Finding Eternal Life

So if you find your places in John chapter 4, that's where we'll be at today. We're in John chapter 4, and we'll read verses 1 through 10, and then we'll pray.

The Word of the Lord says in John chapter 4, verse 1, Jesus had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John. Though Jesus himself baptized not but his disciples, he left Judea and departed unto Galilee, and he must needs go through Samaria. Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave his son Joseph. 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. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water, Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat. Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, asketh drink of me, which I am a woman of Samaria?

For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Verse 10, Jesus answered her 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. Let's pray. Father, we want to pause in your presence. Lord, we thank you for your word. Lord, we thank you for the truth that is in it.

We thank you that we can come and freely worship you the first hours of the first day of the week. Lord, we pray that you would take this scripture today, that you would help it to accomplish all that you've set out to do. Lord, may it conform us to the image of Christ for those that are saved. And Lord, if there's anyone here today that doesn't know Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior, that today would be the day of salvation for them. Lord, help us to take this scripture, apply it to our lives. Lord, hide me behind the cross. Clarity of thought may be given. Lord, may your Holy Spirit have free reign here today to work in hearts and lives and to even break the stony ground of the hardest heart that may be here today. Father, we know you're sovereign and you're in control of all. We ask this today in Jesus name. Amen.

You may be seated. It had been a long time since anyone had uttered any kind of a kind word to her. Her life began as any other, but had turned for the worse. Bad choices, poor judgment, and a lack of direction had left her feeling ashamed of the woman she had become. The people in her life, her family, her so-called friends, had rejected her. Others mocked her, some made fun of her, pointed and talked about her behind her back, but yet close enough that she could hear it. All she really wanted was love, acceptance, a little compassion, some time to put someone to put their arm around her and to tell her, I know you've made mistakes, but I love you and I care about you in spite of those things.

She lived her life hoping for someone, anyone, to just show her love. And I imagine that's how this woman in John chapter 4 felt, and perhaps maybe someone here today feels this way. This account is a well-known account, John chapter 4. If you've been in church at any point in time, you've become familiar with this passage of scripture.

It's a straightforward text. Jesus evangelizes an outcast woman who gets saved, who then goes back to her people and evangelizes her village. I want to remind everybody as we're jumping into the Gospel of John today that the purpose of John's writing, the purpose of the Gospel of John is found in John chapter 20 verse 31. But these things are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that ye believing might have life through his name.

And so the purpose of John's writing is to declare that Jesus is the Messiah, he is the Son of God. In this account, we see Jesus' humanity is on display. He is wearied, he is thirsty, and he's sitting by a well. And also his deity is on display in his omniscience, and he knows this woman's storied past. This woman is an outcast woman. She has been an outcast woman.

She's an immoral woman, I would say, as we sit here today. As I was beginning to pray about what to preach today, you know, the pastor's been preaching through several messages on salvation. So it would be awkward to jump into something on Christian living, so as I prayed about salvation versus passages, John chapter 3 have Nicodemus. Here in John chapter 4, the woman at the well, in Luke 19 you have Zacchaeus.

All very familiar portions of Scripture dealing with salvation. And so as you see in John chapter 3, there's this man named Nicodemus, and he's of the Pharisees. And he comes to Jesus by night, and he knew that Jesus was sent from God, if you're familiar with John chapter 3. He was a prophet of God because nobody could do what Jesus was doing. And Nicodemus had seen Jesus's miracles. On the contrary, this Samaritan woman, she had no clue who Jesus was. She had no idea of his miracles.

The contrast couldn't be any more different. Just to break it down a little bit further, Nicodemus came by cover of night. She comes at high noon. Nicodemus was devoutly religious. She's an immoral woman. He is learned in theology. She is an uneducated peasant. He recognized Jesus as a teacher. She had no clue who Jesus was. He was wealthy.

She was poor. He is of the very elite class in Israel, and she is from the dregs of the Samaritan people. And yet, this woman is the first person that Jesus declares his true identity to. It is a declaration that Jesus Christ has come to save people of every tribe, every nation, and every tongue as revealed in Revelation chapter 7, verse 9 and 10. It is a testimony that the salvation is to whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord. John 3, 16 says, 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. Romans 10, 13, For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Mark 16, 15, Jesus telling his disciples, He said unto them, Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. And so as we walk through this text this morning, Jesus encounters a lost Samaritan woman.

I want you to ask yourself this as you're sitting here this morning. Do you know the Lord? Do you personally have a relationship with Jesus Christ? Are you genuinely saved? If not, please know from the outset that Jesus willingly stepped out of the throne room of heaven to come to earth to live a sinless life, to die on the cross, to pay the sin debt that we could never pay. Romans 5, 8 says, But God commended His love towards us, and while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

That word commended there means proved. God proved His love. And how did He prove it? He proved it on the cross by dying for our sins. And so as we go through these verses, there's something here for everyone today. If you're here today and you're a Christian, there's stuff here that you can take from this text and that we can apply to our lives and know that Jesus wants to use us. He longs for us to be used for His glory to reach the lost people and the communities that we live in and the neighborhoods we live in and in our workplaces.

With all that said, it brings me to my first point today, the confrontation, the confrontation with a sinful woman. And we see that in chapter 4, verse 3 through 6. And it says here that He left Judea and departed again into Galilee, and He must needs go through Samaria, then cometh to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave his son Joseph.

Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus, therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat on the well, and it was about the sixth hour. So the first person we encounter in this text today is the Savior.

It is Jesus Christ. And so as these opening verses of this text, Jesus shows His compassion, and He's showing His humanity. While Jesus was God, He was still fully man, and this is what's known in theological realms as the hypostatic union. He was still fully God, still fully man in one body, and while Jesus was God, He was still a man, and He was familiar with the trials of life.

He demonstrates that He does not, or He demonstrates that He does indeed, He does indeed care for the lost. And so He departs towards Galilee to give some distance between Him and John the Baptist. And so what is happening in this, and if you look at verse 1, it says that the Pharisees notice that Jesus is making more disciples, and they're being baptized than John the Baptist. Now John the Baptist, he's already left Judea, and he's already headed up to Galilee, because Jesus' ministry is blowing up, it's expanding. And so John the Baptist is moving on, so Jesus' ministry can explode, and all that John the Baptist was was a forerunner for Christ.

Not a Toyota forerunner, but a forerunner for Christ. He was the one in the wilderness, He was the one pointing people to Christ. If you remember John the Baptist's disciples, they took notice of Jesus, and He told them to go follow Christ. And so here this ministry is blowing up, the Pharisees are knowing that Jesus is making and baptizing more disciples, and yet you see in verse 4, it tells us that He must needs go through Samaria. Literally in the Greek here, it was necessary for Christ to go. It was required for Him to go through Samaria.

And so this was not, let me say this, this isn't the only route. So if you were looking at a map, Judea would be here, Galilee's up here. Well in between, you know, the most direct point from one point to another is a straight line. And so you could technically go straight from Judea up to Galilee, but there was this parcel of land in between there called Samaria. And the Jews had no part to do with Samaria or the Samaritans, and so they would typically choose to go one of two routes. The western route, and they would go along the coastal plain, and then come back over to Galilee. Or they would go east across the Jordan River, up through an area called Perea, and then back across the Jordan River to Galilee. And so, why?

Why is that? Why would most Jews take that route? And the simple thing is that they were worried about defilement.

They had a hatred for these people. And so what had happened is the Samaritans, if you remember your Old Testament, there's the ten tribes of the north called Israel. There's the two tribes in the south called Judah. Well in the Babylonian captivity, they come in, they intermingle, they deported some of the Jews away, obviously back to Babylon. Well those that remained, they intermingled, they intermarried, and then the Jews felt that these people were less than them.

For a derogatory term, they thought that they were half-breeds is kind of what they thought of these Samaritans. But we see here Jesus had to pass through Samaria. He had to because there was a sovereign appointment with a woman at a well that was founded before the foundations of the world. This was a divine appointment that God had set in place before the foundations of the world. And can I say that by chance, do you know that you're not here today by some random chance or circumstance or by perhaps that you were here? God is sovereign and you are here this morning for a reason and for a purpose. Perhaps today for someone that may be here that you don't know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you're here to have a personal encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ today and that today may be the day of salvation for you. For those of us that are saved here today, perhaps it's to grow in our faith. It's to get out of our comfort zones, to become bold, to share the gospel.

And so let's go back to the Savior here. We see that he is seen walking in verse 4 there. And so it's about a 20-mile hike from Judea to the village of Sychar. And so to put that in perspective, we think 20 miles, that's probably not too bad. Just like from Xenia to Dayton. Well, yeah, Xenia to Dayton is pretty flat.

That would probably be manageable. But this is Israel. This is in the Middle East. This is an arid climate. It's not just a flat walk.

It's hills, it's mountains, it's ups, it's downs, it's up, it's down for 20 miles in the arid heat of the Middle East. And this is evidence pointing to Christ's poverty. Jesus knows what we face in life.

Can I tell you that? Jesus knows what you're facing in life. He knows what trials and tribulations you've carried in here today, the burdens that you have, that you've faced this week, what is on your heart. I may not know it, your neighbor may not know it, but can I tell you today that Jesus Christ knows what you brought in with you this morning and what you're dealing with in your life? Hebrews 4 15 says, For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. So not only do we see that he is willing, secondly we see that he is walking, but secondly we see that the Savior is willing. Verse 4 clearly declares that Jesus must needs go through Samaria, when most Jews would go dozens of miles out of the way to avoid them.

Can I tell you this? God has no respecter of persons this morning. God is, the gospel I would say, I tell you is not for, it doesn't have bounds is what I'm trying to say. There is no person, no race of people that are beyond God's reach, beyond God's grace.

All sinners are in need of salvation. Jesus loves them all and we are commanded to love them as well. If you think back in Matthew chapter 22, the religious Pharisees, they come to Jesus, they're trying to pin him in the corner and say, what is the greatest commandment Jesus? And he says in Matthew 22 verse 37 that it is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength. This is the first and great commandment. The second is like unto it, love your neighbor as yourself. And so notice that Jesus was willing to go out of his way to reach this poor lost woman. This teaches us that regardless of where we go, we too need to reach out to those that come in our path to reach them with the gospel of Jesus Christ. So not only is he seen as walking and not only is he seen as being willing, we see that he is seen as weariness. Jesus is weary. He sat slumped by the well and as it is about the sixth hour, it is noon.

