the ability to ask Him to forgive you.

Please pray this prayer with me out loud right now. Dear Jesus, I believe you died for me, that I could be forgiven. And I believe you were raised from the dead, that I could have a new life. And I've done wrong things. I have sinned, and I'm sorry. Please forgive me of all those things.

Please give me the power to live for you all of my days. In Jesus' name, amen. Friend, if you prayed that prayer, according to the Bible, you've been forgiven, you've been born again. Jesus said He would not turn anybody away who comes to Him, and He came for those people who knew they needed forgiveness, those who were sick, not the righteous.

So congratulations, friend, you just made the greatest decision that you will ever make. God bless you. If you prayed that prayer with David for the first time, we'd love to hear from you. You can visit crossthebridge.com to receive our First Steps package with helpful resources to help you begin your walk with Christ.

Or you can write to Cross the Bridge at P.O. Box 12515, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27117, and share how God is working in your life. Well, DA, before we go, what are some ways that we can bless our listeners? Each day you can wake up with encouragement from Pastor David through the Word of God with his email devotional, life lessons to consider, a daily reading plan, and a thought to meditate on throughout your day from the heart of David McGee.

That sounds good, Pastor DA, and again, it's been great to have you with us on the program today. But tell us, what else can our listeners find on crossthebridge.com? If you're not able to make it to your home church this Sunday, why not join us for our live stream at 10 a.m. Eastern Time, or on Thursday nights at 7 p.m. Eastern Time? Just visit crossthebridge.com and click on our live stream link. There you'll experience a live service from David's home church, The Bridge, in North Carolina – again, that website is crossthebridge.com. Thanks again for listening, and join us next time as David McGee continues teaching verse by verse in the Gospel of John.