And so the day, when we think about the day, our clock begins at midnight, the Jewish clock timeframe began at 6 a.m. And so here it is. It's high noon, which means that the sun is at its peak. It's the arid Middle East. He's hiked 20 miles up and down mountains.

It's a rigorous 20 miles. And so when we come to this Greek verb here for wearied, the word is kapiao, which means to be to the point of sweat or exhaustion. So Jesus is literally to the point of sweat to the point of exhaustion. And again, this demonstrates his humanity to us. As God, Jesus never tired.

I can tell you that. Yet as man, he was prone to the same things that we are. We can see in the scriptures where he was hungry. We can see in the scriptures where he was thirsty. We can see in the scriptures where he was tired. Jesus understands all that we go through in this life, all the suffering, all the hardships that we face. He understands those things and those what we experience here on Earth, which allows him to be our sympathetic high priest.

The point that we need to see here this morning in this text is that it's no coincidence. It is no coincidence that Jesus is wearied here at this specific well at this specific time because he had a mission. Luke 19 10 says, For the Son of Man has come to seek and save that which was lost. It is a divine appointment. And so we also see that he is waiting here. Jesus is seen waiting on this woman to come to the well. He is sitting there waiting.

He has this wonderful gift that he wants to present to her. He is just patiently waiting, patiently waiting. And you think about yourselves being here this morning. Jesus knew that you would be here on this day. He knew that I would be here preaching this message. All along the way of our lives, Jesus is positioning himself directly in our pathways. We kind of, you know, especially before we're saved, we kind of cruise through life. We don't think much about salvation, at least that's my testimony. I cruise through life 30 years of my life not really thinking much of salvation. But all along the way, Jesus was intersecting in my life, bringing me to him.

And I think about my own personal testimony. And it was because my wife's grandmother invited my daughter to Vacation Bible School here at Lighthouse Baptist Church. My wife was saved at the time.

My daughter got saved during Vacation Bible School. And then about four or five weeks later, I got saved. And it's only because God has directly intersected my path.

And he had done it for years and years and years, but I just hadn't paid attention to it. And so all along the way, Jesus is trying to create these crossroads. And then maybe out of the blue, then he's right there, right in front of us, right in front of our faces. And he establishes these crossroads for us to bring us to salvation. Look with me back at the main text, John chapter 4, verse 7. You see, there cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water.

So here's this woman. This is the second person in this passage we want to look at today. We see the Savior. Now we're going to see the sinner. This is the sinner, the second person in this account. She is a woman who is sinful and is in need of salvation.

It's high noon, according to verse 6. And Jacob's well, she's coming to Jacob's well. And there's a lot we could get into with Jacob's well. We just don't have time this morning. But as she's coming to this well, I will tell you, this was a daily chore. They didn't have running water in their homes. Water is a necessity of life. We need it daily. And so this was a chore that women had to do daily. Women would go to the well to draw the water as their husbands were out in the field tending to the crops, tending to the flocks, tending to the herds. And for this woman to be drawing water at this hour is extremely unusual.

Because think about this. If you were going to a well to draw water and you had a water pot that you had to carry back home, you're probably not going to go at the hottest point of the day, are you? You're probably going to go when it's a little cooler, either early morning, late in the evening. But this woman is here at the noon hour. This woman goes to the well and think about this. Back in this day, the women would go to this well. It'd be like today, like most women go to Starbucks, I guess, you know. They go there. They get their lattes. They catch up maybe on what their friends are doing, maybe what their kids are up to.

And so this is like a common place that they're all coming to and they can catch up on the events. Maybe share some prayer requests. Hey, my kid did this last night.

Punch the other kid in the face. I don't know. But this is all laid out here where they would come, they would gather water, they would go home. But because this woman is alone and coming at the hottest point of the day, it's an indication that she's a social outcast. It seems that the other women in the village have nothing to do with her.

She's probably come to the well to avoid maybe some insults and some attacks that they have said about her. And the reason for this is found in verses 16 through 18, which we'll unpack here a little bit more. But she was hated, even by her own people.

She has had five husbands, and the man she is with now is not her husband, but they're cohabiting, basically. And so she was a sinner just like everyone else. The Bible makes it clear that it is our sin that separates and stands between us and our relationship with the Lord. Isaiah 59 2 says, But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you that he will not hear. And in Romans 3 23 says, For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And so it's our sin that separates everyone from God. Even as little amount of sin, it doesn't matter.

Whatever amount of sin is in your life, it has separated you and God. And so it was bad being, not only is it bad being a social outcast, like I don't think anybody ever sets out to want to be a social outcast. There may be some teenagers, I said that in early service, they were all congregated over in the corner, just being rebellious, yeah, I want to be that. Nobody wants to be a social outcast. We all want community, because God's designed us that way.

He's wired us that way for community, to have fellowship. But there's something worse than just being a social outcast. She's a spiritual outcast as well. And can I tell you that anyone who hasn't placed their trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior, they are a spiritual outcast.

If you're here today and you haven't placed your trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior, you're a spiritual outcast, you're not a part of the family of God. But thanks be to God, because 1 Timothy 2 5 says this, For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. And so because of Christ, he's come and the completed work on the cross, he is our intercessor, he is our salvation, and it's only by him and him alone. And so John chapter 4 verse 7, the second part of that verse, as he's talking to this woman, he says, Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.

For his disciples were gone away into the city to buy meat. And so here's the scene, not only do we have the Savior, not only do we have the sinful woman, but let's unpack the scene a little bit here. Notice here that it is just Jesus and this woman. All the distractions of her life are gone. The gossiping people, the bickering people that say slanderous things about her, they're not around.

Her current man that she's with is not there. The disciples are gone. And ultimately, can I say this, that it comes down to this. It always comes down to just this. It always comes down to just you and Jesus. And the final moments of your life, it's not going to matter what you did in life, or who you impressed, or who you offended, or who you upset. It's only going to matter what you did or did not do with Christ. What will finally be of importance is what you did with Jesus.

And the ultimate question in life is this, and I believe it can be found in Matthew 22 verse 42. It says this, saying, What think ye of Christ? What do you think of Jesus? Is he the son of God to you?

Or is he just a morally good teacher that taught some good things, some good principles? Because ultimately, at the end of our life, what we do and what we believe with Christ is ultimately going to matter. And I'd ask this question, how many times have you been brought face to face with the Lord? I can think of in my life, like I said, it was 30 years before I got saved. And I can't help but think and wonder how many prayers did my loved ones, my friends, my family, that were saved, that prayed over me, and maybe one day I will find that out in heaven.

But just think about that. How many times have you been brought face to face with the Lord? How many times was I brought face to face with the Lord?

How many times did I decide to say no to him before I said yes? How many more times, if you're here today and you don't know Jesus as your Savior, how many more times are you going to say no before you say yes? And by all earthly expectations, she is not worthy of any especial attention from the Son of God. And can I tell you this this morning, none of us are worthy. It is only by grace and grace alone that we have been imputed any sort of righteousness by Christ.

None of us are worthy. And yet Jesus takes this initiative and says, give me to drink. J.C. Ryle says this about this statement of Jesus saying, give me to drink.

He said, this is a gracious act of spiritual aggression towards the sinner. In this culture, and it's taken a step back to unveil a little bit about this culture, and in many Middle Eastern countries still to this day, it is not culturally acceptable for a man to talk to a woman in public. And here in this day and age where Jesus is talking to this woman, it was the same way. It is not proper etiquette for especially a rabbi, a Jewish man, to talk to a woman. The rabbis wouldn't even talk to women of their own family out in public. Yet Jesus speaks to this woman. Not only is he speaking to a woman, but he talks to a woman who is an outcast. She's despised.

She's considered a half-breed pagan and an adulterous. Yet Jesus breaks down all these barriers. He sends his disciples away, according to verse 8, to buy food. And I'm not the sharpest crown in the box.

I'm not the brightest crown in the box. But I think I can handle lunch on my own. He sends all 12 disciples to go get lunch.

Like, really? Did all 12 of them need to go get lunch? I may go to the grocery store, and if I don't have a list, I'll forget something. I'm on the way out the door, and my wife's like, hey, don't forget this.

If I don't write it down, yeah, I'm going to forget that. But I think I can handle lunch for 12 people. And so here, he's purposefully sending all 12 of these disciples away. I love how the book of Acts calls them ignorant, unlearned men. But I think they could have handled lunch, right? But I also love what Acts says about that in that same verse, but they had taken notice that they had been with Jesus.

And do people take notice that we've been with Jesus? He was purposeful. He was setting the stage. It was beneficial to this conversation. Without them there, he could say to the woman, give me to drink.

Think about this. As they come to take Jesus away in the garden, and Peter pulls out the sword, and he chops off Malchus' ear. He was willing to die for Christ. Do you think not that he would say, give me to drink, and one of his disciples would have ran over and got the water? It would have interrupted this conversation with the Samaritan woman that was there for a reason and for a purpose. And so Jesus sets the stage.

He says, give me to drink. And as a side note, can I say that Jesus never did a miracle to fulfill his own needs? Jesus never once quenched his own thirst, never set out to fix his own hunger or provide anything for himself ever. So it brings me to my second point today, the conversation with a sinful woman.

The conversation with a simple woman. We see in verse nine, it says, Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, asketh drink of me, which am of a woman of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. And so the Greek verb here that really means that they will have no dealings with them. The Greek word is sukremeo, and it literally means they do not use the same utensils or use anything together with the Samaritans. Basically, she's saying we don't even drink out of the same cup as each other.

How are you going to ask me to drink and get you a drink when you won't even drink? The stereotype of the Jews and the Samaritans that the Jew would not even drink after a Samaritan. That's the prejudice that's built up here.

And basically, essentially what she's saying is she's saying, I know your culture. I know what you Jews think about us Samaritans. And Jesus totally shatters all that because it's not biblical. It's not once found in the scriptures.

And Jesus shows up and he is... Just think about this for a minute. He sends the disciples where? He sends them to get food in Sychar, the village, which is Samaritan.

So again, he is totally shattering these barriers. This is food that is being prepared by the Samaritans, by their hands. They're purchasing it from them. And basically, Jesus is saying he didn't care about their tradition. He only cares about the revealed truth of the scriptures. What sayeth the scriptures? And so Jesus also gave this account in Matthew 15, 11. It says, not that which goes into the mouth defileth a man, but that which comes out of the mouth, this defileth a man. And so knowing this, there are strict dietary laws. And there still are to this day that those who practice Judaism, the kosher diet and all that.

But listen to this. In the Mishnah, there's a recorded statement by Rabbi Eliezer. He said this, one who eats bread, baked by Samaritans, is like one who eats pork.

This is the disdain that they had for the Samaritan people. And so this first point of conversation was just a little indifferent, basically. At first, when Jesus is asking for a drink from her, this is a way to start the conversation. He's finding a common ground, a common place where they can start the conversation. And so for us as Christians here today, it's an example to know that we need to find out how can I initiate a conversation with my lost coworker or maybe a lost loved one?

Is there a common ground that will start the conversation that then later can lead to spiritual conversation? The second point of the conversation that we're going to see next is not only was it a common entry point, but now he's going to change it to mercy. He's changing this to unsolicited mercy. Look at verse 10 with me. Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that sayeth to thee, give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked him, and he would have given thee living water. Notice how Jesus drew out the Samaritan woman's curiosity in that verse.

And what I mean by that is he made her curious about the things of God. He said if you knew the gift of God, and so if I had a gift up here and I had it for Terry, and I said, Terry, I got you this gift for your birthday. It's wrapped up. It's in this box. It's nice and neat.

It's beautiful. You probably wonder what's in that box. Like, I wonder what he got me. And so here, Jesus is prompting that thought.

I wonder what she's wondering. What is the gift of God? Secondly, he makes her curious about who Jesus is. He says in verse 10, Who is it who says to you? And so he's starting to prompt that question.

Who is Jesus? And thirdly, he makes her curious about what God could give her. He says, Who would have given you living water? And so she was ignorant of three important factors here, three important things. She was ignorant of who he was. She was ignorant of what he had to offer.

And she was also ignorant of how she could receive it. And when you stop and think about that, isn't that the gospel? A basic explanation of the gospel. Who is Jesus?

What does he have to offer? And how do I receive him? The simplicity of the gospel. And yet, when he's saying this living water, when you think about the gospel, and you think about everything that comes in with that, mercy, grace, pardon, justification, and it's a continuous flow.

It never ends. God's grace, God's mercy, God's justification, God's pardoning of our sins, it never ends. Because we still continue to fail to not sin. We are sinners. Yeah, we are saved, and yes, we still sin, but we should sin less. And so here, this outpouring is over and over and over. And so Jesus, with the statement, says, And he would have given thee living water.

He starts to turn the conversation in a spiritual direction. And I would say this, that in the Old Testament, this living water that's found in this passage of scripture here, it is also found in the Old Testament. Just like we saw earlier in that song, Jesus is throughout every book of the Bible, Genesis to Revelation. And this living water isn't just referenced here in John chapter 4. If you would look with me at Jeremiah 2, 13, it says, For my people have committed two evils, they have forsaken me the fountains of living waters. Also in Jeremiah 17, 13, O Lord, the hope of Israel, all that forsaketh thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters. Psalms 36, 9 says, For with thee is the fountain of life, and thy light shall we see light. Isaiah 12, 3 says, Therefore with the joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. And so, know this today, if you're here and you don't know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, that Jesus wants to give you this free gift of eternal life.

All you have to do is accept that gift. John 6, 35, Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never, what?

Thirst. And then again in John chapter 7, verse 37, In the last days, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink. And so this is the gospel, this is mercy without regard to morality. This is mercy without regard to religiosity or religion.

And so you just simply need to receive the gift of salvation. Notice, though, in verse 11, she is trying to figure out what Christ is talking about. She still doesn't get it here. In verse 11, it says this, The woman saith unto him, Sir, she's kind of confused, she says unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep, from whence then hast thou this living water? She's like, Jesus, you don't even have a bucket to draw water with. Do you even have a rope to draw this water?

She's totally beside herself. She's still thinking in the physical realm that where's he going to get this water? He doesn't even have a bucket to get the water.

He doesn't even have a rope to draw the water with. Yet Jesus is speaking of the spiritual. And Jesus kindly responds to her in verse 13 and 14, Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again, but so whoever 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. And then when Jesus says this here, you see that word drink it twice in these verses. There's two different tenses, verb tenses here in the Greek. The first one that we come across in verse 13, Jesus used the present tense verb for drinking or for drink.

And basically it means that it has to be repeated. And so one can drink of all the pleasures of this world like this poor woman, and they will still have to find a way to satisfy themselves. However, with one trip to the fountain of living water, you're satisfied forever. The thirsty soul coming to Jesus will never need the things of this world.

And can I tell you before I was saved, that was it. And you see that in people that they're desiring something to fill the void that is inside of them. And they do it for a while, and it satisfies for a season, and then they're moving on to the next thing, and to the next thing, and the next high, and the next high, and then they're just constantly being let down.

It's like they're getting ready to score the touchdown, and the goal line gets moved another 10 yards. And can I say the world has a way of expressing its thirst? Can the world thirst after so many things? There are those in the world that are thirsting after money, after sex, after fame, after popularity, and a myriad of other things. And Satan offers many oases, I will tell you, in this dry and thirsty land.

I would call them more of mirages. If water, they're pools of poison, and they're deadly to our spirit. Here was this living water of spiritual life that her parched soul desperately needed. Psalms 143 verse 6 says, I stretch forth my hands unto thee, my soul thirsteth after thee as a thirsty land, Selah. And so this spiritual conversation as they talked about this water, this everlasting water that's going to spring up, verse 15 is phenomenal. The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. She's still thinking in the physical realm.

Remember, there's women that have gossiped about her, that have talked about her, and she doesn't want to come there and face the scorns that she's facing. And she's like, give me this living water that I never have to come to this place again and receive the scorn that I've received from these people. And can I tell you that one can drink from the pleasures of this world like this woman, and they'll still have to find a way to satisfy themselves? However, one trip to the fountain of life, and you'll be forever satisfied, forever filled. Coming to Jesus will forever meet the needs of your life and of your heart.

At this point, she is willing to accept the living water, but he has yet to reveal the conditions of this living water that she is to receive. And with any lost sinner, she needs to understand two very important parts before she can receive the living water. And just like many of us here today, we know this, that are here today that are saved, because we had to recognize these two things, these two aspects. It's not easy believism. It's not like, hey, I believe there's a God, I believe Jesus, and then you get salvation.

No, the Bible never speaks of easy believism. And for any sinner to realize that they need to realize the reality of their sin, that their sin separates them from God. I had to realize that on August 30th, 2012, when I got saved. I had to realize the reality of my sin, the reality of my sin that separated me from God forever, for eternity. And so Jesus, the second thing is that not only do you have to realize your sin, but then also you have to realize the identity of the Savior.

You have to identify, you have to realize the identity of the Savior. And so this conversation turns now to talking about wickedness, about her sexual sin. And it says in verse 16, Jesus said unto her, go, call thy husband, and come hither. So this woman is getting ready to leave the well, and Jesus says, hey, go call your husband and come back. And the woman answers and said unto him, I have no husband.

She kind of leaves it there for a moment. I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, thou hast well said, I have no husband.

And then he goes on to really display his omniscience here. He says, for you have had five husbands, and the man that you're with now is not your husband. And he whom thou now has is not your husband. And then it goes on to say, in that set is thou truly. The woman saith unto him, sir, I perceive thou art a prophet. So in an effort to awaken her spiritual needs, Jesus plainly touches what must have been the deepest wound that she had in her life.

And he points out her sinfulness. And think about this for a moment. There's a difference between a wound and a scar. And what I mean by that is if you have an open wound, you just had surgery, maybe there's stitches there, and somebody touches you in that wound, you're going to either back up or you're going to throat punch them, right? Maybe you're more spiritual than me.

I don't know. But it's one of two things there. And so when he is reaching in and touching that wound, he is trying to heal her. Jesus loves us far too much to allow that wound to fester. He comes to us to heal us. And the difference in the scar is you can show somebody that scar.

And that scar may not hurt anymore, but it's a marking there of an injury that you had or a past hurt. And it's the same thing spiritually. Christ comes to us and he says, let me heal you. Let me take away your sins.

Let me make you whole. And so again, she's had five husbands. The man she's with now is not her husband. And Jesus loves her enough and he loves us here today enough to not allow us to stay in our sin. I can almost imagine the guilt that this woman faced in her life that she lived with day in and day out.

I would imagine she was in constant turmoil because of this. And anybody that's ever been in sin that you're trying to cover up, it's that turmoil, right? You're not at ease.

You're unsteady. You're just in a tumultuous place. And so Jesus lovingly confronts her sin in a very direct way. And she is aware. Can I say she is aware of the Old Testament? She is aware that adultery is a sin. Notice, though, in these passages, she, like all sinners, doesn't tell the whole truth. Anybody ever do that? Well, it was just this thing over here and you tell like a half-truth. And we've all done it.

And so she's sitting here, she's like, well, I don't have a husband. And he's like, yeah, you've rightly said that. She told a partial truth. And can I say to only be 98 or 99% known as to be not known at all? Christ wants 100% of our heart. He wants 100% of us.

And that's the thing. He knows everything about us. It's not like we can hide anything from him. And Jesus acknowledges her in verse 17. He says, Thou well has said I have no husband. Then he reveals the truth in verse 18.

He says, For thou hast had five husbands, and he whom thou hast now is not thy husband. And so, again, this displays his omniscience. He knows her history. He knows her sordid past and her sins.

And he fully knows her. And can I say today that anyone who truly desires to have righteousness in their life, to have Christ in their life, you must forsake your sins. Repentance is a necessary step for salvation. It's taking my sin, and I'm turning it, and I'm running towards God. I'm turning my back on sin. I'm running towards God.

It doesn't mean I'm going to be perfect, but it's a true repentant heart. Listen to Isaiah 55, verse 6 and 7. It says, Seek ye the Lord while he may be found.

Call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. And let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

And so I will tell you this. When you look at the scriptures, there is nothing in the scriptures that ever says salvation is without repentance. Salvation entails repentance every time. I think of Paul in Acts, chapter 16, and he's before King Agrippa, Acts 26, verse 19 and 20. It says, Whereupon, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heaviness, or the heavenly visions, but showed first unto them of Damascus and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coast of Judea, and then to the Gentiles.

And they should what? Repent, and turn to who? God, there it is, a picture. You have to repent, you have to turn to God. And then again in 1 Thessalonians 1, 9, For they themselves show of us what manner of entering we had unto you, and how ye turn to God. So here's that turning to God.

What did they turn from? False idols. To serve the living and true God. Luke 13, 3 says, Except ye repent, I tell you, nay, but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. And so she begins to shift her thinking about who Jesus is, according to verse 19. She says in verse 19, The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive thou art a prophet.

I think she's starting to get that this isn't just an ordinary Jewish rabbi. She's starting to see that this is a prophet, this is the son of God, and so as this is being exposed, she confirms his knowledge of her sinful lifestyle, and is no longer trying to hide her sin from him. By her confessing that he was a prophet, she was turning from her sin and hoping to receive this eternal life, this water of eternal life. But like most sinners, when we have our wound touched, when we have our sin poked, we're real quick to point out the sin in others.

And I love in Matthew where it says, Hey, remove the beam out of your own eye before you try to get the speck out of somebody else's eye. And so here she's been touched in this wound, this sore spot in her life, and she begins to deflect a little bit. She realizes that there's something more to Jesus, but she's not really ready to go all in yet. And so she deflects the conversation and she says, Hey, I believe that, you know, our father said we're to worship over here on this mountain, but you say that you say you're to worship in Jerusalem. And so she's changing it to theology. She's changing it to doctrine so she can get away from her sin. She tries to shift this argument, but then Jesus, in verse 21, he tells her and he's giving a prophecy of some things that are to come.

Verse 21, it says, Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father. And then 70 AD comes along, Rome comes in, they take over Israel or Jerusalem. Jerusalem is destroyed, the temple mount, the temple is destroyed, not one stone left upon another as Jesus had predicted. And then they march up north to Samaria.

The Romans slaughtered thousands of Samaritans by the sword. And so this is just all prophecy he's laying out before her. And yet it's a further revelation later on that Jesus has established that it's no longer, once that veil is torn, it's no longer about a place, it's about a person.

It's about the work. It's always been about Christ. John 4 23 and 24 says this, But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshiper shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth. For the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is the spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in what? Spirit and in truth. And so why is that important?

Why does truth matter? And I would say this, true worship doesn't demand a place. True worship is always about loving, honoring, and obeying and serving God from the heart. He's always after the heart. He doesn't want outward conformity.

He wants the heart of man. And God says this about external rituals in Amos 5 21. He says, I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. And so Jesus has ushered in this new era of worship. It doesn't focus on external things.

It doesn't focus on symbols. It is purely on the heart of man. And John 17 17 says, sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth. And so not only is it the heart of man, but it's what the truth of the scriptures say. That's what Jesus was always pointing to. What sayeth the scriptures?

He was always leading these Pharisees back to what the Old Testament said, what the scripture said. And so the fact that the Father seeks such to worship Him. This means that they must worship Him in truth. And what does this truth matter?

What does it mean? And so according to who He is, right? We must worship God to who He is and whom He's revealed Himself as in the scriptures. Not by what I think, because if I believe and I start thinking, well, God is this and God is that, I've made a God in my own image.

I've made a God in the image of Braden. We need to worship Him in truth and what the scriptures say. And so superficial knowledge, can I say this? Superficial knowledge leads to a superficial worship of God. And to break that down, basically a surface level knowledge of God will bring to a surface level worship of God. And you see that in many of our churches in our land.

We are a dry and thirsty land. There's entertainers out there basically in pulpits that are entertaining the goats instead of feeding the flock. And so as we see that, the deeper you go in the truth of the scriptures, the more appreciation you have for who God is and what He has done. And then in turn makes you worship Him even more. And so this conversation, again, this is the longest recorded conversation with Jesus of any one person in the scriptures is with the Samaritan woman. And we pick up here in verse 25, The woman saith unto him, I know that Messiahs, or Messiah come, which is called Christ. When He is come, He will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee, am He.

This is mind blowing here. I don't think on a surface level, when you just read this text sometimes, and I didn't understand it for a long time. She knows that the promised Messiah is going to come and one day will fulfill everything. And Jesus simply reveals Himself as that supply and as the Messiah. In verse 26, Jesus reveals who He truly is. And if you go back and it says there in verse 26, I that speak unto thee, am He. Well, if you go to the Greek text, literally what is said here is that He is saying that He is ego emi. This is the first I am statement that Jesus makes to anyone of His true identity. He doesn't say it to Nicodemus, a Pharisee. He doesn't even reveal it to His disciples up to this moment. He reveals it to a sinful Samaritan woman. He's saying, ego emi, I am that I am.

This is the name of God that He revealed Himself to Moses back in Exodus chapter 3 verse 14. And what's interesting, like I said, is this is the first account of Jesus revealing His true identity in the scriptures to any one person. And this I am statement is used 23 times in the Gospel of John. Many of us are familiar with the seven I am statements of Jesus. I am the bread of life. I am the light of the world.

I am the door. I am the resurrection. I am the life. I am the way, the truth, and the life. I am the vine.

I am the true vine. I am the good shepherd. And all these I am statements refer back to His eternality in His Godhead. And this is what He does for every sinner. He doesn't just come and He doesn't come to judge us. He doesn't come to condemn us.

He never condemned this woman in this passage, did He? He doesn't come as a bully to force her to come to Him. Jesus, can I tell you today, Jesus is a gentleman and He will knock at your heart's door. Patiently waiting, patiently knocking.

For 30 years of my life it was that way. Patiently knocking. You have to open that door and let Him in to have that relationship with Him. And so, let me say this too, He doesn't come as a buffet. He doesn't come as many choices or many ways of salvation that the world will try to tell us. He is simply the way, the truth, the life. John 14, 6, Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes unto the Father but by Me. Acts 4, 12, Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name given under heaven among men whereby we must be saved. And John 3, 36, He that believeth on Me, or believeth on the Son, hath everlasting life. And he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.

And our time is gone, it's so quick, it goes by so quick. I don't have time to complete the full third point, but the third point for those type A personalities, taking notes and all that. The conversation, or the conversion I should say, the conversion of the sinful woman, that's my third point today. The conversion of the sinful woman. We find that in verses 27 through 30.

And what I mean by that is, briefly hit on it, it was immediate. When she gets converted, she leaves. Verse 27 tells us, she drops her water pot and heads to town. Why does she leave her water pot?

Because she can get to town a lot quicker than carrying her water pot with her. Why is she going to town? Because she wants to tell all those other people who she was ashamed of, the women and the men that mocked her, she is going now to them to evangelize them, because she's going to tell them of a man that told her everything. She says, come see a man that told me everything. Like, oh no, she's got a seventh man on the horizon. No, it's Jesus. And so she's going to tell them about him and what he's done, and she was compelled to tell others of Christ.

And you say, Braden, how do I know? How do you know that she was converted? Look at verse 39 with me this morning. And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him. For the sayings of the woman which testified, he told me all that I ever did. There were many Samaritans who believed in him because of this woman's testimony.

Throughout the rest of this account, the Samaritans come out of the village by the droves. Jesus stays two days with them, shares the scriptures, shares doctrine, shares them. He is the eternal life. And not only is it then that they believe upon her, but then it later on goes to say, then they believe because of his words as well, because of Christ. And I want to point something out for us today that may be here as Christians today. Remember that the disciples were sent where to buy lunch.

They were sent to Sycar to buy lunch, right? Did they tell anybody of Jesus? Did they bring the city back to meet Jesus? The scriptures don't record that. And can I tell us, tell us Christians that we can get busy with the tasks of life and miss the gospel and telling those that need to hear it? We need to, as followers of Christ, make sure that we don't get too busy to tell others about Christ. In conclusion today, what was it that took this woman from being a hated sinner who was dead to spiritual things and transformed into a powerful witness for the Lord?

I can sum it up in one word. It was Jesus. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. He makes the difference in any life that he touches. Just like if I was to go out here and get hit by a truck today, that would ultimately impact my life, right? How much more the God of the universe, the eternal God in glory, comes in and dwells inside a sinner, how much more would he impact your life and my life? Has he touched your life today?

He makes all the difference in the world. He has already redeemed, if he's already redeemed you from your sins, what are you doing to share the gospel? If he is not your savior today, if you were to die today, where would you spend eternity? I invite you to come to Jesus today as we close out.

If everyone would stand with their heads bowed and eyes closed this morning. And as this text has revealed to us today that there is only one way of salvation. That's through Christ.

Ask a simple question with heads bowed and eyes closed. Do you know Jesus Christ is your personal Lord and Savior? If you were to die today, would heaven be your home? Ten years ago that would not be my testimony. I didn't know Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I was thankful that somebody came and told me about Jesus. And I accepted him into my heart, called upon him as my Lord and Savior, repented of my sins and turned to him. If you're here today and you know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, would you just give an uplifted hand to that, that you've placed your trust in Christ? Amen. Hands all around.

Put those hands down. The other side of that I'd like to ask, if you're here today and you don't know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, would you just give an uplifted hand? I'm not going to come to you.

I am not going to call you out. I just want to pray for you because I know what it was like. I was scared to walk that aisle.

I was scared to make that decision. Would you just give an uplifted hand and say, I don't know for sure that heaven would be my home. I don't know that Jesus is my Savior.

Any hand at all. Maybe you're here today and you say, Braden, this message has been a little convicting. I haven't been faithful to present the gospel to my neighbors, to my co-workers. Would you just give an uplifted hand? Would you pray for me to give boldness? Would you pray for boldness in my life to show the gospel?

If it ends up with you, I get scared at times too. Father, we come before you. We thank you, Lord, for the day that you've given us.

We thank you for your word, the truth that's in it. Lord, we thank you that you came to seek and save that which was lost. Father, I just pray if there's anyone here today that doesn't know Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior, that they would come down to the front. We have men and women at the front who would love to share with them how they can come to know you as their personal Lord and Savior.

Maybe they would grab a hand of a loved one and they would walk that aisle and come to get those questions answered. Lord, I also pray for all of the hands that went up that we need boldness. The days aren't getting any brighter, they're getting darker, and we need to be those that are bold as lions to proclaim your word, to proclaim the truth, because we have the hope. Lord, give us boldness. It's in Jesus' name that I pray. Amen.